Dead Pony Rising 2

Chapter Twelve

The Time For Truth Is Near

Date: October 1, 2011 2:31 a.m.

Buck and Flank carefully entered the Director’s office; a massive room that overlooked an area called the ‘Secure Labs’. Buck trotted over to a filing cabinet near the back labeled ‘Celestial Sisters’ and started digging through the mysterious contents.

Flank, however, trotted up to a massive wall of computer screens that had pictures of many ponies, ranging from earth and Pegasus ponies to unicorn ponies and even a few gryphons and zebras. There were signs that read: Test Results and Missing Ponies. Flank just couldn’t believe what he was reading. On the other side of the wall, Buck noticed and oil painting of Princess Celestia that was autographed by said alicorn.

“Record of Missing Ponies Reports…” Flank said. “And this is a list of prisoners, Buck.” He turned around to find Buck trotting up with a confidential folder with Celestial Sisters written on it in red bold letters. “What’s that?” He asked.

“Blueprints of Celestial Sisters’ underground. A harvest projection.” He slammed the folder shut and looked up at Flank. “I saw it all back in Celestial Sisters. They need Queens to make Zombrex.” Flank started reading through the file.

“But Phenotrots has been telling the country that the drug is synthetic.” Flank said. “Made in a lab…not from Queens anymore.”

“That’s a lie, Flank, don’t you get it?” Buck asked. “It’s still made from Queens…from zombies.” That’s when Flank pulled out a box of Zombrex from his coat pocket.

“And if you run out of zombies…you just make more.” He said angrily.

“And sometimes you run out of prisoners…or the homeless…” Buck added in. That’s when Flank looked back at the wall of green computer monitors.

“…or missing ponies.” He said solemnly.

The box of Zombrex went flying across the room and hit the wall next to the Celestia portrait. It accidentally triggered one alarm that was still active in the room. In an instant, the loudspeaker came to life.

“Attention,” it said, “all security personnel. Breach in the Director’s office. All available personnel respond immediately. You are directed to use lethal force.” Flank grabbed the file folder and made his way to the exit. Buck trotted over to Flank’s box of Zombrex and grabbed it before he too left the room.

As they exited, two unicorn guards arrived to cut them off. But they weren’t the ones Buck and Flank had gotten used to. They were the size of Clydesdales…maybe even bigger than that. They were dressed in dark black hazmat suits that covered every inch of their bodies. And they had giant weapons attached to their front right legs: a massive yellow device that had the look of a pneumatically-powered hammer. It didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen to the two stallions in the hallway if they were cornered by those things.

“Oh, crap, what do we do?” Flank asked. Buck looked around frantically and noticed a sledgehammer and an axe over to their left. Buck got an idea…one of which he was not going to be too proud of. For almost a week, he’s been killing more than zombies and ponies…he had been killing his own psyche.

“Hand me that sledgehammer and you use the axe.” Buck said. Flank did as he was told and grabbed the two heavy weapons. Buck positioned himself and got ready to attack as Flank hoofed him the sledgehammer.

“Who do you want?” Flank asked.

“Uh…the first one.” Buck said. The two nodded and switched their positions so Flank was taking on the unicorn to the right and Buck was taking on the one to the left. Everything was just a blur to the two ponies.

All they remembered was the sound of breaking bones, gushing blood, and shattering teeth as the two guards fell to the ground, groaning in agony. Buck and Flank took them out of their misery and threw the two weapons down on the ground.

“Are you worried we may have grown desensitized to murder and death?” Buck asked as they trotted down the dark hallway leading back into the main building; going back to his earlier thought.

“Oh, I lost that sense after Fillydelphia.” Flank said without emotion. Buck tried opening the door and realized it was locked from the outside.

“Great, how are we going to get out of here now?” He asked as he turned to face Flank. The aging pony looked around for any possible way out and noticed a wall of windows leading into the secure labs.

“We could smash those windows and escape that way.” He offered.

“We need to leave discretely.” Buck said. Flank looked back at the locked door.

“We could bust down the door.” He said.

“Once again, we need to be discrete!” Buck said angrily, a slight hiss on the first syllable.

“Security G249, you’re not responding. What’s going on up there?” A voice asked out of the silence, sending Buck and Flank back a few inches. They looked down and noticed that it was a transceiver on one of the unicorn’s body going off. Flank knelt down and carefully picked it up.

