Zombies 3
The three set back north, two of them proceeding with much more caution than the third. Dust strolled briskly ahead, humming as she took the lead, rolling the shoulder of her good leg as if warming up for a fight. Dash had no choice but to trust her confidence that Dust would be enough against whatever was sent after them. There was nopony else.
Dash managed to walk out unassisted, trying to appear in better health than she was but had to lean against Derpy again. Perhaps that was a mistake. Letting them see she was injured was something Dash could have spun in her favor as well and it only served to reinflame her considerable swelling.
And she couldn’t turn into an owl just now. Somepony had to be watching. Maybe she could do ravens, at least.
“Say. Do we even need those freaks for anything?” Dust asked. “At best, they’re worth maybe one and a half what me and my buddies are.”
“How do you still not get it?” Dash rubbed her throbbing head. The pain came and went. It was like different parts of her body were taking turns being sore after the beatings she’d taken. “This isn’t about Oakenfield or the Everfree being strong enough to help. It was never about that. It’s about building unity across Equestria.”
“I don’t see how that’s going to help even there,” said Dust.
“Because I know exactly how you think, remember?” Dash closed her eyes, relaxing a little. “If I get you to fight alongside them…”
Dust frowned a little, almost disturbed at the thought. But she knew there was merit in those words.
“And let’s keep the talking down,” Dash suggested. “That guy sent somepony after us.”
“What are you looking so worried for, eh Trashie?” Smiling, Dust bumped up against her. That nickname felt more and more affectionate. “Unless they send a witch at me, I can take whatever the Mad Science Cartel has.”
“Did you forget there was an entire enemy line to the north of us?” Dash asked. “Which he probably called the second we left the city?”
“Oh. Right. Be right back.”
Dust planted her hooves, then took off hard, flying high into the sky. She lingered only a second before coming crashing down to earth.
“Yeah, okay! They’re starting to circle us. Tons of air support,” said Dust. “My plan? I smash through the weakest side. Derpy, you fly off with Dash and I’ll catch up with you later. I can handle it.”
Derpy pointed to herself, a tad nervous at the prospect. Even with a mild distraction, losing a couple of hundred ponies wasn’t easy. The two would be helpless if something else caught them afterward. But Dust’s plan, simple as it was, really might be their best bet given limited time.
Though Dash still wished she could come up with a bigger distraction. Dash looked around at the zombies scattered about, already increasing in number thanks to the oncoming alignment. Briefly, that old bit about pretending to be zombies to get by came to her mind. But that sort of thing never worked in real life.
“There!” Dust’s eyes flashed and she pounced on something just behind a bush, shattering the ground about it with an electrified hoof.
Her moves were fast enough that Dash only just caught what she was reacting to at the last possible moment, just before the pony-like figure exploded into pieces. The way it broke apart bloodlessly was a little too familiar. Some kind of zombie. Couldn’t have been a normal one judging Dust’s reaction to it. None of the others nearby warranted a response.
Sure enough, its break became atypical. The limbs, all save the head, burst into mud, covering the area. Dust’s hooves sank deeper into the now-swampy terrain than Dash would have expected.
Then the zombies in the area turned toward the small group with sudden purpose. Not even Dash in her current, heavily wounded state, would worry about a few zombies. But them showing any kind of awareness was never a good sign.
More began to claw their way up all around them.
“We already got company.” Dust straightened out, turning to one pony in particular. The way this newcomer moved left no doubt she was still alive.
It looked like the mare had been caught in a grody old net, dragged freshly out of the swamp. Her ‘dress’ or whatever it was supposed to be, was made out of enough layers of thick netting to obscure her body entirely. Planks of driftwood found themselves tangled into those nets and on top she wore a crown with antlers. That last piece was a common emblem of a necromancer.
“It’s a good thing I sent a zombie out first.”
Dash recognized the voice, though not the appearance.
“Wait. Moondancer?” Dash stepped forward. “Weren’t you just…?”
“Please don’t say my name again.” Moondancer pulled the coverings over her face down just enough to reveal herself before pulling it back up. “I want ponies to think I’m another necromancer named Sorrow Swamp.”
“I remember that bitch.” Dust snorted. Raising her hoof from the mud. “I’ll be honest, I thought that’s who you were for a second.”
