The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Chapters

Introductions
Canterlot High School
The Market
Dainn
Complications
Processing
Training
Operation STRIKE, Pt. 1
Operation STRIKE, Pt. 2
Thank You
Art Thief, Pt. 1
Art Thief, Pt. 2
The Search
Road Block
Mother
Exposure
Jennifer
Family Ties
Fight
Restrategizing
Lies
Outbreak
Survive
Power
Coup D'état
Prologue
Caribou
First Day in Townsville
Intervention

Introductions

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Canterlot High School

Kyle took a moment to adjust his seat, nervously glancing around the room. He spotted pictures of Sunset, wearing a dress and a small crown on her head. Each photo, he figured, was a different year. There were three, which Kyle used to determine that Sunset was at least a junior when that still mattered. Kyle noted how in the first photo, she seemed innocent and wide-eyed... but by the last, she looked like a monster, reveling in whatever small sense of glory that crown gave her.

The fourth picture was different, however. It showed Twilight without her glasses and hair straightened, along with Rainbow, Applejack, a few others, and Sunset, looking withdrawn and barely in the photo.

"So, the girls told me that you owned a small armory. How did you acquire these weapons?" Celestia asked.

Snapping back to the conversation, Kyle cleared his throat.

"Well, I started with my neighbor, Gary. He bought quite a lot of supplies and weapons before the infection made its way here. From there, I cleared the local police station. My mom had keys to get inside..." He said, hesitating to mention his mother.

Celestia noticed this and decided to change the subject.

"So, I heard you've been clearing the neighborhood just outside of our borders... how many infected would you say you've killed?"

Kyle paused, trying to count.

"I don't know... maybe 4 or 5 a day depending... but there was the day I had to torch a warehouse with at least 30, if not more..."

Celestia quickly scribbled numbers on a piece of paper.

"So, at least five hundred..."

Kyle's eyes widened as that number hit him.

"Yeah... I guess so. I try to put down any I find."

Celestia hummed at this.

"Why?"

Kyle faltered for a moment...

"Because one day, early on, I found this girl in her house. She was infected already, and she was eating something. I don't know what, but it must've been a dog or something. I remember hearing her. She was... she was crying. Like, sobbing… I think I heard her talk. She was saying... 'I don't want to,' just over... and over again." His voice began to shake.

Celestia leaned back in her seat, writing in her notebook.

"So, I killed it. I didn't hesitate, and I never have since."

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"Well, Mr. Williams, as far as I see it, you were already going to be a student here at Canterlot High, so there's no reason to fret over being admitted..."

Kyle internally sighed in relief.

"...But I'm sure you noticed that our supplies are dwindling faster than we can replenish them. So you may stay here, but it may be wise to look into... alternatives."

Kyle nodded, his mind going elsewhere.

"So, uh... about those girls', uh... abilities--"

"I'm sure you have questions... and I'm not sure what your peers at Crystal Prep told you... but I assume you've heard rumors about magical mishaps and the like. Just know they are all true. So do what you wish with that." Celestia sighed, letting some relatability to the young man slip.

She never anticipated being pulled into the world of magic with her school, yet there she was...

Kyle, however, was ecstatic.

"That's... awesome! Oh, man, the stories I heard back at Crystal... So, did Twilight really... turn into a reality-warping demon?"

Celestia nodded.

"Yes. So did Sunset..."

Kyle's smile grew a tad when he remembered that his old friend was attending Canterlot High.

"She's here, right? T-Twilight?"

Celestia paused, lowered her head, and slowly shook it.

"No... I'm sorry."

Kyle's heart sunk.

"Is she... is she dead?"

Celestia felt her chest grow heavy.

"I hope so." She weakly responded.

Those three words ran through Kyle's mind as he was shown around by Sunset.

I hope so...

Well, he didn't.

"As I said, we're not that hot on food. Your stuff helps, but we'll have to find another option. But in the meantime, you should meet everyone." Sunset smiled.

Kyle nodded. He was unsure what to make of the red-and-yellow-haired girl. Something inside him told him that he couldn't trust her, and it was probably all of the rumors about what she was like back in the day... the pictures in Celestia's office didn't help in any way.

The two entered the auditorium, which was transformed into a sort of tailoring station. Kyle looked and saw that countless sports padding was attached to shirts and jeans, just like the armor the two girls wore when they found him.

"This is Rarity. I guess you can consider her our armorer." She chuckled.

"Tailor, darling, tailor..." Rarity smiled, setting aside her current prototype.

"It's nice to meet you..." He said, his mind wandering for a brief moment.

"Wait a minute-- Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash... I heard those names before... didn't you all make that video with Twilight a while back?"

Rarity gasped, remembering that day.

"Yes! Ah, that was a splendid idea she had... I really miss her, sometimes."

Kyle smiled.

"Me, too."

Rarity glanced at him for a moment.

"You knew Twilight as well?"

"I did, back when we were kids. I haven't seen her in years..." He said, losing his train of thought as he admired the patchwork on the armor.

"I'm sorry?" She said for a moment.

Kyle glanced at her, as did Sunset.

"Oh, right! Sorry, I get confused sometimes..." Rarity giggled.

Kyle shrugged that comment off and turned his attention back to the armor.

"Oh, wow... you did all this?" He asked her.

Rarity smiled.

"Why, yes! It took a while to get a good prototype, but I feel that the hard work has paid off."

"There hasn't been a single bite incident since we started using this armor..." Sunset commented.

"Well, the Geodes helped with that." She said, holding out her hand and forming diamond-like armor over the padding.

Kyle jumped back a second but quickly felt the now rock-solid padding.

"Oh, wow... more powers?" He asked Sunset.

She chuckled and nodded.

Kyle hummed at that.

"Sure beats the old magazines I duct-taped to my sleeves." He chuckled.

"Oh, that couldn't have been very comfortable... or effective..." Rarity awkwardly smiled.

"It saved my arms more than I'd like to admit..."

The three shared a brief laugh.

"Well, I should get back to work, but it was very nice meeting you!" Rarity said.

"Nice meeting you, too." Kyle said, the two exiting the auditorium.

Once they closed the doors, Sunset couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"Careful-- she bites."

Kyle awkwardly chuckled, uncertain as to what that meant.

The two pressed on towards the outside, where the old parking lot was transformed into a sort of training center. Students were training with all kinds of weapons—spears, axes, maces, and so on.

"Focus up, ladies! Norman, lift that right arm! Velvet Sky, more with your waist!" A feminine, scratchy voice barked.

"You already met Rainbow Dash. I guess you can call her our one-woman-athlete."

"Yeah... the Shadowbolts would always share horror stories about her from sporting events." Kyle quipped.

Sunset laughed.

"Yeah-- I can only imagine what they had to endure with her on the field."

Rainbow glanced and spotted the two observers.

"At ease! Everyone, take 5..." She said.

She grabbed an unopened bottle of water from a cooler and took a sip on her way to the two.

"See they have you on tour duty, again." Rainbow chuckled.

"Yep! Rainbow, you've already met Kyle."

"Oh, yeah, totally. So, what do you think?" She asked, gesturing to the lot.

Kyle took a breath.

"Well... I can say that it isn't like anything I've seen before."

"I'm gonna do you a favor and take that as a compliment. You're always welcome to hop in and join us sometime!" She said, jogging back towards the trainees.

Kyle and Sunset watched the combat training for a bit longer.

"So is it true that she was the captain of every team here?"

Sunset laughed.

"Yep. No idea how she did it..."

With that, the two started walking back inside.

"So, super speed, diamond-projection, super strength, and telepathy? Those came from the 'geodes' Rarity was talking about?"

Sunset nodded.

"It's... a long story, to put it lightly."

"Well, we have nothing but time nowadays... is there anyone else?" Kyle asked.

Sunset smiled.

"Just two more--"

Before she could continue, a sudden pink blur sped right in front of Kyle.

"Hi!"

Kyle shouted and jumped back as a girl with pink poofy hair stuck her head out from one of the hallways.

"Pinkie! Come on, don't give the new kid a heart attack..."

Pinkie looked down at Kyle for a moment, who was trying to catch his breath.

"Oops! Super-duper sorry 'bout that! Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you!" She helped Kyle to his feet and violently shook his hand.

Kyle did his best to match her handshake, but it was near impossible.

"Nice... to meet you... too..." He panted, Pinkie ending the handshake.

Kyle held his still-shaking hand as Pinkie stared at him for a moment.

"Wait a minute... do you know anyone named Jason?"

Kyle looked at her, completely bewildered.

"Yeah, he's my cousin... how did you--"

"Just a hunch!" She shrugged, skipping away.

Kyle watched her leave for a moment, completely dumbfounded.

"Is complete randomness her super power?" He asked Sunset.

"That... and she can make sweets explode."

"She can make sweets explode..." He repeated to himself.

"You'll see soon enough. I think that's enough introductions for today... let's show you where you'll be staying."

The two made their way to the upper floor, with classrooms connecting and labeled with numbers—201, 203, and 205 on one side and 202, 204, and 206 on another.

"You got room 201... I hope you don't mind sharing. Or sharing co-ed..."

The door creaked open, and a girl with purple hair and a black hoodie peeked up from an office chair.

"Oh, hey! You're my new roomie, right?"

Kyle, somewhat anxious, nodded.

"Nice! I'm Scootaloo." She got up and held out her hand.

"Kyle..." He slowly shook it.

Scootaloo made her way back to her chair, with Kyle looking over the two other beds in the room.

"Do you have another roommate?" He asked.

Scootaloo let out a deep sigh.

"I did... I had two."

Kyle understood what had happened to them and bit his tongue.

"I'm sorry..."

"Thanks."

Kyle decided to help with moving his personal items into the room while Scootaloo went back to her sketchbook.

After two boxes were set, Kyle noticed her sketching away.

"So, what're you drawing?" He asked, hoping to make conversation.

She looked toward him.

"Oh, uh... it's nothing." She said, showing a sketch of a girl their age.

She had red hair with a red bow on the side. She had a big open-mouthed smile on her face, and Kyle noticed symbols that were erased down to the bare pencil line sprawling on the corner of the paper, all including apples in one way or another.

"She's pretty." He smiled.

Scootaloo smiled.

"Yeah... yeah, she was..."

Kyle gasped a bit and cursed under his breath, mentally kicking himself for killing the conversation twice in a row...

"Oh, s-sorry..." He said as he started walking away.

"N-no, it's fine! Thanks..." She said as he was towards the door.

Kyle faintly smiled and went to grab another box.

On his way to the small pile out by the door, Kyle accidentally bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch it!"

A quick shove knocked Kyle against the wall.

"Sorry..." He said, used to the physicality from Crystal Prep.

"Oh, you're the new guy...? Yet another mouth to feed that has nothing to contribute." He growled, approaching Kyle.

He sighed, not sure what else he'd expect. He braced himself, ready for yet another beating...

"Hey!"

The sharp yet hard whack of a wooden staff knocked Kyle out of his trance as he looked to see another girl his age with a silver tiara on her head and a bright pink jacket with a fur collar.

The guy backed up a tad and scoffed.

"This doesn't concern you, Diamond..."

"Oh, I think it does. This is Jason's cousin, right? Then you bet this concerns me."

Great. Kyle thought. Another person who knew Jason.

"Then I guess we have a problem..." The stranger stepped towards Diamond.

She approached him as well, squaring up to him.

"You don't want this..." She said, her voice letting out some compassion.

The stranger looked at Kyle and sighed, storming off.

Kyle turned to his savior just as Scootaloo peeked out of the door.

"The hell's going on?" She asked.

Diamond turned to her.

"Don't worry about it, Scoots, just looking out for the new guy." She smirked.

Scootaloo shook her head and made her way toward Kyle.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," He turned to Diamond, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it... I bet a lot of us owe Jason a favor to look out for his little cousin..." She smirked, walking away.

"Ignore her. Come on, let me help you. I could use the fresh air, anyway..."

The two spent the next hour going through the different boxes arranging the room together.

"I'm sorry you had to see that earlier... some of the guys are just getting a bit aggro' with the food situation and such. Don't take it too personally."

Kyle shrugged.

"I went to Crystal Prep; I can take a shove or two..."

Scootaloo almost jumped from her seat.

"You went to Prep?! Yeah, definitely try to keep that to yourself..." She nervously whispered.

He nodded.

"Trust me, I'm not a big Shadowbolts fan, either..."

The two sighed and sat in silence, admiring their good work.

"So, the food situation's bad?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah. We're trying to get the greenhouses going, but it's just not enough for all of us. That and Fluttershy negotiating with the hens for their eggs hold us over, but we need more..."

Kyle thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with a solution.

"I mean, there's still a lot of unsearched ground on my side of the neighborhood. Maybe we can still find something?"

Scootaloo shrugged.

"Maybe..."

The two went inside, and Kyle laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling...

He knew things were dire here, and maybe leaving with his supplies would be the smart option, but Canterlot High was already beginning to feel like home—much more than Crystal Prep ever did in the two years he attended...

He decided that sleeping on his options would be the best idea.

The Market

Kyle sat down with Sunset and the others, laying out his map for them to see. The previously-crossed-out supermarket was now highlighted and circled.

“This is a bad idea...” Fluttershy said.

“Look, it’s perfect! The old market in my town hasn’t been touched since the zombies came along. I only passed the place once, and it was crawling!” Kyle said.

Rainbow scoffed.

“Yeah, so you think we should storm into a zombie hive for a couple of leftover cans?”

“Think about it—if that market was filled with zombies from day one, it could mean that we could clear them out, and take what’s left inside.”

“It could also mean that they chowed down on everythin’ inside... this ain’t exactly a guarantee.” Applejack weighed in.

“Besides, how do you expect to be able to clear an entire building out?” Rarity asked.

“That’s where I was hoping you all would come in. You have... abilities. I’m thinking we use them to make this a whole lot easier.

Rainbow snickered.

“I see—so you expect us to pitch in with your little suicide mission?”

“It’s an idea! We can work on it, sketch out ideas, but I think this is the best option we have to gather supplies...”

“Supplies to split with traffickers?”

“Would you rather have to watch them take another girl away?”

That made her fall silent.

Sunset leaned in, observing the map.

“It could work... with more workshopping, but it’s very possible. But we’re going to need a way to get what we find out of there... I can’t imagine Applejack’s truck is gonna be enough...”

Kyle gave it some thought for a moment.

“What if we drove separately? Maybe three vehicles? Not too much if the zombies ate everything- which I don’t think they did- but enough to carry a fair amount back.”

The girls each looked to each other and nodded.

“Yeah, Fluttershy and I have our licenses, and Rainbow has her permit... We should be able to make do from there. Does Celestia know about this?” Sunset asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah, I was gonna show her the plan once we had it down.”

“I can do that. When we’re done here...” She insisted.

“Sure... so let’s talk about how we can do this thing...”

A day later, the team observed the market, with Kyle looking through a pair of binoculars. They were close, above an incline that led right into the parking lot, with all three vehicles parked behind them.

He saw that the outside was busy with zombies either hunched up in a sort of sleep or patrolling about.

“What’re those ones doing?” Fluttershy asked, noticing the hunched-up ones.

“They’re hibernating, kind of... some of them realize there’s no prey for them so they just bundle up and wait. They shouldn’t be a problem as long as we’re quiet...”

Fluttershy nodded as Sunset set her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Are your friends ready?”

She nodded and looked up to the trees, where a pack of squirrels revealed themselves.

“Okay, little buddies... you got this!” She assured them.

With scattering leaves and rustling branches, the pack took off, jumping down the trees and running towards the parking lot.

“Are you sure they can outrun them?” Kyle asked her.

“It’s not about outrunning... it’s more about staying out of their reach.”

Proving her point, her squirrels started running between the infected, waking them one by one. In minutes, they all lunged and chased their presumed prey, but the small critters quickly climbed up the rafters of the market’s roof, staying out of their reach.

They made their way around and down again, allowing the zombies to chase them into the woods, where they were surely not to come back out.

“Wow... how about that?” Kyle asked.

“Alright, the outside’s clear... let’s move in.” Sunset instructed.

They each hopped into their cars and carefully cruised their way down the hill and towards the parking lot. Kyle noticed that they had a straggler who was sprinting towards them.

“Rarity is there a chance you could...?”

“Yep, sure thing...” She hesitated, but formed a spike from diamond and launched it into the zombie, impaling it through the heart.

Rarity gagged at the sight and quickly looked away, dispersing the spike.

“Okay, you all know the plan... Rainbow, wanna make some noise?”

She nodded and covered her mouth and eyes with a bandanna and a pair of goggles. Once her face was completely covered, she charged up, allowing time around her to slow to a stop.

She casually walked to the door, carefully opening it and making her way inside.

The smell hit her first, rotten food and horrific odor almost winded her, but she pressed through it and walked further inside, seeing countless zombies all in hibernation.

“Wow... he wasn’t kidding. This place is packed!” She said to herself, noticing the countless bashed-open cans all over the floor.

She continued on, finding her way towards the center of the store. Once she figured she was in it, she deactivated her power.

“Hey, numbnuts! Want some fresh meat?! Come get it!” She hollered, grabbing two frying pans from the shelf and banging them together.

That woke quite a lot of them as they snarled and chased down the source of the new sounds. As soon as she came, Rainbow sped out, making sure to grab an unopened package of moldy cupcakes.

“Alright, they’re up and hangry, Pinkie, it’s all yours!” She said, setting the package down by the door.

As Pinkie held out her glowing hand, Sunset leaned in.

“You’re sure this won’t wake the whole neighborhood, right?”

“I have no idea!” Pinkie cheered.

“Even is she did, I cleared a lot of it, already... there might be a few stragglers here and there, but worst case, we can take them.” Kyle weighed in.

The rotten sweets began to contort and swell as pink energy flowed through them, and...

BOOM!

The set all went off at once, resulting in the sound of a hand grenade detonating.

“Uh, oh... guess there’s your answer.” Pinkie shrugged.

Growls from inside and around the market told the group that the nearby zeds have heard and are now pursuing the source of the sudden noise...

“Okay, Rarity, you know what you have to do, the rest of us clear out whatever’s coming, guns out!”

Rainbow quickly sped to Applejack’s pickup and carried out a duffel bag filled with various weapons. The group all armed themselves and took point.

“Everyone here knows how to shoot, right?!” Kyle asked.

Applejack answered his question by nailing an incoming straggler in the head with a rifle shot.

“Nice!” Rainbow complimented.

She, Kyle, and Rainbow continued taking point while Fluttershy and Pinkie stayed with Rarity, armed with handguns.

As the zombies inside the market began spilling outside, Rarity formed a field around the entrance, trapping them inside as they tried to lunge at the girls just out of their reach.

“You’re sure this’ll work, right?!” Applejack asked, watching Rarity begin to struggle.

“Oh, I’m sure... it’s just that I’m a bit queasy, that’s all...” She said, knowing and dreading what she was about to do...

One last zombie remained, with Kyle taking it down with a single shot from his revolver.

“There... I think that was the last of them...”

The sound of distant growling proved him wrong.

“Oh, shit...” He cursed to himself.

“Uh... what’s that mean?” Rainbow asked.

“It means that we probably should hurry... Rarity, how’re we looking?!”

Rarity strained as the last of those inside spilled into the almost-full ball of diamond magic. Fluttershy knew what was about to happen and quickly looked away, covering her ears.

“We’re good... Oh, dear...” She took a breath and quickly brought her hands together, causing the ball to squish together.

A sickening crunch rang out as the zed inside were reduced to a mess of gore and blood...

“Oh, shit! That was totally awesome!” Rainbow cackled.

“I’m going to be sick...” Rarity gagged as she shot the dispersing ball into the horizon and promptly vomited into the closest garbage can.

Applejack pulled out a rag and gave it to her.

“Thanks, darling...” She said, wiping her mouth.

Rarity noticed Fluttershy was still covering her ears and tapped on her shoulder.

“It’s over, now, dear... you can come up, now.”

The girl nodded and stood up, only facing the front of the market, not turning to see the corpses littering the lot...

“Okay, let’s go!” Kyle said, the snarling of the horde coming closer.

Once everyone was inside, Applejack yanked a steel pipe off of the wall and bent it into the door handles.

“There, that should hold ‘em for a while...”

Kyle peeked out the window to see that dozens of zombies have started entering the parking lot...

“Where did all of those come from?” Rainbow whispered.

“It was a horde up the street... I thought they would’ve cleared out, by now...”

Sunset turned over.

“What, you didn’t think to tell us that?!” She whisper-shouted.

“I scoped for them every day before you found me, I thought they moved on!” Kyle whisper-shouted back.

“Enough!” Fluttershy spoke.

The two turned to face her, Kyle surprised to hear her voice.

“It’s done... what matters is that we’re inside. Let’s make sure this place is secure and wait those freaks out...” She spoke.

Hours later, the market was secured, with bent pipes holding the doors shut, not that any of the infected outside were aware... they were beginning to hibernate inside the parking lot...

“Do all of them do that?” Rainbow asked Kyle.

“Not all of them... it’s hard to explain, but each zombie's different... it isn’t a universal thing if that makes sense.”

Rainbow smiled.

“Yeah-- Twilight thought something similar.”

He turned towards her after hearing that. He paused for a moment and asked the question that was plaguing him ever since he arrived at CHS.

“What was she like?”

Rainbow paused.

“I’m not really the gal to ask that to... I didn’t really know her that much, but... I know that she was headstrong, always put her friends before all else, and would stop at nothing to keep the people around her safe... no matter the cost.”

Rainbow nodded to herself, knowing that she wasn’t talking about their world’s Twilight... Kyle, however, was clueless about this.

“Yep... that sounds like her.”

Rainbow felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Sunset.

“I guess that’s my cue.” She got up, stretching and yawning as Sunset took a seat next to Kyle.

“Hey.” She said.

“Hey.” Kyle said back.

The two stayed silent for a moment, watching the zombies outside.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier... I just—”

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t think to tell you because I thought they’d be gone... I decided that the risk was gone.”

Sunset nodded.

“Yeah... but it’s never gone, is it?”

Kyle sighed.

“Nope. That’s what I was afraid of forgetting.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching to make sure no one tried to get inside. Kyle took a deep breath and shared the idea that was eating away at him.

“I think I’m gonna head on my way soon...”

Sunset turned to him, completely shocked.

“What? Why?”

Kyle sighed.

“It's just... I never worked well with other people. I have my own way of doing things, and... well, I guess I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life cooped up in that school, eating peanut butter crackers every day...”

Sunset set her gloved hand on his shoulder.

“Hey... It’s going to get better. Not even just with what’s in this market. We’re gonna beat this thing. We have to. Besides... there are always alternatives.”

Kyle glanced at her at that.

“What do you mean by that?”

Sunset sighed and leaned toward Kyle.

“So, you know about our powers... what do you know about where they come from?”

Kyle hesitated but shrugged, his curiosity beginning to grow.

“Nothing...”

Sunset smiled.

“Well, it’s a long story, so let me just give you the basics...”

Kyle leaned in a bit, eager to learn more about the source of their power.

“...They come from a land called Equestria. It’s... I think in another universe. That horse statue back home? It has a portal that opens there every two and a half years. I know because... because I went through it during what would’ve been my freshman year. On paper, I ‘transferred’ to Canterlot High and stayed until two and a half years later. Equestria’s version of Twilight came through and helped me learn the error of my ways. A lot of shenanigans later, zombies arose and... here we are.”

Kyle kept quiet, taking in everything Sunset was telling him...

And began to chuckle.

The chuckling quickly turned into stifled laughter.

“Hey, come on!” Sunset sighed.

Kyle struggled to speak in between his laughs.

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry! That’s... just the craziest story I’ve ever heard! I mean—other universes? Come on!”

“I mean, zombies running around? ‘Come on'!” Sunset said, mocking Kyle.

Kyle hesitated.

"Did you tell Jason this whole story?"

Sunset chuckled.

"Well, he kinda has his own story..."

"Yeah? With Uncle Gavriel, and all that?'

Sunset shrugged.

"That's... part of it."

Kyle paused but nodded.

“Okay, fair point... so this ‘Equestria’... how come you all don’t just go there? I mean, how long has it been since it opened last?”

Sunset smiled.

“Equestria’s Twilight made the portal manually openable. We’ve been trying to talk something out... that and, well, it’ll just be a hard adjustment period for everyone. Y’know... turning into ponies, and all.”

If Kyle was drinking something, he would’ve spit it out at that moment.

“Ponies? As in, horses?”

Sunset nodded.

“I know how insane it sounds... but ask Celestia when we get back... I think she still has confiscated video of me turning into that demon.”

Kyle hummed.

“I already knew about that... I’m just having a hard time believing the whole story. But, hey, you and my childhood best friend turned into demons, and, as you said, zombies are a thing now... so, I guess anything’s possible.”

They both shared a laugh.

“Y’know, I’m sure the whole Jason thing’s becoming annoying, but... I think he would’ve loved to have you going to school with him.”

Kyle chuckled.

“’Becoming’?”

They both laughed again, this time a bit louder than normal.

They both bit their tongues and looked to see that no zombie heard them.

“Yeah... but thank you. I never really knew much about him, but I heard things... some good, a lot of bad. But that was years ago...”

Sunset nodded.

“We all have a past... but it’s not today.”

Kyle fell silent, taking in what she said.

“Yeah... ‘our past is not today', right?”

Sunset jumped.

“Wait... you watched my streams?”

Kyle began to blush.

“Yeah... usually when I had nothing else to do, y’know?”

Sunset smiled ear-to-ear.

“No way! W-which channel?”

Kyle smiled back.

“ShimmerCode.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a distant explosion that woke the zombies in the lot...

“Guys...?” Kyle called out.

The girls each slowly rose up and looked outside the window as the zombies began sprinting towards the distant sound...

“Okay, everyone, the mission is on!” Sunset instructed.

One-by-one, everyone grabbed shopping carts and madly went through aisle after aisle, grabbing canned foods, utilities, toiletries, and anything else they could all carry.

Less than an hour later, all seven of their carts were overflowing, with a few isles still filled with goods.

“This stuff should last us months!” Fluttershy cheered.

“Well, we have to consider those brutes we have to give this to...” Rarity added.

“Even then, there’s plenty for everyone. Come on, let’s load this up!” Sunset said.

By sunrise, the group arrived back at the gates. They were each let in and sent to the back of the lot.

Big Mac came down to help with unloading, but a group of students quickly began to form...

“Fifteen carts... we filled fifteen carts!” Sunset shouted.

“There’s food for everyone!” Rainbow added.

“No more peanut butter crackers!” Pinkie cheered.

The commotion brought Celestia out of her office, seeing the crowd forming. From inside the school, she smiled to herself, glancing toward Sunset...

Thanks to the additional help, unloading took only an hour, and by the next, the cafeteria was brimming with life as a feast was held... Celestia joined in, as well, admiring the happiness and joy brought back into the school, something that was missing for the last few months...

Kyle sat with the girls and Scootaloo, who smiled picking through her corned beef hash.

“Not bad for an overnight run...”

Rainbow laughed.

“Scoots, you should’ve seen it! Rarity here made a ball of zombie and smushed it to bits!” She said, clasping her hands to demonstrate.

Rarity almost dropped her fork after being reminded of the memory.

“Yes, darling, now please never bring it up, again... especially when we’re eating?”

They all shared a laugh and Sunset slowly stood up from her seat.

“Everyone!”

The chatter in the cafeteria stopped as everyone turned to face Sunset.

“Let’s give it up for Kyle Williams!”

Claps began resounding the room as Kyle sheepishly smiled. Sunset smiled at him as she took a seat and went back to her food.

After the feast, Sunset made her way to Celestia’s office, holding her bag close.

She knocked on her door and in moments, Celestia opened it.

“I assume you have it?”

Sunset nodded, reaching into her bag and pulling out a syringe filled with red fluid...

“I'm gonna guess there is no talking you out of this?”

Celestia sighed.

“The Caribou won’t stop... especially once they learn of what you all have gathered... this has to end.” She said, putting the syringe into her desk for safekeeping.

Sunset nodded.

“So... Kyle, huh?”

Celestia happily hummed.

“His work was impressive. I find it hard to believe he didn’t thrive more at Crystal Prep.”

Sunset shrugged.

“Well, you know how they are. Were.”

Celestia nodded.

“I won’t hold you up any longer, Sunset... you should get going.”

Sunset nodded, slowly leaving Celestia’s office.

Once the door was shut, Celestia rested her head on her desk, allowing the tears she had been holding to flow freely, stifled sobs and all...

Dainn

That week flew by like no other. In that time, everyone kept themselves well-fed, rations no longer being as much of a concern as before.

Celestia glanced at her watch, knowing that the Caribou should be arriving any minute. She reached into her desk and held the red-filled syringe in her hands...

She carefully put the syringe into her suit jacket sleeve, inside a pocket she requested Rarity to sew in, and opened her office door, seeing students scurry to arm themselves and find secure positions.

"You all know the drill, students... today, not one person will be given to those animals." She instructed.

Stationed students nodded as two soldiers approached Celestia.

"We found them—they're about two minutes out."

Celestia nodded.

"Good-- gather whatever remaining weapons from their previous attacks we have left."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two made their way into the armory.

Kyle loaded his M16 rifle in his dorm room as Scootaloo readied a sniper rifle.

"Can't believe we're actually doing this..." She said.

"I can't believe she didn't do this sooner." Kyle said, latching the magazine into the weapon.

Outside, the armory was utterly emptied, with the two soldiers bringing out a cart filled with all-white rifles with no visible ammunition...

Kyle looked out of his window and saw a familiar van honk its horn at the gates...

"Knock, knock, Canterloters!" The same ringleader from last week chuckled.

Celestia approached the gates, unarmed save for the syringe in her sleeve.

"Hello, Rowland."

Rowland tilted his head.

"Okay, what's goin' on? You... finally volunteerin' yourself, Celly...?" He said with sleazy eagerness.

Celestia swallowed nervously.

"No. We have a counter-offer for you, this time."

Rowland laughed.

"Counter-offer? Okay, Celly—let's hear this 'counter-offer'."

Celestia nodded, and Kyle came out with three crates of canned food. Rowland's eyes went as wide as saucers as his henchmen felt their stomachs begin to rumble...

"Alright! Guess y'all finally hit the jackpot! So, who do we have with this, huh?" He asked, rubbing his hands together.

"No one."

Rowland turned towards the boy who dared to open his mouth to him.

"Really? And who do you think you are to give orders? To us?"

Kyle took a step closer to the taller man.

"You tell me."

Rowland struggled for a moment, chuckling nervously.

"Okay, and how the hell am I supposed to know that--?"

"How about where we got this food? Can you at least share that?"

Silence. Kyle faintly smiled.

"You see, I had a feeling that the whole 'eyes-everywhere' skit was bullshit the minute I heard it... because if you were that powerful, then why not just take this place?"

Inside, the students watched. They watched as he stepped closer and closer to Rowland, until he was right in his face.

"I think you were losing."

Rowland slipped a nervous chuckle.

“We-we were not losing--”

"You were losing and decided to play dirty. You snuck inside in the dead of night thanks to a mole giving you intel. That's how you were able to sneak in and how you knew who to take. And in exchange for them helping you, you promised to get them out of here..."

Rowland remained silent.

"You took away the strongest fighter this place had, and you made them think you had them beat—you... you puffed out your chests, tried to make them think you were much bigger than you are. And it worked..."

Rowland stepped back slightly.

“...But that’s done, now. So, here's what's going to happen: You're gonna take these supplies, return everyone that you took away, and never show your faces near this place, again. If you do, then we'll finish what we started."

Rowland remained silent, glancing over to Celestia. She stood her ground, holding the syringe-sleeve...

"...You have no idea how badly you just screwed up, kid..."

In a moment, a small laser sight landed right on Celestia's head. Kyle's eyes widened before he looked into the distance, searching for any sign of a scope's glint in the sun.

Kyle then stood his ground.

"Nice try, but you forgot an important detail..."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Celestia glanced at Kyle, somewhat worried about what he was planning next.

"... There's no scope. The sun's out, so there'd be a glint from the scope of a sniper, but... not seeing any."

Celestia's eyes widened as Rowland scoffed, but Kyle saw that he was sweating bullets.

"N-nice try, kid—don't think we won't pull that trigger!"

The laser disappeared from her head and moved over to Kyle's chest. In response, he spread out his arms, his heart racing a million miles a minute...

"Go ahead, then... try me."

The two stood silent, neither daring to make a move. Kyle expected any moment to be his last, and Rowland was waiting for the boy to break. But in each second, neither got what they imagined...

Scootaloo did her best to follow the laser sight on her roommate's chest and found its source:

A nervous younger man was hiding in the bushes, indeed holding a laser pointer.

She immediately opened her window and shouted out.

"Tell the kid in the east bushes to put the laser away before I show him what a real sniper can do!"

Rowland nervously gulped as Kyle smiled, happy to see his inquiry was accurate. The man held a hand and performed a signal. Like that, the laser was gone.

"...Congrats, kid... you got a deal."

"Kyle. My name's Kyle Williams..."

Rowland's eyes widened for a brief moment, but hid his shock.

"Okay, Kyle Williams. You got a deal."

As Rowland's men went to grab the boxes, they were cut off by a rainbow blur.

"Ah-ah!" Rainbow said.

Rowland glanced at Rainbow, checking her out briefly as Kyle returned his attention.

"You bring our people back, first... all of them."

Rowland sighed.

"Fine-- but you might not like how a few of them wound up..."

In moments, the Caribou soldiers were out of the gates and driving off. From the roof, Sunset looked through a scope and saw a mark on the van...

"...State Penitentiary Prisoner Transport."

"How did you know?" She asked Kyle.

He barely heard her, legs almost giving way as they turned to jelly.

"I didn't..." He chuckled to himself.

One-by-one, students began exiting the building, rifles slung or set aside.

"What now?" One of them asked him.

They all looked at him. Every last one of them... all of the attention started becoming too much for Kyle, and he turned to Celestia.

"Ms. Celestia?"

She nodded and took the lead.

"We wait. Keep your weapons on you and keep loading supplies... we won today, but they could come back with backup. They certainly aren't going to like hearing that Rowland got scared away..."

With that, students went back to their business. Then, Kyle started making his way back in.

"You did good... never forget that."

Kyle stopped, smiling to himself.

"Thanks, Ms. Celestia."

Kyle went back inside, where Scootaloo and the other girls were waiting.

"Dude, that was totally awesome! You had that creep scared shitless!" She gave him a sudden bear hug.

He exhaled in surprise and smiled, hugging her back.

"Oh, trust me, I wasn't too far behind."

"Well, you could've fooled me! Good call on that sniper-- I would never have thought of that!" Rarity said.

Kyle shrugged.

“I played a lot of FPS’s...” He laughed.

"Well, guess we gotta start gaming more! I mean, damn!" Scootaloo laughed.

"Language, squirt!" Rainbow called out.

"We're really going to see Twilight again..." Fluttershy added.

"Yeah, we better! My sister, too!" Applejack said.

Kyle's smile faded for a moment, his suspicion quickly returning...

"Yeah... all of them. Including the mole..." He added.

The girls each stopped celebrating as that reality set in on them...

"Yeah, which might be just what they want." Sunset pondered.

"So, it sounds like we have to find who that mole may be before they all get here." Rarity said.

Kyle stayed silent, wanting to say his suspect but knowing it wouldn't go over well. So he decided to keep it subtle.

"Do we know who was on watch that night? Maybe whoever it was, let them in?"

Everyone shrugged, save for Applejack.

"Yeah... it was my sister."

No one dared utter a word, some of them now sharing Kyle's suspicion.

"Applejack... do you know if she ever--"

She quickly turned towards him, unwilling to hear another word.

"Now, hold on just a minute! Apple Bloom may have had a rough year, but she would never sell us out to anyone!"

Sunset's eyes widened.

"Applejack... that van was from the state prison... the same prison that-- 'you-know-who' was locked up."

Applejack turned to her comrade, trying to form a rebuttal, any form of defense for her little sister, but each one failed... and she was left with the bare truth.

"Oh, my God..." She covered her mouth as her eyes quickly began to water.

She fell to her knees as Sunset quickly wrapped her arms around her.

Kyle stood there, feeling immense guilt until Scootaloo placed her arm on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing..." She whispered in his ear, her voice beginning to crack, as well.

Kyle sighed.

"Doesn't feel like it..."

Applejack's tears slowly subsided, and they both got to their feet.

"We'll go to Celestia and tell her about this... the rest of you should help get ready for when they come back."

With that, the group dispersed. Kyle made his way to his dorm, where he continued packing the essentials.

Night had arrived, and yet, no Caribou.

Celestia began gathering students in the cafeteria, violating her curfew rules and keeping the power on. While students rotated, keeping watch throughout multiple windows on each floor of the school, Kyle helped Sunset with securing multiple school buses for the worst-case scenario.

"So, let's say things go south. Where do we go?" Kyle asked.

Sunset chipped in.

"We have rendezvous spots picked out. We stay close, follow the route, and if we get broken off, we head there."

Kyle nodded.

"Sounds like you all have this planned out..."

Sunset shrugged.

"Can't really afford not to."

The two made small talk for a bit longer, managing to secure and load each bus before a loud whistle was blown...

"Oh, shit..." Sunset said, both of them making their way up to the gates through the school.

Loud horns honking in the distance brought everyone's attention back toward the front gate, where they saw a large truck approaching it at ramming speed...

"Everyone, get down!" Celestia called out.

The gates were knocked wide open, and as the truck screeched to a stop, those inside aimed every weapon in the school at the vehicle.

"Step out of the truck, now! "Rainbow shouted, holding a rifle into the windshield.

The truck doors swung open, and a slender, leaner man exited, donning a strange sort of mask with antlers extending from the top...

"People of Canterlot High!" A distorted voice echoed throughout the school.

Everyone kept their weapons drawn, each of them at unease...

"I... am Dainn! I represent the organization you call the Caribou. Your desecration upon us... will not go unpunished."

Kyle and Sunset hid by the front door, doing their best to stay out of sight.

"Who's this guy?" Kyle asked.

Sunset peeked out and shrugged.

"No idea... come on, let's get everyone on those buses..."

He nodded, and the two quietly made their way upstairs, where multiple students pointed the mysterious rifles out the window.

"Hope you know how to use those..." Sunset instructed, starting to pull people up and point them to the buses out back.

Outside, Celestia stood her ground against the masked maniac.

"You and your people have desecrated this school! That, will not stand.”

Dainn glared at her for a moment, chuckling.

"That's good..." Then, with a flick of a finger, shots rang out...

Inside, Sunset and Kyle turned to see the remaining snipers were shot dead, all clean through their heads.

"Oh, God..." Kyle mumbled as he hurried to grab one of their rifles while staying out of sight.

Celestia turned and saw the windows emptied and gasped.

"There's no winning here, Celly. So stand down, now, or there will be hell to pay!"

Celestia grasped the syringe in her sleeve, knowing she needed to wait for her moment...

"Everyone, stand down!" She shouted inside.

Kyle's eyes widened as he decided to speak up.

"Not happening, Ms. Celestia!"

Dainn perked his head at the boy's voice.

“Kyle Williams, is that you?!”

Kyle hesitated, hearing his full name...

"Do I know you?!" He asked.

Dainn chuckled, fiddling with the straps of his mask...

"Come on down, and find out!"

Kyle considered taking the opportunity to get a shot in, but Sunset stepped back and tapped Kyle's shoulder.

"Come on. We can still make the bus if Celestia keeps stalling--"

THWACK!

The end of a rifle stock met her forehead as Kyle turned to see several Caribou soldiers grabbing her and him, dragging them outside.

In moments, they and the other remaining students were rounded up and brought to their knees before Dainn.

He chuckled at the sight of Applejack, whose rage began to overwhelm her...

"You sick, child-groomin' son of a bitch!" She screamed, lunging at him and tossing one of the men trying to restrain her across the lot.

"Enough..." Dainn instructed, pulling out a revolver and pointing it right at Celestia.

Applejack immediately froze and deactivated her Geode, allowing the remaining soldiers to pull her back into the line-up.

Minutes passed in absolute silence, each member glancing at each other for guidance, but no one having any...

Rainbow was shaking with anger, trying her best not to speed off and fight, but she knew that the slightest mistake would result in her friends getting killed, or worse...

Applejack was in the same boat. The only thing keeping her from beating Dainn to a bloodied ragdoll was the fact that at least thirty soldiers were holding guns to her friends.

Rarity was beginning to plot an escape in her mind but knew she didn't have the stomach to use her power for that scope of brutality... but she was starting to reconsider that.

Fluttershy was a mess, silently sobbing in terror, with Sunset holding her to try to comfort her in any way.

Pinkie was simply silent, observing her friends' terror and remaining silent, almost like she was shutting down...

"Well, shit—if it were this easy to bring this place down, I would've done this weeks ago!"

Kyle was increasingly livid as the masked man spoke—every word brought more emotion out of the boy.

"You took Twilight and all those other girls just to gloat?!"

Dainn laughed and knelt down to his level...

"Chin up, boy... you'll see her again soon enough. Hell, keep out of trouble, follow orders... and I just might give her to you--"

Kyle spit right on his mask, a gesture that silenced Dainn...

"Fuck you..."

That triggered a dark chuckle from the older man...

"Fine, then... worker, it is."

A firm backhand brought Kyle to the ground, wincing and his ears ringing.

"Stop!" Celestia shouted.

Dainn chuckled, clutching his slightly stinging hand...

"Yeah? And what if I don't?" He made his way to her, crudely holding her chin.

Celestia grunted at the sudden grip and grasped her syringe...

“This is my school... and these are my students...” She fiddled with the sleeve, having difficulty with her free hand.

Dainn smirked under his mask and brought her closer to him.

"Well, now they're mine. Don't worry, though... I'll put them all to good use..."

Dainn peeked down and saw her messing with her sleeve.

"Hey... got a present for me?"

Celestia flinched but quickly began forming a plan...

"Maybe I do..." She finally got a grip on the syringe as she leaned toward him.

"...Well, you better hand it over before someone gets hurt."

Celestia smirked.

"With pleasure."

She pulled out the syringe and drove it into his neck, drawing a scream from him as she injected its contents into him.

"Open fire!" Dainn gargled, pulling the needle out and holding his bleeding neck...

But it wasn't his blood.

"Rainbow! Run!"

Rainbow charged her Geode, time slowing to a stop right as bullets began to fly...

"Okay... I can do this!" She told herself as she started by pulling Celestia inside behind the front door.

Her next priority was the rest of her friends, all of whom were right in the line of fire. She made sure to carefully grab each of them so as not to risk breaking them with the sudden whiplash. It took a few minutes relative to her, and the bullets were about halfway towards them, traveling at a snail's pace.

Once her friends were safe, she turned toward their assailants, making her way to each one of them, taking their guns and tossing them up over the walls. Once they were all disarmed, she stepped towards Dainn, considering killing him at that moment, but noticed that his eyes were already beginning to go bloodshot...

"Celestia, you dirty dog..." She chuckled.

With that taken care of, she ran towards the rest of her friends and deactivated her Geode.

Time sped right back up as the bullets meant for her friends hit the dirt, kicking up dust.

The other Caribou noticed their guns were gone, and some went to retrieve them while the others checked on their leader.

"Sir Dainn, are you--"

Dainn shoved the soldier away as he began heaving and twitching...

"Get them! Get them all!" He snarled, his sense of awareness fading away as he desperately ripped off his mask to get some air...

In moments, Dainn was gone, and a snarling, raging zombie lunged at the fresh prey, sinking his teeth into the compassionate soldier's throat...

Back in the school, Celestia took a rifle off the ground.

"Celestia, we gotta go!" Kyle said, gesturing for the others to make a break for it.

"No, the rest of you go! I'll buy you all the time I can!" She said, firing a blast at the Caribou entering the gates.

A bright beam of light shot through the barrel and landed right into one of the soldiers, turning his body into a bloody paste.

"Go!" She shouted.

Gunfire and blasts from the laser rifle began to erupt, and as the chaos only escalated, the buses were loaded with students and other supplies, and each of them began taking off, one by one, out of the back gate.

Sunset took the wheel as Kyle kept his mom's revolver trained out of the window. The others sat throughout the seats, surrounded by other students.

"Our home's gone... where do we go now?"

"Did anyone see Octavia?!"

"I was right there... I could've done something!"

"Are they following us?! I think they're following us!"

Chatter filled the tiny bus to the point where Kyle turned from the window.

"Everyone? Everything will be okay! We'll figure it out... but we can't do that if we panic. So let's just get to the rendezvous, and we'll make a plan from there..."

The cluster of students seemed to listen as panicked chatter began to die out.

Sunset looked through the rearview mirror and faintly sighed, turning her attention back to the long road before them...

Author's Note

And like that, what only took two chapters is done in five! I'd consider this the end of the first "arc", so to speak. Thank you to everyone who has been reading or is reading this right now, and I can't wait to show you what comes next in the story of The Zombie Chronicles.

Complications

The silent drive stretched into the night as everyone in the Canterlot High bus began to settle in. Many students wound up needing to co-sleep due to the lack of space.

Sunset, Fluttershy, and Kyle, with supervision by one of the former, rotated in shifts as a couple of hours went by...

"So, how far's this rendezvous? I didn't think it'd take this long..." Kyle said.

"It's up by the shore, right by a city called Townsville. And yeah, we can't risk those whack jobs finding us. It's been a bit of a drive, but we're almost there, now... we should be seeing the others soon." Sunset answered.

Kyle nodded, stretching and nodding. He made his way back to his seat and decided to try and get some sleep...

As he began to let sleep envelop him, the others focused on the road ahead.

"So, I think that when we meet up, we focus on getting to Equestria... that's what we should've done from the start." Sunset said to Fluttershy, leaning over her.

"Y-yeah... yeah, maybe."

"I mean, it's not like we'll have too much trouble, some of us were already in Equestria, and I was born there. There'll be an adjustment period, but..." She started talking as the realization hit her.

"Oh, shit, Fluttershy, can you take the wheel real quick?"

She nodded, and the two quickly swapped as Sunset ran to her rucksack and desperately searched inside it.

"Come on... where is it?!" She whispered to herself.

She continued shifting her items around, desperately searching for the book...

She felt the spine of the journal and desperately yanked it out.

"Thank Celestia..." She uttered, almost ripping the book open.

Hello Twilight,

There has been a... development. Do NOT use the portal again. CHS was taken by very bad people... I don't want to know what they would do with Equestria. Hell, destroy the thing if you can. We'll find a way to that island and go from there.

-Sunset

Satisfied with her quick thinking, she closed the book, making her way back to the driver's seat, where Fluttershy's pupils were like needle pins as she slowed the vehicle to a stop. Sunset looked out to see what had scared her, and she saw a scorched and still-burning school bus...

From Canterlot High.

"...Fluttershy, get us off this road... right now."

Rapidly nodding, Fluttershy took a hard right off the main road. With the sharp turn, Rarity jolted awake and spotted the burning bus.

"Uh..." She started, seeing Sunset signaling to her to stay quiet.

Rarity nodded and took a seat, now wide awake and aware.

As their cautious drive continued, they spotted a nearby apartment complex. Fluttershy briefly glanced at Sunset, and they both shared an affirmative nod. As they got closer, they noticed that the building was owned by "Morbucks Inc.". Another glance was shared.

"Ever hear of a company named 'Morbucks Inc.'?" Sunset asked Rarity, who shook her head.

"Never... unless..." She hesitated, thinking hard...

As Rarity lost herself in thought, the bus was put in park, and the headlights were shut off. Kyle slowly came to, noticing that the bus had been stopped.

"We there, already?" He asked.

They glanced at him, and Sunset shook her head.

"There's... a roadblock, so we're staying here for the night and figuring it out in the morning."

Kyle nodded, stretching and making his way to the front.

"Well, I'm slept up, so want me to help make sure it's clear?"

The girls looked at each other, some more tired than others.

"Sure... I could use some sleep, myself." Sunset said.

"Me, too..." Fluttershy yawned.

"I can help if you'd like... I don't think I'm going back to sleep any time soon." Rarity said.

With that, Kyle, Rarity, Scootaloo, and Tender Taps armed themselves and entered the complex's ground level.

"So, what was the roadblock?" Kyle asked as he shut the door behind the group.

Rarity jumped and turned to Kyle...

"Oh, uh... it was a wreck of some kind. Unfortunately, I didn't get quite the best look at it..."

Kyle nodded, noticing the mysterious name on the wall of the reception area.

"Morbucks Inc... hmm."

Rarity took a moment to ponder that name—she knew it from somewhere, but she just couldn't put her finger on it...

Kyle looked at it in complete astonishment, trying to figure out the decision behind that name...

Before he could, angry screams filled their ears as a pack of three zombies rushed toward the group.

"Don't worry, I got them..." Rarity groaned, hesitatingly sending three gem spikes into them.

Once she was done, Rarity looked down at her Geode and noticed it was beginning to glow. She groaned as she considered taking it off for a moment...

Kyle heard her and turned to see the glowing gem.

"Hey, is your thing alright?"

"Yes, it's fine... we've just been using them too much lately. The last time that happened, they started operating on their own."

Kyle's eyes widened for a moment.

"Oh, no, no! It isn't your fault! None of us counted for a Caribou assault, that's all. We just have to take it easy for a few days, and things will be just fine."

Kyle sighed in relief, and the group moved on to the staircase.

They made their way through the different rooms, each utterly zombie-free.

"This place is pretty clear..." Scootaloo said.

"Yeah. But these things like to hide..." Kyle added.

However, the apartment building was completely clear when they reached the top floor. Not a single zombie, save for the ones on the ground floor...

"Well, shit. Guess we're staying here for the night." Tender Taps shrugged.

Kyle glanced around the bottom floor as he heard Taps let out a yawn.

"Yeah... guess we are."

With that, the group made their way back outside and signaled everyone on the bus to enter.

Sunset opened the door and turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow.

"Drive this bus as far off-road as you can... make sure no-one sees it. Then, Rainbow, when she's done, get her back here."

Rainbow nodded, and the two started the bus back up, driving it onto the road.

Inside, the group each separated into different rooms. Kyle sat out over the first floor, leaning on the railing on the first floor, overlooking the ground floor.

"You're welcome to sleep, Kyle." Rarity said to him.

Kyle shook his head.

"I'm good... I've gone with a few hours of sleep before."

Rarity slowly nodded, processing the information.

"Okay... then allow me to keep watch with you." She said, grabbing a chair and sitting next to him.

The two watched over the entrance, Kyle setting the stock of his M16 on the ground.

"Rainbow and Fluttershy should be back by now..."

Rarity leaned over the railing.

"I'm sure they're alright. Perhaps they're trying to find the best spot to put the bus."

Nodding, Kyle leaned back.

"So, what was the deal with Applejack and Dainn? She seemed pretty angry at him."

Rarity jolted, stammering to find an answer.

"W-well, he and... he... Let's just say that he was a bad influence on Applejack's little sister."

Kyle hummed, beginning to see the bigger picture.

"So, he groomed her?"

Sighing, Rarity nodded.

"Yes."

A deep sigh was his only response.

"It was quite an ordeal... Applejack was a mess, and as far as we knew, that was the end of it."

Kyle let out a deep sigh.

"I can't begin to imagine... this was out of nowhere, I'm guessing?"

Rarity paused and sighed.

"Well, Apple Bloom was a bit of a delinquent in the past."

"Yeah, I heard a little bit about that... Anon-A-Miss?"

Rarity sighed, dreading hearing that username again.

"Yes... that chicanery. Not only did she orchestrate it, but she dragged my sister into it... All to get back at Sunset."

That made Kyle's head turn.

"Why would they try to get back at Sunset?"

Pausing, Rarity sighed.

"... Let's just say that Sunset was not always the person she is now..."

Before Kyle could ask more, a rainbow blur entered the main entrance.

"We're back!" Rainbow said, setting down a blushing Fluttershy.

The two made their way up the stairs as Kyle waved to them.

"How'd it go?"

"It went pretty well... we hid it up as best we could--"

That made Kyle worry.

"Wait, why are we hiding the bus?"

The three struggled to form a response, but before they could find one, spotlights flashed on them from outside the entrance.

"Step out of the building, now!" A booming voice echoed.

Everyone in the building quickly woke up at the sudden commotion, countless doors being opened.

Kyle glanced out of the window and noticed several silhouettes hidden by the light—they all seemed armored with rifles shining on them.

"Military...?" He asked herself as he looked toward the others, who were all now awake.

Sunset made her way towards the others, looked out the building, and then returned her gaze to Kyle. She nodded to him, and they each started making their way down.

"Exit the building, now, hands on your head!"

One by one, the survivors began exiting the apartment's safety, each looking toward their potential captors...

The team quickly found themselves surrounded by armed soldiers wearing all-gold armor. As they circled the group, one of them pulled out a device from his side, which started beeping as soon as he turned it on.

"They enhanced?!" One of them asked.

He approached the group, scanning for the highest source, and found the girls.

"Yep! These six..."

The device hovered over Kyle, and the machine went off again.

"...and him!"

Kyle glanced around for a moment.

"Wait, I'm not--"

He was quickly cut off as a bag was placed around his head and pulled away.

Author's Note

Yeah, you were wondering what the other tags were for, weren't you? One of the cons of putting more emphasis on these arcs, it'll take longer to get into the real juicy stuff... but we're just about there now.

Processing

The drive in the back of the Humvee was a relatively quiet one. Kyle initially struggled to break free of the zip ties around his arms and legs but ultimately failed.

“Hey, come on, guys... there’s been some kind of mistake—there’s no way that we’re ‘enhanced’!” He said to his captors.

That earned him a scoff from one of the soldiers to his side.

“We saw the rainbow one sprint 20 miles in under 10 seconds... I find that hard to believe.”

Kyle sighed, knowing that there was no explanation for that.

“Not to mention the... what’s she, British? French?”

Kyle thought about it and shrugged.

“Well, we saw her generate and shoot three diamond projectiles into some infected. Care to explain that?”

Kyle grunted.

“Okay, fine—maybe they’re enhanced. But I’m not! I mean, I never really felt enhanced.”

The soldiers didn’t respond. Kyle attempted to keep track of the turns they made—right from the apartment, left after a few miles on the highway, then another right after that... right? Or was it a left? After a while, Kyle stopped keeping track. A good hour and a half passed, and the vehicle finally slowed to a stop.

The side doors swung open, and Kyle was aggressively pulled out of his seat.

“Wha--hey! Where the hell’re my friends?!” He struggled against the soldiers holding his arms.

That earned him a scoff.

“Friends? Really? What’re you, 10?”

“Hey, fuck you, asshole; I won’t ask you again--”

With a quick shove, Kyle was tossed into a form of cell with the sound of chain-link clacking behind him as the soldiers closed the gate behind him.

Kyle immediately fought to open the gate, with no luck.

“Dude, you won’t open it... trust me, we all tried.”

Kyle turned to see two others in the cell with him. An older man with red spiky hair and a woman with straight brown hair down just by her shoulders.

“And who the hell are you?”

One of them shrugged.

“Just more stragglers that these douchebags picked up. Name’s Daisuke. This is my wife, Riku. And you are?” He held out a hand.

“Kyle Williams.” Kyle shook his hand.

Kyle leaned his head back against the chain link, looking to his partners in bondage.

“So, how long have you two been here?”

They both struggled for a moment.

“A month?” Daisuke turned to his wife.

“No, I think it’s been a month and a half.”

Daisuke shrugged.

“We were put in here when things started getting really bad, if that helps, at all.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he immediately stood to his feet.

“What?! That was almost three months ago! No, no, we can’t stay here for that long!” He turned towards the fence, failing to see anyone to consult.

“Don’t bother—we both tried to talk to anyone for weeks... They rounded us both up and left us here.” Riku shrugged.

“They asked us questions for weeks... we answered, and all they’ve done is keep us here...” Daisuke added.

Riku groaned.

“It’s bullshit! They won’t even let us leave! They just took us in the middle of the road and won’t say why!”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah... same with us.”

“Really? So where did they nab you?” Riku asked.

“A few hours out from Canterlot High.”

Both of their eyes widened.

“You’re from Canterlot?!” Riku asked.

“Our daughter... she was there.”

Kyle’s heart sunk a tad.

“I’m sorry... we got attacked. Not many of us made it out. What was your daughter’s name?”

Before either could answer, there was an aggressive clack on the chain link.

“All of you, on your feet, hands behind your head!”

Kyle turned to see more soldiers unlocking and opening the door. He quickly got up and obliged, the couple doing the same.

“Hey, where're the others? Where are they?!”

“Don’t worry... you’ll see them soon enough. Now move it!” One of the soldiers barked, shoving him out of the cell.

They escorted him down a narrow hallway, past several cells where Kyle could hear his friends answering questions.

“Dude, I told you, we got them in Camp Everfree. How many times do I need to say it?!” He heard Rainbow say.

“...You can have your disgustingly armored brutes push us around all you want—I will not utter a word!”

“Please... I just wanna go home...”

“Y’all think you know what we can do? Trust me, you ain’t seen nothin’, yet!”

“Come on, we’re all friends, here... who wants a cupcake?”

As they walked, Kyle looked and noted a set of keys attached to one of the soldiers’ hips...

The soldiers stopped and opened one of the doors, shoving Kyle inside.

“Have a seat.” One of the soldiers ordered him.

Not wanting to start a fight he knew he couldn’t win, Kyle took a seat. As he sat in silence, the door opened and a man donned in red with red hair barely hiding under a backward cap. He briefly took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, heavily sighing as he took his seat in front of him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notepad and a pencil from his ear. Kyle noted that he must’ve been around his age if only a little older.

“To start, state your full name for the record.”

Kyle glanced at the interviewee in front of him—something was... familiar about him.

“Kyle Williams.”

Nodding, the interviewee wrote into the notepad.

“To your best knowledge, how old are you?”

Kyle thought to himself, hoping he had his calendar set right.

“I turned 16 a month ago.”

The pencil scribbled along the paper, with the numbers 1 and 6 being written side-by-side.

“...So, I understand that you’re convinced that you aren’t Enhanced. Explain how.”

Kyle struggled to come up with an adequate response.

“I... just never felt... well, Enhanced. I've never had any powers.” He shrugged.

“Being Enhanced isn’t always obvious. For some people it takes time and some digging. We’ll put a pin in that for now. Next question, what were you doing in Morbucks territory?”

Kyle hesitated—he knew the others weren’t talking, should he do the same?

“Look, man, to be honest, I don’t even know... I found them a day ago on the road. We saw that apartment, and figured it would be safes...”

The interviewee sighed and adjusted his seat, leaning into the table.

“Let’s talk about the others, then. What are their enhancements? We know about the diamond projections and the super-speed. What else?”

Kyle leaned back and shrugged.

“Honestly? I don’t even know. Yeah, I know about the diamonds and the speed, but other than that, they’ve been keeping it under the vest...” He decided to lean in toward the stranger.

“...But I have my suspicions.”

The interviewee’s eyebrows raised a tad as he flipped the page.

“I’m listening.”

Kyle smiled.

“I think the red-and-yellow haired one, Sunset... something. I think she can control the weather. I’m just saying, up north, it was raining for days, but the minute I said something about it with them on the way down here, the rain just stopped...”

Nodding, he began jotting notes.

“And the pink-haired one, something-shy? I think she can manipulate the elements. I mean, that’s my guess at the moment...”

More notes.

“And the all-pink one... I’m still figuring her out. I’ve seen her sense the future and get it down to a T, I’ve seen her basically teleport across a room, and that’s not even getting into her party cannon...”

The interviewee glanced up at him.

“Party cannon?”

Kyle shuttered.

“Yeah... they talk about it all the time like it’s some secret weapon or something.”

Nodding, he looked up at Kyle.

“Glad that’s taken care of... next question.”

Hours passed; the questions were more mundane—what was your favorite food as a kid? What stories did your parents tell you to put you to sleep? Were there ever any freak accidents and/or close encounters with death in your lifetime?

The questions kept pouring in no matter what Kyle responded with. By the time the questions were over, Kyle struggled to walk with his legs used to being seated.

As he was escorted back to his cell, he pretended to stumble onto his knees.

“Get up!”

As he struggled to get up, he spotted the pair of keys on the soldier “helping” him back up.

“Okay, jeez—you guys try being seated for hours on end...” He chuckled, trying to reach for the keys...

With a quick flex of the finger, the link holding the keys to his hip was opened, and the keys were in his hand...

Jingle, jingle...

An aggressive hand immediately tightly grasped Kyle’s left hand.

“And what the fuck was that...?”

Kyle cursed under his breath as he tried to break free of the soldier’s grasp. Realizing he was caught red-handed, Kyle smiled.

“Can’t blame me for trying--”

For his trouble, Kyle received a gun stock to his face. He held his gushing nose as he fell onto his back.

“God-damnit!” He cried out, feeling his warm blood flow down his shirt, staining it.

“Try that shit again, you’ll get locked in the box!”

Unable to hold back tears of pain, Kyle was pulled up to his feet, giving him vertigo as he was pulled and rushed back into his cell.

They both threw him in on his side, and as they locked him back in, Daisuke and Riku immediately rushed to his aide.

“Jesus, are you alright?!” Riku asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine... isn’t the first time I got a nosebleed from a hit... don’t think it’s broken.” He said, his voice nasal.

Working quickly, Riku ripped a piece of her shirt off and held it to Kyle’s nose, trying to stop the bleeding.

“This should help... it should start clotting, soon.”

Nodding, Kyle held his nose.

“Heartless bastards...” Daisuke shook his head.

“Well, it was kinda my fault—I tried to snatch that one guard’s keys.”

Daisuke chuckled.

“Sneaky...”

Kyle nasally chuckled, which gave him hints of pain.

“Yeah, but I guess I forgot keys jingle, so yeah...”

Daisuke chuckled along.

“Hey, rookie mistake, it happens.”

Kyle smiled, feeling his nose begin to stop hurting...