Quoting one of his favorite movies of all time, Flank responded, “Uh, yeah, we had a slight… alarm… malfunction up here. All’s clear…situation normal.” He let go of the button and waited for the other pony to speak. Buck just shook his head side to side, not being able to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

What seemed like an eternity only lasted a few brief seconds. The door made an unlocking sound, hinting it was locked electronically.

“Pfft, zombies,” the other pony said, “Alright, nice work guys.” Flank pulled himself up.

“You do realize there was a one in five-billion chance that would actually work.” Buck said.

“Never tell me the odds.” Flank said as he trotted out of the hallway and into the main building.

*** *** ***

Date: October 1, 2011 3:00 a.m.

Buck and Flank galloped into the security room just as Flank’s source started communicating with the two again. Flank galloped over to the monitor and started reading to Buck what it said.

“I have your evidence, Flank, but I’m trapped in the secure lab.” He said. “I need to override the security lock to the main lab doors, but it’ll take time. I’ll let you know as soon as I make some progress.” Buck sighed angrily and sat down on a chair next to Flank.

“So, now what do we do?” He asked.

“We could play a game.” Flank said.

“What game?”

“The game…it’s pretty fun. The simple rule is that if you think about the game, you lose.” Flank said with a smirk growing across his face.

“But, how do you win?” Buck asked.

“Just don’t think about the game.” Flank said.

*** *** ***

Date: October 1, 2011 5:58 a.m.

Buck and Flank had waited in the security room patiently for nearly three hours for the source to even respond. Buck had gotten so bored that he started amusing himself with a clickable ballpoint pen. For the past half hour, he just kept clicking it open and closed.

Open and closed.

Open and closed.

Open and closed.

Over and over again and Flank was starting to get annoyed.

“So, where the hay is this stallion?” Buck asked, still clicking the pen away. Flank looked over but didn’t have an answer. He just turned back to the monitors and kept a close eye on them. The clicking pen continued…almost seemingly getting louder in Flank’s ears.

His teeth started grinding as he was doing his best to push away the building anger from what he was hearing. More clicking…more clicking…more clicking. Flank screamed and grabbed the pen from Buck’s hoof and threw it across the room; breathing heavily out of frustration.

“You know, for a guy whose covered wars…you’re just a little high-strung.” He said as a smile grew on his face. Flank spun around and was about to send an insult in Buck’s direction, when the source cam e back up on the computer monitor. After a few brief seconds on reading, Flank turned back around to face Buck.

“Now, see?” Flank asked happily. “He’s got our evidence downloaded. We just need to break in to where he is. But he can’t hack the doors.” Buck pulled himself up and trotted over next to Flank.

“Then, it looks like we’ve got to cut the power.” He said. Flank started typing Buck’s idea in.

Remote Host: I’ve got the evidence downloaded and I’ve put it on a memory stick. But there’s a problem. I’m not able to get out of the secure lab to meet you. There’s a firewall which won’t let me open the doors. Is there anything you can do to help?

Local Host: We can cut the power.

Remote Host: That’s a great idea. I know that there are C4 explosives in the security tower in the zombie storage bay and you can find a detonator from the supply bay. You’ll need to hurry, though – the guards were just called away. This is our chance!

“Now’s our chance,” Flank said, “The guards just took off for something.”

*** *** ***

Date: October 1, 2011 6:09 a.m.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Buck?” Flank asked as Buck was getting the C4 prepared. They had broken into the generator room and were quickly applying the explosives Flank’s source told them about.

“I had a brother in the Royal Guardianship, he taught me a few things about the kinds of new weaponry they’ve been using during territory conflicts.” Buck explained.

“Wait, you had a brother?” Flank asked. “What happened to him?”

“Zebra Troopers kidnapped him, he’s still a P.O.W.” Buck said as he attached another wire. “Now, when I say gallop, you better gallop like Nightmare Moon herself was chasing you with a sharpened horn.” He placed in one last wire before flipping a small switch on the side.

“GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!” Buck shouted as the two galloped out of the generator room. The beeping on the explosive started slow and then picked up rapidly. Within a matter of seconds, an explosion rocked the area and sent Buck and Flank flying through the air. The blast wave shattered all glass in the area and even threw some zombies through the air and into some of the hard, unforgiving walls.

