//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 Welcome to the Jungle // Story: My Little Zombie Nazi's are magic // by valion1 //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Welcome to the Jungle When they arrived the group gathered themselves and began to prep for their last little adventure together. As Dempsey shook off the cobwebs he noticed Rainbow Dash and Applejack standing there in human form. He said “So we finally got around to seeing my wish fulfilled we finally switched that crazy Nazi bastard out for not one but two hot chicks this must really be paradise!” Rainbow dash walked over and said “You do realize its just me and Applejack.” he nodded calmly offhandedly satisfied with the view. She smiled and said “So which one of us looks better.” He sat there for a few moments deliberating on it as Twilight sparkle interjected and said “This is no time for a beauty contest for one. For two how the hell did that happen to you.” Applejack explained about the VR-11 and then walked over to Dempsey to let him examine her a little closer but before he could really start to look her over she began to revert to her original form. When she returned to normal she walked over to a nearby tree and began to mumble obscenities at the expense of how short lived it was. In short order Rainbow dash reverted as well. Dempsey said “From what I could tell I'd have to say I prefer Ms Applejack because she seems like the kinda girl I could take home to mom, if I ever got home. And still be able to have my parents enjoy her company. Rainbow on the other hand seemed like more the type to be a college frat girl who I could party with all night but probably not be able to settle into a relationship with.” as Nikolai gathered his faculties along with Takeo they echoed his sentiment and conferred that Applejack was the more likable of the two across the board. After that Twilight did a quick head count to find out how many of the ponies were in attendance and to her surprise they were all there including Sweetie belle who had fallen unconscious next to Rarity. Twilight let out a sight of relief as she realized they may be close to being free of this mess all they had left to do was acquire the last focus stone from the temple and then to use the power she acquired from them to take them back to Ponyville in hopes of destroying so that there wouldn't be a chance of it falling into the wrong hands. Once again they found themselves stripped of their gear but at least one thing seemed to stand out Richtofen was strangely absent. Dempsey and Twilight began to suspect something was amiss and decided the first thing they would need to do is find the focus stone before Richtofen could manage to fulfill what ever intentions he had. Rainbow dash made her way over to Twilight and said “Hmm I just thought of something it seems like you guys would have a hard time navigating the jungle as you are. So I was thinking why not try and replicate the effects of that VR-11 with your magic that way we'd probably have an easier way passing through.” Twilight said “I guess I could try. You and Applejack will need to come over here so I can use my magic to scan you for residual traces of the energy that caused the transformation so I can attempt to copy the effect.” they made their way over and Twilight began to focus on copying the effect. As she did her horn began to glow and eventually started to release a beam that began to scan the ponies and when it had finished she smiled and began to draw her magic through the gold rods and focus stones she'd acquired from Richtofen to amplify her power. After what seemed like about an hour of intense focus she asked the ponies to gather around her so she wouldn't have to overextend the radius of the spell. They followed her request and as she released the magical wave the group instantly transformed into human forms, Rainbow and Twilight taking the same appearance they had previously and Rarity taking the form of a rather extravagant looking fashion model while the Cutie Mark Crusaders took similar appearances to their elder counterparts with Apple bloom coming out looking like a roughly teenaged version of Applejack who was in roughly adult proportions. Likewise Sweetie Belle came out looking like a teenaged equivalence to her big sister except dressed more like an average high school student than a model. The only exception was Scootaloo as she came out looking like a teenager wearing an outfit similar to the costume she'd came up with when the group was preforming at the talent show a few months earlier. When the light from the spell casting died down it revealed that Twilight retained her pony form. Applejack walked over to her and just looking at her she could tell Twilight was exhausted from over using her magic. So she and Applebloom set to building her a lean to shelter to rest in while they made their way toward the temple and attempted to get the focus stone before Richtofen. As they made their way off Dempsey commented that “If I remember right most of the process we used the last time we were here should be just the same this time around.” Rainbow Dash said “Wait a second you remember being here, I thought Richtofen was taking advantage of the Element 115 in the Perk A Cola drinks to continually wipe your short term memory.” Takeo responded saying “Well I believe the main reason why we are retaining our memories better than usual amounts to our bodies developing a tolerance to the memory wipe and the idea that due to this time loop business Richtofen has us stuck in our memory retention is increased due to the idea of Deja Vu.” Applejack said “So in short by continually reliving the same events over and over your able to remember exactly what happens between loops, but your acting like your memory is still getting wiped to keep Richtofen's defenses lowered. That’s pretty smart of you.” Rainbow dash cracked a grin and said “Speaking of smart no offense but you seem like you've been reading Twilight's text books all that “Fancy language” your throwing around.” obviously poking fun at a comment she remembered hearing Applejack make to Big McIntosh after he made mention of how many trees she would have to handle apple bucking all on her own during this past springs apple buck season. She immediately tapped Rainbow dash on the shoulder and the spun back around whipping her leg out and round house kicking Rainbow Dash into a near by tree. She smirked and said “Still strong as ever these legs can kick hard as ever even as dainty