Equestria: The BEN Chronicles

by HylianJuggalo

Chapter XVII: That One Day In September...

4:00 PM

We spontaneously appeared in what remained of Ponyville. Corpses littered the streets, and various dead shuffled about, the town nearly burnt to the ground in flames. A freakish carrion lunged at me. I immediately punched it in the face and drew my sword, tearing its head off at the neck with a simple swipe. The headless body spasmed a bit, before falling silent. This drew the attention of a few others, who turned and began to slowly drag their way towards us. At least we were dealing with the classically ‘low functioning’ zombie, so that was a bonus. Unfortunately, to make up for it, there were a lot, and I do mean a LOT of them. A group of around twenty started following us, but we kept ahead of them, trying to make our way through town, deciding where to start. After a few minutes of walking around (due to the ‘slow’ zombies, it pretty much came down to simply avoiding them), We were all immediately startled by a scream, which came from a house just a few streets up. Rushing our way down the road, we came around a bend, only to be met with more dead. As soon as they spotted us though...

“OH MY CELESTIA!”

...they started sprinting after us. Shit... so we had the fast dead to contend with too... I hated these fuckers. I drew my knife and threw it at one. Derpy took another muffin from her saddlebag and chucked it at a second, causing the beast to lose orientation, and fall down to the road. The creature roared as a third bounded over his companion and knocked Rarity to the ground. Fluttershy fell backwards, crying in fear, but Dash jumped in at the last minute, and kicked the freak off of the unicorn. Spike and Scootaloo hid behind me, and Applebloom took shelter next to her brother. Pinkie and Twilight stared at the creatures, unsure of what to do, until the lavender mare drew her scalpel from her saddlebags, and jabbed it in the last creature’s neck. It let out a blood-curdling cry, and I drew my pistol, ending the creature by shooting it square in the crown of the skull. I could hear the demonic shrieks of other zombies some distance away - they were coming...

“Let’s get out of here and go after that scream.”

We continued to traverse the remains of the decrepit town, until hearing the scream a second time, this one, coming from inside the house to our left. I turned on my cellphone, activated the flashlight, drew my gun, and put everyone behind me.

“Clearing!”

The door came flying down with a crash, falling to the floor, both parts falling off in separate directions. The house was completely dark, so I turned my flashlight to maximum power, and looked around the house, checking my corners. There was a trail of blood that led from this room to the kitchen, then back out, and up the stairs. I heard the scream for a third time, and immediately, rushed up to the top floor - a survivor, no doubt. We came around the corner of the hallway, meeting with more blood. The scream belonged to a woman. We ran down the hallway, checking that nothing was going to jump out in front of us. We continued to follow the trail, till we came to one of the rooms at the end of the hallway. Here, there were two rotting figures looming overtop of a small, tan pony. The pony had a knife in her hoof, but appeared far too scared to do anything. I took aim with my pistol, and fired off two rounds, stopping the demons in their tracks, and watched them slowly fall to the floor. I, along with the others, rushed over to assist -

“Bon Bon?”

“P-pinkie Pie? Is that you?”

The tan pony, beaten and scarred, and bleeding from the neck, slowly pushed the bodies off of her. I walked over to them, and smashed their heads in with my feet, ensuring their death. Scootaloo and Fluttershy rushed over to the injured baker and carefully examined her wounds. I handed Spike my kitchen knife, and gave the two caretakers some light by shining it on Bon Bon. The others kept watch on the doorway, to ensure nothing came after us.

“Scootaloo, check for bites. Ma’am, have you been bitten?”

Bon Bon was shaken, it seemed, unsure of what had happened to her. She was surely traumatized by this whole thing.

“N-no... I... they came through the window... in the living room. I ran to the kitchen to defend myself, b-b-but they cornered me. I grabbed a knife, and as I swung at one, he-it... it grabbed me, and I cut myself...” Bon Bon barely managed to say, the scarring experience racking her nerves. “I... thank you, sir. Thank you so much...”

“I’m just here to help where I can, miss. Scootaloo, let’s get Bon-Bon here patched up. Rest of you, keep watch.”

“Got it chief.” Dash replied with a salute as I kept the light on the earth pony’s wounds while Scootaloo worked away, cleaning and disinfecting the area. I took Scootaloo’s roll of bandages, and carefully wrapped Bon Bon’s injuries after the blood was cleared and the cuts cleaned. We sat there for a moment, and I slowly sat the mare up, checking her for anything else that might pose a threat to her health or our lives.

“Are you able to walk?”

“I-I think so. Yes... I should be fine. So, after all her crazy obsessions... I still can’t believe Lyra was right about you. Humans... they’re looked down upon for a very good reason. Her... interest with your kind... it really bothered everypony else. Often, I would try to pull her away from her silly research, but... rest her soul. She’s been missing for four months now. I honestly have no choice but to assume she’s...”

“Yes. She’s dead, Bon Bon. She died about the time she went missing. I saw it with my own eye.” I said, to which the pale mare simply fell into my arms and cried, letting a stream of tears flow across my red shirt, mixing with the blood that had already ruined my clothes. “Look, we need to get you to some kind of a safe house. Does Ponyville have some kind of a disaster shelter, as often as this place gets attacked?”

Bon Bon let got of me, then took a look at the others in my gang. She swallowed, and caught a few breaths, before speaking again.

“Y-yes. The town hall has a disaster safe house built into the basement, but we wouldn’t be able to survive the streets, there are too many of those... things out there.” Bon Bon replied, pausing for a moment. “Unless...”

“What? Unless what?” The others asked her in unison.

