Arms of Arceus

The zombies had clearly planned their assault. The hordes had approached silently, their armor hiding their presence as they came from the north and east. The first human troops to come under attack were the gargoyle suit sentries. Three were pulled down from the wall amid frantic gunfire and the screams of their pilots. Though caught by surprise, the soldiers of Fort Maria were no less prepared. As concussive blasts and RPGs tore through the steel wall, the warriors of Ashes gave a defiant cry against the sentient plague that animated their foes. Concentrated gunfire and grenade volleys tore holes in the undead troops, even as the ones firing them were lifted by flyers and thrown into the putrid throng. The zombie horde threatened to wash over the defenders, but as the first line of humans buckled and fell back, it was the ghost-types that replaced them.

Led by Ra and Sakura, the spirits tore souls and limbs from the rotters that shambled through the broken wall. Dozens of repulsor blades, held in decrepit gauntlets, attempted to cleave the Pokémon’s charge into pieces as the zombies made their way down the hill and into the town. For every ghost-type that fell to these blades, their bodies dispersing into black mist, two more replaced them. Repulsor blasts and gunfire tore through the Pokémon as they broke over the zombie horde, but it made no difference to the spirits. Multiple Light Screens and Reflects had been cast, enough to cover the five thousand ghost-types already on the field of battle as they waded into the cascade of death.

The first wave of undead were torn apart by Shadow Claws and Shadow Balls. Weapons fell from bony hands as Embargos crippled their wielders. Ra led his Cofagrigus into the worst of it; their arms tearing off rotting limbs while their leader crushed large groups of zombies into pulp with Psychic. Sakura led her Froslass as they froze dozens of zombies at a time while their allies shattered the grotesque, frozen corpses left in their wake. Teams of Rotom darted between cadavers, phasing into heads to fry zombie brains with Thunderbolts that arced out in all directions. Hundreds of zombies fell in the first seconds of the Rotom’s assault, and hundreds more died with each passing second, but they were soon stopped as massive heat blasts tore through the horde, fired by four Cyclops zombies in the back. The bodies of the Rotom were dissipated by the blasts only to rematerialize by Ra’s side moments later, scorched and panting as they prepared to reenter the fray.

To Gallah, this battle was glorious. These vile creatures preyed on the weak and vulnerable. No doubt they had slain their own friends and families in the throes of their cursed existence, putting them beyond redemption. He and his Gallade were connected to hundreds of enemy minds at once, all of them focused only on devouring flesh in any way they could. He felt the nature of their hateful existence as he read their minds, and it made him sick. These creatures deserved to be slain; justice demanded it! For this, Gallah and his elite guards were glad to bring their blades to bear. They attacked with cunning and skill, falling behind the ghost-types when the zombies became too bold and their bites came too close.
As he fought, Gallah fell into a practiced rhythm of dodges and slashes. His mind wandered as he left the battle to his subconscious. He wondered where the three princesses had gone, and if they had been successful. The fortress of Destroyer’s Grace was a hard week’s march from Moon Shrine. He suspected they would find Mewtwo there, as the traitors of God’s Breath always entered into the service to Dark Arceus at some point. His mood darkened as he started thinking of Mewtwo. The psychic-type had been one of the most promising Pokémon to ever serve the king, and for a while he had been a great friend to Gallah and Joan. Then he had rejected his human name, and with it all ties to the king’s desire to value and respect humanity, as those Pokémon outside of the city did.

Gallah was broken from his thoughts as several hands reached out and dragged him backwards. He looked to see his warriors pulling him from the fight just in time to save him from being crushed by the teeth of a giant in tattered red spandex. Joan landed next to them, her hand twirling lazily through the air as she manipulated four large balls of zombies held together by her mind. The giant opened his jaw and began crawling slowly after the Gallade, crushing the smaller zombies in his path. Ghost-types poured over and past him, some of them tearing at his flesh as they went. The human soldiers fired grenades and rockets at him, and the ground shook as two more giants approached the walls.
With a disgusted grimace and a wave of her hand, Joan threw her zombie balls at the giants. The first ball crashed through the skull of the one that had tried to eat her brother, caving in his already damaged head. The second and third giants met similar fates, falling onto their allies with thundering crashes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Joan screamed as she lowered herself to the ground. “You were focusing on something besides the battle, and it nearly cost you your life!”

