Equestria Undead

“Pht, nice place.” Fang muttered as we walked towards my house. I frowned at the overgrown fields on either side of us. Dad would have never let the crops get that out of hand.

The house was about half a click ahead of us. It looked nearly the same as when we left. Worn paint, splintered wood, bullet holes, and two floors holding all the memories of my old life.  My old world.

Dusk was resting on my back, tired from all the walking and magic use the day had brought. We had run into a pretty big amount of corpses on the way. I was actually kind of surprised.

I was getting pretty good at aiming and shooting with my hoofs instead of my spells. Still felt a bit strange using a firing bit. I was still afraid I might bit down on the firing bit as I spoke and shot someone. I just made sure it wasn’t pointed at anyone while I talked.

“It’s home.” I said. “Well, was. Fang and I’ll clear the area. Dusk, can you show the others where the stash is.”

“No problem.” She jumped off my back. "Right this way." She said.

“Wait wait wait, why am I stuck with you?” Fang groaned.

“You could go with them and dig a hole instead.” I shrugged, trotting ahead.

Fang sighed. "I guess that's a little better than digging. Hey, wait up!” Fang flew up to me.

Once we got near the house, Fang and I split off from the group to walk the perimeter. The others went out behind the house to dig up the treasure. There wasn’t much around the border. We where all the way behind the barn before Fang finally opened her mouth.

“So, why’d you get me out of dig duty pudgy.”

“I’m not pudgy!” I snapped. “If anything I’m too skinny!”

“Whatever. You going to answer my question?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Because I know you didn’t go to that cottage with Gambit. Why did you lie?”

Fang stopped and sighed. “I meet Gambit two weeks after I was at the cottage. I told him about what happened there, so he knew I would know to go there.” She said.

“So...What happened there?” I asked.

“It doesn't matter.” Fang said. “It happened, it’s over. Everyone has a past, and I have no reason to tell you about it.”

“I took out the dude with the minigun, found out where our friends where so the others wouldn’t ask questions when you knew, and now I’m getting ammo I found for your gun.” I said.

“Yea, I’m still not gonna tell you.” She turned away.

“We could go back to the group and talk about it if you prefer. Or this can all stay between us.”

“You wouldn’t even think about it.” Fang snarled, looking back.

“No actually. I would love to, after how you’ve treated me. I’m going to find out. It’s weather or not everyone knows that’s up to you.”

Fang sighed and sat down. I trotted up beside her and sat down as well.

“If I tell you this, no one knows.”

“of course.”

“And this doesn't make us friends.”

“Ha, Wouldn’t want it to.”

“It was about two weeks before I meet up with Gambit, as I said. I was rolling with this gang of griffin's. I didn't see eye to eye with all of em, but I needed them. I knew there was no way I could survive on my own, so I stayed. We found this cottage with someone still living in it, packed with food. We went in to robe it. The mare inside didn’t even move to stop us. She just let us take her food. Hell, she told us to take as much as we needed. The leader of the group, Gilda, wanted to off her. I said I would do it. So, I locked the mare in the closet upstairs with some food, FIred off a few shots, and told G she was finished. I didn’t know she wouldn’t be able to get back out…” She looked down.

“It’s alright Fang, we all make mistakes.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Or should I call you Morning MIst?” I asked. That's why she was always so rude to me. She didn't want me to see her as the griffin who had helped me before.

“Ha,” She chuckled. “Wasn’t sure you remembered that. They used to call me Misty, but I’m not sure that fits now. I’m a lot tougher than I was back then. I think...Morning will be fine. The thing no one on the planet knows if they'll see again. Kind of poetic, really.”

“Right...Theres one thing I don’t understand.” I asked. “Why change your name?”

“Oh, that. I was only in the gang a few weeks, but I hurt a lot of people under that name. As you saw, I used to be a lot nicer than I am now. But between now and then, I was a whole lot meaner. I was on my own, I had to be. A lot of ponies would love to see my head on a stick. I guess...I guess it’s time to own up to what I’ve done. I think...Morning would be nice.”

I smiled. “That’s good. Very grown up of you.”

“Are you saying I was childish before short stack?” Fang- erm, Morning asked.

“What? No, nothing like that. It was a compliment.” I raised my hooves in surrender.

“Well keep them to yourself.” She snorted. She got up and started walking towards the others. “By the way, ever tell anyone that I’m actually kind under here, I’ll show you how unkind I can be. Ya hear?”

I nodded. “Won't breathe a word. Not that they would believe me.”

“Good. No writing them either.” She affirmed.

I stomped my hoof. “Balls.”

"'Bout time you two showed up.” Rivet said as we walked up to the hole. Everyone was gathered around it, save for Rose, who was going through her saddle bags. The hole was about two feet deep. In the bottom was an old trunk, wrapped in Dusks magic. “We already got it dug out.”

