One of these Days

by Wrabbit

Chapter 13: Zombie

ONE OF THESE DAYS

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Chapter 13: Zombie

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~21 Aevum Illuminationis~

Flying was normally something that Twilight did for relaxation; an escape. On the wing, with the world a vague mass of colors far below, she found it easy to leave her problems behind for a short while, at least. High enough, and even the smells became so faint as to need extraordinary means of identifying them. Unfortunately, this flight was for entirely different reasons. Even if it were just for pleasure, the alicorn was far too angry to enjoy it.

She could still see the destroyed village in her mind. The smoking ruins had once held only civilian ponies. Not a single militant-minded soul lived in the peaceful hamlet of Farrier; indeed, many times they had refused to allow a garrison to be established anywhere near it, despite its proximity to the wilds of Draconia. They didn't even have an official sheriff, but rather acted as one body when the rare instance of a lawpony was called for. Needless to say, this made them woefully inadequate to the threat a flight of young dragons posed. Every last stallion, mare, and foal was slaughtered. Not a single living creature, down to the smallest bird escaped the carnage.

Not even all that was enough to sate the dragon's lust for destruction. Every building was burned down, most with a pony or two trapped within, every stone wall was knocked over, sometimes burying a hapless pony beneath the rubble. Twilight was certain that every pony there would be haunting her dreams for some time to come. “Ne'er again,” she had sworn over their charred and crushed bodies.

So now, she found herself speeding along towards the lair of the architect of all the misery so lately visited upon her ponies. It wasn't difficult to find her; indeed, she had known all along, but had held out hope that they would be able to work things out diplomatically. The destruction of Farrier finally showed that there would be no diplomacy, no quarter given, even if asked.

Looking down, Twilight noted that the cloud cover had become total, with the the clouds themselves taking on an ominous, dark color, and the strong rotten egg odor of sulfur permeated the air. Folding her wings in, the alicorn performed a partial wingover and dived into the clouds.

Coming through the other side, she took stock of her surroundings and regained her bearings. It took no effort at all to spot her destination, it being the largest mountain of all in the range. With a burst of speed that broke the sound barrier and created a loud BOOM, she zipped over towards it, leaving a starry contrail in her wake.

Faster than the eye could follow, she came to a stop before the mountain and casually noted the dragons guarding the cave entrance. Five green beams shot out of her horn, striking each of the surprised guards before they could lift off the ground. Within a second, the five guards were gone, replaced by five stone statues of surprised dragons wielding weapons. Twilight landed and calmly walked in, turning every dragon she saw into a stone statue.

Reaching an enormous pair of doors, she paused for a moment, before looking at the wall to her left, and her horn glowed. A huge section of the wall as large as a small pony fort was wrenched free of the mountain and flung at the doors, smashing them aside as if they were made of the thinnest of wood veneers. The alicorn strode into the room beyond as if she owned it, casually batting aside three dragons who tried to pounce on her from the shadows with her telekinesis. At the far end of the room sat a very smug dragoness who smirked at her approach.

“At last, thou hast sought me out, O, Alicorn of Magic,” Nightmare said. “Verily, I hath wond'rd what wouldst finally provoke thee.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed and she growled, “No more. Not a single pony more shall fall to your evil, monster!” With a sudden move, she lowered her head, pointing her horn at the enormous dragon, and a huge ball of white energy formed at the tip before blazing a trail towards her target. A furrow formed beneath the ball of energy as it flew, smashing into the dragoness with enough force to slam her great bulk into the wall behind her.

When the smoke cleared, Nightmare retaliated, breathing a cone of black energy at the mare, striking her with similar results. Twilight managed to hold her position for an instant, but was eventually blown back by the unearthly cold, life-draining energy. She flew back, but just before she was about to strike the wall, she disappeared with a flash, and appeared above the dragon, plummeting down onto a partially outstretched wing. With a sickening crunch, the wing bent unnaturally and Nightmare whipped her tail around to strike the mare, sending her skidding to the floor many hooves away.

