Chapters Death is wasted on the Dead
Felicity awoke from her nap from a feeling of the ground shaking beneath her. Drowsily she sat up and stretched her limbs; Just moments ago she had laid down on the floor of an old factory to catch some shut eye before continuing her search for food to bring back to her fallen town. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and much to her surprise was greeted by the image of her brother laying lifelessly beside her. Worse than that, they were both laying down on the inside of a moving cage. She started to look around frantically, trying to find her weapons, but they had been taken. She looked over to her brother's corpse and saw that even his had been taken. This frightened her, they had been kidnapped and disarmed, everything about this spelled trouble. When she managed to recollect her thoughts she noticed something rather odd. The more she looked around, the more she could have sworn that she was seeing colorful horses dressed in fancy clothing staring at her in what appeared to be disgust.
She cocked an eyebrow, clearly confused. She looked to the front of the cage to see a large stallion in golden armor that seemed to be pulling the mobile prison. In fact, the whole cart was surrounded by stallions in the same armor. They didn't acknowledge her, just continued walking. It was almost like they couldn't even see her. The continued their journey until they reached a castle that stood higher than any building she had ever seen. It felt like hours of wandering the castle before they finally reached a large set of double doors that opened with a strange glow that sent shivers down Felicity's spine. Upon entering she saw more stallions that she could only assume were guards of some kind, also two thrones in the distance. Upon one throne was a tall white horse with a horn protruding from its head and a large set of wings on its back. On the other was a horse that looked almost identical, but smaller and colored differently.
"Your highness..." One of the guards spoke, "we have found them." This surprised Felicity more than the fact that they had been captured, part of her thought she had gone mad. How could horses actually be speaking?
"That will be all, you may go." The guards bowed and left the room, leaving Felicity alone with the two princesses. As the guards left a white unicorn entered and made her way over toward the cage.
"You asked to see me, Princess?" The Princess nodded to the unicorn before speaking to her.
"I did. These creatures were spotted laying in the road and I would appreciate it if you could analyze them quickly to see if they are in good health." The unicorn nodded. This was starting to get weird for Felicity, she figured now was as good a time as any to intervene.
"I can tell you right now that I'm fine." Her words made everypony in the room jump, they must not have expected her to be capable of speaking. The Princesses cleared their throats and took on their royal postures, before the smaller Princess finally spoke up.
"Well, we would like to be sure that you are in good condition. Do we have you permission to provide you with a quick check-up at the very least?" The dark Princess questioned. Felicity sat there and thought about it. These ponies didn't seem to mean any harm, they did shove her in a cage, but she'd probably do the same if she were in their position.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt..." The Princesses smiled, the taller one opening the cage using a strange yellow glow that came from her horn and enveloped the door. The unicorn nervously entered the cage to Felicity who sat still in the corner of the cage. The Unicorn used her magic to levitate a stethoscope to her ears and place the end on Felicity's chest.
"What is your name?" The taller Princess asked.
"Felicity..." She responded, paying almost zero attention to the pony medically examining her.
"A beautiful name. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. This is my sister Luna." She explained to Felicity, who remained silent as the doctor observed her.
"Thank you, Princess." Felicity replied. Luna eyed Felicity, scanning her with her eyes. Felicity was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, and a brown leather jacket. All of which were covered in red stains.
"An interesting attire..." Luna stated, "What would possess one to wear such clothing?" she asked, staring at the dry blood that decorated most of her cloths.
"I...Where I come from...it's a very dangerous place." She wanted to explain as much as possible, but she would probably have to do it slowly. If she just jumped out saying that her world was plagued with a virus that could bring back the dead and make them eat people she would probably end up being shoved into a quarantine or something.
"I may not be an expert on whatever species you are, but in my professional opinion you seem to be in perfect health." The unicorn said aloud, moving on to the other human that still laid on the cage floor without movement.
"What's the story on that one?" Celestia asked, staring at the body of the boy.
"That's my brother, Ronnie. He protects me..." Felicity shot her gaze to her brother's body. He still looked as he did back in her world. His red pants were covered in old blood stains, as was his black T-Shirt, and black jacket; His dirty blond hair sat atop of his head in a wavy mess. A black cloth covered his mouth and neck and his eyes were being hidden by a very reflective pair of sunglasses. His finger nails were long and jagged, more than capable of tearing through flesh.
"Protects you? From what?"
"Like I said, where I come from is very dangerous. He's all I have left..." Her words made the Princesses take on a saddened expression, which only got worse when the nurse looked up at them with an expression of her own. The nurse made her way back to Felicity.
"I'm sorry dear, but it seems that your brother is...he's gone." The Princesses gasped. Felicity couldn't help but smile. They all looked at her in confusion.
"I know; He's been dead for over a month now." She explained, still smiling. The ponies were beginning to get uncomfortable. "That doesn't mean he's gone though." The nurse exited the cage and made her way to the Princesses.
"I think she's gone delirious, she may be dehydrated. That or she's put up a mental block on her brother's death, it could be either or..."
"I can prove it." Felicity heard the nurses failed attempt at speaking to the Princesses privately. "But we need to go somewhere private..."
"Is there anything else, your highness?" He asked as he bowed down before Celestia.
"That will be all for now. Now please leave us." The gaurds obeyed and exited the room.
"What exactly is it that you are trying to convince us of?" Luna asked Felicity
"I'm sorry, but we had to get out of the eyes and ears of the public. This isn't something a lot of people have accepted in the past" Felicity seemed worried as she spoke and Celestia noticed it immediately.
"What is bothering you?" She asked with a loving tone that only a mother could have.
"Where do I start?" She asked with a sigh.
"Try from the beggining." Luna added with a stern voice.
"My brother and I are not from here. Where we're from is a cold heartless place with little to live for. Years before I was born a virus broke out and started infecting everyone. The virus was spread commonly by being bitten by someone who was infected. The infected weren't human, they were mindless beasts who spent the rest of their existence trying to satisfy a never ending hunger for living flesh." She paused to make sure they were still following and despite the serious expression they both held, she could tell they heavily doubted every word. "Those who became infected would become nauseous, they would vomit blood, and finally their heart would stop and they'd become a monster. Growing up I lived by codes set by the leader of our town and was assigned to be a scavenger with my brother. My brother was the only one who looked out for me and he was always there when I needed him. He trained me; taught me how to survive and how to fight...then it happened." The princesses raised their brows to each other.
