The ponies looked on in horror as the barricade was being destroyed by the undead. Their hungry eyes locked on to each of the technicolored ponies and swung their rotting legs around. Trying to squeeze through the jagged holes they made through the castle doors. Three Royal Guards stood sentry next to the door with their spears stabbing anything that was poking through those holes. Two other guards pushed against the wall, wary of the rotting legs swinging next to them.
Outside, on the ramparts of Canterlot Castle, were a platoon of ponies accompanied by five important figures. Unicorns who could spare their mana would use their magic to stun the undead or outright kill them on the spot. Pegasi would drop heavy objects on them, crushing their bones and skulls. On top of that, the two Princesses were with them. Using every deadly spell they knew in the last centuries to throw at them.
Among them were three of the Elements. A light blue pegasus flew around to find and use clouds to smite lightning at them. She would always hit the biggest groups and in the end the scent of fried meat wafted to the snouts of the ponies causing them to gag.
A white unicorn held her horn up high before aiming at the nearest undead. A thin beam of light erupted from the tip of her horn and sliced the neck cleanly on one of them. It stumbled in his hoofsteps and fell just short of the barricade with its head rolling off. A pool of blood forming around the bloody stump of its neck.
A purple alicorn stood next to the Princesses. Her expression emotionless but a sharp eye could see the tears falling from her cheeks. She would blast spell after spell. She fired upon the gaggles of undead that the rainbow pegasus missed. She conjured a big ball of magic then threw it at them.
An explosion erupted underneath her intended target. Legs were shredded from the impact and the force of the explosion caused multiple ponies to fly away from the impact zone. Body parts flew off and blood sprayed everywhere painting the grass and marble roads red. After some time, the zombies lessen and soon the wave was over.
Mason, an earth pony in charge of maintaining the barricade leaped to action. Taking down the wooden boards that kept the door together and walking outside. Almost immediately, he was hit with the stench of rotting ponies. He held his breath and began to carry out orders to get ready for the next wave. The five guards used their magic to replace the dead bodies on the front door next to the barricade. Despite their best attempts at remaining stoic, they would gag and occasionally vomit.
A couple of meters to the side of the entrance was a pile of corpses that were stacked on top of each other. The smell was horrendous yet the guards stacked the newly dead bodies on it or next to it. Their hooves stepped on the wet grass and withering flowers. When the cleaning was done the five returned back to the castle. Meanwhile, the ponies up on the ramparts restocked their ammunition back on the wall. Flower vases, dressers, sinks and others.
Mason began breaking down the broken boards and replacing them with new ones. The supply of wooden boards were beginning to run out. There was barely enough for this wave already. They would have to use their own ammunition to defend the walls next time.
As Mason finished hammering on the final spare board he looked at the rest of the uncovered holes with fear. "This is bad..." He internally thought.
He looked through one of them and saw the once majestic city transform into a city of death. In the distance, smoke rose from the tall buildings and into the once clear skies. Some part of him knew that there were poor ponies still trapped in there yet nopony could save them. Not even the Princesses.
A recent incident crossed his mind. The death of a noble. It all happened when somepony let in a group of survivors without the approval of the Princesses. In the dead of night, one of the ponies was secretly infected and bit the neck of a light pink maned unicorn. In some string of bad luck, her husband was the one to put her down. Driven by grief and insanity, he hanged himself in his room.
The moment he was found dead, it sent ponies into disarray. Their panicked minds override all order the Princesses had made. After the two royals found order once again, they weren't able to save a few ponies from changing their minds. Seven fled from the castle to look for a new haven away from the city.
Mason snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a cry for help. He looked through one of the holes and spotted a pony limp her way to the barricade. She wasn't in good shape. Her left foreleg was gone leaving a bloody bandaged stump in place. Whatever clothing she wore was ripped apart and her eyes were bloodshot.
Multiple ponies came up next to Mason to look through the holes as well. The three guards pushed away the ponies for their safety. Somepony in the crowd shouted out that they recognized her from the ponies that fled the castle. Despite this, nopony opened the doors for her.
She collapsed near the barricade. Her eyes became glossy and she let out her last breath as she bled to death. A shout from up above brought the attention of everypony. It would appear that a huge horde of undead were running up to them. They must have chased this pony from the city.
