“Don’t shoot!” Darius quickly turned his head back, noticing the quickly advancing equines. Things were about to get complicated.

“Now calm down,”  Darius held out a hand in an attempt to placate the ponies. “I’m not doing anything that these little bastards won’t deserve.”

It seems the gunslinger wasn’t known for his diplomacy, because the approaching crowd didn’t slow it’s pace, rather, they increased their speed to him. Surprising him was the fact that the timid yellow pegasus was leading the charge against him. That pony nearly shrank into nothing the first time he had used his guns, now she was charging an armed man. He had been tempting to turn the gun on her, if not for the fact that she neglected to watch her footing.

Fluttershy ran over the gore that was left from the earlier massacre and found herself falling to the ground in confusion. The poor pegasus took a moment to register just what had caused her to trip, and why the ground was so wet. She only then realized that it was the remains of other creatures that she was too slow to rescue in time, and that she was covered in their blood.

Everyone, and everypony was silent.  The friends of the pegasus stood away, not even the down-to-earth Applejack wanted her own hooves to be covered in gore. All watched the small pegasus who remained silent, but fixated on the ground below her.

"How... dare you. What in the name of bloody Celestia gives you the right to... to..." the Pegasus was choking on tears, "murder these defenseless... They were a family!  You!" Fluttershy looked up and locked eyes of the arms dealer. Fear and rage rolled into his being as he stared into the angry eyes of the mare. He felt fear, and tried to draw the pistol towards her, but his arms were locked in place. He couldn't move, he couldn't even blink; like staring back into the disembodied eye of cthulu. "You will put down that creature and that... thing this instant! You hear me?" gone was the soft whisper, replaced by the alto demands of the possessed pegasus.

The rabbit struggled writhing Darius’ grasp before biting down on the man’s finger. The creature scrambled towards the pegasus, despite her fearful demeanor, who sweetly picked it up. “Don’t worry little fellow, you’re safe now.” she cooed, stroking the little creature’s head despite the mess around her.

“Look sir. Ah know you saved our lives in’ all, but ah think it’s best that you put that gun down.” AJ cried out while advancing on the gunslinger, giving the bloody grass a wide berth as she stepped around it. Rainbow Dash caught her eye above her to the right, moving slower than Applejack had ever seen her move. Seems the pegasus had not forgotten the damage that weapon could employ in just an instant.

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Darius warned, still trying struggling against his own body for control. “That lil’ beast in your hooves can kill you at any moment!”

“Oh be quiet,” Rainbow Dash sneered. “If there’s anypony who can handle animals, it’s Fluttershy!” the pegasus pointed at her friend, who was still huddled with the bunny, just as scared as the little creature was. Twilight could be seen walking towards her friend, parting hoof-sized indents in the red grass and bodies with her magic with every step.

Darius finally regained control of his limbs, though it felt like he had been holding up the sky itself for days. Applejack tensed while Rainbow dropped from the sky and in front of Fluttershy, glaring at the man.

Both were surprised as the gunman pushed his pistol into the lining of his jacket and raised a hand, finger pointing to the west. Despite themselves, the ponies looked to where Darius directed.

The sun was setting. Brilliant rays that poured around the tops of the far off mountains. It was something of natural and untamed beauty, but it was nothing that the ponies had never seen before. They looked back to the man in confusion.

But they saw what was behind him. The moon that they had grown accustomed to in Equestria was nothing like it was at this time. The white surface was replaced with crimson and unnatural light began to shine down around the arms dealer as it rose higher into the sky. A rumble echoed through Terraria as the blood moon reared it’s head. Darius whispered to himself, voice shaking. “A blood moon is rising…”

The moon was rising. That wasn’t supposed to be happening. Luna was asleep, how could the moon raise itself without her? Celestia panicked in the tallest tower of Canterlot Palace, glancing at the massive red orb on the horizon.

The moon isn’t supposed to be red either. However, it wasn’t the color of the moon nor its arrival that worried the Princess of the Sun the most. It was the condition of her sister.

Luna’s condition had worsened in the medical ward. Her breathing had become erratic, but the most worrying thing were the constant tremors that wracked her hooves. Celestia had assumed the worse when her sister had started convulsing uncontrollably. It had taken at least four guard members and a nurse to hold her down before she hurt herself. It had lasted a full minute before the lunar princess lay still once more, making the only sign of life a slow heart beating and a shallow breath.