as they look they still pack a punch. Pardon the pun.” the group regathered themselves and began working out the puzzle that opened the way to the focus stone. First they had to activate the eclipse by pressing in on four skull shaped plates which caused a time warp to occur and started the process. Then Dempsey lead one group to a series of tiles in the floor on one side of long bridge Takeo lead the Apple Sisters to another one next to the Revive soda machine and Nikolai lead Rarity and Sweetie Belle over to one a group near the location where the MPL sub-machine gun buy point was. The three group leaders pulled out radios and explained that this step required them to call out to each other sequentially which symbol shows up on each tile and then have the next person find a tile with the matching symbol and stand on it. Once all the tiles were matched they would be contacted by the voices that guided them the last time to hear the next step. The group quickly worked through the matching puzzle after delaying a wave by Rainbow dash making a crawler and leading it around the exterior of the area. Once they finished a matched golden rod/focus stone pair appeared from the boulder where the MPL buy point was. Then Takeo quickly lead his group down to the water slide and had them stand on a pressure plate while directing Dempsey's group to the switch that corresponded to the pressure plate at the bottom of the slide. After that Takeo took the Apple sisters to find the mystery box in the hopes of finding the equipment needed to complete the next part of their task. Upon finding the box the group holds out for a few rounds taking turns with the box between swarms. After a few tries Apple Bloom acquires a strange gun that had intricate dragon engravings on it and weird organic looking frills down the side which her HUD identified as the 31-79 JGb215 which Takeo simplified to calling the shrink ray. Apple bloom thought about it for a few moments and then turned around and fired it at her sister causing her to shrink to roughly the same size she was while she was under the effect of the Poison Joke plant they ran into outside Zecora's house the first time they were there. She quickly picked up her shrunken elder sister and said “Well looks like I’m the big sister again for once.” grinning from ear to ear as Applejack began to kick and scream obviously angry at her sister's joke. She shouted “Apple Bloom how dare you do that to your big sister I'll make sure to tell Big McIntosh on you when we get back!” but before she could continue any further into her angered rant Apple bloom dropped her down into the front of her shirt for holding purposes. Takeo said “That was rather mean to do to ones sister.” Apple Bloom replied saying “My only reason for doing it was because everypony always compares me to Applejack and I hate it. I know its not her fault but all the other fillies at school treat me badly because I was the last in my class to get a cutie mark.” as she lowered her jeans a little to show of the cutie mark she had shown off earlier but Takeo didn't get a clear view of due to his position when the group beamed in. :Plus the colts always ogle Applejack when she's not looking and they act like I’m not where near as attractive as she is even though I know the girls in the Apple Family have always had a history of being well known for their looks. But just like with my cutie mark I was a bit of a late bloomer as you can see.” she paused and let Takeo look her over. The soldier smiled and said “You don't realize this now but looks aren't all that make one attractive. You see there is a proverb that says “Those who seek beauty without restraint may lose themselves to their obsession and become ugly to those who would find them the most attractive.” it basically means that if you try too hard to make yourself beautiful your fixation on it will make you seem ugly to those who know your true beauty.” she stepped back and thought for a few moments on the words that Takeo gave her and said”Your right. I shouldn't be jealous of my sister because there may be somepony who will see me for who I am and come to like me. I've just gotta take my time.” she looked down and saw her sister trying to scale the inside of her shirt and smiled before reaching down and grabbing her. She set Applejack on her shoulder and said “I'm sorry sis I didn't mean to do that I was just so frustrated by everything I go through back home I figured i'd take advantage of this and finally get some recognition for how cute I looked.” Applejack smiled and said “Apple Bloom don't worry your little head one bit about it. I always had a feeling you felt like this but I never wanted to say anything about it because I thought it would just upset you. I’m sorry.” as she walked across Apple bloom's shoulder and gave her a hug around the side of her neck. After that the pair followed Takeo to the location of the gem they needed for the next step. Apple Bloom dislodged it from its resting place with a grenade and quickly shrunk it as it rolled into the water slide and then followed a path to its resting above one of the water spout launchers. Once they'd finished that step the group they went to where the pressure plate was where Takeo noted the presence of a gas pipe and a crank to increase the pressure. So they quickly turned the handle and build the pressure inside the pipes to the maximum the near by gauge could read and almost immediately they noticed the pipes began to leach gas into the air. Takeo called Dempsey on his radio and checked to see if they'd encountered a Napalm Zombie yet and while Dempsey, Scootaloo and Dash hadn't encountered one. Takeo soon received a call from Nikolai saying that he had one in pursuit. Takeo directed him to bring the zombie down through the tunnels making sure it ignited the fumes leaking from the pipes around them. Just then the time warp period ended and returned everything to the present, and as a beneficial side effect reverting Applejack to her regular size. She offered to run and help Dempsey and the other two activate the eclipse again while Takeo watched over Apple Bloom. Once the eclipse was active again Takeo turned the handle again and the pipes began to leak once more as he instructed Nikolai to lead the zombie through while he took Apple Bloom to continue on with the next step. As Nikolai, Rarity and Sweetie Belle walked the zombie through the tunnel systems Rarity noticed her sister was humming a tune under her breath. When they got far enough away