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What will Twilight and the others do to hold back the undead? \n\nThere's violence and scary stuff in this one so I'm giving it a mature/adult rating to be on the safe side. \n\nNo cupcakes. I promise. ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Lucifer Match, one of my OCs from Trixie's Education shows up in this one.  

Scary things are abroad in Ponyville.  What will Twilight and the others do to hold back the undead?  

There's violence and scary stuff in this one so I'm giving it a mature/adult rating to be on the safe side.

No cupcakes.  I promise.  ", "writing": "[center]The Queen’s Curse\nPart Two - Sunrise\nby Ixy[/center]\n\nTwilight stood in the empty street waiting for the sun to rise over the frosty horizon. It was a clear winter morning without a cloud in sight. The eastern sky was painted in the pastel colors of Celestia’s mane. She checked her saddlebags one last time. It felt strange to wear unfamiliar bags. They were a fancy waterproof and fireproof model with no cutie marks. Spike huddled on her back, wrapped in a scratchy fireproof scarf. \n\nLucifer Match trotted up, snowshoes crunching in the snow. “Ready to go?” he asked. \n\n“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Twilight said. She felt herself blushing a little. \n\nThe two trotted down the street with their hooves kicking up the fresh snow. There was hardly a track to be found until they neared the edge of Ponyville. \n\n“There hasn't been any zombie activity near Ponyville,” Twilight said, “Everypony is staying inside just in case.” \n\nThe two reached the point where Zecora had collapsed. A thin coating of snow had covered the pony tracks from the night before. Twilight's hoof crunched on a pair of nose glasses hidden beneath the carpet of white. They followed Zecora’s hoofprints back to the edge of Ponyville. Twilight took the lead and headed down the path into the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t a well worn path but on this morning it was easy to follow. \n\nLucifer examined the tracks as they walked. The wide flat track of a toboggan had cleared the way during the snowstorm. “There are an awful lot of tracks from little fillies on this path,” he said, “The one set of larger tracks headed into Ponyville has to be from the zebra. Hers overlap some of the smaller ones.” \n\nTwilight looked down at the tracks, which had been partly covered by fresh snow. Her horn glowed briefly. Each track near her sparkled and showed a little glowing horseshoe indicating its direction. “[i]Three[/i] little fillies,” she said, “It has to be Applejack’s sister Applebloom and her friends. They’re quite a hooffull.” \n\nLucifer nodded. “It looks like they came back before Zecora came into town. They should be home in bed this morning.” \n\n“That’s a good thing,” Twilight said. Then she remembered something. “They were riding in a toboggan yesterday with Scootaloo pushing it along using her wings. It looks like they went out that way and came back on hoof. That’s odd. Why would they leave their sled at Zecora’s?” \n\n“A pegasus pushing a sled with her wings?” Lucifer asked. \n\n“Err, well she rides a scooter that way too. She isn’t ready to really fly yet.” \n\nThey continued in silence for some time. The forest surrounding them was silent. At one point there was a large impression where Zecora must have put her package down in the snow to rest. It completely obscured tracks left by the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their sled. The toboggan track left the path near Zecoras but the returning CMC tracks came directly from there. That odd fact puzzled Twilight further. \n\nTwilight looked around nervously as they approached Zecora’s house. From a distance things looked normal. Coming closer she could see the door broken open and an unfamiliar lump covered with snow near it. \n\nLucifer examined the lump. He brushed snow away from it, revealing a protruding hoof covered with green verdigris. “Bronze shoes,” Twilight said, “Nopony has worn those in centuries.” The thing didn’t move. The stallion slipped his forehoof out of his snowshoe. His hoof was suddenly surrounded with an aura of blue flame. The snow melted away as he swept his hoof over the prone figure. The melting snow revealed the body of a partly decomposed headless earth pony with a hatchet buried in the stump of its neck. \n\nTwilight examined the steaming corpse. She gasped when she spotted a torn cape under the body. Twilight levitated it out from beneath the fallen creature’s flank. It was dark blue and lined with gold silk. Twilight turned it to look at the crest messily sewn on. “Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she said. \n\n“What’s a Cutie Mark Crusader?” Lucifer asked incredulously. \n\n“Those three fillies,” she cried, “They must have been here when the zombie attacked! Spike!” \n\n“Okay, okay,” he said. The dragon pulled a blank piece of paper from her saddlebag and had a quill out in a moment. \n\n“Princess Luna,” Twilight dictated, “Please have somepony check on Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They should be in Ponyville but I found a cape belonging to one of them under the zombie’s headless body at Zecora’s house. They may have been injured by it. Twilight Sparkle.” \n\n“I just hope they haven’t been bitten,” she said. She put her hoof to her head. \n\n“[i]I[/i] hope they haven’t unleashed an ancient evil [i]again[/i],” Spike said. \n\n“Again?” Lucifer asked. \n\nTwilight sighed. “Don’t ask. Please just don’t. Send that, Spike.” \n\nThe dragon rolled up the paper and slipped a seal onto it. He breathed out and the scroll vanished in a puff of green flame that floated off toward Ponyville. \n\n“Should we burn the body?” Lucifer asked. \n\n“I think so,” she said, “It’s not moving but we should be cautious. I think she deserves a proper end too.” \n\nLucifer nodded, then lowered his head. A globe of flame appeared around his horn. He didn’t launch it as Twilight had seen him do in the past. The swirling flames fell from his horn onto the corpse. The frozen zombie crackled and steamed before it started to burn. It sizzled and burned for many long minutes until it was reduced to a small pile of ash. Only the bronze shoes and glowing iron hatchet head remained. \n\nWhen the work was done they went inside. Everything was in disorder. It looked worse than it had after the first time Twilight had visited. Bottles lay broken on the floor and a large pot of potion was overturned. Green goo puddled beneath it. There were spatters of blood and bloody hoofprints on the floor. The masks decorating the place looked creepier than ever. One was broken in half. \n\nThe two ponies looked over everything. There was no sign of more zombies inside. They went outside and circled the house where they found more tracks. They found many adult size hoofprints near the house and three sets of smaller tracks approaching from the forest. Another set of larger tracks followed them. \n\n“Look at the way the small tracks are spaced,” Lucifer said, “The fillies ran here out of the forest. The tracks of the zombie following them show she was moving slower.” \n\nTwilight looked around nervously at the surrounding forest. She levitated a map out of her saddlebag. “They came from the direction of the necropolis,” she said, “So it looks like we’ll be backtracking the CMCs.” She cast tracking spell with a flourish of violet light. The snow-covered tracks lit up and a trail of sparkles led into the forest. \n\n“You’ll have to tell me more about these three,” Lucifer said, “If those fillies have been running around unleashing ancient evil they must be pretty interesting.” \n\nTwilight found herself more willing to talk now that Lucifer had broken the ice. “Well,” she began, “They’re three fillies who haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet.” She continued as they walked deeper into the forest. She told him the story of the cute-ceñera, the sleepover at Fluttershy’s cottage when she had been turned to stone, and the tale of the talent contest when they had put on an unintentionally comical performance. \n\n“[i]Those[/i] are the three who unleashed…?” he asked. \n\n“The very same. If two of them weren’t siblings of element wielders I think they would’ve been exiled from Equestria for that alone. I can’t imagine they just [i]happened[/i] to be in the forest and were chased by a zombie. It’s too coincidental.” The tiny tracks led deeper into the forest and closer to the mountain of the necropolis. Then the two unicorns spotted a set of fresh tracks. \n\nThey approached cautiously. A set of adult size tracks crossed those of the CMCs. They were oddly irregular and whatever it was only had three hooves. “A tripod,” Lucifer said, “it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up to it.” He took the lead and followed the plainly visible tracks. Within minutes they could see a figure slowly hopping along in the distance. \n\nAs they came closer they could see it was a unicorn. Its horn was splintered with a shiny silver horn ring at its base. The broken horn made Twilight shudder. The thing didn’t notice them as they came closer. It just hopped along in a random course through the trees, bumping into one tree trunk after another. There was no question it was a zombie. Lucifer moved in fast. His mane and tail erupted in flame as he ran. The thing didn’t notice him at all. Lucifer came to a stop within twenty hooves of it. \n\nThe creature stopped its three-legged hopping. It turned its head toward the blazing unicorn that confronted it. Twilight could see it had no eyes. Until that moment the journey had seemed like an adventure like many others she had been on. Suddenly she wanted to run straight back to Ponyville. It was one thing to gallop off to battle evil. It was another thing to encounter this terrifying sightless stallion. Its eyeless face and shattered horn gave her the shivers. \n\nThe thing hopped toward Lucifer. It had an oddly peaceful expression on what was left of its face. The thing moved forward as if it welcomed the flames. The firey unicorn let out a draft of fire breath at it. The desiccated creature instantly burst into flame. It just stood there as it burned. The unicorn stood still until its single hind leg gave way and it collapsed into the snow. Lucifer extinguished himself and stood watching the pile of bones burn. \n\nThe horn ring glittered among the flames. Twilight levitated it out of the embers of burning bone. It was perfectly cool. The elaborately carved silver ring shone in the sunlight and was completely untouched by the heat. “It’s enchanted with an impervious spell,” she said, “Perhaps Luna can identify this as well. It almost