The Trotting Dead

This is Base to all squadrons. We have reports of two stallions in their mid 20's kidnapping several foals, believed to be fillies. Heading to Solar Pathway in Ponyville.

Shining Armor lifted the radio in his pink magic, replying to the call. "This is Captain Shining Armor-Amore and General Flash Sentry. We're heading to Solar Pathway. Are they coming east or west?" He held it in his magic a bit longer, releasing the trigger.

Suspects heading West. Just reached Eclipse Road.

Flash Sentry swiped the radio from his partner. "Affirmative. Take care," Flash clicked the radio off and returned it to its hold, "Ready to bust a bunch of pedophiles?"

"Celestia knows if that was my filly they'd be dead before they left the Empire. Let's go get those fillies back to their parents." Shining Armor cranked the carriage engine, while Flash flipped on the sirens and lights, and they took off.

"Captain Shining Armor." A young recruit bowed respectfully to his Captain, having just finished laying out the metal road spikes.

"At ease, Recruit. Why road spikes?" He raised an eyebrow at the awkward choice for a vehicle believed to be full of foals.

"Guaranteed to stop them."

"They have foals."

The Recruit's face shifted from prideful to a panicked expression. Sure, the road spikes would stop the carriage, but would flip it over and risk hurting the foals.

"I hope you're not in the military for your brains, Recruit," Shining Armor stated, quickly levitating the road spikes away, "Flash, think you can fly on to the hood and make them stop?"

"My name is Flash Sentry for a reason, Shining."

"Are you sure it's not for your astonishing way to finish absurdly quick?" Shining Armor chuckled as Flash went airborne.

"If there wasn't recruits here, I'd kick your ass." Flash shouted, and Shining whinnied.

"Suspects are arriving!" An Earth Pony Recruit yelled, and the group of Guards took position. As the carriage started speeding up to hit the Guards and power through, Flash Sentry dove.

As Flash's front hooves connected to the hood of carriage, the wood splintered in a shower of pieces around his hooves. The shock from the collision sent cracks flying up the windshield, stopping the carriage instantly.

"Come out in peace, with the foals!" Shining Armor shouted.

A gun shot rang out towards him in reply. It hit, but the stallion remained up.

"Come out, or we shoot!" He shouted, pulling his gun out of his armor, and checking it to see if it was loaded. Flash Sentry turned towards his partner, shaking shattered glass off of his coat.

"Did the shot catch you in your vest?"

Shining Armor nodded in reply, before firing a shot at the car. "Come out!"

One of the stallions in the care began unloading towards the Guards.

"Have it your way." Shining Armor finalized, and nodding towards the recruits to fire. As one stallion walked out, to get a better shot with the gun in his magic, a bullet connected to his chest, sending him to the ground, and the gun falling out of his grasp. A Pegasus then soared from the sun roof, only to be shoved down to the ground by Flash.

All noises ceased, save for the whimpering foals in the carriage. Shining Armor began walking towards the back, his gun still drawn, ready for whatever may be in there with the foals. As he neared, something kicked the door towards him, knocking the Captain down. Then it unloaded a shot, which hit Shining's armor, and hit through a leather section. A unicorn recruit shot the perpetrator, an Earth Pony stallion. The foals started screaming, holding each other.

"Ha... hahaha... good 'un Flash..." Shining Armor spoke, his voice groggy from months of misuse. He opened his eyes slowly, only to see nothing like his dream. A run down hospital room, with no Flash, no Cadence, and no Flurry Heart. Panic rose in his mind, with no other emotion. He had to find them... surely they were around, right?

The Captain ripped the IV out of his leg, before slowly climbing down, his hooves making contact with the dangerously cold tile. He walked towards the door, and opened it a crack, seeing the bed that barricaded his room. He moved it out of the way with his magic, and saw the skeletal remains of long dead ponies to his right, and a cafeteria door to his left.

He slowly walked towards the door, taking in the blood stained walls and flickering lights. What had happened here? A shooting, a massacre? He felt fear rising in his throat as he neared the cafeteria, seeing the message scrawled in red on the door. While clueless, he could tell the red was of blood of who perished in the hospice while he laid in a coma. As he read the words, he gulped.

DON'T ENTER. DEAD INSIDE

Slowly, he opened the door as far as the chain would allow.

