//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Six: The Dead City // Story: The Titans' Orb // by Mister Horncastle //------------------------------// “Thanks.” the unicorn grumbled, less than amused. Twilight dipped her head and sighed, and I realised just how exhausted she was. The poor thing was utterly filthy, her pelt had brownish patches all over, and her lower legs were splattered with mud all the way up to her knees. Her face donned a defeated expression, and her eyes were droopy and bloodshot. “What the hell happened to you?” I asked, furrowing my brow. Narrowing her eyes, she gritted her teeth and frowned at me. “Well for starters, you lied about the place being abandoned, asshole.” she spat, “I was shot at!” My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and my mouth fell open. “You-you-you were shot at?” I stuttered, utterly taken aback, “By who!?” “It’s ‘by whom’, and I don’t know, you halfwit!” Sniffing loudly, she explained how she was just approaching the city, when there was a loud bang in the distance, followed by a huge clump of dirt bursting up right next to her. She tucked tail and ran as fast as she could, returning to an area beyond the radiation to set up a portal node. Shaking my head, I murmured that what she was describing was impossible, Pripyat was completely and utterly uninhabitable. “Well, guess again.” Twilight huffed, wiggling her jaw with annoyance, “I didn't even get near the damn Orb shard, I teleported miles off course and had to walk for days just to reach the damn place! Only for someone to start shooting at me as soon as I arrived, so thanks for lying to me.” “I didn’t lie.” I professed calmly, “I just didn’t know.” Scoffing, she looked away and began to hang her head. Despite her already kicking off with hostility, I knew Twilight was somewhat in shock, or at least, spooked by her experience. I was honestly just glad that she had made it back safely, and chose to respond with nothing but kindness. “You need some rest.” I said to her, giving a warm, gentle smile, “Come on, I’ll take you up to the others and I’ll get you some food.” She looked at me blankly for a moment, but as the exhaustion took over, she gave a sluggish nod and allowed me to help her. “I would… appreciate that.” she sighed, stepping forward to follow me. Turning around, I started to make my way up the stairs, with Twilight slowly lumbering behind me. Reaching Oliver’s room, I opened the door and broke into a hearty grin. “Look who I found.” I announced, revealing the shattered unicorn. “Twilight!” Pinkie squealed, bouncing off the bed and launching herself forward for a hug. Letting out a fatigued huff, Twilight smiled weakly and returned the embrace, before stumbling into the room to greet the others. Leaving them to it, I went downstairs to cook some rice and mushrooms for her. In truth, all I wanted was to make sure she was alright; the poor thing had just returned from the site of the goddamn Chernobyl disaster, all by herself. On top of that, despite the fact it should have been impossible, she had almost been shot by someone! All in all, I had nothing but respect for her right now, and would do whatever I could to take care of her, with or without her gratitude. Besides, rekindling my relationship with Oliver had put me in a forgiving mood, and I hoped that a tasty peace offering could put us on good terms. On the subject of Oliver, he came downstairs to oversee the cooking, just as the mushrooms were starting to sizzle in the pan. “Need a hand at all?” he offered. “I’ve got it, thanks though.” I replied. Nodding, he leaned against the countertop and watched me cook. I was clearly doing a good job, because the moment the shrooms were fit for consumption, he lunged forward and pinched one. He popped it into his mouth and immediately regretted it, as it was still piping hot. Dancing on the spot and flapping his hands, he opened his mouth and rapidly tried to cool it down. “Haaaah! Hooooohh… Hoooooohh… Hoooooaaaaaahh…” “That’s what you get for stealing.” I chuckled, rolling my eyes. “I repent my sins.” he whimpered, swallowing the now-cooled mushroom. Bonking him on the head with the kitchen spoon, I turned the stove off and added the mushrooms to the rice, adding a dash of salt, black pepper, and some butter. I then zipped to the larder to grab a bottle of ground parsley, hoping to give the dish more of a herbal kick. “I don’t get it.” Oliver hummed, folding his arms, “Why are you taking the time to be this kind?” “What do you mean?” I quizzed innocently. “Well, Aubergine McBookfucker has been nothing but shitty to you from day one, and yet here you are, prepping a dish with genuine thought, adding flavour and making a proper meal of it. If I were in your shoes, she’d be getting nothing but gruel, with a toenail for good measure.” “And that, brother mine, is why I was chosen for this mission, and not you.” Doing everything in my power not to laugh at his newest nickname for one of the girls, I went on to explain that for as nasty as Twilight had been at times, she didn’t deserve to be hated. She