“Unless... we used her research.” The confectionist said, with a sudden smile. “Follow me.” Bon Bon finished, standing up and leaving the room, to which we all complied. We went up a second flight of stairs, coming to the attic of the home, and here, appeared to be a studio of some kind or another. On one side of the room sat a drafting table which had a lamp attached to it, and a few pieces of paper that looked to be blueprints. In the back of the room was a workbench with tools and varying pieces of metal and plastics, the centerpiece of which appeared to be a half-completed project. There was a VERY large cabinet in the corner of the room, next to the workbench, and on the opposite side of the drafting canvas sat a desk, with plenty of stationery, including what appeared to be a scrapbook and a journal. Sitting against the side of the desk were small metallic tubes, used for holding other blueprints. One thing I noticed about Bon Bon, was that her voice hasn’t changed at all. I’d also like to point out that, despite what you may think, there are no ‘errors’ or ‘clones’ in this world. After all, this is the real Equestria we’re dealing with here. I wish I could still call it a cartoon.

“What the hell did she do here?”

“I think it’s best if you find out for yourself.” Bon Bon simply said, pointing a hoof to the desk. “I sold the last shipment of her... work to the Rainbow Factory last night.”

“Are you saying that she...”

“See for yourself.”

I walked over to the desk, sitting down in the small wooden chair, and slowly picked up the journal-like book and opened it, flipping to a relevant date. I was searching somewhere close to my arrival.

"You know, you remind me so much of Lyra, the way you sit."

May 4th, 2012

A lot of the jewelry mines have been mysteriously emptying recently. The government and press are all over it. I just hope this doesn’t escalate into a big problem, and they stop the thief - gemstones are the backbone of our nation’s economy. Bon Bon has been getting worried about my research again. I don’t see what her deal is. Oh well, back to my fifteenth attempt on trying to make hands.

May 7th, 2012

There have been reports of a strange looking statue showing up all around the nation. I’m reading the latest issue of Foal Free Press now, and the picture here shows it to look a lot like a human. Still, it isn’t a living, breathing human, only a statue, so no living specimen. Regardless, this might be my only lead to finding a real one. That thing’s facial expression is creepy as all get out, though.

May 10th, 2012

What in her own name has gotten into Celestia? Just last night, hundreds of guards came into town, and declared martial law under her name. The country hasn’t been attacked since the wedding, so I don't see what’s got them all worked up. Why would Celestia do this to us?

May 12th, 2012

Okay, this whole mess with the gems has only gotten worse. The town seems to be falling apart at the seams as our bits only become more worthless with each passing day. Bon Bon is going crazy, and our savings are dwindling away. I hope I can manage to find some steady income soon.

May 15th, 2012

Sweet bucking Celestia, this town has turned into a slum! A strange mess of drug addicts and prostitutes, yes, PROSTITUTES, roam our streets, and crime has become extremely common. It... it scares me. I feel like our little town is slowly turning into a nightmare. The FlimFlam brothers have come back, and are selling a new drink. Bon Bon buys the stuff by the case like a crackhead. I keep telling her to stop tearing into our savings to get her fix; we can’t afford that right now. She tells me I should at least try it. Dear Celestia, have mercy. I... I’m afraid Ponyville is going insane. I hate going out into town, what with all the guards out every day. They’ve taken away all kinds of personal rights from us. I... I feel sick. I need a job.

May 17th, 2012

Strangest thing to ever happen. The statue that’s been showing up everywhere magically teleported into my attic study. The thing actually talks, and its voice is, to say the least, hypnotizing. He came saying that he had a business proposal for me. In honesty, we are DAMN desperate for money. I accepted, and he told me that my work would entail making human devices! Human technology! Finally, I have a steady job, AND one that focuses on what I love to research, all without the social backlash! It seems... things are finally starting to turn around. The statue says he will supply me with instructions on how to build the devices. All I need is to get the supplies. Off to the hardware store! Bon Bon will be so happy to hear that we have a steady income! Hopefully I can get everything from town today before the curfew hits.

May 20th, 2012

A pegasus pony named Dazzler came to pick up the first shipment of supplies. I’ve built over two hundred devices in three days! The majority of what I make are these strange looking things that fire pieces of metal, like a crossbow. They make a really loud noise when you pull the trigger. The statue has given me some blueprints with the design schematics, and I find the tools to be quite interesting. There are also strange camera like devices, and these weird things that emit a laser, and sense when somepony walks through them. There are also things that you can throw, and they explode. To think humans have such amazing technology - it’s absolutely breathtaking. Going to bed, my eyes hurt.

May 23rd, 2012

I don’t know where the energy comes from, but I’ve been working feverishly like a madmare - I’ve completed another four batches of human equipment in three days! It’s one hay of a strain on me, but we’re rolling in cash, despite the depression. I just wish Bon Bon would stop spending all her money on that FlimFlam drink and pay some bucking rent. She keeps begging me to at least give it a try. She also says my eyes are... red, and that I should see a doctor. I just chalk that up to a lack of sleep. I keep hearing this strange song in my head when I try to get some shuteye. Dazzler is coming to pick up another two shipments of supplies tomorrow. I’m more than ready for him. Thank you for saving my livelihood, mister statue man, whatever your name is.

May 25th, 2012

Was out a little late, thirty minutes til curfew. I was heading back home from the brand new milk bar they built in town, when out of bucking knowhere, I saw a strange flash of light in the sky out by Sweet Apple Acres. I normally trust my gut on this sort of thing, and I’d jump at the chance to go check it out, but I’d probably be home late if I did, and I sure as hay didn’t wanna risk getting thrown in jail - the guards are scary, and the town, doubly so at night, what with all the crime.

May 26th, 2012

HOLY BUCKING CELESTIA! A REAL. LIVING. HUMAN! I knew I wasn’t crazy! Earlier today, I was out getting food, and actually SAW a living, breathing human. He looked like a young man, in his twenties or so. The infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders were with him, and all four of them looked like they’d just come out of a brutal fight. I immediately called him out, to which he told me to ‘fuck’ off, sticking out one of his fingers. I can only assume that’s something along the lines of ‘buck’. The odd thing is, he actually called me by my name when he said it. I immediately ran home to tell Bon Bon, and she just brushed it off with mere skepticism. I KNOW what I saw. I’ve still got to go back out and get some more supplies for work, though. I’m getting thirsty. Okay, Bon Bon, you win, I’ll go try the drink on the way to the hardware store.