looks like something she'd wear herself.” She slipped the ring into her saddlebag. Doing something sensible made her feel better for a moment. It might have been better if she had brought artifact tags so she could label and catalog the ring. That was something she'd have to remember for the next time. She floated a notepad out of her bag and wrote a note about it. \n\nLucifer trotted off in the direction of the mountain, which was now becoming visible through the leafless trees. Twilight felt rooted to the spot. Her hocks quivered. Lucifer was so fearless after confronting such a creepy thing. She watched him with admiration. \n\nTwilight felt so strange and fearful. She had never felt quite that way before. In a moment her shivery fear was replaced by an icy dagger of terror. There was another zombie moving quickly through the trees. It rushed toward Lucifer from behind. \n\nShe screamed, “Look out behind you!” as she ran toward it. Spike tumbled off her back into the snow. Without thinking, her horn blazed and a great globe of purple fire shot at the thing. It caught the cadaverous earth pony in the hindquarters. It fell to the snow as it burst into flame. \n\nIt struggled to right itself with its forelegs. Its head contorted as the fire spread up its body. Twilight launched another globe of fire as she ran. This time it was hit straight in the chest. Its neck twisted and its head fell into the snow. The snow extinguished its burning mane. The two unicorns stood over the burning creature. The head and a long section of neck struggled in the snow. \n\nTwilight slipped out of her snowshoe and raised her forehoof. “[i]I’m[/i] finishing this one off,” she said. Her hoof blazed white hot. She brought it down on the struggling head and heard a loud cracking sound with satisfaction. She stomped on it until there was nothing left but smoldering fragments. \n\nLucifer looked up at Twilight. “Thank you,” he said quietly, “I think you saved my flank.” \n\nTwilight swallowed hard. The fear that had stricken her a moment before was gone. Now there was something else. She looked into the stallion’s eyes. There was a burning flame there. She could see the warmth she felt in her heart reflected in his eyes. The two stood there for a long moment. \n\n“We had better be careful,” Twilight said. She felt herself blushing. Traces of fire rippled through her mane. \n\nLucifer nodded. She could tell he felt it too. “We had better watch each other’s rears,” he said. Twilight blushed more. He nuzzled her cheek. \n\nTwilight looked around warily. “I don’t see any more of them,” she said. \n\n“Then we had better go find some,” Lucifer said. The two trotted off through the snow. A tiny dragon ran to Twilight’s side and hopped on her back. “Tailgunner in position,” he said. \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\n“I don't think she's seen us,” Applebloom whispered, “Maybe if we just stay quiet and pretend we aren't here she'll go away.” \n\n“Look who's chicken now,” Scootaloo whispered, “You were so brave when you bucked that seal. Now you can't face your sister.” \n\n“You've got to tell her the truth,” Sweetiebelle whispered. \n\n“Shut up shut up shut up!” Applebloom hissed, “We're going to get in real trouble if they find out. I just hope Zecora is okay.” The foal's eyes were filled with tears. The bow on her head was torn and still soggy from the snow. \n\n“Applebloom!” Applejack shouted from below, “I know you're in there little missy! Come the heck down here or I'm coming up after you!” \n\nThey could hear hooves on the ramp going up to their clubhouse. Suddenly Applebloom burst into tears and ran to her sister. “Oh Applejack!” she cried, “We've done a really, really bad thing!” \n\n“We?” Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle asked in unison. \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nTwilight and Lucifer zeroed in on the source of the zombies easily. Backtracking the two they'd encountered led them to a gateway into the necropolis. It was a corbeled arch made of huge stones with enormous unicorn figures on either side. The wall surrounding the necropolis was at least thirty hooves high and ten hooves thick made of cyclopean stones set tightly without mortar. Large trees grew on its top. \n\nA toboggan sat beside the gate. The tiny CMC tracks could be seen going in and back out as well. “I guess that removes all doubt,” Twilight said. \n\nThe two unicorns walked inside. The slopes of the mountain were heavily wooded. Here and there among the trees grave markers could be seen standing crookedly. The doors of many tombs stood open. Twilight followed the filly tracks uphill. Their hoofprints heading up the hill wandered from side to side. The tracks heading out came straight down toward the gateway with many slip and slide marks. \n\nAs they climbed higher there were more and more adult size tracks. Life-size statues among the trees startled them but proved to be inanimate. Twilight bucked the head off one stone stallion just to make sure. \n\nThey reached the end of both sets of CMC tracks. A massive tomb door stood open. A broken seal lay in the snow among many hoofprints. Twilight turned pieces of it over in the air. She could make out bits of sigil but couldn’t piece together what the whole had looked like. \n\nLucifer cast a glow from his horn into the doorway. At first nothing was visible inside but soon many pairs reflective eyes appeared. “Uh, those are bats in there, right?” he asked Twilight. \n\nTwilight backed away. “I'm not crazy about bats,” she said awkwardly. \n\nLucifer stepped forward. “We don't mean to disturb you bats but we…” he began to say until his words were cut off by a strange sound. A deep growling followed by an echoing ululation emanated from the darkness. “Uhh, I think it might be timberwolves,” he said. \n\nLucifer backed away in terror as a crowd of rotting ponies emerged from the doorway. They jostled each other trying to get out. Only crowding in the narrow entrance prevented them from pouring out in a large group and overwhelming the two unicorns. \n\nTwilight snorted and her mane and tail turned to flame. Spike jumped off her back and scrambled up a tree carrying her saddlebags. Lucifer recovered himself and his mane burned bright as well. The snow quickly melted away from their hooves. \n\n“Lets do this,” Twilight said. Her whole body glowed white hot. A vortex of flame gathered around her horn and she directed it at the doorway. The first ponies to exit became a swirl of burning body parts. Flaming hooves and bits of wing flew in all directions. The vortex poured deep inside. A blowtorch of flame flowed from the entrance. Tree roots that had grown around the ancient stones shed their bark in a shower of burning embers and began to char. Lucifer added his fire. He sent one fireball after another into the aperture. \n\n“Twilight!” Spike yelled from his place in the tree, “Behind you!” \n\nTwilight spun in time to see three earth ponies approaching from downhill. She cast circles of fire beneath each pony. They burst into flame as their burning legs were swept from under them. Lucifer turned to see a partly skeletal pegasus descending toward them. A great ball of flame cast from his horn shattered its body, leaving a pair of burning wings that tumbled toward the snow. Before the wings hit the ground there were more zombies coming out of the tomb. Most were already on fire. \n\nBoth unicorns directed their fire at the newly emerging creatures. Twilight bucked the head off a unicorn that got too close. Thin streams of green flame from up in the tree set many alight. More and more poured out of the tomb. The snow melted in the heat and the whole area became a morass of sticky mud. Twilight slid and fell at the base of an ancient oak tree. Her hoof twisted painfully among its roots. A shower of burning bark fell on her and stuck to the bubbling mud already covering her coat. Her burning mane faded to a soaked mess of ordinary horsehair. \n\nLucifer launched one fireball after another at the creatures but they appeared faster than he could put them down. A group of huge stallions charged out of the tomb. The skeletal earth ponies were wearing iron armor and carried rusty swords in their teeth. Lucifer quickly set them on fire. One swung at him with a sword that glowed orange from the heat. \n\nTwilight reignited herself and shook off the burning debris. Glowing lines of force emerged from her horn and engulfed the undead soldiers, drawing them into a tight group. Their armor stuck together, holding them still. She launched a thick stream of flames that roasted them all, fusing their armor into a lump of slag. Bits of bone and charred weapons fell into the mud. \n\n“You’ve got to get out of here!” Spike called from above, “There are more coming up the hill!” \n\nTwilight spun and saw the ponies coming closer. “Lucy!” she cried, “We’ve got to go! We can’t stop them all!” Spike jumped onto her back and immediately sent a burst of green flame at a zombie Twilight hadn’t seen. It collapsed in a burning heap as its head exploded. \n\nLucifer ran past her heading downhill. A swirling tornado of flame drew around him. He charged into the group approaching from down the hill and swept them aside. Twilight followed in his muddy hoofprints. Burning zombie parts fell into the snow and set more trees on fire. Before Lucifer could do more a pegasus dropped onto his back. \n\nTwilight screamed and let loose a stream of fire in the same breath. It turned the pegasus into a pile of tumbling bones before it could bite. More zombies emerged behind them. Spike hung on to Twilight’s back and launched bursts of flame at their pursuers. It didn’t do much good. Fresh undead ponies stepped over the burning ones and kept on coming. Another squad of ponies in armor crashed through the trees swinging war axes. \n\nThe two unicorns ran downhill in a complete panic. They followed their own tracks and those of the CMCs back to the gateway. When they got there they found half a unicorn standing on its forelegs in the gateway. A fireball turned it into a pile of burning bones. They dashed through and stopped beside the discarded toboggan. \n\nTwilight and Lucifer stood panting in the snow. Both their fires were fading. Twilight turned back toward the ancient gate. Beyond it there was a wave of movement coming downhill among the trees. Zombies were still chasing them. Her horn glowed brightly and cast off a vortex of whirling light. Her glow engulfed the ancient stones. The mortarless arch shuddered and collapsed into a pile of rubble, blocking the gate and sending bits of splintered tree root flying. \n\nThe unicorns stood panting, staring at the pile of ancient stones. Soon they heard the sound of