"What happened?" Luna asked, still holding the sternness in her voice. Felicity grabbed Ronnie's right arm and showed them what appeared to be a bite mark.
"He was bitten by one if the infected." The royal sisters cringed at the sight before Felicity released the arm and continued. "After that he ran. He didn't want me to watch him be executed by the town. He told me to tell them he was dead, so I did. A lonely tear found its way down Felicity's cheek, " Then one night he came back, he came back for me. We kept it a secret for so long. He would protect me from the infected and make sure when I left town that I would get back safely."
"Pardon my interruption, but you said those who were bitten became mindless monsters, did you not?" Despite having little faith in the truth of this story, Luna was still curious about how Felicity would react if flaws were pointed out and if there was an explanation for it.
"You're right, I did. I don't know how it happened or even why, but he was different. He IS different. All he ever wanted to do was protect me and even after he died that's all he's ever done."
"You do understand that this story is very farfetched. I assume you brought us up here privately because you have some sort of evidence?" Luna was starting to get tired of these stories and by the look on her sisters face she could tell she was to.
"He doesn't like big groups. He prefers small groups if not complete isolation." She walked over to her brother's body, pulling the cloth from his face as well as the sun glasses. The sisters stared at his face, almost vomiting. It was pale with dark veins protruding from beneath his skin, from his mouth to his neck there was a dark red liquid that had long since dried, his dead eyes were wide open and looked like rotten milk behind two glass orbs. He was in great condition for an infected, most would have already been missing chunks of skin and flesh, but for some reason he wasn't decaying like the others. However, to these ponies he was nothing more than a corpse aging on their floor. "Ronnie, get up. It's okay, they're not going to hurt us." The body left out a low groan as its arm started moving. He planted his hand against the ground and forced his body into a sitting position. The sisters stared at the body in shock and awe, eyes wide a mouths agape. Felicity stared at the sister with victory plastered all over her face, and Ronnie stared at the sisters with a smile glued to his pale features.
"What are you?" Celestia asked the creature with fear filling her lungs. His smile vanished as he stared at her before finally speaking in a hallow, raspy voice.
"Dead..." He smiled again and let a long miscolored tongue slide out of his mouth and lick at the dried blood decorating his chin. Felicity wrapped her arms around Ronnie and he did the same in turn.
Ronnie struggled against the chains holding him to the wall. It had taken almost two full hours to get them on and it took almost triple that to get him into the dungeon. Felicity was being surrounded by a group of guards who were holding her back as she desperately tried to fight her way to her brother. She kicked, screamed, and flailed; but nothing she did worked.
"Let him go, he didn't do anything wrong!" She said as she continued trying to push her way through. Luna cautiously approached Felicity, keeping herself on guard just in case she decided to attack her.
"You're right, he hasn't, yet. You've said it yourself, the Infected are very dangerous and are capable of dominating a whole planet in mere months. We have to exercise extreme caution with a being such as this." She wanted Felicity to understand that she was just doing her duty to protect her subjects.
"I also said that he doesn't hurt anyone unless they attack him first, even then, if I tell him not to then he won't!" Celestia desperately wanted to believe her and had even tried convincing Luna to let Ronnie stay in the same room where they were going to book Felicity.
"Luna, I do not think this is right. I think that we should let Felicity and Ronnie stay together." Luna's head shot at Celestia in surprise.
"Sister, are you really declaring that we release him and put the lives of our subjects at stake. You heard the human, one bite is all it takes and it will start an epidemic." Celestia lowered her head an closed her eyes. "We simply cannot have a creature that dangerous wandering around. Not is he capable of spreading a disease, but that very disease is capable of dominating entire worlds. It is both unwise and foolish to keep him anywhere, but here. This is the only place where we can be sure he will bring no harm to others or spread the infection."
"Once upon a time there was a dark being, one who wanted to cast the world into eternal night..." Luna's eyes widened. She knew Celestia was talking about her, but didn't understand just where she was going with this story. " She deceived her fellow ponies, kidnapped the ruler of that land, and would either dominate or destroy all who opposed her. But, no matter how dark her mind was, the light in her heart never died out. It was only through love and friendship that she was released from the monster that had claimed her so long ago and show the world that she was more than just another nightmare. She was not darkness, she was the night. She wasn't a monster, she was my sister..." The whole room was silent, even Ronnie was listening intently to the story. He understood what Celestia was doing and in his mind that was just playing dirty; but he wasn't about to complain, especially since she was working in his favor. Luna swallowed a lump she had in her through before sighing in defeat.
"Fine, he may be free to roam the castle as he wishes, but I want eyes on him at all times. " Celestia smiled.
"Thank you, Luna." Luna put on a nervous grin.
"You heard them Ronnie." Felicity called out, "You can get out of their now." He nodded to his sister before ripping the chains out of the walls that they bound him to almost effortlessly.
"You mean he could have broken out at any time..." Luna said as her sister eyed her with a sly grin. "That's not at all comforting." Celestia's face dropped to one of disappointment. She wanted her to see that him choosing not to break out was a good thing, but she only saw it as him having the ability to leave whenever he wanted. Celestia's moment of victory was stolen by stubborn stupidity and beaten to a bloody pulp with a shoe. She dropped it though, happy that things were working in her favor. It didn't seem right to take separate a family, living or not. It had crushed Celestia when she had to send her sister to the moon, so she was well aware how much it hurt to lose a loved one. For them to still be around but you not having the right to see them, to hear them, to be with them. That kind of treatment, it changes you.
Two days pass since the arrival of the human and her beast brother. Celestia and Luna thought it would be best if they stayed in the castle permanently for two reasons. The first being that they wanted to learn as much about their world as possible, so the two would be interviewed by pony scholars and scientists every so often. Second, and most important, to keep an eye on The Infected as they called him. There had been no accidents like the one that had taken place in the dungeon. Their were moments where tension would rise, but it has yet to escalate to any physical altercations. It was late right now, approximately one in the morning. Luna was out on her balcony, watching over the land. There weren't any stirs in the dream world tonight, which left her satisfied, but slightly bored. Something had caught her eye, however. She spotted a black figure leaping from one part of the castle roof to another until it reached the furthest end where it took a seat and seemed to be staring at something. Luna took to the skies and approached the figure, wearing a disgusted look on her face when she realized what it was. Ronnie sat on the top of the building, his mask and glasses removed, and stared up at the bright shining moon.
