Undead Retribution

Chapters

The End Of Innocence
Rise Of The Dead
Hope Is For The Living
The Fall
Preparations

The End Of Innocence

You know, thinking about it, this was a bad idea. One of my worst, and that's really saying something.

Oh, not the whole Comic-Con, thing. But the whole costume idea. I mean, the people asking for photos didn't bother me, in fact it was kind of nice to be appreciated, but...a zombie? I couldn't have been a little more original? Then again it was done last minute, what else can you make in three months? Yes, the Queen's Guard/Royal Guard idea was...I guess good enough. I sighed and shook my head, being careful not to lose my...bearskin...hat thing.

"Hey, you alright?"

I looked over and saw my cousin looking over at me in concern. I gave him a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He smirked and shook his head, "Hey, don't worry, the costume is awesome."

"Really?"

"How many times do I have to say it?" He ran a hand through his hair. Lucky bastard, why'd he get blond hair?

"I know...but it's not too...out there is it? I mean, 'Hey, I'm English, I'm going to make a Royal Guard costume!'"

He scoffed, "They have a problem, they can go fuck themselves. Besides, it's not that noticeable." He patted my arm, "Now come now, let's get a look around, I want to get a few things before the general entry guys get in."

I looked back at the entrance and winced at the size of the crowd. That...was a lot of people. I looked over to Joel, he'd mentioned a rough morning, apparently he was being blamed for something he didn't do. Again. "Hey." I said, getting his attention, "Feeling better?"

He gave me a happy grin, "Yeah, thanks for this, buddy." I mean, I only bought the tickets, it was no biggie.

"No worries, come on, let's find a stall you like." I moved forwards. It had taken a long time but I finally came across a zombie walk that looked right, was comfortable and was as fast as a normal walk.

As we wandered Joel gave my arm a poke and pointed towards a stall that others seemed to be avoiding. As we approached I noticed the owner was also in a costume. The Happy Mask Salesman, huh? Cool costume, nice and accurate.

"Ah, some loyal customers at last!" He cried, actually sounding something passable for the Salesman. "I was starting to think that it was futile coming here."

Joel started up a conversation with him as I browsed, something about us being the first here and those urban legends of disappearing cosplayers. It was total bullshit, as if something like that would go unnoticed.

I came across a set of dual shotguns and a skull mask, a plushie of a cyborg raptor, a pair of World War 1 flight goggles, and a pair of Wolverine claws. But none of it really worked for me.

I finally came across a model gun with a plastic bayonet, the same gun I was sure I'd seen the actual Royal Guard use. An SA80a2. I think. I looked along and saw perfection. A bloody, torn Royal Guard coat, much better than what I had on.

I saw Joel had found a Guitar Hero controller. As he and the Salesman chatted, I silently paid for the gun and coat. As soon as I bought them I slipped my new coat on over my old one. Almost immediately my head started ringing and my stomach churning. I clutched my head and staggered back.

"Come on, Tommy, let's look elsewhere." Joel said, his voice sounding distant.

"Ugh, Joel?" I whined, "I...don't feel good." He looked my way and I blacked out, the last thing I saw being my cousin's green eyes seemingly reaching out for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I came too I was in the middle of some forest. Did...did someone kidnap me? I sat up and looked around, yep this...was definitely not just a small bit of trees. A forest. What the fuck? I got to my feet and brushed the dirt off my clothes. I stopped when I saw my hands.

Did they wash my makeup off or something? And...why was I still in costume? Never mind that, my handmade costume was gone and the bought coat was left, but...how in the hell was it clean and pristine? Hell, my entire outfit was clean and...well...unzombieised. Did...did someone replace it? The fuck?!

I shook my head and spotted my other purchase laying in the dirt nearby. I went to pick it up and almost immediately fell over. Why was the thing so heavy?! With a growl I carelessly grabbed the grip and immediately fell on my arse when the thing boomed and the bark off a nearby tree exploded.

I stared at the gun. It was real.

What the fuck?! I carefully flicked the safety on before I lifted it onto my shoulder. Okay. I...should probably get moving before I get myself killed. I paused and lowered the gun again and flicked the flat side of the bayonet. And of course that was fucking real too. I set off walking, not exactly sure where I was going.

Luck must have been on my side because not ten minutes after I set off did I find an exit to the forest and found a town. A town...full of colourful small horses. Oh, today was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

With a sigh, I was about to continue down into the town when I noticed that there was an attack under way. I couldn't see any people, but the horses were being slaughtered by...Are those dogs?!

I...I give up. Fuck it, they were under attack by fucking dogs. Fuck you. I watched as one of the horses opened its mouth and gave a very human scream. "HELP ME!"

They...they could talk?! No! They're people, focus on that and help them!

I quickly took aim at the nearest dog and fired. It dropped as the bullet pierced its brain. I blinked. I should not be this skilled with something I've never used, I somehow ever accounted for recoil and wind! And, more unsettling, I didn't even flinch that I'd killed something that could think.

I shook it off and strolled into the village, shooting any of the dogs I saw. I must have fired off twenty shots by the time I reached the centre of the small town. The majority of the dogs had fled at that point. Seeing me slaughter their own must have scared them off. I'd say it was easy, but I have a gun. They had crude spears. Pointy stick. Firearm. It wasn't really a challenge.

As one of the last two charged me with a wild cry I stood my ground and when he got close enough shoved my bayonet into his neck. It grabbed its neck as blood splattered across my face and coat. I turned to the last one and snarled, "This place is protected! Do you get that?! As long as I live I will be there to slaughter all who attack this place!" It was a lie, but it got the dog nodding.

"We leave! We never come back!" It whimpered before scurrying away.

Eventually a horse approached me, "E...excuse me?" Female. What's a female horse called again?

I kept an eye open for any surprise attacks but looked her way, "Yep?"

"Th...thank you for saving us." She was scared of me. Truth be told I was freaking the fuck out, probably worse than them.

"My pleasure." I nodded.

I froze up and got my gun ready as I saw a group in gold carrying spears come our way. "Oh! The Guard! They got our message!" She smiled. "Oh, don't worry, they protect us." Yeah? Brilliant job they did. Though backup would be appreciated.

I grinned as the...what was it? Guard? As the guard approached. Was that a unicorn? Fuck it, I'm not even surprised anymore. Oh, and a pegasus back there. Of course. I noticed the guard approaching me was a...unicorn with a blue colour coat with a darker blue...what was the hair called again? Mane?

As he got close I saw a spear floating in a blue glow. What the fuck? Fuck it, I'm chalking this all up to magic until I get some answers!

I opened my mouth to say something, but as I did the spear sunk into my gut.

