Zombie Chronicles: New World Order

We barely had a chance to mourn the dead—we didn’t have time to, since there was a lot of planning to do.

Twilight’s idea about reaching out to the Kingdom became more and more of a better alternative as to fighting the New World Order alone. We contacted the Sector and they said we were in, with my father vouching for us.

I offered Rainbow and Meiko to come with us, but they both refused, having bad memories about the place... something that I understood and decided to ask if Jason wanted to come, but when I reached Applejack’s house, I glanced through the glass door and saw that they were on the couch, asleep in each other’s arms, and decided to leave them be.

I reached the front of the gate where Twilight was revving up her motorcycle, with a symbol of what can only be described as two antlers with a broken heart in between them, scratched off the front...

“You coming, or are you bringing that car of yours?” She asked me.

I chuckled and hopped on the back, waiting for Twilight to start zooming down the open road...

“No reason to waste more gas...” I said as I nervously rested my hands on her waist.

“Hold on, Ky!” She called out as she let loose, driving down the road with me holding on for dear life.

I could tell that it was going to be a bumpy ride...

Once we arrived near the Kingdom, I noticed that my hair was spiked in a random direction and did my best to fix it, with Twilight laughing in the background.

“Here, let me help.” She chuckled, using water from a nearby puddle to set my hair back to the way I had it, with the sides separated from my face.

“There-- now you’re you again.” She pecked my lips as she put the bike behind a large accumulation of bushes.

I chuckled as we both noticed a man in black armor on horseback approaching us. Twilight unsheathed her sword while I cocked my Judge back. The man in black stopped his horse and jumped off, glancing at Twilight...

“Twilight Sparkle, what brings you to the Imperium?” He asked her.

Twilight approached the man to answer, in which he responded by taking a step back.

“...Kyle and I are from Canterlot, we need to speak to whoever’s in charge.” She said.

“And tell them that they owe my people after what happened in Sanctuary.” I said.

That got the Knight’s attention as he removed his helmet, revealing an ordinary looking man.

“You’re from Sanctuary?! Oh, shit—I heard stories about that place, how Yowane got an army of defecting Knights and none of them came back?” The Knight uncharacteristically asked, acting like I was some kind of celebrity.

I was honestly surprised to hear that—none of them made it back? The girls and I killed the ones who attacked us at that station, and a lot of them died in the attack... but then again, where were the rest of them?

“None of them? Not one?” I asked him.

He chuckled and shook his head.

“They were either killed out there or made the right choice and stayed away...” He sighed.

I had no idea what to say, but I really didn’t have to answer.

“Well-- I don’t see why we can’t head back there, right now... and we don’t really call it the Kingdom, anymore... too any bad memories, also too Walking-Dead... we just call it ‘The Imperium’.”

Imperium... that name could grow on me.

“Okay... then let’s see this... Imperium.” Twilight said, sheathing her katana and pulling her bike out of the bushes...

“Uh, yeah—can I ride with the Knight?” I asked, not wanting to get back on that bike.

They both chuckled and the Knight nodded.

“Sure... and my name’s Thorax.” He said as I hopped onto the saddle.

I could see in Twilight’s eyes that I was no longer holding her back as she revved the bike and flew down the road, leaving us behind...

“I’m guessing you two are dating...” He said.

“...Yeah.” I chuckled.

Thorax nodded as we trotted down the road.

“Congratulations... from the stories I’ve heard about her, I’d say she’s a keeper.” He chuckled.

Stories? What kind of stories?

I didn’t have time to ask as more Knights on horses arrived alongside us, some of them shocked to see me.

“Oh, shit—you're Kyle Williams!” One of them said.

I couldn’t resist smiling at the recognition...

“Didn’t know I was famous...” I said as all rode off to the Imperium.

Yeah, that name takes some getting used to.

The familiar brick walls have been improved upon in the past few months—the former 5-brick wide, 15 feet tall wall was now 8 bricks wide and at least twice as tall, and the inside resembled an actual kingdom, with old-fashioned houses and dirt roads connecting streets together... Just a few feet in, we saw entire neighborhoods with signs labelling them—William Street, Walker Street, and a Flash Street, and with many of those houses under construction...

“Wow... and I thought it was impressive before.” I whispered.

Twilight seemed to be taking it all in as well, her hand clasping mine.

