The walls were coated thickly in the black, fleshy stuff that covered a lot of surfaces these days, but this stuff was breathing. The halls were dark, but the occasional glowing nub along the walls provided light. The floor was fine, obviously being scraped regularly to keep every step from feeling like warm, chunky mud on your hooves. The growth was less like stretched skin and more like closely-packed tendrils. There were guards every so often, and servants moving along the halls. They began to walk, listening to the few words spoken by castle staff, and after a while, they came to the throne room. The two guards stationed there nodded at her and opened the ornate, partially covered doors to reveal Princesses Celestia and Luna.

They were immobilized against their thrones, dark grey and dark blue-ish black masses sitting there, the structures rising and falling with every breath. Near the top of the two masses, the mostly intact heads of Celestia and Luna were looking at them. Their mouths looked stretched and long teeth stuck downwards and upwards. Their eyes were black with coloured pupils, an oddity. "Hello, Twilight," Celestia began to say, the voice coming from multiple places across the room, and probably the halls. "How are you doing?" Twilight sighed.

"The cure is barely even started! I've managed to separate the DNA to the virus's and the subject's, but that's it!" Several cracking sounds accompanied a long, many-jointed appendage growing out of Celestia's body and patting Twilight on the withers.

"I did not expect the cure to go well, my student." Twilight held the arm and smiled at her mentor.

"How's Princess Luna?"

"My Sister? She's sleeping. She's still nocturnal." Twilight nodded and Celestia retracted her arm. "Did you make any friends?" Twilight got a rush of nostalgia at the odd question.

"No. But Crusader Knight broke into my castle and scared me half to death." Celestia chuckled.

"I should talk to him about that. Anyways, do you have any future plans?" Twilight nodded.

"No, I don't." Celestia hummed in thought.

"Perhaps you should stay in the castle for a few days, and take a vacation."

"But, Princess! I need to work on the cure!" Celestia laid an arm on her withers again.

"Twilight, the situation is not getting worse or changing. You can relax for a few days, alright?" Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but simply sighed.

"Yes, Princess." Celestia frowned at the sad tone.

"Perk up. I'm sure Luna would want to talk to you once she wakes up."

"I'll do that."

"Good. GUARDS!" Two guards ran in. "Bring these two to guest rooms." They nodded, and with a 'yes, Princess', they left with Twilight and Spike. Just then, a figure entered the throne room also from the doors. It had 5 arms, 3 legs, and 20 eyes scattered across its body, along with a mouth on the top of its head.

"Good afternoon, Celestia." It had a sword at its hip, a Ramrod-Class Boltgun across its back.

"As to you, Prince Ruinwing." He chuckled before stopping suddenly.

"Do you hear that....?" The sound got louder until it was distinguishable as screeching. "Oh shit!" He yelled as the far window shattered, a Breezie crashing through, a man straddling its back, firing a Storm-Class Boltgun into the head of the giant creature. As the Breezie slammed into the floor, the man was thrown off and he slid along the floor before impacting the wall. The Breezie began to move, and stood up, its head barely intact and the black, fleshy substance dripping slowly. It screeched, and began to lumber towards Ruinwing, who drew his Boltgun. The four-foot weapon fired a bolt that could pierce through almost any armor. He tried to pull the trigger and nothing happened. He cursed and cocked the gun, but was smacked by the Breezie, causing the Boltgun to clatter meters away. "Shit!"

"Give me your long sword!" The man yelled, hold in out his hand. Ruinwing cursed under his breath and drew his sword, throwing it. the man jumped, caught it, spun, and threw the sword, causing it to pierce into its midsection. The Breezie screeched in agony as the man soared over it, grabbing the sword and pulling, using his momentum to cut the Breezie almost in half, which caused the beast to gurgle before collapsing. "We need to burn this breezie within 3 minutes!" The man yelled before pointing at Ruinwing. and tossing the sword at him. "Cut it into pieces, which are easier to burn!" Ruinwing nodded before doing so, chopping hard to cleave huge chunks off. The Guards came in to see what the fuck all that noise was, and after some instruction, helped them divide the creature. They then burned it all in the center of the large room.

"Now that everything's settled, who the fuck are you?" The man bowed slightly.

"I am designate Umbra-Zero, an Earth Pony infected with the Umbra strain of the Coltsavar Mutagen."

"The...Umbra strain?"

"Correct, it is the regular Coltsavar Mutagen with a soul infused within it. Disconnected from its source, my body, it becomes the regular Coltsavar Mutagen. The spores are extremely toxic to infected, which is why I'm wearing a gas-mask."

"To protect yourself?"

"To protect me." Umbra-Zero seemed to remember something. "You need to protect the citizens." One of the guards replied sarcastically.

"No shit, that's our job." Umbra-Zero pointed at the burnt corpse of the Breezie.

"The Breezies travel in large groups." The guard's eyes widened as he realized what the man was saying. "You need to protect the citizens from the hundreds of Breezies that will be converging on this city within a few days." The guard took a step back, a horrified expression on his face.

"I thought this would happen in a few months!"

"Griffons lead them out of their territory and into yours." The guard swallowed desperately.

"So, we're screwed?" Umbra-Zero shook his head.

"Not quite, there's still a few days."

"Let's hope that's enough."

"Prepare for the attack first, engage in that type of thinking later." The guards nodded and left with their orders. Ruinwing walked up to Umbra-Zero.

"I am Prince Areo Ruinwing, the best protector of the Princesses of Equestria." Umbra began to jog after the guards.

"'Best' is a false term based on your actions against a weakened opponent." And he was gone. Celestia chuckled.

Author's Note

How was this chapter? In a few chapters, there will be an attack! Will they win or lose, and by how much?

Have a nice day!