“Wait, what the hell?” He asked, his voice no longer nasal.

He removed the rag and felt his nose, feeling that the bleeding has stopped.

“Well, then... I guess that’s normal, now...” He shrugged.

The two adults glanced at his healed nose, at each other, and back towards him.

“Yeah-- I guess it is.” Daisuke shrugged, laying back on of the two cots on the floor.

Kyle stammered in shock.

“Wait-- what?! Okay... so, how are you enhanced, anyway?”

Daisuke turned towards him and chuckled.

“Trust me—I haven’t been enhanced for almost 20 years...”

With that, Riku snuck in beside him, and Kyle decided to do the same, realizing that he hadn’t slept for almost two whole days...

Kyle was woken up by the sensation of being aggressively grabbed by his shoulders and pulled to his feet.

“Ah! What the hell’re--”

“Get up! Now!" A loud booming voice echoed in the cell.

Being forced to his feet, Kyle was basically dragged back into the cell, his arms being especially restrained.

With a violent shove, Kyle was back in the same seat, with the same interviewee glaring him over, his eyes almost singing with rage...

“So, Kyle Williams... we’re going to do this again, and this time, you are going to answer honestly.”

Kyle nervously nodded.

“B-but I did answer honestly--”

The interviewee slammed his fist into the table, splitting it in half. The sound of his fist cracking the wood echoed throughout the small room as the two halves landed to the side, dust briefly filling the space between them.

“First. Question... who are those women you’re with? How long have you known them?”

Kyle paused, still processing what the boy before him just did.

“I... not long. A few weeks.”

More notes were taken, this time much more aggressively.

“Second. What were you doing in that apartment?”

“We needed shelter. That apartment had it.”

“Third. What are their enhancements?”

Kyle gulped.

“I...”

A glare was given, and Kyle sighed... but as he went to confess, he felt a twinge of boiling rage that he couldn’t place in that instant. Something about this guy in front of him suddenly made him seething with anger, and he was no longer willing to hide that.

“You wanna know their enhancements?”

He fell silent, curious as to what Kyle’s game was.

“Well, I assure you that they can do more than split a fucking table in half.”

Now they were both staring at each other intensely.

“Unless you want to know what your heart tastes like, I’d choose your next words very carefully--”

“Oh, please... if you could kill any of us, you would’ve by now. I mean, why go through all this trouble?! The cells, the interviews, hours asking the same god-damned questions... you’ve been ordered not to kill us. So go ahead, Gorillaz— do your worst!”

Locked in a stalemate, Kyle took a step forward, his heart racing as he did. Moments passed as the soldier huffed several angered breaths, but did nothing outside of that.

“No? Then I suggest you get your boss down here so we can have this chat, because I am not saying shit to you!”

The two silently stared at each other, both refusing to say anything or even move. The confrontation lasted only a few seconds, as the door was opened, and a girl around their age marched in, wearing a yellow jacket with a fur coat, and red curly hair tied to twin buns.

“Brick, just what in the hell are you doing?!”

Brick quickly turned to the woman entering the room.

“This little shit was trying to play us! I was just about to get some answers out of--”

“Get the fuck out!”

With little defiance, Brick angrily made his way out of the room.

“Unbelievable...” The girl fussed, taking the empty seat and running a hand through her hair, “Does that meathead even have any idea how much these tables are worth?” She angrily mumbled.

Kyle sat there, having no idea what had just happened, and the girl finally noticed his confusion.

“So sorry about that. I was hoping for a calm discussion like the young adults we totally are...”

She held out her hand.

“Princess Morbucks.”

It immediately clicked with Kyle—Morbucks! He carefully brought his hand towards hers.

“Kyle Williams...”

With a second-long handshake, Princess noticed the dried blood on his nose.

“And what’s this? Don’t tell me he did that, too!”

Kyle chuckled.

“No, it was from some guards after I--” He quickly stopped himself, but thankfully he didn’t need to find a less criminating response.

“Oh, I won’t stand for this! This- this is abuse!” Princess shouted as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

“Here. Clean yourself up.” She instructed, opening a canteen of water and pouring some into it.

Taking the rag, Kyle started scrubbing the caked blood off of his face. With that, he folded the rag and kept it by his side.

“So, with all of that out of the way, let’s talk!” Princess said as soldiers entered the room, taking the table fragments away and quickly setting a new table between them.

“Do you want something, you look thin...”

Hearing his stomach growl, Kyle chuckled.

“It has been a while since I ate something... p-please, that would be nice.”

With that, Princess quickly snapped her fingers.

“Get us something nice, and get to it.”

Nodding, that soldier rushed out of the room.

“Again, super sorry about that—you'd think they’d know better, working for me...”

That got Kyle’s attention.

“You’re in charge, here?”

Princess stared at him in confusion for a brief second, before cracking a smirk.

“Well, of course I am! So, let’s see, you were... one of the squatters in the outer districts?”

Kyle paused for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah.”

Princess clapped her hands in delight.

“Great! Well, most of the details are taken care of, your friends and their necklaces... but what I’m curious about, is you—tell me about yourself.”

She scooched closer to him in her seat, Kyle staying in place.

“I don’t really know anything about being enhanced—I mean, my dad owned a foster home and my mom was a cop, we were just... ordinary people.”

Princess nodded.

“Well, I was raised to believe that greatness... can come from anywhere.” She said, pausing as if she had to bite her own tongue halfway through.

Kyle awkwardly nodded.

“Don’t worry too much about it, we’ll find out what makes you special in no time at all... where is that guard?!” She asked, looking out to see him speed-walking down with two separate steaming platters.

In moments, two plates of scrambled eggs and French toast were presented to the two.

“Thank you... finally, some proper service!” Princess hummed, using the fork on the side, and immediately took a bite.

Kyle did the same, and once the fork left his mouth, his taste buds exploded with flavor. The eggs were a perfect consistency, complimented with the seasonings mixed inside. And the french toast.

The French toast.

“Oh, my God...” Kyle managed, swallowing the mouthful down and quickly going for a second.

Princess picked through the food in front of her, disinterested.

“Eh, I’ve had better. But that’s beside the point,” She adjusted her seat again, “How about your friends? They’ve talked about their powers—super-speed, strength, talking to animals, making... sweets explode? Oh! And the mind-reading! That’s a good one.”

Kyle shrugged.

“I’d personally take the diamond generation any day.”

Princess giggled.

“Yeah, that was a close second.”

Kyle immediately froze—he realized what he carelessly shared with her. She noticed his panic and smiled.

“What? I already knew about all that. What I can’t figure out, is what you can do. It... looks like your nose healed up, alright—and quickly, too...”

Kyle quickly remembered his incident the previous night.

“Yeah... it completely healed in minutes.” His eyes widened.

Princess smiled.

“And there we go. Regeneration... welcome aboard, Kyle Williams.”

With that, the remaining soldier in the room pulled a brown bag from his side and threw it over Kyle’s head.

“Oh, come on! We’re seriously doing this shit again?!” He asked as he didn’t fight the soldier directing him outside, granted with much less force than before.

This venture was a much shorter one than before. With a few minutes walk, the bag was removed, and Kyle found himself in the back of a truck, with the others from Canterlot.

“Kyle!” Scootaloo shouted, quickly hugging the boy.

In one way or another, everyone checked on Kyle’s well-being and displayed joy in seeing him again. Sunset, Pinkie, and Scootaloo hugged him while Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack checked on him. The others came over and started chatting.

“Wait, this is all of us, right?”

Before Kyle could ask more, he turned and saw two familiar figures being pushed toward everyone’s view.

“Are these two affiliated with anyone in the transport?” One of the soldiers asked, removing their bags and revealing Daisuke and Riku.

Kyle glanced around as Scootaloo’s eyes grew wide.

“Mom...? Dad?”

Eyes locked and the two immediately hopped on and held their daughter.

“Oh, thank God!” Riku laughed with relief.

“Kyle told us Canterlot High was attacked, and we thought...” Daisuke started.

“Guys, guys, it’s okay!”

As the family laughed in relief, the doors behind them were closed. A grim reminder that they are now on their way to parts unknown...

“So... did you meet her, too?” Sunset asked Kyle.

He turned to her, struggling to see in the dark, and nodded.

“Princess? Yeah.”

Rarity laughed and playfully smacked her forehead.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner! Morbucks Industries was one of the largest corporations on this side of the country! Of course, she would own apartment buildings and... private military, and wherever we’re going, now...”

“Yeah, not to mention she was one of the Powerpuff Girls’ archnemeses!” Rainbow shouted.

Kyle raised a brow and turned toward Rainbow’s voice.

“The what, now?”

Rainbow gasped slightly.

“You’ve never heard of the Powerpuff Girls? Three superheroes who got their powers from a lab accident? Chemical X?! Dude, they were the shit back in the day! But that was a while ago... they should be our age, by now.”

“Yeah, and we’re left with the bratty Lex Luthor. Where the hell’re we going?!” Scootaloo shouted at the drivers.

No response was given.

The ride was surprisingly short—not even ten minutes passed before the van was stopped, and the door was once again opened.

Greeting them, was Princess.

“Well? Welcome to Morbucksville.” She stepped back and outstretched her arms.

One-by-one, the group exited the truck, finding themselves on the very outskirts of the bustling city that used to be Townsville, made obvious by the sign before them still reading “Townsville”. But that minor detail paled in comparison to the impressive walls behind them. Comprised of countless cargo freights stacked at least eight high, and three wide. On top stood what seemed to be automated turrets, with fairly large barrels attached to round swivels circled the outside perimeter.

The golden-armored soldiers surrounded them, some on the rooftops of the smaller buildings surrounding the edge of the wall. All of them were looking down upon the group of newcomers who were marveled by the insides of “Morbucksville”.

Seemingly, the entire inside of the city was secured, with clusters of citizens going about their day in the distance, staying clear of the outer perimeter. Kyle looked out and saw families making their way down the road, together, and couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“You secured... all this?”

A proud smile found its way on Princess’ face.

“Yep. These fine gentlemen will take you to your new, legally habitable apartments, and you’ll have your first work assignments in the morning...” With that, Princess made her way back to the edge of the wall, making her way down the outskirts.

Kyle looked towards the others with uncertainty, and they all shared the same look.

Being directed by two soldiers, Kyle was the first to be separated and led to a fairly-sized apartment building near the edge of the inner perimeter. As he walked, he spotted a sign stating curfew started at 6 PM and ended at 6 AM.

Once they reached the front doors, one of the soldiers reached to his side and handed Kyle a pair of keys.

“You’re 317. Curfew starts in an hour, so feel free to go down to the general store right down the road. Hand them this coupon and you will be granted free purchase for the necessities.”

Kyle carefully studied the piece of paper being placed in his hand.

“As Ms. Morbucks said, work assignments will be at your door in the morning. Don’t be late.”

With that, Kyle was alone, with a pair of keys and coupon in his hands...

And a smile growing on his face.

Training

The hard, rickety mattress did little to help Scootaloo fall asleep- especially after the past few days she’s had... She sighed as she heard a firm knock on her family’s apartment door.

With a slip under the door, Daisuke picked up the three sets of papers...

Sitting on the small table that all three of them could barely fit by, they read their new jobs...

Daisuke was assigned with guard detail, Riku was assigned with being a cashier, and Scootaloo opened her envelope...

Seeing soldier duty.

The three overlooked their own assignments before peeping over toward each other’s.

“That’s... a little strange. You’re barely 14, there’s no way they expect you to serve...” Riku said.

Daisuke stayed silent but glared at the piece of paper intently.

“So, we just got our baby girl back, and now they want her to fight for them?” He asked.

Scootaloo let out a sigh.

“Guys-- I did a few runs back at CHS all the time, it’s no big deal.”

“Yeah, but it was mostly other kids—this place has more than enough capable adults to fight...” Riku commented.

“Well, I should get moving—we're supposed to meet at 7.” She said, grabbing her papers.

Quickly returning to her small room and getting dressed, Scootaloo was eager to get back to work... something she never expected she’d feel after all this time. But putting her mixed emotions aside, she made her way out her family’s apartment and towards the staircase to the ground floor.

After a hearty walk, Scootaloo found herself in the middle of the ration line, where she stayed and waited for the line to even move. Time passed, and Scootaloo looked and noticed that it was already 6:40...

“Fuck this.” She sighed, marching out of line and towards the address on her documents.

She finally made it to her destination—an old police station. Evidentially, Townsville had a well-funded police department, with the station being three stories tall with a large fenced-in field out back, where countless recruits just like herself were gathered. As she knocked on the door, it swung open, and Scootaloo looked up to see...

“You’re late. Get with the rest of the fresh meat in the field.” Brick said to her, gesturing her to come inside.

Her blood ran cold for just a moment as she quickly listened and speed-walked inside without saying another word.

Finding her spot in line, Scootaloo stood at her best attempt at attention.

“Scoots?” She heard a familiar voice call.

She turned her head and saw Rainbow in line. As she looked, she spotted the others, as well, minus Kyle.

“Hey, Rainbow.” She nodded toward the very confused older girl.

“W-what’re you doing here?! Aren’t you, y’know-- a kid?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at that remark.

“This again? Rainbow, I’ve done runs with you before. I know I can do this. Besides, they assigned me here for a reason...”

With the last recruit in line, Brick stood in front of them all.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and others... welcome to Morbucks Incorporated. As of today, each and every one of you will do, eat, drink, sleep, breathe whatever Princess Morbucks orders you to. And at this moment, we have one true order: Eliminate the Rage Infection. Some of you have enhancements that will make our objective easier... so starting immediately, you will all be divided into six squadrons, with one of the enhanced as your squad leader.”

One-by-one, the six girls made their way to the front, where they were separated into separate lines.

“You will be split into squads of four. Squad up!”

With that, small factions formed behind the six Canterlot girls. Scootaloo went to stand by Rainbow, but noticed her squad was filled.

“Sorry, squirt...” Rainbow sighed.

Sighing back, Scootaloo went towards Sunset’s squad.

“Hey, kiddo.” Sunset smiled.

“Hey.” She smiled back.

“Enough chatter! We fan out in five—I wanna see how much each of you know.”

One by one, the separate squads were led out to the parking lot, where a group of soldiers stood by running Humvees. The squads each entered different Humvees and were driven outside of the city gates.

Many recruits with Scootaloo looked out the windows in astonishment.

“Wow... we’re actually outside!” One of the said.

Scootaloo leaned back and shook her head.

“Yeah-- it’s crazy out here!” Another commented.

That drew a chuckle from Scootaloo.

“We said the same thing when we got inside.”

The two loudmouths turned to face their younger companion.

“You were from the outside?” One of them asked.

Scootaloo raised a brow.

“Yeah, you’re not?”

The second shrugged.

“I was in debt, figured this was the best way to pay it off.”

The first smirked.

“I decided why not? Don’t have much of anywhere else to go. I’m Perez, this is Garfield. And you?”

Scootaloo nods her head upward.

“Scootaloo.”

“Nice to meet you, Scootaloo. So, how about you? What made you enlist?”

Now she was even more confused.

“I... didn’t? I was assigned to enlist.”

The two looked at each other and back at her.

“Really? That doesn’t make any--”

Loud knocks rang out from the driver.

“Enough chatter!”

With that, the rest of the ride was silent. The ride was also relatively short, as the Humvees’ brakes squealed and brought the vehicles to a stop. Once everyone was outside, they noticed a row of unmarked buildings running down a desolate street.

“Ms. Morbucks has listed these buildings as sites for future development, and I see this is the perfect opportunity to see what each of you can do. I want you all to pair up in teams of two, and clear a building each.”

As soon as Brick finished his orders, Perez and Garfield laughed and high-fived each other.

Scootaloo sighed and walked over towards Sunset.

“Perez, you’re with Scootaloo. Garfield, you’re with Sunset Shimmer.”

The two bros looked at Brick in shock before making their way to their assigned partners.

“Make no mistake. This isn’t as simple as go in and kill infected. And no powers-- I wanna see how you work outside your comfort zone. Each of you will be given a combat knife to kill the infected inside with—teamwork, skill, and strategy will keep you alive... I suggest you get to work!”

Soldiers exited the Humvees holding platters with combat knives presented to the recruits. One-by-one, everyone knifed up. Once they were all armed, Scootaloo made her way outside the apartment with Perez.

“Please tell me you’ve killed zombies, already...” Scootaloo sighed to him.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve killed a couple. How ‘bout you?”

Scootaloo laughed.

“I’ve killed a few. Just dodge their first lunge and get them from behind.”

“Well, there’s two of us, maybe one of us grabs them, and the other knifes them?” Garfield suggested.

Scootaloo hummed at the idea.

“Sure thing. Who grabs, who kills?” She asked as she made her way to the door and knocked on it.

“Well, I’m bigger, no offense. I should be the one doing the grabbing.”

In moments, the door was suddenly pushed as angry growling roared out from the inside.

“You ready?” Scootaloo asked, putting her back to the door.

Nodding, Perez took her place and gently began opening the door.

“You got him?”

Nodding back, Scootaloo flipped her knife over and drove it into the zombie’s head. A bloody squelch rang out as the infected woman slumped against the door.

“Nice. Let’s move in.”

The door was opened, and the sound of infected arms pounding against alternate doors were heard.

“Alright, floor at a time?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, I like that.” Perez smiled.

The two searched the first floor together, Perez taking point with his knife in hand. After observing that it was completely clear, the two made their way upstairs.

“Hey, kid—how old are you, anyways?” Perez asked.

“14.” Scootaloo responded.

“No shit? Geez, guess Princess does child soldiers, now...”

Scootaloo scoffed.

“Oh, please—I learned from the best back home, I bet I can do this all on my own--”

Her bragging was cut off as a hand broke through the door next to her and grabbed her by her hood.

“Scootaloo!” Perez cried.

Acting fast, Perez stabbed the zombie’s hand, freeing his partner.

“Damn freaks... Wanna get this one?”

Scootaloo panted for breath for a moment and brandished her knife.

“Fuck yeah.”

“I don’t know if I should scold you or give you a five...” He said as he cracked the door open, adjusting his stance to compensate for the weight of the zombie’s body pounding against the wood.

With just enough of the zombie’s head showing through the crack between the door, Scootaloo claimed another kill for herself.

“Well done.” Perez commented.

They cleared out room by room, not running into any complications. With the last zombie stabbed, the two sheathed their weapons and made their way back outside to an observing Brick.

“Not bad—you two are the first ones done. Have any trouble?” He asked as he took their knives back.

“Not really.” Scootaloo answered.

“Good. Get back in the Humvee and cool off.” Brick said as he turned towards each of the houses, slowly honing his senses...

He started with Sunset and Garfield’s house...

“Damn it, Garfield, I thought you had that one!” He could hear her growl.

“S-sorry, sorry! He just... he just snapped at me. Won’t happen again, promise.”

Sunset let out a huff.

“It’s all good... just be careful where you grab. Come on, we got just one more room left.”

He sighed, turning towards Rainbow’s house.

He could hear a bloody slash along with a hiss as blood flowed into the air, with a startled yelp from Rainbow.

“Dude, careful! You almost infected me!” He heard her shout.

Her partner shrugged.

“Don’t stand in the way.”

Rainbow growled.

“Asshole.” Brick could hear her mumble.

Next, was Fluttershy.

“Hey, Fluttershy, wanna try to get this one?”

Fluttershy held her blade with shaking hands as her partner had their last zombie restrained.

“Okay... I can do this... I can do this...” She said to herself as she took a few steps closer...

With one attempted bite that was a bit too close to her arm, she yelped and stepped back. With that, her partner sent her blade into the zombie’s temple.

As its body hit the ground, Fluttershy audibly panted for breath.

“I... I’m sorry.” She uttered.

“Hey, it’s okay... you’ll get there.” She tapped Fluttershy’s shoulder as she made her way out the door.

He shook his head and glanced toward Pinkie.

“Pinkie? Where the hell did you go?!” Pinkie’s partner shrugged.

“Nom, nom, nom, hungry!” He heard her say in a goofy voice, followed by a stab into the approaching zombie’s neck.

“Uh... Pinkie? Aren’t we supposed to, y’know, work as a team?”

Turning to her partner, she giggled.

“Yeah, I know—just moving the story along!”

He didn’t say a word to that.

Brick listened to the others, but didn’t hear too much trouble. Rarity struggled for a bit when blood got on her clothes, but other than that she held the end of her partnership well. Applejack worked well with her partner, even making a game out of who could kill more.

One-by-one, the different parties exited the building, each with varying emotions toward their respective partner.

“Well done, everyone. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Garfield, the three of you stick behind. The rest of you, get inside and return to base...” Brick folded his arms as each of the squads began to leave.

Fluttershy nervously glanced at Brick while Pinkie and Garfield were minding their own business.

“Fluttershy, I couldn’t help but overhear that you were having some trouble in there... something tells me that you haven’t killed many of the infected?”

Fluttershy yelped for a moment after hearing her name and sighed.

“N-no...”

A long-winded sigh was his only response.

“Pinkie, you did well—but you need to mellow out. It’s one thing to kill infected, but to do it while blatantly neglecting those around you? That can be a problem. Understood?”

Pinkie stood tall and saluted.

“Yes, sir!” She said, her voice unnaturally stern and clear.

This response earned her a faint smile. One that faded once he turned to Garfield.

“And Garfield...” He took steps towards the older teen who instinctually took a step back.

“Yes, sir?” He asked him.

Brick clenched his fist as he set his free hand on Garfield’s shoulder. Gently, oh-so-gently, he began adding pressure on the boy’s shoulder.

“If you ever want a chance in this platoon, you will by no circumstances be as reckless as you were today, do you hear me?” His eyes burned themselves into Garfield’s as he only gulped.

“Y-yes sir.” He said, wincing in pain from Brick’s hand pushing down onto his shoulder.

After a moment of keeping his hand on him, Brick pulled away. Garfield exhaled as he rested his hand on his limp shoulder.

“That’s all. Let’s get back home...”

Brick took a breath and approached the doors of Town Hall.

“Hello, Ms. Bellum.” Brick said to her as he made his way towards Princess’ office.

Knocking on her door, he waited for a response.

“Come in, Brick.” He heard her voice.

With that invitation, Brick opened her door. He made his way to the spare seat and took it, sitting right in front of her.

“So, how were they?” She simply asked him.

“Rainbow Dash has potential, but we had a close call with her—her partner almost covered her with infected blood.”

Princess’ eyes narrowed.

“And what did you do about that?”

Brick sighed.

“I made sure he knew he fucked up. Scared him straight.”

Nodding, Princess waved her hand.

“Go on.”

“Most of them were fine, but Fluttershy seems to be hesitant about killing the infected.”

Princess didn’t respond.

“I... I just think that out there isn’t the right place for her. I mean, she can talk to animals for Christ's sake. I think she’s more useful in here than out there.”

Princess nodded.

“That means she’s good, right?” He asked her.

"Who else?" She asked, dismissing him.

Brick sighed and sat up.

“Pinkie is somewhat... energetic. She’s got potential, but she’s... all over the place. She’s going to need... I guess the right word would be tuning.”

Princess nodded.

“That’s good. Really good. And their Geodes?”

“I told them to operate without them. I wanted to see if they can hold their own without them... for the most part, they can.”

Princess smiled.

“That’s smart. I’d say put them in Operation STRIKE.”

Brick paused, his eyes widening a tad.

“You sure? Like I said, not many of their powers are, you know, effective--”

“Are you questioning me, Bricky? I suggest you don’t and do exactly what I say and put them in Operation STRIKE.”

A moment of silence passed over them as Brick observed Princess’ somewhat strange behavior.

“You’re using the X, aren’t you?”

She looked at Brick as her smile faded.

“What if I am?”

“Princess, you know that formula’s imperfect. Dexter just needs a little more time to get the actual samples--”

“I’m not talking about this with you.” She growled as massaged the bridge of her nose.

Sighing, Brick glanced out to the window and noticed Kyle going about his business.

Glaring out her window, Brick saw red light begin to grow and reflect onto the windows...

“You’re getting stronger... that’s good.” Brick smiled.

Princess didn’t return the joy.

“Yeah, no thanks to you or your dipshit brothers...”

Brick’s smile quickly faded. His body tensed as his fists were once again clenched, but now were visibly shaking.

“Aw, I'm sorry, did that hurt your feelings? Just know that it 'isn't personal'."

Brick's eyes widened for only a moment. Princess looked back over to Brick, a scowl forming on her face.

“Now shoo—I have a lot of work to do...” Princess opened a file on her desk and glued her attention to it.

Brick tried to speak, but submitted as he got up and walked out the door, crushing her gold doorknob with his hand as he did...

Back out in the apartment buildings, the slumped corpses were being picked up and dumped out the window by Morbucks soldiers.

“Man, why’re we on cleanup duty?” One of them asked as they grabbed another bloodied corpse.

His companion finished dumping his corpse and rubbed his hands together.

“No idea, man—but someone’s gotta do it. Besides, we’re getting' paid—what else matters?”

The first soldier made his way into the last room, where a zombie with a neck wound was slumped on the ground...

“Yeah, I guess, but I’m just saying, why can’t the rookies do this shit--”

Right as his hands were placed on the “dead” zombie, its eyes snapped open, revealing two milky white orbs as two rotting arms gripped the soldier.

As he screamed, the zombie pulled its head towards the flesh barely concealed by gold armor and took a hefty chunk of flesh...

“Hills? Hills!” The second soldier screamed as his friend’s screams were slowly gagged out as he quickly began snarling and twitching...

Desperately reaching for his gun, he opened fire into his friend’s chest and emptied his clip into the resurrected zombie...

Numerous holes were blasted into it, including in the chest, leaving a large hole where its heart should be. Enough bullets shot into its arm to cause it to fall right off, slumping onto the ground. All of this resulted in the zombie stumbling back, but not much else...

The remaining soldier backed away to start to reload, but another zombie wrapped its arms behind him as the first shuffled its feet towards him, its head leaning outward as it lunged at him.

Both zombies sunk their teeth into the soldier’s flesh, causing his screams to quickly gurgle out as his blood coated both rotting corpses.

Operation STRIKE, Pt. 1

In her bed, Sunset Shimmer tossed and turned, her mind transporting her to a time that felt like a lifetime ago for her. The winter right after the Fall Formal. She and a boy her age were walking down the sidewalk exiting the high school together, walking side-by-side.

“Dude, I’m telling you, they’re never gonna adapt that.” She laughed.

The boy beside her laughed back as he brushed black hair out of his face with his free hand, his other holding a binder.

“I wouldn’t be surprised—just look at what happened with the Governor stuff.”

Sunset scoffed.

“Yeah, but he was a full-on psycho, just some guy who was given way too much power. Whoever you’re talking about sounds more like a warlord... seems too... out there.”

The boy playfully pointed at her.

“Hey-- don’t be disrespecting Negan—he's the real deal. Makes the Governor look like a playground bully.”

That drew another laugh from the former bully.

“Jason, I’m telling you—this Negan guy sounds like too much for the show.”

Jason shrugged.

“Maybe-- but guess we’ll have to see.”

Sunset’s eyes snapped open as she heard yet another knock on her studio apartment door. Groaning, she all but rolled out of bed and shuffled to the door.

“Not a zombie! Just very tired...” She made sure to clarify as she opened her door.

To her absolute surprise, there were yet two more soldiers.

“Sunset Shimmer, you have an immediate summons to the barracks.”

Softly sighing, she waited for them to leave before shutting her door and getting ready for the day.

As she opened her apartment door again and made her way to her elevator, she noticed a familiar face walking out with her.

"Kyle?” Kyle turned at his name and saw Sunset.

“Sunset, hey!" He smiled as the two shared a brief hug.

"How’ve you been?” Sunset asked him.

“I’ve been good, getting by... you?”

Sunset shrugged.

“Same. So, what’s your job?” She asked as they made their way into the elevator.

Kyle chuckled.

“Mayor’s Assistant.”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

“Really?! Damn, how’s that been?”

“Mostly just coffee runs and some paper routes, nothing exciting... yet.” He spoke.

Sunset raised a brow.

“And what does that mean?”

Kyle immediately caught her tone and threw her a chuckle.

“Nothing like that... I’m hoping for some more information about this place, how it runs... might do us some good.”

Sunset’s eyes widened and thought for a moment before nodding her head.

“Are the other girls okay? How about everyone else on that bus with us?”

Sunset shrugged.

“I work with the girls for the military and I haven’t seen anyone else just yet. Hey, when do you get off?”

“Whenever I’m done with my duties, I guess.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up.

“That’s great—well, not really, depends on your hours, I guess... but not the point! The girls and I are off-duty at 5 sharp. That gives us an hour to meet up until curfew.”

Kyle nodded.

“Okay, I’m following... I’ll see what time I get out. Let’s say we meet at the coffee shop right down the road from Town Hall?”

Turning and spotting it, Sunset nods.

“That’ll work. We’ll wait for as long as we can.”

The elevator doors opened, and the two went their separate ways, with Kyle gunning it toward the coffee shop.

On the way there, he noticed the same fast-food place from yesterday. Feeling his stomach grumbling, he decided to make his way over. However, he saw a sign on the door...

Closed indefinitely. Out of stock.

His eyes widened as he shrugged and went to the coffee shop.

After putting in his order, Kyle stood by the counter, watching Buttercup prepare the two lattes. As he waited, he turned and saw the line of increasingly aggravated people waiting in line...

“Hey, so shouldn’t you have, like, a few other guys back here?” Kyle asked her, hoping to make conversation.

As Buttercup stirred the ingredients together, she sighed.

“Wouldn’t matter—Princess' orders are priority.”

Kyle’s eyes somewhat widened for a moment before he composed himself.

“Well... guess that makes sense... I think.” He shrugged to himself.

Buttercup chuckled at that.

“Don’t let any of them hear that—I'm pretty sure the one wants to rip your throat out.” She quipped.

She turned and handed the two cups to Kyle as well as a wrapped breakfast sandwich.

“Thanks, Buttercup.” He smiled at her.

“Anytime, Kyle. Next!”Her voice echoed inside the small café as he trekked out the door.

As Kyle walked down the street, he began memorizing the certain signs on buildings that surrounded him, remembering many of them from the day before. He smiled at the feeling of beginning to remember the routes to take without the help of a map.

Arriving inside the government building, Kyle greeted Bellum and reached Princess’ office. He noticed that she was facing the window in her office overseeing a majority of the walled city.

“Sorry for the hold-up. There was a little bit of a jam...” He set her coffee on her desk.

Princess turned to face Kyle, with a somewhat-forced smile on her face.

“Thanks, Kyle..."

Kyle’s reflexes kicked in as he took an oh-so-slight step back.

“Of course... so I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I asked some questions about this place.”

Princess hummed and took a seat, drinking a sip of her coffee.

“Fire away.”

Nodding, Kyle took a second to compose himself.

“So, this city was secured by you? Your company, I mean?”

She nodded.

“What can I say? The Morbucks name still has power.”

Kyle chuckled.

“So, I assume you owned a good portion of the city, then... the apartment building, quite a lot of billboards in town. Was your dad the mayor before you?”

Princess let out a laugh.

“God no. This city’s mayor before me was an old buffoon who had no idea how to run this city. Crime was rampant. The only thing keeping Townsville from being uninhabitable was a trio of kindergarteners whose mommy and daddy were mad scientists.”

Kyle made a mental note to follow up on that when he had the time.

“Right-- the ‘Powerpuff Girls'. How about we change the subject?” Kyle then had an inkling of an idea.

“After all,” He leaned into the desk, barely breaking the personal space between them, “They didn’t do this, did they?”

Princess glanced Kyle up and down, studying him. Kyle desperately hid a nervous gulp as Princess’ face was inexpressive. She was simply taking a sip of her coffee, taking in his attempt at a compliment. After a tense moment, a visible smirk grew on her face.

“How true. Not everyone knows power when they see it... good to know that you do.”

Kyle smiled, moving back to his seat and ending the moment.

“So, how about education, here? I’ve seen some kids in the walls, I assume that they go to school...”

Princess nodded.

“The Morbucks Education Program is very much in motion—it works essentially like the old world, minus the shitty food and heavy focus on athletics.”

That earned her a genuine chuckle from Kyle, for a multitude of reasons.

“Good to know. So, let’s say the start of the school year comes around. What happens then?”

Princess raised a brow.

“Okay...?”

Kyle paused for a moment but finally shrugged.

“I mean, I’m gonna have to go to school, right?”

Princess kept silent...

Until she burst into laughter.

“Kyle, you’re fucking adorable. But that’s enough talk—we got work to do.”

Kyle opened his mouth to add something but sighed and submitted.

“Sure, lay it on me.”

Princess smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile like before. If anything it made Kyle increasingly uncomfortable.

“I need you to find out why your friends want to meet up with you.”

Kyle froze, his eyes widening as he struggled to form a response.

“H-how did you--?”

Princess’ eyes briefly shone a bright red.

“Let’s just say I have ears everywhere. They want to meet with you, and I want to know why. Would that be a problem?”

Kyle hesitated, but sighed and shook his head.

“No. Not at all.”

With that, Princess smiled and gestured to the door.

“In that case, you’re free to leave for the day. Enjoy the day off, see some sights... and make sure you meet your friends.”

Sunset arrived outside the barracks, noticing the rest of the girls minus Scootaloo were already there standing at full attention before Brick. Along with them were two others, a blonde boy with bright blue eyes and another wearing a green hoodie with his arms crossed.

“Good morning, soldiers... you have some new recruits, today. They are enhanced, just like us, and have been selected to join Operation STRIKE.”

Pinkie slowly raised her hand.

“Yes, Pinkie?” Brick asked her.

“Uh, yeah, what exactly is an Operation STRIKE?”

Brick cracked a faint smile.

“Operation STRIKE is a Morbucks-funded mission of all Enhanced individuals to use our abilities to eliminate the zombie infection.”

There were several reactions from the group. Rainbow’s eyes lit up while Rarity and Fluttershy showed altering hints of reluctance. Sunset noticed their hesitance and chose to speak up for them.

“Not to pull away from the conversation, sir, but Fluttershy’s ability is to speak to animals...”

Brick nodded.

“I’m aware of Fluttershy’s abilities, which is why she will be assigned as our medic. I read her file and saw she worked at an animal shelter—I assume that includes medical experience?”

Fluttershy's eyes somewhat lit up as she nodded.

“Y-yes.”

“Then I believe that you would be our best choice... let my brothers tell you about the missions we’ve taken where a medic would be more than handy.”

Various of the group looked at the two boys who stayed silent, besides the blonde-haired brother, who faintly smiled.

“We have three nearby locations believed to be zombie infestations that need to be dealt with before those inside begin to roam toward home. They’ve been stationed for weeks now, it’s only a matter of time before they get bored or worse—hungry.”

Pinkie once again raised her hand.

“So, out of pure curiosity... why are we the ones up to this?”

One of the two brothers turned to face her.

“Because we have clearance to use our powers.” The blonde one answered her.

With that, her eyes lit up as the others showed various signs of joy or confusion, mainly Sunset.

“Right, because I’m just gonna read the zombies’ minds, right?”

That earned her a chuckle from the dark-haired one.

“Sunset, you will be assisting Fluttershy and will provide backup when needed. But that’s enough chatter—let’s move!”

Once again, the girls found themselves in the back of a vehicle on their way to an unknown destination. However, the two boys, sharing their names to be Boomer and Butch, made the ride somewhat endearing.

“Oh, man, it’s been a while since we had new Enhanced! Who was the last, the dude with the watch?”

Butch sighed.

“No, he snuck out after the first week—you're thinking of the French kids with the earrings and the ring. They abandoned the squad during that mission.”

Sunset stayed silent, observing the two boys.

“So how about y'all? How’re ya... ‘Enhanced’?” Applejack asked.

Butch chuckled.

“You’re gonna have to see it to believe it.”

Applejack sighed and leaned back into her seat. Sunset glanced at Rainbow who was also scanning the two over.

“So, what’s with the Powerpuff Girl cosplay?”

Butch clenched his fists and Boomer nervously smiled.

“That’s... a long story.” He said.

With a loud screech, the Humvee was suddenly braked to a stop, causing several of those inside to be tossed around, save for Applejack and the two brothers.

“Dude, what the hell?!” Rainbow shouted to the driver.

Brick suddenly opened the small window revealing himself to them.

“Okay, people, we’re close enough to make the rest on foot. Stay close, and keep your powers at the ready...”

The squad slowly made their way outside, immediately hearing the sounds of the infected.

“Damn, that sounds like a lot.” Rainbow said.

“Yeah-- we’ll scout ahead. The rest of you follow us.” Brick said as he and the other two began hovering in the air and flew in a particular direction.

The remaining six were nothing short of astounded.

“He could do that the whole time?!” Applejack asked.

“Apparently so...” Rarity added.

“Come on, girls, let’s play catch-up...” Sunset rolled her eyes marching behind the three brothers.

Rainbow took off after them, leaving a gust of wind behind the other five.

“I wish I had super speed...” Fluttershy said as she walked a tad behind the rest.

“That makes two of us!” Pinkie smiled, skipping along ahead of her.

Kyle reached his destination—the three windows on the otherwise all-white house bewildered him as he knocked on the door.

Opening the door was an older man with greying black hair who donned a lab coat matching the house’s shade of white.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

“Professor Utonium? My name is Kyle Williams, I’m one of the new refugees. I handed you those files yesterday... I was wondering if you could answer some questions?”

Pausing for a moment, the Professor gestured for Kyle to come inside.

Closing the door behind him, Kyle took a moment to admire the refurbished interior, with countless plaques on the wall with several keys to the city, awards of all kinds, and three medals of honor.

“So, how can I help you? It’s not every day we meet a fan...”

Kyle’s eyes widened for a bit and shook his head.

“No, no, nothing like that... I was, uh...” He immediately paused and gestured for a pen and paper.

Nodding, Utonium went to an adjacent room and handed Kyle a notebook and a pencil.

“I was curious about your family’s backstory, really... the influence of Chemical X is just fascinating.” He said as he wrote, showing Utonium what he wrote.

We need to talk. Privately. Where SHE can’t hear us.

Quickly reading, Utonium quickly nodded.

“You can say that... let’s talk in the lab.” Utonium made his way into the hall and gestured for Kyle to follow.

The two walked down the hall and towards a panel on the wall, where Utonium leaned in towards an adjacent panel and kept his eye open. As a red light formed and began scanning his eye, Kyle took a step back.

From the ceiling, a laser turret smaller yet similar to the ones on the walls came down and aimed toward Kyle. Kyle quickly reached to his side only to remember that his revolver was no longer there.

Utonium quickly typed into the panel as the turret began warming up. Once he was done, the turret quickly retreated into the ceiling and the panel in the wall opened.

“Right this way, Kyle...” He urged him to follow him into the unknown.

Pausing and collecting himself, Kyle walked towards him and into the hidden corridor as the panel closed behind them.

The girls all stared down at the immense rock quarry, unable to believe what they were seeing.

“That’s... a lot of zombies.” Pinkie said.

Down below was an ocean. Every figure began blending together and was almost indistinguishable from each other, beginning to make one form. What was worse, was more zombies in the distance were running toward the sounds and wound up falling down to the bottom with the other zombies breaking their fall.

Brick and his brothers looked to each other.

“This shouldn’t be possible...” Boomer said.

Brick nodded.

“Yeah-- I thought this project was abandoned.”

Sunset stepped forward at that.

“What project?”

Brick hesitated and let out a drawn-out sigh.

“Early on, the virus spread through Townsville like wildfire. After Princess rose to power, she gave the order to dump the bodies of the infected here... and we mined the way back out. I guess over time, some others made their way here and the bodies broke their fall?” He asked himself.

Sunset kept her gaze on the horde below and shrugged.

“No idea... I’m shocked they haven’t starved to death, by now.”

“We can talk about semantics later. How do we kill these things?” Butch asked.

Brick thought for a moment.

“Say, Applejack, you’re strong, right?”

To prove his point, she spotted a nearby chunk of rock, made her way over to it, and shattered it with a hefty punch. Chunks of rock shot out in various directions, one of them hitting Brick’s cheek and breaking as soon as it made contact.

“Not bad. The four of us can start launching some rocks down, the rest of you watch for any points they can wander out from. We destroyed any staircases leading out, but odds are they could climb their way out if they--”

Brick was cut off as he tilted his head, aiming his ear upward.

“Butch, Boomer, you guys hear that?”

The six watched in confusion as the other brothers listened for a moment and nodded.

“Yeah... sounds like of ours.” Boomer said.

Rarity stepped forward.

“Um... may I ask what exactly’s going on?”

Brick held the palm of his hand out towards her as his eyes quickly widened.

“Oh, no...”

Rainbow looked out to the distance and saw a Humvee approaching the quarry, but down the hill as opposed to the top where they were...

“What, did another squad get sent here?” Sunset asked.

Butch shrugged.

“Uh, there shouldn’t be. Brick, your thoughts? Should we scare them off?” He chuckled.

Brick’s fear was only amplified as he saw the Humvee make the turn down into the quarry...

“Oh, dear God...” He said as he instinctually hovered and raced his way down as fast as he could.

As the others followed in varying speeds, they saw as the Humvee raced past the sign that read:

ACTIVE MINEFIELD.

“Oh, shit...” Rainbow’s eyes widened.

BOOM!

A bright light flashed out as the girls quickly averted their eyes. As black smoke began to fill the air, varying forms of shock were visible on their faces.

“Brick?!” Boomer called out as he began to hover and slowly inch closer toward the explosion.

Moments passed, no one else daring to move a muscle as they heard the sounds of metal screeching, fire erupting, and sounds of zombies growing closer...

“Brick, are you--”

Brick quickly flew upward, holding a body in his arms...

The first thing Rainbow saw was the tattered hoodie, then the pink hair.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow screeched as she sprinted at normal speed toward the two.

She took a step back once she saw Scootaloo’s condition. Her hoodie was burned to shreds, exposing burnt skin underneath. Pieces of shrapnel were lodged in her legs and left arm, and her hair was singed.

“Is- is- is she...?” Rainbow started, her breath accelerating.

Brick stared at the girl for a moment, studying her rising chest.

“I see a heartbeat, but it’s faint. Fluttershy, can you—?”

He turned and saw her hands over her mouth as her entire body shook in absolute horror. Brick nodded to himself and turned to his brothers.

“Boomer, you get her back to base, and you do it now!” Brick quickly spat out.

Quickly nodding, Boomer hovered over and carefully took the girl in his arms, speeding into the sky at super speeds.

“Everyone, get ready—they're coming...” Brick ordered as the growls of the infected only came closer...

Operation STRIKE, Pt. 2

Kyle examined each elaborate invention on each table, each intricate tool or machine that filled any and all empty space in the large laboratory.

“Oh, wow...” He said out loud.

Utonium, however, was less thrilled.

“Sit tight, I’ll get your package in just a minute...” He sighed.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he turned to him.

“W-wait, what?”

Utonium turned to him.

“You’re here for her weekly delivery, yes? I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before she would send her lackies to pick them up for her. N-no offense, of course!”

Kyle opened his mouth to correct him, but the wheels in his brain began to turn...

“Yes... y-yeah! Sorry, it’s just that she never really told me why I’m here. She literally just pointed me this way and told me to talk to you...”

Utonium smiled a tad and slowly nodded.

“No foul. I’ll be back before you could say... ‘powerpuff’!” He said, snapping his fingers at Kyle who looked on in confusion.

Seeing the boy’s bewilderment, Utonium sighed.

“Can’t win them all...”

The professor made his way into an adjacent room as Kyle sat in silence, his body instinctually fidgeting after lying to the man’s face. As he sat and nervously waited, he noticed another lab coat-donning scientist much younger than Utonium. He had curly orange hair with rectangular eye-glasses with a light blue tint to them.

“So... you are the new delivery boy?” He asked Kyle with a thick accent.

Sitting back upright, Kyle nodded.

“Y-yeah...”

The new scientist slowly nodded, reading Kyle’s expression.

“I see. Well, then, I’ll stay out of your way.” He said, backing away and walking back down the corridor he visibly came from.

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and turned, hearing footsteps.

“Here you are. Please make sure they get to her safely, it would be a shame if something were to happen to them...” Utonium handed Kyle a small wooden box labeled ‘fragile’.

Kyle took the box and nodded to the professor.

“You got it. Thank you... for understanding.”

Utonium smiled.

“Of course... now it would be smart not to keep you waiting.”

Kyle smiled back and went towards the exit of the lab. Once he was out of sight, he opened the box, seeing several vials filled with black fluid. On each vial was the same scripture...

“Chemical X?” Kyle read out loud.

Kyle heard quick footsteps from the house. Acting quickly, he closed the box. Waiting for whatever was waiting from, he was caught off-guard when he saw a familiar face...

“Buttercup?” He asked.

“Yo.”

From behind her, yet another familiar face.

“Hey, Kyle.” Blossom said.

Taking a step back, he chuckled.

“Hey.”

“Kyle, we need that box.” Blossom bluntly said.

Kyle gestured as best he could to stay quiet.

“Don’t worry, the X wears off by now. You wanted answers, I’m not faulting you for that. They won’t, either... but it’s very important that no-one else knows what she’s doing to herself... you understand?”

Kyle hesitated to respond, trying to form a proper answer.

“Y-yeah...” He said, handing her the box.

She gently clutched the container in her hands.

“Thanks, Kyle... it was good seeing you.” Blossom innocently smiled.

Instinctually smiling back, Kyle made his way out towards the door, keeping his hands in his pockets.

Clutching the single vial he managed to grab.

Brick and his brothers stood in the forefront, each of their eyes burning red. Sunset and Fluttershy trained rifles toward the incoming horde... Rainbow clenched her fists, ready to deliver speed-enhanced blows. Rarity prepared diamond shields and blades to pierce and bash with. Applejack clutched large nearby chunks of rock, ready to chuck them. Pinkie held several packages of opened cupcakes, tossing one in her hand like a frag grenade...

The side of the Humvee was opened, where several rifles remained untouched.

In moments, countless bloodied or wounded limbs began to show themselves from the small descent in the quarry separating the survivors from the infected.

“Open fire!” Brick shouted.

In an instant, Sunset and Fluttershy opened fire, with Sunset aiding Fluttershy with her aim.

“Don’t worry about headshots, just aim for their chests!” Sunset instructed.

Fluttershy’s compassion was overridden by sheer adreniline as she fired shot after shot, each hitting a zombie anywhere in the chest level.

Rarity shot various diamond spikes at the horde racing towards them.

“Rarity, use your fields to make a choke point!” Brick shouted.

“A what?!” Rarity asked.

“A chokepoint, give them as little space to advance as possible!”

Acting quickly, Rarity formed two massive walls with only an opening wide enough for five zombies at a time to push themselves through. Once the walls were up, Pinkie playfully pulled the cherry off a cupcake with her teeth like the pin to a grenade. With one quick throw and a hand wave, a splatter of icing and blood exploded outward, leaving several zombies a bloodied pile on the ground.

“Good! Applejack, you’re with me, we’re gonna try and break their way up!”

Applejack jogged towards Brick, and they both looked over the cliff and over hundreds of zombies all trying to get through Rarity’s chokepoint.

“Uh... I don’t think we’re going to--”

Brick’s eyes grew red and two intense beams shot out, singeing the rock and burning through various zombies... Despite shredding some of the horde, nothing was destroying the trail carved into the side of the quarry. Applejack took a step back out of shock at what she was witnessing.

Sighing in defeat, Brick looked around for anything he or Applejack can use. He quickly spotted two trucks in the distance.

“Applejack, can you pick up those trucks?” He pointed.

She blinked for a moment, still caught off-guard from Brick’s laser display.

“Y-yeah...”

“Okay, let’s see what throwing them down here would do. Butch, you help her.” Brick instructed the two of them.

Rainbow was on her knees, still distraught over what she had just witnessed with Scootaloo. Brick turned to her and saw her in shock.

“Rainbow! Hey!” He made his way over to her.

He glanced at the other four, seeing them holding the line.

“Rainbow, we need you here... Please.” He knelt down to her level.

Rainbow collected herself, rapidly nodding.

“W-what can I do?”

Brick smiled.

“I need you to help with the horde... can you shoot?”

She nodded.

“Y-yeah, went with my dad as a kid...”

“Good. We could use some of that aim right now...” Brick smiled, pointing toward the Humvee.

Rainbow’s senses slowly returned as she saw her friends holding the line, but the pile of corpses was beginning to stretch outward...

“Got it.” She said, her Geode glowing as she sped and grabbed an assault rifle from the Humvee.

As Applejack and Butch reached for two run-down trucks, Rainbow raced into the horde, opening fire and racing off before they could get close to her.

Seeing their chance, Applejack and Boomer made their way to the ledge together...

“Okay, here’s what I’m thinkin’! We use these to try and block off that path or take it down! After that, we--”

Butch ignored her as he flew up and chucked the truck directly at the horde, resulting in a portion of zombies becoming nothing more than crushed meat. But there was just enough space for them to either climb over or crawl under the wreck.

“Damn it!” Applejack shouted, setting down the truck and turning towards the older boy.

Seeing her anger, he simply shrugged.

“Sorry!”

Applejack bit her tongue as she grabbed her truck.

“Just hope I make this shot!”

With a careful and precise throw, Applejack blocked the rest of the path with the second truck. Several zombies attempted to climb, with many in the front being smushed against the truck thanks to the sudden impact of the horde behind them. However, their struggle was fruitless, and the remaining zombies found their fate waiting for them whether it was a bullet, explosive cupcake, or diamond blade.

Once the dust settled, the group all took a moment to catch their breath... but not Rainbow.

“Okay, okay, we’re good, let’s go!” Rainbow shouted.

Brick looked down at the horde, many of them still trying to find a way to escape.

“Butch, you take Rainbow back. The rest of you are with me, we need to take the rest of them out.”

Rainbow turned to Butch and gestured to the road ahead.

“You better keep up!” She shouted, speeding off...

Butch smiled and sped off after her.

The rest looked down at the quarry, seeing that despite the pile of bodies up top, they barely put a dent in the horde...

“Okay, what do we do?” Sunset asked.

Brick thought for a moment, and turned towards Pinkie.

“Pinkie, how many cupcakes do we have left?”

Pinkie jogged toward the Humvee, pulling out three more boxes containing a dozen each...

“Okay... Sunset, unload your weapon and hand me your ammo.”

Nodding, she did just that, handing Brick her magazine. Brick gestured for Pinkie to hand him the cupcakes and once they were in front of him, he ejected bullet after bullet, crushing each and filling the boxes with gunpowder...

“Oh, I’m liking this...” Pinkie excitedly scurried.

By the time Brick went through the last bullet, each box had a fair layer of gunpowder. He grabbed all three and flew above the horde, dropping each box down into the quarry at an equal distance apart.

“Okay... now!” Brick gestured.

Pinkie giddily waved a hand, concentrating as down below, each cupcake swelled...

“Brace yourselves!” Sunset shouted, quickly crouching and covering her ears.

BOOM!

Three massive explosions rung out from the ground level of the quarry, sending several limbs upward towards the team. The air quickly filled with the smell of sulfur as smoke obstructed any view of the horde...

The girls all looked and saw what had just happened with varying reactions.

“Well, I’ll be damned—nicely done, sugarcube!” Applejack held a thumbs-up for Pinkie.

“That was... a display. Not sure what kind, but it was most certainly a display.” Rarity said, awkwardly stepping back from the pile of bodies.

“Not bad. Not bad at all...” Sunset said, wiping her dirt-covered hands on her jeans.

“I think that did it... We’re done here, let’s radio this in and pack up.” Brick said.

They each made their way to the Humvee, with Sunset and Fluttershy putting their rifles back on the rack. Pinkie ran toward the edge, excited to see the damage of her explosions.

Brick made sure he was out of earshot from the others as he radioed in.

“Princess, do you copy? What the hell was that?! A vehicle of recruits was sent right into a hot-zone! Two recruits are dead, one of them severely injured... do you copy?!”

Static was his response for but a moment.

“Did the girl survive?”

Brick tilted his head.

“What?”

“The girl. Scootaloo? Did. She. Survive?”

Brick sighed.

“Yes, but she’s severely burned and might be suffering brain damage... I had Boomer take her to the infirmary back home.”

Another moment of silence.

“Good. Well done, Brick.”

His outrage was quickly beginning to boil at that response.

As Fluttershy and Sunset surrendered their weapons, they stopped with Applejack and Rarity.

“So, this is our life, now? Kill zombies every day with these guys?” Sunset asked.

Rarity shrugged.

“It does feel nice using our powers, but at this rate, we’re gonna get overworked again... we should see about taking it easy for the next few days. I can’t imagine hordes like this are common.” She spoke.

From the pile of zombies, a hand began to twitch...

“Holy shit! Guys, check out how many zombies I killed!” Pinkie cheered.

Slowly, a corpse with a bullet wound straight through its heart began to rise.

“That has to be at least a thousand!” Pinkie giggled.

Hearing her cheers, the now-proper zombie shambled toward its potential prey... Moments passed as it grew closer and closer.

“We’re coming, Pinkie, just give us a minute to--” Sunset started, stopping when she was the zombie marching towards her.

“Pinkie! Watch out!” She shouted, quickly sprinting toward her.

Before Pinkie could turn to see the commotion, she was grabbed and pinned to the ground by the zombie.

“What the heck?!” Pinkie shouted, trying to kick the zombie off of her.

Brick turned toward the shouts, but it was too late...

Sunset kicked the zombie off and down the cliff. As it hit the bottom, Sunset turned to Pinkie.

“That was close... come on, let’s go...” She stopped, seeing blood from Pinkie’s hand.

Stunned, Pinkie nervously chuckled.

“Uh... Sunset? What’s wrong? I’m fine...” She uttered.

Her breathing slowly picked up speed as Sunset nervously backed away.

“I-I’m fine! I’m fine!” Pinkie shouted, giggling in terror as she rose to her feet.

“Pinkie... stay right there.” Sunset instructed.

“I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m FINE!” Pinkie screamed, her eyes turning bloodshot.

Sunset’s throat began to burn as she took another step back.

“Pinkie...” She whimpered, her voice high with terror and grief.

“I’M FINE! I’M FINE! I’M FIN.... I’N FIOAN... I’M FINNEEE!” Her voice became less recognizable as she roared and sprinted toward Sunset.

Her sprinting was cut short by a laser putting a hole in her head.

Sunset turned and saw Brick, staring at the sight in confusion.

“What the hell... was that?”

From the pile, another corpse began to rise back to life...

“Uh... guys?!” Applejack shouted, quickly grabbing a rifle from the rack.

She opened fire into the zombie’s upper body, but with little results, save for the zombie being knocked back a tad...

“Get in the car, now!” Brick shouted.

Sunset turned to them and quickly ran after them, hopping inside as Brick almost drove off, but stopped and ran out toward Pinkie’s body. He held her Geode and pulled the straps off her body. With it secured, he ran back inside the Humvee and sped off down the road, leaving the pile of slowly-resurrecting corpses.

At the café, Kyle studied the vial in his hand, keeping it out of sight under the table. He looked back up at the clock—5:35. No sign of the girls... He was the only one inside the café save for the one worker closing up for the night.

Maybe they got caught up with work? Kyle thought to himself.

The bell attached to the door rung, and Kyle turned. He saw Sunset making her way toward Kyle. Her face was distraught as she took a seat.

“Sunset, hey! I was thinking you wouldn’t show up... okay, so it turns out that Princess is taking this Chemical X stuff that I think gives her super powers, and--”

“Pinkie’s dead.”

Kyle’s rant immediately stopped as his eyes widened in shock.

“W-what...?”

Sunset looked up toward him, her eyes dried and her voice cracked.

“Pinkie’s dead...” She repeated.

Kyle froze, having no idea what to say or do to that.

Another round of tears ran down Sunset’s face as Kyle pocked the vial and held her in an embrace.

“Pinkie’s dead!” Sunset wailed, holding Kyle tightly.

Kyle held her as she continued to sob. The girl working the café watched on and considered talking to the two. However, she shrugged, getting back to her work.

Thank You

Kyle noted the bright sun shining down upon the freshly dug grave. He anticipated a cloudy, rainy day like he would expect for a funeral... but today, there were no clouds in sight. The warming March breeze blew past him and the other girls from Canterlot.

“I didn’t know Pinkie all that well... I knew about her, knew that she loved making people smile. But I didn’t really... know her... You know?”

Silence. Kyle could hear a few cries from behind him.

“But I know that whenever someone was down, whenever someone was having a bad day... she was there to pick them back up. I noticed that, back at CHS. She always had a way of doing that even when things looked the bleakest... I wasn’t here for that, but I heard stories. I can’t say that I talked to her much, but seeing her do what she did? It gave me hope. Hope that maybe... maybe we can have a proper Pinkie Party one day...”

Some light laughter was audible.

“But that’s up to us, now. I, uh... lost my father some time ago, and... all I would ask myself is: ‘what can I do to honor him?’ I think that’s something we should ask ourselves, now... how can we honor Pinkie Pie? I like to think that by keeping our heads up high, never giving in to the darkness of the world we live in... I think that is how we can honor her most.” Kyle sighed.

Kyle stepped back to the crowd.

The rest of the funeral went off as well as a funeral would go. The six showed a handle over the proceedings— Rainbow was somewhat teary-eyed but held her composure other than that. Rarity was the most visibly distraught, leaning on a weeping Fluttershy for support. Kyle could tell that they had gone through this process many times, already. However, even Kyle could tell that their past experience paled in comparison to this heavy loss.

As they stood in silence, Sunset made her way over to Kyle.

“We never got to meet before... I know this probably isn’t the best time, but--”

“Do you know anything about ‘Chemical X’?”

Sunset stood dumbfounded for a moment and shrugged. However, from the side, a meek Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

“Yeah... that’s what gave the Powerpuff Girls their powers... why?”

Kyle’s eyes widened.

“Because I have a vial of it in my pocket. Princess has more, too.”

Rainbow’s eyes also widened, but her mouth also dropped.

“What...? Princess Morbucks has powers?” She asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah. But we can talk about that, later... right now, let’s focus on Scootaloo... how is she?” He asked Rainbow.

She sighed and ran a head through her messy hair.

“She’s been in and out for hours... she’s hurting, man—it's not pretty.”

Kyle nodded. He and her started walking away from the cemetery and toward the hospital in the distance.

“How the hell did this happen? You said her squad just drove right in? What were they doing out there?”

As he asked, he noticed Rainbow clenching her fists.

“I’m gonna find out... but after she gets better.”

After a few minutes, the two walked inside the immense hospital, where Daisuke was both waiting for them.

“Is she awake?” Rainbow asked Daisuke.

He nodded.

“Riku’s with her, now...” He gestured the two to follow him.

They made their way through the halls, hearing the aches and wails of other patients and their families. Kyle noted that there were only a few nurses and doctors scrambling from room-to-room. He noticed the wear-and-tear visible on each of their faces.

Daisuke stops and knocks on the door labelled 140. They crack it open and gesture to the others to enter. Kyle was first in line and he let out a soft gasp when he saw Scootaloo.

Most of her left side was wrapped in thick bandaging. Her left eye was red and visibly damaged. She had a respirator over her mouth with pumps on the side rising and falling as she breathed.

Riku was by her side, holding her hand as one-by-one, everyone entered and shared a similar reaction as Kyle. Rainbow’s was the most severe, with her mouth agape and tears returning when she thought they were all shed.

Kyle stepped forward, watching as Scootaloo’s eyes followed him.

“How long has she been awake for?” Kyle asked Riku, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Not too long. She’s been in and out all night.”

Kyle knelt down next to Scootaloo.

“H-how is she?”

Riku sighed.

“She’s in pain, but... the doctors don’t have anything to give her.”

Kyle sighed, nodding and turning to Scootaloo.

“I’m gonna make this right. I promise you...”

Scootaloo blinked at him. Slowly removing her trembling hand from her mother’s, she moved it towards Kyle’s.

“H...urts...”

He gently held hers for a few moments. He slowly rose up and allowed everyone else to see her. Rainbow was last, crying as she clutched Scootaloo’s hand.

“I’m gonna go talk to Princess, see if there’s anything she can do for her...” Kyle said.

Hearing this, Rainbow turned to him.

“Yeah... I’m gonna talk to her, too...” She said, an unbridled rage visible in her eyes.

Rainbow’s Geode began to charge as Kyle knew what was about to happen.

“Rainbow, just hold on--”

In a blur, Kyle found himself outside of Princess’ office, with a strong gust of wind blowing past him.

“Fuck! Warn someone before you do that!” He said, panting for breath.

Rainbow marched over to Princess’ door and pounded on it.

“Princess! Open up!”

As soon as she started pounding on the door, two armed guards rushed and trained their weapons on her. Not wanting the scene to escalate any more than it has, Kyle ran in front of the two soldiers.

“Just hold on! Rainbow, back off!”

As the two guards trained their weapons on them both, the door was cracked open, and Princess peeked her head through.

“Stand down!” She barked.

The two quickly lowered their guns, and Princess opened the door.

“Rainbow Dash! I’ve heard so much about you—please, come in! Kyle, you wait out here, ‘kay?” Princess gestured to Rainbow to enter.

Kyle stepped back and took a seat in the lobby. Inside, Rainbow took the seat opposite to Princess’.

Rainbow chuckled.

“Don’t pull that shit on me... Brick didn’t give the order, and I sure as hell don’t believe that they would just drive right down that quarry. Someone gave them the order. I think that person was you.”

Princess didn’t react, she barely moved as Rainbow leaned in.

“I don’t know what your angle is, but whatever it is, it was good enough to parade Scootaloo to her death.”

Princess remained stone-faced. Rainbow, however, wore her boiling rage on her sleeve.

“Say something!” She slammed a fist down to her desk.

No response...

“If you think that I’m gonna let you get away with this, you’re stupider than the show made you look! I won’t stop until I find out just what it is that you’re up to...”

Finally, Princess cracked a smile.

“Okay.”

Rainbow’s rage began to fade as she stepped back in confusion.