many ponies crashing against it and making strange feral sounds. There were moaning noises and the sound of pounding hooves. The stones didn’t give under their assault. \n\n“We’ve… got to,” Twilight panted, “tell… Luna.” She turned to Spike. \n\nThe tiny dragon looked like he'd just swallowed a bug. “I’m sorry, Twilight,” he said, “I left the saddlebags in the tree.” \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nRainbow Dash looked down at the milling mass of ponies below. Armored earth ponies and pegasi walked aimlessly among the trees. They had mashed down the melting snow into a gray mess. A large group of zombie unicorns in tattered robes stood near an opening in the ground with more zombies coming out of it. They encircled a huge alicorn with rotted wings. The unicorns were doing something to her skeletal wing bones. \n\nA pegasus looked up at Rainbow and flapped the stumps of its missing wings, trying to fly. It snarled at her angrily. Another was cruising along just above the treetops. It spotted the living pegasus and pursued. Rainbow easily outflew him and circled back toward the mountain. \n\nAlmost all the zombie ponies were on the east side. They were coming out of the large opening near the top and heading downhill. The tide of ponies pressed against a thick wall encircling the mountain. She could see two unicorns beyond the wall who seemed to be on fire. Bursts of flame licked the top of the wall. Rainbow steered clear of them and climbed back toward the mountaintop. \n\nShe spotted something in a tree near the mysterious opening. Rainbow swooped down and grabbed a set of saddlebags from the highest branches of the tree. She didn’t recognize them. They looked nice and clean, which nothing on the ground did. The earth below the tree was a mass of mud and burnt body parts. She slipped the saddlebags onto her back and fastened the buckle. The straps rubbed against the base of her wings. Obviously the bags weren’t made for a pegasus. The pony who left them behind couldn't have been a pegasus he or she might be dead or undead among the milling zombies. She shuddered in flight. \n\nThe blue pegasus flew low over the wall on the west side where there were very few zombies. A gateway stood open there. She landed on the top of a fearsome looking stone pegasus atop the arch. Several sets of tracks led through the gateway and off into the forest. \n\nRainbow looked at a spreading white oak tree growing right by the opening and got an idea. She flew across into its limbs and bounced on a big rotten one until it cracked. In moments it crashed down across the gateway. It wasn’t perfect but it blocked the opening pretty well. She couldn’t see any zombies nearby. \n\nShe took off again and saw three flying figures in the distance. One was dark, the other two shined bright in the sunlight. She climbed to join them. \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nTwilight and Lucifer walked along the length of the wall. There were ominous noises from the other side. There was a sound of explosions in the distance and a constant background noise of ponies milling around in the snow. \n\nThen she saw what she was afraid of. The skull-like head of a pony looked down at her from the top of the wall. She sent a thin stream of fire at it. She missed and only set some vines and tree roots on fire. Twilight hit her target on the second try. The unicorn burned until it collapsed. Its charred head fell into the snow beside her. Its jaw opened and closed uselessly. \n\nThere was a crashing sound behind Twilight. A zombie had jumped off the wall and plummeted through tree branches. It fell into the snow with a plop. In a moment it was on its hooves and ambling toward her. The thing was soaking wet and moving too fast. After the earlier battle the unicorn could barely conjure more fire. She screamed in fear and started running away from it. She looked around nervously as she ran and spotted something coming down from the sky. “Lucy! Incoming!” she shouted. \n\nLucifer stood in place looking up as she galloped toward him. He was smiling. “I think the cavalry is coming,” he said. \n\nA fireball came down from above and slammed into the pony pursuing Twilight. The undead creature shattered in a spray of burning limbs. Five more fireballs hit the top of the wall. A burning severed leg fell into the snow at Lucifer’s hooves. It wore a jade anklet. A flaming winged stallion soared overhead and disappeared behind the trees. \n\nA pegasus made of flame swooped down and landed next to them. The only part of her that wasn’t brightly burning was a pair of dark goggles. “Hello there Twilight. I haven’t seen you since the gala,” she said. \n\n“Spitfire?” Twilight asked. \n\n“The very same,” she said and bowed curtly. She pulled back her goggles with a hoof and her flames went out, leaving her looking the same but less luminous. \n\n“I’m so glad you’re here!,” Twilight cried, “Things are going pretty badly and Spike left my gear behind.” She ran forward and embraced he pegasus mare. \n\nRainbow Dash and Cinder landed next to Spitfire. \n\n“The saddlebags!” Twilight cried. Then she looked embarrassed. \n\nSpike splashed through the mud to Rainbow and pawed at the saddlebags on her back. \n\n“Spitfire, Rainbow, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. \n\n“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Rainbow said, “Those zombies are having a party on the other side of the wall. There are thousands of them and some can fly.” \n\nTwilight nodded. “They’re coming out of an unsealed tomb. It looks like the CMCs broke it open.” \n\n“What?” Rainbow asked, “Not [i]again[/i].”\n\n“That’s what [i]I[/i] said,” put in Spike, who was unloading paper and seals from the saddlebags Rainbow Dash wore. The flaming stallion flew overhead pursuing a burning zombie pegasus. \n\n“It looks like they broke a magical seal. I couldn't read the remains of the sigil,” Twilight said, “There are zombies pouring out but the wall is holding them for now. I collapsed the gate we came out of but I don’t know how many gates there are. Luna mentioned one on the west. There may be sections of the wall that are down or places they can climb over.” \n\n“We reconned the area around the mountain and saw tracks everywhere,” Spitfire said, “Lots of them have already escaped.” \n\nRainbow said, “I did my best to close up the gate on the west side but some have already gotten out there too.” \n\nTwilight shook her head. “I have to send a report to Luna,” she said, “Spike?” \n\nThe dragon already had a quill at the ready. Spitfire looked up and casually spat a volley of fireballs into the air. Charred feathers and horseshoes rained down in the distance. \n\nTwilight dictated, “Princess Luna. Lucifer and I have found the tomb. It has been broken open and it looks like the fillies I sent you a message about earlier were responsible. Thousands of zombies are coming out. We burned some but there are far too many for us to handle. I’ve collapsed the East gate and the West gate is blocked. The wall is holding most of them for now. Some can fly and others are finding ways out. Lucifer and I are nearly exhausted. We’re grateful for the assistance of the pegasi and your guard. Twilight Sparkle.” \n\nTwilight turned to Spitfire. She asked “Would you like to add to it? You’ve seen the situation from the air.” Spike pulled out a second sheet of paper. \n\nSpitfire seemed surprised. “Yeah, sure,” she said, “Okay. Dear Princess Luna, there are zombies all over the forest and some are trying to fly away. Thousands are milling around on the mountain. I’ve shot down a few dozen but they’re pouring out of a door in the ground so fast nopony can stop them. There’s a big alicorn with messed up wings there too with some unicorns in robes doing something to her. I think they're putting her wings back together by ripping the feathers off pegasi. It's really disturbing. Err, Spitfire.” \n\nSpike finished writing with a flourish. “I made it sound a little better,” he said. He rolled up both sheets of paper and slipped a seal with the letter L on it onto them. He expelled a tired looking puff of green flame and the message winged its way toward Ponyville. \n\n“Spitfire, “ Twilight asked, “There's an alicorn in there?” \n\n“Oh yeah,” she responded, “There's a princess sized alicorn by that opening. It looks like the unicorns around her are ripping the wings off zombie pegasi and putting the bits together to fix her wings somehow.” \n\nTwilight looked shocked. “So, what do we do now?” she asked. \n\n“We wait,” said Cinder. The other ponies had forgotten he was there. “Orders from headquarters,” he said, “So long as we aren’t being overrun we should wait and try to hold the zombies. We’re to wait until noon if possible.” He took pairs of dark goggles from around his neck and passed them out. “I don’t know what they’re for but Luna said everypony would need them,” he said. \n\n“Rapidfire and I came to contain things until then,” Spitfire said, nodding toward the sky, “Princess Luna has somepony coming to take care of things. I don’t know how.” \n\nRainbow put on a pair of goggles and dumped the saddlebags and Spike off her back. She said, “I’ve got my own orders. There’s the biggest gullywasher you ever saw coming from the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. By afternoon this place will be underwater. I’ve got to guide the teams in. I’ll see you all later!” She took off in a streak of rainbow and quickly vanished in the distance. \n\nTwilight looked up at the sky. It would be an hour or so until noon. She rummaged in the saddlebags looking for her sundial/compass and declination table. \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nA golden chariot descended from the clear blue sky and touched ground in Ponyville’s town square. Princess Celestia stepped out into the snow. Luna was waiting to greet her. “Welcome, dear sister,” she said. \n\nCelestia nodded. “It’s not the best circumstance for a visit,” she said. \n\nCelestia turned to her sister. “Are the firefighters ready?” she asked. \n\n“As ready as they’ll be. I’ve ordered everypony to prepare fireproof barriers and passed out eclipse goggles. We’re as ready as we can be.” \n\nCelestia nodded. “There’s bound to be damage even so,” she said. \n\n“The pegasi have spotted [i]her[/i] from the air,” Luna said. \n\n“Has she flown?” Celestia asked. \n\n“Not yet. Her wings are still skeletal but it looks like her clerics are repairing them. It won’t be long.” \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nTwilight glanced at her sundial where it sat atop an ancient broken pillar. Less than half an hour remained until noon. The sun continued to climb into the sky and it was unusually hot. The snow that was so