was very clearly struggling to cope here on Earth, more so than the others, and that was no fault of her own; she didn’t ask to come here. Plus, she alone had been shown something by the Princess, and although I couldn’t fathom what it was, it had evidently left her in a state of absolute horror. On top of all that, she was the one who had been placed in charge of this mission. “Think about that, Oliver.” I muttered, “Your entire world is in danger, and your country’s ruler, of whom is both your personal mentor and the literal Goddess of the Sun, basically says that it’s your job to save it. Can you imagine the pressure that’s put on her? Look, I get that she’s been a colossal bitch at times, trust me, I’m the fucker on the receiving end! But if I were in her shoes, I’d be no better off. The last thing I’d be capable of is playing happy families with an alien, especially when I’ve been very specifically instructed not to befriend it.” “Okay, I get it, you fancy her. Just say that, Bro.” “I’m going to hit you with this fucking saucepan in a minute.” Laughing, Oliver insisted that he was joking, and that he was in fact taking me seriously. Admitting that I had a point, he promised that he would cut Twilight some slack, opting to overlook her stuck-up attitude, even if it was more for my sake and not hers. As I approached Oliver’s bedroom, I heard the chitter-chatter of the girls, followed by Pinkie Pie responding to her excellent nose. “Ooh, I smell something yummy!” “Yeah, and it’s not for you!” I laughed, opening the door with a foot. Entering the room, I weaved through the group and reached Twilight, of whom was sitting in the corner, wearily looking up at me with caution. Squatting down, I offered the bowl to her and spoke softly. “Here, you must be starving.” Upon smelling the food, her eyes lit up, and she looked at me with a genuinely thankful expression. “I, uh…” “You’re welcome.” I interrupted with a gentle tone. She took the bowl with her magic, and I was just about to turn away when I had another bright idea. “Would you like me to run you a bath? I’m sure you’re aching a fair bit from all the walking, and I don’t even want to imagine how much dirt’s in your fur. Maybe a nice warm soak after you’ve eaten would do you some good?” Blinking rapidly, Twilight didn’t know what to say. It became quite clear that she wanted to accept the offer, but needed a nudge towards that admission. “I promise I won’t drown you, or hide any piranhas in the water.” I teased. She didn’t smile, but she did raise her eyebrows in mild amusement. After a brief moment, she finally conceded, dipping her head and admitting that a bath would be nice. I was just about to turn away, when a genuine ‘thank you’ left her lips. I looked her up and down for a moment, caught unaware, before breaking into a warm smile. Dipping my head, I went off to the bathroom and started to fill up the tub; I had only just got the hot water running when I rushed back into the room and gave Twilight a childish grin. “Would you like bubbles in your bath?” “Please tell me you’re joking.” “So…?” I trailed off questioningly. “Get out.” Grinning, I left the room, chuckling to myself all the while. After the bath was full, I checked the temperature; it was a little too hot, and so I let in a little extra cold water. I then came back into my brother’s room to find everyone watching a comedy that Oliver had put on his TV. He had clearly chosen something decent, for the ponies were all seemingly enjoying themselves and laughing along with it; I even witnessed a giggle from Twilight, and it was fucking adorable. {There may be hope for her yet…} my conscience muttered. {Quite possibly…} I silently agreed. Hailing Twilight over to me with a wave, I said that the bath was ready and escorted her to the bathroom. I then left her to lock the door and get comfortable. “What did I say about the bubbles!?” she barked angrily from inside. “You didn’t say no!” I sang back, cackling. Through the door, I could hear her quietly spitting distasteful words about me, vaguely along the lines of ‘dimwitted, incompetent, mud-brained fool’, and the like. I couldn’t help but smirk pridefully as I went downstairs to pour myself a glass of milk. As I passed the bathroom on the way back up, I overheard a small slosh, followed by a drawn out moan of ecstasy. {Damn.