OK, first I would like to give a big shout out to Bahamut Crisis Core for lending me his OC. Thanks a million buddy :)
DISCLAIMER! you know the routine by now.
Eric followed Keith up the stairs to the main room of the library. Keith stopped in front of the door, turning to face Eric. "This is an informal meeting with the princesses," he stated. "So etiquette is expected to be sparse and language does flow. They are not happy about something and Celestia is a little more than pissed." A stomp that shook the door echoed through the building. "See what I mean?" Keith asked, grimacing slightly.
Eric seated the blades he held into their scabbards, lowering the shemagh from his head and face. "On your mark, trooper." Eric said, drawing himself upright and preparing to be screamed at by royalty. Keith seemed to glow at being called trooper for the first time in years. He moved forward, pushing open the door.
"I ask you again, sister," the female voice boomed through room, obviously tweaked over her sister. "What in the name of all things harmonious possessed you to bring that monster with him?" she wasn't yelling, so much as projecting with great effect. Eric walked in, observing the white and black Alicorns standing before each other ready to come to blows. "Because of your foolish choice, the monsters that were a nuisance before now have the confidence to assault the royal guard!" she yelled the last word, head butting the Alicorn Eric knew as Luna and locking her head in place with the long white horn she wielded.
Eric cleared his throat as loud as possible, drawing the attention of the two royal sisters as Keith walked around the room to join Twilight on a couch. "I, uh," he began, feeling the full bear of the white Alicorns displaced anger fall upon him. "I was summoned, your highnesses." He finished, bowing slightly before the royalty. The two Alicorns turned to face him, Luna's expression apologizing for something. Eric soon found out as the larger, presumably elder sister walked toward him.
"Eric Johnson," she said nodding. Her demeanor had changed completely between her argument and Eric's arrival. "I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of the day and high monarch of Equestria." She paused as Eric knelt. "Rise, Eric, there is no need for formalities now." She cast a searing glare to her sister. Eric did as he was commanded. "My sister, Luna has intervened in your untimely demise for a greater purpose." Luna stepped forward, taking over the conversation as Celestia walked off to fume.
"I sensed another world with our plight, and I investigated through the Ether." She explained, motioning for him to sit beside her as they talked. "You were the best choice on the planet to save ours, so when I noticed you were about to be destroyed by a failed experiment I stepped in." she looked at him. "You proved your proficiency in defeating these creatures ilk on your world, further proving yourself since your arrival. You have been cautious and vigilant at every turn of this journey. We are plagued by a blight, similar to the virus that destroyed your home world. The creatures die in the same manner, damage to the brain or central nervous system, but if you do not separate the head from the body, the creature will heal and attack again." She finished, letting Eric process the information.
'Out of the frying pan and right into the fire,' Eric thought. She had told him she saved his life to have him risk it for a world that was not his own. Eric scoffed in bewilderment. It was just too absurd for her to ask this of him again. He had been prepared to leave the horrors of his old life behind for a new one. But that was not to be. "Is the virus communicable through fluid transfer or is it just like Lazarus?" he asked, needing more to go on if it was his new future. Luna shook her head.
"It is like your Lazarus Virus in the fact that the host must be dead a total of three days before they rise." She explained. "But unlike the Lazarus, it does not happen in desert terrain. There must be vegetation for this virus to take effect. And there is no limit on how long a being can be dead before resurrection. As long as the brain and spinal chord are intact, the body can rise." She stood as Celestia returned. "I must go, Eric. Stay safe." And with that she dissipated into a cloud of shadow.
"And what do you want, your pain-in-my-ass-ness." Eric sniped, suddenly loathing the sight of any pony. Celestia scoffed, obviously still angry with Luna. Eric looked away at a wall, gripping the haft of his knife mercilessly. He wanted nothing more than to kill her right there, but he knew he would never get away from Twilight and Keith. "Why do you ask me to endure the horrors of my past, yet again?" Celestia's aggression and frustration vanished at the moment he asked this question. She seemed to show genuine remorse, something seldom witnessed from the Sun Princess.