Twilight stood and shook her head. She reached up to her neck with a hoof, and jerked it away, revealing a previously invisible peytral. A rainbow sphere of energy surrounded her, as her mane and tail flew upwards in the updraft of ethereal energies. The sphere exploded, clearing the debris nearby, and leaving behind a mare composed of stars. Nightmare's scales seemed to be a pale imitation of the mare's coat, as the stars twinkled, and the occasional planet or sun moved past, close enough to make out details. Her mane and tail were floating nimbi of crackling purple energy. With a scream of unbridled rage, she flew at the dragon, briefly turning into a bolt of purplish energy. Leaving behind a sonic boom, she struck the wyrm's cheek, sending her reeling.

Not one to take such attacks lightly, Nightmare recovered quickly, and muttered the incantation of six spells so fast they may as well have been simultaneous, a wall of pure force appeared each side of Twilight, trapping her in a translucent cube just barely big enough for her to stand upright.

The alicorn returned to her physical form, but kept growing. The cube filled up quickly, every wall straining to hold the mare back. The walls bowed out under the strain, until they finally burst under the strain, shattering into pieces that dissipated into nothing.

Nightmare was far from idle while her foe was trapped, and finishing up the incantation to another spell, spit out four flaming gobbets, which quickly expanded into flaming meteors that struck the mare in the chest before she had time to recover from her escape. Twilight was knocked backwards into the wall so far, that it collapsed on her.

Not daring to think she had won so easily, Nightmare cast some spells on herself, one of which was a spell to heal her wing, and was rewarded for her caution when the pile of rubble exploded and Twilight stepped forth with several boulders the size of houses floating around her. Each of the boulders was hurled at the dragoness, still covered in a purple aura of energy. Nightmare moved with a sinuous speed that she had lacked up until now, avoiding all but the last boulder, which clipped a shoulder. She ignored the pain, and rushed up to the pony, slamming one massive paw on her. She screamed as she felt her horn pierce her tough hide, but did not let up on the pressure. Instead, she ground the paw down as hard as she could, shattering the stone floor and driving the pony further down.

Her first clue that something was happening was a tingle where the horn had pierced her paw, followed quickly by the sensation of the horn going deeper- no, not deeper, the horn was growing larger. Shifting as much of her body as she could over the paw, the wyrm tried to stifle the magic she knew was happening beneath, but was overthrown, allowing the alicorn to come to her new size.

Easily larger than the one hundred-twenty hoof long dragon, and outweighing her by almost half again as much, Twilight charged, sending them both crashing into the wall and through it to the hallway beyond. Several stunned dragons stood by, awestruck at the sight of the two titanic creatures warring for dominance. Twilight kept up her charge, going through wall after wall, using the struggling dragoness as a battering ram until they were out in the open and tumbling down the mountainside in a snarling, hissing, biting, clawing, kicking mass of fury.

Nightmare finally regained control by kicking out with both hind legs into the mare and sending her flying off to crash into a boulder that came apart at the seams. Taking a deep breath, she followed up with another deadly exhalation. Twilight was ready this time, and fired another bolt of magical energy from her horn, meeting the life-draining force in the middle that had them both struggling over each other. The two energy beams pushed against each other, neither creature willing to be the one to back down first. Seconds passed with neither giving ground without regaining it again, yet the energies continued to pour forth, destroying the landscape around them. Already, the land had been quite barren, but now, topsoil, rocks, brush, and even huge chunks of the bedrock itself was being torn away by the tremendous energies pouring from the two combatants. The sky itself had cleared of all the clouds, revealing for the first time in many centuries an unobstructed view of the night sky.

Alas, whatever mysterious well of energy Nightmare had tapped seemed to be deeper than even Twilight's considerable resources. The mare's blast was slowly overwhelmed and pushed back all the way to her horn, and with a loud explosion of power, she was flung back, screaming in agony.

Limping. Nightmare walked forward to inspect the ground where her foe had been. She murmured a spell and looked all around. Seeing nothing new, she looked to the sky and noting the stars, smirked. “Another time, then, Princess.”

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( . .)
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~2015 Aevum Illuminationis~

Looking through the hole in the wall that had once been a window, Paladin looked to Silver Script standing next to her. “Are you sure that it's in there?”

“I am quite certain of it,” she replied, not taking her eyes off the cemetery across the street from the abandoned house in which they stood. She pulled out a stone orb with a four-sided diamond carved into it, and held it close to her chest. “I feel that it is in that cemetery, more specifically, under it. Either it was buried there, or there is a crypt or mausoleum safeguarding it for the moment.”