Though they suggested many, Celestia turned down any offers of medication aside from those that would reduce her sister’s pain and fever. The gift of immortality that they had been given came with the immunity from disease along with decay. Though it pained the princess to see her sister in such agony, she knew it had to run it’s course. No, the malady that affected her was effecting her in such a way that went beyond medicinal comprehension.

But, perhaps, one of magical understanding could be the key.

Excusing all in audience who were in Luna’s chambers. Many left without word, though some tarried long enough to give their regards, or glance at Celestia with tear streaked faces as they left their beloved diarch alone. Save it be the sun.

The door shut behind her, and Celestia walked to the bed of her dear sister who flickered in and out of consciousness while in her fitful, feverish state. Sparing but a moment to touch Luna’s face with the side of her hoof, Celestia lowered her head and gently rested her own horn against that of her sister’s.

The second their horns met, searing pain erupted over Celestia’s body. She fell to the ground, her horn swelling. There was dark magic at play inside her sister, but what? As Celestia rose to her hooves, she noticed the purple aura on her sister’s body.

Yes, something was very, very wrong.

The ponies eyes traced the growing crimson on it’s path towards Fluttershy where is shined upon her and the creature she held in her hooves.

The rabbit stopped it’s trembling and grew still. “Oh, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy tried to communicate with the bunny. The creature ignored Fluttershy’s inquiry. Instead, the rabbit’s fear subsided, replaced by something it had never felt in its life. The lust for flesh.

It chomped down on Fluttershy’s leg, drawing blood. The pegasus screamed and, despite herself, began pulling at the creature, trying to dislodge the rabbit from the vulnerable flesh of her leg. Though it did little good, as the creature only found more vulnerable areas to claw and bite, finally finding her neck and clamping down tight.

Twilight and Applejack both ran to Fluttershy’s aid. Applejack made it it first and wrapped her hooves around the furry creature’s neck before pulling with all her strength. She dislodged the rabbit from her friend, teeth trailing blood, and found herself holding the thing at legs length as it clawed at her calloused hooves and snapped it’s blood covered teeth mere inches away from the earth pony’s face.

Applejack stood still in panic, but relaxed when a aura field of purple light encased the rabbit and tore it from her hooves. Twilight, with her horn alight, sent the creature flying in the opposite direction with a tilt of her head. In their panic, the ponies hadn’t noticed Darius draw the handgun from his holster and line up the sights to his right eye. All he needed now was a good shot.

The rabbit landed in a jumbled roll, but found it’s footing and, soon enough, was barreling back towards the three ponies that stood around it’s feast. The creature gathered itself low and sprang for Twilight’s own exposed neck. The alicorn braced herself in front of Fluttershy, ready to weather the blow.

A resounding BANG echoed through the area, and the creature practically exploded in a hail of blood and ichor which splattered against the transparent shield which Twilight had erected only moments before. Recognizing the now unforgettable gunshots, the equines slowly turned to Darius, who held up his pistol with both hands.”Inside.” He barked. “Now!”

Nopony moved aside from Pinkie who was calming a distraught and huddled Fluttershy, by wrapping her hooves around her neck. Part to sooth, another to staunch the bleeding from her wound. “Fine, you know what?” Darius raised his hands in defeat before holstering his gun. “I’ll let you all die out here. See if I care.” He stormed past the ponies, slamming the doors of the manor behind him.

Silence followed the arms dealer’s reaction. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet sobbing from Fluttershy, though that did not last long. The crimson drenched shadows that heralded the blood moon spilled into the forest, where a cacophony of growls and tortured animalistic screams could be heard almost instantly at the light’s touch.

The first to run was Rarity. The second she turned to bolt for the doors, her friends and bodyguards followed. However, as the six friends burst through the door, the guards slammed it shut before entering. Twilight spun around and attempted to open the doors, but found they were being magically sealed on the other side.

“Princess,” Sheathed Sword addressed from outside, his voice quivering. “Our mission was to protect you from harm’s way. As we are military personnel, I do believe we should be the ones to hold the line.”