“Nice job.” I said.

“I really hope it was worth the work.” Violet huffed. She was laying on the ground a few feet away.

“I hope you got some meds in there,” She frowned at her saddle bags. “We’re running low.”

“Theres a first aid kit inside.” I said. “We’ll get it on the way out.” She nodded.

“You want to do it?” Dusk asked me, sitting near the trunk. I nodded and walked over. I smiled and grabbed the lid in my magic. “Ready to see the fruit of your labor?” I asked the others.

The trunk popped open. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. My brain sputtered as it tried to work right.

“Wow Silv.” Morning said. “A book, some shell casings, and a tin can. This is a very nice cache of trash you and your sister put together.”

“No. No no no no no!” I smashed the trunk with my hooves. “It was supposed to be here!” I screamed. “It was right here! We put it here! It was ours! This isn’t far!”

"Silver," Rivet said. "It's

"No it's not! “I snapped at him. "My shit is gone, Rivet. GONE! What the hell are we supposed to do. We hardly have enough rounds between the 6 of us to kill each other!"

I sat down, gasping for breath. I had no idea what to do. So, did the only sensible thing I could. I screamed at the clouds as loud as I could. I threw every swear, curse, and profanity at the world, the dead, and the living that I could muster. I ranted and raved about the cruelty, the horror, and the unfairness that our world was build around. I screamed my throat raw. The others watched in stunned silence as I blew off months worth of pent up aggression.

Once I was finished my outburst, I slumped. My friends looked at me with a combination of worry and confusion. “I’m going to my room.” I hardly whispered. They watched in silence as I trudged towards my home.

“Is she going to be ok?” Rose asked finally.

“I’ll go check on her.” Rivet said. “It’s been a hard few days.”

The others nodded. He made his way towards the house.

“So, what do you think happened?” Violet asked.

“I think it’s obvious.” Morning said. “Somepony happened by, and noticed a bunch of upturned dirt, and figured there was something worth while under it.”

“What are we going to do? Violet asked.

“Dusk, is there anything else around here we can use?” Gambit asked. He looked over at her. She had suddenly become very interested in the ground. “Dusk?

“I can’t believe it.” She muttered, totally dazed. “They took it.”

“I can, there was a lot of supplies in there.” Morning said.

“No, not the bullets.” She shook her head. “I put our family portrait in there to keep it safe. It’s the only picture of our dad we had. And....They took it.”

Everyone looked from one another, not knowing what to say. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Rose sat down beside Dusk and pulled her into a huge.

"It'll be ok." Rose whispered. "Well get through this."

“So,” Morning said, drawing everyone's attention. “What’s for lunch?”

“Silver? Silver, where are you?”

“In here.” I muttered from my bedroom. I was laying in my bed under the covers. My face was buried into my pillow. The house was nothing like it had been when we left. The place was trashed. Nearly everything I owned was misplaced or broken. That’s why we had buried so much stuff in the yard. All I had found intact in my room was the necklace from fluttershys, and that wasn’t even mine.

Rivet stopped in the doorway. “How are you holding up?”

I grounded into my pillow.

“That bad, eh?” He asked.

“Ever since we left town, every little thing we’ve done has gotten us into some kind of trouble. I keep waiting for some kind of brake, a stroke of luck, but it hasn’t happened. I feel like it wont.”

“You want a drink?” He asked.

“I’m to sad for alcohol. I need a coffee.” I huffed. Rivet sat down on the edge of my bed and started stroking my mane. I made no move to stop him.

“It’s not all bad Silver. We got the food you found after teleporting. The meds from Zecoras. You got the group back together. At the very least, this adventure gave us a first aid kit and whatever else we can find.”

I sighed. “I just...It’s not enough Rivet. In a matter of days, I’ve broken my horn, had my leg shot up, got seperated from you and my sister...My heart stopped Rivet. I nearly died. I did die. And for what? A few guns, and a pack of gum? What came out of this? Where’s the silver lining.”

“You're right here.” He smiled at me. “You still have your friends Silver. Your sister. You have me. So long as we’re together, we’ll be fine. If we’ve made it through the last few days, what’ll stop us now?” He asked. "Don't lose hope. Not now. Please."

He was right. After everything we had been through, we were all still together. I had them, and they had me. As long as we took care of each other, we would be fine.

I had never noticed it before then, but somehow Rivet always knew how to calm me down. He always knew what to say and how to say it to keep me from falling apart.

I sat up and pulled him into a hug. “Your right. Even if a lot of bad has happened, I still have you guys. Thank you.” I got out of bed and sighed. “Guess we should see what we can find and get moving, huh?” I sighed. "Just another day at the office."

