The Trotting Dead

by ZombieBrony22

First published

The dead trot again... The fate of Equestia rests in the hooves of the Princess and her friends - old and new.

The world is in a one way ticket to hell... When two worlds meet, how will they survive? An old enemy rises from the ashes of the worlds, a new enemy is born, and the dead are becoming the new rulers of these two worlds...

Alternate universe tag is in case of the mid season premiere of The Walking Dead. I own nothing but of course the plot.

UPDATE 2021: Y'know, part of me wants to remember the good that came out of this one, it's what gave me my start in the zombie genre... but on the other hand, there could've been much more, here. Both in writing and tone– I may have been a little... eager... in some places.

Sprites and background in cover thanks to: http://www.fillygamez.com/2012/09/welcome-to-ponyville.html

Painting software used http://www.getpaint.net/download.html

Chapter 1: The Begining of The End

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SPIKE'S P.O.V

I started packing and double - checking. Finally some quality time with my friends since she became princess! I cannot wait until they show up! An hour later we arrived in Canterlot. No pony was there. We all were shocked to believe it. This place was usually buzzing with ponies, it felt creepier knowing no pony was where they always are. We looked for help, we found a house with ponies in it.

We knocked. When some pony answered they told us to hurry in.

"Who are you ponies?" One of the two said. The other pony recognized us.

"Wait, are you- oh, thank Celestia you all showed up! Things pretty were satanic around here." He said. We asked their names.

"Name's Red. The taller unicorn's Matt." Red said.

"What the hay's going on here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Wait a minute, you don't know?" Matt said.

"Don't know what?" Twilight asked.

"There were rumors from the residents that some infection was goin' around. Less people were out, strange behavior, more sick ponies around. We decided to find what was going on. Then these THINGS tried to eat us. We found shelter in here and went in." Red said.

"So, when we came in to this fire station, we saw some pony get eaten outside. Some time later the eaten pony woke up all rotten and trotted like these things out there." Matt said. So a Zombie Outbreak? Some bonding day.

A moan came from the door. "Go, get weapons, we'll cover you!" Matt said

We all looked for anything that we could find. All we found were a hammer, heavy pipe, fire axe, peice of glass, baseball bat, a folded up scroll, 6 nails, and duct tape. The others turned the newspaper and nails into nailed paper knuckles for me. They were cheap, but AWESOME!

As for the others they used what they got: Twilight used the hammer, Applejack used the pipe, Rainbow Dash used the axe, Rarity used the bat, and Pinkie used the glass while Fluttershy flew so they can't do anything to her. ( It was that or dying scared to death.) When we arrived near the castle we saw dozens of corpses trotting slowly. They were eating a few guards, I can only imagine their screams of pain.

"Sweet. Celestia." I responded. We moved on and they moved faster - we still outran them but barely. We stopped for a breath.

"So, we ahrrahved fo' quality tahme and a group of those THINGS almost ATE us?!" Applejack blurted in fear.

"We need to get the hay out of town and meet with Celestia and see if she knows anything about this." Twilight responded.

"I don't" a voice said.

"Princess Celestia!" I exclaimed.

"We found a group of ponies with a major sickness and we couldn't help, 2 minutes later those ponies were dead. Then they came back and ate a medic, then 1 minute later he bit his assistant. It spread like wild fire in 3 days!" Celestia responded.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"There are ponies who survived these Trotters." Celestia responded.

"What about my brother?" Twilight asked.

"He was in the Crystal Empire the last time we heard from him." Celestia responded

"Oh." Twilight said.

We heard a growl and we ran as fast as we could and a horde showed up!

"Spike, hide!" Twilight said.

I hid where a Trotter grabbed me! I used my nail'd knuckles in his head: They worked. It fell to the ground with 3 holes in it's head as I crawled out.

"SPIKE, are you okay, did it bite you?!" Twilight asked. I shook my head as we walked towards the exit, we left the city and got on a train. As we arrived in Ponyville a Trotter grabbed me- again! it pulled me off the train!

"SPIKE! NO!" Twilight said as she grabbed the hammer.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

It took him, he was possibly eaten or dead or worse! I never forgave myself for what happened. My friends tried to comfort me.

"M- Maybe he made it out." Fluttershy said.

"He would want you to move on." Pinkie said.

"Try to think of something else." Rainbow Dash said.

"He is a strong little dragon. I'm sure he made it." Rarity said.

"Oh, he made it out! He's maybe looking fo' us raht now." Applejack said.

"Look, he's just a baby dragon forced to fend for himself! Do you know what that means?!" I asked. I went to the castle sobbing in my bed. I could've done something! I could've blasted that freak! But I didn't, I stood there!

Meanwhile I heard about a meeting in the middle of town. I decided to go. The meeting was on this infection and what they can do if it spreads.

"They'll kill ALL of us if we don't barricade Ponyville!" One pony said.

We were all panicking and chattering. After the meeting, we decided to lock our doors, set up gates, and find weapons. I'm only worried about Spike... I hope he made it out. Although It's doubtful, I pray to Celestia that he escaped. I will live to the end of this nightmare, for him... No matter what the hay this infection throws at me and Ponyville, let be a new virus mutation, or my death, trust me... these things are going PAY!

SPIKE'S P.O.V

I thought I was dead! I opened my eyes to see three strangers dragging me away. I regained my senses to see a camp in the Everfree Forest. Honestly this is nothing compared to what I saw today... "Hello?" I asked.

"Sweet Celestia! One of those corpses still alive!" Somepony said. I was pulled out of a pile of rotten limbs and corpses.

"You alright?" the stranger asked.

I nodded my head. "Okay, good. name's Dave" Dave said.

"I'm Spike. How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"Only an hour or two. We saw you get bitten..." Dave said.

"What?" I asked. Then I looked at my arm and saw a bite! "How much time do I have?" I asked

"You would've turned by now." Dave said. "We think you're immune to this virus. There's a laboratory in Manehatten. We saw your friends ride to Ponyville. We can get them and go to the lab and make a cure. ALL of us!" Dave planned.

Seeing no other choice, I agreed to go with the group back home. I met the others. Matt and Red were there to. We started to pack up for the long trip. We were at the end of the forest, 150 miles away from home! We'll get there! Hopefully all of us...

Chapter 2: Why?

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5 MONTHS LATER

CHARLE'S P.O.V

Why? Another beggar shot in the face, we see scared, weak survivors at the gate 24/7. But she doesn't let them step in, grab a bite, not even sleep!

"It's them or us!" she would say.

This is just sad, don't get me wrong, I do care for her. It's just, she should understand that kicking ponies out of Ponyville will just weaken the group. Soon, we won't be enough for the Trotters! I know she misses HIM... She's crushed!

But this isn't what HE would have wanted...Twilight, the newest princess of Equestria, with PTSD.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

It's been 5 months since this started, I've changed. I just snap around other ponies since they mean mouths to feed, waste of resourses, and so on. They say it's for HIM, but it's really for revenge. I see a Trotter and I bash its head in and scoop it wide open!

Ponyville has a problem, NOT me! I should kill them right now... How could I think that? They're my friends! What is wrong with me?

SPIKE'S P.O.V

We still aren't close to Ponyville. We are heading to Canterlot first. We need weapons, we are almost out. We won't make it without them.

"We need to be careful." Matt says.

And Red says "We need to try to go AROUND the Trotters."

I'm starting to think we won't make it back to Twilight alive. But I need to hope, we've made it this long. I'm sure we'll find Ponyville in time. First we need to get to Canterlot and get weapons. Matt is doing okay with Red, we are now in Zecora's hut for the night.

"Canterlot is not a wise choice, an old rival shall rejoice." She said.

"Who? What rival?" Red asked.

"You know him, he speaks rather grim. But beware, you must prepare." Zecora responded as she gave us 2 shovels and a small axe.

"You should come with us. We can use all the help we can get." I said. After a minute she said

"Very well. I shall prepare the bell."

We are lying down now and I'm going to write in the morning.

CHARLES'S P.O.V

I woke up sad. I remembered how I saw this start. I'm a unicorn with a job in the Crystal Empire as a scientist. I was a childhood friend with Shining Armor, at his wedding I helped with the invasion. After the party, I studied the remnants of the slime and found a contagious disease that drives a pony mad. I shipped it to Canterlot for a more safe research, it got out.

I wonder what the hay happened there, maybe a scientist got infected and broke out. I don't know... When this started I was in the train station going to Appleoosa when one approached me. I still remember how petrified I was. Luckily I arrived in Ponyville when Twilight was in a "good" mood.

SPIKE'S P.O.V

We are on our way and Zecora brought a .22, nails, a sickle, and a railroad spike. Okay, for now. Zecora also has a small spear. Cool, now we are near the railroad towards Canterlot. We saw a train near the station, in it was a hunting knife for me. Now that we are trying to work the train. Until then me and Zecora are scavenging for supplies, We saw a few Trotters ahead and killed them, and now I found 7 bits and a can of food.

"Nice find, way to be kind." Zecora said.

I thanked her as we searched again. We found more food and water, only unicorns can carry them. I have a backpack for my supplies and weapons. Like my nail'd knuckles and shovel from Zecora. Now we are heading back to deliver the supplies we found.

As we went back I was slow due to the supplies in my backpack. Zecora gave me a ride back.

MATT'S P.O.V

I saw them walk back. Those two must be good friends, that's what matters in these days. Now, the Trotters they killed are laying there. I saw how they were black and green after death. I thought of the changelings and their colors; I wonder if they caused the infection somehow. We never know... I hope that Chrysalis isn't planning another attack, we barely held on last time. Now, we were able to to correct the train's position thanks to Red's magic. Now we need to start it up, which could take a while.

We need to hope that this ends soon and we can go back to normal. It can't stay like this forever...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I feel as angry as always, I've been ticked off at Charles lately, he is complaining on my attitude to others. He's wrong, he needs to let go. I'm NOT going to change no matter how much he tries. He IS nice though, for caring. Maybe he isn't so bad after all, maybe he's right. I don't know what to d- I want Spike back. Maybe it is my fault... I want to stop, Charles seems nice to me. My friends are starting to side against me. I understand now.

"They need our help!" Rainbow would say.

"Don't be so mean..." Fluttershy would say.

"Thay need our halp Twa'" AJ says.

"What ever happened to the old Twilight?" Rarity mutters.

"No ponies to party with + all the crazies= NO fun!" Pinkie cries.

What have I done? I think having Spike back isn't the answer. Maybe I need to stop now, not if Spike ever comes back.

Chapter 3: S.O.S

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*****'S P.O.V

This is a message for all remaining survivors. You are being fooled when SHE says it was a bandit ambush. It's really an assault, by Canterlot... What was left became New Canterlot, ruled by a family member of HERS. Now, prepare for the end Equestra. They grow every day. Now, the end has come... The dead don't kill their own, it's the living you gotta fear. The ponies I used to call FRIENDS! Now some bird is helping...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I asked Celestia for help. She told me to focus on the positive things, not the negative. I should thank him, he helped me see my inner demons. Thanks to him, I am back to normal. I'm going to use the radio for the shunned survivors.

"All survivors, the gates are OPEN. Now you can come to Ponyville." I said as some ponies were chattering.

I heard Charles say "How-"


CHARLES'S P.O.V

I saw her use the radio for the survivors, the ponies came in and were bewildered. As was I, I ask my same question from a week ago. Why? Was it because of me? Was it from the muttering of ponies? What about my friends?

I don't know, all I know is that she is back to normal, let's hope she stays that way. Please...

SPIKE'S P.O.V

We are almost to Canterlot and we are all okay. Zecora is doing well with her spear, we however, don't have good weapons. Only a baseball bat, .22 with no ammo, and a railroad spike. We are in the train heading to a station to refuel and find food. I saw Ponyville and remembered the promise the group made.

"As soon as we find more weapons, we will find your friends." Was what Red said 3 months ago.

Now we are all at the Dodge Junction Station with no fuel. We saw a camp hidden in a city.

"Hi there, you friendly?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. You with New Canterlot?" A pegasus asked.

"No, why?" I asked.

"Wait, you're tellin' me y'all don't know?" a unicorn asked us.

"Know what?" Zecora asked.

"For a while, Celestia and the others tried to keep order and friendship for a while. Then some family member overthrew them and took Canterlot to himself." The unicorn said.

Family member? Who would do such a thing as to overthrow his family like that?

Before I can ask more, the pegasus's head exploded. He got shot.

"WE HAD A DEAL!" a pony in a ski mask yelled.

"Oh, Celestia. Get in the train." Matt said.

As we got in, the pegasus grabbed a bow and started shooting the bandits with Matt. Celestia bless her. Matt told her we needed gasoline for Canterlot in the train.

"You can't go there." She said.

"What? Why?" Matt said.

"Canterlot was overthrown like Doug said. What you DON'T know is if anypony enters, they die there." the pegasus said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"No - pony can enter without permission or just generosity. Once you do, they turn you to a killing machine! Not showing mercy to ANY PONY! Not even your family!" the pegasus said.

"Celestia help us. By the way, what is your name?" Matt asked.

"My name is Carly." she said.

"I'm Spike, the unicorn with the workbench cutie mark is Red, the other one with the fire cutie mark is Matt, and the zebra is Zecora." I said.

"So, if we can't go to Canterlot for weapons, now what?" Red asked.

"I say we must go, to stop this like so." As she slashed a Trotter's head with her spear.

"We are friendly ponies, we can't kill each other for freedom!" Carly stated. "We'll be no different from THEM!"

As we brought gasoline to the train, I hoped that we'll survive and keep our ponydom.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I was in the castle with the others talking about my condition.

"Did you just wake up Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes and no. I see my mistakes and will try to stop." I said.

"You can't just change Twilight." Pinkie said surprisingly serious.

"Discord did. So can I." I said trying to stay calm.

Remember, think of the positive.

"I believe in you Twilight." Fluttershy said calmly.

"Thanks." I responded.

"Yeah, Ah knew you'll come around!" Applejack said.

"Yes, I hoped, and now we can be ourselves again." Rarity said.

Now we need to focus on bringing friendship back. After all, it IS my role in Equestria. As we walked out we saw a horde near the gates!

"FIRE!" I called to the sniper guards.

They were able to take all but one out. I jabbed its head with my horn and I disposed of it. Now my friends are readying defense upgrades such as generators, barbed wire, and more Trotter corpses to make us 'invisible' to the Trotters. Now that it's over, Ponyville is making weapons such as a branch and railroad spike scythe. Some ponies' imaginations these days.

CELESTIA'S P.O.V

I need to warn them all. I saved my cousin in Aguastria and am now heading to Ponyville to warn Princess Twilight. Now we can't escape The Purge, may HE burn with the dead Trotters. Because of him, me and my sister and niece are NOTHING!

Chapter 4: The Encounter

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SPIKE'S P.O.V

We are heading back to Canterlot to try to help. We can't kill, but we can't just sit back and do nothing either. Now we need guns, not just crowbars or baseball bats. We need to see the royal guard for help, maybe the Crystal Empire... That's where Shining Armor was held up, right? Maybe he's still there if we're lucky.


CELESTIA'S P.O.V

I see Ponyville locked up with barricades. I called out

"Where is everypony?"

Then, I saw a stranger walk towards me and asked

"Why are you here your highness?"

"Where is Twilight?" I asked back.

Then, Twilight walked forward and stared.

"You look horrible. Your hoof is gone..." She said shocked.

I told her how I was infected and had no choice, I also told how the Fire of Friendship burns low and how Equestria's culture is being destroyed by hatred, fear, and revenge.

"Will Equestria freeze again?" Twilight asked.

"It seems like even the Windigos were infected and became extinct."

I also told her how I saw Spike with Zecora and three more ponies. All she did was stand and stare.

"Where is he heading?" Twilight asked me.

"I overheard that they were heading to Canterlot." I responded.

"Then we need to go." Twilight said.

"NO, you can't." I said

I told her about New Canterlot and how a family member has overthrown us ALL. She still gathered her friends and packed enough weapons to manage the walk. As they headed out, I warned her to kill the dead... and fear the living...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We are heading to Canterlot NOW! I can't believe he's alive after all this time... I can't wait to see him again. Wait, I saw something in the field.

"We don't mean any harm!" I said so they could hear me.

As they walked towards me, I saw Red, Matt, and Zecora.

"Twilight? What the hay are you doing out here?" Matt asked.

"Wait, you know these ponies?" Charles asked.

"Helped me and the others get out of Canterlot when this began." I said.

As we talked, I saw a familiar unicorn.

"SHINING?!" I said as I saw my brother.

"Twily!" He said as he walked towards me.

"Twilight?" I heard a voice matching Spike said.

"S- Spike?" I said.

SPIKE'S P.O.V

"Twilight?" I said

I couldn't beileve it, after all these 10 months, I can FINALLY see her again.

After we were all caught up, we decided to head to New Canterlot together. As we walked, me and Twilight had a LOT to catch up on.

"So you found a TRAIN?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, then, as we headed to the Crystal Empire, we saw a couple of bandits who tried to kill us! Then, when we thought it was all over, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and a few crystal guards scared them off." I said.

"Wow, that must've been scary..." Fluttershy replied.

"More like AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash said.

Then we headed to the train to see a horde of Trotters surrounding it.

"What do we do now?" Rarity asked.

As we were all thinking, Rarity finally blurred

"I GOT IT!"

Then a few Trotters looked dead at us... Then turned back.

"What?" I asked.

"Back in Ponyville, we had a pile of them on each side of the boundaries. It made the Trotters ignore us... Maybe if we pour the guts on US -"

Before she could finish, Charles used magic to levitate 11 Trotters and gutted them open.

"Oh Celestia..." I said

The Rarity I know wouldn't even THINK of doing this... Maybe she's changed over the months.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

As we were covering ourselves, Rarity started to disagree.

"Try to think of this as... a new outfit or something." Rainbow Dash said.

As we walked quietly through the horde, I noticed a bullet on the ground and Matt bleeding out.

He's been shot.

He fell which attracted the horde towards his corpse. Running out of options, we ran to the train due to Red crying out loud.

We finally made it to the train to see Red holding a picture with him and Matt near Manehattan.

"Red, about Matt..." I said

"He was my brother..." He replied.

"What?" I asked

"Matt Cinder was my older brother." Red said holding back tears.

"Well, I'm sure he's in a MUCH better place now." I said trying to comfort him.

"When he died I saw a group of ponies in ski masks, they were the same ponies from the camp, the Crystal Empire. Maybe New Canterlot sent them!" He lead on.

"Hey look, I know what you're going through. The same thing happened to me when I lost Spike. It almost lead me to insanity, then Charles helped me see who I was." I said to him.