“What? You can’t be serious! You’ll just die out there!” Twilight choked, pushing her hooves against the door in vain.

Twilight got no response other than the heavy breathing outside of the doors. “Please! Open the doors!” She pounded for what felt like forever, but the doors were sealed. She felt five fingers grasp her shoulder and pull back, knocking her onto her haunches. “W-What are you doing?” She screamed at Darius, who began to lower a metal bar over the handles.

“You heard the guys,” Darius locked it into place. “Nobody gets in, nobody gets out.” He pulled Twilight back to her hooves, pointing at the open door at the end of the hall. “Everybody's all holed up in there, lets go!”

Not wanting a repeat of Darius’ actions from outside, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity all scrambled along side the arms dealer. Twilight herself was immobile, staring at the door in front of her as if it didn’t exist. Both AJ and RD were waiting for their friend to move, but were surprised when the princess charged at the door, banging her hooves against the wooden frame while futilely attempting to raise the metal bar from the front of the door.

“No! No! You’re not supposed to die for me! I’m not worth dying for!” screamed the alicorn, voice cracking from the effort. Instantly, the earth pony and pegasus rushed to her friend,  Applejack pulling at Twilight’s middle while RD gripped around her friend her neck. They both tried pulling her away from the door without injuring her friend, but Twilight was insistent, and had more strength than Applejack expected from the librarian.

“They ain’t gonna die, Sugarcube,” Applejack wrapped a hoof around Twilight.

“No,” Darius spoke up. “They probably will.” The four other ponies glared at him as Twilight broke into a sob. “Tonight’s the blood moon. The zombies out there? Gonna tear them to shreds.”

Rainbow Dash cringed. She remembered marathoning scary movies with Pinkie, the shambling corpses known as zombies devouring all of ponykind. “They… They exist?”

“Mhm,” Darius grimly smiled. “When you shoot one, their legs, arms, sometimes even heads fly off. But the demons just keep on walkin’.”

Twilight surrendered to her friends, Rainbow pulling her on Applejack’s back as she hung there limply. “C’mon Twi,” She meekly patted her friend. “It’s just… Listen, I’m sure we’ll be alright. I mean, what can some dumb dead guys do to us?”

“Hellen could tell ya,” Darius said, moving towards the hallway “Woman has some stories she could tell bout how creative those things could be in gettin’ to your innards, but-” A large crash could be heard behind them. Applejack looked behind her, and saw that a large portion of the door had a splintering crack running across it. Through the crack snaked an arm of decayed and patchwork flesh which caught on the splinters of the door and peeled off at the contact. The arm continued through the door past the elbow and proceeded to aimlessly writhe through the air.

That was enough for the farm pony to realize that the threat was real, and they needed to regroup. Not waiting for any word from the others, she ran past Darius and into the room that her three other friends, ignoring Twilight tearing out a few strands of her mane as she held on for dear life. Not far behind her was the rest of the party with the arms dealer trailing behind. The man stood in the hallway long enough to jam on a brick next to the door which gave way to his touch, sliding into an indent with an audible click.

Darius wasted no more time in running into the room where the rest of the residents were held. Swinging the door behind him, he pulled a steel latch against the strong wood that was adorned in metal studs and crossbeams. Obviously, this was meant to take quite a beating.

The breathless man took a moment to scan his surroundings for anything out of place. He had spent countless hours preparing and, in some cases, repairing this room when the main door wouldn’t hold. Everything was in place, but what about everyone? “Hellen was lifting that purple one off of the hayseed pony’s back. Poor girl, probably never had to lose a friend like that before. “ Darius thought to himself, continuing with his mental checklist. “That old dirtbag wearing a helmet is in the corner, putting the finishing fuses on those blast sticks of his. Probably kill us all with that. Rest of those ponies are here too. Well, minus a two.” The arms dealer grimaced. Even  though they were creatures he couldn’t relate to and hardly knew, they didn’t deserve the fate that awaited them at the end of a zombie’s maw.

Twilight found purchase with four hooves on the ground, no longer shaking. Nurse Hellen tried to help stand her, but she found a hoof roughly pushing her out of the way. The Alicorn took a few steps away from the nurse and towards the arms dealer. Though her face was tear streaked, her eyes burned with a hatred that contrasted the brightness of her colors. Any other situation, the man would have laughed at the sight, but the raw anger in her eyes gave him caution.