} I thought, {Bitch really needed that bath…} Exhaling heavily with amusement, I went into Oliver’s room and joined the others in watching the comedy he had put on. With this being my last day in England before heading off to Ukraine, I decided that I could do with a few laughs; Pripyat was hardly going to be a pleasant expedition. Two comedy films and a barrel of laughter later, we turned off the TV and decided to gear up for tomorrow’s departure. Everyone headed downstairs, and I was about to follow when I heard Twilight calling for some assistance. Politely knocking before entering, I opened the door to be met with a dripping wet unicorn, stood in the empty tub and scowling at me. “I need a towel.” Stifling a chuckle, I asked why she couldn’t just use her magic, to which she scoffed. “I don’t use magic for every single little thing, you know?” she grumbled, “The trip back used a lot of mana, and I need to conserve as much as I can for tomorrow. Portals aren’t easy to cast.” “Fair play.” I admitted, dipping my head. I went to where the boiler unit was and opened the little door, where all the bathroom towels were stored. Heading back to the bathroom, a sly grin crept onto my face. “Need me to help you dry off?” I offered sarcastically, dangling the towel from side to side. “Don’t make me hurt you.” Sticking my tongue out and winking, I tossed the towel to her and shut the door, leaving her to it. Heading downstairs, I joined the other girls in going over our stuff. With the plan being for us to split up, the three of us actually entering the city needed some food supplies. To this end, Oliver offered to go to the shops for us, and nipped out to acquire a few things, such as tinned vegetables and soups, and exclusively for me, some tinned tuna, ravioli, and a four-pack of toilet paper. “So, what’s it like…” he asked, “shitting in the jungles of Brazil?” “Hardly pleasant.” I replied bluntly. “And what about them?” he went on, gesturing to the ponies in the other room, “Do they-” “Don’t know, haven’t asked.” I clapped back quickly, cutting him off, “And if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not think about it.” “But their buttholes, Callum! You can see their buttholes!” “I-know-you-can-see-their-buttholes!” I snapped back rapidly, snatching the toilet roll from him, “It gets very normal, very quickly, now would you very kindly, shut the fuck up about it!?” With a low chuckle, he revelled in getting me so ill at ease about the matter. Much to my relief however, he dropped the subject, and allowed me to stuff my bag with the rest of the supplies. After that, I went over my more practical items, namely Inigo’s pistol, Wrinkleboom, and Krocsbane. Upon seeing the blade, Oliver scampered over to me. “Ooh, nice knife!” “Thanks.” I replied, “I got it from some big Russian bloke called Vladimir. I call it Krocsbane.” “Crocsbane?” he echoed, “Like, crocodile’s bane?” “Yeah exactly.” I answered, “But I spell it with a K, more Russian that way.” “You were ‘Russian’ to tell me that, weren’t you?” he quipped, grinning. “Oh shut up!” Laughing, he asked why I had given the weapon such a name, to which I explained about the crocodiles we had come across, and how the knife had been the only thing that had kept me from perishing to the scaly bastards. Humming with understanding, he presumed that I no longer liked crocodiles, to which I confirmed that I most certainly didn’t. I then sheathed Krocsbane and fastened it to my gun belt, where it sat comfortably beside Inigo’s pistol. With the supplies all sorted, I decided that I needed a change of clothes. Most thankfully, since my fictitious passing, nobody had taken the time to throw out my clothes yet; they dwelled in the corner of Oliver’s Hall of Findings, stuffed inside black bin liners. “Let’s think practical…” I muttered to myself, dumping my attire out onto the floor. I sifted around for a while, before finally settling on a decent getup, consisting of dark blue jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a green plaid overshirt, and the hiking boots I received four Christmases ago, that I’d never worn until now. Topping off the look, I found a baseball cap that had been an old favourite of mine, it was a dark forest green, with a beige brim. Checking myself out in the mirror, I was very happy with it, and everyone else agreed upon presenting myself to them. We decided to watch another film before bed, and Oliver treated me to another curry from the local restaurant, as something of a ‘last supper’ before my departure. After that, we hit the sack, all aware that tomorrow would be bringing far less enjoyable prospects… “Okay everyone, we ready to go?” Twilight asked aloud once we were up and about. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” I mumbled, shrugging. “Bring it on!” Rainbow cheered. We all gathered in the living room, and Twilight prepared to link up to the node in Ukraine and conjure the portal. I said my last goodbyes to the dogs, giving Chilli and Archer a very tender cuddle. After that, Oliver asked if he could take a picture of us, which Twilight immediately refused. “Oh come on, please?” he begged, “I won’t show a soul, it’s just for me, I promise!” “I said no.” Furrowing his brow, he swore on his life that no one would lay eyes on the photo, and that it would be nothing more than a keepsake for a worrisome older brother. He knew the reality, I was going somewhere dangerous, and although he would never admit it aloud, he feared that I may not return from this venture. “I’ve already lost my brother once.” he went on, “Please let me have this…” There was a moment of silence, and everyone stared at Twilight for her decision. Dipping her head and sighing, she finally conceded. “Okay, fine, you can take one photograph. But I’m warning you, if you ever show it to anyone…” “I won’t.” Oliver