I frowned, not quite comprehending what was going on. As the spear was ripped out I heard the mare scream out. Ha! Remember what they're called! I watched as a horse somehow pick up a stone and throw it at a guard. Wait...how can...fuck it...ow.

As he readied his spear again I fell to the ground and looked up at him. "Please...don't!" I begged.

His eyes widened in shock, "You...you can talk?!"

"It wasn't him!" The mare sobbed, "He saved us!"

He dropped his spear and the blue glow moved to my stomach and the pain faded. "No, no, no!" He muttered.

"Private." I looked up and saw a large white horse with...both horn and wings? Hey, no fair, cheater! "Kill it." She demanded.

"What?!" He yelled, "Princess, no! He's not a monster, he needs medical attention!"

"I won't repeat myself."

"He's not the threat we're for! He's innocent!"

"Private Night Light! That is an order!"

"To Tartarus with your orders! I quit!" He spat, ripping off the helmet and throwing it at her. "I'm doing what's right here!" As he went to help me I could only watch in horror as the white bitch's horn lit up and his discarded spear lifted off the ground. He noticed my face and followed my gaze to the spear. "NO!" He roared, leaping to the spear the grabbing it with his hooves.

"Let go, Night Light. This is treason." She said coldly.

"BUCK YOU!" He screamed as I managed to get up to my knees. Maybe...maybe I could make it! If he kept her back long enough I could escape into the forest!

Not a second after that thought came across my mind did the spear shoot forwards, Night Light still attached, and sink into my heart.

I looked down at the spear as Night Light yelled. It...looked wrong sticking out of my body like that. I was about to touch it when it was painfully ripped from my body. Funnily that's what started the pain. I screamed and screamed but before long I fell to the ground and everything started to go black.

And then I died.

Author's Note

Okay, here's a new story for you guys. I'm...not entirely sure where I'm going with it.

Also, the items on the Happy Mask Salesman's counter? All other stories I'm working on. (Obviously not at the same time, or even the same day, but still) Can you guess who they belong to?

Rise Of The Dead

It all started with a jolt. My eyes shot open and panic set in. I didn't know where I was, the only thing I knew was an urge to climb. It wasn't easy, I had to scrape at the very dirt itself with my bare hands. Scratching, scratching, scratching. I didn't know what way was up and which was down, I just hoped that my instincts were right.

It must have taken a good few hours before I scraped away to the first few streams of sunlight. Still just reacting and not thinking, I sped up and at the first opportunity I shoved my arm out into open air. I stayed like that for a few moments before I began clawing at the opening with a strange new desperation. I eventually made a large enough opening to fit through and I pulled my way up into open air. I lay there on the ground for several minutes, retching up dirt, gravel and worms as my brain slowly started working again.

Finally my first thought since awaking entered my head. I should be dead. I sat up and looked down at my hands. My skin was a deathly grey colour and bits of flesh were missing, including a gash across my right wrist. If I hadn't already vomited up everything inside me then I would have then. This...this couldn't be right! I...There had to be an explanation! I...I need to see my face!

I crawled my way over to a nearby river and, dread following me and every step, looked into the water. I saw my reflection and...I was wrong. It wasn't I should be dead. I was dead, my skin was dead, I had a chunk of flesh missing from my neck, my eyes had gone from deep blue to an icy blue with blood in them. I glared into the water. "All because of that bitch." I snarled, my voice a little raspy. I slowly stood and looked around. I tried to walk, but immediately I almost fell. Great, couldn't even fucking walk now! I staggered to my feet again and tried to move again, the most I could manage was a slow stagger. Well, I've been dead for who knows how long, muscles must have to get working again.

I staggered back to the hole I crawled my way out of and saw a tombstone. 'Our Saviour, whom without Ponyville would not be standing today.' I shook my head, Ponyville? That was called...? I looked into the hole and saw a coffin, yet I never felt any wood, nor had I splinters in my hands. Was it left open after I died? It was then I spotted my gun, I hopped down into the grave again to collect my weapon before climbing back out. If I remembered right I had about ten bullets left. They might come in handy.

As I looked up from my gun I came face to face with a zombie. I flailed around and fell back into my grave. Fuck that! I'm not dying a...oh. I stood up. It was one of those horse things. And a zombie, rotten flesh, clouded over eyes, the whole zombie shebang. Shezombang.

"Uh...hi." I said. I wonder if it had intelligence like me?

It's mouth opened and it let out a low groan before turning and wandering through the forest. Guess that's a no. It was then I noticed the other zombies wandering around, all heading in the same direction. I...guess I should follow them? I mean, I feel like I have to.

As I shambled along with them I realised that I could...sort of feel their presence. Somehow! It didn't make sense! I was just a normal guy, now I can shoot like I've been doing it for years, kill without flinching when before I couldn't dissect a pig's heart without throwing up, and now I can feel the presence of zombies?! What the hell is going on?!

I sighed, wishing I could get a better look at one of the undead. I looked over to a nearby zombie and just wished that it's path was just a little more diagonal so it would be closer to me. To my shock that's exactly what happened. I...Did I do that? I felt out for it and...mentally gave it a push back to a straight line, and moments later it did so. So I can control the things now?! The fuck?! I shook my head, making me realise the bearskin was still on my head. Right, at the convention I couldn't keep the thing on straight for more that a few seconds, but here it's like its superglued to my head? The fuck?!

I shook my head, I was going off on a tangent. Right. I focused on the same zombie again and tried to get it to stop walking. Nothing. Was it just a fluke? I tired to point it in a different direction and it responded. Right, I can't control them but I could...point them? This made no fucking sense whatsoever.

We eventually arrived at a town. At the town, the place I...I was murdered! It had grown a lot, but it was still clearly the same place. How long ago had I died? As we stumbled into town I saw a bunch of horse things grouped together at the centre of town. Huh, not a bad idea, got all your sides covered, but what are you going to do turn nightfall? As we approached we stepped onto and over the last zombies to try. I shook my head, what the hell was I doing?! Was I just about to attack these people because I was a zombie?! The hell's wrong with me?!

Before I could make my getaway the zombie next to me was blasted by...by some beam shot from a unicorn's horn! The fuck?! Right...chalk it up to magic until I get an explanation. I saw the same unicorn fire again and just about managed to twist to the side in time to avoid getting killed again. How fucking dare he!

Without thinking I raised my gun and fired a round into his skull. Everything went quiet as everything went to stare at me, even the zombies. I simply fired another shot into the crowd. As the second body dropped everything started up again and a multitude of beams and blasts came my way followed by a spear.

I fucking hate spears.

