Pony Life In A Zombie World

by Bliblies

Summary:

Finding himself in a strange, dangerous world, a man turned pony has to navigate the land of the walking dead. All while his every action is being broadcasted to the denizens of Equestria.

(Livestreaming / Various Zombie Media / My Little Pony)

(This is just a silly idea I had, upload schedule will be inconsistent as this is not my main focus)

Chapter 1

Lucky Break wouldn't consider himself a lucky pony.

No. Not because he woke up with the nastiest hangover of all time.

Neither is it because he reeks of sweat, vomit, and cheap alcohol.

It's not even because he's pretty sure he spent most of his vacation budget he reserved for his week-long stay at the resort in a single afternoon.

No.

It's because of one simple thing.

“What the hell…”

He's not supposed to be a pony.

In his hotel room, lying on his bed, Lucky Break stares at his tan colored hooves, mind swirling in confusion, recognition, and cheap liquor.

Simon, now Lucky Break, just… stares, at the flat fleshy limb.

Two sets of memories lay out in front of him, though his ‘human’ ones seem to take the forefront. It's like ‘Simon’ or ‘Himself’ overwrote what used to be a self-proclaimed average pony.

How… odd.

A dull throb of pain shoots through his skull, making him press his temples with his hooves.

What is this? Some kind of… isekai thing? He doesn't remember dying. There was a brief flicker of light as he was watching TV then… here.

Lucky imagines that if it weren't for his alternate set of memories, he would be freaking out right about now.

Right now, he's just… confused.

The room he's in looks like a typical high-end room you'd see at a tropical resort. Tribal decorations, large potted plants, and even a sort of… curtain(?) that separates the dining room from the bed.

He gets up, his body feeling… weird. It takes a moment for the built in bodily instincts to kick in, but he has successfully stumbled into the bathroom.

Being promoted (demoted?) to quadruped is… quite the experience. Hey, at least that pain in his back is gone, right?

…right?

Walking up to the mirror, a pony stares back at him. He doesn't know much about My Little Pony, but even he can admit that they're pretty… cute.

Unfortunately, it seems he is no different.

Light tan coat, with a lighter cream undercoat. His hai-MANE, his MANE is a blend of darker shades of red with a few black strains. He isn't sure who decided to give him the color pallet of a poker chip but… it doesn’t look too bad.

Maybe.

His eyes are bright yellow, and… is he wearing eyeshadow? His eyelids look darker. Turning on the faucet and splashing water onto his face, he met with…

The same.

Grown ass man, and he's been graced with natural eyeshadow of all things.

Fun.

Sighing, he continues to inspect himself. Just to satiate the curiosity of his ‘real’ brain. His tail is the same assortment of colors, and the feathers on his wings have that familiar cream color his secondary coat color has.

He pauses.

Oh fuck he has wings.

Instinct guides him once more, flexing these foreign muscles as he spreads them out.

“Woah…”

It may seem a little childish, but…

He really wants to fly.

Lucky chuckles, shaking his head in exasperation.

As he checks them out, he sees… a wound? A discoloration at the base of his left wing.

Is that… a bite mark? What the fuck?

The inner Florida Man in him is screaming in fear, this isn't an animal bite, he KNOWS a crackhead bite when he sees one.

He quickly throws open the cabinets under the sink, pulling out a first aid kit ‘he’ remembered from the night before.

Bile raises in his throat.

Oh fuck.

He must have moved too fast or something, but his chest quickly grows tighter as a familiar unpleasant feeling rises inside him.

Lucky runs to the toilet and wretches into it, vomiting like a dog. His throat burns, and his chest aches.

It's only the morning and his day is already a fucking mess.

[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

[STREAM ACTIVATED]

[VIEWERS: 0]

“...what?”

He goes back to vomiting.

(A/N: I couldn't get this idea out of my head and decided to do what I do best, very weird crossovers, horses, and livestreaming)

Chapter 2: 2 - Pony Island

Lucky Break will not admit that he slipped in the shower.

Where did that bruise on his barrel come from? Abusive ex-girlfriend, no she's totally real, she just goes to a different school.

Anyways.

While ponies are typically naked, Lucky takes a bit of comfort in the familiarity of clothes. Of course, it doesn't really cover anything, it's just a long sleeved white dress shirt with a black-gray vest over it.

Wow, he does look like a gambler.

