"Well?!" The princess asked angrily.

Twilight lowered her head again as the harsh tone rung in her ears. She had fallen for something that wasn't of her world, and now she was paying the price. It was crazy to her, she had read so many stories about aliens being evil and wanting to destroy Equestria, and that was true for the most part. But she had met one that had been caring of her from the second they met, and even became one of her kind. She glanced out of the front door to Sugar Cube Corner as two royal guards dragged the motionless Zed away.

No, that's not a zombie. That is Earl... She thought, trying to convince herself that a piece of her coltfriend was still in there.

The purple unicorn knew that Celestia had a way to fix him, to turn him back into one of them and cleanse his body of the infection.

"He's an alien, from a planet he called earth..." Twilight said, bowing her head further.

Celestia and the crowd remained silent for a few moments, which the purple mare took as a signal to continue.

"Earl is a human, Earth was where all of his kind lived." Twilight continued.

She looked up and glanced towards the crowd, then back to Celestia.

"A virus broke out in his world and killed all of the humans, but brought them back to life, different..."

"Different?" The princess replied partially annoyed.

Twilight looked up towards the princess, meeting her eyes.

"They came back to life, and ate any living being that wasn't already infected, and anything they bite, catches the virus." She said, her voice nearly trembling.

Multiple ponies in the large crowd gasped and conversed for a moment.

"Silence!" Celestia shouted.

Instantly, everypony in the room fell silent.

"How did you get to this world?" Celestia asked.

"It was a trial for a new spell I had found, but it was too powerful. The portal sucked me right in." Twilight replied.

"So, you practiced an extremely dangerous spell without my permission, got lost in this crazy dimension, brought back an individual from said land, who was infected with a disease that causes him to-"

"No, he wasn't infected when I met him!" Twilight shouted.

The princess's eyebrows narrowed as her most faithful student rudely interrupted her.

"He took me in, kept me safe from the... Zeds." She continued. "If it wasn't for him, I would be dead."

"We would all be dead." Shining said, advancing from the rest of the crowd.

Celestia blinked and disbelief as another pony began defending Earl.

"Earl's homeworld may have been the cause of the Zed problem, but there was nothing he could do about it. But he didn't turn away, he helped us." Shining said.

Most of the ponies in the crowd nodded in agreement.

"Princess, ah too would like to speak on Earl's behalf." Big Macintosh said, emerging from the crowd as well.

Celestia simply nodded, still dumbfounded.

"You've all seen Earl, right?" Mac asked, glancing towards the crowd.

Most of them nodded.

"And did he seem like a flesh eating maniac to you?"

The ponies all shook their heads at once.

"Earl got bit, it's as simple as that. It's still him, still the pony who helped save us, just in a different body."

Twilight smiled weakly, happy to have somepony on her side of the argument.

"Please, Princess, you must be able to help him. Change him back, cure the infection, something!" Twilight pleaded.

"I cannot have some monster simply roaming about in my kingdom!" Celestia said.

"Celestia please, you can change him back, I know you can."

"Of course I can, but..." Celestia said but trailed off.

The whole situation seemed unreal to the regal sister.

"Ah'll vouch for him." Applejack said, advancing from the crowd as well.

"I too speak on his behalf." Rarity said emerging from the crowd next.

Twilight's smile brightened.

Next to approach was Fluttershy, she simply walked out of the crowd and sat next to Rarity, hiding behind her mane.

"I uhmm.. I think so too." She said softly.

"He may be an awkward one, but I'll vouch too." Rainbow Dash said, flying overhead the growing group of ponies approving of Earl.

"I know I do!" Pinkie said happily, "teleporting" next to the group.

"I'm sure everypony here would!" Rainbow said, raising her hooves to the crowd.

Everypony instantly cheered loudly and stomped their hooves on the ground.

Twilight glanced towards the princess, who was now smiling, and grew a puzzled expression. Celestia gave a simple nod before slowly making her way out of The Corner, followed by the massive group of ponies inside.

"If my star pupil, the captain of my guard, the elements of harmony, and most of my subjects speak on his behalf, then I guess I have no choice." Celestia said, returning to her regal, motherly tone.

Everypony in the crowd smiled but remained silent as Celestia bowed her head over Earl's unconscious body. Slowly her horn began to glow, brighter, and brighter until most of the ponies in the crowd were shielding their eyes from the light. The glow floated towards Earl, and surrounded his human form completely.

One final flash erupted from the middle of the crowd with a loud hum of magical energy,

followed by dead silence.