"Gee, thanks." Red told me.

"Anytime." I said.

As we were on the train, I talked to the others.

"Once we head to New Canterlot then what?" asked Charles.

"If they want war, they have one..." I said.

"We can't just kill them in cold blood!" Carly said.

"And we won't. If it's this family member who caused this, then if we kill him..." I lead on.

"Maybe it'll work, but we need to THINK how we're going in and we need to KNOW who what we're up against." Shining said.

"I agree. We need to scout the place before we barge in head on." I said.

"I'll go. Zecora will too, if we see him, we'll tell you on a comlink." Rainbow Dash said.

"You'll need binoculars and a silent weapon for Trotters." I said.

Zecora grabbed her small spear and Rainbow Dash grabbed the Railroad Scythe and headed out. (Blueprints: Baseball bat or wooden branch, Railroad Spike, Cement saw, Plastic ties, and Duct tape . (Step 1: Use Cement saw to slice a small hole size of the Railroad Spike.

Step 2: Hammer Railroad Spike into the Cement saw hole and wrap it with Plastic ties.

Step 3: Duct tape it for security.

Step 4: Have fun jabbin' the undead horde!)


RAINBOW DASH'S P.O.V

As we went on scouting, we found supplies for the group.

"We'll grab it on the way back, if we stay, Trotters might attack." Zecora said

I nodded and moved on to see a trail of a coach nearby.

"Somepony's been out scouting..." I said.

By the time we reached New Canterlot, we saw guards on post.

"Doesn't look like we're goin' in that way." I said.

Then, we saw the waterfall and decided to climb up. When we made it up, there were a few Trotters nearby. They were easy targets, as always.

"I got the binoculars." I said to Zecora.

We scoped the soldiers to see ponies I know, Donut Joe, DJ Pon-3, and even Trixie!

"What happened here?" I asked.

"I do not know..." Zecora said.

As we scoped more, we saw Prince Blueblood in a ski mask! What is he doing here?! As I looked more, we saw a flag with Blueblood's shadow on it!

"So he's the family member!" I said.

"... Now let us go." Zecora said.

We packed and headed out to tell our foundings. I can't believe this...

Chapter 5: The Discovery *SPOLIERS ON TWD*

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SPIKE'S P.O.V

We were almost at the base. Who would've thought that Blueblood was behind New Canterlot? But, it makes sense doesn't it? As we were walking, I saw a bandit we saw in New Canterlot's guard towers.

"Maybe he saw us..." I said.

I grabbed my baseball bat ready to attack.

"Hey, who are you? 'You part of New Canterlot?" He asked.

We stood frozen. Thinking about what to say, then from behind, I saw a figure ready to attack. It seemed to be... different than what I saw. Half of it looked like it was from... Before I could think more, the bandit was sabatoged and killed by the figure.

"... Thank you stranger." Zecora said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Now that I was up close, his bottom half was a like a pony's, while his upper half was like what the people we saw through the portal... He was wearing a blue jacket, a white T-shirt underneath, and he was holding a cleaver. He looked me in the eye and said.

"My name's Lee." He said.


TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I was at the base with the others waiting for Spike and Zecora. After comforting Red after what happened to Matt, I figured that we need a place to bury our own. I found a nice small field on the other side of the Train Station and decided to build a graveyard.

"Alright, it's done." I said.

"Thank you Twilight." Red replied.

As we were searching for supplies, I saw something that looked like a half pony - half...

"Hey! Are you ok?" I asked.

The figure was now walking towards me. As it walked, it looked more clear. It had grey jacket covered in blood. It also had dark brown hair.

"Yes, who are you?" It asked.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?" I asked back.

"My name is Sarita." She said


SPIKE'S P.O.V

So Lee brought us to his group near Cloudsdale.

"So, this is where you live?" I asked.

"Yeah, we came here when we died. So we made a group here." Lee said to us.

I was impressed about what they said about their past lives.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm Hershel." He said to me.

"He was a veterinarian at a farm. Me and Clementine headed there, we met Kenny, moved to Macon." Lee said

As he said more about his adventure, I thought about ours. That first day in Ponyville, the Royal Wedding, the Gala, all our journeys before the Trotters.

"Wow, you had quite a fight." I told him.

"But it always ends if you don't know to survive right." He said to me.

He taught me to wear armor, how to dodge Trotters, and how to counter attack.

"Thanks Lee." I said now wearing magazines taped to my arms and legs, a chest plate, and a helmet.

"Remember, you stand on two legs. Try to stay that way, counter by shoving your magazine into the mouth. Then use your baseball bat to finish the job." He said.

As I was training, another one of them was walking towards up.

"Ah, Sarita's here." Lee said.


TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

Sarita brought us to her camp where I saw Spike and Zecora.

"Oh, I thought New Canterlot got you for sure." I said.

"What's that?" Another man asked me.

"A camp of murderers who we once knew." I told him.

"So, another man took control of desperate monsters?" Sarita asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Back on Earth, a man named Carver gathered a group and turned them into heartless murderers who tortured Kenny." She said with her voice cracking.

"Wait, Kenny's hurt?" Lee asked.

"He lost an eye... then Kenny killed him with a crowbar." Sarita said.

"Wow, Kenny's tough." Lee said.

"Yes, indeed." Sarita said to him.

As we talked, I explained these creatures to the others.

"A long time ago, long before Princess Celestia, their God sent the deceased here to this land, as Centuars. Now it's happening again with the infection." I said.

"Wildfire." A Centuar said to me.

"What?" I asked.

"We called the pandemic 'Wildfire'. I worked at the CDC." He said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Dr. Jenner." He said.



CHARLES'S P.O.V

As we were researching on the virus, I realized that it's genetic structure resembled the samples of the changelings we found. Maybe now that Spike's immune, maybe we found a cure for both viruses. However, we found a flaw in our plan. If the viruses combine, the virus will be incurable. For good.


*******'S P.O.V

As we were testing the remains, a canister spilled, heading to the portal we stole from the Crystal Empire.

"I'll get it." I said.

As I walked on through, I saw a human Trotter head into it. What I saw was a seizure as it violently shook and smashed everything it saw. Then it grew black and had red glowing eyes staring at me. Then it charged at me and bit me, I screamed. My squad heard and helped me back over. The last thing I saw was General Trixie shooting my stomach.

She didn't shoot my head...

Chapter 6: Questions and No Answers #MyClementine + Season 5 SPOILERS + Rainbow Rocks SPOILERS

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SPIKES P.O.V

We were at the Centaurs' camp as we saw a dark, green eyed Trotter fiercely charge at us! We stumbled from the small quake it made but thankfully we shot the monstrosity before it could reach us.

"What the hay was that!?" Charles asked, with a look of confusion on his face.

"The viruses have been crossed…" Jenner said in fear.

"ARGH! Now what?!" Kenny shot the words from his mouth like a pistol shooting a trotter

"That means..." Twilight guessed, and then the response made me jump, because I still might be infected.

"There has to be a way. Somehow. " Hershel said.

As we were thinking on a cure, something hit us.

"Maybe the cure is something that can kill off the Trotters." Twilight said.

"Maybe..." Jenner said.



Let's hope that we can cure this virus..


**********'S P.O.V

I haven't written for a while... I found a highschool full of survivors with food, water, and weapons. I think they can be trusted. For now.

"Hey, where's AJ?" I asked

"He's with Sunset Shimmer." Flash told me.

I went to check on him. Luna was with her.

"Hi Luna." I said.

"Oh, hi Clementine." Luna said.

"When are the others gonna be back?" I asked.

"Hopefully soon, with food, water. Things we need to survive." She told me.

As she ranted, I turned to Sunset Shimmer- still holding AJ.

"Hi Sunset." I said.

"Oh, hi Clem." She said to me.

"Some day, huh?" I asked

"Yeah. Some day..." She said to me.

"Why don't the other people trust you?" I asked.

"It's a LONG story." She said.

AJ started to cry again and Sunset gave me him to me.

"He's a beautiful child..." Sunset said.

"He's a friend of mine's." I replied. Thinking of Rebecca and Alvin made me nauseous.

In the distance, I saw something move...

"Luna. I think someone's here." I said.

The doors opened and I saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity walk in.

"Welcome back." Luna said.

"Well, we managed to find a few cans of food along with a few survivors!" Rainbow said as 10 people walked behind her.

"Hello... I'm Rick Grimes." He said in an accent that resembled Applejack's.

"Well, I'm Celestia. Nice to meet you." Celestia said.

I saw about 12 more people walk behind them... Well, 13 counting the baby.

"We found them in a fire truck, saying something about Washington." Rainbow said.

"Yeah. Chubby here said he had the cure. He lied." The one with the crossbow said.

"Hey, I apologized already." The chubby one said.

"It'll take more than that, Euguine." A kid who looked close to my age said.

As Sunset gave them the tour, I talked with Rick.

"So, where are you people from?" I asked cautiously.

"...Alanta." He said.

Wait, GEORGA? We are in Virginia!

"You people must be anxious trying to get to Washington." I said.

Rick then got up and saw a room with a lamp, workbench, and a clipboard filled with lines and pictures of the school.

"What's with the getup?" He asked.

"We have someone with conspiracies on the school." I said.

I remember when Twilight came through the doors and the looks on people's faces. They were quaking in their boots, fainting on the spot. But when Celestia told me about the gateway, I understood.

Speak of the devil, she ran with a few papers to her desk and started writing like a madman.

"I swear, there's SOMETHING going on here. I'll find it..." I hear her mutter.

"Um, Twilight?"

"Oh, hi Clem. I see we found new surivivors." She said looking at Rick.

"Yeah. There's 14 of them counting the baby." I said.

I was followed by screaming coming from the front door. I ran there to see a black, oozing Walker- no, Runner devouring a friend of mine, Rarity.

"NO!" I hear someone scream followed by gunshots.

The THING fell to the ground and I saw Rarity's wound turn green. I then caught a man in a hazmat run towards the statue and... Pass through it.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A terrorist?" I hear the bowman said.

"I never got your names." I said.


EQUESTRIAN TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We were packing up to head back to Ponyville with the Centuars. They can't stay out here, alone, full of dead, venomous THINGS.

"Are you sure?" Beth asks.

"Yes. You can't stay out here all alone." I said.

We were headed back as I saw Rarity act... off.

I hear her mutter thing like "Him...Her...Need to make a plan...He's mine...All mine..."

What was she talking about? I'll find out soon enough.

We got back later that day to see a few new people.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Rick Grimes. We know about New Canterlot. We also know about HIM." He said.

They also looked... Different, I saw a stallion with a crossbow, a mare who... looked... like... me..., and a filly with a hat and an axe.

"L-Lee?" I hear the filly say as she looked directly at Lee.

"Clementine?"

The two quickly engage in a hug as they walked towards Kenny and Duck.

"You're alive. Oh, Clem, I'm SO SORRY!" I hear him say as he hugged Clementine.

"It's okay Kenny, I told you you'll see your family again." She says.

"We have a lot to talk about." Hershel says.

Rick was focused on Lori.

"L- Lori?"

"Rick. It's me." She says.

"Am I here? Is this another hallucination?" He said.

Realizing the truth, he walks toward Lori, engaging her in a hug.

"You two know each other?" I asked.

"Twilight, this is my husband, Rick. Where's Carl?" She says.

"He's okay. At the highschool with everyone else." Rick says.

I walk towards my... twin.

"I knew it..." I hear her say.

"You're shocked I know. You want awnsers? Well you have them."

We walk to the castle to have a LONG talk...

Chapter 7: Living and Surviving

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2 HOURS AGO

CLEMENTINE'S P.O.V

As we were crossing the gateway, I didn't have much time to think or react. When we went through, I felt... Different.

"Daryl, are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, Rick?"

"Fine. How 'bout you Twilight?"

She was looking around in silence.

"Let's let her gather all this." Daryl said.

To be honest, I couldn't gather it either. Daryl has REAL wings on his back, not his jacket.

"Come on, let's-" Daryl was stopped by hazmats running out.

"Hands!" A voice said.

Rick fired a shot, then another. We ran behind him to the gates and got out.

"That was easier than Terminus." Rick said.

"What happened there?" I asked. Oddly enough, me and AJ were heading there.

"They turned out to be cannibals. They tried to let us bleed out in a kill floor." Daryl said.

A kill floor? For people? That reminds me of the St. Johns... We were heading to a place Sunset gave us on a map called Ponyville. The map had directions from the railroads.

"Just follow them, and you'll be there in a few hours." She said.

We arrived in 1 hour and a half, we walked through and startled everyone inside. At least, SHE did. We were shown around and we were told about Blueblood's rise to power. Reminds me of Carver and HIS setup, but imagine, a whole CITY... Who knows what Blueblood does there...

"So, now what?" I asked.

"We try to bring our people here to survive." Rick said.

Then, I saw 9 people walk in the doors. They looked like my friends from CHS. How? I saw a few... Centuars come behind them. I saw... I saw...

"L- Lee?"

B-But how?


PRESENT DAY

EQUESTRIAN TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

Me and, well... me, talked all day about Equestrian science and all that. After, I talked to Rick about CHS.

"Was anyone named Flash Sentry there?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah. He helped us with the barricades. He's a good kid."

I felt a strike of relief.

"So, about your people... How many of you are they?" I asked.

"There's 9 of us counting Judith. But with CHS involved, there's probably 23 of us or so." Rick said.

I noticed him having trouble with his pony body, trying to stand only to fall again, try to grab a pencil only to drop it, etc.

"If you want, I could find a spell to make you human again." I said.

"Alright. I prefer hands over hooves, especially with the Walkers and Runners all over the place."

Walkers? Never thought of that name.

"So, how did Blueblood rise to power?" Rick asked.

"I don't know. It was all so sudden. All I know is me and my friends went for a picnic in Canterlot 2 years ago, but got a zombie apocalypse instead."

"...Zombies?" Rick asked.

"Oh, you don't have those? Well it's like this but in movies and games." I said.

Later that day, Fluttershy volunteered for the supply run in Appleoosa. She grabbed a few weapons and a backpack and flew out the gates. I hope she'll be okay...


2 HOURS LATER

"I know we just survived the Governor, I know we're all exhausted. But, I know we'll be okay. 'Cause this is how we survive. We do what we need to do. Then, we get to live." Rick told his people when they arrived.

Most of them were filthy, cold, probably starving too.

"We do have running water if you wanna feel at home." I said to them.

6 of them rose up.

"Thank you. May our God bless you people." A form of a priest said.

"That's Father Gaberiel. I'm Carl." He said.

"I can't remember my last shower. I'm Tara come on, bring it in." She brought her fist at me. I guess it was like a handshake or something.

"Well, I'm Glenn. That's my wife, Maggie." They both walked toward the shower rooms.

"That's those two. I'm Sgt. Abraham Ford." He followed the others.

"This place, it can be a home. I'm Tyreece by the way." He said.

"We're all on edge. So, how long have you people been in CHS?" I asked.

"A few hours. A hazmat guy came in with a jar of... Somethin' green and a Walker got covered in it, it attacked someone named Rarity." Daryl said.

I was striken. Rarity was dead?

"I'm sorry." I said.

"Well, we barely knew her. But I bet others did and I bet they know her well." Rick said.

"She has a sister, so does my worlds Rarity." I said.

"Well, that explains who wasted a full magazine on the Runner's head." Daryl said.

"Well, you're safe here." I said.

"Well, what I'm gonna say next isn't a threat, it's a warning. I know that you have a form of a son, thus, you know what this world does to you if they're in danger from it. The last man who got his hands on my son lost his life in a brutal way, if I see you attack him or anyone in my group, I will kill you." Rick said.

"I understand. You wanna protect your son, Spike's more of a brother to me, by the way." I replied.

We went on with our day and Rick's group are actually fitting in quite well. But I just realized something.

Where's Fluttershy?

Chapter 8: A Chance

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CHARLES'S P.O.V

"There's a traitor, one of us is giving them our supplies." Twilight said grabbing a bag full of medical supplies, ammo, and food inside.

"We'll have to look into it..." I said.

Let's hope we catch the culprit...


FLUTTERSHY'S P.O.V

I think I've been gone for a few hours. A few hours and I'm already injured and seeing things. I hope I can find my way back. First, I need to take care of my wing wound. It looks pretty bad, a tear right through. So flying's out of the table.

"Eh, you were never good anyway, Klutzershy!" A voice said in my head.

"I know you aren't there. It's just me and my head." I said as I moved forward towards a small town.

Appleoosa.

Maybe there're survivors there. It looks pretty boarded up.

"Looks can lie, Klutzershy." A voice said as a figure walked towards me.

Alright. So my mind gave me a 'companion'. Not too weird. That is, if I can call Hoops someone I can think about let alone a hallucination.

"Alright, what's your plan?" I asked.

"What? Didn't hear ya." Hoops said.

"If I speak up, the Trotter's will hear me." I said.

"Huh? Can you repeat it?"

"Fine then, I'll move in myself." I said.

I moved forward to see a horde of Trotter's and a few Runners inside.

"See, what did I say?" Hoops said.

"Okay, so you're right. Now, how do I move in."

"Jeez, I don't know! I'm just a figment of your imagination."

Of course he is.

"Okay then. I'll need to find a weapon. The bag!" I forgot I lost it to a cloaked figure moving towards New Canterlot.

I looked until I found a big stick, a horn from Trotter, and some rope.

"Don't think it as homicide, don't think it as homicide." I told myself as I secured the dismembered horn into the branch.

As I walked towards the horde, I heard Hoops say

"Hey, don't go INTO the horde, fly thr- oh, right. You can't!"

"Go find some Trotters to kill." I mocked back. It's hard to forget that it was just a hallucination, a figment of my fear and anger.

I kept on walking until I got one's attention. The first swing was a miss, the second swing got stuck in the cheek. I was backed into a tree, the Trotter inches from my neck, but then, an arrow went clean through.

"Daryl! I found her!" I heard a familiar voice say.

That was the last thing I heard before going unconscious.


RAINBOW DASH'S P.O.V

Me and Daryl were dragging Fluttershy back to Ponyville with a trail of blood faintly following us.

"Dash, can you fly her back?"

"How about you carry a bleeding pony on your back in mid-air? It won't work out." I said back.

We were out searching when Daryl was teaching me how to shoot a crossbow. I heard Fluttershy argue with somepony in the distance, but we found her alone. We were at the gates when we finally placed her down.

"Let's hope she has the supplies." Daryl said.

"I doubt it. She didn't even have the gun bag!" I said back.