It was no longer a matter of killing them because I, for some reason, felt like it was the right thing to do, it was a matter of survival. They wanted to kill me. I couldn't let that happen. I fired again and again until I was out of bullets at which point I ejected the spent magazine and inserted the fresh magazine I had in my other hand. Wait...where the fuck did that come from? No, questions later, survival now.

I fired and fired, reloaded, dodged attacks and fired. It was...right? No, it wasn't. But for some reason it felt right and good. What was wrong with me?

I saw the horses start to run, away from the hoard and out of the town. The last few that stayed did so to 'buy the others time'. Honestly, I humoured them and in the end, their spears vs my bayonet. My bayonet won. The one who survived from the attack spat at me. So, logically I spat back into his face. He screamed as the black thing that came from my mouth hit him. He began scraping where it hit him as black veins began spreading through his body, before finally he dropped to the ground. A few seconds later he slowly stood and let loose a low groan.

Huh. So my spit carries the infection. Cool.

I looked around. The living were gone, all that remained were the dead. I let out a chuckle, "Welcome to Zombieville, population: Us."

Author's Note

Wow, two chapters in two days. You guys are welcome!

Hope Is For The Living

As I staggered around the town I noticed the rest of the undead were either feasting on the dead or just swaying in place. It was almost as if they'd been turned off or something. Whatever. I need information. I moved around town, checking each building until I came to a tree...building. From the massive amount of books inside I deduced it was a library and made my way in. From there it was a simple matter of reading some books. 'Land of Equestria...Sisters whom raised the sun and moon...Three pony tribes...Magic...Thousandth year stars will aid in her escape...Nightmare Moon...Princess Luna returned after one thousand years...Canterlot City...Princess Celestia.'

I shook my head. That explained a lot, the white bitch has a name now. Celestia. Okay, knowledge gained, now to slaughter every last one of these ponies.

I shook my head, no. No, damn it! I took a deep breath, I had to clear my head. Why the hell was my first thought always murder?! Was it because I was a zombie freak?! No. I need to stop, step back. Ever since I found myself in this world I'd been rushing through things. I need to slow down and try and figure things out. I needed to think things through.

I sat down in a nearby chair and propped my gun up nearby. I needed to sort some things out, and there was no better way of organising your thoughts then out loud. "Okay. I'm on a different planet, my gun's real now. I'm able to shoot like a trained marksman, despite never using a gun before. I can kill easily, I've died and then come back after an indeterminate amount of years...and I can point other undead in a certain direction but not control them, killed some innocent people who were just defending themselves and felt like I was doing the right thing." I shook my head, "Something's wrong with this entire picture." The existence of magic didn't even phase me, I mean, I'm a walking corpse, that isn't normal.

The main question was how could I do these things? Shoot expertly and point the dead? I shook my head, focusing. No! That's important, but the first question is why did I feel like I was doing the right thing by slaughtering everyone in this place?! That isn't right! What was going on with me?! I had no answers, not a single book had anything on the dead rising, for all intents and purposes, until yesterday, zombies were as fake here as at home! So why?! Why am I alive?! I need to know! Am I just one of nature's sick jokes, or...fuck it. If I find out I find out. Got to keep my head down and just survive to the next day. Those ponies will want their town back.

I decided to scavenge for supplies, maybe I could use something. I wandered the town eventually stopping by some sort of...I didn't even know what to call it. But it was mostly pink and round, and it was some sort of clothing shop. Figuring that I might be able to find something to make some straps for the gun, I think I read somewhere it was called a sling, I entered and started rooting through the drawers. It wasn't quick. By the time I had finally found something of use the sun was setting. Luckily it seemed the place had some oil lanterns laying about. It was about the only piece of luck I had, the makeshift sling weren't long enough and I had to find some more material, then I had to combine them and I had no idea how to use a sewing machine. More by luck then skill I managed to get the result I wanted, what should have been half an hour's work, in just under three hours. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

As I left the building I no longer had to constantly hold the gun, and it seemed my muscles had recovered enough for me to walk like a normal human again. I decided to wander the town, getting a feel for it, I first decided to explore the farms over by the edge of the forest. When I got there I saw that they had been forced to abandon their meal, a single zombie lay by the front door, head caved in. Inside I found a table with a pie, how long had it been since I last had a home cooked meal? Even before this whole mess it must have been years. I had survived off of the cheapest brand instant noodles I could get, with the occasional reduced piece of meat.

I shook those thoughts out of my head, I had to stop thinking of the past. I had to give up on my friends, my family. There was no way I was ever going to see them again, even if there was a way home. I had to abandon hope, or I might even start think that I might see Joel again. I looked to the ground. I couldn't even cry anymore. I couldn't ever let hope into my heart again. It was a disease, what good would hope do now?! But I couldn't just forget him, he was the closest thing I had to a brother, god fucking damn it! I kicked a chair away and threw the table to the floor, plates shattering as they hit the floor. It wasn't fucking fair! Why did this happen?! What did I do to deserve this?!

I just wanted my family back.

I lay on the ground, crying, tearlessly. I was a mess. This is what hope does to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time I made it back to town, calm once more, the sun was starting to rise. Then the undead stirred. I felt it in my bones, feeling like I should go over the centre of town. Before I knew it I was there in a crowd, waiting. Waiting for something.

Then he appeared.

A unicorn covered in a cloak decorated in skulls, real or fake I couldn't tell, a sickly green aura surrounding him, his eyes a solid mass of the same glowing green energy, some sort of old, decrepit crown sat on top of his head, what little fur that showed was a sickly white and his mane as black as a raven.

I waited for the zombies to tear him apart. And they didn't.

A hoarse laugh came from him, "Excellent. My minions, you have done your part expertly." Minions? "And they said a Necromancer was nothing! I showed them. Now for the rest. Go!" He flung out a leg dramatically, "Take Canterlot. Kill them all. Oh," He looked over to us with a twisted grin, "And when you come across Celestia, those of you with functioning parts left...rape her student and sister in front of her before you turn her into my slave."

What?! Killing the bitch who murdered me was one thing, but...that?! No, that's just wrong! I refuse! I won't attack!

But protest all I might, I found myself walking towards the mountain in the distance. Finding myself savouring the moments until I could slaughter some innocent. I shook the thoughts out of my head. Why was I thinking that? Was it to do with that Necromancer? Either way, I couldn't fight him if he could just bend me to his will! I...had to go along with his plan. But if his plan means killing off all life, what the hell me I meant to do? I looked up to the mountain city. Guess I had to take it slow. One day at a time. Maybe something will show up.

In the end it was like Joel had always said: I had to hold onto hope.

