How many ponies have died in the history of Equestria? A hundred thousand? A hundred million? I don’t know numbers.

…Well, I can guess. The population of ponies in a big city like Manehatten is around a hundred thousand, but only if you count the suburbs and outlying areas. And if you add in other major cities, you’d get around six hundred thousand I guess?

Ponyville’s small, but there are countless villages and towns spread out all throughout Equestria. Adding those in, my best guess would be that there’s nearly a million ponies living in Equestria right now.

That’s a lot. But I’d bet that’s only a recent development. In the past, ponies used to live far more spread out. So it makes sense if the population of Equestria used to be only a few hundred thousand ponies.

Yet how many centuries has Equestria existed? How many generations of ponies have lived and died over the years since the first ponies came from unknown lands? Only Celestia knows since she’s been around from the start. I guess you could ask her how old she is and guess from there, but I’m betting that’s a fast way to get banished to the moon.

…But to continue, I’d guess that even if the current number of ponies in Equestria is uniquely high, the number of dead over these long years means that the dead that rose was about…

Fifteen million.

And when I say rose, I don’t meant rose as in ‘this is how many undead ponies have risen so far added to the number that rose just now.’ I mean they all came back to life at once.

----

Here’s the thing not many ponies get. When you kill an undead pony, you don’t really kill an undead pony. At best you just smush their heads in, but how could you kill something that wasn’t alive to begin with? And moreover, which never had a body to begin with?

Yeah, think about that. I’ve observed before that the undead that rose from the ground were suspiciously pony-shaped for bodies that should have rotted away long ago. Magic was clearly responsible for giving them forms, and if that’s the case, destroying their bodies doesn’t do much to stop them. You see, even if they die, their soul remains. And so long as they kept coming back, that meant their potential numbers would never decrease.

So when all the dead rose, you can be sure that all the dead rose. And yeah, if that sounds bad you’d be right. Because they all started coming back to life all across Equestria.

Mind you, it’s not like they all popped out of the ground at once. That would be stupid. But fifteen million ponies did arrive in Equestria over the course of about a month. To put it in other words, about five hundred thousand undead ponies rose from the ground each day for an entire month.

To put it another way, half of Equestria’s population rose from the dead and started attacing the living every day for thirty days straight. To put it another way…

Bad stuff happened.

I don’t know what it’s like to feel fear. Or rather, I’ve forgotten that feeling. The closest I guess I got to that feeling in death what when I saw Rarity lying on the floor and when I found myself about to eat Fluttershy. But besides that, life and death hold no terrors for me.

Normal ponies on the other hand are all flinch. And when the first group of five hundred thousand dead ponies rose outside of Ponyville and started attacking the walls, I think Twilight might have needed some time in the mare’s room. As for the guards on the wall, it’s just as well the dead smell really bad, because they didn’t help matters at all. They did add to the fertility of the area though, so I’ll grant them that.

But yeah, that’s a lot of dead ponies. And here’s the thing which I’m sure you’ve already noticed: they all popped up in the same spot. That’s unusual, but what was more unusual was how fast they started charging the walls. I mean, usually the undead ponies sort of shuffle about and trip over rocks, but these dead were quick.

Not as quick as me, obviously. Not even close. But they could run, and as it transpired, jump too. They swarmed the walls and began piling on top of each other, trying to climb over and start munching on ponies. And I’m sure they would have done too, if it weren’t for a certain heroic pony who swooped in and saved the day.

Starlight Glimmer.

…Yeah. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say I was busy flirti—getting to know him, while this was all going on. I hadn’t visited my friends yet, but from what Applejack had said everything was fine. So I didn’t notice the dead appearing like that for a while.

In the meantime of course, a horde beyond imagining was attacking Ponyville’s walls. They literally filled the world in every direction, and they were determined to kill.

So let’s recap. Five hundred thousand undead ponies able to run quickly vs Ponyville’s walls which aren’t nearly as high as the walls around the major cities, defended by a few guards who’re too busy soiling themselves to do much good. That adds up to a bunch of chew toys and a lot of undead monsters eating all of Ponyville, right?

Well, again, Starlight Glimmer.

Gotta give props where props are due. Starlight Glimmer was the first pony on the ground to react when she saw the undead horde approaching. She teleported herself to the walls even as Twilight and Spike were panicking and before the undead could climb over the walls she started blasting them to bits. No crying for help, no long speeches about how everything would be fine if we all work together, she just started melting pony’s faces.

You know, if there was ever an audition for another Element of Harmony, I’d totally vote to make her the Element of Kicking Tail. Because that’s what she did.

Five minutes. That’s how long it took Twilight and Spike to dash over, and the rest of Ponyville’s citizens to join the defense. And it may not sound like much, but consider that for five minutes Starlight held off half a million undead ponies by herself.

Oh, one guard managed to kick a pony off the walls but that’s about it. The rest was Starlight’s spells which sliced through ponies like…something…sharp. Look, she killed a lot of dead things, okay?

And just when she was about to falter, and when the dead seemed like they’d pour past her, reinforcements arrived.

Again, not me. I was busy exchanging…you know what? I was busy. No, it was Spike and Twilight who joined Starlight with the rest of Ponyville as they kicked ponies off walls and didn’t bother to take names.

It might sound odd to think of a few hundred ponies fending off five hundred thousand, but you have to consider numerous factors.

Like for instance, despite the numerical disadvantage, Ponyville had a good setup on its walls. Sure they weren’t high, but the way they were designed meant that any pony on top could kick an undead pony trying to climb over it back down quite easily. Even if the undead ponies could run around, they still didn’t bother dodging so even Ponyville’s less-competent ponies could knock at least ten undead ponies off the wall before they got tired.