“I’m soooo bored!” I moaned. I refiled my flask with whisky from my bottle, and put it back in my saddle bag.

We had been walking for a few hours, and I was already losing my mind. The walk back was even worse because we had already killed most of the zombs in the area. More would show up eventually, but we had nothing to do in the meantime.

“Well, sorry the apocalypse is so uneventful.” Rivet said. “When we find some rounds, we’ll let you blow up a few herds to keep you entertained.”

“Thank you.” I said. “I would like that very much.

After managing to calm down Dusk and getting whatever supplies we could from the house, we had started making our way towards Applewood. The plan was to go in and find enough supplies to tie us over until Filly, same as before.

“Oh dear Celestia do you ever shit up!” Violet wined. “Why don’t you read a book or something? It’s keeping your sister entertained.”

“Because I’ve read all the ones in my saddle bags. Dusk, what are you reading, anyways?” I looked back at her.

“It’s called midnights blessing. It tells all about a bunch of the powers we can have.”

“Oh yea?” I asked. “Like what?”

“Powers?” Morning asked. “What powers?” She asked.

“Oh, you don’t know? Well, our family got a blessing from Luna, and it gave us powers." Dusk said with pride. "That’s where Silver got her ability to see at night and turn invisible, and I...umm..”

“You can turn invisible!” Violet shouted. “We’re just finding this out now! Do you even know how useful that could have been!”

“It’s not something I can just do.” I said. “It has to be night time, I have to be really still, and it only works for a few minutes.” I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, if I could get it work well enough, I would use it.”

“Yea, right.” She said.

“Dusk, what else did you find?”

“Well, Empathy and telepathy are tired into dream walking, although there both unlikely.”

“Empathy as in caring about people?” Rose asked. “You already have that. Does that mean you're going to learn to dream walk and read minds?”

I sighed. I was glad that no one had figured out about my sisters ability, but sometimes Rose could be so naive.

“No no no, empathy as in knowing what other people are feeling. Feeling their emotions.” I said.

“That doesn't sound very usefull.” Rivet said. “A little overwhelming, actually.”

“Yea, kind of glad I don’t have that one.” Dusk said. “Lets see...It says that we can use star magic. I don’t really know much about it, other then you use the energy from stars to fuel a spell.”

“I think we can skip that one. I am done using outside forces to fuel spells.” I said.

“Well, what about-”

“Shh.” Morning said. “There are ponies up ahead.”

“Bandits?” I asked, pulling out my rifle. I looked down my scope to get a better view.

“Nah. Not equipped for that. They look like traders.” She said.

What was hardly a blur with just my eyes was a crisp close up with my scoop. Four ponies, two unicorns, a pegasus, and an earth pony. From the look of it, they were sitting outback a wagon drinking.

“Good.” Rivet said. “We can trade some of our extra food for some rounds.”

“Great idea.” Morning said. We can starve instead of get eaten.”

“We’ll get more food in the next town.” Gambit said.

Dusk nodded. “Yea, Applewood had a lot of farms and stuff, shouldn’t be a problem.”

“What about the armory?” Violet asked.

“You mean the one made out of indestructible metal that can only be opened by a computer with a code we don’t have?” I asked. “I think we can back burner that.”

She rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.

“Hello!” Rivet shouted to the traders.

“Howdy there.” The earth pony said. “Looking ta trade I hope?” He got off the wagon and trotted over.

“If you have any ammo you can part with.” Gambit said.

“I’m sure we can work out a deal. Come along, all of ya. I’ll show you ma wairs.”

Morning and Rivet flanked Gambit, the rest of wondering behind.

“So, you run this little trading...thing?” I asked.

“Kind of. Ya see, I do run it, but it ain’t a trading thing.”

The three ponies each raised their weapons, Smiling. Before I could even light my horn, two more came out of the ditch at the side of the road, and another was looking down at us from the roof of the wagon. She had a really nice rifle. 308. winchester by the look of it. Wow, that chick had really good taste.

“So, heres the new trade.” The earth pony said. “You fork over your guns, your  ammo, and your food, and we'll let you leave with your lives. Fair trade, ain’t it boys.”

“Oh, hell yea!” The girl on the roof said. “It’s just too bad not everyone thinks so.” The sniper noticed me staring at her and winked. I snap out of daze and growled.

“Oh, feisty, I like that. Hope that one don’t fight back.” The mare said.

Rose and Rivet both narrowed there eyes at me. At the same time the earth pony said, “Don’t flirt with the clients Willow.” He turned back to us. “So, what’s it going to be?”

Rivet looked over at me. He was hoping for a plan. Did Gambit not have a plan? It didn’t look like it. “Fuck me with a 44.” I muttered. “What’s the plan here guys?”

“Do as they say.” Gambit said, setting his pistol down. “Can the kid at least keep her crossbow?” He asked.

