Crown of the Hive

“Fall back, fall back to the castle!“

”Oh Celestia, they are everywhere!“

“No! Stay awaARGH….”

Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to block out the bloodcurdling screams of the fighting and dying ponies around her as she lead her small group of civilians towards Twilights castle, towards safety. Gritting her teeth, the Pegasus impaled another one of these monsters on her spear. It was a young Unicorn stallion, barley out of his teens. He must have been quite the looker once but now, all that was left was a milky eyed, howling monstrosity with large portions of his paled fur coming of showing the decaying flesh underneath to the world, that tried to rip her to shreds with his bare hand. With a quick yank, Rainbow freed her weapon from the now lifeless corps and looked over her shoulder to her group. Right behind her stood the flower trio, Rose, Lily and Daisy together with Carrot Top. The four mares looked all possible shades of green, their eyes glued the fresh body at Rainbows hooves and the still dripping tip of her spear.

“Stop gawking and keep moving. We need to get you to the castle!” Rainbow Dash barked a bit more aggressive than she had intended. Her charges looked at her, the flower trio seemingly close to fainting while Carrot Top had tears running down her face.

“Oh nonono, no breaking down now!” Rainbow rushed out “You can do that and more once you’re safe inside Twi´s castle but if you do it now, your zombie chow. Get moving!” For one horrible second, Rainbow Dash was sure the mares would just break down bawling or plain pass out. But instead, it seemed Rainbows lucky star had not yet abandoned her as Carrot Top wiped away most of her tears with the sleeve of her shirt that was not in tatters and Lily slung her arms around Daisy and Rose, whispering something unheard to them and ushered them forwards again.

“Out of all the ponies in Ponyville, why had it to be them?” Rainbow muttered under her breath as she looked around another corner to see if the coast was clear. She did not considered herself an overly choosy mare. All she ever wanted was to join the Wonderbolts, become the new captain after impressing Spitfire with her very own brand of radical awesomeness so much that it convinced the other mare enough to retire from her position so that Rainbow could become the new leader of the Wonderbolts and life as Equestrias best and most famous flier. Maybe having one or two nice stallions too, for some in depth relaxation after a long day of being her awesome self.

That was not too much to ask for, wasn´t it?

Well, obviously it was because instead of living her dream, all Rainbow did now was playing babysitter for mares that caused a mass panic over their own shadows and killing zombiefied ponies and beasts that looked like the deepest depths of Tartarus itself had spewed them into the world, in the almost-ruins of her hometown.

Neither Celestia and Luna or even Twilight Sparkle herself knew were they suddenly came from but for nearly seven month now, the monster were running wild in Equestria, turning the land inside out in the most gruesome sense of the word.

Rainbow and her group rounded another corner, passing a group of four soldiers, all clad in the golden armor of Celestias Day Guard. They were hastily erecting makeshift barricades, without a doubt hoping to slow the relentless attacking monsters down for a few valuable seconds.

“You think that will slow em down Archer?” a Unicorn amongst them asked his comrade, an Earth Pony with a quiver and a longbow slung over his shoulder.

“You are welcome to stay and find out if you want Gem.” Archer snapped, heaving a barrel into place.

“Less yapping and more working you two or both of you stay here.” Another Earth Pony, with sergeant insignia on his pauldron barked at Gem and Archer, the two guards shutting up and returning to their work.

“We´re all going to die… we will die here…” Daisy muttered as the mares passed the conglomerate of desks, barrels, crates and the occasional timber beam.

“No we´re not.” Rainbow said to, looking around. Then she pointed at a road sign that read ‘Hay Ave.’ with a victorious smirk. “See, just one more block and we´re at the castle. Easy peasy.”

It was this moment that the five mares heard the soldiers behind them cry out in panic, followed the sounds of colliding blades and combat magic.

As one, Rainbow Dash, Lily, Rose, Daisy and Carrot Top turned their heads and what they saw made their hearts nearly stop.

The barricade not more than maybe one, two hundred meters behind them was no more. More than a dozen of the cursed ponies, civilians and former guards alike, had simply washed over the meager defense and were now tearing into the four unlucky guards.