Plus, if Ponyville’s got some not-so-cool ponies, it does have its fair share of awesome ponies. Among them of course are Big Mac, Bon Bon, Spike, Starlight, and Twilight. To be fair, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were there, but while they were awesome, they weren’t in the same league of awesome as the folks I mentioned. And Applejack and Fluttershy were both in other corners of Equestria, so all the credit’s got to go to the five I mentioned.

Did I surprise you with at least one of those names? Well, I’ll explain. Big Mac is big. And strong. I don’t think I need to explain why this is helpful when fighting undead ponies. He could toss undead ponies off the wall like he tossed hay bales around and when he kicked a pony, they stayed kicked.

Next, Bon Bon. I never would have guessed she was good at fighting, but apparently she’s got some kind of special training. She was literally a blur, knocking ponies down left and right while protecting Lyra. Pretty cool, although I wonder where she learned all that…? Well, the fact remains that she protected her section of the wall easily.

Then there was Twilight and Starlight. No questions there either why they were great. Two ponies with that amount of magic? They cut holes through the undead horde with their spells and held off the vast majority of the undead by themselves. And then there’s our last awesome pony.

Spike.

Yeah, I know he’s not a pony, but he’s like an honorary one, y’know? Anyways, he might have been the most critical member of the defense, despite what I said about Starlight and Twilight. And you wanna know why? Two words.

Dragon breath.

Have you seen dragon fire? I don’t mean the weird green flame Spike uses to transport letters around, I mean his real fire. I’ve only really seen him use his flames once. It was during the Equestria Games, when some idiot shot an ice arrow into a cloud another idiot left hanging over the stadium. It turned into a huge iceberg that could have crushed half of the stadium, but Spike melted it.

In one breath.

I know I talk about coolness and awesomeness, and yeah, I know what I’m talking about. But that? That’s amazing. If Spike weren’t such a nice guy, I’d be pretty—well, sorta worried about what he might do if he ever got mad. Fortunately, he’s too good a kid for that, but when the chips are down, he’s also pretty handy in a fight.

Picture the scene. Desperate last defense, countless undead ponies. They rush the walls, climbing on top of each other, trying to get up. Where they’re not blown apart by spells they struggle with Ponyville’s defenders. Twilight and Starlight hold off the two ends of the wall being assailed while Ponyville’s citizens kick as many of the dead back down as they can. But the center line, the main avenue of attack for the undead?

That’s all Spike.

With one breath he unleashes a flame that melts steel and chars ponies down to their bones. Actually, it sets the bones on fire too. Every time he lets loose his dragon breath, he wipes out thousands of the dead, and only when they fill the gaps again does he breathe out another blast of fire. And I bet you thought he was only good for delivering scrolls.

But even after saying that, even after acknowledging how strong Ponyville’s defenses were…yeah, it’s still five hundred thousand. Normally, the undead would still swarm Ponyville in an instant, regardless of how many badasses they had on the wall, no offense to donkeys. But there’s one more factor that helped save Ponyville:

The dead are really stupid.

I mean, really stupid. You know what the most critical factor that saved Ponyville was? It was that all five hundred thousand undead ponies swarmed one wall and didn’t bother encircling the town.

Yeah. Instead of having to spread themselves out, Ponyville got to fight on one side and let the undead trip each other up and crown themselves climbing up one wall. That meant that there were more than enough hooves to knock the ones that got past Spike, Twilight, and Starlight down, and that the defenders could even rotate out when ponies got tired.

…But still, it was an impossible battle to begin with. You know it. I know it. I bet everypony on those walls knew it. Twilight had sent out a call to the Wonderbolts, but the pony she’d sent probably wouldn’t’ have even made it there before Ponyville got overrun. And even if they Wonderbolts got the message quickly and they all flew to help, it would be a drop in the bucket against the ocean of undead ponies.

They would fall. The wall would break, or the defenders would falter. It was only a matter of time, so how long could Ponyville hold?

Thirty minutes. That’s how long. Rather, thirty two minutes and fifty four seconds, which is exactly how long Spike could keep breathing fire for.

He’s just a kid. And in dragon terms, he’s still a baby. Honestly, if he’d passed out after five minutes he would have been brave. If he’d lasted for ten minutes, he would have been a hero. But thirty minutes? That’s sheer willpower, the kind they write legends about.

But even with all the will in the world, even though he was next to Rarity and Pinkie Pie as they held him up and knocked the undead off the walls, even though he knew everypony was counting on him, Spike’s body couldn’t match up to his soul. He fell, and the undead began to swarm up the walls.

Ponyville’s defenders put up a hell of a fight. Magic and hooves knocked the undead down relentlessly, but they were even more relentless. First one step, then two. They forced the ponies on the wall back, and then once they had a foothold the lines collapsed. The undead swarmed the walls, and Twilight ordered everypony to retreat. But it was too late, and there was nowhere to go.

Normally, folks could still run if the walls were breached but these undead could run too. They were tireless, and the defenders were tired. In moments they would overrun the town, killing the helpless fillies and colts hiding in Twilight’s castle, and turning my home into a mass grave.

The undead cleared the walls. Twilight stood with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight, ready to make one last stand. And that’s when I finally arrived.

----

Ponies make excuses. Dead ponies make none.

If just one of my friends had died—if I’d been just a hair slower—I would have never forgiven myself. He and I had been too busy absorbing each other’s presence like a thirsty plant seeking water. We’d been so engrossed that only a small feeling at the back of my consciousness had prompted me to break away.