"I am sorry, Eric." She said. "Keith is not from the same time that you are. He was brought here by a goddess beyond control at the request of Azrael, the reaper." She touched his face with her nose, nuzzling gently to reassure him. "He has not the knowledge of this foe that you do, nor he proficiency with the weapons necessary to defeat them. I ask you this not out of obligation, but a cry for help. Will you save Equestria from this imminent doom Eric Johnson, slayer of that which should not be?" she stood tall, but her ethereal mane had lost its radiance and refused to flow. Her eyes glistened with despair and hopelessness. He was sure she would either cry or kill him if he refused.
"I don't have much of a choice, do I princess?" he asked in a dry tone. "Not that you have pushed this on me, I accept this offer fully. It is just that I have not a home to return to. My land is lost to the plague. My kind has set their knife to the throat of their mother and she is dying slowly. All things stagnant fade away, so why would I go back if I could?" Celestia was thoroughly shocked at his resolve. Most ponies given the same circumstances would shy away. But this male, this human, faced his fate full forward. "King Leonidas said, 'Give them nothing, but take from them everything. For they shall not show mercy, and neither shall we.' Those were his last words before staving off ten thousand Persian warriors with three hundred men." Eric stood before the princess, drawing his sword and kneeling. "I am by you side." He held the blade out to her by the flat.
"Rise, Eric Johnson. Rise and take your place amongst the knights of old." She said, tapping her horn to his shoulders. Eric stood, sheathing his sword. Keith walked up to the pair, a frown on his face.
"I just heard from the advance team," he said, sorrow heavy on his voice. "all but one have fallen to the monsters and they are headed this way, a thousand or more on their hooves." Eric scoffed and grinned at Eric with a blood lust in his eyes that could shame a manticore.
"Is that all?" he asked, walking out into the street. A siren blared from the center of town, signaling the evacuation to begin. "Keith!" he called back over his shoulder. The chestnut human pony ran up to him, raising an eye brow. "Tell your men to lure them into the commercial sector of town and then to get out fast. Things are about to get fun." Eric loosed a wild grin that would make Charles Manson jealous before running off toward the close set warehouses.
The sun was on its way as the dark night gave way to a pale blue sky. There were dark thunderheads on their way from the south, delivered on his request. The fact that the Pegasus ponies commanded the weather all over the land never ceased to amaze him. Eric raised his radio, activating the microphone. "This is Sword one to Wing four, what's the ETA on those clouds?" he lowered the radio, awaiting the response. A moment later, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail landed next to him.
"They should be here five minutes after the enemy for the rain," Dash said as she attached the weapons the town smith crafted for her to her hooves and wings. "Those buckers are gonna have one heck of a fight on their hooves." She said, donning the helmet her father had passed down to her. Eric liked her enthusiasm, though it may be a liability if they were overrun.
Eric lifted the radio again. "Advance team, how far out are you from Ponyville?" he set the device on the ground, reaching behind him for the crossbow on his back. He attached the arms to the stock before stringing it with a nylon chord.
"We're here sword, heading to the commercial sector now." The line went silent as the clouds rolled overhead. "The enemy is spreading through the area, we're Oscar Mike to the extraction." Eric picked up the radio ad he set an explosive bolt in the crossbow. "It's your party Sword, out." Eric looked out into the industrial park square as four undead ponies entered.
"And now for the fun," he said, shouldering the 200 pound bow. "I want you overhead until the rain comes, Dash." He notified, bringing the scope to his eye. "I need eyes in the sky to tell me where they are." Dash saluted, taking wing and flying away to observe high above. Eric had a solid bead on a head shot of the center pony. "Come to daddy," he said, pulling the trigger. The bolt launched wit ha thump, flying with a barely audible whistle. The pony in his scope reeled back and thrashed about on the ground, dying with a gurgled hiss and its teeth gnashing before the bolt went off.
