Luna nodded to the tsuki before her. "Toby, it is ever a pleasure to see you. Who is that bunny beside you?"

Toby smiled, his eyes shining. "This is friend, Angel."

Angel gave Luna a small wave and a shy smile.

Luna bowed. "I am honored to make your acquaintance." She considered both considerable tsuki. "I am glad you could make it. Fluttershy asked me if I could call you. She wishes to examine you both, as one of the experts in critter anatomy." She coughed into a hoof. "I understand you are not, technically, a critter. Creatures both, there is still so much more to learn about you."

Angel inclined her head left, ears flopping. "Talk big, many words." She didn't sound upset, just amazed at the diction Luna was using.

Toby grinned. "She is big pony." He waves at her, just as big physically as anything else. "Big big. Big words. Big listen." He lunged forward at Luna and grabbed her in a firm hug, to the guards' concern. "Big hugs!"

Luna laughed and hugged back, then pulled away and looked the two of them over. "I am happy you could come. Now, this is something of a medical visit, and I do not wish to take up too much of your time, nor do I wish to delay your examination. If you two are allowing, this way." She turned away and began to lead on.

Toby and Angel followed her.

***

Toby and Angel were inside a large, spacious room. Luna was there as well. Her guards remained, but were sitting outside the door.

Fluttershy was in front of the two of them, smiling and giving them a small wave. "Oh, my. I always forget just how large you are." She circled around the two tsukis with wonder

Toby smiled. "Big." He nodded, then spread his arms at Fluttershy. "Hello?"

Luna snorted, amused, but she said nothing. She stood to the side, watching the interaction between Fluttershy, the ponies present, and the two tsuki.

Fluttershy giggled at the greeting. "Yes, very big. Hello to both of you!" She stepped up to Toby, and the comparison in size was immediately evident. Even the shortest tsuki was bigger than a pony, and Toby was not a short member of the species. "Oh, yes, he is a large one, isn't he?"

Angel hopped forward. "Hug?"

But Toby was there first, and he had asked, in his own way. He wrapped his arms around Fluttershy in a warm embrace.

Fluttershy blushed and hugged the tsuki back. "Oh, he is fluffy, too. Very nice."

Angel watched this, and then hopped in too, and soon they were all in a big, cuddly, fluffy hug.

Luna laughed gently at the interaction. "I see you are all getting along very well. One thing about tsuki, they will gladly hug you if you look at all willing about it. Now, I should—"

"—M'lady!" A guard rushed in. "An accident, in the mirror room!"

Luna scowled at that. "I'm on the way. You three stay here." And yet, the tsuki were right behind her. "Toby! You are not my warrior, you do not need to follow me."

Toby shook his head. "Help."

Luna sighed at that. "Fine, but keep to the side in case we need to fight." With that, she rushed through the halls.

Fluttershy scampered behind them, following her two examinees with a squeak.

***

The mirror room was, indeed, in disarray. Several of the mirrors were smashed. A few of the scientists and technicians were lying around the place, and the few who were still on their hooves looked shaken and scared. It was easy to see why. One of the mirrors was hopping around as if with a strange intelligence. "Has mine sister been informed of this?"

"Yes, m'lady," the guard said. "She is on her way, but I was able to get here quicker." He indicated the bouncing mirror. "I don't know what that is, but it was the cause of this mess.

Toby gave a powerful leap over Luna and the guard and landed before the bouncing mirror, which came to an abrupt stop, seeming to stare at the tsuki despite having no eyes.

Luna stepped up, her horn glowing as magic surrounded the mirror. "Now, what is this thing?" She tried to pick it up, to hold it still, but the moment her telekinesis wrapped around the mirror, she felt a jolt. "Ow!" She scowled at it anew. "Unfriendly thing, aren't you?"

"Got it." Toby went in to grab that rebellious mirror, and in that instant, the room was full of a loud popping sound. When it cleared, Toby was gone. The mirror had stopped moving, and was simply sitting in the middle of the floor.

Angel let out an alarmed squeal as only a rabbit-like creature could. "Toby!" She hopped over to where he had been a moment before. "Where go?!"

The guards and technicians were all staring at that point, stunned and horrified. They knew the tsuki was not dead, and he was not in the room, so he had to be... elsewhere.

Angel grabbed the mirror and shook it angrily. "Bring Toby back!"

Fluttershy was horrified. "What is happening in here?"

Luna shook her head. "I have no idea. I have never seen anything like this before. That thing has some sort of energy that is not normal, but it was not aggressive, nor is—" She stalled her words as Angel vanished in a flash. "We are losing our tsuki to that mirror." She turned to it with a sigh. "They will require rescuing. I shall need a volunteer." She looked at the guards. "I could order you to accompany me. If you do, you will be rewarded for your loyalty. If not, I will jump in, then you are to contact my sister and inform her that I have gone through the mirror."