"Fancy meeting you here." Ronnie's head quickly shot to the lunar Princess now standing beside him. "What are you doing out here? You should be in your quarters, not wandering around in the night." She was obviously not happy seeing him out here, that was clear in both her expression and voice. He grunted and turned his head back to the moon.
"Beautiful..." He managed to choke out of his cold throat. Luna raised a brow at him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The m-m...moon." Luna stared at him silently for a few seconds.
"You think the moon is beautiful?" She asked, wondering just how he would respond.
"It...is. Always l-loved the...moon." It took him a minute to finish saying this, he was still regaining his ability to speak. Felicity had been trying to help him since he turned. Luna, despite not liking Ronnie all that much, was fairly pleased with the compliment.
"It takes a lot to keep the moon in top condition, I'm glad you admire my work." She said, a hint of cockiness in her voice as she took a seat beside him.
"Admire...work, but still a...bitch." He said, not taking his eyes off of the moon. Luna was taken back by his sudden insult, but didn't address it. Though she saw it a rude and unnecessary, she strangely enjoyed being talked at like that. Something about not being treated as if she were royalty always seemed to give her some sort of secret joy. Part of her always wanted to just be a normal pony, perhaps that is why she feels this way whenever she is around Ronnie. Since moving in he had always insulted her and acted like she's nothing to him, not once did he ever bow, call her princess, or even straighten his posture when she was around. It was as if she was an average Joe, if you will, approaching a complete stranger. Despite that it did feel kind of nice to not be treated as a goddess, it was also one of the many reasons she disliked him. He showed almost zero respect to her and her kingdom, his manners were so sloppy they were practically non-existent, and every time they would try to reprimand him for something he did he always blamed it on the fact that he was dead and it wasn't his problem; he also made a habit out of dragging his fingernails across the walls, leaving long scratches all through the corridor.
"You know, maybe if you were a bit more polite to others you would have friends." She commented
"Dead don't...nnneed f-friends. W-w-what's your...excuse?" He took his eyes off of the moon in time to see her expression turn sour.
"I have friends!" She retorted, mentally cursing the excuse that he never failed to use in any given situation.
"Yeah...guards a-and statues..." She scoffed at him, but did not take her eyes off of him. "Without your...kingdom, you'd have...nothing..."
"I would not have nothing! Without my kingdom the only thing I'd lose is my wealth and I'd still have more than you."
"Name one th-thing you w-would have, that I d-don't."
"A pulse." Ronnie stared at her blankly before chuckling softly at her insult. Luna felt her anger disappear as a steam of giggles started flowing out of her. Before long they were cackling and howling with laughter. It had almost taken a full minute for them to finally recollect themselves.
"At least...you h-have a s-s-sense of...humor..." Luna smiled upon hearing this. This was something he could enjoy. When he was alive he refused to hang out with anyone that couldn't take a joke. He found a sense of humor to be one of the greatest aspects that someone could have. "You're k-kind of cute to." This comment caused her to blush heavily.
"You should really go back to your room. Come on, I'll take you back myself." She reached out to put a hoof on him, hover Ronnie had different plans. He pushed himself forward off of the roof. She gasped in fear as he plummeted to the ground below them. He fell rather quickly, but he managed to land on his feet. Luna flew down to to Ronnie, expecting him to be a pile of mush on the ground. Much to her surprise though, he was standing up and had no visible damage to his body. She landed beside him, with a glare that could burn holes through wood. "What are you doing!? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"
"I'm...already dead..." She grunted in irritation, turning her head away from him. If she looked at him, she thought, she might hurt him. Her eyes found their way back to where he had jumped, then back to where he had landed.
"How did you survive that? I understand you're not technically living, but your body should have imploded from such a fall." Luna was very curious, no pony could survive something like that and she wondered if maybe it was a trait that all humans had, infected or not.
"Hunter..." He simply stated.
"...care to explain?"
"Different...breeds of in-infected. Hunters are g-g-given strength in...muscle a-and bones." Luna was suddenly very interested. She had no idea that their were different types of infected and was rather curious at the different types and what abilities they may possess. She would ask about it, but she wouldn't ask him, she couldn't stand his inability to speak properly. It's taken minutes for him to say one full sentence before.
"Well, as I said earlier, you need to go back to your room. Is that clear?" He reluctantly nodded at her before crouch on all fours and leaping onto a nearby roof, repeating the process until he made his way back to the window he had sneaked out of. "Interesting..."
"So you're saying that you want to put my brother in an arena and have him attack ponies to see how strong he is?" Felicity asked, slightly confused as to why Luna would bring up such an idea.
"Precisely. We are very curious as to just how strong he is and we thought this would be an accurate way to get results." Luna was not only wondering about just how strong Ronnie was, but also if he could be used as a tactic to aid in future pony conflicts. If he wouldn't scare their enemies into submission, he could beat them into it.
"Remember how I said he won't attack unless he's provoked? If you send ponies to fight him he won't stop until they're dead." Luna nodded at Felicity's statement.
"We figured as much, which is why we would be putting him against ponies serving life in prison or on death row." They had a line of very bad ponies ready to fight Ronnie. Their were few, but it would be enough for Luna to get the information she needed. "The reason we have brought this idea to you is because he sees you as someone to obey. We want you to convince him to perform this test of strength and to cooperate fully."
"It won't take a lot of convincing, honestly." She said with a raised brow, "but their is one thing I need to be sure of."
"And that would be?"
"He is going to be allowed to do whatever he wants to these ponies without consequence, right?" She needed to make sure that they wouldn't be using this as a reason to lock her brother up again.
"Yes, he will have complete freedom to do with these prisoners as he pleases." Luna could understand her concern, she and her brother seemed very close despite his condition.
"...Okay, I'll let him know."
"We thank you for accepting. We will send guards to collect him and have him delivered to the arena." Luna exited Felicity's room and instructed the guards to go grab Ronnie in no less than five minutes for the test.