Buck and Flank landed hard on the floor, at the edge of the secure lab doors. All the power in the building suddenly went out and the back-ups for the lights came to life. The two ponies helped pull each other up and made their way into the now unsecure, secure labs. What took almost no time at all, the power kicked back on and everything started humming lightly.

“Power has been restored.” The loudspeaker said. “Thank you for your cooperation.” The two stallions came to a stop as they saw a third pony slowly trotting up to them. She was wearing a blood-stained white overcoat and had a brown ten gallon hat. He fur was a light orange and she had white freckles just underneath her eyes.

“Finally…ya’ made it.” She said looking at the two ponies.

“AJ? You…you’re my source?” Flank asked surprised.

“Applejack?” Buck asked. “Well, thank Celestia that you’re okay.” The young mare slowly made her way over to Flank and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“It’s been so long, Flank.” She said. Flank pushed her away in anger.

“You work for them?” He asked.

“Flank!” She said. “Ah work for ‘em, yes. But it ain’t what ya’ think. Ah was forced t’ do it…it was that or go t’ jail.” She turned away from Flank as tears swelled up in her eyes.

“So, all this time you knew Queens were a key ingredient?” Flank asked. “You’ve been helping them?” She spun back around to face Flank.

“Ah’ve tried t’ make a synthetic.” She continued. “But…she stole mah work!” She started trotting away. “Ah have been working on a cure…Ah was so close…Ah must get out of here and continue mah research.” She looked back to Flank for help.

“Wait,” Buck finally said, “why did you say she stole your work?”

“Oh, my dear, I’m afraid that will never happen.” Everypony in the room looked up to the Director’s office and saw the last pony they’d suspect as running Phenotrots: Princess Celestia herself. The doors leading into the secure labs opened and two unicorn guards came in with automatic weapons drawn.

Applejack, Buck, and Flank all started to kneel to the ground, but AJ took off for another exit in the secure labs and tried to get away. A unicorn shot at her, but missed completely. The guard stopped and turned back to Flank and Buck.

“She was just using us to escape.” Buck said to Flank. The guards then grabbed Buck and Flank and started trotting them away from the secure labs.

“Not to worry, Gentlecolts.” Celestia said. “No pony is leaving from here alive.”

“Don’t give me that.” Buck said. “You no longer care about lives.” He looked up to her and noticed a giant bite mark on her neck.

“Everything I do here is for the greater good.” Celestia continued. “You all rely on me. No pony would even stop me…even if they knew.” The guards continued escorting Buck and Flank out of the room, when two gunshots rang out and the guard behind the duo fell to the ground dead.

Applejack had returned carrying a pistol. Flank smiled warmly, knowing that Applejack wouldn’t betray anypony like that. But his smile quickly disappeared when he noticed another pony standing behind her. His mane was a light grey and he had a beard to match. He had a black eye and many bruises all over the front of his face; in the shape of hooves.

And, much like the unicorn guards that Flank and Buck killed with a sledgehammer and an axe, he had two giant hammed on his front legs that sent a shockwave of energy through any unfortunate pony body. He was Ray, the betraying Clydesdale from Celestial Sisters.

“Applejack!” Flank shouted. But it was too late, Ray slammed one of the hammers into Applejack’s body and she slid across the ground and into some metal shelving. After a few seconds, she started moving and pulled out a flash drive from her front coat pocket and slid it over to Buck and Flank.

“Take it!” She shouted. “The country needs t’ know!” She then fainted as Buck reached down to grab the drive.

“Discord, bring her to me…I still have use for her.” That’s when Discord appeared behind Applejack and carefully picked up her body.

“Discord?” Flank asked in surprise.

“Hello, Flank West.” He said. “It’s a real pleasure to meet you. But, I really need to go.” He snapped his finger and teleported into Celestia’s own private office. Buck tried reaching for the flash drive again, but Ray trotted up and smashed it with one of his hammers.

“Well, we meet again, Buck Greene.” He said. “I’m going to finish what I started back in Celestial Sisters.” He lifted up his hammer and was about to strike down, when Flank rushed over, grabbed the pistol Applejack had moments earlier, and fired some rounds into Ray’s side.

He screamed bloody murder as he started tripping over himself towards a container that housed dozens of Queens. Buck looked on with a smile as Ray’s hammer smashed the glass and he fell through into the waiting, and very angry, Queen wasps. They started stinging every inch of his body and some even climbed inside of his mouth.