insisted, pulling out his phone, “Thank you.” We all gathered around, and everyone bar Twilight smiled widely for the camera. Noting how his finger was tapping the screen rapidly, I knew he was taking multiple photos, and I couldn’t help but grin wider as I knew he was objectively doing it to spite Twilight. He then put the phone away and bowed his head, knowing that it was time. Approaching me as Twilight summoned the portal, he pressed his forehead against mine and cupped the back of my head with his hand. “You be careful, Little Bro.” he breathed heavily. “I will.” “I fucking adore you, alright? Don’t you ever forget that.” “Cheers bro, I love you too.” The portal opened, spooking the dogs. Archer backed off to the doorway, while Chilli began barking at it relentlessly. I separated from Oliver’s brotherly embrace and he picked the dog up, quickly calming her down. Stroking her lovingly, he watched on as the girls all waved their goodbyes and then jumped into the shimmering gateway. Blu dived in after them, but not before fluttering over to Oliver and giving his ear a nibble, playfully calling him a faggot in the process. Now laughing heartily, the two of us exchanged a final toothy grin to each other, before I turned around and sprang confidently into the portal, where my entire reality was engulfed in unnatural sights, sounds, and sensations. It was nothing like the Pullie-Portal, there was no brilliant white or weightless feeling. Rather, it felt like I was being sucked through a vacuum cleaner like a helpless insect, and all around me were rapidly changing colours and swirling patterns, as though I were inside a giant kaleidoscope. I saw the exit ahead and was rapidly approaching it, but too overwhelmed to focus, I couldn’t right myself physically or mentally. Reaching the end, I was hurled from the portal and clattered to the ground, where waves of dizziness and nausea quickly descended upon me. Rarity rushed over to help me up but I refused the aid, pushing the unicorn back and holding a finger high into the air with one hand, clutching at my belly with the other, indicating that I might be sick. “Mmmmmmnn…” I groaned. Standing alongside Rarity, Twilight had the grace to explain that this was normal for first-time portal users, and that it would pass quite quickly. With my cheeks bulging and my head hung low, I gave her a thumbs up and kept my eyes squeezed shut. Thankfully, the feeling did indeed pass rather quickly, and I was able to get to my feet with my breakfast remaining where it ought to. The portal was now closed, and the girls were all looking around at their surroundings. I did the same, and was somewhat surprised at how ordinary things looked. Being a fan of the Fallout games, I had somewhat expected this place to look akin to the nuclear wasteland, rife with dust and dead plants for as far as the eye could see. Instead, we found ourselves upon a perfectly ordinary country hillside, sparsely populated with evergreen trees. In one direction was a thick woodland, and in the other, far off in the distance, was an unnervingly quiet, ruined city; the long-since-abandoned city of Pripyat. Moving first to the northern woodland, we helped the larger group set up their camp. There was no telling how long it would take us to retrieve the Orb fragment, and so we wanted to make sure they were comfortable and safe. Once the tents were erected and the girls were happily situated, I looked to Rainbow Dash and Twilight, raising my lips. “Well, shall we go acquire ourselves an Orb piece?” Rainbow gave Twilight a look for confirmation, and without anything further to add, nor objections, she simply raised her chin and exhaled heavily through her nose. “What he said.” Grinning, I brought my hands together and rubbed them eagerly, and after a quick batch of hugs to the campers, we set off to the irradiated city… We had been walking for about twenty minutes, when Twilight stopped us, warning that this was where the radiation levels began to rise. Her horn started to glow, and she cast a spell onto herself. “This is called Blightward.” she explained, imbuing Dashie with the spell, “As the name implies, it keeps your body safe from hazardous elements, like corrosive acids, poisons, pathogens, all that sort of thing. And much to our luck, it also keeps radiation at bay, so you’re welcome.” She cast it onto me, and I felt a cool sensation that was accompanied by a light pressure across every facet of my body, comparable to being draped in a thin silk cloak. I curiously prodded at myself while the temporary sensation lasted, and Twilight then explained that the spell functioned by coating my exterior in a thaumaturgical film, not unlike an extra layer of skin. Invisible to the naked eye, it was pliable and relatively tough, but that said, it could still be damaged. This meant that sustaining any injuries would render the area unprotected again, and thus it was crucial that we didn’t let ourselves get cut on anything, especially as we neared the power plant, where the radiation would be strongest. Having just cast the spell thrice, shortly after opening a portal, the unicorn’s mana was already at disconcertingly low levels, and so she wouldn’t be able to cast much else for a while. I told her that was fine, and we took off once again. “So where is the shard exactly?