//------------------------------// // (Tale#7) Sunny Town Brawl // Story: The Alchemist's Tales // by DVAN56 //------------------------------// Sunny Town Brawl October 15, 1007 C.R. I am no stranger to the dangers that lay in wait in the Everfree forest. I have traveled the forest once a week with Kira on her “hunting trips” for the past four years now. I even got Ponyta trained recently as well so we can carry back a larger haul back. Though timberwolves and manticores are a rare site, we still see them from time to time. Before this night both Kira and myself thought the sinister stories about the Everfree were just over exaggerated stories to keep ponies safe from the local wildlife. How wrong we were. It was like most of our hunting trip, Kira worked her magic(still can't tell you what she does), bagged a small deer, and a wild turkey this time around. It was a small catch and Kira was actually frustrated that so little game was coming out. I found it odd myself as well as we don't over hunt any one area. It actually took us two years to hit every good spot once in the Everfree. Kira was not happy with what we got and took a detour on the way home to try and get another deer at least. What we got to our surprise wasn't what we were expecting. What we got was a pony. Out from the bushes after Kira used her “magic” came a sturdy looking gray earth pony with a black mane and tail. His eyes were blue and dull, almost lifeless. He looked at us warily, it was as if he had never seen something that wasn't a pony. I was about to ask him what he was doing this far out in the Everfree before his mood suddenly changed. He went from being wary of us to excited by the site of use. “New comers, are you here for the party. It's almost time for the party this year. The last one was ruined but that won't happen this year.” the pony said with a smile on his face. “What?” both Kira and I said in unison. I didn't know what else to say at the sudden changes this pony showed, that and for some reason this pony was reminding me of Pinkie. The fact Kira said it at the same time lead me to believe she was thinking something close to the same thing. “Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I’m usually better about that. My name is Grey Hoof, celebration planner extraordinaire” yeap, he is going to be like Pinkie. “So what are you doing in the middle of the forest? You lost?” I asked. “Lost, Oh heavens no. I head a noise while setting up the party in Sunny Town. I came out to make sure nothing was going to come and ruin it.” “Sunny Town?” Kira asked raising an eyebrow. “It's not far, this way. The party will be better with more to celebrate with.” Gray Hoof then turned and walked off back through the brush. “What do you think?” I asked Kira. “I don't like it. He doesn't smell like a normal pony. That and I have been in the Everfree more then you and not once have I even come across anything that suggest that there is a town in this forest.” “You want to investigate don't you?” “I do, but I do not want to lose today’s catch.” Ponyta was already loaded up with the deer and turkey so I just wrote a note and sent her off to Twilight's. Twilight was going to yell at me when we got back for having her deal with the corpses of today’s catch. After Ponyta left Kira and I started heading in the direction that Gray Hoof went. After ten minutes of walking we came to the town Gray Hoof spoke of. It was a site to say the least. There were not many houses but enough to tell that this was definitely a small community here, maybe just a little smaller then Ponyville. As we entered the town we could see Gray Hoof spoke truthfully about a party. There were tables set up with food and drinks. There were also other ponies setting up. I was actually starting to loosen up a little and was thinking about enjoying myself as well. I went to one of the tables and was about to get a cup of what I assumed was punch. I was however stopped by Kira. “What do you think your doing!” “Well I was about to have some punch” “...your an idoit. Look around you real quick and tell me what looks off.” I did a quick scan around me. I can't say I saw anything wrong at first. The houses looked like they have been here awhile, not run down but definitely aged. The ponies looked happy and getting ready for a party. I even saw an earth pony try to hang up a banner, and failing at it too. It was kinda funny to watch. I looked back at her. “Nothing.” She Facepalmed with a sigh. “They are all earth ponies...” she pointed to one “and they don't have cutie-marks” she said pointing to another. Ok I don't think that not noticing something like that should entitles being an idiot. It did however make this place look a little creepier now however. Not only that but after Kira had said “mark” everyone in town suddenly stopped what they where doing and just stared at us. Ok now its creepy. “Um Kira, I think we may want to leave” “Agreed” “No!” yelled Gray Hoof from behind us. How did he even get behind us. “You will not leave! You will not ruin the Party! You will stay and enjoy our friendship!” he said his anger growing as he spoke. However as he spoke the area around us started to dim as the sun was blotted out and the houses and ponies started to decay. By the time he had finished talking the area was dark as if night. The houses looked to be in horrible condition, some even collapsed. The ponies however, the ponies were not, well...they were not alive. The ponies of Sunny Town were nothing more then blacken pieces of flesh on bones. The black flesh didn't even cover the entire skeleton revealing bones on most of them in different places along the body, Zombies. It was about this time I should bring something up that I have neglected to say. Kira hunts and kills food with a bow and arrow, everything else she used a giant war hammer on. She had started bringing it with her on hunting trips after our first run in with Timberwolves. So Kira was armed and ready to take on these zombies in a matter of seconds. I however only had my Ember gauntlet and three pieces of ember, including the one that was already in the gauntlet. The zombies started to move in and surround us. There were at lest fifteen of them but I couldn't get an exact count. They moved very fluently and swiftly, which I found odd for zombies. They just circled us for a minute before all hell broke loose. Two jumped from the circle, one heading for me, the other for Kira. I was no stranger to fight the undead, however I was unequipped to handle such a situation at the time. So I panicked and Ember Phased out of there onto a nearby house that was still standing. As I got up on the house I saw Kira strike a zombie as she swung her hammer in an uppercut motion. That zombie went flying as it let out a blood chilling screech. The zombie that was originally jumping at me found itself staring blankly at where I was at just a moment ago. Kira however noticed it as soon as she sent the