A wild swing of a notched sword send Gems arm flying, the Unicorn breaking down in shock and being torn apart before he could even scream.

With her heart beating a furious staccato and her ears falling flat into her prismatic mane, Rainbow Dash turned to her charges. “Run.”

The other mares obeyed without hesitation.

°°°

She passed the wide open gate, her shield held at the ready and her head sweeping around. The smell of decaying flesh, blood and smoke flooded her helmet but it did not make her gag, instead if was strangely invigorating.

Bodies littered the ground. They were similar to the Firekeeper in the forest, yet different. They were… brighter, more colorful, most of them at least. Some of these strange people bore the undeniable signs of the curse.

Blank, white eyes. Patches of missing skin. Some whose clothes were torn looked nearly shriveled, so taunt was their skin that one could see the bones beneath without a problem. And most of all, the smell. It was a unique kind of stench. Unworldly and oppressing. Something without a name.

If the Darkness would have had a smell, it would have been this.

She poked one of the corpses with the tip of her weapon, just to be sure. Sometimes, they were not fully dead or worse, were lying in wait to attack an unwary passerby from behind.

Hollows. They are called Hollows. Undead who died to many times and lost their mind over times.<< The thought bubbled to the forefront of her mind, surprising her. Ever since her meeting with the Firekeeper, her dulled mind and senses seemed to slowly but surely return to their former sharpness.

A groan, accompanied by shuffling rang out from her left.

Her head whipped around, coming to an halt on a Hollow clad in the torn remains of what once must have been a beautiful dress worthy of royalty, showing bloodstained white skin… or was it fur… underneath. The female Hollow opened her mouth… muzzle… in another groan, her right hand clutching a bloodstained cooking knife.

Two bodies on the ground began to stir and with wooden looking movements, stood up. Two more Hollows in simple clothing began to stumble forwards.

The smile underneath the helmet returned.

Souls!<<

°°°

Rainbow Das was not a happy mare right now. She felt sick to the stomach, she was bleeding from at least half a dozen wounds, one of her wings felt sprained and right now she could really, really go for a ice-cold bottle of cider. Heck, she would even take a lukewarm one. As long as she had something to wash the taste of blood out of her mouth. Most of it was her own because she had bitten the inside of her cheek when the swing of a mace had graced her jaw just barley but some was also theirs. >>That´s what you get for not keeping your trap shut RD. You just had to mock them, didn´t you? Eugh!!!<< Rainbow Dash shuddered as she remembered being doused with the foul blood after thrusting her spear into another undead ponies chest and pulling it out, resulting in a spray of blackened blood.

“You… shoulda l-left… me… “ the sergeant coughed out, leaning heavily on Rainbows shoulder. “I´m just… slowing you down.”

After she had been sure that the flower trio and Carrot Top were at least half-way to Twilights castle, the Pegasus had turned around and rushed into the fray to support the remaining Royal Guards but to her horror, the only thing that she could do was pulling the badly wounded sergeant of the small group back to his hooves after ending another cursed pony that was about to bring a bloodied wood axe down on him and retreat with the limping stallion while the sounds of Archer, Gem and the other Guard whose name she never got, being torn to shreds by the undead filled her ears. These sounds would give her nightmare for weeks, Rainbow was sure of that.

Not stopping, Rainbow at least tried to flash her trademark cocky grin at the seasoned soldier. “Nah, no can do. Element of Loyalty and all that.” Rainbow said, letting out a low grunt as the sergeant stumbled over a body on the ground, nearly dragging both of them down. Digging her spear into the ground, Rainbow just managed to catch both of them. “Hey! Don´t give out on me now soldier-boy, we´re nearly at Twi´s palace. Y´see, once we´re there, they will patch you up in no time and then you can go back kicking flanks before you can say…”

A long moan, accompanied with the shuffling of hooves and the clatter of armor rung out behind Rainbow Dash and her wounded companion.

The fur on Rainbows neck stood on end as she turned her head.

