The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

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.