A shuffling movement within the mist that seemed to perpetually cling to the gloomy place drew their attention. “You realize that final resting place isn't as final as the maker intended, don't you?”

Silver Script turned away from the window and started walking back to the rest of the group, which was bedding down for the night. “Considering what we're going after, it would not surprise me if restless guardians were set in place to discourage the unworthy.”

The thing that bothered Paladin the most, was that she could find no fault in her logic.

As Silver Script laid down on her belly next to Awesomeshine, she finally took note of Kitten, whom was in the middle of telling some long joke to the others. “So I said, 'Rectum? I didn't even touch him!'” The gathered mares except for the newly arrived Silver Script laughed uproariously, Awesomeshine laying against her friend and wiping away a tear.

Paladin walked over and sat down next to Silver Bell and cleared her throat. “I think we should all bed down for the night. It will be nice to take advantage of the fact that we're out of the elements- so to speak- and get a good rest. It would also behoove us to set up guards, being that we're this close to... whatever it is out there. I'll take the first watch, so what about the rest of you?”

“Aye, I'll take second watch, cuttie,” Ricochet said right away.

“I may as well take third, it being the darkest part of the night,” Knightengale added.

“I can take fourth,” Awesomeshine said.

Paladin shook her head. “Actually, I want our healer as rested as possible. If somepony else could take fourth, we guards could at least get six hours rest, depending on how tomorrow shapes up.”

“I'll do it,” Silver Bell volunteered.

Paladin smiled at her before turning to the group as a whole. “Best bed down now. Ricochet, I'll wake you in two hours for your shift.” When the ponies had settled in for the night and the fire in the fireplace had been put out, she returned to the window and peered out into the gloomy mist that seemed to perpetually shroud the abandoned town they had found. The featureless fog began to play tricks on her eyes, making her see movement where there was none, so she finally turned away from the window, instead focusing on listening for danger. “Gonna be a long night,” she whispered to herself.

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*(“)(“)

The next day didn't turn out to be much of an improvement. One could only tell that the sun had risen at all because the dark, impenetrable mist had turned into a light, impenetrable mist. They couldn't tell if the sky was overcast or if it had just never bothered to rise at all. Kitten had volunteered to fly above the town to see, but Paladin stopped her. “It doesn't really matter in the long run, anyway. It's not like we could do anything about it if it is overcast.”

As if to punctuate the point, thunder rumbled in the distance and a light drizzle began to fall. “Tagann gach aon rud lena iomrá ach madadh rua agus marbhán, as me grandam used ta say,” Ricochet said.

“What does that mean?” Kitten asked as she pulled on her raincoat.

“Everything comes when it's talked about except a fox and a corpse,” she replied, doing the same.

With a roll of her eyes, Knightengale said, “Your grandmother sounds like a barrel of laughs.”

Ricochet barked a laugh that was quickly swallowed up by the mist. “Aye, she was a' tha'.”

Making some final adjustments to her spare rain cloak which she had placed on Silver Bell, Paladin said, “Alright, ladies. Let's get moving. The sooner we retrieve that Element, the sooner we can leave this place behind.”

They made their final adjustments and headed out into the perpetual fog. The short trip to the graveyard was made miserable by the unseasonable bone-chilling cold as well as the rain The only saving grace was the fact that there was almost no wind at all, so as long as they avoided puddles, they remained more or less dry.

The gate to the graveyard hung loosely on one hinge, connected to a crumbling stone wall. Rather than mess with the gate which looked ready to crumble to a pile of rust at the slightest touch, Paladin leapt over a low point in the wall that barely came up to her knees. She landed on the wet grass, noting the muted green color and wondering how it survived with no sun. The unicorn walked forward to give the others room to jump over and carefully studied her surroundings. Looking back, she whispered, “Let's try to keep this quiet, alright? I'm not sure if restless guardians, or whatever's here can even hear, but no sense in alerting them if they do, right?”

The others nodded, and they crept their way through the graveyard, Paladin leading the way, but looking back to silently ask Silver Script for directions. Every so often, one of them would spot a shadow moving through the mist, but it was too indistinct to make out just what it was. Whatever it was they saw seemed to not notice them and just shuffled along on whatever business it was about. Though they hadn't gone very far, it took them over twenty minutes before they stopped at the entrance to a crypt. Paladin looked back again and pointed at the crumbling structure questioningly.