We brought Fluttershy to the hospital for treatment.

"Well? Will she be okay?" I asked Nurse Redheart.

"Her wing tissue is torn, as if it was shot clean. She lost a fine amount of blood, but she'll be flying again in a few weeks."

"Sweet Celestia..." I muttered to myself as I left.


CARL'S P.O.V

When we found the missing supplies, I just had to help investigate on who did it.

"Dad, it's not the prison anymore. I need to help out. We need to, we owe these people." I told the old man as I walked towards the investigation building, A.K.A, "Ponyville Theater".

"We need to run names. I'll add Twilight, sorry Twilight, but you were just insane ever since this all started." Mayor Mare said.

"It's okay, I understand the confusion... Well, I'll add Rarity. She's just been... weird lately." Twilight said as she wrote Rarity to the list of suspects.

"I'll add Charles. He's just been acting suspicious lately." I said.

As we ran names, I agreed with Rarity. She HAS been weird since the run. Going on and on about Spike and Fluttershy. Me and dad have seen them together, but not like THAT. We'll just have to see.


FLUTTERSHY'S P.O.V

As I came to, I saw me in the hospital with a cast on my wing.

"Easy darling, you've been out for quite some time..." Rarity said.

"Yeah, you really scared us when we found you." Rainbow Dash said.

"So, who were you talkin' to, Sugarcube?" AJ asked.

"I knew he wasn't there, but that didn't stop me." I replied.

"Wait, HE?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Remember Hoops? That guy from Cloudsdale?" I asked.

"Yeah, what made your mind see HIM?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm not sure." I replied.

"Well, when I was lookin' for Sophia, I saw my brother who I thought was dead. So seeing someone when you're injured isn't no surprise." Daryl said.

"So, who's Hoops?" Twilight asked.

"A real jerk." Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity also just stood there... glaring at me...


BACK ON EARTH

******'S P.O.V

I was closing in on him. I felt it, I managed to make it to Virginia in a school called CHS.

"Have you seen someone named Rick?" I asked.

"Rick? Rick Grimes? Yeah. He's in t-" The student was interrupted by three figures behind me.

"Get inside. NOW." The student said.

I heard voices behind me. Singing, I was given directions to Rick and his people. I didn't beleive it. He was in another world...

"What's goin' on?" I asked.

"Come on, we're going in!" The student said as we went through the gateway to find guards ready to fire.

I felt... different...

Chapter 9: Hunt

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CHS TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I couldn't beleive the world I saw around me. Months of research and tests ALL paying off right now... Now I know why I shocked everyone the day I showed up... Flash was especially shocked, he actually fainted! As I asked more questions I noticed a pattern, every time I mentioned Flash, she would faintly blush as if they were dating. Were they?


******'S P.O.V

Me and the other students, Flash and Sunset Shimmer, were being brought to the prison, I knew this was the end, this was it, this is game over.

"Have faith, Morgan, we'll get out and find Rick." Flash said to me.

He doesn't know, I barely had time to tell them about Jenny and Duane.

"Bring them to the jail cells." A guard said as his eyes suddenly flashed green.

It was if he was controlled by... something. It couldn't be THEM could it? No...

"I know who attacked your school." I said.

"Really? Who?" Sunset asked me.

I prepared for the worst.

"Adagio Dazzle. That's who lead the attack." I said.

She froze in place.

"What?" I asked.

"We know them, Morgan... We know them...." Sunset said

Just then, Flash was pushed down another corridor.

"So, what do you know?" Sunset asked.

"I saw them do what they do in the café 2 years ago. They talked about 'Equestrian Magic' or whatever..." I said.

"Morgan, you're IN Equestria..." She said as she was dragged away.

I was shown to my cell, I met my roommate. He said his name was Soarin.

"I was thrown in for denying the Spell... You must've dodged that fate... Lucky for you." He said.

So, the people here are decent, I get that... But, I know him and me cleared. As in, cleared the spell from our minds...


CARL'S P.O.V

I knew I had to ring the doorbell to the Carousel Boutique, I knew I had to find out... I rang the doorbell and Rarity opened the door.

"Carl! Come on in!" She walked in the Boutique.

I wasn't that bad of a place. I'll admit. Nice setup, decent decorations. Back on topic.

"So, Rarity, did you hear about that bandit on the loose?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. It's a terrible shame. Good ponies going mad in the end of days..."

Then, Sweetie Belle called down.

"Rarity, why are your old dresses in my room?"

"I'll talk later, darling. We have a visitor."

I hate it when she calls someone that...

We kept on talking about the supplies. Come on Carl, just say it!

"By any chance, do you know who might have done it?" I asked.

She immediately replied

"Maybe Fluttershy."

"What makes you guess?" I asked.

"Well, when I last saw her, she was holding a bag, when I looked in it, I saw medicine."

It couldn't be, but I'll have to look.

"Okay, thanks." I began walking out of the door.

Maybe I was wrong. It won't be the first time. Maybe she is innocent. But it couldn't have been Fluttershy. I'll have to go see.


******'S P.O.V

I managed to see everything. The arrest, the assault. I'm now heading to a place called 'Ponyville' to find HER. I hope she's still there.

"Hello?" I called.

I saw a figure approach.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Norman. I have a message for someone named Twilight Sparkle. I need to tell her that CHS is gone and Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry have been captured."

The figure came down. Now that she wasn't in the shadows, I knew who she was.

"Welcome to Ponyville. I'm Twilight Sparkle."


EQUESTRIAN TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

Me and Rick talked about a rescue mission.

"How do we get in?" Rick asked.

"Well, how do we get OUT?" I asked back.

"We need to draw a map of the city. Every inch of it. Then, we go in, get Morgan and your friends, and get out of there." Rick said.

"We'll need a team of 3 to go on a scouting mission." I said.

Rarity stepped up.

"I'll go. Maybe we'll catch whoever's been giving supplies."

Then Fluttershy stepped up.

"No. Not with your injuries. We'll need another pegasus. Somepony who can see through the skies." I said.

Rainbow Dash stepped up.

"I'll go. Same reason as Rarity."

Then, I walked towards them.

"If Flash's alive, I'm going." I said as I packed up.

I hope we can find him...


CLEMENTINE'S P.O.V

I walked towards Twilight.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"Yes. We need to find Flash, and the others of course." She said.

I should tell her.

"When the other Twilight first came, Flash fainted on the spot. And I doubt they knew each other. Unless, you two knew each other." I said.

"We met when I needed to get my crown. I bumped into him through a horde of students. Funny, now we gotta worry about a horde of zombies trying to eat us." She said.

"Zombies? Never heard of them." I said.

"LONG story." I said.

I walked towards the castle. It was amazing, a crystal foundation, built like a tree...

"When did this castle get built?" I asked.

"Oh boy, it's a long story." Twilight said.

"All I have is time. It's all any of us have." I said.

I heard her snort a bit. It'll be hard to get used to talking to horses and them talking back... I heard the gates open.

"Time to go." She said.

I walked back to the apartment where we were staying. AJ was took in by Rebecca and Alvin as Centuars. They were glad to see him again. I was too. I later down on the bed, finally, in 2 years, I took a long rest.

Chapter 10: Rescue

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TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We were a few miles away from Canterlot. Can he really be alive? I'll have to see for myself.

"We're here." Rainbow said.

"Let's get a closer look." Rarity said.

I noticed a bag on her back. She didn't say she was bringing supplies.

"What's the bag for?" I asked.

"Oh? Just in case we run into unfriendly survivors. You know, to fool them."

Odd, she isn't like that...

We were at Canterlot. Lucky for us, I know that town like the back of my hoof.

"Okay, there's the prison where the others could be. There's the castle where Blueblood could be, and there's-"

I turned around to see Rarity gone.

"I'll go get her." Rainbow said.

She gave me the pad for the map. I decided to mark the prison along with the barracks for the guards. I was there for quite some time, maybe an hour or two. As I readied up to leave, I heard a scream from the distance. I ran towards it to find Rarity in fear, holding a silenced pistol with the safety off.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"It's... It's..."

Then, a cyan coated, rainbow maned Trotter came out of the woods.

It was Rainbow Dash.

I grabbed my gun, ready to shoot. But I hesitated. The Trotter of my friend got closer and closer, it was near reach, but then a blade went through her eye. It fell and I saw Rarity covered in tears.

"Come on, help me carry her." I said as I used my magic to wrap her an a bag.

I was struggling to carry her, almost falling down, but then I felt support, Rarity's horn was glowing as we walked back together, hooves free for weapons. We were nearly on our knees as we arrived back in Ponyville. We walked in carrying Rainbow Dash in the bag. Rick walked towards us, carrying the bag to the graveyard. Daryl walked towards us.

"Where's Dash?"

I simply looked down in sadness.

"No... NO!" He's ran towards the bag, removed the top, and saw Rainbow Dash.

He just stood there in solid shock, he then backed off, covered the head, and walked away.

"I never thought they knew each other that well." I said.

"When Rainbow found me, Daryl was with her. They did have time to bond, not a lot, but some." Fluttershy said.

We gathered with Rick and the others to plan on a rescue.

"Well, our best bowman's out for grieving, Fluttershy's wing is still torn, and Rarity's been acting strange. Who's left?" I asked.

"There's me and the others, maybe we can bring a few Centuars for assault, and if thangs go wrong, we keep firing at the walls, let the Walkers flood in, and attempt to rescue the others." Rick said.

I can't help but giggle every time he says things in his accent, Applejack can't pull that off.

"So, the rest of us can stay and guard the camp. The earth ponies can help with the food situation, the unicorns can duplicate our bullets, and the pegasi can help with if a herd pulls through. We are not loosing this camp, not in this lifetime." Hershel said.

"Alright, we can duplicate your ammo, we're already duplicating ours." A unicorn said.

We got ready for the rescue. Let's hope we're not too late...


MORGAN'S P.O.V

I can't believe that this was happening...

"Prisoner 10, approach." The guard said.

My time has come...

But then, I heard an explosion from the other side of the building.

"What's going on?" A guard asked.

"Security breach! Twilight and her little gang!" Another guard said.

Blueblood came out.

"The boss wants her alive! Kill the prisoners."

I quickly reacted. I placed my arm around his neck and kept strangling a guard until he fell dead. I grabbed his AK-47 and freed Flash and Sunset.

"Come on! Twilight's looking for us!" Flash said.

We kept walking and grabbing guns and ammo as we ran towards the explosion. I saw a few ponies along with a few... Centuars?

"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" I asked.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"My name is Morgan Jones, ma'am. I found your two friends." I said.

Sunset and Flash were right behind me.

"Twilight, is that you?" Flash asked.

"Yeah, I look different in my home world, huh?" She asked.

Our reunion was cut off by guards showing up and shooting Flash in the shoulder and collapsing to the ground.

"He's alive! Grab him and let's go!" Twilight said as she was shooting guards left and right.

We arrived in Ponyville with no casualties. Flash was brought to the hospital.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He'll live. The bullet's stuck and separated in his upper shoulder, but he'll live." The nurse said.

I then saw Rick here.

"Hey, Rick. Good to see you again." I said.

"Good to see you. We have a lot to talk about..." Rick said.


TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We held Rainbow Dash's funeral near her grave, casket closed. It was a nice grave, a bold print saying 'RAINBOW DASH. Kind sister and beloved hero'

"We look not at what can be seen. But we look at what can not be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what can not be seen, is eternal." Father Gaberal said from their worlds Bible.

We placed Rainbow's body in the ground, Daryl showed up just, crying. As if it was another number, but it mattered to him.

"See you on the other side, Dash." Daryl said as he placed an arrow near the grave.

"You could need it." I said.

"I don't care." Daryl said.

We stayed for as long as we could, but we all had things to do. As we left, Scootaloo and Daryl stayed there longer. They were just too consumed by loss to leave so soon. But, after an hour, I saw them in the houses. I decided to ask Rarity about what she saw.

"Who killed Rainbow Dash?" I asked.

"All I saw was her corpse... Then it came back to life"

Chapter 11: Vengeance

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CAROL'S P.O.V

I went to go talk to Daryl about what just happened.

"Daryl, you in here? Daryl!"

Daryl came out with the book from the search for Beth.

"Yeah?" Was all he said.

"I wanted to see how you were. You made quite a scene back there." I said.

"I'm fine. Just wanted to relax for a bit."

I should say it.

"Did you care for her?"

"...Yeah. We bonded a bit while looking for Fluttershy. After that..." Daryl said.

"I'm sorry."

Then, the daily announcements came on.

"Well, the run for rein has been... successful. Granted, a good life was lost, it won't be in vain for we can now blind-side Blueblood in the castle." The announcer said.

We decided to get the others and meet with Twilight.

"I think we should move in the west side. It looks less guarded- oh, they're here." Twilight said to us.

"We managed to bring Daryl with us. Fluttershy and Rarity decided to come too. If you want, you can still come with us." I said.

Twilight then sprang up and walked towards us.

"I'm in. Rainbow didn't deserve to die the way she did. So I'm in."

"Then let's go." I said.

We finally are ready...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We were ready to head out to attack Blueblood. We might be outgunned, but with Rarity with us, it might be a challenge for them.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything uncivilized. That is, if you can kill him..."

We arrived with all our weapons and ammo at hoof.

"Blueblood. Step forward." Luna said.

Blueblood walked towards us. I noticed something about his eyes, they flashed green...

"Yes, auntie?" Blueblood asked with a venomous tone,

"You have committed the crime of treason. How do you res-" She was interrupted by Noah limping towards us.

"Twi'! Tyreese has been bit!"

No...

"Rick, Daryl, Michonne, go help him!" I said.

"How 'bout you?" Daryl asked.

"We got this. You guys go." Carol said.

The group ran to the car and drived towards Ponyville.

"Well, you can't stay here forever. I respond not guilty. My actions were caused by my boss and her soldiers. They have more people, more firepower, and much more aposable thumbs than you OR us. You can walk away and we can have a supply trade. You keep giving us supplies, we'll leave you alone. Or, you all can die here, now." Blueblood said with an evil smile.

"Those supplies were given to you by a traitor. You know who they are, you tell us who." I said.

"Well you see, I can't do that. How do I know you won't do the deal?"

"You don't have a deal." Luna said.

Luna was interrupted by a gunshot to her head from Matt.

"Matt!" I said.

"Sorry, Twilight. But Luna's time was long over. I didn't act alone..." Rarity walked towards him.

"Traitor... Both of you!" I said

"You'll learn why soon enough, darling. Oh, and please do care for Sweetie Belle. I don't want her mixed up in all of this, but I can't have her with me..." Rarity said in a new evil tone.

"Pack up. We're leaving. Contact Rick and tell him." I said.

What're Spike and Sweetie Belle gonna do? I asked myself.

We drove back to see Spike look for Rarity only to find us.

"Where's Rarity?"

"Spike... she and Matt were the bandits. They left us for him... Rarity left us for him." I said to a mortified Spike.

"Where's my sister?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"She betrayed us." Spike said.

"No..." Was all I heard before I saw Rick and the others carrying a big body bag.

"He lost too much blood... He's gone." Rick said.

"Well, we'll see him again. He'll become a centuar, right?" Sasha asked.

"Maybe. It happened to the rest of us so, it has to happen to him." Lee said.

"I hope Spike's okay..." I said.

"What do you mean? He didn't... know her did he?" Flash asked.

"He had feelings for her ever since he laid eyes on her..." I said.

"Good God, can we not lose someone for one day?" Lori asked.

"No, I don't think so." I said.

I noticed others starting to panic. They were forming up near the gates, wanting out, but they need to stay.

"Okay everypony. Today was a sad day. We lost Rainbow Dash yesterday, we lost Ty, Rarity, and Matt today, and to top it all off, we lost Luna. Maybe I'm not fit to lead you people, but just this one, last time, I need you people to follow me. Even if you leave, what's out there? Trotters, Chargers, and Blueblood's army. We need to work together, now more than ever. So listen to these words: We're going to war." I said.

Carly stepped up.

"She's right. I once said that killing wasn't right. But now, in this dark, cruel world, we don't have a choice. All we can do is fight. There's no turning back, and after all of this, all of the remaining Equestrians will thrive! And to prove it, we will kill Blueblood and free his slaves from whatever spell he's casting. Then, and only then, will we LIVE!"

What followed was cheering and praising. We went to the Bullet Factory to see how the ammunition supply was coming.

"I never thought I could do this." Euguine said who was pretty good at making bullets.

Chapter 12: Dawn

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FLUTTERSHY'S P.O.V

Tyreese's funeral was short, similar to Rainbow Dash's. Except for the fact that Rick and his people were striken the most this time and Daryl wasn't as broken. Sasha was this time.

"Bye big brother..." She whispered to his grave.

Afterwards, Twilight approached me.

"At the run, she muttered something about Spike and somepony else, do you know who, by any chance?"

"No." I said.

"Well, I've been thinking. You and Spike spend a lot of time together, by any chance, did you see Rarity go off around you?"

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I think Rarity thought you like Spike."

"What? No! Sure, I like him as a friend but not like that!" I said.

"Well, Rarity didn't see it that way."

"So you're telling me that Rarity betrayed us in vain?" Spike asked out of the blue.

"Yes, I'm sorry..." Twilight said.

"I'm gettin' sick of this crap! First Lily, then Arvo, now THIS?" Kenny said.

"Now what? We know what happened and what's going on, so now what?" Rick asked.

"First, we find Tyreese, then we go to Earth to see CHS, then, we take out Adagio." Twilight said.



1 1/2 YEARS AGO

*****'S P.O.V

It's been 3 weeks since my refugee camp was overrun. It's like a plauge, they wiped out my camp without hesitation. They just came in like a tsunami. Now I saw a small group of 2 cars. Might have something good on them.

Oh, no. They saw me.

"Hey, are you friendly?" A loud voice asked.

"Sonata! Not so loud!" A scratchy voice said.

"Depends on your term for 'friendly'." I answered.

"Alive and sane." A figure said leaving the car and walking from the shadows.

"Yeah." I said.

The figures then holstered their weapons.

"Good. Well, I'm Adagio. Who are you?"

"...I'd prefer to keep my name to myself for now." I said.

"Okay then. This is Aria and Sonata. I'm Adagio."

"Good seeing new people." Aria said.

"Yeah. 'Sup?" Sonata asked.

I decided I should ask.

"Do you have a camp?"

"Yes. Why?" Adagio asked.

"Do you take people in?" I asked.

"Yes. People are pretty much how we get stronger." Adagio said.

"Can I join?"

"First, you need to awnser some questions." Adagio said.

"What are they?" I asked.

"How many people are with you?"

