The Last Heroes of Equestria

by ZeroStar

Chapter 32

The party had all vacated the top floor suite. They went to the sixth floor to room 641. It had two beds and a couch. Nobody had any problem sharing the king size beds since they did spend nights in worse places.

War Heart sat on the floor leaning against a wall. He couldn’t sleep, most likely on account of the fact that he did not require it as of late. He was developing a habit of licking his newly elongated fangs, they felt foreign to him although they were clearly part of his body. His mind often wandered to Dash and his kids back home, hoping that they were okay without him. He also thought of the repercussions that might come from him gaining these powers. War Heart was uneasy as he thought that Dash may not understand what has been happening to him. He sighed in melancholy as he watched the sun peek over the horizon to greet his crimson eyes. He looked over to Cura, who was sleeping on the couch with Riff, Vinyl, and Octavia. He stood up and nudged her gently to wake her up, “It’s morning, let’s go…”, he whispered, trying not to wake the others up.

Cura groggily stood up, taking some time to stretch. She looked at War Heart and smiled slightly, “Good Morning.”, she said quietly.

War Heart motioned to the door, “We need to get going.”

Cura nodded, “Alright, I’ll leave them a note.”, she walked over to a table near the door and scribbled something onto a white notepad. She turned towards the door, War Heart had opened it. She yawned and shook her head slightly to clear her mind, “Let’s go.”, she whispered as she walked out the door and down the hall to the elevator.

War Heart followed Cura out the door and closed it behind him. He walked alongside her to the elevator. When they reached it, he pressed the button to call for it and waited silently.

“So did you discover anything new about your powers?”, Cura asked, trying to break the silence.

War Heart nodded, “Yes. The Dead Master here was the Master of Blood. She had fangs and I guess she bit people and marked them.”

“What does this ‘mark’ do?”, she asked as the elevator reached their floor, the doors opening before them. They both stepped inside, War Heart pressing the button to go to the ground floor.

“Well, I’m guessing that I can mark people, maybe creatures, and I can make them feel pain from far away. She was able to make me puke blood on the rooftop. I think it also gave her slight control over the ones who were marked. I could hear so many whispers when I got the power.”

Cura thought for a moment as the elevator doors opened. They both started walking out of the hotel, “I think this particular power might have let you hear people’s thoughts if they were marked.”

War Heart nodded, “I figured as much, I brought them all to me…”

Cura looked at War Heart, “How did you figure that out?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I just concentrated on the whispers and sent my own. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but it felt almost like instinct.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to see what happens with these powers as we go… Maybe you can figure out how to shorten those fangs of yours, though I have to admit they look very alluring somehow.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“I forget, where are we headed again?”

“Fillydelphia… We still are looking for survivors… But I am curious if we’ll see another Dead Master there…”

“It seems that they just happen to be wherever you go…”

“I don’t know. Maybe they are tracking where I’m going and show up before I do. Then again, it could be coincidence.”

“No way to tell for sure, yet.”

They walked over to a store in Las Pegasus, where they bought what they needed to make the trek to Fillydelphia.

War Heart sighed, “I kind of wish I wasn’t taking you along. Flying there would take a lot less time…”

“Well, then who would be there to stop you from going crazy?”

“Point taken…”

“Besides, the crusaders have their hands full with so many to look after already.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Like always.”, Cura giggled at her remark.

Scootaloo woke up about an hour after Cura and War Heart were gone, “I guess they must have gone already…”, she told herself as she got off the bed where Sweetie and Apple Bloom were resting. She walked over to the door and saw the note Cura left behind. She picked up the note and read it to herself,

“Crusaders, War Heart and I have left for Fillydelphia. In case you don’t remember: You are to bring the rest of the group to Ponyville. We will come back with more survivors, if we find any, and leave with you from Ponyville. In the case we find no survivors, we will continue on to Appleloosa.”

Scoot nodded after reading the note. She looked around the room and sighed, “Five more minutes…”, she whispered as she laid down on the bed with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, drifting off to sleep again.

War Heart and Cura hiked through the woods for what seemed like forever, but really it was only a few days.

Cura looked up at the sky, feeling exhausted from all the walking. She sighed, “In hindsight… Maybe I should have gone with the Crusaders…”

War Heart chuckled, “And miss out on the great things we’ll see in the boring forest?”, he sarcastically and rhetorically remarked.

“I’m fine with forests, I just don’t like walking for so long…”

“I figured that you would have done more walking after we went on that adventure in the Dragon Lands.”

“Nope… Still don’t like walking.”

“Well we still have about two days to go before we reach Fillydelphia…”

Cura stopped walking and sat down, leaning against a tree.

War Heart turned around and looked at her quizzically, “What are you doing?”

“Not all of us have a ridiculous constitution like you.”

War Heart rolled his eyes and sighed, “Fine, I’ll just have to carry you.”