“...What?”

Princess shrugged.

“Go ahead. Go punch your way through whoever you think deserves it and try to find the truth... but that won’t help Scootaloo, right now.”

Rainbow’s anger slowly began to return with a clenched fist.

“If you think that you’re gonna sit there and give us demands--”

“Scootaloo’s pretty high in the queue... triple digits last I checked. There’re all kinds of people who are in those hospitals... disease, injuries, cancer--”

“How about soldiers who were sent to their deaths?” Rainbow gritted her teeth.

"I’m sorry, was that written in the report? Last I read, you and the others were scouting an infestation and out of nowhere, the recruits came barreling in, wanting to be the heroes... How they got that intel is beyond me...”

Rainbow stood there, only containing her rage with the image of Scootaloo in her hospital bed. Bandaged, burned, and in pain...

“She doesn’t have long, you know. If we move quickly, we might be able to maintain the nerve functions in her limbs... but that’s only if you are willing to give me a reason to bump her up.”

Rainbow’s face finally changed. She backed away in shock and her hands finally unclenched.

“And what would that be?”

Princess smiled and shrugged.

“Do I really have to spell this out for you? I mean, did you really think that I would have my best Enhanced soldiers out there just killing zombies? I mean, wow! What a stupid idea...”

Rainbow’s eyes grew wide as she clutched her Geode around her neck.

“There was never an Operation STRIKE, was there...?”

Princess smirked.

“No, there is—just not for you. So, here’s what’s going to happen...”

She stood up from her chair.

“...You and your little friends are gonna give up your Geodes.”

Rainbow let a soft gasp escape her as her grip on her Geode tightened.

“Now, I don’t know how they work just yet, but I have a team for that... do that, and Scoots’ll be our doctors’ top priority. I suggest you hurry and make up your mind... I don’t think she has much longer...”

Rainbow slowly got up and sprinted out the doors, leaving Kyle in the hall.

He looked inside the opened doors at a smirking Princess.

“What did you do?” He asked her.

Before she could answer, Brick marched down the hall and slammed the doors shut again, keeping Kyle out. Not willing to be uninformed as to what happened, Kyle leaned towards the door.

Inside, Brick was fuming... Kyle didn’t need to see him to know that.

“You led those kids to a death trap!” Brick roared at her, his eyes glowing an intense red.

Princess rolled her eyes, unintimidated by Brick.

“How many times is someone gonna burst through that door, today?!”

Kyle heard something slam against the window, which Kyle could only assume was Brick lifting Princess up.

“Princess, four recruits died! One of them is in the hospital—a kid!”

“And their sacrifice won’t be forgotten. You were there to save her, which I bet our new friends won’t soon forget... now what happened with the pink one? She wasn’t in that vehicle, so how did she die?”

Kyle’s eyes widened—he had no idea that she would just admit it like that. He could tell Brick was relaxing by hearing him drop Princess.

“Ma’am... we made a discovery about the infected. It seems that the virus revives the body after death—one of them that we killed got back up and infected Pinkie Pie.”

Kyle felt a jolt to his system upon hearing that—how was that possible?

“That’s... impossible. How could that have possibly happened?”

Brick sighed.

“It’s possible that it was because we didn’t destroy the brain.”

Kyle’s stomach began to twist at that realization as the number of times he never killed a zombie with a headshot began to play back in his mind... but only one brought a tear to his eye...

“Mom...”

Inside, Princess scoffed.

“So, you’re telling me that one of our most powerful Enhanced died because you were all too damned stupid to shoot a zombie in the head?”

Kyle could feel Brick’s rising anger as he sighed.

“Yes ma’am...” His shaky voice echoed through the small room.

Suddenly, he heard a loud smack from inside, and he put two-and-two together...

“Unbelievable! If you used some common fucking sense, then maybe I wouldn't have had to give those recruits that order! Get the fuck out!”

Kyle immediately went back to his seat as the door opened, with a furious Brick slamming the door shut behind him.

Brick stopped and felt the fresh red spot on his cheek and growled. Seeing Kyle sitting there, he sighed.

“Look out for your friends... they’re gonna need it.”

As he walked away, Kyle stood up.

“Where’s Pinkie’s Geode?”

Brick didn’t turn back to Kyle as he walked away.

“Take a good guess...”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he got up and jogged out the town hall doors.

He speed-walked down the sidewalk while watching to see if he was being watched. He approached the massive laboratory and knocked on the door.

Moments passed, and Kyle stepped back as the door was swung open, revealing Dexter.

“You have some nerve showing back here... how did you steal that vial?! What did you do with it--?!”

His angry shouting stopped as Kyle presented the vial.

“Here... take it. I’m sorry I took it from you—I never wanted to use it for anything, I just... I just wanted answers. I don’t want this sitting around in my pocket, so take it back.”

Dexter glanced at Kyle in confusion as he took the vial back, checking its contents.

“Why did you not ingest it? You do know what this is, yes?”

Kyle chuckled.

“I learned about it an hour ago. Like I said—I never wanted to use it.”

Dexter slowly nodded, pocketing the vial.

“Very well... I suppose you are forgiven. Now, what do you want?”

Kyle struggled to start.

“My friend’s in the hospital—she was sent to a minefield with other recruits by Princess. I think she did it to hustle my friends for their Geodes in exchange for giving her treatment.”

Dexter hummed.

“Yes... I recall she informed us of incoming artifacts to study.”

Kyle groaned.

“So, she’s that confident...”

Dexter shrugged.

“I suppose she would be given the circumstances. We will keep them safe, for now, but... I suggest going through with the deal. The ‘Geodes’ will be handed to us, and we can plan from there.”

Kyle squinted his eyes in confusion.

“Wait... you’re helping us?”

Dexter smirked.

“Did you really believe that I was happy under Morbucks’ rule?”

Kyle smiled.

“I... had the idea.”

Dexter chuckled and gestured to Kyle.

“You should get going—we have much to do before those Geodes arrive.”

“She wants us to do what?!” Applejack shouted in the hospital hall.

Rainbow sighed, keeping her eyes to the ground.

“Look, I don’t like it, either... but what choice do we have?”

Fluttershy had her legs hugged close to her, refusing to peek her head out as she spoke.

“That would be a death sentence...”

Sunset was the first to respond by standing up and removing the Geode from her neck.

“We don’t have much of a choice—it's either this or Scootaloo dies or worse...”

Rainbow was next, not saying a word as she held her Geode out.

After her, Fluttershy pulled hers off.

“Maybe we’ll get them back...?”

Rarity sighed as she took hers off.

“I don’t believe so, darling...”

Applejack sighed, taking hers off.

“I don’t like this... what does she want these for? And that... Chemical X stuff?”

Sunset shrugged.

“I don’t know—but it can’t be for anything good.”

Rainbow took each of the Geodes and sighed.

“I’ll bring them to her. The rest of you stay with her.”

Rainbow wore her Geode one last time and sped towards Town Hall. Once inside, she knocked on Princess’ door.

“Come in!” She joyfully beckoned.

Rainbow opened the doors, removed her Geode, and set all five on her desk.

“There. Now help Scootaloo...”

Princess smiled, taking hold of the five gems...

“Already done. Scootaloo will be the next person to receive treatment. She should be under the knife by the end of the day.”

Rainbow sighed, turning around and walking away...

“I think you’re forgetting something!” Princess called to her.

Rainbow felt her fists clench, almost outside of her control, as she turned her head towards her.

“Thank you.” She growled with gritted teeth.

Princess smiled.

“That’ll do...”

Rainbow left the hall, walking through the streets. She instinctually grasped where her Geode used to be, barely containing her anger.

Art Thief, Pt. 1

Out on an abandoned highway, countless rows of wrecked cars covered both sides of the road. Some were more damaged than others, and very few were in any workable condition.

Through the cluster of decimated cars, a hooded figure searched trunk-by-trunk, searching for supplies. On his back was an overflowing backpack, with cans of food and other essentials weighing down on the man’s back.

On the ground near him, a Caribou soldier was struggling to breathe, his face beaten and bloody. He was restrained and fastened to a hollowed shopping cart. A rope was tied to the handle and was wrapped around the man’s arm.

“Nothing here...” He said to himself as he shut the trunk.

He turned to the Caribou.

“Wanna talk, yet?” He asked.

No response, save for a pair of hardened eyes...

The man sighed as he tugged on the cart, dragging it with him. He briefly removed his cloak to move messy blue hair out of his face with his gloved hand.

“Just tell me where they are, and I’ll let you go...”

Silence was the prisoner's response.

The man sighed.

“Fine... be that way. I have nothing but time...”

Daisuke and Riku sat nervously in the lobby. At this point, the sun had set and the moon rose in its place. Neither of them said a word to the other as they waited.

After hours of sitting in suspense, their names were called, and the two walked toward the doctor calling for them.

“H-how is she?” Daisuke asked.

The doctor smiled.

“She’s going to pull through.”

The two quickly embraced each other, unable to contain tears and laughter of joy.

“Thank you, doctor!” Riku said.

“Don’t thank me yet... we were able to repair much of the nerve damage and reduce scarring, but both are still a prominent issue. Your daughter is expected to fully heal, but that will take time and physical therapy. Both of which... I’m afraid we will need to charge you for.” He sighed, ripping off the Band-Aid.

Riku’s eyes widened as Daisuke sighed.

“I... I thought our bill was covered—by an 'anonymous benefactor'?”

The doctor somberly nodded.

“Yes, but she—they didn’t cover anything after the fact. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing that I can do...”

Riku sighed, but Daisuke caught that slip-up...

“What can we do? We—we just don’t have the money for this...” Riku stated.

The doctor contemplated for a moment, but sighed, leaning in towards the two.

“Look, you didn't hear this from me, but... maybe you can make a case with the mayor? Some kind of services in exchange for her recovery...”

Riku’s eyes widened while Daisuke barely hid a smile on his face.

“Then, the mayor’s office, it is.”

Princess spun her chair around, studying her nails while Daisuke sat in the adjacent seat, patiently waiting for the mayor to address his existence.

“So, your daughter will make a full recovery?” She finally asked him.

Daisuke nodded.

“Yes, thanks to a Good Samaritan with deep pockets...”

Princess smiled. To the unobservant, it would seem innocent enough, but Daisuke observed her eyes and how they stayed locked on his, not squinting with her smile...

“That’s wonderful! But I suppose there’s also her recovery, as well. Were they able to cover that, as well?”

Daisuke stayed silent, studying the young girl as he shook his head.

“No. That’s what I was hoping I could change, here.”

Princess hummed.

“And how so?”

Daisuke glanced around the room, much to Princess’ confusion.

“I couldn’t help but notice how... forgive my language, how bland this office is. I mean, I would think that someone like you would have this little office bursting with life, with character... with art.”

Princess started glancing with him, as well, chuckling.

“Oh, if only... but I don’t feel like wasting precious resources for some silly little paintings--”

Daisuke’s face changed to a grimace.

“’Silly little paintings’?” He asked, barely containing his shock and disgust.

Princess saw his mood change and decided to see what he was on about...

“I’m still unsure how American art holds, but in my culture, in Japan... art is viewed as priceless pieces of history. Something that stands the test of time... care to take a walk? I’ll show you.” He beckoned her to follow him.

Utterly dumbfounded, Princess found herself following him out to the streets, accompanied by two soldiers, of course.

As they walked, Daisuke glanced around the city, as well. He never had too much time to enjoy the surroundings around him due to fitting in as well as his daughter’s accident... He noticed a trio of biker women glancing their way before quickly hiking down a nearby alley once Daisuke spotted them.

He put a pin in that encounter as they walked.

“Say, Ms. Mayor, have you ever heard of the Moonlight Mask?” He asked her.

She hesitated but shook her head.

“Can’t say I had.”

Daisuke smiled.

“Well, in the late 18th Century, the two masks were crafted and enchanted due to the current Emperor’s paranoia. You see, it comes in tandem with the Sunlight Mask. It's said that the Sunlight Mask prevents the wearer from telling a lie, and the Moonlight Mask forces them to tell the truth. Both have been preserved for hundreds of years, and in the late 1990s, were easily worth millions.”

Princess’ eyes widened for a moment but quickly hid her shock.

“Really? An interesting story, but what does that have to do with me?”

Daisuke chuckled as they reached the stairwell to his apartment.

“You’ll see. Wait here.” He said as he trekked up the steps.

Princess found a nearby bench and ordered her soldiers to wipe it down. She slowly took a seat, careful not to crease her suit.

After a few minutes, Daisuke exited the apartment, holding two tightly-sealed plastic bags.

Princess squinted her eyes and realized what he was holding.

“Son of a bitch...”

Daisuke chuckled, presenting both to the mayor.

“I’m gonna give you a choice, Ms. Mayor. Just humor me... pick one.”

Princess let out a chuckle.

“You really think I’d play some stupid little game? I’m not stupid. That story’s just some silly mumbo-jumbo...”

Daisuke snickered.

“We live in a city that was known for three super-hero kindergartners, zombies are real, and we have five girls with magical necklaces from a world of magical ponies... this sounds silly to you?”

Princes paused, tried to find a response, and faltered.

“Touche... That one.” She pointed to the mask in his left hand.

“This one? Are you sure?” He teased.

“Yes! Now let’s go. I don’t have all day...”

Daisuke opened the mask and presented it to Princess. She cautiously took the mask and slowly placed it over her face.

“Well? How is it?”

Princess took a breath.

“I don’t feel anything if that’s what you’re asking.”

Daisuke hummed.

“Well, it isn’t going to. So, Princess, I understand that you have a rather large fortune, am I correct?”

Princess scoffed, utterly dumbfounded once again.

“Is that supposed to be a joke? I have more money than I know what to do with, more than you or anyone in this city can possibly imagine. Shame that none of it matters, anymore...”

“Great! And you have friends who are just as rich, right?”

“Again, no one can imagine... but I do have some friends who are as important as me, yeah.”

“So, do you know which of them paid for my daughter’s treatment?”

Princess paused, trying to explain it away, that it could’ve been anyone--

“It was me. I paid for her surgery in exchange for your daughter’s friends’ Geodes--”

She gasped, trying to cover her mouth but was stopped by the mask.

“What the fuck?! Guards, detain him, but not until he gets this thing off of me!” She demanded.

The two soldiers quickly drew their weapons on Daisuke, who smiled and held his hands up.

“You can remove the mask whenever you like, Ms. Mayor. That was all I wanted to know.”

Princess quickly ripped the mask off her face and chucked it back to Daisuke.

“What do you want?”

Daisuke shrugged.

“I want to help my daughter recover. I meant what I said in your office. More life in it could do wonders for your reception. Maybe for your mood as well.”

Princess let out a soft offended gasp, but suppressed it and growled.

“I don’t have any need for art... but I’m willing to bet there’re those in town that do. I’ll make some calls and have guards escort you to some friends who can help you first thing in the morning. For now... ta-ta.” She said, getting up from the bench and marching back to her office.

Daisuke did his best to reseal the mask and made his way back inside his apartment for the night.

He made his way inside, where he saw his wife overlooking the window, much to his surprise.

"So, you're back to being a thief?" She asked, her voice condescending.

Daisuke sighed as Riku turned to him.

"I have to do this... Scootaloo needs that money, you know that. Besides, it isn't like anyone's gonna be guarding it, this time..." He chuckled.

Riku stayed silent, walking towards him and gently wrapping her arms around him.

"Promise me this isn't him talking." She whispered.

Daisuke sighed, leaning his head onto Riku's.

"I promise..."

The next day, Daisuke strolled through the secured downtown accompanied by two guards. It wasn’t long until Daisuke found himself looking down the same alley he saw the bikers go down the other day.

“Alright, you’re on your own from here. Good luck.” One of the soldiers chuckled as she stepped back and went on her way.

Daisuke stepped into the alley, studying a skull emblem graffitied onto the brick wall. Smiling, he found a door not far from the painting and knocked.

“’Fuck you want?” A feminine voice asked from the other side.

“I’m here for a proposal... The mayor sent me.”

Nothing for only a moment.

“Hold on.”

Daisuke stepped away from the door, waiting as patiently as he could, when suddenly he heard the scrape of a footstep behind him. Quickly shifting his body to the side, he turned to see one of the three women he spotted the other day. He saw that she was pale with spiky red hair. She wore a leather jacket with the skull logo on the front.

“Let’s talk inside.” The woman gestured to the door.

Once inside, Daisuke noted the two others with the ringleader. One had a blue ponytail, while the other had short blonde hair. They both wore the same leather jackets as their leader, save for spikey black shoulder pads.

“So, Princess said you can steal expensive shit... start talking.” The blue-haired one said.

Daisuke took a breath.

“Let’s keep this simple and brief--”

“Cool. Start with your name.” The red-haired one said.

Daisuke nodded.

“My name is Daisuke Niwa. I think it’s fair that I ask your names, as well...”

The three exchanged a look.

“I’m Rojo. This is Azul and Amarillo.” The red-haired one said, gesturing to the blue and yellow-haired ones.

With that, Daisuke continued.

“There’s an art museum not far outside of Townsville. All those pieces of art are left to the wasteland when they could be sitting in some aristocrat’s lounge while they fill our pockets for our troubles."

The girls shared a chuckle at the thought Daisuke gave them.

"I have the means to secure that art, safely and in ways that don’t compromise their value. But with the four of us, we can empty that whole place, and come back with a hefty payday... so what do you say? Are you in?”

The three hesitated.

“What’s in it for us? I mean, don’t get me wrong, the pay sounds... intriguing, but we need a little more than that.” Rojo said.

Daisuke nodded.

“Understandable. What is it you want?”

Rojo thought for a moment and looked at her companions.

“I want a word with Princess. I think after this little display, we’d be entitled to that.”

Daisuke was a tad confused over that but simply shrugged.

“I make no promises, but I’ll see what I can do. Would that work for you?” He hopefully asked.

Moments passed as Rojo thought the offer through...

“Deal. Now, when do we leave?”

Less than an hour later, three high-tech motorcycles were rented out and lined in front of the gates. Daisuke settled for a truck he intended to use for loading up art with.

Before Daisuke hopped in, Rojo whistled to him.

“So, how do you even know about this place?”

“I used to take my wife there after we moved in. Our daughter was never into art, so we stopped after a while.”

With a nod, the four rode off into the wasteland.

The three bikers immediately noticed Daisuke riding on the left side of the road.

Inside the truck, Daisuke smiled, happy that he no longer had to struggle to remember driving on a different side of the road.

The girls outside, however, took a moment before turning to tail him.

“Yep, figures!” Amarillo laughed into the comms inside her helmet, staying on the right side.

Rojo and Azul glanced at each other in disappointment, staying together and behind Daisuke.

The rest of the ride was relatively silent as they frequently passed Townsville patrols clearing the highway.

As Daisuke drove on a long stretch, he looked in the rearview mirror.

“I know you’re there, buddy... I could really use your help, this time.”

He glanced into his own eyes for a moment, waiting for anything to respond to him... empty-handed, he sighed and turned his attention back to the road.

“Maybe next time.”

Author's Note

Hey! So some quick updates: In case you haven't noticed, the story has been renamed. This is because I decided to separate the entire story into substories as opposed to one massive story with hundreds of chapters. This decision was made to make the story more easily readable without the intimidation of dozens of chapters like the original had. Also, I apologize for forgetting to share the sources of the characters and locations from other franchises. Doing so has slipped my mind.

So, making it clear, now: Daisuke and Riku Niwa are from DNAngel, and of course, Princess Morbucks, The Powerpuff Girls, Brick, Boomer, Butch, and Townsville are all from the Powerpuff Girls. Rojo and her biker gang are from Ben 10.

Art Thief, Pt. 2

The sun was three-quarters through the sky by the time the four arrived outside the museum. The outside had wrecked cars scattered all throughout, but none were in the group’s way. However, the two massive doors leading inside were blocked from the other side, as Daisuke found out when he tried to open them.

“Shit... how strong are those motorbikes?” Daisuke asked the three.

Rojo chuckled, pressing a few buttons on her arm.

“Bikes? Who said we need the bikes...?” She pointed her arm toward the doors, moving her wrist down to keep her hand clear.

With a solid blast, both doors were reduced to rubble. Rojo and Azul shared a high-five while Daisuke cautiously looked around him. Sure enough, he spotted two zombies charging toward the new noise.

“Guys-- at our 5’.” He pointed towards the two infected bodies.

Rojo sighed and readied her cannon again.

“No! That could just bring more of them on us...” Daisuke said, grabbing a tire iron from Rojo’s bike.

Rojo rolled her eyes and Amarillo pulled a bowie knife from her hip.

Together, the two jump to action against the infected. Daisuke bashed the closest runner in the leg, bringing it to the ground as he brings the iron down onto the second-closest's head. Amarillo stabbed the one remaining in the chest, holding it close to her and glaring into its eyes. Once she was sure the life from the zombie was drained, she pushed it to the ground...

“Not bad. Come on, let’s go.” Rojo ordered.

Unsatisfied, Daisuke holds the iron and brings it down onto the head of the zombie who’s legs he whacked, leaving a messy pile of skin, brains, and skull.

Rojo watches the brutal execution in awe and shock.

“Damn, didn’t think you had it in you--”

She was cut off as Daisuke did the same execution to the one he already beat...

“Uh, you good, dude?”

Not answering her, he proceeded to swing the iron to the side of the final zombie, sending the contents of its head flying into the air.

“Dude?! Fuck, got some rage issues you wanna talk about.” Rojo asked him.

Panting for breath, Daisuke stepped away, putting the bloody tire iron back where he found it, much to Rojo's annoyance.

“Just making sure...” Daisuke said, mentally repeating what Scootaloo said she encountered.

Rojo nervously chuckled at that. Looking at the opened museum, the four made their way inside. The inside was a bloody mess, with streaks and puddles littering the walls and floor. Many of the paintings were untouched, however, much to Daisuke’s delight.

“Okay... so, we’re here—want us to grab whatever isn’t bolted down?” Azul asked him.

“That’s the plan. Just grab the paintings and keep an eye out... I’m gonna look around, see if there’s anything that stands out.”

With an affirmative nod, the bikers went right to work.

“Hey, so quick question—why couldn’t we have robbed a bank or something? Why’re we going through these stupid drawings?” Amarillo asked.

Daisuke bit his tongue when he heard her comment.

“Well... these ‘drawings’ are worth just as much as you’d find in a bank—maybe more—and they’re not even half the weight. Also, the banks were filled with people when the infected rolled in... odds are, they’re much more infested than this museum could ever be.”

With his point made, Amarillo nodded and went back to work.

Daisuke headed deeper into the museum, searching for anything that he could tell had value.

“No... definitely not that one. Maybe...? No, that’s a fake.” He mumbled to himself, passing paintings, artifacts, and small busts.

As his search became fruitless, he sighed and stepped into a men’s bathroom, glancing into the mirror, deep into his own reflection. It was almost as if he was expecting a different visage to appear before him.

“I know you’re in there, old friend... I wouldn’t have been considered Enhanced otherwise. Talk to me, man... I kinda need you, here. You were always the expert on this type of thing.”

As he stared again, he began to feel a prescience. He could feel it in the walls, throughout the entire room... The sensation was very familiar to Daisuke, who didn’t budge upon sensing his old friend.

“There you are,” Daisuke smiled, stepping away from the mirror, “I assume you’ll know which one here’s the one for her.”

He stepped away from the bathroom mirror. Heading back into the halls, he began searching again.

As he passed several art pieces, a light breeze blew toward him. Stopping, he turned and saw a simple golden crown on a pedestal.

“Really? This one? Don’t you think something a bit more... sophisticated would work?”

A quick breeze was his only answer. Rolling his eyes, he picked up the crown.

“Fine, if you say so...”

Before he could bag it up, he heard a few clatters from further into the museum.

“Rojo, that you?!” He asked.

There wasn’t any response. Feeling uneasy, Daisuke unholstered the pistol on his hip and cautiously walked down the hall, leaving the crown on the pedestal.

As he advanced, he began to smell an intense rot. Gagging for a moment, he covered his mouth and nose with his shirt before advancing.

He began to hear flies buzzing in the distance, immediately growing weary...

“Hey, ‘Suke! This place is trashed. Let’s just get what we need!” He finally heard Rojo say.

Daisuke heard her voice and stepped away, eager to get back to work.

However, the sounds pulled his attention back.

It sounded like breathing, but more like a rattle. Like there was no air that this being was taking in or letting out...

Then he heard more just like it. Rapidly getting closer.

“Uh... dude, you hear that, too?” Rojo asked, stepping from an adjacent hallway.

As the two stepped towards the noises, both armed, they began to hear the shuffling footsteps...

“Oh, shit.” Daisuke said, realizing what they had encountered.

Before either could react, they saw several bodies shuffle from the deeper museum. Each of them showed different stages of decay, but they all had flies festering over them as they growled and shambled toward the two.

“What the fuck?” Rojo asked in bewilderment, opening fire at the horde, hitting them in their midsections or chests—nothing head-level.

Daisuke, however, made sure his aim was at their heads as he opened fire.

Not far behind Rojo were Azul and Amarillo, who both wasted no time preparing to fight.

“Uh, boss? Any idea why they aren’t running?” Azul asked as she prepared her arm cannon.

Amarillo wasted no time preparing her knife for more kills...

“Who cares? More meat bags that need poppin’!” She smiled, charging into combat.

“Amarillo, wait!” Daisuke tried, but he had no time to react...

Amarillo quickly drove her knife into one of the zombies several times before slashing another’s throat.

However, they both grabbed her arms and tried to bite into her armor.

“The fuck?!” She tried to break free, but two more quickly held her in place and took two chunks off of her face.

As she screamed in agony, her two companions rapidly opened fire, cutting the horde down to loose limbs and heads.

They both caught their breath as Daisuke made sure the zombies were truly dead before putting a turning-Amarillo out of her misery with a single headshot.

“What was that...? What the fuck was that?!” Azul asked in complete horror.

Rojo stayed silent, struggling to comprehend what she saw.

They didn’t have time to mourn, however, as more rasps told them that more zombies were nearby...

“Okay, let’s grab what we can on our way out and go!” Daisuke instructed.

Rojo scoffed.

“Fuck the paintings, dude! We’re out!” Rojo said as she took Azul by the hand and sped down the hall with her.

“What the—hey!” Daisuke said, running after them.

He only stopped to grab the crown on the pedestal, not wasting the time it would take to bag it.

As he sprinted down the hall, he already heard the roar of their motorcycles as they sped off the way they all came.

“Damn it...” He cursed to himself.

He turned and saw that a few paintings were removed from the walls and loaded in the back of the truck, but he knew he needed a bigger haul than that...

Turning around, he sped back into the museum, rapidly trying to take paintings off the walls. However, the dead were somewhat fast for rotting corpses. He managed to grab two fairly-sized ones before they were almost at him...

“Not enough...” He growled to himself as he rushed to the exit.

He wasn’t far from the door until more zombies shuffled from the hallway closest to the door.

“Shit... Shit!” He shouted, dropping the paintings and running in the only direction he could go—down the hallway parallel to the one the horde was advancing from.

As he sprinted, he saw a flight of stairs going to the second floor. Stopping, he quickly ran up them as the dead followed him, cramming themselves against the railings.

With temporary safety guaranteed, Daisuke searched for anything to block the stairs with. He saw several plant pots containing several withering and dead flora. He quickly grabbed the heaviest ones he could find and pushed them down the stairs. Some broke, but soon the pots still intact built up to form a barricade.

“Okay... let’s find a way out of here...”

As he searched, he found that the upper floor was devastated. Scorch marks, bullet holes, and destroyed railings polluted the top floor of the museum. Dirty, soiled cots were spread on the ground with old backpacks littered in between.

Daisuke paid the sight no mind as he looked over the balcony, seeing that the lower floor was now overrun with the dead... going back down would be impossible without a death wish.

He observed that despite most of the top floor being destroyed, there was a gap that led to the other side of the upper floor, which included a staircase leading back down. The dead weren’t close to that side of the building, and the ones that were left were flocking over to the barricaded stairs. Daisuke contemplated jumping down and making a run for it, but saw that the zombies in the back were too close.

“Goddamnit...” He whispered.

In defeat, he sat against the wall and sighed.

“Come on, man... I need you, here.”

Nothing answered him. Enraged, he sent his fist into the side of the wall.

“Come on! Dark, answer me!”

As soon as Daisuke said his name, he began to feel the presence again... His presence.

“’Answer you’? Just why should I do what you say, anymore? I’m not part of you, anymore, remember?!” A disembodied voice asked him.

As the shock upon hearing his voice again set in, Daisuke sighed.

“Come on, now, Dark— I know you're more mature than that.”

Dark chuckled.

“Yeah, sure thing, Daisuke—I'm the immature one, here.”

Daisuke scoffed.

“Over 20 years, and you’re still a child.”

“Oh, I’m the child?! Just what exactly was your real reason for adopting Scootaloo?”

Daisuke stood and pointed his finger into the air.

“Don’t you dare bring her into this...” He growled.

The voice chuckled.

“Oh, really? Why? Didn’t wanna keep the Niwa tradition going?”

Daisuke didn’t bother to answer the voice as he stood and looked over the ledge again, seeing the pack of zombies.

“Hello?! You wanted me to talk, and now I’m talking!”

Groaning, Daisuke turned his gaze upwards.

“Do you even know what it was like?! Being raised to host you? The training, the discipline... I didn’t have a childhood, and I sure as hell didn’t want to rob my child of that! So yes—we adopted. It happened, and now I’ll go through hell and back to keep my daughter safe!”

Dark sighed.

“Oh, yeah? Look around, do you think Scootaloo’s gonna have that ‘normal childhood’ you’re talking about?”

Hearing the groans of the dead drew a long sigh from Daisuke.

“...I did what I could for her. I have no shame in that. I’m sorry for what that means for you...”

“Oh, sure you are. I don’t wanna hear your pity—let's just get the hell out of here.”

Daisuke nodded, standing up and looking around for supplies.

“Okay... let me see what we’re dealing with, here.”

He looked out over the gap again, glancing up and noticing several rafters that were still intact with sturdy pipes running on top of them. He noted that the sun shone down onto his eyes as part of the roof was destroyed...

He turned his attention back inside and looked through the surrounding backpacks, finding a few old coat hangers, several feet of rope, and scattered cans of food and water bottles.

Thinking quickly, he took apart the hangers, saving the hooks, bending it a bit more, and wrapping and fusing them together, forming a sturdy hook. With the hook tightened, he tightly tied the rope against it.

“Dude, do you really think that’s gonna hold your weight?” Dark asked him.

“Don’t have much of a choice.” He shrugged.

He gave the makeshift grappling hook a few practice tosses, making it close to the pipe each time.

“You’re rusty, old man...”

Daisuke chuckled.

“You think 34’s old?”

Dark chuckled back.

“Well, when you’ve been 17 for hundreds of years, yeah.”

With only a few more tosses, Daisuke finally sent the rope onto the pipe, the hook from the hangers standing strong.

“If this works...” Dark began.

“I know it will—how do you think I got through my mom’s heist training?”

With a confident nod and a wavering breath, Daisuke pulled on the rope, testing the strength of the pipe. After he was sure that it wouldn’t give, he gave himself a running start...

With a jump and a tug, Daisuke swung through the air.

A few zombies noticed the sudden shift in the wind and began to follow the sensation.

However, Daisuke had already jumped off of the rope and landed on the other side.

He took a moment to catch his breath, astonished as he turned and saw the gap he had jumped.

“Ah, I missed this...” He smiled to himself.

However, he had no time to collect himself as from the ground floor, he heard the groans of the undead begin to grow closer...

Sure enough, enough zombies heard his swing to attract the rest toward him.

“Oh, shit...” He said to himself, running down the stairs.

He had just enough time to run down, but not enough to make a break for it. The dead were beginning to climb up the opposite staircase and towards Daisuke.

He stumbled back, running back up even though he knew there was nowhere he could go.

“Okay, buddy... if there were a time for you to take control again, it’d be right now!" He shouted as the dead began climbing up to the top.

Daisuke was backed up against the edge but knew that the fall could injure him, not to mention the stragglers still wandering around...

Seeing no other option, he sighed.

“Okay, fine... be a dick!” He shouted as he charged the horde, allowing them to grab onto him...

Princess fiddled with the pen on her desk as she stared aimlessly. It had been three hours since Rojo and Azul came back without the art or Daisuke. Apparently, Amarillo was caught off-guard by zombies—the same ones that Brick reported seeing...

The thought of them coming back after death made her uneasy. Sure, they called them zombies, but for them to actually be the living dead? It unsettled her.

As she sat in thought, she heard the footsteps of one of her guards.

“Ma’am? There’s, uh... someone here for you...” He said, clearly unnerved.

Intrigued, Princess gestured for them to enter.

Panting for breath, an older man with long, spiky purple hair covered in dried blood entered, holding a golden crown in his hand...

“And who might you be?” Princess asked.

Smiling, Dark set the crown on her table.

“Hi. I’m a friend of Daisuke Niwa. He wanted me to drop this off for you.”

Princess looked at the crown on her table and admired it for a moment.

“And what does he think I’d want with it?” She shrugged.

Dark smirked.

“He thinks it suited you. Now let’s talk about his daughter’s treatment.”

Princess gently set the crown aside and shrugged.

“I asked him to do something, and he delivered. Consider it done.”

Dark nodded and began to exit the room.

“This month.”

Dark paused, slowly turning around.

“Wanna swing that by me again?”

“That museum was infested with zombies—literal ones, at that. And yet, according to you, he made it back alive... so tell him that if he wants continued treatment for his daughter, then he’s gonna have to deliver me a lot more than a stupid crown and some paintings. We got a deal, tough guy?”

Dark observed her for a moment and smiled.

“Ah, to be 17 again...”

Princess chuckled.

“You’re not missing much.”

With that, Dark left the room.

Princess stepped back and took her seat. As time passed, she glanced at the crown on her desk before finally picking it up, and admiring it. After a moment, she put the headpiece right where it belonged. With a cocky smile, she rested her feet on her desk and began to hum to herself, contempt at her place as queen of Townsville...

The Search

Kyle tossed and turned in bed, the same image flashing in his mind.

The gunshot, the blood staining the car roof.

The body he set inside. The same body he sobbed over before limping away.

The body that wasn’t there when he went to bury her.

His dreams began to paint the image of what she’d look like—rotted, decayed, in pain.

The last thing his mind projected for him was her snarling and lunging at him.

With that image, he woke with a start.

He looked at his clock and saw that the time was 3:40. He sighed to himself but knew that he wouldn’t go back to sleep... He turned to his side, feeling his throat begin to burn as he recalled the last thing he said to his mother...

It's like you just stopped caring for me.

He tried to stop his tears, but they were already flowing...

Later in the morning, Kyle found himself inside Buttercup’s café, ordering coffee for himself and Princess. He sat slumped by the counter, struggling to stay awake. But, unlike most days, he was the only customer in the building waiting for his and his boss’ drinks.

“Hey, dude, you good?” Buttercup asked him.

Kyle jumped back awake after hearing her voice.

“Y-yeah, I’m good... just had a rough night.”

Buttercup nodded, understanding and relating with the look on his face. She turned back and bit the urge to say something, but she lost that battle.

“So, who was it?” She asked him, not glancing at him as she made his coffee.

Confused, Kyle looked over at her for a moment before understanding what she meant.

“My, uh... my mom.”

Buttercup nodded, glancing at him for just a second.

“I’m sorry...” She said, in a voice that was softer than Kyle had heard her talk before.

“Thank you.” He said back.

The two stayed silent for a moment, with Buttercup finally sighing.

“It was my sister.”

Kyle turned to her, a bit puzzled. But then, he remembered the three girls hung on pictures back in the Professor’s home.

“...Oh. I’m sorry.”

Buttercup nodded with a bit of hesitance as she finished the two coffees.

“Take care, Kyle.”

“You too.” He said, taking the two cups and walking out the doors.

Once Buttercup was sure she was alone, she set her head on her counter and finally released the tears she had been holding back. Her soft cries quickly became sobs as her tears dripped onto the countertop.

“You want me to give you what?!” Princess asked in astonishment.

Kyle gulped for a moment before recomposing himself.

“Just one day. I just need one day to try and find her--”

Princess let out a quick cackle. Then, she leaned into her desk and got closer to Kyle than he was comfortable with.

“Kyle, giving you a day off at the moment would be suicide for me—times are getting tough, and I need all hands on deck here... besides, who could possibly be that important?”

Kyle felt a twinge of rage but knew better than to act on it.

“It was my mother...” He said in-between gritted teeth.

As those words left his mouth, Princess’ entire stature changed. Her eyes seemed to soften as she sat back in her seat.

“...Oh...”

Kyle felt unsure how to react to her response, but she gave him no time to.

“One week.”

His eyes widened for a moment, trying to comprehend what she had just said.

“I... I’m sorry?”

“One. Week. But I want you back here not a day after, ready to work. Understand?”

He hesitated but quickly nodded.

“O-of course. Thank you...” He said, standing up and starting to leave.

“You can thank me by burying her here.” She said.

Kyle eagerly nodded as he started to bolt out the door, only to stop.

“I’m... gonna need an escort.”

Nodding, Princess reached into her desk and pulled out a piece of paper, signing it.

“Here. Give this to one of your friends to excuse them for the week... don’t make me regret it.” She innocently added, handing Kyle the sheet.

He carefully read it, seeing that it was a leave of absence form, with Princess signing it for one week of absence.

“Absolutely!”

Sunset sat inside the empty locker room, anxiously clutching her helmet. Ever since the truth of Operation STRIKE was revealed, she and the others were assigned to guard detail.

For the last few days, she had begun to calculate the best way to slip out. If she could make it back to Canterlot to secure a few things... She was never able to plan out anything concrete, but she wasn’t going to stop until she was able to make an escape.

“Shimmer!” Brick called out to her.

As his voice broke her train of thought, she sighed and rose up, putting on her helmet and approaching her superior officer.

“What do you need?” She asked him.

Brick saw her in uniform and shook his head.

“You won’t be needing that. Mayor Morbucks has given you a leave of absence along with Kyle Williams for a scavenging mission.” He said, handing her the signed form.

Sunset removed her helmet to better read the sheet of paper, seeing Princess’ signature.

“And what kind of scavenging mission is this?”

Brick smiled.

“Canterlot. You will have weapons and a vehicle signed out for you at the gate in 5.”

Sunset almost did a double-take as she processed what she was just told...

“O-okay... Alright! I’ll be there!”

Sunset raced back into the locker room and changed to her casual outfit—her purple t-shirt with her emblem and her leather jacket. Speeding outside, she saw Kyle alongside two soldiers holding backpacks.

“There’s enough in here to last you two a few days. You’re expected to scavenge what you can until you return.” One of the soldiers instructed.

Kyle nodded and greeted Sunset.

“Hey.”

Sunset smiled.

“Hey...”

They both hopped into the truck waiting for them, and with the push of a button, the gates began to creak open.

With the world before them, Sunset pressed her foot against the pedal, and the two drove off into it. A few minutes passed as the city behind them began to vanish from view.

“I think this is my first time outside those walls since we went inside them...” Kyle said, keeping an eye out the window.

Sunset nodded, somewhat aloof.

“So what’re we doing out here? Why’re we going back up to Canterlot for?” She asked.

Kyle hesitated before sighing.

“You read my mind, right? Back in CHS? What was it you saw?” He asked her.

Sunset paused.

“I... saw a lot of things. Some stuff before the apocalypse, some stuff after...”

“Did you see me with my mom?” He asked.

Sunset nodded, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Yeah. I saw that. I’m so sorry...”

Kyle paused for a moment.

“Thanks... But when she turned, I shot her in the heart... and now that we know they come back after dying...”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she put the pieces together.

“Then she’s still out there.” She whispered in horror.

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah. When I healed up after the wreck, I went back to try and bury her, but... her body wasn’t there. For the longest time, I thought that maybe they ate her or something... but no. She’s just walking around out there, rotting away... I haven’t been sleeping—it's all I think about, now. I can’t let her go on like that.”

Sunset nodded and made a turn.

“We have a week to find her... is it okay if we stop at Canterlot High while we’re in the area?”

Kyle glanced at her in bewilderment.

“You wanna go back? We don’t know if the Caribou are still around—we're taking a risk even going near the high school...”

“Kyle, there’s another Geode. One that Princess doesn’t know about.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he realized whose Geode she was talking about.

“Twilight’s...? I thought the Caribou took it.”

Sunset shook her head.

“We found it on her nightstand that morning... they must’ve ignored it or they just didn’t care. Celestia had it locked in her office, there’s no way the Caribou could’ve found it. You with me so far?”

Kyle carefully planned both their course of action as well as his next words.

“Yeah... we can scope it out, see what we can see. Who knows? Maybe she wandered over there.”

With that, the two mostly stayed silent for the rest of the drive. Once they entered familiar territory, Kyle spotted signs for Canterlot High.

“So, I think we can start with your old neighborhood. I know you cleared it out already, but maybe it can give us a starting point. That and a few places to crash for the night.” Sunset said, signaling to the rapidly setting sun.

Kyle observed the sun and nodded.

“Yeah-- we can crash at my old base... feels weird calling it that.” He chuckled.

Sunset cracked a smile at that.

“I mean, we’ve seen zombies go back to places they remember—did you ever go back home after... y’know?”

Kyle hesitated, but nodded.

“Yeah-- I stayed there for a bit with--” He caught himself, a reaction that Sunset noted.

“...I stayed there for a few days until things died down. Our house was one story, so it wouldn’t have worked.”

Sunset decided not to comment on Kyle’s hesitance and hummed.

“We should start there in the morning, then.”

With that, the two made their way toward Kyle’s neighborhood. To Kyle’s surprise, nothing much has changed. Some new, withered corpses were laid out in the street, but other than that, it was all familiar sights for him.

“So, which ones are secure?” Sunset asked Kyle.

He thought for a moment and began glancing at each of the houses, mainly the ones with two stories. He spotted one with a green piece of cloth tied around the mailbox.

“There.” He pointed, making his way over.

Sunset spotted the cloth and let out an impressed “huh”.

“You did all this by yourself?” She asked him.

Kyle hesitated once again but nodded.

“Yeah. It took a while, but all I had was time.” He chuckled.

The two entered the house, and Kyle spotted the ladder he had left all those weeks ago. He set it in place and gestured for Sunset to climb up.

“Ladies first.”

Sunset chuckled.

“Sure thing.”

Once she was up, Kyle followed, pulling the ladder up behind him.

“How did you manage to do all of this?” She asked, staring at the splinters that remained of the staircase.

“There’s a hardware store not 3 miles down the road. That was one of the first places I went to after everything settled down. Got some essentials and just started removing the stairs...”

Sunset nodded and walked around their abode. The upstairs had four rooms—a master bedroom, an empty kids’ bedroom, a closet, and a bathroom.

Once they were secure, Kyle searched the surrounding rooms, finding a small stash of supplies, a fine layer of dust covering them.

Sunset observed their state as Kyle blew the dust off and brought them up to a table.

“So, who lived here?”

Kyle shrugged.

“No idea. I think I saw them once or twice, but I never really talked to them. I never really talked to anyone, here...”

Sunset studied that response but kept her worries to herself.

The sun had set, and the moon was in its place. Sunset found herself observing the rising moon.

“Everything okay?” Kyle asked her.

Sunset turned and sighed.

“Yeah, it’s just... how does it do that?”

Kyle raised a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“The sun! I mean, it sets and rises on its own. I still can’t wrap my head around it...”

Kyle nervously chuckled.

“Okay-- how does it rise and set in Equestria?”

Sunset smiled.

“Our princess, she rises and sets it with her magic.”

Kyle simply nodded.

“Obviously.”

Sunset let out a laugh and turned to him.

“You still don’t believe in it? After everything you’ve seen us do?”

Kyle shrugged.

“I mean, come on! Another dimension of pony-people? It’s a lot!”

Sunset thought for a moment and shrugged back.

“I guess it is.”

Kyle chuckled, and Sunset let out a long yawn. Sensing this, he gestured to her.

“Get some rest. I’ll take first watch.”

She glanced outside at the desolate streets.

“You sure we need to keep watch? Those supplies haven’t been touched— it doesn’t look like anything in the neighborhood’s been touched since we left it.”

Kyle thought about it and shrugged.

“I’ve slept up here for quite a few nights without any troubles... let me set the old sound traps up, then.”

Sunset let out an astonished laugh.

“Sound traps... of course.”

Kyle reset the ladder and hopped down. He reached the kitchen and opened the cupboards, finding a string of empty cans and a half-used roll of duct tape. From the stairs, Sunset observed him in hints of awe and bewilderment.

He set them by the door and tied one end to a radiator near him. Using the tape, he reached up and taped the other end as far up the door as he could manage.

“There... now let’s get some sleep. I’ll take the kids’ room.”

Sunset hesitatingly nodded.

“Good night, then...”

“Good night.” He said, climbing back up and pulling the ladder up before turning in for the night.

The two wasted no time the next morning. They ate, secured their remaining supplies, and began to drive toward Kyle’s old house.

“So, when was the last time you were there?” Sunset asked Kyle as she drove.

Kyle glanced out the window as he answered.

“Not since the beginning... I kinda wanted to get away from it all, you know?”

Sunset nodded and paused before asking her next question.

“So, we’re here for your mom, and I saw a bit about what happened to your dad... did you have any other family?”

Kyle’s eyes widened for a moment before he cleared his throat and responded.

“No, not really. We had friends who were like family, but... I think you saw how that went.”

Sunset nodded, the image of a burning orphanage returning to her head.

“Yeah...”

“How about you? Did you have family back in Equestria?”

Sunset felt hints of remorse and guilt that found themselves present in her tone.

“Yeah... my mom and my little brother.”

Kyle heard the sorrow in her voice and nodded.

“I’m sorry...”

Sunset sighed.

“Don’t be. They’re safe and sound back in Canterlot.”

Kyle turned to her in confusion, which Sunset noticed and stammered at.

“T-the Equestrian one.”

Kyle nodded.

“You know, now that you mention it... it’s kind of weird that we have so many horse-named stuff, here. I mean, Canterlot? A little weird.”

Sunset laughed.

“Yeah, I was always curious about that. I mean, there’re parallel people, here... so maybe parallel cities, too? I don’t know... it’s a little weird to think about.”

Kyle thought for a moment and shook his head.

“I mean, I don’t know... ever hear of the Multiverse Theory?”

Sunset chuckled.

“Yes, I read comic books.”

They both shared a genuine laugh.

“So, yeah—mirrorworlds and all that.”

Sunset tilted her head, and before their conversation could continue, Kyle’s eyes widened as a particular single-story house entered their view...

“We’re here.” He sighed.

Sunset rolled up to the parking lot and put the truck in park. Kyle slowly opened his door and went up the steps. A weak hand was raised towards the doorknob, and Kyle slowly pulled the unlocked door open.

The eroded state of the home was the first thing Kyle noted. Strings of cobwebs strewn throughout the halls connecting against the walls, decorative plant life that had long since died and withered away, and clattered desks and shattered plates and glasses that were possibly knocked over by zombies.

Sighing to himself, Kyle watched his step as he began searching room after room, searching for any sign of life or un-life. The kitchen and living room were both empty, and Kyle finally reached the corner hall that led to three separate rooms.

Walking down the hall, he started with the door closest to him. On the door was a poster saying “Keep Out, Rocking In-Progress".

He considered opening the door but considered leaving it alone.

Continuing on down the hall, he opened the next door, receiving a strange sense of nostalgia over seeing his old room again. He was surprised at the amount of dust that covered his old belongings—his game console on the dresser looked more like a nest of spiders and other critters.

He took one final glance before spotting a dust-coated picture on the nightstand. Seeing the multi-colored specks that were visible, he quickly grabbed it, blew the dust off, and pocketed it as Sunset turned the corner.

“She in here?” She asked him.

Kyle shook his head, holding his just-opened bag close.

“No... it’s uh... she’s not here.”

Sunset nodded, turning towards the other two rooms.

“You wanna check that one down there, and I can check this one?” Sunset asked, pointing at the unmarked door.

Kyle internally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah... I can do that.”

Eagerly stepping towards the opposite door, Sunset knocked on his mother’s.

Opening the door, Kyle was taken aback at seeing the decorated room before him. On the nightstand were several clattered coupons for a nearby taco restaurant. Countless musical CDs and sitcom DVDs were scattered across the floor and Kyle recognized the unmarked DVD case with only a ‘D’ visible thanks to the dust and cobwebs...

Hearing Sunset approaching, he quickly closed the door.

“No luck... anywhere else she might’ve wandered to?”

Kyle thought for a moment, but the most obvious answer hit him.

“The police station. She might’ve made her way over there—I never really went that way. Who knows what could be there?”

Sunset slowly nodded, taking in the information given to her.

“So maybe some guns could be there, too...?”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah-- maybe we could bring some back with us? Y’know, try to make this more than a sentimental trip?”

Sunset hesitated to answer, considering giving a different answer.

“Maybe... we’ll have to see what’s waiting for us, there. For right now, let’s scavenge what we can and keep moving.” Sunset said.

Nodding, Kyle scurried to his old room and finally pulled the still-dusty image in his bag. Wiping the dust away with his sleeve, he saw the three girls behind him but in front of his father and mother. He smiled at the orange hair being used to form a mustache on Kyle’s face. He shared no emotions for the girl with two long purple pigtails who was too grouchy to crack a smile. But tears began to form at the blue-haired girl using her sister’s hair to give Kyle the mustache...

“Miss you.” He sighed, bagging the photo before moving on.

Inside the police station, the same Caribou soldier is tied to a chair, where the cloaked figure entered the room, closing the door behind him.

“You have an annoying habit of not giving me answers...” He said, taking a seat in front of the soldier.

The soldier didn’t meet the stranger’s eyes, looking at the table in silence.

The stranger removed his cloak, revealing a chiseled jaw with bright blue eyes and deep blue hair, completed with a grizzly beard.

“You can’t give me the silent treatment forever, you know... I’ll get what I need from you, eventually.”

The soldier finally looked into the man’s eyes.

“They’re gone... your wife? Your sister? You know that, right?”

The man grimaced as the soldier chuckled.

“I’ll give them this... they lasted much longer than I thought they would... but we broke them. We always do...”

The man’s hand reached for the knife sheathed at his hip, resisting every urge to pull it out.

“Where are they?” He asked between gritted teeth.

The soldier cracked a sinister smile, but added nothing more.

The man finally screamed and pulled the knife up, driving it into the soldier’s shoulder.

“Where are they?!”

After a pain-filled scream, the soldier chuckled.

“Even if I knew where they were, why would I tell you? Why wouldn’t I just take them for myself...”

The man gritted his teeth again.

“Think about it... two Black Collars? That would be too good to pass up on--”

The man finally gave in and pulled out a pistol, shooting the soldier clean in the head. Pulling his knife out of the body, he sheathed both and exited the room. Once he left, he looked into the adjacent rooms, where other soldiers were restrained...

“Maybe one of you will tell me...” He sighed, entering another room.

Road Block

Author's Note

Hey, so this is a long one... I kinda had a bit to do with this one and the same will most likely be true with the next chapter. Just a heads-up for this one-- there is an attempted SA and mentions of rape and suicide in this chapter.

Road Block

Not too long after visiting his old home, Kyle and Sunset were on their way down Main St. to the police station. While driving, Sunset glanced at her passenger in the mirror for a moment.

“So, what was that third room for?”

Kyle choked on air for a minute as he quickly came up with an explanation.

“It was my mom’s at-home office. She uses it after she comes home from work...” He fibbed.

Sunset observed his nervous fidgeting for a moment before turning her attention back to the road.

“Okay...” She dismissed the matter.

Several rotting corpses littered the sidewalks, with a few shambling around and walking toward the truck but losing interest very quickly after being sped by.

“It’s still hard to believe... seeing them shambling like that.” Kyle confessed.

“Yeah-- I was getting so used to the World War Z zombies, but next thing you know, we’re in The Walking Dead. It’s frustrating.” Sunset chuckled.

Chuckling back, Kyle shrugged.

“I’m not complaining.”

“Oh, absolutely—walkers are way better than sprinters...”

Hearing the names, Kyle hummed.

“Walkers and Sprinters... not a bad way to separate them.” He shrugged.

They both shared an affirmative hum.

“So, what happens if we find her but someone else already killed her?” Sunset asked suddenly.

Kyle turned to her for a moment but turned back after that.

“Then, I’ll bury her. Like I was always going to...”

The two stayed silent for a bit more of the ride. They were only stopped a half-mile out of the station by a sprawling wall of piled-up corpses...

“What the hell...?” Sunset whispered as she hit the brakes, bringing the car to a stop.

They examined the bodies comprising the wall that went up to the roof of the truck and sprawled across the street, ending at the closest buildings on both sides. Many were shot, bashed, or stabbed in the head while some were reaching out with rotting arms.

“Maybe we can go around?” Kyle asked, looking out the back of the truck.

Sunset began to go to reverse but stopped when she saw a string of bodies hanging from the nearby lampposts...

“Uh, Kyle...?”

He turned and saw the armored corpses dangling from the lamps, with Sunset recognizing the armor...

“Caribou.” She revealed.

Kyle looked at the brutal display, and he turned to Sunset.

“Maybe whoever did this is on our side? ‘Enemy of our enemy’ and all that?”

Sunset didn’t show much reaction to that hopeful reply.

“We should move on... maybe there’s an opening to the station.”

Sunset turned to him. She knew that going inside was the wrong call.

“Kyle...” She started.

Kyle sensed her tone and sighed.

“Please, Sunset... I know what I’m asking us to do, but if there’s even a 1% chance she’s there, I have to know... I owe her that much.”

Sunset wanted to state the obvious—that the station was most certainly a no-go if the maniac who made a wall of corpses is behind it-- but knew that turning back and heading home wasn’t an option for him.

“We’ll see if there’s an open road, but if this guy adds us to that wall, I’ll haunt you in the afterlife.” She sighed, pulling the truck around and following the adjacent road.

As they drove, Kyle studied the town just within Crystal Prep’s district line that he used to call home. The desolate remnants of his old life stood before him, but he felt little to no remorse over it. After all, this small town was never home to him...

The two drove for only a few minutes before finding an un-walled section of town. They cautiously drove through, both of them keeping their eyes on the road and their surroundings.

As they got closer to the station, they began to notice trails of blood on the ground as well as piles of burnt, skeletal remains...

“Someone’s living here...?” Kyle asked out loud.

Before Sunset could answer, a gunshot rang out, and the windshield had a hole right through the middle.

“Shit!” Sunset shouted, ducking her head and reaching for the shotgun under the driver's seat.

Kyle pulled out his M16 and did his best to locate the shooters.

“I can’t see them!” He shouted as bullets began to fly, hitting the sides of the truck.

“Hold on!” Sunset shouted, stomping on the brakes and drifting the truck back around to the way they came.

As she drove, Kyle set the rifle into the rear window, aiming down the sights and blindly opening fire. They were just about to reach the way they came...

Until they passed a strip on the ground, followed by a vicious POP!

The truck swerved before skidding against the pavement. Sunset tried to control the vehicle, but that was hard with no tires... The truck swerved against the sidewalk at over 60 miles an hour, resulting in it bouncing into the air and flipping over. The two were violently thrashed, with Kyle hitting the roof of the truck in mid-air.

Once the wreck was over, Sunset struggled to collect her senses thanks to the sudden impact. She unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to check on Kyle, but failed thanks to her ears ringing and her head spinning. She managed to reach him, but saw that he was badly hurt... he was out cold, blood was running down his head, and his left arm was bent the wrong way, blood oozing from the wound.

She heard footsteps approaching and quickly grabbed his rifle, opening the door closest to her and peeking her head out.

“Well, I’ll be damned... a Canterloter!” A low yet familiar voice laughed.

Sunset was blinded for a second by the sudden change in light, but once it passed, she saw an armored Caribou approaching, with three more following from behind. Acting quickly, she pulled the handgun holstered by her hip and aimed it at the four Caribou.

“Stay the hell back!” She shouted, her shaking arm barely holding it to the one in the front.

The four were unphased by her gun as they drew four rifles and aimed them all right at her. She studied the rifles drawn on her and knew that fighting back would only make things worse. Relenting, she dropped her gun.

“That’s cute... but let’s get this part out of the way quick, shall we? The fun part’s right up next...” The ringleader smirked, pulling out some rope from his belt.

Seeing the imminent threat, Sunset refused to go down quietly. The man charged her, giving her no time to run. She madly thrashed against him as he tied her arms behind her back. As he was about to start tying her legs, she saw an opportunity and bit down into her captor’s hand, immediately drawing blood.

“Argh! Crazy bitch!” The soldier shouted, giving Sunset a backfist for her troubles.

Sunset’s head cracked back, and she was knocked down, giving the soldier access to tie her legs together.

“There... not so bad, now, was it?” He asked her.

Sunset slowly regained her senses and began to recognize the voice before her.

“Who are you...?” She asked him.

He decided to comply, undoing the buckles on his horned helmet.

As he removed his helmet, Sunset’s eyes grew wide with shock as she struggled to conceive the blue-haired teen before her...

“...Flash...?” She whispered.

Indeed, before her was her ex-boyfriend/old friend Flash Sentry. However, even now, Sunset could tell something was wrong with him. His spikey blue haircut was shaved down to a buzzcut, a distinctive brand was imprinted into his left cheek, and the look in his eyes was one she never saw in him—not even while they were together. The look of sheer, unhinged lust and hunger put more fear into her than the undead could...

“Hey, Sunny... Miss me? ‘Cause I sure missed you...” He chuckled, slowly stepping towards her.

Sunset tried to back away, but her efforts were futile thanks to her limbs being tied.

“Flash, you... you wouldn’t do this! They took you away, remember?!”

Flash laughed at her plea for logic.

“Yeah, He did... but He also helped us. He showed us the way things were always meant to be—the way they should be!” He proclaimed, walking up to the left side.

Sunset already knew what was about to happen and turned to the smoking truck, knowing Kyle was out cold... Flash noticed her glance, however.

“You, search the truck—you'll have a turn when I’m done.” Flash instructed, fiddling with his belt buckle.

Sunset’s heart rate quickened as Flash pulled his belt out and tossed it to the floor and as the soldier peeked inside the window.

“Hey, there’s someone in here!” He shouted, prying open the door and beginning to pull Kyle out.

Sunset’s breath quickened, and Flash took his time approaching her.

“Hey-- eyes up here, beautiful... if you’re lucky, I’ll take you back as my pet—it’d be pretty ironic, wouldn’t you think?” Flash sadistically smiled.

Sunset tried to think of a way out of the situation before her, but all of her ideas fell flat... Just as Flash knelt down to her and started to unzip his jeans, the soldier called to him.

“Hey, what should we do with this kid?!”

Sighing, Flash released her for a moment.

“Just put him in one of the buildings—we don’t need any more dead weight.”

“But boss, we should see what he knows, first—maybe he knows where the others are.”

The other three seemed interested in that idea.

“Yeah... maybe he knows where that rainbow one is...” The taller one said.

Sunset froze, his voice sounded familiar, too...

“B-Big Mac?” She asked, frozen in shock and horror once again.

He didn’t take off his helmet for her, he didn’t need to...

“Eeyup.”

Sunset realized the gravity of her situation, and she barely had time to respond as Flash pinned her head to the ground...

“Just relax, Sunny... I’ll make sure I’m gentle enough on you...”He smiled.

As he leaned in and rested his lips on her cheek, a loud gunshot rang out, and the head of the soldier dragging Kyle was blown open, blood staining the wrecked windshield.

The shot rang in Sunset’s ears as the remaining three immediately drew their guns around them, trying to figure out where the shooter was.

“I was wondering when you’d show up... Come on out, Shining! We outnumber you!” Flash shouted.

Sunset’s mind struggled to comprehend the following moments, but she had no time to process any of it. Several more gunshots rang out, keeping the three soldiers busy.

She watched as from an adjacent building, a gas-masked feminine figure approached, grabbing Big Mac from behind and holding Flash and the third soldier at gunpoint with a pistol. As the other two turned to respond to the new threat, the masked woman wasted no time blowing the masked soldier’s brains out and putting a bullet in Flash’s right leg. Once the two were dispatched, she used the butt of the pistol to knock Big Mac out cold. Gently dropping him to the ground, she walked over towards Flash, delivering one fine kick to his head, knocking him out, as well.

With the situation resolved, the woman reached to her side and unattached a walkie-talkie from her belt.

“It’s clear. I see two down here. One of them is pretty injured...” She radioed.

With an affirmative beep from the other side of the radio, she holstered it and walked over to Sunset. Reaching into the other side of her belt, she pulled out a small pocket knife. Carefully, she cut only the knot of each rope apart, pulling the rest of the rope away. Once her legs were free, she made her way up and crouched down to Sunset’s eye level.

“Sunset Shimmer, I believe?” She asked her, unattaching her mask and revealing the face of Redheart-- Canterlot High’s former nurse.

Sunset barely saw her, however, her eyes focused on the grizzly scene that unfolded before her. As Redheart went to cut her hands free, Sunset jumped back a little.

“It’s okay—it's over now. They won’t hurt you, anymore...” Redheart assured her, cutting her hands free.

Sunset held her freed hands, noticing an imprint from the rope abrasing her skin.

“I’m gonna check on your friend now. Can you help me and tie those two up? I’ll be right here if they try anything.” She said, handing Sunset the roll of rope.

Sunset nodded, her senses beginning to return. Walking over to the two old friends, she tied their hands, similar to how they tied hers.

Redheart noticed Kyle’s broken arm and removed her backpack, unzipping it and pulling out a handful of thick sticks, medical tape, and bandaging. Working fast, she formed a splint around his arm, setting the bone as best as possible.

Once Sunset was done tying, she looked out toward the street and saw a cloaked figure making their way toward the scene, dragging two sleds with them. A sniper rifle hung past their shoulder, which Sunset put together was the one used to kill the two soldiers.