"Just me."

"How did you survive?"

"At a refugee camp. It got overrun 3 weeks ago."

"Sorry to hear that. How many Eaters have you killed?"

"36." I awnsered.

"Well, if you want to join, hop in the back." Adagio said.

I then hopped on as we drove to the camp. A big warehouse with corpses, fences, and concrete barriers.

"Oh, that? We can never be too secure." Aria said.

"Okay. How about the rest of the fields?" I asked.

"Off limits to workers, but a playground for the supply runners and Eaters to kill each other in." Adagio said.

"Workers?" I asked.

"Well, the people we rescued choose between workers or supply runners. Workers do things like build the walls or clean clothes. Supply runners are self-explainatory."

"Those who don't make a choice?" I asked.

"For them, it's out the doors or guard duty." Aria said.

I could get used to that. Maybe...

"How about anything else?" I asked.

"Well, we could use a general for the supply runners. But, we need to know your name if you're going to stay here." Adagio said.


PRESENT DAY

SPIKE'S P.O.V

Me and Sweetie Belle were walking towards Luna's grave.

"Matt saved my life. I can't believe he did this..." I said.

"Just proves you shouldn't trust everypony you come across." Sweetie Belle said in a cold tone.

"Yeah. But, now we know who was giving New Canterlot our supplies." I said.

"Yeah... Yeah." Sweetie Belle said weakly.

"Hey, I miss her too. But you need to let go and move on. This will consume you, it will. I know what Twilight did while I was gone." I said.

"She shot anypony who got an inch close to the walls."

"I know." I said.

"She raided small camps for supplies."

"I know.

"She locked the gates and let entire families get devoured and got added to the gut piles. And you could FORGIVE her?!" Sweetie Belle said with her voice cracking and eyes watering.

"I know. I forgave her because of that. She needed help, she needed to let go. And she did." I said.

Then, I saw two figures approach us.

Oh, no.

I drew my gun.

"Keep your distance or I'll shoot!" I said.

"Easy, easy. We're alone."

"Where's the other one?" I asked.

"On Earth still. Look, we have bad news. We'll be willing to tell you. Just, put the gun down."

I slowly holstered my gun.

"Come back with us. What're your names again?" I asked.

"I'm Aria and this is Sonata. You're Spike, right? Man, you look different when you're not a dog." Sonata said as we walked back to the castle.

I saw Twilight approach me.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I think we have a little problem." They walked behind me.

I saw her horn flow with aura and her knife move up its sheath slightly.

Chapter 13: Saviors

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TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I saw as the last two people I wanted to see walked closer to me. With Spike holding his gun, of course.

"We have bad news. We can tell you, but we need to speak to the human. Norman, right?" Aria asked.

"Why?" I asked.

"We know him. Probably better than you." Sonata said.

"How?" Rick asked suddenly towering behind me.

"Well, I know him." Sonata said.

It didn't take long for me to put two and two together.

"We'll meet you in Sweet Apple Acres. Away from the others." I said.

An hour later, me, Applejack, Norman, Rick and his people, Spike, and Sweetie Belle came to the barn to speak the the two sirens.

"What's the news?" Daryl asked.

"It's in our backpack." Aria said.

We opened it to find 3 pictures.

Rick looked at the pictures from Aria and Sonata. I came over to look and what I saw were walls of corpses and fences, camps burning with sign saying 'YOU'RE NEXT' in blood, and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire with the words 'Lucille' on the side.

"Did anyone see anythang?" Rick asked as he walked towards the doors.

"We don't know how or when, but they're comin' for us." Rick said as he grabbed his machette and Python.

"No, they're not. They're coming for Twilight and more people to call Saviors." Aria said.

"It's true. They force people to stay and in a matter of time, they choose to." Norman said.

"How do you know?" Glenn asked.

"Because I was one of them. The Saviors." Norman told him.

"He's right. Me and him were thinking of escaping when Aria found and helped us." Sonata said.

"Norman came first." I said.

"Well, we followed him secretly." Aria said.

"What? The shadows I saw..."

"Yep. Sorry, sweetie." Sonata said.

"Well, better you two than Negan." Norman said releived.

"Who's Negan?" Abraham asked.

"He's Adagio's boyfriend. The bat you saw and the camps burning? That was all him. He'll tear right through here with Adagio at his side." Sonata said.

"We found him on the road a few weeks after the Eaters came. He changed real quick from straggler to mass killer." Aria told us.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked.

"He raided refugee camps. He destroyed Atlanta, Shirewilt Estates, and CHS. All with no sympathy." Aria claimed.

"What? Shirewilt's gone?" Noah asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Sonata said.

"My family was there... No-one got out?"

"No." Sonata said.

"God..." Noah walked away in tears.

"Anythang else you wanna confess?" Rick asked holding his gun in its holster.

"Yeah. The Sanctuary is near Washington on Earth." Aria said.

"Where?" Rick asked.

"The factory."

"Then we know where to go." Rick said as he loaded his gun.

"Wait. You can't go yet. We need to take care of Blueblood." I said.

"If we kill Adagio, it all stops, right? No amulets?" Michonne asked me.

"She's right." Sunset claimed.

"Alright then. But me, Sunset, and Flash are coming with you." I said.

"But who's goin' to take your place?" Applejack asked.

"Mayor Mare. Tell her to take control until I get back." I said.

"Alright, that's the deal." Rick said.

"Let's go." I said as I grabbed my weapons.

CARL'S P.O.V

I saw my dad walk ou Sweet Apple Acres with his weapons.

"What's going on?" I asked him,

"This place isn't safe. We can't stay here, grab your stuff." He told me.

"Rick, this is better than we ever had it. This place is safe! If we leave, we'll either be trampled by Runners or taken by the Saviors. This Negan character sounds dangerous, we're a world away from that." Micchone said.

"No we ain't. How 'bout Blueblood and his setup?" Daryl asked.

"Either way, these people need us, Rick. It needs me."

"Why?" Rick asked.

"You saw me at the prison. Crazy, wandering with pet Walkers, that was before I learned they protected me. You can lose everything out there. You can lose yourself. I'm not going anywhere." Michonne said.

"Well, if she's staying, I'm staying. Same with Judith." I said.

"She's right. We can't go out there again." Glenn said.

"I agree. I was someone else at the Sanctuary. I was a- a monster." Norman said.

"Yes. You need to stay here. Think of your daughter, think of Carl. They need to grow up safe, they can here." Hershel said.

"Yeah. Plus everyone I've ever cared about is right here." Tara said.

"If we have to fight a war to be at peace, so be it." Celestia said.

"How about Lori? I know you two divorced, I know you care about her." Abraham said.

"I for one would like to beleive that this world can be further fortified than it is. Plus I can't fight Walkers let alone Runners." Euguine said.

"Alright then. But, we need to bring others here." Dad said.

"I think I can help." A voice said from behind.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Aaron. Me and my boyfriend went to Equestria as soon as we heard of it. We can help with people."

Chapter 14: Betrayal

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SPIKE'S P.O.V

We went to speak to the Dazzlings in the barn.

"What are your plans?" Twilight asked.

"For now, stay. We aren't planning anything as of now. We left for a reason, Twilight. She's doing... things... unspeakable things." Sonata said in fear.

"What things?" Daryl asked.

"As in... making people want to stay. Men, women... Any children were abandoned or killed." Aria said for Sonata.

"Jesus... How 'bout animals?" Rick asked.

"Killed and eaten." Aria said to him.

Wow...

"We need to prepare for war. Tell Mayor Mare to get the defenses up and running. Eric, Daryl, Aaron, I need you to search for survivors on Earth and bring them here. Glenn, Noah, Tara, Eugine, Flim, Flam, I want you to lead supply runs. Especially the one to Manehattan for micro-inverters. Sasha, I want you to keep watch from the clock tower, Rosita, I want you to work along-side Nurse Redheart in the hospital. Abraham, I want you to join the construction crew tomorrow." Twilight ordered.

"And if we find anything unusual?" Daryl asked.

"Report it back to me." Twilight awnsered.

"Alright. How about my son?" Rick asked.

"You said he used to be a farmer?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah." Carl asked.

"We could always use an extra hand." Applejack offered.

"I don't see why not. As long as I get gun practice." Carl said.

"Alright. So will everyone, every day 3:00 P.M. Remember that." Twilight said.

"I could always help with Applejack also. I grew up doing this, I can show Carl and you." Hershel said.

"Well, feel welcome." Applejack said to him.

"Well, we can work with that." Rick said.

"Also, I want you and Michonne to be our constables. Along with Shining. Anyone I missed?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. Us." Sunset and Flash stepped up.

"You two along with Maggie are going to help me run things." Twilight ordered.

"Okay." Maggie said heroically.

DARYL'S P.O.V

Me and Aaron were packing up when he and Eric had a... moment.

"It's like a damn romance novel." I commented.

"Well, time to do our jobs." Aaron said as he hopped in the R.V and drived down the dirt roads.

We arrived at a barn with a light shining inside of it.

"Let's take a look." I said as we hopped out.

"Someone needs to stay here." Aaron said.

"I'll stay." Eric said.

"Be safe." Aaron said.

"You too." Eric said as he climbed to the roof and got his rifle,

Me and Aaron walked in to see a bloodbath of limbs and a sign saying

LET'S HAVE A BATTLE!

"What the hell?" I muttered as I walked closer to the sign to see if it was wet.

"Well?" Aaron asked.

"Wet. This happened recently." I told him as a Walker entered the room with a 'W' carved on its head.

"That a W?" I asked as I put it down.

"Yeah... Seems like marking their territory." Aaron concluded.

"But why?" I asked as I pulled out my arrow.

"Maybe to warn us."

We kept searching and found a hand bow long with a backpack.

"What do we do?" Aaron asked.

I was interrupted by a gun hammer clicking.

"Drop your weapons." I heard a young voice say.

I dropped my crossbow and turned around to see a 15 year old kid along with at least 5 other survivors.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Dewy. This is Paul, Gregory, Ezekiel, Holly, and Deanna. We're the Resistance."


2 YEARS AGO

DEWY'S P.O.V

"We should be safe here." I told my brother and sister.

I turned around for them to be staring at something in the distance.

"What is it? A herd?" I asked.

Instead of answering, they just walked out the door and into the streets. I ran after them to see a girl with a form of afro along with 10 men behind her.

"Hello. I'm Adagio. This is Negan." She said.

"Ron. This is Enid and Dewy."

What's going on?

"Well, glad to see other survivors. Do you have a camp?" I asked them.

"Yeah. Only these two can go." Adagio pointed at Ron and Enid.

"Whoa, whoa. We're not leaving Dewy." Ron said.

"Well too bad. I see potential in you two..." Adagio said with a venomous tone.

Perfect bait.

"... I don't know Ron. Maybe we should go. I mean, who else is out there?" Enid asked.

"I'm not leaving him." Ron said sternly.

I felt as curiosity flooded my mind.

"This life isn't right for you. You know you belong out here and so do we. Join us." Adagio said carelessly.

I looked at Ron. Ron looked at me. I knew he wanted to join. I just knew...

"... I'm sorry." Ron said as he gave me his pistol, clips, and holster.

"Excellent! You two will be our guests of honor tonight..." I heard Adagio say as I walked away in shame.

Chapter 15: Resistance

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RICK'S P.O.V

"How many of you are out there?" I asked Dewy.

"Does it matter what I say, Rick? 10, 40, 244,... 0. No matter what I say, you would not trust me."

"Dewy, just tell him the truth." Ezekiel said.

"Fine. There's no-one but us."

We knew that wasn't true.

"See? I knew you wouldn't trust us." Dewy said chuckling.

"What do you mean?" Michonne asked.

"It means less people, the better. We had others, but they either fell for their spell or... or attacked. Rick, you can trust us. We are against a common foe. We can work together." Dewy said.

"What do you know?" Norman asked now curious.

"I know you. They found you at CHS, you locked yourself in the principal's office. You heard Walkers behind them. You were too good to not open that door, Norman."

"How do you know that? Who are you?" I asked.

"We've been watching you, Rick. You not being aware of the threat that is so obivous. Beth, Bob, Tyreese. All people that were longed for this world, not consumed by darkness. Not spiraling into sin... into LUST. Now, you are here, safe, with US." Paul said.

"Jesus, stand down. He doesn't see yet." Deanna said.

"See what?" I asked her.

"What we live with, what we fight every, single day. People, men, women, children. All fallen to her spell, or to his wrath. Both just as bad. Norman, you should know this. You LIVED this. We FIGHT it." Dewy said to us.

"Norman, what is he talking about?" Twilight asked him.

"Come with me." Norman said to me and Twilight.

We went to an empty house and took a seat.

"Negan... He- he was a straggler found on the road. Now, he's the co-leader of the Sanctuary. Imagine ME there. The guy who saved their lives when I should've kept walking."

"Don't push yourself." I said to him.

"No, you need to know. The walls are Walkers chained to cars, impaled, and heads stabbed on spikes. The rules are either contribute or be killed. But, there is a loophole."

"What?" I asked.

Norman just stared at me with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

"Good God..." I said.

"Dewy was right. Men, women, and children. 13 and up..."

"Rick, what's he talking about?"

"Either be a worker, Savior, or... Toy."

"I think I'm gonna puke." Twilight said with a sickened tone.

"I don't blame you."

"You LIVED this? How long?" I asked.

"At least a year and a half." Norman said

"What happened?" I asked.

"I remembered. The Battle... The hunt. All of it added up. Sonata volunteered to help. She hated the rules too. We thought Aria liked them, then we learned she had a boyfriend. When he became Adagio's Toy, she tried to get him back, she got a burnt face for that. She then helped us escape. We got cut off as we left. I came back to get my car before I saw the fires. I saw 3 people go through the portal and decided to follow them." Norman said.

That was it. Twilight vomited right there.

"I need to step out..." She said.

She opened the door and unleashed over 50 Walkers in.

"Oh, Celestia. Come on!" She screamed.

We ran to the roof and saw the biggest herd of Walkers I'd ever seen.

"Oh, my God. CARL!"

2 YEARS AGO

DEWY'S P.O.V

I found a clocktower near a small town. I climbed the staircase, grabbed the fire axe, and smashed down. I thought of last month. I lost my step brother and sister in a second. One second. I swung again. I couldn't control myself. I kept swinging madly until I came to my senses and saw a gaping hole. Enough to keep Eaters away. I placed my sleeping bag on the ground near the bell and ate some canned beans. I was about to lay down when I heard a voice.

HER voice.

I clustered for my rifle and took my aim. I saw an R.V and 6 people armed to the teeth come out. There's no way I could take them all on. I watched as SHE found food trucks and rigged a boom box to them.

"Check the clocktower. He might be there." SHE said.

"Yes, ma'am. If Dewy's here, we'll find 'em." A voice said.

They found me.

I grabbed my knife, ready to stab the hell out of anyone who walked up.

"Woah! Big hole there." The voice said.

"Yep, he's here. Tell her to rig this place. If he's still here, he'll be watching." Another voice said.

I had to go.

"Wait. Let's see if our friends are here." The first voice said sarcastically.

What happened next was a flashbang and silenced gunshots. About 5 guys jumped the hole I made.

"I should've expected visitors." I said as I raised my sniper rifle.

"Dewy, Dewy Decimal?" A man with a Jesus-like resemblance asked.

"Yes."

"Adagio has quite the bounty on your head. Almost a month's worth of rations." The man said.

"So, you're going to turn me in?" I asked.

"No. We're here to save you. I'm Paul, this is Ezekiel, Deanna, and Holly. We're the Resistance." Paul said.

Chapter 16: No Way Out

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SPIKE'S P.O.V

We heard the screams from inside the walls. We ran to see a HERD of Trotters walking in.

"What do we do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We need to find the others. Glenn and his crew." I said.

As if on que, Glenn, Eugine, Tara, and Flim came walking up.

"Where's Noah?" I asked.

"Ask Flim." Glenn said.

"I- I just panicked." Flim sputtered.

"It doesn't matter now. We need to gather the others and get out of town." I said.

"There's no getting through that. We just need to wait and hope it'll pass by." Glenn said.

We then heard more screams.

"Okay, maybe not. We need to stick to the roofs. Hopefully Sasha can help kill them." Glenn said.

"No. I'm not waiting this out." I said walking forward.

"No, you can't." Glenn said.

"I can't get infected." I told him.

"No, but you can still die." Glenn said.

"My family is in there!" I said.

"So is mine. We need to plan this out." Glenn said.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I found Celestia and freed the prisoners.

"Don't make me regret this." I said coldly.

"You won't." Dewy said as he grabbed his shotgun.

"He's right. We can fight this." Paul said with his sword.

"We need to find Spike." I said.

"I saw him last outside the walls." Celestia said.

"Let's go." Twilight said.

"But how about the others?" Dewy asked.

"They're either lost or hiding. I know them." I said.

"You guys go. We got the others." Paul said.

We ran outside the walls to see Spike with Glenn and the others.

"Where's Noah?" I asked Glenn.

"Flim left him for Trotters."

I glared at him to make sure he was telling the truth.

"It's true."

I handed him a rucksack and pointed away from the walls.

"What was that?" Glenn asked.

"Exile. We can't have cowards with us. If we do, they would've changed by now. He didn't, but he will. Alone." I said coldly.

Then, we saw Sunset and Flash run in.

"You're okay?" Flash asked.

"Yeah. Could be worse." I replied.

"How about this herd? There's no escaping this." Glenn said.

"We're boxed in!" Celestia said.

"We need to leave." Dewy whispered.

"Relax! We can get out of this." I said trying to calm them down.

"What can you do? We have over a thousand Trotters on us. And to top it all off, more are coming." Spike said.

"We need to stay underground. Try that way. The gut trick won't work on this many." Sunset said.

"We go in groups. Glenn, Tara, Eugine. Go underground, through the tunnels. Others could be there. The rest of us are going to the rooftops. Let's move!" I ordered.

RICK'S P.O.V

I ran to Sweet Apple Achres to see it almost overrun.

"Carl! AJ! Are you okay?!" I called.

"We're fine! Listen, there's a way through the back. It's less crowded. You should be able to make it!" AJ suggested.

I snuck to the back to see about 20 Trotters and Runners riled up. I grabbed my axe, ready to use the guts. I grabbed a straggler and sliced his skull. I struck his stomach and rubbed the guts on a blanket big enough for me. I cut a hole big enough to stuff my head through. I then rubbed guts on my face, careful not to get any in my eyes or mouth. I got up and snuck my way through the herd to my son. I saw AJ, him, Clementine, Norman, and the Dazzlings in the corner.

