//------------------------------// // Dead on Time // Story: A Matter of Rules of War // by dramatic_spoon //------------------------------// Big Macintosh, Spike and Time Turner continued down the hallway. The three nervously glanced around, staring at the splattered remains of ponies and the black blood that stained the walls. “This ain’t right.” Big Macintosh stepped around a puddle of blood, “I mean, desecratin’ the bodies o’ the deceased is one thing, havin’m fight to the…second death is too much.” “You really don’t know Twilight.” Spike shook his head, “I’ll never get her to admit it, but her ego is just as big as Trixie’s and she really can’t stand being shown up.” “How exactly did it end up with…this?” Time Turner stepped to the side to avoid corpse parts falling off the ceiling. “I mean, I’m absolutely certain both of them didn’t wake up one morning and say ‘Hey, I know what I’ll do today, I’ll start bringing the dead to life to battle with that pony I hate.’ Right?” “….Twilight never told me the whole story, but I…pay attention to some of the documents she orders me to destroy.” Spike sighed, “Do you really want me to tell you what happened?” “…I reckon so.” “Both Twilight and Trixie got accepted to Princess Celestia Memorial Magic School. Both of them excelled in many of their subjects and that’s how this mess began. Trixie managed to show up Twilight in one of the magic demonstrations, and Twilight couldn’t stand to be upstaged by her. Both of them kept trying to learn new spell after new spell, until….they both opened a forbidden book.” Spike paused, “and that’s what happened.” “It wasn’t the Book of Keshi, was it?” Time Turner inquired. “How did….” Spike started, before nearly losing his balance in the pulped remains of an organ. “I heard about it in my studies. Royalist forces were believed to have destroyed the book in the Civil War, to prevent the rebels from using it.” Time Turner stepped around a puddle, “guess they didn’t.” “…how in Equestria did they let a couple o’ kids get their hands on what sounds like a forbidden book o’ magic?” Big Macintosh shook his head. “…You know, that’s an excellent question.” Time Turner nodded in agreement. “…although I am unfamiliar with the Lulamoon family, I know the Sparkles have been treated well in the Kingdom, so that might be how she got access to it.” “..How would you know somethin’ like that?” “Sometimes when I was bored, I read some of my father’s notes from his meetings. Some of them were from well placed spies in the Kingdom, but I never really got to see all of their reports, just bits and pieces.” Time Turner shrugged. “….Are we getting closer?” Spike gingerly stepped around a puddle, “because it looks like the blood and gore is getting thicker.” “I would hope so.” Time Turner responded, “However, I want to wait. To make sure it’s the right time. A lot of this is relying on Rarity’s ability to maximize that particular spell’s power, and the more time the Ursa spends battling Twilight’s other undead forces, the less effort we will have to put into it.” Time Turner blinked, “Erm, no offense to you, Spike.” “It’s fine. I…don’t see them as a family or anything. Outside of Subject 27, most of them are limited to simple statements.” “…Subject 27?” Big Macintosh winced as he stepped on a rotted liver. “…Hope I can clean that outta the metal.” “The undead Alicorn.” Spike stepped around another puddle, “She considers it her greatest weapon, sense it can still learn and plan. I can do that and more, but she likes the Alicorn better because it doesn’t talk back and argue with her.” “….hmm, I didn’t really plan for that.” Time Turner frowned, “she has minotaurs, right?” “Some. She made some minocentaurs out of them. Subject 888 has….” Spike paused to count on his fingers, “Three pairs of arms.” “Do any of them have firearms?” “She bought a few of the older matchlocks off of the luftpirat and Science-Pirate, but other than that, not really.” Spike scoffed, “Ammunition and gunpowder is another thing. She has enough for all of the firearms to shoot…two or three shots before she runs out for good. And we’re running short of Matchstrings for them.” “I suppose her frugality paid off.” Time Turner snickered “Eyup.” THE LABORATORY OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE Rarity remained seated, studying the book she had found. “….Alright so this should work.” Rarity flipped a few pages, “…and this is the other spell I need, so if I put these together, it should come out alright.” The mechanic closed the book, and headed into the secret tunnel. ELSEWHERE IN CASTLE SPARKLE The Ursa slammed another undead griffon through the wall. Twilight peeked out of her hiding spot, before ducking back down to avoid a shower of rotting griffon. “Well there went my last griffon.” The necromancer grumbled, “After this, I’m going to put in a very large order.” “Master. We have returned.” Subject 27 arrived, flanked by a Minocentaur with Six arms, each of which carried a Wheelock pistol, a two-headed Griffon-Pony, a monstrous looking mish-mash of various animal parts, a Bear-pony combination, and several others. “That’s excellent Subject 27. Now why don’t you lead them to defeat the giant bear that keeps WRECKING MY CASTLE?!!?” Twilight’s eyelid twitched as she screamed at the undead Alicorn. “As you command.” Several of the Minotaur-based undead step forward, aiming