“I specifically learned a few of her trademark spells in secret for an occasion like this,” said Moondancer.
“Still I got no idea why you’d dress like her. Worst fashion I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m in a precarious possession,” Moondancer said. “I can’t publicly support you at the moment. I don’t have unlimited clout over the other ponies of the Everfree. But I do want you to win out over the Cartel even now. And I want to see with my own eyes your abilities as a tactician. So if you’ll allow me, I will help you so long as you agree to obscure my identity.”
If that was an option, Dash was taking it! That ability to turn zombies into mud already filled Dash with ideas. She needed to get better at not looking desperate for help at some point, though.
“They won’t get suspicious that you’re suddenly missing?” Dust asked.
“This isn’t something I tell just anypony,” said Moondancer, “but I have a double. A flesh golem made by the Mad Science League that looks similar to me. It’s enough to keep up appearances for a day or two.”
“And how do we know you’re not the double?” Dust accused her immediately.
“Would that make any kind of difference?” Moondancer asked.
It really didn’t.
“Well we’re definitely taking her,” said Dash.
“I’m against it,” said Dust. “Necromancers aren’t good people. I’ve seen all kinds of horrible things unleashed on the world by her ilk, even when they’re trying to ‘help’. Only a sicko would get into the practice. I don’t even think we need her in the first place. You and I can do this alone, Dash.”
“The feeling is mutual,” said Moondancer. “But I disagree with the part about not being useful.”
She focused her strength a bit more this time. Far more zombies came out of the ground, tearing it all up around them until piles of dirt and undead surrounded the group in every direction.
“Surely you know of the upcoming alignment,” said Moondancer. “The True Halloween isn’t far from now. That’s your deadline.”
“I know,” said Dash.
“One upside is that the alignment empowers necromancers and undead. Zombies will respawn far more rapidly.”
To prove her point, Moondancer turned her attention to the very zombie Dust had first destroyed. Already, without her aid, its body beneath the head had largely regrown. The bones were in place and now something like a black tar slowly built up around them.
It was a fascinating sight. Super zombies respawned so fast and normal zombies so slow that one never really got to see the process. With the slightest effort, Moondancer accelerated it even faster until it was whole again.
“Until the Bloodmoon ends, I can effectively control an unlimited army,” said Moondancer, “albeit a weak one. I feel Oakenfield should be safe enough at the moment that I can offer this to you instead.”
“Even if you have unlimited zombies, you don’t have unlimited energy,” said Dust. “You’ll get gassed eventually. And don’t get too excited about the exploding mud thing, Dash. The blood moon won’t help with that spell, I know from experience. She couldn’t keep that one up for long.”
“I won’t pretend I can, but I can do far more than you’d expect. Raising and reconstituting undead is already effortless for me,” said Moondancer. “And it will only get easier. I can already help you with this power. I can summon an enormous swell of zombies and turn them into a flood that will convert the ground into marsh at least once or twice, giving us enough cover to run past enemy lines in the confusion.”
That was better than Dust’s plan, which was good enough for Dash. She was sure their group could slip by with that.
“Dust, which point was the weakest when you looked?” Dash asked.
“Eleven o’clock.” Dust pointed in that direction.
“We have to go now before they react. They likely already noticed all these zombies coming up.”
Dash looked around at the swell of ponies around her, remembering her original plan to get rid of zombies in general. Such a thing would have to wait for now. The living could blend in well enough among the zombies for it not to be immediately apparent who was what.
Moondancer made a signal and the undead began a brisk gallop in the direction Dust pointed. Dash wouldn’t be able to keep up, so she went back to owl mode for the time being.
It wasn’t long before somepony noticed the approach. Gunshots erupted toward them. Artillery shells burst haphazardly all around. As warned, a significant number of pegasi swarmed above them, making an aerial escape impossible. But unable to spot the living, the fliers had to content themselves with dropping bombs down at the group for now.
Thankfully, with Dust around, Dash wouldn’t have to worry about strays. And with a wall of meat shields between her and the enemy, they wouldn’t be able to aim at her directly.
Shot zombies fell to the ground only briefly before getting back up. Even the ones completely blown to bits needed a minute or so to reconstitute.