clean and crisp in the morning was rapidly melting into gray puddles. Spitfire soared overhead pursuing a rogue pegasus. It dodged several blasts before taking a hit to its wing and spiraling into the ground. Cinder was trying to get an earth pony head lying on the ground to burn with his fire breath. It just sizzled and shed bits of burning hair. The goggles hanging around Twilight’s neck bobbled as she walked sullenly on the muddy ground. Spike gathered bits of wood and piled them over a severed unicorn head. \n\nThe remains of many zombies lay scattered around in the mush. Several heads squirmed in the melting snow. The zombies were hard to burn on the wet ground. It was less effort to decapitate them with magic and just let the heads lie in the gray mush. Twilight's mood became increasingly sour. If something didn’t happen soon it would be impossible to contain the army of undead ponies. \n\nTwilight got out her binoculars and looked around. An earth pony zombie with a broken leg was ambling through a clearing in the distance. There was more activity on the mountain. She could see more zombies there than ever. Then she spotted a glint of light in the direction of Ponyville. She tried to look at it with the binoculars but its light hurt her eyes. It shined like a star in the daytime. The mysterious flier came closer until she could feel the heat emanating from it on her face. It was surrounded by a massive magical aura. \n\nThe purple unicorn stood transfixed by its beauty. She could feel herself strangely energized by its glow. Her mane rippled with fire and she could feel her hide begin to glow. She didn’t feel tired and dispirited anymore. The winged figure descended and landed gracefully in the mud before her. The last traces of snow vanished in a puff of steam. “Twilight,” she said, “It’s good to see my favorite student again.” \n\nThe trance was broken. Twilight looked startled and bowed. “Princess!” she cried. Spike hid behind her, goggles already in place. \n\n“Yes, Twilight. I’ve come to help.” \n\nTwilight bowed deeply. \n\n“Please, Twilight. You’ve done so much for Equestria, including all you’ve done today. Now it’s my turn to put my hooves into things directly. Only unleashing the full power of the sun will end this horror before it spreads. If the queen escapes she will lead her army of the undead forth like a swarm of bees to conquer Equestria. I won't let that happen again.” The mud around Twilight’s hooves began to boil. She gazed into Celestia’s softly glowing eyes. The warmth of the princess filled her with joy. \n\nSpitfire landed beside Twilight with her goggles on. She bowed to the princess. Lucifer trotted up beside her and did the same. Cinder put on his goggles and bowed from a distance. His armor was glowing dull orange. \n\nCelestia looked around at the gathered ponies and spoke up. “All of you need to leave this place,” she said, “You’ve done your parts. Now it’s time for me to do mine. Twilight and Lucifer, you need to teleport back to Ponyville. Cinder and Spitfire, you need to fly as fast as you can. All of you need to be in a safe place by noon when the sun's power is greatest.” \n\n“Princess?” Twilight asked, “What are you going to do?” \n\n“I’m going to put an end to this. These sad creatures and their mistress have been contained here for long enough. There is only one power in Equestria that can destroy them permanently.” Her pastel colored mane had become the color of pure sunlight. She levitated Twilight’s goggles and put them over the unicorn’s eyes. “Now go. I want you to be safe.” She kissed Twilight on the head. The smaller mare’s mane would have burst into flame if it weren’t already engulfed. \n\nTwilight nodded reluctantly. She looked at Lucifer. He looked back at her for a moment before disappearing in a globe of flame. The two pegasi took off into the clear blue sky. Spitfire was a glowing streak in a moment. The other climbed more slowly, leaving a thin trail of smoke. \n\n“Princess, please…” Twilight began. \n\n“Don’t worry, Twilight,” she said, “I’ll be fine. The sun must rise and extinguish the darkness.” She spread her wings of pure white light. “Leave now. You won’t be able to survive if you stay here,” she said quietly. \n\nTwilight nodded sadly. She and Spike vanished in a purple flash. \n\n[center]• • •[/center]\n\nA brightly shining unicorn and tiny dragon flashed into existence in the town square. Goggled ponies scattered in panic. A nearby wagon loaded with bales of hay burst into flame. Spike ran and jumped into a public trough. The water instantly boiled around his body. “Aaaaah,” he sighed. \n\nPonies drawing a fire wagon rushed into the square and unfurled a hose. Within moments they had doused the burning wagon. They turned their hoses on Twilight, whose glowing body cast off waves of steam as it returned to its normal purple hue. The hosing turned her mane into a tangled soggy mess. \n\n“Looking good, Twilight,” Spike said from his place in the trough. \n\nTwilight shook herself, spraying sooty water from her mane. She spun and stared in the direction of the Everfree Forest, a look of great concern in her face. Despite the noontime glare and the after-images of the princess still seared into her eyes she could see a powerful glow coming from the forest. Smoke rose all around it. \n\nA hoof touched her shoulder. “Twilight,” Princess Luna said quietly, “Don't worry. My sister will take care of things.” \n\n“Luna!” Twilight practically shouted, “What's she doing? I assumed she'd bring the Elements of Harmony. What else could stop this horrible situation?” \n\n“Now I [i]know[/i] you couldn't make out the seal on that tomb, Twilight. It was the five-sided figure of the Elements themselves. You see, long ago I bested the queen in combat and she fell to my horn. When her followers laid her to rest, intending for her to rise again, Celestia and I used the elements to seal them all inside.” \n\n“Aha!” Twilight exclaimed, “So we can use the Elements to seal them back inside!” \n\nLuna shook her great head sadly. “Not this time, child,” she said, “The queen is out and her followers walk the land. It's too late for that. They must all be destroyed.” \n\n“B-but the princess…”\n\n“She's doing what she must. During my exile she couldn't risk herself this way but now that I'm back and in my right mind…” \n\n“Nooooo!” Twilight cried. Tears welled in her eyes. “Celestia? Nononono, she can't die!” \n\nTwilight tried to run toward the forest but Luna winked in front of her in a cloud of deep blue light. “Stop, child!” she commanded. Her words knocked Twilight to her knees. “The only way to stop the queen now is to unleash Celestia's limitless power,” Luna continued, “The whole mountain must burn with everypony inside it before the queen escapes with her hordes. You don't realize her power or how many thousands of undead followers there are. Now that the seal is broken they cannot be contained the same way again. If that means my sister must sacrifice herself she is willing to do so.”\n\n“Celestia!” Twilight cried. She pawed at the mushy snow pitifully, staring at the great glow in the distance. A teleportation aura grew around her body only to pop like a soap bubble. \n\nLuna's horn glowed angrily. “If you go to her you will only doom yourself. I won't let you do that!” Luna shouted, “You forget the ancient tales, Twilight; the god may die and be reborn but the goddess only waxes and wanes. She may pass into the darkness but will surely rise again, as she did once before.” \n\nTwilight hid her muzzle with her hoof. She could hardly see. The goggles she wore were fogged by her hot tears. Luna wrapped her foreleg around the much smaller unicorn. “Come with me, Twilight,” Luna said gently, “She knows what she's risking and may yet survive the attempt.” \n\nThe unicorn could hardly see anything through her fogged goggles. She let Luna lead her across the town square. Around them ponies rushed around in the mushy snow. “Everypony outside! Get behind the barriers!” a stallion in a brightly colored vest shouted, “Goggles on! Everypony goggles on!” Luna led her to a hastily constructed reviewing stand covered on one side with thick gray boards. Similar panels were set up all over the square with ponies hiding behind them. The mayor stood on the stand along with every other pony of consequence in Ponyville. Twilight spotted Pinkie Pie and ran to her. \n\n“Oh Pinkie,” Twilight cried, “It's so awful.” \n\n“It's okay, Twilight,” Pinkie said quietly, “The princess will be fine. I just know it.” \n\n“I hope you're right, Pinkie.” \n\nAs the gathered ponies watched a second sun rose over the Everfree Forest. Snow slid from roofs all over Ponyville. The second sun rose higher and higher as noon approached. The tower clock began to toll. Before half a dozen chimes had sounded there was a great flash. \n\nA glowing column split the air. Twilight could feel the burst of heat on her face. Pinkie Pie's mane flared in a burst of fire and collapsed like a burnt pink marshmallow. There was no sound. A great cloud rose where the mountain had been. As it climbed into the air a wave of air pressure swept over the town. It kicked up slushy snow and tore shingles from roofs. Burning shingles rained down on the square as the spire of the town hall tilted, its roof smoking. Burning debris swirled through the streets of Ponyville. Fire wagons rushed off toward columns of rising smoke all over town. \n\nThe dark cloud over Everfree Forest rose higher on a column of smoke until it looked like a giant mushroom. Ponies looked up from their hiding places, muttering in confusion. \n\nFrom the opposite direction there was a great crash of thunder. Within moments a shadow cast all of Ponyville into darkness. Dozens of goggled pegasi swept over the town followed closely by a massive thunderhead. The wind roared, driving ponies out from behind the smoking barriers. Twilight, Pinkie and the other ponies on the reviewing stand scattered, with the exception of Princess Luna. \n\nPonies ran through the slushy streets looking for cover while driving rain and hailstones poured down on them. Luna stood tall on the platform as lightning struck the town hall, bringing the spire crashing down behind her. Pouring rain washed the flowing tears from her eyes. \n\n[b]Notes:[/b]\n\nSpitfire actually spits fire? Why not? She leaves a trail of smoke when she flies and in a way it’s weirder that she leaves a trail out the other end. \n\nI don’t like to use the term alicorn but it's so embedded in the fan culture there's no avoiding it. \n\nCelestia, Guardian of Infinite Power? [i]Hehe![/i]\n\nWhat happens when a princess goes nuclear? ", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
The Queen’s Curse
Part Two - Sunrise
by Ixy