"Flash? Cady? Flurry?" He asked softly, his horn lighting a small part of the cafeteria. A figure began shifting towards him, groaning and creaking. As it neared, the putrid smell of decay overloaded Shining's senses. Still, he stayed, making out ruffled wings on the figure. "Flash," He spoke a little louder than before, sure his partner was coming towards him.

The figure spread its cruelly torn wings, and slammed into the door, growling. Shining jumped back, a scream escaping him. It fit its muzzle out, showing it had the muzzle of a female pegasus. A dull orange coat, and a wild orange mane. A pony Shining Armor knew. Still, not willing to take the chance, he slammed the door shut, crudely amputating the muzzle off of the female pegasus. He sat on the floor for a bit, dry heaving, and tears filled his eyes.

Shining slowly walked the halls, seeing an exit sign. He bust through the door, breathing in the fresh air, closing his eyes. Only to open them and feel the urge to dry heave again.

Bodies lined a walkway, the sheets they were wrapped in blood stained. The back hooves of the ponies stuck out, and so did pieces of their mane, if they had a horn, that as well. Seeing no other option, Shining Armor began to walk, his hoofsteps loud on the pavement, and his horn lit on the off chance that one of the bodies might move. As he neared the exit of the hospice, he saw the painful emptiness of the world now. Abandoned carriages filled the street, some with skeletons attached to harnesses. Blood stained the streets, and he could almost hear the screams of the dead echoing in his head.

And he could see locks of pink and purple gradient hair with the same aqua streaks he had.

"Flurry!" He screamed, tearing the carriage door off with his magic. Many light pink and white feathers littered the inside, even some purple ones. Shining Armor seemed to almost shrink. "Cadence... Flurry..."

He slammed his hooves into the high-end metal carriage, yelling out as they made contact. He heard groans slowly coming towards him, as he slammed his head into the interior, his horn slashing the driver's seat. He wrinkled his snout, as tears spilt over his cheeks. The chorus of groans got louder, until he felt something right jump on his back.

He threw the decomposing pony off of his back, hearing bones shatter and seeing the scarlet come from the walking corpse. He slammed his hooves into the pony's head over and again, tears and angry shouts mixing. He felt the warmth of blood spray on to his fetlocks and chest, along with other fluids left in the corpse.

Shining galloped through the Canterlot streets, desperate to find the home he and Cadence lived in while they were in Canterlot.

A light blue colt showed up in his way, hitting Shining across the face with a shovel. He called for his Pa.

"I got 'em Daddy! I got the sumabitch!" He yelled out, and his father ran beside him.

Shining Armor woke up on a bed, with new bandages on his side. He forced himself up, seeing a storm gray stallion.

"What's the bandages for?" The stallion asked, holding a rag in his wings, wringing it out with his feathers.

"Where's my wife?" Shining Armor asked, panicked.

"Tell me what the bandages are for." The stallion grew stern.

"Gunshot. Please-"

"A gunshot?" The stallion wrapped his wing around the light blue colt, ready to fly if needed.

"I was a Guard. I just woke up in a hospital in Canterlot-"

"You were a Guard, huh? What's your name?"

"Shining Armor. You?"

"The name's Aerostorm," The stallion stated, and turned towards his son, "And this, is Cobalt Cloud."

The Captain of the Guard looked at the colt, and smiled, "Cobalt Cloud huh? Kinda reminds me of my little filly," Shining Armor then turned to Aerostorm, "He has the same freakishly large wings."

"My wings ain't that big! Are they, Pa?" Cobalt asked, a worried expression on his face. Aerostorm tried to restrain his laughter, and Shining Armor chuckled at the family moment.

"Whatever you say, Cobalt." Aerostorm stated, before breaking into laughter. Cobalt's chest feathers ruffled, and he scrunched his snout up, and huffed. "Now how about you go and get some dinner goin', I'll keep our guest busy."

"Alright Pa," Cobalt said, rolling his eyes at his father, then turning to Shining Armor, "What'll it be Mr. Armor, beans or beans?" The light blue colt bust out into laughter at his joke, and then pushed his dark blue mane out of his eyes, before darting downstairs.

"So, what thoughts has your mind had time to come up with about Hell in Equestria?" Aerostorm asked Shining, curious what the military stallion had to say about the world he awoke in.