from the napalm zombie not to draw its attention Rarity pulled Sweetie Belle aside and asked her about it and she said “Oh that song was the song the little girl I was with liked to sing its actually a bit more hard rock then I’d like but I’m sure of Scootaloo heard it she'd enjoy it as she began to hum the base line of the intro before she started to break into singing as the walked. No one can see me and I've lost all feeling. And I know I won't die alone. I'll stop you from breathing. And all your deceiving and this house is not my home! (No) More forgiveness And the reason is I know I won't die alone (I have returned) Everyone dies, and everyone lies. They're waiting for the second coming again, Everyone tries to hold onto their lives When no one's alive (Bring me 115) as Rarity listened to her sister sing she could tell there was a hidden message in the lyrics the girl was trapped and was fighting for her sanity. She also noticed that the way her sister sung it changed at certain points as though there were meant to be different voices singing at those junctures one being a representation of the girl's remaining innocence and the other being an almost demonic entity representing her inner demons and her urge to get revenge on who ever was responsible for what ever wrongs had befallen her. Sweetie Belle smiled and said “Sam taught me a few songs. If you want to I can give you and the other girls a performance of them once we get back to Ponyville. I think you'll like a few of them because while they seem dark and dreary you can tell she still is trying to keep ahold of herself and has no desire to follow through with this but her other side is forcing her.” Rarity nodded slightly intrigued by the notion of hearing the songs now that she'd gotten a glimpse of them. Once Nikolai had finished leading the fire spitting zombie through the tunnels along the line of the pipes Takeo pulled the lever next to the valve and triggered the next step in the puzzle. He quickly radioed Dempsey and told him to head over to the tunnel near the MP5k buy point and make sure that one of their group had the Punjabi spike clay more mines. As Dempsey lead Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to their destination Rainbow pulled out her spikemores and followed Dempesy's directions on where to plant them along the wall while Scootaloo lead a group of crawlers from earlier in the wave through it. Once the holes in the wall were plugged by the spikes Dempsey walked over to a small outcropping of rocks and pressed on a stone panel that caused a surge of water to fill the room on the other side of the wall. When the room had filled they noticed that the time distortion had reset itself and they were back in the present. After taking a trip back to the starting room to regroup they activated the eclipse again and as they made their way out they noticed there were strange panels on the wall with glowing symbols just as the ones from before. The group split into three and began to work the puzzle of the tiles as they did before. As Takeo and the Apple Sisters made their way out toward their designated area Applejack stopped by to check on Twilight. She cautiously made her way up to the lean to surprised to see it was fairly undamaged for how long it had been there she guessed that it was because the zombies must have taken it to be an existing structure and left it alone. Apple Bloom poked her head into the door and was surprised to see where they had left their purple unicorn friend now sat a spry looking if not slightly geeky human in a lavender outfit consisting of a skirt and something resembling a boarding school uniform. She smiled and said “Well surprised to see me like this. During the last eclipse cycle the focus stones that bound themselves to me activated and gave me a surge of power that transformed me without even having to draw on my magic.” she stood up and clenched her fist obviously frustrated at Richtofen's actions Apple Bloom could tell that she was bound and determined to stop the mad man from fulfilling his goals. She politely asked Takeo for his radio and asked the group to regroup at the lean to so that way she could preform a special spell. So while Nikolai and his group were fairly willing to come back to base she could tell from the exasperated tone on the radio that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo couldn't care less but grudgingly agreed to come after Dempsey mentioned the idea that he suspected it had something to do with the Focus Stones Twilight was carrying inside her. When the group had gathered Twilight brushed her hair back revealing her unicorn horn which she was able to manipulate while in that form. She said “Girls there's something I need to do before we continue with this knowing that Richtofen is just waiting for us to finish completing this puzzle I need to divide up the focus stones and golden rods I already have that way you don't have to go out of your way to worry about protecting me.” then her horn began to glow and like wise her body began to follow suit. It began to tremble as the focus stones energy interacted with her magic. Her new human form began to expand taking what Dempsey described as being that of a pregnant woman on the verge of giving birth. One at a time the focus stones and golden rods began to extract themselves from her body floating out into a circular group and placing themselves in front of each of the other ponies. She instructed each of them to take one and without question the group followed their leader's direction with the orbs belonging to Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity beginning to blink in and out between their normal appearance and that of their respective Element of Harmony before merging into their bodies. The only one of them who didn't receive one was Sweetie Belle and when she asked Twilight about it she explained that they were lacking the last of the focus stones needed to take the group back home as that one would have gone to Sweetie Belle. As for the younger ponies the stones just merged into them directly, after that Twilight returned to the original humanized form she had taken and asked where they were in the puzzle and asked if they were in need of an extra set of hands. Takeo handed her a spare M1911 pistol and an MP5k and said “Any help we can get will be greatly appreciated by our group as well as yours.” after that the group set out and began to work the next step of the puzzle this time it revolved around matching symbols