The 6 robbers burst out laughing. “Oh, oh don’t worry, haha, she can keep her little toy.” The earth pony said. “We’re looking for real fire power.”

“Like a nice, scoped 308 enfield with a mock suppressor, and extended barrel.” The mare on the roof said. “Very nice. Real shame to take it from someone who wears it so well. Would hate to see blood splatter on that flank.”

Shut the hell up!” Rivet shouted.

Back off!” Rose added.

“Fine fine. But when you're done with these losers splinters, I’ll be ‘round filly.” She said.

“All of you, shut up!” The earth pony snapped. “Guns. Now!”

All of us through our weapons down. I sighed as I set my rifle down on the ground.  You wont have it for too long. Don't get too comfy.

The two unicorns levitated them into the wagon, then made sure we hadn’t kept any. A pistol floated out of Violets bag, and my pistol from my vest, as well as a bunch of loss ammo.

“That’s all.” One of the unicorns said.

“Good. Lets jet.” All the ponies got inside, save for the mare on the roof and the pegasus.

I figured that the earth pony was going to pull, but instead the pegasus did. My confusion turned to awe as the cart started to lift off the ground. The mare smiled slyly and winked at me as the cart speed off.

"Well....Fuck." Morning said.

"Yea. Not how I thought this would go." Rivet commented, scratching the back of his head.

"Please tell me this is part of the plan." Violet pleaded. "It doesn't even have to be the truth."

I sighed as I pulled out my machete. "Guess we're going melee for a while." I passed my combat knife to Dusk. Gambit pulled out a crowbar, and Rivet a hammer.

“Morning, could you do a fly around and find us a place to rest." I asked. "The sun’ll be down soon, and I really don't want to be out here when it does.” Gambit looked shocked at my use of Mornings birth name.

I was sad about losing my gun, but I knew what I needed to do. I needed to help get us out of this, the only way I knew how.

She nodded once and flew off.

“Morning?” Violet asked.

“Long story.”

“Yes, I’m sure it is.” Gambit gave me a knowing smile.

“So, what do we do know?” Dusk asked.

“We find a place to spend the night. In the morning, we head into Applewood to gear up. Then if we’re lucky, we find those bandits.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” Rivet said. “They tend to stick to about the same area. Even sky bandits have a terf. We should be able to make ourselves some weapons.”

“Good. So we gear, we hunt, we kill, we retrieve.” Violet said. “No prob.”

I Silently pated through the barn, avoiding anything that might wake the others. If any of them found out about what I was planing, they would stop me. Or worse, demand to come. I couldn’t afford that. I stepped into the damp night air, silently closing the door behind me.

I felt bad about tricking them like that, but I knew it had to be done. None of them could make it in with me, and we needed to get some weapons in our hooves fast.

Morning had found us a nice enough barn to camp out in for the night. Of course, I made sure it was within walking distance of Applewood. All I had to do was get in, get a few weapons and some food, and get out. No problem.

I had filled my flask a quarter the way up with the potion zecora had given me for burnout, and the rest with whisky. If I was going to do this, I would need a lot of both.

When we got to the farm, everyone did their best to get armed. Morning had made a spear out of a 8 foot stick, and Violet made herself a spiked baseball bat. Rivet had made two bows out of wood and some wire. They weren't that bad. Actually, they were great for what they where. Still, nothing next to a good recurve or gun. I had one of the bows, a dozen arrows, and my machete. If things went well, I wouldn’t have to use any of them.

After two hours of silent walking, I crept up on the town. It didn’t look like much. Hardly a village. The only reason it even had an armory at all was because they used to have a bit of a dragon problem.

I knew about a gun store in town, but I wasn’t stupid enough to check it. No chance in hell of finding a gun in a place like that. Better to check fortified buildings and guard stations.

I walked up the road into town, nearly invisible with my black coat. I stopped as I neared a few walkers by the edge of town and closed my eyes. I imagined myself being wrapped in shadow, from hoof to horn. I felt a feeling akin to the loss of energy from spell casting, but instead of centering around my horn, I felt it in my skin.

I opened my eyes and looked down. Not even my night eyes could break through the pure shadow that surrounded me. What where my legs and chest where now black space. It was strange not being able to see myself. I figured out long ago that my eyes could see out of the shadow blanket, but not into it.

I walked up the center of the street. I held my breath and slowed my pace every time a zombie came by. I knew that they couldn't see me, but I was still afraid something might go wrong.

If they heard me, or the spell failed, I would be screwed. I hoped reapers couldn’t see through my shroud. Then I was really done for. I tried to steady my breathing as I looked for a good place to scavenge. As I got deeper and deeper into town, the zombies got thicker. Three or four strays turned to 7 or 8, then herds of 12 or 13.