“I… I know,” Gallah replied, blushing in embarrassment. “But the battle…”

“Is over. Look around! The horde is already defeated. They never expected us, nor could they have.”

It’s true, Gallah thought as he stared out over the battlefield in surprise. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed. Of the thousands of zombies that had attacked the town, only several hundred remained. They were quickly being destroyed, however. Gallah smiled, despite himself, as he watched Laurel screaming in fear as she Moonblasted the zombies into oblivion while Ada cheered her on.

“You, uh… you still have…” Gallah said, pointing up at the final ball of zombies his sister controlled. She followed his finger and looked up in surprise. Then, with a simple thought she willed a fist-sized black hole to appear at the ball’s center. Maintained by her psychic power, it hungrily devoured the undead before she closed it.

“Fort Rose has come under attack!” came the cries of the humans behind the wall. News was traveling through the ranks now that there were no more zombies to fight. Gallah heard the commanders begin orders to send reinforcements to their friends, only for the orders to be halted as they received new information.

“This two-pronged assault has failed miserably for the zombies,” Gallah observed.

“They’ve been destroyed here,” Joan said, though she seemed saddened at the death and destruction that covered the ground at their feet. “As for Fort Rose… They should be fine in the end. Ra told me that Welshi departed for that town with a forest of Trevenant, and a small orchard of Gourgeist.”

She paused for a moment, then looked to her brother. There were tears in her eyes, now.

“You shouldn’t be so angry at Charles,” she said in the tone she used to guilt him into things.

“He’s a traitor,” Gallah said, sullenly as he felt his sister’s mind touch his through the psychic link. She didn’t have to read his mind to know why he had been distracted, though she could feel his emotions. “Besides, he hates his human name. He rejected it back when he decided that we weren’t his friends anymore. Back when… when we were first elevated to the Council.”

“I still believe things can return to the way they were between us. I believe that one day, he’ll see the error of his ways and we can all be friends again.”

“The last time you saw him the two of you nearly tore Equestria apart.”

“He’d tried to kidnap the princesses rather than meet with them civilly. He was being a jerk, and I was upset about it. That doesn’t mean I don’t still want to be his friend.”

Gallah sighed, smiled, but said nothing. As the final zombies died in the field behind them, the sound of explosions and gunfire echoed through the night from the direction of Fort Rose.

Trixie Lulamoon had always aspired to be worshipped and respected by other ponies. She had been raised to think of herself as a star whose time would come, and for that reason she had spent most of her life trying to shine. Her cutie mark had reinforced that desire, but the praise had been too slow in coming for her. That was when her silver tongue had developed, and with it, an ability to convince ponies that she possessed skills that weren’t truly hers. In the early days of her road show she had been admired, and even worshipped by two gullible young unicorns.

Then she had been proven a fraud by Twilight Sparkle, and forced to take a different rout. After she had been freed from the poisonous grip of the Alicorn Amulet, she had worked to redeem herself, but the desire for worship and admiration remained. The closest she had come to realizing that goal had been in the kingdom of Dimondia, though, like so many of her other exploits, that had been a fiasco. Now Trixie Lulamoon found herself walking into another fiasco as she followed Welshi’s forest of Trevenants into battle with two warscarred Blaziken at her sides and an overly eager young Sableye on her back.

“You sure are brave, big sis!” Ragnuk said as he hopped up and down. “Look at all those dead humans! They look awful! And we’re going to fight them!”

“Yes, we are,” Trixie said with a long-suffering sigh. “It’ll be alright, though. So long as you stay with me, and we stay with Buakaw and Namsak, we’ll be fine.”

“We shall crush them without mercy!” Buakaw said, grinning proudly.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to engage them directly. I’d rather not get… uh, dirty if I don’t have to. I’m here in an advisory role, and only because Lady Welshi requested me.”

“I asked for you because of that wonderful cape and hat you made!” Welshi said as she rode up to the group atop a rather large, gnarled Tevenant. Her twelve Liligant guards walked alongside the massive tree creature, their graceful strides perfectly in synch. “It looks so stylish over your armor, and it was made with Whimsicott hair, too. That’s when I knew that you should come with me to Ashes so we can talk about the fashion line I’m making with Rarity. I want you to be a part of the design process, too!”