on tiles placed on the walls at different points in the map similar to the earlier procedure with the tiles on the ground. They quickly blazed through that step and continued on to the next one which required the to turn the dials on the walls of the mud pit temple to a specific series of symbols. The first near the far end of the temple facing roughly Northwest of where they started to a symbol that resembled the number 16 then across from that was another one that needed to be turned to a symbol with a single dot that counted as one. Then on the wall directly facing spawn they turned the dial to a symbol that had three dots and finally the last one to a symbol with 4 dots. Once that finished Dempsey commented “The next step involves using the shrink ray to get a pack of dynamite. So who here has the shrink ray.” Apple Bloom smiled and raised her hand pulling the gun out from a pack. Dempsey offered to lead her to the location where they needed to be stationed to get the dynamite while he asked Takeo to activate the gems by sounding the gongs in the area that resonated with the Focus Gems. The team broke off and set about their tasks Apple Bloom going with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo following Dempsey out to the temple focus stone where the focus gem that had the dynamite hanging off of it. Takeo quickly struck the sequence of gongs and the stones began to resonate with a bright light as Apple Bloom fired the shrink ray at the gem. The beam bounced around and eventually looped back around dislodging the dynamite. After that they took the dynamite to the temple along with Apple Bloom's shrink ray first activating the pressure plates that opened the Pack-A-Punch machine and upgraded the shrink ray to the newly renamed “Fractalizer” and then fired it at the gem above the mud pit temple. The beam ricocheted from stone to stone and eventually hit the meteor above the temple shrinking it. They quickly applied the dynamite to the wall and blew the panel out revealing a chest with the shrunken meteor levitating over it. As the stone floated there a beam of lightening came out from the cropping that hit Rainbow dash and knocked her to the ground badly singed and seeming to be nearly dead as the familiar cackle of the Nazi madman Richtofen began to ring out from among the trees. He started to ascend the stair case toward the focus stone and as he did his face was splayed with a sadistic grin as he looked at the incapacitated Rainbow haired pony. He looked at them pulling out the Wonderwaffle DG-3 that he'd acquired from Der Riese on a previous loop as Scootaloo stepped up her face brimming with anger she stared him down and said “You monster how could you do something like that so someone who did absolutely nothing to you.” the scientist replied saying “Little one you fail to realize you and your cursed pony friends have interfered with my plans to get myself out of this forsaken world, to make my way to a place where my weapons designs could spark an unending war.” Scootaloo's wings began to beat furiously as her skin began to glow with light she clinched her fist tightly and charged at the madman. As she made her way down the front of the temple she began to fly and the stone inside her began to glow with a spectacular radiance as Richtofen fired streams of shots from his DG-3 the little pink haired daredevil evading each shot with an almost super human level of agility as she delivered a straight right hook to the jaw of the crazed Nazi sending him careening down to the ground. She pursued him as he fell laying into him with a fury of blows that left him battered and bloody on the ground at the foot of the temple. She stood over him and said “No one hurts Rainbow dash, No one hurts her. She may not be the most responsible, or the smartest, or the most beautiful or the strongest. But she has enough determination to make up for anything.” her eyes glowed with anger and showed a flame crackling as Apple bloom rushed down the stairs and tried to calm her friend down. Just then as she put her hand on Scootaloo's shoulder a glimmer appeared around the area of her hip and when it faded a symbol that resembled a flaming heart appeared in its place. Apple Bloom smiled and said “That's it Scootaloo its your cutie mark.” immediately her rage turned to joy as she hugged her friend and asked her to help get Rainbow Dash down to ground level as she saw Dempsey starting to carry her down. Dempsey brought Rainbow Dash down and set her in front of their group they looked her over and could tell she'd taken a serious hit but as always she wore a smile to hide the pain. She looked over at Scootaloo who clearly looked to be on the verge of crying and said “That was amazing kiddo you really let him have it, and you earned your cutie mark as well so now you can finally be happy with yourself.” she reached up and took Scootaloo's hand and gave it a firm shake before receding into unconsciousness from the pain. The emotions building around within the young filly were intense and left her torn between wanting to be there for Rainbow Dash her sole inspiration in life or to tear the crazed scientist limb from limb. While the group was busy tending to Rainbow Dash Dempsey walked over and put a hand on Scootaloo's shoulder and said “We'll deal with Richtofen you guys go after the stone and try to find your way home.” Scootaloo nodded quietly as Richtofen began to stand up his face drenched in blood from Scootaloo's beating, he drew out a focus stone and a golden rod and began to cackle saying “You fools someone like me with the forethought to plan for all eventualities can't be defeated so easily.” he placed the orb on the rod and it began to infuse him with its combined energy shrouding him in a barrier of light. Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai began to unload their upgraded MP5k's and in Nikolai's case an upgraded RPK he'd stolen from Richtofen during their time in the vault. Richtofen began to laugh at the bullets as they deflected off the barrier saying “So you think you can really do anything to me as I am. At this point I have powers beyond comprehension.” as he waved his hand and discharged a blast of energy that badly damaged Nikolai and splashed on Takeo and Dempsey. Dempsey looked at his former supposed ally and said “You really wanna play god in that case I’m a fucking atheist!” as he began unloading grenades and more SMG fire into the wall of energy trying to goad the scientist into following them. While this was going on Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie Belle around her stomach and air lifted her to the top of the temple where she grabbed the focus stone and returning with her to the group at the base. With each of them now in possession of their respective golden rod and focus stone the ponies decided it would be best to allow Twilight the time to do what she needed to do to prepare for their transport back to Equestria. They gathered up and she began to focus her magic in an attempt to take them home but as she started the process she saw Dempsey and the others fighting against Richtofen and realized that without their help the other three survivors may be doomed to die at Richtofen's hand. So Twilight decided to use her powers instead to call out the powers of the elements of harmony residing within Rainbow dash and the other elder ponies as well as herself in an attempt to strip Richtofen of his new powers. They stood in a small circle and began to concentrate as the focus stones within them began to reveal themselves again taking the form of each pony's respective element of harmony, For Twilight it was Magic, for Rarity it was Generosity, for Rainbow dash it was Loyalty, and for Applejack it was Honesty. As the orbs took these forms they pushed out of their respective carriers bodies and began to levitate over them enshrouding the group in light as their clothing transformed to a tight set of combat suits consisting of an outfit not unlike a Japanese Sailor suit style school uniform adorned in each pony's respective colors and with broaches matching their cutie marks. They quickly set off after Dempsey and the others leaving the Cutie mark crusaders to fend for themselves. Apple bloom upon seeing the spectacle said “I wonder if we have elements of harmony that we correspond to because we do kinda have a similar closeness to what they have and I’ve always had a feeling we each had something special about each of us. For one I've always done my best to hold the group together and keep us unified even after me and Sweetie Belle got our cutie marks and for a while when you were threatening to leave the group because you hadn't gotten yours yet Sweetie Belle here was able to reason with you better than even Twilight and the others were able to in order to keep you in the group.” Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded saying “Yeah and your passion for finding yourself and helping us find our cutie marks as well as your strength of will and your determination to succeed mean you embody more raw passion and drive than I've seen from any other pony in Ponyville.” the three girls felt something wash over each of them as the gems began to light up within them. Scootaloo's began to show through and it took on the appearance of a stone like the other elements of harmony but emblazoned with a large flaming heart not unlike her cutie mark. Then Sweetie Belle's emerged and it showed a symbol that looked like a speech bubble to represent her ability to talk things through and reason with them. Finally Apple Bloom's took the appearance of a piece of twine wrapped around three strands of hay, the string holding them together and allowing them to work with each others strengths representing unity. The trio sprinted off after the group of elder ponies knowing this development could prove useful. When they caught up with them Rainbow dash and the other had been trading blows with Richtofen who was now sheathed in a barrier of energy that seemed to repel anything that hit it. Apple Bloom walked over to her sister and mentioned what had happened and Applejack replied saying "That must mean that you three are like the rest of us you each have your own element that ties you together and this experience has brought it out of you like with us during our run in with Nightmare Moon." the three younger ponies nodded and said "Yes, and with the power we hold we'll try our best to help us get home.” and with that the group gathered around Richtofen drawing the focus stones out and combining them with their golden rods. When they had mounted themselves upon the rods they each transformed into a weapon that matched the attributes of their respective wielder Twilight's forming a magical staff Rainbow Dash's taking the form of something similar to the Wonderwaffle DG-3. Applejack's formed a lasso made of energy and Rarity's took the form of a elegantly decorated trident while Sweetie Belle's formed a microphone and Scootaloo's took the form of the ray gun while Apple Bloom's took form of a seemingly common rod but then a beam of energy began to jut out of it cresting a few feet above her head and forming a giant hammer head. Applejack smirked a little and said “Well looks like we're ready to take Richtofen down. Wouldn't you say ladies?” the girls smirked and nodded in agreement as they raced off after Dempsey and the others. When they'd caught up with the others they saw Takeo laying against a tree holding his ribs and trembling in pain as he pointed them toward the battle ahead. Twilight darted ahead to see Richtofen beating Dempsey seemingly to within inches of his life the gruff marine doing his best to maintain a brave face for the girls as they began to make their way toward the two fighters. Twilight drew her staff and began to concentrate her magic through it calling out the incantation to a powerful sealing magic she'd learned during a study trip to Canterlot from Princesses Celestia and Luna. Meanwhile Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo charged at Richtofen brandishing their new weapons and unloading volleys of shots into the scientist's shrouded body which surprisingly managed to pierce the barrier and bring Richtofen down to a knee. He looked at them and said “So you've taken the power of the focus stones for your own use as well. You realize you've just reduced yourselves to my level?” the two Pegasi stared at him with Rainbow Dash restraining herself from rearing back and smacking him as a lasso made of energy whipped around the scientist and began discharging energy into him further disrupting the barrier as Applejack dashed in and secured him in a stiff knot. But the scientist abruptly began to cackle in a sardonic tone as he started to rise the golden rod and focus stone rising up. The energy from the stone began to pour into Richtofen and he began to rise off the ground and he broke out of the lasso and fired a flurry of blasts from his Wonderwaffle which drove the group to scatter. Sweetie Belle stepped out and drew her