That house was to run down to have been used after. Someone clearly broke into that one and cleared it. That one is still smoldering, I looked house to house, building to building, hoping for any sign that there might be supplies there. Recent hoofprints, shell casings, bodies, things like that.

I couldn’t help but question my skill with a bow as I moved through the streets looking for salvage. I had taken archery when I was young, but I hadn’t done it in a very long time. Even back then, I wasn't all that great. I just couldn't get a feel for it.

I forced the thoughts away. So long as I could keep myself shadowed, I’d be fine. How long had I been hidden. 5 minutes? 10? I wasn’t sure. I took out my flask and took a swig. The warm liquor was accompanied by a burst of energy from the potion. So long as the spell held, I was safe.

I was amazed that I had kept the spell going for so long. There had to be some reason for the sudden ease of invisibility. Was my power growing, or was it something else. It didn't matter. At least, not right then. I had to concentrate on the taste at hoof.

Then I found it. A gold mine. Possibly the greatest find any scavenger would ever find. The Applewood EUP Guard Station. It only got better from there. All the doors had been locked. From the inside. That meant that whoever was fighting here when it fell was either still alive inside, or dead. Either way, that meant weapons from fallen soldiers, and MREs from the store rooms.

That is, if I could get the door open.

I pulled out Rivets lockpick and a pressure wrench. He had no idea I knew he had it, or that I had taken. It wasn’t like those nice picks you see in comics and stuff. This one looked like a really metal rode he had bent a little.

It took me 10 minutes to get all the tumblers up and open the lock. In that time I had two drinks from my flask. I hoped I wouldn’t be to drunk before this was over. That wouldn't end well...

I crept inside the building, and made sure the door was locked behind me. Satisfied, I pulled out my machete and let my shroud drop. “Have to be careful,” I reminded myself. “They can see me now.”

The place turned out to be very quiet. I swept nearly the whole first level without seeing a single sign of life. It was strange, although not totally unexpected. It was more proof to the, “Someone’s living here” theory.

It wasn’t as trashed as most places, but still pretty dirty. Tin cans, bags, the odd body.

Once I was sure the first floor was clear, I checked it over for supplies. Two half stocked first aid kits in the bathrooms, half a dozen MREs hidden under a bed in one of the bareks, an assault rifle, a shotgun, and two pistols on some dead soldiers. . The guns were in pretty bad condition, and didn't have a lot of ammo. I wouldn’t use them though. No point in drawing attention to myself.

I knew that if I left now, I’d be able to come back in the morning with my friends and clear it with the guns I had found. But why wait? I was there, it was empty, and there had to be more stuff upstairs.

So I went to the stairwell and may my way up. Of course it being my life, things only went downhill from there.

I heard something fall behind me as I crossed the first landing. I looked back to see a small green balb laying on the floor. Right beside a broken trip wire.

“Fuck me!” I shouted as I ran up the stars. “Why would someone!-”

BOOM!

I screamed. Hot pellets ripping into my flanks and rear legs. My vision blurred as I was blown forward into the stairs. My horn sparked as it made contact with the stairs. Waves of agony shot through my body. One stair. Two stairs. Five. every step I fell made the pain worse.

Finally my body stopped moving.  After an unbearable amount of time, the pain lessened enough for me to move. I groaned as I looked up the stairs. Clear. If someone was there, they either hadn't heard me or figured I was dead.

I tried to pull my pain pills out of my vest. I screamed as waves of agony shot through my body. It felt like every inch of me was covered in cattle prods. I was vaguely aware of sparks shooting from my horn. My night vision switched off and on as my body convulsed uncontrollably.

I did everything I could to take back control of my body, but it was in vain. My body was no longer my own. Some outside force had taken control of it, shaking me into submission. All I could do was sit and wait for it to end.

I don’t even know how long I laid there for. All I can say for certain was that at some point my body stopped moving. I layed there, too afraid to move. I was scared that moving would cause me to shake again. I didn’t want that to happen.

I knew I couldn’t lay there forever though. I would starve or worse. Once I was confident it wouldn’t happen again, I pulled my pills out with my mouth and managed to open the bottle. I pulled two into my mouth with my tongue and swallowed them dry. Then I carefully pulled a healing potion out of my saddlebags with my hooves and downed it. Thank Luna I had found first aid kits downstairs.

The potion started working immediately. My breath caught in my throat as I felt the metal bits from the frag being forced out of me. The business along my skin started to mend themselves.

After about a minute, the pain went from agony to a dull throb. I slowly got to my hooves. My legs shook under me. I decided I would take a brake on the landing, and figure out what I was going to do.

I was too afraid to try my magic again, so I ended up opening and eating one of the MREs with my teeth. It wasn’t the worst thing I had eaten. Better than canned spinach. I ate quickly, chasing the food with half my flask.

