Earl continued to lead the group across multiple dirt paths as Luna's moon rose over Equestria.

"Hey, Shining, how's this scouter team supposed to find us anyway?" The grey unicorn asked.

"The guards generating the shield can pinpoint the locations of anything inside of it. They relay the info to the scouters, and the scouters tell us how many Zeds are left." Shining replied matter-of-factually.

Freakin' magic... Earl said as he shook his head.

"Makes sense." The former human replied.

It didn't make sense to him.

A faint crunching of twigs was heard by Earl to his left. He immediately sunk down near a rock and motioned for the others to as well, which they obliged to. Earl was never the most attentive person before the apocalypse, but he quickly learned that paying attention would save his life over anything.

"Sounds like just one." The grey unicorn said quietly.

"So, what do we do about it?" Shining asked, glancing at the darkness.

"You're going to kill it."

"Why me?"

"We're going to be facing a lot more than one at a time later, might as well get used to an encounter."

Shining nodded.

"Alright, well where is it?"

"That I don't know. Can't you do a light spell or something?"

"I can't use any other type of spell while I'm using battle magic." Shining replied.

His expression quickly changed to puzzled.

"You're a unicorn, can't you do a light spell?" He continued.

"I uhh... never learned how." Earl lied.

"It's simple. OK, close your eyes."

Earl shrugged and shut his eyes.

"Now, here's the hard part. Think about light." Shining said in a jokingly dramatic tone.

The grey unicorn opened one eye and glared at him.

"I'm serious." The white unicorn said sternly.

Earl shut his eyes once more and thought about light. The sight of it, the warmth it produced, how much they needed it. Just as Shining expected, a light manifested itself at the tip of Earl's horn.

"See? Simple." Shining said with a smile.

"Seriously?" Earl said as he opened his eyes and noticed the horn glowing "Thanks."

"No problem. I'm not much of a teacher, but if you ever need a spell-"

"Uhh, guys?" Big Mac quickly cut in.

Both unicorns glanced upward and saw a single Zed slowly approaching them, Shining instantly jumped back a few inches.

"Hey, woah. Calm down." Earl said, unmoved.

Shining breathed deeply and calmed himself.

"Use everything you've got, and aim for the head."

The white unicorn was no stranger to violence, but killing. Killing got to him. The worst he'd done is knocked somepony unconscious for a few days, but never killed them. Shining wondered whether or not he would have the power to kill something.

He steadied his breathing, planted all four hooves sternly on the ground and concentrated on his target. Almost instantly, his horn began to glow brightly. Earl was now glancing between Shining and the Zed eagerly. Finally, a green, glowing, bolt of energy erupted from Shining's horn and hit the Zed directly in it's chin, causing it to fall back and scream in pain. The white unicorn glanced towards Earl.

"Finish him off!" Earl quickly said.

Shining nodded and hesitantly trotted over to the downed Zed before glancing over to Earl. The grey unicorn did an informative stomping motion and pointed to the creature's head. Shining knew what it meant, but dreaded the thought. Realizing it was what he needed to do, the royal captain guard held his breath and raised his two front hooves. In a split second they came crashing down on the Zed's skull, causing it to explode in a mess of red liquid. After the ghastly deed had been completed, Shining backed away and glanced towards Earl worriedly. The grey unicorn replied with a nod.

"I... just killed something." Shining said, his voice slightly cracked.

"That you did." Earl said, making his way over to the white unicorn and putting a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "It get's easier, trust me."

Shining nodded and looked back towards his victim.

Earl decided to let Shining take the moment to reflect on his first kill, it would help him come to terms with the fact that he had just ended a life. The former human felt nothing when killing these creatures, but knew how it felt before he had learned to deal with it.

After a few more moments, another twig snapped a few feet from Earl and Mac.

Christ, there must be a lot of them. Earl thought.

"You're up big guy." Earl said creating the light once again.

Mac simply nodded and took the shovel in his teeth once more as he sighted his target. Another Zed was shambling towards them. Having gotten his first swing out of the way, the large red pony was less hesitant in slamming the weapon against the creature's head. It fell to the ground with a sharp thud as Mac further approached it. With one hoof, Mac stomped the Zed's head, causing a familiar splatter of blood and a sickening crack. Grimacing slightly, he walked back to Earl, who was honestly impressed.

"Uhh.. Wow." Earl said.

He glanced towards Mac and caught the look in his eye. He was obviously changed by seeing the level of violence but was trying to hide it. Earl put his hoof on Mac's shoulder and nodded before turning back to Shining.

"Shines." Earl called out.

The white unicorn broke his gaze on the victim and looked towards Earl.

"When is the scouter team supposed to meet us?" The grey unicorn asked.

Shining Armor looked up to the sky and examined the moon's position.

"Half an hour." He replied, looking back down.

"Alright." Earl said, glancing towards the tree line.

He spotted a small area where the tree's were not as dense and pointed his hoof towards it.

"Let's hang out there until the team meets up with us." The grey unicorn said.

The other members of the group nodded and followed as Earl approached the small clearing.

Big Macintosh had set up a small fire to create light amongst the dark clearing. After what seemed like hours, a familiar boyish mare voice sounded from up in the air, just beyond the trees.

"Starswirl 36, 40" It said in a hushed tone.

"Render 12, proceed." Shining replied almost instantly, still staring at the fire.

A cyan mare wearing a camouflage vest flew out from behind a nearby tree, followed by two other pegasi, bearing the same attire. Earl remembered the flowing, rainbow colored mane and tail, and the violet-red eyes.

"Rainbow Dash?" The former human called out, surprised.

"Earl?" The mare replied, surprised as well.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm the leader of the scouter team." She replied, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the leader of the killing- uh... team one."

Mind fuck...

"Oh, well. Nice to see you again." She said with a smile, despite the circumstances of their situation.

She quickly looked to the other members in the group, as well as Earl.

"They told us that only 4 of the Zeds are gone, what have you guys been doing?" She asked.

"We've only seen four. Do they know where a large group of them is or anything?" Earl asked.

"Uhh, I'd have to get that info and tell you at tomorrow's meeting."

"Damn..."

A thought quickly entered his mind. The Zeds would go to a place that held light and other living beings, most likely a house. He thought of the only pony, well, zebra that lived in the Everfree.

"Can you find me Zecora's hut, Dash?"

Rainbow Dash nodded and motioned for the two other pegasi guards to hold their positions. Earl waved to the other guards awkwardly a few moments after Dash had left. To his surprise, the grey one on the right with a blonde mane waved back and smiled. A confused expression instantly replaced his smile.

Who the hell put Derpy on the scouter team?!

After a few more moments, Dash returned.

"Her hut is just over that hill," She said, pointing in the direction she had flown from. "In the swamp."

Earl nodded and thanked her.

"C'mon guys." He said returning to his hooves once more.

Before Dash had flown away, Earl got her attention and motioned for her to come closer.

"Yeah?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you tell Twilight that her brother is alright," He said.

He quickly glanced over to Shining and Mac, who weren't paying attention to him, and then back to Rainbow Dash.

"and that I miss her." He continued in a low tone.

Dash grinned wickedly and nodded.

"I'll let her know." She said before flying off with the other two scouters.

I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT! She thought, the wide grin still plastered on her face.