“Who are you people?” Sunset asked Redheart as she pulled a tarp and two telescoping poles from the bag.

“We’re survivors... Now, get over here. We’re gonna help your friend. I’m gonna fold this up, and we’re gonna get him on this. We’ll give him help, but not here. Understand?” Redheart asked.

Sunset nodded, but Redheart observed the girl’s distant behavior.

“You’re in shock. Take a seat here, breathe. It’s gonna be alright, now.” Redheart gestured for her friend to hurry over.

Jogging over, the cloaked figure studied the two soldiers who were knocked out. He quickly put both men into the sleds, testing their weight and seeing that he could drag them back to base with no issue.

“Good catch. Where did these two wash up from--?” The figure stopped seeing who exactly was laid out on the ground with a splinted arm and the girl leaning on the wrecked truck for support, trying to catch her breath.

The cloaked figure removed his hood and glanced at Sunset.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

Sunset heard her full name and looked to see the face of Shining Armor, Twilight’s older brother and sergeant of Canterlot’s police department.

“Shining Armor?” She asked, struggling to decide if she should trust him, seeing that her ex just tried to assault her...

He sensed the distrust and turned to the boy on the ground.

“How do you know him?” He pointed at Kyle.

Sunset glanced at him and nodded.

“He’s a friend.” She answered.

Shining nodded, saving that tidbit for later.

“Okay, we’re gonna do everything we can for him, but we need to move. We shouldn’t see any more inside our boundary, but we never know...”

Redheart finished forming a makeshift stretcher with the poles and tarp. With that done, she laid it out flat and glanced at Sunset.

“Can you help me with this?” She asked, preparing to pick up Kyle.

Nodding, Sunset came over and helped carry Kyle onto the stretcher.

“Okay, on the count of three, we’re both going to carry this, okay? One... two... three!” Redheart counted.

They both picked up the stretcher, carrying Kyle with relative ease.

“Good. Let me know if you need a break. We shouldn’t be moving long.”

Sunset shared one last nod, and the group was off. Redheart and Sunset carried Kyle while Shining dragged the two prisoners.

“Why are you keeping them?” Sunset asked Shining.

“Because they’re not themselves. Dainn brainwashed them... I’m trying to fix them.”

Sunset was immediately confused.

“We killed Dainn... Celestia killed him.”

Shining and Redheart shared a look.

“No-- Celestia killed a body double. Dainn himself never leaves his compound these days.” Redheart revealed.

Sunset’s eyes grew wide at that information, but she put it aside for now.

“Where’re we taking him?” She asked.

“The police station. It’s secure, we have some refugees inside. We have medicine, and Redheart was a pretty good nurse—we'll help him as best we can.” Shining said.

The rush to the station was relatively short. They were outside the two-story building in no time at all, and Kyle was brought inside and laid inside an open cell in the holding area.

Sunset was seated in the lobby alongside Shining, holding two steaming cups.

“I don’t know if you’re a coffee person, but...”

Sunset took the cup and slowly took a sip.

“I saw what happened to the high school. I thought... I thought no one made it.” He confessed.

“I still don’t know how we did. It all happened so fast. It’s... good you weren’t there for it.”

Shining stayed silent at that suggestion.

“So, what caused it? I thought they were fine with us being around, as long as we gave them whoever they wanted...” He scowled.

Sunset cracked a smile as she looked over to a still-unconscious Kyle.

“He showed up. He called them out on their bullshit, and they didn’t stand for it.”

Shocked, Shining glanced over to Kyle and back at her.

“Really? How so?” He asked.

Sunset cracked a smile, the image of him smack-talking a man with a “sniper” on him flashing in her mind.

“He called out how they had pulled back on their resources when they were visiting us. We all took that as them getting weak... turns out we were wrong.” She sighed.

Shining almost scoffed at the idea of the Caribou getting weak.

“Very wrong. They were accumulating what they had for an expansion. An aggressive one... they’ve been tearing their way through the city for weeks, now. Taking whatever and whoever they want for themselves and killing anyone that stands in their way. It’s not safe up here anymore... I’ve been looking for a way to get people out, but more and more escapees come every day and...” Shining sighed, “...I can’t just leave them to die or worse.”

Sunset took in what he said, struggling to devise a better solution for them.

“We’re from a place out east, but... we can’t take any more people in. Besides, it’s not our call, anyway.”

Shining turned to her.

“You have a camp?”

Sunset chuckled, tilting her head a tad.

“We have a city. Townsville, not too far from the shoreline.”

Shining finally let out a scoff.

“The Townsville? Home of the Powerpuff Girls?”

“Yep-- they’re our neighbors... depowered, sadly.”

A moment passed as they both took sips from their cups.

“So, Dainn’s alive... inside that prison with everyone he’s ever taken.” She voiced out loud.

Shining hung his head.

“Yeah. I’ve been trying to fix whatever he’s done to as many people as possible so we could have an army against him, but... nothing I’ve done has worked.”

“How many have you captured?”

Shining paused for a moment to count.

“About 49, now, counting Flash and Big Mac. I only realized that they were brainwashed thanks to a few escapees I took in about two weeks ago. I’ve been trying to help them ever since.”

Sunset took another sip.

“Why did you two come back this way? This whole place has been a warzone ever since Canterlot High was taken.”

Sunset shrugged.

“Kyle’s mom. She died during the outbreak, and he never put her down. So, she’s out there as one of the walkers.”

Shining’s eyes widened and his head lowered.

“Beth’s dead...?”

He sat with that statement before Sunset glanced toward the door.

“Did you make that wall of corpses outside?”

Shining glanced at her and sighed.

“It’s a fear tactic. Rotters show up on a regular basis, so I had the idea... It’s supposed to scare those savages away, but... you can see how well that worked.” He sighed.

Sunset tilted her head at that name.

“’Rotters’?”

“It’s what I call the slow ones.” Shining chuckled.

Sunset slowly nodded, taking in the name.

“And the fast ones?”

“Ragers.”

“Rotters and Ragers... I like it.”

Inside the cell, Kyle began to stir.

“Ugh... Sunset...?” He slurred, slowly coming to.

Redheart quickly rushed by him, stopping him from trying to get up.

“Kyle Williams? You were in an accident. You’re safe, now.”

Hearing the new voice, Kyle quickly jolted back, turning to see Sunset and Shining.

“Shining Armor?” He asked, stunned at seeing such an old face.

Shining got up and made his way over, taking a seat beside Redheart.

“Hey, kiddo.” He said, his voice in a nostalgic tone.

Kyle slowly rose up to hold Shining in a hug, a gesture that neither of them had time to protest to.

“Kyle, your arm!” Sunset finally shouted before he could fold his arms.

Stopping, Kyle finally noticed the wrapping on his arm.

“What about it?” He asked, wiggling his fingers at the end of the cast.

Doing so made Redheart’s face go paler than it already was, and Shining’s eyes widened.

“That... shouldn’t be possible.” Redheart said.

“What? What happened?” Kyle asked.

“We were in an accident; the Caribou aren’t gone... Dainn sent a body double to the school instead of going himself.” Sunset filled him in.

Kyle processed the events he had just been told and looked at his arm again.

“Jesus... So, my arm’s broken?” He asked in confusion, puzzled over how he could move his hand and that his arm wasn’t in pain.

Redheart shrugged.

“It was earlier, but your hand’s moving, so... I don’t know?” She concluded.

It took Kyle a moment, but the answer hit him like a flash.

“Oh, shit! I completely forgot to tell you!” He turned towards Sunset, “When we were in holding for Townsville, one of the guards bashed my nose... it healed in seconds!”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she looked toward Kyle’s cast.

“So that means...”

Redheart quickly began unbandaging his arm and looked at the splinted area. Sure enough, what was once purple and swollen was completely healed.

“That’s certainly not normal...”

Shining groaned.

“Here I thought we were done with the magic shit...”

Kyle chuckled at that.

“Oh, not by a longshot... so what else do we need to know?”

Once Kyle was caught up and checked once again by Redheart, they were brought upstairs where they saw that the offices and work desks of the station have been converted into a sort of living center of over 20 women, all wearing police-related wardrobe-- T-shirts labeled with the Canterlot PD and cargo jeans.

“They’re all escapees?” Kyle asked.

The group all looked at the two in either confusion or panic. Shining was quick to calm them.

“He’s not with them. He and Sunset Shimmer are friends."

With that reassurance, they all went back to their business. Kyle watched the scene in shock, surprised at how few were able to escape.

“I always hope that Twilight or Cadence will be next... From what I heard, they escaped some time ago.”

Kyle’s eyes widened, and Sunset felt a strong wave of relief.

“They got out? They—they're free?” Kyle asked her.

Shining sighed.

“It’s not that simple... the Caribou broke them completely before they did. They were Black Collars.”

The two shared a confused look that Shining noticed.

“The Caribou rank their slaves with collars... black is the most broken.”

The relief Sunset felt was quickly washed away.

“Oh, Shining, I’m so sorry...” She sighed.

Shining nodded, looking away from the two.

“I’m sorry about your mom, Kyle... but I’m afraid I can’t help you. My hands are full here. You can stay for the night if you’d like... I can clean out a room or two in the lobby. After that, you should head back to Townsville and... stay there.”

Shining made his way downstairs, with the two quickly following. Once they were downstairs, they all shared a seat in the lobby.

“I’m sorry you had to come back to this... but it’s all I have.” Shining said to the two.

Kyle nodded, leaning into the desk they were sharing.

“So, what...? Every one of the Caribou is under some spell?”

Shining shrugged.

"Not all of them. The inmates that used to be there are of their own free will, maybe some stragglers here and there. I should go make sure they’re settled for the night...”

As Shining got up, Kyle and Sunset did, also.

Shining paused and let out a sigh.

“Not you, Sunset. I’m sorry, but if they see you, they’ll... they’ll lose it.”

“What do you mean?” She asked him.

“Dainn’s spell, it... it affects their lust, makes it uncontrollable. It’s...,” He froze and started staring into the distance, “... It’s a nightmare.”

Kyle shared a worried glance with Sunset before he looked back to Shining.

“I’ll stay behind, then.” She said, backing up and taking her seat once again.

With that, Kyle and Shining took the lead, making their way downstairs under the lobby. Once they were a fair distance away, Sunset quickly stood up and began to follow...

“So... how’ve you been, man? What’s it been, four years?” Shining asked.

“Three and a half, actually.” Kyle chuckled.

Shining let out a laugh.

“Oh, keeping count, are we?”

Kyle smiled, playfully punching Shining’s arm as if no time had passed at all.

“Shut up, man. But yeah, I’ve been...”

He froze, remembering all of the events that occurred during those years.

“I’ve been surviving.” He answered.

Shining chuckled and gave his head a tilt.

“Yeah, we’ve all been... I guess you know something about that, though, right?”

The pair reached the door of the holding area. Reaching into his belt, Shining conjured a set of keys, unlocking and opening the door.

Once the door was opened, the pair were greeted with a chorus of angered, pained wails.

“Don’t touch the glass...” Shining quipped, walking inside first.

Kyle wasn’t far behind, used to such sounds from the infected Ragers. However, he quickly realized that the sounds weren’t coming from infected...

He looked into one of the doors and saw a teenager about his age with blue spikey hair and Caribou armor on him starting to twitch a little until he saw Kyle.

“You! You were with her... where is she?! Where is my Sunset?!” He asked Kyle, pounding against the door in desperation and anger.

Kyle backed away and quickly caught up with Shining.

“What’s wrong with them...?”

“The longer they go without... getting off, the more riled up they get. Part of Dainn’s curse.”

Kyle’s curiosity finally got the better of him.

“Sounds like you know about that. You were under it, weren’t you?”

Shining stopped, not turning to face Kyle. Without saying a word, he let out a pained sigh and pressed on.

“Sorry...” Kyle responded.

“Don’t be. They should be good.” He said in a monotone voice, turning around and getting ahead of Kyle.

Kyle stopped and took a moment to witness the state the young men around him were in and quickly joined Shining.

“Applejack’s brother was one of the four who shot at you... I’m gonna guess she’s with you in Townsville?” He asked as he locked the door leading into the screamfest.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he nodded.

“Yeah...”

Shining sighed.

“That filthy dog... tearing families apart, and for what?Some sick...” Shining noticed himself about to start a rant and cut himself off, instead slamming the side of his fist against the brick wall and slumping onto the floor.

Kyle took a moment before walking towards him and slumping down beside him.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t help you, here... You should turn in. Sounds like you guys have a bit of a drive in the morning...”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah... I don’t know if I can go back, knowing she’s still out here. Shining, I...,” Kyle felt himself begin to choke up, “I said some things to her. Awful things that wound up being the last words I ever said to her...”

Shining let out a gentle sigh.

“I was meaning to talk about that. I heard what happened that day—what you... almost did. I’m sorry it got to that point.”

Kyle scoffed.

“It wasn’t just them... it was a lot of things, man. My dad... my old friends... Twilight...”

Shining hung his head.

“She never wanted to stop hanging out with you, you know...”

“Yeah-- Cinch and her mind games. I was caught up on all that.”

Silence washed over the duo for a moment.

“You know, it’s days like this... where part of me misses Crystal Prep.” He confessed.

Shining slowly turned to Kyle in confusion.

“Really? You missing Prep?” He let out a soft chuckle.

Kyle shrugged.

“It wasn’t all bad. Sure, students made me a punching bag-laughing stock, but hey—outfits were sharp, school songs were catchy--”

“Hey, don’t get me started on those... stupid earworms they had...”

Kyle smirked at that.

“~Na, na, na-na-na, oh...~” He started.

Shining quickly turned to Kyle in horror.

“Kyle, stop...” He pleaded.

“~All the way, all the way, all the way to the Friendship Games.~” Kyle softly sang, with a voice that somewhat startled him.

Shining chuckled in annoyance, quickly covering his ears.

“Kyle, I’m telling you, man—you're not too old for me to whoop.” He laughed.

Kyle quickly stood up and began a playful/uncoordinated dance to go with his singing.

“~Na, na, na-na-na, oh! Na, na, let's go!~” He sang proudfully.

Shining tried to fight but sighed, his amusement growing too powerful to ignore.

“~All the way, all the way, all the way to the Friendship Games!~” They both sang together before breaking down into laughter.

The laughter slowly died down, with the two letting out long sighs.

“Thanks, man... I needed that.” Shining chuckled.

“Yeah... me, too.” Kyle smiled.

As the two sat there, Kyle’s chest began to glow a faint red... red enough that it barely shone through his shirt... neither of them noticed this moment, however.

What they did notice was the sudden silence in the holding cells.

“Hey... you hear that?” Shining asked.

Kyle listened and shrugged.

“I don’t hear anything...”

Shining quickly got up and opened the door to the cells, only to be met with silence, this time...

As the doors opened, several of the inmates leaned against the doors.

“Hello? Is anyone out there? Where’re the others?” Flash called out first.

Several others began to call out in confusion. Some were angry while others were scared...

“What the hell...?” Shining asked.

About two hours after the incident in holding. Shining and Kyle checked in on their last inmate—Flash Sentry.

Flash nervously waited to see what fate was awaiting him-- he felt strong worry about the others who had been taken just hours ago as far as he knew... However, he was surprised to see Shining enter the room.

"Shining! What... what happened? Where're the Caribou?"

In that instant, Shining knew that he was cleaned... but still, he took a seat.

"Flash Sentry... What's the last thing you remember?" He asked, already having his questions saved from the other inmates.

Flash thought for a moment, struggling to recall for some reason...

"We were just loaded up and taken away-- Shining, you were with us! Is-- is Twilight okay?"

Shining instinctually clenched his fists, but calmed himself.

"Do you have any strong or violent lustful urges of any kind?"

Flash looked absolutely bewildered.

"N-no! Why would I...? Shining, is everything okay?"

Shining nodded.

"They're fine, now. Does the name Dainn mean anything at all to you?"

Flash scoffed.

"Yeah-- he's the douchebag stealing our friends. What the hell's going on?!" Flash raised his arms in frustration.

Shining nodded and sighed.

"Flash, you were under Dainn's control for at least four months. In that time, you have raped and enslaved several women... you were brought here just before you were able to attack Sunset Shimmer." He sighed, knowing it was better to rip the bandage off.

Flash's eyes widened as he sunk back into the chair in terror.

"I... I wouldn't. I wouldn't! There's no way I would--!"

Shining's sorrowful expression told the young man everything he needed to know. Tears of shock began to fall, and Shining was quick to embrace the boy, his eyes beginning to finally dampen, as well.

They stayed embraced for a few minutes until Shining assured Flash everything was going to be okay before finally walking back out.

"They're all fine." Shining shrugged to Kyle.

Kyle shrugged back in bewilderment.

"How's that possible?"

Shining shrugged.

"Maybe the curse... wears off? Maybe they all were wiped off of it at once? Or maybe something happened to Dainn...? There're too many possibilities to pinpoint it right now... let's just save this for the morning, yeah?" Shining let out a dragged-out yawn.

Kyle nodded, heading back upstairs. Up there, Sunset had already put her pack into a small office.

"Sorry, guys-- this was all I could spare." Shining sighed.

"We'll make it work." Sunset said, opening her pack and setting up a cot for herself.

Kyle noticed how cold Sunset felt after the wreck. He wanted to ask what happened but felt that it would be in bad taste-- he had seen this situation before to have a good guess as to what had occurred.

He wasted no time entering and unrolling his own cot.

"Good night, Sunset." He said to her.

"What did you last say to your mother?"

Kyle quickly turned towards her, who was looking straight into his eyes.

"W-what?"

"I heard what you said to Shining. What did you say to her?"

Kyle hesitated but relented.

"I don't think you saw what happened that day, did you?"

Sunset shook her head.

"I, uh... I liked to go up to the roof of the school. Just to reflect, you know? But this day... this day I walked right up to the edge. I don't know why I did... but it doesn't change the fact that I had one foot over."

Sunset's eyes widened in horror. She never saw anything about a suicide attempt, and she didn't mark Kyle as someone who would attempt.

"Someone spotted me, and it became a whole thing... my mom showed up and got me out. We were driving home, and she was... she was quiet. She had been ever since Dad died. I couldn't take it, anymore-- I wanted her to say something, to scream, shout some sense into me-- anything... So I said the worst thing I thought of... I said that she never cared about me."

Sunset softly sighed as Kyle continued, his voice beginning to break.

"I didn't mean it... I didn't mean it. I just wanted her to be angry at me! Her son just tried to kill himself but she's just-- she's just fine?!" Kyle shouted.

He quickly caught his tone and sighed.

"I couldn't... I couldn't stand it. I said it, we shouted, and she took her eyes off the road. Another car sped towards us, and..."

Sunset gasped-- she saw the wreck but not the argument that caused it.

"Sunset, I killed my mom." He cried, tears streaming down his face now.

Sunset didn't hesitate to scooch over and hug him, her eyes looking out the closed door...

"I hurt him so bad..."

Kyle's tears slowly subsided as he slowly broke the hug, facing Sunset again.

"What do you mean?"

"My mom, she was always busy. My dad was never really in the picture... for the most part, it was my brother and I. He loved studying magic. It was a passion for him... for me, it was something I was just good at. He admired me, looked to me for advice, and when I got accepted into Princess Celestia's academy, he lost it. He was so excited for me, and you should've seen his face when I told him that I was chosen to be her apprentice..." She laughed in nostalgia.

Her smile quickly faded, however.

"I was selfish. I was greedy... prideful... I let the power-- the promise of power get to me. I pushed everyone away from my life... even Sunburst. I saw the mirror-- the portal to this world. I saw myself in it-- as a princess, ruling all of Equestria."

Sunset paused to take a breath.

"I let that image turn me into something else... something ugly. I got caught trying to sneak back in, and I was banished from the palace and expelled... I didn't stay home long, but I didn't need to... Sunburst asked me just so many questions, and I... I exploded. I said a lot more than 'he didn't care for me'... I broke him." She sniffled.

"And that was the last time that I've seen him. Over six years ago, now..."

Kyle listened to her, both of them finally crumbling after so long of staying strong.

"I don't want that to be the last time I ever see him... but if it is, I'm gonna do everything I can to make up for it. You have to do that, too. So let's do that together."

Kyle smiled, and the two shared another embrace. This time, however, they didn't break away. They stayed huddled together, crumbling and keeping each other together until sleep enveloped them both, bringing an end to a hectic day...

Mother

The morning came quickly for Kyle and Sunset. After eating a pair of packaged MRE’s from the police station, Shining escorted the duo to the garage, where a plethora of police vehicles stood at the ready.

“I put as many keys inside as I could, so odds are any you find will be ready to go... take your pick. I wish I could spare you some weapons, but once all of the guys are on their feet, I’m gonna need everything we’ve got...”

The two nod, understanding Shining’s position.

Sunset observed the massive SWAT vans in intrigue, but Kyle kept his eyes on the rows of cruisers. Shining smiled at Kyle’s tactics as he checked a few cars that interested him.

“How about this one?” Sunset asked, pointing at the SWAT van.

Kyle glanced at it and quickly shook his head.

“It’s too big—we'd never be able to get out of a jam in that thing. Besides, it guzzles gas, and odds are Shining’s gonna need it for an attack on the Caribou.”

Sunset seemed disappointed, but understood his logic.

“Maybe this one?” Kyle asked, pointing at a sleek black car with the Canterlot PD emblem on the sides.

Shining saw that car as smiled to himself.

“Yeah, that one’s a good choice.” He said.

Sunset walked over to it and began to admire it as much as Shining did.

“I think it’ll work.” She smiled, making her way to the driver's seat.

She inserted the key and turned the ignition, allowing the engine to roar to life. Kyle set their bag of supplies that Shining scraped together for them in the back. It was barely a day’s worth, but to them it was better than nothing.

Kyle was about to hop in the passenger seat when Shining stopped him.

“We found this on you... I wasn’t sure if you were under Dainn’s control or not, so...” He said, presenting a holster holding Kyle’s mother’s revolver inside.

Kyle glanced at it and nodded, taking it off of his hands.

“Thanks, man. It was good seeing you. If you guys ever need somewhere to go, I’m sure we can arrange something with Princess...”

Shining paused, confused over the new name, but nodded.

“Sure... take care, little dude.”

With supplies and a fully-fueled car secured, the two drove off back into the world...

“So, where to? Home is my first guess.”

Kyle nodded, pondering to himself. This distant behavior didn’t go unnoticed as they drove past the wreck of their former vehicle.

“Unless you can think of somewhere else that your mom might wander off to? Somewhere that she’d remember?”

Kyle thought for a moment, but he only knew one place she could go. One place that Kyle wasn’t ready to go back to... but if there was a chance, she was there...

He took a breath and slowly released it.

“Yeah, I know a place... it’s at least half a day’s drive from here... if she isn’t there, we can go right home.”

Sunset hesitated, unsure if she wanted to chance another Caribou encounter. However, her doubts slowly faded once he said it was a bit far.

“How far is it from the city?” She asked him.

“It’s out in the countryside... it shouldn’t be anywhere near the Caribou. I know the way from here... You wanna get on the highway and get off at Exit 102.”

Sunset nodded, and started to find the closest entry point for the highway.

As they drove, Kyle glanced out the window, watching the familiar sights speed past him. Silence stayed between the two for a while until Sunset finally broke it.

“You didn’t kill your mom.”

Kyle turned to her in confusion.

“What?”

“Last night, you said that you got your mom killed. You can’t think like that, man—you didn’t kill her. It just happened.”

Kyle nodded to her and turned back to the window.

“We should talk about what we can do about the Caribou. We can’t just let them keep doing what they’re doing...”

Kyle nodded and leaned back to the seat.

“I agree, but what can we do? I don’t see Princess letting us send a couple dozen soldiers to clear them out or taking in refugees... we’re hours away from Townsville.”

Sunset sighed.

“Yeah, but we have to do something! Maybe... maybe we take Princess out of the picture.”

Kyle’s eyes widened.

“What, you wanna stage a revolution?”

Sunset paused and grunted.

“I don’t know... but we can’t just do nothing! People are suffering back home, and things are getting worse. You’ve seen the restaurants and stuff, lately, right? They’re running out of food. What happens when the ration line runs out? It’s a city— with about 10,000 people inside. one ration line just isn’t enough...”

Kyle wanted to respond but recalled the different times he had to go to the ration line because of other areas being closed.

“Yeah... Princess seems to have a pretty big food shortage. Maybe we can find something out here?”

Sunset sighed.

“Kyle, do you know how many people live in that city? At least a couple thousand... anything we find out here won’t be enough to last a day.”

Kyle thought for a moment, but an answer quickly found him.

“The Caribou...”

Sunset scrunched her brows in confusion.

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Sunset, they have to be loaded with supplies! They took all of Canterlot’s, all of whatever other settlements they’ve raided, and not to mention the amount of people they have! I didn’t see any of those guys who Shining had hostage at the verge of starving... that’s it, that’s our answer!”

Sunset thought for a moment but began to see where Kyle was going.

“Yeah... we tell Princess that they have plenty of people, meaning tons of supplies... and we take them out, Townsville gets more supplies, and the Caribou are gone. Everybody wins!”

Kyle smiled, knowing that he was one of the only people Princess might listen to.

“I’ll run it by her as soon as we get back.” He nodded.

With that, the two fell silent again. For the next hour, they rode on the relatively empty highway. Every now and then, they stopped and searched a few wreckages, securing a few boxes of food and some gas. One of the cars contained a double-barrel shotgun that Sunset decided to hold on to.

“Have you shot one, before?” Kyle asked Sunset.

She shrugged.

“Not really. I had some practice at Canterlot and a big more back home, but... never shot a double-barrel.”

Kyle chuckled.

“Me neither, unless VR counts.”

The two shared a laugh as they finally reached the designated exit. As they got off the highway, Kyle took a breath.

“Sunset... when we wrecked... that one Caribou. He was your ex, right?”

Sunset slowly nodded.

“Yeah... you saw what those creeps did to him. Why?” She asked, despite knowing what Kyle was more than likely going to ask.

Kyle paused a moment, wondering if he should ask her his question.

“Did he... you know...”

“No,” She sharply cut him off, “He barely touched me. Besides, that wasn’t him. Not really... the real Flash wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Kyle let out a chuckle and Sunset kept her eyes on the long winding road before them.

“You know, I always wondered why Dainn wanted guys every now and then. I guess now we know...” Sunset said.

“Yeah... did Shining tell you that he was under Dainn’s control?” Kyle asked.

Sunset felt her heart sink as she shook her head.

“No. He didn’t.”

“He described it as a living hell... I can’t imagine what that was like for him.”

Sunset didn’t respond, her mind turning to the worst-case-scenario of Shining being controlled...

“Kyle, do you think that he...”

Kyle gestured to her to stop.

“No. We can’t think about that, right now. If he did, then it’s like you said—it wasn’t him.”

The two continued to drive for a while longer until Sunset saw an old sign hung against a telephone pole.

“Sanctuary Foster Home & Shelter for the Homeless, 3 Miles.”

Underneath the sign was a yellow label reading “under construction”.

Kyle observed the old sign with waves of emotion flowing over him. Sunset noticed only a few of these emotions.

“That’s where we’re going?”

He only nodded.

Sunset continued to drive, now knowing their destination.

“So, did you live here? For a while, at least?”

Kyle shook his head.

“My dad owned it.”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she hummed to herself.

“Oh.”

The turn to the building was not far ahead, and as they turned, Kyle felt a wave of dread wash over him as he saw large construction vehicles parked by the turn and chainlink fences blocking most of the fields save for the road.

“Oh, wow... some kind of expansion?” Sunset asked.

“No...” Kyle simply answered.

The two pulled up to the building, and Kyle’s dread quickly faded away. Before them was the cleaned and preserved building that stood tall and seemingly untouched by nature.

“It’s here... they finished it...” Kyle whispered in awe.

Sunset glanced at the new building in confusion when the answer finally hit her.

“The fire... it was here?”

Kyle nodded, and Sunset quickly recognized the entrance... She noticed the exact spot where she saw him standing outside looking in, crying out in horror...

“We should be quick...” Kyle said, walking up to the door and knocking.

A few moments passed, and Kyle could hear rapid footsteps sprinting towards the closed door. In moments, infected bodies were throwing themselves against the door, trying to get out. The sudden sprinting and pounding at the door caused Kyle to jump back a little.

“What did you say Shining called them? ‘Ragers’?” He asked her, chuckling as he held the door shut.

Sunset smiled and nodded.

“Yeah... Ragers.”

Kyle smiled and looked around for a weapon. He noticed a set of tools on a nearby crate. Pliers, hammers, screwdrivers, a fire axe, and a crowbar.

“Can you hand me that?” He asked Sunset, pointing at the crowbar.

She nodded and picked up the weapon.

“What’s the magic word?” She teased him.

Kyle shot her an annoyed look and chuckled.

“Please?” He rolled his eyes.

“Better.” She said, handing him the crowbar.

Taking the weapon, Kyle swung open the door and quickly whacked the screaming zombie in the head, knocking it to the ground. With one final swing, the Rager’s head was reduced to mush. As Kyle killed that zombie, Sunset grabbed the fire axe off the ground.

“Okay, it sounds like this was it... let’s head inside.” Kyle said.

The two entered the blood-smeared doors. Inside the building, they saw clattered cans of food, blood stains across the floor, and other signs of zombie activity.

“I guess it explains why the infected infested certain buildings, now...” Sunset started.

Kyle took a moment to respond, fixed on the sight of his father’s life’s work covered in blood and zombie remains.

“Yeah, especially supermarkets... they need the food. Do they scavenge for it? Hunt, maybe?” Kyle asked himself.

Sunset shrugged, and their conversation was cut short by hollow rasps and groans...

“And those are ‘Rotters’?” Kyle asked.

Sunset nodded, knowing the sound all-too well.

“Yeah...” She nodded, preparing her axe.

Kyle reached to his side, pulling out his mother’s gun.

The corpse that shambled to their view was an absurdly thin, pale construction worker. Torn orange fabric covered its chest and its mouth and hands were caked in old, dried blood... The boy’s eyes widened at seeing the state of a Rotter for the first time. It haunted him, imagining his mother like the monster slowly stepping towards him.

For a moment, Kyle looked into its eyes, trying to find a semblance of life inside, looking for a sign that the person within was still in that hollow shell... but he found nothing. He saw a withering puppet with the virus within pulling the strings.

As the Rotter approached him, he holstered the gun and grabbed the baseball bat sheathed over his shoulder, and he brought it down, splattering the zombie’s head contents across the floor.

He looked down at the now-dead body in disgust and hints of terror in his eyes.

“So that’s a Rotter...?” He asked.

Sunset nodded, still having flashbacks to the hordes that she and her friends killed sparking back to life.

“Yeah.”

Kyle flicked the excess blood and brains off his bat and slung it back over his shoulder.

“We should go... we have a lot to search...”

As they walked, Sunset noticed signs of Sanctuary’s former life, with classrooms that have been reconstructed more like apartment rooms...

“What was this place?” Sunset asked Kyle.

“It was what the name said. It was a home to anyone who needed one.”

She nodded and searched a couple of classroom-apartments, seeing that they were all empty and unfurnished.

“Must’ve finished just before the outbreak. Who knows? Maybe this will be quick.” Kyle noted.

Suddenly, a quiet screech rung out through the dark corridors...

The two both drew their guns at the noise, but saw nothing in the darkness.

“Please don’t tell me this is another zombie...” Sunset sighed.

Kyle pulled back the hammer of his revolver, allowing a distinct click to echo through the empty building...

He watched one side while Sunset watched the other with her shotgun. As she surveyed the distant halls, she could swear she saw a figure quickly rush in and out of view, crawling on all fours from the start of the hall to a nearby room.

“What the fuck...?” Sunset asked herself.

“What?” Kyle asked.

“I think some zombie just snuck into a room.”

Kyle turned to Sunset for a moment in confusion.

“That’s impossible, why would a zombie sneak?”

“I don’t know, but I know what I saw...”

Kyle shrugged and turned towards the hall facing him, watching for any signs of what Sunset was referring to.

“I don’t know... if any zombies are here, they’re definitely starved out, by now.”

Another, slightly louder screech turned Kyle’s attention down the hall he was facing. He was able to determine that something was indeed down there, but he had no clue as to what...

“Let’s keep moving... just keep your eyes and ears open.” Kyle said, turning to Sunset for a brief moment, taking his eyes off the hallway.

As he looked away, a zombie peeked out from the office closest to him, and quickly started crawling towards him...

Thankfully for him, Sunset turned to face him just in time to see the ghastly pale figure softly screeching as it was about to tackle Kyle to the ground.

“Watch out!” Sunset screamed as she pulled the trigger of her shotgun, blowing a hole in the creature’s chest and sending it back a few feet.

Kyle’s ears rang for a moment thanks to a blast that close to his ears, but he turned and saw the twitching zombie on the ground...

It was so boney thin that it didn’t seem to be able to stand upright, anymore. The sounds of its stomach rumbling one last time sent chills down Kyle’s spine.

The two had no time to take in this new discovery, however, as three more of these monsters crawled out from the other offices and sped towards them, galloping like a lion towards its prey.

“Run!” Kyle shouted, shooting one of the zombies in its shoulder, knocking it back but otherwise doing no harm.

The two ran up the flight of stairs as a few of the pursuers stopped and hovered over their fallen comrade, their stomachs growling as they sunk their teeth into the body’s flesh, beginning to devour their prey...

“What the fuck?!” Sunset shouted as the two rushed up the stairs, quickly turning and shooting or kicking the crawling zombies down the stairs, causing some bones to be broken due to the how thin and seemingly weak they were.

Sure enough, this effort sent the rest of their still-living predators down the stairs and forced them to join the feast with the others...

The two survivors watched the scene in horror.

“They’re eating each other...” Kyle noted.

“Yeah... these guys must’ve been here since the beginning. They’re wearing construction uniforms, so...” Sunset added.

“They got infected, stayed here until whatever food was here ran out, and... began to starve.”

Sunset reloaded her shotgun, and Kyle his revolver.

From the side, Kyle suddenly found himself tackled to the ground with a drooling zombie with its blood-stained teeth mere inches away from his throat...

“Fuck!” He shouted as Sunset pulled the stalker off of him, stomping on its head with her boot.

Kyle panted for breath at the sudden close-call as Sunset looked around them, shining her flashlight into the dark halls... After a few times peeking at both, she clicked off her light, seeing that the coast was clear for real this time.

“This looks like it’s all of them.” Sunset said, aiming her gun down the railing and towards the feeding horde.

Kyle finally got to his feet and aimed his gun down, as well. Looking over the stalkers, the two prepared to open fire, but they stopped once they saw a pack of Rotters roam from the front door and into the lobby.

“Oh, shit...” Sunset said, ushering Kyle to get back.

Kyle was frozen, however, as within the horde, he saw her...

He recognized the strands of black hair that remained on her head along with the torn police uniform she was wearing... with an unmistakable gunshot wound through her chest.

“Kyle?” Sunset asked, trying to follow his eyesight until she saw the Rotter he was looking at...

“That’s her...?”

Kyle was unable to answer as more of screeches rang out from the upstairs halls...

“Kyle, we gotta move... we’re out in the open, here.”

It took him a moment to break his trance with the corpse of his own mother, but Kyle turned and followed Sunset away from approaching zombies.

The two ran and fired shots behind them at their pursuers, nailing a few but not deterring the several others that were hot on their tail.

The two ran down the hall with the occasional door opening and freeing another thinned construction worker. Eventually, the two found themselves backed against a dead-end, with at least a dozen fastly-approaching zombies...

“Fuck it... get ready.” Kyle said, holding his gun up with shaky, exhausted arms.

Sunset knelt down and aimed her shotgun at the figures approaching them. Slowly, they began opening fire, killing or injuring the approaching freaks, but the ones still standing only got closer...

By the time Kyle’s revolver was empty, the two had killed over half of the infected, but six more were lunging towards them.

With their backs against a corner, the two resorted to the bat and the axe, bashing and chopping into their predators... The two displayed levels of vicious brutality that was unknown to either of them before... not even to Kyle, who had been killing zombies from the beginning.

Once the last zombie was killed, and the sounds of growling and twitching had stopped, the two finally caught their breath, collapsing to the ground and panting for breath.

“We’re alive...” Kyle said in disbelief.

Sunset chuckled and nodded.

“We’re alive.”

The two sat there for a moment, facing each other as they slowly got back up, reloading their guns.

“Come on... we have just a few more to go through.” Kyle started marching towards the staircase, desperate not to lose his mother again.

The two rushed back to the spot of the feeding frenzy, finding the remaining stalkers just finishing their meal, reducing their comrade to scattered bones with some muscle and flesh still attached. They wasted no time, firing their guns and wiping them out.

“It’s official: Those things are the worst.” Sunset nodded.

Kyle chuckled.

“Oh, yeah. Without a doubt.”

The gunfire attracted the pack of Rotters who had roamed out across the first floor, allowing Sunset and Kyle to use the axe and bat to pick them off as they walked up the stairs.

Near the end of the horde, was Kyle’s mother.

Once he saw her, he froze up again, as Sunset killed the remaining Rotters, only leaving his mother.

“Kyle, I could do it if you can’t...”

He shook his head as his mother tripped over the bodies of her fellow Rotters, resorting to crawling up the stairs, rasping at Kyle.

He stepped closer to her, holding his gun at her head.

“I’m sorry...” He whispered, pulling the trigger.

The single gunshot rang out as Sunset got up and searched the first floor for stragglers.

Kyle sat there, staring at his mother, struggling to comprehend what he had just done. He sat in reflection, his last words to her playing in his head on repeat.

It’s like you just stopped caring for me.

He felt tears begin to form and put in no effort to stop them this time. He let them go as he tossed his mother’s empty gun to the end of the stairs, unable to hold it any longer.

He sat there for a few minutes, letting his sadness flow through him after so long of keeping it inside. His tears subsided, however, and he stood up, picking up his mother and setting her by the front door.

Looking outside, he noticed that the sun had begun to set...

“We’re clear, for now. Is there somewhere safe we can fortify for the night?”

Kyle nodded and stood up, making his way through the first floor. As Sunset followed him, he turned down the hallway and passed the several cleared doors.

He all-but ran to the end of that hall, seeing a room that was more than likely a former principal’s office, entering the assistant’s office and approaching the door with a small metal sign reading “Administrator” on the top.

“It’s weird... they got a lot of it right, but... something’s just different.” Kyle said to himself, opening the door and stepping inside.

Sunset wasn’t far behind him, and they both looked inside for a brief period. Sunset admired the simple yet welcoming aura she felt inside while Kyle stared at the office desk...

Unlike before the fire, this desk was simple and seemingly cheap. Plastic and metal stood where once handcrafted, stained wood was. It took Kyle a moment to adjust to the change in décor, but once he focused again, he glanced at the nearby wall.

“I remember Dad stole the old vending machine that was outside and had it put right here by his desk... The others were removed and sold, but for some reason he kept that one...”

Sunset chuckled, imagining the man who owned the building still putting dollar bills into that machine for a can of coke.

“Why? Doesn’t he just get the money back, anyway?”

Kyle shrugged.

“No idea... he was a bit of a weirdo sometimes, my dad...”

The two laughed a bit. Kyle stepped up and set his hand on the wall where the vending machine used to be, sighing for a moment...

“Kyle, do you know what caused that fire?”

Kyle thought for a second, shaking his head.

“No. No-one does. As far as we know, it was some accident in the boiler room downstairs... just some stupid accident.” Kyle repeated, having heard that phrase numerous times after the fire.

Sunset slowly nodded, unable to fully understand Kyle’s anger over that.

He sighed and pressed his head against the wall, hearing a hollow sound on the other side of the wall...

Stepping back, he turned to Sunset.

“Wait... this wall’s hollow.” He commented, tapping the wall again and hearing the sound of pure drywall.

Sunset held her axe and stepped by Kyle.

“May I?” She asked.

Kyle hesitated, but nodded and backed away as Sunset gave wall a taste of her axe. Powdered drywall filled the air as Sunset pulled the axe out and looked inside the hole she made.

“I see a stairway... There’s something underneath this.” She said in confusion, continuing to destroy the concealed doorway.

Kyle stepped forward, clueless as to what could possibly be under his office...

The dust settled, revealing a metallic staircase, with brick walls showing fire damage.

“They must’ve built over this... what the hell?” Kyle asked, stepping in and going down the stairway.

Sunset quickly followed, drawing out her shotgun.

“Um, Kyle...? I don’t think you want to see whatever’s down here...” She started, following Kyle down the stairs.

He ignored her. He refused to imagine what his father could possibly have had down those stairs. They slowly creeped their way down, Sunset being cautious about anything that could be waiting for them at the bottom.

They finally saw the end of the stairs, revealing a metallic steel door with a keypad installed beside it. Kyle stepped forward and tried to press the buttons, but failed to activate anything.

“Shit... step back, I’m gonna try and pry the door.”

Sunset stepped back and raised her gun toward the door as Kyle drove the end of the crowbar in and started trying to pry it.

As Kyle pried, he knew he was having no luck... the door was barely budging, and after a few minutes of trying, he stopped.

“Damn it...” He panted as he stepped back.

Sunset kept her gun trained on the door, and Kyle finally turned to her.

“You can put that down. The way in was walled off, there’s no way there’s anyone down here.” Kyle said to her.

Sunset shook her head.

“Kyle, you didn’t even know this was here, and the only way in was covered by a vending machine... whatever’s down here is something your dad wanted hidden.”

Kyle dropped the crowbar at that.

“Wait, wait, what’re you trying to say?” He asked her.

Sunset lowered the gun as she sighed.

“Kyle, I’m not trying to say anything, I’m just being cautious...” She answered him.

Kyle scoffed and started trying to kick the door. Sunset sighed and kept an eye on the staircase behind them. After a few more kicks, Kyle reached for the doorknob and jiggled it.

Only for the knob to turn and the door opened.

Sunset quickly turned back to the now-open door as Kyle scoffed.

“Figures...” He said, rushing inside.

“Kyle, wait!” Sunset cried, following him.

The two raced inside, and as they found themselves within a hall corridor, lights began to spark to life above them.

“What the hell? I thought the power was off...” Sunset asked.

Kyle jogged down the hall, desperate to know what his father was possibly hiding from him...

The hallway ended with one final door. Kyle raised a shaky hand on the knob and jiggled it open. Stepping inside, they saw a fairly large room with shelves and lockers, their contents obscured in darkness...

Once the lights activated in the room, the two were taken aback at the sight of weapons... weapons that the two had never seen before. Their designs were different from each other, but they all seemed inhuman. While several racks were emptied, the armory was still half-full of weaponry.

“What the hell...?” Kyle whispered, inspecting the rifles and “handguns” stacked and organized on shelves and racks...

“These weapons... the Caribou had some of these!” Sunset said, recognizing a few of the rifles on display.

“How’s that possible?” He asked, recognizing a few from students at Canterlot High.

Sunset paused, putting the rifle in her hands back on the shelf.

“Kyle, why does your dad have an armory of alien weapons in his basement?”

Kyle tried to find an answer, but couldn’t find one.

“Let’s see what else is here...”

The two continued in the underground warehouse, with Kyle seeing the several weld lines and supports which held several cargo crates together, forming the unit they found themselves in.

“How did my dad have all of this built...?” He asked himself.

“How old was the school?” Sunset asked.

Kyle thought for a moment before answering.

“It was built in the ‘50’s, why?”

Sunset immediately nodded.

“Odds are it had a fallout shelter underneath. It looks like he expanded it, but that would probably be the foundation for whatever this is.”

The two kept searching and found themselves at the end of the compound, seeing a small filing cabinet covered in dust. Kyle blew the dust away, revealing one of the drawers labelled with his name... Quickly opening it, Kyle found a CD inside with the words “To My Son” written in marker on top of the case it was in.

Letting out a gasp, he quickly grabbed and secured the case, putting it inside his backpack.

“We’ll have to use a DVD player back in Townsville.” Kyle said.

Sunset glanced over at the armory again, curiosity eating away at her.

“What should we do with all this? We can’t take it all back with us...” Kyle asked her.

Sunset thought for a minute before shaking her head.

“No. Let’s leave this here. Right now, we’re the only ones who know this is here... we’ll just cover the entrance up with something.”

Kyle gave her a confused look.

“Are you sure? We could use these back home, we just need to learn how to use them...”

“Kyle, we were just talking about overthrowing Princess, what would happen if we gave her advanced laser-weapons? This could give us an advantage over her, we can’t give that up.”

Kyle paused, quickly understanding what she was saying.

“Yeah... that works. But what about Shining? His people could use these weapons.” Kyle suggested.

Sunset paused and nodded.

“Yeah... we could pack a few up for them. But like I said, we need to be careful with this.”

Kyle nodded and searched the other cabinets, finding large stacks of files and folders with multiple labels-- ‘Gardenia', ‘Townsville’, ‘Bellwood’, and ‘Canterlot’.

Confused and shocked, Kyle skimmed through each file, seeing that they all described instances of extra-terrestrial and/or magical encounters in each location.

Kyle carefully read through the Canterlot file, seeing that Kyle’s father described the story about a crown that was stolen from Equestria and brought to Earth, and how Sunset was transformed into a demon bent on conquering her homeland.

His eyes widened as he turned to Sunset, struggling to see the girl in front of him as a raging she-demon. As he looked, another realization hit him—there was no doubt now about Equestria...

“Holy shit...” He whispered, going back to reading the file.

Further inside were transcripts of an interview with Celestia, asking her questions about the school. When it was built, who built the statue, and if she had any clue about the supernatural happenings around the world...

Struggling to comprehend what it all meant, Kyle shut the folder, putting it back inside the cabinet and closing it, refusing to read anymore...

“What does this mean...?” He asked himself.

“I don’t know... but your dad’s more than he seems. We’re not finding anything else down here. Let’s get upstairs and get some sleep.” She said, gesturing Kyle to come upstairs.

Kyle nodded, taking one last look at the secret room before going upstairs...

Kyle barely slept that night. The questions regarding his father kept him awake for quite a while.

Once the two were awake, Sunset bagged a handful of rifles from the armory and pushed a large bookshelf over the hole she made, concealing the entrance back inside.

“Before we head out, what should we do about...” Sunset paused, gesturing to the front door where a body was covered with a blanket.

Kyle sighed, making his way over to her and picking her up.

“Do you know if there’s a shovel in the car?”

Sunset thought for a moment before going to check the car. She quickly rushed back holding a shovel.

Sometime later, Kyle and Sunset stood over the freshly buried grave containing Kyle’s mother.

“What was her name?” Sunset asked him.

“Beth. Her name was Beth Williams.”

Sunset nodded, and looked down at the ground.

“I’ll get the car running... take all the time you need.” Sunset told him.

As she walked away, Kyle glanced at the grave, kneeling down to her.

“Hi, Mom...” He started, his voice already cracking.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to take care of it sooner. I didn’t... I didn’t know that it was possible...”

Kyle took a moment and caught his breath.

“I’m doing better, now. I have some friends, a home... it’s safe. I’m safe. I don’t know if I wanna live, but I’m not waiting to die, anymore. I know I disappointed you... I tried to do good after Dad died, but it... it was too much.”

Kyle sighed, rubbing his shoulder again...

“I made mistakes. Made bad choices... but now, I can’t afford to do either of those things. None of us can. I don’t know where my sisters are, but I’ve looked for them... I was lucky enough to find you, here.”

Kyle took another breath.

“I hope this is what you’d want. I read in school that a body that’s buried without a coffin would grow into a tree or something like that. Figured it’d be better than rotting away in a wooden box.” He chuckled.

He paused, looking over to the running car.

“I gotta go... I might be back, maybe I won’t. But please know how sorry I am about what I said that day... I didn't mean it—not a word... but I think you know that.” He smiled, mentally recalling her response to his outburst.

“Goodbye, Mom.” He said, standing up and walking away.

The two got inside the car and drove off. They started with the station, providing laser weapons to a thankful Shining Armor. It was midday by then, and the two heading out towards Townsville, avoiding the main road that they originally rode in.

Not long after they started driving again, a thought in Kyle’s head was finally voiced.

“We should go to Equestria.” He suggested.

Sunset turned to him in shock.

“What?”

“It won’t be easy, transitioning to horse life, but that’s gotta be easier than killing zombies every day until they kill us...” He shrugged, not looking at her.

Sunset struggled to form a response, but quickly gasped.

“Oh, shit!” She said, quickly pulling over.

She desperately scurried through her bag, with Kyle turning to her.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I left a message for Twilight. T-the one in Equestria... I haven’t checked for updates in weeks...”

After searching a bit more, she found and pulled out her book. Desperately flipping through it, she saw that there was a new message from Princess Twilight.

She carefully read it, her eyes widening in horror.

“No... no, no, no...” She whispered, her hands beginning to tremble.

Kyle undid his seatbelt and scooted towards her, seeing what Princess Twilight wrote.

Sunset,

The virus is here.

His eyes widened and a disappointed sigh escaped him.

“Let’s head back... we can come up with something there.” Kyle said.

Sunset nodded, closing the book shut and tossing it back into her bag.

“Yeah...”

The two continued their drive, silent as the weight of the discovery of Equestria’s outbreak loomed over them. This silence remained all the way back to the gates of Townsville, where only one soldier was on duty, and his back was turned to them.

“Uh... Hello?!” Kyle called out, startling the guard back to the outside.

“S-stay out there! It’s... it’s safer!” The soldier cried out, his eyes immediately being glued back to the scene inside.

The two shared a very concerned look.

“What are you talking about? What’s going on in there?!” Sunset called.

The soldier tried to form an explanation, but sighed and pressed a button at his post, opening the gates.

The two got back in their car, drove inside, and parked. Once they were out, they immediately spotted a smoke trail in the distance...

“Oh, no...” Kyle said, sprinting towards the smoke, gun in hand.

Sunset wasn’t far behind, and as they got closer, a speedy blur took to the skies, a loud boom ringing out as the figure took off. The shockwave of their takeoff caused several windows to shatter, raining sharp glass upon the fortified city...

“The hell was that?!” Sunset asked, running faster to the scene.

The two finally found the scene of the smoke. It was the ration line where a massive crowd formed, partially blocking their view. But they were able to make out one thing from the sides.

The big sign reading that the ration line was closed.

Kyle made his way to the side, trying to get around the crowd. He got close enough to realize what was causing the smoke.

It was a body. The body of someone who was reduced to ash and charred, brittle bone.

Kyle looked to the sky in shock, knowing the only person who was capable of such a horrific killing...

Exposure

Earlier in the morning, Daisuke and Riku were sitting with Scootaloo’s doctor, who by now had finished treating her wounds as best as he could.

“The good news: She’s stable. The burns should heal, but the scar tissue may be a bit worrying in the future. For now, however, she should make a full recovery.”

Both mother and father let out relieved cries, comforting each other as the doctor continued.

“The bad news: Her injuries will need extensive physical therapy. Especially if she is to walk again... I understand that you and Ms. Morbucks have made... an arrangement, Mr. Niwa?”

Riku and Daisuke shared a knowing look and nodded to each other.

“Well, that part’s covered, at least. I’m available weekends, and I think that a couple hours once a week would be a good starting point.”

Daisuke nodded, and Riku stood up.

“May we see her?”

The doctor nodded back and directed the two to her room.

Inside, Scootaloo’s bandages have been mostly removed, revealing burn marks on her left cheek and shrapnel from the explosion leaving deep, stitched cuts across her nose, just barely dodging her right eye. Her arms and legs were still wrapped in heavy bandages, but her demeanor told them that they were not a pleasant sight.

She glanced at the two and smiled a bit.

“Hey...” She slurred.

Daisuke and Riku smiled and sat next to her.

“Hey, honey... you’re going to be okay. We’re working something out right now; you’ll be on your feet in no time.” Daisuke immediately assured her.

She struggled to smile and nod, but she managed.

“Okay...”

Riku scooted closer to her.

“I heard that there’s some insurance you’re supposed to get. ‘Workplace Injuries’? Your dad made sure you got it...” She fibbed.

Daisuke gave Riku a look and turned back to his daughter.

“You should sleep, sweetie. We’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

She nodded, and slowly began shutting her eyes.

Once she was asleep, the two slowly stood up and left. They spoke to the doctor for a while longer before making their way out of the hospital and into the streets.

The two walked in silence until they were sure they were somewhat alone.

“So, he’s back?” Riku asked.

Daisuke knew exactly who she was talking about and nodded.

“Yeah... I still don’t know how. I guess it’s because I never had a biological child, so he never left?” He shrugged.

Riku didn’t react to that.

“So now what? What does he want with you?”

Daisuke shrugged again.

“I guess to stay, for now... you know how he is, he’s never clear about what he wants.”

Riku scoffed.

“Over 20 years, and he’s still the same...”

“Let’s save this talk for later... we should get in line for rations.”

Riku nodded, and the two quickly made their way to the already bustling line. Once they stood in line, several others began to gather and line up behind them, stretching along the sidewalk.

“What’s going on? It’s never this packed.” Daisuke said.

The two did their best to look ahead but had little luck due to how far they were in line. They stayed in place without moving for about an hour until people up ahead finally had enough.

“Man, fuck this, I’m gonna be late for my shift! The hell’s going on up there?!” Someone asked, breaking out of line and marching toward the front.

Several others followed him to the front, leaving Daisuke and Riku little choice but to follow, also. The group reached the front of the line, seeing that the soldiers were not handing rations out to anyone...

“Hey, what’s going on, man?! We all got places to be. Some of us haven’t eaten in days!” Someone in the front asked, shoving a soldier back.

“Sir, the rations are being processed. We just need a bit longer to ensure that we--” The soldier’s attempts of pacifying the situation were nullified by a protester chucking a bottle and nailing the soldier’s helmet, shattering glass and dousing his armor with water.

“Fuck you! Fuck Morbucks!” The bottle-chucker started chanting.

Others began to chant along, and soon a choir of “Fuck Morbucks” filled the street. Daisuke looked around for a way out and glanced at his wife, who began to join the chant. From the crowd, Daisuke spotted a distressed Brick behind the fence of the ration line, nervously looking toward the direction of City Hall. Knowing Princess could be listening, Daisuke gestured to Riku to stop.

“We gotta get off the streets before--”

Daisuke was cut off when a sound like the roar of a jet engine caused the chants to stop as from the skies, Princess hovered down to view. Many residents stopped chanting at the sight of their leader descending from the heavens, but some continued, mainly the woman who first began the chant.

“You guys are pretty loud, here... what’s the cause of the stress?” Princess asked, just barely floating above the ground, refusing to walk the same ground as the protestors.

“The ration line’s out, again! I thought you said this was going to stop!” The woman said, stepping closer to Princess.

Princess felt stress grip its hand around her throat. Her emotions were starting to brew, which she was only able to relieve through a laugh.

“And they are. These things take time, miss... I’m sorry, but for right now, this is how things need to be--”

“Screw that! I haven’t eaten in days, I’d rather take my chances with the zombies!” She said, causing the crowd to begin uproaring again.

Princess cracked a smile from anger, desperately trying to contain it... but as the crowd continued to scream and shout at her, some throwing nearby bottles, rocks, and other throwables at her, she lost control. Her eyes began to gleam red...

And the woman who began the protest was incinerated with two red beams.

As she let out one pain-filled shriek, her body was reduced to hot ashes and chunks of bone... The crowd fell silent, many of which were too shocked to know what to do.

Daisuke pulled Riku behind him, and he saw that Brick’s eyes were wide as saucers, a hand over his mouth in horror.

Princess gave a few frustrated breaths before she realized what she had just done. She, the crowd, the soldiers, all froze in place for what felt like an eternity, no-one able to find the best reaction to the situation. Slowly, members of the crowd began to run for their lives, desperate to avoid the wrath of their leader. Once the first domino fell, many others began to follow, making a flood of survivors fleeing in terror.

Princess was the next to leave, taking to the skies at top speeds to an unknown destination, leaving the others with the mess she had made.

Daisuke and Riku were next to try and run, but stopped when they saw Kyle and Sunset approach the scene...

As both pairs headed towards each other, Daisuke was careful not to step in the protestor’s ashes...

“Guys, what the hell happened?” Kyle asked.

Daisuke and Riku both struggled to respond, unable to fathom what they had seen...

“Princess. She did this, didn’t she?” Kyle asked, staring at the pile of ashes.

Daisuke slowly nodded, worried that someone was watching.

From the now-empty ration line, Brick watched the four converse for a few moments before returning inside the building, looking at the singular crate of various food contents... Nowhere near enough for the people that were just in line.

“Fuck...” He said to himself, knowing how dire their situation is.

An hour passed, and Kyle found himself back inside the café by City Hall with the others.

“That’s... not right. She was just hungry...” Fluttershy whispered in horror.

“Yes, darling, I think we all are.” Rarity sighed, feeling her stomach rumble.

Kyle glanced at Buttercup at the counter, looking under the table and sighing to herself, knowing she was running out of ingredients...

“This place isn’t built to last. Princess is still gone, people are flooding the gates trying to get out, I think we should join them...” Rainbow suggested.

“Yeah, where would we go? Apparently Dainn’s still alive, Canterlot’s too deep into their turf, and it’s gettin' worse out there every day...” Applejack shrugged.

Kyle and Sunset looked at each other, sharing a nod.

“What if we hit the Caribou back? Take them out and take what they have?” Sunset asked.

The other girls glanced at Sunset as if she had five heads.

“What exactly did you an’ Kyle talk ‘bout out there?” Applejack asked in a concerned tone.

Kyle decided to pitch in.

“We know where the Caribou are right now. Shining’s already assembling a fighting force, we have access to otherworldly weapons, and this place has one hell of an army, not to mention their leader who can fly and has laser eyes... they wouldn’t stand a chance against us. They have manpower and plenty of prisoners to boot, which means they have to be loaded with food. We hit them, free everyone they have captive, and we take their supplies. It's not a permanent solution, but it'll give us some time to find a long-term solution.” He said.

The girls stayed silent, each of them feeling differently about the idea. Applejack was all-in, based on a thoughtful smile on her face. Fluttershy was at the opposite end of the spectrum, struggling to process the thought of raiding another group, even if it was one as twisted as the Caribou.

Rainbow was the first to voice her opinion about the plan.

“Look, it’s a good thought, but we just learned that the Caribou have some kind of mind control. How do we avoid that? I think we just need to head east—away from Dainn, away from Princess, away from all of this shit. The mountains, maybe...”

“Wait, what about Equestria? I thought we were talking about heading there at some point...” Rarity asked.

Sunset hung her head, reaching into her bag and tossing her journal on the table, allowing them to see the same sentence she read...

“No...” Rarity gasped in shock.

“Equestria isn’t an option, anymore... we need to find somewhere secure, somewhere we can make safe...” Sunset thought.

Kyle thought as well, but the idea dawned on him...

“Sanctuary.”

Sunset gasped at the idea, but the others were confused.

“Uh... what now?” Applejack asked.

“Your dad’s foster home... it’s fenced up, we can build it up more. All the empty land we can farm with... it can work.” Sunset nodded, starting to think about the possibilities.

The girls decided to save the questions about Sanctuary for later.

“What about Princess? What about these people? We can’t just leave them to suffer...” Fluttershy said.

“And our Geodes. I’m most certainly not going out there without my powers, and I don’t think anyone else disagrees.” Rarity added.

"Not to cut this talk short, but guys—Scootaloo can’t even walk, right now. I’m sure as hell not leaving her here and getting her out of here in one piece, helping her recover, all while pushing her around in a wheelchair where zombies can sprint 10 miles an hour... I just don’t know.” Rainbow said.

The group all nodded, knowing that they couldn’t run...

“Odds are Utonium and Dexter have your Geodes... I could see how willing they are to give them back, but as for these people... I don’t know. I think that the Caribou are our best bet, but backup plans never hurt anyone... but odds are those plans will just involve us... and I hope that it doesn’t come to that.” Kyle said.

Rainbow stood up at that.

“Well, if it comes down to it, I’m staying with Scootaloo. I’m not leaving her here, alone.”

Kyle nodded.

“Like I said, we can just hope that it doesn’t come down to that.”

She slowly sat back down and sighed.

“Okay, so back to the Caribou... would Princess even listen to us about them? I mean, she just burned one of her own people down to nothing... I find it hard to believe she’d care about a group a hundred miles away or so.” She shrugged.

Kyle tried to think of an answer but couldn’t find one. The doors to the café opened, and Brick walked in, gunning for the group and taking an open seat beside them.

“Don’t bother catching me up, I heard everything. Princess won’t care about this group, but odds are I can put something together. If they have supplies like you say they do, I don’t care what we have to do...” Brick confessed.

The group took a moment to process Brick’s arrival and statement but were quickly caught up to speed.

“Why should we trust you? You led Scootloo into that death trap.” Rainbow accused him.

Brick quickly pointed a finger at her.

“I didn’t know about that... if I did, I wouldn't have let them anywhere near that op.”

Kyle leaned forward.

“He’s right... he talked to Princess after it happened.”

Brick’s eyes widened at the realization that Kyle was listening to their conversation...

“I can confirm that Dex’ and Utonium have your necklaces. They’re trying to figure out what makes them work... you’d have to visit them to see how they’re doing. But we need to hurry... we’re completely out of rations.” He said.

Kyle’s eyes widened as the others realized what that meant.

“Okay... is Princess back, yet?”

Brick shook his head.

“No. I have no idea where she--”

A similar roar to the one the people in the ration line heard came overhead as Kyle noticed a figure fly above City Hall and gently hover in through a hole in the roof...

“I’ll be right back...” He said, sprinting out the door and towards City Hall...

The others tried to tell him to stop, but he was already gone, running somewhat faster than he had in the past...

Almost breaking the door open, he sped past a startled Ms. Bellum, and right into Princess’ office.

“Princess... we need to talk.” Kyle said, having not broken a sweat from his sprint.

Princess was facing the hole in her office, barely turning her head at Kyle.