I opened to another page, only to see it blank - It ended there. I set the journal down, pulling out and looking at my phone, which gave the date - September 24th. Have I really been here that long? It's been going by fast...

Twilight levitated a stack of blueprints over to me. What I saw on those papers... was some wicked shit.

Designs for guns, security cameras, grenades, and laser trips. Sketches of artillery pieces, and modernized combat knives. My heart went racing, as I continued to look at the work. From Desert Eagles to SAW’s, M67 frags to C4 and bulletproof cameras. All kinds of shit. Landmines, laser defenses, gun turrets, body armor... and BEN gave her instructions for this? How? Lyra’s work was what we were up against in the Rainbow Factory? Poor unicorn took her obsessions about man to an unhealthy level. I continued shuffling through the work, then Bon Bon stood up and went over to the large cabinet in the corner of the room. She opened it up, and a wicked smile beamed across my face, its overstuffed contents spilling out among the floor.

Guns. Lots and god, do I mean LOTS of guns.

These particular weapons were oddly designed though, about a size smaller than what I would have considered a sizable firearm. The trigger wells were extremely large, set to accommodate a hoof instead of a few fingers. The stocks were a bit broader, to comfortably rest on a pony’s shoulder. The ammunition chambers were much wider, and the magazines had a lip on the upper side of them, to allow for a hoof to hold and load the weapons. The foregrips were not completely rounded, and instead, had smooth flat bottoms with a small, thin line of metal running along them, almost as if to allow the weapon to comfortably rest into the cleft of a hoof. Clearly, human war tools converted and remodeled for pony use.

“Thank you, miss Heartstrings...”

“If Lyra were still alive, I would be thanking her endlessly for saving our flanks with all this, but for now, we need to get to the safehouse.” Bon Bon exclaimed, taking hold of a small rifle, which looked remotely similar to an M1 Garand. I dove into the pile of weaponry, emerging with what I could only describe as a Remington 870 shotgun, and one extra box of ammunition. Hell. Yes. The others in the group grabbed weapons, throwing as many extra as they could into their saddlebags. If we made it to the safehouse, we would need to supply the survivors with armaments. Mac took a rifle in his mouth, and after loading a magazine, took the weapon in his hooves - and THIS one... he could shoot. Where he failed in blowing my brains out before, he most certainly could now. I shivered as the barrel passed by me, Mac swinging the gun waywardly - he was completely untrained in firearms, and lacked any common sense with them. Of course, so did the others, and I had to do a lot of basic training right there, pointing things out like: ‘that’s not how you load the magazine’, or ‘keep your weapon pointed down’, and ‘never look down the barrel to make sure its empty’, as well as ‘don’t point that at anyone you AREN’T planning to kill’, as I watched each of them screw up, and, had any of them pulled the trigger, would have killed themselves or their friends then and there. It was like teaching five year old children about weapons. Guess it was to be expected, though. After some rather... frustrating firearms tutorials, we each left with one in our possession, as well as many more in our surplus of equipment. I gave the kids pistols, which may not have been the safest decision, but when you’re caught in what ammounts to an apocalyptic situation, what more can you do?

We left Bon Bon’s apartment, armed to the teeth. Taking our first steps out into the scorching, unforgiving sun, the heat brought out the foul-smelling scents of rotting flesh and blood that loomed in the atmosphere. That moon, that... satan-born moon that every moment that I saw of it in my remaining vision, ran a freakishly huge veil of fear over my entire being, was staring down at us. We began our romp across town, but the peacefulness (for as peaceful as it gets in an apocalyptic hellhole) was soon cut short by several demonic shrieks. I brought my mechanical arm up, holding it as a fist.

“Hold here...”

Bringing my pistol at the ready, and crossing my other hand (armed with my knife) overtop of my projectile-wielding limb, I took a step around a corner, to see a zombie feasting upon a corpse in a small alley. The others, just a few feet to the side of me, around the corner. The rotting figure turned to face me, standing up from its meal, and started to slowly shuffle over to me. A few seconds later, its snack rose off the cobblestone road, and along with its predator, started to move towards me. I put my small arms away, drew and pumped the shotgun, and opened up.

“How’s that feel, you flesh-eating freaks!?”

One shot turned the first into a sticky mess of organs, and the remaining BBs that went astray tore half of the second demon’s head off. I emptied another round into each for good measure, upon which, I heard more garbled cries - this time, closer, and more of them. I came to my team, and turned around to see...

“Oh for the love of Christ...”

...a wall of living dead, running straight for us. Reminder to self - guns are loud, and draw attention.

“Rule number one: CARDIO!”

Scootaloo, Dash, Fluttershy, and Derpy, her daughter in her hooves, took to the air. The rest of us? We hightailed it the fuck out of there. I jumped onto Mac’s upper body, wrapping Applebloom under my human arm, and drew my pistol with my cybernetic one. Spike jumped on as well, and dug his claws into my belt loop, the two children I was accopanying dropping their weapons in the process. Mac kicked it into high gear, the sprinting carcasses slowly starting to gain on us despite the massive stallion’s power. I turned around, barking orders as Applebloom shrieked, and Bon Bon ran up beside us. Pinkie and Twilight were lagging behind somewhat, and Rarity had already made it to the front of the pack in fear as her scream echoed through town.

“SPIKE! GET YOUR HEAD DOWN!”

“Wha- WOAH!”

I emptied half a clip at our pursuers, though, with the constant jittery movement of bouncing up and down on Macintosh’s spine, it sure as hell made it hard to hit anything. In the end, I only dropped about three bodies, but it was better than none. Still, the zombies were gaining, and they were gaining FAST.

