//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Battle of the Living Dead Pt.1 // Story: Gamers in Equestria // by Neoandermcd //------------------------------// Third Person: “C-careful Dash. Don’t strain yourself Twilight. There’s one behind you AJ, oh you already saw him I’m sorry. Oh be careful Rarity” Fluttershy said barely hearable thanks to all the fighting. The fight had been going on for five minutes straight and it was pretty much going nowhere. Even though the undead had the girls outnumbered ten to one, they were extremely weak/slow so a good kick would knock down a group of them, most of them disappearing in a puff of smoke, but even though they were easy to defeat they would just come back in a matter of seconds. “Come on Fluttershy even you can beat these guys” Dash said annoyed landing next to her shy friend. “Oh I don’t…” “Now Dash we both know Fluttershy is too…delicate to harm another living thing” Rarity said as she released an arcane bolt of magic knocking a group of the undead to the ground. “Yeah but these things aren’t living so…” Dash tried to say. “Um please don’t fight” Fluttershy said half her face hiding behind her long pink hair. “Oh you know what I meant Dash” Rarity said annoyed. “Come on girls we have a battle to win” Pinkie Pie said jumping out of nowhere in some…interesting new set of clothing. She was now wearing a light pink Chinese dress with brown stocking. On her wrist were spiked bracelets on each hand and in her hair she had two dark pink ox horn decorations, but it looked odd since her hair still retain its puffy nature. “Pinkie where on Equis did you get those?” Rarity asked slightly intrigued by how it look yet confused as to where she got them, let alone have the time to change into them. Before Pinkie could respond Rainbow Dash said impersonating her energetic friend “I have emergency cloths stored all over Equestria in case of a clothing emergency”. “*giggles* no Dashie these are my emergency fighting clothing” she said like it was common knowledge. “Would y'all stop messin’ around and help” AJ shouted as she gave a wide kick to a small group of the undead causing them to fall over and disappear in a black haze. “Gee AJ having a little trouble with them I mean I could take these guys with my hooves tied behind my back” Dash said flying high into the sky and coming back down kicking her way thru them, leaving an open path where they once stood, while doing exactly what she said she would do. “Well sorry ah don’t have wings like ya and ah’m stuck down here kickin’ them normal like” she said annoyed at her friend showing off. “Whatever AJ, I mean look at Pinkie” Dash said motioning over towards her friend who was calmly standing in front of an army of them walking towards her. “Hyakuretsu Kyaku” Pinkie shouted and started to kick at the advancing army with lightning fast kicks, her legs moving so fast that they were blurred, defeating them in mere seconds. AJ looked at Dash skeptically and said “Like ah said kickin’ them normal like” punctuating each word while giving swift kicks to the advancing army. “Good point” Dash said agreeing with her friend “Hey Twi do you need a hoof?” Dash yelled towards their friend, who was busy lifting a huge majority of them and throwing them as far as she could. “Did you say something Dash?” she asked while throwing arcane bolts all around her, hitting the undead that were unfortunately, or I guess fortunate for the girls, to slow to dodge. “Never mind Twi. Geez AJ even Twilight fighting better than you are, I mean she’s not even breaking a sweat” Dash said nudging her friend who was still fighting. “Twilight has magic while you have wings, ah’m just an Earth pony” AJ snapped at Dash. “Pinkie’s an Earth-” she tried to say, but her friend piercing gaze made her reconsider finishing her sentence. “Ah’m a normal Earth pony, no offense Pinkie” AJ said. “None taken, Hey~ that wasn’t very nice” Pinkie said as she gave a strong uppercut to one of the undead sending it soaring upward followed by a kick to its chest sending it towards a group of them knocking them all down in the process like bowling pins “YAY~ A STRIKE I’M TOTALLY BEATING YOU GUYS” Pinkie cheered as an image of a bowling screen showed up from out of nowhere signaling her strike. The screen also showed scores of her friends who placed as follow: Pinkie first, Twilight second, Rainbowdash third, AJ fourth, Rarity fifth and Fluttershy last with a score of zero. “So instead of complaining would ya’ll just shut yer trap and help” AJ said annoyed. “Your right AJ” Dash said surprising her friend “I can’t lose to Twilight” she exclaimed flying thru the undead, while knocking down all of them that got in her way, and quickly making her way towards the cloaked figure. A groan of annoyance escaped AJ lips, until she realized where her rainbow haired friend was going “Twilight, Dash might need yer help again” AJ said while making her way over towards Twilight. “Hey bonehead” Dash shouted hovering a few feet away from the cloaked figure. “Ready to get your flank handed to you” she said while rolling her left arm first, then followed by the right one. “Hardly” he replied back unamused, watching the rainbow haired Pegasus closely. “Dash don’t! Ya’ll just get caught in his magic again” AJ said while helping Twilight fight off the undead. “Also he seemed to be able to use some form of time magic, which takes a lot of concentration and magic” Twilight added. “Meaning?” Dash asked still getting ready to charge towards him. “Meaning he has a lot of magic in him, maybe a bit lower than my own, but still enough” Twilight said while trying to not sound boastful of herself, since she didn’t like to show off or brag about her magical capabilities. “Eh so what? He has a good amount of magic to do that time stop thingy, big deal. It won’t do him any good if he can’t hit me” she replied back nonchalantly. “And besides if I beat him I know I’ll place first instead of…FIFTH PLACE HOW THE HAY DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!” Dash yelled while looking at the scoreboard. “Well Dashie you were spending a lot of time talking” Pinkie said as she fought her way over towards Rarity and Fluttershy. “What I was only talking for like two minutes…you know what, whatever just tell me how much this guy is worth” Dash said as she started to move anxiously around in the