Upon entering the arena Ronnie was greeted with a flat open area filled with seven caged ponies. Some seemed harmless enough, others however looked like body builders. He made his way to the center of the room, as per requested by Princess Luna, and looked around the empty stadium surrounding him. The only ones in attendance were the royal sisters, Felicity, and a few guards. his sister had explained to him what was about to happen and was actually kind of eager to let our some pent-up rage. He watched Luna take a step forward on to a platform before clearing her throat and speaking in her Canterlot voice.
"Attention ponies! You have been selected for a very unique and once in a lifetime opportunity! In this arena you will be fighting to the death against our friend here in hopes of winning back your freedom! Luna had convinced the prisoners she had collected that if they won in the arena that they would be released from prison and free to reenter the world. Ronnie found that to be both clever and foolish. We will be releasing you from weakest to strongest and you will fight for your life against one of the most dangerous creatures to ever walk Equestrian soil." Ronnie could hear the prisoner whooping and swearing at him. Some were just spouting random nonsense, others where screaming about how pathetic and weak he looked and how they would have no problems taking him on. "Let the battle begin!" The lunar princess used her magic to open the cage of the weakest looking pony. He had a bright white coat and a blue mane.
"You're mine you ugly sack of flesh!" The released pony charged and leaped at Ronnie, but he had already made a mistake. The pony had left his midsection completely exposed when he leaped into the air, allowing Ronnie to make one powerful swing into his chest with enough force to stop his heart. The ponies body fell lifelessly to the ground and the surrounding ponies all gasped in shock; Felicity however shot a grin at Princess Luna, who opened the second cage. This pony was a red unicorn with a dark brown mane. He tried to use his magic to teleport out of the stadium to run to freedom, but the princesses had cast a magic negating spell over the ring, making it impossible to do anything with his inborn abilities. While he was distracted trying to figure out why his magic wasn't working, Ronnie crept up behind the unicorn, grabbing him by the horn and lifting him into the air. He screamed and flailed around, swinging his hooves at Ronnie with all his might, but his opponent showed no reaction to the strikes against him. Ronnie gripped the horn tight in his right hand and placed his left on the base of the unicorns skull. With one powerful pull the horn popped and was completely removed, leaving a gaping hole in the pony's head. He then took the horn still gripped tightly in his hand and used it as a knife, stabbing into the pony's stomach repeatedly until his entrails started to collapse out of him. Luna was starting to enjoy the show at this point, however, the same could not be said about her sister who had to leave the room a long with a few guards.
"Brutal, just brutal. Next opponent! She opened the next cage, holding a grey Pegasus with a white mane. This pony stood slightly taller than the others and was noticeably more muscular. Before he could so much as blink Ronnie threw the corpse he was holding at the pony, causing him to with draw slightly. He then leaped across the stadium with a loud screech and tackled the large pony. They rolled into a nearby cage, Ronnie pinning the pony to the ground and holding him in place by his throat. The Pegasus struggled beneath him until a pony inside the cage they had bumped into tossed the Pegasus a shiv. He eagerly grabbed it and stabbed Ronnie in the side of his neck. He shot up off of the pony, holding the afflicted area and yelling and gagging as he stumbled around. The pony got back onto his hooves with a bright smile, he though he had won. That changed when he watched his injured opponent turn back to face him with a large grin on his face. There was no screaming in pain, their was no choking, there wasn't even any blood. Ronnie grabbed the shiv and pulled it out of his neck before tossing it to the ground. The Pegasus was now frozen with fear, giving Ronnie more than enough time to leap at him again, this time digging his long jagged nails into the flesh of the pony's throat, making him bleed all over the floor and choke on the warm red liquid. In a matter of second the life faded from the pony's eyes and he was finally gone. Ronnie's could feel his infected blood calling to him, tempting him, making his stomach growl.
"I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am, my subjects, because it's not over yet!" The next cage opened to reveal a very large stallion with a brown coat and yellow mane. His body was built for fighting and his eyes were burning with desire, unlike Ronnie's. His body was pale and lifeless, which slightly unsettled the stallion, and his eyes were screaming with hunger. The stallion shook off the feelings he was having and charged after his opponent headbutting him off of the dead Pegasus on the floor before pinning him to the ground. The stallion held Ronnie down with all of his might, but was struggling against his massive amount of strength. Ronnie knew that this stallion would be hard to lift off of him and that could mean bad things, so he did what his kind were meant to do. The stallion smiled victoriously, knowing that he was more than capable of over powering this creature beneath him, but his smile vanished instantly as a sharp pain ran up one of his hooves. He screamed and jumped off of his opponent holding his now injured appendage. Luna squinted her eyes in the hopes that she would be able to see just what Ronnie had done, but Felicity was already well aware and the look she gave Luna told her that. The stallion was still crying out in pain, looking down at his hoof which had clearly had a bite taken out of it. He was about to start cursing at the one who had caused his injury, but found himself out of air as he was knocked to the ground. Suddenly he felt his insides being torn out. The creature was on top of him, digging its nails into his skin and slashing away like a wild beast as it started grabbing his internal organs and throwing them around the room at random. It didn't take too long for the stallion to finally give up and die, but it was becoming difficult for Luna to hold onto her lunch. She was about to call off the whole thing, but Ronnie seemed to have other plans. He ran over to the next cage and grabbed the bars, bending them open and allowing him access into the cage. He slipped into the small steel prison and wasted no time digging his hand through the pony insides chest and pulling out its beating heart. He then started tearing each off its limbs off, taking bites out of anything he could get his hands on.
"ENOUGH!!!" He froze, hearing Luna's wing-beats as she flew into the arena. He slowly stepped out of the cage, his body coated in blood with most of it leaking from his jaw. They stared at each other, dead eyes locked onto teal with nothing but silence filling the room. A slight groan came from behind Luna, she turned her head to see the pony that Ronnie had torn apart with his bare hand squirming on the floor and trying to get up. It's coat seemed slightly darker with black veins protruding all over his body and his eyes were the same milky white as Ronnie's. Ronnie quickly walked over to the newly infected horse and stomped on its head, making a combination of blood, bone, and chunks of brain matter scatter across the floor. He looked over at Luna, then at the two remaining ponies still caged up.
"Check...please?" He muttered. Luna wanted to laugh, but she couldn't. This had gone a little further than she had expected. She knew he would kill anyone in his path, but didn't expect anything like this.