microphone as Rarity stepped up beside her and readied her trident to attack they each harnessed their unicorn magic into the weapons with a key forming in Rarity's hand decorated similarly to her broach as she inserted it into a slot below the base of the trident points on the handle. The weapon called out in a rather energetic voice saying “Final Wave!” as the energy began to charge into the multi pointed blade and she called out “Radiant Prominence!” as she charged at Richtofen spinning the weapon as she encroached on him and slashed him a few times in each direction leaving waves of energy to gash Richtofen and managing to take off one of his arms and wound his leg. Rarity was briefly taken aback by the blood splatter but she realized that it was needed as she finished the attack by stabbing Richtofen straight through the stomach impaling him on the trident. She tossed the seemingly limp scientist to the ground and said “Well it seems as though that's finished.” but then he began to rise from the ground his eyes glowing in a fashion similar to the zombies. Richtofen began to grin as his severed arm began to levitate in place next to him before reattaching itself to him as he said “While that was a valiant effort at this phase there is nothing you can do short of shattering my focus stone that will result in my death. My mastery over the golden rod and focus stones allows me to will time to reverse at my command nullifying any injuries that are inflicted upon me.” but despite his boasting he was changing in appearance somewhat. His skin darkened and began to take on a decayed shading not unlike the zombies. His voice began to distort and warp taking a demented female tone as the voice spoke it was clear that there was another being influencing him it said “This man's pride will be his down fall he killed me and my father to steal all of his hard work and use it for his own benefit. All of the raw element he's holding has granted me the ability to overtake him for the moment. My name is Samantha Maxis, or as most of you address me Sam. My father worked for group 935 an organization meant to better society, but when Dr Richtofen found a way to get the Teleportation system working and was sent to the moon he returned a changed and corrupted man who planned to uses my father's research for his own benefit.” she looked over at the other three survivors and addressed them saying “I apologize for sending the swarms of Zombies after...” her voice abruptly subsided and Richtofen's returned “You will not take me Samantha I am an entity beyond man kind, beyond deities, I am all powerful.” his body began to radiate waves of element 115 radiation and swarms of Zombies began to form around him moving toward the ponies and the other survivors. They began to move toward our group of zombie slayers and were cut down with a few shots from the combined Ray Gun and Wonderwaffle combo issued by Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Sam began to speak again saying “I will restrain him please do what you can to destroy him.” the ghostly image of a young girl who looked about 14 years old formed over Richtofen's body and physically held him in place. Just then Twilight began to hover over the battlefield her body shrouded in the familiar shade of purple energy that normally formed around her horn during spell casting. Her voice was hushed speaking in an ancient archaic tongue that was virtually indecipherable to anyone else there. Suddenly her magic staff reverted to the stone and orb and began to radiate streams of energy which returned the others to their natural form as well and began to levitate them in orbit around Twilight as a pillar of energy formed around her drawing the others in and energizing their elements of harmony. Sam looked up and pleaded with them asking them to hurry as she was losing her hold on Richtofen who had began to draw energy from the Focus stone he still had and began to focus it into a beam directed at the group. Likewise at the center of the field a dense field of energy formed to match as Richtofen discharged a massive wave of energy at the pillar. Moments before it struck Twilight launched a beam that intercepted it in midair and thus a struggle of wills began between the scientist and the combined will of the seven ponies. As the beams met in midair they began to sway back and forth in a tug of war for dominance. With each passing second the ponies could feel the battle wearing away at them, and most at twilight's reserve of magic which was made evident by them beginning to regress to their original forms over the next several minutes. By the time all of them had regressed she was pouring all of her magic into the fight and even that didn't seem as though it would be enough. Then Sweetie Belle saw the ghostly form of Samantha forming over Richtofen and felt a compulsion to sing as she heard Samantha leading and she heard the pounding guitar music in the background not unlike the type she knew Scootaloo had a habit of listening to on her Ipony. At first her somewhat sensitive ears had a hard time listening to it but as the opening mellowed to a a less ear straining solo backed up with drums she heard Sam begin to sing “All of my atrocities come by way of reciprocity.” As an image of Dempsey flashed over the pillar I'm chewing the bones of my own reprieve. Death be my dignity, execute hemlock philosophy. Poison fills the cup of the carpenter.” With ghostly images of the other three survivors flashing before their eyes Sweetie Belle took over the rest of the verse speaking in a harsher tone “No! Love lost on me! No! Life's so costly No reason for grieving. No! Life lost on me No! Life so costly! Bring me down with 7.62 High Velocity!” Then they began to sing in unison I can see them everywhere! They're all around me, They're waiting for me! Descending, Unrelenting Beauty of Annihilation!” as they harmonized with each other the focus stone within Sweetie Belle began to glow and radiate energy to the other ponies energizing the other elements of harmony and giving them a new power to draw from. With this taking place Richtofen began to lose ground as his power was starting to wane from Samantha's influence and the fight from earlier. The beam from the pillar encroached on the scientist and began to force him into the air as the other ponies began to sing as well each one taking part in one of the songs Samantha had taught Sweetie Belle and was now playing for them via telepathy. Rarity and Scootaloo began to hear a song that