Chapter 2: WHAT THE HELL?!
The Everfree Forest - Equestria - About 7:00 AM
It was cold, and Stephen could feel it. The scent of a swamp slowly crawled up his nostrils and slightly burned his nose hair. Opening his eyes, he could see a blurry vision of a tree, surrounded by nothing but dark colours. Further rubbing his eyes, he could make out a tree or two, and several other bodies. All he really knew was that he couldn’t feel the pain from the bullet anymore.
“Am I....Am I in...Hell?” Stephen quietly asked.
His ears were ringing like crazy, and he could only just barely make out voices.
“He’s alive?!” The first strange voice asked.
“It would appear.....Must get him to safety....” The second voice replied.
“... Who’s there?” He tried to inquire.
“Get him into the shack...Zecora will help...” The second voice commanded.
Stephen was being carried on someone’s back, but he was shaking too hard to look at his surroundings. Soon he was transported into a shack, which had a faint smell of chemicals in the air.
“Zecora! We need your help....” The first voice said, “They’re injured...”
Soon after, Stephen fell into a light slumber, waking up not long after to the feeling of someone prodding and poking him; it wasn’t hard or painful, but it was annoying nonetheless. “I don’t know... who you... are, but I... don’t need... your help...” Stephen mumbled after a few minutes, trying to push himself off whatever he was lying on, only to hit the dirt hard and cause a wave of pain to spike through his body, kick-starting his sight recovery.
“Get down brother, you’re hurt, and I don’t want to hurt you some more.” A light brown... unicorn?! with a blonde mane spoke up.
“....THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” He yelled, trying to get up, only to fail time and time again, still having failed to notice just how different everything was. “Back off, don’t make me shoot you...”
“Oh yeah? With what?” The unicorn replied smugly.
“With my-” Stephen reached back, only to find that he couldn’t feel his holster. Finally noticing he was completely defenseless sobered him up enough to finally make him question his new situation. “Ok... THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! WHERE AM I?! WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYTHING LOOK LIKE A GODDAMN CARTOON DRAWING?!” He yelled, pointing at the unicorn, and finally noticing his hand was no longer a hand, but a dark grey hoof. “THE FUCK HAPPENED TO ME?!”
A tall dark figure appeared next to the Unicorn, prompting Stephen to backpedal slightly into the wall. Upon realising he had nowhere to go, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable embrace of death. It never came.
“Relax, Rising Knight, thou are safe. Just as we promised.” An all-too-familiar voice said with the warmth and kindness of a mother comforting a lost child, prompting Stephen to open his eyes slowly, mostly out of fear that sudden moves would mean death.
“... No way... Luna?” He asked nervously, looking over the dark blue creature with confusion, even as it-she leaned in and nuzzled against him in an attempt to comfort him. His confusion only rose as he noticed she had both a horn on her head, and wings on her sides. “Ok, three questions; What the hell is going on, what happened after I got shot, and why did you call me Rising Knight?”
“Thou are now in the world of Equestria, we brought thee to a healer to tend your wounds, and lastly, I hath called thee such because in this new world, thou must have new names, otherwise.... thou would get cast back.” Luna explained, a frown tugging at her lips near the end as she rose back to her full height.
“Cast back? By who?”
“Our sister, the princess of the sun. We thought we explained all of this to you....” Luna said, the frown growing slightly larger.
“I don’t know if you’d noticed, but whenever you did explain whatever you were explaining, I was clearly not awake... you know, since I got shot. But seriously, how am I alive. I thought that was it for me.”
“Thou can thank thy sister ‘Reviving Aura’ for that. And Zecora, of course.” Luna said with a faint smile.
“Reviving Aura? Really Meadhbh? And who’s Zecora?”
“Zecora is a zebra, and the owner of this house. She’s currently busy preparing potions for our friends, as they are all passed out here.” Reviving Aura responded, pointing to his right, where a zebra was busy tending to a small bubbling cauldron. She looked up only briefly at her name being mentioned, shooting the grey stallion a warm smile, before going back to stirring the contents of the massive thing.
“Our friends? How are they doing?” Rising Knight asked worriedly, still failing to stand on his newfound hooves as he was still trying to stand like a human. “Dammit! This is annoying as hell! How do you do this every day Luna? And how the hell is Rev-A walking so soon when the rest of us were unconscious?!”
Aura raised an eyebrow at her new nickname. Luna sighed, and pressed her horn against his forehead, a dark array of magic coursing through his body and making his entire being feel like it was supercharged for a moment. When she brought her horn away, his limbs were twitching slightly.
“There. Thou shalt be able to walk properly now.”
“Uh, thanks... so, you’re not a kid anymore, guess it would be stupid to think of myself as anything even remotely close to a father, especially since I’m essentially a kid myself. Well, when it comes to age, anyway.” Knight mumbled, rising to his hooves a little shakily and slowly walking around the room to get a feel for his new body.
“We.... Still have not forgotten what you said.... We.....Shall consider your offer more thoroughly... but we would like to think of thou as a father...” Luna responded.
“You said she’d most likely cast us out, right? Can I ask what her reasons would be?” Knight asked.
“She has been ruling for the last thousand years. And as she had to face this all alone, we do not think that she would like ex-humans in her domain.”
“Why? What does she have against humans... you know what, I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say she’s seen our world before or something, most likely she saw the worst of us. Am I right?” He asked in a depressed tone. Luna started to answer him, only to be interrupted by a victorious yell.
“I have it! The cure for all ailments that you seek, all fit into this bottle, sleek!” Zecora yelled out.
“.... uh, what?” Knight asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Let’s give it to Chris, so he can drink it.” Reviving Aura said, ignoring her brother’s confused look.
She pulled the bottle up with a yellow array of magic from her her horn, took Chris’ neck and slowly poured the liquid inside, leaving enough to cure the others.
“Agh.... Why the fuck is my head ringing?” Chris said.
“Good to have you back Chrissy.” Knight said quietly.
“Shut it asswipe...” Chris said with a small chuckle.
“Shouldn’t it be flankwipe, considering where and what we are?” Knight asked jokingly.
“Are we...?” Chris said, taking a look at his hands....Or hooves, as it may be.
“I told you...” Chris said, looking at Knight with a huge grin.
“Yeah yeah. Though we’ll be sent back home if Luna’s sister ever finds us...”
“Well, we promise that we shall do all in our power to make sure that does not happen. So, welcome to Equestria, Nocturnal.” Luna said to Chris.
“Did you just call me Nocturnal, Luna? Did she just call me Nocturnal?” Chris said, looking around.
“Apparently. And she called me Rising Knight. And Meadhbh is now Reviving Aura. Now we just need names for Damian, Richard and Jordan.”
“Richard can be Rusty Nail, haha!” Chris said, laughing maniacally.
“I was thinking something like Boom Bewm for him, since he’s such a big fan of those explosives of his, and he’s usually full of crap. Jordan would be Dead-Eye, I think, or maybe Longshot. As for Damian, I honestly have no idea.”
“Let us get them awakened first, and then we shall discuss names..” Luna said, an annoyed smile growing on her face.
“Speaking of Damian, which one is he? And why is the blue one having a seizure?” Knight asked, staring at the flailing ‘pegasus’ with a mix of confusion and worry.
“I’m...Stretching....Stephen....” the disgruntled stallion responded groggily, bringing a chuckle to Knight.
“Ok, you have gotta be Damian. And it looks more like you’re suffering a loss of muscular control.”
“I’m fine, no need to babysit me...” Damian replied, seemingly unfazed by his transformation, simply returning to sleep, his black and red mane covering his entire face.
“Ok... so, where are we gonna hide out?”
“We thought about it. And we have come to the conclusion that thou shalt hide out in the old castle. Nopony ever goes there anymore.” Luna replied.
“The old castle?” Nocturnal asked.
“Why does nopony go there? Is it haunted or something?” Knight inquired, trying to get used to replacing his old, human way of speaking with the pony equivalent.
“We are not sure about that. We think that some paranormal activity exists, but it’s nothing too much. Just like our friend, Pinkie Pie told us, ‘Giggle at the Ghosties!’” Luna explained with, ‘what do you know’, a giggle. “But the reason for nopony going there is that this forest is fraught with danger, and so, there are very few ponies actually brave, or stupid, enough to actually venture through it.”
“Giggle at the Ghosties? Seriously? You know what, forget about it. So what do we do while we’re there anyway? How are we gonna kill time?”
“Oh, we have thought of that! We have....” Luna said, dramatically pausing, and reaching into her saddlebag, only to pull out a small pile, “A deck of cards!”
“... Well, it’s better than nothing. Just promise you’ll visit every once in a while.”
“We will. Oh, we also brought in your.... Weapons from the past world, they will be awaiting you there.” Luna replied.
“Hell yeah! Clementine’s here?! Weeehaw!” Nocturnal jumped up and down.
“Wait, why did you bring our stuff? Is there something here that would actually require us to have them on our persons?” Knight asked.
“No, but you cannot be too careful!” Luna said, a dark face growing on her, “Cutpurses... EVERYWHERE!”
“Cutpurses? Ok, you have gotta be making this stuff up...”
“Nay! Just yesterday we had our sock stolen! Wicked tricksies.... They stole our Precious!” Luna exclaimed, her face set in a crazy frown.
“You stole that line from the Lord of The Rings...” Knight deadpanned.
Luna came back from her ‘crazy state’ and looked at Stephen/‘Rising Knight’ with a face that could kill even the strongest being.
“Don’t give me that look young lady... damn it, I’m already trying to act like a dad and I have no idea what I’m doing...”
Luna just giggled, and proceeded to nuzzle Knight, making him blush as he nuzzled her back.
“Uhhh....What’s.....? Stephen...? Why do you look like an equine?” A dark, dulled orange pegasus with a short mane and tail, white with bright orange tips, asked with a muttered.
Knight simply shot the stallion a quick look, “Long story short, Luna saved our asses. We’re not stuck in Union City anymore. We’re literally home-free. No more raids, no more HERC, no more having to kill the, ‘victims’, of that virus.”
“Do you have.......onions?” The pegasus, now identified as Richard, replied, a large grin on his face.
“I dunno... do we?” Knight asked obliviously, looking at Luna.
Luna and Chris simply facehooved, because ‘Rising Knight’ didn’t notice the pegasi’s large grin.
“Dude....Really?” Chris/‘Nocturnal’ asked Knight, who seemed to blush even more.
“... Just shut up and let me actually have a ‘dad’ moment, please?”
“Come on ‘Boom Bewm’...I’ll show you around...” Nocturnal said, looking over to Richard.
“... I refuse to answer to that.” Richard said with a glare.
“Then what DO you answer to?” Nocturnal asked.
“How about Sky Turner?” Knight asked.
“I... I don’t know yet, I’ll just wait till I find something that clicks.”