Twilight stood in the empty street waiting for the sun to rise over the frosty horizon.  It was a clear winter morning without a cloud in sight.  The eastern sky was painted in the pastel colors of Celestia’s mane.  She checked her saddlebags one last time.  It felt strange to wear unfamiliar bags.  They were a fancy waterproof and fireproof model with no cutie marks.  Spike huddled on her back, wrapped in a scratchy fireproof scarf.  

Lucifer Match trotted up, snowshoes crunching in the snow.  “Ready to go?” he asked.  

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Twilight said.  She felt herself blushing a little.  

The two trotted down the street with their hooves kicking up the fresh snow.  There was hardly a track to be found until they neared the edge of Ponyville.  

“There hasn't been any zombie activity near Ponyville,” Twilight said, “Everypony is staying inside just in case.”  

The two reached the point where Zecora had collapsed.  A thin coating of snow had covered the pony tracks from the night before.  Twilight's hoof crunched on a pair of nose glasses hidden beneath the carpet of white.  They followed Zecora’s hoofprints back to the edge of Ponyville.  Twilight took the lead and headed down the path into the Everfree Forest.  It wasn’t a well worn path but on this morning it was easy to follow.  

Lucifer examined the tracks as they walked.  The wide flat track of a toboggan had cleared the way during the snowstorm.  “There are an awful lot of tracks from little fillies on this path,” he said, “The one set of larger tracks headed into Ponyville has to be from the zebra. Hers overlap some of the smaller ones.”  

Twilight looked down at the tracks, which had been partly covered by fresh snow.  Her horn glowed briefly.  Each track near her sparkled and showed a little glowing horseshoe indicating its direction.  “Three little fillies,” she said, “It has to be Applejack’s sister Applebloom and her friends. They’re quite a hooffull.”  

Lucifer nodded.  “It looks like they came back before Zecora came into town. They should be home in bed this morning.”  

“That’s a good thing,” Twilight said.  Then she remembered something.  “They were riding in a toboggan yesterday with Scootaloo pushing it along using her wings. It looks like they went out that way and came back on hoof. That’s odd. Why would they leave their sled at Zecora’s?”  

“A pegasus pushing a sled with her wings?” Lucifer asked.  

“Err, well she rides a scooter that way too. She isn’t ready to really fly yet.”  

They continued in silence for some time.  The forest surrounding them was silent.  At one point there was a large impression where Zecora must have put her package down in the snow to rest.  It completely obscured tracks left by the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their sled.  The toboggan track left the path near Zecoras but the returning CMC tracks came directly from there.  That odd fact puzzled Twilight further.  

Twilight looked around nervously as they approached Zecora’s house.  From a distance things looked normal.  Coming closer she could see the door broken open and an unfamiliar lump covered with snow near it.  

Lucifer examined the lump.  He brushed snow away from it, revealing a protruding hoof covered with green verdigris.  “Bronze shoes,” Twilight said, “Nopony has worn those in centuries.”  The thing didn’t move.  The stallion slipped his forehoof out of his snowshoe.  His hoof was suddenly surrounded with an aura of blue flame.  The snow melted away as he swept his hoof over the prone figure.  The melting snow revealed the body of a partly decomposed headless earth pony with a hatchet buried in the stump of its neck.  

Twilight examined the steaming corpse.  She gasped when she spotted a torn cape under the body.  Twilight levitated it out from beneath the fallen creature’s flank.  It was dark blue and lined with gold silk.  Twilight turned it to look at the crest messily sewn on.  “Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she said.  

“What’s a Cutie Mark Crusader?” Lucifer asked incredulously.  

“Those three fillies,” she cried, “They must have been here when the zombie attacked! Spike!”  

“Okay, okay,” he said.  The dragon pulled a blank piece of paper from her saddlebag and had a quill out in a moment.  

“Princess Luna,” Twilight dictated, “Please have somepony check on Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They should be in Ponyville but I found a cape belonging to one of them under the zombie’s headless body at Zecora’s house. They may have been injured by it. Twilight Sparkle.”  

“I just hope they haven’t been bitten,” she said.  She put her hoof to her head.  

“I hope they haven’t unleashed an ancient evil again,” Spike said.  

“Again?” Lucifer asked.  

Twilight sighed.  “Don’t ask. Please just don’t. Send that, Spike.”  

The dragon rolled up the paper and slipped a seal onto it.  He breathed out and the scroll vanished in a puff of green flame that floated off toward Ponyville.  

“Should we burn the body?” Lucifer asked.  

“I think so,” she said, “It’s not moving but we should be cautious. I think she deserves a proper end too.”  

Lucifer nodded, then lowered his head.  A globe of flame appeared around his horn.  He didn’t launch it as Twilight had seen him do in the past.  The swirling flames fell from his horn onto the corpse.  The frozen zombie crackled and steamed before it started to burn.  It sizzled and burned for many long minutes until it was reduced to a small pile of ash.  Only the bronze shoes and glowing iron hatchet head remained.  

When the work was done they went inside.  Everything was in disorder.  It looked worse than it had after the first time Twilight had visited.  Bottles lay broken on the floor and a large pot of potion was overturned.  Green goo puddled beneath it.  There were spatters of blood and bloody hoofprints on the floor.  The masks decorating the place looked creepier than ever.  One was broken in half.  

The two ponies looked over everything.  There was no sign of more zombies inside.  They went outside and circled the house where they found more tracks.  They found many adult size hoofprints near the house and three sets of smaller tracks approaching from the forest.  Another set of larger tracks followed them.  

“Look at the way the small tracks are spaced,” Lucifer said, “The fillies ran here out of the forest. The tracks of the zombie following them show she was moving slower.”  

Twilight looked around nervously at the surrounding forest.  She levitated a map out of her saddlebag.  “They came from the direction of the necropolis,” she said, “So it looks like we’ll be backtracking the CMCs.”  She cast tracking spell with a flourish of violet light.  The snow-covered tracks lit up and a trail of sparkles led into the forest.  

“You’ll have to tell me more about these three,” Lucifer said, “If those fillies have been running around unleashing ancient evil they must be pretty interesting.”  

Twilight found herself more willing to talk now that Lucifer had broken the ice.  “Well,” she began, “They’re three fillies who haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet.”  She continued as they walked deeper into the forest.  She told him the story of the cute-ceñera, the sleepover at Fluttershy’s cottage when she had been turned to stone, and the tale of the talent contest when they had put on an unintentionally comical performance.  

“Those are the three who unleashed…?” he asked.  

“The very same. If two of them weren’t siblings of element wielders I think they would’ve been exiled from Equestria for that alone. I can’t imagine they just happened to be in the forest and were chased by a zombie. It’s too coincidental.”  The tiny tracks led deeper into the forest and closer to the mountain of the necropolis.  Then the two unicorns spotted a set of fresh tracks.  

They approached cautiously.  A set of adult size tracks crossed those of the CMCs.  They were oddly irregular and whatever it was only had three hooves.  “A tripod,” Lucifer said, “it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up to it.”  He took the lead and followed the plainly visible tracks.  Within minutes they could see a figure slowly hopping along in the distance.  

As they came closer they could see it was a unicorn.  Its horn was splintered with a shiny silver horn ring at its base.  The broken horn made Twilight shudder.  The thing didn’t notice them as they came closer.  It just hopped along in a random course through the trees, bumping into one tree trunk after another.  There was no question it was a zombie.  Lucifer moved in fast.  His mane and tail erupted in flame as he ran.  The thing didn’t notice him at all.  Lucifer came to a stop within twenty hooves of it.  

The creature stopped its three-legged hopping.  It turned its head toward the blazing unicorn that confronted it.  Twilight could see it had no eyes.  Until that moment the journey had seemed like an adventure like many others she had been on.  Suddenly she wanted to run straight back to Ponyville.  It was one thing to gallop off to battle evil.  It was another thing to encounter this terrifying sightless stallion.  Its eyeless face and shattered horn gave her the shivers.  

The thing hopped toward Lucifer.  It had an oddly peaceful expression on what was left of its face.  The thing moved forward as if it welcomed the flames.  The firey unicorn let out a draft of fire breath at it.  The desiccated creature instantly burst into flame.  It just stood there as it burned.  The unicorn stood still until its single hind leg gave way and it collapsed into the snow.  Lucifer extinguished himself and stood watching the pile of bones burn.  

The horn ring glittered among the flames.  Twilight levitated it out of the embers of burning bone.  It was perfectly cool.  The elaborately carved silver ring shone in the sunlight and was completely untouched by the heat.  “It’s enchanted with an impervious spell,” she said, “Perhaps Luna can identify this as well. It almost looks like something she'd wear herself.”  She slipped the ring into her saddlebag.  Doing something sensible made her feel better for a moment.  It might have been better if she had brought artifact tags so she could label and catalog the ring.  That was something she'd have to remember for the next time.  She floated a notepad out of her bag and wrote a note about it.  