With that said and done, he opens his door and steps out into the hallway. It's pretty fancy, with red carpet and rows of floor lights that he ‘remembers’ to just be magic and not actual light bulbs.

Right.

Magic.

Gotta get used to that.

Now, Lucky is… he's not sure what he's looking for. Maybe another pony? Or is he just wandering for the sake of it?

…why is it so quiet?

Actually, where IS everybody?

The stallion stops, ears perked up as he tries to listen to… something.

No distant chatter, or anything, just the ambiance of the wind outside.

There's dozens of trolleys full of luggage just left unattended along the hallway. Some even litter the ground with their contents.

His hoofsteps (pft) echo as he walks down, making his way towards the elevators.

As the stallion does, his face scrunches as he thinks.

Why does this seem so… familiar?

Not for his pony brain, but his human one.

But why?

In the lower right of his peripheral, he can see a small minimap, with his own white icon being himself, and a dotted line that tells him where to go.

It doesn't seem that's all this ‘system’ does, but it feels… familiar.

Does he have an inventory?

As if waiting for his command, a green translucent box appears in front of him, making him skid to a halt.

A typical grid of boxes, all contrasting with the darker green UI with a blood red.

Why is it so… green?

Christmas-y?

That's definitely not a word, but it fits, if not for the eerie, almost sickly image of it.

He continues walking, checking out the pop-up.

So… how does this work?

He figures he should try and understand this before trying to figure out… everything else.

Like why he's a pony.

Or where everyon- everyPONY is.

Lucky looks along the top, where the ‘tabs’ are listed.

…okay, time to go over all of this, real quick.

[INVENTORY] [STREAM] [SKILLS] [MAP]

[INVENTORY] is self explanatory, the grid of boxes that anyone who's played a video game would recognize. Though… he hasn't tried it yet.

[STREAM] seems to be options for the ‘stream’. Whatever that is. Toggles and… priority lists? He isn't too sure what this is even for.

[MAP] seems to be a wider, more detailed version of his minimap, it practically flashbanged him when he first pulled it up. It's a top-down view of… woah, the ENTIRE island?!

Of course, aside from ‘Royal Hooves Resort’, it's completely without labels. Maybe he needs to fill it out himself?

And finally… [SKILLS].

The big one.

It's a screen of a bright blue tree-like illustration, with hundreds of branching limbs going in every direction with six distinct ‘routes’. Each branch has a ‘node’, which when selected shows the details of a ‘skill’.

There's six categories.

[HONESTY], [KINDNESS], [LAUGHTER], [GENEROSITY], [LOYALTY] and [MAGIC]

And looking at them, Lucky is a bit overwhelmed. It looks like they just give small, percentile increases in certain… things, and they increase the more ‘skill points’ you put into them.

It's a literal skill tree.

The categories sound nice, he recognizes them as the elements of harmony, but why does most of them all seem to make him better at… killing? Or is it just making him better at not dying?

Like…

[ LAUGHTER SKILL - CIDER FRENZY
10% increase in damage while drunk.
20% increase in damage while drunk.
30% increase in damage while drunk. ]

“When the hell am I ever going to need this…?”

Lucky chuffs, a weird feeling through his equine nose and dismisses the screen. It's not like he has skill points to spend anyways.

He wakes his way around an overturned trolley, and makes his way to where he knows an elevator would be.

“Hello?” He calls out to nobod-NOPONY in particular.

No response.

Huh.

Elevator it is then.

The elevator lobby is on a weird balcony that has an admittedly really nice view of Banoi. He takes a moment to look out at the sprawling mountains and bright sands of the resort, and the countless tropical themed housing below.

Perching up on the balcony railing, he takes in the sight.

“Huh… neat”

It is beautiful. Despite being a Florida Man, he never got to take part in these sort of tropical experiences. and him, it was just sand and a sun that refuses to go below 80°.

Something shifts in his peripheral, a message appears in the previously empty box that seems to hover at his side.

He freezes.

[TwilightSparkle: May I ask who this is? And what this magic is?]

Slowly turning his neck, he stares at the message.

No…

No, there's no way.

“...is that your actual name? Or…”

[TwilightSparkle: Hey! I'll have you know I quite like my name!]

At that moment, something else shifts.

There's a groan, and something falls from the balcony above.

A pony, with darkened flesh and bloodshot eyes. It's like time is slowed, he can see their rotting flesh and feral expression on their muzzle.

Then, it falls further, and disappears from view.