air. “Ok I’ll tell you, buuuuuuuut you have to ask me the right way” Pinkie said. They stared at one another for a few seconds with Dash looking at her friend for a hint about how to ask the question the ‘right way’, while Pinkie looked at her with a bright smile. Dash looked at her friend in confusion/annoyance “And how am I suppose to ask you if I don’t know how to ask you?” she asked annoyed. “Oh that’s easy, just say ‘Pinkie what does the scouter say about his score level’” she said keeping that same cheerful smile while  she  had her fingers prepped to push a button on the strange looking device she was talking about, that also appeared out of nowhere. “*sigh* What does the scouter say about his score level?” Dash monotone. Pinkie looked at her with a disappointed look “What?” Dash asked confused. “If you’re not going to ask it right I’m not going to answer” she replied back turning her head and lifting it up in the air just like those rich society snobs they saw during the Grand Galloping Gala. “Pinkie you didn’t tell me about ‘how’ I was suppose to ask” Dash said annoyed. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked tilting her head in a thinking like matter. Dash just stared at her pink friend, baffled by her response. After a couple of minutes she replied back a bit more loudly/angrily then she planned to “NO”. “Really because I’m sure…” “Pinkie, first off  I don’t know how to ask it right...you know what forget it. Pinkie what does the scouter say about his score level!?” Dash asked apparently in the ‘right way’. Pinkie then pushed the device on her head and in a couple of seconds she removed set device and screamed “IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND” while breaking the device in her hand, the machine shattering into, coincidentally, nine thousand pieces. “Is she always like this?” the man asked out loud. “Most of the time yeah, although it’s been happenin’ more frequently fer tah past few weeks now” AJ answered without thinking. “Huh I guess I’ll be doing this world a service once she’s out of the picture” he said with a cynical smile. “WHAT NINE THOUSAND….Aw yeah I’m totally going to win now” Dash cheered and dove towards the cloaked figure. The man’s response to her dive was to summon blades of ice and send them right towards her. Dash was able to effortlessly dodge them at the last minute, weaving and rolling out of the way, closing the gap between them in seconds. She was a mere two feet away from giving the man a good smack to the face when she noticed the area around him was acting odd like it was bending the area around him making the view skewed looking. That’s when Dash’s gut told her to back off the attack and she learned the hard way from a fight a long time ago back in CloudsDale to listen to her gut feeling. Deciding to listen to it she tried to slow down, but thanks to her being a Pegasus, which mean she’s naturally light; and being one of the fastest Pegasus in Equestria; it was rather difficult for her to just stop so suddenly, which usually resulted to crashing into objects or ponies. So instead she decided to kick him in the gut and hopefully use him as a platform to jump out of the way for whatever the strange vibe she was getting from him. Shifting her position to give the man a good drop kick to the head she was about arms reach away from him when a black barrier sprung up around him. Dash, grateful for listening to her gut feeling, used her legs to take some of the shock of crashing into the barrier. Following quickly with the momentum she shot off like a bullet back into the sky and taking a glance down she noticed a streak of red flame striking where she was just moments ago. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but come on” Dash muttered to herself until she remembered a talk, or maybe it was a warning/threat that Twilight was going to start using a barrier to protect her windows or something, that she and Twilight had about barriers “Uh I think the bigger…no wait the smaller the…Horse apples why can’t I remember” she said to herself rubbing her mane frantically. “Buck it! What I do remember is that if you hit it on all sides it weakens…or something like that” she said to herself and once more charged towards the man, to only return to the safety of the skies in under a minute, rubbing her now sore limbs while muttering a few choice words. “Two things” the man said followed by the sound of a snap making the undead army stop in its track. “You” he said pointing towards Rainbow Dash who now joined her friends, hovering above them “are the dumbest pony I’ve ever had the grace to meet. I’m mean really who just kicks a barrier that is as strong as steel with their bare hooves”. “Hey it’s not my fault Twilight…” Dash tried to say before Twilight interrupted her. “Don’t blame me Dash, I tried to explain to you the proprieties of how barriers work, but somepony didn’t obviously listen” Twilight said sending a glare towards her friend. “It’s not my fault you went all ‘egghead mode’ on me” Dash said back with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Well actually darling by the sounds of it the only pony you can blame is yourself” Rarity said. “Yeah, even ah know that ya just can’t kick a barrier and hope it breaks” AJ added. “Yeah well I didn’t see any of you guys going over there to help or beat him so we could just go home” Dash pointed out. “Ah and that brings me to my next point” the man said making himself the center of attention once more “I think it’s time we ended this little game” he said with the same bored and far off tone. “Awwwwww but we were just getting started unless *gasp* we’re gonna play a different game I hope it’s pin the tail on the pony, oh is that what we're going  to play because that’s my most favorite game to play at parties. Well is it? Is it? Huh, huh, did I guess it right?” Pinkie asked while jumping up and down in excitement. “You know what yeah why not” he said as a sickly black fog started to come out from his sleeves and spread around the undead army “Just make sure to let me know if they have that game in the afterlife” he said. The undead army before them started to change, at first they were brimming with bones and flesh sticking out or hanging off now started to grow back into place. Wings and horns that were not present or half torn off started to grow back with flourish