“Ok... so, when do we have to go to that castle?”
“We shall hail for a royal carriage to take thee to thine new lodgings momentarily.” Luna replied.
“Uh, wouldn’t that raise suspicion with your sister, whose name I still don’t know...” Knight questioned.
“We highly doubt it. Celestia has too much at hand dealing with the aftermath of the Changeling invasion.”
“Invasion? Luna, how long was I out for? Did it turn out that it was these ‘Changelings’, were the ‘threat’ you were trying to protect everypony from?”
“Yes. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle managed to free our niece, Princess Cadance, from the crystal caverns in which the Changeling queen trapped her in, and from there, Cadence and Shining Armor, the groom and Captain of the Guard, repelled the changelings with a shield spell.”
“Ok... and this helps us how?”
“Celestia has had some trouble clearing out the stragglers from Canterlot, so she is currently too busy to notice us. We should be able to get by without a sound.”
“Luna, thank you. I-”
“Don’t mention it... Father...”
Knight stood there, a mix of shock and joy on his face at the realisation that Luna had essentially acknowledged him as her father. The two shared a hug, which was only interrupted when somepony decided to be a jerk.
“Well,” Richard said, ruining the moment as he stood up shakily, “This has been heartwarming and all, but seriously, I need an onion.”
In the background, scuffling noises could be heard, when suddenly Nocturnal tackled Richard to the ground, and began shoving an onion into his mouth. Thankfully for Richard, his random flailing at being tackled managed to knock him away. Standing up again, Richard said, “Well, at least I got the onion... Damn, how do I pick this up?”
“How the hell did I get stuck with such a bunch of immature idiots? I mean, I’m the second youngest here at 19, and Meadhbh’s the youngest at 17, and you’re both acting like 5 year olds.”
“Dumb luck.” Richard said with a grin, before deciding to just eat the onion straight off the ground.
“Lemme guess. 10 second rule?”
“20 seconds.” Richard said through a mouthful of onion.
“Let’s get a move on. These two will wake up at your new compound...” Luna said, going outside and releasing a high-pitched whistle. Suddenly, a dark chariot arrived, being flown by two dark pegasi, and landing near the hut.
“Ok... and thanks Luna. For everything.” Knight said, getting into the cart with his friends.
“Don’t mention it.. We... I promised I would get you someplace safe... I will visit in a few hours, after I help my sister. Now go!”
“You’re referring to yourself as we less. What changed?” Knight asked.
“I’ll tell you another time.” Luna said, giving a little smile toward Knight.
“Princess, we have to go!” The dark pegasi said, looking at Luna.
“Agreed. Take them to the old castle, and make sure you are not followed.” Luna replied.
“Understood, Princess.” The dark pegasi said, taking off towards the center of the Everfree forest with the carriage in tow, while Luna flew back towards Canterlot and her waiting sister.
“Fly swiftly, my friends, and may Harmony protect you...”
Later - The Castle of The Royal Sisters
“This place, kicks ass!” Nocturnal yelled out, while jumping around on various shelves, and bridges that formed the old castle.
“Yeah yeah. Let’s just find our gear, shall we? I kinda hope Luna brought our clothes, I don’t like being naked, even if it’s natural for equines...” Knight said, walking through the hallways for a likely spot where their gear would be.
“What about that chest?” Richard said, pointing a hoof at a nearby large chest, which seemed to glimmer gold from inside.
“Seems plausible. Go for it.” Knight replied
“I dunno, seems kinda ominous...” Nocturnal said, raising a brow at the mysterious glow from the inside, “Is that.......Chocolate? ‘Cause it sure looks like it..”
“If it is, it’s a miracle. Been way too long since we had that, huh? Still can’t believe we survived on mystery cans and stale MREs for the better part of a year.”
“Hah, canned food, canned beans, canned meat, canned cans.... Hated all of it! Let’s get us some chocolate!” Nocturnal said, jumping on the chest, trying to pry it open, but to no avail.
“Hmmm, maybe we need a key? If so, fuck...”
“Perhaps you can use that fancy magic of yours!” Nocturnal replied, with a sheepish smile on his face.
“Magic? What are you on about?” Knight asked.
“Well, your sister used magic from her horn. Must be something about it. Besides, unicorns have an inborn ability to use magic. Give it a whirl!”
“... Horn... wait, I-” Knight raised a hoof to his forehead, and sure enough, found a large horn jutting out of his forehead. “... The fuck...”
“Yup. Accept it while you can, it doesn’t go away. Just... Focus on your inner self, and channel it through your horn.”
“Ok... sounds easy enough...” Knight muttered, focusing inward and searching for something, anything, that felt different to before. Soon enough, he found what felt like some sort of mental barrier. Prodding it resulted in a rush of energy throughout his entire body, which then centered on his horn, causing it to glow grey. “Woah... feels like I’m on a sugar high.”
“Woooooah.... Care to share?”
“I don’t know how...” Knight replied.
“Well, nevermind it then. Just... Beam some on the chest, and we’ll have us some chocolate goodness soon!” Nocturnal said, his mouth watering by the second.
“Sure, just lemme...uhhhh...” Knight pointed his horn at the chest, willing something to happen, yet all he got was a few sparks and a slight noise from his horn. “Ok, how do I do this?”
“Hold on, I’ll try something.” Nocturnal said, getting on his rear hooves and bucking Knight in the face, “That help?”
“...OW! THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!” Knight yelled, pointing his horn at Nocturnal and blasting him onto his back. “.... wow, it worked.”
“See...? Just...Need a little....Kick...” Nocturnal muttered, nearly passing out.
“Sorry.” Knight replied sheepishly, helping Nocturnal back to his hooves and turning back to the chest again. “Ok... I forgot how I did that...”
“Need another kick?” Nocturnal said, a large grin on his face appearing.
“No, I need to figure out how that kick triggered my horn blast...”
“Try getting mad again!”
“How? Not like there’s anything to make me-what the hell? Get those hooves away from my face!”
“C’mon...Get mad, you know you wanna...Come on...” Nocturnal kept poking Rising Knight’s face.
“Get. That. Hoof. Out. Of MY. FACE!” Knight screamed letting off a sudden bolt that whizzed past Nocturnal’s head and struck the chest.
Nocturnal’s eyes widened, as the yellow glow seemed brighter and brighter. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he jumped on the box, shouting: “DIBS!”
“How did you make it as a mercenary being so immature?” Knight asked with a raised eyebrow as he pried Nocturnal off the box with great difficulty.
“First off....I called dibs....Second, noone gives a shit how immature you act in war....Also...I said dibs...”
“I know that, but we have no idea-...what the hell... that is not chocolate.” Knight mused, gazing at the contents of the box confusedly.
“W-what is it then?” Nocturnal said, raising an eyebrow and Knight.
“It’s... I have no idea.”
Nocturnal simply looked at the item with awe. Soon after that, he turned to Knight.
“I know what it is. It’s a royal crown.” Nocturnal said, focusing his eyes on the crown.
“How the fuck do you know that? It doesn’t look like a crown to me... then again, I’ve never actually seen a crown before.” Knight mused.
“I uhh...Before we went here, I was a big-time brony. I ordered a special edition of MLP season 1,2 and 3 which included a copy of this crown...And uh.... plushies...”
“I... see. Well, what can you tell me about this world? Anything you can think of; Geography, major events, whatever can help us survive.”
“Well.... This crown is the crown of Princess Luna before she was Nightmare Moon. This land is called Equestria, and the nearest town from here is the village of Ponyville. The city where Luna lives is called Canterlot, and they have a festival called ‘The summer sun festival’. It’s basically Princess Celestia raising the sun. That about sums it up, I suppose....”
“Ok. Hey, do you think we’ll be able to visit this ‘Ponyville’ sometime? I don’t mind staying here, but the fact that we’re in a populated world with no dangers from victims and the HERC, it makes me want to start interacting with other living, not-trying-to-eat-us, beings, again. I’m not saying I don’t like hanging out with you and everyone in the group, but I guess I just missed being able to meet new people, y’know?”
“I thought we were supposed to do what Luna said.” Nocturnal said, laying on his bed, “But meeting new people does sound nice...”
“I’m not saying we go against her, I’m just saying we should meet others. My plan’s just to ask her if we would be allowed.”
“Have you noticed we have no mark on our butt like her? Well, her and Meadhbh.”
“What of it? Are they supposed to mean something? I noticed Meadhbh’s looked like her medical bag.”
“They’re supposed to represent our special talents. Guess we have none. YET!”
“I see. And what do we call these butt tattoos?” Knight asked skeptically.
“Well...Err...I....It’s....cutie marks....” Nocturnal said sheepishly.
“What? Didn’t quite catch that.”
“Cutie marks...” He grumbled again.
“... OK then.” Knight said, his gaze relatively expressionless. “So, what do you think yours would be? Meadhbh’s has already proven she’s a true medic at heart.”
“I guess I’ll just have to wait for it to come up. Can’t rush these things. SOME learn it the hard way...”
“I see... I have a feeling discovering what makes us ‘Special’ is gonna be a real pain in the ass.” Knight mused.
“Flank.” Nocturnal said bluntly, “The word butt is flank, here..”
“OK, it’s gonna be a real pain in the flank. So, do you think the others are awake yet?”
“Well, Richard is already up-and about.”
“Yeah, but everyone else besides Rev-A is still asleep.”
“Let ‘em sleep. The HERC attack must’ve made them super tired.”
“Well, I was wondering when you’d show up Richard. So, decided on a new name yet?” Knight asked as the pegasus stepped into the room.
“Well, since you seem to be the closest thing we have to an expert, I was thinking I would get a name that works for the area, thus I could know what names are sort of common.” Richard said calmly.
“You’re at it too?” Nocturnal mused to Richard.
“At what?” He asked.
“Knight...Err, Stephen, here wants to sneak out to Ponyville.” Nocturnal replied.
“Oh... Eh, couldn’t hurt too much.” He said with a shrug.
“I didn’t say sneak out. I said I wanted to ask Luna if we would be able to...” Knight muttered.
“Then go ahead, send her a letter.” Nocturnal replied.
“How the hell do I do that?” Knight asked irritatedly.
“Exactly. We can’t.
Nocturnal sighed, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill -which was actually just a feather taken from Richard’s wing- with his mouth, and began writing. When he was done the only recognizable words were: ‘Luna get ovar here.’
“There. Now do your magic thingy.” Nocturnal said, hoofing the letter of to Knight.
“And do what exactly, blast it into the wall?” Knight retorted.
“Send it!”
“How, Dumbass?”
“Cast your magic. Should I get you mad again?”
“I’m pretty sure casting it when I’m mad would result in a negative result. But from the way it reacted when you got me mad the last time, maybe magic is fueled by emotions or something?”
“Try it.” Nocturnal said bluntly, getting bored of the scenery, longing for some jumping around.