He’s wanted me to stay, to keep exchanging bits of our souls in that intimate connection. And I’d wanted to so badly, but I am if nothing else loyal. So I checked and—

An undead stallion rears up and tries to pull himself up the wall. He swipes at Lyra, causing her to fall back. And before she can kick him off, he’s up on the wall and charging at her.

Bon Bon turns, but she’s fifteen meters away and surrounded by the dead. Other ponies also see the danger and try to come to her aid, but they’re all engaged, and the lines are breaking. She is alone.

Lyra tries to flee, but she’s tired from fighting and the stallion is charging, mouth agape, rotted teeth aimed at her throat. She slips on a piece of dead pony flesh and goes down. Her eyes close as the stallion’s mouth descends.

And my hoof caves in its skull and sends it flying backwards off the wall in a single blow. Lyra gapes. The other ponies gape. The undead, well, most of them have that unhinged jaw so they always look like that. But they gape too.

A blue pegasus stands on the wall, wings spread wide to catch the light, her rainbow mane a flag in the breeze. As if sensing her presence, the dead on the wall and below turn towards her, and for a moment the world grows silent.

What can I say? I still like to make an entrance.

…Well, it’s not so much for their benefit as it is for his. I can sense his spirit circling the battlefield from overhead, watching. And is it wrong for a mare to want to show off a bit? No. Of course not.

Speaking of which, I look down at Lyra. She’s shivering with nerves from her near-death experience. Or is it because she’s looking at me? Whatever. It was weird that I saved her, but I guess everyone gets one. Unless I’m bored, or one of my friends is in danger.

And speaking of which, I look over.

Her wings are torn, her side clawed and soaked with blood. But her eyes as she turns to me in disbelief and relief—ah, it is perfection and salvation. Twilight meets my gaze and the world stops for a moment.

How odd. My stomach lurches when I see her, and for a moment I fear she’ll send me away again, condemn me.

But of course she does not. Instead, she bows her head. A silent plea.

And I nod back. How could I not? Even if she were to hurt me a thousand times, even if she were to break all ties and cast me aside, I will never be far away if she calls.

That’s what it means to be a friend, after all.

And so—

I fly.

----

Deathboom.

The air screams as the world rips itself apart. It seems as if reality itself wavers for the moment, and darkness pours out from the tear where space has been violated, bringing darkness and unlife to all it touches.

For the living, it is a symbol of fear and dark mystery. For the dead, it is coming home.

Yet, even as the first world-scream of the Deathboom begins to fade another shriek of tearing reality heralds a second Deathboom. And then a third.

The living cower in fear, paralyzed by the sound and sights that they were never meant to witness. But the dead feel the Deathbooms echo in their souls and draw strength from them. Below Ponyville’s walls, the milling undead straighten, and their bodies seem to grow a little more alive, their eyes focus, and their movements become stronger, quicker. And naturally, this would normally lead to the demise of Ponyville’s defenders as the dead renewed their assault with this strength. But not in this place, and not in this time.

Because the dead were dying.

A crimson streak flashes across the battlefield. In truth, the figure at the heart of the lightning that rips through the ranks of the undead is blue, but the trail of destruction she wreaks is such that a line of blood and limbs seems to follow in her wake. Without heed of her own body, a blue pegasus flies through the ranks of the dead, ripping them apart with her very passage.

She exits one side of the horde and turns, her wings shedding crimson droplets and aims herself again at the heart of the massed undead. She accelerates—another Deathboom screams. And the undead die.

The black light washes over them, a wave of darkness within the light. No, something that eats the light. The sea of undead ripples and halts as the countless explosions of silence and dark infinity echo around them.

Alive. So alive. That’s how I feel. So many Deathbooms, and with each one I feel my soul shaking in agony and ecstasy. It feels like I am hovering on the brink of understanding something massive, and yet always I am pulled away at the last moment. What is it?

But there’s no time to stop. I fly through the ranks of the dead and extinguish them. Flesh and gore rain from the heavens, and though my body breaks with every collision and my bones grind to dust I am immortal. I will not cease. And death is all around me.

And I am so very hungry.

No. I pull myself back from another Deathboom and slash across a group of ponies instead, ripping heads off, smashing limbs. I can’t lose control not here. No matter how much I want to.

So I keep flying and fighting. The dead are endless, but so am I. I feel eyes watching me as I dodge, duck, strike, and tear the dead apart. The living watch me from Ponyville’s walls, fearful and at the same time desperate, hoping for a savior in my blood-soaked form. And I also feel another presence, watching me from beyond.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I started to show off a bit after I realized he was watching. I started blowing ponies away with one hoof, striking them and watching them explode or go flying off like ragdolls. One hoof, one kill. That’s the kind of crazy strength I have. Y’know, if I were in one of those comic books Spike reads I’d be one of the coolest superheroes ever. They could call me One-Hoof Mar—

No, that’s stupid. But I was acting flashier than normal, I will admit. And that’s interesting, because I never did that in death.

In life I showed off all the time, of course. That was sort of my thing. But you lose interest in that pretty quick when you’re dead, so why…?

Well, the reason’s obvious. But I was fascinated by the notion that having somepony else who was like me was making me feel more…alive again. It felt almost scary to feel the sensations of wanting to show off, the desire to impress, the need to connect with another soul. It felt scary, intriguing, exciting…

And very, very hot.

We’re all adult ponies here. Well, unless you’re a filly in which case you shouldn’t even be listening to me. But let’s just say that despite knowing him for only a few moments, I had a definite desire to get to know him better if you know what I mean. If you don’t know what I mean, that’s probably a bad thing.