Silver Script gave a nod in return, and the guard sucked in a deep breath. Setting her shoulders straight, she crept forward, leading six ponies into one of the last places she had expected to ever go. The crypt itself had a wrought iron gate that lay half buried in the ground next to the entrance, so entry would be no problem, but then, that was never really the problem. Standing before the entrance, decrepit stairs leading down under the ground, spiderwebs in every corner, the odd bone lying out in the open, and a dank, musty smell gave every pony there pause before they took the first step into a much darker world.

Paladin threw back her hood with a gesture, allowing her horn to light the way unfettered. The other unicorns did likewise, but Awesomeshine was restrained by Silver Script's hoof on her shoulder. Looking back, the earth pony whispered, “I have a feeling that we'll need you to save your energy. Allow me.” She pulled out a black velvet bag and using her teeth, pulled the drawstrings apart. A small, white gem floated out and began circling the scholar's head, shedding a light that went out as far as the unicorns'. Though its motion caused shadows to move as it orbited her head, none complained at the additional light source.

Small alcoves lined the walls, each one holding an altar to one of the princesses, or more rarely, some other being. At the end of the narrow corridor was a iron portcullis. As they approached it, an armored pony stepped out from one of the alcoves flanking the portal and stood in it's hind legs, holding on to a whip made of some creature's spine, possibly a pony's, judging by the length and size. The truly frightening aspect of this figure was that it lacked a head, but moved with the fluid grace of a living being. “Halt, and identify thyselves,” Came a feminine voice from one of the small alcoves nearby.

Peering around, the group spotted a unicorn mare's head sitting on one of the altars, her helm a match for the armor of the body before them. Her eyes were black pits of darkness that darted around, as if trying to see everything at once, and her mouth opened wide enough to nearly split her head in half when she spoke. Silver Bell gasped and fainted at the sight of the horror of a pony's head staring at them, expectantly awaiting an answer. The head rolled her eyes. “Pfft. Neophytes. Dost any of thee possess the courage to parley, or shouldst I just commence with ejecting thy unworthy selves from my demesne?”

Paladin held out a foreleg, barring the others from advancing, and walked forward. Stopping a few paces ahead of the others, she bowed and said, “We beg your pardon Milady, but the princesses have sent us to fetch the Elements of Harmony.” She added with a nod towards Silver Script, “My colleague, Silver Script, a scholar of considerable skill, has told us that we might find one here. May we pass to retrieve it?”

The mare's head regarded her for a moment then took every pony each in turn. Stopping at Silver Script, she said, “Dost thou fathom the nature of what thou seekest? This is no mere trinket fit only for displaying as a trophy, nor a mere tool to be locked away at one's convenience.”

Stepping forward, Silver Script walked up to the head and leaned down until their faces were level. The headless body tightened its grip on the whip, but was otherwise motionless. “Lady Dullahan, we understand the gravity of that which we seek. We would not be here if the fate of Equestria, if not the entire world were not at stake. The dragons have upset the balance, and the princesses need the Elements to right this wrong.”

The dullahan smiled widely at her, displaying an unnerving number of shark-like teeth. “I thought not,” she said, confusing the mares. “It doth seem that Celestia and Luna do not yet trust thee, yet seek to use thee as one might a sword. Still, if times were not as dire as thou say, I am certain they would have bided a time. Who am I to stand in the way of their wishes?” The body shrugged her shoulders and stood aside as the portcullis opened with a, ear splitting screech. “By all means, proceed. 'Ware the guardians. Some art not as understanding as I. And if thou doth find the other intruders that sought the prize, I wouldst not object to thee dispatching them.”

“Now what is tha' suppoosed ta mean?” Ricochet asked.

“Certs that thee shalt soon discover. The foals art no doubt finding out that my warning was as much for them as it was for my charge,” the dullahan replied.

Paladin lightly tapped Silver Bell's cheek until she woke up and said, “We're heading into the crypt now. Do you want to wait here, or do you feel well enough to come with us?”