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “Let’s have a look.” I mumbled, taking my phone out. With the enchantment still working perfectly fine, I was able to hone in on our location and zoom in on the Orb icon. It appeared to be directly inside the power plant itself, right in the middle of the sarcophagus, which was when a harrowing realisation dawned upon me. “It’s in Unit Four, where the meltdown began.” I muttered. Picking up on my gloomy tone, Rainbow asked what the matter was, to which I explained. “The Orb broke apart upon entry, didn’t it? Landing across the globe at different times? Well, I’m willing to bet this shard landed twenty-nine years ago. Hitting the reactor and setting off all this. This wasn’t just a nuclear disaster, this happened because of your damn Orb.” “Oh… shit!” Dashie gasped, looking at me with her mouth agape. It was too coincidental to not be true, the Titans’ Orb had caused this, and it was a revelation that had even Twilight filled with remorse. Accidental or not, her world had caused a disaster on mine, and for as much as she liked to vituperate my species, she was clearly feeling a pang of guilt. Still, blaming the ponies was nothing short of absurd, they hadn’t chosen for any of this to happen. The Orb had been sent here by some evildoer from Tartarus, so whoever that was, the fault lay with them. Assuring both ponies that they weren’t to feel bad, I smiled kindly and then decided to pick up the pace. At last, we reached the outskirts of the city, and it baffled all three of us to see how overgrown it was already. In the space of just thirty years, nature had already begun to reclaim the place, with small trees lining the roads between every building, and copious amounts of grass and weeds poking up through cracks in the concrete, all seemingly unaffected by the radiation. Accompanying this was ominous thick mist that blanketed the way ahead, conjuring an eerie feeling that had all three of us on edge. “Dang, just look at this place…” Dashie murmured. “Yeah, no kidding.” I muttered in reply, “Fifty-thousand people used to live here, now it's a ghost town, all thanks to one little chunk of crystal.” “Will it ever be habitable again?” Twilight asked. Shrugging, I reminded her of what Oliver had said. At best, the radiation wouldn’t dissipate from here for hundreds of years. If the already-abundant plant growth was anything to go on, all of this would be wholly overgrown by the time it could ever support human life. “I doubt people will ever live here again,” I hummed, “and you know, that’s probably for the best. We humans are pretty good at mucking up places to make room for new towns and cities. It’s about time the world took something back from us…” Rainbow smirked at the comment, somewhat amused by my wistful perspective. Twilight meanwhile, peered at me thoughtfully; if I didn’t know any better, I would have said my statement had evoked a tinge of respect from the mare. Either way, the look didn’t last very long, and she looked back out to the road ahead. “Right then…” she started. “Left then.” I interrupted. Huffing, she looked at me once again and gave a most irritated expression. “Don’t do that.” Giving her a wink, I took a step forward, only for a noise up ahead to have me immediately freezing again. It sounded like a tin can being knocked around, and although it could have just been the wind, the ominous atmosphere certainly had us all on high alert. Anxious to press on, we took a quick detour into the nearest building, just to calm ourselves with a curious little snoop. It was an old grocery shop, and we went around from aisle to aisle to peruse the long-expired goods that were once sold here. “This text is awfully strange.” Twilight remarked, observing the Slavic script. “It’s just a different alphabet system.” I said with a shrug, “Don’t the various races on Equus have their own language?” “Oh for sure.” she replied, “I’ve just not seen text quite like this before, that’s all.” “Fair enough.” I hummed. With my inquisitive nature taking root, I asked about the other languages on Equus, to which Twilight cleared her throat loudly, eager to educate. Knowing that this would take a while, Rainbow Dash groaned with boredom and walked off to another aisle to keep exploring the rest of the shop, while I received some cultural exposition. As it happened, the language system on Equus was quite an interesting one. Unlike humans, languages weren’t divided by location, but rather, by species. Every race had its own language, and every member of that race knew how to speak it. The griffons eastward had a language called Clawsh, while the minotaurs to the south spoke Taurian. Ponies had their own language too, aptly named Ponish, of which was becoming more and more accepted across the world as the dominant language, known to other races as