But back to the battle. It seems almost wrong to say, but the desperate, last defense of Ponyville by every pony was fairly insignificant in terms of the actual outcome. Though the defenders fought bravely, they killed, oh, maybe six thousand of the dead? And that was mainly Spike’s dragon breath and Starlight and Twilight’s spells. The rest, the vast majority I dealt with myself.

Deathbooms. They shattered the air and made me feel better. I knew they are also bringing back some of the dead creatures in the area that weren’t ponies – and even some of the corpses that hadn’t been completely destroyed. So yeah, they were pretty counterproductive. But by using them I literally flew through the dead and killed thousands of ponies each second. In less than five minutes, I had reduced the horde of the dead from nearly fifty thousand undead ponies to a few stragglers.

That’s a lot of power. Well, I daresay everypony was aware of it before. I’d taken on every single Wonderbolt and a whole host of Royal Guards with ease after all. But it’s one thing to fight a few hundred ponies and win and other to take out…

Fifty thousand.

I guess I can’t describe it, can I? It’s a number so big that you probably can’t think of it. But just think of how many folks live in your town, in your neighborhood. If you lined them all up, even if you did fancy multiplication and stuff…that’s only a few thousand. Fifty thousand…

The dead filled the ground. Blood and gore painted the walls surrounding Ponyville. It was a sight to make mortals tremble. That’s all I will say about that.

----

Aftermath. It’s always the worst time for me. There is a wonderful silence and clarity to fighting. I don’t have to think when I’m moving, and the cares of the world drop away from me. Even in death this is so. But when I stop and pause, and the battle fury leaves me suddenly I’m alone, faced with all the responsibilities of the world I could ignore for a few wonderful moments.

And now of course, I find myself among the dead, in a sea of flesh and bone, staring up at my friends on Ponyville’s walls. If there’s a worse way to reappear in front of a friend, I really don’t want to know about it.

Twilight stares down at me. Heck, all of Ponyville stares down at me. I’m a sight that creates sore eyes. My entire body is crimson, and I’ve got bits of dead ponies hanging off my wings and mane. Internal organs, bits of bone clinging to my mane…I don’t think a show would fix this kind of mess. And I’m aware of it.

I look like a monster. Do you think ponies were horrified seeing the aftermath of what I had done to him? That scene is nothing compared to the carnage I have wrought this time.

...But still, I am different.

Most of the ponies on the wall are busy vomiting or having panic attacks. My friends are alright, but they’re made of sterner stuff. Yet even they take a step back as I fly up and land before them.

I trail blood as I move. Not mine, obviously, but even as I fly I leave a red mist behind me, and as I step towards Twilight blood pools around my hooves, leaving dark footprints on the stone ramparts.

To her credit, Twilight doesn’t back down. Her face is pale as Pinkie Pie and Rarity stand next to her. Spike clings to her tale, his face still deathly pale from his exertions. Starlight’s already made a break for it. Guess she remembers the entire skull-smashing thing, so I can’t blame her.

Silence. I stare at Twilight. She and my friends stare back.

To put it bluntly, it’s a pretty awkward situation. I mean, consider the facts. I’ve been gone for about a year after Twilight publicly denounced me to all of Equestria. Pinkie Pie, Rarity…I can’t say I left on good terms with any of them. In fact, I’d say I left with our relationship as badly broken as any I’d ever seen.

But. When they needed me I was there. In face of death, I returned. I don’t know how that must feel to the living, but I assume it’s not a great feeling.

Fortunately, I don’t care. That’s never been what’s important to me. I lost sight of that, I admit. But when I look into my friend’s eyes and see the uncertainty there, I am relieved. They might be distressed, they might still be hurt by what I’ve done to them. But—I don’t see hatred there. I don’t see disgust when their eyes meet mine. That is enough. It will always be enough.

So I lower my head briefly. A simple nod. Everypony sees it, and they wait to see what I’ll do next.

I straighten, and meet my friend’s eyes again. I can see so many emotions, so many thoughts and unspoken words in their eyes. To live is a torment. But to be dead is to be certain.

I let my body dissipate into dust as they watch. I’ve said all I need to. And my message will be heard, I think. Because it’s very simple:

I am back. And regardless of what my friends may say or other ponies may think or feel, I will protect my friends. Forever.

It’s as simple as that. Or it should be.

Too bad life is never that easy. And death…well, being alone is one thing. But having another pony to share the afterlife with, well—

Let’s just say things got interesting.

----

I left Twilight and the others to panic in peace and figure out how to bury fifty thousand ponys’ worth of flesh and bone. Not my job. And besides, I wanted to get back to a certain someone.

I found him hovering over Ponyville. His spirit was so weak compared to mine, it was like a firefly flying around a blazing bonfire a thousand feet high. But hey, I don’t judge. And I was…attracted to him.

The first thing he did was express his amazement and admiration for my power. Only naturally. Heh. I let him do that for a bit and then started asking him some questions. Obviously, I was really curious about him.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have many answers.

Who was he in life? No clue.

Where did he die? No idea.

Why didn’t he pass on like everypony else? Not sure.

What’s his name? Name?

…And so on. I guess he’d been trapped in that place between life and death for so long all his memories of who he’d been just…faded away. It’s actually a scary thought to me, but so long as my friends are here I won’t forget. But after they die...

Nevermind. The point is that he couldn’t tell me much about himself, so I told him a lot about me instead. He was fascinated by how I had managed to resist passing on and even more interested in my friends and the Elements of Harmony. Maybe they hadn’t existed when he’d been alive?

Well, after talking about what I did to protect my friends and the undead situation and everything like that…the conversation sort of turned to what we’d felt earlier. I knew it was a mutual feeling, but I was uh, sorta, um…

Shy. I mean, not really. Hesitant, more like. I’m a pretty open pony, I do a lot of things, but when we’d first met, when we’d shared all our feelings together in that rush of sensations that—that had been more intimate than I’d ever gotten before with anypony. And I do know intimate.