“Ok... what emotion would achieve the desired result...” Knight asked more to himself than anyone else, pacing around the room.
“Try longing or something..” Nocturnal said again.
“Longing? Is that even an emotion?”
“...It’s not important.” Richard said. “Don’t worry about the pointless parts.”
“... Ok, got it.” Knight replied a few seconds later, his eyes closed and his horn was glowing again, though this time the letter started to glow alongside it. A few seconds later, said letter disappeared in a grey flash. “Did it work?”
“We’ll know soon enough.” Richard said, and walked toward a door, “I’m going to take a look around in here, and see if I can get these... wings... to work... God thats going to take some getting used to.”
“Same with this,” Knight replied tapping his horn, “Though at least I can knock Chris on his flank without touching him now.”
For the first time in the short period in which he’d been part of the group, Chris didn’t make a smart-ass comment, simply shaking his head in amusement and plopping himself on the bed, letting himself drift into sleep’s sweet embrace.
“Yeah, well, see you when either I’ve figured out how these work, or I’ve crashed hard enough to need medical attention.” Richard said, walking through the door, and into the rest of the castle.
“Sure, and I’ll go see if Mea-Rev-A, gotta remember that. I’ll see if she’s got anything new to report about Damian and Jordan.” Stephen muttered, leaving the sleeping stallion to his dreams and heading off in a random direction, hoping it would lead him to the lodgings of his friends.
“Dammit, how hard is it to find three people!” Knight yelled, kicking a nearby wall in frustration, which only served to send a jolt of pain through his body. “FUCK!”
The frustrated stallion had been searching random rooms for almost an hour with no success. You’d think someone who spent a lot of time searching through entire buildings and finding nothing useful in the past would have learned the value of patience, but in Knight’s case, you’d be wrong.
“If the next room isn’t right, I’m gonna tear this goddamn castle apart...” He muttered, coming up to the last door, which was surprisingly plain. Most of the doors (including the one for his own room), had been extremely flashy. The wood had been surprisingly strong, not a hint of rot to be found, and massive carvings of various styles, most depicting Luna and another pony, who Knight assumed was her sister, Celestia. Pushing at the door, Knight was a little surprised by the resistance, the door’s refusal to budge only serving to anger him further. He reared up on his forelegs and drove his hind legs into the door. Once again, it barely budged, and Knight was left rolling on the floor, hissing in pain. “...fuck...”
“Um, you do realise that’s a pull-door, right?” A voice piped up from behind him. Knight stopped moving and looked up just long enough to see Luna standing in front of him, looking down with a mix of annoyance and amusement on her face.
“Uh.... you do realise there’s a note stuck to your head, right?” Knight asked with a raised eyebrow. Luna simply glared at him.
“I have a ‘note’ stuck to my horn, as somepony decided to mess with magic without any proper instruction beforehoof. Even Reviving Aura received some minor training while we were dragging your flank through the Everfree. Now, would you be so kind as to explain exactly why you requested me to come here?” Luna asked, her tone betraying her annoyance.
“Uh.... well, I was kinda wondering if it would be possible to... head to that nearby town, Ponyville, sometime...”
The alicorn mare seemed to lose herself in thought as she tried to come up with a way to say no. Thankfully for her, she was saved from having to do so when something, or somepony, slammed into her flank, causing her to let out a shrill ‘eep’ and instinctively lash out with her back legs, before rounding on the offending pony with a death glare.
“Ow... My everything,” A familiar orange pegasus said from the floor, his face partially buried in the wall.
“... Richard, the fuck...” Knight muttered in disbelief at the sheer impossibility of the scene before him.
“I’ve figured out flying... At least staying in the air... Control is another issue.” Richard’s muffled voice said from the wall, tugging at the wall. “Umm... I’m stuck.”
“Well, it serves you right for flying right into my flank...” Luna huffed. “Though I suppose getting you out of there would be a good idea...”
“Well it’s not exactly easy to dodge anyway...” Richard muttered quietly.
Not quietly enough, unfortunately, as Luna set her eyes on him with a glare that could crumble mountains, boil seas, and make Jason Voorhees himself run home crying for his mommy. “Did you just call me FAT...” She asked in a voice just one decibel away from being head-burster material.
Richard grunted, flapping his wings furiously as he tried to get out of the wall, “No, no, merely that less than half of the hallway was available as I was flying through it. Besides, it’s more of an observation.”
“... Dude, shut it while you still have your balls... Or don’t, I wouldn’t mind seeing Luna knock you down a few pegs...” Knight said in an even tone.
The wall gave way, causing Richard to pop out, and slam into the other wall. After a few moments of frantically brushing the rocks away, he looked over to see the pissed off lunar princess, and, in a feat of surprising agility (surprising for him, at least), jumped away, and flew shakily down the hall, screaming for several seconds, before a loud crash resounded through the hallway again.
“.... So, back to my question. Would it be ok for us to visit this ‘Ponyville’ at some point?” Knight asked as if nothing had happened. “It’s not like we’re gonna be found out by Celestia just by visiting one town, right?”
“It very well could!” Luna said loudly, puffing her cheeks “I can’t let you do it.”
“What? B-”
“NO BUTS!” Luna shouted, “You’re not allowed to, and that’s final!”
“...... You know what, fine.” Knight said flatly, turning on his heels and walking off in the direction of his room, leaving Luna standing there feeling like she’d just committed a horrible crime.
“... I’m sorry... father... I just can’t take the risk...”
“... Ah, DAMMIT!” Knight screamed, ripping a loose piece of stone from the wall and throwing it through the window, shattering it. “WHY THE HELL DO I FUCKING FEEL SO PISSED ABOUT THIS!”
A loud smash resounded on the other side of one of the walls of the room, and a brick fell, revealing a rather bruised Richard “Ow. Hey Knighty,”
“Hey.” Knight said, not even bothering to look at his friend as he continued to destroy everything that wasn’t nailed down.
“Woah, what’s gotten you so riled up?” Richard asked, looking around at the metaphorical whirlwind of destruction that was all around Rising.
“Long story short, talked to Luna about visiting that town, Ponyville. You can guess what her answer was... What I don’t get is why I’m so PISSED OFF ABOUT IT!” Knight replied, slamming his hind legs into the nearby wall, only to start rolling on the floor, cradling them seconds later.
“Well, here’s what I say: Fuck it, I’m going. I won’t be able to find a good name, if I don’t. Seriously, do you know how much it sucks to be nameless? Even if it is temporary?”
“... You know what, let’s solve the whole fucking name thing right now. What day is it?” Knight asked.
“Umm... I think Monday.” Richard said.
“Ok then, you are now Monday’s Dawn. Get used to it.” Knight stated.
“But... You know what, fuck it, good enough, but if I think of a better one, I’m using it.” The newly dubbed Dawn said, going away from the hole in his wall.
“Whatever.” Knight said offhandedly, off in his own little world.
“DUUUUUUUUDE! What’s with the noise, you baking a pie or something?!”
Knight actually jumped. Not from the volume of the shout, but the simple reason that the speaker was shouting right into his ear... from less than an inch away.
“.... Chris... if I were you... I’d take Richard, and I’d run like hell...”
“Four steps ahead of you!” Dawn shouted, followed by the opening of his door, “And don’t call me that!”
“... Just get out... now.”
“But I got--” Nocturnal tried to say, but got cut off by Knight.
“Either get out, or get gelded. Your choice.” He hissed.
“But you don’t understand, I--” Nocturnal tried to say, being cut off again.
“I. Said. Out.”
Nocturnal was just about to leave when he got sick of Stephen’s behaviour. He buck kicked one of the floorboards so it went up in the air, then bucked it again in the direction of Knight’s face. Ultimately, it hit him.
“Since you won’t listen to me like this, you’ll listen to me like this!” He continued, “I FOUND A WAY OUT!”
“... Sure, and I’m with the HERC.” Knight spat skeptically, causing saliva mixed with blood to splatter on the floor.
Dawn stood just outside the door up until this point, and, seeing his cue, galloped forward toward the two, and jumped over, spreading his wings just in time to, with a shout of “Onward!” pass through what was left of the window, crashing into the ground, and tumbling into the bushes.
“W-wait! That’s not the....!” Nocturnal tried to warn Dawn but it was too late, “That’s the....Torture room...”
Almost as soon as Nocturnal finished speaking, Dawn dived back through the window, barely managing not getting cut. “Hey guys, I found a knife!” He managed to get out through the object in his mouth.
“That’s not a knife.... That’s....” Nocturnal tried to say it without gagging a bit ,“A horn...”
“Um...” The horn dropped out... “... That’s not there.” He said, “Anyway, you said you found an actual way out?”
“Ah yes, of course! I drafted it on this tissue that I--” Nocturnal took out a tissue with something drafted on it, when Dawn grabbed it.
“Let’s see...” Dawn muttered, holding the tissue with one of his hooves.
“Hey, I was gonna do that...” Nocturnal muttered towards Dawn.
“Oh don’t be a wet blanket about it.” He returned. “... I see... I sort of understand.”
“What, did Nocty dig a tunnel or so-, or so-CHOO!”
“Umm...” Dawn looked at the now snot-covered tissue, laying it on the floor slowly. “I’m going to put this down... and I think I’ll go now.”
“.... Uh... sorry, did I do that?”
“Yes, you did that...” Nocturnal sighed, “I guess I can take you to the place where I found it. But on the way we might see some creepy-crawlies...Like...A lot of them...”
“... Glad I’m not Rev-A then, she’s terrified of spiders.... don’t tell her I told you that.”
“Dawg, errr, Dawn, you up for it?” Nocturnal asked.
“Umm...” Dawn gave an audible gulp, and put on a nervous grin “Sure, I’m up to it.”
“Well then, let’s do it.” Nocturnal said with a lack of ecstasy, walking toward the supposed ‘way out’ with Knight and Dawn following close behind.
Chapter 1: The Girl In Blue
The survivors of one of the many compounds located in the Riverside North district of Union City were catching up on much needed resting time, after a very unsuccessful day of scavenging for supplies. All in all, it had been an extremely poor run, the battle-weary group only managing to find a few broken weapons after searching several warehouses, the hospital and the police station, and they hadn’t the resources to repair them. They’d instead opted to have them taken apart, but all in all, they only found a few barely functioning pieces.
“Hey! HEY, WAKE UP! WE HAVE INCOMING!” A voice yelled, rousing the members of the small compound from their less-than restful slumber and into action-stations. The voice in question came from a young man looking through the detachable scope of his recently acquired HERC-A1 rifle, just wishing something, anything would happen that would allow him to relieve the unrelenting boredom of watch duty. He was about to get his wish in an unexpected way...