first one flying. Using the momentum the hammer already had she brought it down on the zombie. It's body was soon mashed into the ground while the force of the blow knocked its legs off. Five more zombie went to try their luck against the khajiit. I knew Kira could handle it but I would be damned if I gave her an excuse to call me a coward after this was all done. I charged up my gauntlet and let a barrage of Ember-bolts fly. Most hit their targets and the five were knocked out of the air during mid jump. Two of them even exploded from the number of bolts that hit them. However that drained what was left of my first peace of Ember, one down two to go. As they fell Kira sprinted to the rest of the circling zombies, and with a few swift yet powerful strikes, had killed and even dismembered the remaining zombies by the time I got the Ember in my gauntlet switched out. I quickly phased back down to her. “so...that just happened” “It did, but something still bugs me.” “What” “How is it that we, after hunting in this forest for so long, have never noticed this place or the undead before? That and the fight was too easy.” We were both quiet for a moment, thinking on what Kira just said. We should have noticed this place before, even in its ruined form. So how did these zombies stay out of site for so long. Better yet did Celestia and Luna know about this place? My thoughts were quickly replaced by a raspy voice coming from one of the corpses. “All...we....want....is friendship” it said as it pulled itself back together. Then the rest of them started to pull themselves back as well. I could only watch in horror. I have killed many creatures in my time...but even the undead stayed down after they were slain. Nothing ever reformed or revived, this was a first for me, and judging from Kira's face, the same for her as well. Within minutes all the corpses were standing in front of us again. “Kira, I'm open to ideas” I said “Just one, blast and run.” “What?” “Yol Toor Shul!” Kira shouted out those three little words and blamo! Fire everywhere! The zombies screamed and started to fall as they burned and we started running as quickly as we came. However our escape was quickly cut off as we both ran into some invisible wall of some sort. The force at which we ran into it caused both of us to fall flat on our backs. As we got back on our feet we could see the zombies coming, some of them still on fire. Twice now, twice we had slain them and both times they got back up. Something was truly foul in this place, and it wasn't letting us leave. However Kira isn't the kind of person to go down without a fight. She was ready to crush and splatter the zombies again. The zombies got closer, and our situation more desperate. Kira charged them again. I could hear the sounds of battle however something new got my attention. Just beyond the zombies I saw Gray Hoof, and he was not a zombie! He and a few other non-zombie ponies where surrounding another earth pony. I couldn't make out much of her details at the time save for the eyes. That ponies eyes were glowing. I didn't know what was happening there but the fact that the zombies were ignoring them told me it had some importance. Knowing Kira could handle herself against the zombie, I phased over close to Gray Hoof. “She is cursed!” “Quick kill her before the Mark spreads!” “It must be done!” They had not noticed me yet but I could tell both by the tone in their voice that these ponies were...off. As I walked closer I could tell that the one with the glowing eyes was scared, she was shivering and crying, curled up in a ball. Then the yelling stopped and they began to stomp her. No longer caring about being seen I rushed in and knocked some of the group out of the way. Looking down I could see the shock on their faces. “What...why do you defend the Marked one?” they all asked in unison. “What is she marked with?” I asked with anger in my voice They all pointed to her flank. I looked down at the glowing eyed pony. I could see her features better now up close, most notably her cutie-mark which was a magnify glass. and they don't have cutie-marks Kira's words echoed in my head right there and it didn't take a genius to put two and two together. These ponies saw a cutie-mark as a curse and were willing to kill to keep it from spreading. I was now mad, something that hasn't happened since Murphy first showed his face about a year ago. I clenched my fist and charged my gauntlet. The thought that these ponies kill another because they thought finding their special talent was a curse just burned through me. I then released the energy into an Ember Lance. With one quick motion I guided the beam like a sword cutting each pony in two. As the beam hit them they turned into the black husks that the zombies looked like. After the last one fell the Ember Lance fizzled out and my second piece of Ember was spent. The glowing eyed pony got up and looked at me. Then she closed her eyes as tears started to flow. Before I could say anything she started to fade away like she was never there. As she faded she said something. I couldn't hear it but it looked like she was saying “thank you”. As she faded so did the ruins around us. The sun also came back out lighting the area. It was now just me and Kira in a large clearing. “My My My, that was a wonderful show, was almost ready to step in myself to save you.” Murphy! What the hell was he doing here! I looked up and sure enough that black broken horned unicorn was floating in the air. The first things that went through my mind at that time was anger. Thinking he was the cause of this whole Sunny Town incident. I went to charge my gauntlet but nothing happened. The Ember was spent and looking back I'm glad it was or part of the Everfree may have been burnt down right their and then. “I was afraid I would have to save you from there for a moment, but you were able to find the source of the curse.” “Save us?” Kira questioned as she walked towards me. She was eying Murphy. She had heard the stories but till now she had never seen him. “Yes save you, well actually not you but The Alchemist here. He has a role to play yet so he can't die just yet.” “Save Me! You tried to kill me the first time we met!” I shouted. “I never TRIED to kill you, fight you yes but killing you was never my goal” he said slyly “WHAT!” “Oh my, I may have said too much. Till next time” he said and then vanished into thin air. I just stood there for a moment looking up into the sky where Murphy was just a moment ago. I was angry. He just revealed that he has been toying with me. For a moment all I could see was images of the horrible things I would do to Murphy if I ever got my hands on him. My anger was starting to get the better of me. Kira then grabbed my shoulder and jerked me around, yanking me from my thought. She looked at me with a worried look. “Are you ok?” she asked. I looked at her straight in the eye and with almost a sorrowful tone I answered. “No.”