“Princess? I know what happened at the ration line, and I have a solution.”

She barely responded, save for a curious tilt of her head.

“There’s a group near Canterlot... slavers living in a prison. They have dozens, maybe hundreds of soldiers with the power to turn anyone they find into an army, or worse. They have countless prisoners, and odds are they’re all well-fed... it’ll take some manpower and a lot of artillery, but if we take them out and take those supplies, it should last us long enough to find a long-term solution to our food problem...”

Princess finally turned to face Kyle, revealing a pale, sunken face. She was barely standing and unable to walk as the attempt to do so caused her to trip and fall.

“P-Princess?!” He ran over and helped her up.

“My... under my desk. There’s a button...” She slurred, weakly pointing at her desk.

He gently sat her down and searched under her desk, finding the button. After pressing it, the desk rose up and spun to the side, revealing a staircase going underground...

Kyle had no time to question this as he helped Princess up and walked her down the stairs, the desk closing back up behind them and lights coming to live above them. Kyle noticed that the stairway led to a doorway.

“Princess, what’s down here?” He asked her.

Princess slowly raised her head and looked into his eyes.

“The future.” She cracked a smile before going limp again.

Kyle opened the door and walked her inside what seemed to be a former subway system. Finding one of the main terminals, he led her that way, where he noticed crates upon crates stacked by the wall, maps showing the entirety of the city including the walled-up portion, and a board filled with names Kyle knew and others he didn’t. The list included his name, the girls’ names, Brick and his brothers, hers, and others from Ben Tennyson to Bloom Peters to Marionette and Adrien...

“Princess, what is this?”

“That drawer... open it.” She ignored him, pointing at a drawer by a bed up against the wall.

Kyle nodded and set her on the bed, opening the drawer and noticing countless syringes like the one he swiped from Utonium’s lab...

“Good. Here...” She slurred, rolling up her sleeve and revealing an arm covered in injection marks, with black, discolored veins spreading up towards her head...

Kyle gasped at the sight, holding the syringe tightly.

“P-plea--” She coughed viciously, black fluid discharging from her mouth as she covered her mouth with her sleeve.

Her coughing continued, and Kyle could tell that she was close to dying...

He considered putting the syringe back, letting her choke on whatever was coming out of her body, but something told him, begged him not to let her go through that...

Ignoring his higher reasoning, he purged the syringe of air, gently pushed it into Princess’ arm, and injected its contents into her body. The chemical flowed through the black veins, slowly removing the discoloration away.

In moments, the color in Princess’ face returned, and she slowly rose from the bed.

“Thanks...” She sighed, wiping her mouth of additional fluid.

Kyle nodded, setting the syringe on top of the dresser and going to see what was down in her hideaway...

He first searched the list, seeing stamps labeling it as top secret government information and at least 100 names, many of which Kyle couldn’t determine. But there were three others that he recognized...

Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk.

He turned to the countless crates, opening one of them.

To his surprise, rows upon rows of canned food, dried goods, MRE's, and countless packets of seeds greeted him.

In disbelief, he closed that one and opened another, seeing even more food and seeds. The next crate, the same contents...

“Princess... where did this all come from?” He asked, turning to her.

Princess sighed, shaking her head.

“Kyle, did you really think that the city didn't have provisions in case of emergencies? I mean, do you know what this town has been through? There's enough food and supplies under the city to feed millions of people... but the ones up there, now? They can't get this... it's not for them. It's for the next phase...”

Overcome with anger, he slammed the crate shut.

“T-the next phase?! What does that mean?!”

Princess slowly stood up and pointed to the list.

“See this? This is what comes next. The people here that matter, and many others that’re out there. Us, Enhanced... we’re what matters. Them? They don’t.” She pointed above to the streets of Townsville.

Kyle instinctually stepped back, immediately regretting not letting her die.

“You... you’re starving them out?” He asked, barely containing his anger.

Looking straight into his eyes, she nodded.

Kyle let out a scoff in disbelief, unable to form a proper response. This was something Princess took advantage of.

“I know you’re upset, but I just want you to hear me out... there are 300,000 people up there, and how many of them can contribute? Just how many of them are really worth giving that food to?”

Kyle scoffed again.

“All of them, Princess! They can all contribute!”

“Oh, really? Tell me this, Kyle, if a swarm of those things got in here, just how many people stand a chance? How many of them can fight back without being swarmed and torn to pieces?”

“Give them guns and training, and all of them can pitch in.”

“And waste precious ammo? Waste the guns? No, Kyle. What happens when we spend all our bullets, and our guns jam up? What happens when the axe handle breaks, or the machete goes dull? What then, Kyle?”

Kyle began to see her point, but couldn’t accept it all the same. Then, a realization dawned on him...

“Is this Operation STRIKE? Killing off the un-Enhanced?”

Princess didn’t respond, but she didn’t need to. Kyle took a shaky breath before continuing.

“Okay... on a fundamental level, I see what you’re saying—you think that us Enhanced have the best chance of making it, but you’re telling me that we should just abandon those who aren’t because we’re ‘better than them’?”

Princess only nodded.

“That’s bullshit. We got by for however many thousands of years without magic or powers, and we’ll get through this just fine with a few people with them.”

Princess smiled.

“Okay. Fine. Say we get through this with just the Enhanced we have and hundreds of thousands of mouths to feed. What happens after? How do we rebuild civilization with electricity for only a few hours of the day, and little to no capabilities?”

“We find more generators, siphon more fuel, start training our people, we figure it out. That’s what we’ve ever done... figure shit out.” Kyle rebutted.

“Maybe, but do you want to keep figuring shit out, or do you want to have the solution in your hand?” She asked, opening her dresser and approaching Kyle, handing him another syringe.

Kyle stared at it in disgust.

“Really? The shit that had you overdosing?”

Princess sheepishly laughed.

“A temporary setback. The eggheads are getting close to getting the mixture right... and permanent.”

Kyle held the syringe and glanced at Princess again.

“So, if this is the plan, why not provide it to everyone? 300,000 Enhanced with your powers could be unstoppable...”

Princess nodded.

“How true that is. But... not everyone is viable for using Chemical X. I mean, the Powerpuff Girls’ mom died from an exposure when she was pregnant... if I could put this in everyone I wanted, I would. Just imagine my soldiers with the stuff in their veins...”

Kyle glanced her over, worried about her mindset...

“But I’m stuck with what I have. I can start with everyone else’s powers. Your friends’ Geodes, whatever’s in your DNA, my Chemical X... we’re the foundation of what comes next, Kyle.” She said, breaking the distance between them and putting a hand on Kyle’s cheek.

Kyle tensed at the contact, looking down at the syringe and back at her.

“Why are you telling me all this?” He asked her.

She smiled, staring straight into his eyes.

“Because I need someone I can trust. Someone to share this with... God knows Brick can’t do it, the man’s less than useless...” She rolled her eyes.

Kyle struggled to understand what she was suggesting until she glanced back at him.

“But more than any of that, Kyle,” She removed one hand from his cheek and slowly rested in on his chest, feeling his suddenly quickening heartbeat, “I want you.”

She stood on her toes and leaned inward, whispering into Kyle’s ear.

“And I always get what I want.”

Kyle’s breath began to match his heart rate, and suddenly, he was no longer in the subway with Princess coming onto him.

He was in her classroom.

Her warm breath was running down Kyle’s shoulder where her teeth would soon follow.

He began to panic but quickly grounded himself, having months of suffering these attacks. He soon came back to reality and glanced at the girl mere inches away from his lips...

He wanted to say no, to scream at her and push her away. However, he knew deep down that this was the best way to her inner circle... the best way to make sure that should all else fail, his friends were safe.

It was all he could do. He didn't have any other choice.

“Okay, Princess... if I do this with you, I want some guarantees. Is that fair?”

Princess nodded, not wanting to waste much time.

“One: my friends are safe. You don’t starve them out, send them on suicide missions, nothing like that.”

“Never had the intention to...”

“Good. Two. Scootaloo and her family are safe. Her dad’s Enhanced, right? So they stay, too. Scootaloo makes a full recovery and is safe from your little scheme.”

Princess nodded again.

“Anything else or can we get to the fun part?”

Kyle thought for a moment.

“Third, we do something about the group I told you about. You may not care, but there’re some good friends of mine who are enslaved there... some of them are Enhanced, too. They can help with your plans.” He said.

Princess’ eyes widened as she nodded.

“Okay. Is that it?”

Kyle tried to think about any other guarantees he could secure but decided against it.

“Yeah.”

As soon as the word left his mouth, Princess smacked his lips with hers. Their lips were firmly locked together, Kyle trying not to gag at the residual fluid from her overdose. Muscling through it, he slid his hands to her waist, pulling her closer to him.

The two stayed like this for a minute or two, breaking away for air.

“That’s better... now come on, I don’t think this grungy bunker is the best place for someone to lose their virginity...” She pulled away from Kyle and started to walk back toward the staircase.

She was stopped by Kyle gently yet firmly grabbing her arm.

“Two things. One: this place is just fine. Two...” He pulled her back to him with a sort of hunger he never knew he had.

“...I’m not a virgin.” He said, pulling her in for another kiss.

Princess somewhat jumped at his enthusiasm, but quickly returned it with another, more intense makeout session than the last.

“Atta’boy...” She purred, hovering up into the air and pulling Kyle along with her.

The sudden levitation caught him off-guard, but he quickly adjusted, doing his best to stay above her, a gesture she proudly accepted.

He may have been doing this just to ensure his friends’ safety, but he was human, after all. He had wants, too.

“Oh, wow... I had you pegged all wrong. But I’m serious about not doing this down here... I think my manor would suit us better, and besides... you need a shower.” She said to him.

Realizing that it had been a few days since his last shower, he nodded.

“Yeah, fair enough.”

With that, Princess landed back on the ground and took Kyle by the arm, being careful not to use too much of her strength.

“Then, come on, pretty boy...” She led him back up the stairs, closing the door to the compound behind her, covering up her secret once again.

Jennifer

Later on, that night, Kyle laid in the poofy bed he found himself in, having a hard time sleeping.

Beside him was Princess, curdled up in blankets with an arm around his bare chest.

Sex was something Kyle had thought little about since the world fell. He was more focused on survival or organizing his base... He had little time or interest in that sort of thing.

Especially after a certain teacher.

However, the girl beside him kept him awake with his thoughts.

He knew he had to stop her—he knew he couldn’t let her kill thousands of innocent people, and maybe more. But right now, he had no idea how to go about it. He decided the best course of action was to try and get out of bed before she woke up.

His efforts were short-lived, with Kyle gently lifting Princess’ hand resulting in her letting out a disgruntled sound and wrapping around him tighter.

Deciding that leaving was not an option, he sighed and closed his eyes again.

Not too long later, Kyle poked at a plateful of scrambled eggs beside Princess inside her dining room.

“I can’t imagine what they’ve been feeding you in that ration line...” She shook her head.

Kyle desperately wanted to say something, to protest against her plan, but swallowed his anger and took a bite of egg.

He had to do this smart... he knew he could find a way to beat her, but first he had to do things her way... whatever that would include.

“Don’t let this get to your head, but... that was probably the best sex I’ve had in a while.” Princess said, not looking at Kyle as she took a bite from her fork.

Kyle grew a tad flustered, but did his best to conceal it, somewhat failing.

“Thank you.” He simply responded.

The two had a few more bites of egg before Kyle initiated another conversation.

“...Why?”

Princess finished the piece of egg in her mouth before glancing at Kyle.

“Well, it’s been a while, and honestly, you knew some things that I've never seen before--”

“No, not that. I mean... why me?”

Princess let out a quiet “oh”, and set her fork down.

“Because I need someone to share all this with. That, and it helps that you don’t have much competition. I mean, Brick’s obedient and pretty hot, but he’s an idiot—and his brothers are worse. Other than them, not many other Enhanced guys that we’ve catalogued really interested me... That or they were taken. And loyal.” She rolled her eyes as she bit into another piece of eggs.

Kyle simply nodded, deciding to take that reasoning as a compliment.

“Okay... so, what happens now? Where do we go from here?”

Princess set her fork down again.

“Well, I’m thinking this should be a regular thing... we work together, so we could always just find somewhere there...”

Kyle felt his face grow warm at the thought of having sex at work, but what got him more is the fact that she could do that... she was the boss, after all. What was anyone going to do? Fire her?

“...and as for your conditions, I’m a woman of my word. Your friends are safe, and so are their loved ones.”

A surge of relief washed through Kyle, even though part of him suspected she was lying...

“I guess all that’s left is whether or not you want them to know about us. I’ll leave that to you; I don’t care either way...”

Kyle had begun to struggle deciding whether he should tell them or not... maybe he shouldn’t?

“Okay, then... happy to hear.” He smiled, getting back to his breakfast.

The two finished and washed up for the day. Not too long later, the two were dressed, with Princess having Kyle’s clothes washed, and left the manor to go to work.

The walk was fairly silent, with several townspeople looking at Princess in horror after the events of yesterday. Kyle felt a twinge of guilt in being in such close proximity to a murderer, but knew that he had no choice, no matter what she’d say to him...

To him, it felt like he never had a choice.

During their walk, Princess recognized a certain girl making her way through town, stopping and glaring at Princess...

Blossom quickly turned back and walked down her path, not wanting to start trouble...

She pondered on why Kyle was still with her—she didn’t think anyone would still work for her after what she did...

Blossom sighed and made her way toward her father’s house, knocking at the door and being greeted by Dexter.

“Ah, hello, Blossom... I assume you want to see your father?”

Blossom smiled for only a moment and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m gonna guess he’s in his little cave...” She grumbled.

Dexter nodded and opened the door for her, allowing her inside.

“I think I know what this is going to be about...”

“Oh, you mean how Princess murdered an innocent woman with my powers? The powers that he held on to despite me and my sisters wanting them gone for good? Yeah, that’s what this is about.” She huffed, marching down the hall and toward the lab entrance.

Dexter tried to respond, but knew that it was futile.

“Dad?! I need to talk to you!” She knocked on the door.

Moments passed, and a figure began to appear from the other side of the door. After pressing a few buttons on the door pad, the door opened and Professor Utonium stepped out.

“Hi, sweetie... before you ask, I had no intentions of giving Ms. Morbucks laser vision... I guess her DNA is more adaptable for Chemical X than I thought it was...”

Blossom scoffed in disbelief.

“Dad, an innocent woman was killed because of it, I’m not taking a ‘whoopsie’ for an answer! We need to do something!”

Utonium struggled to come up with a response.

“Come down here, honey, we can talk about it downstairs--”

“Dad, I don’t want to hear about the stupid padding again. You want to talk to me? Let’s do it right up here.” She stepped back from the door.

Utonium felt a gulp as he stepped upstairs and leaned closer to his daughter.

“Please... you know how good her hearing is.”

Blossom tried to protest, but relented and followed her father and Dexter downstairs. The door sealed shut behind them, and the three reached the central lab.

“Dad, what are we doing about this? Princess is only getting worse...”

Utonium sighed, reaching a door and unlocking it, allowing Blossom inside.

Once inside, she saw a single syringe containing blue liquid sealed in a steel case...

Blossom’s eyes widened as she realized what exactly was in front of her... her arm began to sting at the familiar sight of the needle.

“Is this...?”

“Yes. Buttercup never took hers, remember?”

Blossom nodded, her eyes fixated at the antidote. The antidote. The antidote that gave her and Bubbles free lives, the antidote that helped remove them from the public spotlight after years of being caught in the middle of it.

“...Why haven’t you used this, yet?”

Utonium sighed, Dexter entering the room and shutting the door behind him.

“Princess will not let us get close with this, and besides... even without Chemical X, she still has power, here. How long would it be until we’re dragged away, executed, and someone else continues our work, down here?” Dexter asked her.

Blossom slowly nodded, understanding their logic.

“We need a way to expose her. Perhaps the incident yesterday is a good place to start, but there is only so much we can do.”

Utonium nodded and resealed the antidote.

“And we need to do something soon. The variation of Chemical X she’s using has been observed to affect higher brain function... it was the closest we came before the world went to shit, and now it’s all we have...”

Blossom’s eyes widened as certain behaviors she had displayed began to make sense.

“Okay... so why are you giving it to her? Why give it to her in the first place?”

Utonium sighed.

“When I removed the X from you and your sister, I had every mean to destroy it like we agreed... but when you two were recovering, I was approached by a man saying to be representing the government... he said that he and his people had interest in the potential in a sort of... super-drug. Something to give soldiers your powers for a limited time... they offered to pay rather... generously... in exchange for my compliance.”

Blossom took a seat, absorbed into her father’s story.

“So that’s what I did. I researched each way I could, how it reacted with you three, why it reacted differently to my wife..., what it consisted of. It all led to my first prototype of a sort of temporary dosage. I handed it to them, they experimented with it, and sure enough... it had nasty side effects. But they took it anyway... so imagine my surprise when I learned that my work was being shipped to Morbucks Industries.”

Blossom leaned forward, shocked at this revelation.

“But... why would he want it?”

Utonium heavily sighed, holding his head in his hands.

“He wanted payback for me putting her daughter in that stupid TV show.”

In the mayor’s office, Princess went through an assortment of papers on her desk as Kyle jotted down the next day’s agenda... Every now and then, Kyle would glance over to her desk, knowing the secrets that were hiding beneath it.

“What should we do about the incident yesterday? People are going to be concerned... odds are a lot of them are gonna try to leave.” Kyle said.

Princess didn’t even look up from her papers as she rubbed her temple.

“For right now, we need to make sure that soldiers and whatnot are being fed... for now, anyhow.”

Kyle’s heart sunk at the notion of neglecting the townspeople, and his concerns only grew... that amount of starving people can be capable of many things.

“Okay, sure. But we need to do something sooner or later.”

Princess chuckled, finally facing Kyle.

“We’ll worry about them when they get too loud to put off. For now, let’s focus on what matters, ‘kay?”

Knowing he wasn’t getting anywhere and also risking losing the new advantage he had, he relented and went back to writing the agenda. While doing so, he set the notepad down to take a drink, but accidentally knocked a filing cabinet drawer open, seeing a dusty photo of two red-haired people inside.

Slowly reaching in and pulling out the photo, Kyle recognized Princess’ twin buns despite her appearing much younger, but didn’t recognize the man beside her. His hair was brown unlike her red, but the gold-and-black suit he wore told Kyle that he was also a Morbucks...

Turning to her, he showed her the picture.

“Is this your dad?”

Princess saw the photo and her face immediately hardened. She stood up and took it from his hand, observing it... as she did, her immediate anger passed and she took her seat again.

“Yeah... that asshole was my dad.” She sighed.

Kyle nodded and closed the cabinet, not wanting to push her about the subject.

“I’m sorry...” He simply said.

“Oh, don’t be. You weren’t the money-hungry bastard, after all.”

Kyle took a seat, wanting to see if she would share more...

“To think it started with that... stupid cartoon.”

He very badly wanted to say nothing, but he couldn’t resist, anymore.

“The Powerpuff Girls?”

Princess nodded, setting the photo on her desk.

“What do you know about the show?”

Kyle sighed and shrugged.

“Absolutely nothing.”

She shot him a confused glance, but nothing further.

“I remember back before they were in the spotlight... they were nice, and yeah, they helped people every now and then. Nothing crazy, especially since we were all in kindergarten, back then.”

Kyle nodded, recalling the photos of the young girls in Utonium’s house.

“They made the show when the girls and I were in third grade. They... made a lot of changes, added a few Saturday-Morning-villains for them to fight... but my dad wanted one more in the show.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he realized where she was going.

“You. He wanted you in the show.”

Princess nodded.

“I barely knew them back then, but my dad didn’t care. He paid their dad quite a lot to have me included, as much as I didn’t want to. Turns out, it wasn’t even going to be voiced by me... he just sold my likeness.”

She let out a laugh as she shook her head.

“The one thing that got me the most... It was the girl they got to play me. Her voice... it was the most high-pitched, nasal thing you’d ever hear. It was one of those voices that you can’t unhear, and it was attached to me.” She growled, hints of a different voice hiding inside... almost like the voice she was using wasn’t her own.

“That voice, that personality, that name... it followed me years after the show was canned. It... it became me. I never had a choice in becoming anything else. Every time I tried-- ‘Sorry, but we can’t give a real role to a cartoon villain, har-har', or 'hey, weren’t you in that one cartoon? Do the voice, Princess, do the voice!’” Princess tossed her papers across the room, taking a moment to compse herself.

Kyle watched as she began to unravel, beginning to understand her.

“Wanna know the worst part? My dad never let me break away from it. Even though the Powerpuff Girls got rid of their powers and they got to live happy lives, there was dear old dad, making sure that every ad, every building, every store, every apartment... had my face on it. Same outfit, same hair, same everything...” Her voice finally began to crack, and she was slamming her eyes shut to try and slow the stream of tears.

Kyle’s heart sank as he heard more of the story, having no clue about any of this.

“So, after years of fighting it... I decided to embrace it. And look at me now...” She did a playful spin in her chair, desperately holding back her tears, but failing to do so.

A moment passed, and Princess stopped and leaned forward into her desk, letting the tears flow free. Kyle then carried his chair over and sat next to her, setting his hand on top of hers.

“Princess... I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

She wasted no time taking his hand, but stayed silent for a few moments before uttering one word...

“Jennifer.”

Kyle glanced over to her in confusion.

“My real name is Jennifer.” She looked up at Kyle.

Kyle ran the name through his head as he looked into her eyes, no longer seeing the maniac who had been ruling over the town for the last few months. Instead, he began to see the broken woman trapped underneath, the one who had possibly been hidden and buried away for countless years.

He saw someone who was in no state to be in such a powerful position. But he saw someone who didn’t need to be defeated or overthrown. He saw someone who needed help.

In that moment, Kyle began reevaluating the prior events as well as his plan. Was he doing this the right way? Was lying to her and using her like he just learned her father did the right solution? Should he tell her the truth?

“Jennifer...” Kyle repeated.

Princess let out a weak laugh, happy to hear someone—anyone—use her real name again.

“Yeah... it’s been so long since I’ve used it. But enough mopey shit—we have work to do.” She said, wiping her eyes and releasing Kyle’s hand.

Kyle stood up and went back to his notepad. As he wrote, Princess glanced over to her window.

“All this emotion, I almost forgot... I understand that you visited Professor Utonium on your own the other day.” Princess said.

Kyle’s heart sank in an instant, desperately trying to hold the notepad in his hand. His mind raced at the possibilities of the following conversation, and any doubt of Princess’ true nature was momentarily wiped from his mind.

“Don’t worry, I don’t care what you and that egghead talked about... I was just thinking that since your friends’ Geodes are there and whatnot, and the fact that I have no idea what it is they’re doing down in that lab of his... that I have you as my eyes and ears for the mad scientist duo.”

Kyle’s anxiety was immediately washed away by relief. He, however, did his best to conceal his change in emotion.

“I see... well, I’ll be honored.” He smiled.

Princess smiled ear-to-ear.

“Great! I’ll assign you to start tomorrow! And there’s... one more thing, if you’d be willing.” She glanced away and fiddled with her pencil.

Kyle glanced at the new behavior and nodded.

“Okay... what is it?”

She somewhat nervously looked over to him, an innocent smile on her face.

“Would you be opposed to staying over again, tonight?”

Family Ties

Kyle sat inside an empty classroom, writing away at a formerly blank sheet of notebook paper. He was assigned to write a paragraph or two about the cultural aspect of music. As he wrote, he began to hear chatter just outside the room.

“I’m telling you, this place isn’t a long-term option. We’re just here to stay off the streets for a few weeks. Nothing more.”

Another voice spoke, this one scratchy and a bit rough.

“Yeah, I can’t stand the smell of this place. Something’s off about it... I don’t like it.”

Then a third voice, higher pitched than the others.

“Are you sure? I don’t smell anything weird, but... ooh, I think they have tacos, tonight!” She cheered.

“Probably from some soup kitchen, Sonata, nothing worth getting excited about.” The second voice said.

Kyle tried to block them out, but sighed and set the paper down, standing up and making his way to the open door.

“Don’t get me started on the food here, Aria, because if I have to hear one more thing from either of you about it, I’m going to--”

Kyle peeked out the door, surprising the three girls just outside it to the right of him.

“I’m sorry, are you three gonna be staying here? ‘Cause if so, I could move.”

They all struggled to find a response to the strange kid who showed himself, but the ringleader, the girl with poofy orange hair, was the one who answered.

“No. We were just leaving.” She said, not-so-subtly gesturing to her sisters to move.

Aria was quick to follow, but the other girl with a blue ponytail remained for a second.

“Hey, aren’t you the owner’s kid?”

Kyle smiled and scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah. I think he found you all last week, right?”

She smiled and nodded, but the other two didn’t share her joy.

“Figures you’re Henry’s kid... you both come out of nowhere.” Aria commented.

Kyle chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess you do. Well, I should get back to what I’m doing, but it was nice meeting you... um...” He struggled for a moment remembering their names.

“I’m Sonata, the grumpy one there is Aria, and that’s Adagio in the back.” Sonata said.

The two sisters gave her a glare, but nothing more than that.

“What’re you working on in there?” Sonata asked.

“Sonata, he was just leaving.” Adagio told her.

“No, it’s fine! Actually, I could use a bit of help if none of you would mind...”

Sonata nodded and followed Kyle inside while Adagio and Aria begrudgingly followed.

Kyle sat back at the desk, holding the sheet of paper.

“We’re doing a music studies class, and I need to write a paragraph about how music is culturally relevant, and... it’s giving me trouble.” He sighed.

The three girls each turned towards Kyle and their eyes light up.

“Well, you found the perfect group to help you out... not to boast, but we run a little band, ourselves...” Adagio said.

Kyle looked up with widened eyes.

“Really? No way! What’s your genre?”

“We alternate every now and then. I like to keep us relevant to as many audiences as possible.” She added.

“Oh, cool. I’m a fan of a bit of everything if that makes sense.” He said.

Aria hummed and Sonata smiled at finding someone interested in their music. Adagio, however, saw opportunity.

“So, the question is ‘how is music culturally relevant’? Any ideas on that, so far?”

Kyle thought and sighed.

“I mean, I get that it’s historical, that it helped human progress, but I can’t find the right words for it, you know?”

Adagio studied his response and nodded.

“Kyle, music is much more than human progress. It’s human nature, too. In music, you get a person’s feelings, their thoughts, their views on the world around them. Their desires, too, more lately.”

Kyle chuckled.

“So, Kyle, music has heavily impacted human culture. It’s allowed them to express themselves and their emotions in a way that can touch countless other people around the world, throughout history. Think, what was the oldest song you’ve heard that still touches you emotionally?”

It didn’t take Kyle long to find the answer.

“Well, I think that would have to go to Only You?”

Adagio clicked her tongue.

“The Platters fan, eh? Can’t say I blame you. What touches you about it?”

“Well, I like that it’s this one guy pouring his heart out about the person he loves, you know? That really hits me.”

Aria snickered while Adagio nodded.

“I see. Well, think about how many people felt the same feeling back over 60 years ago. And some songs go even further back. I’m a pretty big fan of classical music, myself. Beethoven, Bach, all of them. But want to know my favorite? The one with the largest impact on modern culture as far as I can tell?”

Kyle set the paper down and nodded.

“Hit me.”

“Gustav Holst. In 1918, he premiered a suite he called The Planets. The one that I think of most is Mars, Bringer of War. That suite influenced quite a lot of modern film scores—Star Wars, Gladiator, even all of heavy metal... That’s more Aria’s genre than it is mine.”

Aria did a pair of hand-horns as a response.

“So, you see, music actually has a lot of influence on culture. It’s simply a matter of how it affects you.”

Adagio gave one last smile before standing up and leaving the room, Aria and Sonata following suit.

Kyle formed a smile and held his pencil, starting to write away on the piece of paper...

Inside Utonium’s lab, the professor closely analyzed the small pendant under a microscope, with Dexter watching on a projector and writing down his own observations.

The professor watched as electric pulses surged through the small Geode, like a neural network of mystical, unidentifiable energy.

“These things must be hundreds of years old... where did they say they were found?” Dexter asked.

“Princess’ reports said Camp Everfree just outside of Canterlot City... perhaps we could send a scouting party? Who knows what other magic could be in that forest...?” Utonium began to imagine the possibilities...

Their research was cut off by a knock on their door, and as Utonium turned to answer, Dexter observed that the electric pulse in the gems began to be drawn to the person behind the door...

Utonium marched upstairs and cautiously peeked through the peephole, seeing Kyle and Princess...

“Oh, shit...” He whispered, putting on a strong face and opening the door.

Before Utonium could greet the two, Princess walked right inside, prompting him to step out of the way.

“Professor Utonium... how the hell are you?!” Princess asked, holding out her arms in a friendly gesture.

Despite this, Utonium felt anything but safe. The professor sighed and took a deep breath.

“I’m fine... why is Kyle with you?”

Princess cracks a wide smile, but nowhere near a friendly one...

“You see, Utonium, I know that our little... arrangement has been going well, but... I can’t help but wonder just what you two are up to down there... I’m losing sleep over it, just look at the wrinkles I’m getting!” She gestured to the sides of her eyes.

Kyle and Utonium shared a knowing look that the wrinkles on her face weren’t because of the sleep deprivation...

“So, I’ve decided to put Kyle here with you two! He won’t be in your way, but he’s my eyes and ears for your little projects.”

Dexter and Utonium shared a confused look, and Kyle nodded to confirm the assignment.

“Well, I’m afraid I have business to attend to, but it was good seeing you two! Oh, and I expect your report by the end of the week, Kyle... Bye, now!” She giggled, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

The three-remaining people in the room stood silent for only a moment.

“So... should we discuss this in the lab?” Utonium asked.

“Why? Can’t we discuss it up here?” Kyle asked, winking at the professor.

Understanding his signal, he nodded.

“Sure... Dexter, would you get us some drinks?” Utonium asked, gesturing to him to grab a notepad.

Dexter side-glanced the two, slowly nodding.

“Of course...” He said, walking into the kitchen and leaving Kyle and Utonium alone.

The two took a seat on the couch. Kyle peeked out the window to see that Princess was nowhere to be seen.

“So, how about you walk me through your current projects? I know you have my friends’ necklaces, how’s that been going?”

Utonium sighed and shook his head.

“It’s... been an uphill battle. The mystical properties have been impossible to decipher and so far, there’s been no detection of energy signatures from them.”

Kyle nodded, and Dexter returned with a tray holding three glasses as well as a notepad and pen. Utonium grabbed the notepad while Kyle took two glasses and set them on the ottoman between them.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll crack them sooner or later... metaphorically speaking.” Kyle laughed.

Utonium laughed along, writing into the notepad. After a moment, he turned it to Kyle.

What does she want?

Kyle nodded and took the pad, writing at the bottom of it.

“That’s what we’re hoping for.” Utonium said to make up for the silence as Kyle wrote.

Once Kyle was done, he turned the paper around to the professor.

She wants to kill you all.

Utonium’s face dropped as Dexter peeked inside and almost dropped his glass as he scurried to the two.

“I am simply loving the small talk, but we have work to do... perhaps we can talk more down there?” Dexter asked.

Kyle paused for a second and nodded.

“Sure. Let’s...”

Utonium and Kyle stood up and followed Dexter down the hall and towards the entrance to the lab. During their walk, the three stayed silent, no-one daring to accidentally say or do something that could alert Princess’ super-hearing.

They waited until they were done descending the staircase and entering the lab itself before speaking.

“Kyle... what exactly did that note mean?” Dexter asked him.

Kyle took a breath, trying to recall everything to memory.

“There’s a secret bunker under City Hall... some kind of subway station. It’s filled with supplies from the city’s disaster relief effort—there's enough to feed the entire city for at least a year, seeds and tools to help it last longer... she’s keeping it for anyone she thinks is worth saving.”

Utonium stumbled back a tad, and Dexter let out a suppressed gasp. The two took a moment to take in what they had just heard.

“But... why?” Utonium asked in horror.

“Because she thinks that anyone who’s Enhanced has the best shot at surviving. She thinks everyone else is just dead-weight.”

Dexter set down his glass and gestured to Utonium.

“Is it... possible that the side effects are worse than we thought? I cannot believe that she would have these thoughts overnight.”

Kyle turned to Dexter in confusion.

“Wait... side effects? What side effects?”

Utonium sighed and rubbed his temples.

“The variation of Chemical X she uses? It’s incomplete. It bonds with the host’s DNA and gives them powers, but it drains the body to do it. It’s been recorded to lower their inhibitions, as well—which may explain her behavior as of late. But it’s also heavily addictive-- after a while, they can’t go a day without a dose... and then, they overdose. At this point, Princess has only a few weeks left before the pressure is too much for her body.”

Kyle’s heart sank only a little. She was a monster, sure, but did she deserve to die for something out of her control?

“So, she’s just doomed to die? Because of something you gave her?”

Dexter stepped in.

“She practically ripped it from our hands! Her father made him think he was making a temporary dosage for the government... but it was for his little girl.”

“Oh, you mean her dad who put her in your daughters’ little cartoon?”

Utonium’s eyes widened.

“You know about that...?”

“Yeah, I know all of it. I find it hard to believe that someone who made his daughter a villain-Honey Boo-Boo would care about giving her any powers--”

“He didn’t make her a villain in the show, Kyle... I did.”

Kyle stopped his rant and looked the professor down in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Utonium sighed and shook his head.

“She probably thinks he made me do it... I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. But Richard Morbucks wanted nothing to do with it. When Jennifer was young, she and the girls were classmates. Friends... when their powers started to show and they started helping people, I thought I could do some good for them... set them up for life. But I needed money... money that the Morbucks family had. We got to talking, and I gave my series idea to him. He said he’d go with the project only if his daughter was involved.”

Kyle nodded along, following the story.

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why she’s upset at her dad and not at you...”

“I’m getting to that. During production, Mr. Morbucks was... a pain in the ass, to put it lightly. He was a prick on-set and a nightmare behind the scenes. You wouldn’t believe the horror stories I have of that time... The big thing with him was that he wanted his daughter to have a core role in the show, and he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. I could’ve worked something out... but I was so fed up with him that I...”

“...you made her a villain.” Kyle finished his sentence in shock.

Looking down in shame, Utonium nodded.

“It wasn’t like I was using her likeness... It was animated, a cartoon. Different voice, different style... I thought that it wouldn’t matter-- that people wouldn’t think of her any differently. I just wanted to get back at him.” Utonium said, clenching his fists.

Kyle sat frozen, unsure how to feel.

“The show came and went, my daughters found their way in the world, and eventually had their powers removed... but her? She wasn’t able to move on, as I’m sure you know, by now.”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah... I know about that part.”

“Now, combine that unresolved trauma on top of a vile, addictive drug that gives super-powers...” Dexter chipped in.

“She needs to be stopped, Kyle... by whatever means necessary. I hoped we could simply wait her out until we could find an opening and give her the antidote, but that’s not an option, anymore... the longer we wait, the worse her mental state becomes.”

Kyle sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“So, what do we do? We can’t just let these people die...”

Dexter turned to Utonium.

“What about your daughters? How do we get them out?”

“I’ve been thinking about that... Buttercup says that Brick and his brothers might join us should we leave. Kyle, do you have any means of escape?”

Kyle scoffed, stepping toward the professor.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I’m not leaving anyone here—the least we can do here is try to find a way to stop her before anyone else gets hurt.”

Utonium backed away only a tad, and Dexter’s gaze was fixated into the observation room...

“Kyle, I understand your position, but this isn’t someone we can simply vote out of office. She has the power and the influence to stay in charge for however long she sees fit. Unless we can find a way to depower her without immediately being executed, the best shot we have at surviving is getting as far away from here as we can...”

“No, I’m not taking that for an answer—there has to be something we can do, she’s just one person—we can find a way to turn her troops against her.”

“Um... professor?” Dexter tried to intervene, his eyes still staring within the observation room.

“In a moment, Dexter. I understand you wish to protect people, but there’s nothing we can do for the majority of the people here... they can’t--”

“Can’t what? They can’t protect themselves? They aren’t worth saving? Do you know who else said that to me?” Kyle instigated, stepping closer to the professor.

“Professor--?”

“Now, hold on just a minute—I'm not suggesting anything like that... I’m saying that our concerns need to be with ourselves, and our families. No-one else is worth saving.”

“That’s bullshit! The only way we survive this thing is by pulling together, all of us! Why can’t any of you people get that?!”

“Professor!”

“What?!” Kyle and Utonium stopped their argument and turned towards Dexter.

Once they turned and faced him, they were also fixated on the distinct glowing aura resonating from the Geode they had under the microscope...

“I’m... gonna assume it doesn’t always do that?” Kyle asked.

Utonium didn’t answer as he immediately entered the room, leaning down and looking into the microscope. He observed the countless bright electronic synapses flowing in a certain direction, seemingly magnetized towards something...

Kyle moved over past Dexter to get a better look. As he did, Utonium watched the atoms shift and follow Kyle’s movements...

“Kyle, can you enter the room, please?”

Confused, Kyle entered the room and as he did, the energy inside the Geode shifted and followed him, drawn to him like a magnet.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Come over here... to my left side.” Utonium said, observing the energy focusing on the right side, towards the door.

Kyle shrugged and moved to Utonium’s left side, stepping closer to the Geode. Once Kyle was over the Geode, the glowing amplified, and a visible aura began to resonate from within, seemingly being drawn towards the boy...

“Uh... what the hell is this?” He asked, waving a hand through the fog-like aura following his movements.

Utonium watched the scene in shock, immediately looking back into the microscope...

“Incredible... it looks like the magic stored within is being drawn to you, but it isn’t taking away from it. It’s simply sharing the magic... tell me, do you feel any different?”

Kyle thought for a moment and shook his head.

“No, not really. Now, how do we put this stuff back in?” He asked, waving away the aura with no luck in dissipating it.

“There’s no need to. Like I said, it isn’t draining it, it’s amplifying it. I believe this may be part of your enhancement...”

Kyle tried swatting the magic away again and sighed.

“Why hasn’t this happened before? I’ve been around the girls for weeks at a time and this hasn’t happened before.”

“Perhaps it has, but in lower quantities. Maybe because they were using them, there wasn’t enough magic to be shared like this.”

Kyle thought for a moment, trying to make sense of what Utonium was suggesting, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it began to make...

“Wait... my, ‘enhancements’, started to show... after I was at Canterlot. After I was exposed to that magic... but how would I have siphoned it without knowing? Why is all of this only happening now?”

Utonium paid him no mind, fixated on figuring out how to make Kyle begin siphoning the magic in the air.

“Perhaps it’s vocal? Some kind of spell or enchantment?”

Kyle struggled to come up with any sort of spell, but then he had a realization. The last time anything magic-esque happened around him was at the station with the Caribou’s brainwashed prisoners...

“Hold on... I have an idea, but this is gonna be a bit weird.” He sighed, stretching a bit before taking a deep breath.

“~Na, na, na-na-na, oh...~” He started to sing.

Utonium glanced at him confusedly, but as Kyle began to vocalize, he saw the magic around them begin to be pulled and sucked into Kyle’s chest, where a dim red light began to glimmer...

“K-keep singing!” Utonium shouted.

As Kyle continued the Crystal Prep jingle, the Equestrian magic pulled into his body at a quickening rate. He began to feel the magic flowing through his body, feeling an adrenaline rush he had little to compare to. Like a hunger inside him he never felt before was finally being satiated. He continued to sing and as he did, his singing voice began to change, as well. Going from a somewhat scratchy, inexperienced singing voice to a silky-smooth voice that caught even Kyle off-guard. The voice that exited his mouth sounded almost like a completely different person, like a world-renowned pop star...

Once he was done, the aura within the room had been absorbed, and a bright red glow remained on Kyle’s chest...

“Doc... what the hell was that?” He asked in disbelief.

Utonium stammered for a moment, unable to fully answer.

“I have no earthly idea.” He shrugged.

They both shared a befuddled laugh as Utonium stopped and made eye contact with Kyle. Kyle couldn’t see, but for a moment, the professor’s eyes flashed a bright shade of green...

“Kyle... were your eyes always that color?” Utonium observed, his trance fading for just a moment.

Growing even more baffled, Kyle exited the observation room and found a bathroom. Looking into the mirror, he saw that the former blue in his eyes had now been replaced by deep purple. The same color as...

“What the hell is going on?” He asked himself.

Kyle looked down at the red glow on his chest, undoing his shirt to try and identify it. Looking at his bare chest, he saw the silhouette of a pentagon, almost like a necklace right below his neck. He felt at it, trying to see what it was, but he felt nothing from the light. It slowly faded over time as Kyle’s eyes became blue again, and the rush of energy he felt faded away.

It didn’t take him long to recognize the color of his eyes. He backed away for a moment once he realized what color they shifted into...

“What...?” He whispered, turning and exiting the bathroom.

He spotted Dexter and Utonium, the latter rubbing his temples.

“What happened? I suddenly feel light-headed...” He said.

Kyle struggled to comprehend what had just occurred, turning to Dex for answers.

“What did I just do?” He asked.

Dexter tried to find an answer but shrugged.

“In all my years of scientific research and experiments, I can finally say that I am dumbfounded. My suggestion is to take your questions to someone with a little more expertise with the magic in the Geodes... From what I could tell, however, you seemed to have been siphoning energy the whole time. This would explain your sudden Enhanced status as well as the regeneration you reported...”

Kyle thought back to as far as he could go for any giveaways of his power, but nothing came to mind. He remembered never being interested in singing, save for gatherings. But even then, nothing like what happened with the Geode occurred. That thought brought him back to the station with Shining. He realized that right after he sang, the Caribou’s prisoners had been freed... did he do that?

He did that.

“Oh, my God. I... I need to talk with Sunset, she knows more about this than me.” Kyle said, already arranging the meeting in his mind.

“That sounds like a plan. But for now, let’s get back to work. And you, stay back and observe.” Dexter instructed.

Kyle nodded and took a seat, preparing to tell the girls the truth.

How was he going to tell them the truth? That he had been siphoning their magic subconsciously, that he was something more than human...

That he was a Dazzling. He then thought, what was a Dazzling? He knew it was their band name, but what did it mean? What did it make him?

He frowned at the thought and decided to do his job, watching the two doctors experimenting on the gem still held in the observation room...

Hours passed, and his work was only interrupted by a knock on the door upstairs.

"Professor Utonium? It's Brick, I need Kyle."

Kyle glanced to the door and Utonium gestured to him to see Brick. Making his way upstairs, he opened the door and faced Brick.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We need you at the barracks. It's urgent... It's about the Caribou mission." He said, winking at Kyle and letting him know that was a lie.

Kyle understood and nodded.

"Alright, just let me get the rest of my notes for Princess. I'll just be a minute." He said, closing the door and walking back downstairs.

Once he was down, he looked to see the scientists at work. Walking past them, he searched the lab as fast as he could, locating an unlocked safe containing the four other Geodes...

"Kyle, is there something Princess needs?" Utonium asked.

Acting fast, he reached in and grabbed Pinkie's necklace, pocketing it.

"Uh, no, just finishing these notes up!" He shouted, making his way back out the room and rushing back upstairs.

The necklace jingled a tad in his pocket, but not enough to draw attention. He opened the door and followed Brick out of the house and towards the barracks.

Fight

After dividing his day between Professor Utonium, Brick’s planning room meeting, and reporting on only part of that day to Princess, Kyle finally made his way back home as the sun was just starting to set.

As he walked down the street, he noticed yet another protest forming just outside of City Hall… He wanted to do something but knew that nothing he could say would convince them to go back home. Not after what Princess did. So, he continued on, paying them no mind.

Entering his apartment building, Kyle approached the elevator and pressed the button leading to his floor. As the doors closed, a hand reached inside and stopped them, making them open back up.

Kyle glanced up to see Sunset stepping inside, holding two backpacks… He immediately recognized the one as his from their run to Sanctuary, which immediately made his stomach drop.

“Hey.” Kyle said to her.

She didn’t respond, letting the doors close without pressing a button to another floor, just to Kyle’s apartment floor.

The two stood in silence, with Sunset simply glancing at the closed doors in front of her, barely looking over toward Kyle. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the sudden change in personality, but he had a good guess…

“Sunset, I’m pretty sure I know what this is about--”

“Your apartment. We can talk there.”

Kyle froze and nodded, now fully aware of what Sunset’s intentions were.

The elevator doors opened, and they walked down the hall, with Kyle unlocking his apartment door and allowing Sunset inside. He closed the door behind them and locked it as Sunset set their bags on the single bed and immediately unzipped Kyle’s.

As soon as Kyle turned around, Sunset set the picture of Kyle and the Dazzlings on the mattress for him to see.

He looked down at the picture, and silence filled the room. It lingered until Kyle couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I always hated my hair in that picture…” He nervously chuckled.

“When were you going to tell me?”

Kyle fell silent, shrugging and taking a seat on the mattress, turning away from Sunset.

“I wanted to for a while… but I was scared that you’d all get the wrong idea.”

Sunset let out a scoff.

“Seriously? What, did you think we’d just up and turn on you after finding out they were, what, your friends?”

Kyle paused and chuckled.

“Sisters.”

Sunset’s head snapped back toward Kyle, her body turning around to face him.

“Uh… can you run that by me again?”

Kyle turned and faced her.

“After the Battle of the Bands, whatever really happened there, my dad found them. He took them in, and after a few months, he adopted them. They became my sisters, and that was that.”

Sunset slowly nodded, following along with Kyle’s story but clueless as to what to make of it.

“Okay… your dad adopted them, but… why weren’t they with you? When we met?”

Kyle sighed, shaking his head.

“After the fire, Adagio and Aria took off. Left a note saying that they ‘needed to be free spirits’. Sonata stayed, and we all lived in that house together. That… guest room? That was her room.”

Sunset nodded, her suspicions of Kyle hiding something that day finally being realized.

Kyle took a sharp breath before continuing.

“Also… I wasn’t alone when everything started.”

Sunset’s eyes widened at that revelation.

“Sonata was there, too. I made it back home with a sprained ankle from the wreck, and she helped me get back on my feet. It was a few weeks in, and she always did scavenging runs because I could barely walk then. I was on my feet that day, but she said that she’ll go, that she’d take a day or two.”

Kyle took a moment as he felt his eyes water, and his voice began to crack.

“After the second week, I figured she wasn’t coming back.”

Sunset let out a long sigh.

“There, that’s just about everything…” He sighed, taking a moment to wipe a running tear.

Sunset paused before asking her next question.

“What did you know about them? About the Battle of the Bands?”

Kyle turned to her and shrugged.

“Nothing, really. I knew they lost, and you won-- I heard the rumors-- about them being magical sirens? I always joked about it, ‘my sisters nearly conquered the world’, you know?” He chuckled.

Sunset cracked a smile, imagining Kyle ecstatic about having magical sisters.

“But I never actually believed them. Not until I made it to Canterlot. All the things you can do… the things I’ve seen others do here. There’s no denying it, now… and I know now that my dad knew about that, too.”

Sunset nodded-- he had to know about what the Dazzlings did. But why on Earth would he adopt them…?

“So, what happens now? Where do we go from here?”

Sunset shrugged.

“Nothing changes. We keep going the way we are… but why did you think this would’ve changed things?”

Kyle paused and sighed.

“I don’t know… I thought that if you knew about them being my family, you’d…” Kyle started.

Sunset glanced up at Kyle and scooched closer to him.

“I’d what?”

Kyle stayed silent, trying to find the right words.

“I thought that you’d leave.” He sighed, settling for those words.

Sunset registered what she heard, feeling a sting in her heart, and responded first with a heavy sigh.

“I thought you’d all leave and… I couldn’t-- I can’t-- be alone like that again.”

Kyle briefly stopped for a chuckle.

“It’s funny… before the world went to shit, I was a bit of a loner. Sure, I had friends… a handful, but I always preferred being by myself. Especially after my dad died, and especially during--” Kyle stopped himself, not ready to tell Sunset about her.

Sunset, however, subtly nodded, letting Kyle continue.

“After the outbreak, I got what I always wanted… I was alone. I was alone for a long time… I hope this doesn’t come out wrong, but it was… fun for a while. It was like I had the whole world to myself, you know? But… a few weeks in, it all hit me. For all I knew, I was all that was left. My family is dead…”

Sunset didn’t dare face him as tears began to flow.

“Everyone I’d ever known from before is dead or worse. And I… I don’t have another three months in me like that,” He shook his head, “Staying in some two-story house, looting neighborhoods by myself, hoping that one of those freaks doesn’t tear me to shreds… No. No. I’ll die before I’m out there on my own again.”

The two sat there, their backs facing each other, for what felt like ages. Sunset was the first to finally break the silence.

“The Dazzlings, they were, um… they were what we called Sirens. Their singing is magical. It can control people’s emotions and, well… people after they’re charged up with Equestrian magic.”

Kyle took a moment to wipe a few tears from his eyes.

“Well, that explains why they never did karaoke nights.” He chuckled.

Sunset smiled, laughing along for a moment.

“Yeah… yeah, that makes sense. So during the Battle of the Bands, with all that access to Equestrian magic…”

“Yeah. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet of magic, so they became insanely powerful by the end of the week. If we didn’t stop them when we did… Zombies wouldn’t be what we’re worrying about.”

Kyle nodded, taking in that information.

“Yeah, Aria always seemed super bitter about losing that competition… guess now I know why.”

Sunset slowly nodded, her mind hard at work for a brief moment before relenting and turning towards Kyle.

“Which one was Aria?”

Kyle involuntarily let out a laugh.

“She had the purple hair? Massive pigtails?”

Sunset thought for a second and quickly snapped her fingers in realization.

“Oh, yeah! That’s right! Man, she was weird…” Sunset smiled, shaking her head.

“Yeah, tell me about it. Don’t get me started on her and Sonata going back and forth just about every day…”

The two shared a laugh together, one that Sunset was the first to stop.

“Kyle… there’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve also been keeping from you.” She sighed.

Kyle curiously turned to her, scooching a tad closer to her.

“Yeah? What is it?” He asked her.

She turned to him and glanced into his eyes for a brief moment, trying to recall the glimpses she saw when she read his mind back when they first met…

“Kyle, I know--”

Before she could finish, a gunshot rang out from outside.

Kyle and Sunset both bolted to the window, peeking out to see that the protest had only grown since Kyle saw it last. By now, hundreds of protestors were raising signs or even trying to storm the building…

“Oh, shit… we gotta get down there!” Kyle said, getting up to race out the door.

Sunset, however, didn’t budge as she saw soldiers aiming their guns in the air, and toward approaching protesters. As they advanced, soldiers finally opened fire, taking down protestors as that only incited a full-on charge…

“Kyle! Kyle!” Sunset screamed, running after him.

Outside the streets, soldiers desperately held back the approaching riot but were quickly running out of bullets as the swarm soon became too much to bear.

“Fall back! Hold the line!” Some soldiers barked, tossing tear gas and opening fire.

As rioters dropped dead, more only took their place, armed with pipes, bricks, shattered bottles, torches, and anything else they could find… they were all thin, clearly having not eaten for weeks… it was fight or die for them, now, and they weren’t against the latter, anymore.

Kyle and Sunset were halfway to City Hall when they both stopped and saw a familiar blur rush through the sky and land right in front of City Hall.

“Fuck.” Sunset cursed, slowly backing away, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop the now-inevitable slaughter.

Sure enough, the remaining protestors outside the building were immediately cut down to nothing by two red laser beams. Princess slowly walked down the path, incinerating anyone she saw who wasn’t wearing gold.

She mentally kept count of how many she was killing… 1, 3, 6, 11, 14, 25, 48… the numbers were quickly adding up, which she faintly smiled at… How many more could she pick off?

She slowly stopped just outside the building, letting her laser vision build for one final time before letting out a devastating blast…

However, she felt a hand grab her hair and yank her head back, causing her blast to shoot straight up into the sky.

Princess gave whoever grabbed her an elbow that did little to send them back, which told her that this was someone with Chemical X…

“Jennifer! That’s enough!” Buttercup shouted into her ear, pulling her back and tripping her on the ground.

Princess let out a vicious yell after hearing that name, immediately speeding off into the air, taking Buttercup by the neck in her flight.

Kyle and Sunset had no time to follow them as they saw the gunfight inside City Hall…

“What do we do…?” Sunset asked.

Kyle struggled to think for a moment, but then, a realization hit him. He remembered what had occurred at the police station with the Caribou… one minute, they were still controlled, and the next, after he and Shining talked and mockingly sang together…

Sunset’s words echoed in his head about the Siren’s Song, and he gasped in realization…

He tightly held Pinkie’s Geode in his pocket and sprinted towards the building. Sunset shouted for him, but he paid her no mind, finally pulling it out of his pocket, its power already flowing through him as he started sprinting faster.

Once he grew close enough, he held the Geode out and started to sing random melodies…

Sunset ran as fast as she could but started to slow as she realized what was in his hand and what he was doing. Her eyes widened as a familiar green aura emitted from Kyle, and Pinkie’s Geode began to glow red…

Slowly, Kyle heard the gunfire inside cease and the screaming stop. Slowly, those still alive inside marched outside, standing at full attention with a bright green tint over their eyes…

Kyle’s relief was immediately replaced with horror as he immediately stopped singing and pocketed the Geode, seemingly doing the trick as the glint in their eyes faded. They all looked at each other in confusion before Kyle addressed them.

“You need to stop! Killing each other is exactly what Princess wants! Princess is the one turning us against each other, not them. Fighting ourselves won’t help our situation-- we only do that by pulling together!”

Clearly, there was some reluctance, and the remaining protestors slowly started dropping to their knees.

“If she won’t let us leave… then she’ll have to let us die.” One of the protestors said.

Kyle paused, unsure of how to respond to their pleas for death…

Back with Buttercup, she was being dragged outside the walls and into the rest of the city, desperately clawing at Princess to drop her. After one good scratch across the cheek, Princess instinctually dropped her, plummeting down towards the skyscrapers below…

Buttercup began to panic, searching for the instinct to fly, failing to find it… she desperately tried everything she could, flailing around, even unintentionally doing a few poses in attempts to slow her descent…

Her fears began to overwhelm her as she fell, but in a moment, they left her, replaced with a feeling of acceptance… this was it. This was where Buttercup Utonium died, and she was okay with that for a fleeting moment…

As she closed her eyes, content with her fate, her thoughts drifted back to her father, desperately trying to keep Princess happy after wronging her… then to her sister Blossom, who sacrificed her gifts and was being punished every day for it.

Then her thoughts focused on the people in Townsville. The people she helped keep safe ever since she was born. The people that she refused to lose faith in when her sisters did… the people who need her, now more than ever…

The feelings of fear and acceptance were replaced by determination, a feeling she hadn’t had for many years… Focusing her breathing, she kept her eyes closed, not daring to see how close she was to the ground. Then, she felt it… she felt the muscle, the nerve, the feeling of flight. Slowly harnessing it, she took a breath, and suddenly, she wasn’t falling. She had stopped right in the middle of the air.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that she was just feet from the ground. Looking up toward the silhouette of Princess, she cracked her neck and took off into the air like a speeding bullet, clenching her fist as she reared her arm back and, in seconds, delivered a powerful uppercut straight at Princess.

“It’s gonna take a lot more than that, Jenny…” She said, taking a mid-air fighting stance.

Princess felt a throbbing pain as blood spilled from her mouth. Forming a bloody smile, Princess cracked her knuckles.

“It’s about time I had a good fight…”

Lunging back to Buttercup, the two began to exchange brutal blows, Buttercup showing years of martial arts as well as show-biz maneuvers she pulled many times for a few stunt shows. Princess, however, was swift and savage with her attacks, aiming for sensitive spots-- eye jabs, side-shots, even a few groin kicks.

Their fight tore through abandoned buildings, knocking a few down as they beat each other down. Princess finally took control, pulling Buttercup down into the rubble and dust, obscuring her vision.

Buttercup let out several coughs as she slowly rose out of the rubble, desperately searching around for Princess.

However, she was first caught off-guard by a Rager lunging towards her. Quickly grabbing it by its torn shirt and tossing it across the destroyed lot, she was easily taken off-guard as Princess sped and tackled her from behind.

As Buttercup struggled to break free, Princess delivered a series of punches, pinning her down to the rubble-ridden ground. As blood sprayed from each punch, Princess refused to relent, continuing to beat Buttercup until she could barely move…

The beating continued, each punch echoing across the city until Buttercup’s face was swollen, several teeth were knocked out, and she was wheezing for breath.

Princess let out several huffs before standing up and glaring down at Buttercup.

“This is my city now… fucking remember that.” She scolded, taking off into the skies and leaving Buttercup behind.

Barely able to breathe, let alone move, Buttercup laid on the debris beaten and battered…

She had lost. Despite everything, she lost…

She had no time to reflect on her failure as she could barely see what she first perceived as a dust storm in the distance before quickly realizing that she was watching a horde of Ragers charging towards the new noises… towards Townsville.

Buttercup fought her pain and struggled to rise on her feet, but only to stumble and fall back down. She knew it was useless to move, so she watched as the horde grew closer to her… her vision began to go black, her eyes too tired to stay open any longer, and right before the first few Ragers could pounce on her, she fully blacked out.

Restrategizing

Later that night, inside the Utonium household, the professor and Blossom both sat on the sofa, accompanied by a standing Morbucks soldier.

“We will update you when we locate the body. I’m sorry for your loss…” The soldier said, turning and leaving the two.

Blossom was in tears, her hands trembling as she struggled to process what had occurred just the other night.

Utonium was livid, his fists clenched, and gritting his teeth.

Father and daughter sat there in silence as the weight of the situation hung over them both. Blossom was now without her sisters, and Utonium yet again failed to do what was best for his daughters…

Blossom’s gaze reached her fathers, staring at him with anger and disgust. He glanced at her for only a moment and understood her resentment. How could he have gone through with this? How could he still be supplying the woman responsible for the deaths of so many poeple with the means to kill even more?

He knew that there was nothing he could say to undo what he allowed to occur… he could only now prevent it from happening to anyone else in this twisted city that Princess made an empire out of…

He had the means, now he just needed a way to administer it.

“I’ll be in the lab.” Utonium said, quickly standing up and racing down the stairs, leaving Blossom on the couch.

Reaching the laboratory, Utonium quickly jogged toward where he kept the antidote, carefully entering the passcode to unlock its container. The airlock hissed as the lock was opened, allowing Utonium to hold the syringe in his hand for the first time in years.

He gave a shaky breath as he brought the syringe over to his lab, putting a sample of the antidote on a petri dish for further analysis.

Back inside Kyle’s apartment building, he and Sunset looked out the window as darkness began to fall, cautious about Princess flying back in…

“We should start discussing options--”

Kyle was quick to shush Sunset, desperately searching for a notebook.

Sunset rolled her eyes, but knew that he was right to be paranoid as he set the notepad down and started writing.

We need to leave.

Sunset rapidly nodded, took a seat beside him, and wrote on the paper under Kyle’s writing.

No shit. Sanctuary?

Kyle glanced back at her and nodded.

We can tell the others tomorrow. I can make sure that Princess is busy so you all can slip out.

Sunset carefully studied the note and shook her head.

“No. We do it together.”

“Sunset…”

“No, you don’t have to! You think you do, but you don’t!” She whispered.

Confusion grew within Kyle as he processed her words to him.

“Of course I don’t have to, why would you think that I…” He started before a thought overtook him.

Does she know? Does she know?

No. There was no way she would know-- she’d have said something after all the time they spent together--

“When I read your mind… I saw her, Kyle. I saw Chrysalis.”

Kyle’s stomach dropped at hearing Sunset say her name, and a tight grip wrapped itself around his heart, his lungs, and he could barely breathe, let alone speak.

“Kyle… what she did to you was wrong… She was a sick woman who I’m glad I didn’t meet because if I did, I’d…” Sunset caught herself from spilling all of the thoughts she kept bottled up ever since she first saw Chrysalis in Kyle’s mind…

Kyle stayed silent, unable to look Sunset in the eye.

“Hey. She manipulated you, groomed you-- when you had nothing left… none of that is on you…” She said, carefully scooting closer to him.

Kyle subtly nodded-- he always knew that, deep down… but he could never accept it.

“I said yes…”

Sunset shook her head.

“Kyle, that isn’t something you can really consent to… you can say yes all you want, but--”

“No, you don’t understand-- I knew what she wanted. I knew for a while… but Sunset, it was the one thing in my week that I actually looked forward to. What the fuck does that say about me…?”

“Absolutely nothing. You were a 16-year-old boy who was preyed upon by someone sick… you're not the one who should be feeling ashamed.”

Kyle was caught off-guard by such a response. His mind was unsure of how to respond to that, and he couldn’t decide what to make of it.

“Whatever we do, wherever we go, it’s together. So if you want me to keep Chrysalis and the Dazzlings to myself, then I will… but I know the others won’t judge you or treat you any differently for it. I definitely won’t…” Sunset said, getting up and making her way to the door when…

“Attention all Townsville residents. In conjunction with today’s rioting, an early curfew has been declared. Any attempts to violate new regulations will be treated as criminal intent, and the perpetrators will be prosecuted.” A loudspeaker outside announced.

Sunset sighed and backed away from the door.

“Well, shit… now what?” She asked.

Kyle glanced at the only bed in the apartment and sighed.

“I mean… it’s not a small bed-- that or just gimme some blankets, and I can just sleep on the floor--”

“The bed will be fine, Kyle. Besides, I don’t mind sharing.” Sunset jokingly smirked.

Kyle, however, didn’t give much reaction.

“Oh, shit, sorry, that was too soon…” She sighed, her smirk quickly changing to a worried expression.

Kyle quickly noticed her concern and shook his head.

“Oh, no, no, you’re fine… it just wasn’t funny.” He smiled.

Sunset chuckled and playfully punched his arm.

“I guess I’ll give you that… well, we should rest up, then. Sounds like we both have a big day, tomorrow.” Sunset said, removing her leather jacket and setting it on her chair.