"I believe that is all I need. You've surpassed my expectations and taken them to a whole new level. I can't tell whether I should be proud or if I should be more cautious with you." She was stuck in a bind. On one side she wanted to embrace the fact that they had such a powerful new ally, but on the other she felt she should get rid of him for the safety of her subjects. "You may go back to your room now, we are done here." With that Felicity came down and grabbed Ronnie, taking him back to their room. Luna ordered the guards to return the remaining prisoners to their cells and the maids to clean up the carnage left behind.
Author's Note
I'm sorry I'm late, things have been pretty hectic. I'll try to get back to posting something on a daily basis. I'm also sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, but I wasn't going for a big action thing this time. Now let me note that it is 6:30 AM right now and I haven't slept yet so I'm a bit out of it. Meaning, their are probably a lot of grammar issues in here. Please let me know what you find and I'm going to bed.
Cadaver Lover
The wind gently blew across the castle rooftops, the only sounds that could be heard were the gusts of air flowing around the building and the solid footsteps of two individuals running across the tops of them. Felicity and Ronnie were sprinting side by side, practically gliding over the air as they moved. Ronnie dropped down on all fours, running like a dog before leaping into the air, souring over from one roof to the next. His body spun as it came to a halt on the building just next to the one he and his sister were on. Felicity picked up her pace, grabbing the climbing picks from her sides and jumping with everything she had. She wasn't going to make it and she knew that. She drew back the picks and slammed them into the side of the structure her brother was on, using them to swiftly climb her way to the top. When she was close enough Ronnie reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her the rest of the way up with ease. She thanked him and he noticed that she was panting heavily. They had been doing this for over twenty minutes and now seemed like as good a time as any for her to take a break.
Felicity took a seat and Ronnie joined her soon after. "That was really fun. We need to do this more often now that we don't have to worry about being eaten."
Ronnie couldn't help but to chuckle at the comment, but shook his head in agreement, shooting his sister a smile. She shot him one back before grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him into a tight embrace. He ran his cold fingers through her long brown hair, thinking back to the days when he could do this with her when he was alive. Their world was dangerous, but most cities with any population had built walls to protect anyone who wasn't infected. He had taught her how to climb tall buildings and how to train her body to make long jumps, make it from one rooftop to the next with little to no injuries. The climbing picks she would use were actually his at one point in time, but he gave them to her as a way to congratulate her for working so hard on her climbing skills.
As Ronnie was lost in his own little world, Felicity took a trip back to the past as well. Back when he was first teaching her how to climb they would take breaks like this on the roof of god knows who's house. Sometimes they didn't even do it for rest, they would pick out the largest house in the area and they would scale it; once at the top they would set up a picnic and look over the city that their people had worked so hard to build back from the ground up. She was extremely comforted by these memories and laid down her head down in her brother lap. He just smiled down at her and continued playing with her hair
In the distance Celestia and Luna watched them cuddling up to each other from one of the many balconies that decorated the castle. Luna had a look of envy on her face and she couldn't help but form a smile of her own as she looked over at her sister.
Celestia turned her head to face Luna, lightly confused by the look she was giving her. "What's gotten into you?"
Luna realized what she was doing and shook her head, turning to look back to the two resting on the rooftop below them "Nothing, sister. Nothing at all."
Celestia giggled and unfurled one her wings, wrapping it around Luna and using it to pull them closer together. "What is it? Are you feeling left out. Well, I'm here to give you all the love you need." She said with a laugh.
Luna blushed and pulled out of her sisters grip, slightly embarrassed. "That will not be necessary, I am quite comfortable as I am."
"I think you're starting to like them. I can't say I blame you, moments like these make them look so adorable." Luna ignored her sister's words and continued watching the group. "It's almost hard to believe that they come from such a horrible world."
Luna thought about it and honestly she couldn't agree more. "Indeed, many tragedies have been known to shatter families, yet these two have a bond that not many can share; despite all that has transpired around them. And that it was strong enough to keep the brother from being a feral beast and continue to protect his sister as he does, that's nothing less than a miracle."
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Celestia followed her sisters gaze back to the two. They hadn't moved and inch. They merely sat there, seeming to just enjoy each others company. She almost jumped when she felt and unexpected tug at her side that forced her body closer to sister. When she had looked she could see that, despite not looking at her, Luna had wrapped a wing around her and pulled her close. Celestia smiled and went back to observing.
Felicity remained with her head gently resting against her brothers legs; she was comfortable. However, their was something that had been bothering her for the past few days and it was starting to show on her. She figured that her brother would figure it out sooner or later so she might as well get it out of the way. "Ronnie, do you think that their's a way to send us back home?"
He thought about it and nodded. "P-prob-ably. W-why do you ask?"
"Well, I really don't want to go back...do you?"
He didn't reply.
"I mean, it's not like there is anything for us to go back to. Our family is either dead or infected and unlike you they're completely feral." She started to tear up lightly as she thought about her whole family being gone. "Everything there is ruined, it's falling apart. Their's barely anyone left that's alive. I just- I don't want to go back."
Ronnie tried to comfort her as best as he could as she spoke. "What are y-you getting at?"
"Well I thought that maybe, if we asked, that maybe they would left us stay here; with them. I mean, they know about our world and how horrible it is and they seem really nice, maybe they can help us start a new life out here."
"Th-they might let you."
"What do you mean?" She asked, pulling herself up from his lap to look at him.
"L-l-look at me. They-they're right. I'm a monster, I'm p-probably one of the most potentially danger-erous creature to ever sh-show up here. They might k-keep you, but their is n-no way they'll keep m-me around."
Felicity froze, the only movement coming from her body were the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "No...No! Then, I'm going back with you!"
"F-felicity, you don't have to. I'm-"
She practically tackled him as she forced her arms around his torso. "I don't care, I'm not leaving you! If they send you back then I'm going back to. You're my brother and I love you. I won't leave you!"
Ronnie didn't know what to say. All he wanted was for Felicity to be safe and if she stayed here with the princesses then she would be. He was more than willing to be sent back so long as they made sure nothing would happen to her. He pulled himself out of his thoughts and hugged Felicity. "I love you. A-all I want is for you to be s-s-safe." He broke the hug and positioned her in front of him. "Are you sure though? This will likely b-be the most important ch-choice you ever make in your life. You can stay here and stay safe, which w-would make me ha-happy; or, you come back against my wish-wishes and be in danger for the r-rest of your life. You have to choose."