The absurd question seemed to do the trick, bringing the mare around fully. She looked up at Paladin like she had just grown a second head. “Don't you dare.”

With a chuckle, the guard said, “Alright then, form up. We're going in, and everypony remember the rules. No wandering, and call out if you need help.” The troupe moved passed the dullahan, sparing her a fearful glance, Paladin, Awesomeshine, and Silver Script the only ones brave enough to offer a nod as they went.

When they had all shuffled past, the portcullis slammed shut, and the dullahan chuckled. “Inform me when thou art ready to leave. This gate shalt remain shut otherwise.”

The room in which they stood was filled with sarcophagi, ornate with decorations of the life of the pony that presumably resided within. The walls were filled with niches containing bones of ponies long passed. The far end of the room had an open doorway leading to a similar room, presumably with another beyond that.

Moving forward, the mares tried to ignore the fact that they were walking through what amounted to a field of the dead. Walking into the next room, the shadows seemed to cling to the corners, refusing to budge for the intruding light. As they moved toward the center, Knightengale perked her ears, certain that she heard something just on the edge of her range. Coming to a stop, she whispered, “Quiet. I hear something.” Dead silence reigned in the room as they all tried to listen, but it was only the aganippe who could make out the sound. “Something's whispering to us. Can you hear it?”

They strained, but could hear nothing. “Nae, Love. What are they saying?”

Tilting her head, Knightengale said, “They... they want us to join them, I think.”

Silver Script walked up and stuffed her ears with a pasty substance, then did the same for the others starting with Awesomeshine. “This beeswax has been blessed and enchanted to prevent our minds from being affected by undead suggestions. It may hinder our normal hearing a bit, but it is better then being entranced by a vampony or some such. We will also want to keep Awesomeshine well guarded at all times, since healing magic is their bane.”

“Anything else we should know before we proceed?” Paladin asked.

Silver Script pondered for a moment before saying, “Yes. Do not let them hit you.”

Rolling her eyes, Paladin replied, “Brilliant. Let's be about it, ladies.” The next room held two different passages, as well as a hole in the wall that looked like it led to the surface. Examining the mound of dirt that had spilled in, she said, “Looks freshly turned. And these tracks...”

“Minotaurs?” Knightengale ventured.

Paladin nodded. “And diamond dogs. No dragon though, so that's a good sign. Hard to tell how many, though.” Looking to the doorway to the left, she said, “Let's go that wa-” Her voice caught in her throat as she saw a desiccated pony corpse standing there. Red, glowing points of lights filled its empty eye sockets, and it moved stiffly towards them. She could see several more shuffling behind the first, moving towards the room with the living ponies. “Uh, on second thought, let's go down the other passage.”

The group moved quickly into the next room down, trying to ignore the pony corpses sitting up from their resting places to look at them, and just as quickly moved on. The corridor they walked into was a long and winding one, with many splits and turnoffs, but Silver Script kept them moving, presumably in the right direction. Several times, a shadow would detach itself from the floor or wall, but at Silver Script's direction, Awesomeshine would hit it with a beam of healing energy, dissipating the incorporeal monster. As the creature disintegrated, it would give a moan that almost could be mistaken for a sigh of relief.

“What are they?” Kitten asked.

“Wraiths,” Silver Script answered. “They feed on your life force until you die, allowing your spirit to free itself from the body, becoming one of them. Afterward, you are doomed to roam the land, looking for more living beings to feed off of to sate an insatiable hunger for a life you can never again have, all the while spreading misery as you create more like your-”

“Please stop! Just stop it, please!” Silver Bell shrieked, her eyes closed, and hooves over her ears.

Kitten laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “It's okay, she didn't mean to scare anypony; she was just answering my question.”

Silver Script nodded. “Yes. I apologize for any discomfort.”

They continued on in silence after that, which is how they were able to hear the fighting further down the passageway. The ringing sound of metal weapons clashing punctuated by the whining call or bark of diamond dogs were clearly heard. The ponies sped up while trying to remain as quiet as possible. Rounding a bend, they found a room at the far end where a group of diamond dogs appeared to be making a final stand against a hoard of undead ponies, mostly fast-moving, partially decayed corpses. The creatures were huddled around a column that seemed to be one of many in the room from where they stood.

