"What the fuck?! You trying to kill us?!" Nick thrashed around in an enclosed space that he assumed was a box.

Suddenly, he felt himself getting roughly dropped on a hard surface. I've been through this for a day. I'm done! Nick thought. He took his fists, and pounded on a wall on the box as hard as he could. After punching three times, the top of the box flew off, and he stood upright. He held up his fists, and looked around.

"Who thought they could contain me?" Nick growled.

Nick was met with confused looks by multiple ponies. NORMAL ponies. They looked at him with shocked expressions. Finally, one in the crowd spoke.

"It's the Element of Brutality!" A stallion yelled.

The ponies in the crowd cheered and stomped their hooves in delight. Nick heard the sounds of more crates being cracked open. He turned around to see royal guards opening other crates. First, there was his supplies. Then, there was the rest of his crew. Milky, Miranda, and Axel popped out of the crates themselves.

"Guys! You're here too!" Nick yelled as he ran to his buddies.

"What...happened?" Axel said as he tried to let his eyes adjust to the light.

"Let me explain," A voice said nearby.

The four looked to the side, to see the princess of the night, Luna. She approached them with a smile, but then she frowned.

"Wait...where's the fourth human?" she asked a royal guard.

"Wait, Luke isn't here! That's right!" Miranda said, her hands over her mouth.

"Damnit! You kidnapped us, and left behind our friend!" Nick said as he grabbed a guard by the throat and pulled him at eye level.

"Nick! Please calm down!" Axel said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Nick hesitated, and looked at the guard. He was struggling for air. Nick set him down, and the guard gasped and sputtered on the ground. He looked at Luna.

"Now, you were gonna explain?" Nick asked.

Luna sighed, and spoke, "I sent my guards to look for you. When they found you...they decided to well...take you."

"Oh, that's great. It's not like the normal thing to do would be to ask."

Luna ignored his comment, "Welcome to the Sanctuary of Ponyville. Worry not about the undead. We are surrounded by a huge wall made of wood and stone, guarded 24/7 by Equestria's finest."

"What about Luke?" Miranda asked.

"Fret not about your friend. We will send search parties out to find him. For now, relax here in town. If you shall require anything, the guards will assist you. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns...hesitate not to speak to me."

With that said, Luna left the area. Leaving Nick and his friends surrounded by a crowd. Everypony immediately bombarded the humans with questions. Most of which they were unable to answer.

"What do we do now?" Axel asked.

"I don't know about you...but I think we should just relax for a while. We're in a safe area, and we're surrounded by guards and protection. I think we deserve to relax for a while." Miranda said, helping Milky from her box.

"What about Luke?"

"Well...let's just hope that he'll make it."

"I know he will make it," Nick said, cracking open a wooden crate...his guns and ammo spilling out, "Luke may be a little bit of a wuss...but he's gotten through everything he devoted himself to. I know that he's all obsessed with ponies and crap. I know he devoted himself to this world, and if he's gotta stay alive in order to save it...then I know that the last thing he would do is die." Nick grabbed a gun bag and started stuffing it with some guns and ammo.

"That's the nicest thing I've heard you say about him," Milky said, smirking.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, Ima go explore this town. If we're gonna be stuck here, may as well familiarize ourselves with it."

"See ya, Nick!" Miranda said, waving.

Nick walked off to the center of town. You know what? I'm gonna explore later. I just wanna relax. Nick thought. He went to the nearest bench, and plopped himself onto it. He yelped, as he didn't realize how short they were. He shrugged, and leaned back in his seat. The sounds of the birds and nearby chatter of the citizens of Ponyville overtook him, and he started to get drowsy. Before he fell asleep, he felt something else plop itself on the bench next to him. He opened his eyes, and looked to his left. When he did, he saw a little filly with a white coat and light blue mane and tail sitting next to him...sniffling. Nick got curious, so he decided to talk to her.

"Hey, something wrong?" Nick asked, even though it was obvious that something was.

"M-my bear...Mr. Sprinkles. I lost him." the filly said, tears falling form her eyes.

"You lost your teddy bear, huh? Bummer."

"I miss him so much...It was a gift from my mommy before she...got the 'ponies are food' flu."

Nick thought for a moment. Oh, what the hell. I got nothing to do. He thought.

"Do you have a clue where it is?" Nick asked.

The filly looked at him, her lavender eyes puffy with a hint of red, "I left him in the orphanage...but it's scary in there."

"Why's that?"

"Some of my friends are..."

"Zombies?"

"Yes...a bunch of us got out, but the rest of us are...'somies'?"

"Zombies. With a 'Z'."

"What's a Z?"

"...nevermind. Excuse me for a bit."

Nick got up from the bench, leaving a confused foal behind him. He found the orphanage rather quickly, there was a big sign with the word "Orphanage" written in Equestrian on it. Nick could make out what the word meant, and went to the front door. Holding a double-barreled shotgun in hand, he jiggled the knob on the door...but it refused to open. He then decided to pull open a window, and he climbed inside. He closed it behind him, and looked around. The darkness, combined with the smell of mold and mildew only added to the derelict atmosphere.

"What a shithole. The apocalypse jut started...ten days ago here or some shit?" Nick said as he looked around.

He observed his surroundings as he walked down the hall. The paint was cracking, the walls were caked with even more mold. The wooden floor beneath him squished beneath his feet. The overall setting of the location was enough to send shivers down his spine. After a bit of walking, he found what he was looking for: The bedrooms. Long rows of beds and chests lined the wall. The chests likely for holding the orphans personal belongings. After scanning the beds with his eyes, he saw a lump on top of a bed. Upon further inspection, he saw that it was a brown stuffed bear. It had a red bowtie around it's neck, and a sewed-on smile.

"Bingo! You're coming with me." Nick said as he grabbed the teddy bear and put it in his jacket.

He then heard groaning coming from a nearby hall. He turned, to see what he was expecting: Zomponies. All foals, devoid of life, stumbling toward him. Nick put his shotgun on his back and pulled out his trusty AK-47. He started walking backwards slowly, shooting the zomponies in the head. He reached the window, and continued to shoot. Even though Nick didn't like ponies, he felt a large amount of sadness within him. They were just kids. Now...they're zombies. Nick thought as he finished the last one. When the job was done, Nick hoisted himself through the window and closed it behind him.

Nick returned to the bench ten minutes later, and saw the filly still sitting there...moping. Nick took out the stuffed bear, and approached her.

"Hey, look." Nick said.

The filly looked up, and her eyes widened, "Mr. Sprinkles!" she said as she grabbed her bear and held it in her forelegs, hugging it tight. "Thank you so much, Mr. Hyooman."

"No problem." Nick said.

"Hey...my name is Cotton Cloudy."

"I'm Nick."

"Mr. Nick...you're my hero."

Nick smiled, and left her to snuggle her teddy bear. As nick walked away, he was approached by a smirking Axel.

"I saw what you did there," he said, "You did something nice for a pony."

"Well, I still am not a brony," Nick said, "But I still have my moral values."

"Riiiiiight."

Nick scoffed, and went into town. He smiled slightly, a good feeling in his heart.

Author's Note

Thank you guys for reading this chapter! If you liked it, leave a comment! As always, have a nice day!