It wasn’t long before the enemy line came into sight, ponies armed and standing in formation with artillery behind them. They managed to hold rank, but Moondancer’s swell was too much for them to hold back with their limited firepower. They’d only have one chance before significant reinforcements came from the left and right, too.
Only once Moondancer’s horde got close did she switch to using that mud spell. Upon death, the zombies now burst into mud and slime, and wherever is splattered, the ground turned into swampland. Their artillery sank rapidly and even the ponies struggled to keep their barrels above the muck. The wall of approaching muck simply incapacitated the entire ground column.
It was then the living ponies made their advance, staying ever-slightly airborne just a foot above the ground. With the opponent reeling from an unexpected flood of zombies and slime, they were able to rush straight through the line with barely a scratch.
The only problem was the airborne ponies, coming around now for a second wave of bombing. That they blasted the ground indiscriminately again made Dash sure they’d gotten to the other side unspotted by the ponies above.
And with Moondancer creating and spreading zombies out in every direction, they might just lose enough of them.
“That many zombies are exhausting to keep up,” Hissteria said. “They wouldn’t be able to approach the castle like that.”
“Maybe force Eclipse to get off her ass.” Hissteria turned his eyes cooly back towards the door. “She cares an awful lot about using that filly… which I’m sure Dash has a problem with.”
They didn’t lose all their pursuers, but enough. It seemed three pegasi had managed to go in the right direction and at last spotted the group… only for Dust to jump up and knock them all out of the sky with little effort.
“We got past them for now,” said Dust, coming back before the last of the three hit the ground, giving them no further attention. “What’s the plan?”
“Yes? Which of the two witches do you intend to defeat?” Moondancer asked. “There seem to be two ponies you don’t currently have the ability to fight against.”
Moondancer, too, looked at Dash curiously.
Three, though Moondancer didn’t know that. That weird filly could show up at any time and Dash needed to assume that was at least as powerful as a witch.
Dash could imagine getting the help of Sunset against one of the two and maybe winning there. But the second could always show up as reinforcements and Dash was massively outnumbered even without the witches. So she needed some way to separate them.
Embermoon was the easiest of the two. She was alone in a field instead of in a fortified castle. She was weaker than Eclipse and didn’t allegedly have access to some kind of mega-spell, or any hostages. She was right next to Sunset, who was Dash’s main piece in this fight.
It would be easiest…
No! That kind of thing was never Dash’s strong suit. She was only at her best when aiming high, biting off more than she could chew. Auntie Eclipse was the bigger deal, right? Yet even that wasn’t enough. Dash knew what she had to do now. There didn’t even seem to be another option at this point.
“Both of them,” said Dash. “At the same time.”
And as soon as she said it, Dash was back in her element. The plan came to her. The look from Dust and Moondancer, surprised yet honestly unsure if Dash could do such a thing, confirmed it.
“How we gonna do that, boss?” Dust asked. “At best we got Sunset who can fight one of the two. I mean on a good day maybe I’d be more up to it, but my leg is still a little throbby after that punch.”
“We have at least one other piece besides Sunset,” said Dash. “There’s someone else who can defeat a witch around here.”
“Who? Exactly?”
Dash took a deep breath, knowing what she was about to say was a bit crazy.
“Crater Cemetery.” Dash straightened up and looked toward the castle with defiance. “We’ll have them attack Eclipse.”
The announcement got the rapt attention of Moondancer and Dust both. Crater Cemetery itself was on the edge of the Everfree, not too far from their current location.
“There’s only two reasons they wouldn’t be going after Eclipse,” Dash said. “Either they think Starlight is a bigger threat or they don’t know Eclipse is ready to cast the Azoth spell. I just need to eliminate both of those.”
“That sounds super smart!” Derpy nodded along with it. “How do we do that?”
And she leaned in, ready for Dash to reveal the rest of her plan. Though some of those parts didn’t actually exist yet.
“Uh!” Dammit! Once again that feeling of looking at a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece came across Dash.
“Maybe your spook friend can put in a good word for us or something?” Dust smirked.
“I told you not to say that word!”
“Tch. I’m playing with you. But seriously. You better not be about to suggest we cross the enemy line again so you can try to give a friendship speech fucking Crater Cemetery. That didn’t even work on these weirdos.”
