//------------------------------// // Chapter XXIII: Welcome To Sunny Town (Halloween Special '15) // Story: Equestria: The BEN Chronicles // by HylianJuggalo //------------------------------// 7:00 PM In due time, we all floated back down to the surface of the ground, as the water began to die away, almost magically. I grasped hold of the ground tightly, struggling to stand as my lungs burned to death, spitting up more bloody water. I could tell… if anything more happened to me, I would die. If I wanted to survive, it needed to stop now. I regained my awareness, only to see Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and Twilight standing over me, and in short order, helping me stand. We had been sent deeper into the forest, lost and stranded, as the dark shadow of an early night began to cover us in unnatural blindness. Some distance away, I could hear the distressed and broken cry of Macintosh. “APPLEBLOOM! APPLEBLOOM, WHERE ARE YOU!?” Without question, I stood, painfully limping to the source of the noise, still spitting up water and clutching my heart in pain. We were so close…. this war was almost done. Just a few more trials, and we could end this monster; I could feel we were making progress, because now, BEN was, for once, trying to actively kill us. That meant the Master Sword WAS a threat to him, or whatever secondary tool came with it, was within our grasp. We were getting under his skin. He was scared of us, because we were winning. He KNEW we were. We were a REAL threat to him now. And knowing that brought one of the first genuine smiles to my face in five grueling months. I walked to the source of the farmer’s cry, weakly slicing down some bushes, where the four of us regrouped with the others in the clearing ahead. “APPLEBLOOM!” I set my metallic arm to the Farmer’s back, the others still trying to recover from the trauma of the flood. “We’ll find her. I know she hasn’t gone far.” “Ah… ah hope, Nick. Applejack’s already dead. Ah’m not losing my baby sister to ‘im either. Ah ain’t gonna let that happen.” “Neither will I." I added, tightening my grip on the sword, which was glowing brightly and shaking with a raw, before unseen sense of energy. "Come on guys, let’s go! We need to keep pushing! We have this in the bag!” As much as the others wanted to give up like I, we simply couldn’t now. We continued to trudge deeper into the forest, a darkness over top our heads and a misty fog in our eyes, remains from the flood. We at first had nowhere to go, but the voice of a sudden, whispering woman caught the attention of my ears. “Come. This way…” These words were cold, almost lifeless, and as they danced along my eardrums, I turned to the source to see what looked like a white, golden maned pony, with a magnifying glass for a cutie mark approach us from behind. I held up my arm, holding the others back, and drawing my sword. Her eyes were a lifeless, solid white, though the expression on her face proved docile enough. Still, more creepy shit. Great. “Woah, anyone else seeing this?” “See what? Spike asked, confused. “Nick, there’s nothing. Your eye playing with you again?” Pinkie wondered, staring intently at the forest before her, nothing of remarkable note in her vision. I took a step forward, the mare stepping back. This continued for some time, a careful game of chicken dragging on for about three minutes. Suddenly, the mare lifted a few inches off the ground, flying sideways through some trees and disappearing, her gaze still unbreaking with mine. I shook my head for a second, then without thought… naturally gave chase. “Woah… Hey, wait! Lady!” “Nick, where are you going!?” Twilight yelled, the others starting to follow behind me, as I struggled to run in my critical condition. I tore through the trees the woman went through, coming to another, much darker clearing. I stopped and turned to my left, taking note of the woman staring at me again. In the distance, I could hear my friends. “How did he do that!? Holy hay, he disappeared!” I turned back to the foliage that I came from, trying to go back through, but was stopped, a seemingly invisible barrier holding me back from taking a step further. “Guys, it’s okay! I’m here!” Nobody responded, they just kept quarreling among st themselves, wondering where I ran off to, wondering if anyone saw the woman I had, who was still standing behind me. I was locked from them. “Okay, look… what do you want?” I asked the white pony, slowly coming closer, my weapons still drawn. She said nothing, only backing away some more, down the darkened path. I did nothing but flow, intrigue and worry entwining my mind and body. Eventually, the darkened path gave way to a lit parting in the trees, and before them was standing and staring… “Appleboom! Oh thank Jesus, there you are!” The young yellow filly turned to my voice, ecstatic and happy, bounding to me and jumping on me with a playful hug. “Nick, yer alive!” “We’ve been looking for you for nearly fifteen minutes! Where’d you run off to!?” “Ah got swept away by th’ storm, remember? That big log we were all usin’ broke, and ah’ got sent off!" I set the filly down, standing up and peering through the opening of the trees. Before us sat a strange little town, with paper lamps hanging in an archway over a fence, pink tables full of sweet food and drink standing at the entrance of the town, a single opening in the fence. Before I manged to take a step