Wow, I didn’t even feel buzzed. I figured the healing potion had something to do with that.

After eating I felt a little better. My wounds were mostly healed, and night vision was working fine. I could still hide in shadows. I didn’t want to try my horn yet though. Better to be safe then sorry.

I thought about what I should do. I wasn’t sure I would be able to disarm any traps if I ran into them. I even doubted my ability to find them. At the same time, if I returned to the others like this I would get an earful from Rivet. That’s not something I was looking forward to. At least if I could find two or three more guns it would make the trip worth it.

I decided to keep going a bit longer. If I was going to to show up that beatin, I figured I might as well come back with something extra. Besides, I had to get back at the pyrotechnics asshole for hit little booby trap.

I moved carefully up the rest of the stairs, being sure to avoid anything that looked like it might be a trap. Pressure plates, rigid light switches, trip wires. All of them hard to find, and all of them deadly.

The second floor was just offices, so I didn’t even bother going in there. I did find a nice bolt action rifle on a body at the landing though. Three mags, 7.62s. Not bad. Finally I reached the top floor landing. Floor three.

After carefully taking care of the tripwire that was attached to the door, I cloaked myself in shadow.

I opened the door onto the third floor and gasped. The lights were on. The floor was being powered. If it was being powered, then someone was living there. Someone who was going to get a very nasty surprise.

Even stranger, the place was clean. The floors had actually been swept recently. It was like I had walked into another world, one that hadn’t ended.

It was clear there were no traps on this level. There was no where you could hide them. Besides, if someone was living here, why would you have traps inside your home?

Then it dawned on me. My shroud was useless. There was no point in covering myself in darkness if the area was lite. I would stick out like a sore hoof. Which is funny, because I have never noticed if someones hooves were sore.

I dropped the spell and slouched. I could still move quietly, but I could be seen. I could try and kill the power, but even if I could, then he would know I was there.

Regardless, he's not getting off easy.

I made my way through the strangely clean hall, staying close to the wall for cover. Before I could even get near any of the adjacent rooms, someone came out one of the doors. What I saw instilled more fear than anything I could even dream of.

The unicorn zombie looked over at me, holding an MRE in an ember glow. It’s eyebrows shot up.  “Quid hic agis quam!?” It bellowed. The MRE fell to the floor.

I pulled one of the pistols into my mouth and opened fire. I might have been a bad shot with mouth grips, but even I could hit something in a narrow hallway.

It's horn glowed as I fired. In tiny flashes of red, the bullets were knocked away as if they were nothing more than tin cans I had thrown.

At that point, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I turned tail and ran. The things horn glowed brightly as it fired a magical bolt of energy towards me. I dove to the ground. The bolt soared over my head. The bolt slammed into the door to the stairwell. The door liquefied.

I scrambled to my hooves and kept running.

“Fuge!” It screamed. A mass of smaller bolts fired from it’s horn.

I ducked back into the stairwell gasping for air. “Ok, so it can levitate things, speak, stop bullets and melt shit. What the fuck!” I roared. “Am I ever going to get a fucking break! Why doesn't the universe just fuck me already and get it over with!”

“Non possum ego a!” It screeched. Another volley of red bolts flew towards me, melting holes in the drywall.

“Shit shit shit!” I shouted. I was about to run down the stairs, when I remembered the traps. “Fuck me with a-Ugh I can’t even come up with something good right now!!!!”

I took a drink from my flask and shut my eyes. “I’m going to pay for this later.” I muttered as I charged the spell.

I was...somewhere. Somewhere cold. I could hear something screaming at me from above. I groaned as I opened my eyes. I was at the bottom of a stairwell. Why was I...[The EUP building! It all came back to me. That...thing had forced me to teleport.

My head felt like it had been beaten in with a hammer. The rest of me didn’t feel too great either. I sat up and vomited my dinner all over the floor beside me. I felt like I had just went 5 rounds with with a timberwolf.

“How long was I lying here?” I coffees. My eyes gave me a pretty good idea. I could hardly see. The sun had come up at some point. “Oh god, the others.” I muttered.

I got to my hooves, nearly slipping in the blood on the floor. My blood. The crack in my horn had a thin scab over it. A few of my cuts I got from the frag had torn open as well. About half my tail was gone, probably in a puddle upstairs.

“Holy...Fucking...Balls…” I gasped. “That really just happened." I fell back to the floor, laying on my back. "Fuck....me...."

I shut my eyes. Magic was out. Sun was out. How the hell was I supposed to get out of town. Then it dawned on me.

I trudged through the sewers, muttering whatever profanities at the world that came to mind. I had drank down another healing potion, and some of the magic regen stuff. I felt a lot better than I did before. Still, I didn’t want to risk using my magic.