“Jesus Christ, step on it!”

“Ah’m goin as fast as ah can! Havin’ ya on mah back ain’t helpin’!”

Running for our lives, our target was a few meters ahead - Ponyville town hall. The structure didn’t look all too well off, but it was still standing. The windows were boarded, and the main door, more likely than not, locked. The Pegasi landed at the doorway first, and we all caught up a few seconds later. Bon Bon, however, with her injuries, was lagging behind severely, as the corpses started to close in on her. I hopped off of Mac and went for the door, slamming like mad on the burnt oak finish.

“Open the fucking door! I have a group of survivors! It’s the human!”

I turned to see the rotting abominations. There were getting closer by the second.

“OPEN THE COCKSUCKING DOOR! NOW!”

“Human! help me, please! Dear Celestia, get away from me!”

I looked back behind me to see Bon Bon struggling with a zombie. She was a good three metres away, and others started to close in on her. A stallion came to the door, thrusting it open. Save her, leave her. Save her, leave her.

“Leave her! She’s fucking dead already!”
“You heartless asshole, kill those things!"
“What did she ever do for you? She’s nothing more than a burden! Leave her!"
“No. I’m not letting more civilians die. There’s been too many losses.”

I rushed back into the crowd of demons, just as the safe house door flung open, and the others stepped inside. A stallion peeked his head out of the archway, and yelled at me.

“Get the buck in here!”

“I’ll be fine! Get the others to safety!”

---

Bon Bon tried what she could against the creatures, first, trying to fire her weapon. She managed to drop five, but with her wounds, the earth pony’s energy was degrading quite quickly. It didn’t take long before she was completely overrun, surrounded by the grotesque beings. Trying to punch one in the face, Bon Bon dropped her weapon, and was then jumped on by another from behind. She rolled over, trying to force the hellspawn off of her, but the undead pony simply held her in place, drooling over her body. Time for a snack...

"HEY! OVER HERE! YOU WANT SOME DINNER!?"

Bon Bon felt the demon that had hold of her suddenly go flying off of her body with the force of an out of control train. Others dropped around her, and the terrified pony, awaiting her death, slowly opened her eyes.

“Oh, Sweet Celestia, thank you...”

Bon Bon then turned her gaze to the left, to see the human standing above her. In the afternoon sunlight, she got a fine look at him, and in the name of all that was holy, he looked terrible. He was walking with a limp, an apparent injury through the back of one leg. His clothes were torn and stained in blood, his left pants leg torn off jaggedly, cut off just below his knee. The other was its standard length, stopping just short of a brown shoe, both of which were also covered in various fluids, and had burn marks all across them. The human’s inner shirt was torn open at the stomach, simply being held on him by the neckline. His outer shirt, a thin button-down of some kind, was charred and burnt, nearly black. The man himself, aside from his clothing, looked absolutely horrendous, his outward appearance far more than frightening - it would definitely make any young filly or colt run off screaming in terror, and certainly, even some adults. All over the man’s exposed flesh sat wounds, scars, bruises, and bandages, all over his leg, chest, and clearly matching arm, the latter of which had thick bandages running along the hand, as if there was a recent cut there, confirmed to be true by blood flow to the area, which soaked the white strips. His other arm appeared to be made of some kind of machine, of alien origin that she did not recognize. A finger upon it was missing, also apparently torn off by something. The man’s face was the most frightening thing though, by far: the teeth cracked, chipped and broken, and many more missing. The nose twisted and bent, as if it had been struck multiple times. A black patch covered one eye, which was the only thing about his outward appearance that brought comfort to the mare, as it reminded her vaguely of Pipsqueak’s adorable pirate costume last Nightmare Night. His hair, long and unkempt, was burnt, torn, and broken. Within the torn shirt revealed the human’s physique, the man sporting a small, lightly toned chest. His skin was a golden tan, though this ‘body building’ that the human must have undergone was clearly due to his work at Sweet Apple Acres the past month. This, Bon Bon knew for certain, for the confectionist vivildy reccolected the day she and the many other denizens had chased him through town over the viscious murder of one of the FlimFlam brothers; during said time, he looked nothg like he did, and certainly was not in nearly as grand physical condition as he was now. Bon Bon closed her eyes shut, scared of the human, expecting death, but opened one to only see the tall man smiling at her, offering his hand.

“Come on, you wanna die out here or what?”

Despite what the foal’s tales may have said...

...some humans had golden hearts. Bon Bon let out a heavy sigh of relief and felt herself hoisted onto the human’s back, walking towards town hall, where many others awaited at the doorway.

5:00 PM

"Holy... mother... of god."

I slammed the metallic door shut behind me, stepping into the lower basement. Here, there were approximately three hundred ponies, some I recognized, but most, unnamed ‘background’ ponies, of all ages and sizes. Some were crying, others talking in desperation to their friends and family, or otherwise, praying FOR them, if they weren’t around. Lastly, some were even scarred and ruined beyond all recognition, cowering in corners and sucking on their hooves like scared children, and mumbling incoherently.

“I... family... dead... all... dead... don’t... eat me...”

“I... she was looking right at me, and went down without a sound... and I-I-I couldn’t do anything! I just... ran.”

A few stray lights dangled on the ceiling, some of the many lone bulbs, flickering. It was nice to know that Equestra had electrical power, though it didn’t appear to be a very widespread technology. At least the country had indoor plumbing, that I’m thankful of. The others I was with had come in long before, receiving questions from people about the new weapons they were carrying. Some of the ponies drew notice of me, and almost started a panic, screaming out my my presence in fear, though the others managed to quell the unrest. A few guards were here as well, whom I decided to approach and inquire. If anything, they were the people I needed to talk to about solving this mess.

“You! Halt!”

I immediately drew the shotgun that was strapped to my back, as the soldiers in the room armed themselves with their swords.