Dust did raise one good point. Not about the speech but about Fluttershy. That was on the right track. Dash needed some connection. What did Dash know about Crater Cemetery? What connections did Dash have to them?
Sonata came to mind. Sonata could… death curse? No! Something else.
“Fluttershy told me Crater Cemetery freed Sonata and kicked her out after they heard she abused the lucky coin,” said Dash, thinking out loud more than anything else.
“The what?” Dust asked.
Dash swatted at the air to keep her questions at bay.
“So they think Sonata is dangerous,” Dash concluded. She looked up to see the others not following. “The coin gives you good luck now in exchange for bad luck later.”
“Bad luck for whom?” Moondancer asked.
“I asked the same thing. Apparently, it’s whatever you would consider bad luck at the moment,” said Dash. “So for Sonata…”
Suddenly Nightmare Moon’s actions made sense.
“She was still brainwashed at the time! Bad luck for her would have been… something horrible happening to the one controlling her – to Nightmare Moon!” Dash looked around at the others. “Don’t you see? Sonata isn’t a liability! She’s got all this irony and anti-Crater Cemetery luck built up inside of her!”
“Oh, I get it!” said Dust. “We can trade her in for one free miracle against that psycho.”
“Not yet,” said Dash. “We use her to use Crater Cemetery to use the – uh. Okay, what I mean is this. If she’s ‘helping’ Eclipse with the spell and Sonata has miracle levels of luck built up inside of her then Crater Cemetery will be all like ‘holy crow we can’t let her do this’ and stuff.”
“Oh! That does make sense!” Derpy exclaimed with excitement. “Then they’ll be forced to destroy Eclipse before the spell can go off.”
Moondancer held onto her glasses and nodded in determination, acknowledging that would count as defeating the witch.
“Yeah. That sounds cool and stuff, but they probably already know Sonata works for you.” Dust pointed out.
“Gah!” Dash banged her head against a nearby tree.
Now it was like when you put in the last jigsaw puzzle piece only for another missing piece to appear.
Maybe the metaphor broke down at this point.
“Okay, I got that one too!” Dash straightened up. “We just need… to give them a win.”
Batton Pass stood on the outer wall of the castle looking out into the forest, somehow feeling she was on the defensive. It wasn’t entirely untrue. She only had to outlast her opponent. No reason to take any unnecessary risks. This was the time for caution.
The moment Batton Pass got word that Rainbow Dash was in Oakenfield, she launched an attack on that specter and banshee, now knowing they were meant only as a misdirection.
The results were middling. She learned how resilient the specter was in its battle doll. She managed to force it back. But Rainbow Dash appeared before any real damage could be done. Even still that small group was scattered, and Batton had ponies out searching for them even now.
Dash had already contacted Oaken Field, but the worst-case scenario Batton feared didn’t come true. Sunset alone had the power to defeat a witch here. She needed something to force that pony’s attention elsewhere…
Perhaps a reasonable offer could be reached with her.
A small group of Cartel soldiers came trotting up, taking Batton’s notice.
“Ma’am!” He called up to her. “We captured one of the ponies from Dash’s group!”
“I’m not captured!” The captive complained. “I went with you.”
Curious, Batton Pass flew down to the ground, Hissteria following shortly. It was the banshee, perhaps the least important as far as Batton could tell. The blue pony wasn’t restrained in any way but nevertheless did not attempt escape, though she was puffing her cheeks out in annoyance at her handler.
“Is there a reason to keep this one alive?” Batton Pass asked. “We already have enough hostages.”
“That’s Sonata Dusk,” said Hissteria. “I wouldn’t kill her immediately. She’s a member of the Noctilucent family and has been under Crater Cemetery’s control for a long time. She likely has valuable information we can extract.”
She nodded sternly, noting this pony no longer had those chains on her.
“How did you escape from her control?” Batton asked.
“Pinkie Pie has the power to break ponies out of the chains,” said Sonata. “I got freed, only for Fluttershy to try controlling me instead. I wanted to help you. I heard Eclipse is going to cast a spell that will destroy Crater Cemetery. I want its destruction more than anything in the world after what they did to me. I know things that might be able to help you.”