"Where's Judith?" I asked.

"Right here." Carl showed me her safe in bed.

"Good. How do we get out of this?" AJ asked me.

"We need to cover ourselves in the guts. Even her." I said.

"How about us?" Aria asked suddenly behind us.

I finally noticed her burnt face. Half of it like one of the Walkers on the asphalt back in Atlanta.

"Don't count me out." Sonata said with an AK-47 ready to fire.

"No noise!" I said sharply.

Sonata lowered the gun with a gloomy expression on her face.

"Alright. We should go outside the walls. I saw Spike and Sweetie Belle there." Carl said.

"Sure. First, we need to find the others." I said.

"We need to gather all of the supplies, too. Can you also cut these ropes off?" Aria asked.

I walked with my knife and swiped up on the ropes.

"We need to get up high. Either take them out, or go to the others." Sonata said.

"She's right. We go to the roofs and snipe these Trotters." Aria said.

"We split up. Carl, Norman, AJ, and Celestia are with me. Aria, Sonata, if ANYTHING happens to her, I WILL KILL YOU." I said to them.

"Okay. We'll take care of her." Aria said surely.

They ran for the roofs and dropped the ladder. I felt a great sense of doubt as I turned away.

"You can trust them. I promise." Norman said.

We grabbed a few Walkers for chopping. Norman and Clementine showed almost no concern. As for Carl, he had a few doubts, but he did it.

"We're ready." Clem said coldly.

We walked out sticking to the wall. We saw the gates just a few feet away. But then, we heard gunshots.

"I'll cover you!" Mayor Mare said as she fired rapidly.

Walkers swarmed her and tore her apart. She kept firing until her gun ran out of ammo.

"Carl, let's go." I said.

I received no response.

"Rick... Oh, my God..." Clem whispered.

I turned around to see a gaping hole where Carl's right eye used to be.

Chapter 17: Inhumanity

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CLEMENTINE'S P.O.V

I saw the fear in Rick's eyes as he saw Carl.

"Rick... I think he's breathing. We need to get him to the hospital." I said.

"Celestia, AJ, come with me. The rest of you, go." Rick said with tears of hope.

We walked out to see Spike and Sweetie Belle.

"Clem, Norman. Where's Twilight?" Spike asked.

"In there." I said.

I saw as Spike slowly started walking into the walls. I stopped him.

"What are you doing?!" Spike asked.

"Saving your life. Going in will only get you killed." I said to him.

"I don't care! You don't know who she is alone!" Spike said.

"Don't worry. People like her can survive." Dewy said.

I saw Spike slowly calm down.

"What do we do?" Spike asked.

"I heard about a lab in Manehattan. We should go." Sweetie Belle said.

"No. Not without the others. Not without Lee." I said.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I went to the roofs with Flash and Sunset. As we were walking, Flash looked uneasy.

"Twilight, if we don't make it out of this, there's something you need to know."

"Sure, fire away." I said.

"Me and Sunset..." Flash couldn't finish.

"It's alright. Thank you, Sunset. For taking care of--" A Runner grabbed me and almost pulled me down before Flash shot it.

"I didn't take care of him. He took care of himself." Sunset said.

We kept walking to see the Dazzlings shooting Trotters with Judith on the side with earmuffs on.

"Look at that. Rick's going uneasy trusting-- oh, that's right! I'm sorry." Flash said suddenly.

"For what?" I asked.

"For... You know, lashing out during the Battle."

"It's alright." I assured him.

"Yeah, but now I'm with Sunset. It just makes me mad with myself." Flash said.

"You weren't you during the Battle, and the world went to Tartarus- or as your kind says, Hell- and you thought I was dead. Besides, it's best if you keep your distance from me..." I said.

"Why's that?" Sunset asked.

"Because when this hit, I lost it..." I said.

"What do you mean?" Flash asked.

"Come with me." I said to them.

They followed me to the pillar of the wall. I opened the door and saw the chopped up corpses. Sunset looked away and hurled over the wall while Flash just stood and stared.

"You did this?" He asked me.

"I did this. I killed these people, let them get bit, and tossed them in here." I said.

"That's... This is SICK." Flash said

"Wow... This was when you lost Spike, right?" Sunset asked.

"... Yeah." I said.

"I can't even look at this..." Sunset said.

"Is that... Tyreese?" Flash asked.

"What?" I looked hard and saw a human corpse with a dark beanie on his head and a dark, tight shirt on.

Oh, no.

"Look, we stopped this a long time ago." I lied, they can't know...

"You're lying. I can see it." Sunset said.

"Look, this is to keep the Trotters away from us." I said to them.

"Well, it didn't work," Sunset showed me the herd. "Twilight, Rick wanted Ty buried."

"And he will be. After. Come on, let's look for the others." I said.

RICK'S P.O.V

We brought Carl to the Ponyville Hospital to be safe. As we brought him in, I saw Aria and Sonata start to move with Judith inside.

"Rick, what're you--" Aria saw Carl.

"Redheart, can you help him?" I asked.

"I- I can try." She said placing Carl on the hospital bed.

Aria handed me Judith who started crying.

"Norman was right. You can trust them." Celestia said assuringly.

"Alright, you beat me. AJ, keep an eye on Carl and Judith, please. We need to look for the others." I said to them.

"Sure." AJ said as she took Judith.

"Celestia, you're with me, let's find the others." I said as I walked to the door.

I walked out to smell a familiar smell: Walker guts. But not on me. I climbed the wall and opened a latch to see loads of guts and Walker bodies. I also saw a purple alicorn with a dark necklace of a moon.

Luna.

I pointed my gun at Celestia.

"What is this?" I asked her.

"A way to keep Trotters away." Twilight said behind me.

I turned my gun on her instantly.

"Who are you?" I asked her in disgust.

"I was a monster. Part of me still is. Now, Spike and the others are outside the walls, waiting for us. We need to go." She said.

"We can't go yet. My son lost his eye 'cause of your gunner with the itchy trigger finger!" I said to her.

"Look, I know you're upset, but we need to get the others and fight this." Twilight said.

Celestia placed her hoof on my shoulder.

"She's right. We can't run from this. We need to fight it."

I thought about it. Protecting a place with a psychopath as its leader, or take our chances on the road again.

"Fine. Let's go." I said to her.

We were ready for war...

Chapter 18: Battle

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DARYL'S P.O.V

Me, Aaron, Abraham, Rosita, and Morgan were caught in the middle of the herd, with only a table keeping 50 Walkers out there.

"Now what?" Morgan asked.

"We need to leave. Find the others and go." Aaron suggested.

"First, we need to find--" I was interrupted by whimpers.

"Gabriel?" I called.

"Go. I cannot live on here like this." He said.

"No. You need to help us. You can't hide much longer." Rosita said.

"You know I can't fight. I just... can't." Gabriel said.

"You have to. It's no choice." Morgan said to him.

"Take this." I gave him his machette from the church.

As he grabbed it, Zecora entered the back.

"We need to go."

"That wasn't a rhyme... Didn't Twi say you always spoke rhymes?" I asked.

"That was then. Let's go."

We ran out the door to see about 50 Walkers clawing through the walls. I pulled out my crossbpw and started shooting. Zecora used her spear and decapitated Walkers left and right. Morgan used his staff and swung it at 2 Walkers. Gabriel slashed at a Walker near him. He then started to take out more and more of them. By the time we were done, we saw 60 corpses on the ground and our weapons covered in blood.

"Let's go." I said.

RICK'S P.O.V

We were keeping the town on our right shoulder and the outside on our left. I was keeping an eye on Twilight. I trusted her at first, but after the piles, how can I?

"Don't throw our people in there. Or anyone you lose from this. We bury them or burn them like people." I said to her.

"Look, I'm sorry about Tyreese. But he's gone. You need to let go and move on. It makes you weak. Weakness gets you and others killed." Twilight said.

"You're no worse than Carver. Killing because you think they're weak." Clementine said.

"Look, we have a code here. If you don't like it, there's always Adagio's code."

"I'd rather this place. But we're gonna change it. All of us." I said to her.

"How?" She asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I heard slashing and a crossbow.

"That's them, let's go." I said.

We ran to see Daryl, Abraham, Rosita, Morgan, and Gabriel walking through a massive corpse pile.

"Where's Carl?" Daryl asked.

"He's in the hospital with AJ and those two girls." I said.

"Can you trust 'em?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah. They seem bad, but they come around." Norman said.

"He's right. It's Adagio you should be worried about." Dewy said.

"Yeah. He's right. You have no idea what she's capable of..." Norman said.

"We can talk 'bout it later. Now, we gotta get the others and kill these Walkers." Daryl said.

"Yeah. After though, we need to talk..." I said.

"Now, where's Spike?" Zecora asked.

"Here." Spike came running in panting from exhaustion.

"Okay, Glenn and the others went underground. Sasha and the snipers are shooting Trotters near them. Carl is in the hospital. We need to split up. Our gunmen go protect the hospital." Twilight said.

Daryl, Abraham, Paul, Deanna, Holly, Rosita, and Dewy went to the hospital.

"The rest of us, Morgan, Spike, Rick, Celestia, and I will go find the others. Let's move!" Twilight said.

GLENN'S P.O.V

I was with Eugine and Tara circling Ponyville's sewage system.

"What Twilight did... I can't even imagine that being me; just accepting going back out there." I said.

"I know. I get what he did wasn't good, but that was not cool." Tara said.

Eugine just stayed silent and held on to his gun.

"Are you two okay?" I asked.

"He saved me. I covered him and we both escaped." Tara said.

"Wow..." I said, awestruck at Euguine.

We moved on until we saw an opening and heard Twilight talking to Rick. We called out and Rick came running down.

"Glenn, thank God." Rick said.

"Where's Maggie?" I asked.

"I last saw her with Beth in the hospital. We need to take out the remaining Walkers." Rick said to me.

"Yeah. Just get us out." I said.

With that, Twilight blasted at the bars and we were able to get out.

"Let's go." Rick said to me.

We saw a street of 30 Walkers and 5 Runners pouncing near us.

"Let's go!" Twilight said disintegrating a Runner.

With that, the war was on. Rick fired his gun at the 3 Runners while I swung my baseball bat at them. Tara fired her SMG and Eugine fired his pistol. It took a while, but in the end, those 30 Walkers were on the ground.

"Wait, hear that?" Daryl asked.

Silence.

I chuckled and said, "No more Walkers. We did it."

Cheers came and the survivors in the hospital came flooding out.

We did it...

RICK'S P.O.V

I saw the corpses, I saw the blood, I saw them.

"Good job." I said.

Then, I remembered.

"Carl! Oh, my God." I ran into the hospital.

I ran into Carl's room to see AJ sitting with Judith and Redheart placing a bandage on his eye.

"Thank you... Thank you..." I said starting to break down in tears of joy.

We did it...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I saw the people start charging out and Lee and Clem talking to each other. Rick walked forward with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"Everyone," the crowd went silent.

"My son is alive. My daughter... is alive. I thank you all for that. I saw the gates, they were open. No guards were there. Adagio must've dropped these Walkers off to scare us off. But that's not gonna happen. She will continue to hunt us. She will. But we're gonna hunt them. We can't kill ourselves for the greater good because we are the greater good. Twilight, you're wrong. Wrong about what it means to survive. You can't be strong, or weak. You can be alive! We are ALIVE! That's what matters now. Clem, you said Carver killed to prove he was strong. We need to be human. Otherwise, we are nothing. Otherwise, WE ARE THE TROTTING DEAD!"

Chapter 19: Leaders

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CHARLE'S P.O.V

After we cleaned up the town, we found Pinkie's Trotter. It was bad. Her stomach was pulled apart and her Trotter was embedded into the ground.

"I got it." Rick pulled out his knife and got closer.

He looked at the pink earth-pony one last time. They never really talked to one another. It's as if they never existed. Now, here we are, Rick looking down at a practical stranger with a face of guilt. Rick slowly raised his knife and embedded it in Pinkie's skull. I never felt sadder.

"We're gonna bury her," Rick said with his voice cracking, "Like a civilization would."


Pinkie's funeral was short. It was our first burial since we got the walls up.

"I was there when she died," Maggie said, "I saw horses die like that, but actually knowing her, and watching her... Pinkie's last words to me were 'run'. So I ran while she... I for one will deeply remember Pinkie."

Twilight stepped up.

"When I first came to Ponyville, Pinkie was the first pony I met. Since then, we've always been friends. She told me that we need to change our ways. I never listened. But now... I think we need a new leader, someone who's been out there, someone who has something to fight for, someone who is respected and trusted by their people... Rick, can you please step forward?" She asked.

Rick stood up and walked up to Pinkie's grave.

"Yes?" He asked.

"You and your people have been through a lot. You've all done things, some horrible, but it can't be worse than what I did. I killed people, every day for 5 months. And after, we still kicked people out, back out there to die. But now, I want a new leader: You." Twilight said.

I heard gasps and murmurs in the crowd. But me and Spike had a small grin on our faces.

"So, Rick, what's it going to be?" Twilight asked calmly.

"Yes. We have lots of plans for this place." Rick said.

"Wait, we?" Twilight asked.

"Me, Maggie, Paul, Dewy, Applejack, Shining Armor, and Princesses Cadence and Celestia are going to build this place. Together."

The crowd was now listening in silence.

"We can all make this place a real home. A home for my family. A home for my children, a home for all of us. We can take others in, see what their talents are, and put that to use. I will be in charge of that. Dewy and Shining will be in charge of our defense force. AJ and Paul will be in charge of work shifts. Maggie and Cadence will be in charge of the newcomers. And Celestia," He turned to her. "I want you to be my co-leader. You know about this world, we don't know squat. So what do you say?" Rick held out his... "hand" I think they're called?

Celestia, after a minute, took Rick's hand and shook it. The crowd cheered as our new leaders were ready to rebuild this community. I saw Twilight leave and I decided to follow her.

"Twilight." I called out.

"What, Charles?" Twilight asked.

"Why did you leave? We're all having a good time." I said to her.

"I can't be there. Not after Pinkie. I know why she died, I know why the herd came through! The western gut pile was dry and the sound of an explosion drew over those Trotters. There wasn't a guard on the wall... It was my fault."

"Twi... it was no-one's fault. We made it. We're still here." I said trying to comfort her.

"I just can't be there." Twilight said with her voice cracking.

"Then let me walk you back. We don't know if there're any Trotters left."

With that, me and Twilight were walking back to her castle.

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"Why what?" I asked back.

"Why did you talk to me that day, why are you talking to me now? Don't I frighten you in any way?" She asked.

"I talked to you because no-one else will. You don't scare me. I've seen lots of things while I was still in the labs."

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"Like viruses capable of wiping out all of Equestria, unknown areas of Equestria with deadly creatures, and all kinds of other zombie viruses. Some worse than this and some better. You don't scare me, Twilight. You won't kill me, you won't try to tear me apart in my sleep. You're just... you. Why you talk to me? Don't I annoy you?" I asked.

"No. You seem like me in a lot of ways. Only you had friends and I didn't."

"And here we are..." I said.

We were locked into each other's eyes. Like a bullet, Twilight held me in an embrace.

"Rarity was my fault. My own friends are starting to hate me. The only people I can trust are you and Spike. Please, give me that much." She begged.

"I promise." I said back.

RICK'S P.O.V

Me and Celestia were in the castle discussing our new plans for this place.

"Okay, so here are what we have of safe zones."

Celestia pulled out a map of Equestria and showed me. It had about 3 areas, not counting New Canterlot and Ponyville, circled and wrote as safe-zones. As for the rest, they were either marked with question marks, X's, or wrote as 'overrun'.

"So, Twilight wants to go to Manehattan for supplies, huh?" I asked her.

"Yeah. She says that we could use a dragon's blood as a cure."

"She said Spike was bit about 2 years ago. Since I see him with Sweetie Belle every day, he can't turn." I said to her.

"Well, first thing's first, what do we do with the Resistance and the Dazzlings?" Celestia asked me.

"We let them go here. If they have a turf war, we deal with it." I said.

Before we could talk more, Dewy came in.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOIN' HERE?!"

"Dewy, we can talk about it, but we need you to calm down." I said to him.

"No, Rick. You don't get it. Those two tried to KILL me for DAYS, for WEEKS. There is no way I am settling down when the girls who sent me from rooftop to rooftop will be a house away!" Dewy said.

"Look, please, just calm down. Tell us everythang. Just calm down..." I said to him.

Chapter 20: Hunted

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DEWY'S P.O.V

After I sat down with Rick and Celestia, I decided to tell my story to them.

2 YEARS AGO

I was still walking away from my now turned brother and step sister. I was ashamed of them; how could they leave me for this stranger? I went down the block to see 50 "Eaters", was that what she called them? I saw a building and rushed inside. I saw the staircases leading to the rooftop.

I went up and got ready to shoot a few Eaters, but what I saw was a roof with military-style crates. I broke them open and saw a massive stockpile of guns and ammunition. I took the pistol and the rifle and the ammo that went with it. I left the rest for other survivors and extra room for other things in my bag. I kept moving until I saw a survivor walking down the road.

I should probably tell him about her, but they were already there. They did the typical greeting, acting all sweet and friendly. I don't know how, but I saw through that and saw her at the core. She was evil, all she wants from people is... you know... The man was soon taken in and loaded with my brother and sister.

I decided not to stick around. I followed the car to a small factory just near D.C. I knew that factory. My step father worked there...

I saw as the car went through a wall surrounded in corpses and spikes. I stayed and aimed my rifle at the girl. I could nail her from here... I could start something else. I put my gun in safety and observed what I saw. I saw a man in his 20s with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

I could barely read the Lucille on the base. It was pretty cool but deadly. I kept on watching and saw my brother and sister walk out of the van. My sister was pointed in on direction while my brother was going another. I followed my sister and saw her go into the factory.

I quickly tried to find Ron, but an Eater lounged at me. I grabbed my knife and went for the head, like mom showed us before she... it was dead instantly and I knew I lost them for good. I decided to pack up and leave.

I was a few miles out of the factory when I saw a building with a form of wall around it. I climbed the wall and found the door inside. It was practically a mansion with a large inside and with a large chandelier. I found the upper floor and set up a small base for the night. I set up a sound trap near the stairway so I would know if any Eaters were about to eat me.

After I fell asleep, I heard a loud pop and saw an Eater clawing at the trap. I quickly put it down and as it fell to the ground, I had an idea. I took my knife, took the Eater, and cut off it's ear. I attached them to a peice of yarn I found and placed it on my neck. I had to keep count somehow.