Fluttershy raised a trembling hoof. "I already promised t-to take care of them. I'll help."

"Fluttershy, no. This is dangerous, and I cannot allow you to come to harm. I will go." Luna scowled down at the mirror, and then she was gone.

This did not stop Fluttershy from following after her, duty-bound. The guards left in the room stared in horror and alarm at the sudden disappearance of not one, not two, but now four individuals. One of them muttered something about 'not being paid enough for this.'

***

Angel was in a dark place. The ground was black beneath her feet and the sky was gray above her. There was mist everywhere, and she couldn't even see where it ended. "Toby?" She snuffled at the air as she slowly padded forward, unwilling to even jump in the lack of vision around her.

Toby was nearby, but he wasn't alone. He had found, or been found by, a group of other strange creatures. They were tall, but not as tall as Toby, and thin, and pale. They shambled instead of walking, trotting, or hopping, and saliva dripped from their mouths. As if that wasn't enough to make them creepy, they smelled like rot, a stench that was strong enough to knock Angel away.

She shook her head and let out a squeal of fear, scrambling back from them, her ears flattened back. "No. No no! Bad smell!"

The shambling creatures took no notice of her. They seemed to be solely interested in the large, fluffy creature that was currently closer to them. They reached out with emaciated hands towards Toby.

Toby tried to ignore them, tried to move away from them, but there were too many, and they were coming from every direction. He swiped at the nearest with a claw, but it did not bleed. The cruel smash of his heavy hand at least knocked it away, but there were so many to replace it. He let out an angry squeal and tried to leap, to get over them and out of the circle, but one of the creatures leaped with him, and grabbed him. The force of its jump, and the weight of its body on his own, knocked him to the side and he crashed to the ground, kicking that one away on impact. "Angel?!"

Angel let out a squeak of fear, but her friend needed her. She rushed in and grabbed one of the creatures, lifting it up and throwing it to the side, but then, another creature grabbed her from behind. Toby crashed into that strange thing, knocking it away. "We go!" He grabbed Angel's paw, and the two of them ran off into the mists, away from the shambling things, which followed, but were slower.

There was a flash of light as Luna appeared in that world, her horn aglow. Fluttershy appeared just a moment later, her eyes wide as she took in the situation.

Toby was running, dragging a squealing Angel behind him. They were running from a crowd of shambling things, monsters of some sort, and they were heading straight towards the new arrivals.

Fluttershy whirled around as if to retreat, but there was no portal headed back where they came from. She was stuck in this place, with those two tsuki rushing towards her. "Oh no..."

Luna's horn glowed brighter and she stepped between the onrushing crowd of two, and the monsters behind them. With a sudden blast of magic, she sent the monsters scattering. They didn't fall apart, or vanish, or even seem all that hurt. They were just pushed back. The mist swirled around them as they stood, and started to advance again. "We must withdraw! Do so together."

Toby and Angel ran past her, and she and Fluttershy followed, the two of them leading the way. Toby spotted a hole, a nice, safe looking hole, and dived into it, leading his friends into the sewers.

***

The sewers smelled, but they were at least free from the strange, shambling monsters that had been attacking them on the surface. Luna was not pleased at the smell, but she was glad to have the time to think.

Angel slapped Toby on both shoulders. "Smart! Good. Safe." She turned slowly in place. "What?" She pointed upwards. "Angry. Mean. Smell."

Toby nodded to that, but didn't say anything.

Luna cleared her throat. "Yes, well, I believe that I can explain that. These are known as zombies. They are creatures of the darkest necromancy. Their existence is a blasphemy against all that lives, or has lived, in this world, or any other." She inclined her head. "I could not say with certainty what gave rise to them here, but the practice is thoroughly banned in Equestria."

Toby and Angel glanced at one another and gave a nod.

Fluttershy shook her head. "That's awful. Why would anypony do such a thing?"

Luna sighed softly. "Another thing I do not know. This is not our world. What bothers me most is that the exit back was not there. We must find another way to return to Equestria." She scowled and looked down the tunnels. "I am afraid I have no idea which way to go. We may have to split up."

"No!" Angel said, shaking her head. "Stay together." She hugged Luna, as if to prevent her from leaving.

Toby grabbed Fluttershy, both ponies secured.

Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't want to stay here either."

Luna nodded. "Very well, we will stay together. We will go this way." She indicated the path to her left, and the tsuki released her, but remained at her sides, one to either side. "I pray there are others who live here, and not just the walking dead. We may require their aid to return home."

They were not far into the sewers when a sound echoed down from above, a sound of gunfire and shouting.

Luna tilted her head, and then she looked up at a sewer cover. She could see the light filtering through, and the sounds were coming from beyond. "I hear the voices of people. We must go above ground."

Angel and Toby nodded, and the four of them began to ascend.

Author's Note

Big Buns, Dead People, and gunshots. This can only go well, really. Welcome, walk with me down this dark pathway.

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