“It’s true that she didn’t put up a fight,” said the pony who ‘captured’ her.
“She was with Rainbow Dash,” Hissteria warned. “This has to be a spy.”
“What do you mean with Rainbow Dash? Don’t you know how ghosts work?” Sonata shouted up. “Fluttershy started controlling me right after I got free from Crater Cemetery. Specters have incredible control over us, especially when I’m weakened like that.”
It was plausible. But not good enough.
“Given Dash’s disposition,” said Batton, “I have to assume you are her friend and this is all part of some ploy. I will not allow you into our base under any circumstance.”
“I knew her for like ten seconds,” Sonata whined. “I don’t even think we’re acquaintances yet. But I was brainwashed by that monster for 50 years! Which do you think I care more about? I’m not even asking you to let me in! Just have Eclipse come out here so I can tell her what I know!”
Rainbow Dash had already gotten across their lines once. Batton Pass was not going to take any chances. Anypony with the stink of that one on her needed to be destroyed. But Perhaps Batton could learn something about what Dash was planning.
“If you want me to consider even that much then tell me what you know about Rainbow Dash!” She called down at the banshee. “Surely, you’ve seen something that would compromise her. What were they discussing when she intercepted our attack? If the two of you aren’t friends, then you’d have no qualms about betraying her.”
“Oh! I can do that one!” Sonata replied. “Okay, first of all, she can turn into an owl, that’s how she got past you in the first place.”
Keeping that a secret. Batton had been looking for crows.
“Um! Moondancer said if Dash could defeat another witch, then she’d switch sides. So they’re going after Embermoon, obviously, and they want to try to convince Sunset Shimmer to help. Lightning Dust and that Necromancer are going to try and up and around, but that’s just a distraction. Dash is going to use her owl thing again to try and sneak around going through Ponyville.”
Her smooth talking was perhaps a bit exaggerated. She failed to convert the denizens of the Everfree, at least for now. Still, Batton would take no chances.
“Very well. If what you said is true and we successfully intercept them… then I will allow you to help. Stay out in the forest until further notice.”
“Alright.” Sonata went back to the tree line.
“No! Like way, way back!” Batton pointed deeper into the woods. “At least a mile. And even after you can only send written notes to Eclipse.”
“Okay.” Sonata started backing up.
“Two miles,” Batton upped it, not liking how quickly she agreed. “Three! And you’ll be watched.”
Sonata kept slowly backing away, while Batton’s eye twitched. She couldn’t think of any way this could be a trick. Perhaps Eclipse would.
Far away from anypony else, as none of them wanted to approach her, Embermoon scratched at her left foreleg, still covered in fur, though heaps of it fell off with each scratch. That was how it started with her right leg, now black and covered entirely with chitin. It only it had stopped there. Holes began to open in it, one of which had eaten straight through that leg.
It was bad enough her fur was falling out and some exoskeleton growing in its place. Just when Embermoon had accepted she’d become a bug-pony, these holes began to appear. Her worry now was that they’d keep growing until there was nothing left.
What she looked like hardly mattered with her new powers. She could simply transform, but likely not from dead to alive.
Certainly, Embermoon was doing something wrong. She could eat and eat but never ceased to be hungry. The only other pony like her was Nailbat’s little spy and she wasn’t nearly as far along. So there was simply nopony to explain this new biology to her.
She’d have to figure it out somehow.
One of those cartel ponies came running up to her, Embermoon quickly reverting to her original form with a puff of green flames.
“We spotted Rainbow Dash in Ponyville,” he said. “Batton Pass wants to know if you’re willing to strike her down.”
Embermoon grimaced. Why was she taking orders from these lesser beings? Why was she fighting Rainbow Dash? Eclipse could deal with Nightmare Moon.
But certainly, Dash be a nuisance once it came time to go back to the Dark Circle. Best to deal with her now.
“You attack first,” said Embermoon. “I’ll go in from the side.”
There were two types of transformation. One purely cosmetic, where she could look like anypony she’d seen. The other was the true transformation, gaining the strength and abilities of that pony. The latter was much harder to maintain. Turning into somepony like Twilight or Eclipse was something she could hold onto for mere seconds.
She flipped through the first few ideas. Twilight. Rarity. Dash knew them too well and Embermoon too little.