Lucifer trotted off in the direction of the mountain, which was now becoming visible through the leafless trees.  Twilight felt rooted to the spot.  Her hocks quivered.  Lucifer was so fearless after confronting such a creepy thing.  She watched him with admiration.  

Twilight felt so strange and fearful.  She had never felt quite that way before.  In a moment her shivery fear was replaced by an icy dagger of terror.  There was another zombie moving quickly through the trees.  It rushed toward Lucifer from behind.  

She screamed, “Look out behind you!” as she ran toward it.  Spike tumbled off her back into the snow.  Without thinking, her horn blazed and a great globe of purple fire shot at the thing.  It caught the cadaverous earth pony in the hindquarters.  It fell to the snow as it burst into flame.  

It struggled to right itself with its forelegs.  Its head contorted as the fire spread up its body.  Twilight launched another globe of fire as she ran.  This time it was hit straight in the chest.  Its neck twisted and its head fell into the snow.  The snow extinguished its burning mane.  The two unicorns stood over the burning creature.  The head and a long section of neck struggled in the snow.  

Twilight slipped out of her snowshoe and raised her forehoof.  “I’m finishing this one off,” she said.  Her hoof blazed white hot.  She brought it down on the struggling head and heard a loud cracking sound with satisfaction.  She stomped on it until there was nothing left but smoldering fragments.  

Lucifer looked up at Twilight.  “Thank you,” he said quietly, “I think you saved my flank.”  

Twilight swallowed hard.  The fear that had stricken her a moment before was gone.  Now there was something else.  She looked into the stallion’s eyes.  There was a burning flame there.  She could see the warmth she felt in her heart reflected in his eyes.  The two stood there for a long moment.  

“We had better be careful,” Twilight said.  She felt herself blushing.  Traces of fire rippled through her mane.  

Lucifer nodded.  She could tell he felt it too.  “We had better watch each other’s rears,” he said.  Twilight blushed more.  He nuzzled her cheek.  

Twilight looked around warily.  “I don’t see any more of them,” she said.  

“Then we had better go find some,” Lucifer said.  The two trotted off through the snow.  A tiny dragon ran to Twilight’s side and hopped on her back.  “Tailgunner in position,” he said.  

• • •


“I don't think she's seen us,” Applebloom whispered, “Maybe if we just stay quiet and pretend we aren't here she'll go away.”  

“Look who's chicken now,” Scootaloo whispered, “You were so brave when you bucked that seal. Now you can't face your sister.”  

“You've got to tell her the truth,” Sweetiebelle whispered.  

“Shut up shut up shut up!” Applebloom hissed, “We're going to get in real trouble if they find out. I just hope Zecora is okay.”  The foal's eyes were filled with tears.  The bow on her head was torn and still soggy from the snow.  

“Applebloom!” Applejack shouted from below, “I know you're in there little missy! Come the heck down here or I'm coming up after you!”  

They could hear hooves on the ramp going up to their clubhouse.  Suddenly Applebloom burst into tears and ran to her sister.  “Oh Applejack!” she cried, “We've done a really, really bad thing!”  

“We?” Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle asked in unison.  

• • •


Twilight and Lucifer zeroed in on the source of the zombies easily.  Backtracking the two they'd encountered led them to a gateway into the necropolis.  It was a corbeled arch made of huge stones with enormous unicorn figures on either side.  The wall surrounding the necropolis was at least thirty hooves high and ten hooves thick made of cyclopean stones set tightly without mortar.  Large trees grew on its top.  

A toboggan sat beside the gate.  The tiny CMC tracks could be seen going in and back out as well.  “I guess that removes all doubt,” Twilight said.  

The two unicorns walked inside.  The slopes of the mountain were heavily wooded.  Here and there among the trees grave markers could be seen standing crookedly.  The doors of many tombs stood open.  Twilight followed the filly tracks uphill.  Their hoofprints heading up the hill wandered from side to side.  The tracks heading out came straight down toward the gateway with many slip and slide marks.  

As they climbed higher there were more and more adult size tracks.  Life-size statues among the trees startled them but proved to be inanimate.  Twilight bucked the head off one stone stallion just to make sure.  

They reached the end of both sets of CMC tracks.  A massive tomb door stood open.  A broken seal lay in the snow among many hoofprints.  Twilight turned pieces of it over in the air.  She could make out bits of sigil but couldn’t piece together what the whole had looked like.  

Lucifer cast a glow from his horn into the doorway.  At first nothing was visible inside but soon many pairs reflective eyes appeared.  “Uh, those are bats in there, right?” he asked Twilight.  

Twilight backed away.  “I'm not crazy about bats,” she said awkwardly.  

Lucifer stepped forward.  “We don't mean to disturb you bats but we…” he began to say until his words were cut off by a strange sound.  A deep growling followed by an echoing ululation emanated from the darkness.  “Uhh, I think it might be timberwolves,” he said.  

Lucifer backed away in terror as a crowd of rotting ponies emerged from the doorway.  They jostled each other trying to get out.  Only crowding in the narrow entrance prevented them from pouring out in a large group and overwhelming the two unicorns.  

Twilight snorted and her mane and tail turned to flame.  Spike jumped off her back and scrambled up a tree carrying her saddlebags.  Lucifer recovered himself and his mane burned bright as well.  The snow quickly melted away from their hooves.  

“Lets do this,” Twilight said.  Her whole body glowed white hot.  A vortex of flame gathered around her horn and she directed it at the doorway.  The first ponies to exit became a swirl of burning body parts.  Flaming hooves and bits of wing flew in all directions.  The vortex poured deep inside.  A blowtorch of flame flowed from the entrance.  Tree roots that had grown around the ancient stones shed their bark in a shower of burning embers and began to char.  Lucifer added his fire.  He sent one fireball after another into the aperture.  

“Twilight!” Spike yelled from his place in the tree, “Behind you!”  

Twilight spun in time to see three earth ponies approaching from downhill.  She cast circles of fire beneath each pony.  They burst into flame as their burning legs were swept from under them.  Lucifer turned to see a partly skeletal pegasus descending toward them.  A great ball of flame cast from his horn shattered its body, leaving a pair of burning wings that tumbled toward the snow.  Before the wings hit the ground there were more zombies coming out of the tomb.  Most were already on fire.  

Both unicorns directed their fire at the newly emerging creatures.  Twilight bucked the head off a unicorn that got too close.  Thin streams of green flame from up in the tree set many alight.  More and more poured out of the tomb.  The snow melted in the heat and the whole area became a morass of sticky mud.  Twilight slid and fell at the base of an ancient oak tree.  Her hoof twisted painfully among its roots.  A shower of burning bark fell on her and stuck to the bubbling mud already covering her coat.  Her burning mane faded to a soaked mess of ordinary horsehair.  

Lucifer launched one fireball after another at the creatures but they appeared faster than he could put them down.  A group of huge stallions charged out of the tomb.  The skeletal earth ponies were wearing iron armor and carried rusty swords in their teeth.  Lucifer quickly set them on fire.  One swung at him with a sword that glowed orange from the heat.  

Twilight reignited herself and shook off the burning debris.  Glowing lines of force emerged from her horn and engulfed the undead soldiers, drawing them into a tight group.  Their armor stuck together, holding them still.  She launched a thick stream of flames that roasted them all, fusing their armor into a lump of slag.  Bits of bone and charred weapons fell into the mud.  

“You’ve got to get out of here!” Spike called from above, “There are more coming up the hill!”  

Twilight spun and saw the ponies coming closer.  “Lucy!” she cried, “We’ve got to go! We can’t stop them all!”  Spike jumped onto her back and immediately sent a burst of green flame at a zombie Twilight hadn’t seen.  It collapsed in a burning heap as its head exploded.  

Lucifer ran past her heading downhill.  A swirling tornado of flame drew around him.  He charged into the group approaching from down the hill and swept them aside.  Twilight followed in his muddy hoofprints.  Burning zombie parts fell into the snow and set more trees on fire.  Before Lucifer could do more a pegasus dropped onto his back.  

Twilight screamed and let loose a stream of fire in the same breath.  It turned the pegasus into a pile of tumbling bones before it could bite.  More zombies emerged behind them.  Spike hung on to Twilight’s back and launched bursts of flame at their pursuers.  It didn’t do much good.  Fresh undead ponies stepped over the burning ones and kept on coming.  Another squad of ponies in armor crashed through the trees swinging war axes.  

The two unicorns ran downhill in a complete panic.  They followed their own tracks and those of the CMCs back to the gateway.  When they got there they found half a unicorn standing on its forelegs in the gateway.  A fireball turned it into a pile of burning bones.  They dashed through and stopped beside the discarded toboggan.  

Twilight and Lucifer stood panting in the snow.  Both their fires were fading.  Twilight turned back toward the ancient gate.  Beyond it there was a wave of movement coming downhill among the trees.  Zombies were still chasing them.  Her horn glowed brightly and cast off a vortex of whirling light.  Her glow engulfed the ancient stones.  The mortarless arch shuddered and collapsed into a pile of rubble, blocking the gate and sending bits of splintered tree root flying.  

The unicorns stood panting, staring at the pile of ancient stones.  Soon they heard the sound of many ponies crashing against it and making strange feral sounds.  There were moaning noises and the sound of pounding hooves.  The stones didn’t give under their assault.  

“We’ve… got to,” Twilight panted, “tell… Luna.”  She turned to Spike.  