“Probably just another rotten one boss.” A tall, dark figure said while straightening his stetson and the pale violet bandana over his neck. His dark blue shirt was completely covered in grime, as was the pale green checkered shirt under it. His baggy beige pants and leather carrying bag were caked in dry mud, most likely from his repeated trips into abandoned campsites for food and water. The stetson, remarkably, was the only item intact.
“Jordan, if this is another waste of time, I swear, I’m gonn-”
“It’s a kid!” ‘Jordan’ yelled back, stunning the speaker into silence.
“A... A kid? In this mess?” A blonde man with a pair of goggles asked, trying to find his binoculars in a pile of rubble. His construction worker’s outfit, lifted from a previously overrun construction site, looked like crap... which isn’t surprising, given how most of what covered it was indeed crap.
“Are you sure?” Chris asked cautiously. “It’s not just your mind playing tricks on you?”
“Not a hope in hell. She doesn’t look like a normal kid, but I can see her, clear as day.” Jordan exclaimed jumping down from the roof of the overly large shed that made up the barracks.
“Look Jordan, you haven’t eaten in a day or two, maybe you should---” The tall figure said, being interrupted by the commanding voice of the ‘leader’. Despite his young age, this man had a commanding air about him, one that screamed ‘Do as I say or you revoke your right to live’. It helped that his brown hunting jacket, dark grey cargo pants and black marching boots were caked in dried blood, as were his gardening gloves. Most would expect such an addition to make them seem weak, but the spatters of red liquid, as well as the flaming skulls embroidered on them, put that thought six feet under pretty quickly.
“Stow it. I wanna hear what he has to say. So, what does ‘she’ look like?”
“4 ft 3 in, I think. Black tank top, dark blue jeans, pale skin, like she hasn’t seen the sun in weeks. Weirdest thing though, her hair, it’s pale blue.”
“Blue? Like she dyed it or something?” Chris asked skeptically.
“I dunno. Couldn’t tell.” Jordan said with a shrug, strapping his rifle to his body.
“Oh, are we going in?” The man from before, Richard, asked, tying his binoculars to his belt.
“I sure hope not. If ‘she’ is alive, we don’t have the supplies to keep her well fed and rested. I say leave her.” Chris said.
“If we don’t try, are we any better than the rotten ones?” Jordan shot back angrily.
“SHUT UP!” A high-pitched voice yelled from inside the compound. The four figures turned to see a tall girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, a sky-blue tracksuit top, and a medic’s bag over her shoulder, walking towards them with murder in her eyes. “Now, if you’re done acting like idiots, are you ready to go help?” She asked angrily.
Now, Meadhbh was the youngest of the group at 17, but even Chris was terrified of her, for the simple reason that not long they met, she had made quite an impression by diving into a horde of infected and beheading them all in the span of 12 seconds.
“Meadhbh, you didn’t see the horde going after her. We’d be walking into a slaughter.” Chris tried to argue.
“Fuck that. How did we survive this long?” The leader asked irritatedly. When no one answered, he continued, “Because we stuck together, and we didn’t leave anyone behind. A my old man used to say, ‘If you don’t try to save one life, you’ll never save any’. We’re helping her, and that’s that.”
The tall figure growled at the leader, and said, “Fine, but if we’re going to do it, we need a plan, otherwise we’re just gonna get our faces chewed up.”
“The plan is simple.” A new voice said from behind the group as a man with a shaved head and dark-green military fatigues, modified with what appeared to be body-armour made from scrap-metal, stepped forward.
Damian Huffman was normally the strong, silent type, only speaking on rare occasions where he actually had something to say. The exact reason for which was only known to two other people in the compound, and they weren’t talking.
“We go in, kill the infected, and save the girl. You want details, Stephen’s the strategist, though not much of one.”
“Shut it, Damian.” The leader growled as Damian chuckled. “Ok, here’s the plan. Jordan and I will get onto the roof and pick them off from a distance. Meanwhile, Damian and Richard will be acting as support by providing covering fire for Meadbh and Chris while they go in and get the kid out.”
“Yes, send the engineer onto the front lines. Always the best choice.” Richard said in a tone that was couldn’t quite be called disapproval.
“Stow it. You’re the only one we’ve got who knows how to use those improvised weapons without blowing your goddamn hands off, so you’re going with Damian. And that’s that.”
“Put a sock in it Rich, I’m the one who has to collect the girl, with... The MEDIC...” The one called Chris growled while straightening his stetson.
“Sucks to be you.” He said with a grin.
“You all seem to forget,” Stephen said sternly, “That the ‘medic’, as you call her, happens to be my sister, and she has a higher kill count than all of us here with those two swords of hers.” Meadhbh chuckled at her brother’s overly dramatic words.
“Awww, that’s sweet Stephen.” She said jokingly as she ran back inside, stepping swiftly around and over the beds, work-tables and various items strewn about the floor and grabbed four items. A katana, a wakizashi, an SMG the group had ‘liberated’ from an abandoned HERC complex, and a pistol. “Now, are the rest of you gonna lock and load, or are you gonna STAND THERE LIKE PUSSIES?!” She yelled as she rummaged through the gun lockers for the spare ammunition.
“Sugarcube, quit yappin’ and get my guitar.” Chris said jokingly, earning a collective groan from all but Damian, who settled with rolling his eyes.
Chris had been a fan of a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic before the end of Union City. Apparently the bright-eyed, colourful characters, and the ‘engaging’ plots were part of a small list of things that brought him true joy, like his guitar, ‘Clementine’, which had a special place under his bed.
“Get it yourself Chris. And don’t forget the shotgun. You’ll need the firepower.” Stephen said with a small grin as he and the rest of the group trudged around the various beds, storage units and bins where they kept their various resources, opening their respective gun-lockers, and grabbing their equipment. Stephen grabbed a scoped M24 rifle, a PPM-9 pistol, and his trusty Combat Knife. Richard slung a rifle over his back, and grabbed an improvised SMG and a short sword in each of his hands.
“Bringing the Bloodluster? You really are taking this seriously.”
“Nah, it’s just been awhile since I last cut one open.” He said whilst stretching.
Jordan grabbed his M9 and his hunting knife, as well as several extra clips for the pistol and loose rounds for his rifle. “Ok, see you on the roof.” He said with a lazy salute as he ran outside and climbed on top of the group’s only mode of transportation, the Deathmobile, and from there, over the fence, on top of the nearby boxes and onto the roof.
Damian requisitioned his AR 556-SEMI assault rifle, which he slung over his shoulder, his G17 Pistol, and a machete, grinning like a madman as he gave his blade a few test swings.
Damian took one look at the massive crowd of flesh-eating once-humans, raised his machete, and charged
“Idiot...” Richard muttered under his breath, before following silently, letting Damian draw all the attention of the dead.
Chris turned around to his bed, grabbing his guitar, ‘Clementine’, his M1911 and his shotgun, before turning around to Stephen, “Restrain Jordan, and let’s get this over with, we’re wasting valuable time here.”
“Jordan’s fine, you and I both know that Chris. He’s just been...shaken, since whatever happened to him.” Stephen said with a frown, before exiting and heading for the roof as well.
“Fine.” He muttered to noone in particular. “Meadhbh, come on, we’re burning daylight here.” Chris said, again straightening his stetson.
“Yeah, if we waste too much time, we won’t save her, I know.” Meadhbh said sternly, adjusting the two sheathed blades attached to the back of her medical bag and making sure the sights on her SMG were aligned, before following Chris outside, where he suddenly decided it was worth wasting time talking to Stephen.
“Oh, Stephen, check this out. I modified ‘Clementine’ yesterday, added some high-power amps to her. Should be useful.” Chris told Stephen, seemingly oblivious to the two stragglers that were shambling towards them.
“Yeah, when this is all over, we can have a benefit, maybe buy a plane for everyone to get somewhere uninhabited, and then we’ll spend the rest of our days sipping milk from coconuts under the palm-trees.” Stephen said, his voice dripping sarcasm like a leaky faucet.
“You don’t get it do you? Why don’t I just demonstrate it?” Chris said, suddenly turning to the undead duo and setting the guitar and the modified portable speaker attached to it to max volume. After pulling the first few strings, the guitar began emitting a high-pitched sound,and the two zombie’s heads burst.
“See?” Chris asked, “And that’s just the beginning, just wait ‘till I get to play some real songs on this!”
“Save it for when we’re not trying to save a little girl and GET THE FUCK IN THERE!” Stephen yelled, pointing to where Meadhbh had already rushed in, scoring several headshots in rapid succession against nearby zombies and beheading any when she couldn’t reload fast enough to take them out with her SMG.
“Oh no, you’re not gonna get all the kills this time!” Chris rushed in, jumping and stroking the wires of his guitar, forcing a few zombie’s heads to explode and Meadhbh to cover her ears while she gritted her teeth in pain. During that time, Chris strapped his guitar to his back, pulled out his shotgun, and began blasting zombie after zombie, splattering blood, bone and brains on the roadside. Upon approaching the girl, who was already being tended to by Meadhbh for what seemed to be exhaustion, he put a latch on her, and strapped her to his back, adjusting the guitar to avoid poking her with it.
“Hold on kid, we’re going for a ride!” Chris yelled out, “Richard! Right flank you moron!”
“On it, asshole!” Richard shouted back, only for the offending zombie’s head to explode as an FMJ round hit it between the eyes, bits of blood, bone and brains hitting the ground and splattering against Richard, staining his already blood-spattered fluorescent jacket with another crimson splotch.
“YOU’RE WELCOME!” Jordan yelled as he continued to take out zombie after zombie in rapid succession, aiming only for a moment before pulling the trigger, each time scoring a perfect headshot and nodding in satisfaction as the target’s head exploded like a watermelon filled with pressurized air.
“Oh fuck it all!” Richard shouted, before throwing a grenade into the horde, and taking cover behind a wall of zombie bodies as the resulting explosion sent shrapnel ripping through the horde, tearing those unfortunate enough to be in front to shreds, and crippling others. Unfortunately, he hadn’t taken the time to watch where he was aiming.
Chris screamed as a piece of shrapnel hit his lower thigh and foot, forcing him onto one knee, in the middle of the street, both himself and Meadhbh surrounded by the infected. “You asswipe! Ask first! Agh! Meadhbh, take the kid and run, I’ll catch up!” Chris shouted.
“Screw that, no-one left behind, remember!” Meadhbh argued, hefting Chris up with one of his arms over her shoulder, her own arm only gently placed over his back, so as not to harm the kid, who was miraculously unharmed by the blast. “RICHARD! IF I HAVE TO PULL SHRAPNEL OUT OF HIS ASS I’M GONNA CASTRATE YOU!” She yelled as she slowly advanced towards the compound, inwardly cursing the engineer’s recklessness.
“THANKS FOR THE WARNING!” He shouted, gunning down the dead that tried to get to them, painting the roadside with their blood and guts.
