Dead Pony Rising: Off the Record

Chapter Five

Heist of Discord

“Wait…start over…I’m not really sure I follow.” Rebucka said. It was early in the afternoon and Rebucka had gotten back to the bunker. She didn’t get any evidence but Flank had just explained the situation to Rebucka.

“Okay,” Flank said, “Discord has returned to Equestria, paid that PURE member to start the outbreak, and is working on some sort of experiment using the underground tunnel network. I don’t know what he’s up to…but he’s the one behind all of this.”

“That all makes since…but Discord? Are you sure?” Rebucka asked, Rainbow Dash floating timidly next to the young reporter.

“Yeah,” Flank said, “he paid that poor unicorn sap to do it for him.”

“But, that doesn’t make since…why would he let his own zombie supply loose?” Rebucka asked as she trotted over next to Flank. “Why would he sabotage his own show?”

“I’m sure he’s got his reasons.” Flank said.

“So you say.” Rebucka said. Flank turned to face the mare, curious about her sudden attitude change.

“Wait a minute…is he the one who fed you that tape?” Flank asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Flank.” Rebucka said. As she turned away from the old stallion, a massive explosion rocked the entire bunker. A couple ponies in the hallway lost their footing and fell to the floor from the sudden shock; almost as if somepony dropped a tactical rainnuke just outside the bunker doors.

“Oh, not again.” Flank said.

“It sounded like it came from outside.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over to the monitors.

“Really? Ya’ think so?” Flank asked sarcastically.

“Don’t give me lip, Flank. Something’s going on…somepony is messing with the casino vaults. But…I can’t tell who it is though.” Rebucka smirked lightly.

“Then I guess I’d better get out there and find out for myself.” She said as she grabbed camera and trotted out of the security room. Flank just sighed.

“Now who’s ditching who?” He asked.

“I don’t know if she’s really brave…or just really stupid…” Rainbow Dash said. As Flank left the security room, Rainbow Dash turned back to continue watch on the monitors.

*** *** ***

Queen wasps are what give the zombies in this story reason for existence. Here’s a quick geographical, scientific, and historical story for any avid reader: in the early days before the first outbreak in Appleloosa, pony scientists, in the middle of the Mild West Desert, discovered a new breed of wasp that seemed oddly attracted to pony flesh.

Upon further study, these scientists found out that it could create zombie ponies with just one sting from its stinger. Princess Celestia was given full reports and studies on the strange new insect and found out that its larvae could be used to help reduce the cost of breeding apple trees by giving new apples a much longer shelf life.

Applejack’s cousin, Braeburn, was hired to continue research, along with other residents of Appleloosa. A platoon of Royal Guardians, led by their leader Prince Blueblood, was stationed at the Western Appleloosa Pomaceous Research Facility. The research was going very well and Dr. Barnapple, head of the facility, gave annual reports to the princess.

At the same time, Braeburn started having second doubts about the research and found out that the wasp could be lethal if handled improperly. This was when he started his own private research for a cure against the virus should it be let loose amongst a heavily populated city and/or area.

His fears were soon realized when a few wasps escaped containment and attacked the innocent civilians of Appleloosa. Braeburn and Applejack watched, in horror, as their beloved city was obliterated by Prince Blueblood’s soldiers, in an effort to contain the virus.

Braeburn took all of his research notes and escaped with his cousin to enact his revenge for what occurred to his hometown. It was later found out that Celestia herself ordered the eradication and containment of the zombie virus. In the process of containment, the princess herself was attacked and bitten by a zombie. Using remaining notes on Braeburn’s laptop, she was able to produce the first few vials of Zombrex and, not much later, a cure for the wasp’s deadliness.

Going back to the wasps, the creatures themselves are rather unique. One head wasp, a.k.a. the Queen, embeds itself into the cerebellum of the brain and controls all motor functions of the pony in question. At the same time, the Queen releases microscopic eggs into the pony’s bloodstream and saliva. This helps ensure a continuing trend of zombie ponies.