Two Guards in heavily damaged armor stood there not twenty meters away. One was armed with a sword and a shield, the other dragging a battle-axe behind him.

Two sets of milky white eyes transfixed themselves on Rainbow Dash.

“Oh horseapples!”

The two undead Guards began to move towards them.

Rainbow began to run or at least to move as fast as the wounded soldier that she was supporting with her arm and shoulder could do. She could already see the plaza in front of Twilights palace and the makeshift barricades that had been erected in front of the entrance, to form a last defense post against the relentless charges of the undead ponies.

Maybe two hundred meters was all that separated Rainbow and the wounded Guard from safety.

The armored hoovesteps behind them drew nearer.

Come on, just a bit more!<< Rainbow thought, desperately fighting down the urge to try to fly away from the monsters breathing down her neck.

“Le-leave me kiddo… save yourself…” the sergeant rasped out.

“For the last time, I will not abandon anypony and let them being eaten by those zomponies.” Rainbow angrily snapped back, using her weapon like a hiking staff to aid her movement.

The sergeant chuckled at that. It sounded weirdly wet. “You´ll make a damn fine soldier one day kiddo but now…” The arm around Rainbows shoulders went away and instead, two hands pressed into her back, right between her wings and gave her a strong shove that made the Pegasus stumble forward several steps before she could catch herself. Rainbow Dash whipped around to face the soldier, an angry retort already on her lips.

The stallion just stood there, a smile visible under his helmet, his hands still outstretched. “Save yourself. That´s an order soldier.”

A bloodstained battle-axe came down from behind and bit deeply into the stallions left shoulder while nearly at the same time, a sword burst out of his abdomen.

Rainbow screamed. Tears of desperation welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as the mortally wounded sergeant broke to his knees. Her hands clutched her spear tightly as she readied herself to rush back into battle, into a meaningless rescue attempt and most likely her own demise.

“For Celestias sake, run you stubborn mule!” the sergeant yelled at her, stopping Rainbow dead in her tracks. Blood gushed out of his mouth as the undead Guards freed their weapons, sending the fresh carcass of the sergeant onto the ground with the metallic clatter of armor. Small specks of blueish white light rose from the sergeants body like fireflies, dozens of them and rushed into the bodies of his murderers.

Rainbow stared at the lifeless body as blood began to pool around the prone form. The sounds of battle all around the mare decreased until they were nothing but a dull background noise against the sound of her hammering heart and the blood rushing through her ears. A knot began to form in Rainbow Dash´s stomach and she felt her knees starting to shake, begging her to just let them give in and fall down to curl up into a sobbing, quivering mess until it was over.

The fighting.

The killing.

Everything.

Sharp pain brought Rainbow back into the here and now as a swords tip grazed her biceps just slightly. Hastily and with a suppressed cry of pain, Rainbow jumped back and held her spear in a defensive way in front of herself.

The two undead Guards had used her moment of catatonia to get in close but luckily for Rainbow Dash, only the swordfighter had swung his weapon at her and clumsily at best so that she just gained a new cut instead of losing her whole arm.

The axe fighter closed in slightly from Rainbow´s left, his deadly weapon raised with both hands above his head, poised for a devastating blow.

Out of reflex, Rainbow raised her spear to parry the attack.

The heavy weapon rushed down in a wide arc, cutting through the wood of Rainbows spear without any real resistance and sliced a bloody gash into the Pegasus flesh from solar plexus down to her left hip. The loose shirt and the tracking shorts Rainbow wore failed to offer any kind of protection.

Much to her own surprise, Rainbow just lost the feeling in her legs and broke down without even an attempt to scream as her whole body entered a shock state.

Shallowly breathing Rainbow Dash looked up into the sky, still clutching her broken and useless weapon with both hands.

So this was how she was going to die. Any other time, Rainbow might have laughed but right now, all she could to was lying there as her body began to feel numb and something warm run over her stomach and her hips, drenching her fur and forming a puddle under her.

Two figures moved into her field of vision. Rainbow managed to lift her head to see the two undead Guards closing in, their weapons already lifted to finish the job.