“Jordan, get your head out of your ass and come down here!” Chris yelled out to Jordan, who seemed to be only looking at the street which connected the compound with the rest of the street.
“On it.” Jordan said lazily as he took a running leap off the roof, tossing his rifle into the air and landing with an over-the-shoulder roll, his gun landing on a small pile of cloth nearby. “Heh, perfect aim.” He mused as he retrieved his gun and began his run-and-gun routine, expertly picking off several zombies with one shot each, slinging it back over his shoulder and switching to his pistol when he ran out of ammunition. When he ran out of ammo for that, he just threw it at the first undead he saw, dazing it, and started severing their spinal cords with his knife.
“Meadhbh, take the kid! Stephen, grab a guitar, and a few amps, I got an idea!” Chris yelled over to Stephen. Meadhbh begrudgingly let go of Chris and moved to remove the child from his back when Stephen spoke up.
“Dude, your guitar is the only one we have!” Stephen yelled from the roof, still taking aim at one of the sprinters. “Dammit...Chris, Meadhbh, you’ve got a HERC Sprinter on your heels!” He shouted in horror, forgetting about taking time to aim and just firing wildly at the lone zombie, his rounds just bouncing off its armour harmlessly as it closed the gap between itself and the three survivors. He cursed as he heard the dry click of an empty magazine, and he frantically went through his pockets for another, desperately praying that he could find one in time.
His worries were pointless as, at the precise moment he stopped firing, they both turned around quickly, and took aim; Chris with his shotgun and Meadhbh with her SMG in one hand and the girl, still unconscious, in the other. The both opened fire on the HERC’s visor, until it finally cracked, allowing his deformed face to be seen clearly, and with Meadhbh taking the final shot, right between the eyes, he dropped to the ground, his skull making a sickening crack as it hit the pavement.
“Stephen, look under my bed! Should be another guitar there! Hurry!” Chris yelled.
“SERIOUSLY?! ONE ISN’T ENOUGH?!” He screamed, shaking his head as he jumped down and ducked inside, flipping over Chris’ bed, among other things, and finding a pristine guitar with the name ‘Suzy’ written under it.
“OK I’VE GOT IT! NOW WHAT?!” Stephen yelled at Chris.
“I told you freak, get an amp!” He yelled back, while fighting off sprinters with his shotgun.
“CHRIS! CALL HIM A FREAK AGAIN AND YOU’LL BE JOINING RICHARD ON THE OPERATING TABLE!” Meadhbh screamed in his ear as she carefully removed the girl from her arm, placing her on a bed, and tossed Chris unceremoniously onto the floor, his head banging against the wall of the compound with a sickening thud.
“Jesus you crazy chick! Just get those amps over here if you don’t wanna be chewed!” Chris screamed.
Stephen opened his mouth to argue, but Meadhbh shook her head slowly, and he held his tongue, opting to grab an amp and drop it in Chris’ lap.
“There we go... Plug your guitar in, and place the amp to the horde.” Chris said.
Stephen did so, plugging in ‘Suzy’ to the amp.
“You ready to rock, buddy?!” Chris said manically.
“Do I have a choice?” Stephen asked flatly.
“Well... No!” Chris replied flatly.
“Well then, let’s just get this over with.”
Stephen and Chris both pulled their strings slowly, loud noises coming from the amplifiers, which triggered the traps that they planted around the compound. Mostly smaller ding-dongs were activated, but it was enough for the horde to dwindle in numbers. The horde soon fell only to two zombies, who fell easy with the expert shots of Damian and Jordan’s guns.
“There, that wasn’t so hard?”
“Guess not...Never again though.” Stephen said, shaking his head as he walked back into the compound, muttering to himself.
“Ah come on! You gotta admit that was pretty awesome!” Chris yelled to him, but to no avail, because he didn’t turn around. Chris soon kneeled over from the pain and shouted, “Hey, Meadhbh, can I get some medical assistance.... Please?” Chris asked.
“Fine.” Meadhbh huffed, placing her swords onto the floor before moving to tend to Chris’ wounds. “Seriously, Richard is so dead. We all told him not to mess around with improvised explosives anymore, but does he listen? Nooooooooooooooo, he decides to be a big man and make a damn grenade...” She muttered angrily as she finished tightening the bandages around Chris’ now shrapnel-free wounds.
“Yep, he’s like that...” Chris said pulling out a small flask, “Sip?”
“No thanks. I don’t drink, remember?” Meadhbh joked as she helped Chris limp over to his bed, flipping it the right way up again and laying him on it with strict orders for him to stay in it, under threat of...bad things...if he left before she gave the ok. “So, lots of them this time...it’s almost like they’re getting organised or something...”
“Yeah. Y’know... Before all this started, I was on my way to Sibir... Got hired as a mercenary for the Israeli army. If I had gone on the plane a bit earlier, I might have avoided all of this...” Chris said with a frown.
“... Stephen and I came here after our parents died in a car accident back home. We wanted to get away from the memories, y’know. Of course, it wasn’t long after we came here that all this happened. We both got separated in the chaos, and we both assumed the other died. Then one day, I’m in the hospital, and I hear gunshots, and who do I see being swarmed but him. So, I took these swords off some random corpse, and I saved his ass, slicing and dicing the infected and turning them into swiss cheese. That was only a few days before we found you...You were hired as a soldier, and you’re an expert scavenger.” Meadhbh said, chuckling a little. Huh, first time any of us have ever actually talked about this stuff... at least in detail.
“Heh, all part of the training...” Chris smirked a little, “Nice talking to you... Could I get some rest now?”
“Sure. Doctor’s orders anyway.” She said, taking off her surgical mask to reveal the bright smile underneath. “The girl should be waking up soon. Stephen’s gonna talk to her when she does. Thought you should know, since you almost died saving her.”
Chris dunked his head into the pillow, slowly falling to sleep.
“Pff, baby...” Meadhbh mumbled as she went to put everything back the way it was before Stephen’s frantic search.
Meanwhile, Richard and Damian were busy picking through the bodies for anything useful, while Jordan searched for his dropped weapon.
“Well this is something.” Jordan muttered, picking up some sort of radio off one of the HERC zombies. “Helloooooooooooo, anyone listening?”
“Doesn’t work, probably only good for parts.” Damian stated.
*BZZZZT-BEEP*
“You were saying?” Jordan asked smugly.
“...ut there....otocol...urvivors...ecuted...” The radio’s intermittent
“Ugh, COME ON!” Jordan yelled, smacking the malfunctioning radio a few times.
“Give it, I can probably tune it.” Damian said, holding out his hand.
Jordan offered him the radio, and Damian grabbed it and replaced a few copper wires with ones he had kept in a back-pocket on his pants.
“Try now.” Damian said, handing the radio to Jordan.
“If there is anyone out there...” The voice from the radio said.
“Nice...Were you a radio operator or something before this happened?”
Damian simply shook his head ‘no’.
“Shut up, he’s still talking.” Richard said irritatedly.
“The HERC has returned and initiated Union City’s Hunter Protocol. Any and all survivors within Union City are in danger. Several compound’s survivors have already been executed....” The trio’s eyes widened in horror.
“What the..... Executed?” Richard asked, horrified.
“...I knew they were experimenting on people who had been infected... but executing survivors...” Jordan whispered, his voice and body shaking.
“Listen!” Damian said, pointing to the radio, which was still receiving something.
“If there are still any survivors out there, they are making their way to the Riverside District. Leave the area immediately! They-*CRACK* *Bzzzt*”
“Fuck...we’ve gotta warn the others.” Jordan said, already running back towards the compound.
*
Chris suddenly woke up screaming inside the compound.
“Jesus! Fuck! Ah! What the fuck?!” Chris shouted around himself, “That dream... Sheesh...”
He suddenly noticed Jordan walking in the compound looking all sweaty from the running.
“Dammit...” he muttered, turning to head back, before realising Chris was awake, and rushing towards him.
“Chris, we’ve got a fucking problem.” He said.
“Then get the fucking leader!” Chris replied angrily.
“Get me for what?” Stephen asked, appearing between them out of nowhere. “The girl isn’t waking up anytime soon, so I decided to see what all the fuss with you two is about.”
“Stephen, we received a radio message that the HERC are executing any survivors they find! They’re heading here right now! SHIT I’VE GOTTA GET MY GUNS!” He yelled, before running back to the battleground.
Chris slowly rubbed his eyes, and looked over to Stephen.
“Should we...?” Chris asked, quietly.
Stephen nodded silently. “I’ll get Richard to start repairing the damaged defenses, and I’ll have him set up extra traps too. In the meantime, get some sleep.”
“Can’t ever catch a break. Seems like every time one trouble is over, another one arrives... Call me when it’s action time..” Chris said, putting his stetson over his eyes.
“Sure...” Stephen whispered, before turning back to his own bed, where the girl was still sleeping peacefully. The occasional toss and turn was the only disturbance she made. The young man chuckled when she suddenly started snoring, before placing his weapons back in one of the gun lockers and walking out to search the corpses with Damian and Richard, Jordan having lost interest after recovering his own equipment and returning it to its locker. Richard, on the other hand, was still sifting through the bodies, taking every piece of tech he could find among the re-dead.
“HEY! RICHARD!” Stephen yelled as he approached the corpse-covered road. “I’m gonna need you to set up some more traps. And I think Jordan is still pissed off about the lack of a watchtower and his constant need to climb onto the roof. We got enough to build one?”
“Close, but no, we have enough for one or the other, and honestly, I’d rather have the traps.” He said, pulling a rather large hunting knife off of one of the bodies.
“Alright then...see if you can set up some W.O.M. traps at the entrances, just inside the barriers. I don’t want any surprises if those HERC bastards get through the barriers.
“I’ll get right on it in a few. Just let me finish searching these bastards.”
“Too bad Chris isn’t in any condition for this huh? Of course, that wouldn’t be the case is SOMEONE didn’t break our, ‘no hand-held explosives’ rule...” Stephen growled while glaring daggers at Richard, who grinned sheepishly.
“It wasn’t that bad!” He said, “It’s only a little shrapnel.”
“YOU BROKE THE GODDAMN RULE, AND YOU COULD’VE KILLED CHRIS! I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE NOTICED, BUT THIS ISN’T THE KIND OF WORLD WHERE WE CAN TAKE STUPID RISKS AND ENDANGER OUR FRIENDS!” Stephen took a deep breath, and spoke in a much lower, but no-less commanding voice. “I don’t want you to even think about making another grenade. The next time, I won’t hesitate to knock some sense into you.” And with that, Stephen turned and walked over to search a random corpse.
“Ooh, smoke capsules!” I heard Richard shout. “It’s amazing how much luck I’ve had in today’s loot!”
“Seriously? You just got berated for recklessness, and you just shrug it off? You are insane...” Damian muttered.
