The Trotting Dead: Saints And Sinners

It took some time and alot of effort but eventually the Tourist and Spoiled were able to make it back to the train station. Spoiled looked absolutely petrified and the Tourist, well he looked just about the same as when he left the station.

He noticed a faint trail of smoke going in to the sky from behind the station. He slowly walked around with Spoiled and saw the rest of the group sitting around a fire with an assortment of food.

Applejack saw the both of them and and waved them over. The Tourist smiled and joined the ponies. He sat on the ground between to Applejack and Applebloom. Spoiled sat opposite the fire from him with Mrs Cheerilee.

"Where's Filthy?" Applejack asked.

"He's dead." The Tourist said. Applejack took note of his severe lack of emotion when he spoke.

"Y-you don't seem concerned that you couldn't save him."

The Tourist sighed and looked in to the fire.

"He was a piece of shit who left Spoiled to die. He got what he deserved."

Applejack was taken back by his words. She could never imagine somepony saying something like that. They both fell silent. Applebloom tapped the Tourist's arm and offered him a sandwich. He smiled at her and took it.

"So Tourist, got any stories about your home?" Scootaloo asked enthusiastically.

"I might have one or two to share." The Tourist responded.

"Oh, tell us, tell us!" Scootaloo demanded.

"Heh, ok, ok I'll tell you one. But it won't be pretty."

All the ponies leaned in, eager to hear the Tourist's story. Even Applejack, she found herself wanting to know more about this strange individual.

"This story didn't happen to long ago. I had marched through the sewers of New Orleans, fought an army of the undead to and climbed through a broken wall of a warehouse find my target. A man named Gerik, the Axeman."

The Tourist dropped down from a small vent opening. He looked around and saw he was in some kind of break room. Looking to his left he saw an open door and went through it. He found himself in a big open storage room on the second floor. Right across from the door he just came from there was a table with blueprints for some kind of bomb.

The bomb was composed of three parts, the detonator, the case and the explosive itself. Upon approaching the table he found all three components. It was simple enough to assemble. After roughly a minute or so he had completed the device. He admired it for a moment. Before walking along the catwalk above the warehouse's main floor.

"It seems are moment has arrived, Tourist." The sound Gerik's familiar thick German accent shot out from the warehouse's intercom. The Tourist instinctively looked around to find his target to no avail.

"I must confess, I am disappointed in you. You struck me as a lonely wolf, but you are nothing but a pawn. A Tower lackey if ever there was one. I know, because I used to be like you. My wife too... Servants the the Tower of lies. You probably don't even realise it! But you are. I have good news though. In moments, you will be free from the tyranny, I will sever you from the lies. In death, you will finally know the truth. And after I am through with you, the Tower will face it own reckoning. Picture it Tourist eh. Mama's precious beacon of corruption, reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble and burnt flesh! The curse of the Tower finally lifted. But thar is for another day. This moment is our moment."

It was at this moment Gerik paused and sighed before continuing.

"All are guilty. Spare No One. Swift Vengeance. Brutal Justice. Infinite Wrath. VIOLENCE BRINGS PEACE!"

There was a sudden thud as if a door had been slammed shut. At this point the Tourist had made his way to the ground floor of the warehouse. He kept himself hidden in the dark to make sure Herik wouldn't see him. Then he heard the sound of loud booming footsteps. The sound made his blood run cold.

He didn't know where it was coming from, it seemed to bounce of the warehouse's walls. He slowly made his way go a corner and turned on his flashlight before he upholstered the SMG on his hip.

Upon turning the corner he came face to face with a large man in an armoured bomb suit with intestines decorating it like a necklaces. A large metal plate with small holes punched in to it covered the man's face. The Tourist raised his SMG and fired. The bullets did nothing to the armour behemoth as it approached him. The man in the armour raised his fire axe and swung it down. The Tourist took a quick step back from the attack and continued fire his gun. Eventually the man stumbled back a little, seemingly stunned by the bullets. The Tourist ran the opposite direction from his assailant.

"You can inly scurry away for so long, rat!" Gerik yelled. The Tourist looked back for but a moment and saw Gerik hot on his trail. With a quick decision the Tourist made a right turn and up the ramp to the upper floor of the warehouse. After running a little more he spun around and removed the make shift grenade launcher from his back. He watched as Gerik made his way to catwalk.

Once he was at the perfect angle the Tourist fired the grenade launcher. The small red projectile struck Gerik and detonated. Gerik seemed stunned by this but continued his march towards the Tourist.

"Pathetic grenades!" Gerik yelled. The Tourist was shocked, he was hoping this weapon would have atleast done some kind of damage, but yet Gerik didn't seem phased at all.

"God damn it Whistles." The Tourist muttered before he holstering sprinting away. As he ran he noticed the table to his left with the bomb on it. That would most likely do the trick. He made a sharp left turn and grabbed and made it to the table.

Just before he picked up the bomb he noticed a small note next to it. The note simply read, "Designed by Casey."

"Heh, Carey you clever bastard." The Tourist said with a small smile, he quickly thought back to how be had been the one to save Casey from the reserve when it was flooding. His reminiscing was cut short as he saw Gerik practically on top of him. The Tourist scooped up the bomb and and threw it over the railing to the floor bellow before quickly following.

He hit the floor with a thud and let out a wince of pain, thankful the bomb didn't go off. He grabbed it with one hand and dragged it to a large opening. He pulled his grenade launcher off his back against and pulled on the barrel opening the top of it. He slammed a new shell in to the waiting chamber of the weapon before pulling it closed. He looked around trying to see where Gerik was. There was a thud behind him as Gerik dropped down from a broken railing.

The Tourist backed away from the bomb and kept his weapon trained on Gerik.

"Death draws near Tourist!" Gerik said. When he was close enough to the bomb the Tourist aimed to the explosive device and pulled the trigger. The grenade hit the explosive but nothing happened. He let in a sharp inhale as if wishing for a miracle. Not a second later the grenade went off and detonated the bomb.

Metal shards where thrown from the explosion and struck Gerik. He let out a gasp and fell to his knees.

"I cannot go on, my May, my Ambre... I'm sorry... I have failed... to Bbring us justice..."

The ponies around the fire where slacked jawed at the Tourist story. They never thought they would hear such a tale in their lives.

"What happened next?" Sweetiebell asked.

"We had a small talk and I let him live." The Tourist responded.

"Just like that?" Applejack questioning. "Even after he tried to kill you?"

"Just like that. The Tourist said. "All he wanted was justice for his family. He lost sight of that."

Applejack nodded and looked in to the fire. They all sat in silence for a few minutes letting the warmth of the fire wash over them.

"I think it's time we all got some rest. The Tourist said. All the ponies voiced their agreement and got up to go inside the station. The Tourist rose to his feet and kicked some dirt over the fire, plunging himself in to darkness.