“In Celestias name, you will tell us what’s going on here!” The alicorn spoke, an unnatural resonance accenting each syllable.

“You saw that moon out there! That crap ain’t natural. Makes the dead stronger and causes one hell of a waking nightmare. I was doing the rabbits out there a favor!” Despite his experience dealing with some of the worse minor horrors that crawled out of Hell, the arms dealer found himself taking a step back.

“I don’t care about the damn rabbits! I just lost two ponies out there! You have till the flap of a pegasus’ wings to explain why you thought it necessary to leave out this detail!” Twilight kept her advance, and Darius stepped back, but was met by the hard, cool sensation of the wall pressed against him.

“Don’t know if you noticed angry eyes, but this here house is a bit big for just three of us, right? We’re short handed. Been losing people left and right to these things for months. We knew this moon was comin’, and knew it would be more than the three of us could handle. We needed bodies.” Darius began a slow reach into his jacket, fingers rubbing against the leather of his holster.

“Well you have them.” Twilight choked out. “Two of them. We could have helped you if you’d just asked, now you’re undeserving of it.” Darius blinked. He could have sworn he saw lightning arc across the alicorn’s teeth and she chewed out those words. He had enough with taking chances.

Darius, with the quickness of a gunslinger, unclipped his handgun from the holster and brought it out to level at Twilight, right below her horn. Before he could flip the safety catch, he saw her horn light up and  found his gun turn an angry red and become hot like a demon’s breath, sizzling against his skin. The man dropped it to the ground and grasped at his hand. The firearm fell to the ground, scorching the wood in a black outline of itself. Twilight’s horn shone even brighter, with her eyes leveled at the man with angry intent.

Everyone in the room was petrified. Pinkie wasn’t smiling, and anypony else was too stunned at what was happening in front of them to move.

But everyone in the room jumped when someone or thing pounded at the door. A staccato of hard taps followed by shouting. “Hey! Hey! Open up! Please! They’re coming!” came the muffled voice of Low Rider. “The door is locked! I can’t open it! Please, I can hear you’re in there!”

Before anyone could react, Twilight Sparkle ran to the door, momentarily forgetting about her magic as she pushed aside Darius and threw open the latch with her hoof. She pulled the door in, leaving the man just enough time to shout out in protest.

Standing in the hallway was the pegasus from before. Though his armor bloodied and one eye swollen closed. He also showed only half an ear on the left which had obvious bite and tear marks. As gruesome as he his injuries were, it was hard to dwell on them when a look of overwhelming relief adorned his face.

“Princess. I’m so glad it’s-” Low Rider began, but his words were interrupted by several  loud TWANG noises that came from the hallway. The sound that Rainbow could only describe is a feather flying at her speed came shortly after. Then Low Rider sported a new trail of crimson across his neck as the first arrow hit his left side.

The pegasus looked down at the wound, the smile of relief still plastered on his face, but it had lost all it’s mirth. Moments later, several more darts flew and imbedded into his side. Those that didn’t bounce off his armor found crevices in it or embedded deeply in his exposed wings and flesh.

Low Rider gave a single crimson laced cough, reaching up to the dart at his neck before he found his balance had left him with a raised hoof. He fell forward in front of the princess just inside the doorway. Twilight only stared in complete shock as the blood began to pool around her once stalwart guard.

“You idiot!” Darius roared with renewed rage and vigor. He unceremoniously kicked the remains of Low Rider hard enough to send them skidding away from the door with sickening crack and a trial of blood. Fluttershy could be heard retching in the corner of the room, with no comfort besides  a leg from Applejack gently stroking her mane, though her own eyes were as distant as Twilight’s who stared at the harm she caused, flinching when Darius slammed the door. The man bent over to pick up his gun, taking only a moment to wipe off the splattered blood from his shoes in the process. Looking over his firearm, he swore after pushing the magazine release and seeing that the metal was welded into the frame of the gun. Even if the weapon still worked after the heat, it would only be able to fire a few rounds.