forward, the white mare appeared in front of me again, floating down the main path of the town before disappearing before our eyes. Something isn’t right here. Something’s not right at all… As I began to step through the open path, I could hear Discord’s voice invade my head, a regretful tone about him. “I’m sorry, Nick. I told him about this place… This is one more of BEN’s trials. You need to find a way out of here. Trust no one in this town.” Without replying, so as not to Scare Applebloom, I nodded and stepped forward, the filly holding tightly to my jeans with one hoof. Before us was a quint little village of about seven oak houses, and standing near the tables was a grey stallion, a fully-grown man, with a black mane, and… No cutie mark? Something really isn’t right. I don’t like this. “Well hello there, sir! Welcome to Sunny Town! My, I’ve never seen a human here before!” The man joyously spoke, an exuberant tone akin to Pinkie Pie. “I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked, a defensive tone about my voice, my hands tightening around my sword and shield. Why, I’m Grey Hoof, celebration planner extraordinaire at your service! In fact, the party just started! Please, help yourself to some cake and-” The man stopped, looking past me and down to my leg. “Well hello there, little filly! What are you doing with a human? That’s a big no-no in Equestria!” Grey Hoof spoke, walking forth to reach his hoof out to Applebloom. I simply held a stoic expression, speaking flat, and without anger. “You touch the girl, and I’ll eat your kidneys.” Immediately, Grey Hoof backed away, staring at us as we walked past him. He left with some very… disturbing words. Though they weren’t violent, I still couldn’t shake the bad feelings I had about this place. “It’s not very often we get visitors. Enjoy your stay, sir!” Say what you want, dude, but I am NOT staying here. There was a mare here now, standing a few feet away from us, looking down and sulking. A red maned, white-furred woman, again, no cutie mark. This place is hella creepy, for some reason. I swear I recognize it to some degree, but I just can’t put my finger on it. “Ma’am, you okay? I asked, still keeping hold of my weapons and not touching the mare. “Oh…” She began, looking up to me and sighing as she looked away to another stallion, a yellow one, a few feet away. “I’m fine… He just… hasn’t said a word to me all night… Immediately, I began to trek forward, towards the new villager. He also looked distraught, a look of sadness and concern on his face. The mare behind us was staring, like Grey Hoof, as we walked away. “Um… hello, human…” “Something wrong, dude?” The man stood there in the doorway of (supposedly) his house, only uttering out a simple: “Oh… nothing.” I stared into the guy intently, making him shift uncomfortably. “Fine, I’ll tell you: You see that pony over there? he asked, pointing to the mare we had just passed, and who was STILL staring. “That’s Starlet. I was going to give her a gift after the party, but I lost it! Nowhere to be found!” He said, his hooves thrown up in defeat. I stood there for a moment, giving a (somewhat) reassuring smile to the man. “If I run across it during my travels, I’ll give it back to you. What did it look like?” “Oh, it’s… a big, shiny ruby. If you find it, I’d be ever so grateful.” “I’ll see what I can do, man.” I finished, Applebloom and I walking deeper into the village, again, as he stared at us. Yeah, something just isn’t right here. It wasn’t more than a few moments later when we were confronted with yet another pony, a brown, golden-maned stallion. “Hello! We don’t get a lot of travelers around these parts! Pleasure to meet you! I’m Gladstone!” the middle-aged man spoke, still upbeat, much like Grey Hoof. “Hey, how come ya’ll don’t have any cutie marks?” Applebloom finally commented, staring intently at the pony’s flank. He stood there for a minute, trying to process the words, before returning to his smile, and replying. “Cutie whats? Sorry little filly. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He happily replied, oblivious to anything else around him. I backed away, pulling the filly with me as a shiver rolled down my spine. Something really, really unnatural is in this town… Once more, this Gladstone guy… kept staring at us as we left. I wanted to scream, the fear coming back. As I backed away from the piercing eyes of the man, I found myself tripping to the ground over a clod of dirt, and into a small alcove of bushes. "Wo-augh!" “Woah, Nick, you okay?” I immediately sat up, rolling off of my stomach and regaining my feet. Applebloom looked to where I tripped, and her interest piqued. “Huh? Somethin’s stickin’ up in th’ dirt!” Immediately, I grabbed the thing, brushing it off. Well I’ll be… Applebloom once again taking hold of my intact pant leg, I pushed myself off the ground. “Ey, yo! Yellow guy!” We found our way back to the man with the lost ruby, taking not that he, (nor Gladstone) ever stopped…. just fucking staring in our direction. Without taking it any more thought, wanting to break my gaze with this dude as soon as possible, I handed the gem to the guy. “You found it! Thank you! Thank you so much!” As my hand touched his hoof, my heart skipped five beats, sinking into my stomach. In a split second as I touched the stallion, I could have sworn I saw him shape shift before my eyes. A black, red-eyed mass of