Rotting Away

The days churned on, slowly but surely, with food dwindling and tensions rising. Luna was thankful for the arrival of the Ponyville population, as Canterlot had been mostly made up of Unicorns and Pegasus. The Ponyville ponies knew how to farm and put their knowledge to good use, starting to grow a supply of food for the small settlement. All Aboard and Full Steam had spent all their time repairing the train, in case of a situation where they needed it. Meanwhile Luna and Twilight spent all their time conversing, thinking up the best course of action. As days passed, it became more apparent that they couldn’t stay here.

Twilight and Luna sat opposite one another in a large room of the Castle’s tower, a map of Equestria strewn over a table. Luna looked over it, while Twilight spoke. “What about Discord? He’s still using his powers for Order, so couldn’t we convince him to help us?”

“We have tried. He was actually quite eager. In fact, it took us quite some time to keep him from teleporting all of Ponyville into Canterlot, buildings and all.” She slides a hoof over the map, tracking the patterns of the undead - or the Risen, as Casius called them. “Besides, when he tried to damage them, his powers had no effect. He told me they were creatures of pure chaos, unable to be altered by his power anymore than they’ve already been altered. He couldn’t affect them at all; not to change them back or otherwise. It was a good idea, but now we have other matters to worry about.

“The horde is growing, Twilight.” Luna kept her voice level as she spoke, sitting across from the other princess. Twilight had only seen this conference room once before, when Celestia had brought her along to oversee a diplomatic meeting with the ponies of Saddle Arabia. Two guards stood by the door, Luna’s personal Nightguards, watching in silence. “We believe they’re coming from Tall Tale or Vanhoover. In other words, we can assume those places are entirely overrun…”

Twilight scrunched her face at the news. “It sure seems that way. We’ll send somepony to check when we have time, just to be sure. Is there any word from Cloudsdale or Manehattan?” Luna shook her head slowly.

“Before you arrived, I sent the Wonderbolts to Cloudsdale to hold the city, but I haven’t heard from them since. I’m expecting the worst, unfortunately.” Luna said, solemnly. Twilight had noticed an absence of the flying mavericks. Rainbow Dash would be devastated…

“If my plan is going to work, we’ll need control of the weather factory in Cloudsdale when we reach the Crystal Empire. Speaking of the Empire, any word from Cadence or Shining Armor?” Twilight’s eyes sparkled hopefully, but she cast them down at Luna’s silence.

“We know there are no Risen approaching from that direction. I feel that, if anything, they are in a situation similar to ours, unable to escape to send a message outward.”Luna pauses a moment, then smiled. “There is some good news, Twilight. Las Pegasus sent a message, telling us the city is barricaded and locked down.”

“It won’t last.” Twilight added that under her breath, but not quietly enough. Luna frowned, trotting around the table and stopping beside her fellow princess, but Twilight continued. “Don’t patronize me. We’ve seen what these things can do; it’s only a matter of time before their walls crumble, without extra support. And we can’t give that support to them right now.”

“Twilight, we must keep hope. As Princesses, symbols of Equestria, we need to maintain ourselves and try to save as many ponies as we can.” Luna said, nodding slightly and looking out a nearby window, to the barrier. None of the other Unicorns in the city could maintain it, beside Luna and Twilight, it being made from Alicorn magic. It would need another boost soon.

“I’m not having trouble maintaining myself, Luna. I’m just starting to question how long we can stay on the defense. We need to strike back. We need to retake Cloudsdale if it’s fallen and clear a path to the Crystal Empire.” Twilight said sternly and then sighed in agitation and defeat. “What would Celestia do?”

Luna walks to the window, sending a burst of magic out to charge the barrier. Taking in Twilight’s argument, she looks down over the ponies below. She’d become closely acquainted with Twilight’s friends ever since Twilight joined the ranks of the Alicorn, so she easily spotted a few of them among the group.

Fluttershy, the soft spoken one, had taken to helping Cheerilee teach the children. She’d been forced out of her shell, if only a little, by recent events. Applejack and her family were helping others with a farm, a simple job, but helpful to the whole community. They’d been a crucial part of holding this city afloat. Pinkie Pie had grown eerily quiet lately. Luna needed to remind Twilight to be sure she was okay.

