Undead Equestria

Dark, everything was dark!

ROOOAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That thing is chasing me! I can’t see!

ROOOAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHACK! “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!” A burst of pain spiked through the right side of my body. It burned like skin on hot metal and I felt something tug on my body.

BANG. The sound of gunfire echoed in the darkness and the room lite up like a fire had started burning down the world. That huge, hook legged, Undead was in front of me. One of it’s hooks had blood on it. I looked at my side, and the entire right side was cut clean to my ribcage. I could see all of my blood flowing out, my veins hanging out. My right wing cut in half… dangling by my slowly ripping skin! “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed.

I tried to move, only for my fatal wound to begin spewing blood out like a shaken can of soda. I collapsed. I didn’t feel faint, I just hurt! Pain was all I could feel, making almost all my other senses numb. I looked up, and that one Undead, Chess, was standing above me. She grabbed my cut wing in her magic, and finished ripping it off.

“AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHH!” I yelled. I was already falling off, but my wound was aching, that that made it worse! “WHY!?” I yelled.

She just smiled at me. Chess grabbed my horn in her fetlock, she gripped it tight and was pushing it down into my skull. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed as the pressure on my head built up. The pain was tormenting, I could feel the cracks in my skull forming. I could HEAR them! “Please!” She just smiled as the large Undead came up and walked out of my line of sight.

Snap! “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” I screamed as I felt my horn snap off at the base of my skull, blood pouring out of the wound and into my eyes. I could no longer speak. The pain had paralyzed me. Chess was holding my still bleeding horn in her magic, using it like a toothpick. When she finished that she looked at me and smiled, almost giggling, and shanked me in my spin, with my own horn. I reacted, but no sounds other than escaping air came out. I felt limp. I could no longer feel my body. All I could do was look at Chess as she smiled at me.

“So this is it?” Chess spoke. She’s... talking? “You’re the world's only hope? The mare immune to the epidemic creating my kind and you can’t even beat me in your own nightmare?!” Chess laughed. “You are pathetic!”

“W.. .what?” I managed to say.

“Well, you can still talk after that. Impressive. Still, I went through great lengths to learn this spell and I was honestly hoping for a little more out of you. Maybe a fight even. Yet you can’t do anything without that shadow hovering over you, yeah, I know about that freak Sombra. Then again who am I to call someone a freak, I’m half dead!”

“Half…?”

“So much to learn, so little you know. You really are a child. Maybe school yourself a little before we meet again. If you’re my opponent in this game then at least try and show effort, otherwise I win and the Undead will rule Equestria, I may want that but we both know you don’t. Now, wake up!”

* * *

I woke up stiff, cold sweat ran down my face. I wanted to scream, but I was too confused. Was that actually Chess? Do the smart Undead really know magic? And half? Chess said she was half dead. If that’s true, then what does that have to do with anything?

I got up and checked my watch. Ten-forty one AM. It was ten PM when I went to sleep. Can I even call that sleep? I honestly don’t wanna think about it. I caught my saddle bags in the corner of my eye. I set them on the nightstand next to my parents bed. I grabbed it in my magic and pulled out Sunburst’s research. Most of it looked like some kinda math, only with letters. Why would math have letters? I skimmed through most of it till I finally found notes in READABLE writing.

I just don’t get it. This… THING, It’s like no disease or virus in any medical textbook, magic or not. It shares no genetic kin to anything on Equestria or overseas, it’s not made from magic, and it only has half a strand of DNA. HALF A FREAKING HELIX! From what I can tell it follows a simple pattern though, attach to a host cell, multiply, then… it just takes over the host! Forces their most primal urges to take over, no intelligence can be found in any infected patient.

Not just that, once total host takeover has been established, it mutates the host. I’ve linked this to it’s ability to bring out the primal urges, it changes the host's digestive tract, making naturally herbivore type species turn carnivorous, cannibalistic is more like it though. It also kills off any and all nerve responses, they won’t even know to avoid danger because they won’t even know they’re in danger! Their heart beats are slowed to an average of two beats a minute. No living creature can live like that! And with how fast they move… It just makes no sense! How does half a helix of DNA do this!?