And yet, he suggested we do it again and I couldn’t find a reason not to. We were two souls in the infinite void between life and death and really, it was hard being alone. So while I wavered for a good while, eventually I was convinced and agreed to try it again.

Hesitantly, I joined my soul to his again. It is such an intimate act – yet he desired it and so did I, to be honest. There was curiosity in my heart. And so I decided to give it a shot.

And once I did, well—

Wow. That’s all I can say. If the first time I felt a definite spark between us, an attraction at a spiritual level, this second time…uh, it was—

Wow.

You know how you get that sensation of chills running down your back and that giddy, ecstatic joy that’s almost too painful to bear? That. That was how it felt when our souls met. And unlike that fleeting sensation, it continued on and on until we both were at an electric level of tension, our souls melding together.

And that’s when I knew he was somepony very special. That’s when I decided to go all in. Yeah, I know that’s my usual tactic anyways, but he…

I really liked him.

It was wrong.

So, how should I put this elegantly? Um…after that, sex happened.

Like, spiritual sex. Or maybe soul sex. That sounds weird. Tantric sex? Nah.

Anyways, it wasn’t like physical sex where you do a lot of squishing with somepony else…or yourself if you’re bored. This was more like us throwing emotions at each other, melding our feelings and pushing each other to greater and greater heights of joy and pleasure until—

Well, actually, there’s no until. The dead don’t have any way to uh, release ourselves when we get that…that worked up. It’s actually a really bad thing.

We were both caught up in an endless feedback loop, feeding into our feelings for each other and unable to stop. Honestly, it might have gotten really bad—I could feel his alarm and mine as our souls stretched to the bursting trying to accommodate the feelings surging within us.

Fortunately—the dead kept rising from the ground. Remember I mentioned that fifty thousand ponies came to life each day? Yeah.

To be fair, it wasn’t like Ponyville where they somehow all sprouted up and attacked the town in one go. Following that, the undead rose everywhere as they had before, just in far greater numbers.

So it took more than few days before they massed in enough numbers to warrant me reappearing. In that case, Pinkie Pie called for my help to defend Appleloosa against a mob of about forty thousand. So I went.

In hindsight, I’ve never been gladder to stop getting it on with another pony. Did I say it was a few days since the attack on Ponyville? That’s…about how long we were uh, joined together in the feedback loop. Yeah. Get your mind around that. No muscles means you don’t get tired.

And we might have been stuck like that forever, in an increasingly ecstatic hell of emotion if I hadn’t gone to Pinkie’s aid. Nothing else we had tried worked. Neither of us could muster the willpower to break free, but when my friend called I found the strength to do it.

Somehow.

Anyways, I killed a bunch of dead ponies, did my disappearing act as ponies gaped at me and I got back to him.

I think both of us instantly agreed that spiritual sex was out of the question after that. Or at least, it was extremely unwise for us to join our souls when we were that attracted to each other. So we found…other means of enjoying ourselves.

To cut a long story short, after a bit of experimentation we found that our souls could possess dead bodies. Not well, and not for long as it turned out. The undead that wandered around weren’t soulless – and if we took over their physical forms we eventually got tossed out by the original soul. And that was a revelation in itself.

The undead weren’t really dead. It revealed so much—

But uh, that information was kinda lost on me for a while since the first thing he and I did when we learned we could possess dead bodies was to um—

Look. Are there any fillies or colts listening to this? Let’s just say he and I bumped uglies. And I do mean uglies.

We wanted to get intimate, the both of us. And…we couldn’t really do that without bodies. So I would materialize in my body or use a mare I found and he’d find a stallion that hadn’t risen too long ago and we’d…get it on.

Does that sound disgusting? It was disgusting. The flesh was willing, but it was also rotting away and probably smelled terrible. And um, how should I put this? Despite the fact that our bodies were dead, some organs still worked. Just—just not always as intended.

…Hey. Stop judging. Everypony has needs, even dead ponies. And while we couldn’t actually feel the sensations when we bounced all over the place, it was pretty kinky. And fun.

But yeah, it was probably the most unholy, disturbing sight anypony has ever witnessed in Equestria. He and I tried to hook up in places where nopony would bother us, but once a group of Grave Wardens was on the hunt and—

Well, they ran away screaming. After puking. Actually, some of them were running around while vomiting. It was intense. And hot.

Ahem. As somepony once observed, the dead get ugly when it comes to love. But whatever you might think, just remember it was an expression of the deep connection we felt with each other. I wanted to be with him, to share experiences with him, and I knew he felt the same for me. Over the course of a few weeks our relationship changed.

At first it was just the connecting. We did it that one time, and then again and again. At first I wanted to do it sparingly, to avoid ruining the magic, but he wanted to do it often, and I found the sensations didn’t dull over time. If anything, the rush of our joining grew more intense each time our souls met.

After that came the undead lovemaking which added a new spice to the relationship. WE did that for about a week…straight, until we got bored of body parts breaking off right in the middle of—

You know what? I’m moving on.

And of course, between all the moments I spent with him I was going back to my role as protector. The dead were rising across Equestria, remember? I was busier than ever, but unlike before, I was happy to protect my friends and even happier when I wasn’t, because that meant I could spend time with him.

I love him. I know it in the very core of my being. More than anypony, he’s the one I can give my entire being to. I love him.

More than Rarity?

…I shake those thoughts out of my head when I have them. It’s not a contest. Hah. I never thought I’d say thought. But it isn’t. And I won’t compare my feelings. They are what they are and I am happy.

So happy.

Every moment of being with him, every time we connect—it’s like fireworks are going off in my head. I feel giddy just by being around him, and that sensation is so unreal…I’ve never felt this way before. And when we connect—the feelings almost overwhelm me—

Ah. Can I really accept this kind of happiness? Can this state of bliss last forever?

No. Of course not. It might not seem that way, but the dead know more than anyone—

Nothing is permanent.

So I made the most of every moment I could with him. In between appearing to crush incursions of the undead I would do nothing but spend my time with him. We didn’t just have sex, mind you. Since neither of us could really feel anything with our bodies it was more like going through the motions in any case.

Heh. Going through the motions. But anyways.

Our real connection came from those flashes of insight that happened when our souls joined. You can forget the silliness of bumping bits of each other together compared to that. The intimacy, the connection…it was on a whole different level than anything I’d ever felt.

And it made me tired. Just a bit. But when you think about it, it makes sense. I’d never get tired bucking dead ponies to bits or bucking…dead ponies, but that’s because it was just my body I created that did all the hard work. But being with him, sharing those details of my spirit with him, that was tiring.

Mind you, he never seemed exhausted by our contact. If anything, he was raring to go after we exchanged that dizzying whirlwind of feeling and thought with each other while I needed to rest. I guess that’s unusual since he was the stallion and I was the mare, but…hey, a girl needs a break, right? Unlike me, he couldn’t inhabit a mortal form for more than a few hours and had to use somepony else’s body to boot. I on the other hand could create my own form and pull off insane feats and so I was constantly either fighting or being with him. No wonder I was so beat.

…But it was odd. I felt myself growing…weaker as time passed. And the dead kept rising. Not only that, they started getting smarter. And stronger.

It started in Ponyville, when they started running about and moving a lot faster. But that was only the start. Day by day, the dead mares and stallions seemed to be growing smarter. Instead of milling about town walls they’d actively start trying to climb up, often climbing across piles of their dead brethren, forcing the defenders to burn or bury their bodies in between undead attacks.

It made fighting them a lot harder, too. Suddenly the dead were avoiding traps left and right and even started dodging when you fought them. Add that to the ability to run you down and bite your head off and suddenly the dead became the threat Lyra dreamed of.

The Grave Wardens suffered a few losses among their numbers for underestimating these new breeds until Applejack implemented a new rule mandating that they travel in groups no less than six strong at all times. The undead were no longer just a nuisance and threat in large numbers. They were now, even alone, a significant danger. And they were growing stronger by the day.

And I was growing weaker.

It was so slow that I thought it was just my imagination at first. To begin with, I had a harder time sending ponies flying than I had before. It seemed like I needed to smack them with more force to make their brains start flying out. Gross I know, but I pay attention to these things. And oddly, I found I was growing tired the more times I had to recreate my body in the same day.

I had no idea why this was happening, and he had no idea either. I couldn’t take the time to investigate in any case, because my friends were calling upon me left and right. In light of these new attacks, they were forced to rely on my aid more and more often, which in turn led to my losing my strength even faster.

Eventually the day came when I found I had lost almost all of my strength. Well, I say that, but what I really mean is that I had reverted to the level of strength I had when I was alive. Obviously that meant I could still kick some serious tail, but that’s not enough when I would be called upon to fight a horde of thousands.

And what was worse, I had trouble reforming my body if it was destroyed. Often, it would take several minutes for me to find the energy to do it again, and that was another flaw I couldn’t afford. Still, I managed to help my friends every time they called, although I daresay they noticed my weakened state as well. But I thought I could handle it. That was until I completely lost all my power.

Ironically, my weakness hit me in Appleloosa during another undead horde’s attack. Where once I had nearly single-hoofedly destroyed all of the dead, I found myself floundering. I was barely able to fly, and when I landed among the dead and tried to strike them down, I found that they were stronger than me.

And as if sensing my weakness, the dead bit at me, tearing my face, my body, smashing me with their hooves. I had to retreat to the walls and fight alongside everypony else, and let me tell you, that’s pretty bad for morale. But I was so weak that I could barely even hold my section of the wall by myself. I wanted to relinquish my body, to fly back as a spirit and rest so badly it hurt.

But still I fought on. That day the undead didn’t break into Appleloosa, though it took every pony in the town to throw them back. Only Fluttershy’s timely arrival with a squad of Wonderbolts and the Buffalo charging the undead from the rear swung the battle, really. Though I had fought to the very end I had barely killed a thousand undead ponies where once I could have handled the entire group by myself in minutes.

At the end of the battle I stood on the battlements, my body swaying. I wasn’t even able to move anymore and I had to abandon my body even as Fluttershy tried to ask me what was wrong.

Above Appleloosa I screamed silently with frustration and exhaustion, not knowing what to do. I sensed his spirit come near me and felt his comforting presence as he tried to reassure me that everything would be well, but for once he didn’t make me feel better. I was weak, and I had no idea why. And it was that powerlessness, that sense of being helpless that I hadn’t felt since I was a mortal mare that scared me the most.

Uncertainty. Fear. Confusion.

I know. I’m an idiot. And you’ve probably already figured it all out, right? But Twilight’s the thinking egghead, not me. Even Pinkie Pie got detective lessons now and then. My critical thinking came from Daring Doo books and realizing that smashing my face into the ground doesn’t qualify as an awesome flying stunt. So give me a break.

In truth, maybe I would have never put two and two together. But fortunately for me my friends were even more concerned about what was happening than I was. And it was in the rare moment when I was watching over them rather than kicking undead brains out or being with him that things started falling into place.