“Dad, put the gun down, now!”

“Really? You think you can take me? I’m not your fucking enemy! Put the weapons away, and we can talk about this like sensible, grown adults, okay?” I asked, slowly setting my weapons down on the floor. “I’m putting the weapons down, see? Now, will you gentlemen kindly tell me where I can find captain Armor?”

The fifty-something guards I was having a Mexican standoff with sheathed their weapons, then stared back and forth between each other for a moment. They whispered to each other for a moment, a few of them seemingly arguing with their colleagues. I was able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation, such as ‘isn’t he the one they jailed a few hours ago’, and ‘if he really posed a threat, he would have tried to kill us already’. A few minutes later, one of them cleared his throat, and spoke.”

“Captain Armor is in a meeting with the mayor, human. He’s upstairs on the ground floor of the building.”

“Thank you.” I said, taking hold of my shotgun, and slinging it over my shoulder. I made my way up the stairs, closing the safe house door behind me. The cavernous bunker under this place was pretty damn sturdy, almost like that of a fallout shelter. It looked as if it truly could survive a nuke, or something along the lines of one. Ponyville must have gotten right sick of all the various ‘assaults’ made on their town, and finally taken action. I made my way up to the main floor, and came to a small, windowless door, with a brass engraving on the face of the wood, which simply read:

Mayor Mare

I put my hand to the door, and tried turning it, only to notice it locked. Of course, The mayor and Armor WERE having a meeting. I could hear their voices on the other side, but I also heard two more that I recognized, coming from the room. It started with a male’s voice, then went to Shining Armor, then a woman spoke up, then Armor again, and continued to repeat said pattern.

“Are you out of your motherbucking mind!? If we evacuate the town, we all run a risk of getting eaten! We’ve lost hundreds to the virus, and we’re bound to lose whatever’s left if we so much as try to leave! We need to stay in the shelter, where it’s safe!”

“Seriously!? Have you seen the size of that moon!? It keeps getting larger by the hour! If we STAY here, we’re going to die!”

“I’d much rather run a risk of getting crushed by the moon, because at this point in time, that still sounds like a crazy myth! What we face out there is the REAL threat! Besides, captain, I don’t want to be a civilian mouthing off to a decorated officer, but it sure as shit doesn’t seem like you have the equipment necessary to handle this! Word coming down from the grapevine says that the princess is refusing to send reinforcements! Isn’t that true!?”

“Arguing about how we’re gonna die isn’t gonna keep us from dying! As captain of the Equestrian armed forces, I swore an oath to protect the citizens, and that’s damn well what I plan to do! The martial law that the princess has had us put in place for the last five months sure as buck hasn’t been helping the situation, and now she decides to abandon us!? I’m more than willing to throw protocol to the wind if she’s going to pull a stunt like that! I’ve lost my wife, and you both have lost family, that much can be said. Hundreds more have died since that bucking statue showed up, and I have every intent to minimize casualties!”

“And to minimize casualties, we need to stay in shelter!”

“Evacuation is the only way! They’ll come here eventually, and supplies are GOING to run out down there! We can’t camp out and expect to survive - the citizens will HAVE to leave to gain more food! “

“So, let us say that the moon actually DOES fall. If it hits, there’s a better than none chance that we’ll survive, and it’ll kill off off the dead out there!”

“Are you not thinking about the rest of the planet!?”

“It’s the moon! We’re doomed anyway! How can a uniformed stallion like yourself be so naive!?”

I kicked the door open, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“Shut the fuck up!”

“How dare you barge into my office!”

“OH DEAR CELESTIA, IT’S THE HUMAN AGAIN!”

“Please don’t kill my children!

“You!? Didn’t my men throw you in the dungeon this morning!?”

The first thing I noticed was the room itself. It was small, housing a desk with a lamp, where the mayor was sitting at, and behind her, a glass window that wasn’t boarded up. On the left side of the room was Shining Armor, who looked like he was ready to pounce me at any given second. He had an armed guard at his side. On the other end of the room stood-

“Cup Cake? Flam? Jesus Christ, I thought you two were dead!”

“Please, don’t hurt my babies!”

“I... please, sir, don’t hurt me again, please, no!”

I stopped and stood there for a moment, examining the two ponies I had met in the past. They were severely injured and covered in bandages. Cup had her children with them, who began to cry upon my entering the room. I certainly didn’t expect them here, but it was fortunate they were alive. I continued to look at the ponies in the room, before approaching the mayor’s desk, slamming my hands into the polished wood.

“Listen, ma’am, I’m not your enemy. I may be a human being, but right now, we face a lot, and I mean a LOT of threats. Not only are we dealing with the moon and zombies, we’ve got three immortal creatures to deal with!”

“And you expect us to trust you, you criminal!?” Everyone asked together. I sighed and tried to speak again.

"Alright... listen. We need to-"

“SWEET CELESTIA!”

“OH MY GOD!”

Two zombies had broken through the window, shattering the pane into little fragments. Both of them jumped the mayor, the first, biting into the back of her neck as the chair she was sitting in fell over. She attempted to turn herself around and attack the beast, but as she did so, the second approached her from the side and began to chew into her left flank. I drew my shotgun, prepared to send the hellspawn back from whence they came. The mayor was gone for ceartain, that I knew, so there was nothing we could do for her. I brought up my weapon, prepared to fire, but as the carrions emerged from the floor and turned to face us, I instantlly grew cold feet. These zombies... these zombies we knew...

Both of the walking corpses had very pasty, grey skin, their fur falling off in strips. Neither were much bigger than the other, but one was an earth pony, the second, a unicorn. The unicorn had a moustache, waistcoat, and loosely dangling eye, and was otherwise, physically unscathed, save for what looked like a bullet in the head. The second... he was even worse. This man had a red and white bowtie, a small hat to match, and a tan apron on, both of which were torn (or perhaps chewed on), and was absolutely covered in wounds.