The C-4 charge surrounding the broad head arrow released a magnificent fireball. "Beautiful," Eric muttered as the body parts and black blood was cast about the area. All four ponies were lying in pieces around the square. His radio hissed, signaling someone calling him.
"Nice shot, Sword," it was Dash. "The others are headed your way fast. You might get one more shot off there before they storm you." Eric raised a fist into the air, setting the crossbow down and raising the other one. He loosed a roar loud enough to be heard around the town as he drew his swords. The thin, flaring blades made the perfect tool to lop heads with. the undead flowed into the area like a flood of meat, ripe and ready for the grinder above them. He snarled, jeering at them, taunting them to try and take him. none moved though, choosing to screech and hiss from the ground.
"What's the matter!" he screamed. "No one wants a hot meal?" he scanned the area, hearing a snarl from behind him. Eric thrust his sword behind him, lifting the blade up and twisting the body attached to it before bringing it down onto the wooden roof. Eric lopped its head off with his other sword, blood spraying over his chest and face. He turned back around, holding the undead ponies head by the mane. "Who's next?" he yelled, throwing it into the mass. Eric sunk his swords into the planks at his feet, stripping out of his vest, shirt, and head wrap.
The standoff continued in this manner, one of the undead climbing up and Eric lopping its head off cleanly in one stroke. He tossed each of the fallen enemies over the edge, taunting them further with its head. Four minutes in, the rain started. Slowly, several large drops landed on Eric's exposed face and chest. The radio on his belt hissed. "Eric, your package is on the way," the raspy voice of Rainbow Dash broadcast over the air. "I don't know what you wanted it for, but you got it. I'm making my first pass now." Eric looked up as Dash swooped down, entering the fray of zombies. She emerged with black blood dripping from her wings and hooves, a trench of fallen, beheaded bodies behind her.
Eric looked down into the horde, the rain now blanketing the sky with a torrent. He stood there, letting the rain soak into his skin. "Time to play," he snarled through closed teeth. Wit ha yell he ran to the edge of the roof, leaping off and twisting his feet. As he left the roof, he repositioned his swords for a downward slash, the revealed spikes in the toes of his boots being lined up for a few good kicks on the way in. He swung wide, decapitating two more undead. Landing on his knees, Eric rolled. He landed three solid stabs with his boot knives before standing and twisting the mechanism to retract them so he could run. He slashed down, swinging up with the other blade, spinning to land two more blows, twisting and ducking to dismember four bore undead. He continued to hack, chop, and slash as he worked his way through the wave of reanimated bodies.
When he stopped and the haze of battle left his vision, he had cut down close to sixty zombies, their corpses lying behind him. He stood as dash made her second pass, creating another trench behind her. Eric spied a steel tower to his left. He climbed it, reaching the top as the zombies figured out what was happening. They turned and rushed the tower, Eric now aiming his blades. He threw them into the fray, impaling a walker with each one. He drew his right .45 as the radio buzzed to life.
"Sword, this is Bolt leader," he looked up to see a wing of Pegasi flying above, the glint of steel on their wings. "We're gonna take some of your load off if you don't mind." The flying ponies descended as Eric was bitten on the ankle, his boot stopping the teeth from making a wound. He aimed with the .45, firing into the monster's head. The creature fell, a massive hole blown into its skull. He continued firing until he needed a reload.
He lifted his radio as a twenty foot wide area of undead was cut open by the battle equipped Wonderbolt squadron. "Dash!" he yelled. "I need that cross bow loaded with another boom stick! Can you get it too me afterward?" he waited for a reply. The cyan Pegasus didn't answer, instead heading straight for the weapon. She was pulling back the string when Eric saw it. Another undead had climbed the warehouse. Eric took aim and compensated for wind and gravity. He fired twice, one high and one low. The rounds struck dead in the head and chest of the zombie. Dash finished loading before grabbing an arrow in her teeth and flying the weapon over to Eric. She handed him the crossbow, loading the arrow into the lock.