their rifles and pistols at the Ursa. Several of them open fire, peppering the beast in insignificant amounts of lead. As they stop to reload, the Ursa swings at them, tearing several of them in half. The top halves feebly continue to reload their weapons as the others open fire and scatter. As the Ursa lumbered after the other shooters, it crushed the bisected undead under its feet. “Master, how many of us remain?” Subject 27 inquired. “I don’t know.” Twilight frowned, “In retrospect, I should have taken the spell off before I sealed it up.” “Master, that was very unwise of you.” The Alicorn ducked, “Subject 444 is no more. There are only a handful of us left within the castle, and nothing seems to have worked. Could you not use a spell to assist us?” “I would need to get to the library to get the spell book.” Twilight glanced down the damaged hallway, “But I’m not certain I would be able to make it in time.” “We shall prote-” “And there it i- OH MY LUNA DUCK!” Time Turner, Spike and Big Macintosh hit the floor as corpse parts flew over them, showering the three with rotting blood and gore. “….I’m gonna need one hell of a bath at th’ end of alla this.” “Subject 54, draw it off!” a multi-winged donkey rammed into the Ursa’s face, and darted off, drawing the bear away. The Unicorn turned her attention towards the undead dragon, “SPIKE! What are you doing? Why are you with them? Why is he free?” “well…They said the Ursa got out and they said they would help.” Spike twiddled his fingers as he kept his head down. “Help? HELP?” Both of Twilight’s eyes began to twitch, as she screeched, “It was THEM who let the Ursa out! How can you expect them to help?!?!” “Well…” Twilight cut Spike off, as she continued to ramble. “Once I clean up this, I’m tearing you apart for parts.” The mare snared at the dragon. “Beg your pardon Ma’am, but I reckon you’re gonna be needing our help.” Big Macintosh interrupted. “Oh?” Twilight sneered, “And what makes an ignorant backasswards bumpkin like you think that I need it?” “Cause the ignorant backasswards bumpkin can see th’ Ursa chargin’. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re getting’ outta here.” Big Macintosh tossed Spike onto his back and took off, closely followed by Time Turner. Twilight blinked in confusion. Before she can ask Subject 27 anything, her thoughts are interrupted by a roar. Glancing behind her shoulder, Twilight’s eyes widened as the Ursa lumbered behind her. Twilight and Subject 27 took off, following Big Macintosh and the Time Turner. “Alright, so what do you have in mind?” Twilight forced a smile. “Now ya want help?” Big Macintosh chuckled, “If I was a lesser stallion, I wouldn’t bother, but…. Well, it’ll benefit botha us.” “Just get on with it.” Twilight gritted her teeth. “Well, we gotta wear it down a bit more.” Time Turner interjected. “I’m out.” Twilight grumbled. “What else?” Big Macintosh glanced over his shoulder; one of the Ursa’s eyes has been pulped, and it is covered in gouges and tears. As it lumbered forward, Big Macintosh’s eyes fell to its left shoulder, and the various metal plates and wires holding its arm in place. “What’s wrong with its left forepaw?” “It broke off during transport. Or so they claim.” Twilight growled. “…Big Macintosh, do you think if something heavy enough fell on it, we could break it off?” Time Turner turned to the stallion. “Hmm.” Big Macintosh stole a glance at the Ursa, “…Reckon it’s possible. If it ain’t on too good, th’ constant use from smashin’ and lumberin’ around outta have weakened it.” “alright, keep an eye out for things we can knock onto it.” Time Turner blinked, “This would be so much easier if Rarity was here wouldn’t it? I mean she could just levitate those crumbling pil-” “Just wait a minute!” Twilight interrupted the two stallions, “Are you discussing wrecking my castle just so you can try and stop my newest body? I refuse to allow you to do that!” The stallion exchanged glances, “Fine.” Time Turner managed to shrug, “we’ll just let the Ursa rampage through your castle, so it will no doubt cause more damage than dropping a few walls onto it. Oh, and you might die, but as long as the castle stays up….” “Shut up and do it.” Twilight gritted her teeth. “…Master, I am not certain that this is wise.” Subject 27 objected. “Shut up and do as I command.” Twilight barked back, barely keeping her anger out of her voice, “I don’t like it either….” Big Macintosh skidded to a stop by a crumbling wall. “Think this’ll work?” the stallion called out to Time Turner. The Element of Magic simply nodded instead of responding. The Farmstallion spun around, bucking the wall as hard as he could. As the vibrations crawled up that wall, the gathered ponies watched in anticipation as the loose rubble shook…and a single rock fell, missing the ursa. “….well, that seemed like it would have worked.” Time Turner shook his head. “…I think I mighta strained something.” Big Macintosh winced. “Well that was a magnificent plan you came up with. Honestly, why did I even bother listening to you?” Twilight snapped, “Of all the stupid id-” Twilight cut off her rant as the Ursa roared and continued to lumber towards them. “…Any other plans, Turner?” Big Macintosh backed up. “Just one.” Time Turner paused to take a breath, “RUN!” The group spun around and took off, as the Ursa took off after them. “…wait, what am I doing?” Twilight