A few moments after the train screeched to a stop, the three filed out of the machine and out into Ponyville.

"So who are we looking for?" Earl asked Shining quietly.

"Somepony who looks like they can fight, that's for sure." Shining replied.

"Maybe you should get Twi home, and then work on it."

Shining looked towards his little sister.

"Alright," Shining said looking back towards Earl. "I'll get her home, you keep an eye out."

Earl nodded as Shining and Twilight broke away from them.

For about an hour, Earl simply scanned various groups of ponies. Nopony had seemed to fit the description of "zombie killer".

Doctor Whooves is probably busy saving the universe or some shit... The grey unicorn thought as a light brown earth pony trotted by, Derpy flying close overhead.

"Earl!" A familiar voice shouted from across the street.

He quickly snapped his head up and saw Shining approaching him.

"Hey, Twilight OK?" Earl asked.

Shining raised an eyebrow.

"You sure do ask about her a lot." He said with a chuckle.

Earl lowered his head and chuckled as well.

"Yeah..." The gray unicorn said.

"She's doing fine." Shining replied.

Earl brought his head back up and continued scanning the town.

"Get anything yet?" The white unicorn asked.

"Nope, the whole town is like, 70% chicks and the only dudes don't look like they can fight for shit." Earl replied.

"Chicks?" Shining asked, puzzled.

Earl turned to him.

"Yeah, chicks."

Shining's puzzled expression didn't change.

"Girls, mares, etc."

"Ohhhhhh. Why do you call them that?"

Earl sighed.

"It's just a thing we used to do back home."

Shining began scanning the town for a moment as well.

"Well, now isn't exactly time to reminisce. We've got work to do. I'll handle this." He said.

The royal guard took a few steps forward and spoke loudly.

"Attention, citizens of Ponyville I am Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard." He shouted over the dull roar over the townsfolk.

Everypony in town instantly stopped and waited for the captain's next words.

Well that would've saved me a lot of time. Earl thought, rolling his eyes.

"As you know, there is a grave danger in the Everfree Forest..."

OK, now you just stirred up the freakin' hornets nest...

To Earl's surprise, nopony broke into frantic panicking, and everypony in the crowd stayed still.

"Me and this colt are going into the forest to deal with the problem." Shining continued, pointing at Earl. "We ask-"

The white unicorn was instantly cut-off by the sound of applause.

"YEAHHH!" A giant white pegasus shouted over the noise of the crowd.

Shining turned around and nodded in the pegasus's direction.

"NO! For god's sake, not Snowflake." Earl instantly said, terrified.

If there was one thing that annoyed this former human, it was Snowflake. Shining Armor shrugged and turned back.

"Citizens, please." Shining shouted over the cheering.

It instantly stopped and everypony fell silent again.

"We need assistance from one more pony, if any of you know of somepony who can help us fight, please do not hesitate to let us know."

The ponies in the crowd glanced around at each other.

"Somepony who has enough power to fight."

Every pony in the crowd instantly turned and looked across the town, where two members of the Apple Family had just entered Ponyville. They all instantly pointed a hoof in a large red stallion's direction.

"uuuuuuhhhwhat?" The stallion asked.

"No! I ain't lettin' yah take my brother!" Applejack yelled as Shining Armor and Earl approached them.

"AJ, please. We-" Earl pleaded.

"Only mah friends can call me AJ!" the orange earthpony quickly retorted, cutting him off.

Not friends, ouch... He thought.

"Miss, please we need his help." Shining quickly said.

"Ah really don't see a problem-" Mac started to say.

"The answer is NO!" Applejack replied, not realizing her brother was speaking.

"Well, hang on a-"

"Applejack, seriously, he's our only option." Earl said, promptly cutting off Big Mac again.

"Can ah at least hear-"

"Find another option!" Applejack said, cutting off Mac for the second time.

"HEY." Mac shouted, as anger started to rise in him.

Shining, Earl, and Applejack instantly fell silent.

"Sis', ah want to at least hear what the problem is." He said, returning to a calmer demeanor.

Applejack looked between her brother and the two unicorns.

"Fine." She said, walking away from them for a moment.

"What seems ta be the problem?" Mac asked.

"Have you heard about the invasion in the Everfree?" Shining asked.