"Well," Shining Armor started, as he walked to a window to look at the overrun streets, "You weren't kidding when you said Hell. But, the military Captain side of me is telling me to get to know my enemy. So tell me, Aerostorm, what are those things?"

The Pegasus sighed. "They're the dead. Reanimated corpses, if you will. When a pony dies... somethin' takes over their body. Brings them back to life, in a sense. They're not alive... but they're not dead either. They're ruthless too. If they hear, see, or even smell you, you're either gonna kill them, or become their next meal."

Shining Armor turned towards Aerostorm. "How do you know this?" He asked, wondering if he could trust the stallion, his mind whirring.

"My wife, she-"

"PA! The beans are ready!" Cobalt shouted, and Aerostorm cringed at the loud noise. "Sorry for shoutin', but y'all weren't listenin'." Cobalt said as he was running up the stairs.

Aerostorm looked at Shining Armor. "I'll tell you later, Shinin'," then began to head towards his son, "You gonna join us for a meal?"

"Yes... yes sir. I'll be right there."

Shining Armor set his finished portion of beans on the table, a smile on his face from the recent conversation. He had been telling Cobalt Cloud about his daughter, Flurry Heart. The young Pegasus was interested in the stories, since they didn't hear much about the Crystal Empire. Sure, they knew of her birth and Crystalling, but nothing else about her.

"Is she powerful? How about smart?" Cobalt asked, wonder in his eyes.

"Well," Shining Armor stopped to place his spoon in the container, "She's really strong. In fact, she nearly plunged the Empire into eternal winter when she was less than a week old. And she's smart, just like her Aunt Twily. She's read every book in the Archives several times over, and every comic book."

"She reads comic books?! So do I!" Cobalt shouted, a huge smile on his face. "Has she read Wonder Mare and and Supercolt? Maybe Batstallion?"

"I don't think she has, unless they find comic books on the road." Shining Armor chuckled. "You know, I have a few comic books myself," He grinned like a dork, and suddenly, a magical flash appeared, accompanied by at least several dozen different titles, "Feel free to pick whatever you want, keep that imagination going. Maybe you'll imagine up a cure for them, huh?"

"Thank you Shining!"

Aerostorm swiftly hit his son upside the head with his wing. "We don't call a Prince and Military Captain by his first name, show some respect, boy."

"Sorry Pa," Cobalt Cloud muttered, then turned to Shining Armor, "Sorry Mr. Shining Armor."

A sweatdrop formed on Shining's forehead. "Aerostorm, I don't mind if you call me Shining, or if Cobalt does it for that matter. After all, there doesn't seem to be any formalities in this world."

"Got me there, Mr. Armor." Aerostorm chuckled. He rubbed his son's head tenderly with his wing, almost apologetically. "Sorry, kiddo. Carry on."

"What comics are in here?" Cobalt asked, wonder in his eyes.

"The Marvelous Jitterbug, Mane-Iac Origins. First editions." Shining Armor smiled, and Cobalt greedily grabbed the comics in his wings.

Suddenly, a shifting was heard on the doorknob. Shining Armor quickly lit his horn, taking a defensive stance in front of the family he was staying with. Cobalt's face fell instantly, tears gathering in his eyes. Aerostorm quickly grabbed his son in his hooves, and wrapped his wings across the little colt in his forelegs. Audible crying began to come from the colt, and Shining Armor panicked.

"What's going on?" He asked, nearing the family.

"Make sure that door is closed! I ain't gonna be able to do nothing if she comes in!" Aerostorm shouted back, before turning to the colt. "It's okay Cobalt, it's okay, don't worry baby she's gonna leave." He whispered, rocking the small Pegasus back and forth.

"Aerostorm, you have to tell me what's going on!" Shining Armor shouted back, as he hit the nails on the wood planks that shut the door to make sure they were in all the way, before casting a splinter safe spell. "What do you mean by she?" The groaning outside the door made it apparent what was out there.

The father looked up at Shining Armor with tears flooding his yellow eyes. "I'll tell you later, after Cobalt gets to sleep. He always cries when we talk about it."

"About what happened earlier-" Aerostorm started, only to be interrupted by his guest.

"That was your wife, wasn't it? Cobalt's mom?"