----

They gathered in Celestia’s palace, the five of them. Well, technically a lot of ponies were present. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, various high-ranking officials and members of the Royal Guard, a surly author who seemed disinclined to chat with anyone, a baby dragon, and even one Zebra and a Draconequus had all gathered in this place. But the five that really mattered were stood together in the center of the room.

The Elements of Harmony. Ironically, the value and weight of that title became apparent only to most Equestrian citizens after the death of one of their members. But in these troubled times, each had been a cornerstone of Equestria. They of course denied their accomplishments, but if there were unspoken words that hung in the air between the five, there were was an unspoken name that hung in the air above all their heads.

They discussed her, in roundabout terms. She was never mentioned outright, but her name was always present at the tip of every tongue. Yet it was never spoken aloud.

“—Saw her the other day, and I believe she’s weakening too Twilight,” Fluttershy was saying. “I don’t understand why, but it must be connected to the recent change in the undead.”

“And she hasn’t said anything?” Rarity caught herself. “—Well, she hasn’t so far so I suppose it was out of the question, wasn’t it?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not a word. But when she disappeared—I don’t think we should call on her anymore, girls. Perhaps she needs a rest.”

“We have been calling on her often.” Twilight chewed at her mane distractedly until Spike nudged her with one claw. “Oops. Sorry. But if we can’t rely on her, then what? We’re barely holding off the attacks as it is and it seems like more and more undead are rising by the day. If we don’t find a solution soon—”

“I’ve got an idea!” Pinkie Pie bounces around the other four. “I had it last night after I ate fifteen chocolate sundaes! All I need to borrow are some nails from Applejack! It’s going to be the most amazing invention ever!”

“That’s nice, Pinkie.” Rarity looked around distractedly. “But I’d just wish Princess Celestia would hurry up and tell us the important news. What if there’s another attack while we’re all stuck here?”

“Ah’ve left Grave Wardens in every city and town, and Fluttershy’s got her Wonderbolts on patrol so don’t you worry,” Applejack said, adjusting the crossbow at her side. “And you can borrow as many nails as you want if y’all think it’ll help, Pinkie. But where is Princess Celestia anyhow? When ah got the message ah thought it was really important so I rushed on over here same as everypony else. But why’s she keeping us waiting?”

“Because the pony she wants us all to meet is on the way too.”

All five mares jumped as Discord appeared out of a door in midair next to them. He wore his perpetually annoying smile and offered Fluttershy a rose.

“Fluttershy my dear, it’s been far too long. So nice to see you again! And you—” he waved at the others. “—hi.”

“Oh great, as if the undead ain’t bad enough,” Applejack muttered sourly as the others groaned and Fluttershy smiled at Discord. “Where in tarnation have you been? I haven’t seen you for—for—”

“A very long time.” Discord lost his smile. “I’ve been busy.”

“Causing trouble?” Rarity asked flatly.

“Actually, the opposite,” Discord said huffily. “I was on a secret mission for Celestia and it took me all over Equestria.”

“Oh really?” Twilight raised one eyebrow skeptically.

“Really really.” Discord grinned at her. “But don’t take my word for it. Ask your precious Princess Celestia yourself!”

He pointed one claw just as the double doors to the throne room opened and the Princess in question stepped out. Everypony knelt or bowed or in Discord’s case, blew an obnoxiously loud raspberry as Celestia entered the room. However, she wasn’t alone. At her left hand side was Princess Luna, but on her right…

“Who’s that?” Pinkie’s whisper was loud enough to be heard across the entire room.

“Shh!” Twilight hissed back, mortified.

“Thank you for coming here, everyone.” Princess Celestia smiled at the blushing Twilight and Pinkie Pie as she addressed the room. “I know it must have been hard for all of you to make it here on such short notice.”

“Oh it was nothing.” Discord waved one claw airily. “Just a few teleportation spells, a packed suitcase ready to go, and of course my lucky toothbrush and I was set!”

He nimbly dodged as Applejack tried to kick him with one hoof.

Celestia smiled, but her face was filled with tiredness that she couldn’t quite conceal. The strain of leadership had left lines around her eyes and mouth, and even her ageless grace seemed strained.

“Thank you, Discord. And I must add that it is in no small way thanks to Discord’s efforts that I was able to call you all here today. For the last year I have had him scouting out Equestria with a few others, looking for a solution to this threat to Equestria.”

She nodded to Discord who gave her what appeared to be a genuine bow.

“Discord, Zecora, and even the famed explorer Daring Doo all worked on discovering why these undead were rising, and what dark magic might be behind the undead coming back to life. And just two days ago I received word that they had succeeded in their hunt.”

Everypony murmured at this revelation and looked around. Zecora nodded calmly and sipped from a cup of tea, Discord winked and struck what he probably thought was a gallant pose—

And the grumpy-looking mare standing by herself harrumphed and drew the cloak around herself without a word. Most ponies stared at the famous A.K. Yearling with expressions of slack-jawed amazement, but she seemed disinclined to comment.

Celestia waited until the hubbub had died down before coughing lightly and continuing.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, these are desperate times for Equestria where every hoof is needed. Daring Doo volunteered her services in order to help combat the very real threat of the destruction of all of Equestria, and I’m even told some of her former enemies joined in the hunt for clues. Not only that, Discord called upon several of his friends to search as well. That is how dire the threat facing us is.”

Everypony’s face turned serious as Celestia continued.

“These last few weeks have seen the dead rising in greater numbers than before, and they have displayed far more intelligence and cunning that previously thought. I’ve consulted with Fluttershy and Applejack as well as other city mayors and the head of my Royal Guard, and all agree that if the undead keep appearing in the same numbers as they are now, we will be overrun within the month.”