Rarity remembered being the one Sweetie Belle was singing back in the jungle temple. As Rarity began to hear the music for the song she was taken aback by how loud and aggressive the music was and couldn't get herself to sing, then she heard Sam beginning to lead her in the part of the verse Sweetie Belle had sung in her natural voice and she felt a bit more at peace singing it. When Sam's voice changed Scootaloo took over and to Rarity's surprise Scootaloo proved rather capable of singing the rather thrash heavy song, compared to her attempt at a slow dramatic ballad at the school talent show this seemed natural as though the song was perfectly made for Scootaloo's “Unique” vocal talents. As they entered the second verse she could tell it was a symbolism of Samantha's slow descent into insanity and corruption by the powers she'd gained. Meanwhile Twilight began to hear a much mellower song, as Sam lead her in it she felt a somber mood wash over her one of despair and depression. At the same time it felt resolute in resistance of fate. The lyrics reaching even deeper than the solemn melody as she began to sing. “Life is still spinning, your end my beginning. And everything I've hoped for has been strangely set aside. Reason for living, My mind is forgiving Destiny is proving to be absent from my life. I know it, I feel it I know when your sleeping, I know the things your dreaming. And I know you will never give up and die.” She continued as Sam shifted her attention to Rainbow Dash and began to transmit another song into her head. The song started with a hauntingly flanged guitar for a few moments before taking on a slow melodic guitar eventually gaining a stronger bass riff and drum line as the lyrics began to flow from the blue pony's lips. “All my life I’ve been debating, All the crows they sit there waiting. Wondering what I’m going to eat, until I have it I can't breath. When I see you on the floor, your heart's not beating any more. My lust for you can not wait, your skin it tastes like chocolate.” Rainbow felt a slight bit of vomit pool in her throat as the image of the zombies entering a feeding frenzy and consuming a group and swarming toward a group of soldiers in a swamp. She could feel the sense that the zombies were acting outside their control as if they were addicted to the taste more so than drawing on their own willful desire. The music and the images continued to flow as the song played and the pillar of light became more intense and began to expand as the zombies began to emerge from the ground below them and make their way toward Richtofen as if being willed toward him by the music. As the zombies massed around him he was forced to divert some of his attention to fending off the swarm which allowed the beam from the pillar to encroach on the scientist as the Apple sisters began to sing their piece. The song started off with a light almost angelic piano element before shifting to a pounding drum and guitar cacophony and returning to a mix of piano and drum as they began to hear the lead into the first verse Apple Bloom took the lead singing “I can fly like a bird not in the sky. Which can always swim but is always dry. Say goodbye at night and morning hi. I’m part of you what am I. I follow and lead as you pass, dress yourself in black my darkness last. I flee the light but without the sun your view of me would be gone.” Applejack took over her softer more adult voice accenting the subtleties of the quieter voice used in the song. The voice was soft and childlike almost as if it were a purer more innocent form of Samantha singing it one who was only just gaining conscious awareness of her actions regarding the zombies. “I can see the damage, I am causing you. You want me to be gone, but I have just begun.” the two sisters continued the song their voices meshing with the others in an eerie harmony that forced the beam ever close to Richtofen until he was consumed by it his anguished cries of agony falling on deaf ears as Samantha opened a portal to the Aether and taking his remains to form a physical body as his soul was consumed by the unending darkness of the realm between life and death. As the magical energy dispersed into the air around them and the pillar dissolved into traces of light leaving the ponies tired but still full of life as they lay on the ground their bodies taxed by the experience, but feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Samantha walked up to Sweetie Belle and ran her fingers through her mane and smiled saying “You've all done so well to defeat that monster, while this form is temporary my powers will allow me to open a way to your world.” the ponies made their way shakily to their feet as the focus stones inside them emerged and began to hover in a orbiting shape forming a round portal in front of Samantha. While the stones were far from being at their full power having exhausted most of it during their fight they each held enough energy with Samantha's powers over the element to form a portal back to Ponyville. The ponies thanked Samantha for her assistance and made their way through the portal one at a time. Then she turned to Dempsey and the others saying “I can sense that you've been involved in this against your will just as well as the ponies. Would you like to return to the world as you knew it before Richtofen's madness?” the soldiers took their time considering the chance that laid before them Takeo had left much of his world behind prior to the war even before the zombie outbreak and he wondered if there would be any honor or dignity in making a return after all this time, himself not quite knowing how much time had elapsed since they'd left Shi No Numa. He remembered hearing vague allusions in radio broadcasts during their time in the theater back in the 1960's about the Allies defeating the Axis and knowing returning to the normal world may result in him living the shame of his country's surrender after the time he spent away. Samantha turned to the weary soldier and smiled opening a portal to a vision of the modern world in a similar time frame to that of the period they saw at the Cosmodrome in Russia. It showed Japan having came out of the war beaten but still very optimistic and a leader in advanced technology that had went on to shape the world. Then the female spectre turned to Dempsey and smiled saying “I can imagine you wish to return to your home as you may have known it before the war.” Dempsey looked at the vision of the United States in the time near the end of the