The noise level was astonishing. There was shooting, screaming, more shooting, and then what could only be called brawling. It sounded as if an entire army had gone mad with anger and violence. Creeping into view of it, things became clear. Several things that looked like the undead were battling the undead, keeping them back from a fortification.

Fluttershy quivered at the sight, and crept back. "Are we really going out there?"

Luna scowled at that. "I see no alternative. I will try diplomacy first."

Toby inclined his head left and right with sharp jerks. "Will listen? Busy." He pointed at the fierce battling.

Angel clapped her paws. "Then help." She pointed. "Make friends. Help clean bad smelling things. Not friends with."

Luna sighed and shook her head. "I would prefer to avoid battle, but this world is hardly a pleasant one. If you feel ready, I will assist. Fluttershy?" She turned to find an empty space where the pegasus had been a moment before. "Flutter?" She sighed, and focused on the enemy. With a burst of magic, a large number of them went flying.

A loud explosion rang through the area, and fire burned.

Toby shook his head and hopped in among the confused undead, striking out left and right at them. They seemed to be caught by surprise by his large sudden presence, to say nothing of his immense bulk and strength that could send them flying with great swings of hands or horns, and vicious kicks. Even so, they tried to swarm him.

Angel took in a breath and hopped in, smashing and ripping them apart, scattering pieces everywhere until she had made a path for them.

Luna used telekinetic force to grab hold of several of them, throwing them aside like broken toys. In little time at all, there was a clear pathway ahead, one without the undead, that led straight towards their new, hopefully, allies. She stepped forward at a purposeful trot. "Move lively, before more of those things return to battle."

***

They came through the doorway, and were met by guns leveled at them. At that, they froze. After the battle they had fought against the undead, they knew what damage guns could do. Yet, these living men did not immediately start firing, so there was a chance. One of them was very thin, tall, and wore an armored suit with a skull painted on it. He was looking right at Luna as he spoke. "Who are you?"

Another, a female, rolled a hand. "Don't you mean 'what are you?', Captain?"

"Enough." The Captain held up a hand. "They don't seem to be undead. Answer my question. Who are you? Where are you from? What do you want?"

Luna considered her options, but she needed these humans for her way back. "We are travelers, trying to return home. Our love for the undead is about equal to thine own, so we would rather ally with others who dislike them equally."

"Aha!" A scientist leapt up out of a chair, a wide grin on his face. He shoved glasses onto his face and strode right up to the taller humanoids. "Fascinating!" He went right up to Toby and began poking the immense rabbit creature. "They are very clearly alive, but they don't match any animal I've seen before, besides the obvious similarities. Say, who are you fellows? Where do you come from?"

Captain aimed a gun at the man. "Get away from that thing."

Angel yelped, and hopped away, grabbing the scientist and pulling him out of the line of fire.

The lady laughed at the scene. "Our guests have better manners than you, Cap. Just got here and already prepared to take a bullet for one of ours."

Luna grinned slightly. "I am called Princess Luna of Equestria. This big fellow is Toby." She indicated each member of the group as she mentioned them. "This is Angel." She then paused. "We had one more, but she vanished during the battle. Yellow, pegasus? A little meek? Please inform us if you see her."

"See, captain? They are perfectly polite." The bespectacled man stepped forward. "I'm Doctor Victor Hoffman. Let me just say I am happy to meet you." He extended a hand, his grip firm as Luna shook it. He looked quite pleased to try shaking the pony's hoof. "You seem equine."

Luna lifted an ear. "We are of that family, yes. I do not have enough information to tell you if the tsuki are of the lagomorph family or not."

Both tsuki looked confused at the big words being tossed about. Angel spread her hands at the captain, huge arms to either side silently.

The captain looked confused at the gesture. "Uh..." He slowly put the gun down, watching Angel cautiously. "Hello?"

Angel rushed over, grinning widely, and gave the captain a big hug. "Friend." She nuzzled him while Toby nodded approvingly, rubbing his chest and getting a laugh from some of the observing soldiers.

Luna smiled gently. "Tsuki are a very tactile species. Hugs are how they bond, fight, love, and many other social activities. Accepting a hug is a strong step towards making friends with one." She watched that play out for a moment longer, but eventually, the hug did end. "So, you are all warriors against the undead? Excellent work, considering the state of this world."

Victor coughed gently, but he seemed more intrigued than alarmed. "It might behoove you to get a little less vague when speaking with soldiers, especially considering the...

Eyes turned upwards at a sound on the roof. "Eyes up there!" roared the captain, charging for the stairs.

But there would be no zombies waiting for them, just one scared pegasus. "Oh... um... hi, nice people we just rescued? Oh hello to you too, you scary armed gentleman that I don't know. Uh... sorry!" Fluttershy covered her face with a wing, shivering.

Luna smirked, though she also breathed a sigh of relief. "Now our quartet is reunited, and none the worse for wear." She chuckled. "Unless any of you object, perhaps a drink is in order."

The lady laughed as she advanced on the pegasus. "Hello there, little one. You look the least ready to fight of all your friend. Do you at least have a name?" Her hand gently stroked the yellow pegasus' mane. "Pretty little one, aren't you?"

"Oh, uh... thanks." Fluttershy smiled and blushed under the attention. "My name is Fluttershy."