I don’t know much about DNA, but I know half of DNA should not be possible.

I’ve made a small breakthrough. This half a helix seems to bond itself with the host DNA, like it’s completing itself, once that’s done it just multiplies from there. We managed to isolate an unmerged helix half and I honestly had no idea what I was looking at. It looked almost like an ink blob, but it moved, like it was looking for something. I’d go as far as to say it was alive and conscious because we put a small, uninfected blood sample with it and it jumped onto it. I saw the helix change before my eyes. How can this thing not be magic? Every test to see if it was magic failed. We repeated the experiment with an infected blood sample and got a rather interesting result The infected blood and the helix just… rotated around each other, typically a virus that enters an already infected host will merge with the majority, yet they left each other alone. When we put uninfected blood in the helix went for it and the infected sample didn’t do anything. Like it was letting the helix have it!

This thing is not possible, nature or magic. It just makes no sense. It’s not a cancer, that’s typically associated with fucked up DNA, but it’s not. I think we need to get in closer, try and see if we can find out anything about the helix itself.

I flipped passed more crazy math filled pages and X’d out ones.

Two things happened today. One, this thing might ACTUALLY BE ALIVE! It reacted to direct sunlight badly, like it straight up hated it. We looked at it with a new microscope Princess Twilight made and it seems to be some form of living DNA, but not a complete helix. All I can say to add to the fact it might be alive is that it had something close to a brain connected to the center of the helix. What ever this thing it, it’s alive, can attach itself to DNA like a virus, multiplies like one, then claims the host body for its own.

The other thing was that… some of the test subjects, infected that the Empire’s government managed to “Acquire”... It just… changed. It fell to the floor, screaming, like it was in danger. After a few minutes it’s body… oh stars I am never going to unsee that. When it was done it became rather thin, all it’s hair fell off, it’s eyes grew a third set of eyelids! And when the guards went to grab it to put it in solitary, it ran at near Rainboom speeds! Didn’t seem interested in the guard after it rammed them and broke his leg, when the guard went down it ran to the other side of the room and just stood there till the guard got out. It took ten ponies and broke nearly all of their legs, but we managed to get a blood sample. The DNA was completely different from a normal infected. It seemed as if specific genetic traits were suddenly… enhanced.

We ran a few more tests and this new type of infected just seems to avoid eating all together. When ever anything that moves gets too close to it, it always aims for the legs, Infected or not. It is extremely territorial. If we ever acquire one like it we’ll have to see how it reacts with something like it.

The rest of the book was test results, more crazy math, and other stuff I had no idea how to read. I looked through the rest of the Sunburst’s notes and they were all the same letters-in-math weirdness I couldn’t read. I did find a folder labeled “Project Salvation”.

Project Salvation

An unimaginable incident has happened, Princess Flurry Heart has been bitten by an infected during a visit to the local orphanage with her parents. She was playing with the orphan children when one of them turned and bit her on the front left leg.

This, however, led to a miracle. It seems Princess Flurry Heart is immune the the Helix Virus, The following is a quote from head researcher Sunburst.

“It would seem that upon entering Flurry’s bloodstream, the virus simply dies. Her blood type is A positive, a common type, and her antibodies seem to play no part in the killing of the virus. It just dies on contact. We tested this with the Cancer Helix strain of the virus as well and the same thing happened. She is immune to both the standard and advanced forms of the virus. Unfortunately, with her immunity unexplainable much like the virus itself, it will take much time and research to develop anything useful. The Helix Virus, we’ve been studying it every day for the past three years and we still only have theories. I only hope Equestria can hold out.”

As of this program's initiation, Princess Flurry Heart is to be placed in an isolation chamber where she can be monitored and safely kept until a cure or vaccine is made. Orders from Princess Celestia herself. Agreed upon by three of the four princesses.