darkness, emaciated and dead-looking, like a half-rotted corpse. The finishing touch was a deathly wicked and crooked, ear to ear grin. I nearly drew my sword to slice the guy in half, but before I had a chance to make a double take, all I saw was the yellow stallion again, who pushed me out of the way in excitement, running over to Starlet. “Holy fuck… Applebloom, did you just see that!?” “Yeah… creepy.” For once, they weren’t staring at us, preoccupied with each other. In this opening, I stepped into the unsecured house, only to hear a crying mare inside. The woman was wailing like a Left4Dead witch, and against my better judgement, I hopped over a few crates with the filly in tow, now standing before this new pony. “Ma’am?” “It’s not right!” She screamed, crying into her hoof. “This isn’t right! It’s the same thing, again and again and again!” “Um… ma’a-” “Just go away!” I didn’t waste any time, turning to leave, but tripping once more, and nearly falling to the ground. I turned to pick up what I had stepped on- a crank. Something isn’t clicking… I know I’ve seen this place before. I tried to think back to what BEN had done to me in the past, as we stepped out of the door, trying to think of anything remotely creepy and pony-related he might have used. It wasn’t a Mystery that BEN had tailored the events to personal level - the encounter with Pinkie was based around the Cupcakes classic, Twilight’s labs were based around The Experiments of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity was based off of DRESS.MOV and Prince Charming, Mac was Sweet Apple Massacre… I knew BEN had nearly custom-designed each and every event, just to play with my emotions as best he could. ...but what the hell was THIS one? I still couldn’t figure it out. Regardless, we continued forward, both Starlet and her boyfriend now soullessly staring at us, as well as Gladstone. None of them said anything past the conversations we had, they just…. They just kept fucking staring. I shivered and continued to walk the path, coming to a new pony, completely green. Again, she said nothing at first, just stared, before Applebloom spoke. “Ah didn’t know there lived any ponies in th’ Everfree Forest.” “You’re not the first visitor to say that, sweetie.” The gentle, motherly voice of the markless pony said. She took a step closer to the filly, but I simply raised my blade upward, growling. She backed away, but never broke her smile or upbeat voice. “We’ve got everything we need right here, so we rarely, if ever leave. I’m Three Leaf.” The woman took another step forward, attempting to grab Applebloom again. I don't believe I made myself clear enough. I pointed the blade at the mare's face, fear striking into her immediately. Again, I just kept a dry, emotionless tone. “Touch her. I fucking dare you." At that, I picked Applebloom up, handing her the crank and strapping the shield to my back as we walked deeper into town, the light of the paper lamps fading back into darkness. With my phone pretty much destroyed, I couldn’t turn on the light, so I was literally running blind. We continued along what path was visible, until the image of the mare with the cutie mark came back to my vision, looking at the both of us. “Look, Nick, there she is!” “Well, you saw her too, huh?” “Yup. She's the one who led me out here. Let’s see what she wants.” "I don’t think we have a choice, really…” Taking gentle step after gentle step, we soon found ourselves a good distance away from the town, thrust further into the hellish darkness of the Everfree. The woman was still staring at us, floating away, and soon, following her trail, she faded once more, this time, in front of a house, secluded in the darkness. The blinds to the house were cracked, revealing some light inside. I set Applebloom down and peered in, noting a small table with a chair, and a lit fireplace the only features this house could speak of. Applebloom squealed in fear, looking back behind us, to see the others standing there, staring There they all were, all five of them, at the border of light and dark, on the edge of the town, the inhabitants staring us down like an unsettling gothic portrait. She shook me violently, and I spun around to greet them, soon to be in the form of a 9mm muzzle. “N-nick? Ah’m scared!” The yellow filly cried, clutching me tightly. I set Applebloom down, drawing my weapons. “I am too, sweetheart. Go. Get in the house. I’ll keep an eye on the freaks.” Appleboom did as told, attempting to open the door, only noticing it locked. Under most circumstances, I would've kicked the door open, but that would only leave a solid invitation for our new stalkers, and besides, at this point I simply felt too weak to fight. “It’s… it’s locked…” “Try to find something. Key under the welcome mat, anything. Shit, what’s in that well over there?” I asked, my angered gaze still staring down the ghastly ponies that stood several meters away. Applebloom paused for a moment, taking note of a glimmering sheen of light bouncing off the wall of the nearby well. The girl peered down inside, and noticed a shiny object sitting at the bottom of a bucket that was tied to the well’s rope. The young girl put two and two together, putting the crank into the broken piece of metal on the side of the well, and began to turn. Within seconds, Applebloom dug her hoof into the newly-appeared bucket, emerging with a rusty, iron key. “Nick, Ah’ got