Kyle did the same and went to shut off the lights. Once they were off, Kyle slumped into bed, Sunset taking one side and Kyle taking the other. There was more than enough room for them both, save for their backs being pressed together.

“Hey… do you think Buttercup’s okay? What if Princess doesn’t come back? What if neither of them come back?” Sunset asked him.

Kyle was unsure how to respond at first, knowing that he needed to be careful with what he said.

“We’ll have to see about that, tomorrow… good night, Sunset.” He said, slowly closing his eyes.

“...Good night.” Sunset said back.

Soon, sleep enveloped the two of them and allowed morning to come. For the first time in months, Kyle had a peaceful sleep.

He couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. Maybe it was because he finally let his inner feelings about Chrysalis off his chest. Maybe it was because he finally accepted that it wasn’t his fault or choice. Maybe it was because the girl who helped him with all of this was sleeping right beside him.

Whatever the case, Kyle slowly woke for the first time in a long time, a faint smile forming over this realization.

However, Kyle’s peace was disrupted by yet more faint shouting coming from outside the apartment window…

“Ugh, please don’t be another shooting…” Sunset groaned, also being awakened by the shouts.

Kyle cautiously rose out of bed and carefully peeked through the window blinds, seeing several vehicles speeding down the now-empty road. He noticed that gunmen were riding the turrets on top of the humvees driving by, and several of them were loaded with steel rods and other construction materials…

“Uh… what the hell?” Kyle asked.

Sunset turned to the window over Kyle’s reaction, and he quickly ran for his shoes.

“Something’s going on at the gate, looks like-- I think they’re sealing it off!”

Sunset quickly hopped out of bed and followed Kyle out the door. Other citizens followed them as they ran out the apartment door and down the sidewalk to where the humvees were speeding towards. As they grew closer, they all slowed, once they heard the sounds of hundreds of angered, feral voices and pounding on the steel walls…

Once they were close enough to see the gate, they saw that soldiers were indeed welding the gates shut, but they were fighting countless Ragers pounding on the steel at the other side…

As soldiers frantically sealed the gates, one of them on watch turned and faced the growing crowd, quickly drawing his rifle at them.

“All of you, get back! Step away from the gates, now!”

Some of the witnesses ran while others took a second as the shock of the situation hit them… infected were at the gates, and now, they were all trapped inside.

“Where’s Princess?!” Kyle called out.

None of the soldiers responded to him initially. Now about 10 guns were pointed at Kyle and the others.

“Disperse! This will be your only warning!”

One-by-one, several of the crowd members obeyed, but Kyle and Sunset were the two who remained.

“Cadet Shimmer, you are ordered to report in at the barracks, and you-- go home.” The soldier warned Kyle.

As Kyle went to turn around, another soldier’s radio began to activate. He quickly checked in with the voice on the other side.

“Yes, sir… copy that… yes, sir.” He turned off his radio, “Shimmer and Williams, change of orders-- report to the Morbucks Estate. If you need directions, you can--”

“I know the way. Thank you.” Kyle said, gesturing at Sunset to follow him.

Rainbow cautiously sat on a sofa inside the massive manor alongside Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack. Around them were several others who they’ve passed by once or twice before, but never got to know too well.

“What the hell are we doing here, anyway? What happened to Buttercup?” Rainbow asked openly, hoping that someone-- anyone-- would answer her.

Fluttershy stayed silent, looking down towards her lap as she fidgeted with her hands, anxious over why they were sent here… Rainbow noticed her friend’s fear and did her best to comfort her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to her side. Fluttershy returned the sentiment by resting her head on Rainbow’s shoulder.

Applejack sat on another sofa beside Rarity, glaring at the occasional soldier passing by.

“If I had my Geode back, I would…” She grumbled.

Rarity quickly turned to Applejack.

“Hush, darling-- you know she heard that…”

“Yeah? I don’t care-- this is goin’ too far, Rarity! How long is it ‘till she tries to kill us?”

Rarity tried to form a response, but was cut off by the manor doors creaking open, and Kyle and Sunset stepping inside.

Rarity quickly waved the two down and they sat besides her and Applejack.

“Hey…” Sunset said.

“Howdy. Hey, where were ya last night? I didn’t see you enter our apartment building…”

Sunset faintly blushed, doing her best to hide it.

“I was stuck with Kyle because of the early curfew.”

Rarity quickly raised a brow.

“Oh? Sharing the night together? How risque!” She smirked.

Kyle chuckled and shook his head but Sunset’s blush only grew.

“Pfft. Sure, something like that…,” Kyle started, “Look, there’s, uh… something I need to tell you all. It’s about me being Enhanced…”

Sunset turned to him, anxious to see what he says next.

However, the doors opened again, cutting him off before he could continue, and who would be at the doors but Princess herself.

“Hello, fellow Enhanced! Welcome to my… humble abode.” She smiled, closing the doors behind her.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she quickly glanced around her, trying her best to count how many others were in the room save for guards… she made it up to 34 before losing count, only being about halfway there.

“Wait… we’re all--” Applejack started.

“Yes! Everyone here is also Enhanced. I summoned you all here to congratulate all. Starting today, you have all been considered essential personnel! So, when my soldiers eat, you eat. I know rations are a bit low at the moment, so for the time being, you all will be taking from my own personal stash until further notice. Come on-- let’s get you people fed!” Princess cheered, floating in the air and passing the group.

There were a mixture of reactions from the crowd. Many of them were too hungry to think about the implications and immediately followed Princess while others were hesitant to go through with this… sure, they were hungry-- starving, even-- but why was this happening now? Especially after everything with Buttercup and the riot?

Kyle and the girls cautiously stood up, knowing it would be wise to follow them…

“What do you make of this? Why would she be doing this?” Rarity asked Kyle.

He stayed silent, but gave her a look that best portrayed that whatever her play was, it was nothing good…

As they followed her, one of the Enhanced was bold enough to ask a question.

“Hey, what’s being done about the horde at the gates? We can’t just let that be!”

Princess slowly stopped floating, her back still turned to the man who asked her that question.

“...We’re handling it. But in the meantime, we need well-fed troops and Enhanced to help protect those without our gifts and training! So, come eat!” She gritted her teeth, continuing to fly towards the kitchen.

One-by-one, everyone funneled into the Morbucks kitchen and were each served plates of assorted MRE’s, all pre-heated and served collectively.

Kyle went to take a plate, but was gently stopped by Princess.

“Not so fast, tiger-- Come with me, we have… an important discussion that needs to be had.” She beckoned him to follow her.

Not wanting to start any trouble, he complied and walked with her. Sunset saw the exchange occur, shooting Princess an icy glare as the two walked up a flight of stairs.

Kyle followed close behind Princess, tightly grasping Pinkie’s Geode from his pocket. They entered what seemed to be a conference room, with a massive longtable and whiteboards with corporate gibberish still written on them.

“Take a seat, Kyle. I made the guards cook us something special.” She smiled, gesturing to him to sit.

Kyle took his seat, nervously glancing at Princess as she sat in front of him.

“So what’s this about?” He asked her.

Princess’ smiled but it was far from a friendly or genuine smile. It was more of one she had to fight herself to maintain, and was on the verge of losing.

“Professor Utonium locked himself in his little lab this morning… I sent guards to summon him here and he refused to even open the door… He’s planning something, and I need you to go find out what. Can you do that for me?” She asked him, slowly tilting her head to the side.

Kyle nervously shook his leg under the table… Did she know? There was no way she could know about their plan-- but then again, perhaps Buttercup let something slip during their fight…

“Of course. I’ll see what’s going on with him.”

Princess cheerfully clapped her hands together.

“Excellent! God, you never let me down, you know that? Honestly, it’s amazing…”

Kyle felt a twinge of pride at the remark, but knew she was just saying it to generate that emotion.

The door opened, and a guard presented two plates of bacon and eggs.

“Ah! Thanks, now get the fuck out.” She said, her smile quickly fading.

The soldier jumped a tad and quickly scurried out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“But that’s enough business for right now… let’s eat!”

With that, they ate. Kyle knew better than to ask any lingering questions at the moment, so kept them to himself for later.

Once they were done, the two left the room and went their separate ways for now. Kyle quickly hunted down Sunset and the others in the dining room and carefully made his way over to them.

“I gotta get going… duty calls. Stay safe, alright?” He asked them.

They each nodded or said yes, so Kyle exited the manor, heading towards the Utonium household.

Kyle stood outside the familiar door, knocking cautiously as he waited for someone to answer.

Opening the door was Blossom, who immediately gave Kyle a glare.

“What do you want?” She asked in a cold voice.

Kyle was offput by her voice, but immediately knew why.

“I need to see your father-- it’s important…”

Blossom scoffed, not moving out of his way.

“Oh, yeah? Does Princess wanna kill him, too? Tell her to come down here and do it herself.” She scolded, going to slam the door.

“Blossom, wait!” Dexter shouted from inside, stopping the door from shutting all the way.

“Dex, what the hell?! He’s her lackey-- what can he possibly need from us?” She asked, turning away and facing Dexter.

It took him a moment to form a response due to the lingering threat of Princess’ hearing.

“He is… we need him, understand?”

Blossom tried to retort, but sighed and marched away from the door.

“Fine! See what you can get out of him…”

Dexter gestured to Kyle, and they both walked inside the house.

“How is he?” Kyle asked him.

Dexter sighed and shook his head.

“He has been down there all night… I have not been able to get him out, so I suppose we will need to simply go in.”

Dexter entered the appropriate voice commands to the lab entrance, and together they descended down into the lab.

“Professor? Are you down here?” Kyle asked.

“Professor! We need to talk…” Dexter called.

While they didn’t hear a response, they heard the sounds of… something being constructed.

They reached the ground level and searched the rooms, seeing no sign of activity…

After a bit more searching, they finally tracked signs of life from a larger room in the back. Dexter immediately recognized that room…

“Oh, shit-- he is in the synthesizing room.” He sighed, marching towards the marked door.

Kyle followed along in confusion, but his questions were quickly answered once the door opened and they entered the massive room of lab equipment, liquid tanks, and other machines that Kyle could barely recognize.

In the corner of the room, he spotted Utonium constructing what looked like armor. Getting closer, Kyle cyphered that it was more of an exoskeleton with steel supports clearly meant for arms and legs, as well as six installed receptacles for some sort of gem…

“Professor…?” Kyle asked.

Utonium jolted and turned towards him, immediately recognizing him.

“Ah, Kyle! Good thing you’re here-- we need you to test-fit this.” He said, patting the armor.

Kyle immediately stepped back in pure confusion.

“Uh, I’m sorry, wanna run that by me again?”

“Kyle, come on! The Geodes have a reaction to you-- they give some sort of mana into your body, and it’s activating something. Something in your DNA, in your genes, is the same as what flows inside these Geodes… I haven’t been able to figure out what it is, but it’s something inhuman… something powerful. This armor is meant to let the other six Geodes flow through you on top of the one you 'borrowed'. I heard about what happened at the riot, how you calmed it by singing? And that was with just one-- imagine what six could do!”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he realized what Utonium was alluding to.

“Wait, you know that I took--”

“Yes, of course I know! I keep inventory, Kyle, I’m not a buffoon! I wanted to see what you could do, and sure enough, my little hypothesis paid off greatly! Kyle, you could… you could stop her, before anyone else gets hurt. Before I lose another daughter…”

Kyle took another step back, clueless as to how to respond to this claim.

“I… I can’t stop her-- I don’t have any powers like that…”

“Yes, but with this? Who knows what they can activate.”

Kyle wanted to deny the claim, but recalled what Sunset said about the Dazzlings. If he was a Siren who grows stronger from Equestrian magic… What happens when he has six batteries to pull from?

“I can’t… what I did yesterday, I saw what I can do… and it scared me. I won’t do that to anyone else, ever again.”

Utonium’s smile faded, and he let out a sigh.

“Very well. Come this way. I have an alternate solution…”

Utonium marched across the room, Kyle following from behind. On the opposite side of the room, was a single syringe attached to a sort of gun, sloppily put together, but seemingly rigid.

“Um… what’s this?” Kyle asked.

“This is your alternative. It’s an instant-injection mechanism. Press this against someone’s skin, pull the trigger, and whatever’s in the syringe is in the body.”

Kyle followed along and his eyes widened when he put it all together.

“This is the antidote, isn’t it?”

“You know it! So, no fighting? Fine. Find a way to be close to her. During work, perhaps, and give her this when she least expects it. It’s perfect! Save for finding the right moment…”

Kyle didn’t need to hear anything more as he stepped forward and picked up the device. It was small, it could easily fit in his pocket with no trouble.

“Consider it done.” He smiled, taking the gun and tucking it into his pocket.

Without another word, Kyle made his way back up the stairs, opening the door and strolling out of the house.

As the lab door slowly shut behind him, a hand quickly stopped it and pulled it back open, marching down the stairs…

Hearing someone else enter the lab, Dexter quickly rushed to see who was approaching…

Only to see Blossom in front of him.

“Where is it?”

Dexter slowly processed her request.

“Um… I am afraid I do not follow, where is what?”

“The X. The shit my dad gave my sister’s killer? Where is it?”

A series of knocks were heard within Morbucks Manor. Princess floated over and slowly opened the door, recognizing Kyle.

“Ah! Back already? How did things go?” She asked him.

“Good… really good, actually. He was just mourning what happened to Buttercup. I’m sure you’d understand.”

She nodded and took a moment to glance Kyle up and down, as if she was scanning for something…

“I certainly do. It’s a shame how things went for her-- I was hoping she would become one of my enforcers. But that’s besides the point! Is there anything else I could do for you, Kyle?”

Kyle thought for a moment before chuckling.

“You say that like I need a reason to see you.”

Princess let out a chuckle.

“Well, occasionally I have a reason to need you. That’s something I should try and fix.”

“I can think of a good start: Dinner down in the subway-bunker?”

Princess’s chuckle became a laugh.

“I was thinking more on the lines of going out somewhere. I know a few good restaurants that I still have up and running, if you’d like to go to one.”

A night out, Kyle thought, a perfect way to tire her out sooner.

“Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. Do you have any in mind?”

“I know this one right by the manor, Garfield’s? You’ll see the big sign for it.”

“I think I have, actually. Meet you there at 5?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Lies

The rest of the day flew by as Kyle planned out every detail for the night. He started by scoping out Garfield’s as soon as he left the manor. It was relatively small, which fitted Kyle’s needs perfectly, and it being a stone’s throw from the manor helped, as well.

While eating, he would do whatever he could to make it feel nice and comfy, offer to stay the night, and when she’s sleeping, inject her with the antidote… it was flawless in his mind, but he was unsure of how it would go in practice…

Regardless, he cleaned up, did his hair, the whole nine yards. He even managed to secure a small packet of cologne that he applied. When he was done, he glanced into the mirror, barely recognizing himself… the scruffy, barely-put-together scrawny kid from Crystal Prep was a far cry from who was looking back at Kyle, now.

While he hadn’t exactly gained much weight, the drastic change in daily activities for four months had taken its toll. Hints of muscle were visible and Kyle’s somewhat longer hair added to a style that he was starting to like.

He looked at the time-- 4:40-- and snapped out of his self-admirance. Kyle reached to the side and grabbed the injection gun, pocketing it alongside Pinkie’s Geode. With that secured, he sped out of the door and raced out of the apartment.

Thankfully, he lived fairly close to Garfield’s, only 10-minute walk from his apartment. He had little trouble arriving outside the restaurant, glancing around to see if Princess was nearby.

Sure enough, from the sky, Kyle caught hints of gold slowly coming down.

Landing in front of him, Princess wore a simple yet stunning golden dress that reflected the sunset. Her hair was straightened as opposed to its normally curled appearance. Hints of black color were visible from the roots of her hair.

“Hello, Kyle. You look nice!” She said to him.

It took Kyle a moment to respond, but he managed.

“Y-you do, too.” He said, silently cursing himself for stuttering.

She giggled, a sound that Kyle had never heard from her before.

“Why, thank you! Well then, shall we?” She gestured to the doors.

Kyle nodded and opened the door, holding it for Princess.

The two entered the utterly empty restaurant and took a seat at a table right in the middle. They heard a clutter from the back as a waiter quickly walked towards them, nervously gulping before approaching.

“H-hi, welcome to G-Garfield’s. My name is Michael, h-how can I get you two started?” The skinny kid asked, adjusting his collar in fear.

“Hello Michael, I’d just have water, and you, Kyle?”

“Water's fine for me, too.”

“O-okay, coming right up!”

As he ran away towards the kitchen, Princess casually read through the menu.

“Ugh. Hope you like vegan food, ‘cause yikes…” She sighed.

Kyle read through his menu and sure enough, it was all vegan. Fruit, veggies, and such.

“Eh, I’m not picky. Can’t afford to be.” He smiled.

Princess' scowl faded briefly, which Kyle took as a good thing.

“Yeah, very true. Alright, then. I guess salad is the safest choice.”

Kyle nodded, glancing at his menu one last time before setting it aside.

“So, forgive me for asking, but what do you plan to do about that horde? We’re going to need to go out and scavenge soon, what’s gonna happen about that?”

Princess looked up towards Kyle.

“Eh, I’ll take care of them later. They aren’t going anywhere, and I have a lot of work to do to get this place ready for us.”

Kyle nodded, mentally screaming at the idea, but he knew he had to play this right…

“Yeah, I get it. You’re a busy woman… it’s one of the things I admire about you.”

A faint hint of red showed on Princess, which Kyle took with pride.

“Trust me, it has its downsides, but I appreciate the sentiment. Now where on Earth is that water? It’s water! How hard can it be too--”

She was cut off by a pale Michael presenting to full glasses.

“Ah, thank you. I believe we’re both ready to order-- I’ll have the salad with absolutely no cucumbers.”

Michael frantically nodded, underlining the request three times.

“A-and you, sir?”

“I’ll have a salad, too. Cucumbers are fine with mine.”

Michael nervously smiled and rushed back to the kitchen.

The two sat in silence for a moment, taking sips of their drinks. As they did, a humvee drove past them heading towards the manor.

“Huh. Some kind of shipment?” Kyle asked Princess.

“Oh, you know, probably some training exercise. So, Kyle, where do you see yourself heading from here?”

He confusedly looked up at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean when it’s done, and we Enhanced are all that’s left, where do you see yourself in my new world?”

Kyle realized that he never thought about what he would do after Princess was gone… He allowed his mind to wander for a bit.

“I never thought about it… maybe something in leadership?” He fibbed.

He had to say something to keep the conversation going, but by no means did he plan to be a leader. Him? A leader?

However, Princess nodded.

“Yeah, I see that-- it fits you.”

Kyle glanced at her in disbelief, scoffing at the notion.

“Really?”

“Of course! You’ve shown more than enough skills for it as far as I’m concerned. When what happened with the ration line went down, you were the first person to confront me about it. You. Not Sunset Shimmer, not even Brick, you. And that’s not considering what I’ve heard about that search for your mother. I heard that you two found a new type of infected?”
Kyle shuddered after remembering the Stalkers he and Sunset had to dispatch.

“Yeah… that wasn’t all me--”

“And even today, you sorted Utonium out. You have potential, Kyle-- all you need is the temperament, which I’m willing to help you with…”

Kyle nodded to her as more Humvees drove past them.

“Thank you. I… appreciate that, Princess.”

“No worries, and come on Kyle, we’re by ourselves, here… call me Jennifer.”

“Fine then… Jennifer.”

She smiled, and Kyle smiled back.

Michael swiftly returned with two salads in each hand, presenting them to Kyle and Princess. She glanced into her bowl and shot Michael a glare.

“Michael, when I told you what I wanted, what was the specific thing I asked not to have?”

Nervously gulping, he answered.

“C-cucumbers. You wanted no cucumbers.”

Her gaze intensified as her eyes slowly brightened into an intense red.

“So why, exactly, are there cucumbers in my--” She stopped as her gaze landed on the bowl in front of Kyle.

In an instant, the red glare dissipated and she nervously chuckled.

“Oh! Silly me-- you got the bowls mixed up! Here, I’ll take that.” She smiled as she reached over and took the bowl in front of Kyle.

Michael’s trembling hand presented the bowl of salad to Kyle, which he took from her.

“H-h-have a nice meal!” He said, sprinting out the door and running for his life.

Paying him no mind, Princess began to dig in, taking a bite of salad.

“Mmm, that’s not bad!”

Kyle took a bite of his, cautiously not looking towards Michael’s path.

“Yeah… it’s pretty good.”

The two ate, once again staying silent while doing so. Several more Humvees revved past them, Kyle growing suspicious as each one drove by.

Once they finished, Princess carefully used a napkin to wipe her mouth.

“That was nice! I guess the question is what should we do now?” She asked Kyle.

Kyle playfully thought for only a moment.

“Eh, I have a couple ideas.” He shrugged.

Princess glanced up to him and teasingly stroked her chin.

“Oh, yeah? So do I. Strangely enough, they all involve you coming with me to the manor.”

“Ah, that’s funny! So do mine.” He smiled, doing his absolute best to look seductive.

She smiled at the effort, and Kyle couldn’t tell if it was genuine or mockingly.

“Well, here’s what I’m thinking: How about we go to your apartment tonight? The manor gets old after a while… and lonely.” She sighed, glancing back up towards Kyle with what clearly was an attempt of puppy-eyes.

Kyle sighed for a second.

“Yeah, I get that. The apartment gets the same way…”

Princess innocently hummed and quickly leaned in from her seat, breaking some space between them.

"I see. Well, how about we go and make it less lonely?"

Kyle smiled, leaning inward as well and all-but eliminating any space separating them.

"Yeah, I'd like that..."

Utonium glanced back towards the Geode armor he constructed, slowly folding it up by the hinges in the arms and legs as well as one more in the spine. With ease, the armor as well as the six remaining Geodes were able to be put in a bag and carried discretely… something he planned to utilize. Dexter worriedly watched him tinker away with the new invention.

“Alright… I think that is enough for tonight, professor… get some rest.” He said, carefully approaching him.

Utonium tried to object, but a long yawn informed him that Dexter was right.

“Fine. But be sure to lock that armor up before you head out. We can’t let it be seen by anyone other than us.”

Dexter nodded as Utonium left the synthesizing room. Grabbing the bag, he went around the lab and shut off all of the lights. Reaching the final switch, he flipped it off and shut off the hallway lights.

Taking one last good look around the lab, he went to turn and leave, but stopped when he spotted a small red light somewhere on the wall.

Slowly turning back, he cautiously approached the small device, flipping the lights back on to see what was the source of the light.

He knelt down and carefully pulled the device off the wall, inspecting it up close. He quickly realized that he was holding a live microphone…

“Oh, fuck.” He said, his eyes widening as the mic slipped out of his hands.

Quickly grabbing the bag of Geodes, he bolted up the stairs.

“Professor! Professor!” He shouted, running out of the lab door.

Once he reached the living room, he froze when he saw four armored soldiers with their weapons drawn at Dexter.

“Drop the bag! Now!”

Quickly setting the bag aside, Dexter raised his hands.

“Get on your knees, hands behind your head!”

Quickly complying, he knelt down and held his hands behind his head. As he did, he saw Utonium out of the corner of his eye, laid on the ground in an awkward pose…

“What did you do…? What did you do?!--”

A rifle barrel to his forehead stopped Dexter dead in his tracks.

“Stand up. Slow.”

Dexter obeyed, standing up as slowly as possible, his hands still behind his head. The soldier holding him at gunpoint stepped over and reached down to grab the bag, keeping his rifle trained on Dexter.

“Walk outside, get in the car.”

Nodding, Dexter slowly walked out the door, seeing a parked Humvee with the side door wide open. Sitting inside already was Blossom.

“Blossom? Are you alright, did they hurt you--”

A soldier shoved Dexter inside and slammed the door shut. With that done, one of them turned to another two.

“Secure the lab and grab all essential gear. Wait for the professor to come to and bring him over, as well.”

With an affirmative nod, the first soldier holding the bag hopped into the driver's seat and drove off, along with several others, driving towards Morbucks Manor…

Kyle laid in his bed next to Princess, quietly waiting for any sign that she had fallen asleep. Sure enough, snoring was soon heard, much to his relief…

Slowly, very slowly, Kyle moved his arm from around Princess and carefully lifted the blanket off of him. His heart raced as one foot landed on the ground, the boards slightly creaking…

He froze and listened for more snoring. Thankfully, he very quickly heard it.

Pressing on, Kyle looked around on the floor, finding his jeans. Reaching into his pocket, he took the injection gun, turned back to Princess, and took a deep breath.

“You’ll thank me for this someday…” He whispered, holding the gun close.

Quietly sneaking back to bed, he held the gun out, carefully aligning the needle with Princess’ neck…

He was so close. He took a deep breath to try and soothe his trembling as he softly set the barrel against her neck, his finger carefully, slowly squeezing the trigger…

“This is the antidote, isn’t it?” He suddenly heard himself say from Princess’ side of the bed.

Kyle’s eyes widened at hearing his own voice as the recording continued.

“You know it! So, no fighting? Fine. Find a way to be close to her. During work, perhaps, and give her this when she least expects it. It’s perfect! Save for finding the right moment…” Utonium said.

He remembered that conversation. It only happened earlier that day. He softly gasped as his hand was unable to continue pulling the trigger out of shock.

“Consider it done.”

Fear filled Kyle as he focused back on the gun. He quickly went to pull the trigger, but in an instant, the gun was knocked out of his hand, and a firm grasp held his left wrist.

Princess’ cold glare returned as she stared Kyle down while holding his arm. Playfully clicking her tongue, her grip tightened.

“Kyle, Kyle, Kyle… I expected more than this from you. I’m hurt.”

Kyle winced in pain at the grip on his wrist as the blood flow to his hand was cut off.

“This- this isn’t what it looks like--”

Kyle screamed out as the grip tightened once again, bones starting to crack…

“You lying pig… don’t try to con your way out of this one. But, I guess fair is fair… I sorta lied to you, too.”

Kyle instinctually tried to break Princess’ grasp with his other hand, but was unable to.

“I knew you were planning something. I knew it ever since you stood up to Brick back in Processing. It was so obvious! And I should give you credit-- you honestly had me for a second, getting me to rant about my daddy issues…”

Kyle looked up at her, tears of pain flowing down his face as his hand grew a throbbing heartbeat.

“Wha… why did you--”

“Because I was bored! It gets boring ruling over everyone after a while… and I knew it was only gonna get more boring once every ordinary person here was taken care of. That, and you intrigued me. I thought there was something different, something special about you… but after spending all this time with you…”

She pulled Kyle’s wrist up and looked into his eyes.

“...I was wrong.”

With one more tight squeeze, Kyle’s wrist exploded, chunks of flesh and bone scattering across the room and blood staining them both.

Kyle could barely hear himself scream as he held his gushing left arm. Pain burned through him as he crawled on the ground, too pained to even stand.

As she watched on, she reached down to her pile of clothes and pulled out a radio.

“Is it done?” She asked through Kyle’s screaming.

“Yes, ma’am. All Enhanced in Townsville are accounted for.”

“Good. Open the gates. Let the infected in.” She said as she quickly dressed.

Reaching down into Kyle’s jeans, she pulled out Pinkie’s Geode, observing it for a moment.

"What does this one do, again? Makes sweets explode? Yeah, not really worth my time." She shrugged, tossing it aside.

She took one last look at Kyle, tightly holding his stump and paying her no mind.

“Goodbye, Kyle Williams.”

With that, she flew through Kyle’s window, bursting through the wall.

By now, the screaming had ceased, and Kyle struggled to get back to his feet. Eying his belt on the ground, he frantically wrapped it around his stump, tightly pulling with his teeth and slowing the blood flow.

He slowly stumbled to his stove, putting it on high as he fished a pan and quickly put it on the stove as the flames began to wrap around the iron skillet.

Kyle’s vision slowly grew blurry, but he fought as hard as he could to stay awake as the pan heated up. Using his remaining hand to pull on the belt, he managed to slow the blood flow even more. A minute passed, Kyle bit down on the belt again, and quickly slammed his arm into the pan.

A loud sizzle was heard as Kyle screamed in agony, smoke emitting from the stump. Seconds passed, and Kyle pulled his arm off the skillet, strands of melted flesh still connecting him to the stove.

Falling back on the ground, he took a moment to look at his good work. Sure enough, the blood flow had ceased, and in its place was sizzling, bubbling skin and a faint smoke trail…

He fought once again to stand up, but he had no more fight left in him… his eyelids began to close, but just before they did, he spotted a woman with familiar green attire landing inside the apartment from the hole Princess made.

Outbreak

Blossom sat in silence beside Dexter as they made their way towards the mansion. Behind them was a line of other humvees with more up front.

Dexter frantically tugged at his restraints, but failed to break free.

“Quit moving back there!” The driver shouted, knocking on the glass separating them.

Dexter growled and sat back again.

Blossom simply stared out the windshield.

“Blossom, you have to help me, surely we can break free of these… plastic bindings!” He said, still trying to break free.

“Dex’, what’s in that bag in the trunk?”

Stopping, Dexter turned to face Blossom.

“They’re the Geodes from the Canterlot girls. We must get them either to the girls, or to Kyle-- he can harness their powers. I have seen him do it… and after the fiasco at City Hall, he may be our best shot at stopping Princess.”

Blossom looked at him in confusion, but glanced back towards the trunk and knew that he wasn’t lying.

“Let’s say that I get this to Kyle, is there a way for you to get the girls out? We can meet at my apartment. Kyle and I share the building, he’s more than likely there.”

Dexter slowly nodded.

“Yes… either there, or the manor. I can go for the manor if you could possibly escape and go to the apartment.”

Smiling, Blossom’s eyes faintly glowed red as broke through the zip tie like it was nothing. Dexter’s eyes widened as Blossom burst through the roof, punching through the trunk and securing the bag before taking off.

“Goddamnit!” The driver shouted, seeing this unfold.

Acting fast, he reached for his radio.

“Come in all troops, Blossom Utonium just escaped, repeat-- Blossom Utonium has escaped! All available troops in the city, track her position,” He shouted before cutting off comms and looking back towards Dexter, “Don’t think she’ll make it far.”

Dexter only smiled, knowing that she would in fact make it far.

Blossom took to the skies, hovering over the city as she searched for the apartment building.

As she flew, she noticed that the row of humvees was more massive than she initially believed, running down past City Hall. Accompanying them were soldiers marching beside the vehicles, seemingly on guard duty as they drew their guns on anyone who tried to step towards the convoy.

She continued to search, tracking down the street and spotting the building, noticing that one of the rooms was blown open.

Floating down and entering through the hole left behind, she saw an utter mess. Puddles of blood stained the floors and furniture, chunks of flesh were splattered everywhere, and the stove was still on with a smoky pan. She took a moment to observe the now-charred skin stuck to the pan before shutting the stove off. She noted that the knob was smeared with now-dry blood.

“Fuck…” She cursed, trying not to gag.

On the floor, she saw a small gem, recognizing it as one of the other Geodes. She reached down and picked it up, observing the faint but distinct red glow.

“Okay, Kyle… where are you…?” She asked, listening closely for any signs of Kyle from inside the city.

However, she heard the sounds of Townsville’s gates slowly opening along with the sounds of dozens of footsteps stampeding into the city…

Outside the massive mansion of the Morbucks Estate, countless seemingly ordinary people were being brought in through the gates, with several soldiers constructing impromptu defenses and reinforcements for the steel bar gates surrounding the property. The only road inside was barricaded by several Humvees and golden soldiers aiming their guns in the direction of the city. Floodlights illuminated the inside as well as the incoming road as the darkness of night had fully set in.

The latest to be brought inside was Daisuke, being forced inside by two soldiers holding his arms.

“Let go of me! Where’s my family?!” He asked, trying to break free of their grasp.

They tossed him to the ground alongside the others inside. Daisuke identified only a few of them based on their features. He was met by one who ran towards him to help him to his feet.

“Daisuke! Thank Celest—uh... never mind!” Sunset quickly corrected herself, the other girls meeting up with him.

Rainbow stopped when she saw it was just him and cautiously looked around the field.

“Hey... where’s Scootaloo...?” She asked.

Daisuke growled.

“Those bastards dragged me from the hospital... As far as I know, Scootaloo and my wife are still there.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she immediately ran to the entrance, confronting the two soldiers guarding the fence.

“Hey! What the hell’s going on?! There’re still people out there!” She shouted at them.

The soldiers both responded by drawing their guns on her.

“Miss, we need you to stand aside. We need the entrance clear for new arrivals.”

Rainbow immediately held up her hands and scoffed.

“Arrivals? Why are we being brought here?!”

A crowd began to form upon the escalation, and several Enhanced began to take Rainbow’s side.

“Yeah, what the hell are we doing here?!”

“I have family back there; I’m not leaving them!”

“There’s a horde at the gates. We should be out there!”

In moments, a protest began at the gates of the property, with the two soldiers struggling to find a way to de-escalate the situation...

“Look, I don’t know why I’m here, either-- I just have orders!” One of the soldiers said, hoping to garner sympathy.

However, the sound of a radio sparking to life from the soldier’s belt caused him to reach out and answer it.

“Gate crew, talk to me... what’s going on out there?”

The others couldn’t hear the voice on the other side, but they didn’t need to.

“...I’m sorry, repeat?!”

Another moment of silence passed as the voice on the other side continued to speak.

“...Fuck...”

Pocketing the radio, he turned to his partner, slowly removing his helmet.

“The gate’s been breached... the infected are inside Townsville.”

Kyle’s vision faded in and out. One minute, he was in the apartment, being lifted by the mysterious figure. The next, he was inside the hospital, the figure screaming out for help…

Eventually, Kyle’s vision stabilized. He was in a hospital bed, his arm wrapped in heavy bandages and a tube connected to his wrist. He slowly looked around, realizing that he was now wearing a hospital gown. He turned to the side, spotting Riku.

“Wh… where am I?”

Shouting in Japanese, Riku quickly turned to Kyle.

“Oh, thank goodness! We weren’t sure when you’d wake up… You’re in the hospital-- you’re safe now.”

He slowly nodded, looking back to his arm, and the realization that his hand was gone finally started to set in.

“My… my hand… it’s… it…!” He started, his breath beginning to quicken.

Riku quickly stepped towards Kyle, softly putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I know, I know, I know. Take a breath-- it’s going to be alright. Princess won’t get away with this…”

Kyle’s mind began to race as questions immediately flooded his mind.

“Who… saved me?”

“I did.” A voice said from his other side.

Turning his head, Kyle spotted Buttercup covered in blood and bruises.

“Holy shit… you’re alive.”

She chuckled.

“Yeah… guess a horde of flesh-hungry zombies gives you some bitchin’ second wind.”

He smiled, but it quickly faded when he realized the gun was still there.

“The gun… did you get the--”

Buttercup answered his question by holding the injector.

“Yeah. Got the gun. I’m gonna guess this was dear old dad’s brilliant idea?”

He chuckled.

“Yeah. It was either that… or fighting her in a magical suit of armor.”

Buttercup stifled a laugh.

“Yeah, I can see that… honestly, I wanna see that.”

The two shared a brief laugh, but Kyle once again dropped it.

“Where is everyone?”

Riku sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t know. Daisuke was taken. I’m going to guess the others were, as well.”

Kyle thought for a moment before his eyes widened.

“All the cars driving by… she brought them to her mansion.”

Buttercup nodded.

“Yeah. I passed it when I brought you here. It’s loaded with guards and even more people outside. But it gets worse. She had the gates be opened… zombies flooded in.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he quickly pulled the needle out from his wrist, rising from bed despite Riku’s protests and staggering towards the window.

Sure enough, the streets below were filled with Ragers and a few Rotters, flooding the streets and searching for more food…

“Oh, God. She actually did it…” He said with horror in his voice.

Buttercup sighed and nodded.

“Yeah. We don’t know who else is left, but odds are anyone who’s still alive is staying in buildings like this. There are quite a few people here, as is, so odds are that’s the case everywhere.”

Kyle sighed, trying to think of a solution.

“We need to find your dad. He has the armor, and Princess has the Geodes. Odds are, they’ll all be at the manor.” He tried to move towards the door but stumbled back as Riku helped grab him.

“Kyle, you are in no condition to go anywhere… lay back down and let me bandage that.” She pointed to the drop of blood from Kyle’s wrist flowing down from removing the needle.

He sighed and nodded. Taking a seat back in bed. Grabbing an adhesive bandage, she applied it to Kyle’s wrist.

“There. I’m going to see if I can get you anything and check on Scootaloo. The doctor should be here soon.” She said, getting up and leaving the room.

Kyle laid in silence, wincing as a flow of pain throbbed from his arm.

“Can I… get you anything?” Buttercup asked him.

Kyle thought for a moment as he felt the dryness of his throat.

“Maybe some water…”

She nodded and took a cup, turning on the faucet and letting it fill. After setting it on the small tray by the bed, she glanced over to the door.

“Here. I’m gonna check the barricades at the stairs. Just stay here, okay?” She asked in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.

He nodded, and she got up, as well.

Kyle laid back on the bed, alone and in pain, trying to think. Taking a sip of water, he allowed his mind to wander about what he could’ve done differently. Could he have done it another time? Was he too early? Maybe he could’ve just done it another night.

Of course, she was listening. She would be a fool if she didn’t bug the lab… he should’ve known better.

The door was opened again; this time, a doctor entered, holding something wrapped in foil.

“Mrs. Niwa said you'd be awake. Here, eat these.”

Kyle reached and took the package. Unwrapping it, he saw a small stack of about three cookies.

“Freshly baked from across the street. You need to get your energy back.”

Kyle looked at the cookies and back at the doctor.

“There’s a reason for me to eat cookies?” He dazedly asked, a smile forming on his face.

That earned him a laugh when he took a bite of one of the cookies.

“You did a good job cauterizing your wound, given your circumstances. I checked for internal bleeding, and you’re good on that front. Just take it easy for a few days, and you should be back on your feet. From there, we can discuss prosthetics--”

“A few days?! I need to be out there now. I need to help stop Princess before it’s too late. We need to lead the zombies away. We need to--”

“We’re working on that front. We have several of Morbucks’ soldiers who are also tired of her rule and looking for a chance to make a change. Kyle, you’re one person… you need food, and you need rest. You’ve lost quite a lot of blood, despite how quickly you cauterized.”

Kyle sighed and nodded.

“How many others are here?”

“There’s about 40 of us. A handful of doctors and a majority of patients who are unable to move. We made it to the top floor by some miracle, and we barricaded the two flights of stairs below us. It’s safe, for now, but this won’t work forever…” The doctor sighed, running a hand through her hair.

Kyle nodded, knowing that she was right.

“I need to go, there are other patients who need to be checked on. You get some rest-- the more of us that can move when needed, the better.”

With that, the doctor left. Kyle took another bite of a cookie, but as he did, an idea began to form in his head. An idea so crazy, so stupid, that it just might work…

Humoring the thought, he took the last cookie and the injector. Carefully, he picked out the chocolate chips, smearing them across the inner grooves just out of visibility. He was uncertain how much he would need, so he made sure to apply as much chocolate as he could without risking the injector’s functionality.

As soon as he started mentally laying out the plan, Buttercup opened the door and returned to the room.

“I’m back…,” She started before seeing Kyle with the injector, “Uh, what’re you doing?”

“Buttercup, I need you to do something for me… back in my apartment, Pinkie Pie’s Geode is in there, somewhere. Princess left it behind when she…” He found himself unable to say anything about the amputation, but he didn’t need to.

Buttercup nodded, indicating that she understood.

“Yeah, I saw it there, but I couldn’t grab it. Why? What’re you planning?”

“I’m not entirely sure… But whatever happens next, I’m gonna need it.”

Buttercup immediately gave him a confused look.

“Okay… but we should talk about that. We can’t stay in this hospital forever… There’re soldiers everywhere going door-to-door, and odds are we can take a few of their cars if we’re careful and we can go right through the gates.”

Kyle glanced over at her and shook his head.

“No-- I’m not leaving all these people to die. There has to be something we can do… If there were more of us, we could go to the manor and get the other Enhanced out, take the city back… and deal with Princess.”

Buttercup clicked her tongue.

“That’s a big plan, Kyle-- I have the same powers as her, and I tried that-- I almost died and destroyed half the un-walled city while at it. We can’t fight her-- we just gotta go and hope she doesn’t find us…”

Kyle fell silent for a moment, taking a breath.

“During my first week at Crystal Prep, I was heading to my locker to get my stuff for the day when I saw Sugarcoat-- one of the school’s top athletes--, right in front of it. She told me to meet her out by the stadium after school.”

Buttercup raised a brow, sitting back in her seat.

“Okay… so first week and a popular girl’s hitting on you, nice. What’s your point?”

Kyle nodded and shrugged.

“The thing is, I didn’t even think that she was hitting on me. I just wanted someone to talk to, you know? So, I make my way over, and sure enough, no Sugarcoat. But other guys, they were there. Beat me to a pulp, tore up my new uniform, left me tied to a goal post.”

Buttercup’s eyes widened, and she felt her jaw go slack.

“Well, Jesus, that took a turn… what’d you do after?”

Kyle sighed.

“Nothing. I didn’t do a damn thing. My mom worked late, and my sister was never really home, so no one even knew I was gone. I found out the next day that the whole thing was a hazing ritual for new students. I considered telling someone, but I quickly realized that there was no one to tell. I learned that day that Prep had three categories: The athletes, the smart ones, and everybody else-- and God help you if you’re in that last category… Needless to say, I was.”

Buttercup sighed, figuring that would be the case.

“What happened after that?”

“A few more months of occasional beatings, friskings, and the occasional public embarrassment stunt. It went on and on, no matter how much I tried to keep my head down. it got to the point where…,” Kyle struggled to continue but fought through his stirred emotions, “It got to the point where I’m on the roof with one foot over the edge.”

It took Buttercup a moment, but she understood the implication, quietly gasping. Kyle noticed and chuckled.

“Yeah… Needless to say, that didn’t go over well. I was pulled out early by my mom, and… the world ended the same day. Then I lost my mom. And my sister. I could’ve killed myself. I mean-- I had my mom’s gun, for fuck’s sake! But for some reason, some reason that I can’t even say, I didn’t. I fought back. I pushed through every day when I could’ve just opted out at any time. Do you know what happened because of that? I wound up here. And I am not letting that be for nothing. So, you wanna run? Run. I’m not going anywhere. I’m done watching people like Princess or Abacus Cinch control the world, where only a handful of people matter and the rest...”

Buttercup stayed silent, unable to respond to such a notion.

“If that’s how you feel, why’re you just lying there?” A voice from outside the window asked.

Buttercup quickly turned, and Kyle did his best to look outside the window with her, and together, they both saw a familiar girl floating in the air right outside the hospital, holding a duffel bag...

“Blossom…?”

Blossom smiled, Buttercup frantically opening the window and pulling her sister in an embrace.

“Sis’, you’re… you’re flying!” Buttercup laughed in shock.

“And you’re fucking alive!” Blossom shot back, tightly holding her sister.

Kyle only smiled, happy to see that their chances just improved.

Blossom broke the hug and turned towards Kyle, reaching into her pocket and pulling out Pinkie’s Geode.

“I believe this is yours.” She tossed it toward him, Kyle catching it with his right hand.

“Yeah.” He smiled, clutching the gem closely.

“Good. I overheard that plan of yours, and it could work. Half of the Enhanced in there are fed up with Princess as it is. Odds are that if we can turn them against her somehow, we have the best chance.” Blossom said.

Kyle only smirked and turned over to Buttercup.

“The subway.” He simply said.

Buttercup nodded, immediately knowing what he meant. Blossom, however, had no clue what they were alluding to but decided not to push about it.

“Okay, great. If you can keep her busy with whatever you have up your sleeve, I can start getting people out, starting with your friends and my father.” She said.

Kyle nodded.

“What can I do?”

“For now, stay here. I’d feel a lot safer if people I can trust were here protecting the place. If we need you, I can just come to get you. If the infected get inside, you take whoever you can to the rooftops, seal the entrance, and wait. Use this armor if you have to. Odds are I’ll hear if you're in trouble. Got it?”

Kyle nodded again.

“Yes, ma’am.” He jokingly said.

Blossom smiled and turned to her sister.

“Ready to relive the glory days?” She asked her.

Buttercup smiled ear-to-ear, cracking her knuckles.

“It’ll be my pleasure.”

With that, the two crawled out of the window and flew off, leaving Kyle with the Geode in his hand.

Holding it closely, he began to hum to himself, still feeling woozy from the amount of blood loss.

As he did, a sharp jolt entered his body, and he let out a gasp. In an instant, a strong flow of energy rushed through him as he struggled to grow used to the new sensation. He began to hear the distant shouts and screams of citizens scattered across town as the infected tore their way through the city. Looking out toward the window, Kyle began to see green fog flow into the room, recognizing it as his perception of the magic that has been giving him power this whole time…

At that moment, he felt the terror and anger of those still alive in both the main city and the manor. It all manifested and flowed through him, empowering him. It left a taste in his mouth, almost reminiscent of meat, which he found extremely unsettling, but somehow satiating at the same time.

The moment passed, and Kyle’s singing stopped. As the remaining harvestable fog dissipated, Kyle rose to his feet, feeling more energetic and alive than ever before. Looking down at the Geode, he saw that it was now a bright red, a constant glow remaining as opposed to vanishing like before.

Looking down at his hand, he saw that while it was still gone, he no longer felt the tingling pain he felt before. Cautiously undoing his bandage, he saw that the wound had completely healed.

“Huh.” Was his only response.

Acting quickly, he unzipped the bag, freeing the armor and the other six Geodes. One by one, he unfolded the armor and put it on. Slowly, he set each Geode into its designated location, struggling with some due to having one hand. He resorted to angling them on the side of the bed and pressing them into the armor.

Kyle took a moment as he realized what he was going to do. Was this the right move? What if he ruins the Geodes for the others? His friends? What if they despise him because of this? Would they despise him?

But he knew he didn’t have time to ask these questions. Princess needed to be stopped, now. In his eyes, asking forgiveness would be better than asking for permission.

With all seven gems on him, he hummed yet again… but this time, nothing happened.

“Uh… what the hell?”

He openly sang, this time, but the same response-- nothing.

He tried a few more times, but the only Geode activating was Pinkie’s… Twilight’s flickered, but it still didn’t fully activate for him.

“Shit...” He cursed, shaking his head and taking off the rather heavy armor.

He carefully removed the Geodes, putting them back in the pouch and setting it aside. As soon as he did, he heard the roars of Ragers from near the staircase. Acting quickly, he sprinted out the door, grabbing the gems.

As doctors and patients ran in the opposite direction, Kyle saw the barricades consisting of several couches, hospital beds, and other equipment being torn at by Ragers, some starting to climb over just to be put down by the citizens guarding them.

Quickly glancing at the situation, he sprinted over to the scene, just avoiding a wild swipe of a Rager’s arm.

“Everyone, pack up, we need to move for the roof!” He shouted, desperately holding the already-shuffling or shattering furniture together.

One-by-one, beds were pulled with bedridden patients shuffled past Kyle, going up the staircase leading to the roof. Assisting him with the barricades was Riku, using a fire extinguisher as a bludgeon to beat the Ragers back.

Kyle kept an eye on who was climbing the stairs, making sure that everyone was moving quickly but in an orderly manner.

“We can’t hold on, much longer!” Riku shouted, her extinguisher dented and starting to hiss from the nozzle…

Kyle saw that the last of the citizens were climbing the staircase and turned to Riku.

“At the count of three, move away and fire the extinguisher! We gotta slow them down so we can reach the roof!”

Understanding, Riku nodded.

“Okay… one… two… three!”

At three, they both backed away. Riku undid the pin and sprayed the extinguisher’s contents at the horde as they instantly pushed through the barricades.

Riku managed to climb up, but as Kyle tried to follow, he was grabbed by his gown and pulled back.

“Kyle!” Riku shouted, almost dropping the extinguisher before stopping herself.

Kyle broke free of the zombie’s grasp, but was pulled off the stairs and was trapped as some Ragers broke the pack and lunged at him, forcing him to run.

“Get to the roof! Go!” Kyle shouted, running down the hall and reaching his hospital room.

Slamming the door shut, Kyle grabbed and propped a chair against it as Ragers began pounding and clawing, trying to enter the room.

“Shit…” He cursed, realizing that he was trapped…

Slowly, the amount of zombies at the door increased as Kyle knew that they were giving up their pursuit for Riku and were changing directions towards him.

“Think, Kyle, think!” He thought to himself, desperately trying to find a solution.

The door started to creak as the chair started to wobble. The sheer weight of the infected started to push the door off the hinges.

Kyle quickly opened the pouch, dumping the Geodes on the ground.

“Come on… work!” He said, singing yet again, although a little pitchy due to his desperation.

Once again, Pinkie’s was the only one to glow. While it gave him a small burst of energy, it was nowhere near enough to fight the horde beginning to break through the door.

A lightbulb went off in his head as he quickly bagged the Geodes/injector, flimsily tying the bag to his gown. Opening his window, he looked down at the three-story drop.

Kyle internally laughed as he was once again looking over the ledge. The humor of the moment wasn't lost on him, but at the same time... would it not be a better way to go? Quick and painless versus being torn to pieces by Ragers?

What if this was the way it was always meant to go? Was Kyle only putting off the inevitable when he chose not to jump back at Crystal Prep? Was all of this for nothing?

Or was there a way out of all this that he just wasn't seeing?

The door rattled a bit more, before giving one last crack before the hinges broke off the walls and the door completely gave way.

Survive

Inside Morbucks Manor, Princess sat on her bed, holding her head in her hands and struggling to maintain her breathing.

The last few hours' events replayed in her mind, from learning of Kyle’s betrayal to ordering the gates to be opened. Over and over, the sounds of Kyle’s hand being crushed down to nothing haunted her…

“Aw, having second thoughts? A little late for that…” A voice eerily similar to Princess’ said.

Princess jolted up as she looked around for the source.

“Who’s there?!”

Her eyes darted around her room, which felt increasingly claustrophobic by the second. Try as she did, she couldn’t find the stranger speaking to her.

“We don’t have to be what they made us… not anymore.” The voice said, this time from behind her.

Princess jumped and spun around, seeing her reflection through a mirror on the wall…

She slowly studied her own visage, noticing the blackness of the veins on her face and all over her body. As she watched, the reflection’s face suddenly changed, moving against its source.

“It’s not too late. Even now… you can still stop this.” Jennifer said, her black hair overtaking the red highlights as the veins on her face in the mirror disappeared.

Princess gasped and backed away, the reflection of Jennifer standing tall, watching her crumble.

“You don’t want this. I know you don’t… It’s the X. It’s scrambling our mind. It’s killing us…. and you know it.”

Princess tried to form an argument, but a vicious cough cut her off. She quickly covered her mouth with her arm and watched as black fluid coughed up and stained her bare arm.

“You read the warnings-- it wasn’t made for long-term use, remember?” Jennifer asked.

Princess snarled and shot a blast of laser vision at the mirror, melting through it and tearing through the mansion’s walls. Tiny embers filled the air, but none of them managed to catch fire.

“I don’t care what the doctors said! I’m perfectly fine, and I’m in control! I’m everything they never wanted me to be!” Princess screamed.

Through the shattered remains of the mirror, Jennifer reformed.

“Really? Is this what you call in control? You just doomed hundreds of thousands of people to die. That doesn’t sound fine to me. Was destroying Kyle’s hand the strong thing to do?” She asked.

Princess’ heart sank for a moment as tears began to form.

“Kyle was a traitor-- I should’ve executed him…”

“But you didn’t. Why?”

Princess tried to respond but couldn’t find the answer. Jennifer slowly chuckled at that.

“I think you know why...” She sighed.

“Shut up.” Princess scolded.

“On that note, this whole thing was so badly planned out. Starving people usually doesn’t help with making yourself look good. And now there’s a zombie problem. How exactly do you plan to clear them all out of town after this is done?”

“Shut up.”

“You know what I think? I think that you have no idea what you’re doing. And now, everybody in Townsville is paying the price for our trauma… Even the ones who still tried to be there for us, despite everything.”

“Shut up!”

“Mom, Dad, Buttercup, Brick… and now, Kyle. This needs to stop!”

Princess’ eyes ignited into a searing red.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”

Two bright beams tore through the walls and ceiling of the mansion as the survivors and soldiers outside could see the meltdown occurring inside.

Watching the scene unfold, Rainbow turned to the others.

“Guys, we need to get the fuck out of here…”

Sunset nodded, her eyes glued to the mansion catching fire.

“Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. Together, we jump one of the guards, get his gun, threaten the others, take a car and get to the hospital. From there, we pick up Scootaloo and search around for Kyle--”

“Rainbow, I can point out ten things wrong with that idea.” Applejack sighed.

“Well, at least I’m thinking of something! Guys, Kyle isn’t here and who knows what’s going on with him, now, and Princess finally flew out the cuckoo’s nest! We’re fucked unless we get out of here as soon as we can think of something!”

The others silently agreed. Rarity raised a brow and glanced over to Rainbow.

“Um, what do you mean something’s going on with Kyle?”

“Oh, you didn’t hear? Apparently, he stopped that riot at City Hall last night by himself-- they’re saying he hypnotized them-- by singing? Sunset, you were there. Did you see anything like that?”

Sunset struggled to form an answer, but thankfully, she was cut off before needing to do so. She spotted both Utonium and Dexter approaching them.

“Oh, thank goodness we found you!” Dexter said, marching to the others alongside Utonium.

“Uh, who the hell are you?” Sunset immediately asked.

“I’m Professor--”

“Professor Utonium! You’re the Powerpuff Girls’ dad!” Rainbow said, her eyes lighting up a tad.

“Uh, yes, that’s me… this is Dexter. We were Princess’ assigned scientists until very recently. Listen, where is Kyle?” Utonium asked.

“We don’t know. I was hoping you would…” Applejack said.

“Hey, we heard what happened at City Hall-- how did he do that?” Rainbow asked them.

Utonium glanced over at Dexter, and they shared a mutual nod.

“Kyle was tasked to assist us at Princess’ behest a few days ago. During his time with us, we discovered that he had a reaction to your gems-- he was siphoning small amounts of magic from them. We believe that with the right modifications, and a sort of filtration system for lack of a better word, Kyle can harness this power, and use it in a different way than all of you.”

The girls all shared shocked glances, save for Sunset.

“And there is more. After Kyle left, we tested with samples of his blood given to us from Processing. We discovered that something within Kyle’s DNA is shared within the Geodes. Some sort of gene that we have been unable to track. Whatever it is, it may be our only chance to stop Princess.”

There was a brief pause as this information was processed.

“Wait, so are you saying that Kyle is… Equestrian?” Rainbow asked.

“We need to talk to ‘em, now.” Applejack said, unsure how to feel about this information.

“Um, wait-- if he sang and stopped the riot, does that mean that he’s…” Fluttershy started.

Rarity’s eyes widened along with Rainbow’s.

“He’s a Dazzling?” They both said in unison.

Sunset hesitated to respond, but finally took a breath.

“Yeah. He and I figured that out last night.”

There were several gasps from the girls as Sunset held up her hands.

“He was going to tell you, but everything happened so fast. When we left that meeting, I went and got our stuff from the orphanage run. A photo fell out of his pack with Adagio, Ariel, and… the other one. I asked him about it, and he told me everything. But that doesn’t matter, now-- we need to get to him. Dexter, do you know where he and Princess went?”

“I do not know, but I know that Blossom was heading to his apartment. Perhaps we could slip out and--”

“Jennifer!” Buttercup’s voice suddenly called out.

Countless Enhanced immediately turned as they saw two silhouettes in the moonlight. They landed in the middle of the crowd, making sure that Sunset and the others were close by. Blossom acted fast, using the confused responses of the crowd to her advantage. She pulled out a set of keys and put them in Sunset’s hands.

“There’s a humvee right by the gates. Take it, and go to the hospital. I’ll be there shortly. Kyle’s there, he’s safe.”

Understanding, Sunset nodded. With that, Blossom caught up with Buttercup as they reached the end of the crowd.

Princess hovered out from the manor, floating towards Buttercup and Blossom.

“I see you survived-- good. I was getting bored. And you have your powers back! How exciting!” She smiled.

“Oh, no, I’m not fighting you… not this time.” Buttercup said, turning her attention toward the other Enhanced.

“There’s something you need to tell these people… something you did to them.”

Princess grew confused, tilting her head but allowing Buttercup to play this plan out.

“Princess Morbucks has been starving Townsville! Underneath the city, in the subway, is a surplus of rations, survival gear, and more! All approved and funded by the US Government!” Blossom said.

Confused murmurs resonated from the crowd as Princess stammered, watching them all begin to turn on her.

“Her plan was to starve the ordinary people out. That’s why she fed us the other day… she wanted to make it us versus them!”

Not only were the other Enhanced beginning to turn, but some soldiers lowered their weapons from the interloper, turning over towards Princess.

“W-what’re you doing?! You work for me!” She shouted, noticing their turn.

Princess nervously laughed as she began to realize that she was outnumbered, and most likely out-powered.

“Y-you have no proof! You say there’s some big bunker with food, but you don’t have any… what’re you trying to prove?” She asked.

Buttercup perked her head up at that.

“Oh? Wanna bet?” She asked, pulling out a singular MRE from her pocket, tossing it onto the ground by the Enhanced.

“Read the label! Morbucks Incorporated. Her father collaborated in the disaster relief efforts after the wildfires started last year. And now she’s hogging it all for herself and anyone she wants to keep around.”

As the people realized the truth, they began to turn.

“I knew there was a reason you fed us!”

“My family isn’t enhanced, do they need to die, too?!”

Several Enhanced began to approach Princess as she panickedly blasted a beam of heat vision. However, one of them stomped into the ground, raising the earth beneath them into a barrier that managed to take the light blast.

“Gonna have to try harder than that for us!” The earth-manipulator shouted.

Princess began to hyperventilate as the people marched closer to her…

“G-get back! I’m warning you! Guards, s-shoot them, or something!”

However, no one drew their guns towards the crowd. In fact, a few soldiers drew their guns on her.

“Who do you people think you are?! Do you know what I’ve done for you?! Did you forget who protected you when zombies became real?! When your neighbors were being torn apart?! Me! And this is how you all repay me?!”

During this confrontation, Sunset and the others made their way toward the gates. They were stopped by a guard, who stared at them through their helmet for a brief moment…

“We didn’t see anything.” The soldier whispered.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

“Garfield?” She asked.

Garfield chuckled, shrugging inside the armor.

“Let’s save reunions for later. Right now, you gotta go!” He said, carefully creaking the gates open.

They didn’t wait for another que as they bolted for the car.

Back inside, Princess’ back hit the manor as the angry mob approached her.

“You… you… fuckers!” She lunged towards the crowd.

Meeting her was Blossom. Pressing against her, Blossom kept Princess from attacking the crowd.

“Stand down, Jennifer-- it’s over! We can still fix this!” Blossom shouted.

“You think you can come over here and scare me into submission?!” Princess screamed, throwing Blossom into the manor.

Buttercup followed from behind, entering the rapidly-burning mansion. At this point, the whole building is ablaze, the three protected thanks to their powers. However, Princess’ sleeves caught fire, with her patting them out.

Outside, several Enhanced tried to run in and help, but the entrance collapsed behind the three…

Princess tossed Blossom on the unscorched ground, floating down and clenching her fists.

“You’re rusty, Blossom-- just like Buttercup!” She said, preparing to take a swing.

Buttercup soared inside and grabbed Princess’ arm, kicking her through the charred wall.

“Good thing we aren’t alone, then.” She said.

Princess heavily huffed, preparing another blast of heat vision.

Blossom rose from the ground, hearing the sound of the ceiling beginning to collapse. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled a pure icy mist, freezing the collapsing wood.

Princess took this opportunity to try and grab Blossom, only for Buttercup to yank her back.

“Blossom, how long are we doing this for?!” She asked.

“Long enough for you-know-who to get their ass down here!” Blossom responded, being very careful not to give Princess any hints.

Blossom knew that the two of them couldn’t take her on forever. Blossom was already on a tight time limit as she started to feel the overbearing heat tingle her skin. Buttercup was barely in fighting shape after the previous beating, and together they were only enough to keep her occupied…

The fight continued as the manor burned around them. After what felt like ages, Buttercup was out of breath and Blossom began to sweat immensely due to the heat of the room becoming too much, coughing on smoke…

“Aw, I guess they didn’t tell you-- the first dosage is the shortest… this was a fun trip down memory lane, but I think it’s time we permanently wrapped this up.” Princess smiled ear-to-ear, preparing a powerful blast of heat vision…

But suddenly, from outside:

“Cataclysm!”

The burning boards blocking the door were swiftly struck by an unseen force of dark energy, quickly disintegrating.

Princess turned towards the scene as she realized that each and every one of the Enhanced from outside were crowded at the doorway, ready to fight. Taking the lead were two figures. One donning a sort of ladybug-costume, and the other, a cat.

“Son of a bitch… of course you two came crawling back!” Princess growled.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at the two in absolute confusion as the cat one shrugged.

“I’m just shocked you thought we left.”

The ladybug-costumed hero took a step forward.

“It’s done, Morebucks. We actually don’t want to hurt you, which is more than you deserve…” She said, with a heavy French accent-- moreso than her partner.

Blossom and Buttercup struggled back to their feet. They knew that at the moment, they had the advantage… Looking at each other, they both shared a nod.

Together, they sped towards Princess, grabbing her from behind and pushing her and themselves out of the manor. Tossing her just behind the crowd, the two sisters readied for one last brawl. This time, however, the several Enhanced were the ones who took the initiative, stepping forward and preparing various powers…

Princess saw the army now turned against her, and growled.

“Fine, then… I guess I can work with a clean slate.” She huffed, preparing for a bloody fight.

Speeding down the road, Rainbow kept her eyes out for the way to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Daisuke and the others searched the vehicle for any useful weapons.

