Problems of a Dead World
Epilogue
Previous Chapter"You really think it could be something bad?" an brown, armor-plated pony asked, nervously making his way into the castle gardens of Canterlot.
"No... Probably just some critters getting into things again..." a white, armor-plated pony replied, nonchalantly making his way in as well.
The brown pony shrugged and continued down the dirt path leading in to the central garden. A slight fog was hanging over the dead of night as the two guard-ponies made their way around the grounds, searching for anything suspicious. Cold chills ran down the spine of the brown stallion causing him to stop dead and scan his surroundings nervously.
"I... Uhh... Don't know about this..." he said, nerves beginning to take hold.
The white stallion sighed and hung his head.
"You want me to go in by myself? Because I'm fully intent on doing that so you'll stop whining." he said in an obviously agitated tone of voice.
"Well no... I just-"
"Then shut up, and let's get the patrol over with. The old mare is makin' dinner right now." the white stallion replied, turning back to the path.
The brown pony gave one more nervous glance to his surroundings before hurriedly trotting towards his companion.
"Wait up!" he said frantically.
The white, armored guard pony ahead of him gave no response. Only scoffed as his fellow soldier attempted to catch up with him.
"Some day you're going to need to learn how to take care of yourself kid..."
The stallion smirked and waited for a response from his meek companion, but raised an eyebrow as he heard nothing, only the common rustling of bushes around the garden, which was typical for all of the creatures who inhabited it. He sighed and turned around slowly, preparing his apology to the nervous brown pony.
"Alright... Silent treatment... I'm sor-" he began.
The white stallion stopped himself however, when he realized his companion had disappeared completely. He raised an eyebrow and took a few steps forward, trying to scan the path for the pony a midst the dark of night, and the thin layer of fog that covered the ground.
"Hey! You there, kid?" he called out.
There was no response.
Shivering in a sudden stroke of fear, the pony scanned his surroundings. A tree and several flowers to his right, just in front of a gate, and a large row of bushes to his left.
"This aint' funny... Come on out, I just want to get the hell out of here..." the pony continued his voice faltering slightly as fear begin to tug at his vocal chords.
A very faint scream sounded from the other side of the garden, causing the white stallion to jump back and gasp in fear. He steadied his stance, looked around once more, and called again.
"Kid! Come on! I'm not laughing!" he shouted, anger and fear present in his shaky voice.
The scream continued for a few more seconds, eerily echoing throughout the garden. The sound was one straight out of a nightmare, ghastly, and begging for a stop to the horrible pain it was feeling. With no other options in sight, the white pony shifted his weight, and took off in a sprint towards the entrance of the garden, desperately trying to reach the barracks, and get a group of reinforcements.
Something was in the garden, that was very apparent, but what could have caused such an awful scream? The guard pony thought about it briefly as he sprinted across the dirt path he had entered on, panting heavily as his muscles ached from the intense speed of his sprint. He could feel it. A presence near him. Something that had no doubt made mince-meat out of his companion.
Primal fear was the only thing keeping the pony on his hooves, his muscles screaming at him to stop, but his mind pleading him to continue. His vision started to blur as the collective sweat on his brow seeped down into his eyes, and caused him to raise a hoof and attempt to wipe them. As he made the motion however, he lost his balance at high-speed, and came crashing down to the dirt path. The pain in his muscles instantly doubled as the cold, hard earth met his coat, and his momentum caused him to roll several feet before coming to a stop.
A loud groan of pain exited the white stallions throat as he twitched on the ground, trying to recover from the spill. He had momentarily forgotten about the other creature in the gardens as pain began to swell in his bones, but was quickly reminded of the terrifying presence as a twig snapped near him. He spun his head in the direction of the sound, near the row of bushes that lined the side of the dirt path.
"H-Hello?!" he called out, his voice choked by nervous fear and great pain.
There was no response, only the sound of rustling bushes.
"S-Stay back! I'm Royal Guard!" the guard shouted, frantically pointing to the crest on his chestplate.
His view was slightly obstructed by the seething pain, dark of night, and exhaustion, but a small blob of white could be perceived from his tired eyes, emerging from the bushes.
The guard tilted his head to try and regain his vision as the white blob moved closer at an agonizingly slow pace. It worked, allowing him to make out the blob in front of him as another pony, although it's features remained blurry.
"Who is that?!" he screamed in a high-pitched squeal of fear.
Sporadic, spastic, and unnatural movements spurred the blurred pony towards the white guard, as a low groan escaped his throat. Terrified beyond any of his known senses, the guard shook his head violently, frantically trying to regain his vision. Again, it worked, allowing him to see more of the approaching pony's features.
Two blank, white irises stared into the eyes of the guard pony as it approached him, the remains of a two-toned blue mane present on the top of his head surrounding his horn. A quick glance towards his flank revealed the identity of the slow, spastic pony to the guard, causing his jaw to slowly fall open.
"Sh-Shining Armor... Is that you...?" the guard called out weakly in disbelief.
As the sound hit the ears of the approaching pony, it's faced turned to a scowl, and the low groan turned into a vicious shout of rage. It's sporadic movements stopped momentarily, and were quickly replaced with a full-on charge towards the guard pony. The armored, white stallion screamed in fear as the white unicorn approached him at an alarming rate.
Within seconds, the pony had reached the guard, and tackled him back onto the ground. The guard struggled frantically as the entire weight of the seemingly-senseless creature was dropped onto him, all the while being savagely being pinned to the ground by the attacker's forelegs, his armor being ripped from his chest. After the armor had been successfully removed, the unicorn sank his teeth into the guard pony's neck, and viciously ripped away a large amount of flesh, leaving an open wound of substantial size, all the way down to his chest.
The guard belted a blood-wrenching scream of agonizing pain as his flesh was pulled away. He locked eyes with the savage attacker for a moment, who had stopped to examine his prey.
"Wh-What the hell are you?!" the guard screamed, almost illegible, given the pony's critical condition.
The attacker gave no response, and simply sunk his teeth into the open wound, ripping up the fleshy intestines that lie inside, ready to make a meal out of the guard.
* * *
After the spastic creature had finished devouring his prey, he stumbled off of the ravaged corpse and onto the dirt path, bloated and sluggish. He aimlessly walked down the path that led out of the garden, his mouth hanging dumbly open, and a low groan escaping his throat once more. Blood painted the entirety of his coat, along with torn flesh littering his teeth and gums.
Something suddenly caused the creature to stop completely as his head jerked upwards. A faint light in the distance caught the pony's eye and caused him to tilt his head curiously. It was a well-lit structure, just beyond the garden.
It was Canterlot Castle.
The pony hurriedly made his way down the path, trying to escape the garden and make his way to the lit castle in the distance.
Eat.... Hungry again... Must eat... Eat anything... the blood-drenched creature thought.