I then realized I 'd killed more than 1 Eater, so I looked and found a pile of corpses nearby and added it up to 20 Eaters. I then packed up for moving out into the world again. I was near a city when a small armored truck came racing down the road. The last person I wanted to see came out of it.

"He was here. I know it."

I took cover behind a building and hoped they weren't talking about me.

"What was that kid's name again?" A man asked.

"I think the girl said Dewy Decimal. We found a picture of him on the boy. Here, find him." She said.

I snuck to the other side where I saw a man with a crossbow sneak down. I was ready to stab him senseless as he turned down my path. Before he caught me, I stabbed his knee and placed a cloth around his mouth.

"Shhh. You as much as whine, I slit your throat, you hear me?" I asked him.

He nodded and I let go.

"Are you with them?" I asked.

"No." He said as he checked his knee.

"Sorry. I'd rather not get raped." I said.

"Wait, she's here?" The man asked silently.

"Yes. Don't panic now, what's your name?"

"Dwight." He said.

"Dwight, we need to work together to get out of here." I told him.

"Where're you goin'?" He asked me.

"Away from her."

"Well then, take this." He handed me his crossbow.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I give up. I'll give you enough time to escape. Go on, before I take my hand-bow back." Dwight said.

"Wait," I said, "If you see anyone named Enid in there, keep an eye on her. Please." I pleaded.

"Of course." Dwight said.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Her?" He pointed at the leader.

"Yeah." I answered.

"Adagio. Her boyfriend's Negan." Dwight said before hopping out.

I quickly ran for the building and took cover in the upper floor. I saw as my new friend was knocked out and thrown in the truck.

"Better stay next time..." Adagio purred.

It always creeped me out when she spoke like that. It just didn't work right. The truck drove back to the factory and I was free to go. But what I didn't see was a girl with a gun at my head.

"Don't move."

I did as he said and placed my hands in the air.

"Easy. There doesn't need to be any blood on the walls, here." I said calmly.

"Sure. Drop your weapons." The girl said.

I dropped my weapons and stood defenseless.

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

'Don't say Dewy.' I thought to myself.

"Well?"

"Anon. You?" I asked.

"Magna." She said.

"Sooo, you're not gonna shoot me?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry." Magna quickly lowered her gun.

"So, now what?" I asked.

"We have a group with us. We've been sneaking past people in the factory." She said.

"Wait, I'm running from them too!" I said.

"Great! You'll fit right in."

So with that, we walked back to a small building with about 5 people sitting near a small fire.

"Everyone, this is Anon."

"Actually, that's not my name. It's Dewy." I said.

Some people got up and grabbed their guns. The rest just looked and stared.

"What are you doing, Magna? This guy has a large bounty on him. A month's rations they said. We should turn him in." A man said.

"And what, let him be molested for the rest of his life? No. I don't care about a month's rations, Luke." Magna said boldly.

Then one the only two girls stepped up.

"She's right. We can't leave people for them. Especially a kid."

By then, the whole room was silent until another man stepped up.

"Well, hello. I'm Kelly. That's Yumiko, you know Luke and Magna, this is Bernie, and this is Connie."

"So, you probably wanna know what I'm doing in your home. I won't be here long. I just need a place for the night. After that, you'll never see me again." I said.

"It's fine, Dewy. The others will need some time to get used to you." Magna said.

"Fine! We'll keep him. But if he tries to kill us, you know who to blame." Bernie said cruely.

We all were ready to sleep when I decided to keep watch. I had a feeling I was going to be here a while.

PRESENT DAY

"What happened after?" Rick asked me.

"We stayed together for a good long while, but then we were caught. Bernie got caught and I was cut off from them. A day after that was when the Resistance found me." I said.

Chapter 21: A New Dawn

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RICK'S P.O.V

We had a meeting later today with what to do with the Dazzlings.

"They could have potential. Maybe we can use them for knowledge." Dale said.

"We could put them to work, see what they can do." Lee said.

"We can't do this. They saved your daughter, Rick. Let's give them a chance." Hershel said.

"With all due respect, Hershel, you don't know these girls, I do. They'll try to get our guard down, try to get on our soft sides, then they'll stab you in the back." Dewy said.

"And how do you know them? Sonata's different." Norman said.

"And Aria? She and Adagio were the ones leading me from city to city for months."

"Well, I for one don't have a soft side anymore. If they try anythang, I will kill them." I said.

"What, like Shane?" Dewy asked me.

"How do you know that?"

"Carl told me. Like I said, we've been watching you. We found you near Terminus writing the sign. We followed, but far behind. We didn't know yet. Then we heard of Beth and we decided to look for her for you. We found her at the hospital and we watched from there. We then saw as you and your people tried to negotiate. We stopped when we saw Beth dead..."

"You've been watching us this whole time?" I asked him.

"Yes. Your group interested us, Rick. Keeping your humanity while others lose it." Dewy said.

"Yes. It took us a lot of work to survive." Hershel said.

"But also your people are experienced fighters. Rick, you were a cop, Daryl, you were a hunter, Glenn, you know who is right, Maggie, you too, Tara, you were in the police academy, Sasha, you were a firefighter and now a sniper, and Carl has potential to be a great survivor. If Aria tried anything you could surely--" Norman said.

"As much as I agree, we don't know what they could do. They're too unpredictable. Too dangerous." Gabriel said.

"And Sonata? Rick, she saved Judith's life! Who else could've?"

"Me." I said.

"No, Rick, you were inside that herd, you couldn't save her. I couldn't, Carl couldn't, he was SHOT! That only leaves them, who managed to bring Judith to the hospital. Think about that, Rick."

"We can't keep them here." Twilight said.

"I'm sorry, but why are we listening to someone who stocked up piles of Walkers and murdered people left and right?" Norman asked boldly.

"Excuse me?! At least I wasn't being treated like a slave and allowing it!"

"Alright, that's enough." I said trying to calm them down.

"No. Is there something you wanna say to me, Twilight?" Norman asked.

"Both of you, stop it! If I'm the most mature one in the room, there's a problem." Dewy said.

"How about this, Dewy? How about you try to leave when it's stuck in your head like a drug?!" Norman exclaimed.

"ENOUGH!" Sunset screamed.

The room was suddenly silenced.

"How am I seeing this while you all are clueless? She wants this. She's breaking us as we speak, using our negative power to make herself stronger."

"She's right. The more we fight like this, the more powerful she becomes. We need to work together. Now more than ever." Dewy said.

"Dewy, I'm sorry, but we can't. Not after the Battle, not after the Hunt. Not after..." I said.

"Rick, I respect your decisions, and your leadership, but this isn't us. We need to protect these people. Otherwise, who are we?" Hershel asked.

"...He's right. If we do this, we're saying that we're no worse than them. No worse that her." Dewy said.

"Well, we're split. Dale, Maggie, Norman, Dewy, Lee, Sunset, and Hershel vs Twilight, me, Gabriel, Carlos, Paul, and Sasha. Carl has the final choice." I said.

"Rick, we don't know if he's ever gonna wake up." Twilight said.

"Your doctor said he was stable, he might be up in a few days, if not by tomorrow." I said to her.

"It's settled. We wait for Carl." Twilight said.

CARL'S P.O.V

Waking up was a blur, like last time. But when I woke up, I saw my dad and Applejack with Judith.

"Hey, bud." Rick said.

"How long..." I tried to ask.

"A week. Listen, we have a debate. Half of us want to kill the Dazzlings, me included. But half wants to spare them. You have the final call." Dad said to me.

I had to think about this. I was told they were a threat, that they were 'Sirens'. But they saved Judith, and they protected the hospital.

"Dad... You're wrong. We should have them stay... They saved her..." I said fading out.

"Just rest. I'll tell the others. Come on, AJ. You too." Rick said.

"Alright, Ah'll be right there." AJ said.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin'. Aahh just forgot mah hat. You know what that's like, right?" She asked chuckling awkwardly.

'What was that?' I thought to myself.

She walked out and I closed my eyes.

RICK'S P.O.V

"Well?" Dewy asked.

"He said we spare them, see if we can live together. I trust them..." I said to them.

"He's right." Morgan said walking in.

"Morgan?" Dewy asked.

"I'm a killer, Rick, and you are too. But we can't do this. We need to spare 'em. We can welcome 'em here. All of 'em." Morgan said.

"You're right. We need to spare them." Norman said.

"As much as I hate Aria, I think we can live together..." Dewy said in disgust.

"What Dewy says goes with us. We shall spare them." Ezekiel said.

"It's settled then." Twilight said.

She then walked out the door I came in.

"You killed us all." She whispered to my ear.

Chapter 22: Ponyville Strikes Back

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CHARLE'S P.O.V

It's been a week since Rick said the Dazzlings were staying. Carl was about to walk out of the hospital since the herd came through. We were close to rebuilding the walls. Eugene recently suggested that we piled dirt against the walls, it would give us support and allow us to cross the wall and dispose of corpses.

"That's a great idea, Eugene." Twilight said.

"Why, thank you." Eugene responded.

We weren't able to talk more as Rick came in with Carl not far behind. We saw the bandage covering his missing eye.

"Hey, kid." Daryl said.

"Good to see you alive." Dewy said.

"How long was I out?" Carl asked.

"About a week." Twilight said.

Then the Dazzlings walked out.

"So, we're staying?" Aria asked.

"Yeah. It was Rick's call. Let's all hope it was a right one." Dewy said.

"It was." Norman said in Rick's defense.

"So, I arranged this meeting for a few words: How many more?" Rick asked.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"How many more of us have to die before we do somethin'?" Rick asked to us.

"We're done hiding. If you want us to fight, so be it." Dewy said to him.

"He's right. We can't hide forever. Rick, I saw their Walkers. That wasn't even a quarter of them. Here's what we should do, we should destroy the Walker dome, and let them loose." Norman said.

"We need to make sure no-one gets out, NO-ONE." Dewy said.

"So we should set up snipers?" T-Dog asked.

"Yeah. There's only one door out. We could send a few Resistors inside the wall." Dewy said.

"How about the Walkers?" Lee asked.

"We have a way of blending in..." Dewy said.

"Guts, right?" Rick asked.

"Not guts, skin. Rain doesn't wash off skin." Dewy said to us.

"It's pretty affective." Paul said.

Aaannd there goes my appetite.

"Well then, moving along..." Twilight said.

"We need snipers on the windows, on the gates, and on the way out the factory. We need to insure no-one survives this." Rick said.

"First, I have a question. Dewy, you said Adagio had 2 spare amulets?" Spike asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Dewy asked back.

"Well, how did they get 'em?" Spike asked.

"Oh, Celestia..." Twilight said.

"What?" I asked her.

"Come on, I know where they're getting them from." Twilight said.


After a half-hour of following Twilight, we came across a mountain near Ponyville. We ran in and saw a man above a lake with a bag-- a bag filled to the top with the Siren Amulets!

"Stand down!" Twilight said with her horn glowing.

"Never..." The man said as he raised his gun.

Twilight blasted it out of his hand, breaking his trigger-finger instantly. As he cried in pain, I blasted him to the ground. I was about to shoot him when I saw he was unconscious.

"Now what?" I asked Twilight.

"We take him back; tell the others what we saw." She said to me.

RICK'S P.O.V

We waited for the others for about an hour. We finally saw them coming back with a man held hostage and a bag next to them.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"We don't know. He'll be out for an hour." Twilight said.

"What's in the bag?" Dewy asked alarmed.

Twilight placed the bag on the ground and opened it. What came out was over 50 Siren Amulets!

"Oh, my God..." Aria said.

"No way." Dewy said.

"What is this?" Glenn asked.

"Siren Amulets. Over 50 of them. They're making an army." Twilight said.

We brought the prisoner to the medical bay where he was patched up. I looked at him and saw his resemblance to Daryl. Dewy came in and stood in shock.

"I know this guy." Dewy said.

"Who is he?" I asked.

Then Aria walked in as the prisoner woke up.

"Dwight?" Aria asked breaking down.

"A-Aria?" Dwight whispered.

He got up and limped to Aria.

"Aria, I am SO SORRY. What did she do to you?!" He asked panicking.

"It's okay. It's okay." Aria said hugging Dwight.

Dwight then saw Dewy.

"Hey. Dwight, right?" Dewy asked.

"Yeah. You still have my crossbow?" Dwight asked.

"Yeah. It saved my life on some occasions." Dewy said.

Aria was shell shocked. I couldn't see it, but I knew.

"Is he..." I asked.

"Yeah. It's him." Sonata said behind us.

"I... I have no way of apologizing." Dwight said.

"It's alright. We both know if you said no, she would've killed you. I get it." Aria said smiling.

"What we're you doing?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" Dwight asked.

"We saw you duplicating the amulets. Why?" Morgan asked.

"I wasn't cloning them, I was destroying them." Dwight said.

"How do we know you're not lying?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I want Adagio DEAD. I'll bring her head in a platter if you want." Dwight said to us.

"Are you sure?" Norman asked.

"I'm sure." Dwight said.

"We need a way in. Can you tell us?" I asked him.

"There's a run tomorrow. It's not far from Canterlot High. Negan will be there. If you take him hostage, I'll tell you everything I know." Dwight offered.

Chapter 23: Rise

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RICK'S P.O.V

Once we came up with a battle plan, we wrote a division of work on a slab of the wall. One side said IN and another said OUT. I came by later and saw that Dewy, Glenn, Aria, Sonata, Norman, and Dwight chose OUT. I met up with Dewy later and told him to go with the Dazzlings when they left.

"No. No way." Dewy said.

"Dewy... I don't expect you to like it, but we need to be sure every time they leave, they aren't reporting our plans." I told him.

I got a huff from him.

"Fine. One time, no more." Dewy said.

Then, Daryl ran in.

"Rick! It's those Dazzling girls!"

"What?" Dewy asked.

"They, Dwight, and Norman are gone!" Twilight said behind him.

"I'll go. Where did you see them last?" Dewy asked.

"I saw 'em near the portal." Daryl said.

"Don't let my people after me." Dewy said running.

Twilight then walked out when Celestia called her.

"What?" I asked Daryl, who was looking at me.

"It's that pony girl. Twilight, is it? I don't trust her." Daryl said.

"Me neither. Somethin's wrong with her. She had piles of chopped up Walkers. Tyreese and Luna were in there. Who does that?" I asked him.

"Someone who's been through a lot. You heard her story, the Walkers all over their most guarded city, Spike bitten, all of it. I don't blame her." Daryl said.

"These people, they need to take care of themselves. You feel different 'bout it?" I asked him.

"What people?" Daryl asked.

"The Resistance, Dazzlings, and her people. Do you feel different about it?" I asked him again.

"Yeah, I do." Daryl said to me.


DEWY'S P.O.V

I was looking for them in CHS, which was nearly overrun and destroyed. At every turn I made, I saw Walkers, Runners, and chunks of bricks and concrete on the ground and the sun shining through. I finally found a forest with footsteps in the trail. I followed it and saw a small horde of Runners! I ran for a hill I saw nearby and I kept running.

What I didn't see was that cliff near where I was running...

Then, out of nowhere, a figure tackled me and pinned me to the ground in the bushes. I looked behind me and saw Aria. I quickly shook her off my back.

"Don't you touch me again!" I said sternly.

Then what I saw was those Runners falling off the cliff and into the rocks.

"You're welcome, you rotten little brat." Aria snarled.

"You're lucky I can't kill you right now... What are you doing out here?!" I asked.

"Looking for some rabbits." Norman said walking behind her.

"Wanna join us?" Sonata asked.

"...Fine. But remember, if I see you near HER, I will kill all of you." I said.

"Of course." Aria said.


CELESTIA'S P.O.V

I was sitting down with Twilight and asking her about Rick and his people.

"I should have just put you in charge..." Twilight grumbled.

"Twilight, Rick's planning a peaceful society here." I said.

"How? Letting in monsters? That just screams peaceful..." Twilight said.

"What's gotten into you? You're never like this." I said.

"Celestia, Rick--"

"He's leading us." I said slightly louder.

"RICK IS DANGEROUS! You know that." Twilight said before walking out of the room.

I stood in shock. I've seen this before...


RICK'S P.O.V

After talking to Daryl, I gathered him, Twilight, Glenn, Daryl, Maggie, Fluttershy, Sunset, and Flash. I said we were going to attack Adagio and Negan on their next supply run.

"I'm in." Flash said.

"Me too. They did enough damage as it is." Sunset said.

"I think we should ask Dewy when he comes back." Daryl said.

"From what I heard, it needs to be done." Glenn said.

Hershel came up to Maggie.

"I wish I could go with you." He said.

"I'll be back, dad." Maggie said.

"These people sound like monsters. We need Dewy with us; maybe even one of those girls." Michonne said.

"No. No way." I said to her.

"Rick, they know her weaknesses, her potential. We need them out there with us." She said.


DEWY'S P.O.V

I was following the Dazzlings to a small town with an swarm of Walkers inside.

"Crap..." Aria said.

"What's here besides Walkers?" I asked them.

"We came here for recon. If we're lucky, we could catch one of Adagio's men or two for interrigation." Dwight said.

"Whoa guys, no. If anyone comes here, they're dead." I said.

Aria and Dwight were looking at the town and clearly thinking.

"Fine. We'll find another way." Dwight said.

"Where can we go that isn't overrun?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer, we saw about 20 Walkers following us.

"Shoot. Come on!" Aria said.

We ran near the town to escape, that was our mistake. I saw over 60 Walkers surrounding us. We hid in the dumpster and saw them swarm us. I was unfortunately crammed between Aria and Sonata.

"Trust me. This is as uncomfortable for me as it is for you." Aria said squriming for air.

"You have no idea." I said trying to get up and see.

"What do we do?" Sonata whispered.

"We can't shoot these Walkers. It'll just attract the rest and we don't have enough bullets." Dwight said.

"How about stabbing?" I asked slamming the dumpster door open and stabbing a Walker with my knife.

Aria got up first and smashed a Walker with her hammer, then Dwight got up and sliced one with his machete, then Norman got up and smashed a Walker's head into the dumpster. I handed him my screwdriver and we fought the Walkers. As we fought, more kept coming. We were swarmed by about 900 Walkers all around us.

It was over.

But, I got an idea. I pulled a dead Walker from the pile and skinned it. Aria was staring in little disgust, Norman was about to puke, Dwight was shocked, and Sonata puked out the dumpster. I slipped the skin on and dragged another in.

"Just do it, Aria." I said handing her the skin.

After a moment of disgust, she placed the skin on and noticed it was smushed with her skin. Then Dwight placed it on with small hesitation, Norman placed it on after claiming he threw up in his mouth, and Sonata placed it on after a full minute. I then slipped into the horde and told the others to come down. We walked through the herd until we were near CHS.