Suddenly the sound of hooves started to approach them and soon after a voice that was a sweet as vanilla and held a passion only a mother could have. "No she doesn't."
The two turned their head to see the royal sisters standing behind them, both smiling and bearing tear-filled eyes.
"Such a choice does not need to be made here." Celestia said.
Luna followed up almost immediately. "Indeed, it would be wrong to separate two siblings with a bond as strong as yours."
"W-what are you saying?" Ronnie asked, not being completely sure about their intent on what to do with them.
Celestia raised a hoof before she spoke. "We would like to offer the both of you a permanent residence here in the castle."
Felicity beamed at her words. "You-you really mean it?" She asked
"Of course. Who are we to divide divide a family? Especially ones with hearts so pure; beating or not." Luna replied.
The whole group let out a light laugh from Luna's words before Felicity gave them both a look that could melt hearts. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She ran up and hugged the tow princesses, wrapping a single arm around each of them.
They just smiled and nuzzled her, returning the embrace with a single wing wrapping around her.
Ronnie sat still and watched them. He was more than happy now. Not only was his sister somewhere safe, but he would still get to be by her side to watch over her. There was nothing more he could ever ask for now, he had everything he wanted; Felicity.
Canterlot Bank was busy, as per usual. Business ponies walking in every which direction, depositing thousands upon thousands of bits with every passing second. The wealth of those living in this city could not be matched by just anypony and they knew it. This was what gave them pep in their step, that feeling they got whenever they received a large collection of money, that feeling that convinced them that they were important. The dozens of ponies inside of the bank just went about their business, thinking that today would be like any normal day. Little did they know that a group of four stallions were just biding their time.
Each one looked to another, nodding to confirm that they were ready to commence with their plans and after picking a spot to hid in just long enough to mask their faces and cutie marks, they were ready. As they all walked out ponies began to stare. The largest of the group, a strong earth pony, closed the doors and blocked it off. The two unicorns lit up their horns and announced to the ponies that what they were doing was committing a robbery and demanded that everypony lay on the ground. The locals made no attempts to argue and cooperated fully with the robbers. One of the unicorns nodded to the last of the group, a pegasus, who took flight with a large bag in his hooves. "Now listen up, my friend here is going to flying by all of you. Now you can either empty every bit you have into that bag, or we will make you give us those bits."
The locals, though reluctant at first, complied and handed over all of their not so hard earned money to the pegasus. Once he did a full loop around the room they demanded access to the vault in the back of the bank. The teller replied with some resistance until he was met with a taser spell that knocked him to the ground. When the teller's body was done shaking about from the electricity coursing through him they demanded access once again and the teller held onto his previous statement. "I'm sorry gentlecolts, but I cannot let you into the vault."
One of the unicorns sighed, his annoyance with this pony being very audible in his breath. "You know what, I don't even care." He said, looking to the other unicorn. "Finish him off, we'll get in their ourselves."
The unicorn nodded to his friend before putting his full attention back onto the teller. "You should'a just let us in the vault, bub." He charged up the spell and watched as the bank teller closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. However, before he was able to cast his spell the sound of shattering glass filled the room. The whole room turned to face the source of the noise. Their eyes met with what looked like a plastic ball shaped like a oval and a small metal top. Before anypony could investigate the ball exploded and suddenly the room went white, blinding all within the building. The four stallions squinted against the light, seeing two dark figures standing in the center.
When the light faded away the ponies all stared in shock and awe at two bipedal creatures standing in the center of the building. One of them was dressed in black leather with black plating over her chest, shoulders, waist, elbows, and knees. Her long brown hair went down to the center of her back and her eyes were being covered by a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses. Beside her was a figure slightly taller and more muscular from the looks of it. It was dressed in the same manner that a biker would be; blue jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and to top it off was a plastic mask shaped like a human skull with its jaw missing covering its face.
The whole room stared at the two in silence until the female reached into her pockets, pulling out four small throwing knives which she quickly launched at the the earth pony blocking off the door. Each blade found its way into a different hoof, tearing through the skin and burying itself into the bones of its target. The stallion cried in pain as he fell to the ground, unable to move because of his injuries. The rest of the group snapped out of their trance-like state and charged the creatures standing in the middle of the bank. The pegasus was the first to get close and the woman tapped the man's leg. He stretched his arms out to his sides, allowing her to grab onto the and push herself upwards and kicking the flying horse in the jaw. The pegasus became disoriented and flew head-first into a pillar, knocking himself unconscious in the act. The woman landed in front of the man due to her previous actions and smiled at him, kissing the cheek of his mask before spinning him around to the oncoming unicorns with their horns glowing and ready to fire. They both attacked the male with their taser spells, but nothing happened, he was completely unfazed. When they realized that he wasn't reacting as they had inspected they tried to stop themselves from getting too close to him, but their hooves slid across the ground, only stopping them when they were right in front of him. He reached down and grabbed the unicorns, lifting them with his powerful arms and slamming their heads together with enough force to knock them out. The stallion guarding the door managed to get back onto his hooves and limp over to the two, the bipedal males fist connecting with the stallions forehead was enough to put him to sleep with the rest of his buddies.
After dropping the bodies to the ground the young woman jumped up and wrapped her arms around the masked mans neck. "Oh my gosh, that was fun. And, we did it without having to kill them. Isn't that great Ronnie?"
Ronnie nodded in agreement with his sister. "It's great, Felicity."
Felicity released Ronnie and looked out at the surrounding ponies. "Ladies and Gentlcolts, you are now free to go about your day. The Canterlot Guard will be here shortly to retrieve these criminals and take them to jail."
The locals all got up and started clapping their hooves together, more than happy that they wouldn't be losing their paychecks today, but really, that was all they cared about. Minus one particular white unicorn with a blue mane and tail wearing a monocle who made his way over to the two. "Excuse me, but that was absolutely marvelous. I must ask, who are you?"
Felicity took a step forward to introduce them. "I'm Felicity and this is my brother Ronnie. We're basically the special operations group for Canterlot."