The tiny dragon looked like he'd just swallowed a bug.  “I’m sorry, Twilight,” he said, “I left the saddlebags in the tree.”  

• • •


Rainbow Dash looked down at the milling mass of ponies below.  Armored earth ponies and pegasi walked aimlessly among the trees.  They had mashed down the melting snow into a gray mess.  A large group of zombie unicorns in tattered robes stood near an opening in the ground with more zombies coming out of it.  They encircled a huge alicorn with rotted wings.  The unicorns were doing something to her skeletal wing bones.  

A pegasus looked up at Rainbow and flapped the stumps of its missing wings, trying to fly.  It snarled at her angrily.  Another was cruising along just above the treetops.  It spotted the living pegasus and pursued.  Rainbow easily outflew him and circled back toward the mountain.  

Almost all the zombie ponies were on the east side.  They were coming out of the large opening near the top and heading downhill.  The tide of ponies pressed against a thick wall encircling the mountain.  She could see two unicorns beyond the wall who seemed to be on fire.  Bursts of flame licked the top of the wall.  Rainbow steered clear of them and climbed back toward the mountaintop.  

She spotted something in a tree near the mysterious opening.  Rainbow swooped down and grabbed a set of saddlebags from the highest branches of the tree.  She didn’t recognize them.  They looked nice and clean, which nothing on the ground did.  The earth below the tree was a mass of mud and burnt body parts.  She slipped the saddlebags onto her back and fastened the buckle.  The straps rubbed against the base of her wings.  Obviously the bags weren’t made for a pegasus.  The pony who left them behind couldn't have been a pegasus he or she might be dead or undead among the milling zombies.  She shuddered in flight.  

The blue pegasus flew low over the wall on the west side where there were very few zombies.  A gateway stood open there.  She landed on the top of a fearsome looking stone pegasus atop the arch.  Several sets of tracks led through the gateway and off into the forest.  

Rainbow looked at a spreading white oak tree growing right by the opening and got an idea.  She flew across into its limbs and bounced on a big rotten one until it cracked.  In moments it crashed down across the gateway.  It wasn’t perfect but it blocked the opening pretty well.  She couldn’t see any zombies nearby.  

She took off again and saw three flying figures in the distance.  One was dark, the other two shined bright in the sunlight.  She climbed to join them.  

• • •


Twilight and Lucifer walked along the length of the wall.  There were ominous noises from the other side.  There was a sound of explosions in the distance and a constant background noise of ponies milling around in the snow.  

Then she saw what she was afraid of.  The skull-like head of a pony looked down at her from the top of the wall.  She sent a thin stream of fire at it.  She missed and only set some vines and tree roots on fire.  Twilight hit her target on the second try.  The unicorn burned until it collapsed.  Its charred head fell into the snow beside her.  Its jaw opened and closed uselessly.  

There was a crashing sound behind Twilight.  A zombie had jumped off the wall and plummeted through tree branches.  It fell into the snow with a plop.  In a moment it was on its hooves and ambling toward her.  The thing was soaking wet and moving too fast.  After the earlier battle the unicorn could barely conjure more fire.  She screamed in fear and started running away from it.  She looked around nervously as she ran and spotted something coming down from the sky.  “Lucy! Incoming!” she shouted.  

Lucifer stood in place looking up as she galloped toward him.  He was smiling.  “I think the cavalry is coming,” he said.  

A fireball came down from above and slammed into the pony pursuing Twilight.  The undead creature shattered in a spray of burning limbs.  Five more fireballs hit the top of the wall.  A burning severed leg fell into the snow at Lucifer’s hooves.  It wore a jade anklet.  A flaming winged stallion soared overhead and disappeared behind the trees.  

A pegasus made of flame swooped down and landed next to them.  The only part of her that wasn’t brightly burning was a pair of dark goggles.  “Hello there Twilight. I haven’t seen you since the gala,” she said.  

“Spitfire?” Twilight asked.  

“The very same,” she said and bowed curtly.  She pulled back her goggles with a hoof and her flames went out, leaving her looking the same but less luminous.  

“I’m so glad you’re here!,” Twilight cried, “Things are going pretty badly and Spike left my gear behind.”  She ran forward and embraced he pegasus mare.  

Rainbow Dash and Cinder landed next to Spitfire.  

“The saddlebags!” Twilight cried.  Then she looked embarrassed.  

Spike splashed through the mud to Rainbow and pawed at the saddlebags on her back.  

“Spitfire, Rainbow, what’s going on?” Twilight asked.  

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Rainbow said, “Those zombies are having a party on the other side of the wall. There are thousands of them and some can fly.”  

Twilight nodded.  “They’re coming out of an unsealed tomb. It looks like the CMCs broke it open.”  

“What?” Rainbow asked, “Not again.”

“That’s what I said,” put in Spike, who was unloading paper and seals from the saddlebags Rainbow Dash wore.  The flaming stallion flew overhead  pursuing a burning zombie pegasus.  

“It looks like they broke a magical seal. I couldn't read the remains of the sigil,” Twilight said, “There are zombies pouring out but the wall is holding them for now. I collapsed the gate we came out of but I don’t know how many gates there are. Luna mentioned one on the west. There may be sections of the wall that are down or places they can climb over.”  

“We reconned the area around the mountain and saw tracks everywhere,” Spitfire said, “Lots of them have already escaped.”  

Rainbow said, “I did my best to close up the gate on the west side but some have already gotten out there too.”  

Twilight shook her head.  “I have to send a report to Luna,” she said, “Spike?”  

The dragon already had a quill at the ready.  Spitfire looked up and casually spat a volley of fireballs into the air.  Charred feathers and horseshoes rained down in the distance.  

Twilight dictated, “Princess Luna. Lucifer and I have found the tomb. It has been broken open and it looks like the fillies I sent you a message about earlier were responsible. Thousands of zombies are coming out. We burned some but there are far too many for us to handle. I’ve collapsed the East gate and the West gate is blocked. The wall is holding most of them for now. Some can fly and others are finding ways out. Lucifer and I are nearly exhausted. We’re grateful for the assistance of the pegasi and your guard. Twilight Sparkle.”  

Twilight turned to Spitfire.  She asked “Would you like to add to it? You’ve seen the situation from the air.”  Spike pulled out a second sheet of paper.  

Spitfire seemed surprised.  “Yeah, sure,” she said, “Okay. Dear Princess Luna, there are zombies all over the forest and some are trying to fly away. Thousands are milling around on the mountain. I’ve shot down a few dozen but they’re pouring out of a door in the ground so fast nopony can stop them. There’s a big alicorn with messed up wings there too with some unicorns in robes doing something to her. I think they're putting her wings back together by ripping the feathers off pegasi. It's really disturbing. Err, Spitfire.”  

Spike finished writing with a flourish.  “I made it sound a little better,” he said.  He rolled up both sheets of paper and slipped a seal with the letter L on it onto them.  He expelled a tired looking puff of green flame and the message winged its way toward Ponyville.  

“Spitfire, “ Twilight asked, “There's an alicorn in there?”  

“Oh yeah,” she responded, “There's a princess sized alicorn by that opening. It looks like the unicorns around her are ripping the wings off zombie pegasi and putting the bits together to fix her wings somehow.”  

Twilight looked shocked.  “So, what do we do now?” she asked.  

“We wait,” said Cinder.  The other ponies had forgotten he was there.  “Orders from headquarters,” he said, “So long as we aren’t being overrun we should wait and try to hold the zombies. We’re to wait until noon if possible.”  He took pairs of dark goggles from around his neck and passed them out.  “I don’t know what they’re for but Luna said everypony would need them,” he said.  

“Rapidfire and I came to contain things until then,” Spitfire said, nodding toward the sky, “Princess Luna has somepony coming to take care of things. I don’t know how.”  

Rainbow put on a pair of goggles and dumped the saddlebags and Spike off her back.  She said, “I’ve got my own orders. There’s the biggest gullywasher you ever saw coming from the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. By afternoon this place will be underwater. I’ve got to guide the teams in. I’ll see you all later!”  She took off in a streak of rainbow and quickly vanished in the distance.  

Twilight looked up at the sky.  It would be an hour or so until noon.  She rummaged in the saddlebags looking for her sundial/compass and declination table.  

• • •


A golden chariot descended from the clear blue sky and touched ground in Ponyville’s town square.  Princess Celestia stepped out into the snow.  Luna was waiting to greet her.  “Welcome, dear sister,” she said.  

Celestia nodded.  “It’s not the best circumstance for a visit,” she said.  

Celestia turned to her sister.  “Are the firefighters ready?” she asked.  

“As ready as they’ll be. I’ve ordered everypony to prepare fireproof barriers and passed out eclipse goggles. We’re as ready as we can be.”  

Celestia nodded.  “There’s bound to be damage even so,” she said.  

“The pegasi have spotted her from the air,” Luna said.  

“Has she flown?” Celestia asked.  

“Not yet. Her wings are still skeletal but it looks like her clerics are repairing them. It won’t be long.”  

• • •


Twilight glanced at her sundial where it sat atop an ancient broken pillar.  Less than half an hour remained until noon.  The sun continued to climb into the sky and it was unusually hot.  The snow that was so clean and crisp in the morning was rapidly melting into gray puddles.  Spitfire soared overhead pursuing a rogue pegasus.  It dodged several blasts before taking a hit to its wing and spiraling into the ground.  Cinder was trying to get an earth pony head lying on the ground to burn with his fire breath.  It just sizzled and shed bits of burning hair.  The goggles hanging around Twilight’s neck bobbled as she walked sullenly on the muddy ground.  Spike gathered bits of wood and piled them over a severed unicorn head.  

