My apologies for the shortness of this chapter. I had intended to put it in with Chapter 17, but completely spaced.

"Wh- what? I'm awake, I'm awake." Shining said sluggishly as Twilight shook him awake. "What time is it?" He asked with a yawn.

"It's about 9, we should get going." Twilight replied.

The purple unicorn turned to the room Earl was still in.

"Earl!" She called out.

The grey unicorn continued standing in the same spot, an awestruck expression on his face.

"Earl?" She asked, walking back into the room.

He quickly snapped back to reality and glanced towards her.

"Oh, yeah. Right. I'm ready." The former human said awkwardly.

Twilight chuckled and nodded before leaving the room, Earl following behind. He nodded towards Shining, who nodded in return, and quickly trotted towards the stairs.

"What are you doing?" The purple mare asked.

"I need to grab something important." He said before reaching the top of the stairs.

After entering the door to his room, he made his way to the nightstand, where his Ipod was waiting. He retrieved it and secured it into one of the many slots on the belt before making his way back downstairs. Twilight noticed the music player.

"Important, huh?" She asked, rolling her eyes and smiling.

Earl shot her a grin.

"Hey, Shining. We'll catch up with you in just a second." Twilight said, glancing towards her brother.

Shining raised an eyebrow and slowly walked out of the library.

"Here." Twilight said, levitating the scroll from earlier to him.

"What's this for?" Earl asked taking the scroll.

"Just in case it wears off again." She said.

Earl nodded and secured the scroll to his belt as the two walked out of the door.

"So should we get Mac?" Shining asked.

Earl nodded and the group made their way to Sweet Apple Acres.

After reaching the farm, the three waited while Mac argued with his sister, for about a half an hour. The heated argument consisted of topics like "What if you get hurt?" or "Who's going to look after the farm if you're gone?". Moments later however, Big Mac greeted them outside of the farm house. On his back was various camping supplies.

"What's with all the gear?"

"If we're gonna' be stoppin' an entire zed army, it's gonna take 'couple days dontchu think?"

Earl shrugged, he hadn't even thought of that.

The grey unicorn smiled as he noticed the next piece of equipment on Mac's back, a large shovel.

"I see you've brought a weapon." He said with a grin.

The red stallion glanced towards his back, then back to Earl with the same grin.

"Eeeyup."

"That reminds me," Earl said, glancing towards Shining and raising an eyebrow.

Shining rolled his eyes and tapped his horn with his hoof.

"What's your weapon of choice, smart guy?" Shining asked.

Earl glanced towards Twilight and grinned.

"I'm sure I'll find something out there." He said, looking back to Shining and Mac.

The white unicorn raised an eyebrow but shrugged after a moment.

"Alright then, let's get moving shall we?" Shining said.

Earl and Mac nodded, and the four made their way to the forest.

When the four approached the forest, all of them immediately noticed the massive magical barrier around it. As Shining got closer, a nearby guard saluted him.

"Shining Armor, Earl, and Big Macintosh. We're Team one." The white unicorn said, returning the soldier's salute.

"Alright, ponies who aren't participating in the operation cannot come any closer," The guard said, glancing towards Twilight. "My apologies ma'am"

Twilight nodded and looked towards her brother.

"I'll be fine, alright?" Shining said, wrapping his hooves around her.

"Alright, love you." She replied, tears welling in her eyes.

"Love you to, Twilly."

After breaking the hug, she glanced towards Earl.

"I'll watch after him." The former human said as Twilight hugged him as well.

"Watch after yourself, too." She whispered to him.

She broke the hug once more and glanced to Big Mac, who gave her a simple nod. She returned the nod and backed away from the three.

"Good luck guys. Stay safe." She said, before leaving.

Each of them nodded and started following the guard.

"Every night a pegasus scouter-team will meet up with you to discuss the number of Zeds remaining. That will be Team 2."

"Understood." Earl said as the guard led them towards the magical barrier.

"Starswirl, 12, 27, 95." The guard shouted towards one of the unicorns powering the force field.

The pony backed away from the shield and a small opening appeared.

"Good luck gentlecolts." The guard said.

The members of the group nodded and one-by-one made their way through the opening.

After everypony in the team made their way into the forest, they stared into the darkness for a few moments. Mac and Shining shared a few nervous glances, but Earl simply closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Just get this done, and start a new life. He thought.

"Let's go." Earl said in a grim tone as he walked into the darkness.