somethin’...” The filly exclaimed, opening the door with a click a few moments later. “Good… good, let’s get inside.” I said, walking backwards, shield in one hand, pistol in the other. As we got into the lifeless structure, I immediately slammed and locked the door, snatching the key from the filly’s hooves. I flipped the table inside over, pushing it towards the door in an instant. “You won’t have her over my corpse, you freaks.” As I was peering out of the window blinds, Applebloom approached an overturned book that had been sent flying when I had stolen the table. She picked the thing up on its open page, and after some reading, decided to hand it to me, giving me a gentle nudge. I looked to the roaring fireplace, then back outside to the unloving, unblinking ponies populating the hellish landscape. Then, to the book. ~~~ Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 1 I don’t suppose all the warnings the adults kept giving us mean much of anything, now. The cutie pox has ravaged Ponyville, and a few friends and I are some of the only few survivors we can think of. I’m sure plenty lived to tell the tale, but with the disease still rampant, I deemed it best, in the interest of my friends and family, to just run as far away as is possible. I know we’re only children, but Gladstone, Mitta, Roneo, Ruby, Starlet, Three Leaf and I have decided to escape into the Everfree Forest. We’ve been traveling for several days now, with plenty of food and water to keep us going for about a month. We even took some veggie seeds and irrigation tools to help us start a small farm, if worst comes to worst. Here’s to hoping we survive. ~~~ I took another peek to the window, noting the group of five ponies had stepped closer, closing the gap to the house. I began to sweat in a panic, keeping my gun at the ready, and reading. Where was this Ruby chick at? What about Mitta? Where those the two ponies, one a ghost, the other crying? Wait.... I think I know where I am. ~~~ Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 2 It’s been a long time, but we’ve managed to set up a nice little hamlet out here in the Everfree. It’s a peaceful clearing, and we’ve managed to build full-fledged houses in the recent years. We have a nice farm with a generous annual yield. I feel that this place is… home to us now. Mitta wants to leave, try and reconnect with the rest of the world, and see if the disease hasn’t brought about the Apocalypse. I can’t take any chances - literally all but about ten ponies in Ponyville were sick. There’s no way in Equestria anyone’s still alive. That place has to be a ghost town, and I’m determined to make sure that this place doesn’t become one too. I shall name thee, Sunny Town. It shall be a symbol of brighter days, looking to the future in optimism. Mitta, please don’t go out any more. Stay here, with us, where it’s safe. You can’t go out there, you could bring the disease back. ~~~ Again, I took another look, only noting the five unblinking ponies had gotten closer, still not moving when I laid my eyes on them. I jammed the chair up against the door, backing Applebloom and I up into the back corner of the house. ~~~ Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 3 I couldn’t take a chance. I had to. We had a few ponies come to the town, saying they were lost. As much as I wanted to help, I couldn’t help but take notice that they were cursed with the mark - these ponies had markings on their flanks, and as far as I’m aware, that meant that they could be harboring the disease, in its nascent stages. I had no choice but to take them out to a secluded part of the forest and dispose of them in the nearby river, along with the help of Gladstone and Roneo. They, Starlet, and Three Leaf understood when I called a town meeting about the issue, yet Ruby and Mitta looked at us with disgust after that. I’m just trying to protect my friends and family. ~~~ I stopped, again noting they were getting closer every time I read a journal entry. Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 4 It’s been several decades since that freakish disease ravaged my home, and still, we find more ponies claiming to hail from it. That Celestia forsaken town was wiped out nearly twenty years ago, and obviously the disease still exists there, thriving on the environment as evidenced by our ‘tourists’. With the exception of Mitta and Ruby, we’ve all made the vow to eliminate any traces of the disease should they come our way, and have had several instances where we’ve had to put it in motion. I got in an argument with Mitta last week about the issue, her saying they just had ‘cutie marks’, and that I’d clearly forgotten what one was. I’m sorry, but it’s been so many years, Mitta. I’m afraid I have no recollection of what a cutie mark actually is, and I”m pretty sure they don’t exist naturally, outside of the disease. Gladstone can back me up on that. I”m sorry that it’s come down to killing anyone with the mark, but it’s clear. Like my mother said, right before she died: Those ponies are cursed. As we all approach middle age, I have no choice but to dedicate the rest of my life to making sure we survive as long as we can. Maybe my mind has changed. Maybe they’re normal. Maybe being secluded from society for so long has driven me and the others mad, but keeping everyone safe is better than taking a chance. I’ve seen what cutie pox can do to a stallion. ~~~ This time, I looked back out to the window to notice all of them there, and again, staring through it, unloving. As they crowded around the porch, I took note of the creepiest set of smiles I’d ever laid eyes on. “Aw, shit, we’re gonna die…” Now I finally understood where we were. Blank territory. “Applebloom, I don’t say this as often as I should, but I love you.” ~~~ Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 5 Oh what a glorious day this is! Roneo found the courage to propose to Starlet some weeks ago, and there’s rumor they have a foal on the way! I’m going to have to set up a party for them right away! Even Mitta, who’s been nothing but depressed these past few weeks, will surely put a smile on her face! ~~~ I had noticed the fire had started to die, dimming the lights in the boarded-up cabin we had taken shelter in. Taking another look to the window, and it looked as if the siege had stopped, nothing but pitch blackness staring back at us. Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 6 ~~~ Roneo came to us, asking if we’d seen the wedding gift that he got for Starlet anywhere in town. We searched high and low, but can’t seem to find any trace of it. We’ll keep looking, so hopefully we find it before the party tomorrow. ~~~ The fire had completely died, a handful of stray embers struggling to stay alive in the cold, unforgiving structure. With no other light source to see the book, I unfortunately walked closer to the window at the front of the house. As I did, I was met with a bright, red light, and making the poor decision of looking over, took notice that they were back, this time, the deathly, corpse-like grins of glowing red taking place of the normal ponies. Reluctantly, I read the last journal entry, the most disturbing of all. ~~~ Diary of Grey Hoof, Entry 7 I had no choice. She had the mark. She had to go. She would have spoiled the party, otherwise, and threatened all our lives. Ruby had found Roneo’s gift, a gem, earlier today. Unfortunately, the virus must have been dormant inside her for some time, as she returned to us with a mark on her flank - a magnifying glass. I didn’t want to upset anyone else in town over the fact that we had to kill one of our own, so I decided to make it simple and quiet. I took Ruby into my house, bashed her upside the head with the chair until she stopped breathing, and disposed of the body by burning it in the fireplace. May have been a bit extreme in hindsight, but killing a vector of the disease is a necessity to our survival. I’ll love that woman and miss her, but I had no choice. I’ll never forget her last words as I kept striking her brains out onto the floor, cursing me and the town for having gone insane. Maybe I am insane, Ruby, but I’m not taking any chances. Mitta found out eventually, locking herself in the town supply hut and crying the remainder of the night. She won’t stop blaming us for something I did because it needed to be. Even if it kills me, even if I burn in Tartarus for the dozens of murders I’ve committed since my teens... I’ll make sure that Sunny Town is safe. Forever. ~~~ I dropped the book to the ground, Applebloom and I walking closer to the fireplace. Sure enough, there was the charred, broken, and skeletal remains of a pony, lying about the ashes. “Ah… poor Ruby. I’m sorry.” I couldn’t help but utter, gently touching the skull, then standing to collect my bearings. As I did, though, the cabin fell pitch black, and a viscous, heavy breathing began to fill the air. I drew the Master Sword, the blade cutting a swath of light through the darkness, and shaking furiously in my hand. The breathing noise got heavier and heavier, the lifeless, dead smiles staring at us through the windows. Putting two and two together, I knew they were after the little filly, Applebloom. I pushed her back behind me, standing strong and defiant against the odds. Come and get me, you fucking monstrosities. You touch Applebloom, and you die. The breathing became heavier, and heavier, caving in on us like a car’s overloaded bass, about to crush our lungs. When… Suddenly, it stopped, and fell deathly quiet. The smiles outside the window had vanished into thin air. “What, what? What’s going on?” “HEY! GET OFF ME! LET ME GO!” That… voice…. Holy God, DASH! Immediately, I kicked the door down, Picking up Applebloom with my free hand and sprinting to the source of the cry. As we rushed out of the condemned home, I took note that… this place wasn’t what it looked like, when we got here. The buildings had collapsed and broken apart, age taking its toll on the small village. Now I finally understood what happened here. This place, Sunny Town, and its inhabitants, had died decades ago. What once was, was just a shell of the past, forced to be relived, again, and again, and again… Once a town of cutie pox survivors that went insane from extended isolation, the Everfree’s dark magic damned them to Hell for the despicable things this once peaceful town unleashed upon itself and its visitors, in the name of curbing the disease. The forest’s otherworldly forces dealt swift justice to Grey Hoof and his companions. And now... Sunny Town was now a gateway to the ninth circle of Hell itself, luring so many innocent souls to a grisly fate. And if we didn’t fight our way out, we were going to be lost to the darkness that was in here. As I made my back to the center of town with Applebloom, I soon found my other companions had been surrounded by the crew of blanks, backed into the small alcove where I had found the gem.. While my friends weren’t outnumbered, only facing two of them, I couldn’t blame them for not attacking out of uncertainty regarding the situation. I, on the other hand, had kicked into fight mode instantly. “HEY! OVER HERE! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME!?” Without thinking, the two blanks turned to face Applebloom and me, their dead, decaying ghosts shambling over to us. I was too weak to fight - one wrong move, and I could die, leaving everyone and everything with no hope of survival. But I wasn’t going to just let my friends get taken by these things. I brought the sword down on the nearest blank, slicing the beast in half, as it died with a guttural roar. With Applebloom in my human hand and the sword in my prosthetic, I weakly slammed through the second. As I brought my blade down into the ground to pierce it’s skull, three other blanks jumped from the bushes behind my crew, latching onto Fluttershy and Rarity, the third getting a crushing blow from Big Mac’s hoof, which sent it flying. Immediately afterwards, I charged towards the two latched onto Fluttershy and Rarity, who only happened to be showing meek resistance against them as they flailed about, screaming bloody murder. The others were trying to pull them off, barely succeeding. One was torn down to the ground by Dash, struggling to rip the demon off of her friend. I barreled past the others, and delivered a hard kick to the skull of the one grabbing Rarity, knocking it off of her and sending it to the ground with an audible thud. Slicing through the blank to ensure its death, I came to the one previously latched onto Fluttershy, and stabbed it through its throat, promptly letting the damned thing fall to the ground, twitching slightly every second or so. Dash collapsed the beat’s skull in with a quick and sharp hoof. As soon as the assailants were disposed of, I took up a defensive position in front of the group, “EVERYONE BEHIND ME! NOW!” Applebloom still sat in my human hand, huddling close to my side, shaking with pure, and unadulterated fear. The rest of the group didn’t seem to be faring much better, as half of them seemed to be shaking in fear themselves. Dash and Big Mac took positions beside me, looking just as ready to fight as I was. Even so, I could tell they were both looking nervous, unsure of how this was about to go down. I had to take control of the situation, and I had to do it now. I wasn’t sure if I could though, being just as scared as them, and half dead, to boot. Hell, as weak as I was, I could barely stand with the sword and shield weighing me down, still choking on leftover water. But god damn it, I was gonna do something to make sure they were safe, even if it killed me. As I barely stumbled, forward, I motioned for the others to follow me. We were all getting out of here alive, one way or another, and at least the assailants were all dead. The lifeless air of the town carried a depressing, soul-crushing weight with it, but we pushed onward. We managed to make our way to the supply warehouse, where I had found the crank, but… “OH DEAR CELESTIA!” One by one, black, lifeless appendages began to tunnel out of the ground, their owners hoisting themselves out of the dead soil. The freaks came in an almost hive-mind swarm, dozens upon dozens rising from the ground, appearing out of bushes, emerging from the broken houses… Just… hundreds. As more and more of them began to enclose themselves around us, one in particular rose from the ground, facing me, and spoke. I recognized the voice as belonging to that ‘Gladstone’ guy. “Please, stay with us, children. We’ll protect you.” a vile, otherworldly voice spoke, roaring form the creature before us, its eyes rested on the four children behind me. I stuck my blade outward towards the thing’s throat. “We are NOT staying here, and neither are the kids. Call off your little village, or we’ll do this the hard way.” I glared at him with the face of a determined man, my one eye expressing how tired I was more than ever. I myself was too broken to fight any more, and with the obvious overwhelming numbers barreling down on us, this wouldn’t end well. The others might manage to take out a few, but it quickly became clear we were surrounded. Gladstone simply laughed. “If you insist, human…” The blank simply said with a smirk, before sinking back into the ground. “Kill the adults. Spare the children.” Yep, he just picked the hard option. Likewise, that left me with only one decision. “RUN! The four kids we had immediately jumped to my back, gripping me by the shoulders for dear life as I brought the shield up, and began a charge through the wall of beasts. A seemingly endless wall of resistance met and clashed with the buckler, testing the very remains of my energy and stamina. The others began to follow behind me, blank after blank assaulting them from all sides. Alas I continued to push forward, cutting a swath for my comrades, as they held their attackers at bay. Bashing, smashing, and crashing my way through countless blanks, the fillies and dragon gripping onto my back weren’t faring much better. Without even seeing them, I could tell they were terrified, me being nothing more than a simple life line in a swarm of everlasting demons. The adults held their ground for as well as they