That caused a hush. But even as all those present lowered their heads or struggled with the reality of Celestia’s statement, she continued.

“But at long last, we have found an answer as to what is causing the dead to rise.”

She motioned, and the pony beside her stepped forward.

Every eye turned to the young mare standing at Celestia’s side. She had the palest white fur – not pure white like Rarity, but greyish-white, and a mane that matched her coat in color. She was an albino, and her golden eyes made several of the ponies present shudder uncomfortably.

As if noticing the judgement of the others, the mare hesitated but Celestia spread one protective wing over her and she regained her confidence.

“This is Grave Whisper. She received her Cutie Mark just a little over a year ago, and has been having…visions ever since. It seems her special talent is talking with the dead.”

At this the gentle susurration in the room became a stunned silence followed by loud exclamation and then a deafening silence as everypony realized the implications.

“Yes.” This time it was Luna who spoke. She addressed those present gravely. “We were amazed to hear of this as well, but it is a ray of hope in this dark hour. If Grave Whisper can communicate with the dead, we may uncover the source of their power and find out how to stop this plague of the dead.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” One of the captains of the Royal Guard burst out. He paced back and forth excitedly. “Let’s go grab some undead ponies and start questioning them.”

“Silence!” Luna glared at the guardsman until he wilted. “Naturally we must take greatest care to ensure Grave Whisper comes to no harm. And what we may learn from a single undead pony is unknown. Perhaps we shall have to ask countless thousands of them, but in any case, we have already prepared a few to question.”

At her words the double doors opened again and now the sounds of dragging chains echoed down the corridor. Every being present stiffened with shock as they saw several Royal Guards enter the room, dragging four dead ponies – two stallions, two mares – into the room. Self-consciously Applejack and a few of the ponies reached for their weapons, but Luna shook her head.

“They are harmless.” She pointed to the heavy chains wrapped around each pony. “But with this, we may learn valuable information, hence why you are all present to witness this.”

Every eye turned to Grave Whisper. Celestia nudged her gently and whispered to reassure her.

The young mare trembled, but with Celestia and Luna by her side, walked over to the undead ponies who were fighting to break free of their bonds. The Royal Guards stood to alert next to them, ready to spring into action as the mare stood before them.

All those present crowded around the dead and Grave Whisper, leaving a sizable space so that she was at the heart of a large circle of onlookers. The attention of so many beings should have unnerved the young mare, but she had begun speaking to the undead. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, and she began whispering—but the nature of her words and the sounds she made were somehow inaudible except for a faint sound on the edge of perception to all those present.

“They say—” Grave Whisper’s voice was so quiet it should have been barely audible, but in the complete silence of the throne room her voice echoed far louder than normal. “They say that they are answering the call.”

“The call?” Celestia’s voice was equally quiet. “Whose call?”

“The call.” Grave Whisper said. Her eyes were locked on the lead mare’s and she seemed to be in some kind of trance. “It calls them back. They cannot help it. The door is open, and so they want to come back. But they are dead and the dead cannot—but the door is open.”

“Is it a door or a spell?” Applejack interrupted. “Where is it? Can it be destroyed?”

Luna turned to glare at her, but Applejack glared right back. Grave Whisper didn’t seem to notice the interruption and whispered the question to the dead.

They shifted and groaned aloud.

“Not a spell. Not magic. It is a gateway, a portal. It was opened and they cannot close it. And it draws them back. Not just them, either. They’re waking up.”

“Who—”

Applejack’s voice cut off and Rarity kicked her hard.

“Them. They come from the darkness.” Grave Whisper shook and trembled so hard Celestia had to steady her.

“Enough.” Celestia said firmly. “All we need is an answer. Where is the portal? How was it opened?”

“It’s—” Grave Whisper began but her voice stopped. “S-something else. There’s something else they’re saying.”

She began to shake.

Concerned, Celestia tried to pull Grave Whisper away but the young mare began to twitch and jerk spastically. “What? What’s the matter Grave Whisper?”

“Something—there’s more than one!” Grave Whisper’s quiet voice began to grow louder and louder. “I can hear it! The door is open and they’re returning. And the voices—they’re screaming. They want to be free but they’re trapped! They’re all trapped!”

The undead ponies who had been silent as Grave Whisper communed with them stirred. They began thrashing and groaning throwing themselves against their bonds with such force that the iron chairs actually began to creak.

Grave Whisper’s hooves began flailing and she began shaking so violently Celestia had to hold her or she would hurt herself. But even with the strength of an alicorn she could barely hold Grave Whisper down.

“Get the dead out of here!” Luna snapped, and the guards sprang into action. They dragged the undead ponies out of the he door as others went to help pin Grave Whisper down. But no matter how many hooves held her she kept thrashing as if possessed.

“I can feel it! It’s watching!” She screamed. “So many caught between life and death! They’re all saying the same thing!”

“What?” Celestia had to shout to be heard. “What are they saying?”

The world was full of motion and sound. Grave Whisper throwing herself around madly, the cries of the ponies trying to restrain her, the raised voices of those concerned. But at Celestia’s words, Grave Whisper’s eyes snapped open and her pupils dilated until they were mere pinpricks in her eyes. And when she spoke, her voice ate up all other sounds and left only silence in their wake.

“So do the books fortell, of azure wings in blinding snow,

That when sisters wage war against eternal Darkness!

She comes, Lich Queen, eater of souls,

Whose touch shall bring death to the world!”

As the last word left Grave Whisper’s mouth she screamed and passed out. Everyone present stared at her in horror, and then looked at each other in silence.

As for me? I stared at Grave Whisper’s unconscious form until the commotion started and then flew out of there.