The eggs, when transported from one pony to another, hatch and form larvae that will soon follow in the footsteps of their mother; however, if the Queen is destroyed, it sends out a chemical signal that causes the larvae in other zombie ponies to rupture and explode, destroying the pony head in the process. This is a quick method to destroy any massive group of zombies.

Flank knew of this and prayed to whatever deities there may be that what he was about to do next still worked. While making his way to the Royal Sun Mall, Flank came across a small group of zombies and one, very hungry looking, Queen wasp. He swatted it to the floor and was getting ready to crush the small thing into the ground beneath his hoof.

“Sure hope this still works…” He said as he slammed his hoof down on the parasite.

And, sure enough, it still worked. In a matter of seconds, every single zombie that was around Flank started seizure-ing and convulsing as, one-by-one, their heads ruptured and exploded all over the walls and floor. Flank couldn’t help but smile.

*** *** ***

Flank soon realized that the ponies that were breaking into the vaults were the same ones that attacked him when he was photographing Discord the night before. Flank slowly entered the Equestriana Casino to find it packed with zombies and a few of the pony guards from the night before. He slowly made his way through the path of flashing and loud slot machines, avoiding zombies and guards as best he could. But as he came up to the main room that housed the Equestriana Casino vault, a guard spotted Flank and started to open fire.

Flank quickly ducked down behind a Luna-themed slot machine, the Nightmare Moon’s Wrath, as it was oddly called. The gunfire suddenly stopped and Flank peaked out to find the guard’s gun had jammed. Flank took the chance to gallop out from behind the slot machine and lunged at the guard. The guard had zero time to react and was thrown to the ground loudly and heavily. The gun skidded off to the side, out of both their reach.

“What’re you doing here?” Flank asked. “Why is Discord doing this?”

“I’ll never talk…you’ll have to kill me first.” Flank got angry and headbutted the criminal into silence. He grabs the gun and starts fiddling around with it. After a few quick seconds, Flank found the problem and quickly resolved it. He slowly trotted over to the door and swung it wide open to find two unarmed pony guards using a drill to break through a giant steel vault door.

Flank carefully took aim and shot the two ponies dead. As their limp bodies fell to the floor, Flank galloped over to the drill and quickly turned it off. He looked around, hoping to find any evidence of why Discord had ordered his guards to drill through the vaults. He unfortunately came up short and slowly trotted back to the door into the casino main floor. His transceiver started ringing and he quickly answered it.

“Yes?” He asked.

“Flank, get back here immediately!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “You need to just ignore those other ponies and focus on the big picture…”

“I am focusing on the big picture, Dash.” Flank said calmly. “If I don’t get the needed evidence, you and your friends might go to prison for the rest of your lives.” He turned the transceiver off and placed it back into his pocket.

*** *** ***

Celestial Sisters had a very interesting design: there were three main parts. The Celestial Sisters Park that stood in the middle and the Luna Strip and Celestia Strip that pivoted from the center at about a 150-degree angle. The Luna Strip had the Equestriana Casino, the Pinkie’s Imaginarium foal toy store, a small casino called Send Me to the Moon, and ended with the Celestial Sisters Arena.

The Celestial Sisters Park, smack dab in the middle, had the entrances to the Wonderbolts Wonderland, the Celestial Sisters Hotel, the Kingdom de Gryphon Casino, the Royal Sun Mall, and was the first place ponies visit when entering the adult pony playground.

And, lastly, the Celestia Strip contained the more adult attractions. Such as the Apple Acres Casino, the Forever, I Do Wedding Chapel, the Naughty Pony Sex Shop and Naughty Pony Peepshow, a stage for bands to perform live, the Drunken Stallion bar, the Feelin’ Lucky mini-casino, the Zebra Brew Bar, and it ends with the Zebra Zavana Casino.

Flank had just exited the Zebra Zavana and was carefully making his way to the Kingdom de Gryphon Casino to finish these scumbags’ plan. Flank lifted a hoof and started scratching at his right ear. He could swear that he was hearing loud, heavy metal music blaring in the distance. The old pony just shrugged it off and continued trotting down the Celestia Strip.