and life. There once lifeless eyes were now glowing with an eerie shade of purple. “Now then round two” he said fingers prepped to snap the undead army baring their weapons waiting for their master command to attack. Just as he was about to snap his fingers the pink party pony shouted “Wait!” gathering the attention of her friends, the undead army and the cloaked figure. “If we’re going to round two I need to change my character” she said followed by her excusing herself and walking into a changing booth. “Again is she always like this” he motioned to the random changing booth occasionally she would say something along the lines of ‘not this one’. “Like ah said it’s been getting worse the past week or so” AJ said flatly. “Ok I’m ready” she said as she stepped out of the changing booth, which was no longer there, now sporting a new outfit. She was now wearing a light pink and black jumpsuit with a belt buckle bearing Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark. She had a dark pink harness crossing over her chest in an X-shape that were holding two katana on her back that were also in an X-shape. The man gave her a questioning look that gave off the feeling of a ‘WTF’ moment while her friends just shrugged it off as a Pinkie Pie thing, except for Rarity who was looking at the outfit with disdain. “So are you good to go?” the man asked warily getting a nod of response from the pink party pony “Ok then let’s end this” he said followed by the snap of his fingers. The undead army snapped to attention and ready their weapons “Pffft this will be easy I’ll beat these guys in ten….whoa!” Dash exclaimed barely dodging an arrow that soared past her. She was about to say something, but was interrupted as she dodge a thrust from a lance from one of the undead Pegasus, that was now flying after her, followed closely behind were a couple more Pegasi. “Dash!” Twilight yelled focusing her magic to help her rainbow haired friend only to lose her focus as AJ pushed her out of the way, a second later an arrow planting itself where she once stood. “Thanks AJ” Twilight said as she quickly got up; her horn glowing with magic as she caught an arrow that was soaring towards her. With a light pulse from her horn and a flick of her hand the arrow turned around and headed right towards her assailant, lodging itself right between its eyes. “No problem sugar cube” AJ responded as she did a roundhouse kick to one of the undead sending it towards a group of them and making them fall over like a bowling ball to bowling pins. Except these pins didn’t stay down, but instead got right back up and slowly made their way back towards her and her friends. “Well ain’t that a load of horseapples” she muttered to herself and kicked another undead. “Yo Twilight mind handling the unicorn and archers it’s kind of hard to fight these other pegasi while I’m constantly dodging” Dash shouted as she zoomed by leaving her signature rainbow trail and a couple of undead pegasi behind. “I’m working on it” Twilight yelled back as she focused her magic on five of the undead soldiers only to lose her concentration as an axe swung down in front of her. To close for comfort Twilight grabbed the undead and placed it to the left of her, moments later an explosion rang out and the undead was nothing more than a pile of ash. Noticing another unicorn undead charging up a spell, she focused her magic and was about to release an arcane bolt, when suddenly an arrow flew right past her and lodged itself right between the undead unicorn’s eyes. Turning around to look for where the arrow came from she noticed Rarity holding an old worn out white bow, its once beautiful and well sculpted design were lost to the sands of time. “Twilight darling, if you would be so kind as to take care of the other unicorns while I’ll take care of the archers, so that we can give Rainbow Dash some room to breathe” Rarity said to her as she notched an arrow and fired. “Right , AJ keep covering us as best as you can” Twilight said as she lifted a group of unicorns into the skies and tossed them as far as she could. “You got it sugarcube” AJ hollered back as she roundhouse kicked a group of them. “Pinkie…” Twilight was about to say when a loud explosion could be heard. “Pineapple surprise” Pinkie yelled as she backflipped into the air and threw a round circular object into a horde of the undead, set object exploding the second it hit the ground and showering the field with undead body parts. “Yes Twilight?” Pinkie asked as she continued her bombardment on the undead. “Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing” Twilight yelled deciding right now wasn’t the best time to question her friend’s fighting ability. “Okie dokie lokie, Bang” she said and quickly teleported out of the way from a sword swipe which was follow up by an uppercut “Shoryuken”. After the fifth consecutive throw Twilight seemed to have had enough as she closed her eyes and began to gather her magic. At first it was just a dull lavender glow that surrounded her horn, but after a couple minutes of concentration it soon began to shine brighter than the stars in the night sky. When she opened her eyes her once beautiful violet eyes were now white as snow. Just as she was about to release her spell her eyes flickered towards some sudden movement. Her eyes widen in panic and instead of releasing a shock wave she instead casted a barrier around herself and her friends. And not a moment too soon as a blizzard of ice and a torrent of flames hit against the barrier, the barrier holding strong and true, though the grounds surrounding the barrier was either littered with shards of ice or burned to a crisp. Eventually the torrent of flames and the shards of ice stopped their bombardment against the shield the unlucky undead that couldn’t get out of the way in time were littered all over the battlefield either burnt to a crisp or blades of ice protruding out from their bodies. The barrier flickered for a second and eventually shattered. In the center of the barrier breathing rather heavily was Twilight, Fluttershy next to her supporting her friend up. “I may not be as strong as the element of Magic” stated the man breathing heavily as well though he continued “But I can at least prevent you from using your full capacity by harming your friends” ending his speech with a smug smirk. “You alright sugar cube?” AJ asked concerned. “Yeah…just…tired” Twilight said in-between breaths. “Oh w-what are w-we going to do…” Fluttershy tried to ask only for a loud scream to be heard from behind them. “AAAAAHHHHHHH!” turning around quickly they located the source to come from Rarity who was slowly getting forced away from her friends. “Rarity!” AJ screamed as she tried to intercept her friend though was forced to stop as a sword came crashing down in front of her. “Git out of the way” she cried out as she pushed, punched and shoved the creatures out of the way though to no avail. “Rarity” Twilight cried out softly as she concentrated on a teleportation spell her horn fluxuating with magic. After a moment of concentration she was brought out of it as Fluttershy pushed her to the ground and out of the way as a bolt of magic sored by them. “I-I'm sorry Twilight but I had to-Eep” she cried out as she brought Twilight into a hug and began rolling out of harms way once more, blades and arrows crashing down where they were at moments ago. “Don’t worry I’m on it” Pinkie cried out as she began to make her way towards Rarity only to trip as a greenish glow surrounded her leg. “Uh oh” she said before she was unceremoniously thrown the opposite way. “AHHHHHH” Rarity screamed in fright as her bow laid out of arm’s reach away while an undead prepared to pierce her through the heart. “Hang on Rarity!” Dash cried out as she dived bomb towards her bowling through the blockade of Pegasi in the skies like they weren’t even there. “DASH LOOK OUT!” AJ cried as she body tackled an undead archer though it was too late as the arrow sored towards it target. With a quick flick of her wings she narrowly dodge the arrow and continued her assault though now AppleJack was being pinned down as well by the archer while an undead raised his blade high ready to pierce her the heart. “AJ”Twilight cried out as she fired a bolt of arcane energy towards the undead only for another bolt of magic to hit hers canceling out  the spell. Before she could charge up another shot a dark foreboding shadow loomed over the two. Slowly turning around they saw a massive earth pony wielding a warhammer about equal to his massive frame. He brought his hammer up high towards the heaven ready to smash both of them in one go. Time slowed down to a crawl as Twilight watched the hammer descend. Glancing over towards the others she could see the same scene playing out though with Dash only a couple seconds away from crashing into the undead holding Rarity down. ‘Everypony...I’m so sorry’ Twilight thought as she closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable crushing blow. *clink* echoed out the sound of metal against metal. “DYNAMIC” cried out an all too familiar voice a dark greenish brown duster soaring towards the undead holding down Rarity. “ENTR-LOOK OUT SKITTLES” he cried out just as Dash crashed into the undead. “Wh-” Dash tried to say before the figure crashed into her causing them to tumble over one another as they landed on the ground the figure laying below Dash. “As much as I love being ridden by the opposite sex I would be ever so grateful if you got off” the figure said snidely the helmet with red tinted glasses masking his true voice. “What...But...This isn’t what it looks like” Dash said as her face turned a shade of red in embarrassment. “No serious skittles get off!” he said as he tried to shuffle out from underneath Dash. Confused as to what he meant she soon realised what he was referring to as she turned around and came face to face with a spear heading towards both of them. Only to then watch in amazement as the undead stopped his strike, bringing his hands into the air, and released a blood crying screech. His screaming last for only a moment as his body fell lifelessly towards the ground, though it never made it as it evaporated before it hit the ground, and standing behind the recent killed was a blue suited figure smoking his signature cigarette. “AHEM” he said as he adjusted his tie “Gentleman...and Gentlewoman...yeah it’s just not the same” he said with a shrug as he helped both of them up. “Come on man I always tell you to keep an eye on your six” the blue suited figure joked as he pushed the other away only for an arrow to fly by his face and into an undead trying to sneak up on them. “Irony at its finest” said another familiar voice though while the other two were wearing odd cloths this one was simply adorned in normal clothing. He was sporting a nasty cut across his chest, though it was slowly healing up, as he leaned against AJ for support  while she stood next to Rarity who  fired the life saving  arrow. Twilight confused about what was happening dared to take a peak only to see a shadowy figure standing in front of her hiding behind a shield. “That...that all you got” the figure said in another familiar voice as he stood in front of the girls playing a game of tug of war with the undead as he held his own against the massive weapon. With a strong strike from his shield he shoved the giant away like it was nothing causing it to stumble back a few feet away. Taking the opportunity the figure covered in strange bone like armor took in a mighty breath of air  “FUS RO DAH” he cried out a blue shockwave of energy soaring towards the giant and sending set giant soaring through the sky. “You *huff* Okay Twi and Fluttershy” he asked as he held out his hands to help the girls up. “Yeah, just tired” Twilight said weakly though feeling much better not only for resting for a sec, but to her newly made friends arrival. The other quickly join up while the undead stood motionless their master making himself know as he asked “And who might you four be?” The one with the bone like armor seemed to whisper something quickly to the others and then stood in front of them, prompting the hooded figure to assume he was the leader of this odd group, the other unannounced guest standing in front of the girls though right behind him. “You know in some cultures it’s considered rude to not introduce oneself first” he replied back smugly and continued “So how about you first?” My PoV: I asked him waiting for a response. He stood there thinking about my proposal for a few moments while we stood there waiting for his response. “Very well” he said as his hands reached towards his hood and brought it down revealing a male around his mid twenties with a black set of hair and gold colored eyes. He looked a bit on the skinny side as his face showed more bone than fat, but it was hard to tell since his coat was very loose as it would occasionally blow in the wind though his most distinctive attribute about him was his horn. From far away it looked like a normal horn, but at the distance we were at I could tell it was far from it as it was instead a black like crystal protruding from his head black and red like colors dancing about similar to how a lava lamp works. “I have long since forgotten my name and have adopted the name Raven.  