It was a good thing the EUP building had sewer access in the basement. Saved me from having to go outside and get to a manhole.

For the first time in my life, I had to use a flashlight. I had found it on one of the bodys on the first floor. I was really starting to feel for the earth ponies and pegasi. They really had it rough.

After about a 10 minutes of trudging through sewer slime I figured I was far enough from town to emerge. I climbed up through on a nearby manhole, and tried to get my bearings.

I was a good distance out of town, far enough away to be clear of most zombies. Luckily I came out pretty close to where I entered town in the first place, so I pretty much knew my way back.

It looked like it was about a little less than an hour after sunrise. I figured the others would just be getting up. I was afraid how they would react to my little adventure when I got back. Hopefully my injuries would keep me from getting scolded too much. At least I had that going for me.

I did my best to make good time, but whenever I tried to move to fast I felt sick. I guess that’s just the price I payed for arming me and my friends. I didn't regret it though. I knew we were done for without them. Really my injuries were nothing next to what would have happened if a herd had caught all of us unarmed.

I wanted to take another healing potion, but I doubted it would do very much. Most of the pain was coming from my horn, which so far, remained unaffected by the magic elixir. I just took a big swig from my flask and kept moving.

It was only a 45 minute walk back to the barn where I’d left the others. I was happy about that. If it had taken hours as it had the night before, I doubt I would have been able to make it there before they left.

Once the barn came into view I let myself slow down a bit. I was almost back to my friends. If any of them went outside, they would see me. I was home free.

I walked up to the barn smiling. I couldn't help it. After the hellish night I had been through, I needed to see my friends. Even if they were angry at me.

I could hear people talking inside, probably about my not being there. I didn’t care how mad they would be at me. I was alive, and I found us some new toys to play with.

I didn’t even bother to try and listen in or make my presence known. I Just opened the door and walked right in.

“Hey guys.” I said. " I miss anything?"

Everyone looked at me in stunned silence. Everyone save for Morning was gearing up. A map was laid out on the ground split into sections. Morning was probably out flying someplace.

"Oh dear celestia." Rose breathed. "Silver what did you do? Jump through a window!?" She asked, rushing over. She sat me down and started looking over my wounds.

"I'm fine Rose, I took a few potions I found. Really, it's nothing." By this point, everyone gathered around me.

"Silver, are you sure you're alright?" Rivet asked.

"Where did you get all this gear?" Gambit asked.

"Did you get a tail cut?" Dusk added. "It is really bad."

"I'm fine, from the EUP building in Applewood, and some zombie thought liquefied tail was in this season." I said.

"You sure you're alright?" Rivet asked.

"Yea. Yea, I'm fine. Just a little bruised." I said. I couldn't let them worry about me. I had already put them through more then enough of that. The truth was that I had no idea how I was. I had nearly been turned into a poodle, fraged, and had a seizure I could hardly even remember.

"Alright..." Rivet said. He hardly seemed convinced. I got the feeling I would be having an eventful conversation with him later.

"So, you went and grabbed all that gear?" Violet asked me.

"Yea." I said. "I know you guys are probably pretty pissed at me for running off by myself," Vi rolled her eyes. "Except for maybe you, but we really needed this stuff. I got some MREs, some guns, ammo, meds. We have enough stuff to last a few days."

"Silver, you could have been killed." Rivet said. "Hell, you look like you almost where. You should have brought help."

"No." I said firmly. "None of you can do what I can, they would have seen you. If I had brought any of you, you would have died."

"I could have flown above you." Rivet said. "landed near the building. Picked the locks Myself. It wouldn't have been hard."

I sighed. "I just....I..."

"Rivet, please." Dusk said. "She's been through enough for one night."

Gambit nodded. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Well...I walked to the town, turned invisible, and started looking for a good place to scav. Found that the EUP center was locked from the inside, got in using Riv's lockpick, and looked around. I found everything save for the bolt action one the first floor, but figured there might be something upstairs."

"Or someone." Gambit said.

"Yea..." I sighed. "Anyway, went up the stairs, set of a trap, got blown up,-"

"Wait, what!?" Rivet and Rose said simultaneously.

"It was nothing, just a frag." I said.

"That's how you got all those brussels?" Rose asked. I nodded. "Silver... how many potions did you drink last night?" She asked.

"Umm...Two? Yea, it was two. Why?"

"That's a lot of heavy damage for two potions to handle." She said.

"The full moon." Dusk stated.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Umm, Dusk? I know you're the expert on pretty much anything ever thrown into a book, but I didn't see anything in the sky last night." Violet said.

"And I'm not really sure what that has to do with any of this." Gambit added.

"Oh, it's simple really." Dusk said. "We get more powerful at night, see? More aware, more awake, more powerful. Our bodies are pretty much supercharged. We heal a little faster then normal, feel as if we slept 8 hours."

