"...then, once more, the dreaded scourge of the moon came down from their realm among the stars, descending to the earth accompanied by countless terrors. The walking corpses that once were ponies, the four-legged monsters, the twisted beasts." Luna spread her wings wide. "Only the most brave could dare to even face them, let alone battle them. Yet, those heroes did come, and the war for Equestria was won." She pointed dramatically. "We shall never surrender!"

Angel sat in a corner of the bunker, listening to Luna tell her tale to the enraptured survivors.

One of the humans laughed with a clap. "So you ponies had a zombie problem and got past it, but your tale has a lot more magic in it than we have at our disposal."

Luna chuckled at the man, shaking her head. "Magic is not necessary for survival, as you humans ably demonstrate here. Yes, it made our job easier, but what matters most, no matter if you have magic or not, is that you fight." She clopped a metal-clad hoof to the floor. "That you survive, and fight, is proof of this."

The captain nodded. "I like that attitude. So, that means you want to join us on a hunt." He raised a hand. "I wouldn't object, but first, I thought I should ask you, what will you do if you encounter a loved one turned?"

Luna inclined her head. "You have met all the ones I would call loved." She lurched to the side, pounced suddenly.

Angel had her in a big full-body hug. "We love too!" She nuzzled the pony princess, tail wagging. "Love lots."

Luna smiled and stroked Angel's ears. "And I love thee as well. I will have no worry about it, for I am surrounded by the strong. If something were to get one of these people, there would be sadness, yes. However, they fought for all our sakes." She gave Angel a final stroke along her back with a hoof. "But I doubt they would surrender easily. Now, you mentioned a foraging mission. How fares that?"

"We are ready to head out." He gestured at Toby. "Your big friend here is going to help us carry some supplies." He grinned over at Fluttershy. "And you wanted to come?"

"No." Fluttershy adjusted the backpack atop her. "But I will. I can spot some of the things you'll need for your pets. Poor things."

Toby laughed merrily. "I strong." He flexed his arms and puffed up his chest. "Can carry." He grabbed Luna suddenly in both arms, hoisting her off the floor.

Luna wriggled in his grasp, but her hooves could not touch the ground with him holding her up. "Toby, dear, place me back down before I get annoyed."

"Not mad." Toby gently set her down and gave her a hug to be sure she knew how not mad he was. "We go."

Angel nodded firmly. "Yes." She glanced from pony to pony. "We go. We come back. We find supplies."

Luna smiled gently. "Thank you both. Let us hope that something useful to us can be found." She watched as three humans and two tsuki set out through the gates of their compound. "I'll keep this place safe until you return."

***

The group of six set out across the ruined world. The two bunnies, the three humans, and one pegasus, and all six of them armed and armored for battle. Toby scanned the environment. He had turned away the firearms offered him, instead taking up two heavy weapons, one bladed and one blunt. Either looked big enough to be a struggle for a human to hold aloft.

He had them on his back like it was no particularly big deal. "Smell good."

Sally looked up at Toby and cocked her head. "Oh? What do you smell?"

Toby pointed out at a distant farm. "Crops. Long time dead." His ears flopped down.

Another soldier fired a thumb up. "Good call. If you can smell crops, may be some food stored nearby worth scoping out."

Angel clapped her hands. "Yes! I like." Her tail flicked and she hopped from one foot to another. "We move!"

Fluttershy smiled over at Angel. "You seem to like farms?"

Angel shook her head, flopping her great ears in the motion. "No. But smell." She tapped at her snout. "Strong smell."

Toby grinned at his fellow tsuki. "Smeller." He marched forward towards the farmhouse, but paused, looking down the road where there were many shambling corpses.

"Look lively!" barked the soldier in charge.

The noise got their attention, a few staggering in their direction to inspect it. The first of those undead was shot in the head, the bullet taking the top half of its skull off.

Fluttershy shuddered, eyes squeezing shut as the corpse fell. "Why..."

But that was only the start, not the end, as other corpses picked up the pace the moment one was put down. It started with a single corpse running, then the next, and soon a herd of the damned came rushing towards them.

Angel jumped into the air, kicking out with two legs at the nearest, the force sending it tumbling back and into the path of the rest, tripping them up. Toby landed atop them, blade first. With the wet splitting sound of the sword parting flesh, he cut a small group of them cleanly into uneven two sides.

Sally's weapon fired, the burst of flame sending three of them to the ground burning, to lay forever unmoving once the flame consumed them.

A group rushed for them, hands reaching out for throats and faces. Toby swung his club with both arms, sending the corpses scattering like broken toys. Fluttershy ducked down behind her shield, letting bullets pass overhead, but also hiding herself from the sight of the carnage. She whimpered as bits of gore littered that shield, each ping making her flinch.

Angel and Toby pushed the fight far away from Fluttershy, not letting her be exposed to any harm from these things.

Toby grinned as one came within his reach. "Got you." His fist plowed through its head, sending it flying and rolling in the dust. As eager as the mob had been, they proved no match for the deceptively quiet annihilation of the tsuki.

The soldiers let out a subdued cheer as the battle ended, and a small celebration began while they surveyed what was left of the farm.

