Click-Click

"What the hell is that noise?!" Shining asked in an exhausted tone as he sprinted away from the massive horde.

"Don't worry about it, it's saving your ass isn't it?!" Earl replied, firing several more shots into the crowd of Zeds.

Shining shook his head while the three sprinted back to Zecora's hut, zombies close in pursuit.

"Where the hell is it?" Mac asked, exhausted as well.

Earl glanced around the treeline wildly before catching a small glimpse of the run-down shack. The grey unicorn pointed his hoof towards the hut and turned back to the crowd.

"Go!" He shouted, firing more bolts into the attackers.

Both Mac and Shining took off towards the hut, while Earl stayed for a moment to downsize the massive group of approaching flesh-freaks. Despite the massive power behind his magic, the grey unicorn was only to kill a few more before retreating towards the shack.

As Shining approached the front door, Mac quickly pulled him away.

"We go in there, we're gonna be dead as a doornail." the large earth pony said.

"Well what the hell do we do?!" Shining asked worriedly.

Macintosh looked around the outside of the house for some sort of other escape. As he eyed a nearby tree, inspiration struck.

"Shines, use your magic on that tree." He said pointing at the object of his attention.

The white unicorn wasted no time in firing a precision bolt at the tree, putting a large dent in it. After the bolt had been fired, Mac sprinted over towards the tree and bucked it in the direction of the house. Just as he had planned, the tree slowly toppled onto the house, landing with a massive crash and providing a way to the roof.

"Mac, what the hell?!" Shining asked, shocked at his plan.

The red earth pony began making his way up the tree and onto the roof of the hut as Shining watched. With sudden realization, the royal captain guard made his way up the tree as well.

"Where's Earl?" He asked upon reaching the roof.

Almost on cue, Earl advanced from the treeline, sprinting towards the house. To his teammate's surprise he ran directly into the hut.

"Uhh, Earl we're up here!" Shining shouted.

Before another word could be said, Earl slowly walked out of the shack levitating several candles.

I hope to god this works... He thought.

The grey unicorn cocked his imaginary arm backward and threw the candle stick towards the crowd. To his surprise, it connected with one of the advancing Zeds and within seconds it was catching fire. Newly reassured in his plan, Earl continued launching candlesticks into the horde, catching a large amount of it on fire.

"Alright, coming up." Earl said, walking to the side of the house and making his way up the tree.

"Dude..." Shining and Mac said, nearly in unison, as they saw the massive amount of burning Zeds.

Earl shook his head and walked to the opposite side of the roof. He was instantly mortified by the sight before him.

"Sp....s....sp..." Earl said, his voice choked by fear.

"What?" Mac said, breaking his stare on the burning horde.

He walked over to Earl's side and saw another massive horde of what appeared to be Zeds, but they were running.

"SPRINTERS!" Earl shouted at the top of his lungs as the Zeds neared the home.

"What the hell are Sprinters?!" Shining asked worriedly.

"They Sprint, you dumbass!" Earl said, readying his horn. "I'm sorry, you're not a dumbass."

With that, Earl released a barrage of shots at the army of Sprinters, sending several flying but not even putting a dent in their numbers. Shining nodded and began sending bolts into the crowd as well.

Mac, who had no means of ranged fighting, turned to the other side of the shack and examined the fiery horde. His heart dropped in his chest as he saw them walking into the hut, setting it aflame as well.

"We've got a problem!" Mac shouted as the flames grew higher.

Shining turned around quickly as Earl continued firing.

"Holy shit, Earl!" He shouted.

The grey unicorn broke his glare at the crowd and stopped firing.

"The fuckin' shack is on fire!" The white unicorn shouted over the roar of the crowds and the flame from inside.

"No!" Earl shouted looking over the ledge and noticing the flame. "NOnonononono! Shit!"

He turned towards Shining.

"Can't you do like, an ice spell or something?!" Earl asked.

Shining glanced towards the growing flames.

"I can give it a shot." He said walking to the middle of the roof.

At that moment, Earl noticed the Sprinters climbing the side of the hut.

