"Here's this year's census report your Majesty."

Celestia smiled at Golden Grain. "Thank you Minister, that will be all."

Golden Grain bowed and quickly exited her study as Celestia grudgingly hefted the roll of parchment with her magic. After many years of reading such reports, she had come to expect with each new report another reminder of the problem that was facing her little ponies, one that they didn't even realize existed. Sighing to herself, she unrolled the scroll and skimmed past the many trivial bits of information until she found what she was looking for.

Down again...what is it Celly, the nine hundred and seventy sixth year of such?

She grimaced as she tossed the parchment at her desk, turning and striding towards the spacious balcony that offered her a grand view of Canterlot and the surrounding countryside. She idly watched as her subjects went about their lives, unaware of a dilemma that was beginning to fiercely dominate their rulers mind.

“May I assume the news is not good Sister?”

Celestia turned her head as the sound of hoofsteps alerted her to the arrival of her sister. She offered her a weak smile as she asked “Good morning Luna. Did you enjoy your nap?”

Luna let out a very big and very un-royal like yawn before muttering “It was not long enough for my tastes…but that’s getting away from what I asked you.” Celestia turned her gaze back to the city below, not meeting the eyes of her sister as she asked “How bad is it this year sister?”

Knowing that dodging the question any further would only annoy her sister, Celestia pulled the report from her desk and allowed Luna’s magic to take hold of it as she scanned it. She could almost swear she could hear the cogs working in her sister’s mind as she did the math from the last few centuries figures and reached the same conclusion she had already reached four hundred years earlier.

“Is there nothing we can do? Is there something we haven’t considered, perhaps some spell…?”

Celestia was silent for a moment as she considered, recalling their previous attempts at solving this particular problem. “There is no other species here on our world we can attempt what we’ve done before. The few Griffons and Diamond Dogs left out there are not enough to help boost our growth rate, and even that’s not helped. Doneky’s and Changelings are immune to the spell, there aren’t enough buffalo for it to do any good, the Zebra's wont even let us come near them, and the spell has…unintended side affects with dragons.”

Luna looked down at the cityscape below, her own thoughts likely mirroring her own. A moment later though, her head whipped up, a spark of hope beginning to glimmer in her questioning eyes as she said “You said on our world…you’re not…”

Celestia was silent, taking her time thinking over the choice she had been contemplating ever since Luna had been redeemed and the Elements of Harmony restored to power. They would certainly have the power necessary to do it…but there were so many risks in trying it that she had wondered for a time if even considering it as an option was a good idea.

She could not do it on her own, and she would need the support of her sister if they were to try. Thusly, she decided to offer what insight she had gained from her research. Without realizing it, she began to pace as she spoke.

“I have found a world that offers us the possibility of solving that which weighs on our minds. Heavily populated by a species that values survival, and they are very innovative and creative. Using the spell on them might not just solve our current predicament; the contributions they could bring to our species are numerous.”

Luna quirked an eyebrow, “There is always a catch though…tell me sister, what is the price we may be for bringing them into our family?”

Luna waited with baited breath for the response Celestia would give. With a slow sigh, Celestia said “They are as violent and bloodthirsty as a Griffon, as greedy as a Dragon, and sneakier than a Changeling. And some of them are so stubborn it puts mules to shame. While they can act in harmony and do good, they have had many instances of darkness in their world.” She paused for a moment, seeming reluctant to speak further, but she finally added “I must admit that I have not viewed they’re world for some time…the last I looked in on them, they were a single mistake away from destroying their world.”

“How long ago was this? And how can you be sure they are even still around, if they were so close to oblivion?”

Celestia allowed a small smile to grace her muzzle as she replied “I am not as foolish as that dear Luna. I would have been alerted if they had made that final mistake and I have yet to receive such.”

Now Luna was silent, and the two sisters returned to watching their subjects for a time. The silence could not last forever though, and it was Luna who broke the silence.

“Do you think it is our best option?”

Celestia had been thinking about this decision for some time. She had been hoping that it would not come to this, that she would not have to once again place the survival of her species over that of another. But this problem was not going away despite their best efforts. One way or another, they needed to do something drastic soon though, or else it would no longer be easy to hide.

The time for decision was now. And Celestia made her choice.

“Yes, yes I do.”

“Set the charge Lt.”

Lt. Chris Jameson nodded as he plied the controls, manipulating the robotic arm that was holding a primed depth charge above a swarming mob of Z’s. Their movement churned up a swirling mess of sand and debris from the seabed of the Pacific, obscuring some of them and casting an eerie glow on the rest as the sub’s search light kept them in the crew’s line of vision.

Once he had it properly set, Jameson allowed the claw to release the charge, which slowly floated down to settle amongst the clawing arms of the hungry monsters. He was very glad they couldn’t hear the moans and groans of the Z’s beneath them as they scratched futilely at the bomb just that would sent them back to the grave.

“Charge set Commander, awaiting orders.”

Larry Okeer, commander of the UZH-471 nodded and barked out an order to the helmsman, Ensign Maria Kennington. Soon enough, the small submersible was backing away from the horde that had been gathered, moving as silently as possible as it neared the safety zone for the detonation. A few of the Z’s turned and started to slog after them, but most of them retained their attention on the charge.