After many agonizing seconds, Ray’s body went limp as five wasps pulled themselves out of his mouth; orange fog rising as he gave his last breath. Buck and Flank slowly trotted away from the dead psychopath and faced Celestia’s office. Flank also noticed the huge bite mark on the side of her neck.

“You look like you could use a little Zombrex everyday yourself, Princess.” Flank said. “Why would you do this?” Princess Celestia just smiled and gave a curt laugh.

“You can’t think I need Zombrex anymore.” She said. “I made something to remedy that quite awhile ago.” Buck got angry from what he was told. “With Applejack’s very helpful notes.” She said, looking over at the unconscious mare.

“A cure?” Buck asked. “You’ve had a cure all this time?”

“Of course,” Celestia said, “but it wouldn’t have been in our country’s interests to release it. And besides, none of you are worthy…not really. Its pony greed and apathy that brought zombies into being. The pony race deserves the zombie apocalypse…and now look at you. You’re destroying the very company that brings you the medicine to heal your loved ones.”

“But you’ve loved all of your citizens!” Flank shouted. “Why would you have a sudden change of heart?”

“Well, not only was it greed, our economy has been dipping for years now.” She said. “I was at Appleloosa when everything went downhill. I too was bitten by a rotting corpse. Thanks to Applejack and Braeburn’s notes, I was able to make a cure for me…and for Discord.”

“You helped Discord?” Buck asked. “WHY?!”

“I’ve grown tired of this dual monarchy that my sister and I share…it’s about time that Equestria goes through another absolute monarchy…and you can’t have one without and king and queen.” She started punching some numbers into a small keypad by her desk.

“There will need to be another harvest now.” She said. “You reap what you sow…” And with that, Celestia, Discord, and Applejack trotted away and left Buck and Flank behind.

“Attention, all personnel,” the loudspeaker came on again, “Self-destruct sequence initiated.” Buck started trotting back into the main building of the facility.

“We’ve got to find it!” He said. “The cure…it’s got to be in here somewhere!” Flank grabbed Buck by his jacket and stopped him dead in his tracks.

“We’ve got to get out of here, Buck.” Flank said.

“No, we can’t leave.” Buck said as he continued trotting. “I need to find that cure for my daughter!” Flank stopped him again.

“It’s too late!” He yelled at Buck. “We gotta’ go, now!”

*** *** ***

Date: October 1, 2011 6:57 a.m.

Within the span of five minutes, Buck and Flank escaped the facility with merely the Celestial Sisters underground blueprint. Buck was able to get the remaining bits of the flash drive before he was incinerated. He believed that if he could put the pieces back together and release the data, he could put their beloved princess and horrible Discord behind bars…or better.

Flank looked on as smoke bellowed from the smoldering remains of the Western Equestrian Phenotrots Facility. Buck was waiting patiently on an old Motoclops bike; one with no motor built into the chassis. Flank kept doing what he did best: photography.

“A cure…” Buck said. “Can you imagine the difference that would have made to the country? Let alone the world?”

“That might have been a lie, Buck.” Flank said as he looked over to the sad stallion on the bike. Buck slowly looked over at Flank.

“I need to believe that there’s a cure out there.” He said. Flank turned back and continued looking at the carnage half a mile away. Buck pulled himself off the bike and trotted next to Flank.

“Well,” Flank said, “at least we have the evidence that shows they were behind the Celestial Sisters outbreak.”

“But nopony is going to take our word that Celestia is behind the whole thing.” He said. “I looked through this folder and everything says that it was the previous CEO’s orders…she’s framing Applejack now.” They both stood there in silence for a moment.

“Celestia knew about Appleloosa…and Fillydelphia.” Flank said.

“She resurrected Discord to help bring about the outbreaks in Pegasus and Celestial Sisters.” Buck continued.

“And now she’s rebuilding our government to make way for a new tyranny.” Flank said.

“She framed me, for reasons I don’t know.” Buck said.

“And she killed millions of ponies just to help stimulate the economy.” Flank said. They both stood there in silence again. That’s when an alarm went off on Flank’s watch; time for more Zombrex. His eyes widened.

“My Zombrex,” he said, “I…I left it back in the…” Buck pulled out the white box of Zombrex and handed it to Flank.

“Take it,” Buck said, “the country needs Flank West.”