Immediately, everypony took a stand. The tired unicorns aimed their horns at the incoming horde. Civilians and nobles alike backpedaled and a few outright panicked. This wave came too soon.
Mason stood there, looking at the rushing undead. Their ghostly eyes and wide open mouths made him stand stock still until a guard pushed him away from the barricade. His eyes turned to pinpricks as he heard the first of the undead bash against the wall. The more the living dead smash themselves against the wall, making the barricade more unstable. The guards stopped spearing to look at the almost destroyed barricade.
In a rush, the guards barked orders for everypony to run to the Canterlot Gardens. As far as Mason knew, there were chariots and a final last stand awaited them there. Mason and some stallions jumped to action. Heaving fainted ponies on their backs and galloping to the Gardens as quick as they could.
When everypony was on their way, they heard the loud crash to where the door was. The door's hinges broke off and the undead were now pouring in. The ponies on the walls watched in dismay as the first of the undead breached though the makeshift barricade. Immediately, the Princess ordered everypony to run to the Canterlot Gardens to meet up with the others.
Everypony in the castle rushed out to the gardens then promptly locked the door that lead them here to buy them some time. The ponies up top jumped from the walls and landed on the mattresses that laid near the wall for this exact purpose. All of the pegasi, guard or pony, hitched themselves to the chariots and the defenseless climbed on them. In minutes, all chariots were full and departed bringing most of the ponies and half of the Element bearers.
The ponies who are left behind were the two Princesses, the other half of the Element Bearers, nine Royal Guards, and the last few civilians. Everypony was tense and kept quiet. Hoping that the undead didn't hear the ruckus they made while everypony was trying to get a seat on the chariot.
Their hopes were crushed as they heard a growl on the other side of the locked door. The door was bashed on relentlessly as the undead impatiently wanted to feast on the ponies on the other side.
The penny colored earth pony picked up a spear that a pegasus guard left behind. He held a fighting stance to the incoming horde. Similar ponies started to pick up weapons. They didn't want to die here. Not when they are too close to escaping this hell.
The newly found militia stood behind the wall of Royal Guards. While the unarmed stood next to the cliff edge where they are safer and much closer to the chariots when they arrive. The Lunar Princess put on a grim smile at the line of ponies forming before turning back to the undead.
The rainbow pegasus clumped up as many nearby clouds ready to blast the undead with her storm magic. The white unicorn, although tired and dirty, stood behind the front lines with her horn ready. The purple alicorn stood expressionless beside the two other Princesses.
After minutes, one of the door's hinges blew off and the horde trickled through the bottle neck. The well trained guards picked them off easily. Then the other door broke apart and the horde rushed to them. Few of the ponies from the militia broke off and fled to where the unarmed are.
Mason had to spear a zombie as it neared him. He thrusted to spear into it, hearing the sharp stick pierce against the fleshy skin. He felt the weight of the body like it was a part of him. The surprising extra weight made him let go of the spear, unable to carry the weight.
The skewered rotting body lunged at him not even giving a damn that a spear was stuck in him. Thankfully, a nearby unicorn guard next to him blasted the zombie away before resuming to fire on the horde. Mason was shaken up. He withdrew from the line feeling fearful all of a sudden. He was so close to being bitten. So close to dying.
The flap of wings snapped him back to reality. It was the chariots! The pegasi hastily lined up and everypony rushed to claim a seat. The Solar Princess looked back and ordered a retreat. She erected a magic wall and slowly backed away.
All the non-flying ponies and the Element Bearers settled in the chariots and flew away. The Princesses took flight and followed the guards. The undead continue to follow them despite the height difference. Many of them fell off the cliff and onto their deaths.
Mason looked back to the castle. With their safe haven gone, they wouldn't be able to save anymore ponies still left within the city. With the capital gone, the news about this would be detrimental to everypony's hope. But as long as the Princesses were still alive, that's all what matters.
Now they fly to the newest safe zone. The Wonderbolt's Academy. It's high up from the clouds and while the area is small, they are safe from any zombies because of its steepness. Mason looked at the ponies around him. Some were tired and most have already slept from exhaustion. Mason looked at the castle once more before joining the majority and slept.