"That's odd, I didn't think Canterlot had a special operations group." He stated, having never seen these two or even heard of such a thing going on within the palace.
"We've only been around for a couple of years now. When Celestia saw how skilled we were at fighting she decided to for the special ops group for crimes that were more than just simple thievery and whatnot. We don't typically do a whole lot out here though. Not a lot of crime happens in Canterlot, at east not in the middle of the day." She explained.
"I guess that covers it." He said with a smile. "Anyway, my name is Fancypants and I just wanted to give you my most sincerest 'Thank you' for your acts of heroism. I would also like to invite you to a little get-together I am having one week from now. I would be honored to have you both there."
Felicity took a second to think about it. The party did sound like fun, but it all depends on if they will end up having to do a job or not. "Tell you what, Fancypants, I'll check out schedule and write to you if we're available or not."
"That sounds splendid. I hope to see you both very soon." He said as he walked out of the bank, being cautious as to not get too close to the stallion who had been guarding the door earlier.
Felicity turned to face her brother with a smile on her face. "Well, I guess all that's left is to-" She was cut off by the feeling of something touching her leg and when she looked down her eyes met with one of the unicorns that had been knocked out just before her fired a much stronger electricity spell at her. The spell was strong enough to send her body flying several feet away and land with a loud thud on the ground. The whole room froze as the robbers started to wake up.
The unicorn grinned victoriously as he pulled himself up, staring down the whole room with his horn still shining brightly, completely unaware of the now heavily angered meat-eater behind him. Ronnie reached out and grabbed the unicorn's head, slamming it into a wall repeatedly until blood started to leak out of every orifice on his face. He tossed the now convulsing pony back on the ground and, just to be safe, stomped on its horn, making it break into small chunks with his powerful leg. Suddenly Ronnie found himself being attacked from behind, the sound of flapping wings filling the air. He reached behind him and lucky managed to catch one of the wings. With the wing held tightly in his hand he pulled the peagsus back down the earth. After getting him to the ground he grabbed the other wing and pressed his boot against the ponies back, pulling the appendages until the bones snapped and the flesh split, separating the wings from the rest of its body. The second unicorn managed to get up, but Ronnie's rage didn't give him a second to make a move. By the time the pony got up he was in the air and then being thrown out of the nearest window, landing on the other side with glass stuck randomly in his body. Finally, the earth pony rose. The fight was over before it could start as Ronnie grabbed the stallions head and punched the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord and making him paralyzed.
Once all of the robbers were dealt with he ran over to his sister and picked her up off of the ground. The air around her smelled alive and his heightened hearing was picking up a strong heartbeat. She was still alive; that was all he cared about. Ronnie walked out of the front doors, ignoring the stared that were being directed at him from every direction of the bank. Once outside he used his unnatural strength to leap onto the roof of the building and jump from one to the next until he made it back to the castle. His eyes locked onto the balcony connected to his room and he made one last powerful jump, landing right on the edge of the railing. He hopped off of the railing and walked into the room, gently placing Felicity on the bed to get some much needed rest. When she seemed to be settled in place he walked over to the bathroom and turned to face the mirror so that he could see his reflection. The outfit was Felicity's idea and he really didn't mind it. It actually looked pretty cool in comparison to him. He reached up and pulled off his mask. His eyes were still had that old milky look to them, his dirty blond hair was turning black from rot, and his skin was slowly going from pale to a greenish grey in random spots with dark veins covering almost every inch of him. He noticed a strip of loose skin and grabbed it, peeling it off of his face. He had been falling apart like this for a while now. They had been in Equestria for almost two years and the fact that he wasn't already a pile of ash was a miracle enough. He didn't know how long he would last. Back in his world there were hundreds of theories on how long a zombie could live under certain conditions, but none were ever proved due to the fact that everyone was too scared of zombies to ever think about going near one. It didn't matter to him though, all that mattered was that Felicity was safe.
He looked over at her, grateful that she was alive and well, and he smiled. "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be a mindless freak..."
Two guards entered Felicity's room carrying an assortment of items and following behind them was Princess Luna. Felicity and Ronnie both locked gazes with the princess as she entered. She cleared her throat and levitated a list in front of her. "Let's see here, on brown single-strap back pack..." she said as she levitated the bag off of one of her guards and dropped it on the bed. As she read on she levitated the listed items to the bed along with the bag. "a belt sheathing six throwing knives, two climbing ice picks, two handguns, one revolver, one SPAS-12 shotgun, and nine canned food products." The list vanished as she read off the final item and magically placed it on the foot of Felicity's bed. "The scholars who have interviewed you informed me that a majority of what you have are weapons, I trust you are not planning to use them."
"Not at all princess." Felicity replied. "They were only a means of self-defense and that is all they will ever be used for." Luna nodded to her, her eyes traveling over to Ronnie who unzipped the backpack. Upon opening it a small mountain of items rolled out of it, most of them being non-perishable food items. However, there was a small plastic bag that caught her attention. One that seemed to be filled with a dark liquid mixed with some sort of chunks of...something. Ronnie reached down and picked up the plastic bag, staring it down as he held it.
"What is he holding?" She whispered to Felicity. He opened the bag and the smell of blood dominated the air around them. He reached into the bag and pulled out a pink spongy looking chunk covered in red liquid before sliding it into his mouth and chewing slowly. Felicity watched as he did this and turned back to Luna.
"A snack. He hasn't eaten a whole lot since we came here, so he's probably getting hungry." Luna gave her a confused look.
"That doesn't explain what is in the bag." She inquired. Felicity let out a long sigh before replying.
"If you must know, in that specific bag is a collection of brain food."
"Brain food?"
"Brain food..." Luna's look of confusion turned into one of disgust as she caught on to what Felicity was hinting at. "Sometimes he goes days without eating because he refuses to attack anyone who doesn't deserve it. So we bag up what he doesn't eat and save it for later."
"Well, when you put it that way it's only mildly disturbing." Luna said sarcastically. Felicity just giggled at her comment.
"Thanks for getting our stuff back for us." Luna smiled and nodded. She was about to take off but there was a thought that had been festering in her mind for a while now and she figured now would be as good a time to ask as any. She waved off her guards with a hoof and as they left she closed the door to speak privately.