The remains of many zombies lay scattered around in the mush.  Several heads squirmed in the melting snow.  The zombies were hard to burn on the wet ground.  It was less effort to decapitate them with magic and just let the heads lie in the gray mush.  Twilight's mood became increasingly sour.  If something didn’t happen soon it would be impossible to contain the army of undead ponies.  

Twilight got out her binoculars and looked around.  An earth pony zombie with a broken leg was ambling through a clearing in the distance.  There was more activity on the mountain. She could see more zombies there than ever.  Then she spotted a glint of light in the direction of Ponyville.  She tried to look at it with the binoculars but its light hurt her eyes.  It shined like a star in the daytime.  The mysterious flier came closer until she could feel the heat emanating from it on her face.  It was surrounded by a massive magical aura.  

The purple unicorn stood transfixed by its beauty.  She could feel herself strangely energized by its glow.  Her mane rippled with fire and she could feel her hide begin to glow.  She didn’t feel tired and dispirited anymore.  The winged figure descended and landed gracefully in the mud before her.  The last traces of snow vanished in a puff of steam.  “Twilight,” she said, “It’s good to see my favorite student again.”  

The trance was broken.  Twilight looked startled and bowed.  “Princess!” she cried.  Spike hid behind her, goggles already in place.  

“Yes, Twilight. I’ve come to help.”  

Twilight bowed deeply.  

“Please, Twilight. You’ve done so much for Equestria, including all you’ve done today. Now it’s my turn to put my hooves into things directly. Only unleashing the full power of the sun will end this horror before it spreads. If the queen escapes she will lead her army of the undead forth like a swarm of bees to conquer Equestria. I won't let that happen again.”  The mud around Twilight’s hooves began to boil.  She gazed into Celestia’s softly glowing eyes.  The warmth of the princess filled her with joy.  

Spitfire landed beside Twilight with her goggles on.  She bowed to the princess.  Lucifer trotted up beside her and did the same.  Cinder put on his goggles and bowed from a distance.  His armor was glowing dull orange.  

Celestia looked around at the gathered ponies and spoke up.  “All of you need to leave this place,” she said, “You’ve done your parts. Now it’s time for me to do mine. Twilight and Lucifer, you need to teleport back to Ponyville. Cinder and Spitfire, you need to fly as fast as you can. All of you need to be in a safe place by noon when the sun's power is greatest.”  

“Princess?” Twilight asked, “What are you going to do?”  

“I’m going to put an end to this. These sad creatures and their mistress have been contained here for long enough. There is only one power in Equestria that can destroy them permanently.”  Her pastel colored mane had become the color of pure sunlight.  She levitated Twilight’s goggles and put them over the unicorn’s eyes.  “Now go. I want you to be safe.”  She kissed Twilight on the head.  The smaller mare’s mane would have burst into flame if it weren’t already engulfed.  

Twilight nodded reluctantly.  She looked at Lucifer.  He looked back at her for a moment before disappearing in a globe of flame.  The two pegasi took off into the clear blue sky.  Spitfire was a glowing streak in a moment.  The other climbed more slowly, leaving a thin trail of smoke.  

“Princess, please…” Twilight began.  

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” she said, “I’ll be fine. The sun must rise and extinguish the darkness.”  She spread her wings of pure white light.  “Leave now. You won’t be able to survive if you stay here,” she said quietly.  

Twilight nodded sadly.  She and Spike vanished in a purple flash.  

• • •


A brightly shining unicorn and tiny dragon flashed into existence in the town square.  Goggled ponies scattered in panic.  A nearby wagon loaded with bales of hay burst into flame.   Spike ran and jumped into a public trough.  The water instantly boiled around his body.  “Aaaaah,” he sighed.  

Ponies drawing a fire wagon rushed into the square and unfurled a hose.  Within moments they had doused the burning wagon.  They turned their hoses on Twilight, whose glowing body cast off waves of steam as it returned to its normal purple hue.  The hosing turned her mane into a tangled soggy mess.  

“Looking good, Twilight,” Spike said from his place in the trough.  

Twilight shook herself, spraying sooty water from her mane.  She spun and stared in the direction of the Everfree Forest, a look of great concern in her face.  Despite the noontime glare and the after-images of the princess still seared into her eyes she could see a powerful glow coming from the forest.  Smoke rose all around it.  

A hoof touched her shoulder.  “Twilight,” Princess Luna said quietly, “Don't worry. My sister will take care of things.”  

“Luna!” Twilight practically shouted, “What's she doing? I assumed she'd bring the Elements of Harmony. What else could stop this horrible situation?”  

“Now I know you couldn't make out the seal on that tomb, Twilight. It was the five-sided figure of the Elements themselves. You see, long ago I bested the queen in combat and she fell to my horn. When her followers laid her to rest, intending for her to rise again, Celestia and I used the elements to seal them all inside.”  

“Aha!” Twilight exclaimed, “So we can use the Elements to seal them back inside!”  

Luna shook her great head sadly.  “Not this time, child,” she said, “The queen is out and her followers walk the land. It's too late for that. They must all be destroyed.”  

“B-but the princess…”

“She's doing what she must. During my exile she couldn't risk herself this way but now that I'm back and in my right mind…”  

“Nooooo!” Twilight cried.  Tears welled in her eyes.  “Celestia? Nononono, she can't die!”  

Twilight tried to run toward the forest but Luna winked in front of her in a cloud of deep blue light.  “Stop, child!” she commanded.  Her words knocked Twilight to her knees.  “The only way to stop the queen now is to unleash Celestia's limitless power,” Luna continued, “The whole mountain must burn with everypony inside it before the queen escapes with her hordes. You don't realize her power or how many thousands of undead followers there are. Now that the seal is broken they cannot be contained the same way again. If that means my sister must sacrifice herself she is willing to do so.”

“Celestia!” Twilight cried.  She pawed at the mushy snow pitifully, staring at the great glow in the distance.  A teleportation aura grew around her body only to pop like a soap bubble.  

Luna's horn glowed angrily.  “If you go to her you will only doom yourself. I won't let you do that!” Luna shouted, “You forget the ancient tales, Twilight; the god may die and be reborn but the goddess only waxes and wanes. She may pass into the darkness but will surely rise again, as she did once before.”  

Twilight hid her muzzle with her hoof.  She could hardly see.  The goggles she wore were fogged by her hot tears.  Luna wrapped her foreleg around the much smaller unicorn.  “Come with me, Twilight,” Luna said gently, “She knows what she's risking and may yet survive the attempt.”  

The unicorn could hardly see anything through her fogged goggles.  She let Luna lead her across the town square.  Around them ponies rushed around in the mushy snow.  “Everypony outside! Get behind the barriers!” a stallion in a brightly colored vest shouted, “Goggles on! Everypony goggles on!”  Luna led her to a hastily constructed reviewing stand covered on one side with  thick gray boards.  Similar panels were set up all over the square with ponies hiding behind them.  The mayor stood on the stand along with every other pony of consequence in Ponyville.  Twilight spotted Pinkie Pie and ran to her.  

“Oh Pinkie,” Twilight cried, “It's so awful.”  

“It's okay, Twilight,” Pinkie said quietly, “The princess will be fine. I just know it.”  

“I hope you're right, Pinkie.”  

As the gathered ponies watched a second sun rose over the Everfree Forest.  Snow slid from roofs all over Ponyville.  The second sun rose higher and higher as noon approached.  The tower clock began to toll.  Before half a dozen chimes had sounded there was a great flash.  

A glowing column split the air.  Twilight could feel the burst of heat on her face.  Pinkie Pie's mane flared in a burst of fire and collapsed like a burnt pink marshmallow.  There was no sound.  A great cloud rose where the mountain had been.  As it climbed into the air a wave of air pressure swept over the town.  It kicked up slushy snow and tore shingles from roofs.  Burning shingles rained down on the square as the spire of the town hall tilted, its roof smoking.  Burning debris swirled through the streets of Ponyville.  Fire wagons rushed off toward columns of rising smoke all over town.  

The dark cloud over Everfree Forest rose higher on a column of smoke until it looked like a giant mushroom.  Ponies looked up from their hiding places, muttering in confusion.  

From the opposite direction there was a great crash of thunder.  Within moments a shadow cast all of Ponyville into darkness.  Dozens of goggled pegasi swept over the town followed closely by a massive thunderhead.  The wind roared, driving ponies out from behind the smoking barriers.  Twilight, Pinkie and the other ponies on the reviewing stand scattered, with the exception of Princess Luna.  

Ponies ran through the slushy streets looking for cover while driving rain and hailstones poured down on them.  Luna stood tall on the platform as lightning struck the town hall, bringing the spire crashing down behind her.  Pouring rain washed the flowing tears from her eyes.  

Notes:

Spitfire actually spits fire?  Why not?  She leaves a trail of smoke when she flies and in a way it’s weirder that she leaves a trail out the other end.  

I don’t like to use the term alicorn but it's so embedded in the fan culture there's no avoiding it.

Celestia, Guardian of Infinite Power?  Hehe!

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