Carrot Cake and Flim.

“You’re the reason they’re like this, human!”

“H-honeybun... don’t, please! Remember us, your family! Carrot, baby, if you can hear me in there, we miss you!”

The zombies did nothing other than shuffle over to the two traumatized civilians, gripping hold of them. Armor and his right-hand-man attempted to pull them away, the spare guard drawing a knife, and stabbing Flim in the neck. The soulless freak turned around with a gargling roar, and smacked the solder across the face, who went flying into the wall. Carrot on the other hand, lunged at his daughter, Pumpkin, and attempted to bite her. Cup pushed him down, and I immediately stood in front of the two unarmed citizens, waiting for the walking corpses to attack again.

“EAT THIS!”

One round though the gut sent both of the abominations flying to the ground. They stood again, but I pumped the gun one more time, taking their heads clean off, as blood splashed everywhere. Then the mayor stood up. Of course, she had turned, so I simply spun around and emptied two shots into her skull. The body went flying out of the window, headless. Every living person in the room stared at me in awe, their expressions a finite combination of excitement and pure, unadulterated fear.

“Did... holy mother of Celestia... you... saved us. Flam said, his jaw practically dropped to the blood-soaked floor. Shining Armor was staring in pure, horrified shock at the weapon in my hands. He was probably going to ask me what the thing was, so I went ahead and answered for the man before he had a chance to inquire.

“This here is a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun. This son of a bitch fires massive, powerful rounds, twelve gauges in diameter. Most commonly, the two ammunition types associated with a shotgun are slug, which are hollow-point style rounds that shoot directly at the target. The other, more popular type is buckshot, which, upon firing, sends out hundreds of metal BB pellets in a thick blanket of lead. This motherfucker, if I shoot any of you from here-”

“P-please tell us you won’t, sir...”

“I will not, would turn you into a messy pile of brains and blood, splattered all over that wall back there, and put a hole in that wall the size of this desk chair. I, Derpy Hooves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Big Macintosh, and the Elements of Harmony have been sent into town, under the orders of Princess Celestia herself, to aid in evacuation operations and parasitic cleanup. I understand you are undermanned and undersupplied, captain Armor, sir?”

“Y-yes sir. We need to evacuate the town, otherwise-”

“We need to stay here, and hold our positions!”

“Both of you shut the fuck up!”

The room fell dead silent again. There was no time for simple bickering.

“Thank you. Now, will you all listen to me? We NEED to evacuate the town. Those who have come with me have brought the PROPER weapons you need to handle the outbreak. If we stay here, the moon WILL kill us. How do I know? Let’s say... I have experience. No matter where we hide, it’s going to crush us. BUT, if we get out of here, we have a chance to stop the moon. After all, Nightmare Moon is behind it, and she has been stopped before. Sitting here and waiting to be smashed to death isn’t gonna get us anywhere.” I continued, as Cup and Flam stared at me in disbelief. I slung the shotgun over my back again, this time, slowly walking over to the two ponies I had scarred for life.

“Cup... I can never apologize enough for the wicked thing I did. When I came here, All I saw was him abusing you and the children. I hate domestic abuse over anything else in this world, ma’am, and... when I... saw what he did to you, I just... lost it to anger. I went off on him, tearing him apart like some kind of rag. My unjustified murder of your husband will haunt me til my dying day. I’ve done wrong, and I know nothing I can do will replace the heartache and personal turmoil you must be living with now after his death. I understand your children’s lives will never be the same again...” I continued, gently running my arms down the sides of the two children, attempting to calm them down with a gentle touch. “...but please, let me redeem myself in the eyes of your family. I’m a human being, but let me speak on behalf of my entire race, we aren’t all terrible creatures...”

“I... human, I just don’t know if I can find it to forgive you. Pound and Pumpkin are traumatized...”

I sighed and walked over to Flam.

“I did one hell of a number on you. While I did what I did in the name of getting information, that can’t justify how I killed your brother and beat the shit out of you. I don’t expect forgiveness, Flim, but I do expect you to take a leap of faith, that I won’t let my darkness out again. I aim to help Equestria, not harm it. While what I do may not be the most desierable option, it’s what I know how to do. Now, if you want to live, Flam, and you want to see your children grow up, Cup, you both have to put your faith in me here. Captain Amor, sir? I would like to see you and the others down in the safehouse in the next five minutes. We’re gonna get the survivors out of town.”

6:00 PM: Night of The Second Day - 36 Hours Remain

“Okay people! Listen up!”

I stepped down into the basement, followed behind by Shining Armor, Cup, and Flam.

“Mrs. Cake! Pound! Pumpkin!” Pinkie Pie screamed in joy, hugging the distraught mare and the young foals, who playfully giggled and smiled upon the view of Pinkie Pie. Many citizens came around me, watching as I grabbed my things and threw them on a table in the center of the room. The rest in my group of allies put their things on the table after I motioned them to. Pretty much everyone who wasn’t dead was there, from Granny Smith to Diamond and Silver, all the way to the infamous Snowflake, otherwise known and the steroid pony. Unless I’ve clearly mentioned the deaths of a named pony, as far as I knew, the community figureheads we knew and loved back on earth were still alive. I slammed my robotic fist into the table.

“Everybody listen up! I refuse to sugar coat a damn thing I’m about to say here! What I have here is a collection of weapons, courtesy of the late Lyra Heartstrings. Right outside of these bunker walls exists Ponyville, but not the one you all know and love. The Ponyville out there is roaming with the walking dead, former shells of your loved ones. At the same time, we have, thanks to a returning Nightmare Moon, and yes, she had returned, do not be fooled, the threat of the moon, plotting to crush the earth in a mere day and a half! Have you not seen how it has gotten closer since it failed to set days before!?”