The muscular Pegasus nodded. "She... I, I sent her outside for a minute. She had this horrible cough and... She just needed some fresh air, that was all. Then... one... one of those things, they ran up on her. Despite her bein' a unicorn like yourself, she didn't know any offensive spells like you do. It took a chunk outta her shoulder, before she slammed it against the front porch railin' and killed it. A couple hours later... she died. Up in the guest room, where we treated your wounds. Then she turned. I, I managed to get her outside, before she bit anyone. That's how I know everythin'." Aerostorm finished, obviously choking back tears. He took a slow and shaky breath. "I think that's enough of that now. We should get some rest."

Shining Armor could only nod in response, his mouth gone dry at his host's tale.

"Do you trust me?" Shining Armor asked the father son duo, standing outside the Military Compound.

"I personally think you're crazier than a draconequus chaos deity, but I suppose." Aerostorm spoke, looking at the ex-military captain.

Somewhere, Discord's nose itched.

"Good. Crazy is what I need for this." Shining Armor stated, as he slowly opened the emergency exit to the compound. Quickly, he threw an owl he found into the compound, and slammed the door. He headed groaning and creaking from inside the compound, as the owl fluttered in random patterns, panicked. "There's some in there. Unless Cobalt can harness unicorn magic, leave clearance to me. Remember, if they come for you, fight back." Shining Armor repeated for the thousandth time that day, before teleporting into the compound.

Instantly, he blasted one of the undead ponies to bits with a spell, recognizing the charred piece of cutie mark as a pony named Silver Sword. Three more turned their heads towards him, their faces seeming to contort into an evil smile. Shining Armor tackled one to the ground, before crushing its head under the weight of his hooves, finding the spray of blood oddly comforting. A pegasus flew into Shining's side, knocking the Captain over. They tumbled over each other, with the undead ending up on top of Shining Armor. It hissed in his face, spraying spit all over Shining's muzzle, though he was careful not to ingest any of it. He raised his back hooves under the figure, throwing it off, before firing a blast at the one trotting towards him. The Pegasus caught itself in mid air, flying back to the stallion. Shining Armor ducked, and the Pegasus crashed against a wall, smashing its skull to bits when it hit.

Shining Armor slowly opened the emergency exit. "You guys can come in now." He said, a sheepish smile on his face.

Aerostorm and Cobalt's jaw dropped at the condition of Shining Armor's coat. Cobalt suddenly broke the silence. "Oh come on! I just scrubbed blood out of you yesterday!"

Shining Armor led the two in, giving an impromptu tour of the military compound. "And here, are the showers. Hot water, fresh shampoo, everything you could want."

"There's hot water?" Aerostorm asked, as Cobalt ran into the nearest shower stall, laughing.

Aerostorm tilted his head back in the flow of hot water, closing his eyes and sighing loudly
Cobalt was giddy on his hooves, tap dancing against the tile. A large smile was on his face, as if he had never felt hot water before.

"Here is the weapons locker." Shining Armor said, pointing his horn towards a locked cage. He was putting on a more modern Guard outfit, which saw a bulletproof vest, an undershirt and a jacket. The jacket even had a little name tag with 'Captain Shining Armor-Amore' written in Cadence's pretty cursive lettering. He smiled warmly, touching the name tag, and feeling his heartbeat through the cloth.

"What can we take?" Aerostorm asked as Cobalt looked down the barrel of a pistol, ever lightly squeezing the trigger. Shining saw this and yanked the weapon away with his magic.

"You got a lot to learn, huh? First off, never look down a barrel of a gun. Ever," Shining Armor said, and turned towards Aerostorm, "Five assault rifles, Six normal rifles, and eight pistols. Three cases of ammunition each." The burly Pegasus nodded, grabbing a saddle bag and beginning to stuff it with the supplies. Shining Armor grabbed a case of ammunition for his pistol, and a bag stating who it belonged to, and began to clean out the weapons locker.

"Here, is a walkie. I'll get on it everyday for thirty minutes right at dawn. If I find my family, I'll make sure to tell you." Shining Armor stated, the finality in his voice almost deathly.

"Will we ever see you again, Shining?" Cobalt asked, holding his massive stack of comic books from Shining Armor.

"If all goes well, little buddy," Shining Armor ruffled the colt's mane, and turned towards Aerostorm, "Keep him safe. I'll come back for you two. I promise."

Aerostorm nodded. "See you then."

The Unicorn stallion nodded, before swishing his tail and taking his first real steps into the new Equestria, one goal on his mind and none other. To find Cadence.