Author's Note

I understand that these chapters seem rushed. That's intentional. My protagonist has had barely enough to even think to himself. Don't worry though, things will slow down and the chapter will be getting longer.

The Fall

It should have taken days to get to the city at the speed we were walking, yet as I shook my head to clear the haze that had gathered and focused on my path I found we were little over an hour away. Where the hell had the time gone? There was no way we simply walked fast enough to skip straight there, I'd lost days. It was bad enough when my thoughts weren't right, but now I was losing time?

What was going on with me? A side effect of being resurrected? Or of my sudden appearance in this world? Or was it that Celestia bitch's fault? Or even the Necromancer's? I just didn't know. I walked with the crowd until I had to stop as the crowd of undead in front of me stopped moving. I began to push and struggle against the crowd, eager to taste the flesh of the living.

I shook my head. No! I am not mindless! Focus! I looked above the heads of the dead and saw the city's portcullis was down and there were Guards throwing spears and firing down magic blasts. Without thinking I simply lifted my rifle and fired off shots until they were all dead, some falling down outside the walls of the city and quickly being converted into one of us.

I smacked myself across the cheek. Focus! I didn't need to kill them! They were just...ah, hell. They would have killed me. Is my unlife worth hundreds or thousands of living lives? What the hell am I even doing here? I thought about leaving but quickly found myself needing to be inside the city. The fuck was that?! As if this entire thing isn't complicated enough!

I let out a sigh and absentmindedly reloaded my rifle. I glared down at the firearm, when the immediate mindfuck is over I am going to find out how I keep doing that. I winced as I heard the portcullis start to snap over the combined force of...I don't know...a hundred or so undead? I sighed as the hoard moved forwards. I might as well see where this ends. I clearly can't leave, but I...I hated being helpless to stop this.

As the hoard shambled through the ruined portcullis I followed, following some urge deep inside. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. My thoughts were my own, except when they weren't, I didn't know which was which anymore, the only thing I could do was see this thing through to the end, however bloody that may be.

I heard shouts and screams as the undead began their attack and feasted on the flesh of the living. I felt pity for them, I wished there was a way to help...but I couldn't, what could I do? They were too many, more than there were in Ponyville. I was helpless yet again. I followed the crowd of zombies, finding them all heading the same general direction, towards the castle. The occasional groan or screech from the hoard being my only communication with the army I found myself wrapped up in. I tried my best to ignore the blood pooling on the ground, there weren't too many killed, thankfully, yet there was an odd pony or two who thought that their home was the safest place for them, I even heard one yell about how they should have 'gone with the rest' up to the castle grounds.

As we passed through one of the streets I saw a bridge coming up and several Guards on top of it holding some sort of cauldron as four others protected them from the zombies coming from either side of the bridge. As the first set of undead started to pass beneath them one of them shot some sort of fire from their horn into the cauldron before they tipped it over the edge, burning liquid, possibly tar, pouring onto the undead in front of me. I held back and backed off as another cauldron was brought forwards and the process repeated. A third cauldron was brought forwards, but before they could continue with their plan the zombies broke through the line and onto the bridge, there was a scream as the defenders had their throats torn out. Not a second after the contents of the cauldron was set alight did were the ones holding it attacked and fell back, as the zombies started gnawing at their flesh the contents of the cauldron spilled out, and I heard screams as they burned alive.

Well...it was a good idea while it lasted. Poor bastards.

The walk continued, the zombies from the bridge spilling over the edge and into the street to join us, crushing a few other undead in their path. Undead morons. The streets were looking more high class and emptier now, it seemed that the living had escaped further up to the castle. From there the hoard went off in different directions, I decided to stick to the one going straight forwards, after all, it worked for me so far. So we walked and came across fuck all, until we saw some Guards off at the end of the street, some of the zombies began lurching ahead to get their fix of flesh first.

That's when a transparent glowing wall appeared and started coming our way. I slowed down, distinctively not liking the look of it. And two seconds later I was proved right as it fucking vaporized the two zombies at the front of the pack. I stared for a few seconds before my survival instincts kicked in, and, seeing as I didn't want to be turned to dust I dived through the nearest window I could, as I crashed to the ground I saw two ponies run into the next room. Standing up I brushed the glass off me and pulled out the odd shard sticking into me. Once I was clean...ish, I made my way after the two. The house was...kind of nice, not something completely high class, but it was certainly up there.

I sighed and went after the two escapees. I just hope they decide to escape rather than fight me. If they ran they just might survive this whole thing. As I entered the next room I let out an internal sigh, the stallion had a spear pointed at me as the female seemed to be incapable of doing anything but shivering. I blinked and for a second the stallion was in Guard armour and in the town I died in. I blinked again and everything was back to normal. Add few years to the face, less muscular, yet there he was. The Guard that had tried to save my life.

"Well, this looks familiar." I said with a smirk.

His eyes widened in shock and he dropped the spear, "You...you can talk?!"

"Should I get ready to be stabbed in the heart by some psycho bitch again?" I chuckled, poking a finger into the stab wound in my chest. "Or are we past that at this point?" I pulled my finger out and flicked off the black gunk that had either replaced my blood or my blood had become. "Because that was not as fun as it looked."

"You...how...you can't be!" He stuttered. "How can you talk?"

As I opened my mouth a zombie suddenly surged out of the room behind them and made a beeline for him. I didn't have time to react as it took a bite out of his side. As he screamed in pain his wife lifted a knife in her magic and rammed it up to the handle into the zombie's head. Seeing him bleed, something in me just acted and I tackled him to the ground and sunk my teeth into his wound. His screams brought me back to reality and I practically threw myself away from him.

I slapped myself across the face, "I...didn't mean to do that." I muttered, feeling sick. Yet...he tasted good.

He fell to the floor and started convulsing, blood pouring out of his wound. This...this was not good. "V...Velvet..." He whimpered before he fell limp.

Oh, shit. Fuck. This...this was bad. After a few seconds of silence his wife burst into tears. I felt bad for her, but it wasn't like I could just go over and do anything, was it? His body suddenly began twitching violently.

As his body rised from the ground I steadied my bayonet. I wouldn't let him kill his own family. That would destroy any remaining part of him if he ever knew, and I owed him for at least trying to save my life all those years ago.

As the eyes opened I found they were a sharper, more peircing, yellow than the glazed over look the rest of the undead had. He looked at his wife and opened his mouth.

"Velvet? Honey, what happened?"

I just stared, "Oh...oh, sweet baby Jesus, you can talk."

He blinked, "What?"