I was born on the outskirts of Equestria to a drunkard and a whore. When I became old enough and had gather a reasonable enough amount of bits I set off into the world but most importantly away from my ‘beloved’ parents” he said venomously and resumed “A few years past as I wandered the countryside on occasion lodging at particular towns for a time that were decent enough as I worked for bits as a digger though they usually revolved around digging graves” a sickening yet reminiscing smile splayed across his face. “A few years passed and while I was lodging in a town, that I care not to remember its name, near the border of Gem Fido a group of slavers waltzed right in and took the entire town. The guards and townsman fought valiantly of course, but were eventually either killed, surrendered or fled to save their own skin. A few months passed by as I continued to slave away with my fellow captives when the majority of them tried to revolt” He said displeased while my friends and I gave him confused looks. Sensing our confusion he said “At the time I had been working on a way out, since I’m rather proficient in digging, that started through the mortuary and lead out near the border of Equestria. Anywho long story short they failed miserably and one of the townsponies sold me out to save his own hide though he was still killed anyways, but that left me in a bit of a predicament. Just before I was about to be executed before the remaining survivors I was saved by my master. My master saw the potential I could achieve if I opened my eyes to the truth and gave me the power to do so. Ever since that day I’ve sworn to follow his every whim and even give my life to achieve his goal.” “I asked for a name, but you give me a life story why is that?” I asked him cautiously. “And what is this ‘truth’ you’re referring to?” Ben pipped up. “It’s because you are different from...them” he said venomously gesturing towards the village and continued “You can see the world for what it truly is, a fake utopia of peace and harmony” “Fake!” Dash cried out. “I’ll show you fake” and tried to dash off towards him, but was stopped by AJ. “Yes fake” the man said and elaborated “You propose peace and harmony yet when it comes down to it you are only interested in yourselves. You choose to ignore the outside world and pretend nothing is wrong when thousand upon thousands of beings die each day because  of slavery, malnourishment or war. Whining and complaining about the stupidest of things when life or death situations take place everyday deciding who lives and who dies. And where are the goddesses of the sun and moon at? Here neglecting their duty to fill their own selfish desires and to be treated like royalty instead of what they truly are: Gods”. The area became silent as everyone took in what he had said. The girls having rather conflicted looks across their face while my friends kept a rather calm demeanor.  “Whelp I guess I’ll be the first one to say something” Pedro said as he clapped his hands making him the center of attention.  “For starters he does have a point” he said while nodding his head sagely though his face was obscured by his helmet. “WHAT?!” the girls cried out. “OW You don’t have to yell” my friend exclaimed back. “How could you agree with this jerk” Dash cried out. “I always knew you were a ruffian, but this is even low for you” Rarity agreed. Before any other comment could be aimed towards Pedro, Ben raised his hand awkwardly while wearing a nervous grin “Well he’s technically not the only one”. “Ben ya’ll can’t be serious?” AJ said surprised at Ben’s action. “Whelp this is already awkward as it is so...yeah” I said while rubbing the back of my head with one hand and making a apologizing gesture with the other. “What a twist” Pinkie exclaimed randomly. “Ah so you understand how wrong they are” Raven  said. “Yeah this place is too...what’s the word I’m looking for?” Pedro asked looking towards Ben for an answer. “Orderly, perfect, random, cartoonish, cheery or girly. Though to be fair I could go on, but we could be here for awhile” Ben said listing off a spew of words. “Yes, YES. Exactly” he cried out in joy the army of undead soldier parting way to allow us safe passage to their master. “Now that you understand we can work together to wrong this right. And for starters by killing them” he sneered while pointing at the girls. “Bit harsh don’t ya think?” Pedro said. “I mean couldn’t we give them a stern talking to” he said jokingly. “No” he said completely oblivious to my friends joke. “The only way to fix this problem is by ‘pulling the weeds by the root’ otherwise they’ll just keep growing back”. “Hmm yes indeed a very good point” I said while nodding sagely to him. “But where we are from we have a little thing call Democracy and we put things up to a vote. So those in favor of stern talking to?” I asked. “Aye” my friends said while raising their hands. “And those for killing them?” I asked though the man wasn’t amused or interested in voting as he scowled at us. “Whelp its unanimous then” I said while turning to the girls. “Now you girls better stop it before I tell your parents” I said while wagging my finger at them. “Oh please anything but that” Rarity said while acting like she was about to faint from sheer surprise. “Now hold on there partner lets not do anything hasty” AJ said panic all too evident in her voice. “But if you do that they’ll send me back to *shruders* magic kindergarten” Twilight exclaimed. “Ha magic kindergarten got nothing on *gulps* flight camp with Sergeant Fleet Hoof” Dash said as she nervously rubbed her arm. “No please I’m begging you don’t tell my parents” Pinkie pleaded while grabbing onto Manny’s leg. “They’ll take away my cupcake eating privileges” she said on the very edge of bawling. Then we all