Many citizens kept silent, simply nodding in agreement.. My allies gathered around me, staring down the others within the bunker. Troops went to Shining Armor’s side, awaiting for me to lay out a plan of some kind.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to present to you, the gun.” I said, hoisting my pistol into the air. “Guns have been, for nearly six-hundred years, a mainstay tool for self-defense throughout the human world. I will not lie, humans kill each other with these devices, and humans kill animals with them as well. A gun is a very dangerous device that fires small pieces of metal, designed to puncture living tissue and break bones. However, what the Equestrian military has - blades and bows, simply will not cut it for what we face if we plan to evacuate to a safer locality. Range is what we need, when facing the living dead, as well as the ability to tear them to pieces. These particular weapons I and my friends...” I said, spanning my robotic arm out to the the Elements around me and ever growing team, the open faced appendage slowly passing by them to confirm their presence. ”...have procured are designed for pony operation. As you can see, the loading and firing mechanisms are larger and have specially designed lips, attachments, and moldings to allow for hooves to maintain and control the devices. Some basic rules of a gun include that you always make sure the gun is not aimed at anyone, nor loaded, and is in a safety position when you are not in combat. Guns generally work by...”

After about a quick five minute lecture on weapon usage, many people stepped forth and took hold of one. Some children took smaller weapons, and carefully examined them like I instructed them to. Things were going off smoothly, and without a hitch.

That was, at least, until HE showed up.

“Oh hi there, Jadusable. Building up a cute little ‘resistance’ movement, I see.”

The lights began to pulse, as the room fell down to a chillingly cold temperature. Civilians backed away, into the corners, but prepped their weapons. my original team, discluding Bon Bon, huddled around me.as the wicked song of unhealing played in the room. The mask salesman laughed at us, and BEN spoke up again.

“Planning on using an army to stop me and my creations? You shouldn’t have done that, kid. Whatever force you can even hope to assemble by now, Jad, It’s nothing compared to the one I have ready...”

I immediately cocked my pistol, looking around in vain to find the source of BEN’s voice.

“Looking for me?” the voice asked, as the statue materialized on the table in the middle of the room. “Tell me, Jad, how have you been since you busted out of Canterlot? Has not having sexy little Applejack there by your side to save your pathetic skin been hard on you?”

“What the fuck have you done with her!?”

“What? That there varmint has mah granddaughter!? Give her back!”

“Ah, if it isn’t old lady Smith. Tell me, ma’am, have you enjoyed the improvements I had made to your family before Jadusable intervened?”

“Give me mah granddaughter!”

If you want her back, you’ll have to come best the army Chrysalis and and I have assembled, you AND the human. Listen and listen well, my little ponies, for I want to play a game with you. A game of Majora’s Mask. But this time...”

The statue slowly faded away, the laugh of the skull kid trailing behind.

“I get to make the rules. Sadly though, it’s a damn shame you won’t be around for this game, Jadusable. It’s been fun, buddy, I’ll tell you that. Before you go...”

I swallowed in fear, putting a death grip on my pistol.

“...would you like to see home again, for old-time’s sake? I’m sure Discord has made many improvements to the place already.”

“You son of a bitch! I’ll fucking murder you, you sorry sack of-”

“Really now?” BEN asked, the vile and soul-crushing song of unhealing still filling the room. “What about little Applejack? I’m certain that she’d not approve of your violent methods in the slightest.”

At that, a purple line of some kind formed in mid air. The line then started to spread outwards, opening what I could only describe as a portal. The portal showed a white void, and a few seconds later, Applejack came to the opening. She looked alive and well, but was still patched up from the Rainbow Factory basement. She put her hooves to the supernatural gate, slamming on it.

“Sugarcube! Applebloom! Big Mac! Granny! Thank Celestia ya’ll are alright!”

I immediately ran over to the rift, trying to pull myself through it, but fell onto my back as my face connected with the opening. I stood up and placed my hand to it, trying to bash away. It felt like extremely thick glass, almost like I was watching a TV. Only difference here, I couldn’t break it if I was pissed.

“Applejack, he’s not hurting you, is he!? So help me god, if I find he’s-”

“I smell the fear on you, Jadusable. Fear is the ultimate weakness in man. Your fear nearly cost you your life when fighting Macintosh and Pinkie Pie. It clouded your judgment in Twilight’s labs, and with Mr Cake. I’m sure Cup over there doesn't take too kindly to your actions...”

My blood began to boil at his insults. Sure, I had fear, but it was all for the better.

“Lemme tell you something, BEN.” I began, gritting my teeth, and slamming my mechanical arm into the table. “Fear is a sense that humans need in order to survive. Fear is what keeps man alive; it allows us to grow stronger, for every day that passes, we overcome our fears. Even our long-running fear of becoming extinct. I know it won’t happen, and you know why, BEN? Because mankind is stubborn. Mankind is a fighting race. We’ve survived countless wars, two of which, on global proportions. We’ve survived an ice age, millions of years of natural selection, hundreds of plagues and illnesses. So what if we go to war with nukes and whatnot like everyone on earth fears? Society may crumble, but I’ll say this, humanity will still live, because we can, and, mark my words, BEN...”

“We. Fucking. Will.”

“You have an awful lot of faith, kid... A lot of faith in a bunch of smelly primates living on some dirtball. Speaking of... would you like to see how that dirtball is doing?”

Before I had a chance to say anything, the image in the rift changed. What was I looking at? Home. The real, human world, all in its grimy, hyper-realistic glory. I could smell the burning fumes on the cars that passed by from here. The real life trees, the gritty, comforting smells of the city air. The smell of earth...

Home.

Home was in horrible shape.

Mom was not lying. The sky was a sickly shade of pistachio green, and the clouds pink, raining chocolate. Cars drove every which way, upside down, sideways, along buildings and trees. One minute, a person walking by would be wearing a tanktop and jeans, then a golden zoot suit the next. Houses were being lifted off of their very foundations, precariously stacked on top of eachother, and floating hundreds of feet off the ground. Street lights transmogrified into candy canes. The roads and interstates, soap. The people, barking and meowing while the pets they were with greeting eacother with hellos and ‘how ya doin’’s. A tree, out of fucking nowhere, grew a set of legs and waltzed into a Starbucks and asked for coffee. I felt absoloutely sick.