the Common Tongue. “We used to speak another language too.” Twilight went on, “Long before the time of the princesses, we had an ancient language called the First Tongue, or as it was called then, Lesngä’i Lì’fya.” “Bless you.” I said blankly, teasing the unique pronunciation. Much to my surprise, I was able to get a laugh out of her. Rolling her eyes, she continued the lesson, explaining that all beings once spoke the First Tongue, but it has since been forgotten by all. The only species capable of translating it were the horses of Saddle Arabia, to the far east beyond the Griffon Kingdoms. “So they are horses…” I exclaimed with great interest, “I’ve always wondered about that.” “Oh, were they depicted in that cartoon of yours?” Nodding, I explained that they had very briefly shown up in an episode, and ever since, the whole brony community had been debating over what they actually were, horses or ponies. Somewhat amused, Twilight went on to further emphasise that horses were a cousin-race to ponies, sporting greater height and thinner bodies. Supposedly, they had once been ponies themselves in ancient history, but had simply gone down a different evolutionary path, one far better suited to the arid deserts of their continent. They were a mostly solitary race, but in recent years they had begun trading with Equestria, exchanging their silks and spices for Equestria’s abundant metals and gemstones. This wasn’t a common occurrence however, as crossing through Griffon territory was perilous. I was about to ask more, when we both heard a loud gasp from Rainbow Dash. Schooling would have to wait, but I was thankful to have learned as much as I had. Rushing over, we found Rainbow standing in the doorway to the back of the shop, frozen in fear. “What is it, Dashie?” I asked, only to receive no response. Coming to stand beside her, I peered into the adjacent room, where I found the reason for the pegasus’ petrified state. Sprawled out on the floor was the body of a man, long-dead and heavily decayed. His skin was greyed and blistery, and his clothes were sodden with damp and rot. Under normal circumstances, he should have been a skeleton by now, but it seemed that the radiation had substantially slowed the process, as he looked like he had only been dead for a few weeks at best. One way or another, it was a most distressing scene, and it took a great deal of control to remain stalwart for the girls’ sake. Standing in front of Rainbow Dash to block her view, I snapped my fingers to seize her attention. Looking up at me, we made eye contact and I ordered her to focus. “How… how many people… died like this, Callum?” she croaked. “No idea, I’ve never looked at the numbers.” I replied honestly, “But it doesn’t matter, okay? There’s nothing we can do about it, so let’s keep moving, yeah?” Gulping, the mare gave a gentle nod, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Attagirl.” The three of us left the shop and continued along the road, which was when we came across more bodies, lying around in the street. Just like the one in the shop, they weren’t nearly as decomposed as they should be, and many of them were disfigured in bizarre ways; some of them had longer arms and legs, and others had elongated facial features, making them more beast than man. Something wasn’t right, and the girls knew it too. Unable to fight off her curiosity, Twilight approached the nearest corpse to her, which was when she jumped away from it and ran back to me. “Callum, it looked at me.” she whimpered, “That one just… looked at me.” “What are you on about?” I said, “These people have been dead for decades.” “I saw what I saw, Callum!” Looking beyond her, I laid eyes on the cadaver in question. Humouring the unicorn, I went over to it and nudged it with my foot. There was no response, and I looked back to her with a huff of amusement. “You sure you cast that spell properly?” I teased, “I think the radiation’s getting to you, Twilight.” Then without warning, to my absolute shock and horror, the body lunged at me, reaching over and grabbing my ankle. I let out a shout and kicked at it, catching its head and almost completely obliterating it; the brittle skull fell away and what dwelled inside came spilling out like a murky black soup. It let go of me and I hopped away on one foot, shaking the other one frantically and yelping in terror. “What the fuck!? What the f-fuck!? What the fuuuuck!?” All the other bodies started twitching as well, and then from behind us, the same one from the grocery store appeared from the mist, stumbling towards us and emitting a low husky growl. It went without saying, he wasn’t dead… none of these people were dead! Slowly, they all began to sit up, and both of the girls latched onto me, stricken with fright. And then, the one from the shop outstretched its arms, and began emitting a soul-rattling, ear-piercing shriek. It was loud enough to have all three of us covering our ears. And then, a loud boom sounded off in the distance, followed by a whistling sound above me. The man’s head then suddenly burst apart, bringing a very