began to laugh at our improved act. The man just realizing we were messing with him silently told his army to block the path towards him. He had an unamused scowl across his face “It appears I’ve been made into a fool...I despise people who do such a thing to me. Just as much as I hate those who take what I say worth a grain of salt”. “Whoa, whoa, whoa” Pedro said raising his hands up defensively “Who said anything about disregarding your ideals” though the girls just stared at him strangely. As if sensing this he replied “Yes I know big words too I just rarely use them”. “I’m mean you are technically right this place is way too orderly” I said with a nod. “Yes and because of that it usually leads to bad things since where there is good there is evil and vice versa” Manny said as he tossed his cigarette into the sea of undead warriors. “However that doesn’t mean you have any right to force your ideals onto others” Ben said. “So with that said I’m going to have to ask you to leave” I said my blade pointed towards him threateningly. He glared at us for a few moments as if debating on leaving or not when he finally said “I’ll commend you on your bravery, but that leaves me with one question” he said as his horn began to glow an ominous color. Raising his hand towards us he snapped his finger causing the earth to quake once more. After a few moments it stopped as quickly as it came though it was soon followed by more of the undead seeping out from the ground. The small single man army of sixty soon expanded towards the hundreds as they stood in front of him now in neat single file line or technically a few dozen rows. “Who or what is going to stop me?” he asked with a confident smirk. “That is a very good question indeed” Ben said with a nod of approval. “But before we answer that may I ask you something first” Pedro said and continued “Do you know how to count?” Confused by Pedro’s question he pondered it for a few minutes into it finally sunk in. Scouring our group and counting off heads he soon realized that he was short by one. Looking off into the distance Fluttershy was nothing more than a black silhouette. The man roared in outrage the undead pegasi sensing their masters anger took off into the sky only for a rainbow blur to crash into the majority of them. The few that Dash missed didn’t make it far as a bright magenta barrier sprung up and halted their process. Confused they tried once more only for the barrier to spring up again. Before they could try to do anything the same rainbow blur crashed into them sending them hard towards the ground. “Looks like operation look away worked” Pedro said with a smug tone. “Wait I thought it was operation pull string?” Manny asked confused. “No it was agreed on being called operation distraction since the others one didn’t make sense” Twilight said though a bit strained as she continued to hold the barrier up. “I don’t think that really matters right now!” I cried out as I got into a defensive position. “Agreed!” Ben said while moving to be in front of Twilight. “Pinkie and Pedro take the left side, Manny and AJ well handle the right, BJ front and center with me while Rarity takes care of the archers, Dash handles the skies and Twilight if you can keep us protect, but focus on making sure they don’t get past us” Ben shouted out orders. Without having to say a word the undead army began its advance towards us. Though moderately fast we still had an adequate enough time to get into position. An undead with a greatsword came at me, but I easily blocked him and shoved him away to catch a nimble undead and slice him in two. Following the momentum I turned my attention back to the greatsword wielder and cut it’s sword wielding arm off which was followed by it’s head. As the dagger laid on the ground, Ben dove for the blade and with an acrobatic roll he then sprung up from the ground and dug the blade into a mage that was a few seconds short of releasing a spell. Releasing the blade from it’s head he turned and blocked an undead with a short sword. Instead of trying to overpower the undead he leaned back causing the undead to fall over its own force. It didn’t even have a chance to fight back as he forced the blade into the back of it’s skull. Putting the dagger through one of the loops of his belt he then grasped the short sword and tested its weight. Taking the opportunity an undead snuck up on him and raised its sword high ready to cleave him into two. Though it wasn’t prepared for me to shield bash it away at just the right moment. Ben getting out of his daze charged the undead and shoved the blade through its chest. The undead, still alive...technically, began to bite at my friend while Ben held him place as my blade cut it’s head off clean. Looking at Ben’s wound it wasn’t deep, but a  small trickle of blood eased down his shirt as his wound already began to close up. In my new position I was able to see how the others were doing so far. Pedro and Pinkie were working in tangent with one another as Pinkie would lead first taking out the majority of them while Pedro took care of any stragglers. Though at one point I heard “Okay seriously my power revolves around the usage of guns yet I’m left with a knife while she, a pony, who has not even discovered how to manufacture guns is using one and nobody questions this at all!?” he cried out and continued “Does no one see how crazy this is!?” “Somepony is just jealous” she responded back while sticking her tongue out. “.............Of course I’m jealous!” he responded back after a few minutes of silence. Ignoring them I looked to see how Manny and Aj were handling their side. Aj was someone I wouldn’t want to get into a fist fight with as she took on several of the undead at a time. With the fortitude of a farm worker she easily was able to keep her own against two or three. While that was going on Manny would disappear and reappear at random intervals as his dagger dug deep into many of the undead though for the most part he made sure to give Aj a hand when she would be overwhelmed while also taking care of any archers or mages that Rarity couldn’t keep up with. Speaking of Rarity she was handling that bow like a pro as each shot always found their mark, which isn’t surprising given her attention to detail, but what made it amazing was the fact that the rate she was taking them down was making sure that they