“Much obliged…”, she said as she walked over and hopped onto his back.

War Heart proceed to piggy-back Cura along the dirt path to Fillydelphia. It felt a bit weird at first with the extra weight, but soon he was accustomed to it. It was soon nightfall, he figured that he could keep on walking if Cura was to just sleep on his back on the way there. He softened his strides, not wanting to wake her up. He looked up to the night sky, admiring the stars that managed to show themselves in the small patches of sky the clouds did not cover. He turned his eyes back to the road and kept walking.

“Excuse me…”, a woman’s voice called out quietly from behind a tree.

War Heart turned to the source of the voice to see the blue haired woman that he chased after before reaching Las Pegasus, “You? What do you want?”

“I’ve been wandering and have nobody to travel with… May I travel with you?”, she asked humbly, almost in a frightened tone.

War Heart considered it and then nodded, “Sure, I’m up all night anyway. I could use the company.”, he said as he turned back onto his path.

The blue haired woman walked next to him quietly.

“So, what’s your name?”, War Heart asked off handed.

“Oh, uh, it’s Moondancer…”

“Alright… My name’s War Heart, and the pink puff of hair I’m carrying is Cura.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance.”

“So why were you wandering around in such a panic?”

“Well… When the civil war started, I was so afraid of being forced into it. I took off as fast as I could and never looked back. I was never so afraid in my life…”

“Sounds rough… I wasn’t around for the civil war…”

“Where were you?”

“The ground…”

“Oh… You mean like mining? Like those creatures… What are they called…? Diamond Dogs?”

“Not exactly, but sure… What’s a Diamond Dog?”

“They’re a sort of creature that dig tunnels and search for gems and other precious stones.”

“Cool.”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Fillydelphia. I’m going to look for people to move to Ponyville if there are any survivors.”

“Survivors? Of what?”

“Well… There was a big load of zombie things in Manehattan; Then there was a bunch of people trying to control Las Pegasus through magical means; and now I’m heading to Fillydelphia and ,depending on whether or not we find more survivors there, we’ll go back to Ponyville and then head to Appleloosa.”

“I had no idea… I’ve been in the air almost all the time unless I had to land…”

“Well, life on the ground is rough… I don’t blame you for flying away.”

They both walked for the rest of the night in silence.

Cura began to wake up, she realised she fell asleep on War Heart’s back. She yawned, “Looks like we got some distance covered… even in my sleep…”, she turned to see the young woman with blue hair. She paused for a moment before turning to War Heart, “Who’s this?”

“Her name is Moondancer, she’s coming with us to Fillydelphia.”, War Heart explained.

“Where did she come from?”

“She was hiding and asked if she could come along.”

“… Okay then.”, Cura shrugged off the idea, knowing she’s seen stranger things happen.

They soon found themselves on the outskirts of Fillydelphia. War Heart stopped and put Cura on the ground. They all looked at the city for a moment before continuing walking towards their destination.

Cura yawned, “We should be there by noon…”

War Heart nodded, “I wonder if there will be any creatures there…”

Cura shrugged, “Maybe, I don’t recall there being any red marks on this part of the map.”

“So it may be like Las Pegasus…”

“Hopefully without having a repeat of the whole incident with all the…” Cura shuddered at the memory, “Yeah… Gross.”

“Wasn’t exactly pleasant, believe me…”

The blue haired woman kept silent, not knowing what they were talking about.

As Cura had predicted, they arrived at Fillydelphia at midday. The streets were barren, save for the odd litter on the sidewalks. They all looked around for signs of life.

Cura crossed her arms and thought, “Perhaps… They already evacuated?”

War Heart shrugged, “Dunno, but we should look around.”, he told them as he started walking down the street.

Cura and Moondancer followed War Heart, looking around as they walked down the street with him.

War Heart looked about the streets of Fillydelphia, seeing slight blurs in his vision at random points. There were times when his skin just crawled for no real reason. The feeling made him uneasy, “Something about this place… I don’t know… It creeps me out.”

Cura scoffed, “I’ll say…”

Moondancer silently nodded, also feeling somewhat uneasy by the city.

War Heart saw an open door to a general store. He walked over to it and looked inside, “Hello?”, he called out. He received no reply. He stepped in and started walking along the aisles. He turned a corner to one aisle and saw something move around the corner on the far end of the store. He ran towards what he saw and looked around. He found nothing. He scratched his head for a moment.

“Is something wrong?”

War Heart shook his head, “Nah… Just seeing things…”, he told Cura as he walked into the back rooms of the store, finding nobody. He walked out of the store with Cura and Moondancer, “Maybe they did evacuate…”

Cura looked to the sky, “We should probably keep looking though… This doesn’t sit well with me… I want to know why they evacuated. There is no evidence that they had to evacuate.”