[TwilightSparkle: WHAT HAPPENED?!]

Lucky Break is brought to a grim realization.

He suddenly realizes why this is all familiar to him.

The name of the resort.

The weird UI.

The… zombie.

This is Dead Island.

He's on Pony Dead Island.

“...fuck”

Chapter 3: 3 - Realization

Lucky Break is a bit of an eccentric stallion.

Well he was, before all of this. He's said and done his fair share of weird things. Simon was a strange man, who always liked things that strayed from the norm. As a pony, this is no different.

He didn't have anyone he could call a friend, and he didn't mind that. One too many times he's had someone he thought was close eventually fade from his life. No harm no foul, people grow apart, it happens.

That's not to say he was keen on making more, though.

It was incompatible. He didn't watch TV, modern movies, or kept track of Hollywood at all. It all felt fake, soulless cash grabs and slop.

And he hated it.

Most people aren't too open to being friends with someone who likes weird, experimental shit just because it ‘has soul’, and not just another cookie-cutter Marvel theatrical slogfest.

And that's fine. He's used to being alone, never really saw an issue with it.

So when faced with the future Princess Of Friendship herself, Lucky Break predicted some… conflict.

[TwilightSparkle: Go help them! They're hurt!]

“Absolutely not” He pulls back from the railing.

[TwilightSparkle: WHY???]

“I don't think there was anything to save”

[TwilightSparkle: Wha…]

[TwilightSparkle: What?]

Lucky Break is…

Not having a good time.

His heart is pounding, and he can feel his breathing pick up.

FUCK! Zombies?! Oh he's so fucked…

HE IS SO FUCKED!

Especially Dead Island zombies! Those fuckers are almost as bad as the ones from Left 4 Dead!

They're fast, tough, and all it takes is a single bite from them and you…

You…

Lucky looks at his wing, where a very distinct bite mark is wrapped in a thin bandage.

Oh.

Oh shit.

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?]

His heart drops, completely ignoring the message.

He… he's already infected?

How?!

WHEN?!

He JUST got here!

Oh God, oh FUCK!

He paces the lobby.

W-What if it's just a normal bite?

Can he cut off the wing? But he never got to fly yet!

H-He needs to get it off!

Lucky makes a beeline towards the luggage, pulling them open and spilling their contents across the carpet.

He finds a box-cutter, which he extended the blade and-

[TwilightSparkle: STOP!!!]

Lucky freezes.

[TwilightSparkle: What are you doing?!]

The box-cutter disappears into blue light. He can see it appear in his inventory.

That's… a good question.

What IS he doing?

In the game, the main characters are immune, and it was obvious he was bitten yesterday with no side effects, so…

Why did he react like that?

“I… what?”

Okay… stop. Breathe. And think.

What happened?

His human brain (he… really needs a better name for that) obviously is as confused as he is. Sure, he was bitten, but he also knows that he's most likely immune, via game knowledge and judging how long ago he's been bitten.

But his pony brain completely flipped.

Why?

Are ponies just… more receptive to emotion? More emotional? Or just more prone to panic?

He's human software running on pony hardware, so he has to account for some errors.

[TwilightSparkle: Take a deep breath…]

He does.

[TwilightSparkle: And let it out…]

Lucky feels his mind snap back into place as the panic fades away.

He tries to fight down the embarrassment he feels.

“...thank you, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: Of course!]

[TwilightSparkle: I uh… haven't caught your name?]

Simon, he thinks about answering with that. But…

“Lucky Break”

He's not really Simon anymore, is he?

[TwilightSparkle: Nice to meet you, Lucky Break!]

[TwilightSparkle: Do you mind telling me where you are?]

“I'm…”

There's no good way to answer this.

“I'm in another world, Twilight”

There's a very pregnant pause before she answers.

Because as far as he can tell, Celestia doesn't exist here.

[TwilightSparkle: what]

Chapter 4: 4 - First Kill

*CLANG*

Lucky breaks open the safety hatch on the broken elevator that's been stuck in the chute.

“This is some Mission Impossible shit…”

[TwilightSparkle: What's that?]

“Spy movie”

[TwilightSparkle: Oooo. I have a friend that might like that!]

“That's cool, Twilight”

Why is he talking about spy movies with a fictional horse?

What a truly weird day he's having.

“Alright… let's just…”

*cccccCCRRREEAAAKKK*

“Oh SHIT!”

The elevator suddenly gets unstuck, snapping from its cables as it crashes down the chute with loud, metal whining.