Rainbows eyes were transfixed to the notched and bloodstained weapons as they arced upwards. She knew she should look away or close her eyes but she could not.

Because of this, she was able to witness a silver blur slamming into the axe wielding undead with a loud ‘clang’ of metal on metal, sending the undead pony to the ground and redirecting the attention of the swordfighter to the newcomer.

The blur, now recognizable as a warrior in a silvery gleaming armor, wielding a shield and a strange looking spear with a upside down scythe attached to it, wasted no time however and engaged the swordfighter.

The sword flashed forward but only hit the raised shield, leaving a visible notch.

The silver clad warrior responded by bashing the shield outwards just the moment the blade made contact, causing the swordfighter to open his stance wide as his sword arm was violently flung back and to the side.

With a quick thrust, the silver warrior buried the head of his spear deep in the stomach of the swordfighter, small sparks running from the weapon all over the body of the pony. Kicking the now limp body from the weapon, the newcomer turned towards the axe wielder who was stiffly coming back to his hooves.

The warrior silently brought up the spear and in a mighty downwards arc, sliced the scythe blade seemingly effortless through the helmeted head of the axe wielding undead.

The undead collapsed back to the ground and moments later, dozens of small light specks came from his and the swordfighter’s bodies, homing in to the silver warrior and merging into his body.

A sudden coughing fit wracked Rainbows body and brought the warriors attention down on her.

The newcomer turned towards her and cocked his head, clearly looking at her gaping wound. Then, with a fluid motion, the warrior rammed the spear in the ground and took something from his hip, something that looked like a bell in a cage made of… bones?

Before Rainbow could comprehend the weird nature of the bell further, the knight kneeled down in front of her, the bell held out over Rainbows body.

At first, nothing happened but then, light began to shine from the bell and right at the moment it began to become nearly blinding, the warrior shook the bell resulting in a light chiming sound. The light expanded outwards and all of a sudden, Rainbow Dash felt warmth flowing back into her body. It felt soothing like napping on a cloud in the afternoon sun. The pain in her abdomen receded and somehow she found the energy to sit up partially to look down on her wound. Rainbows eyes went wide as she saw that the large cut was completely healed! Even her fur was completely restored.

With a satisfied looking nod, the warrior stood up and secured the bell at his belt again.

Rainbow Dash was speechless. That warrior just healed her completely without a horn! Just by ringing that little bell. >>Oh, Twilight will have a total fit once she hears about this.<< Rainbow thought.

The Pegasus stood up and sheepishly rubbed her arm. “Heh, thanks I guess, for saving me and all that. I own you one now hm?”

The warrior said nothing and instead looked down at something. Rainbow found that he was looking at her destroyed spear.

“Hm? Oh yeah, one of those zombies broke it. Not really my day, ha ha.”

Again, the warrior did not utter a single word, which frankly was starting to annoy Rainbow. Instead he reached to his side and pulled a simple looking longsword from his belt and held it out to Rainbow. It took the mare a moment to understand and only after the warrior had motioned a bit impatiently with the hand holding the sword that Rainbow understood.

Carefully she took the sword and examined it. It was by all means simple and showed signs of long time use and repairs but just by holding it, Rainbow felt the slightest hint of warmth rising in her chest and her confidence returning.

“Wow, you going to lend me your sword? Just like that?” Rainbow asked.

The warrior nodded, the first real sign of communication.

“But won´t you need it?”

At that, the warrior yanked the spear from the ground and leaned it against his shoulder.

“Ah, okay, makes sense I guess.” Rainbow admitted “But I´m gonna return it to you as soon as this is over. My name is Rainbow Dash by the way. Thanks a ton again for saving my flank.”

A ear-piercing scream shattered the idle moment.

“Sweet Celestia, that sounded like Rarity.” Rainbow winced, her ears swiveling around “No other mare I know has such a pair of lungs. Sounds like she is in big trouble, I need to go.” Rainbow attempted to run of only for an armored hand to hold her back.

“Hey! What gives? Lemme go, I need to help my friend!”