"Sure ah have, the Zed invasion?"

Wow... that actually stuck. Earl thought with a slight smirk.

"Yes."

"Alright, well what about it?"

"Me and Earl here are going to deal with the creatures, if the situation is left alone it could become a huge problem."

"Deal with em'..."

"Kill them." Earl said.

Macintosh raised an eyebrow. Earl, for the first time in this new land, was intimidated. Mac was the only pony he had met so far that was taller than him, and could probably knock him out cold with a single punch. The perfect Zed-killer.

"Kill em'?" The red earthpony asked, slightly puzzled.

"That is correct." Earl replied.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Earl explained further.

"The Zeds will eat everything, including the ponies, if we don't. They don't stop eating and they don't stop killing unless we kill them."

"Ah see." Mac said.

He quickly glanced back to his sister and sighed.

"I don't think mah sis' would like that too much." He said.

"C'mon Mac. She'll be fine." Earl said.

"How'd you know what my...?" Mac asked, raising an eyebrow.

He quickly shrugged it off and thought for a moment.

"Ah guess she'll be alright, ah mean, it's not hurting her at all, right?"

"So you're in?" Shining asked.

"eeyup."

"Alright." Earl said, glancing towards the sky to check the time.

7:30... He thought.

Luckily for him, the sun worked just as it did in his world.

"OK, so let's meet outside of the forest at about... 10, tomorrow." He said, looking back to Mac and Shining Armor.

"Tomorrow?" Shining asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's best not to fight the Zed's at night."

Shining nodded and started back towards Twilight's library.

"Sound good?" Earl asked, turning back to Big Mac.

The red earth pony nodded and both of them walked off in opposite directions.

"Hey, Twi?" Earl said, knocking on her door.

After a few seconds, Twilight opened the door and rubbed her eyes.

"Earl, what are you doing? It's midnight." She asked, her voice cracking slightly.

She used her horn to produce a small of amount of light and gasped at the sight before her. It was Earl, but he had returned to his human form.

"Yeah, this hurt like hell." Earl said, noticing her shocked expression.

She quickly nudged him inside and shut her door.

"Did Shining see you?" She asked worriedly.

Earl shook his head.

"He's been passed out for about an hour." The human said.

"Alright, just hang on a second." She said, trotting over to a nearby bookcase.

She returned few moments later with, what looked like, an old scroll.

"Uhh, it might hurt a lot, being awake this time." She said nervously, looking up from the scroll.

"It's better than getting tagged as a Zed." Earl replied.

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Why would anypony think you're one of them?"

"Zombies are just former humans, I look a lot like them."

The purple unicorn shrugged.

"OK then... are you ready?" She asked.

Earl nodded and shut his eyes tightly.

It was only a few seconds before a massive amount of burning pain shot through Earl's veins. He was using every ounce of strength he had not to scream in pain. The burning sensation only lasted a few minutes, but left his head swollen and pounding. When he opened his eyes, he could feel the change in his body and sighed happily, his head still throbbing. He quickly returned to his hooves and rubbed his head.

"Annnnd here comes the head ache..." He said.

"Sorry..." Twilight said sympathetically.

"Ah, it's fine. I've taken worse hits." Earl replied forcing a smile. "Thanks."

"It was no problem." The purple unicorn replied with a smile.

"No, I mean really, thanks for everything." Earl said. His smile had become genuine. "You took me away from certain death, you turned me into a pony, introduced me to all your friends..."

Earl started trailing off.

"...What I'm trying to say is just thanks. I never could've asked for more."

Twilight smiled and blushed slightly.

"Well you saved me a few times..." she said.

Earl smiled and the room went silent for a few moments.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the former human leaned close and kissed Twilight on the cheek.

"OK, so that seemed like it was going to go a lot better in my head-" Earl said awkwardly, pulling away.

He cut himself off as he noticed Twilight's expression. She was smiling widely and blushing profusely.

"Oh, well uhh, yeah..." Earl said backing out of the room. "So that happened, hope you liked it, and uhh, goodnight."

Earl forced a smile and started out the door.

"Goodnight, Earl." Twilight said in the softest tone she could muster.

Earl smiled as his face turned a bright red and shut the door. Walking back to the guest room, he thought for a moment.

Did I seriously just...?