"Mac!" He called out, pointing a hoof in the direction of the advancing enemies.

The earth pony nodded and both approached to deal with the Zeds.

Almost immediately after approaching the middle, Shining Armor's horn began to glow, and a cold sensation surrounded the rooftop.

"I can keep us from burning, but I can't stop the fire unless I'm right next to it!" Shining shouted towards his team mates.

Click-Click

"Yeah, that's fine. Can I get a hoof over here?" Earl replied shakily.

Shining quickly nodded and joined the defense. After a moment he noticed the large amount of blood that covered both of his teammate's coats and cringed profusely. He decided not to look down at his own coat for the sake of his sanity.

For several minutes, the group continued fending off the seemingly endless horde of Sprinters. After a while, Shining and Earl's energy was nearly drained.

It may be better than dealing with bullets, but this fatigue fucking sucks... Earl thought as he breathed heavily, exhausted by his efforts.

Everypony in the group had grown weary, and fear was setting in.

"Guys." Shining said, barely producing the shots needed to fend off the horde.

Earl and Mac continued fighting as Shining grew dizzy.

"I don't think we're gonna make it...." Shining said, nearly falling.

Earl stopped his shots and turned towards his companion.

"Don't talk like that dude, We've got this. We're gonna make it out, and-" Earl shouted.

A sharp pain quickly entered Earl's left shoulder as he tried to console his friend. Sheer terror entered Earl's entire body as he turned and noticed the source of his pain.

One of the Sprinters had landed it's teeth right into the grey unicorn's shoulder. As pain set in, Earl let out a sickening, horror-driven scream. As the sprinting Zed forced it's teeth farther, Earl was forced backward, still on his hooves. The Zed used all of it's force to try and shove him down, but to no avail, the former human stayed up and only moved backwards. Speechless, Shining could only fiercely tap Mac to alert him, and pointed in Earl's direction as the Zed pushed it's teeth harder. The former human's screams were louder now, and more ghastly. Mac turned and tried to trot towards Earl to free him, but the Sprinter pushed Earl harder, and soon both of them were falling from the other side of the roof.

In Earl's mind, everything slowed to a near halt. He looked around wildly, examining the fire, the Zed eating his shoulder, his teammates shouting in terror as he flew through the air. All that he had worked for, all the time he had survived, and it was ending here. The former human was unsatisfied, and the anger and disappointment of the situation filled his heart. A faint glow began to form at the tip of his horn. After what seemed like an eternity, Earl collided with the harsh ground, sending a wave of pain over his body, along with his flesh being ripped. Further more, the Zed had used his body as an object to dampen it's fall, therefor, it took absolutely no damage and continued pulling on his shoulder with it's teeth.

After one final thrust of it's teeth, a large piece of flesh gave way and was ripped clean from Earl's shoulder as his blood sprayed across the dirt. Another bloodcurdling scream of pain erupted from Earl's throat as the Zed spit his flesh away and sunk it's teeth into his chest.

I killed my parents... To die like this?! He thought as the pain began to overwhelm his body.

His horn began glowing brighter.

As the Zed pulled, another piece of flesh flew from the unicorn's chest, coating it in blood, which Earl had lost a good amount of. The former human's eyes began to roll back into his skull as the pain took his body, and held it tight.

I saved a cartoon character's life.... To die like this?!

The Zed chomped on the newly ripped flesh.

I BECAME ONE OF THEM, TO DIE LIKE THIS?!

Fear.

Anger.

Pain.

Sorrow.

"I AM NOT FUCKING DYING LIKE THIS!" Earl shouted at the top of his lungs as his eyes began to glow brightly.

Shining's eyes instantly grew wide as he noticed Earl's glowing eyes and horn. He immediately shoved Big Mac over and sat close to him. After a second his horn began to glow and the two were protected by a small dome of magical energy, similar to the one around the forest.

"Shines, what the f-" Mac started.

"Trust me dude." Shining replied, cutting him off.

Before another word could be said, a massive white light erupted from the outside of the shield, enveloping everything inside of the massive magical shield over the forest.

I'm not dying like this...