Well... so far everything seems to be going downhill for our survivors. Returning to where we last left Tar Pony, will he retain his equinity, or will his primal instincts take over him completely? Find out today!
Side Note: I forgot to mention if you guys found any references! Also, during the Walkman scene, I recommend reading this with the music playing (I did so when typing, and it felt natural). Point out any references you see, and hope you enjoy the chapter!
Tar Pony walked towards the corpse, his eyes glowing a luminous blood red, no longer thinking about anything other than hunger, and noticed the two Runners, Pound and Pumpkin, had still been eating. He walked up to them, knelt down, and looked at the corpse. Hungry… need… brains… He was about to reach for it, but stopped as his eyes flashed red, and then back to their original gold color. NO! He instead grabbed the two Runners by their necks, and they struggled to get loose. He held on tightly, and had to use his wings to stop them. After securing their necks with his forelegs, he used his wings to tightly grasp their heads. I'm sorry… He strained for a moment, and heard two loud cracking noises, one after the other. The two Runners stopped moving now, and their limbs swung back and forth lifelessly.
He dropped the two, and they fell to the floor dead. He knelt down, tears in his eyes, and he had to act quickly before he lost control. Think… food… in… fridge… he remembered, barely. He walked over to the fridge desperately, and took as much food as possible. He then devoured the food noisily, and had succeeded in retaining his equinity. He sighed in relief and satisfaction, and thought clearly now. That's… better... no more Tar Pony... just me. He approached the corpses of the twins, and bowed his head. He went upstairs to the bedrooms in the shop, grabbed some sheets, and brought them down with him. He threw the sheets over the two, and threw the other sheets onto the remains of Mr. Cake's corpse. He walked out of the shop, carrying the food he had scavenged with him.
He looked outside, and noticed more Shamblers and Runners had gathered outside the shop, almost in formation. They all stared him down, and one of the Runners had slowly pointed towards him. Something seemed familiar about this Runner, but Leon could not find what it was. It was a unicorn with its lower jaw broken off and tongue hanging from the gaping wound in his mouth. "Traitor…" it said with trouble as his tongue swung back and forth. "Get him…!"
As soon as they heard this, the Shamblers slowly stumbled towards Leon. Leon, now realizing he was in danger, tried to run, but remembered he was covered in tar. He noticed a Walkman on the ground, and picked it up quickly. Well, might as well entertain myself before I die.
He lurched away as quickly as he could. They followed close behind him, and he knew he would have to fight them. He hid the food he carried in an overturned cart, turned towards them, and looked for anything to help him. He saw on the ground a pair of hedge trimmers, and picked them up. He turned towards the Shamblers, who still charged at him. He counted thirteen of them, and before he charged, he turned on the Walkman, playing "Bodies." He went up quickly, and opened the trimmers.
He approached the first Shambler in death row, and closed the trimmers around their neck, severing its head and spurting blood out of its neck. He opened them again, and turned them sideways for the next Shambler. He closed it down on its face, opening its face in half and revealing the inner skull, which squirted blood on Leon. He kicked down the body fiercely, and used the trimmers on the next Shambler, severing another neck and releasing more blood onto the dirt encrusted ground.
Rather than use the trimmers in the same fashion on the remaining ten Shamblers, he broke the trimmers in half, effectively making two bladed weapons. He held one in each wing, and charged towards the group. He slashed two at the same time, slashing one's head from the forehead down and the other sideways across the eyes, sending the cranium flying away. Both fell over, and Leon charged again. He pierced a Shambler in the chest with one blade, and repeatedly stabbed it in the face with the other, sending brain matter flying everywhere.
He kicked the body off his blades, and proceeded to the other seven Shamblers. He expertly tossed one of the blades towards an oncoming Shambler's head, sending it down to the ground dead. He used his solitary blade to slash at another Shambler, where it fell to the ground, still moving. He then crushed it's skull with a powerful stomp, sending more blood spurting on the ground. Leon walked up to the blade he threw, and pulled it out of the corpse. He sent it flying again, flinging it sideways so it spun like a helicopter rotor. It decapitated another Shambler, but was lost as it continued flying.
Four remained, and they all charged at him at once. He used his remaining blade and his strength to completely cut a Shambler in half. It split in front of him, setting a pile of organs on the ground. By then, the blade snapped in half, leaving splintered wood and the blade head. He picked up the blade head and threw it at lightning fast speed toward a Shambler, hitting it in the left eye and killing it. He picked up the splintered wooden grip, and used all of his strength to pierce the second to last Shambler in the face, crushing the skull underneath and leaving the stick embedded in the head.
The last Shambler stood, and Leon was unarmed, but it didn't stop him. He charged to the last Shambler, and punched it a few times. It did not flinch, so it grabbed him and flung him over. Leon slammed into the ground hard, and spun his leg to sweep the Shambler off its feet. He succeeded, and repeatedly punched the Shambler's face. The Shambler shoved him off, and stood up. Leon then gripped the head of the Shambler with his wings, and pulled up as hard as he could. He saw the Shambler's head slowly tearing away from the body, until it finally came off, killing the Shambler. He tossed the head to the side, and at that moment, "Bodies" ended on the Walkman.
Leon stood with the path of corpses behind him, blood and organs soaking the ground. He walked away from the massacre, and went over to the cart to pick up the food. He took it, and slowly stumbled outside of town and back towards the cottage before any more of the undead came.
…
Arriving safely and unnoticed at the cottage, Leon knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Fluttershy answered it. "Leon, thank goodness you're all right!"