"Stay here. You need to eat-" I slapped myself across the face. "Stay out of sight." I turned to his wife, "You. Look after him, if he starts acting odd knock him out or run, he might start thinking killing and eating you is normal." I headed for the door.

As I opened the door I heard a shout, "Wait!" I turned and saw the stallion staring at me, "What are you?"

I shook my head, "Later." I left the house.

I rejoined the rest of the heavily diminshed hoard as we approched the castle. From there it...was painfully simple. The Guards weren't able to hold us off for too long. Once inside the castle the hoard just followed the path of Guards and we eventually approched a large set of double doors with a good two dozen Guards standing guard. As before they were no match for our pure numbers. They put up a good fight, but in the end we killed them all. The undead began pressing their forms against the doors. They held. Temporarily. Cracks could be heard coming from the other side and the doors soon burst open, the undead falling to the ground as they did. I looked into the room and saw a group of Guards going with a mass of civillians into a room behind a throne. That's when I saw the bitch. The one who murdered me. As the last Guard entered the room she kicked her throne and the wall slowly shut. Now all that was left between us and them was a murderous whore, five females who were clearly untrained, a...I think that's the dragon that I saw in a picture in Ponyville, a Guard in purple armour, a pink Alicorn and some prissy looking white unicorn.

As we slowly moved forwards I did a quick headcount and realised that the thousand or so we had in the beginning had been whittled down to just over two hundred. Not ten feet away from the rest of the living we came to a stop.

"Hold it right there, monstrosities!" The white unicorn yelled, bringing up two swords in his magical grasp. "You will not take another step, nor spill another drop of innocent blood this day!" The others in the room were staring at him in surprise. "As a member of the Canterlot nobility I know I am both overprivilidged and overaprricated for the lack of positive character I hold! Yet I will not let that continue this day! I will protect the innocents with my very life! I am a noble, a royal! My name is Blueblood and I will not let you take another life this day, demons!"

Well...that was a speach and a half. Really. Too bad it won't stop this plague of living death. No...there's got to be a way to stop this! It's the final room! This is it! I have to do something! As I was thinking I noticed the crowd of undead parting. Curious I looked over and saw a small group of undead carting over two ponies. A purple unicorn and a blue Alicorn. Ah, shit. Why do I get the feeling that those are the two that sick fucker wanted us to...violate?

My succpicions were confirmed when the five females (mares?) shouted "Twilight!" whilst the murderer shouted something along the lines of "Sister!" Yeah...I hate being this helpless! At least back home I could at least punch someone! As the zombies put them on the ground and placed their teeth at their throats one of them walked forwards and was immedietly shot in the head with magic by the white bitch. A rock with some weird symbol on it fell to the floor and slid closer to the living before coming to a stop. A few seconds passed before a light shone from it and the Necromancer appeared above the stone in some sort of...hologram looking thing.

"My, my, so rude Celestia." He laughed.

"Bone Weaver?!" The white bitch shouted. "You're behind this?!"

That's his name? You're kind of stuck with being either a doctor or Necromancer with that name. "Of course I am! You thought that I would just sit back after you ruined me?!" Oh, Christ, please tell me he isn't doing this because of some cliché reason!

"Why?! You've violated the basic rules of magic! You've killed hundreds! Why?!" Celestia began to cry. Oh, so when it comes to Ponies life is sacred, but I was all to easy to kill?!

"You made me a LAUGHING STOCK! YOU TOOK AWAY MY STUDIES, THEY WERE EVERYTHING TO ME! You really should have seen this coming, you peace loving fool." ...Yep, fucking cliché reason for this.

"Your studies were on Necromancy! It is forbidden! And for a good reason, look around you, what good can come from this?! You're a lunatic! You're the same failure you were when you studied in my castle!"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to both create a zombie virus and bond it to those risen by magic?!" His projection snarled. "I deserve recognition!"

"You deserve a padded cell!" The blue pegasus yelled.

"SILENCE, WORM!" He roared.

"So all of this is just some petty revenge?" The dragon muttered.

"My revenge is NOT PETTY!" Wow. He's...really childish.

"Doesn't look that way to me," Oh, dragon's going savage, "In fact this is downright foalish, what, did throwing a temper tantrum not get you enough attention?" He was just smirking the whole time. In the face of a zombie hoard.

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

"Aw, did little Boney get upsetty wetty? Come to daddy, I'll make it all better." I...I like this kid. He's probably going to end up dead, but I'll keep him company when he's a zombie.

"BE QUIET! YOU DON'T KNOW ME, WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! YOU'RE JUST A CHILD!"

"And yet, still more mature than you."

"THAT'S IT!" Bone Weaver roared, all his attention on the little dragon. "I'M GOING TO SLAUGHTER EVERYONE YOU LOVE!"

The Guard suddenly tackled the two zombies off the hostages. As he tumbled to the ground with one he suddenly let out a cry of pain and I saw a zombie sinking its teeth into his back. The dragon sprinted forwards and helped the unicorn up, whilst Blueblood did the same to the Alicorn and Guard, before running with her back to the survivors. Huh, so that was the plan, distract the psycho Necromancer. Nice.

"NO, NO, NO!" The Necromancer roared, childishly. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

The purple unicorn put on some sort of crown and along with five others rose into the air and started glowing. The fuck? A rainbow suddenly appeared from them and crashed down onto the undead, the bright light forcing me to look away. When the light died down the zombies were all dead. And not in the zombie sense, it was as if whatever had returned them to life had been suddenly stripped away.

They fired another rainbow. And another, and another. Then it seemed it was my turn. As they fired it up again something in my mind told me to run away from it. To come back and slaughter them in their sleep later.

Fuck. That. Throwing caution to the wind I surged forwards and let the rainbow crash into me. It was fucking painful! It was like I was being killed again! Everything from my ruined heart to my brain burned in a blaze of colours, yet, strangely, I felt completely at peace. The light faded away and the haze I hadn't even know was there was stripped from my mind.

They saw me still standing and started whispering amongst themselves. But I just looked down at my hands. I felt disgusted at myself. What the hell had I been doing?! Killing people for defending themselves against the undead?! The fuck was wrong with me?! I would have done the same thing! Why hadn't I even thought of shooting down the undead?! Why?! What did that dickbag do to me?!

"Hm?" The Necromancer's projection muttered. "Hah! Looks like that one's immune! You're dead. Kill them all, minion!" I just stood there, fists shaking in rage. Who the fuck did this bastard think he was?! "Hey! Minion, I ordered you to kill them! Hurry up already! Oh, and if you kill any of the princesses and they don't come back as a zombie bring them to me, I need a new cum rag."