could, but we couldn’t survive much more without making a clearing. Determining that best path, however, was nearly impossible, though - it’s pitch black, I have one eye, I’m night blind, and--- “Augh!” I don’t know what I tripped over, but I found myself getting flung to the ground, a group of high-pitched screams - children, invading my ears. Instantly, the blanks surrounding me began to jump towards me and the kids on my back, starting to dogpile the crew. Big Mac, hearing the terrified screams of his younger sister and her friends, immediately charged through the dogpile, sending countless blanks flying away from him. “GET THE BUCK OFF OF HER! YOU WANT TO KILL KIDS, GO THROUGH ME, YOU FREAKS!” I stood, an immense weight of bodies lifted off of my back. Big Mac had thrown most of the monsters away in his rage, leaving an opening for us all to recuperate and account for our bodies. More began to slowly close around us, as we backed ourselves towards one another, again, slowly being surrounded. Elements, Mac, Derpy, Scoots, Spike, Applebloom… Good. We were all here- “DINKY!? DINKY, WHERE DID YOU GO!?” Oh… good god… “M-MOMMY! HELP!” My heart sank at what I’d laid my one eye upon. Some distance away, I could see Dinky, surrounded and being suffocated by another group of blanks, the only thing visible, her protruding hoof, waiting salvation. She must have been sent flying when I tripped. Dinky was sinking into the ground slowly, three other blanks fading down with her, grabbing her by her tail and hooves. She was flailing about madly, crying hysterically. Before I even took a step, Derpy sped towards her, the window of already closing in front of us as a wall of blanks formed before our very eyes. Fatherly instinct kicking in, I made a breakneck dash, alongside the grey mare, sprinting towards the filly. I cut the blanks surrounding the girl away, my robotic arm gripping hold of her hoof tightly. The others, backed away against some dead trees, continued to fight the onslaught. "MR. BROWNFORD! HELP!” “YOU’RE NOT FUCKING TAKING HER, YOU MONSTERS!” I pulled with what strength I could muster, Derpy coming to my aid. Yet, not five seconds more, an overwhelming group of blanks jumped from a nearby window, knocking me to the ground, and the girl out of my hand. I landed on Derpy, sending her to the soil. A bash of the shield to the creatures atop me sent them reeling away, but… Turning back to Dinky, I noticed nothing there, the anguished, tortured scream of a child, the only thing lingering in my brain. I will never forget that sound, so long as I live. Derpy immediately started digging the ground like mad, shrieking and screaming in denial. At this point, I did the only thing I could do and grabbed Derpy by her tail, yanking me forward a few good feet. The mare screamed in abject horror. “DINKY!” Dinky was gone, and the group and I knew it. Derpy didn’t register it, though. How could a mother just accept something like that so quickly? Perhaps worse still, was, a few moments more, a little filly - one characteristic of the hellspawn before us, began to rise out of the ground in her place. Derpy immediately ran for her. All I did was pull the mare back, coming to a knee and screaming in her face as she tried to tear away my grip. “She’s dead! She’s fucking dead, alright!? Get yourself together, woman! Worry about the other children now!” What else was I supposed to say to a mother in shock? I didn't know. “NO! I HAVE TO SAVE DINKY!” “GET A GRIP, IDIOT, SHE IS FUCKING DEAD!” I screamed, bashing another blank upside the head with the Hylian shield, and pulling the pegasus with me. The others had taken care of the blanks surrounding them, and with the way somewhat clear, I began barking orders again, Derpy being drug behind me as she screamed into the night. I slung the shield over my back and picked the grey pegasus up in my robotic hand, screaming at the others. “KEEP MOVING! ENTRANCE! NOW!” We wasted no time, sprinting ahead of the dozens upon dozens of blanks chasing after us. I glanced behind me for a mere second to address my group, “STAY CLOSE. IF YOU FALL, YOU’RE NOT GETTING BACK UP!" As I faced forward again, immediately I was met with a heavy impact as two blanks latched onto my shield, their voices rather familiar - the couple, Roneo and Starlet. I shook wildly, attempting to knock them off, but continuing to run. If we stopped, the others would gain, so stopping to throw them off was a non-option. “We only want to be your friends.” They rasped together in a grotesque sort of harmony. I glanced back again, only to see them actually talking to the children behind Big Mac.I took another glance back to notice Big Mac behind me, the children in a small group behind him, and the other adults in a group behind them, Derpy under my arm. Doing a double-take, I came to notice the two blanks clinging to my shield had their heads quite literally turned completely around from their bodies, staring down Mac and the children, in some demented Exorcist cut. “Please don’t leave, the others won’t like it…” I’d finally had enough of this shit. Throwing all common sense to the wind, I stopped, ripping the shield off my back and throwing it to the ground, along with the blanks holding onto it. Derpy came flying out from under my arm, landing on the ground. The abrupt stop caught Mac and the rest of the group off guard, sending everyone into a pile as they ran into one