“What’s your point?” He asked, shifting the junk he found into a bag.
“I’m saying you’ve been here the shortest. Stephen doesn’t let us risk each other’s lives. In other words, you fucked up, and you almost got Chris, Meadhbh, and that kid killed.”
“But I didn’t, that’s what matters.”
“No. What matters is that you put three people at risk with your little stunt. What if they hadn’t managed to kill that runner? OR what if the remainder of the horde had suddenly changed direction and gone after them instead, following the sound of the grenade exploding? The fact of the matter is, you fucked up, and you’re on thin ice with Stephen now. Next time, I wouldn’t be surprised if he deemed you too much of a danger and decided to either kick you out, or put a bullet in your head.” Damian retorted, stomping off angrily with what little supplies he had scrounged from the various bodies he had searched.
“We’re all going to die soon enough. I don’t mind if mine comes a few days sooner than yours.”
“You don’t understand him at all, do you. Not surprised, he doesn’t talk about what happened before he found this place and brought this group together. Not much anyway.” A voice said from behind Richard, startling him enough for him to jump away while turning around, only to slip over a corpse and stumbled a bit, nearly falling over.
“Dumbass.” Jordan said with a flat stare. “You do realise that your actions earlier do not co-align with the main objective of a survivor group, right? The job is in the name. We survive, and we can only do that if we stick together, and if we don’t risk each other’s lives.”
“Whatever.” He said, “I’m going to go fix up those traps now.” He gave a slight wave as he wandered back to the base.
*
“Chris. Wake up.” A voice called, rousing the ex-Merc from his slumber. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, only to see a shadowy blur.
“What the?!” Chris quickly retorted, pulled out his knife, and went for the head, with Stephen quickly blocking it. “Oh crap! Sorry man! I thought...!”
“Don’t... worry about it. The kid’s awake. She freaked when she first saw me and thought I was gonna kill her. Took me a few minutes to calm her down enough to get more than just threats and thrown objects from her. Anyway, she wants to talk to you. But, just so you know, she’s a little... strange.” Stephen whispered.
“Why does she want to talk to me?” Chris asked, looking over to the little girl who was sitting on her bed.
“You’re the one that carried her back here and nearly got killed because of it.”
“I see.... You wanna come with me? I’ve never been good talkin’ to kids. One time, I made a kid cry, just because I lost MY ball in his yard...” Chris replied.
Stephen nodded slowly and started walking towards the door, Chris following closely. “Sure. But like I said, she’s kinda strange. Keeps going on about some place called Equestria and how she’s some sort of princess. The only usable information I got out of her was a name, Luna. Everything else, it seems, unbelievable.”
“... Luna? You sure? Hmm, probably just a coincidence or something...” He muttered as they walked. When they arrived at where the ‘little girl’ was sitting, Chris took a knee and looked at her.
“Hi... Err... Stephen, here, says you wanted to... Speak to me. Um, Luna, was it?” Chris asked.
The girl turned to face him and gave him an inquisitive look, as if trying to learn everything about him with a glance. “Yes. We wish to thank thee for aiding us when we were accosted by those, creatures. You have our eternal gratitude.”
Stephen leaned towards Chris and whispered, “Oh, forgot to mention, she speaks with a Ye Olde English dialect.”
Chris pushed Stephen out of the way, and returned to the girl.
“So..Where are your parents? How did you get out here?” Chris asked the girl. He instantly regretted it as the girl turned away, sniffling.
“... We do not want to talk about it.” She muttered, refusing to look at Chris.
“Well.... Would you be willing to at least tell me how old you are?” Chris said, leaning his head a little to the right and giving a little smile.
“A proper gentlestallion does not ask a mare her age.” She huffed, shooting Chris a dirty look as Stephen chuckled in the background. Stephen ignored her ‘interesting’ pony-related terms, simply assuming they were some sort of strange quirk she had acquired, though Chris grew more suspicious with each passing second.
“My apologies, dear lady. Would thou be kind enough to give us thy lunar age?” Chris replied, with Stephen looking at him like he’d gone nuts.
“Art thou making fun of our way of speaking? We shall have thee know that the princess of the night doth not appreciate mockery.” She said coldly. That clinched it, he was sure something about her was ringing alarm bells, or at least ‘YOU FUCKING KNOW HER FROM SOMEWHERE DUMBASS!’ bells.
“Not at all milady! Why, we have been trained in the ‘Royal We’ for three years in the mountains of China!” Chris responded, “Now, tell me, milady, how didst thou end up here, in this place?”
“Doth thou promise not to make fun of us, or call us a liar. Thine friend claimed that our story was, ‘difficult’, to believe, though he was kind enough to offer us a place here, in your, ‘family’, as he called it.” She said.
“Of course! We are not anything if not ‘open minded’! Go on!” Chris replied, making a note to ask Stephen about the family thing later.
“Very well. We are from a country called Equestria, which is, as far as we can discern, on another world, separate to thine own. We were practicing a new form of magic which was meant to allow us to protect our subjects from any further evils that may attempt to make their home there. However, we made a miscalculation, and instead of creating a protection spell, we created a portal, which took us to this world, where we became what we are now. I believe your friend called this species ‘human’?”
Chris simply looked at the little girl in awe. He was almost certain now of who she was, but he still had one more thing to ask.
“Well... That’s a.. Most interesting story. If I may ask.. What kind of danger were your...’subjects’ in?” Chris asked.
“That is just it. We do not know what the danger was. Our sister received a threat on our fair city of Canterlot while preparations were being made for our niece’s wedding. We were hoping to find a spell that would allow the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, to rest as the day of the wedding draws near. As it is, we have been here for several days, long enough to get over our, ‘surprise’, at our new form and to learn how to move again, and we have probably missed the ceremony. Though it does not seem to matter, as this place seems most determined to take our life.”
“Canterlot? Holy sh--I mean, horse dung, that’s it!” Chris quickly ran over to Stephen and tackled him on the ground.
“DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Stephen yelled, making the girl jump slightly.
“You’re not gonna believe this! I think we should... Talk in private?” Chris said to Stephen, who quickly nodded. Chris then gave a piece of candy to the girl, who huffed in irritation at being treated like a child, and proceeded outside the gate with Stephen.
“You, are so, so, so, so not gonna believe this!” Chris exclaimed.
“What are you on about?” Stephen asked suspiciously.
“Do you.. By any chance... Happen to know of a show... Called ‘My Little Pony?’” Chris asked, taking a dramatic pause between each sentence. Stephen gave him a quizzical look, but nodded regardless.
“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never seen anything to do with it other than the merchandise. Why?” Stephen inquired.
“This girl... You said her name was Luna? Well.. Luna is a character in the show... And above all else, she’s a PRINCESS. The show is set in the land of EQUESTRIA! Ring any bells?” Chris asked Stephen, and looked over to the little girl, then back at Stephen, who stared at him as if he was insane.
“Wait, what? You’re seriously saying that this girl, this kid, is actually a princess from another world? And what she said about being turned into a human... you’re saying she is, or was, a pony?” Stephen asked skeptically.
“Bro, I’ve seen weirder shit, and this is nothing compared to what I’ve seen. But, that must mean that the multiverse theory is correct...If only....”
“Wait, if what you’re saying is true... Oh, fuck me!” Stephen muttered.
“What?! What?!” Chris asked nervously.
“Well, you know how she avoided the question about her parents? I asked her the same thing when she woke up, and when she tried to dodge it, I assumed they’d died, and I...kinda may have offered to, um...” Stephen trailed off, and Chris’ eyes went wide as realization flashed across them.
“You....Adopted.....Princess Luna? You... I don’t even.... WHAT?!” Chris said, slightly more angrily than he’d intended.
“Why did I get the feeling this was how you’d react?” Stephen asked, more to himself than anything else as he took a cautious step away from Chris.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad, I’m just fucking confused! I just thought that we should move her somewhere safer than here!” Chris said.
“I agree, but there is nowhere else we can go here. If what she’s saying is true, and I’m still highly skeptical on that by the way, the only safe place is her own world, and I have no idea how to get her there.”
“Well, maybe we should---” Chris was interrupted as several HERC vans were driving up their street, and stopping near their compound.
“Dammit. I thought we’d have more time. Chris, get her inside, and no matter what happens, do not, let her leave the building.” Stephen said in a stern tone, running back inside and grabbing his weapons from the gun-locker.
“But, I want to help repel the attack! Come on man!” Chris replied.
Stephen turned to him, fixing him with a glare that made him freeze, any arguments being lost as he tried in vain to break eye-contact. “Chris, I am trusting you to protect her. As long as she’s here, she’s in danger. I need you to keep her safe. Please, Chris.” His tone softened at the end, his hard glare being replaced with an almost pleading look.
“Fine... But, if you’re going alone, take this..” Chris handed an earpiece over to Stephen, “If they want to negotiate, let me do the talking.”
“I don’t think they are here to negotiate. I assume you know the Hunter Protocol was initiated? They’re most likely here to execute us.”
“Tell Jordan to get up on the roof. While he sets up his sniper, just keep them talking!” Chris said, “Now go outside! We’ll be safe, I promise!”
“Alright.” Stephen shot Chris a salute, before turning and running to a small sandbag barricade, where Jordan was cleaning his rifle. “Jordan, get to the roof and get ready to open fire on my signal. You’ll know what to do when I start running like hell.”
He walked towards the vans, which were pouring out HERC soldiers in a seemingly endless wave. A single soldier, wearing a red beret instead of the usual gas mask and balaclava, stepped forward, his assault rifle slung over his shoulder. Several soldiers trained their weapons on Stephen as he continued to walk towards them, only lowering them when the Beret-wearing troop held up his hand.
“My name is Stephen Cleary, and I’m giving you one chance to leave.” Stephen said in a commanding voice, causing the soldiers to raise their guns again.
“Negative, the Hunter Protocol is at it’s peak. You have to be destroyed.” the HERC agent said.
“May I at least ask why?” Stephen asked calmly, his eyes fixed on the officer’s.
“Negative. The Hunter Protocol is top secret and it cannot be shared with the likes of you. Even during an apocalypse. Echo team, Gamma team, commence protocol ten.”
“Dude! Tell him that you have supplies, and you’re willing to trade for freedom!” Chris said over the earpiece.
“No point. You heard them. Just make sure Damian, Richard and Meadhbh are ready to move. If worst comes to worst, get out through the back door and take Luna with you. No matter what happens, do not let anything happen to her.”
“I got that much, just keep them stalled for a few more seconds. I gave Jordan the ‘special’ weapon. He’s having trouble putting ammo in, so give him just a few more seconds!” Chris replied.
“Got it.” Stephen muttered, locking eyes with the officer again. “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. We’ve got plenty of supplies, and if you leave, you can take as much as you want. Nobody has to die here.”