"Well, that was something." Aria said.

"Feel free to puke it out. That's what you and your sister did to me, what they made me do." I said sternly.

"I told you, that wasn't me, I don't molest children!" Aria said.

"Well, you were with her on this. You could've stopped her." I said.

"I tried. I tried and I got this!" Aria pointed to her burnt face. "You think I like what I did?! I wake up everyday when we left just thinking about what I saw her do to children!" Aria said.

"ENOUGH!" Sonata screamed.

We both stopped an looked her way.

"We all did things we regret. Aria, you let Adagio molest children, Norman, you were her slave, Dwight you left your girl for her, and you wore Walkers, so what?! We need to walk back to Ponyville, and say this was all a misunderstanding. Let's go!" Sonata said.

We were about to go, but we heard gushots nearby.


3 MINUTES AGO

RICK"S P.O.V

We were driving to the supply run location and we saw a military vehicle with weapons, a chainsaw, nailed baseball bat, and a shortsword. No guns. We followed the tracks until we saw about 50 men nearby.

"Do you think we can do this?" Glenn asked.

"No. Not this easily. Do we have that grenade?" I asked.

"Yeah, we have it." Fluttershy said.

She handed the grenade to us and waited to take out a group of them. We threw it right as Adagio and Negan walked out of their truck. The 50 turned into 36 and we started shooting at the soldiers. Before we could take out the remaining 30, a guard came from behind and pointed a gun to my head.

"Step out." A voice said.

We walked out in front of the militia and dropped our weapons.

"Who-- wait... Fluttershy, right?" Adagio asked.

"Not the one you know." Fluttershy said coldly.

"Oh, you're the Equine. Of course. You're... Rick, Glenn, Sunset-- great to see you again, and Flash. On your knees. All of you." Adagio said.

We were surrounded and had no choice.

"Negan, you handle this." Adagio said.

Negan than stepped forward.

"Now, I don't want to kill you, but you just killed over 20 of my people, and I can't have that out there. Now, we know where you're from. Rarity here has been very helpful." As Negan said that, Rarity walked out with a gun to my head.

"Hello Rick. Excellent to see you again. How's Sweetie Belle doing?" The traitor asked.

"Good. Spike's been with her." I said.

"Good. It's a shame one of you will have to die." Rarity said.

"We trusted you! Rick, Twilight, Rainbow trusted you!" Daryl said.

"Well, that's too bad for her." Rarity said.

A soldier held Daryl back as he tried to strangle her.

"So, where are they set?" Negan asked.

"Ponyville. Here's a map." Rarity handed Negan a map of Equestria,

Negan read it and turned to Rick.

"Point me to the places that are alive." Negan said.

Twilight reluctantly pointed to Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Our Town.

"Everything in these towns now belong to us." Negan said to me.

I looked in anger.

"Now, one of you is going to have the great honor of being bashed the hell out of by my little friend, Luicille." Negan pulled out his barbed wire baseball bat.

"Like her? Yeah, this is going to be the last thing you see for one of you." Negan said.

"The question is who..." Rarity said.

"Twilight and Fluttershy are out because Rarity wants you on our side, Rick, look at you! You have no idea who I am, do you? Well, I'll tell you something: Your son will be the first person I take." Adagio said

That was it. I lunged at her, but Daryl and Fluttershy held me back.

"LET GO OF ME! I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE I LET YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON MY SON, YOU HEAR ME?!" I screamed.

"Rick, let it go, man." Daryl said to me.

"I have 30 men surroung you, 30! Sit the hell down now or you're all dead!" Negan said.

I sat down and looked in anger.

"Now, Daryl. How will your story end? Rarity showed me her tapes of your interviews. You've lost your brother and father to the Eaters, you've been shot by an arrow and climbed a mountain in a day! We could use someone like you... Glenn, I'm considered many things-- Monster, whore,--"

"Child molester?" Glenn asked sternly.

"But a racist? No way. Maggie, you are Glenn's sweetheart. He'll listen to you. I just don't want to kill you." Adagio said.

"I can't just freakin' decide!" Negan rubbed his head in frustration.

"Wait, I have an idea..." Negan held his bat to one of us.

He started moving it to the left, obviously choosing one of us.

"My mother..." The bat pointed at me.

"...Told me..." The bat pointed at Twilight.

"To pick..." Fluttershy.

"The very best one..." Now Maggie.

"And you..." Flash.

"Are..." Sunset.

The bat stopped at Glenn.

"It. Bring him up!" Negan said.

"NO!" Maggie leaped in.

Daryl and Twilight held her back. Negan pushed Glenn down, making him kneel.

"You can breathe, you can blink... you can cry. You'll be doing all of that." Negan swung down.

BAM!

I looked up and saw Dewy, the Dazzlings, Dwight, and Norman shooting the 30 men down to 10.

"Let's get out of here!" Negan said.

"What about the boy?" Adagio asked about Glenn.

"Leave him. YOU LUCKED OUT, RICK. I WILL KILL HIM! I SWEAR I WILL!" Negan was pulled into the truck and they drove away.

Glenn was hit once and his eye was popped out.

"GLENN!" Maggie engaged him in a hug.

"It.. I-It's okay, M-Maggie..." Glenn said before passing out.

"How is he?" I asked Aria.

"He's breathing. We can save him, someone help me carry him." Aria said.

Twilight and Maggie got up and helped us carry Glenn to CHS.


We got back to Ponyville and Glenn was carried to Ponyville Hospital. Maggie wasn't far behind.

"What happened?" Charles walked out.

"We were attacked. We're okay." Twilight said.

Twilight and Charles walked away and Michonne walked up.

"We should've left when we had the chance. We would've been better off." I said to her.

"No. You're wrong. This place, it's a chance. Instead of staying out there, instead of just making it. Because right now, anyone who makes it goes to her." Michonne said.

"How is he?" Fluttershy asked.

"He'll live. He may have a severe cuncussion and a cracked skull. Nothing we can't fix if we understood the human skeleton." Nurse Redheart said walking out.

"Wait, I have something." Dewy pulled out a picture of a human skeleton.

"You want to focus on the top part. Here." Dewy pointed to the skull.

"Let's go." Nurse Redheart said to Dewy.

They went to help Glenn and we went to plan our next move.

"We got lucky today, always remember that." I said to Daryl and Michonne.

Chapter 24: Abuse

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CAROL'S P.O.V

I went to say hi to Scootaloo when I saw her at the door.

"Hey, are you Carol?" She asked.

"Yeah. You're Scootaloo, right?" I asked her.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Well, what do you need?" I asked.

"I just wanted to talk." Scootaloo said.

As she walked in, I noticed a limp and a deep bruise on her foreleg.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Scootaloo them quickly turned around.

"Y-yeah, I just to in a scooter accident, that's all." She said quickly.

We took a seat and I offered her a drink.

"So, how did this scooter accident happen?" I asked her.

"W-well, I just wasn't looking when I should've." Scootaloo said.

"And it made you limp?" I asked.

Scootaloo stood in confusion and then shock.

"Well... it sprained my hindleg, that's all." Scootaloo said.

"Scootaloo... I don't think I beleive you." I said to her.

Scootaloo stood in fear at me.

"What?" I asked

"Why do you need the guns inside the walls?" Scootaloo asked suddenly.

"Well... just in case things go bad and we need to protect ourselves." Carol said.

"C-can I have a gun?" Scootaloo asked.

"Why?" I asked.

Scootaloo didn't even answer as she ran out the door.

"Scootaloo!" I called out.

She was gone.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I was walking to the town hall when Carol caught up with me.

"Have you seen Scootaloo anywhere? She just took off and I'm worried about her." Carol said.

"Yeah, I saw her go to that old house down the street, why?" I asked her.

Carol got to my eye level.

"She asked me for a gun. I think I know why. I want to see her parents." Carol said to me.

"I'll talk to them." I said to her.

"Thank you." Carol said.

I walked up to the house and knocked. Who answered was a stallion with a slightly scraggly mane.

"Who are you?" The stallion asked.

"My name is Twilight, I came here because somepony was worried about Scootaloo. Can I see her?" I asked.

"She can't come out right now..." The stallion said.

"Well, is she okay?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't she be?" The stallion asked.

As he closed the door, I could've sworn I heard a faint cry for help...

RICK'S P.O.V

After talking to Carl, I was ready to see Celestia when Carol came to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Scootaloo. That girl who was friends with Rainbow Dash." Carol said.

"What about her?" I asked.

"It's her father. I think he's hurting her." Carol said.

"How do you know? Did she tell you?" I asked.

"She didn't need to tell me. She came in with a sprained foreleg, said it was an accident. But then she asked for a gun, before I could ask why, she bolted. You're gonna have to kill him." Carol said.

"We don't know that yet." I said.

Then, Twilight ran in.

"Scootaloo, she's hurt. We need to talk to her father, soon." Twilight said.

"First, how's Glenn?" I asked her.

"He'll live. His eye had to be removed, and he has serious head trauma. But he should be okay." Twilight said.

"We need Daryl. He could help stop this." I said.

SPIKE'S P.O.V

I was walking down the road when I saw Scootaloo walk near me with a black eye and a bruised throat.

"Scootaloo, are you alright?" I asked her.

She must've ignored me as she kept on walking.

"Scootaloo, you need to go to the imfirmary. You might have a broken bone or something." I said trying to stop her.

Then, Carol, Twilight, and Rick came running down.

"Scootaloo, what happened?" I asked her.

She didn't answer and Carol came down first.

"Scootaloo, we know what's happening to you." Carol said.

Scootaloo turned to us with tears in her eyes.

"So what?" Scootaloo said with her voice cracking.

"So we want to help you." Rick said.

"You can't, Rick. No-one can." Scootaloo said.

"But let us try. At least go to the infirmary and be honest." Rick said to her.

I could see Dewy running down the hill.

"I heard, is she--" Dewy stopped once he saw Scootaloo.

"I saw my mother like that once... Guess who did it to her? Her husband, and my father: Peter Anderson... I know what this feels like. You need help to get away from him. Please, let us." Dewy said to her.

"...Okay. When will you do it?" Scootaloo asked.

"As soon as we can." Carol said.

2 HOURS LATER

CAROL'S P.O.V

Me and Dewy went to confront Scootaloo's father and convince her to let us take Scootaloo. I went up and I told Dewy if it goes bad, grab Scootaloo and take her to the infirmary. I walked up and knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Scootaloo's father called.

I walked in and saw that the inside was prettier than the outside.

"I need to talk to Scootaloo. It's pretty urgent." I said.

"She's in her room. Upstairs, the first door on the right." The stallion said.

I walked up when I looked back.

"And by the way, let go of the good-guy charm. I still remember yesterday." I said walking up.

I went to Scootaloo's room and found her on the bed looking out her window.

"Scootaloo?" I whispered not to be heard downstairs.

"Yeah?" She whispered back.

"Let's go. Rick will come in and talk to him." I said to her.

I then heard someone knocking.

"Come in!" Scootaloo's father said.

Rick walked in and said they needed to talk.

"I never got your name." Rick asked.

"Home Run. And you're Rick, one of the other-worlders. It's nice to finally meet you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk about your daughter. We all know you've been hurting her. I'm here on reports to take her out of your custody." Rick said boldly.

"E-excuse me?" Home Run asked.

Then me and Scootaloo walked down.

"You're in on this aren't you?" Home Run asked Scootaloo.

"I asked her. I had as much right to as you have the right to be a father." I said boldly.

"I should beat both of you. Until you throats are near your tongues!" Home Run screamed.

"Home Run, me, her, and Carol are gonna leave now." Rick said.

"You think you have a say in this? You think you're the law?! You think you have a say in anything around here?! Who the hay do you think you are?!" Home Run hollered.

"Someone's who trying not to kill you!" Rick said.

Home Run then whamed Rick in his cheek.

"Stop now." Rick said.

Regardless, Home Run punched Rick in his stomach. Rick threw a punch on his jaw and Home tackled him out the window. I ran out back and told Dewy to take Scootaloo to the infirmary.

"No. I need to stop him." Scootaloo said racing around the house and into the street.

I ran close behind and saw Rick pinning Home to the ground. But Home swung him around and started to strangle him. Scootaloo ran in and pushed Home off. Home then swung his hoof at Scootaloo, slamming her to the ground.

"NO!" Spike screamed and lunged on Home.

Spike then started clawing his stomach, trying to get him off Rick. But instead, Spike ended up on top of Home, clawing and biting him off Rick.

"Get off of me!" Home cried.

Instead, Spike started biting deeper into his shoulder. Rick ended up getting the upper hand and started strangling Home. At the last moment, he stopped and Home fell unconsious.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked Spike.

"I'm fine. How about Scootaloo?" Spike asked.

"I'm okay. Thank you." Scootaloo said.

Then, Twilight came running down.

"What happened?" She asked.

"It's my father. He attacked Rick. I tried to stop him..." Scootaloo said.

Then, Nurse Redheart came out.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"It's Glenn. He's awake."

Chapter 25: War

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DEWY'S P.O.V

We took Rick, Scootaloo, and Home Run to the infirmary despite my arguments to save the meds-- on Home of course. Rick woke up a day later saying he had a dream of aliens and someone called "The Governor". I told him to look around and that we're surrounded by aliens. Anyway, I went to see Home Run soon after and he was not happy.

"You have no right to take her away!" Home screamed.

"We have every right." Twilight said sternly.

I saw Home with over 7 bite wounds on his shoulder and frontlegs. Proof that Spike can do more damage than good... I knocked on the wall letting the two know I was in the room. Twilight immediately turned my way as I took a seat.

"Hello, Home Run. I'm suprised they wasted the pain meds on you." I said.

Home tried to move his hoof, but failed either due to the needles and stitches on him, or the pain of the bites.

"I never thought I'd see a bite that doesn't mean turning into a Walker. It looks like Spike did a lot of damage to you. Those are wounds you're lucky to come back from." I teased.

"If I wasn't strapped down..."

"If I were you, I wouldn't threaten me." I said sternly.

"What're you gonna do about it, monkey?!" Home screamed.

"You see anyone helping you? You see people flooding in with flowers and Get-Well-Soon cards? 'Cause I don't. I'm not saying it'll happen to me, but at least I won't be with someone taking away my punching bag." I said.

Whatever I said, that was it. Home was now lunging at the needles, trying to pull them out, but then Twilight knocked him out cold with a magic blast.

"You couldn't spoken nicer?" Twilight asked.

"No. I couldn't have. I spoke the truth." I said coldly as I got up and left the room.

RICK'S P.O.V

I woke up a few hours after Dewy checked on me. I got up and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" A familiar voice asked.

I looked up and saw Michonne sitting in a chair watching me.

"You were here this whole time?" I asked her.

"Yeah. What's so funny?" Michonne asked again.

"It's just like Terminus. Trapped." I said.

"No, it's not. We're not trapped, Rick. Stop acting like we are. You're their leader now. You need to be there for these people." Michonne said.

"I am. They just don't trust me." I said.

"Twilight does. Celestia does. Spike does. And Scootaloo will, thanks to you." Michonne said.

"We'll see." I said to her.

"Why did you spare him? I don't think I would have." Michonne said.

"I wanted to. Believe me, I did. Then I looked around. Lee ready to kill me, Hershel staring in horror, Clementine glaring at Home. I realized that after everything I've done, everyone I've killed, I need to come back. I've killed too many people so far." I said.

"Like Terminus?" Michonne asked.

"No. Like Shane, Tomas, that man in the cabin--"

"That was me. I killed him, remember?" Michonne asked.

"Right. Too many people who I killed out of anger. When I saw Twilight and the gut piles, I... I saw myself. I saw myself turn into her. A failed test, an overall failure..." I said.

"She came back, she made you and Celestia in charge for a reason." MIchonne said.

Before I could say more, the door knocked. Celestia walked in.

"I need to talk to Rick." Celestia said sitting down.

"Sure." Michonne said getting up and walking out.

Celestia sat down.

"What do we do now?" Celestia asked.

"I don't know. Twilight and Dewy think we should kick him out, I bet Scootaloo, Carol, and Spike will want to kill him. And he'll wanna kill them." I said.

"Yes, we'll have to take care of him however we can." Celestia said.

"How did you lose it?" I asked pointing at her lost hindleg.

"I was bitten. I was lucky we had something." Celestia said.

"You people're lucky. You have magic and power. How do Trotters stop you?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess it's that we've never had something like this in Equestrian history. That could be a reason." Celestia said.

"Well, I'm sorry." I said.

"It's... not the hoof that's been bothering me." Celestia sighed.

"It's Luna, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah. I never thought she'd go like that. Trying to help us, but dying." Celestia said.

"It's not your nephew's fault. You know that, right?" I asked.

"Of course I know, it's just... Twilight told you the Nightmare Moon story, right?" Celestia asked.

"She told all of us." I said.

"Then you know why." Celestia said.

We were now sitting next to each other on the chairs. The first thing I noticed was how the sky was always cloudy and slightly foggy.

"You raised the sun?" I asked.

"Yeah. And since Nightmare Moon, I raised the moon, too. Now it's right back to that." Celestia said with her voice starting to sound bitter.

"Well, I'm sorry." I said.

"I don't expect you to understand." Celestia said.

"...Actually, I do." I said.

"What do you mean?" Celestia said.

"Early on into this thing, one of my people, Shane was starting to lose it. Shane was my best friend since high school, we were police officers together. He was there for Lori when I couldn't be..." I said.

"Is Judith his?" Celestia asked.

"I don't know. When I got back, things were okay for a while, but he started hating me. He said I took his life away. You said Luna became resentful of you, Shane and I were escorting a prisoner, Randall, back to his people when we had a fight. Shane grabbed a wrench and chucked it at me. He tried to kill me. Later, he led me out to find that prisoner. But he killed him and led me out to shoot me. But I killed him. You banished your sister, I killed my brother. You knew what that felt like, that guilt, that pain, that... that self hatred. I get it..." I said.

"Rick..." Before I could say anthing, Celestia wrapped her arms around me.

SPIKE'S P.O.V

I went to visit Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle.

"Hey guys." Scootaloo said.

Sweetie let out a "eek" at Scootaloo's state. She was on a bed with tubes injecting pain medicine to her body, arms in a cast, and one eye completly red and bloodshot.

"Are you okay?" Sweetie asked.

"I've been better, but at least now I'm away from him." Scootaloo said.

"I know." I said taking my seat.

"I saw you biting him. You should of done us a favor and bit his neck. As deep as you could." Scootaloo said creepily.