"That time you lifted the threw me like I was a bag of twigs." I added.

"Yea, like that. When the moons out, pretty much everything is doubled."

"Including our food intake." I added.

Dusk nodded. "According to this book, on the full moon, our abilities are increased 6 times." She said. “So if you," She narrowed her eyes at me. "Had of stayed and had a potion, your magic would probably be almost back to normal. Instead, you had to go and hurt it more."

I sighed again. I tried not thinking about the last two times I had tried my magic. Wow, they just kept making my plan to save all of their lives look great, weren't they? "Well, now that that medical mystery is solved, can I please get one with my story." They all nodded.

"Ok, so I got up, took a potion, and made my way upstairs. Found the bolt action rifle, bla bla bla door, hallway, yata yata..."

"Silver!" Rose snapped.

"Fine find. When did you get so bosy? Anyway, on the top floor, I ran into this zom. But...It had the power on." I said. "It was using magic...and it yelled at me." I said.

"Wait wait wait." Violet said. "It spoke to you? Did you hit your head when you blew up by chance?"

"Shh." Dusk had the tip of her hoof to her lips. "Don't interrupt. It's rudesville."

"What?"

"SHH!"

"Yes, and then what happened?" Gambit asked.

"I fired at it...and the bullets...It knocked them away with it's magic. Then...it fired these bolts at me."

"Magic bolts?" Dusk asked.

"Yea. But when they hit something, the thing...liquefied." I said.

"Was there maybe, I don't know, LSD in your potion or something?" Violet asked.

"I'm telling you it happened!" I snapped.

"No ones saying it didn't." Gambit said. "Well, no one taller than three feet." She stuck her tongue out at him. "There have been accounts of undead turning out like this. It's another kind of special, like reapers." He said. "Although, I've never heard of one using magic like that before. Is something like that advanced."

Dusk thought for a moment. "Well...-"

"Dusk can't do it." I said.

"So, yea I would say very." Violet said. "She's kind of good at that. Remember the floating zombie?" We all nodded. I shuttered. I wonder if it was still up there…?

"And it spoke?" Gambit asked. Again, I nodded. "What did it say?"

"I'm not sure." I said. "It was in some other language."

"Do your best."

"It was like...Quiia, hich, ajus qudem or something." I stammered.

"hic agis?" He asked. I nodded. "That's lattin."

"Lattin for...?"

"I don't know. I only did a semester in university." He said.

“You went to university?” Rivet asked. “What did you do?”

“A story for another time.”

"So, you ran. Then what happened?" Rose asked. Dusk looked like someone who was getting to the best part of their favorite story.

"I got behind cover and teleported. Woke up a while later in a poodle of my blood."

"How long where you out?" Rose asked. "It's really important."

"I have no idea. The blood had started drying. Does that help?"

"A little bit..." She muttered. Something was on her mind. I really needed to learn mind reading. If only it was part of my freak night powers.

"So, that's it?" Gambit asked.

"Yea, more or less."

"Alright. Go get some rest. I think you've earned that at least."

I walked over to where I had left my bedroll the night before and got comfy. As I drifted off to sleep, I was vaguely aware of my friends talking about me.

"Somethings not adding up." Rose whispered. "If the blood wasn't even all dry yet, she couldn't have been there more than a few hours. She was gone over 9, at least."

"Theres something she's not saying." Rivet said. "Something else happened she doesn't want us to know about."

"If She doesn't want us to know, I'm sure there's a good reason." Dusk said. "She doesn't like ponies worrying about her."

"That's the problem." Rose mumbled.

"Face it though, I know my sister. If she doesn't want you to know about it, then you will never know."

"She has to be the most stubborn pony I have ever meet. Not to mention blind."

"What was that?" Rivet asked.

"What was what?"

Rivet sighed. "Never mind. Listen, I'm the last person who wants to go digging around in Silvers life, but somethings really wrong. She was nearly broken yesterday. She lost her dads rifle. Now, she runs off in the middle of the night alone, nearly gets killed, and comes back in a better mode than I've seen her in days. Not to mention the missing time on her trip."

"She never said how her horn got cracked open again." Rose added.

Dusk sighed. "This just feels so...deceitful. Like I'm going against her."

"It's alright Dusk." Rose said. "We just need to know what happened. Somethings wrong."

"You guys didn't notice?" Violet asked. She sounded farther away from the others.

"What?" Rivet asked.

"When she showed off her guns, took off her vest for bed, got all nice and cosy?"

"What do you mean, she just-" Rivet stopped mid sentence. "Oh dear Celestia..."

"It can't be." Dusk muttered.

"Am I missing something?" Rose asked.

I could almost feel Violet rolling her eyes at that remark. "Your friends magicless."