"Shut up, you disgusting wretch!" I roared. "YOU'VE MADE ME A MURDERER! I KILLED INNOCENTS BECAUSE OF THAT SHIT IN MY HEAD! I'M GOING TO FIND YOU AND RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF! THEN I'M GOING TO SKULLFUCK YOU!"

They just stared at me. Then, without a single, fucking moment's hesitation I turned and flicked my rife from semi-automatic onto fully automatic and turned before shooting a full magazine into the crowd of undead, dealing with the immediate danger, but they were replaced by the time I reloaded. I looked behind me at the gawping ponies, "What're you waiting for?! Fucking kill them already!" I shot down the zombies as the ponies started to react, revenge could come later, I couldn't let that freakish bastard's plan come about. What would my family think of me if I did?

"No, no, no, no!" The Necromancer started screaming, "STOP THAT! STOP IT NOW! I COMMAND YOU! YOU'RE RUINING MY BIG MOMENT!"

"Whoop de, fucking, doo." I grumbled, unloading another magazine into the crowd.

"How exactly are you talking?!" The smaller princess, Cadance if I remembered correctly, asked.

I looked back and shot down the odd zombie crawling along the floor, "I don't know. Let's just be glad I am and that I can think clearly again!"

"What?"

"Later!" I yelled, reloading and opening fire again.

Really, it seemed like I could do little more than hold the hoard back, every zombie I killed was replaced. I needed to take a bunch out quickly. Shame my rifle was my only weapon.

Blueblood was diving through the crowd, seeming to be in his element, cutting and laughing as the undead fell around him. I made sure to keep an eye on him, just in case he was going off the deep end. Although he did make sure that the dead didn't reach the rainbow shooters, buying them time to keep firing rainbows into the crowd, even as they were panting and sweating up a storm. He soon found himself surrounded by undead. I gave a grin and flicked back to semi-automatic before shooting down the zombies around him.

He looked my way and flashed me a grin, "I must thank you properly later, my undead saviour!"

I chuckled, "I'll take a strong drink as payment!"

"You and me both!" He cheered before leaping back into the fray.

Thankfully we all managed to take them down rather quickly and without losing a remaining life. Mostly thanks to the rainbow shooters, as they took down at least half the hoard for us. On the downside it meant I had no idea what was going to happen to me.

"YOU THINK THIS IS OVER?!" Bone Weaver screamed as the last zombie fell. "I'M ONLY JUST BEGINNING! THE DEAD SHALL RISE AND BY MY HOOVES THE LIVING SHALL FALL!"

I sighed, "Come up with some original material, fuckface." I shot the stone he was using and it shattered, dispelling whatever magic was keeping the projection there.

I checked on the Guard, it woundn't do to have him turn and kill us all now. "The good news," I said, "Is that you're not going to turn, the bite didn't peirce your armour." He gave a sigh of relief, "The bad news is that it's going to hurt like a bitch for a while seeing as you have metal sticking into your back."

"That I can deal with." He muttered.

"Fair enough." I said, watching the sea of zombies on the floor for any signs of life.

The purple unicorn took off her crown and stared at the dead. "We...we killed them all..." She sounded surprised.

I saw a twitching hoof of a nearby 'dead' zombie and put a bullet in it's head. They all jumped and stared at me. "What?" I asked, going around, kicking the dead zombies and subsequently shooting them if they moved.

After I was sure they were all really dead I flicked the safety on and made my way up to where the rest of the ponies were. "What are you?" The pink Alicorn asked.

I shrugged, "A zombie. But beyond that I was an innocent that was murdered by a heartless bitch, one of you ponies killed me for merely living."

There were shocked gasps, "But...but who would kill somepony like that?" The purple unicorn asked.

I sneered, "Why not asked your fucking whore of a princess there? After all she murdered me." I hissed.

"What?!" Purple cried. Okay, that's it, fuck this!

"You!" I pointed at her. "Name!"

"W-what? T...Twilight Sparkle." She seemed jumpy.

"Right, I'll remember that. Look, I just showed up and that BITCH shoved a spear through my heart!" I spat.

"There were extenuating circumstances!" The bitch tried to defend herself.

"You're right! I saved a town from being slaughtered, surely I must have been a true villain!" I scowled at her for a few seconds before sighing, "Forget this." I punched her in the face. Hard. She fell to the floor and looked up at me, blood steadily flowing down her face. I offered her a hand, "Look, we can settle our differences later, right now we have an apocalypse to stop." She gave me her hoof and I pulled her up, "But we are going to settle this, and I can't promise I won't beat you into a bloody pulp."

"And I can't promise you that you'll live past that day." She shot back.

I smirked, "Bitch please, I'm already dead. So we're off to kill us an undead army, huh? Now that sounds like a party!"

Author's Note

I just noticed reading through this that for some reason I always give Spike some savage burns to use. I...don't know why. Maybe so he's not pathetic? Or maybe just because I like him?

And Blueblood's not a bitch or punching bag here because I see that way too much.

Preparations

The ponies stared at me. "Party?" Celestia spat, "Ponies have died!"

I scowled at her, "Oh, so when ponies die you get upset but when I was killed everything was all hunky dory? Fuck off."

"I thought you said we were going to put aside our differences for now." She spat.

"Yeah, and I expect you to, and I'm not beating you bloody. That is putting aside our differences." I said mockingly.

"You're a hypocrite."

I shot her a cruel grin, "Suck my rotting dick, you worthless whore.”

“So I take it you don’t plan on forgiving my aunt any time soon?” Blueblood asked, wiping his blades clean and sheathing them at his sides.

I snorted, “Not in a million years.”

He sighed, “That’s unfortunate, but understandable. You won’t let innocents die just to spite her, will you?”

“No. I love life too much to do that. But the bitch better not get in my way.” I shrugged, “I won’t intentionally wound her, but a punch or two builds character!”

He chuckled, “Indeed. Now, I must go organise the clean up and make sure there aren’t any stragglers, but I shall see you later, my undead compatriot!” He left the room and I heard him barking commands.

I looked over the other survivors and sighed, my head fuzzy, “We need to check the city for survivors and to set up better defenses. But...for now we prepare for war. I...I’ll be back, I need to check on something. In the meantime check on your loved ones that are here.” I headed for the exit before pausing and looking back at the blue alicorn, "Hey, uh, Luna, right? Could you make sure word actually gets out that I'm not mindless. It's not that I don't trust your sister...but I don't trust psychotic bitches."

"Go rot away!" Celestia spat.

"Burn in hell!" I yelled back.

“Useless sack of maggots!”

“Psycho bitch!”

“You were nothing in life and you’re still nothing in death!”