There it is again, the music itself seemed to be getting louder and louder with each step Flank took. Who in Equestria would be playing music, let alone, having a concert during a zombie outbreak?

Metallicolt.

Just…simply…Metallicolt.

The heavy metal band in question, dubbed the best band in Equestria thirty years running, was scheduled to play in Celestial Sisters today, but they either didn’t notice or didn’t get the message that every fan in the playground was either dead or undead.

“DISCORD! DISCORD!” The band shouted in unison to a crowd of zombies.

“The Master of Chaos, he’s pulling your strings!” Shouted Shredder Clopfield. “Twisting your minds and smashing your dreams!

“Blinded by him, you won’t see a thing! Laughing at you when you want to scream!”

“DISCORD! DISCORD!”

“Laughing at you when you wanna’ scream!”

As the band went into their next verse, Flank jumped up on stage and tried talking to the, already distracted, band.

“HEY!” Flank shouted. “TURN IT DOWN! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!”

“GET OFF THE STAGE, OLD STALLION!” Shredder shouted back. “WE CAME TO PLAY FOR OUR FANS, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO STOP US!” Flank grabbed Shredder’s head and forced him to look at the audience of zombies.

“DO THOSE LOOK LIKE RABID FANS?!” Flank asked. “THOSE ARE MORE LIKE RABID ZOMBIES!” Shredder stopped playing and started signaling the rest of the band to follow suit and quit playing their song Master of Chaos.

“Thank you.” Flank said as soon as the last guitar strump ended. “Now, you need to get out of here and get to safety. There are zombies everywhere and a group of highly-trained, and very deadly, ponies are looting the city.

“And, not to mention, Discord has returned…again.” Flank finished. The four band members started shifting uncomfortably.

“Are you sure?” The drummer, Ego Stick, said.

“Yes.” Flank said bluntly. “There’s a bunker full of survivors next to the Equestriana Casino. When I finish up with these ponies, I’ll take you four there.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Shredder said. “Let’s get somewhere safer, everypony.” And with that, the four unicorns trotted off the stage and galloped over to the Feelin’ Lucky mini-Casino. Flank galloped at his fastest speed to the end of the Celestia Strip to see what he was up against.

Six unicorns…all wielding guns…surround, and protecting, a massive, black, metal chariot…filled with huge sacks of bits. Flank nearly lost control of his bladder when seeing this. He hid behind the side of the Kingdom de Gryphon Casino and started thinking of a plan…nothing came to him.

He sat on his haunches and started to give up hope…when he spotted an advertisement for a high luxury-class chariot that could be won at the Feelin’ Lucky mini-Casino. After a few seconds, he had a plan. With the assistance of Metallicolt, Flank could use the chariot to charge into battle and crush all of the guard ponies. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

*** *** ***

Discord was standing on the overhead to the entrance of the Kingdom de Gryphon Casino. He temper was flaring and his eyes were lightly glowing.

“DAMMIT!” He shouted into his transceiver. “What do I pay you pathetic ponies for?” He threw the transceiver down hard on the concrete and commanded some gryphons by his side to follow him. “We’re staying a bit longer than planned, fellas.” He said solemnly.

All the guard ponies lied dead on the ground, some crushed underneath the massive wheels of the red chariot, now redder, Flank West just smiling as he started investigating the massive, black chariot. Rebucka arrived moments earlier to film the carnage that unfurled.

Flank galloped over to the Feelin’ Lucky mini-Casino and talked the members of Metallicolt into using their magic to charge Flank into battle. The destruction itself was made of awe itself. The guards unleashed their guns upon Flank, but Ego had set up a shield around the chariot to protect Flank. Any guard unfortunate enough to fall to the ground was run over multiple times by the heavy and massive wheels of the chariot. Flank was also able to use the destructive force of the chariot to disable the other chariot full of bits.

Rebucka just continued filming the entire area; taking in the destruction with a smile on her young face. “Fan-tastic!” She said excitedly. Flank just smiled and looked over to the black chariot. It was a good thing he did, because the moment his eyes landed on the chariot, Flank spotted a living guard holding a grenade with a pulled pin.