I put the document down. So that’s how I ended up in there. I grabbed my left front leg. I don’t remember the bite, or any of that, but I know it happened. The bite mark is still on my skin, under my fur. A scar forever part of my body.

I looked through the notes again. The document said there was two strains of this virus, but none of the notes I read said anything like that. Those must be back at Sunburst’s house, or in the royal laboratory. Getting out of my parents bed, I noticed something both cute and odd. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice it before, but Kitty was on the floor next to the bed, curled up into a ball, fast asleep.

She looks so cute! I carefully slipped out of bed, taking advantage of my wings, which I checked before taking off. They were both fine. I was too in shock to check when I first woke up. Once I was at the door, I lifted Kitty up in my magic and gently placed her on the bed. With that done I silently left and went for the kitchen. Upon entering I saw Sombra in his mannequin body, now fully clothed, with mask, cooking.

“I didn’t know you could cook?” I spoke, catching his attention.

“I grew up in an orphanage remember? When we’re old enough they teach us these things, we usually ended up making everypony lunch or dinner.”

“So you have experience.” I say, tapping his shoulder. “So anything happen while I was out?”

“Those survivors over by Galloping Gorge managed to luck out and found a hoof powered rail cart. They should be here sooner than expected. That Reaper fellow also called in an hour ago, apparently the train run was a success, but they lost two fighters.” I cringed. That’s two less ponies in Equestria all together. “Speaking of when you were out I sensed you were afraid, did you have a nightmare?”

I  took a deep breath. “Maybe…”

”What happened?”

“I honestly don’t know. Everything started off as dark, then I heard that large Undead’s scream, then I felt a deep, sharp, pain. Then gunfire sounded and there was light. But the scariest part was that Chess was there.”

”That Undead Kitty is afraid of?”

“Yeah, she tortured me, then started talking. Called me some stuff and said if I was gonna be a challenge I should ready myself or Equestria is as good as Undead World.”

”Sounds almost like a dream walker spell, but-”

“She said she was practicing a spell in my nightmare!”

If Sombra could, his jaw would have dropped. ”These motherfuckers can use spells!?”

Sombra ranted on for a while, he even spoke in a language I didn’t recognize, but it felt… natural. “What was that? That language you yelled in?”

”It’s the language of the Umbrum. Older than Equestria and darker than any necromancy. From what I was told, cruising someone in this language brings them misfortune. Hope that’s true, I want Chess to get VERY unlucky right now.”

“So that was her?”

”Yes, and a dream walker spell requires something of the pony whose dream you with to visit. Thankfully it destroys it after the spell has run it’s course.”

“So she’s not only smart, she can use magic. Well fuck.”

"Strong magic at that. Not many unicorns can use a spell like that.”

“What do we do?”

”Let’s give her what she wants.”

“Say what?”

”She said it herself. She wants a challenge. If Kitty is any indication of how these smart Undead are, then the need for a challenge was a part of Chess before she turned and still is. She wants to play war, let’s show her we can play better.”

“Does that mean?” I ask, hopeful.

”Get to the guards combat room, after breakfast, today I train you to be the Alicorn of War.” The Alicorn of War… It it wrong I so love how that sounds! ”Who knows, might even get your cutie mark.” Sombra added, making me blush.

I never really gave my cutie mark any real thought. I shouldn’t even care, but a cutie mark about war might just give me the confidence I need to see this through. “Then from now on, we are officially at war with the Undead. Leave only those like Kitty alive!”

”Just try not to go too far, last thing I want after this is all over is your mother and father screaming at me for turning you into the old me.”

“That’s what you’re for. You’ll keep me from making the same mistakes you made.”

Sombra nodded. ”Now that that’s out of the way I have one question for you. Eggs, over easy, or scrambled?”

“Both! The only thing’s I’ve eaten in my life have been laboratory slop and an MRE, I wanna try all the food you can cook.”

”Careful, if you eat like that you’ll be inheriting your aunt Celestia’s plot.”

My face blushed a blood red. I don’t remember aunt Celestia much, but nopony can unsee that… rear end of hers. “Sh...shut up!”