“Okay, we have a pistol with one mag, a shotgun with 20 slugs, and a few knives… we can make that work, right?” Sunset shrugged.

The group all nodded with Applejack handling the shotgun. Sunset was bestowed the pistol, and Rarity, Daisuke, and Utonium were handed knives.

“Alright, people… I know you all have questions for Kyle. I do, too-- but right now, they have to wait. If our Geodes can help stop Princess, then we have to do whatever it takes to make that happen. It won’t be easy. The streets are infested and we don’t even know what the inside looks like, so be careful. We only have so many bullets, as is. Understood?” Sunset rallied.

Mutual cheers were shared, and Rainbow screeched the brakes.

“Uh… guys?!”

Sunset made her way from the back to the front and looked out the windshield. Her eyes widened as she saw Kyle dangling from the hospital window with only one hand. Tied around his hospital gown was a small pouch stuffed to the brim.

“Kyle! Rainbow, park us against that window, now!” She shouted.

Rainbow nodded and parked the rather large car up against the window, watching a pack of Ragers spill from the exit and towards them.

“Shit, Ragers! Applejack, right side!” Sunset ordered.

Applejack opened the front hatch and climbed on the turret seat, shooting at the horde with the pump-action. Sunset hopped on top, as well, climbing just past Applejack.

“Kyle! We’re here, just hold on!”

Kyle heard her voice and laughed in relief.

“Sunset! They’re all over the building, everyone’s on the roof! Your Geodes are in the bag!”

Sunset smiled in relief.

“Alright, just hand it down, and we can--” Sunset cut herself off when she realized that Kyle’s left hand was completely gone.

Her eyes widened as she instinctually let out a horrified gasp.

“Yeah, a lot’s happened. Hey, any chance you can catch me? I don’t think I can hold on for much longer…” He asked as his hand began to slip…

Stammering, Sunset tapped at the hood of the humvee, telling Rainbow to move the humvee up just a bit. With that, she jumped off of the hood.

“Let go, try to land on the hood!”

Rainbow watched the scene unfold and wasn’t liking the idea.

“Uh, Sunset… I don’t think he’ll be able to--”

She was cut off as Kyle lost his grip, beginning to fall and landing right on the hood on his back. The fall knocked the wind out of him, but other than that, he was uninjured.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked, running over to his side.

“Yeah… thanks.” Kyle said, slowly getting up.

As soon as he was up, Sunset quickly pulled him into a hug.

“We didn’t know what happened. I thought she… I thought…” She mustered.

Kyle returned the embrace, leaning his head on her shoulder.

“It’s okay… I’m okay.” He assured her.

“Alright, y’all, this is real cute, but I’m almost outta ammo!” Applejack shouted, firing another shot.

Kyle smiled, gesturing to the bag on his waist.

“You won’t be needing any more!” He said back.

Sunset’s eyes widened as she quickly undid the bag from Kyle and reached for Applejack’s Geode.

“AJ! Catch!” She said, tossing the gem to her.

Applejack turned and quickly caught the Geode. Her eyes lit up like on Christmas morning when she realized what was in her hand.

“Why howdy, old friend…” She smirked, putting the necklace around her neck and cracking her knuckles.

As Sunset handed the Geodes back to the others, Applejack set the gun aside and hopped off of the humvee. Reaching for a nearby traffic light post, she hoisted it off the ground and swung at a row of Ragers, breaking various bones as they splattered across the pavement, too beaten to move.

Rarity was up next, using her diamond fields to seal the hospital doors until everyone else was powered up and ready to fight.

Inside, Daisuke sighed and shook his head, trying to amp himself up.

“Okay, buddy, I’m not sure how to summon you these days, but my family’s up on that roof! I know you know that, so come on! Come on out, Dark!”

Fluttershy watched this unfold with worry plastered on her face.

“Um, Mr. Niwa, are you okay?” She asked.

Daisuke’s eyes snapped open as dark energy resonated around him. In an instant, Daisuke was gone, and Dark resurfaced.

“Alright, alright! I’ll help out, you old bat!” He sighed.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as Dark turned to her and gave her an upwards head nod.

“What’s up?” He simply asked as he flew out from the humvee roof, assisting the others with picking off the remaining zombies.

Rainbow, armed with a knife, used her super speed to assist her in braining countless Ragers before they could even try and grab at her. She smirked to herself, happy that she has the advantage, this time.

Fluttershy took hers, but was unsure of what she could do with it. She had no clue on how she could help, but looked out the windshield and realized that another horde was closing in from the street behind the group…

Kyle, armed with the pistol, was the other person to see this threat.

“We got more from behind!” He shouted, drawing the gun and shooting one of the Ragers square in the head.

Fluttershy’s breath began to quicken, and panic began to overwhelm her…

Her gaze reached the others, who turned and prepared to fight, but the numbers of that horde were clearly too great for them to handle…

Fluttershy took a deep breath, doing her best to control her nerves. Taking the wheel, she revved the engine and sped forward.

“Come on, you motherfuckers! I’m right here, come and get me!” She squeaked, doing her best to yell as she drove into the horde, plowing through them as many of them turned and followed her as she honked on the horn madly.

The group paused to process what Fluttershy had just done, but had little time to do so.

“Rainbow, you should follow her-- make sure she gets out of there. The rest of us, get ready to move in.”

Kyle glanced over to Daisuke, or at least who he believed was Daisuke. It took him a moment to process his new appearance.

“Uh, Daisuke--.”

“Ah-ah-- name’s Dark.” Dark corrected.

Kyle paused and nodded.

“Right… Dark… you have those wings, you go up to the roof and make sure that everyone’s alright. You can take Sunset and me with you, and we can take out any zombies that try to get to the roof. The heavy hitters on the ground, us on the roof keeping watch. Got it?”

Dark nodded, preparing to carry two people to the roof.

“Rarity, at my signal, drop that barricade and get ready to do some impaling, and Dark, get ready to carry us..” Kyle instructed.

Rarity and Dark both affirmatively nodded, and Kyle looked at his pistol, realizing that he was no longer able to check the chamber. He settled for checking the mag, seeing that he only had three bullets left in the magazine.

“Okay… now!” He shouted, bringing his arm down.

With the wave of a hand, the diamond barricades dissipated, and the first few zombies sped out only to be either shot by Kyle or Sunset, crushed by Applejack holding the light post, or stabbed by Rarity in a flurry of blasts of diamonds, doing her best not to vomit at the sight.

“Move in!” Applejack shouted.

The two began to advance, pushing through the lunging Ragers. They did their best to maintain distance as to avoid blood splatter potentially spreading the infection. It did the trick as they began to pile bodies on the ground, Applejack making sure that they’re all down for good with a quick stomp to the head.

Meanwhile, Sunset and Kyle were both lifted up to the roof, Kyle refusing to look down again…

“So what do we do after this?!” Sunset asked Kyle.

“Once we have a base, we’ll all need to deal with Princess. Once she’s dealt with, the rest of the city will need to be secured!”

“Yeah, and what’s your great plan to deal with that psycho?” Dark asked.

Kyle chuckled, looking at the injector secured on his side.

“I have a plan…”

The three reached the roof, immediately running towards the doors that were barricaded with countless leftover hospital beds…

Sunset cocked her pistol and started pulling the beds aside, allowing the Ragers to start pounding on the door.

“Kyle… you still have Pinkie’s Geode?”

He nodded, gesturing to the gem around his neck.

“Good. Use it!”

Kyle instinctually nodded, but immediately did a double-take.

“Wait, what?! Sunset, we don’t know if that could work!”

“We don’t have a choice! It works on people, it has to do something to them!”

Kyle struggled to process the thought of controlling the infected, but had no time to dwell in it as the door began being pushed open, a loose Rager arm madly swiping around trying to get more leverage.

Desperately holding it up, Kyle turned back towards the others on the roof.

“Cover your ears!”

They quickly did so without asking why, and Kyle began to sing, the Geode pulsating with red light as he did.

Initially, there was no response to his singing as the barricades were starting to give. However, he shut his eyes and continued his melody, the glow of the Geode intensifying.

The door finally gave way, with Sunset quickly drawing her gun and the doctors on the roof backing away.

However, the Ragers didn’t spill out onto the roof.

Kyle cracked an eye open, seeing that the zombies in front were standing in place, the same tint over their eyes that was over the guards and rioters at City Hall…

“Holy shit.” He whispered.

He stepped toward the docile zombies, observing that they didn’t try to lunge at him. They were barely even twitching. They were only breathing heavily with the occasional quiet snarl.

Sunset’s eyes widened as from behind the horde, she could hear the others cutting their way through the docile zombies.

Kyle stood in awe as he realized the power that he had. The power that he never fully realized was a part of him until that very moment.

The girls finally slaughtered the last zombie, leaving a pile of corpses stretching down the stairs…

Applejack noticed Kyle’s awe and put the pieces together.

“Huh. Guess that’s one thing those girls can do that’s handy…” She said, removing her hat and trying to beat any excess blood out of it.

As silence fell, the team could hear the sounds of the fight against Princess from the manor.

“We gotta get over there. If I can get close, I can stop her from using her powers.” Kyle said, reaching to his side and pulling out the injector.

Sunset immediately pursed her lips.

“Kyle, you’re in no condition. You’re on your feet, but… well…”

“You got one arm, sugarcube-- we don’t need ya’ losin’ the other.” Applejack stepped in.

“And not to mention the questions we have for you-- why on Earth did Utonium and Dexter give you our Geodes?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, and why didn’t ya’ tell us that the Dazzlin’s were your sisters?” Applejack added.

“Is this really the time to discuss this?” Kyle asked.

Sunset looked at the growing tension.

“I actually have a few questions myself… but he’s right. We need to focus on the task at hand, here. We can talk about this after Rainbow and Fluttershy come back and we go back to the manor.”

Kyle nodded and looked over the roof, observing the remaining occupants of the hospital…

“This isn’t good… we should start clearing these bodies out-- we need to get these people back inside.”

Applejack nodded.

“Does anybody know where gloves are down there?” She asked the doctors on the roof.

As they started to get situated, Kyle looked out towards the direction of the manor, seeing at first one figure flying towards them. He couldn’t perceive much about them, but he recognized the red hair…

“Um, guys…” He said in worry.

His worries were somewhat alleviated, however, when he saw another figure floating beside her, carrying two others on her shoulders…

Sunset turned and saw the approaching figures and looked over at Kyle.

“They don’t look too good…”

Sure enough, the two Powerpuff Girls flew down, bloody, beaten, and bruised.

On Buttercup’s shoulders was a boy and a girl, both of them about Kyle’s age if not younger. They, too, were beaten to a pulp.

On Blossoms were Utonium and Dexter, still conscious and somewhat unharmed.

“We need beds!” Buttercup screamed, limping as she walked.

Blossom collapsed to her knees, heavily panting and wiping running blood away from her eyes.

Kyle helped a pair of doctors bring vacant hospital beds over.

Utonium looked over at Kyle, seeing his missing hand and gasping.

“Kyle, your--”

“My hand, I know… Princess caught on to us…” He said to Utonium.

Utonium hung his head, feeling guilty over what happened.

“Who’re these two?” Kyle asked Buttercup as she set them on the beds.

“I have no idea-- that one’s a cat, this one a ladybug.” She simply answered.

Kyle just nodded in bewilderment.

Sunset saw their state and grew increasingly worried.

“What happened…? Is it over?”

Blossom turned to her, a look of defeat in her eyes.

“They’re all dead… all of them. All dead…”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he understood just what she was saying.

“The other Enhanced…?”

“She slaughtered all of them. We barely got away… a few others escaped, but who knows where they went? Kyle, we need to run. We can’t stop her… not anymore.”

Proving her point, Blossom’s eyes rolled back as she passed out, Rarity quickly grabbing her before her head hit the ground.

Kyle looked out towards the manor again in horror, realizing what Princess had done. Without the Enhanced, what was she going to do next?

Who’s left that can stop her?

Looking at the Geode around his neck, and the injector still on his side, he willed himself, turning to the others.

“I need a change of clothes.” He simply said.

Driving full-speed down the street, Fluttershy madly drove and honked her horn, drawing a larger horde that was stampeding behind the Humvee.

“Okay… okay, I got this…” Fluttershy said, doing her best to control her breathing.

She glanced at each street, trying to find a spot to turn. However, every turn just greeted her with a new group of zombies to join the stampede.

Rainbow desperately sped through the horde to catch up with Fluttershy. Once she reached the side of the humvee, she pounded on the door.

“Hey! Flutters, it’s me!”

Fluttershy yelped as she briefly turned out the window and saw Rainbow struggling to keep up.

“Open the door and jump, I’ll be right here to catch you!”

“What?!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“You have to trust me! You’re almost at the gates, that thing won’t make it through! I promise I’ll catch you…”

Looking out the windshield, Fluttershy realized that she was indeed about to ram into a massive horde still resonating in front of the gates…

She took a long deep breath, undid her seatbelt, opened the door, and threw herself out of the driver door.

In that instant, time slowed close to a stop. Rainbow quickly did her best to coordinate where Fluttershy would be landing and moved herself to catch her. Slowly, she found herself slowly grabbing on to her, carrying her and cradling her neck to prevent whiplash.

For what translated into a nanosecond, Rainbow carefully moved some stray hairs out of Fluttershy’s face before looking out to the streets, seeing the almost-frozen zombies charging towards the humvee.

She spotted a nearby alley free of the zombies’ line of sight. Holding Fluttershy close, she stepped towards it, every step creating a flash of energy as her perspective of time slowly returned to normal.

They reached the alley with no complications. Fluttershy yelped at the sudden change of scenery, but Rainbow quickly responded by holding her close.

“Hey, it’s alright… we’re safe.” She said, observing the horde run on past them, still chasing the empty humvee as it rolled down the road.

They both could hear as the humvee rammed into a building down the road, the sound causing Fluttershy to jump again.

Rainbow looked at her Geode, seeing that it was beginning to glow brightly…

“Oh, come on, already?! Okay, we gotta get back to the hospital before this thing starts acting up… you ready?”

Fluttershy nervously nodded, and the two sped off again.

However, as Rainbow ran down the streets past the horde Fluttershy had gathered, she saw that it was so large that it was blocking the way back to the hospital…

Thinking quickly, Rainbow turned down an adjacent street and sprinted down it. Same as before, zombies were everywhere, making a way back to the hospital impossible.

“Fuck…”

Rainbow began to panic as everywhere she turned, she was cut off by zombies. She eventually spotted the police station. She raced her way inside and deactivated her Geode, quickly setting Fluttershy back down and reinforcing the door with a nearby chair.

“Um, this isn’t the hospital…” She whispered.

“No, it isn’t. Zombies are fucking everywhere-- we gotta lay low here for a while, okay?” Rainbow said to her.

She nodded, looking around the small reception area.

“Maybe we can reach out to Brick and his brothers-- they should still be close enough for the radio to work…” She suggested.

“Good thinking-- let’s go.” Rainbow said to Fluttershy.

They made their way deeper into the station, approaching one of the dispatch stations.

However, the sound of a heavy bag hitting the ground stopped them both.

“Come on, we gotta hurry! Fuckin’ things are everywhere!” A deep feminine voice said.

“I’m tryin’, not my fault Earth guns weigh a ton!” Another said.

Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, gesturing at her to stay put. Slowly getting up, Rainbow began to sneak closer to the sounds.

“How the fuck did this happen? I mean, wasn’t Princess supposed to keep that gate shut?”

“Azul, that bitch is off her damn rocker-- I thought you knew that by now. There’s no logic left in her, we just gotta go before she tries to kill us, too.”

Rainbow reached the hallway towards the armory, watching as a big duffel bag stuffed to the brim was tossed out, landing on top of a small pile.

She slowly made her way down the hall, approaching the doorway…

“Okay, this should be good, let’s get the hell outta here before we get swarmed.”

One last bag is tossed out right in front of Rainbow. Before she could back away, she watched as two figures stepped out of the armory and saw her.

The two women had bulky mechanical armor, one red and the other blue. Rainbow could best describe the armor as fitting a biker. As for the women themselves, they certainly seemed scary, especially as one formed an arm cannon out of her hand and aimed it at Rainbow.

“And just who the fuck are you?” The red one asked, a light of energy forming inside the cannon.

Power

Morbucks paced around the room, desperately chatting through a phone.

“Yes, I understand what I’m advocating for here, but you know she would be a big hit!”

Some inaudible mumbling over the phone.

“Oh, screw you, she’s getting tubby! I’ve been helping her with her diet since she was 8!”

The voice over the phone cut him off.

“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re pulling. My daughter’s perfect for the part, and you know it. Come on, what’ll it take for you to see sense?”

The voice spoke again. Morbucks’ eyes widened.

“You can’t be serious… There’s no way I would--!”

Again, more chatter.

“Oh, really? That much in funding?”

After only a few more brief exchanges, Morbucks hung up and pocketed the phone.

Adjacent to the hall was a moderately large bedroom within Morbucks Manor. Inside, a young girl stared blankly into the mirror. Hardly anything was on her mind as she didn’t dare look at her vibrating phone on the table as it went to voicemail.

“Hey, Jenn! It’s Blossom! The reunion’s happening pretty soon, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come this year. Just… gimme a call back when you make up your mind. We miss you… I miss you.”

As Jennifer contemplated picking up the phone, the door to her room swung open, and her father peeked inside.

“Hey, pumpkin! Great news-- the producer wants to meet with you tonight for the new Spy Wars flick! Isn’t that great?!”

Jennifer jumped at his sudden entrance but quickly stood straight and put on a forced smile.

“Oh, that’s… great!” She laughed, not entirely genuine.

Her father clicked his tongue, his smile not fading.

“Oh, come on, sweetie, show some excitement! This is your career, here!”

Jennifer’s smile started to fade, but she quickly caught herself.

“I know… it’s just…” She started.

Her father took a step closer to her. As he did, Jennifer instinctually flinched.

“What, honey? What’s on your mind that’s more important than this?”

Jennifer took a moment to compose herself and sighed.

“Some of the girls from the old show are talking about a meetup, and… I was thinking about going.”

Finally, her father’s smile faded.

“Jenny, how many times have I told you? That stupid little show is history. You gotta focus on you. Don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of that.”

Jennifer nodded, unable to look her father in the eye.

“Now, you should focus on getting ready. From what I hear, he’s excited to see you… Oh, and we’re putting you on a new diet for the photo shoots next month. Gotta slim you down.”

With that, he left, shutting the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Jennifer sat silently, resting her head against the table. She felt her stomach growl but knew she couldn’t do much about it.

Not if she wanted to keep her father happy.

In the present, Rainbow sat in an office chair, tied to it. She glared at the two armored women loading up the back of a semi-truck just outside the station doors. Beside her was Fluttershy, also restrained and terrified.

“Okay, that’s the last bag. What should we do with these two?” Azul asked Rojo.

Rojo looked over to their captives.

“I dunno. We could just cut them loose. Odds are, they’ll be dead in a few minutes, anyhow.”

Hearing that, Fluttershy began to cry. This reaction caused Rainbow to glare Rojo down directly.

“Hey, asshole.” She simply said.

Rojo and Azul both glared over at Rainbow.

“Yeah, you in the red, I’m talking to you. What’s your plan here? Let’s say you cut us loose. What then?”

Rojo took a moment to respond, dumbfounded by Rainbow’s tone.

“We take this truck, bust through the horde, get to one of our old safehouses, and figure it out from there. It’s what we should’ve done when the shit started hitting the fan… we could be halfway across the country by now if we did…”

Rainbow hummed.

“Yeah? Well, what happens if you two pop a tire? What if you get stopped on the way out? Your little plan sounds sloppy as shit to me.”

Rojo responded by activating her arm cannon again, holding it right at Rainbow’s head.

“Y’know, you’re starting to piss me off, kid… you don’t wanna know what I do to people who piss me off…”

Fluttershy gasped, sitting frozen. Rainbow, however, only glared deeper at Rojo.

“You kill us, try to drive off, get stopped, and you both die. That’s Option A. Wanna hear Option B?”

At that moment, curiosity ruled over Rojo’s anger. She deactivated her arm cannon and lowered her arm.

“Okay, hit me.”

“We take those guns and that truck, and we drive over to the hospital where a bunch of us are. We arm whoever can fight, and we all get out together. We can help you, we’re Enhanced.”

Rojo considered the request, looking towards Rainbow and Fluttershy’s Geodes.

“Oh, so you’re the girls that Princess was so fixated with. Alright, I’ll bite. You wanna try to fight our way out of the city?”

Rainbow smirked and nodded.

“Or, we could fight and take the city.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, as did Azul’s. Rojo, however, had a hearty laugh.

“That’s fuckin’ crazy! The whole city’s infested. How do you expect us and a bunch of invalids to be able to fend them off?”

Rainbow smiled.

“At Morbucks’ house, there’s dozens of other Enhanced. We all meet up at the hospital, haul ass up there, deal with Princess, and we all take this city back. Make something out of it… because I don’t know about you, but I’m done running.”

Rojo didn’t react much to her proposal, but Azul’s eyes widened as she looked back inside the truck at their payload.

“Yeah, that’s cute and all, but come on, be smart. Cut and run while you still have a chance so you live to fight another--”

“She’s right.” Azul said.

Rojo turned to Azul in confusion.

“What…?”

“I said she’s right. How good are our odds of getting outta here, anyway? Come on, babe… let’s go out in a blaze of glory and all that shit.” Azul said, stepping forward and taking Rojo’s hand.

Rojo turned and faced Azul, also taking her hand.

“Alright… you’re right.”

“Oh, I know I’m right.” Azul smiled.

Rojo turned towards Rainbow and approached her, pulling a large knife from her belt. Upon seeing the massive blade, the teen tensed, wishing she had her Geode right about now…

“Okay-- you have my attention.” Rojo smiled as she stepped behind Rainbow, cutting into the restraints.

Rainbow’s hand snapped free of their bindings, and she immediately stood up and walked over to Fluttershy.

“I can get her. You two should get that truck running… there’s just one last call I need to make, first.”

Rojo and Azul looked at each other in confusion.

“When were you the one calling the shots?”

“Hey, my idea, my orders. Now go on and do it.” Rainbow snapped back as she untied Fluttershy.

Azul exchanged a look of approval with Rojo as she turned to start the truck. Rojo simply rolled her eyes but was also heading for the passenger seat.

Rainbow and Fluttershy both turned to the communications center, activating it.

“Come in, STRIKE Team, this is Rainbow Dash. Brick, Boomer, and… the other one- are any of you there?”

Kyle stood inside a now-empty, bloody hospital room, finding a set of somewhat-clean clothes from a few of the zombies that infiltrated the hospital. He looked down at Pinkie’s Geode, watching it dimly grow red…

He was unsure how to feel about what he had done to it. He contaminated it. He took it and twisted it into something ugly. Or at least, it was ugly to him.

But he knew that he had no other choice now. It was the only way for him to defeat Princess and help save whoever was left inside Townsville.

As he was getting ready, a distant series of gunshots rang out, presumably from survivors fighting their way out…

He put the necklace on, straightening it as best he could with one hand.

Outside, the hospital's top floor was soon filled with doctors and patients, taking residence in several rooms. Despite the rooms not being exactly sterile anymore, it was better than soaking in the sun on the roof.

Rarity helped fortify the staircases while Applejack put up larger barricades than before on the ground floor, hoping to let Rarity rest.

Sunset and Dark assisted the doctors with bringing the last few patients down the stairs.

Sunset was with Dexter, who was laid out on one of the many beds, wrapped in bandages.

“...So tell me where the armor is now.” She said to him.

“I do not know. Last I saw it, Kyle was provided it. But obviously, something went wrong…” He weakly answered.

Sunset nodded and set the bed down on the ground, allowing him to be pulled by a doctor into an empty room.

With that task done, Dark and Sunset turned and faced each other.

“Okay, so we should start talking about escape plans…” Dark said, glancing over at Sunset.

“We’re not doing anything until Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash get back here.”

Dark nodded, but shrugged as well.

“Look-- Sunset, is it? It’s been half an hour. If they’re smart, they took that humvee right out of the gates and drove off into the sunset together-- no pun intended.”

She scowled at Dark.

“We. Are. Waiting. Deal with it.”

While they had a small glare-off, Riku was helping Scootaloo back into her room, still bedridden and wrapped in bandages.

“Where’s Rainbow…?” She weakly asked.

“She’s helping Fluttershy, right now. Don’t worry, sweetie-- she’ll be here.”

One of the doors leading into a room opened, and Kyle stepped out, redressed and armed with Pinkie’s Geode and the injector.

Sunset turned to him, knowing what he was about to do…

“Kyle, no. I’m not letting you go back there-- we’re waiting for Rainbow and Fluttershy to get back, and we’re leaving.” She said, stepping towards him.

“Where will we go?” He simply asked.

Sunset scoffed in confusion.

“To Sanctuary! It’s perfect for us. It’s isolated, quiet, and those weapons could give us an edge against hordes like this.”

“Okay, what happens if the Caribou find us? Or maybe it’ll be something else, something we can’t fight. Just the handful of us at a place like that on our own? It won’t work. We have to make this work. We have to fight. Here and now, before this city’s lost for good.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, knowing that he was serious.

“We’re all tired, our most powerful fighters are out of commission, and we have a madwoman looming over us with the same powers.” She said, desperately trying to put some sense into him.

Kyle quickly raised a finger.

“No. She has those powers temporarily. After that fight she just had, she has to be exhausted and running low on X. She’ll need a recharge, and the only two spots she can get them are either City Hall, or the Utoniums’ lab. We catch her before she repowers, I inject her with this, and it’s all over.”

As Sunset struggled to respond, Dexter raised a hand from the side.

“Our lab was raided by soldiers just hours ago. They were most likely in her manor, but… that is no longer an option for her. Odds are the only X she has left is at City Hall.”

“That’s good-- odds are soldiers are keeping that spot clear for her.” Kyle said, recalling the gunshots he had heard earlier.

A distant explosion rang out, further verifying Kyle’s theory.

“Okay… fine, but I’m coming with you.” Sunset said.

Kyle went to decline, but Applejack quickly stepped in.

“We ain’t lettin’ ya go up against her alone-- our best chance is together.”

Behind her was Rarity.

“And I, for one, would like to help give Princess a taste of her own medicine…”

Kyle smiled and nodded.

From the corner, Dark raised a hand.

“I don’t like to brag, but I’m pretty damn good at sneaking in and out of places and taking stuff-- if you all can keep her attention, I could slip right in and take whatever X she has left… leave her powerless.”

Kyle’s smile remained at that suggestion.

“Okay, then… we do this together. Now we just need to find Rainbow and Fluttershy--”

He was cut off by the sound of a truck engine roaring closer, along with several energy blasts.

“Who the hell is that…?” Kyle asked, peeking out the window to see the semi-truck with Rojo and Azul hanging out the windows, opening fire on a rapidly-growing horde of Ragers.

“Ha! That's all you fuckers got?! I can do this all damn day!” Rojo cried, firing another blast.

Dark peeked out and grimaced upon recognizing Rojo and Azul.

“Ah, shit…” He sighed.

Without saying another word, he lept out the window, flying down and landing on the truck's windshield, right in front of a terrified Fluttershy and a surprised Rainbow Dash.

“Turn this thing around!” Dark shouted.

Dark turned towards the road and saw that another horde was forming at the opposite street, blocking the hospital in.

“Shit, everyone out of the truck, now!” Dark shouted.

Not waiting for a response, Dark swooped into the truck, grabbing Fluttershy and Rainbow. Rojo and Azul jumped off from the doors, their armor protecting them as they tucked and rolled.

The truck sped off, ramming the approaching Ragers, reducing the first couple dozen to pulverized mush. However, their bodies were quickly trampled over in the stampede that followed.

Seeing the group on the ground as the hordes from both sides stormed closer, Rarity quickly canceled her field blocking the door and allowing the girls to get up and run for the entrance.

Kyle and Sunset peeked out of the windows and opened fire, desperately trying to keep the group from getting grabbed by the occasional Rager.

“Come on! Get inside!” Kyle shouted.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were the first inside. Rojo and Azul, however, were falling behind due to the impact of their escape from the truck. Behind them, more and more Ragers entered the grabbing distance of the two armored women. Through various desperate dodges or shrugs, they managed to stay untouched.

However, one got a good grip on Azul.

Just as she was getting pulled back, Dark swooped in, grabbing them both and charging for the hospital doors.

Throwing them inside, Dark gestured to Rarity, allowing her to barricade the doors. The diamond reformed not a second too soon as the full weight of the horde pressed against the building.

Once everyone was helped up to their feet, they all looked out the sealed doors, watching the several Ragers smeared against the doors begin to get crushed under the weight of the others.

“Shit… now what?” Rainbow asked, catching her breath.

Kyle struggled for a moment to form a plan but looked down at the gem on his neck, recalling the power he displayed earlier…

“Okay… I have an idea… Everyone cover your ears.” He warned.

He took a step forward and took a breath, ready to sing.

“Wait!” Sunset called out.

Kyle stopped and turned to face her.

She stepped forward and removed the Geode from her neck, holding it outwards as it hummed.

“For luck?”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he looked at the gem.

“Sunset, I don’t know--”

“Why not? I talked with Dexter, I know about your plan. It’s a good one…”

Kyle took a breath.

“I don’t know. Do you think you can trust me with that?”

Sunset chuckled, still holding her Geode.

“Kyle, I trusted you with my life when we were out looking for your mom, just like you trusted me with yours. We’re in this together now. So, yes-- I trust you.”

To reinforce her point, she turned towards the other girls.

“Right?”

Applejack was the first to step forward, putting her Geode in her hand and holding it out.

“Yeah. I trust ya’.”

Rarity was next, followed by Fluttershy and Rainbow. They stacked their hands and Geodes on each other one by one, forming a team huddle.

Kyle completed the huddle, putting his Geode on top.

“For luck.”

With that done, Kyle began to harmonize.

As soon as he started, he stopped as a strong pulse of energy shot through his entire body. In that one moment, Kyle felt the outrage by the others upstairs, the terror from the citizens still in the city either huddled away or being torn apart, and most of all, he felt the sheer rage of the infected…

It was delicious.

Countless strands of energy traveled through Kyle’s body until a powerful aura of energy began to resonate from him, blinding the others on the ground floor.

As he struggled to contain the overload of mana flowing through his veins, his mind was filled with visions and melodies he had never seen or heard before. Siren melodies filled his ears as he instinctually began singing them out loud. He felt a strange sensation in his back as he finally broke free of the team huddle.

“Kyle?! What’s going on?! Talk to me!” Sunset shouted.

Kyle tried to speak but couldn’t find the words as he struggled to ground himself back in reality. Slowly, the aura around him began to fade, and all the memories and visions died down…

“I… I’m okay. I’m okay…” He said, struggling to catch his breath.

Kyle felt the Geode in his hand hum and almost vibrate. Looking down at it, he saw that its shape had completely changed. It no longer resembled the other Geodes but now was the shape of a familiar pendant that Sunset immediately recognized.

“Oh… I guess that’s a good sign?” She asked herself.

Kyle looked at the now-changed amulet and refitted it around his neck, looking outside at the now-docile zombies.

“Okay… let’s see what I can do.” He said, taking a deep breath.

He began to sing one of the melodies he had heard. One that the girls recognized as the Dazzlings’ main melody…

As he continued harmonizing, the others noticed that the few visible zombies began to react to the singing. One by one, they stopped pounding against the field and stood dormant.

Kyle’s singing grew louder, and more of the horde began to stop in place. Watching the spectacle, Rojo and Azul struggled to comprehend what they were witnessing.

“Uh… who’s the kid, again?” Rojo asked in concern.

Rarity prepared to erase the barricade, but suddenly, the field vanished, seemingly on its own…

While the bikers immediately prepared to open fire, Kyle stepped outside, the horde parting to make way for him to walk through.

Hesitantly, Sunset stepped out, as well, following from close behind. The horde remained dormant, not even reacting to her presence. With that reassurance, the others started exiting the hospital, as well.

Kyle turned and faced them, holding out his arms and compelling the zombies to step further back, forming a large circle for the others to meet him.

“Okay… this is pretty awesome!” Rainbow laughed in awe, stepping out to join Kyle.

Kyle smiled and took a moment to admire the power he had obtained. The possibilities of controlling zombies raced through his mind, but he put those thoughts aside, knowing there was only one current use for his power.

“Yeah… yeah, it is. Let’s head inside, we have some planning to do…”

Inside City Hall, a pile of zombie corpses littered the halls as a squadron of soldiers shot their way through the building. Spent casings began to spill across the ground, rolling and hitting the edge of the wall.

Neither of them looked at each other. They all knew that, at this point, there was no reason they were still fighting. They all struggled to stomach what they had seen at the Manor, the massacre that occurred.

But now, there was no turning back. They had no choice but to follow Princess wherever she ordered them to go. Anything otherwise would surely leave them the same bloody paste or pile of ashes she left her countless victims as…

None of them said a word to each other. There was nothing left for them to say. Not as they opened fire on the few citizens seeking shelter inside, as well as the dozens of Ragers that poured their way inside. Not even as they dragged the bodies out into piles.

The silence weighed heavily over them all, but no one dared to break it. Not until absolutely necessary.

“It’s all clear!” One of the soldiers shouted into the sky.

Moments passed, and as all movement ceased, a silhouette began to hover down from above. Small drops of dried gore landed on the bloodied grass like rain as Princess reached ground level, keeping herself suspended.

She hung her head low as she hovered through the crowd, not looking at anyone in the eyes. She levitated up the stairs to the front doors, passing a pair of soldiers guarding the entrance.

“Everyone out.” Her shaken voice whispered.

The two guards by her side didn’t hesitate to march down the stairs and toward their comrades.

She finally landed on the marble floors of City Hall and shut the doors behind her.

Now free from the eye of her few remaining soldiers, she marched to her office. She glanced at the bloody puddles and viscera splattered on the floor as she walked. The gore soaked into the furniture. The rows of bullet holes dug into each of the walls and even the ceiling. The spare casings that littered the crevices of the hallways.

She did whatever she could to try and forget the horrors she committed… everything she cared for, the very thing that drove her… and she tore it apart piece by piece.

Finally reaching the untouched office, she slammed the door shut behind her. She fell to her knees, unable to contain herself, allowing the restrained tears to finally flow free. The small droplets slid down the drying blood staining her face as her insides twisted and churned.

“Having a rough night?” Jennifer’s voice echoed.

“Leave me alone!” Princess hollered, tears flowing thorough already-ruined mascara.

“Princess-- I don’t want to argue… but it’s time we faced facts-- this isn’t working.”

Princess went for a rebuttal, but she couldn’t find one.

“But it’s not too late. Stop. Just stop… destroy the X you have left, and leave… in time, this’ll all be like a bad dream.”

Princess snickered, finally having a chance for a response. She turned away from the mirror, activating the hidden door leading to the subway.

“You know that won’t work. I’d die from withdrawal… is that what you want? For me to die?”

“Well, do you want to live?”

That question caused Princess to freeze. Her mind began to overwork itself as she struggled to find an answer.

“And there it is… you don’t want to live, so you’re dragging everyone else around you down with you…”

Princess wanted to fight back-- to scream and blast the mirror down to melted goo… but she didn’t. She couldn’t.

“Sh- shut up…” She weakly whimpered, with barely the strength and anger she had earlier.

“Just look at yourself and tell me that I’m wrong…”

Seeing no other option, she looked up into the mirror, but Jennifer wasn’t there anymore. Now, there was only Princess.

Princess observed her thinned, blood-covered form. She saw the countless track marks running down her arm from X injections after ingesting it was no longer satisfying. She noticed just how sunk her eyes were without makeup to hide them. How pale she had become. She held her hands up and saw how shaky they were.

Aside from her physical state, her mind flashed back to the countless cruel acts she had committed over the last few months. She was drowning in the geyser of innocent blood she had spilled, and she only now began to realize that.

She looked away from the mirror, mortified at herself. She fell to the ground, curled in a ball, as tears flowed down her face…

As she sobbed, rapid footsteps approached the office.

“Ma’am! We have a situation!”

Princess looked out the door, contemplating even standing up, but the sound of faint singing motivated her to float herself up and speed out the door.

Princess approached the balcony and watched as a small red light glew brightly in the distance. As it grew closer, as did the singing… she was fixated on it, being drawn to the voice like metal to a magnet.

As seconds passed, the silhouette of Kyle began to take shape, illuminated by the moonlight. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Sunset, and Fluttershy accompanied him, all wearing their Geodes.

Princess found herself only a little flustered but was mostly shocked to see Kyle alive and seemingly wearing a Geode of his own, one entirely different than what he had before…

Her shock was quickly amplified as dozens of Ragers shuffled up behind the group, not attacking them, but following them obediently.

The Morbucks soldiers drew their guns, unsure about what to do.

“What’re our orders?” One of them asked.

Ignoring him, Princess hovered down to the ground, only slightly staggering in the air. She began to approach the team as they made their way towards her. They managed to meet only a few dozen feet away from City Hall.

As more attention was brought to the front, a pair of all-black, crow-like wings flew down towards the back of the building, and the figure made his way inside undetected…

Spotting the sight, Kyle faintly smirked.

“I see I underestimated you, Kyle Williams…” Princess said, feeling a rush of what seemed like pride.

Kyle only glared at her, his left arm tingling at seeing Princess again.

“Jennifer Morbucks… your time as mayor of Townsville is done. We’re not going to let you hurt anyone else.”

Princess softly gasped at seeing Kyle’s unwrapped amputated arm. She clenched her fist, regret slowly flooding through her. She weakly laughed disingenuously.

“I’m sorry, but… was that a threat? After what I did to the other Enhanced, do you really think you can stop me?”

Her eyes began to glow dimly, perhaps from her lack of power or because of her inner conscience screaming at her not to hurt anyone else.

Rainbow and Fluttershy backed up only a little, Rainbow doing her best to put Fluttershy behind her. Nobody else moved, however. In fact, Kyle took a step forward, ignoring her attempt at intimidation.

“It’s not too late to stop this… not even now.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the injector.

Princess’ eyes widened, snapping out of her heat vision.

“Just let me give you this, and we can figure out a way forward…” He said, cautiously taking another step towards her.

She didn’t budge, nor did the soldiers, all holding the group at gunpoint. She looked down at the ground, hesitant to look Kyle in the eye.

“I can’t… it’s too late. You know what I did… you really think we can just… ignore it…?”

Kyle paused, letting out a sigh of defeat.

“Like I said, we’ll figure it out… it won’t be easy, but it’s our only option. We can’t keep hurting each other or lying to ourselves… we need to try to find a way to live with ourselves, to work together. I know we can.” He said, struggling to catch his breath.

Princess suddenly stopped, bewildered over what she had heard. She took a moment to try and process a different way forward. For a slight moment, Kyle had hope that he was getting through to her.

As Kyle spoke, a few soldiers slowly started to lower their guns. For a brief moment, Kyle saw Princess’ struggle to make a choice. She slowly looked up to Kyle, looking into his eyes. However, seeing the soldiers lower their rifles snapped her out of her train of thought. She glared over toward them, forcing them to put their guns back up.

“Good for you-- you figured your shit out… but I don’t need your help, and I sure as hell don’t need you to tell me what I need…”

She took a sharp breath, tightly clenching her fists…

“Open fire!”

In moments, a flurry of bullets went barreling toward the group.

And were all shattered as they hit solid diamond.

Rarity held out her arms, forming a barrier around the six, protecting them from the string of gunfire.

Once the rifles stopped shooting, Rainbow took her queue and sped through the squad. Racing through them, she unloaded each and every gun, making sure to round the chambers.

Soldiers scrambled to pick up the magazines on the ground, which Kyle took as the queue to send the infected forward.

Shambling at an unnatural medium pace, the soldiers saw they had no time to reload. They looked toward their two Humvees, both of which were quickly blocked by the zombies pushing forward.

“Fall back! Fall back!” One of the soldiers shouted.

Seeing no other option, the squad began to retreat into the building. Princess turned towards them, her eyes angrily flashing red.

“You damned cowards!” She instinctively fired a blast at them.

Rarity went to block the blast and managed to form a shield just inches away from the soldiers. The laser reflected against the diamond, firing into the sky.

Frustrated, Princess turned her attention back to Kyle’s group. As the Ragers advanced, so did they.

“You’re in pain, Jennifer. We can all see that! No one else needs to hurt with you..” Kyle said.

Hearing that name brought a seething rage to Princess. She clenched her fists as she began to pull from whatever strength she had left from both the slaughter from before and the Chemical X starting to wear off…

She lunged straight for Kyle’s throat, only making it halfway before Rainbow sped right into her, using her whole body weight to push Princess off-course. The attempt was successful, and Princess wound up heading towards Applejack, who managed to deliver a solid right hook, sending the powered woman back a few feet.

Princess struggled to process what just happened, holding the left side of her jaw with blood dripping down her chin as Applejack chuckled.

“Guess it ain’t so easy when you’re fightin’ someone yer own size.”

Princess growled and levitated herself back up from the ground. She charged another blast of heat vision, but Rarity yet again deflected the blast into the sky. Growing increasingly frustrated, Princess set her sights on Fluttershy…

“I guess not all of you have such fancy powers…” She smirked, speeding in her direction.

Rainbow was the first to notice the attempt, immediately speeding to try and knock her off course again.

As time slowed to a crawl, Rainbow raced towards Princess, fear running through her veins as the distance between Fluttershy and Princess’ fist grew shorter by the nanosecond.

Rainbow took a moment to measure how slow Princess was compared to her. It wasn’t by much, but that small fraction might be enough to make a difference…

She prepared for another shoulder ram, but as she got close, she watched Princess’s gaze switch from Fluttershy to her…

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she tried to stop herself, but it was too late by then. Princess turned her fist and clobbered Rainbow, sending her flying into the side of City Hall.

This quick jab forced Princess to stop, laughing at the damage she gave the athlete.

As Princess prepared for another attempt on Fluttershy’s life, she was cut off by someone else grabbing her with super speed and tackling her to the ground.

Princess tried to flail and break free of the stranger’s grasp, but his one arm was wrapped tightly around her as he tried to reach to his side, towards an injector…

“Jennifer, this has to end!” Kyle shouted, residual sparks of red lightning still dissipating from his body.

Everyone’s eyes widened as they traced Kyle’s magic trail, from where he had just stood to where Princess was and to where they both were now.

As Princess struggled to break free, Kyle’s amulet glowed brightly as his grip on her never broke, his veins glowing a bright red.

“Uh, did he just…?” Rainbow started.

“Yeah… he did.” Sunset slowly nodded.

As Kyle’s amputated hand reached onto the injector, hints of a red diamond began to bloom from the healed stump, slowly forming fingers…

In seconds, a hand constructed from diamond grabbed onto the injector and was only inches away from Princess’ arm.

Princess desperately flew into City Hall, dragging him with her. Together, they tore through the building, Kyle holding on for dear life while trying to pull out the injector.

Princess turned herself around to ram Kyle into the walls of the rooms. Kyle’s back slammed through each and every wall leading to the main office. He roared in pain but refused to release his grip on her and the injector.

Once they reached the mayor’s office, Princess finally stopped flying, and Kyle couldn’t hold on any longer…

They both tumbled and rolled into the office. Kyle tightly tucked the injector to his chest, protecting it as his body thrashed and slowly came to a stop. He went to push himself up with his left hand but stumbled, having forgotten that it was gone.

Princess gave a low, tired laugh at the stumble. Kyle set the injector by his side as she laughed, needing his only hand to get off the ground.

“How can you possibly think you can stop me?” She huffed, stepping towards him as he slowly rose to his feet.

Princess delivered a hefty kick to his chest. While a low blow was somewhat unexpected, Kyle had grown used to such kicks, quickly exhaling the air in his lungs to avoid being winded as much as possible.

With Kyle struggling to his feet, Princess almost ripped her cabinet open, searching for additional syringes…

However, a horrified gasp escaped her as she saw that the drawer was empty.

“What…?! Where’s my… What did you do?!” She screamed, her eyes flickering in and out of red.

A low laugh from the hallway caught them both off-guard. From the side, Dark entered, holding several of Princess’ Chemical X syringes.

“Oh, are you looking for these?”

Princess’ shock quickly shifted to anger as she clenched her fists and released several heavy huffs…

“You know, I think it’s time we had an intervention for all this… it’s just not healthy,” Dark smirked, taking one of the syringes in his other hand, “I mean, do you even know what’s in this shit? ‘Cause I don’t!”

Princess’ anger was quickly washed away as she desperately ran to grab onto a syringe. Dark, however, gave one flap of his wings, ascending toward the roof.

“See? You can’t even put this stuff down, anymore! Well, this needs to stop, missy. Even if you have to go…”

Dark used a thumb to press down on the top of the syringe and push some black liquid down toward the floor below. The drug quickly soaked into the hardwood as Princess gasped in horror.

“...Cold turkey.”

With one firm push, the syringe’s contents were spilled all over the floor, forming a little puddle. Princess sprinted toward the mess and desperately lapped it up. This had no effect, however, and Dark used the distraction to press his palm down on the remaining syringes, beginning to pour them out, as well.

Princess flew towards Dark with whatever power she had, grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling his hand away before he could continue emptying the syringes.

“Just who the hell do you think you are?! What, because you robbed some paintings in Japan 26 years ago, that makes you the hot shit here?!”

Dark struggled for control, but Princess’s strength still matched his, making the fight even.

“I mean… I am the one with a cool head, here.” He smirked.

Princess gave a feral laugh.

“Oh, really? What about I go feed Riku and your ‘friend’s’ little girl to those freaks back at the hospital? Will you still have a cool head after that, tough guy?!”

In an instant, Dark’s confident, smug demeanor dissipated. He desperately tried to break free of her grip to either finish emptying the syringes or to try and fight, but his efforts were fruitless…

“Aw, care about your alter’s family? Well, I guess you have a real serious tie to that family, right? Like Riku’s grandma, I think… now, what was her name…?”

Dark’s eyes widened, his desperation to break free only amplifying.

“Rika?”

Dark’s breath quickened as he tried to wipe hearing her name again from his head, but it clung in his ears like a tumor.

“I read your history-- well, what was documented, anyway. I saw a transcript from little ol’ Rika before she croaked. She was going on and on about this ‘swooning angel’ who ‘swept her off her feet’ and how he’ll ‘come back and take her with him to the great beyond,’ and all that jazz...”

Dark shook his head, clinging to control over Daisuke, but it was fading…

“But that’s not what happened, is it?”

Dark’s hands clenched as he took deep breaths, knowing what would happen if he lost control…

“Doesn’t sound like you loved her that much.”

Kyle charged Princess from behind, grabbing her arms and using Applejack’s strength to pull her back from Dark.

“That’s enough! Dark, empty the syringes!” He shouted, Princess quickly working through his grip.

Princess broke free, throwing Kyle against the wall, the impact resulting in most of the ceiling falling on top of Kyle. He wailed in pain as heavy rubble pinned him down to the ground. Kyle struggled to pull himself free, his arms and legs trapped.

At that moment, as the dust settled, Kyle and Princess were blinded by bright light. The light slowly faded, revealing Daisuke in Dark’s place. He stood frozen, still holding the syringes.

Princess smiled ear-to-ear as Kyle’s eyes widened in shock.

In an instant, Princess shot a blast of heat vision right into Daisuke’s chest, burning a hole clean through his heart. With that one last effort of power, Princess’ veins slowly reverted from their deep black, and she slumped back, winded and exhausted.

A moment passed, and Daisuke fell to his knees before collapsing to the ground.

“No!” Kyle screamed, desperately trying to rip his limbs out from the rubble.

Princess slowly walked over to the syringes in Daisuke’s hand, pulling them all out, and turning over towards Kyle.

“After I’m done with all of you, I’m gonna burn this goddamned city to the ground!” With that, Princess injected all six needles into her arm, their contents coursing through her body, only some hitting her veins.

Moments passed, and Princess soon clenched her fists, pulling all six syringes and dropping them. Her veins returned to a deep black, but it didn’t stop there this time. The blood vessels in her eyes, the skin under her fingernails, and even the blood oozing from the multiple injection sites. She even coughed up spare black fluid as she convulsed and groaned in pain…

Kyle increased his efforts to break free from the rubble, finally managing to gain some wiggle room with his left arm. Then, his right. At this point, Princess was wailing in agony as her veins seemed to bulge outwards, swelling up like a balloon…

Kyle kept flailing his arms and legs until he could finally punch through the rubble that was restricting his movements. As he stood up, he gasped and quickly searched his body for the injector.

He looked over towards Daisuke, seeing that when Princess threw Kyle back, the injector wound up on the ground near the now-lifeless corpse…

As Princess’ screams continued, Kyle ran past her, grabbing the injector and prepared to charge her and drive the needle into her, but as soon as he turned, her cries ceased, and a slow-building laugh took it's place.

She slowly turned towards Kyle, her eyes now a complete black, with black tears flowing down her face as she blissfully smiled.

“Oh, Kyle… I’ve never felt power like this, before! It’s… beautiful…”

Kyle’s eyes widened in horror as Princess levitated off the ground with a wide smile still plastered on her face.

“Let me give you a closer look at it…”

In an instant, her hands were around Kyle’s throat, and together, they dove through the office floor towards the subways below…

Outside City Hall, just moments after Kyle was pulled inside by Princess, the team heard the fight inside the building and rushed to join and protect Kyle. However, with one great slam, the zombies behind them began to stir, having been snapped out of their trance…

“Oh, shit…”

The girls had little time to turn as the horde began to race towards the closest prey they could find: Them.

Desperately looking around, Sunset searched for the best escape route. However, she could only hear the sounds inside City Hall as Princess threw Kyle around.

For every wall being smashed and every large puff of dust exiting the windows, Sunset grew increasingly worried.

“We gotta get in there! He needs us!” She shouted, using one of the soldiers’ discarded rifles to fend off the advancing swarm.

“We can’t! We just gotta trust ‘em! We go now, we let this horde right in behind us!” Applejack shouted, driving her fist into a Rager’s chest.

They all shared a look, knowing that they may not survive this day, but they wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

Joining back together, they began their final stand.

Rarity fired spikes of diamond, just as she did back in Canterlot High. Beside her, Fluttershy desperately opened fire with another rifle. Rainbow raced around them, driving a knife through Ragers’ skulls at top speed.

Slowly, they began losing ground. Sunset and Fluttershy both ran out of ammo and had no choice but to fall back behind the others, with Sunset grabbing a piece of rebar and pulling Fluttershy behind her.

Applejack and Rainbow started getting exhausted, and Rarity’s Geode began to glow brightly, her next few shots nowhere near as powerful as before.

Acting fast, they raced for the Humvee, entering inside just in time.

The doors and windows were immediately pounded upon, but the glass seemed to hold…

Inside, they all checked themselves for bites. After ensuring that they were clean, they nervously huddled together.

“Okay… now what?” Rainbow asked, her voice shaky in exhaustion and fear.

Sunset struggled to think of a solution, her mind racing to formulate a plan.

“We… we wait here. We try to hold out until Kyle does what he needs to do and gathers these freaks back up again.”

“And when’ll that be?” Fluttershy asked.

“...I don’t know.”

The windows were continuously tested as Ragers threw themselves against them, trying to break their way in. Fluttershy covered her ears to try and block out their snarls and screams, with Rainbow holding her to try and calm her.

“We may not have long…” Rarity sighed.

As the six anxiously sat, trying to block out the pounding of the infected, Rainbow looked out the windshield, noticing a trio of bright red lights from the distance…

“I think we’ll have long enough.” She smiled.

Coup D'état

The dead, cooling body of Daisuke sat slumped against the wall, with a still-smoking hole in his chest.

Just outside the building, a handful of Ragers slowly wandered into the building, involuntarily twitching and spasming as they strolled inside.

One of them glanced over at Daisuke, growled in disapproval, and passed him right by, paying the body no mind.

A purple aura began to resonate around Daisuke as his greying eyes slowly began to darken.

And with one deep gasp, Dark was once again in control.

Locked in the form of Daisuke, Dark clutched his not-beating heart and gasped for breath as he limped out of the hall, right past the Ragers, who were none-the-wiser of the dead man passing them.

Stumbling out of City Hall, Dark glanced at the surrounded Humvee and sighed.

“Sorry, ladies, you’re gonna have to fend for yourselves.” He said, limping past the scene, thankful that their commotion was drawing all nearby Ragers away from him.

“Okay, come on, Daisuke… just gotta… make it to the hospital… Just… gotta… make it to her. ”

With his destination in mind, Dark marched onward into the overrun city…

The girls all sat in anticipation as the sounds of the Ragers ponding on the vehicle only grew increasingly unbearable. However, that was the least of their problems. The combination of the warm weather outside and their accumulated body heat was beginning to become overwhelming…

Applejack sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead and turned to Rainbow.

“Are ya’ sure ya’ saw ‘em? I didn’t see anyone…”

Rainbow panted as a lack of clean air was starting to set in. She started searching the compartments for any useful items, finding a screwdriver and a pocket knife in the glove box.

“I’m sure, AJ… we just gotta wait for them to get their asses down here.”

As they waited, they heard more rumbles coming from inside City Hall… Sunset nervously kept her eyes glued to the building through the back of the humvee.

“We gotta get in there… he’s fighting her on his own…” She said, her leather vest tossed aside against a chair.

Fluttershy scooched over, setting her hand on Sunset, setting a hand on her bare shoulder.

“He’s going to be okay… he has our powers, remember? We just need to focus on getting us out of here, then we help him…”

Applejack chuckled.

“Yeah, if he needs it. He was givin’ her hell just a few minutes ago.”

Rainbow frustratedly sighed as she shut the last un-searched compartment, pulling out her shirt as it started to cling to her skin.

“Okay… here’s what we got… Sunset, Fluttershy, you two take these. If those freaks get in before they can help us out, we’ll have to fight our way out…” She sighed, handing out the very few weapon options…

Fluttershy nervously held the knife, dreading the idea of using it.

Sunset took the screwdriver, trying to go through the best ways to use it as a stabbing weapon.

“Remember to double-tap them when you get them down-- we can’t risk leaving them to turn to Rotters…” Sunset reminded the group.

With those encouraging words, everyone clutched the handles on their doors, ready to pop them open…

“Okay-- one… two…” Sunset started.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang, and the Rager pounding on Sunset’s window slumped down, and the glass was smeared in blood.

As Sunset processed what just happened, more gunshots followed. As the girls all peeked out their windows to try and see who was saving them, several thuds rang out from the roof.

“Hope y’all are still alive in there!” Butch’s voice rang out.

Several gleeful reactions were heard as Sunset pounded on the roof.

“Yeah, we’re in here!” She shouted.

“Okay-- everyone hold on to something!” Brick’s voice said.

Everyone did their best to follow through with his order, and in moments, the humvee was lifted off the ground, slowly ascending as all three brothers lifted on the vehicle.

“Now, you should really hold on!” Boomer shouted.

Sunset looked down at the several Ragers trying to reach for them and immediately put the pieces together.

“Oh, shiiiit …” She muttered, quickly putting on her seatbelt.

Everyone desperately followed, Rainbow wrapping her arms around Fluttershy.

“Alright, we’re ready!” Sunset shouted.

As she took a deep breath and shut her eyes, the brothers let go of the humvee.

For precious seconds, the girls all began to lift off of their seats, only being stopped by their seatbelts…

Those seconds passed, and the humvee slammed down on the ground, crushing the Ragers underneath. The girls were all jerked back as the humvee made contact with the ground, crushing the zombies underneath them with a sickening crunch .

The group all caught their breath, undoing their seat belts, and exiting through the side doors.

As they stepped out, they saw a large group of unfamiliar faces shooting at the remaining Ragers, dispatching them and clearing the area.

“Alright, people, that’s it for here-- I want a big group watching this road right here. The last thing we need is more of those things piling on us from this way. And someone, get that gate closed!” A familiar voice barked.

Sunset quickly turned and saw Shining Armor, his beard shaved, leading the charge.

“Shit, Shining!” Sunset shouted, running towards him.

Shining smiled, and the two briefly hugged.

“I didn’t think we’d see you again!” Sunset laughed in relief.

“Yeah-- it’s been a long couple weeks… Now, what the hell happened here?”

“The girl in charge let the zombies in. Kyle’s down there, right now, trying to stop her!” Rainbow shouted.

Shining’s eyes widened as he took in that information.

“Okay-- we need to split up. Two teams, one accompanying Sunset and the others, the rest with me pushing into the city. Let’s move!” Shining shouted.

With that, numerous soldiers, both women victimized by the Caribou and men who were put under control by them, joined Sunset and the others. Tagging along was Brick.

“Boomer, Butch, you two help the city-crew. We need to get a lock down on this thing!” He instructed

“There’s a hospital right downtown, we have it fortified for now!” Sunset shouted.

“Hospital downtown, got it! Alright, people, let’s kill some Z’s!” Shining shouted, leading the charge of multiple vehicles, including the newly-acquired humvee…

Sunset, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Brick, and several soldiers all turned to the City Hall, still hearing rumblings from down below…

“Hold on, Kyle… we’re coming for you.” Sunset whispered.

Back in the subway, Kyle regained his footing, breaking free from Princess’ grasp.

He clenched his fist, trying desperately to tap into the power of the Geodes again.

Princess lunged at Kyle, going for a firm punch. As she made contact, Kyle grabbed onto her hand, bright orange magic flowing through his veins as his feet dug into the ground at the impact.

She let out a maniacal cackle.

“You really think you can stop me?! You think that just because your daddy died and some kids beat on you in high school, you think you have all the answers?!”

Kyle’s eyes briefly widened, and a sharp gasp escaped him.

“How… how do you know about my dad?”

Princess gave a low laugh. Her facial features were barely noticeable due to the overall darkness of the subway, with the only light source being the hole in the ceiling leading to the surface as well as her blackened eyes and facial veins blending into the darkness.

“Sweetie, I know more about your dear old dad than you do!”

Kyle stood his ground, even taking a few steps forward, much to Princess’ surprise.

She tried to push back, the two equalling each other and reaching a stalemate…

Kyle knew he couldn’t fend her off forever, but he knew that he had to hold off just long enough for the X to wear off or for the others to make their way down and help.

And considering that Princess had five syringes worth of X pumping through her system, he was praying for the latter.

“Reading your dad’s file made me gag! ‘Oh, look at me, I’m giving shelter to whatever crackhead or illegal wants one!’ like some fucking saint! And don’t mention his pathetic son, trying his hardest to follow in his footsteps-- but is failing, each and every step of the way!”

Despite the hurtful words, Kyle kept his focus on keeping her from gaining the advantage, both in the fight and in his mind.

“Silent treatment, huh? No witty banter?! Don’t you know that’s what audiences love?!”

Kyle’s efforts to push Princess back were thwarted with one firm kick between the legs. Princess threw Kyle into the subway tunnel wall with the dirty move, leaving an imprint as he struggled with the blow to his privates.

“At least, that’s what Dad always shoved down my throat during shoots for some run-of-the-mill flick.”

Slowly recovering from the cheap shot, Kyle pulled himself out of the wall, beginning to fall to the ground below. However, with one quick swipe of his hand, an elevated platform of diamond formed, catching him before he got too close to the ground.

“Your dad… Your dad loved you! Mine only cared for me when I made money for him! Anything other than that, who gave a fuck?! ‘Oh, this shoddy producer wants to fuck my daughter for a role? Better make her dress for it!’ ‘What’s that? My daughter’s check for a 12- month film shoot was only $50? No problems, there’! The people of this city aren’t any better! All of them, feeding his hunger for power over years … They all deserve to die, just like he did!”

Kyle landed on the ground, pulling himself back up to his feet. Princess watched as he took several deep breaths, slowly recovering from the beating as he glared up at her with an icy rage beginning to form…

“So… that’s what did it?”

Princess’ eyes briefly widened, but that shock quickly shifted into rage…

“That’s what pushed you to starve thousands of people? To feed them to the zombies? Because they liked your movies? Because they didn’t know what your father was doing to you, what the studios were doing to you?”

Princess started to form a rebuttal, but Kyle quickly continued.

“I watched both my parents die! I went through hell at Crystal Prep for months-- my history teacher came onto me, and I sure as shit didn’t say no--, I went and put down my mother after she turned into some twisted, rotting monster! What happened to you is no excuse to punish everyone around you, Princess!”

Kyle’s rage was rapidly starting to outgrow Princess’, something that she had a hard time processing…

“You… I… they need to die, Kyle! They’re the ones who ruined this world, not the zombies! Once they’re gone, we can fix things! Make them better than what it was before…”

Kyle let out a scoff.

“You’re wrong! All of this is wrong , Princess, and you know it!”

“‘Wrong’ is just a word that changes depending on who’s in charge! You wanna be that guy? You wanna be in charge-- make this place like dear old daddy’s Sanctuary? Well, you’re just gonna have to kill me!”

Princess went for another charge, but the power of the Geodes kicked in before she could get close. A red blur was what remained of Kyle by the time Princess’ fist reached where his face previously was.

She desperately looked around to try and follow the blur, but just as she turned right behind her, she was met by a firm kick from Kyle, sending her into the support pillars.

“I’m not gonna kill you… but you’re not the one walking away!”

Princess pulled herself out of the concrete and glared towards Kyle, her eyes glowing a familiar red. As she blasted toward him, Kyle instinctually waved his hand, forming a red diamond projection that caught the beam and reflected it into the ground.

Growing frustrated, she lunged at Kyle, but tapping into a different power set, time slowed to a crawl, giving him plenty of time to swerve himself out of her way. She wound up smashing head-first into the ground, causing the subway to shake and for dust to fall from above them…

Kyle quickly turned to face her again, ready for her next move…

She lept towards him once again, but acting quickly, Kyle went to dodge her attack. However, as he tapped into Rainbow’s power, slowing down time, and Princess slowed down to a crawl as she charged him, her gaze suddenly locked with his. His eyes widened as suddenly, Princess rushed to Kyle at his speed, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against the ground.