“Alright… We’ll keep looking.”, War Heart declared as he continued to walk through the city. As he was scanning over his surroundings he turned to a small playground to see someone sitting on a swing. He kept turning until he realised what he had seen, quickly turning back to find they were gone. War Heart closed his eyes and shook his head, “Maybe not sleeping is affecting me…”, he whispered to himself, Moondancer and Cura didn’t seem to take notice of him. War Heart turned to look where he was going to walk into something.

All he saw was a mask. A blood red mask that screamed at War Heart for an instant before disappearing.

War Heart jumped at the sight and the sudden scream, nearly falling over.

Cura and Moondancer looked at him strangely.

Cura looked over to where War Heart was looking and then back to War Heart, “Are you okay?”

War Heart nodded, “Just seeing things…”

“Is it that guy again?”

He shook his head, “No… Something else.”

“What was it?”

“It was…”, War Heart squinted in the distance to see someone in a tight black outfit wearing a white mask that was smiling. He stared as the person waved at him and disappeared as War Heart blinked.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m not sure…”, War Heart told her as he kept walking onward.

Cura looked at Moondancer, who just shrugged at her and kept following. Cura sighed, “Great he’s going to have to be in a mental ward when this is over…”, she mumbled as she started following again.

War Heart could almost swear he heard someone giggling. He couldn’t tell from where but he had some inkling of an idea who it was. He continued to look around, hoping that he would find somebody to make being here worthwhile. As he reached an intersection in the street he turned to see the person with the mask standing in the middle of the street, except the mask showed a neutral expression. War Heart looked at him curiously and started walking over to them.

“I suppose you’re the one that was supposed to be our champion…”, the man in the mask spoke in a bored monotone, slightly muffled by the mask. His blue hair was shaggy and some of it drooped over the mask. He looked very thin and wore a tight, black, full body outfit.

War Heart glared at him, “I guess you’re another one of the Dead Masters…”

Cura and Moondancer looked at each other and then turned to War Heart. Cura looked at him with concern, “Are you sure it isn’t your hallucinations again, War Heart?”

War Heart turned to Cura, Wondering if she was serious that she could not see the man standing not even twelve feet away from him. He turned back to the man who was still standing there.

“Their eyes are not open. Yours are only barely open as it is… You can see me because I allow you to.”, the man in the mask continued in his dull monotone.

“What exactly did you do to this place?”

“I opened them up to another plane of existence. There are worlds within worlds… I can pass between them with ease.”

“Where are the people?”

“Oh, they’re everywhere. This entire city is trapped in the world that I manipulate using the Dead Magic.”, he spun on his heels to hide his face for an instant and reveal a new blue mask with a saddened expression on it, “But I have to admit it is lonely being the only one with any power in there… Nobody can play my games to their fullest…”, he hung his head, hiding his face once more.

War Heart saw this as a chance to take a swing at him. He quickly ran over and took a jab at the Dead Master. Much to his surprise, his fist went straight through the Master as if he were not there.

The Dead Master turned to War Heart quickly, his mask was blood red with a furious expression, “How dare you! To try and attack me without even playing by the rules!?”

War Heart backed away a step, “Let’s say I do play by your rules… What happens then…?”

The Dead Master turned around, “I guess I could let you play… But I’m afraid that I will raise the stakes for how rude you decided to be…”, he turned around to reveal a white mask with a smile, “Oh, it will be so fun!”, he said before he began to cackle loudly.

War Heart just stood and watched the man laugh maniacally. He only blinked to find the Dead Master face to face with him for only an instant before blacking out.

War Heart opened his eyes to see the dark green sky. He sat up and saw that he was right where he was before blacking out. Looking around he saw the buildings were decayed and falling apart. He could smell death all around him, making him uneasy but not disgusted. He stood up slowly, he felt strange as he saw the thick fog that obscured his vision ahead, leading further into the city. War Heart started walking forward, unsure of what awaited him in the clouded depths of the now decaying city. He felt slow and weak. He walked towards one of the stores on the street, wanting to keep close to something so he had some idea of where he was going. He walked along the walls and windows at a weary pace. He turned to look inside the window of one of the stores. He jumped back at what he saw. A creature that had pale grey skin; its eyes were red and glowing; a figure was gaunt and you could see its bone through its skin; and wings that were only bones and unable to give any sort of flight. War Heart reached out to the window, seeing it moved with him. He realised he was looking at his own reflection. He touched the glass and continued to observe his new form.

There was a scream in the distance that disturbed War Heart. He looked behind him only to see the fog. Taking steps into the thick cloud he wandered towards where the scream came from. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it sounded like somebody was in trouble. He suddenly found himself outside the fog to witness a large beast chasing after a woman.