"I'll go get the rest," she said, hugging him quickly. "Thanks for the save, I wasn't ready to die." She bolted back to the bag on the roof as Eric took aim at the encroaching horde. The Wonderbolts were back up, re assessing their various injuries from their run when Eric blind fired into the group clambering up towards him. the arrow stuck in a middle area.
"Oh FUCK!" he screamed before the bolt blew. The tower gave out a pained groan before swaying back and forth. "the tower tipped finally, falling towards the ground backwards. Something grabbed Eric from the shoulders, lifting him into the air and setting him on a roof before the tower finally landed in the mass of undead. Eric pulled four throwing blades, tossing them into the crowd before looking back at his rescuer. It was dash again, only this time a bone protruded from a bent wing. Fresh blood flowed from the wound. "Dash!" he yelled shocked by her injury.
"I'm fine!" she shot back, flapping the good wing in an attempt to take off again. She panted after a moment, giving up and using her radio. "Bolt Leader, I need a pick up. I've been…" she hesitated, not wanting to admit it. "Clipped. Can you spare a lift?" without hesitation, a pony with a fiery mane and tail swooped down and stood beside Dash. "Sorry Eric," she said as they two took off. He watched the two fly out of sight toward the DMZ Celestia and Luna had established for medical duty. Eric lifted the radio to his lips, destroyed that someone had gotten hurt under his command.
"Sword to all call-signs, Pull out. I repeat, Retreat to the capitol. Double time." He turned around, seeing four zombies standing on the roof. He drew a kukri, pressing the button on his radio again. "Bolt squadron, make one last pass and head home." He chopped off a zombie's head, ducking and turning around to slice up into another. He dropped the radio, no longer needing it. He drew the other kukri as he dropped to his knees, sliding over the slick roof and slashing in a scissors motion, decapitating two more. Eric felt his knees leave the roof.
He rolled into a tumble as he descended to the ground. He found his swords lying beside him, sunken into the ground between two decapitated zombies. He pulled up the blades as the Wonderbolts plowed through the remaining zombies in the square. He looked to his left, watching the enemy retreat into the residential district. "Shit," Eric mumbled before watching the group of five around a house explode out. In the center of the event was another human, holding a zombie in his left elbow and pulling at its head with the right. The human tore the monsters head from its neck, roaring at the gathering crowd around him. "The hell is going on?" he said as he watched the human punch a zombie that charged so hard that its head flew off. The person followed with a swinging right kick to another, the results the same.
Eric ran towards the human, slashing and chopping with his dual swords as he went into the fray, trying to reach and aid the familiar form ahead. Eric burst through the last line of zombies with a back slash to two more. "Hey! Need a good blade by your side?" he asked, twirling the steel in a right upward stroke, mincing the legs and skull of another zombie. The human looked at him with crimson eyes.
"Yeah, just stay out of my way," the human said, delivering open palm thrusts to three more zombies that jumped after him. their heads and front legs burs from the pressure of his blow. "I'm Mat," the human said, ducking as Eric threw a knife towards him. the silver blade sunk fully into a striking zombies head. "Thanks!" he called after looking back.
"Don't mention it," Eric said as he ducked, letting Mat sweep a leg over his head. Eric heard the snap and crack of bones from Mat's foot planting into several foes. Keith lunged forward, impaling a zombie through the face. He jerked his sword up, pulling the body wit hit and casting it into the horde. "Do you think we may be getting over run?" Eric asked before a hunting horn sounded in the distance.
"They have a dragon!" a pony wit ha shrill cry announced. The remaining horde ran away from the town as Eric and Mat watched the horizon. Through the haze of the rain, a thudding sound and tremors issued. A black dragon with skeletal wings and chunks of flesh missing lumbered into view. It roared once, loosing a jet of fire into the sky.
"You want this one, or may I?" Eric asked wit ha grin. Mat shrugged, smirking. He patted Eric on the back, his eyes now bright, glowing blue.