“When was the last time you tried a salad? I’m guessing a few decades at least!”

“You should have stayed in the ground, at least that way we wouldn’t have to look at that mess you call a face!”

“I’m dead, what’s your excuse?” I spat, leaving the room whilst flipping Celestia the bird.

I hadn’t gotten down the corridor before I was followed by Twilight and the Guard, who still had his armour on and the shards of metal stuck in his back, blood slowly dripping onto the floor. “Shouldn’t you get that looked at?” I asked after a few awkward seconds.

“Look. Once I know the city and my family are safe then I will, until then I can deal with it.” The Guard sighed, wincing slightly.

“Your choice.” I muttered, ignoring the curious look Twilight was giving me.

As we left the castle and headed for the city. The Guard broke the silence, "So...nice hat."

I raised an eyebrow, "That thing's still on? Huh, you know I thought for sure that it'd fall off by this point."

Twilight gave me a look, "How could you not tell it was on?"

"I got used to the feeling, I guess. That, or the maggots have eaten away any nerves I have up there.” I blinked, “And on that note I should really check if there are maggots eating me."

"Uh...I could...look into a spell for that if you want?" Bless her heart, she was trying at least.

I smiled, "That'd be nice." I frowned, "But now I need to find out why I'm still alive...unalive...fuck it, I'm not drunk enough for this." A thought occurred to me, "Can I even get drunk anymore? Hope so."

“Why would you want to get drunk?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.

The Guard and I shared a look. He understood. “You, little one, are too innocent. How? You’ve just seen zombies and so much death.”

Her lips quivered, “I...I just have to get past it. I can’t let one experience turn me into a fearful shut in.” Her ears flopped down, “I’m sorry.”

I ruffled her mane and smiled, “Never apologise for being innocent. I wish I could be innocent like you, but that’s not an option. Not now. Hold on to that innocence.”

She smiled, “Thanks.”

I turned the corner and both Twilight and the Guard followed me. Speaking of which, "You, Guard, what's your name? Chop, chop!"

He simply raised an eyebrow, "Shining Armor. Captain of the Royal Guard. Until they find a new captain that is."

“You’re being fired?”

He shook his head, “No, I’m moving up north with my wife to run the Crystal Empire.”

“I see. Any good candidates?”

He frowned, “The only ones that are, are racist, speciesist and prejudiced.”

“If they say shit to me, I’m going to scare the shit out of them.” I chuckled. As I got closer to the home of the one I’d infected I was feeling odd, they were still following me. "Yeah, this is great and all, but why are you both still following me?"

"Our parents live this way." Twilight explained.

I blinked, "You two are related?"

“You...couldn’t tell?” Twilight asked.

I raised an eyebrow, “Is this one of those ‘the same species can tell, but anyone else is clueless’ things? Because you two look nothing alike to me.”

“I’m her older brother.” Armor said, shaking his head.

“Alright.” We came to a stop in front of the house the infected was inside. "Wait...fuck." I sighed, "Please tell me your parents don't live here."

"Um...yes?" Twilight said.

I sighed, "Yeah...bad news. Your dad's dead." Oh, goodbye, tact, why are you leaving?

"W-what?!" They yelled.

"Good news. He's some sort of intelligent zombie." I stopped when I noticed they had frozen, Twilight slumping to the ground, tears starting to roll down her face. Crap. "Uh...please don't cry?"

"He...he's dead...?" She whispered.

"Uh..." Don't say yes! "Sort of?" Hi, brain, what's your excuse?

"Don't you have any tact?!" Her brother yelled at me.

"Uh, hello, potentially maggots eating away at my brain here! Besides, he's still talking!" Hopefully. I sighed, “Look, I honestly don’t know what’s going on. That’s why I’m here, to examine him and look for...I don’t know. Some sort of sign. Just...wait here a few seconds.”

I opened the door and walked in, finding the couple in the same room as I’d left them. “You’re back!” The stallion cried, standing up. “I...give me the truth, am I going to start trying to eat ponies?”

“I don’t know, Mr…” I waited.

“Night Light. What’s happened up at the castle?” He asked.

“Dad?” I stepped aside as Twilight and Shining entered. I leaned against a wall as the family hugged and cried together. My eyes were drawn to Night Light’s wound. It had already scabbed over. That was odd.

I gave them a few minutes to themselves. As they talked I pursed my lips, and thought to myself before striding forwards and grabbing Night Light's head.

"Uh, I...What are you doing?" He asked before I lifted his lips up and inspected his teeth. They were still the teeth of a herbivore.

"Inspecting." I snapped my fingers at Twilight, "You! I need you to document the changes! Physical and mental! Armor! Keep an eye on him, I don't know if his mind will hold. You..." I trailed off when I realised I didn't know the wife's name, "Whatever your name is, find out if he's still the man you married, see if he suddenly has a craving for flesh."

Armor spluttered, "You can't talk to my family like that!" I turned and walked away. "Where are you going?!"

I turned back to him as I opened the front door, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time for niceties. I've told you what needs to happen. If your father is still himself in a week or two I'll consider him stable, until then be prepared to put him down if he turns feral." As I closed the door behind me I locked eyes with him, "I'm sorry."

I slumped to the ground and sighed. This could hopefully turn out with a happy ending, but it was more likely they’d have to kill him. It was a mess. After several minutes sitting there I stood up and started a patrol before planning to head to the castle afterwards, hoping to avoid Celestia, but needing to talk with Luna about any plans to attack the zombies.

I glared at Celestia as she sneered at me, refusing to move out of my way and blocking the corridor, "The sooner I no longer have to look at your rotting carcass the better."

“That’s nice, go gouge out your eyes will you? I have places to be.” I spat back.

“Oh, you think you’re so witty, don’t you? Is that the best that slop you call a brain can come up with?!”

I just smiled, "You know the difference between you and eggs?"

She blinked, "What?"

"The difference between you and eggs." I repeated. My smile could be considered by some to be too innocent.

"I...I don't...Where are you going with this?"

My smile twisted into a mean grin, "Eggs get laid, you don't."

She let out a growl and barged passed me, muttering under her breath as she went. I smirked and continued down the hall. The bitch deserves a much more physical punishment, but while Bone Weaver was still loose I’d have to make do with insults.

I was so into my own thoughts that I almost missed Blueblood coming up to me with a grin, “Ah, my undead friend!” He grinned, “Things are moving swiftly! The city is clean of zombies and we’re dealing with the corpses, I have a speech planned in a few minutes, come! Aunt Luna has been looking for you!”

It had only been two hours since we killed the last of the zombies and there was already a speech going on? These ponies work fast. Blueblood led me out to a balcony overlooking the city. Luna was currently giving a speech, explaining what had happened to the crowd below.