“GET DOWN!” Flank shouted as he galloped and tackled Rebucka to the ground. The moment the two hit the ground, the chariot burst into flames, sending hot coins and shrapnel in all directions. As the smoke cleared, Flank found Rebucka lying on top of him, clutching his body as tightly as a young filly on a scary theme park ride.

“You really need to watch yourself there, kiddo.” Flank said with a smirk as Rebucka started pulling herself up. “I hope I don’t have to do everything for you.” Rebucka gently rubbed Flank’s shoulder as she leaned up over Flank’s torso…a most…erotic…position.

“Touché, Flank.” Rebucka said. “You need me to stick around and stay…on top…of the story?” She continued as she helped Flank back up onto his hooves.

“You do come in handy.” Flank said. “Look, they’re robbing the entire playground. That’s why Discord started this whole thing; just so he could get his slimy claws on more bits.” Rebucka trotted away from the burning wreckage and towards her camera lying on the ground.

“We’ve sure got our story now.” Flank said.

“Our story?” Rebucka asked.

“I just saved your life, Hayes.” Flank mentioned. “I feel that we can share this story and split whatever profits we may make.”

“Hmmm…” Rebucka said. “Good point…fine, I’ve got a meeting with my source tonight. I think maybe it’s time you met.”

“Good, guess I’m not such a burden anymore.” He said with a smile.

“I think this is a special case, Flank.” Rebucka continued. “I’ll meet you tonight, at midnight, at the Benny Jacke Hangout in the Equestriana Casino.” Rebucka said as she started trotting away.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Flank said just before she was out of ear shot.

*** *** ***

It was nearing midnight, Flank had arrived at the Benny Jacke Hangout moments ago. The hangout was a two-floor restaurant that served nothing but vegetarian meals and desserts; the perfect diet for any pony in Equestria!

Anyway, Flank was trotting around the second floor, waiting patiently for Rebucka to show up. He had half-expected her to be there already with her source whomever it may be. While he waited for what felt like hours, Flank took the time to kill any zombies that had gathered on the second floor. There were only a few, and one had a Royal Guardianship-grade sniper rifle with him.

Flank was bored and took the time he had to pick off the zombies on the main casino floor. He wasn’t the best marksstallion, but he was adequate enough to get a couple headshots. He even got one that had a Queen in its brain and caused a massive group of zombies to convulse and die…again.

“Oh, Rebucka, where are you?” Flank asked as he fired the last bullet. He threw the gun down to the main floor and just sat there with his head in his hooves. Checking his watch, he saw that the time was nearing one in the morning.

“Oh, Flank!” Came a familiar voice through a walkie-talkie on the floor. “Please, save me!” The maniacal Draconequus laughed hysterically. “All right, Flank West. You’ve been messing things up for me big time. I believe it’s time for a little payback.”

Flank grabbed the transceiver and pressed the talk button. “Discord, where the hay is she?”

“I can tell you where she’s not…safe.” Discord laughed again.

“DISCORD!” Flank shouted.

“Okay, enough fooling around, you’re going to go get me that money you cost me with your little games, Flank.”

“How much?” Flank asked.

“Oh, you’re a willing contestant, well, I’ve always known that…anyway, you’re going to get me one million bits…by seven o’clock tonight.”

“And how am I going to do that?” Flank asked.

“It’s Celestial Sisters, Flank.” Discord said. “The only place, currently, in Equestria where gambling is legal and permitted. Get creative…you are in a casino after all. Oh, by the way, bring it to the Everfree Nightclub in the Zebra Zavana Casino and we might just let you see your little fillyfriend again.”

“Don’t you lay a talon on her…” Flank said, gritting his teeth to the point they could break.

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s too late for that threat, Flank.” Discord said happily. “See you tonight, Mr. West.” The transceiver went dead and Flank dropped to his haunches in utter sadness and depression. But, something floated down next to him, knocked loose from the vibration of him hitting the ground. Flank bent forward and saw that it was a copy of a magazine.

The Gambler it read on the cover.

Flank scooped it up and started to read it, maybe a little knowledge will go a long way.