“Is that so…” Trixie said, unsure of what to make of Welshi’s reasoning. She had felt out of place ever since she had joined the Royal Guard, and she felt even more out of place here. Her friends seemed to think she fit in, though, and she didn’t want to disappoint them.

“We like your cape and hat, too!” Ragnuk said. “Don’t we, big bros?”

“Yes,” Namsak said. “It is fitting of one with the title of Great and Powerful.”

“Indeed,” Buakaw said.

“Well, I’m glad you like them. I wear ones just like them back home, or I did before I joined the Royal Guard.”

“You’re a queen and a royal guard captain?” Ragnuk said, his pale, sapphire eyes gleaming in excitement.

“I was a queen, little one. Though my kingdom was… underwhelming, I suppose. I’m not one any longer, nor do I wish to be again.”

“But you’re a guard captain, right?”

“No, I’m just a cadet. I am a professional performer, though. I’ve even learned a few magical illusions since leaving Dimondia. They would have served me well in escaping that place…”

“Oooo! Can we see? Can we see? Please!”

Trixie noticed the two Blaziken watching her now, their eyes as eager as Ragnuk’s. She turned her head to look at Welshi, only to see the tiny Whimsicott hanging off of the topmost branch of her Trevenant and staring at Trixie with a child’s fascination.

“Sure!” Trixie said, as casually as she could. She hadn’t lied or exaggerated herself to her new friends once, and they were still so eager to believe great things of her. She looked around anxiously for a target, unsure of what sort of illusion she should create. She was better with stage props and mirrors, but she had truly worked to improve her unicorn magic since her loss to Twilight Sparkle.

Trixie searched the battlefield for a target as they marched near the front of the forest. Twelve thousand Trevenants had been transported to Ashes, all of them ready to aid the humans there. The front line had already engaged the zombie horde. Groups of zombies mulled about among the trees, confused by their attackers but fighting back nonetheless. Trixie noticed a light blue blur moving several hundred yards ahead of her group, trying desperately to punch or bite the Trevenants. It fell over a root, rolling through several other Trevenants as the one that tripped it laughed. The zombie sniffed the air as it recovered, uncaring of the mockery that had been made of it. Slowly, its head turned toward Trixie.
The unicorn gulped as she saw its gaze fall on her. It’s torn lips curved up in a smile and it dashed for her. She reacted without thinking, casting a spell at the monster the second she had registered its smile. She struck her target just feet from her throat, where it stopped mid-stride. The dumbfounded zombie looked the pony and her companions over, sniffed the air once more, then turned on its heel and dashed toward the zombies that were struggling against the Trevenant. It crashed into a rotter in a revealing red uniform, dragged it to the ground and began eating.

“Well, that wasn’t quite what I was going for but…”

“What were you going for, big sis?” Ragnuk asked, his voice even more awestruck than it had been before. “That was amazing! Wasn’t it, big bros?”

“Zombie eats other zombie!” Namsak said, laughing. “When this makes the paper, that’ll be a good headline!”

“It’s not like that other zombie has any blood,” Welshi said. She sounded satisfied and impressed as she watched the scene unfold. “It must have dried up. Look! The zombie that you enchanted doesn’t seem to like his meal, but he’s still eating it. It’s like he can’t stop himself!”

“I made him think it was… uh, food,” Trixie said, proud and disgusted as she tried not to look at the gruesome feast without tripping over something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the blue clad monster turn its head to look back at her, a handful of rotted flesh in its mouth. She gasped in fear as she saw its eyes narrow. Then it dashed for her once more.

Before she knew what had happened it was mere inches from her neck. Then came the fiery legs of Namsak and Buakaw crashing down on the abomination, torching it and breaking it into pieces.

“That one was fast in a straight line,” Buakaw said as he removed his foot from the shattered remains of the zombie.

“It wasn’t fast enough,” his friend said.

When she had been sent through the portal, Twilight Sparkle had told Trixie that the shield that had been given to her would protect her, but as she watched the battle unfolding, she was grateful that she didn’t have to test that claim. She had made strong friends without really trying, and it was this that she was most grateful for. Welshi cheered in delight as her forest crushed the zombie horde against the walls of Fort Rose.