“Ghouls,” Silver Script said. “Their attacks can paralyze you if they draw blood, so be especially careful.”

They charged into the room, Ricochet and Paladin leading the way and firing their weapons at the surprised ghouls, who were not expecting this attack from their rear. Awesomeshine downed one herself before Silver Script stopped her. “Save your energy. I fear we will need it most of all soon.”

The rest of the ponies took care of any ghouls that got too close, mostly with kicks. The diamond dogs were terrified at first to see more ponies, but quickly changed their tune when they saw them only attacking the undead, and appearing to be alive. Seeing reinforcements, however unexpected the form, they redoubled their efforts, gesturing for the ponies to join them.

The two groups merged, and the ponies finally took a look at the room in which they stood. The enormous room must have stretched on for twenty hooves on each side, with the back wall being easily over a hundred hooves away. Columns turned the space into a sort of underground stone forest, and were ornately carved with scenes of alicorns performing great deeds. The far end held an altar with a the Element of Harmony they were searching for- this one bearing carving that looked like an emerald-cut gem. Behind that stood an open glowing portal surrounded by an iron ring that was designed to resemble a great, yawning mouth with pointy fangs, where every few seconds, another pair of ghouls would emerge.

Paladin looked to Silver Script and shouted, “Can you do anything about that?”

“Yes, but it will take me a moment to prepare the elixir,” she replied. Looking to Ricochet, she said, “Can you shoot an arrow with a bottle attached?”

With a nod, she said, “Aye, though it's nae easy. Wha' do ye need me tae hit?”

“That iron ring around the portal,” Silver Script said as she started mixing potions.

Ricochet nodded again and handed her an arrow. “Aye. T'is nae far. I was worried ye'd ask far soomething hard,” she said with a grin, before turning back to turning ghouls into pincushions.

One of the diamond dogs was paralyzed by a strike from a ghoul, but Awesomeshine instantly cured him with her magic. “I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, everyone. Between taking care of all those wraiths, and keeping us all from being paralyzed, I can feel my magic running low.”

“Just a moment...” Silver Script said, pouring a carefully measured amount of a smokey substance- the final ingredient- into a small bottle, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated. “There.” She attached the bottle side of the arrowhead with twine quickly, then hoofed it over to Ricochet, whom had a hoof out waiting for it. “Be careful not to get any of the liquid on your bow, or it will disenchant it, and I'll have to start over with a new bow.”

With a nod, she nocked the arrow, she drew back and sighted along the arrow, then moved her sight up a little to compensate for the extra weight. Muttering a prayer to Celestia and Luna, she let fly. The arrow swooped through the air, whistling as it went, drawing every being's attention, alive an undead. For a moment, it looked like the missile was going to overshoot, but the head dipped down sharply, shattering the bottle on the peak of the iron ring. The liquid splashed onto the ring, and began dripping its way down it. Where it touched, the portal grew dim and flickered. Within a few seconds, over half of the ring had been coated, and the portal went out completely just as a foreleg stuck through and was severed neatly.

With the continuous influx of more undead, the rest were easy prey to the combined might of the ponies and the dogs. When the last was killed, the two groups regarded each other warily. “So, what now?” Paladin asked, her wands not pointed at anyone, but still in her hooves. Ricochet was down to three arrows, and everyone on both sides were exhausted.

One of the dogs looked to the others, all of whom nodded. “We go home. Lick wounds. We no find silly rock for masters, so we go now. Understand, ponies? No fight?”

Paladin smiled, careful to show no teeth. “We understand. Rock already gone.”

With that, the pack left, watching the ponies as they did until they had disappeared entirely. Walking up to the altar, Silver Script examined it carefully before picking it up.

“Well. That went better than expected,” Kitten said jovially.

Author's Note:

If there's one thing one learns when working with a large cast, is that equal time is a near-impossibility. Inevitably, some become the focus, while others tend to rest in the background, sitting on their (sometimes proverbial) thumbs. I guess I'm just a small picture kind of person. Or maybe I'm the one perspective kind? In any case, this gets exhausting. Also, alicorn action!

Comments

[jwizard]

Also, action scenes. They have the distressing tendency to be forced. I wouldn't try to strive for equal time for each character. 80% of the ponies in mlp are background ponies, and many of those are fan favorites.