"Scootaloo, don't talk like that. Rick could've killed him, he didn't." I said.

"If you're infected, does that mean he is too?" Scootaloo asked hopefully.

"No. Charles and Jenner told me the virus just dies inside of me. I'm not infected anymore." I said.

"Well, that sucks." Scootaloo said.

Dewy knocked and walked in.

"I agree." He said to Scootaloo.

"Well, all we can do now is hope Rick can take care of him." Spike said.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I was with Dwight looking at the amulets he brought with him.

"So they all have one?" I asked him.

"Yeah, everyone who came in got one. Sorry to say it, but also Rarity." Dwight said.

"I know." I said.

"These were for me, trying to escape. I wanted to find Aria. After what I did, I wanted to apologize if I could." Dwight said.

Then I turned around and saw Sonata.

"You did. She forgave you." She said.

"I know, but I still feel like I owe her somehow." Dwight said.

"Well, stop thinking that." I said to him.

"I'll try." Dwight said.

I would've said more, but I heard Maggie.

"How is he?" I asked.

"We caught him up to speed." She said.

2 HOURS AGO

I stood at the door waiting for Glenn to walk out. I placed my head against the wall and listened.

"Where are we?" I heard Glenn ask.

"You're safe. We're back home at Equestria." Rick said.

"What's... Equestria?"

I leaned in shock.

"You don't remember?" Maggie asked in the room with Rick.

"No. All I remember is seeing Beth dead..." Glenn said.

"We have a lot of catching up to do." I said walking in.

"Rick... Am I the only one who sees the talking pony?" Glenn asked.

"No." Hershel said walking in.

"Whoa... I must be having the craziest dream..." Glenn said.

"No. This is real." Rick said.

PRESENT DAY

"Now that he remembers, all we can do is wait." Maggie said to me.

"I know." Dwight said.

"I'm just glad he's alive." Maggie said.

"Me too." I said to her.

"Do you have anyone?" Maggie asked me.

"No. Flash was the only person I ever 'liked'." I said to her.

"Really? No-one your whole life?" Maggie asked again.

"Really. Before Ponyville, I was kind of a loner. The only friends I had were Spike and my brother." I said.

"And you liked it that way?" Maggie asked.

"...Yeah. I did. Then I was sent here and I saw what friendship was. Now we have Trotters walking around and the Sirens are taking over." I said.

"We will stop them." Rick said walking with Celestia.

"I know we will. But with all the people they have stay and like it there..." Dwight said.

"I know." Sonata said.

"We need to stop them. There'll be a meeting at the Town Hall at noon." Rick said walking away with Celestia following him.

"Let's let them work it out." I said as I walked away.

SPIKE'S P.O.V

Me and Sweetie Belle were walking from the hospital when I saw AJ with Apple Bloom coming to visit.

"Hey, Spike. Did you two see 'er?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, but be careful. She's not looking to good." I said.

"We know. Ah saw 'er earlier with her father an' Rick dukin' it out." She said.

"I saw it too." Dewy said walking up.

"How is she?" Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle.

"Not too good. She wants him dead, Bloom." Sweetie said.

"We'll see for ourselves. See y'all at the meetin'." AJ said.

"What meeting?" Dewy asked.

"Rick and Celestia're havin' a meeting later about the Dazzlin's." AJ said.

"Does everyone else know?" I asked.

"Every pony and human but Clem." AJ said.

"I'll get her." Dewy said.

CLEMENTINE'S P.O.V

I was sitting with Lee, Kenny, Rebecca, Alvin, and A.J when Dewy walked up.

"Rick and Celestia are having a meeting later about Adagio. I just wanted you to know." Dewy said.

"Wanna sit with us?" Kenny asked.

Dewy looked in suprise.

"Sure." Dewy said taking his seat.

We sat for a few moments of pure silence when Lee turned to him.

"So, who are your parents?" He asked.

The look Dewy had said 'You shouldn't have asked that question'.

"My mother was Jessie Anderson. She was the sweetest woman I've ever met. My father was Pete Anderson. He was a drunken surgeon who always came home and... Whenever he came home angry, Jessie told me and Ron, my older brother, to hide in the closet. I had to listen to my father beat her. One time, I had enough and walked out. I saw her... on the ground. Passed. Out. Bleeding. On. The. Rug. And I saw PETE, ON THE PORCH. LIGHTING. A F***ING. CIGARETTE!" Dewy said smashing a mug.

"Sorry. I'll get you a new one." He said to us.

"No, it's okay. Please, keep talking." Rebecca said.

"Anyway, I grabbed the phone and called 911 and told them she was hurt. They came and Pete was arrested for questioning. Soon, he was arrested and they divorced on the spot. We went to a homeless shelter for a month until a family member found out and took us in. My mother then found my step-father. Me and Ron met and got along with Enid soon before they married. Then, the damn Walkers came and killed him. Jessie fell behind and we were on our own when Adagio found us." I said.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Lee said.

"No, it's okay. I'm glad to let that out." Dewy said.

Little did Dewy know, Aria was right behind him, trying not to let tears fall. Dewy turned around and flinched.

"Jesus, Aria! How long were you standing there?!" Dewy asked.

"The whole time. I'm sorry, I had to listen." Aria said.

"It's okay. More people to hear it." Dewy said sitting back down.

"Well, don't stand there awkwardly, take a seat." I said to Aria.

She took a seat between me and Dewy.

"So, who were your parents?" Dewy asked me.

"I..." I started saying.

"It's okay. I'll tell them." Lee said.

"No, we'll both do it." I said.

"Alright. I was... on my way to prison for murder when a Walker caused us to crash. I found Clem after I shot the cop who turned. I was in her house when I heard her on the walkie she had. We found Shawn, Hershel's son, and went to his farm. That was where we met Kenny and his family. Shawn was reinforcing the fence around the farm when he was grabbed. Hershel and I tried to save him. We needed Kenny to help." Lee said turning to him.

"My boy was grabbed too. I froze when Shawn called for me. I just... ran." Kenny said.

"Shawn still died and Hershel kicked us out. We went to my parents' pharmacy in Macon where we found some people. We were attacked and I had to choose between Doug, kind of a tech nerd, or Carley, a news reporter who knew about my past. I saved Carley, I don't know why, but I did. We went to a Motor Inn for a while. We fought Walkers, cannibals, and bandits for a month until we were forced to leave. Duck, Kenny's son, got bit there. I learned it was one of our own, Ben. A coward, but he still had some value. I almost killed him. We found a train and we met Christa and Omid, two survivors who I trusted with Clem when I died. We went to Savannah to find a boat and her parents. She was taken by a man whose car we found after we met the St. Johns. We had no choice but to take their supplies. Now I regret it more then ever. We were taken out one by one trying to find her. I was bitten at a house when she was taken. I found her and fought that Stranger off. He was about to kill me when Clem killed him. We were walking the streets with the guts when we saw... her parents. I passed out and Clem saved me. I was dying of infection and Clem was alone with Christa and Omid. How about after, Clem?" Lee asked me.

"We were in a restroom when I was looted. It was my fault for putting my gun down. Omid walked in trying to stop her, but she turned around and shot him on accident. Omid died and Christa killed her instantly. Her baby was stillborn and we were on our own for a year. Then Christa was out looking for firewood when she was captured and probably killed. I found Luke and Pete, not your father, Dewy. A great man who I wish was still alive." I said.

"Well, here I am." Pete said behind me.

"Pete? Thank God." I said hugging him instantly.

"Nice to see you too, Clem." He said.

"Anyway, I was bitten by a dog earlier and they thought it was a Walker. I was locked in a shed to see if I was bitten. I snuck out and grabbed supplies and fixed it myself. I was attacked and they opened the door and saw me. You should've seen me in that moment. After that, I stayed with them until a man, Bill Carver, found us. We went to a ski lodge where I found Kenny again. We stayed until we were kidnapped and taken to Carver's camp. Kenny lost his eye there."

"I know. Sarita told me." Lee said.

"Then we escaped and she was bitten. I killed the Walker and we went to a Civil War site nearby. We escaped with three people: Bonnie, Jane and Mike. We were searching for supplies when we found a guy named Arvo. He had medical supplies with him and Jane wanted us to rob him. I said no and we sent him off. We were attacked when Rebecca was delivering her baby. We went to the place from earlier and Jane and Luke were there. They just... um..." I struggled saying.

"Made love?" Dewy asked.

"Yeah." I said, remembering my father's talk when I found him here.

"Proves the nerve of some people..." Dewy said.

"Anyway, Rebecca had her baby and we were leaving to find Wellington, a place that was safe. And--"

"You're lucky you didn't go. Adagio's using that place as bait. It's one of many outposts in her name." Dewy said suddenly.

"What?!" Kenny asked.

"It's true." Dewy said.

"Wow... We were attacked by Arvo and his people when Rebecca died of blood loss. They shot at us, injuring Luke. We took Kenny hostage and we went to a housing development Arvo said had food. Kenny was losing it there. He beat Arvo to near death, he lashed out at everyone around him, even me. Bonnie and Mike took Arvo and tried to escape with our supplies, all of it. I tried to stop them, but Arvo shot me. Me, Kenny, A.J, and Jane got out in a pickup truck and they had a fight. We had to leave and Jane took A.J. I went to a diner where Kenny showed up. Jane walked in, no A.J. She said he was killed. Kenny tried to kill her, I had no choice but to shoot him. I heard A.J crying and I learned she lied to us. I left her on the spot. We were alone until I found C.H.S a year later. We were attacked, and now we're here." I finished.

"Damn. You've been through a lot." Aria said.

"I agree. That seems like Resistance-material right there." Dewy said to me.

"Save the enthusiasm." I said.

Then, Twilight called out.

"It's time." She said.

CELESTIA'S P.O.V

Everyone who was left showed up with Dwight, Sonata, and Aria.

"Hello." Rick said.

"You called us here. Why?" Dewy asked.

"What happened with Scootaloo's father wasn't intentional. In case you hadn't heard yet, me, Twilight, Carol, and Dewy found out that Scootaloo was being abused. On a physical level, sexually is unknown as of now. We were trying to get her out when he attacked me. I wanted to kill him, and I probably should have. But I didn't. I didn't because I was weak, but I didn't because I killed too many for no reason. If I could go back, I would stop many deaths I've caused, even if I die in the process. I was wrong, not to tell you." I said.

MORGAN'S P.O.V

I was walking to the hospital to see Home, when I saw a puddle of blood nearby. I ran in to see Ezekiel, one of the Resistance, with a needle into his stomach.

"What happened?!" I asked.

"Home... Run. He's... out. Warn... Rick. Warn..." Ezekiel passed out and I put the needle in his head. I ran to Michonne's house to tell her, all I found was her sword sheath-- without the sword in it.

Oh, no...

RICK'S P.O.V

"Now, Negan almost killed one of my own. If I find him, without a doubt, I will kill him. Not because I.. I want too. Because I have too." I said.

"With all due respect, you haven't shown us any leadership since you let the Dazzlings in." Twilight said standing up.

"I know. Once we heard of Adagio, I wanted to leave. But I'm not gonna do that. Because I trust you. And even if you don't trust me, you trust her." I said pointing to Celestia.

"And I expect you to listen to her." I said.

MORGAN'S P.O.V

I was running towards Town Hall when I saw Home running with the sword. I tackled him and threw the sword away. Home punched me in the face and ran with the sword. I tried getting up but I failed. I then got up a few seconds later and followed the hoofprints.

RICK'S P.O.V

"Now, we need to fight. We can't sit on our asses and pretend we're going to be okay. If we do that, we'll die. Luck runs out..." I said.

Dewy looked behind me and looked in shock.

"You're not one of us. YOU'RE NOT ONE OF US!" Home Run screamed with Michonne's katana in his hoof.

"Home, you don't wanna do this." Eric said standing in front of me.

"Get out of my way." Home said.

"No, man." Eric said.

"I said, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He said forcing the sword through his stomach.

"ERIC!" Aaron screamed.

"Home, STOP!" Dwight said running at him.

"NO!" Home said, swinging the sword at Dwight.

Dwight's head turned around directly at Aria, his throat slit, the sword covered in his and Eric's blood. Out of nowhere, Morgan came and whipped him at the head with his staff.

"DWIGHT! NOOOO!" Aria sobbed running towards him.

Dewy, Sonata, and Celestia stood in shock.

"NO, DWIGHT." Aria said, choking through sobs.

"Rick..." Celestia said turning to me.

"Do it." Dewy said to me.

I turned and shot Home, looking in shock and sadness over what I've just done.

"Rick?" Scootaloo asked, looking at me with Ezekiel's body on her back.

"What did he do? WHAT DID THAT BASTARD DO?!" Dewy screamed.

Chapter 26: Violence

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DEWY'S P.O.V

I was walking down the house when I heard crying coming from the room I gave to Aria. I walked up and knocked.

"Aria? Are you alright?" I asked.

Aria opened the door with her eyes red.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, just... it's just Dwight..." Aria said.

"I bet." I said.

Aria was about to close the door when I opened it.

"I know what you're going through. I've seen a lot of good people die." I said as I let go.

RICK'S P.O.V

I was cleaning my gun when Celestia came up.

"Hello." I said.

"Hi... I'm sorry about Home. If anything else could've been done--"

"I wanted to save him. I missed on purpose. But Scootaloo just dragged him away before I could say a word." I said to her.

"There was nothing you could've done. You wanted to help, you couldn't. No-pony could've. It just happened." Celestia said.

Before I could talk more, Paul came in.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Dewy. I think they got him." He said.

"What?" I asked.

"He just let Aria in like it was no-body's buisness. I think she has him." Paul said.

"No. He let her in because he wants to help people, that's who Dewy is." I said.

"No, that's not. He just let her in without hesitation." Paul said.

"... I think you should mind your on buisness." Celestia said to him.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

I was with Spike, still recovering from what I saw Scootaloo do.

"You couldn't have stopped her, Twi." Spike said.

"I know, it's just..." I started saying.

"I know." Spike said.

I took a seat on the castle and looked out the balcony. I saw Scootaloo's house with the lights on.

"I wanna talk to her." I said to him.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked.

"I'm sure." I said as I got up.

DEWY'S P.O.V

I was walking to see Rick about Aria when I realized something: Sonata and Norman were gone.

"Where are they?" Clem asked Rick.

"I don't know. They asked me to see the portal, I let them." Rick said.

"GodDAMNIT!" I said as I got my silenced .22 rifle and ran through.

I saw the city of Canterlot and Walkers near a certain area. I knew someone had to be there. I ran over and threw a molotov at them. I quickly shot several Walkers as more came at me. I kept shooting until several were dead. I then threw another molotov at the rest. Some fell while the rest kept coming. I kept shooting until 3 people popped out of nowhere and shot the rest. I went closer and saw Sonata, Norman, and Aria.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"Out." Sonata said carefree.

"Rick is worried you were betraying us." I said to her.

"We're not. Not with Dwight gone." Aria said.

"I know you wouldn't, but how about YOU, Norman?" I asked.

"E-excuse me?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, I said it. What HE went out to snitch us to his girl?" I asked.

Norman stepped closer.

"You don't... you have NO. IDEA, DEWY!" Norman said walking away.

"Norman!" Sonata said running after him.

"Why would you say that?!" Aria asked glaring at me.

"Because it's the truth. We don't know they can do..." I said walking away.

NORMAN'S P.O.V

I wanted to kill him. He has NO IDEA what I've been through, what I live with. I was looking at a rotten Walker when I heard Sonata.

"Norman!" She said.

"What?" I asked.

"I know that you don't like talking about it, but that..." Sonata said.

"You heard him! He thinks that I-- That I want to go back to THAT!" I yelled.

"Look, I get it. But you went too far." Sonata said.

"You sound like my mom." I said.

"I know." Sonata said stepping closer to me.

I saw lights come from a warehouse nearby. I knew what I had to do...

"Go. Go back with Dewy. There's something I gotta do." I said grabbing my rifle and loading it.

"Norman... she'll kill you first." Sonata said.

"She won't, Negan will." I said as I smashed the Walker with my gun.

"NO! I won't let you do this!" Sonata pleaded.

"You know what'll happen if I don't. You KNOW who'll die." I said.

DEWY'S P.O.V

I was sitting on a stump with Aria when Sonata came running.

"Where's Norman?" I asked.

"He's hunting Adagio down. We gotta stop him." Sonata said.

"Come on, let's go!" I said loading my gun.


We made it to the warehouse and heard a massive firefight unfold. I ran in and aimed at a soldier and killed him. I loaded and shot again. I saw Norman bring out an AK-47 and open fire inside. I ran and shot with him. Sonata and Aria weren't far behind. We took the soldiers out, but Adagio and Negan were nowhere to be found.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"You shouldn't have came..." Norman said.

"Not everything's about you." I said gravely.

Before anything could happen, Norman was knocked out. I shot whoever was behind him. I then saw Adagio with a shot in her shoulder. She raised a gun and grabbed Norman. Sonata and I raised our guns.

"LET HIM GO!" Sonata said with her gun pointed at Adagio.

There was silence for several seconds, but Adagio dropped her gun and shoved Norman towards us. I kept my gun raised.

"I'm only gonna say this once: Where. Is. My sister?" I asked.

"Enid! Come down here!" Adagio called out.

Then, from the bushes, Enid came out with her gun drew on me.

"Enid... it's me." I said innocently.

"Dewy, don't make me kill you. Join us." Enid offered.

"No. I will not." I said.

"Then you give me no other choice." Enid said.

"NO!" Aria screamed as she tackled Enid and pointed her gun at Adagio.

BANG!

Adagio was gasping for breath as her heart was shot. She collapsed on the ground and Norman spat on her corpse and walked away. Aria did the same, Sonata looked in disgust and shook her head. I was last, with the one person who cause all of my family to die. I took my gun and bashed her head. I looked at Enid, who was unconscious. I picked her up and went with the others back home.

RICK'S P.O.V

We were preparing to attack New Canterlot and take them out. Before I could, Dewy came in carrying a stranger with Sonata and Aria.

"It's over, Rick. She's dead." Dewy said to me.

I stood there, relived that Carl was finally safe. Aria came up to me and handed me her gun.

"Keep your boy safe." Aria said.

Sonata and Norman came up last.

"She's dead?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm finally free, Rick. I'm free." Norman said holding Sonata's hand and walking away.

Celestia came behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Good job, Rick. We won." Celestia said.

"No. We didn't yet. More can come after us. Negan's still out there. This is just the beginning..." I said looking out the balcony and seeing a great, new future for me, my family, and my son.