“The last time I was here... it looked nothing like this.” She said.

I chuckled and tilted my head.

“It looked kinda close when I was here.” I said.

I could tell that Thorax saw our awe and smiled slightly.

“Yeah-- our queen changed a lot in the last few months—starting with the walls, which were starting to suffer against the elements. We built them up again, better than before—and after that, we started with the inside. Entire streets full of people, can you imagine...?” Thorax stopped and glanced at my neck...

I had just now realized that I didn’t have something to cover Chrysalis’s scar with...

“No, no—I can explain! It’s not a zombie bite, it’s a--”

“I’ll consider your request of a delagation to the queen, but I think you should go, she’s always a busy lady.” Thorax started to panic, glancing around...

An idea popped into my head, but I ignored it—there's no way that...

Right?

“Take me to the queen. If she’s busy, we’ll leave, but I want to meet her in person.” I said.

Thorax tried to speak, but sighed and caved in.

“Okay... but first, I need to see your weapons... both of you.” Thorax said.

I began growing skeptical, but I gestured to Twilight as I handed him my mother’s gun and Scootaloo’s machete...

“I want them back, after.” I said as Twilight handed Throax her sword.

“Of course—but for now, they stay with me.” He said.

We agreed and Thorax began leading us through streets where we saw children run through the streets, several workers hammering foundations of houses together, and people just clammoring at Twilight and I—them calling me the “Sanctuary Leader” and Twilight the “Caribou Assassin”...

Caribou? That was a new one I hadn’t heard before.

I didn’t have much time to talk as we arrived to the massive castle that was possibly a vacation spot back in the day...

“What even was this castle before the world ended?” Twilight asked.

Thorax sighed and turned to us.

“First of all... the world hasn’t ended. Second, it used to be a luxury resort that Filthy Rich bought out a year before the world... changed.” He corrected himself.

I already had several questions for my aunt and Filthy, and that was simply one more...

“Now, you guys stay here, I’ll see if Day Court’s full.” He said as he went inside and ran off in a random direction...

Twilight and I turned to each other and ideas started forming.

“You don’t think...” She started.

I shook my head in denial.

“No, no—she can’t be, it’d make no sense.” I said.

But the longer we waited, the more convinced I became that behind those doors... ruled the one person who changed me...

Thorax came back out and I saw that Knights were behind him—easily a dozen, maybe more...

“...The queen would like to speak with Kyle Williams... only him.” Thorax said.

That did it. We turned to each other, both of us knowing the truth...

“It’s okay... I’ll be okay.” I said as I unconsiously started following Thorax.

A thousand emotions flooded my mind—anger being one of the most prominent... I didn’t have time to confront what I was feeling as we had arrived at the doors into the castle... the throne room was just behind those slabs of wood, and I was not ready for any of what I was about to face...

“You sure you can do this?” Thorax asked, proabbly seeing my uneasiness.

I registered his request and nodded.

“I have to.” I mumbled.

With that, the doors opened, and as I walked in, I kept my eyes at the ground, unwilling to look up.

“Oh, my God...” I heard her whisper in the empty, echoing room.

I reached a certain point and stopped, finally looking up to see her, the person who used my depressed state, and the mother of my child...

“Chrysalis...” I said, finally making eye-to-eye contact.

I didn’t know what to expect—glee, joy that her toy was back?

No—I saw horror. Pure and uncontrollable horror.

“K-Kyli...” She said, nervously adjusting her seat after using her old nickname for me...

Silence. Pure silence as neither of us knew what to say or do but stare each other down, over a thousand emotions in our eyes.

Chrysalis cleared her throat and decided to break the long, awkward silence.

“So... you’re the Kyle from Sanctuary...” She said.

I nodded, refusing to say anything more about the Kingdom’s massacre of my people-- I knew that if I started, I wouldn't be able to stop.

“I... I had an idea, but I never...” She said, losing her train of thought as I took the reins of the conversation.

“You lied to me... You lied to a weak, depressed, 13-year-old-boy and used him like a goddamn toy.” I said, feeling my anger take over.

Chrysalis then gasped, putting her hands up in defense.

“Kyle, I am not proud of what I did, and it wasn’t right, not even close, but I never... lied to you--”

“You said that you were on the pill, so explain to me how two years later I find out that I have a baby boy who was being cared for by Adagio Dazzle, of all people?!” I asked, my voice possibly reaching the outside.