second World War. He observed the vision of what changed and he admitted while part of him wanted to return to the time before all this had happened the modern world as it was or rather would have been without the zombie outbreak would be a place much more fitting for him as his memories of the advanced weapons of the modern day still pulsed through his mind. She replied saying “So I take it you plan to also take leave of your prior life as well and take refuge in the modern world.” Dempsey smirked and said “Why the hell not, if nothing less I can always enlist again and play around with the toys the military developed since I’ve been gone, and once again the world will know the name of the all powerful badass that is Tank Dempsey.” as he made his way into the portal and thanked Sam as he passed by. Takeo followed suit leaving the final decision to Nikolai who was still rather confused by this whole ordeal thinking it was just brought on by his drunken stupor. She looked over at the Russian and smiled handing him a small Matryoska doll saying “I consider that one of my most prized possessions, my father gave it to me after a trip to Russia to meet with some scientists. I hope this is enough to repay you the debt of sanity I owe you from Richtofen's madness. What do you choose, to return to the world as you knew it or the new world where your name will be a clean slate.” The Russian looked at the carved nesting doll and said “I think I will return home as it was, this would be a nice gift for a little girl. I’ve meant to start another family after all the instances with prior wives but I would like a chance to start clean.” Samantha nodded and said “That much I can do, I can send you back to your world before the outbreak but the world will no longer revile your name instead you will be merely an esteemed soldier respected and held dear by your country in a time after the fall of Stalin.” the Russian's demeanor perked up as he thought of the chance to return to Russia in a time without Stalin who was responsible for his deployment in the military to begin with. He eagerly made his way through the portal leaving his bottle of vodka behind in his hurried action. With that Samantha hovered there unaware of what would happen to her. Her time in the Aether had granted her powers beyond the comprehension of most mortals but at the same time she felt like that power had left her empty as though she would never be reunited with her father who died that fateful day Richtofen released the at that point recently zombified Fluffy into the test lab sealing the door behind him as he ran for the teleporter terminal. She survived the incident being granted an incorporeal form by her unyielding desire for revenge, now that it had finally been attained she wondered what she would do now. The world as she knew it was in ruins, and despite the great feats she'd preformed because of her current state she was unable to effect such wonders on herself. She was still a being trapped between worlds neither living nor dead, neither saved nor damned just existing and now she had nothing. Her yearning for revenge had been quenched and now she believed that there was nothing for her. Then a strong light pierced the dank jungle atmosphere a beam of radiance emerged and stopped itself in front of her. Within the beam the image of a man emerged, at first she couldn't see his face the radiance around it blotting out its image, but then a voice came “Samantha its time, your goal has met its fruition its time to come home.” the speaker's voice calmed Samantha's inner demon and her eyes began to seep with tears as she said “Papa. Its you.” his face fading into view she floated over to him and shedding the remnants of Richtofen's body she'd grafted into a temporary form as she hugged her father. The two spirits began to ascend the pillar of light to the world beyond and the focus stones dissolved collapsing the portals as the world began to dissolve into the voids where the portal had been. Meanwhile back in Ponyville the cast of zombie slayers arrived back on the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres around the rock that had sent them off on their strange journey. As they gathered themselves they saw something strange, the meteor began to dissolve into vapor and within mere moments it was as if it had never been there. The group had finally made it home, being that at the time it was rather late they collectively decided to part ways for the night so they could sleep on it and gather themselves from the strange events. When Twilight arrived back at the library she found that in spite of Pinkie's time there it seemed as though the library was in rather good shape. She turned on a light and saw Fluttershy laying on the couch in the living room and thought to herself “What could she be doing here, I guess Pinkie must have had a sleep over.” then Fluttershy began to stir, reacting to the sudden change of light and eventually over the next minute or so woke up. She made her way to a more comfortable seated position and rubbed her eyes with her hoof and said “Hello Twilight, Its nice to see you made it back from where ever you went. I’ve been tending to the library since you've been gone, Pinkie was laid up sick the past three weeks and so I’ve been filling in and helping her get better.” Twilight blinked and said “Three weeks? We were gone that long!?” she changed from her surprised exclamation to a lower speaking voice so as not to wake anyone else and continued to herself “So the effects of the time dilation Richtofen was taking advantage of caused a massive Asynchronous break between our worlds that caused us to arrive much slower than we thought. Samantha's portal seemed like it was an instantaneous trip but the looped field of time must have caused time to “rubber band” us forward three weeks but to everyone here in Ponyville we've merely been gone for that length of time as though we were on a trip or something. This will make a rather interesting report for the princesses. Yes I think Luna would find this rather interesting as well but I can wait to do that in the morning.” Fluttershy decided to lay back over and go to sleep still exhausted from spending most of that afternoon alphabetizing the library after Spike and Angel knocked over a wall full of books which caused the majority of the rest to domino all over the floor. Twilight made her way up to her bedroom being careful to keep quiet and not wake anyone else knowing she probably had a fair bit of work to do.