From where Luna stood, she could see the pink pony, talking with others. She lacked her trademark bounce to her steps and didn’t seem to laugh quite as much, but she was trying to keep optimistic, that much was clear. Rarity had taken to discussing battle plans with the guards. While this was no time for fashion, Rarity’s particular attention to detail, as well as her love for aesthetics, proved quite useful around the settlement. Spike was right beside Rarity, helping her organize things here and there, performing tasks she suggested without a seconds hesitation.

Rainbow Dash zipped by quickly, bringing a rain cloud over to the farm, getting what Luna assumed was a thanks from Applejack. Suddenly, Luna realized something. “How did your friend get a rain cloud…?”

Twilight walked over, looking to Rainbow Dash from beside Luna. “I’m not sure. She volunteers to scout around the city whenever she can. Maybe she got it then?” Luna was less concerned about where it was from, as she was interested in Rainbow Dash’s ability to move it, while outrunning the Risen.

“Your friend is the same one who graduated from the Wonderbolts academy, correct? She also won the Young Flyers competition a few years ago.” Luna lifted a hoof up, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “A Sonic Rainboom…” She looked over to Twilight, smiling. “I believe we have our distraction.”

“What? No, Luna, I will not put my friend in harm’s way like that.” Twilight snapped back quickly. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Twilight, listen to me. Rainbow Dash can outrun any zombie, that much is clear. She can create a Sonic Rainboom to draw the hoard away and give us time to make our way to the Crystal Empire. And then, Rainbow can go check on the condition of Cloudsdale, her home, as well as save any Wonderbolts that may remain. I can’t imagine they’d be foolish enough to all be wiped out…” Luna took a quieter, uncertain tone at the last part, but Twilight understood where she was coming from.

As Twilight thought about it, Vinyl passed into the view out the window. She had become silent as well of late, but was still quite helpful. She had expressed a desire to retrieve her sound system from Ponyville, as it could be useful in manipulating the horde, which they had discovered tracked by sound.

Despite this, seeing her turned Twilight’s stomach with regret. She had been scared for her friends and sacrificed Canterlot to save Ponyville. That blood was on her hooves and it would never wash away.

As she looked to Rainbow Dash, who was talking to Applejack now, she saw Cloudsdale burning. Rainbow Dash’s home being destroyed and her heroes being killed, only returning to put an end to them all. She bit her lower lip, nearly drawing blood, the mental images digging into her heart.

“Fine. We’ll send Rainbow Dash out as a distraction. We need to get to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible. I’d like to retrieve Vinyl Scratch’s sound system before then…” Looking over to Luna, Twilight added. “It could be helpful as a last resort against the Risen. We could control their movement to an extent.” Twilight moved from the window, thinking as she moved. “We’ll need a whole team team to do that. It should be a small group teleported to Ponyville made up of skilled ponies that can survive a journey back. The fewer ponies involved, the less likely they’ll be to alert the rest of the horde.”

Twilight paused, looking down. “Applejack should lead the group. She’s proved the most resourceful of anypony here. I trust she could lead a group in and out. Not to mention, we’ll need a pony with physical strength to carry the equipment. Pinkie Pie will go with her.”

“Why her?” Luna tilted her head a little, moving around the other side of the table again, looking over the map. She was still listening, but planning at the same time.

“Easy. Aside from being able to lift everypony’s spirits, Pinkie has shown the ability to predict the future, even if it’s infrequent.” Twilight knew she would sound odd, telling that to Luna, but she explained. “It’s called Pinkie Sense and it confused me for quite some time. But the more time I spent around her, the more I realized the validity of it.” She added stoutly, looking to the other princess. “It’s unpredictable and happens randomly, but it could prove useful for the group.”

Luna seemed to accept this explanation, knowing she’d get no better. “You know the Ponyville ponies better than me, Twilight. I’ll leave this all up to you.” With that, their meeting was over. Twilight returned to the window, watching over her friends in silence. She wondered to herself on the state of affairs. She wondered if there was a cure, or if those who were turned could only find salvation in death. Her eyes roamed from her friends, to the barrier off in the distance, to the Risen pounding against its walls. Closing her eyes, her horn ignited, sending a burst of magic out. When the beam made contact with the barrier, it spread, darkening the color and masking the Risen into little more than shifting silhouettes. Times would only continue to get harder, but through it all, they needed to survive.