could never overwhelm us though at the same time prevent her from helping us. Looking towards the skies a rainbow streaked zoomed each and every which way making it hard to keep track of while a small platoon of the undead pegasi followed in its wake. Dash was doing her part well as most of the pegasi were too busy trying to catch her though some did give up and began attacking the barrier. Seeing that Dash would swoop in and hit them all at once forcing them to crash to the ground hard enough to make them vanish. Everytime she did she’d give a taunting cheer of celebration and would fly away again just as the rest finally caught up with her only to then resume chasing after her once more. Twilight had it hard as she focused on keeping the barrier up and running. She looked exhausted, but had a determined look on her face that let us know she wouldn’t give up without a fight. Only occasionally would any of them get close enough to force her to concentrate, but for the most part we were able to keep them at bay. I was more surprised that Raven hadn’t tried to release another barrage of magic at her. Looking towards him he seemed to be concentrating on sole keeping his army going rather than trying to break her barrier. Only a few minutes had passed and I already felt tired. Glancing back towards Ponyville I couldn’t see any sign of help coming. Looking towards the others I could see the girls were much more tired compared to my friends as they had fought not to long ago. ‘Come on Fluttershy, please hurry. I know there were a couple of guards wandering about so even sending them to help could tip the scales in our favor’ I thought while shrugging off another undead and decapitating it. As the fighting continued on, neither side losing to the other, the man screamed in frustration “Enough of this!”. Reaching towards the inside of his right sleeve he pulled out an odd dagger with a hilt that had a sharp edge to it. The whole weapon design was odd as the metal was crafted to form waves of sorts, for what purpose I was not sure of, but could tell that the dagger was dangerous. Bringing the dagger to bear he did something unexpected as he forced the blade into his own hand. A hiss of pain escaped his lips, but he held his composure nicely as a steady stream of blood fell to the ground. We were shocked to say the least at what he had just done, but didn’t get a chance to say anything as to what happened next. “Spirits of the dead hear my cry!” he chanted his horn glowing ominously once more as the hill he stood on took on a sinister black shade. “I summon you from the abyss of death to live once more! Pass through the gates of Tartarus and crush the enemies before me!” he continued the pool of blood shot up into the air forming an arcane circle of the like that I’ve never seen.  The very hill he stood on exploded into chunks of debris as more and more of the undead soon rose from the grave. “Forbidden Magic: March of the living dead” he said as his new found army stretched out for miles. The plus side was that they all seemed to revert to their second stage rather than the one we were fighting meaning it won’t take that much effort to take them down though the obvious down side was the sheer amount that now stood before us. “Twilight, what just happened?” I asked as we all pulled back into one area. “Blood magic. Forbidden magic that use the life energy of others or yourself to enhance your own magical abilities though this doesn’t make any sense. Princess Celestia has always kept that knowledge under lock and key, how did he acquire it” she said with concern. “I think we’ll have to ask that later” Ben said grimly. “If there is one” Pedro said underneath his breath.  “You should have chosen the quick and painless route, but as you can see you forced my hand” he said with malice while wrapping his wounded hand with a piece of cloth. “We need to readjust are tactics” Ben said as his mind worked overtime to counteract the situation. “I suppose using some sort of light magic won’t just kill them all?” Manny asked with a hint of panic/desperation. “No as they are now...it would only stun them momentarily” Twilight said as she now rested on one knee. “Ben” I said as the army of the undead began to get into formation. He didn’t respond. “Ben” I called out again. “Just give me a couple seconds” he said angrily. “As much as I loved playing with you guys I think it is time to wrap this up” he said sarcastically followed by a snap of his fingers. The undead army snapped to attention and slowly made their way towards us. “Well we don’t have a few seconds!” Dash yelled. “All of this yelling and pressuring isn’t helping!” Ben snapped back. Looking at the area near Twilight a plan began to form “Twi I need you to raise a giant wall of earth to block them from advancing while also casting a barrier only in the sky to prevent the Pegasi from flying over it. While you and Dash take care of the skies, Rarity we’ll join you up there and use the vantage point to take care of archers and mages while the rest of us will take care of the ground troops” I said. “I don’t think I can make one that bi-” she tried to say while Rarity moved to her side and supported her. “It doesn’t have to be ginormous just tall enough that they can’t climb over it very easily” I said then asked “Can you do it?” She thought about it for a moment, the army merely about to get into striking range, and then closed her eyes in concentration. The very earth below our feet began to shake which was then followed by a mass of dirt rising up from the ground to form a small wall that went on for miles. Standing on it was Twilight with Rarity next to her and Dash hovering above both of them. “You realize you just locked us down here with no escape” Pedro said as he got into a stance. “Yeah” I said solemnly and got into a stance myself the others soon joining us. “Okay as long as you know” he said casually and added “Also if we die you’re buying the first rounds of beer”. “Heh” I smiled light heartily at my freinds attempt to cheer everyone up “Hell if we live I’ll buy everyone their own keg of beer”. “Buy from the Apple family and ah’ll throw in a discount” AJ said with a friend tip of her hat. “I’ve always been curious as to how it taste, from the episode it looks delicious” Ben joined in. “Oh it’s beyond delicious!” Pinkie cried out joyfully and continued “It’s super duper fantastical-” but didn’t get to finish. “Here they come!” Manny cried out and quickly vanished from sight. The first of the troops charged towards us reusing Ben’s idea I took up the front with Ben by me while the others went to their respected positions. Four of the undead came towards me, but were easily repelled with a swing of my shield however not even a second later four more pushed through and tried to tackle me to the ground. I reacted too slowly , the bulky armor though good for defending did little for my mobility, as I tripped and fell. I felt their weapons bounce off my armor as they tried to find weakness in it, but Ben was able to get a few of them off me while I used my newfound strength to get back up and knock the rest off of me. Nodding in gratitude we soon went back to work fending them off as best as we could. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Manny having a hard time backstabbing them and reclocking to hide, since a simple bump would reveal his position, and was forced to dance around them to position himself for a backstab. Again I would not want to get into a tussle with AJ as she was taking on a group of six of them at a time. The familiar rainbow trail streaked over the sky as Dash tried to help not only us, but as well as keeping the undead Pegasi occupied so that Twilight could have a much needed breather. Showers of arrows rained down on the undead mages and archers as Rarity went into overdrive while simultaneously taking arrows from the archers to make sure she had a steady supply. Pedro was having most trouble as he was left with nothing more than his dagger and suit. He was constantly on the move making sure he was never in a position to get surrounded while Pinkie was- “Katana-Rama! Katana-Rama!” Pinkie cried out she slid across the ground while simultaneously slashing any who dared to get in her way. She had a gleeful smile spread across her lips while doing so making this whole ordeal as fun rather than a life and death situation. Jumping back she shouted “Pineapple surprise” and threw a grenade causing a small explosion that took a good chunk of them out. “I still call shenanigans!” Pedro cried out. I was going to respond until a loud explosion above us caught our attention. Streaks of fire began to rain towards the top of the wall while torrents of wind cyclones streaked from the wall to meet the fire, but there was more flame then wind as some would hit against the earthen barrier causing dents in the wall. I tsked at my own stupidity. My plan would have worked if it wasn’t for the fact that I forgot about Raven. Thanks to him downgrading his army plus that little blood magic stunt he now had more than enough magic to spare towards his army and fight Twilight at the same time. Twilight was fighting him off as best as she could which was beyond what I expected of them since they used up so much energy earlier. Hell it was either a miracle and I shouldn’t jinx it or maybe the elements of harmony was lending them strenght. Either way it didn’t matter unless Fluttershy shows up in the next few seconds we’re fucked. Releasing another barrage of wind cyclones to counteract against Raven’s fireballs they, for the most part, cancelled each other out once more. Pausing for a moment he observed the battlefield, while the rest of us continued to fight when suddenly an idea came to him. His horn began to glow with power once more and a cool wind blew over us. ‘What’s he up to?’ I thought and soon found my answer as a hail storm of ice shards rained down upon us. Twilight was quick to act as she released a torrent of flames to shield us from the hail storm. She was able to most of them, but a few still got by and nearly hit us-”AHHHHH!” Dash cried out. Locating where she was at I could see her spiraling out of control as a small shard protruded from her right wing. As if on the same thought pattern everyone of us began moving towards her location, but the undead were thinking the same thing as they intercepted us effectively blocking us from getting to her. She fought valiantly, but was easily overpower in seconds as they prepared to deal the finishing blow. Before the blow could connect a flash of purple light blinded me momentarily, but once I regained my vision I saw Twilight forcing them away. We continued to try and advance to protect them, but continued find ourselves going nowhere. As I sliced through a group of undead I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Looking towards the source a sense of panic consumed me as I fought even harder. “Twilight get out of there!” I screamed as loud as I could, but my scream was unheard thanks to the battle. “This is the end for you two!” Raven cried out with a maniacal smile. Two orbs: one red the other blue danced around him, but finally settled as arcane circles formed in front of them. Time slowed down to a crawl as a torrent of fire and a hail storm of ice shot out from the arcane circles and streaked towards Dash and Twilight. Dash was unable to move thanks to her injury plus the crash while Twilight didn’t have enough time to teleport the both of them or cast a strong enough barrier because of the undead still coming towards the two. I tried to think up something anything that would save the both of them, but soon realized I didn’t have the means to access my other equipment or spells...which left me with only one option. I didn’t want it to end like this, but if it could save their lives then maybe it was worth it in the end. Taking in a deep breath of air I shouted “Fus Ro Dah” sending the undead before me flying through the sky. Tightening my muscle for a second I then dashed using my shield as an improv battering ram and knocked any who got in my way. At some point I had lost my shield and resulted in using my sword to cleave through the masses, but eventually the same thing happen to my sword which then results in me pushing and shoving  my way through. By luck, a miracle or maybe destiny I reached the two just in time as the blast was only a few moments away from vaporizing them. Without a second thought I stood in front of the two as a giant human shield and looked back towards everyone with an apologetic yet sad smile. Wording out an apology I turned back towards the magical blast before I could hear/see their response and closed my eyes waiting for it to strike.