Oh well, the stragglers will be turned to corpses just as much as the rest. Jameson thought to himself as he waited for the order. The seconds ticked by, until Kennington said “At optimal distance Commander.”

“Good. Alright, you know the drill folks, brace yourselves for shockwaves, and keep an eye on the Z’s. Jameson, do it.”

Time to visit Lucifer motherfucker, Jameson thought as he flicked the switch. The depth charge went off, sending out a crushing shockwave that crushed the Z’s closest to the center, while it sent some of the others flying. The shockwaves that followed the initial one made certain that those few Z’s that survived the first one wouldn’t ‘live’ for long.

“Bring us back in, let’s see if any Z’s are still alive.”

They closed back in, taking in the destruction for several minutes as their search lights swept the corpses. The few signs of movement were quickly dealt with by the sub’s robotic claw, or the Squisher as many sub crews had started calling it. Once they were certain that the horde had been dealt with, Commander Okeer sent word topside that the mission was a success.

“Good job 471, you can head on back up, we’ve cleaned up this grid. We’ll start with the next grid tomorrow.”

“Roger Nixon, we’ll see ya topside.” Okeer replied before closing the channel. He looked at us for a moment and then asked “Well? What are you all waiting for? I want to get outta this tin can asap!”

“Aye aye!”

The next few minutes were quiet as we brought the sub up. Despite the fact that none of the Z’s could get inside the ship, and none of them had a chance to latch on, it still messed with his head whenever he saw the things. A few good hours of Battletoads on his brothers old GB and some sleep to unwind and forget about the Z’s he had to deal with every day, and he’d be good to go tomorrow morning.

“Breaching the surface in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…we’re topside Commander.”

The UZH-471 rose out of the water and made an 180 degree turn, pulling their home away from home into sight; The USS Nixon, the third ship of the Yonker’s class submarine carriers, with its pen doors already opening up to accept them.

“Alright Ensign, just take her in nice and-”

Okeer paused, then scratched his head in confusion, his eyes blinking rapidly. After a moment, he turned and asked “Is it just me, or did it get darker in here?”

“Huh, now that you mention it, it does seem a bit dimmer in here…” Jamesone said as he closed his own eyes, opening them to find that the dimness hadn’t faded. “The generator reads full power, nothing wrong there.”

Kennington looked as confused as the both of them, but that wasn’t all. “Are either of you feeling dizzy? It almost feels like there’s a buzzing in my head.”

“I feel it too.” Okeer stated as he rubbed his temple. “I think we’ve been doing this for too long, its finally getting to our heads. I say a week, no, a month off sub duty, and weekly meetings with the ship’s shrink. Maybe a nice vacation in the Rockies while I’m-”

Commander Okeer didn’t get to finish the sentence, as the viewport was suddenly filled with an intense, bright light. The light intensified, and the three of them were forced to shield their eyes to keep from being blinded.

“Jesus sweet Christ, did someone set off a nuke?” Commander Okeer yelped in surprise. Jameson had to admit, the thought had briefly crossed his mind, but he didn’t want to be the one to suggest it. Actually, he was too busy saying some final prayers to god, fully expecting to be nothing but a radioactive hunk of metal headed for the ocean floor.

Instead, the light slowly began to fade, and when Jameson dared to lower his hands and open his eyes, he was not confronted with the sight of a mushroom cloud rising from the ocean. Instead he was greeted with the sight of what looked like a nearly translucent pink wall, which extended above the water for what looked like six or seven miles into the sky. It was then that he noticed it was less a wall and more part of a dome. He also noticed that they seemed to be sitting almost on top of the thing, and that it even went down into the depths below.

“Jameson, please tell me those brownies you made were the ‘special’ kind.” Okeer murmured, drawing Jameson’s attention away from the barrier and towards his CO.

“Guh, no, why would you even suggest something like that Larry? You know I don’t do drugs, and I don’t make stoner brownies.”

Okeer didn’t even glance at him, his eyes focused on something outside the sub. His only response was to ask “Then do you mind explaining why the hell I'm seeing a six foot tall flying unicorn out there?”

Jameson looked in the direction his CO was pointing, and sure enough, there, floating above the water, was a midnight blue unicorn with wings, and a flowing mane that looked like it was made of stars.

There was only one thing Jameson could say to that.

“Huh, how’d I miss that?”

At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, amidst a pile of human corpses, a body twitched. Slowly, it pushed itself up from the mess of limbs and other assorted body parts, taking a full minute to right itself. If it had had the ability to, it would have noticed that it was now missing an arm, but the creature did not care for such. It knew only one thing.

A craving. A strong, unending hunger for live flesh.

The creature turned its malformed and decaying head one way and then another, seeing nothing of interest. It slowly began to move northward, not out of any particular reason, the virus seething inside it simply deciding to go somewhere to find more flesh to infect, more flesh to feed on.

Then, a flash of light, and a strange feeling washes over the creature. It knows this is not natural light, and it knows that where unnatural light is there is flesh waiting to be devoured. It raises one arm forward, stretching out as it releases a hungry moan.

For a brief moment, the creature feels resistance against its movement. This is something different than the water, but the creature is undeterred. It continues to stagger forward, until finally the resistance fades.

Somehow, the virus knows that it has passed an important threshold. It knows that if it goes forward, it will find things that are tasty.

It lets out another moan, and soon, all across the southern Pacific, the monsters stir.

It is time to feed.