"Before I take off to finish my royal duties, I have one question." Felicity raised her brow at the princess curiously.
"What kind of question?"
"Well, you've stated that those like your brother feed on living flesh before and just moments ago you mentioned how he has not eaten for a time." Felicity caught on quickly, realizing the issue. Since they first arrived they had been practically mauled by ponies wanting to know about their world and they'd managed to learn a bit about Equestria in the process. One of the biggest things she had taken note on was that most species here are sentient and do not use livestock as a lot of them don't eat meat. Especially in this particular part of the country.
"Oh my god, I completely blanked on this!" She started to silently panic. "If he doesn't eat then he'll start getting aggressive and it'll only get worse and worse until he finally satisfies his cravings." Felicity sunk to the ground, fearing the worst for her brother. Luna's heart became heavy upon seeing this, she had to do something, anything to help.
"I may have an idea..."
It took no more than fifteen minutes for the carriage to land just outside of the Everfree forest. Luna, Felicity, and Ronnie stepped off and looked out into the deep dark forest.
"Um, Princess? Why are we here?" Felicity asked. From what she had heard this place was very dangerous and she be avoided at all costs.
"It is a place full of creatures like him."
"Like him?"
"Predators. There are many beasts that wander here; most are mindless, attacking anything that moves just to satisfy their own needs. Such is the way of the animal kingdom. It's eat or be eaten, a perfect place for a creature such as your brother."
"I guess that makes sense." She took a minute to absorb all of the information she just heard, despite already responding. "So, what now?" Luna looked to Ronnie, then to Felicity.
"Now, your brother goes in and hunts." Felicity looked up at Ronnie and he looked down at her, flashing her a quick smile before walking into the wooded area. Felicity stood completely still as he disappeared into the brush.
"Please be careful..." She said to herself. As Ronnie continued to walk he listened carefully to the sounds around him, trying to detect any living thing near him. He sniffed the air, the smell of tree rot and morning dew lingered all around. He sniffed again, there was something near, something living. The sound of growling came from behind him; if he were still alive his heart would have skipped a beat when he turned to face a large creature with a lion's body, large bat wings, and the tail of a scorpion.
"M-mman-ticore..." He said to himself. His time of studying mythical creatures in his world would not go to waste! He knew that taking this creature on would be a bad idea, but he could tell by its stance that it was looking for a fight. The manticore started walking, marching circles around him. Ronnie soon repeated, accepting the challenge. He could have sworn the manticore smiled at him just before lunging at him. Ronnie quickly dodged the attack and leaped onto its back, grabbing onto its wings to hold himself in place. The beast attempted to strike him with its claws, but to no avail. It then stood up on its hind legs and started falling backwards. Ronnie leaped off of its back and let it collapse to the ground. The fall knocked the wind out of the manticore, giving Ronnie the opportunity to strike. He grabbed one of its arms and focused all of his strength into pulling the arm so it was completely straightened out before kicking the joint. A loud crack echoed through the forest as the bone snapped from the intense impact, leaving the manticore's arm bent in the opposite direction. Followed by the sound of breaking bone was a pain filled but mighty roar. He was about to attack again when he noticed an over grown scorpion tail rapidly entering his vision and sending him flying into a tree. The beast rolled over and stood up, staring at its now broken limb before shooting an angry glare at Ronnie, or at least where Ronnie was. When it looked to the spot where it had sent him flying all it could find were splinters from the tree where his body had crashed. It started frantically turning its head in every direction, but found no sign of its target. Immediately if felt something slam into the back of its head.
As Ronnie stalked his prey from the tree he quietly pulled out a small hatched he had tucked in his boot. He shifted around on the branches until he was directly above the abomination and dropped, landing and its head and driving the blade of his hatchet into its skull shortly after. Another roar was unleashed, louder than the last as the maticore shook around in pain, causing Ronnie to topple over and fall to the ground. He quickly got back to his feet and backed away from the raging monster. It spotted Ronnie standing not ten feet from it and attempted to to run at him, but stumbled with every step it took until its body started to shut down, making it fall over. It could do nothing but lay there and watch as the one who had clearly beaten it approached. Ronnie stared down at the manticore with his lifeless eyes, ignoring its gaze and pulling the hatchet out of its head. He tucked the hatchet back into his boot and knelled down beside the creature. It continued to just look up at him, clearly in an unbearable amount of pain.
"Y-you fought well, m-my fr-friend. But it's t-time for you to g-go." Ronnie stood up and walked over to the manticore's side, flipping it over to reveal its underside before slicing its chest open with his fingernails. He peeled the beasts thick flesh out of his way and slammed his fist into its rib cage, breaking straight through the bone and allowing him access to the heart. Once he had it in his grip he squeezed it until he felt it pop in his palm. Looking up he could see the lifeless expression on the manticore's face, letting him know that he had truly won. Now, it was time for him to do what he came here to do. He felt around the inside of his kill's corpse, pulling out several different organs and stuffing them straight into his mouth.
Felicity was waiting impatiently for her brother to come back, he had been gone for almost two hours and she was starting to get worried. She looked over at Luna with a nervous expression still glued to her face.
"Do you think he's okay?" She asked, hoping to get a comforting answer. Luna didn't want to give a definite answer as she knew very well just how unpredictable life can be.
"You're brother is very unique in his body, mind, and spirit. The longer I am near him the more I can feel what his eyes are telling me and what they've told me so far is that he is a fighter. He is strong in both body and mind in ways that should not be possible and he has the spirit of a powerful predator, an apex predator. He will do what ever it takes to survive...so that he may continue to protect you." Felicity looked back to the forest and she could feel in her heart that he was in there and that he was okay. Not five minutes later a blood soaked infected human slowly mad his way out of the forest with a large number of filled plastic bags in one of his arms. Felicity put on a bright smile and ran over to Ronnie, hugging him tightly and making him drop some of his bagged goods. Luna, despite being disgusted with the sight, was glad he came out alright and unharmed. If it wasn't for the bagged flesh and blood covering the both of them, this reunion would probably have been much cuter. She put on a light smile as she watched their embrace. When they were done Felicity picked up the fallen bags and made her way back to the carriage with her brother.
"Are we all set to go?" Luna asked. The two nodded and they started their expedition back to the castle to clean up and get some rest.