"Yeah, I'm fine… did R.D. and Draco leave already?" Leon asked.
"Yes, they left some time ago." She looked at the baskets and bag of food he brought, and she squealed with delight. "Yay!" she said, barely audible.
She allowed him inside, and Leon entered the cottage, where he was welcomed warmly by Applejack and Derpy. The foals were still slightly terrified of Tar Pony, but he brought them each a meal, and they gladly accepted it. "You know what? You foals remind me of my friends long ago. Like you… what's your name?" Leon asked, motioning to Eric.
"Uh… Eric… sir," he answered nervously. Considering his condition, he never went outside much, and he lived a solitary life in his home before.
"You remind me of Percival William Preston III. He was from Trottingham, which judging by your voice sounds like where you came from," Leon told him.
"Really!? That's incredible! But I'm not from Trottingham…" He paused a bit before he spoke again. "Wait… that's my father's name… how did you know him?"
Alan turned towards Leon. "How did you know Percy, Tar?" he questioned.
"Oh, I'm an old friend of his that passed some time ago," Leon explained.
Alan was now curious as to who Tar once was. "So… do you have a real name then, Tar?" he asked.
Leon was waiting for this moment to come, but he couldn't say that he was really himself yet, otherwise he'd put all of them in danger. "My real name? It's Magnus, little one," he responded, giving Alan his birth name. Alan looked disappointed, not remembering that his father's birth name was Magnus.
"So, Magnus, how do you still remember your life?" Alan asked.
"Well, I guess I didn't rot, mainly because I was in a mausoleum instead of the ground. It's… I don't know really how," Leon admitted.
Alan didn't know what else to ask, so he stayed quiet. Dinky had noticed that both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had not turned up in some time, and was starting to get worried. "Hey, Fluttershy, where are Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?"
Fluttershy didn't know how to respond to the question, and she tried to ignore the question, but then Applejack piped up as well. "Yeah… where are they? I haven't seen Applebloom in some time. And where was Sweetie Belle left at?" she asked.
"Oh… uh… um… I…I…" Fluttershy stuttered. Her cheeks grew red with fear, sweat trickled down her forehead, and she trembled in fear. She couldn't speak, and she fainted on the spot. They all looked at her, and wondered what was up.
"What was that about? Where are Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?" Applejack turned to Tar Pony. "Did you do something to them?" Applejack questioned suspiciously.
"What? No! I would never do something to them," Tar denied.
"Then where are they at!? Do you know, Tar, or are you gonna let us keep wondering?" Applejack asked impatiently.
He looked away, turned to Fluttershy, who was still unconscious, and turned back to Applejack. "They're… they're both in the shed… I… I locked them in there," he told her, defending Fluttershy.
She immediately got furious at that, and Derpy held her back. "YOU WHAT!? I'LL KILL YA! LET ME GO, NOW!" she yelled. She was struggling to get free from Derpy.
"They're both infected! They aren't equine anymore, but we are not going to kill them! I've kept them there so they won't get the others. Listen to me, Applejack!" Leon explained.
"No, you listen to me, you prick! I will get you, you two-timing son of a bitch, if you harm them!" she warned angrily, still struggling.
"They aren't being harmed! They're the ones who'll do harm if they were free," Leon explained.
Applejack, now done listening to him, finally got free of Derpy and ran to another room. She came back with her shotgun, and aimed it at Tar Pony. "You get them outta there, now!" she ordered.
"Applejack, let's be reasonable about this…" Leon persuaded, trying to calm her down.
She loaded two shells into the gun, and closed the barrels. "Next time I ask, it'll be with twenty or so pellets embedded into ya! Get them out… now!" she yelled.
Leon had no choice for what he was going to do next. He led her to the shed, and opened it. She entered the shed, still aiming at Leon. She looked around the shed, but it was a bit dark. "Applejack!" said a familiar voice. Applejack turned to look, and saw Applebloom tied up in chains. She ran up to her, and hugged her.
"Applebloom, what did this pony do to you?" she inquired.
"They've been feeding me good! I ain't been hungry yet, and they tell me not to bite other ponies," she said, in a deeper and raspier voice.
"Don't you worry, I'll get ya outta here, and kill that son of a bitch," Applejack said. She turned towards Leon, and aimed her shotgun at him. "You just breathed your last breath, scum!" she said.
"No, Applejack, he was just helping out. Right, Big Macintosh?" Applebloom asked.
"Eeyup…" he said. Applejack turned to find Big Macintosh chained as well, and she turned around, even angrier than before.
"So, that's two of my kin you have trapped? That means these two shells go into your fucking skull!" she yelled in anger.
Oh, fuck. Leon had known she would lose it. He had brought with him a set of chains very discreetly so that Applejack didn't notice. I don't want to kill her. I need to restrain her, or else she's gonna kill all of us with her act. He swung the chains at Applejack, redirecting the gun when she fired to hit the wall. He used the chains to lasso her, but she quickly acted. She kicked him hard, sending him flying to the wall. He slammed into it, and slid down the wall. He looked up, and saw Applejack aiming the gun at him again from the other side of the shed. "I'll see ya in hell," she said coldly. She fired, and Leon closed his eyes.
All that was heard after the shot was a thud on the floor.
I'm sorry, but I needed to leave a cliffhanger here at Leon's fate. Will Rainbow, Draco, and Spike make it back, only to find Leon dead? Will Alan learn of this? What or who else is next to die? Find out next time!