"With an adorable name to go with it." She tickled at one of Fluttershy's ears. "The names Sally. Nice to meet you. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you until you can make it back to your princess."

"I appreciate it," replied Fluttershy, a flutter to her voice.

Luna inclined her head. "You have already fulfilled that task." She pointed at herself. "Her princess." Then, she pointed at Fluttershy. "My friend, a veterinarian of great skill."

Sally's mouth opened in astonishment as she looked over Luna anew. "Princess, eh?" She looked back at Fluttershy. "We have guard dogs that fight alongside us. Want to visit the kennels, check on them? They fight as hard as the rest of us." She grinned. "Though they're a bit less chatty."

Fluttershy nodded eagerly and the two of them moved off towards the kennels. All the fear she had shown evaporated, just like that, given the option of being around and helping some dogs. She forgot everything else going on, except for dogs.

Luna chuckled softly to herself, amused at the sight. "She loves animals and taking care of them. Now, Captain, can you give me any information about these zombies?"

As strange as their new guests were, they seemed to be on their side, and were far easier to get along with than any of the zombie hoard. Still, it was unusual enough that the doctor and the captain settled in with Luna for an extended conversation about the current situation with the world, and its plague of zombies.

Toby and Angel, lacking any interest in these things, and never having been interested in a long talk, followed after Sally. They accompanied her as she patrolled through the dark. Toby came up on her side. "Too dark." He squinted into the gloomy night, seeing little but that deep inky black.

"It is pretty dark." Sally held her rifle in a loose grasp, tilting it slightly upward. "I bet you're wishing for some moonlight."

Angel shook her head, big ears flopping. "Keep looking." She pointed at Sally, then out into the dark. "Can see?"

"A little, yeah." Sally scanned the surroundings. "Zombie." She fired a single shot from her rifle, taking out a nearby zombie with a clean shot.

The corpse collapsed and lay still and unmoving upon the ground. Toby sniffed in its direction, scowled, and turned back to Sally. "Come often?" His ears flattened out and his eyes narrowed. "From where?"

Angel nodded firmly. "Need help." She reached up with both hands, grabbing at air and crushing it to nothing, invisible threats destroyed.

Sally frowned at the simple speech of her furry friends. "We don't know. I hear the zombies used to be contained, but they broke out, and they're bloody everywhere these days. Getting rid of them is a right chore. We've been working to put them back in the box, but they don't cooperate." She grimaced. "They go towards sound. Unfortunately, like our guns, but our guns make them dead, so it's a trade."

Toby nodded understanding, but there was concern in his expression, and a degree of frustration. "Toby stop some, but not stop many alone." He gestured outwards, towards all that emptiness of darkness, all that area that he could not possibly cover on his own. "Many."

Angel bobbed her head. "Many." Something clicked. "That why get away." Toby looked at her. "Why get away." She pointed at Toby, then herself. "Not loud. Strong. Not loud. Run. Get away."

Sally chuckled lightly at her. "Clever bunny, aren't you? You're probably right about that. Well, we've had to get clever too, else the zombies would overrun us." She flashed Angel a wide smile, though there was a seriousness to it that indicated it was not a happy smile. "Glad you survived your first brush with those things, but let's not rely on luck too much, right?" She flashed the two bunnies a smile.

***

Fluttershy got low, eyeing an injured canine. "You poor thing." She looked up at a woman standing guard over her. "When did she injure her paw?"

"Just yesterday. One of those shambling freaks came close to biting her. Thankfully, we managed to keep our furry friend safe, but I wish we could have avoided the injury altogether. Your friend mentioned you're a vet, how's she look?"

Fluttershy carefully took the paw in between her forehooves, examining it closely. "There's an infection setting in. I don't think she wants to take her medicine properly."

"She does seem to be a fussy eater, doesn't she? What do you suggest?" The soldier in charge of the animals looked a bit out of his depth. Sure, he could keep his furry companions well-fed, but curing the infection was another matter altogether. The facilities for treating it weren't present.

Fluttershy examined the dog's food and the pills set beside it. She took the pills, examined them closely a moment before she mixed the pills in with some of the soft food and speaking gently with the ailing canine. It perked up under the attention, letting itself be fed the soft food from Fluttershy's hoof, consuming the meal, and with it, the antibiotic. Fluttershy patted the canine gently. "There's a good girl."

With a chuckle, the dog caretaker reached over to pet both canines. "You have a knack for this."

Fluttershy flushed at the compliment, smiling bashfully. "Thank you. I hope I'll be able to assist further, once I have more materials."

"We don't have much in the way of resources." He rolled his shoulders. "We work with what we got. It was almost pure luck we even had some biotics from a raid a week ago. Haven't had the time to do another raid yet, though we do need some more supplies."

Fluttershy nodded, and looked at the medical supply crate. It was nearly empty of the medical equipment. "I'll see what I can do for the rest." She stood, only to be tackled over, pounced by one of the other dogs that was already licking at her as if to thank her for helping the other. That caused a wave of jealousy, other dogs rushing over to also smother her in affection.

He grinned and leaned over, patting several heads at once. "Yeah, they love you. Can't blame them."

Author's Note

This world is not entirely hostile. Hello, fellow survivors. Compared to undead horrors, a talking horse or two and some big cuddle bunnies seem like a nice thing to run into. You'd take them onto your zombie-fighting survival squad, right?

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