This beast had slimy, almost toad-like, skin; it walked on four massive, clawed legs that protruded from its sides, three toes on each foot; its mouth was large enough to fit several people inside, the roof and floor of its mouth was lined with pointed teethed that seemed to move on their own will to rip and tear at whatever unlucky creature found itself inside the maw of the beast; its eye was huge, sitting on a stalk at the top of the creature’s body, shining some sort of spotlight wherever its gaze turned; it had a long whip-like tongue covered in barbs that resembled spikes of bone with a spike on the tip that looked like it would be used to impale whatever it lunged at; it reeked of death and rotting flesh as it was covered in exposed sores and wounds oozing blood and pus.

War Heart saw it shoot out its tongue and impale a young green-haired woman. Blood splattered on the wall behind her. She panicked as she tried to pull away futilely against the beast’s strength. She fell to the ground and began clawing at the pavement in an attempt to escape, her fingernails coming loose from her fingers and bleeding. She continued to try and crawl away, slowly failing as she was dragged along the ground. She kept screaming as the beast pulled her into its maw. She only kept screaming as the beast chewed on her body, its teeth shifting around to tear her apart and spurting blood out the beast’s mouth.

War Heart stood in shock as the beast’s eye turned on him. He felt nearly blinded by the light it put on him. Its body started turning towards him. War Heart weakly went into the fog, hoping to escape the monster. He got only a few feet before he saw the barbed tongue of the beast fly past him, it grazed his arm, causing it to bleed a black ooze. He started walking towards the closest building, not having any energy to run. He walked in through the door and closed it behind him. He collapsed on the floor, just out of view in the window. He slowly lifted himself up just high enough to see the beast tromp past the building he was in. He turned and leaned against the wall, still feeling weak for some reason. He saw something standing in the corner, just staring at the wall.

It was thin and looked like a malnourished man from behind. It had only a pair of dark grey shorts on and no shirt. Its fingers were unnaturally long, several extra knuckles on every finger, making them almost a foot long each. Its grey skin was akin to War Heart’s. The head of this creature was thin, bald, and the skin seemed too stretched.

“What the-…”, War Heart whispered to himself.

The creature quickly snapped towards War Heart. Its eyes were black and lifeless; it had no mouth on its face, nor nostrils, nor a nose; its chest opened up to reveal large serrated teeth. It hissed at War Heart and began shambling towards him slowly, looking like it too was feeling weak.

War Heart tried to back away from the creature, soon to find himself up against the door. He didn’t have the strength to fight, he stood up and pulled open the door. He himself shambled out onto the street.

The creature slowly opened the door, trying to catch up with War Heart. It followed him down an alleyway, following to trail of black ooze left by War Heart’s arm.

War Heart found himself at the dead end of the alleyway. The creature still stumbling towards him. He looked around, hoping to find an exit. He eyed a heavy glass bottle by a dumpster. He knew that he had no choice but to fight this thing. He stumbled over to the bottle. As he tried to pick up the bottle, he found his strength was not enough to lift it. He looked back as he realised the creature was merely feet away from him. In an act of desperation he swung his fist at it. The punch did little to no damage, seeming more like he nudged it away lazily than attack. It stumbled back slightly, but seemed a bit hindered. War Heart backed away from it, hearing a clack as his skeletal wings made contact with the wall. He took a look at his wings, they spread out like hands with pointed tips on the ends of them. He looked back to the creature stumbling towards him and swung his wings forth, the bones jabbing into the creature. It hissed weakly as it fell to its knees. War Heart sat down, feeling drained from his attack.

“You know, I think I forgot to tell you the rules of this place.”

War Heart slowly turned to the source of the voice to see the Dead Master leaning against the wall, “What did you do to me…?”, War Heart wearily inquired.

“Not just to you… The whole city! Turned into a world of decay and despair, filled with dangerous creatures.”, the Dead Master sounded very enthusiastic about the idea. He turned to War Heart, “You will grow stronger if you feed on them.”, he pointed at War Heart and explained.

“What… Are you talking about…?”

“I’m saying you need to take this…”, he stepped over to the creature and tore off a piece of its flesh from its back, “and eat it.”

War Heart grimaced at the idea, “What kind of world is this…?”

“The Dead World. If you want to survive, you eat.”, he dropped the piece of grey flesh in War Heart’s lap, “Toodles.”, The Dead Master vanished in front of War Heart.

War Heart could hear faint laughter after the Dead Master disappeared. He looked down at the grey meat in his lap. He cringed as he took it into his hands. The smell was absolutely repulsive, like a dead animal that had been sitting out in the sun for a week. He closed his eyes and sank his teeth into the flesh of the creature, tearing off a piece and trying to swallow it quickly. He retched as he choked down the chunk of disgusting meat. He felt some of his strength return to him, he felt able to move more. He looked at his hand to see it bloat to a not as unhealthy point. He sat there to see the corpse rapidly decay into dust, only to be blown away by an unfelt breeze.