another and fell. As we scrambled to get up, the swarm behind us was quickly gaining. I picked up my shield, and placed it upon my back again, only to notice more blanks spawn at the exit of the town, the lone fence. Trapped. Furiously looking for some way out, we were stopped short of a voice, which brought me to spin around, staring at the blank at the town exit. “Fools. Even in death, they do not understand.” The voice of a mare bellowed from the creature, matching the one of the crying Mitta I’d heard not long ago. “You. You and your friends need to live. Run for your life, and leave this place. We’ll do what we can, for now.” Mitta exclaimed, nodding to the others behind her, and moving out of the way. “GO! RUN! MOVE, GOD DAMN IT, MOVE!” Everyone but Derpy and me kicked back into action, bolting for the entrance. She was still beating relentlessly on the two blanks that had been thrown off of the shield when I’d tossed it down. Their corpses looked mangled, bits and pieces melting into the ground below. I wrapped my free arm around her waist again, pulling her away. She writhed in my arms, a fury in her eyes that I knew all too well. “THEY KILLED HER! THEY KILLED MY DINKY!” She shouted in my arms in vain. I had no response, as there was nothing more to give to a mourning mother who’d just witnessed her daughter die in one of the worst ways possible. With that, I ran, soon catching up with the rest of the group. As we continued to flee for our lives, noticing movement in the trees on either side of us, I briefly thought of the blanks who’d apparently helped us in escaping the town. To say that shocked me was an understatement, but I’d accept any sort of help that could be given in this sort of situation. Glancing around me, I noticed the figures were getting closer. A voice rang out among us again, much different than the others. A blood-red sky filled the air, more and more blanks began appearing out of every crater, shrub, and tree in the forest. Running further lead us into a dead-ended clearing, with one pony standing there, grey, with a golden mane. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to drag you into this. I was just curious as to why you were here...” She looked morose, as if guilt had been racking her for years. On a normal day, I would be more sympathetic. After all of this, however, sorry had meant nothing to me. “Sorry?! You were curious?! We lost a child out there, and you’re fucking sorry? And not only that, but you dragged us here? You sick fu---” A tug at my pants interrupted me, causing me to jump, and look down. Little Applebloom, looking sternly at me, almost scolding me for my outburst. “It’s alright.” The young farmer said to combat my ever-growing rage. “Ah don’t blame ya…” “Well I do. Fuck this woman.” I unwillingly kept to myself. The filly then looked to the mare’s flank, the crystal clear image of a magnifying glass seated there. “Hey, yer cutie mark!” She pointed her hoof at it, grinning ear to ear. The mare turned to look at the cutie mark, smiling sadly at what her life could have been. She looked back at Applebloom, looking oddly resolute with herself. “Yes, when I’d obtained it, I’d figured out that I was really good at finding things! Unfortunately… It was too late, and it took my life to understand what it had actually meant...” Even in her sad tones, she sported a smile on her face. “How can you be smilin’ after what they’ve done to ya…?” The filly asked, both curious and confused. “Because, I pity them, little one.” She circled the group slowly, glancing at the forest periodically, as if looking for something. Big Mac threw suspicious stares at her, obviously not trusting her at all. I kept my sword ready, keeping close to Applebloom. She turned back to Applebloom, “They knew exactly what they were doing, and they have paid the price for their actions.” The filly still had a little flare of her own, “But how could you forgive them so easily for murdering you?!” The mare walked up to me while she looked at the filly, not showing any anger or hostility herself, replying in an almost motherly tone. “It does no good to dwell on the mistakes of others, young one. The ponies I once knew so well acted only out of fear, and felt no true remorse for what they have done.” She looked up to the group beside Applebloom, “The curse that has befallen them can only be broken through atonement…” “Then why don’t ya just make ‘em feel sorry for what they’ve done?” She shot back, trying to reason out why the mare was so easily forgiving the monsters that had killed her. “Forcing somepony to feel sorry for their mistakes does not work as well as you might think. Unless they can find a true reason to feel sorry, then there is no real restitution.” A moan pierced the forest air as the mare and the group turned back from where they’d come, seeing the horde of blanks having finally caught up. The lead blank carried a marred corpse of a barely breathing, but familiar creature that had helped them by buying time. Mitta let out short and quick breaths, pieces of her already fading into the ground. “Shit… Get behind me everyone!” The group did as they were told as my sword dragged on the ground. Suddenly, the mare appeared in front of me. “You all must trust me… I’m going to find a way out of this for all of you, I promise.” And with a glowing orb forming a resting above our heads, a blinding flash was all we could see.