Again the warrior cocked his head, looking at Rainbow Dash´s torn outfit, then shaking his head and gesturing at the gleaming armor covering his own body, giving a nod.

It took a moment until the meaning of this settled in Rainbows brain. Whatever was causing Rarity to scream her lungs out like this, it was most likely dangerous and wearing a solid set of armor would probably increase the chances of survival quite a bit.

Rainbow hated it but the silent warrior was right. Ruffling her own mane, she groaned loudly. “Okay, okay, I get it. I´m soft and squishy, you are hard and protected. Just… just go already.” She sighed. “It just does not sit right with me to leave it to some stranger to safe one of my closest friends, no offense buddy.”

If the warrior took offense, he did not show it.

Another scream pierced the air, this one sounding more desperate than the first. “She´s propably at her house. Look out for a building that looks like a gaudy merry-go-round called ‘Carousel Boutique’. Now go before I change my mind.” Rainbow Dash urged, pointing her hand into the rough direction of her friend’s house.

The silver clad warrior gave a short salute with his weapon and sprinted of towards the shown direction.

Rainbow had just lost sight on her mysterious savior as another shout cut through the air.

“Rainbow!” A voice with a heavy country accent rang in the Pegasus ears. Turning around, Rainbow saw Applejack jogging over to her.

The blonde Earth Pony was wearing a hastily thrown on chainmail shirt over her usual attire of a flannel shirt and ripped jeans. The apple farmers trademark Stetson was hanging by its band around her neck. In one hand she was holding a shield, a clearly used warhammer in the other.

“We´ve been all worried sick about ya sugarcube. Specially when Carrot Top an´ the rest of your lil´group barged inta Twi´s palace without ya, blabbering somethin´ about ya told them ta run and that ya went ta help some Guards against them zombie ponies.” Applejack told Rainbow, hugging her friend tightly for a moment. “Then one a´ the lookouts shouted somethin´ bout that ya were attacked by those varmints so ah took ma stuff and ran over as fast as ma hooves could carry me only to find you standing around, fit as a fiddle. Not that ah want ta sound ungrateful RD.” Then she noticed all the blood and the cuts in Rainbows clothes and went pale.

“Don´t worry AJ, I´m fine again.” Rainbow was quick to assure her friend.

“Fine again?” Applejack asked wide-eyed “Rainbow, ya look worse like ah did back when ah had to help Fluttershy patch up ol´ Bessy after she got attacked by a Timberwolf.”

“Yeah, like I said, I´m fine again. There was this guy in this pretty cool armor and with this rad spear, he used a weird magic to heal me completely after one of those zomponies managed to hit me.”

“So that was the silver blur ah saw running of when I came over?” Applejack asked after a relieved sigh.

“Yep, we heard a scream from Rarities, he went all ‘You can´t go. You´ll just get minced if you go in there. I have the armor, I go.’ on me, which I admit might be the truth, so I pointed him into the right direction and send him of. What? Why are you looking at me like this AJ?”

“It´s nothin´ sugarcube but I jus´ find it hard ta believe that ya just admitted defeat so easily.” Applejack said, doing poorly in hiding a growing smirk on her orange muzzle.

“Hey, I´m the Element of Loyalty, not Brainlessness. Even I could see the logic behind that guys arguments.” Rainbow pouted, only to slightly double over and let out a wince.

Applejack was quick to support her friend on her strong shoulder. “Well ah guess that mysterious stallion did not get ya all patched up as thoroughly as ya though. Come on Rainbow, let´s get ya hinney back to the castle so that Fluttershy can give ya a proper check-up.”

“Sound good AJ.” Rainbow conceded as the two friends began to make their way back to Twilights castle.

“Hey AJ?”

“Hm?”

“Think that dude will have any problems with Rares?” Rainbow asked.

Applejack took a moment to ponder the question before shrugging. “After what ya told me and what we now about Rarity, mare will probably be all over the poor sap once he reaches her house. Bein´ a mysterious stallion in shinin´ armor an´ all that.”

“Yeah, I guess you´re right AJ.”

Both mares shared a laugh on their friend’s costs as they trudged through the remains of Ponyville.