abrupt end to his shrieking. Akin to a marionette having its strings cut, the man went limp and dropped to the ground, his long-overdue death now delivered. Someone had shot him. Too shocked to speak, I started looking all around in search of the shooter, but having not even heard the shot, I hadn’t a clue which direction it had come from. Was this the one who had taken a shot at Twilight? Were they friend or foe? Having just taken this thing’s head off, it was safe to say that they could have shot me by now, so why hadn’t they? The rest of the bodies got to their feet, gurgling, grunting, and growling as their reanimation took hold, and in the distance came a most disorderly symphony. There were thuds and bangs, as though doors were being busted open, paired with the sound of windows being smashed, and metal clanging against metal. Following this came footsteps, dozens upon dozens of stampeding footsteps, and then from the mist we saw them… People, deformed and grotesque, half-decayed like the stirring bodies around us. Summoned by the screaming, they came charging from the haze and locked eyes on us, where they began emitting mindless feral sounds of their own. “What do we do!?” Twilight shouted, breaking me from my stunned state. Turning around to look at her, I bellowed my answer. “RUN LIKE HELL!” We burst into a sprint, hurtling away from them as fast as our legs could carry us. There was then another boom, and a loud hiss went over my head for a second time. One of the bodies in front of me was then knocked to the ground as a bullet struck it, dismembering the left arm in the process. It seemed that whoever was shooting was trying to help, although I hardly had the time to know for sure. Turning into an alley, I let the girls overtake me and I took out Inigo’s pistol. As the mob turned the corner and came into sight, I let off three shots, killing the three nearest people. Undeterred, they charged on like a wave, trampling the ones I had shot without a care in the world. “Never mind then!” I shouted, realising that shooting them was folly. Continuing to run, I caught up to the ponies again, where we slowly but surely gained distance on the screeching horde behind us. However, as we fled deeper into the city, more and more of the bodies that littered the streets began rising up to join the pursuit. The more we ran, the larger the putrefying mass of savagery became; we needed to get off the streets and hide. Turning into another alley, we found a roof access ladder, and I ordered the girls to climb it. Not needing to say it twice, they obeyed the command and shot up the ladder like a pair of panicked squirrels. Just as I started climbing after them, the now-hundreds-strong mob descended into the alley, where they immediately started climbing after me. Like ants, they began climbing on top of each other just to reach me faster, completely consumed by the need to catch us. Reaching the top, I took out Wrinkleboom and unloaded both barrels into them, blasting the nearest climbers off the ladder and down into the writhing mass of other bodies. The sound of the shotgun was equal in volume to the cacophony of incomprehensible yells and screams below, and the kickback was so strong that the gun almost leapt from my hands. Even if I could reload the shells quick enough, there was no way I could stop them from reaching the top with just two shots at a time. Noting how much the ladder was shaking, I quickly realised that it wasn’t far off from breaking, the only fixings that hadn’t come away were here at the top. Whipping around to Twilight, I quickly ordered her to destroy them with her magic. “But, my mana!” “JUST DO IT!” I hollered. Too panicked to question me further, she rushed forward and looked over the roof’s edge, where her eyes almost bulged from their sockets upon seeing how close they were to reaching us. “Oh shit!” she gasped, her horn lighting up, “Oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit!” They were almost upon us, when from Twilight’s horn came a beam of concentrated energy, melting the metal fixing. With a loud snap, the ladder came loose and swung sideways, where it descended into the alley below with an almighty crash, taking all the monsters with it. Finally, we were safe… Stumbling backwards, we both fell onto our bottoms together, completely spent from the chase. Panting loudly, we looked at Rainbow Dash, who was anxiously pacing around in figures of eight. “What… the fuck… was that!?” she cried out at last, “What were those freakin’ things!?” Still out of breath, I looked back at her and swallowed. I then got to my feet and went to the edge of the building, where I looked down into the alley to observe the creatures. They were now shambling aimlessly amongst each other, as though they had completely forgotten about us already. The rotting flesh, the mutated features, the mindless feral screams… There was only one word to describe these things, and although it seemed utterly insane to be saying it, I looked at Rainbow Dash sternly and said it anyway, telling her exactly what they were. “Zombies…”