Kyle’s wind left him as he gasped for air. With one firm kick, Kyle was sent rolling against the ground, landing by the rails.

“You little shit… When I’m done with you, I’m gonna take what’s left of this city and level it!”

Kyle’s gaze left Princess’ for but a moment, and he began to chuckle. His chuckle slowly transformed into a laugh as Princess continued to hover closer to him. Her fists clenched as the sound of his cackling grew too much to bear.

“Oh, what?! What could possibly be so funny to you, right now?!” She screamed.

Kyle’s laughter ceased and simply smiled, his amulet glowing a familiar pink aura…

“...Surprise.”

Boom!

Right under Princess’ feet, the chocolate-smeared Injector combusted, releasing a blue mist into the air. Princess gasped for air and coughed as she breathed in the Chemical X antidote…

Kyle slowly rose to his feet as Princess fell to the ground, struggling to stand.

“You-- cough --you-- cough, cough-- mother fuck-- ” Princess continued to cough, barely able to speak.

Kyle stood tall as Princess suddenly began to vomit a black bile, forming a puddle of black liquid as the entirety of the Chemical X was forced to exit her system. Moments passed betwen Princess trying to curse Kyle out before either coughing or puking some more. As it started to come to a close, Princess tried to stand and run at Kyle.

“You’re… gonna fuckin’ pay--”

As she started, however, she slipped on the puke and landed on her back, just as another round of vomiting started…

Kyle suddenly saw Princess gag and struggle as she began to choke on her own puke.

For only a brief moment, he contemplated leaving her there to die. He almost listened to that subconscious thought, starting to turn away from her. However, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away… Running over, Kyle quickly turned Princess to her side, allowing her to breathe as the vomit stream continued.

Once this round of puking died down, Princess looked over to Kyle, the color in her eyes finally returning.

“Why… why did you…?” She asked in absolute bewilderment.

Kyle caught his breath, still tired from all of the fighting.

“Because enough people have died today.”

As the two caught their breath, Kyle noticed the gem around his neck begin to go dim as his diamond-casted hand began to dissipate. After a deep breath, his focus returned to Princess.

“I know how it feels to have your life ripped away from you… My dad might not have been like yours, but when I lost him, it was like the whole world was suddenly against me. I had my mom and Sonata, but that was it. I was alone… and no-one should face that pain alone. I'm sorry that you did.”

Princess still struggled to recover, coughing up the remaining black fluid. She looked up towards Kyle, tears forming in her eyes…

“It’s… too late, Kyle. You really think… I can still change?”

Kyle stayed silent for a moment, forming his words carefully.

“We don’t have a choice but to change. I think you changed already. What’s stopping you from changing, again?”

From above, Kyle spotted a rope landing on the ground, with Sunset being the first to climb down, quickly increasing her pace after seeing Kyle still standing. As soon as her boots touched the ground, she quickly held Kyle in an embrace.

“Kyle! What happened? Is it over?” She asked.

Kyle turned toward Princess, who was slowly beginning to stand…

“Yeah. It’s over…”

Brick hovered down next, approaching a staggering Princess.

“Princess Morbucks, you are under arrest…”

Princess glared at Brick, her rage compelling her to try and fight back. However, that rage quickly passed, and she turned away from Brick, hanging her head in shame as Brick carried her back up to the surface.

Sunset and Kyle both climbed the rope back up, Kyle momentarily struggling due to only having one hand once again. Once they reached the surface again, Rainbow and Applejack were there helping Brick restrain Princess.

“What do we do with her?” Rainbow asked.

“I dunno, lock her up somewhere?” Applejack suggested.

“I say we leave her out there-- she would’ve done worse to any of us.” Sunset commented.

“We can argue about it later. Right now, we have to deal with the horde in the city… any ideas, anyone?” Kyle asked.

Applejack turned towards the members of Shining’s militia.

“Well, we got an army, now… we could just start clearin’ ‘em out, put our Geodes to use, again…”

Kyle thought about it, looking down at his amulet. As he held it in his hand, the gears in his head began to turn…

“Or, we just need to put one to good use. I need a big truck, some loudspeakers, and a destination… preferably somewhere to dump a shitload of zombies into.”

Back up above, Dark continued on towards the hospital, his breathing labored and his stumble much slower than it was earlier…

“Come on, you big bag of bones… just a little… more…”

He turned a corner, finally seeing the hospital. His glee brought very little life back into the shambling corpse as Dark marched down the road…

However, his joy was cut short as the sound of the infected were audible from within.

“No… no, no, no…”

Dark’s stumble quickened, and as he reached the doors, he saw that the front lobby was completely infested, despite Kyle’s efforts to draw the horde away. The biker girls’ truck was still left outside, giving him some relief. He stepped inside, seeing the staircase at the other side of the building…

He took a breath in preparation.

“Well… I’m a dead man, anyway.”

He walked inside, sneaking past the Ragers who all paid him no mind. As he ventured deeper into the hospital, he noticed that they weren’t even looking his way. Even as he finally reached the stairs and limped up, not one zombie even looked at him…

With that comfort in mind, Dark reached the top of the steps, where he saw numerous chairs and hospital beds shoved against the entrance to the second floor…

“H-hello…?” He struggled to speak, feeling the short burst of extra life begin to fade away.

He heard cluttering from the other side of the barricade, and a pair of green, feline-like eyes looked through the assortment of furniture.

“Hi, there… is there a Scootaloo on that side, by any chance?” Dark asked, finding that his legs were having trouble supporting his weight…

Prologue

Author's Note

*Inhale*

Hi.

Here we are again. I said I was done with this site, but this story? This story means a lot to me. It's never really left my mind and I really want to finish it. But the problem? I feel that the earliest chapters don't match my current writing style, and to no one's surprise, I had no plan back in the day. I know, shocker! :pinkiegasp: I never really knew where the story was going next until I was writing the next chapter, and that feels obvious upon re-reading... But, as I said, I love this story-- the mental picture I have of it and have held dear for almost 8 years... so, my solution? Rebuild! Re-do this entire story from the ground up.

The original story will remain posted because as I said, it holds a special place in my heart and I don't want the original story to be forgotten. But nonetheless, I was 13 years old when I first wrote The Zombie War, and I think that showed. Now, almost 21, I feel like I can show the experience I had gained on this very site in all that time. And, of course, to finish this story I still have a fondness for. So... here it is! The Zombie Chronicles remastered and reimagined!

Prologue

The sun shone down on the academy of Crystal Prep. Just outside, police cars were parked by the main gates. On the inside, students went about their day for the most part, save for a few—members of the Shadowbolts, Crystal Prep's athletic team. The Shadowbolts were all praised as the best and brightest of the academy, but today, officers had them in different empty rooms, asking a slew of questions.

In the infirmary, sitting on one of the beds, was Kyle Williams-- a sophomore student with fading bruises on his face and messy brown hair running down to his shoulders.

Just outside, some students couldn't help but peek in.

"How bad did they say it was?" One of them asked.

"Pretty bad—he was on the roof, and Sugarcoat said he was seconds away from jumping--"

"Ha! Some kid, huh? Got all broken up by old shit, or what?" Joel, another athlete at Crystal Prep, asked.

Tapping tactical boots from the hallway caused most students to scatter, save for Joel, who turned and saw a female police officer in her early 40s with the same brown hair as Kyle... On her side were a holstered Taurus Judge revolver and a currently inactive radio.

"Got anything else you'd like to add, son?" She scowled at him.

Joel read her badge, which read "Williams," and quickly bit his tongue.

"N-no, ma'am!" He said, quickly joining his fellow peers in their fleeing.

The officer reached for the door, noticing her shaking hand, took a deep breath, tried to gather her nerves, and twisted the knob.

"Hey, sport..." Beth said, her voice soft and somewhat shaken.

Kyle glanced at her but didn't say much else other than that.

She sensed the cold shoulder and took a seat next to the bed.

"So, who caused these? Was it that meathead I just spoke to out the door?"

Kyle gave a faint chuckle but stayed silent other than that.

"Kyle, you know I'm not angry, right...?" She asked, her voice beginning to shake more.

He closed his eyes and nodded, trying to hide the tears forming.

Sure enough, she wasn't too far behind.

"I know it's been hard... and that's somewhat my fault. After what happened to your dad... I can't imagine how that's been on you, and coming here? I don't even wanna think about what those... juveniles were doing."

Kyle finally turned to face his mother.

"Kyle, you know you can talk to me about these things, right? So, they don't... get this bad." She said, trying to choose her words as carefully as possible.

He didn't say anything in response, and Beth knew what she had to do.

"Kyle... either I can question you about today, or someone else can. I'll leave that up to you... do you understand me?"

He finally acknowledged her and nodded.

"You do it..."

Beth nodded and reached for a notepad on her side.

"...Your peers said they found you up on the roof. Were they going up there to hurt you?"

Kyle waited for a moment.

"...Most likely."

Beth drew an angered sigh and took a note.

"Can you identify the students who found you?"

"...Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Jet Set, and Upper Crust."

She jotted down the names.

"Son... were you... going to jump?"

Kyle stayed silent, trying to find the best way to answer.

"...I don't know..."

She took a moment, confused by his answer.

"They said they saw you with one foot over the roof... that's not an 'I don't know'--"

From the side, a nurse nervously tapped on Beth's shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am, but this room is for medical personnel only..."

She glared daggers at the nurse, rising from her chair.

"This is my son... and I feel that I have the authority, here... so I suggest that unless you want to risk being arrested for interfering in an active investigation, you turn around and walk away... now."

The nurse let out a nervous yelp and quickly walked the other way.

Beth huffed and took her seat.

"You didn't have to do that... she's nice."

Beth softened a tad at her son's voice.

"If that's this school's definition of 'nice,' then no wonder Cinch is in deep shit right now."

They both stayed silent for a brief moment.

"...So, what happens, now?" Kyle asked.

Beth looked at her son.

"I talked with your aunt and cousin. They told me that Canterlot High is a much better school than here... Jason's there to look out for you... and I heard that Twilight was there, too."

Kyle's head perked a bit at hearing her name. He also processed the idea of going to Canterlot High—he overheard a lot of rumors over the past year or so about magical shenanigans and such... he didn't know what to make of them when he heard about them. But then the Friendship Games happened, and that changed everyone's opinion...

"But that's for later. Right now, we should get going, let the others do their job... and maybe let an actual doctor look you over. How does that sound?"

Kyle nodded.

"Okay... can you stand?"

Kyle answered her question by quickly hopping off of the bed.

With that, they both made their way out of the exit in the nurse's office, the students in the hallway stopping and watching them both pass.

The ride back home was a quiet one. Kyle sat and scrolled through his phone with an earbud in one ear.

Beth focused on the road, unsure how to start discussing what had happened with her son.

"Kyle... I want you to know that you could've told me about this... what, did you think I'd be mad?"

He didn't answer.

"Kyle?" Beth asked, her voice growing a bit sterner.

Still no response.

"Kyle!"

Kyle turned to her, pulling out his earbud.

"Would you have cared? Would you have cared about some light bullying? You already knew they were beating me; why didn't you do something sooner?!"

Beth went to answer but couldn't find the words.

"Ever since Dad died... it's like you just stopped caring for me--"

Beth quickly turned to Kyle, taking her eyes off the road.

"That's not true, and you know it! Everything I've done this last year has been for both of us! Do you think I wanted this?! Do you think I wanted you to come out here to this preppy school because I didn't have the time to think about other options? You think if I knew they were pushing you to... to this, I wouldn't have pulled you right out?!"

Kyle didn't respond, his throat beginning to burn with emotion.

Beth sighed and turned back to the road.

At that moment, another car's distant yet close horn roared in both of their ears as they found themselves hit from the side.

Kyle's ears rang as he slowly came to from the crash. He turned to his mom, seeing that her seat was empty... save for a blood trail leading outside.

Kyle looked outside and saw a crazed figure beat down a body on the ground.

He slowly made his way out of his door, the sun's light blinding him for a brief moment.

The first thing he heard was the snarling and growling of the creature on his mom's side of the car.

Kyle got on his feet and started to reach for his phone, seeing his shattered screen.

A gurgled scream got his attention as he turned to see the body that the monster above was beating...

It was his mother.

Kyle sprang into action, quickly running over and trying to pull the crazed person off Beth.

"Hey! Get off her!"

It turned to him, and Kyle quickly realized he wasn't dealing with a normal person...

Its eyes were bloodshot, and blood covered its mouth and torn clothing...

The zombie roared at him and lunged him to the ground. Kyle could barely hold it back from chomping into him as it snarled and drooled right above his face...

"G-get off!"

The zombie began gaining the advantage, getting closer to biting him...

BANG!

The corpse hit the ground as Kyle turned to see his bloodied mother holding her smoking revolver up high.

The arm holding it quickly fell back to the ground, lifeless.

"M-mom?"

He quickly ran over to her and saw her dead, lifeless expression...

"Mom?"

Kyle put his head against her chest to feel for a heartbeat or any sign of breathing... but felt nothing.

But suddenly, she gasped, and her body began to seize.

He jumped back, seeing that her gun was dropped and close to him.

He watched as her body violently contorted until she stood upright, with the same bloodshot eyes as the other creature did...

"Mom?!"

She twitched towards him, snarling as a single tear fell from her cheek...

Knowing what she had become, Kyle grabbed her gun and fired it, hitting her right in the heart.

The adrenaline quickly passed as he realized what he had just done...

He finally began to hear faint explosions and gunfire. Knowing he had to move, he picked up his mom and started making a run for it, only for a sharp pain in his leg to stop him.

He realized that his leg was sore and looked bruised...

Knowing he couldn't possibly carry her all the way back home, he made his way back under the car.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." He repeated to himself, laying her inside the car.

He quickly took off her holster and quickly limped away...

Caribou

Kyle groaned as his eyes groggily opened, facing the wall of his dorm. He slowly got out of bed, shut off his alarm, and stretched, turning to see that Scootaloo wasn’t in her bed.

Kyle shrugged and figured that she got called in early. He quickly dressed for the fall weather thanks to clothes from the old Lost and Found boxes. He holstered his mother’s revolver and slung his baseball bat on his back. He opened the door and made his way down the hall.

“Morning, Kyle.” A student waved to his left.

He waved back and made his way down the stairs. He didn’t waste any time as he made his way into the cafeteria, where a relatively small line was formed. The wait wasn’t as long as he thought it was going to be, and was given a small package of peanut butter crackers. He decided to save them for later, not feeling hungry at the moment.

He marched out of the cafeteria and made his way to the armory- a small classroom at the end of the hall labelled as such. Keeping inventory was Wiz Kid.

“Hey, Wiz.” He said, reaching for his usual weapon of choice—an M16 rifle.

“Morning, Kyle. You’re up early.” Wiz said, writing the rifle as withdrew.

“Yeah... well, you know, ‘early bird gets the worm' and all that,” He grabbed a few loaded mags, “Hey, isn’t your anniversary with Curly Winds coming up, soon? Got anything planned?”

Wiz smiled.

“Yeah-- next week, and, no, not really. I mean, what can we really do, you know? Share crackers over candlelight?”

Kyle chuckled at that.

“I mean, the little things count, right? See you in a bit.” He said, slinging the rifle over his back.

Kyle made his way outside, towards the guard tower on the western corner of the wall, where one of the soldiers stationed at the school climbed down.

“Morning, Kyle—it's all yours.” He gestured.

Kyle nodded.

"Thank you, sir."

He climbed up the ladder, sitting atop the two-story tower, and looked out into the horizon for any threats.

The sun stood brightly right in the center of the sky as Kyle spotted his relief—Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Rainbow! Why did they put you on wall duty?” He asked her.

Rainbow sighed.

“Button Mash came down with something. We think it’s just a cold, but we can’t take the risk... so I took his shift.”

Kyle hummed.

“Hope he gets better. Hey, have you seen Scootaloo?”

Rainbow sighed.

“Let her tell you.” She said, making her way up the ladder.

Kyle shrugged and went to turn in his rifle. On his way, he spotted three soldiers talking with Celestia in a classroom with the door cracked open.

“I'm sorry, Celestia... the mansion’s gone. Someone must’ve torched it at some point... We didn’t find any bodies, so there’s a chance that maybe--”

“Let’s not get our hopes up. Thank you for going out that far.” Celestia said to them.

Kyle heard footsteps and quickly went towards the armory, not wanting to start any trouble...

He returned his rifle to Wiz Kid and went back upstairs and into his room, where Scootaloo was back and still sketching.

“Hey...” She said, stopping her drawing and turning towards him.

“Hey.” He said back, sitting on the sofa they scavenged about a week ago.

Scootaloo set down her sketch book and walked to the couch, sitting next to Kyle.

“So how was sitting in that boring tower all afternoon?”

Kyle chuckled.

“Couldn’t have been as exciting as whatever you were up to...”

She smirked and reached into her pack, holding up an old GameStation console and two controllers.

“I... was up to this.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as Scootaloo got up and started hooking them up.

“Hey, whoa, whoa—you think we’re cleared to plug that in?”

Scootaloo playfully rolled her eyes.

“2 hours a day while the power is on, that was the deal Celestia and I made.” She said.

Kyle smiled.

“Where did you even get that thing? I haven’t seen any of them since I was, like, 8.”

Scootaloo winced.

“I... kinda went on the run, today.”

Kyle jumped.

“You went on the run?!”

Scootaloo held up her hands.

“Yeah, sorry, didn’t think it’d make you all jealous.” She laughed.

“No-- just... worried. You know it’s only getting worse, out there.”

Scootaloo’s smile faded.

“Yeah, I know... I just—I don’t know, I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life cooped up in this tiny little building with the same people, you know? I thought this thing was gonna play out in a few weeks and we’d go back to normal, and maybe laugh about it all years from now... but that’s looking less and less likely...”

Kyle’s panic faded, and worry quickly took its place.

She turned and saw Kyle’s face.

“Sorry-- guess I had to get that outta my system...”

“No, no, don’t be—we're roomies, remember? It’s kinda our second job to vent to each other...”

Scootaloo chuckled.

“Yeah... wanna vent over some Dragon Wizard Skateboard Fighters?” She waved the controller towards him.

Kyle smirked and took the controller.

“You’re on.”

The sun had set, allowing darkness to set in over the high school. The lights inside the room were off save for two lit candles, and the two sat on the couch, going through old magazines.

“Hey, did you know that this celebrity decided to divorce this celebrity? Oh, the humanity!” Scootaloo giggled.

“Careful, don’t let Rarity hear you mocking her people...” Kyle joked.

They both shared a laugh.

“Good one...”

The two sighed and sat in silence.

“I never really asked you, but... do you know what happened to Twilight?”

Scootaloo stayed quiet.

“You don’t wanna know, Kyle... you really don’t.”

Before Kyle could say anything back, a single shot rang out from outside.

“The fuck was that?!” Kyle asked, springing up and starting to make his way out the door.

“Kyle, wait!” Scootaloo whisper-shouted, grabbing his arm and pulling him back in.

“What, what is it?”

She signaled him to be quiet and Kyle nodded, looking out their window to see headlights from the main gate.

“...know the drill.” He heard a voice from the gate say.

One-by-one, the doors to the classrooms opened, and several students made their way down the stairs.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He tried to ask one of them, who ignored him and went on her way.

Scootaloo tried to step towards him to stop him, but he was already out the door, following the commotion.

He peeked out the window and saw as the students each stood in a row, lining themselves up.

“What the fuck...?” He asked himself.

He carefully snuck down the steps and saw a few students watching from inside. He noticed that they were either men or kids around his age, boys and girls...

“Hey... what’s the plan, here?” He asked them.

They all looked to him and started whispering to each other.

“No-one told him...?”

“What do we say?”

A male student took a breath.

“Just stay in here, no matter what happens... and we’ll get through it.”

He went to ask why, but he looked outside and saw as two men went down the rows. One of them let out a dragged-out whistle.

“It never ceases to amaze me with the options you have, here, Celly...”

Kyle turned to see Celestia watching the scene unfold.

He saw Sunset and the others, making his way towards them.

“Hey-- what the hell’s happening?”

They each looked at him and hung their heads.

“The exchange...”

He looked back out and saw as one man pointed at one of the women lined up.

“That one.”

She immediately shouted as the other two grabbed her, starting to pull her away.

“No! Let go of me!” She shouted, desperately trying to break free.

Celestia hung her head, knowing there was nothing she could do.

“Celestia, do something, please...!” The woman wailed, but to no response.

Celestia looked away, a gesture that caused Kyle to start stepping out and reaching for his mother’s revolver. Only for Sunset and Rainbow to hold him back.

“Don’t... just stay hidden...” Sunset told him.

She continued to kick and scream to no avail as they finally got her out of the gates.

"She's gonna be a fun one... I can tell already. See you next week, Celly, and remember-- we got eyes everywhere..." The ringleader laughed, closing the gates behind him.

Her screams were still audible as she was loaded up and their vehicle began driving away...

The dust settled, with Celestia raising her head at last.

“Everyone back to their rooms... it’s over.”

Not an hour later, Kyle pounded on Celestia’s door, absolutely furious.

“Celestia!” He called out, knocking some more.

The door opened, and Celestia stood in front of Kyle.

“I understand you have some questions--”

“Questions?! Oh, I’m way past that—you let those freaks just take that girl away! You turned your back on her!” He shouted.

“Kyle, please try to understand, there’s nothing we could do about--”

“’Nothing we could do’? Yeah, the girl who can make force fields out of diamond from thin air or the other one who can bend solid steel or the one who can run laps around the state in minutes can’t put up a fight--”

“We tried, Kyle...”

Kyle paused. He heard murmuring behind him and turned to see that a crowd had formed to see the commotion he was causing.

“Come inside... I’ll explain everything.” Celestia said, making her way to her seat.

Kyle decided to oblige, closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed, Celestia held her head in her hands.

“It was a few weeks into it. We dug in, soldiers were with us, we felt safe… But then they arrived. The Caribou, they call themselves. They came to our gates, just like they did today, and demanded whatever and whoever they wanted. We said no, and put up a fight. But no matter what we did, it just wasn’t enough. We fought... we fought like hell, but nothing worked... they always came back and hit us, with weapons and technology we just can’t compete with.”

Kyle leaned back, taking in everything Celestia was saying.

“Twilight was our heavy hitter. She was able to lift objects with her mind—no matter the size... cars, tanks, guns, she took it all away from them... but somehow, they took her down. They came in while we were sleeping, and took her away overnight.”

Kyle’s eyes widened.

“Twilight was... kidnapped?”

Celestia nodded, her eyes starting to water.

“When she was gone, none of us stood much of a chance. Rarity helped, as well as Applejack, but without means of directly stopping them, we were sitting ducks. They came back and offered a... ‘trade’.” Her voice shook but deepened on her last word.

“...What was it?”

Celestia deeply inhaled.

“Weekly, we have to give someone to them. Any one person that they choose... along with a portion of our supplies.”

Kyle stayed silent, reflecting on the situation.

“We had too. If we didn’t... then they would’ve taken all of us, or worse. I allowed anyone who wanted to leave to do so, but they quickly caught on to that. When it started, my sister Luna and my niece... they both volunteered to delay students being taken, but that was over a month ago...” Her voice was shaking as her throat began to burn.

Tears flowed freely, now, and Kyle leaned in.

“So, now, we’re stuck here... As far as I know, they have eyes everywhere—maybe even in the school. If we try to leave, they will know... all we can do is dig in and hope someone... stronger takes them out.”

Kyle stayed silent.

“I’m sorry... I had no idea.”

“It’s fine. How would you? If you wish to leave, I understand...”

Kyle shrugged.

“And what, just walk away? Not happening. I came here, I’m seeing it through. I’d rather deal with those creeps than zombies, any day.”

Celestia chuckled, a sound that caught Kyle off-guard.

“Easy for you to say, they won’t take you...”

Morning quickly came as Kyle made his way back toward the guard tower, still uncertain of what to think over last night...

He climbed up top, looking down on the small desk inside and spotting a carving into the wood.

“A.B was here”.

Kyle pondered on the initials for a brief moment, having never noticed them, before... As he looked, he heard someone climbing up the ladder and turned to see Celestia.

“Hello, Kyle...”

Kyle jumped a bit, surprised.

“Hey...”

Kyle glanced back out the horizon for a moment.

“I wanted to check up on you after last night... I apologize for keeping you in the dark for as long as I did... I should’ve told you the moment we found you.”

Kyle shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it... what can you do?”

She nodded and the two sat in silence for a moment.

“So, Jason attended here?”

Celestia nodded.

“Yes... he was a fine student, never got in too much trouble.”

Kyle nodded.

"I didn't wanna say anything back there, but your niece... was her name Cadence?"

Celestia smiled.

"I had a suspicion you were that Kyle..."

Kyle laughed, excited to hear that his suspicion was right.

"I remember her watching Twilight and me when we were kids!"

Celestia smiled.

"I know she loved looking after others. It's good to remember the good things, especially nowadays..."

Kyle nodded.

"Yeah... I'm sorry about what happened to her."

"Thank you..."

The two fell silent again until Kyle looked back at the etching.

“So, who left this?” He asked her.

She looked and deeply sighed.

“Apple Bloom. Applejack’s sister...”

He perked up, he never knew Applejack had a sister...

“Let me guess, those bastards took her?”

Celestia shook her head.

“No. She disappeared shortly after Twilight was kidnapped.”

Kyle nodded but quickly froze.

“Wait... Celestia, was she on duty when the Caribou took Twilight?”

She hesitated.

“Yes... I believe she was. Why...?”

Kyle clicked his tongue.

“I don't know... call it a hunch," He said, beginning to form a theory but knowing he will need more to work with before jumping to conclusions, "I appreciate the concern, Celestia, but... I'll be okay."

With that, she started climbing down the tower, leaving Kyle to peer out into the horizon, his mind also wandering and trying to make sense of the entire situation...

He reached and held the packet of peanut butter crackers. He opened the package and started eating when an idea hit him.

An idea he had for a while but could never pull off before... but maybe, just maybe... he could now.

He looked out the tower and saw Celestia starting to enter the building. He quickly climbed back down and sprinted to her.

“Wait!”

Celestia paused and turned to him.

“What if we had more to offer them? More than people... what if we had an entire supermarket’s worth of supplies...?”

Celestia hesitated to speak for a moment.

“You have my attention...”

Author's Note

Already taking advantage of a full reset!

The Caribou, the main antagonists in the Fall of Equestria universe, was included near the very end of my original telling of the story, so I decided why not include them here? To those who know, you have a basic idea of what's to come. Those who don't, stay tuned...

First Day in Townsville

Kyle didn’t have long to search through the massive general store. He decided to just grab what he needed for the week—spare clothes from a donation area, a watch, a toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, and the other essentials. Once he was satisfied with his selection, he made his way to the register, handed the coupon to the groggy cashier. Pulling out a hole-puncher, he punched a hole in one of the categories, labelled “Living Essentials” one time, leaving two more behind in that category and seven more with three sub-sections in “Food”, separated as 3 meals a day for the first week.

As he walked down the street, he heard the several speakers set up on the sides of buildings ring out.

“This is the 5-minute warning until curfew is in effect. Repeat, 5 minutes until curfew is in effect.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. He could tell that was going to get annoying over time...

He entered the apartment building, tapping the button to bring the elevator down to the ground floor. As he stepped inside, he heard the apartment door open and someone rush their way into the door.

“Hold the door, please!” He heard a voice cry out.

Acting quickly, Kyle placed a hand by the closing doors, making them reset.

“Thank you...” She waved a hand as the doors shut.

Kyle pressed 4, and the girl with him pressed 6. Kyle noticed her resemblance to Brick—the same red wardrobe and red hair, except hers ran down past her shoulders and a red bow was tied to the side.

“So, did you just get accepted in?” She asked him.

Kyle glanced to her and nodded.

“Yeah-- literally an hour ago.”

Her eyes widened.

“Really? Well, welcome to Townsville.”

He smiled.

“Thank you.”

The rest of the short ride was silent until the doors opened at the 4th floor. Kyle made his way out of the small space and walked down the hall, searching for his specific door. He quickly set his bags down and reached into his pocket, pulling out the set of keys. With a press and a turn, the door unlocked, and Kyle saw his new living situation.

The inside was a studio apartment of a moderate size. The only separate room was for a moderately sized bathroom. Both rooms were completely empty save for a stove, cabinets, and a medium-sized bed in the corner. Turning around and grabbing his bags, Kyle set them on the floor by the bathroom.

One-by-one, Kyle set everything in its appropriate place. It didn’t take too long, mostly thanks to the fact that there wasn’t anywhere to put most of it. He made a mental note to make a to-buy list whenever he had the time. But for right now, Kyle was satisfied.

For the first time in about two months, Kyle turned on the hot water. Almost recoiling at the temperature, Kyle slowly undressed himself and went inside. Kyle did a good job at keeping himself clean without running water, but with the stress of the last few days, the water running off his body turned black with grime and hints of blood. Kyle took note of this and took his time, thankful to have soap thanks to the coupon.

After he was satisfied with his work, he shut off the tap and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping himself in a towel, he dried himself off as best he could and made his way to the closed window by his bed. Slowly, he pulled the curtain open, witnessing his view of the city.

Night shrouded the dimly lit streets and Kyle noticed some rooms with lights still on nearby. Soldiers marched down the empty streets, and one-by-one, lights were shut off, and curtains were closed. Seeing his que, Kyle did the same, going back towards the bathroom and putting on new clothes. Seeing little motivation for staying awake any longer, Kyle hopped on the firm mattress and let sleep begin to envelop him...

As Kyle slept, his mind wandered back to the halls of Crystal Prep. In a filled classroom, a younger Kyle nervously sat in the small desk. In the teacher’s desk was an indistinguishable figure making its way across the classroom, handing papers out with a blotted, inky tendril.

Kyle never made eye contact with this figure, but he could feel it make its way closer to him...

Once it stood over him, it leaned in close, almost too close, its hot breath landing on his ear...

As Kyle tensed up in fear, the sheet slid across his table, with the number 39% visible on the paper. Kyle’s eyes sunk with disappointment and shame as the figure leaned even closer...

“Looks like you will need some help, Mr. Williams... stay after class for me?” A slow, feminine voice whispered in his ear.

Nervously nodding, the figure slid away from him and moved on to the next student...

In a flash, the classroom was empty, and it was only him and this figure who slowly was beginning to solidify into a person. With every step she took towards him, more and more became solidified and noticeable. First, it was her blouse that concealed her form, but left nothing to the imagination... then it was her fair, dark-grey skin. Then, her green hair flowing down past her shoulders.

“Kyle, I think you know Crystal Prep’s policy on failing grades... I don’t want to see you fail, and I’m sure your mother wouldn’t like that, either. She has a lot on her plate, already, isn’t that right?”

Kyle felt his heart sink even during a dream as he nodded.

“W-what can I do?” He asked.

A large, sharp-toothed smile formed on the woman’s face as she leaned inwards towards Kyle...

“We can discuss... extra credit.”

Kyle looked at her in terror as she leaned closer... closer... and closer. In an instant, rows of sharp teeth became visible to Kyle as she lunged towards his shoulder...

Knock, knock, knock!

Kyle gasped awake as he rose up from his bed. His hand clutched his right shoulder as he panted for breath.

“Williams!” He heard a voice call out from out his door.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he rose up and made his way to his door. Pulling it open, Kyle saw yet another soldier by his door with a sealed envelope in her hand.

“Your working papers just came in. Curfew ends in 10 minutes, and you are expected to be at your new job by 8 AM.”

Nodding, Kyle took the envelope and the soldier went on her way. Closing his door, he tore the envelope open, seeing a folded set of documents and a slip of paper with two words written on it in marker.

Mayor’s Assistant.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he looked through the other papers which listed his responsibilities—helping the mayor with their day, sending documents to several locations in the office, coffee runs, etc.

“Okay... so I’m a paid intern.” He shrugged.

As he kept searching, he spotted his starting rate:

$25 an hour.

If Kyle had a drink, he would spit it in that instant.

“...A well-paid intern.”

With that, Kyle quickly started getting ready. He silently cursed to himself for not grabbing anything too presentable. Knowing he had at least two hours, he decided to make the best of them. Hearing the growl in his stomach, he already knew his destinations. He quickly stepped into his bathroom, brushing his teeth and putting on a considerable amount of deodorant.

Making his way back to the ground level, he stepped outside and speed-walked down the street when he had the realization that he had no idea where Town Hall even was. To his luck, he saw a small shop selling town maps nearby.

He opened the door and pulled out his coupon, grabbing a small folded up map by the register.

The man at the counter looked down upon the coupon and sighed. He ran his hand through his blonde hair. Wiping dust off of his blue-and-black striped shirt, he leaned in toward the table.

“I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid that town maps are not included in your welcome coupon.”

Kyle froze and sighed.

“Okay, that’s fine-- can you just point to where Town Hall is?”

Looking out the window, he pointed out towards the nearby street.

“Just past that building, make a left, you can’t miss it.”

Nodding, Kyle put the map back into the slot.

“Great... thanks!”

“Anytime.” He sighed, going back through his magazine.

Making his way out the small store, he looked around and spotted a still-functioning fast-food restaurant...

“Huh.” He said to himself as he made his way inside.

He saw that the inside was mostly empty, save for one or two customers. Making his way up to the counter, he looked over his options. The cashier stepped up and greeted him with a somewhat corporate smile on her face.

“Hi, I’ll have the... number one with a side of fries—wait, fries don’t require another punch, do they?” Kyle presented his card to the cashier.

The cashier looked down at the paper and sighed.

“I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid your welcome coupon isn’t eligible for purchases, here...”

Kyle’s eyes widened for a moment, but settled almost immediately.

“Okay-- so where’s this ticket good for?”

Sighing, the cashier looked out the window and pointed towards a line sprawling across the street.

Sighing, Kyle nodded and took his ticket. Making his way over, Kyle took his place in line, checking his watch to see that it was currently 6:20. Kyle peeked toward the line, optimistic that he could wait it out—he had almost two hours...

7:30.

Still in line.

He was much closer to the front, but he still had a way to go. He knew he didn’t have time to go grab new clothes, so he did his best to make his white t-shirt and jeans look presentable. After reviewing his papers, he didn’t see anything regarding a dress code.

The growl in his stomach only grew louder as he looked to see the line slowly moving again. Growing impatient, he gently tapped the person in front of him.

“Are the lines always this long?”

The person in front of him turned and shrugged.

“It’s not always this bad... it’s just when a bunch of newcomers show up... guess you’re one of them, huh?”

Kyle hesitated before nodding.

“Well... welcome to Morbucksville.” He said sarcastically.

Nodding, Kyle noticed he and the man in front of him were next.

After finally getting his food—a tray consisting of school-grade waffles that were as hard as a rock and a turkey sausage patty—he made his way toward Town Hall, putting the two together and crunching on them like a sandwich.

Of course, this breakfast was nothing compared to the one he shared with Princess yesterday, but in his eyes, anything was better than nothing.

Finally making his way right out Town Hall, he adjusted his button-down and opened the door.

The inside of the Town Hall was a bold contrast to the outside—bare offices surrounded him as he made his way up to the one person still at work—an older woman with red hair obstructing her face.

“Uh... excuse me?”

Stopping her typing, the lady looked up towards him.

“I just got my working papers? I’m a Mayor’s Assistant...” He said, showing her his papers.

Gesturing him to hand them over, she looked over the papers. Sighing, she leaned towards the intercom on her desk.

“Ms. Mayor Morbucks to see a... Kyle Williams.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as an affirmative beep opened the automated doors to the lady’s side.

“Thanks, Ms...?”

“Bellum.”

“Right. Thanks, Ms. Bellum.”

With that, Kyle made his way into the opened hallway. Once he reached the end of the hallway, the two large doors, revealing Princess.

“Why, hello again!” She greeted him, smiling as she gestured him to enter her office.

“Uh... hi.” He said, entering and closing the door behind him.

The moment he entered the room, he looked around, noticing a lack of a camera... taking a seat, Princess sat in the mayor’s chair.

“So, how’re you enjoying Morbucksville, so far?”

Kyle chuckled.

“It’s... a nice change of pace.”

Princess perked a brow.

“Really? How so?”

Kyle paused for a moment, shrugging.

“Well, it’s nice seeing so many people, again.”

Princess smiled.

“I guess that would be the case. So, for your duties, I’m sure you saw enough in the paper."

Kyle nodded.

“Coffee runs, document shipping, and helping you with--”

“And helping me with my day,” She smiled, “Great, you read the paperwork! You wouldn’t believe it, but not everyone cares to...”

Kyle smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

“Okay, so where should I start?” He asked.

Princess thought for a moment.

“Now that you put coffee runs in the back of my head, how about some for the two of us? You do drink coffee, right?” She asked him as she reached into her desk.

“Never really tried it.” He smiled.

“Oh, honey, I’m about to blow your mind... get whatever you want, and tell them I want my usual, they’re right down the street.” She reached up, handing Kyle a pair of $20 bills.

He pocketed the cash and nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

As he made his way out the door, he could hear Princess giggling in delight to herself inside.

Having entered the coffee shop, Kyle made his way to the counter.

“Welcome to Donut Thing, how can I help you?” A girl with a green apron, black shirt and jeans, and bright green eyes asked him.

“Hi, I’ll have Princess’s usual, and I’ll have a, um...” He paused, having no idea what to have.

The girl crossed her arms, sensing his uncertainty.

“Let me guess: first coffee?”

“Yeah.” He sheepishly smiled.

“No shame in it, we’ve all had our first. Here, I’ll hook you up.” She said, entering a random combination of words into the receipt.

Handing the cash, the girl at the counter handed him his change, and he took a seat. As he waited, the girl made her way out and stood by Kyle.

“So, you’re one of the newbies?”

He glanced to her and sighed.

“Was it that obvious?”

She smiled.

“Not really, but considering Princess’ habit in hiring help, I kinda assumed.”

They both shared a brief laugh.

“I’m Kyle.”

“Buttercup. I should get back to work, but you take care.”

“Thanks, you too.”

With that, the two went their separate ways. Kyle stared out the window as he waited for the two cups to be brought to him. While looking, he saw citizens going about their day, soldiers patrolling the streets, and at the center of it all: not a single zombie...

It was perfect.

“Kyle Williams?” A voice at the counter called.

Hearing his name, he stood up and made his way back to Buttercup, who held out two separate cups.

“I hope you like iced...” She handed him the two cold cups.

“I’m willing to try it. Thanks.” He said back, taking the two cups and stepping towards the door.

“Good luck... you’re gonna need it.” She said just as Kyle closed the door.

As Kyle made his way back towards Town Hall, he stopped and noticed soldiers kicking open an apartment door.

“Come out! Hands up!” One of the soldiers barked.

As Kyle watched five teens were pulled out from the abandoned building, hands above their heads. They were pushed or knocked down to their knees, with zipties put on their arms.

One of the soldiers looked up at Kyle and approached him.

“Move along.” He ordered.

Nervously nodding, Kyle continued on his way.

“Two coffees, including your usual.” Kyle said, handing the cup labeled as ‘Princess’ over to her.

Smiling, Princess took a sip.

“Good as always... Thank you, Kyle.” She smiled.

Kyle smiled to himself and took a sip of his, cringing at the taste. Princess giggled at his reaction.

“It’s an acquired taste. As for your day’s work... there’s a hearty sum of documents that need to be shared—it would be a big help if you were to help me...” She said, giving Kyle a pair of puppy eyes.

Only a little flustered, Kyle chuckled.

“Well, it is my job...”

Princess cheerfully clapped her hands together.

“Great! I’ll have Ms. Bellum hand you the documents with the addresses... once you’re done, come back to me, and I’ll let you go for the day...”

Princess reached into her pocket.

“...And here—no assistant of mine will be forced to sit in line for that sludge they call food... get yourself something nice to eat.”

Kyle’s hand was suddenly holding a crisp $100 bill. He immediately pocketed it and playfully saluted to her as he made his way back out the door.

The smile growing on his face quickly dissipated once he saw the abnormally high stack of manilla folders to Ms. Bellum’s side. The desk settled right above Ms. Bellum’s waist, with the stack of folders reaching the top of her curly hair.

“Each folder’s recipient is written on the front. As for the route, here is the one Ms. Morbucks recommends.” She handed Kyle a pocket-sized map of Townsville, renamed on the map as “Morbucksville”.

Kyle studied the route, seeing that the first destination is marked at the opposite side of the city.

“Okay... understood.” He said, beginning to grab the stack.

Bellum stopped him and pulled out a set of satchels and a badge.

“That badge will cover you once curfew ends—as long as you wear that badge, soldiers should let you go about your business after 6.”

Once he had each folder secured, Kyle made his way out the doors, looking at the map.

“She can’t seriously expect me to start all the way over there, right...?” He asked himself.

He pocketed the map and started going towards the first route marker.

However, he stopped, noticing that each marker was marked with the names on the folders.

“I don’t think she’d mind if I took another route...” He shrugged, making a right and heading down the sidewalk.

As he walked, he dug through the separate stacks to find the folder belonging to the homeowner—Utonium...

After a few minutes’ walk, Kyle found himself staring at a modern-style home with three large circular windows.

“Huh... that’s a choice.” Kyle shrugged as he made his way to the doorbell.

Answering the door was the girl Kyle held the elevator for the other night.

“Oh, hey!” She said to him.

“Hey! I... didn’t know you lived here.”

The girl took a second to shake her head.

“Oh, I don’t-- my dad does, I’m here checking in on him.”

“Speaking of which, I’m here to drop this off for a... Utonium?” He held out the manilla folder.

Her face dropped a tad as she took the folder.

“So, right to Morbucks, huh?” She asked him.

“Yep... could be worse.” He shrugged.

She stayed silent at that.

“That's a bit of an overstatement... But thanks, I’ll see you around.” She waved to him.

Waving back, Kyle started to walk down the sidewalk, but paused. He quickly made his way back over and knocked again.

She opened it, and Kyle sighed.

“What do you mean by that?”

The girl sighed and shook her head.

“Princess was always trouble, but now? In this? She’s only going to get worse if she’s left unchecked. Just... try to stay on her good side.”

Nodding, Kyle stepped back from the door.

“Thanks, Ms... Utonium?”

The girl chuckled.

“Blossom.”

“Got it. Thanks, Blossom.”

With that, the two went their separate ways. As he made his way down towards the sidewalk, he saw a familiar face making his way down towards the home... and it wasn’t because he just spoke to his twin.

“Williams.” He greeted him.

“Brick.” Kyle responded.

Brick glanced at Kyle’s satchels.

“So, you’re on assistant duty... tough.”

Kyle froze for a moment, surprised at the change of tone.

“It’s... not too bad, so far.”

Brick chuckled.

“If that’s what you think, you haven’t been doing it long enough.”

Kyle stayed silent. Brick let out a sigh as he changed his stance to a more casual one.

“Look, I hope there’s no hard feelings about the whole interrogation thing. It was nothing personal—just business...”

Kyle nodded, adjusting his feet.

“It’s all good. It got us here, right?”

Brick laughed.

“You still think that’s a good thing?”

With that, Brick made his way towards the Utonium house, and Kyle decided to continue on his way...

The sun had begun to set and curfew had been long declared by the time Kyle delivered the last folder. Satisfied with his job well-done, he made his way back towards Town Hall.

As he walked down the same sidewalk he walked earlier, he passed the trash can where he tossed the fast-food bag he grabbed during his errands.

A yawn left Kyle’s mouth as he finally reached Town Hall. He saw that Ms. Bellum was out for the night, but that Princess’ lights were still on. Knocking on her door, he waited for a response.

The door was gently opened, and Princess saw Kyle on the other side.

“Ah, you’re back... everything go okay?” She asked him, her voice dry and somewhat irritated.

Confused at her shift from earlier, he nodded.

“Yeah... you alright?”

She playfully waved her hand.

“Oh, I’m fine... go on home, Kyle.”

Nodding, he began walking away.

“Oh! Just one last thing?”

Kyle turned to her, and before he could ask what she needed, the door was broken off its hinges, and Princess had a firm hand on Kyle’s shirt, all not even in a second.

“When I suggest something... it’s not a suggestion. Do you understand?” She growled, her eyes beginning to glow a bright red...

Briefly panicked from the scare, Kyle nodded.

“Understood. It won’t happen again.”

With that, Princess dropped the boy who began speed walking out of the building.

Back in her office, Princess let out a frustrated sigh, opening her desk and pulling out an unopened manila folder with the name “Morbucks” written on it.

Opening the folder, Princess held a small vial in her hand, with the letter X written in white to contrast the black liquid inside.

Opening the vial, Princess took a gulp of the vial’s contents, sighing in satisfaction as she felt power flow throughout her body...

Intervention

As the sun began to shine through Sunset’s apartment window, she rose out of bed. She groggily got ready for her shift and made her way to the police station to take her assignments.

As she walked to the station, she stopped and glanced down the street and spotted the scene of Princess’ crime, being guarded by soldiers as a few citizens shoveled remainders of the poor woman’s ashes off the street. She grimaced and continued down the road, not wanting to think about the incident any longer.

When she reached the station, however, Brick spotted her and signaled to her.

“Oh, good, you’re here. Come on, I have your assignments.”

Sunset followed him, expecting more guard-duty or wall patrols. However, as they navigated through the station, Sunset was led deeper into the facility.

Funny. She thought to herself. This station’s almost as big as Canterlot’s.

Brick and Sunset eventually wound up outside of an interrogation room, with strange padding on the walls. Looking inside, Sunset saw the other girls as well as Buttercup and Brick’s brothers inside...

“Here we are.” Brick opened the door and let Sunset inside.

She carefully stepped inside as Brick closed the door behind them.

“Okay, we’re all here... take a seat.” He instructed Sunset.

She took a second to process what she had just heard, but quickly put the pieces together and took an open seat.

“Alright, people... I think you all know why we’re here. Princess Morbucks has become a serious problem. Not just for us, but for the people, here...” Brick said glancing at the door occasionally to look for patrolling guards.

Butch leaned forward from his chair.

“It’s bad enough she roped us into being her guard dogs, but after what she did the other day, she needs to go.”

Several nods were shared, but Fluttershy shook her head.

“How do we plan to do that? You saw what she did to that one girl, why wouldn’t she just do it to anyone who speaks out to her?” She asked.

Buttercup was the one to chip in.

“Because last time, we weren’t there. The four of us have the same powers she has, except we’ve been using them for way longer.”

Rainbow turned to her.

“Okay, then, so where were you and your sisters when the shit hit the fan? Why is it that you’ve been brewing coffee ever since we’ve been here? Why aren’t you in charge?”

Buttercup scoffed.

“Trust me, honey, me being in charge is a recipe for disaster. I’m not a leader, I’m more of a fighter... Blossom’s the leader out of us, but she...,” Buttercup caught her tongue before shaking her head, “She gave up her powers.”

There were several shocked reactions, mainly from Rainbow.

“Wait... what? But, why?”

“Because we’ve been in the spotlight since we were five years old. Do you know what that’s like, to have your entire life stuck in the public eye? It was hell, and I don’t judge Blossom and Bubbles for wanting out. Not that it mattered... because when the ‘shit hit the fan’, Bubbles was the first to go.” She took a moment to compose herself at mentioning her dead sister.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as the others shared some form of physical empathy.

“When Princess started taking the X, what was I supposed to do? I’m strong, sure, but I’m not bulletproof. Her troops protected her every step of the way, and I haven’t used my powers in years... what the hell was I supposed to do?”

Sunset observed Buttercup’s mannerisms, the way she tugged at the bottom of her shirt and how she fidgeted in her chair.

“So, I laid low. I still think that’s the only thing keeping me alive, but after the other day... I’m done hiding. The first chance I get, I’m going over there and taking her down.” Buttercup smacked her fist into her palm.

Brick cracked a smile and turned to the others.

“That’s where all of you come in. My brothers and I have been assigned with taking down a group of slavers living in a prison...”

Sunset heard that description and her eyes lit up.

“The Caribou?”

Brick nodded.

“Caribou. Princess informed us that they have some friends of yours. We’ll do everything in our power to get them out of there. But that’s for us. As for all of you, I need you to keep an eye out for the first chance to get to Princess. I’m gonna try and find Kyle, he should be able to help with that. The rest of you stay here until I get back.”

With that, Brick exited the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

Exiting the station, Brick marched past fellow officers patrolling the streets, with more troops obviously close to the gates...

“Let Us Go! Let Us Go! Let Us Go!” Brick could hear a distant protest.

Turning his head, he saw a growing group of protestors near the gates, all wearing heavy backpacks packed with whatever each of them could buy or gather. He sighed, knowing that the protest would only end badly.

Sure enough, as he walked, he heard a pair of gunshots. Quickly turning, he saw through the buildings and plant life to see that the soldiers simply shot into the air, causing the crowd to disperse. If that wasn’t enough, he saw the soldiers toss two tear-gas grenades toward the crowd, prompting the stragglers to flee.

Brick sighed to himself, walking a tad faster toward Princess’ office.

After reaching the outside of City Hall, he caught a glimpse of Princess strolling back inside.

“Princess!” He called to her.

She stopped and turned to face him, her smug smile slowly fading.

“Oh, hello Brick...”

“Princess, I need Kyle for a report. I understand he was outside the wall recently; I need to know why--”

“Kyle was out on official business. I’ll sign his trip off whenever I get a free moment.”

“I understand that, but I heard that he encountered that group we’re being deployed to intercept. The least I can do is get an understanding of what we’re fighting.”

Princess thought for a moment but knew that Brick had a point.

“Fine. He’s at the professor’s, just be quick with your report, got it?”

He nodded and began to jog, not wanting to waste any more time.

As Princess continued to walk away, she slowly stopped, turning towards Brick and deciding to follow him to the laboratory...

Once Brick reached the professor’s home, he knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

“Professor Utonium? It’s Brick, I need Kyle.”

A few moments passed, and Kyle answered the door.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We need you at the barracks. It's urgent... It's about the Caribou mission." He said, winking at Kyle and letting him know that was a lie.

He waited for Kyle to pick up his hint, and Kyle quickly nodded.

Kyle understood and nodded.

"Alright, just let me get the rest of my notes for Princess. I'll just be a minute." He said, closing the door and walking back downstairs.

Brick nodded and waited for Kyle. He tried to hear what was going on, but knew that it was useless, which assured him that the soundproof designs were working.

After a minute or two, Kyle opened the door, his hand in his pocket...

“Okay, I’m good...” He said, panting a bit.

Brick slowly nodded and gestured Kyle to follow him.

They walked in silence, Brick taking a different route to the station to avoid the tear-gassed gate. Kyle noticed the change in route but decided against addressing it.

Kyle clutched the Geode in his pocket, desperate to keep it from making noise. If Princess’ hearing was that good, what was stopping Brick’s hearing from being the same?

Thankfully, he didn’t need that question answered, and the pair arrived at the station and entered the secret room.

“Uh... hey, everyone.” Kyle said, surprised to see the number of people in the room with him.

Several of them greeted him back as he found an empty seat.

“So, what’s going on?” He asked the group.

“We’re talking about how to take Princess down before she hurts someone else.” Brick answered him.

Kyle’s eyes widened, knowing that he had the knowledge of exactly what could help with that.

“Guys... there’s some stuff I need to share, first. It’s important and has everything to do with Princess.”

Sunset nodded, as did Brick.

“So, uh... Princess has a bunker under City Hall, in the old subway systems.”

Brick’s eyes widened—there was no way something like that snuck past him.

“Uh... what?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s more. She’s keeping track of Enhanced, the ones in the city, some who aren’t... she’s starving everyone else out and saving loads of food and supplies for them... for us.” He corrected himself.

Immediately, there was a stir of confusion and outrage. However, Brick was quick to reestablish order.

“Okay... so let’s say that your claims are true. What can we do to stop this?”

Buttercup was quick to speak up.

“My dad has an antidote. The same one that I was supposed to use... if he still has it, we can use it on her, drain all the X right out of her.”

Kyle followed along, feeling uneasy about talking so openly to her...

“So, what’s the plan? Storm into her office, kill her guards, and force-feed her the antidote?”

“No, but we can’t sit on our asses any longer. People are dying and according to you, more are about to. We need to do something now. So, if the doctors can’t be of much help, then we’ll just have to deal with them, too.” Butch said.

Buttercup quickly rose out of the chair at that notion.

“Now, hold on just a second... that’s my father you’re talking about, there.”

Brick stood up, as well.

“Buttercup, you know I didn’t mean it like that. We need that cure, and if he isn’t going to fork it over, then we need to find a way to secure it... we need to... to stage a confiscation. Something like that--”

“If you do that, what’s gonna stop her from getting curious. The point of this is to catch her off-guard, not make her suspicious.” Sunset said.

“Besides, who’s gonna take it? Aren’t you all leaving soon?” Rainbow added.

“We can work out the details, but right now, we need that antidote--”

“And we can do that without doing anything stupid!” Buttercup added.

“Um, I think that maybe we could slip it into her coffee, or something? I mean, she orders the same thing every day, I don’t see why we can’t--” Fluttershy attempted to add.

“And I mean, it’s not like you can’t just do it—aren’t you and Princess a thing?” Buttercup quipped.

Brick only responded by clenching his fists.

“Hey, don’t attack him like that—they haven’t been a thing for years, remember? And last I checked, your love life wasn’t exactly spotless, either--” Butch started to add.

“Alright, we’re gettin' nowhere by fightin’ like this, let’s just simmer down, and--” Applejack was also supressed by the two.

“Aw, did I hurt wittle Bricky’s feewings?” Buttercup mocked Butch.

“Seriously? You’re still such a child--” Brick rolled his eyes.

Kyle, growing irritated, loudly whistled.

The chatter stopped, and everyone turned to face him.

“I’ll do it. I’ll give her the antidote.”

Silence fell upon the room as they processed this information.

“Kyle, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I don’t think it’ll be smart to do it during her workday is a smart idea...” Rarity said.

Kyle didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh, but he shook his head.

“No. I mean I’ll do it in her sleep. We’re, uh... she and I are a, um...” He started, struggling to find the right word.

Regardless, a mutual understanding came across the girls as well as Brick and his brothers.

“Oh, shit, you’re banging Princess? Nice, dude!” Boomer chuckled, offering Kyle a high-five that went unreturned.

The rest were silent, but Sunset was strangely quiet, looking at the floor and occasionally back up at Kyle.

“Okay... that sounds solid. You inject her in her sleep, and we go from there. Just make sure you get the fuck out of there before she wakes up.” Brick awkwardly added, still awestruck at what he had heard.

Kyle wasn’t ugly in any way, but Brick had a hard time seeing what exactly she saw in him. He was somewhat skinny despite being bulkier than he was when he and the others first came to Townsville with hints of muscle showing themselves.

“Yeah... now I just need to get Utonium to fork it over,” He quickly turned to Buttercup, “without threatening or hurting them.”

With her fears relieved, Buttercup sat back down.

“So, we get the antidote, and Kyle doses her in her sleep. Great. How about after? Who takes over? It sure as hell can’t be me. Ordering soldiers is way different than leading people, you know?” Brick asked.

“I don’t think one person should be in charge of all this, we need a council... different people to give different opinions. We did it back at our place, I think it’ll work best here.” Sunset said.

There was a share of nods throughout the room.

“Okay, how about public reception? I don’t think it’s a secret that Princess’ public image is crumbling, so we won’t have much trouble with this, but how would you feel if your leader was toppled, and a bunch of strangers took their place?” Brick asked.

The group all struggled to find an answer.

“We should save this talk until I get the antidote. The whole thing doesn’t work without it, so why bother? We can wait until you and your brothers get back. I’d feel a lot safer with the muscle in case things go south.” Kyle said.

Buttercup simply let out a chuckle.

“Buddy, odds are I’m all you’ll have when the shit hits the fan. That scouting mission’s gonna take a while, and we don’t really have all the time in the world. Princess will snap again, and when she does, how many people will she hurt? I’m not in the mood to wait and find out.”

It took Kyle a second to realize what she meant, and when the realization hit him, his eyes widened.

“I guess you didn’t give up your powers, then...?”

She smiled, letting her eyes glow red for the first time in several years. Kyle nodded, immediately understanding her notion.

“Okay... is there a chance you can help me make a case with your dad?”

She nodded, the smile refusing to leave her face.

“Sure, we can go over, right now. You gotta be heading back, right?”

Kyle nodded and stood up from his chair.

“Sounds like a plan.”

The two stood up and left the room together, leaving the others in different states of emotion.

“Wait... so Kyle... and Princess? That’s an image I can’t get out of my head...” Rainbow sighed, rubbing her eyes trying to erase the mental image she created.

Rarity scoffed.

“Oh, come, now. Princess is many things, pretty is one of them. Kyle’s not too bad on the eyes, himself, he simply needs to... I don’t want to say beef up, but... put on a little?” She thought of the right word.

“You mean he’s skinny, and yeah, I think we’re all down a couple pounds, Rarity. Besides, what’s wrong with skinny guys? Maybe she likes them skinny.” Rainbow chuckled.

“I just didn’t think Princess was on the market. I thought for sure you and her and were a thing.” Applejack said, gesturing to Brick.

Brick chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

“We were, for a little bit. But it doesn’t matter, now. I think this meeting’s pretty much adjourned. Everyone be safe, be careful, and tell no-one about this plan. This needs to be airtight, got it?”

The group all nodded, and Brick stood up from his seat.

“Then I should get ready. You guys, too, get your asses up.” Brick said to Butch and Boomer.

The two rose from their seats and the brothers left the planning room. The remaining five sat in silence until Sunset stood up.

“I’m gonna go... check on the stuff Kyle and I brought in. Never had a chance to...” She said, speed-walking out of the room.

She marched out of the station, walking down the street towards the nearby building with the words “Supply Depot” spray-painted on top of the door. As Sunset walked further down the street, she felt the same feeling that kept her silent at Kyle’s reveal strengthen its grasp over her.

“Fucking idiot...” She mumbled to herself, shaking her head as she felt her eyes water and her throat start to burn.

She rode through the wave of emotion until she reached the door to the depot, where she took a shaky breath and opened the door.

She spotted an armored soldier at a booth and approached him.

“I’m here for supplies from the run to the orphanage...” She said, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face with her hand.

The soldier nodded and stepped away from her. He reached several rows of metal shelves with various duffle bags, backpacks, and other bags filled to the brim with names labelled onto them. He followed the alphabetic ordering until he reached “W” for Williams and “S” for Shimmer.

“Here. Should be everything.” He said, handing her the two bags.

As Sunset took Kyle’s bag, she noticed that the zipper was undone, and the contents spilled out onto the floor.

“Son of a bitch! I swear to God, whoever forgets to close these fucking bags...” The soldier mumbled as he hopped over the counter and helped Sunset retrieve the spilled contents.

As Susnet picked around through Kyle’s things, she stopped when she saw a picture frame. Praying to Celestia that she didn’t break the glass, she turned the picture over, her face turning pale once she saw who was in the picture...

She froze and her hand started to shake as she saw all three of the Dazzlings in the photo with Kyle, Sonata using strands of her ponytail to give Kyle a mustache...

“Hmm, pretty girls. Must’ve been family, or something?” The soldier asked her.

She stayed silent and quickly put the picture back into the bag, desperately gathering the rest of Kyle’s belongings...

Earlier, as soon as Kyle left for Brick’s meeting, Utonium and Dexter were continuing to study the Geodes’, the former ecstatic by their reaction to Kyle’s presence.

“I mean, surely, there’s something that we can learn from this... perhaps there’s a way to replicate his body’s reaction for other people?” He asked, looking back through the microscope at Rainbow Dash’s Geode.

“Hmm, I am still unsure on what Princess wants from these things. We know what they do, why is she keeping them here to herself? It is not like she needs any more powers...”

As they continued to observe the necklace, they were interrupted by yet another knock on the door.

“Now, what?” Dexter groaned, marching upstairs to answer.

Opening the door, he was surprised to once again see Princess.

“Oh! P-Princess, what may we do for you?” He asked her.

“Oh, I was just walking back to City Hall when I realized that I never asked for your weekly report!” She chuckled to herself.

Dexter chuckled back, only to humor her.

“Is there a chance I can peek around and see what’s been going on while Kyle’s reporting to Brick?” She asked him.

Knowing he didn’t have much of an option, he nodded and gestured to Princess to follow him. As they marched back down the stairs, Princess practically hugged the wall, tugging into her pants pocket...

Once they returned to the lab, Princess spotted Utonium studying the Geode.

“Dexter? Who was it?” He asked, not looking up to see who was watching him.

“It’s your boss?” She said, laughing as Utonium jumped and turned to face her.

“Princess! Nice to see you again, and so soon! How can we help you?” He asked her.

Princess made her way to the door, once again hugging the wall and tugging into her pocket.

“Just wondering what progress you’ve made while Kyle’s preoccupied. Figured I should start checking in on you guys, more...” She explained, looking at the glowing gem under the microscope.

Utonium nervously laughed, praying that she wouldn’t.

“We’ve made some remarkable progress... we discovered that the Geodes react to certain individuals outside of the previous users--”

“Kyle?” Princess asked for him, her eyes widening at the possibility.

Utonium contemplated lying but knew that it was far too late for that.

“Yes. We’re still trying to figure out what that means, but for now, I say that we can start to look more into it. He’s going to be here more regularly, anyhow, right?”

Princess smiled, nodding to answer him.

“Absolutely. Do it, and report directly to me with the results of your experiments... and don’t tell Kyle. Let’s make it a surprise.” Princess winked as she turned and left the room, walking up the stairs.

Dexter turned toward her to see the door closing and the sound of Princess’ heels becoming less audible.

“That was it? She is gone?” Dexter shrugged, confused over her visit.

“I suppose so... now, come on. We have work to do before Kyle gets back...” Utonium said, observing the Geode again.

Dexter nodded, opening the door to the observation room and joining him...

Unable to notice the small recording device stuck to the wall adjacent to the door.