"It's all yours, buddy." He gave Eric a shark-like grin before running after the retreating zombies. Eric rose a pistol to the air, firing twice to get the beasts attention.
"Hey! Asshole! Pick on someone your own size!" Eric broke into a run as the dragon loosed another breath of flame at his position. Eric wove between building and alleyways, trying to get close to the monster. He exited an alley, coming up beside the monsters leg. 'What have I gotten myself into?' he asked as he looked up the fifty foot monster. From behind him came three loud pops, followed by three fireballs impacting the dragon in the neck, cheek and snout. The small balls of fire disappeared as Eric watched the spectacle.
"What did that do?" he yelled just before a rumble was heard. The dragon swayed slightly before a large ball of fire and brains erupted from its skull, followed close by an equal explosion that demolished its snout. There was another rumble as the beast's throat bulged. The bulge burst into a fountain of burning fluid and flesh chunks as large as Eric. "Uh oh," he muttered before running away from the spectacle.
He ran through an alley back to the square of the industrial park. He exited the alley and entered the square, looking back just in time to see the now headless behemoth fall. The creatures wing landed around Eric, the bones shattering and falling on the warehouses. "Who ever that was, thank you." He said, staring at the expanding puddle of burning fluids.
"You're welcome!" a female voice called from behind him. he turned around to face the person who yelled. It was a woman, she had a metal arm that showed through the torn right sleeve of her leather jacket. A smoking metal leg was also visible through a large hole in her leather pants. They had deep blue bolts of lightning on them. Her jacket was unzipped, revealing a like colored bra and the waist band of her undergarments. She jumped down from the roof of a warehouse, holding a bag and a shirt and vest. She walked up to him thrusting the items into his arms. "These are yours I believe," she said, lowering an eye patch over a blue, steel eye.
Erik stuck the blade of one of his swords into the ground putting on the vest and shirt and seating his blades into their scabbards on the pack before shouldering it. "your Side arm and throwing knives are in the bag." she said, reaching in and pulling out the .45. she stuck in his hand as she dug again for the seven blades she dug out of the skulls of the re-killed zombies. Eric holstered the weapon, taking the blades from her and slipping them into their sheaths.
"Thanks…" he held up his hands, at a loss for words. The woman laughed, shaking black blood from the blade on her metal arm.
"I'm Sapphire," she said, the blade on her arm retracting as she held out a hand. "don't worry, I don't bite." Eric fit his right hand into hers, shaking.
"Eric Johnson, Professional zombie killer and knight of Equestria." Sapphire seemed legitimately impressed with his status, nodding slightly.
"Very nice," She complemented. "Only a day and a half here and you're already a top ranking member of society." She chuckled before letting go of his hand. Eric was bewildered by her knowledge of him. she noticed his confused face and explained. "The eye," she said, pointing to her eye patch. "It lets me find things out about a person. And it says you should be dead." Eric nodded.
"Dumb scientist tried to send me to another world before Luna rescued me to have me risk my life," he laughed nervously. "Umm, yeah I still haven't figured out how that works thought…" There was talk and yelling over the radio he had dropped half hour ago. Sapphire ran over to the building, crouching on her mechanical leg and jumped up to it in one bound. She returned shortly with the device in hand. Eric nodded and looked around the area, spotting Mat.
"All clear!" he yelled over before jogging up to the two. Mat embraced Sapphire when they met, kissing her on the lips. Eric shook his head and turned around, walking toward the center of the square.
"Ponyville is clear, I repeat. All undead have fled or been finished. Send in the clean up crew." He slipped the radio onto his belt, sitting down on a stoop and waiting for the pick up he was promised.
Once again, big shout to Bahamut for lending me Mat and Sapphire. i doubt this chapter would have been half as juicy if he didn't. (that dragon woulda been a complete BITCH.) R&R please :)
Sapphire - used with permission of Bahamut Crisis Core.
Mat - used with permission of Bahamut Crisis Core