Toby sniffed around. "No people here."

Fluttershy swung open a metal box and stuffed her head inside. "Mmm, oh! Look at this." She fell back out of the box, holding a smaller box still in its plastic wrap. "Looks like dog food, and I think there are other supplies in there."

Sally whistled, impressed. "All right, we hit paydirt with this. Let's get all this back to base." She pointed to Toby, and he came forward with a large pack on his back. "Get all the food, human and pet alike, you can find. We'll find a use for all of it."

Toby grinned, his ears flopping about. He began filling his pack while Angel helped Fluttershy. The humans, meanwhile, kept guard, their guns up.

Sally waved urgently. "Let's get going as soon as we can. We fired shots. More of them will be rushing here any second." She glanced over to where Toby was putting the last few supplies into the bag. "Got that?"

Toby nodded. "Yes. Ready!" He hoisted the large pack, securing it against his back.

Angel suddenly hugged Sally, just to lift her up onto her back. "Faster."

Toby nodded, grabbing one soldier with an arm each. "Faster."

Fortunately for Fluttershy, she could fly after them as they began bounding home in tremendous leaps.

***

Back at base, Luna had found an interesting sight to gaze upon. She stared out from the roof, a telescope pressed to an eye as she viewed the distant horizon. There, she could see some sort of structure. "Could you tell me what that is?" She waved the captain closer. "There, that odd structure out there in the distance."

The captain peered through the glass. "It's hard to say, at this distance." He adjusted his scope with one finger, then another. "Mmm, looks like a power plant. Probably offline with nobody running the damn place. Could be useful to us, but it's far. I don't want you going out that way. Not yet."

Luna frowned, but she turned and nodded to the captain. "Very well." She hummed softly. "Your people must be advanced, even if they are suffering currently, if they have such things. We do not yet have those, though I am sure we can learn, in time. You could perhaps educate us on how these things work."

He shook his head with a chuckle. "I wouldn't know a damn thing about how it works. Just that it does, and that lets us turn on the lights. At least, back when things worked." He looked out at the power plant again. "Maybe we'll get it back sometime."

Luna smiled gently. "Perhaps, if there is any way I can help, I will." She looked up, seeing Toby and Angel land just at the gate. "It would seem our brave explorers return."

The gate opened, letting the two tsuki in with their passengers. Fluttershy soon fluttered down to the ground beside them. Sally was laughing and patting Angel's ears as they made it through safely. "You can put me down now."

The tsuki obediently set their human cargo to the ground, both looking so very pleased at their performance. Both turned their heads at Luna's voice from the top of the building.

Fluttershy waved gently to the princess. "We're back. We got some food."

Luna nodded with a little smile. "Wonderful work. I'm proud to see you all returning safe, sound, and successful."

Angel looked down, eyes on the ground. "Not find way home."

A male soldier patted Angel on the back. "Every day there's a chance. Yesterday it was ammo. Today, food. We'll keep looking. You and your boyfriend just keep us alive."

Angel went red at that. "Not boyfriend! Just friend. Boyfriend away. Far away." She waved desperately, trying to encompass just how far Equestria was. "Far."

The soldier nodded. "Gotcha. Your special somebunny is back at home, waiting for you. That's why we'll do what it takes to make sure you get there." He smiled and took his own weapon in hand. "Thanks for the assist. Get that bag of yours down to the supply depot so they can unload you."

Toby did as requested and dropped the large pack into a supply box. He grinned, arms stretching out. "Happy help."

Victor pointed at a few soldiers. "Get those supplies stored. We'll take stock later and see if we can make the most of them." He paused, spotting the dog food. "Huh. We'll put that to work. I know a few hungry hounds."

Luna came trotting down the stairs, her wings spread. "It is good to have you back." She closed with Fluttershy and the others, prompting a group hug between them all. "You know I'm not one for sentimentality, but I've been worried."

Fluttershy nodded against Luna, nuzzling her gently. "I was worried too." She looked up with a small smile. "They were so very brave. Um, I didn't watch all the fighting, but I could hear it."

Toby patted Fluttershy gently along the back. "Protect." His eyes shone with fierce determination.

Angel nodded. "I protect too. All of you." She pointed at the other ponies, then off to the humans. "Not hurt."

Toby leaned over against Angel. "We protect."

Victor turned away from them. He walked slowly over to the window, looking out across the empty streets. "It's good that people like you are helping, and we can work together to keep each other safe. It's only by putting little shit aside and putting our hands and heads together that we can make it through these crazy times."

Luna inclined her head gently, her horn softly glowing. "That is what I've been thinking." Her expression darkened. "How many worlds, how many times, how many places, has this sort of horror been seen?" She raised a hoof to her cheek. "The plague of undeath appears to be universally applied. Always a risk, no matter where you are." She turned to face Victor and, by extension, Toby, who was right next to Angel still, the two leaning against one another in a warm embrace. Luna's expression lightened. "Still, yes. So long as we can remain firmly united, we can get past this.

Author's Note

The bun buns are taking to this well. Great natural strength and lack of need for any loud weapons makes them a pretty natural zombie murder team.
Then there's Fluttershy. She'd much rather be home.

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