Chrysalis went to speak, but sighed, realizing that I was right...

“The pills didn’t work... they weren’t enough, and yes—I did use you... I used a lot of people before all of this, and I am far from happy about it.” She said.

“And now you’re a queen. Now you can use people all you want, Queen Chrysalis.” I bitterly scowled, no longer censoring my thoughts...

Chrysalis sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Kyle, I understand that you don’t have the best memories of me, and I know what I did was wrong and taboo, but I assume that you are here for aid against the New World Order.” She said.

All of my anger at her drained away and my mind cleared...

“How do you know about--”

“Autumn Flier beat you here, told me about what they did, but not about you... and yes, we’ve dealt with the NWO as well.” She answered, cutting me off.

I sighed, hoping to end the reunion on a somewhat high note, but things only got worse when the doors got kicked open and I turned to see Twilight, sword in hand, and Thorax close behind her.

I saw Twilight stare Chrysalis down, but I could tell that her attention wasn’t on her.

“Where is he?!” She screamed, looking around.

I had no idea what she meant, but Chrysalis clearly did, and she wasn’t at all frightened by the sword-wielding “assassin” in front of her.

“He is contained, has been ever since you and Jason broke us out...” She said.

I heard a door open and turned to see Knights carrying a bucket with a lid over it.

Twilight turned for that room and charged for it, me and Thorax holding her back.

“Whoa, whoa—Twi... just take a breath.” I told her, hoping that I could calm her.

During the struggle, her shirt slightly lifted, and I was able to see the similar emblem that was scratched off of her bike, now scarred into her back...

I’ve seen it before, whenever we were alone, but Rainbow and I never really questioned her about it—we just assumed that she’d tell us when she was ready...

“Twi... just relax...” I soothed her.

She stopped trying to fight through us and dropped her sword, sighing and shrugging me off before heading out the castle doors...

Chrysalis sighed and lowered her head.

“Who’s behind that door?” I asked her.

She sighed and refused to answer, allowing Thorax to provide it.

“His name was Gaverial...” He said.

Gaverial? As in my uncle Gaverial...?

Can this world possibly get any smaller?

“Okay... and what did he do?” I asked.

She let out a silent but audible growl and shook her head.

“He did a lot of things, Kyle... to all of us. I’ll send a delagation out to Canterlot, see if we can work things through more properly.” She said.

I sighed, nodded, and went to leave before realizing something.

“Did you name him? Or did Adagio?” I asked her.

Chrysalis perked her head up and let out a chuckle.

“I did—Adagio offered the name, but I agreed to it.” She said, smiling slightly.

With that, I left—a lot of emotions still flowing through me, but I was able to put them aside so we could get things done...

As the doors closed behind me, I glanced at Twilight, who had her sword back after Thorax picked it up, unable to look at me...

“So... do you need another ride?” Thorax asked me.

I let out a smile and shook my head, much to Twilight’s surprise.

“I think I’ll survive the bike...” I said, turning to Twilight.

Twilight tried not to crack a smile, but failed at that mission.

“Alright-- we’ll meet you there.” Thorax said as he went to find a horse.

I turned to see a very happy Twilight, who was now gesturing me to follow her. With that, we started walking through the Imperium one last time, with Twilight slowly taking my hand again.

“To think that Chrysalis did all of this...” She started.

I let out a chuckle in response.

“I mean... we live with sirens, two polygamous couples, child geniuses, two lab experiments, fairies, my father came back from the dead, I have a prosthetic-knife-hand, and are looking for reinforcements against witches in the middle of the zombie apocalypse... we’ve seen weirder.” I said, glancing at the multiple streets that were still full of life and were being constructed.

Yeah... I had a lot to think about when it came to Chrysalis, as I could clearly tell.

We reached the bike and Twilight went in the front, revving it up as I remembered what I had signed myself up for...

I swallowed my fear and took my seat, resting my arms around Twilight’s waist as she backed the bike up...

“I love you, Twi’...” I said as I kissed her cheek.

She gasped for a moment before turning back to me.

“Love you, too, Ky’...” She pecked my lips and loudly revved the bike. “...now hold on!” She then, without warning, sped down the open road, me now tightly holding her waist as I let out a short scream.