The HERC officer seemed to consider for a moment, and suddenly punched Stephen in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
“We do not trade! Do not think of HERC for some company run by idiots! We do not trade, socialize or rescue barbarians such as yourself! You think all the other ‘survivors’ are friendly?! WRONG! For now, I’m counting they killed twenty-three of my friends! So you and your pathetic little gang of MORONS, can all go to hell!” The HERC officer yelled.
As soon as the officer was done talking, at the speed of sound, a rocket came flying towards one of the HERC vans, exploding and hitting two other vehicles. Stephen quickly took out his pistol and shot the HERC officer in the kneecap, ignoring his pained screams and wiping off the blood from his pants as best he could as he got back on his feet.
“So that’s what this is for!” Jordan yelled out.
“TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH JORDAN!” Stephen yelled back, grabbing the officer by the collar of his shirt and dragging him towards the gate while the few surviving troops fled, only to be picked off by expertly placed headshots, courtesy of Jordan and his rifle. “NICE! Now, what to do with you...” Stephen asked, glaring at the Officer.
“Fuck....You!” The officer replied, spitting out blood onto Stephen’s face.
“Sorry, don’t swing that way.” Stephen joked, tossing the officer into the gate, smiling as the officer grunted in pain when one of the wooden spikes dug into one of his shoulders.
“Ahhh! Bastard! The HERC will get you! Just watch out.... Ahgh...” The officer grunted.
“CHRIS!” Stephen yelled, hitting a switch and opening the gate. “WE’VE GOT A PRISONER. I WANT YOU TO INTERROGATE HIM! FIND OUT WHAT THE HUNTER PROTOCOL IS ALL ABOUT!”
“Kid.... Stay here, I’ll be right back, just gotta take care of some business.” Chris said to Luna, walking out the door to find the officer impaled on a huge spike, “Well, that’ll do..” Chris grinned.
He walked up to him, giving him a quick punch in the face, “What’s Hunter Protocol?!”
“Go... Fuck... Yourself..” The officer spat.
“As you can see, he’s not very cooperative. If conventional methods won’t work, you have the authority to take drastic measures. In the meantime, I’m gonna go make sure our ammo supplies are enough to fend off another attack.” Stephen said, walking off with a lazy salute.
“I’m not gonna ask again.” Chris said to the officer.
“And I’m not gonna say it again.. Fuck you!” The officer spat again.
“Shit.. Rich, give me your saw...” Chris replied with a devilish grin.
“Go nuts, just be sure to leave enough of him to answer the questions.” Richard said, handing him a saw that had just reached the first stages of rusting over. “Oh, also, we need a grindstone or something.”
“Perfect... So listen up asswipe, you can tell me everything you know. If you don’t, I’ll have to begin from your feet. Cutting off every little toe you have, ultimately cutting off your foot. Next I will move up to your crotch. Oh yes, I’ll cut it up into bite-size pieces and then feed them to the Zombies! Sound good? Of course not!” Chris said with a grim voice, quickly pulling up his hand and striking right next to him, causing the officer to piss his pants.
“Crap! Crap you homicidal maniac! I’ll tell you everything!” The officer said in a panicked voice.
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Chris said, giving the saw back to Richard, “Here, not a blood spat on it.”
“Hunter Protocol is basically tracking down all survivors in the city, and either executing them or putting them up as test subjects in Project Overlord, which is designed to study the zombies and find a way to control them using the apparent immunity some survivors have shown to possess. You’re the last survivors in the city, all the rest have already been either captured, killed, or scattered.” The officer explained.
“Thank you kindly.” Chris responded, taking his guitar and smashing into his face, ignoring his cries of agony, repeatedly hitting him until he was nothing more than a bloody corpse with a smashed-in skull.
“Aww... Did you have to kill him so quickly?” Richard said with a bit of a pout.
“Shut it, and get rid of the body.” Chris said, wiping the blood off his face.
Richard sighed, “Fine, I’ll just put it with the rest outside.” He said, and took the corpse over his shoulder, hauling the body outside.
While Richard was disposing of the corpse, Stephen walked over to the gate, Luna following close behind. “Well, what did you find out?” He asked.
“To cut it short, HERC is gunning for us, want to use us to find out how to control zombies or something. We’re also the last survivors in the city, apparently.” Chris said bluntly.
“So everyone else is already gone? Fuck... And how exactly do they plan to use our immunity?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I think they plan to feed us to them until our faces are turned to mush. Or something...” Chris replied.
“WHAT?!” Luna yelled in a voice that actually blew the three back a bit. “These... HERC ponies plan to kill thou and thine friends or feed thee to those... creatures? Why?”
“Science.” Richard spat, wiping the blood from his hands as he walked in, “At least, that’s how they see it.”
“Nay, ‘tis not science. Science is for the betterment of others. What you describe is nothing short of butchery.” She said angrily.
“Now, let’s calm down eh? Come on Luna, I’ll show you this slide that I built!” Chris said, while dragging Luna off so Stephen and Rich were left alone.
“WE ARE NOT A CHILD! THOU AND THINE FRIENDS MAY SEE US AS SUCH BUT WE ARE NOT!” She protested, “WE ARE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!”
“I got candy....” Chris replied.
“We shall not be bribed, Chris, was it?”
“I have caramel....” Chris replied.
“Chris,we shall not accept bribery as we are only interested in finding a way back to Equestria, though after what we have seen, heard, and experienced, we are somewhat loathe to leave thee to fend for thyself.”
“Well.... Sure, I got some ideas, now let’s leave Stephen to... Think, I suppose.” Chris replied.
“Very well... though, we have a question. Thine friend offered to take us in, to make us part of his ‘family’ as he called thou and the others. Why? He refused to answer us when we asked directly.”
Chris leaned in to Luna and whispered in her ear, “Stephen lost his family, except his sister before all this happened. He likes to think of us as his ‘backup’ family as we have to take care of each other in this world gone to... err.... Tartarus! That’s it!”
“He sees thou as, a back-up family? What doth thou mean by this term, back-up?”
“Replacement.” Chris replied bluntly.
“So, he only sees thou as substitutes for those he hath lost? Does that mean that he doth not care about thee?” She asked, almost spitting the words as if they were poison.
“Well, he sees me.. as a brother I guess. We’re all brothers in arms, during this time.” He responded.
“What about when this horrific ordeal ends? Will he still care about thee? Or will he abandon thee and thine friends?” Luna asked, a hint of anger in her voice.
“Of course he’ll still care. Why after this is all over we’ll be more friendlier than two peas in a pod!” Chris responded jokingly, “Now, you still want to see that swing?”
Luna shot him a look, then sighed. “Very well. We shall accompany thee to this swing.”
*
“So, what’s the plan? Got enough traps set up?” Stephen asked, sitting on his bed, cleaning his rifle.
“I hope so. Wish we had a bit more to work with, honestly, but it’ll do... I hope.” Richard replied as he replaced the broken pipe that made up his improvised rifle’s barrel.
“Well, I would go through the vans if they hadn’t been blown up, but it was a necessary sacrifice. I probably would have been shot in the face by that officer before anything else happened.”
“Yeah, thank god for Jordan and his RPG.” Richard said quietly, returning to his traps, “Hey... Do you... Think I’m a bad person because of what happened with the grenade?”
“No, I think you’re an eejit, and slightly insane, but who here isn’t? You just need to be more careful.”
Richard simply looked at the floor with utter silence, and changed the subject, “What do we do if more HERC show up? Our RPG ammo is limited...”
“We do what we’ve always done. We survive. If they want us, they’re gonna have to climb a mountain of corpses to get us.”
“Sounds nice enough....” Richard responded.
“Yeah yeah. Still not enough supplies to build a watchtower, huh?”
“We just need some more metal, and it’ll be finished. Why are you so eager to build it anyway?” Richard asked.
“Why do you think? Jordan’s been bitching and moaning non-stop about the lack of a watchtower and his constant ‘risk of injury’ having to climb onto the roof.”
“Risk of injury my butt. That watchtower will only attract more attention to the safehouse. Some jackass with a sniper decides to play ‘hunt the survivors’ and we’re screwed.”
“I didn’t think you’d be so against it, given your past decisions, like the Ding-Dongs that almost blew us all sky-high...”
“It was necessary! You really wanted that horde of HERC soldier zombies getting through the barricades?”
“No, but you didn’t need to turn them into mini-nukes!”
“Come on, mini-nukes are fun, even you have to admit it, Mr. Boring-pants!” Richard chuckled. “God, for a kid you are a real fuddy-duddy.”
“Alright enough. I assume you already heard about our guest’s ‘unique’, situation.”
“You mean her, being a pony princess? Yeah, when you try to converse in private, you should really work on making sure no one's listening in. Anyway, it seems kinda hard to believe, but in this world gone to hell, what’s not to believe?” Richard retorted.
“Well, the priority is getting her home. When her safety’s no longer an issue, we’ll deal with the HERC.”
Chris walked in Richard and Stephen with Luna, looking at both of them.
“Guys, it’s getting late, and Luna’s getting tired. We should wrap-up, turn off the lights so we can stay below the radar.” Chris said, holding Luna’s hand.
“We are not tired! We just need to rest our eyes!” She grumbled.
“See? Should I get working on it?” Chris asked, smirking a little at Luna when she yawned.
“Sure, she can take my bed. I’m gonna be pulling night-duty anyway.” Stephen said with a weak smile, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Hell no, man, let me take this one, you deserve some sleep. I’ll even heat you up some warm milk if you want, haha!” Chris chuckled.
“It’s not a discussion Chris.” Stephen said sternly.
“And I’m not discussing, I’m telling. Get some sleep, I got this one.” Chris said, his tone deepening a bit.
“Enough. Both of you take the night-watch so we can get some goddamn peace!” Damian yelled from inside.
“How about this then? I’ll take the first half, you take the second?” Chris asked.
“Fine with me.” Stephen shrugged, getting up and walking towards the gate.
“Alrighty Luna, get some.... Eye rest..” Chris said while expelling a big yawn, and sitting on his lawn chair.
The night was calm. You could hear a cricket here and there making his music. The air was fairly still, with only a breeze or two flying by. Sometimes you could even hear a bird chirping. Night was the calmest part of the whole day. Not always the case, though. Sometimes you could hear the cries of lone survivors about to be eaten. You can’t do anything, but sit in your chair, and just....listen. The moon was full this night, and as it slowly sailed through the sky, it’s light growing brighter and brighter.
*
“Stephen... Time’s up, come on...” Chris said weakly, while shaking Stephen lightly.
“Don’t wanna go to school mom... Liam Downey’s a bastard... zzz”
“Dude...!” Chris said, slightly annoyed. Seeing as there was no hope for waking him up, he took his water bottle, and splashed some over Stephen’s face.
*insert splutter noises here* “FUCK! What’s happening?! All guns out! Man the roof!” Stephen exclaimed, looking around wildly for assailants, his eyes still dulled from just waking up.