Blueblood pulled me aside before I could step out. “Hold on. Aunt Luna likes her dramatics.”

Before I could ask what he meant Luna shouted, “And we could not have survived this day without our mysterious saviour! Please, welcome our hero!”

Blueblood gave me a small shove and I stepped out onto the balcony. I froze up for a second at the sheer number of ponies staring up at me. Fuck. I hesitantly waved. They were deathly silent. Shit. “Are you sure this was a good idea?” I hissed to Luna out of the corner of my mouth as my legs began to feel like jelly.

She smiled and hissed back, “Shut up and make a small speech, they love speeches.” Oh, of course, ask the guy with...Why did I have be the one to give a speech?!

I gulped and unsteadily stepped forward. Oh, they’re staring right into my soul, that’s great! I locked my eyes on a shop window near the crowd. “Ponies! I...I know what you’re thinking! I am dead, a zombie, how are you to be sure I am no better than those that attacked you? I’ll be honest, I was part of the hoard that attacked! I have killed innocents, my hands are stained in blood!” I took a deep breath, “But none of that was my choice! My mind was being controlled by a foul Necromancer! My raised my corpse along with those of your friends and family! My mind was a haze with my only thoughts of murder! But I was saved from my fate!”

“The Elements of Harmony.” Luna whispered, realising where I was going.

“The Elements of Harmony saved me from my blind hunger! The Necromancer made me into a weapon for his own filthy purposes and I am not in a forgiving mood! I shall hunt him down across this world! I will not rest until his skull rests firmly in my hands! I won’t allow this evil to continue! That is my promise to you, to the people, to this world!”

The crowd exploded into cheers. With a smile I stepped back and tried to stop my hands from shaking uncontrollably. “That was a good speech.” Luna smiled.

“Never make me do that again.” I whimpered. That was terrifying!

“Good show, my friend!” Blueblood cheered, stepping forwards, “Let’s see if I can top it!” He stepped up to the edge of the balcony, “Ponies, I will keep this short! I know a lot of you don’t like me, but this whole ordeal has opened my eyes to how petty I’ve been! Ponies! Today I announce that one half of the Blueblood family fortune shall be donated to the Equestrian Crisis Effort! One quarter of that shall be used to help repair homes while the rest will be used in preparation for the upcoming war against the undead!" Blueblood announced.

I walked away. Away from the peering eyes and their unspoken cries of blame. I hadn’t gotten far when Luna caught up with me, “Wait, Sir...Saviour. Please, may we talk?”

“Saviour? That isn’t my name.” I gave a smirk as we were safely away from the crowd.

She gave me a sad smile, “Yes, I guessed that, but when you…” She hesitated, “When you died all those years ago, Ponyville, the town you saved dubbed you Our Saviour, And buried you. That name is...all we have.”

I sighed, “My name is Thomas Ross. Call me Tommy. And I’m no knight, so quit with that ‘sir’ bullshit. You want to thank me then get me some rum. I need to see if I can still get drunk.”

“I...I see. We’ll get you your drink after we’ve finished our defences erected.”

“Alright. What do you want?”

“Twilight sent me a letter. You’re looking for a way to preserve your body?” She asked.

I raised an eyebrow. “And you have a way?”

She smiled, “Indeed! Consider this a gift for helping to save us despite...previous grievances.”

I gave her an expressionless look, “You mean your sister murdering me.”

She winced, “Yes. I...I can’t apologise enough for that.”

I rolled my eyes, “You don’t need to apologise. She does. Now, this gift?”

She coughed awkwardly, “I...Indeed. We usually use this spell on our dead to...keep them fresh for funerals, but it should keep you from decaying...further.”

“Will it remove maggots?”

She nodded, “Yes. Now, this isn’t a permanent thing. A normal unicorn would have recast this spell every few days, however being an alicorn has its perks. This spell should last at least a year.”

I sighed, “Go ahead. Blast me with it.” I watched as her horn lit up as she hit me with a dark beam I felt...cleaner. But my brain was still a little fuzzy. “There, now perhaps we may even win this war with you at our side, the hero of old!”

And that was pushing it way to far into cheesy lines, “And you’re trying to butter me up. What do you really want?” I asked bluntly.

She was silent for a few moments before sighing, “I’m no fool, you hate my sister, don’t you?”

“I thought I’d made that pretty obvious.”

“Will it affect your ability to work with her?”

“Come on, I can work with her to save the world, but the moment Bone Weaver is dead I’m going to kill her.”

She seemed shocked at my confession. “You...you want to kill my sister?”

“She murdered me. There’s no excuse. Unless she has a very good reason, I see no excuse as to why she shouldn’t face justice.”

Luna sighed, “This...isn’t an excuse for what she did, but...ever since the founding of Equestria we have been attacked by humans every hundred years or so. Most of the time they’re alone, sometimes in pairs, and once in a group of ten, all the time they have powers and abilities beyond our understanding and all the time they seek to conquer. They may act as allies, as saviours from the darkness, but in the end, they try to take this world for themselves and we fight back. Never have we won against an Invader without extreme losses.” She shook her head. “Like I said, it’s no excuse. Never before has my sister or I attacked without provocation. After this is over...I promise she will answer for her crimes.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Even though she’s your sister?”

“I...won’t claim it will be easy to do, but nopony is above the law. She murdered you, for that, she will face the full force of the law.” She struggled to get the words out.

I smiled and rested a hand on her...shoulder? “And for that you have my respect. Thank you.”

I left her there and headed back into the city, I needed somewhere to stay while I could think clearly again, war talks could wait until I didn’t need to give speeches to giant crowds. I didn’t care what Luna said, after the Necromancer was dead I’d fill Celestia with lead. Maybe even jam a spear into her heart, a little poetic justice.

I headed back to Night Light’s house, I wouldn’t be safe at the castle. I hesitated before opening the door and finding a spear pointed at my head. “You know, I’m starting to think you ponies have a thing for pointing spears at me.” I pushed the spear to the side to find Shining Armor glaring at me.

“And you think you can demand anypony to do what you want!” He growled.

I sighed, “I want you to not have to kill your father. That can only happen if you have him under observation. And if he does change...I won’t make you put him down. You’re in the army, you know you can’t just let someone infected with something new just wander around without being watched closely.”

He hesitated, “I don’t like it.”

“I’ll watch over him at all times. I don’t know if I need sleep or not, so if I don’t I’ll be there all night.”

He sighed, “Just...Fine. Fine. Come in, we’ll get you a blanket.”

I nodded, “Thank you. I mean it.”