Sunset Shimmer. Nailbat. Sunset’s second in command… Moonlight Raven. Her.
Embermoon transformed into that pony and galloped off.
Batton came to Eclipse with the news of Sonata Dusk allegedly defecting to help them. The story sounded plausible, and she would certainly be useful. However, as Eclipse glanced into her pocket where the feather was kept, her fine-tuned intuition could sense something wrong.
This feather. Sonata Dusk. Too many good things were happening at once. At least one was a trap.
Perhaps she had frightened Luster Dawn too much. But how could she possibly hope to betray Eclipse with the alicorn feather? Even Eclipse’s knowledge of such things was marginal at best.
They were near Twilight Sparkle’s home, however. Perhaps there was another spellbook, or perhaps mind fiber that would grant her knowledge. Yes, that was the only way. She had to assume her apprentice came into contact with such a pool of information.
As for Sonata. Rainbow Dash might have been trying to frighten Crater Cemetery by sending that pony over to her, making Eclipse a bigger target. Whatever information she could gain from Sonata would likely be too marginal to change the equation.
Part of her wanted to discard both advantages at once. But Starlight and Nightmare Moon were not to be trifled with either. She really would need every advantage to overcome them. And the lure of ever greater power was simply too extreme. Plus, it would make far more sense for Rainbow Dash to try and defeat Embermoon first.
She could tell based on the information Sonata gave if it were a trap. Were it a minor aid there would be no need for an intervention. If it appeared Sonata could be a major help, she could assume it really was a trap and for those ghosts to attack immediately.
In that scenario, she could kill Sonata, make sure Batton Pass died, and flee long before the danger approached. She had everything she needed. The ponies in the auxiliary bases with the artifacts, in disarray, would still cooperate to save their own lives against Crater Cemetery.
She watched Batton carefully, considering the best way to seamlessly off her in that scenario.
“The only thing I can think of,” said Batton, “is perhaps Sonata will feed you false information that will cause the spell to fail!”
That was good.
“I don’t think Rainbow Dash is stupid enough to sabotage that particular part of my plan alone,” said Eclipse. “And none of us know if we’ll be using it against Starlight or Crater Cemetery yet.
“We could force the truth and whatever information she has out of her! I have plenty of magic daggers that can slice ghosts to ribbons,” Batton suggested.
“In my experience, torture is an unreliable method of gathering information,” said Eclipse. “They’ll say what you want to hear, not what’s true. I will listen and discern what to use with caution.”
“Then what do you think we should do?” Batton asked.
“Have her write that not immediately,” said Eclipse. “I will discern its usefulness and know that she is acting in good faith if the interception is completed.”
Batton still had to think it over for a minute.
“If you think it’s a good idea.”
Eclipse nodded sternly.
Stats
Page generated in 0.023 seconds
Total duration
904 users online
1,063,957 hits today, 1,846,785 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
11906435
I almost forgot that old thing, remember people yapping about it on reddit and 4chan back in the day.
Nice. But I'm confused as to where sonata came from, I kind of lost track of her.
11915761
Sonata's been following Fluttershy for a while now.
So many plot points coming into play. But in the end, I just wanna see how Dash and Twilight resolve things.
3 and a half years later, we now have a sequel to Zombies 2.
Being lazy and wanting a more correct answer than trying to work it out myself, what is the naming convention of the chapters?
11915794
Zombies just haven't come up much since then. They're supposed to be like movie titles. Each one has a theme. Like Witches follows the Friday the 13th sequel names, Mad Science is Fast and Furious, Cultists is generic sequel suffixes, etc.
11915803
Another cliffhanger, have you no consideration of my suffering😂 either way awesome chapter
That's a good solution to one of their many problems. Once again, another great chapter.
The defection is too good to be true. Have some Frogurt.
The Frogurt is cursed.
Always a good day when there's a new AWIBD chapter :)
And as always, it's fun seeing Dash come up with plans so ridiculous that no-one expects them. Looking forward to the next update!
Well, today I realized who's she reminding me of:
Man, I thought she had some kind of Darkman-like powers.
I feel like we're forgetting something
all these villains scheming against each other, cant want for Discord to come in like a bull-dozer and steamroll everyone 😋