“I decided to let Discord off the leash, give him access to the human world. But it’s not all bad, Jadusable, look! Discord brought you back a souvenir from earth!” BEN playfully said, taunting me as, out of the blue, came a white flash of light as the portal closed, and in its place sat a suitcase on the table. “Discord was thinking long and hard of a present to bring you back from earth, so I gave him a suggestion I had. Think of it, Jadusable, as a gift from me, to you.”

I stared at the suitcase for a moment, wondering what was sitting inside. Somewhere, I heard a steady, constant beeping noise.

“Just remember, Jadusable, that you shouldn’t have done that...”

“Dad... what... is that?” Scootaloo asked me, slowly approaching the suitcase. I pushed the pegasus back, carefully approaching the box. I unhooked the latches, and slowly opened the container to find...

“Holy. Motherfucking. Shit.”

5:00
4:59
4:58
4:57

I began to sweat and panic in fear, my heart sinking into my stomach. A bomb. A goddamn bomb.

“Nick, what is that!?”

“A bomb!”

“Ooo! Ooo! You mean like a party bomb? because party bombs are fun and ifyouhaveapartybombyoucan-”

“NO, IT’S NOT A FUCKING PARTY BOMB!”

4:00
3:59
3:58
3:57

Okay... the first thing to do with a bomb... calm down, make sure all occupants are evacuated to a safe location. My father never taught me this, it was just common sense. Relax, and evacuate people...

“Alright, I want all civilians and children especially, to go to the top floor, immediately. The adults that came here with me, and military men, stay with me.” I ordered, carefully examining the bomb, and watching its clock, which was dwindling, and dwindling fast. There was a wire that ran through the back of the clock, down into a small black box, sealed with screws.

“Oh dear Ishvara, Jesus, Buddha, Yahweh, Allah and Zeus, WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO!?”

“Nick...”

“D-dad!? What the fuck are you doing here!?

“Nick, are you talking to yourself again!? This is no time to-”

“Now... listen, Nick. I never taught you how to defuse a bomb, simply because-”

“Human, the door’s locked, and we can’t break it down!”

“Of course you never did, you don’t have any experience in bomb defusal, god damn it!”

“Is that what you think? Remember the gulf?”

“They-”

“Never found any bombs there? That’s bullshit. We found weapons, and lots of them. It’s never been declassified. If the government had told the American public that we had found bombs, we would have gone into a third world war! I know how to defuse bombs, but I never thought you would need such training. Now if you-”

“WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO!?”

“Don’t you dare mouth off to me, or I WON’T help you. You have a knife, yes?"

“MACINTOSH, HELP US BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN!”

3:00
2:59
2:58
2:57

“Why is Nick talking to himself?”

“Ah dunno, but it’s creepin’ me out...”

“Now, take your knife, and unscrew the case. ...Good. Now what you’re dealing with here is a SODAM, also known as a nuclear suitcase bomb."

"A-a nuke!? THIS IS A FUCKING NUKE!?!?"

1:33
1:32
1:31
1:30

“Yes it’s a nuke, don’t fool yourself. Now. Take your knife and..."

“N-Nick better be able to stop this. This um... ‘nuke’ sounds bad.”

“According to that one foal’s tale.... they are.”

“Now, cut out this microchip, and THEN, the grey wire...”

“Nick, what are you doing!? That thing looks unstable!”

“We’re almost done here, Nick. Mom and I are here to help-”

“Wait, MOM!?”

“Captain Armor, what do do we do!? It’s almost as if... something’s blocking the door!”

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Mom, how did you... You know what, fuck it, nevermind, I need to stop this thing!”

“I died in a nasty car wreck a few hours ago, just like your father here. Those chocolate rain clouds got in my way, and I think my GPS told me to turn a bit too early, because I drove straight into a tree.”

My heart went lifelessly cold. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me again, but I’d recognize my mother’s voice anywhere. My mother... my one reason to get home... was dead.

“Alright, BEN, you wanna play dirty, we’ll play dirty, you cocksucker...”

“Ya know, everypony, I never thought I’d say this, but, I think we should leave.”

“Dash, are you going to abandon him!?”

“I hardly know the guy, Twilight!”

“Well we do, and we owe him, and so do you. We need to support him through this.”

“Now... if I just break this open, it looks like we have... Fuck! Dad, what do I do here?”

There’s only thirty seconds on the clock... this doesn’t look good...”

“Spike, calm down, you aren’t helping him.”

“But Twi, I don’t wanna die, I’m just a baby dragon!”

“Come here, Spikey-wikey...”

“Rarity, if we don’t make it out of this, I want you to know...”

“I know, dear. I know you love me.”

“Here we go... the heart of this thing. Dad, how do I disable the core?

“Daddy, I don’t wanna go boom!”

“Would you all shut up!? A nuke is not only going to kill US but all, and I DO mean all of Equestria! Now I need to fucking focus here! Dad, what chip do I want to avoid?”

0:10
0:09
0:08
0:07
0:06
0:05

“SWEET CELESTIA!”

0:04
0:03
0:02
0:01

“Awww, shit.”

Comments

[tragicCaligula]

the spirit of a drowned boy is capable of all of this?
seems legit

[HylianJuggalo]

1196045 It'll be explained, don't worry.

[SouthernmostDogs]

Yup, HE'S BEH FUCCCCCCKKKKED!

[idk12345678910]

That last piece of music was a really nice choice. It's going into my favorites now.

[HylianJuggalo]

1200479 It took me forever to find a copy of this. It's not on the OST, and as you can see, this version recently appeared.