“Dude! Relax! Oh great, you woke Luna up!” Chris retorted as the complaints of the girl made their way outside, “It’s your turn to take the shift!”
“Oh... sorry.” Stephen said with a sheepish grin, trying to cover for one of his many moments of ‘weakness’ as he put it. “Get to bed, Chris. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be awake for the rest of the night after almost drowning...”
“Alright... Maybe you should talk to Luna? She seems a bit distressed.” Chris said, ducking his head into the pillow. “Have a good one!”
“Sure...” Stephen said, turning to face Luna, who was staring at him with a slight frown tugging at her face. “Uh... sorry, about waking you, I mean.”
“It is alright. We are meant to be awake during the night, anyway. It is, after all, our duty to guard it, and all it represents.” She said, still frowning.
“Ok, then, why are you, however you’re feeling?”
“Chris told us why you offered us a place here. About your family, and how you see these, people, as a back-up family.”
“Goddammit Chris, why do you always describe it that way...” Stephen muttered. “Listen, Luna, I don’t see them as a back-up family. I see them as just family, no ‘back-up’ or ‘extended’ or any of those other terms. After all, to me, family isn’t about being a blood relation, it’s about having the will to put yourself at risk to protect them. It’s about being able to say you’d die for them if necessary, and having absolute faith that they’d do the same for you. As it is, I can call us a family because I honestly believe there’s not one person here who wouldn’t be willing to die for the person standing next to them.”
“Thou makes it sound somewhat different to the way Chris described it.” She said with a raised eyebrow. “Slightly more, noble.”
“Chris tends to be, a little, less-than graceful, with some conversation topics. And when he does have to talk about said topics, his views tend to be... difficult to interpret.” Stephen explained with a shrug.
“We see...” Luna said thoughtfully. “So, thou doth care for the others?”
“I think we established that when I said I was willing to die for them, didn’t we? Anyway, it’s not much, and I know you’ve probably got peo-er, ponies, waiting for you at home, but as long as you’re here, as I said before, you’re part of the family, if you want to be.”
“We.... I... accept your offer...” Luna said, giving Stephen a slight smile, then returning to look at the moon. “We have a question... You had a choice... You could save us, which ye did. Or you could have let us be.... eaten, we suppose... Why did you save us?”
“We live by a motto in this compound. Every life is worth saving, and if you don’t try to save one life, you’ll never save any. Even though Jordan was the one who saw them attacking though, it was my sister who got our rears in gear. We probably wouldn’t have made it in time otherwise. So if there’s anyone you owe thanks to, it’s her. I may be the leader, but she’s the master of inspirational speeches.” Stephen said, chuckling a little.
Luna giggled as well, but something growled inside her, and she grasped her stomach.
“We..... Are hungry!” Luna exclaimed.
“No worries, we’ve got some spare food around here somewhere. I can make some vegetable soup if you want?” Stephen offered.
“We would like that very much! Lead on.” Luna said to Stephen in an almost excited tone. He simply chuckled and led her, by way of a piggyback ride, to the storage containers where they kept their food, rummaging around and tossing things to the side as he searched for the elusive soup. Eventually, a ‘quiet’ cry of triumph escaped his lips as he found a single can, his grin growing slightly as he walked over to the kitchen and began to heat it up.
“So, ready for some ‘gourmet’ soup?” He joked as he grabbed a small bowl and poured the soup in, making a small show of it for no particular reason, tossing the empty can into the air and then straight into the metal storage bin after successfully catching it on the third try, the first two simply resulting in the clang of metal on concrete when he missed, eliciting a few chuckles from the young girl.
Luna tried a bit, and her face expression turned a bit sour.
“Dost thou... Have salt?” Luna asked.
“Just a minute...” Stephen said, searching through the drawers again, “...come on, stupid-Got it!” He grinned, holding up a small shaker of the white crystalline substance, as if it were the Holy Grail, before handing it to her. “Here ya go.”
Luna released a small ‘squee’ as she took the white shaker and began pouring salt crystals into the soup. After giving it another taste, she smiled, and continued eating..
“Thy taste is delectable!” Luna said, still munching on the carrot pieces in the soup.
“Glad you like it.” Stephen replied, before frowning a little. “Hey, Luna?”
“Yes?” She responded, looking up at Stephen.
“When we get you home, do me a favor? Don’t forget about us, alright?” He asked, wiping at his ‘forehead’ with his arm.
“Of course....” She responded, returning to her soup, with a frown on her face.
“What’s up now?” He asked worriedly.
“IF we ever get back home...” She said, munching on the little pieces of the carrots.
“We will get you home. I swear on my life. I won’t stop until I find a way to get you back, pinkie swear,” He replied with conviction, holding out his little finger, only to be met with a look of confusion. “It’s a Pinkie Promise. Take your smallest finger, and wrap it around mine.” He explained.
“Oh yes, we are familiar with this ritual! Our friend Twilight Sparkle showed it to us!” Luna said, while she wrapped her pinkie finger around his and recited: “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
Their faces swapped expressions; Luna was smiling, while Stephen now bore the confused look. “Uh, what was that? I’ve never heard of a Pinkie Promise like that before...”
Somewhere in the back, the crackling of a bed could be heard, when a figure stood up and said: “Dude, you’re ruining the moment!” Before dunking his head back into the pillow.
“Uh... seriously... anyway, guess it’s my turn, huh?” Stephen asked. “Ok, Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Yay! Thy hath done it correctly! The fun has been doubled!” Luna yelled, smiling and jumping.
“Damn, you sound like I did when I was a kid, back before I became a lazy SOB, which is how I remained until this whole outbreak occurred.” Stephen said with a laugh, his heart melting upon seeing the mirth she displayed, his smile quickly being replaced as a sudden shiver went up his spine. “... Luna, stay here.” he commanded, getting up and inching towards the east gate, only looking through it for an instant before running back and quietly rousing everyone else. “Everyone get your asses up! We have to go, now!”
“What the?! HERCeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Chris yelled out across the whole compound, instantly waking Damian, Richard and Jordan, while Meadhbh was still sound asleep. “Wake up! Jeeez! Stephen, what can wake up your sister?!”
“Meadhbh! The HERC are here!” He whisper-yelled into her ear, contemplating screaming as she refused to wake.
“....zzzz....” Nothing but snoring rewarded him for his efforts.
“Dammit. Well, she’s no help.” Stephen said, trying his best to keep his composure while he rapidly went through possible plans, dismissing them almost as soon as he thought of them for a few minutes, too long in everyone else’s opinion as he turned to a small desk overflowing with maps and various charts, blueprints, etc. “Ok, got something. It’s the only option I think we have; Full evac of the compound.”
“You’re crazy, what about all we built?!” Chris asked Stephen, who seemed too distracted looking at his maps.
“It’s either the compound, or our lives. Which would you rather lose?” He asked without looking up. “There’s a hospital nearby, it’s the same one Meadhbh and I ‘regrouped’ in. I don’t know if it’s cleared of...victims...but it’s your best shot for now. I’m gonna make sure these bastards don’t have an easy time of finding you.”
Chris sighed, looking away he quietly said: “I’ll go prep the Deathmobile....”
“Ok. And Chris,” Stephen turned his head from the maps and gave his friend a weak smile, “Take care of Luna. Get her home.”
“I will.... Get back in one piece, alright?” Chris said, before he left for the car.
“...no promises, Chris. No promises.”
Jordan came running up to Stephen, all huffed up.
“Dude.....We gotta go...” Jordan said, trying to catch his breath.
“You gotta go, I’m holding them o-.” Stephen suddenly spun around and hit the dirt, a mix of shock and surprise on his face as blood suddenly splattering Jordan, a gaping wound in his torso.
“What the fuck?! Jesus! Damian, Meadhbh! HELP!” Jordan yelled at the top of his throat, with both of them running to him, pressing Stephen’s wound.
*cough* “... fuck... Feels like... I just got... shot...”
“It’s gonna be alright! Just... Don’t TALK!” Meadhbh yelled out, grabbing a towel and suppressing the wound.
“Hey... Meadhbhy... when’d you... wake up?” Stephen asked with a weak grin.
“Shut up brother! Jesus! He’s losing too much blood!”
“No worries... if I die, I die... that’s...” His eyes fluttered weakly, then closed, and his breathing slowed until it couldn’t be felt anymore.
“Fuck! FUCK! FUUCK!” Meadhbh went into a fit of rage, grabbed her swords and started slashing her way through HERC officers. One by one they went down, blood painting the ground as she was covered in more blood with every kill. After killing several of them, she fell down to her knees, HERC surrounding her. One walked towards her with the air of a cat who knew their ‘prey’ was too weak to resist any further, and drew a pistol, pressing it against her skull, a shark’s grin hidden beneath his mask.
“Fuck....You...” She spat.
“Sorry, scum like you aren’t my type.” He replied, his voice carrying a smug tone mixed with contempt as he began to pull the trigger. If his face had been visible, one would have been able to see the shock and awe in his eyes as his gun was enveloped in a strange light and ripped away from him so forcibly it broke several fingers, and tore off the index completely. He screamed as he looked to where his gun had gone, only to see it being crushed in a dark blue aura, the same one surrounding the hands of the young girl facing them with absolute rage plastered on her face.
“Thou....Does not... Mess with OUR FRIENDS!” Luna yelled, while the strange light enveloped the officer’s arm, twisting it, and nearly tearing it off.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! OPEN FIRE!” He screamed, trying desperately to free his arm from whatever invisible force was gripping it, only succeeding in making it tighter and more agonisingly painful.
As the HERC opened fire, their bullets suddenly stopped in mid-air, only to drop to the ground.
“...The fuck...” Meadhbh muttered, unmoving, simply taking in the sight of the HERC soldiers as they began to shuffle nervously amongst themselves as they reloaded while others kept up the futile barrage of bullets.
Luna didn’t take any notice of the less-than-useless projectiles, her barrier serving its purpose and stopping them before they made it halfway to her. “You have saved us when we needed help, you provided us shelter, you kept us fed, and safe. You risked your life to save ours. So now you shall no longer have to suffer the fate of this world! I am going to take you away from this place! Away from all this madness!” And with that, Luna’s eyes began to glow, and her hands glowed even brighter than before.
“Luna... what... what is this?” Meadhbh asked, staring at her with a mix of confusion, fear, and awe.
Suddenly a large beam covered them, and everything vanished in an endless sea of white.
Author's Note
Hello, people. As you can see, I've edited the chapter. Tried to make it at least a little more descriptive and so on and so forth. Anyway, as you can see, I haven't died and neither has my writing motivation. It's more like inspiration and ideas are just a little harder to come by than I thought they'd be. Hopefully chapter 2 will be halfway done soon. Wish me luck.