blinked, “Subject 27! Fly me out of here.” “I an unable to do so, Master.” The undead alicorn shook it’s head, “the Ursa tore off one of my wings.” “Dammit! Carry me out of here, my legs are tired!” Twilight screeched. The undead alicorn grabbed Twilight by the scruff of her neck and tossed her onto its back. The necromancer yelped in pain as her flank landed on the exposed bones from the alicorn’s missing wing. “This is not happening, this is not happening…” Time Turner continued to mutter to himself as the group fled. Big Macintosh winced as he continued to run. “Oh no….” Time Turner skidded to a stop. “Dead end.” The group skidded to a stop. Each of their faces changed from desperation to despair as the gravity of the situation sunk in. “…Aw hell.” Big Macintosh shook his head, “This wasn’t suppose to end like this.” “….I don’t want to go.” Time Turner collapsed wimpering. “Subject 27! Fight. You too Spike.” “But…” “NO BUTS!” Twilight’s aura surrounded the dragon and flung him forward. The Ursa opened its mouth and swallowed the baby dragon whole, as the Alicron made a futile charge. A single swipe from the Ursa left the Alicorn pulped against the wall. “…It can’t end like this.” Twilight became frantic as the Ursa lumbered forward, “nononononononononononononononono-” “They say the heroine descends at the last possible second.” Another voice called out. Rarity stepped out into the open. “RARITY!” Time Turner leapt back onto his hooves. “Stay where you are, I’m still not certain this will work.” Rarity’s scrunched her face in concentration, focusing on the Ursa. “…Rest in peace.” A burst of magical energy from Rarity’s horn engulfed the Ursa. As it struggled against the magic, it began to dissolve; skin faded into muscle, faded into bone and organs until the entire Ursa vanished. As the magical aura dissipated, a single clockwork arm fell to the ground. Rarity collapsed panting. “….that was exhausting.” The mechanic struggled back onto her feet. “I’m terribly sorry; I had to dig my way out of the library.” “It’s alright, it worked out in th’ end.” Big Macintosh managed a slight grin, “and the other part o’ the plan?” “I disassembled everything that looked useful.” Rarity answered. “For a moment I really thought we were going to die.” Time Turner breathed a sigh of relief, “I guess that’s all done, now we can…” “WAIT JUST A MOMENT!” Twilight slammed a hoof down. “You tricked me into letting you enter, you destroyed my supplies and army, wrecked my Castle and now you expect to get out of here al-” Rarity’s wrench clocked Twilight across the head. The unicorn dropped like a sack of bricks onto the hard floor. “I have had a horrible night, do shut up.” Rarity informed the unconscious unicorn. “Big Macintosh, what happened to Braeburn’s body?” “…musta gotten loss in the chaos. Reckon it’s probably pulp.” “Oh, yes. I saw the…ah, path you left.” Rarity’s nose wrinkled, “I could hardly miss that.” “…Well, we got one piece of business left.” Time Turner nodded, “and I have a plan to deal with that……” “….one that ain’t gonna end in us almost dyin’, I hope.” Big Macintosh snarked. “Not likely.” CASTLE LULAMOON The three Elements stopped in front of the castle, flanked by scores of undead ponies. In front of them, Trixie smiled. “I have already heard news of your victory. Castle Sparkle remains in ruins, and my enemy is in no shape to continue our conflict.” Trixie’s smile grew, “and for your rewa- “oh, indeed.” Time Turner cut her off. Trixie’s smile vanished as Time Turner continued, “now we’ll just be on our….did you say reward?” “Turner, she’s gonna let us go home with our lives, don’t push it.” Big Macintosh grumbled. “as I was saying…” Trixie smile returned as she continued, “and now for your reward; the honor and privilege of joining my undead army for all of eternity.” “….what.” Time Turner blinked. “…you never intended for us ta leave alive, did you?” Big Macintosh took a defensive step back. “Indeed. Why should I lose such valued…assistants? Certainly having three of the elements of Harmony on my side would be of great value.” “….is this all of your undead forces?” Rarity piped up. “Indeed.” Trixie’s chest puffed out in, as she vainly smiled, “I don’t know how you defeated Twilight’s forces, but now you face one Five hundred stro-” “Rest in peace.” A magical pulse erupted from Rarity’s horn, spreading through the entire area. All of the undead began to dissolve, layer by layer until nothing was left. Trixie stared in shock as her army vanished. “You…You betrayed me!” Trixie angrily shouted. “You’re the one who was trying to back out of our deal.” Time Turner interjected. “I will not stand for thi-” Trixie was cut off as Big Macintosh, leapt forward, and delivered a left hook. The crunch of metal on bone was heard, as Trixie tumbled backwards, unconscious. Big Macintosh trotted over and checked on the mare. “…she’s alright. Mighta knocked out some teeth.” “I’m certain she deserved tha-” Rarity swayed before teetering over. Time Turner managed to make it to her side, allowing the Unicorn to rest on his back. “Are you alright?” Time Turner worriedly inquired. “No, No I’m not. That’s quite a powerful spell. Certainly took a lot out of me.” Rarity yawned. “Can you walk?” Time Turner asked the mare. When he was given no response, Time Turner looked over to Big Macintosh, “I think we should find a cart.” “Eyup.”