Still, it was worth trying. Twilight didn’t flinch when Darius pointed the gun at her and tried pulling the trigger. The metal didn’t budge, it was stuck against the guard. Frustrated, the gun man threw the worthless piece of metal, pinging it across Twilight’s skull. This did little but bring the unicorn back to reality as she looked the man straight in the eye. Darius stood, ready to dodge an incoming horn when he noticed a glow coming from the being’s eyes and from her horn. Weightlessness enveloped the man as he found himself pinned against the wall. The weightlessness was drastically changed as a crushing force pinned his arms and stilted his breathing.

Behind his head, the man could hear scratching and clawing against the wood, as if the undead behind him could smell his worried breath through the wall.

“W...aaait,” the gunslinger managed to choke out through the increasing pressure against his lungs. “You’ll die...” his voice was silenced by a flinch of the powerful creature in front of him. Twilight seemed unrelenting as her horn continued to glow as brightly as ever. It seemed that Darius’ fate was sealed.

A pure white hoof on the shoulder of the alicorn brought a momentary pause to the pressure, and a voice in her ear cut the spell entirely.

“You’re killing him. Don’t do that, Twilight.” Spoke Rarity, in her own attempt to calm the storm. Darius fell to his knees, grasping at his chest and gasping for air.

“Alright. I... My mistake.” said the gunslinger, coughing still.

Words on deaf ears as Twilight turned from her friend and walked back with sunken shoulders to the nearest wall. Rarity let her go, but advanced on the man on his knees.

“It doesn’t need to be said again what you’ve done here. But it doesn’t take a college education to realize you know this dreadful place more than we do,” The pure white unicorn looked back at her friend “Though, Luna save my soul, I was tempted to let her continue after seeing... I mean I only knew him for a short few days but...” She turned back to the man, eyes shadowed by tear stained maskere, though her expression was stern.

“Get us out of here. You owe us that much.”

Darius, shakily, rose back to his feet, his fingers still scarred and burned. “You… Have no idea… How hard it’s going to be… We’ll... “ Darius coughed, a tooth spitting out of his mouth. “We’ll all die if we try getting out…”

“If you don’t,” Twilight spoke up again, “I’ll kill you now.”

The room was silent, save for Fluttershy’s continuing sobbing. Finally, Darius spoke up, pointing to a bookcase near the wall. “Got an elevator to the upstairs. Get in.” Helen flipped a nearby switch, and the bookcase split, opening like elevator doors.

Just as he spoke, more harrowing twangs fired out from the hallway, accompanied by the low groans of the undead. Although Twilight didn’t like this man in the slightest, she knew it was her only way out. “C’mon girls!” She ordered, the rest of the ponies snapping to attention. “Into the elevator!”

As they all ran into the lift, Helen spoke up again. “D-Darius do you think they’ll turn on us?”

Darius blocked the question of his mind “Get in, they’re just outside—” Before he finished speaking, zombies burst into the room through the walls around the door, all shambling at him at a steady rate. He drew his Boomstick from his back and fired out two shots, both of them sending zombies careening against the wall from the blast. Before he could fumble around for shells, Helen grabbed the gunslinger’s arm and pulled it into the elevator.

Before the doors could properly close, a single zombie got its arm inside the elevator doors. Thankfully, they slammed shut as the elevator ascended. The zombie’s arm slid up before it hit the ceiling, properly severing it. The arm flopped away from the door, falling at the hooves of Rainbow Dash and lay still for a moment. She stared at the appendage, but couldn’t keep from crying out as the thing sprang to life and tried to grab her leg. The pegasus backpedaled, but could only go so far in the cramped elevator. Before the arm could get much further, Twilight incinerated it with a thought, leaving only ash and an acrid smell.

Then, there was only the sound of near a dozen lungs taking a breath, as if they held it as one. Another moment passed, and one could start to hear another sound. A slight melody starts playing from the ceiling, one that might cause a toe to tap if the situation were different.

“E-Elevator music?” Dash tried to laugh. “W-What… Why…”

“Hey, I never thought I’d have to use it like this.” Darius shrugged.

“Where’s it headin’? Place only had a few floors, seems we a’ve made the top by now.” Applejack asks.

“The observatory.” He answered, properly reloading his boomstick. “Get ready.”

Before any of them could react, the doors opened.