Lucky is dangling from a snapped cable, looking down at the destruction below.

“Well fuck me sideways”

[TwilightSparkle: Language]

“Yeah… I don't think swearing will be the worst of your concerns”

Okay, Lucky.

You're a Pegasus.

You can fly.

Even if your brain is screaming at you to NOT FALL.

Maybe he doesn't need to fly?

Can he just… glide?

He flexes his wings, and with a deep breath…

Lucky lets go.

And he falls.

Slowly.

He blinks.

Holy shit, that worked?

He can feel a small pressure in his wings, like the air is getting… denser?

Biologically it should be impossible for Pegasi to fly. So there must be magical shenanigans going on.

He falls for a few minutes straight, before softly landing on the wreckage of the elevator.

With that, he drops through the safety hatch and into the ground floor.

[TwilightSparkle: Such amazing architecture…]

It really is, the entrance for the Royal Hooves Resort is quite the work of art.

…If you discount the dozens of zombies roaming the main lobby. With corpses littering the ground like debris.

[TwilightSparkle: What's wrong with them?!]

He looks at the main double doors and tenses his legs.

*GGGROOOAAANNNN*

Bloodshot eyes snap to him.

Lucky reacts.

He bolts. Running as fast as he can, kicking off the tile and carpet as he blitzes past a group of zombies that lunge at him.

Slamming through the front door, he calls upon his instincts and memories once more, flexing his wings and shooting up into the sky.

The air rushes through his mane, an elation he never felt before fills him, the freedom, the RIGHTNESS.

“W-Wow… I'm VERY high up…”

Gulping at the sudden anxiety of being up so high, his pony brain is mostly neutral about it, Lucky Break searches for a boat.

He needs to get off the island. Flying isn't an option, it would be too far, but regardless his top priority is to get off Banoi.

As he flies, reality begins to settle in.

The lingering parts of his brain that thought this was all a dream suddenly realized it… wasn't.

He floats, frozen in the air. Eyes wide and unfocused, wings flapping to keep him up.

What happened to him? Why is he here?

Where is his family? His parents? Do they know what happened to him?

Why him?

He's… not even a fan of My Little Pony! Dead Island was just a game he enjoyed on the PS3! He didn't even have any strong feelings towards it, the most he can even remember off the top of his head is kicking zombies and the controls being kinda shit!

FUCK!

[TwilightSparkle: LOOK OUT!]

…what?

*THUD*

He feels an impact on his skull, black spots appear in his vision. A sickly green color is all he sees as a sharp pain erupts from his wither.

Blood flies as the infected pegasus screams a feral roar.

They fall from the sky, tumbling around each other as Lucky tries to push them away, but the zombie keeps ripping him apart with its teeth.

“Fucking-GET OFF!”

He punches it in the eye, feeling a sharp pain in his hoof, but it's stunned for just a moment.

Taking this chance he-

*CCCRRRRAAAASSSSHHHH*

Wood shatters as they crash through the ceiling of a house, impacting against the ground with a meaty thud as they are both flung into the wall.

Lucky's mind goes numb, he can't breathe, and there's a burning pain coming from his wither and side.

He groans, feeling the cold wood flooring in this barebones rental house.

Another groan responded to him.

Lucky turns.

It's still fucking alive.

It uses its mangled limbs to push itself up, stumbling over to him before latching onto him again.

Pain.

He can't move.

PAIN.

WHY CAN'T HE MOVE.

He feels something crack under its teeth.

It rises, a brief moment to swallow before opening its gaping maw to continue eating, lunging at him like an animal.

He grits his teeth.

Lucky wills his UI, a series of grids appear.

A box-cutter materializes.

*GRROOAA-

It stops.

-SHLICK*

Motionless, it stays still like a statue, before…

*Thud*

It falls over, the box-cutter still impaling its brain through its mouth.

Lucky can barely see, his breathing is shallow, and Twilight is saying something he can't right now.

But he sees… red.

Not HIS red, but one he recognizes from the hotel bathroom.

A med-kit.

With the destruction of the room, it must have been knocked over here.

Wheezing, he drags his gored body across the room with one hoof, pain erupting with every move, and consciousness fading with each passing second.

Grabbing it, he opens it and brings out the injection. Just like in the game…

He stabs his arm, and pulls the trigger.

A gasp escapes him, he grits his teeth as he can feel his flesh knitting back together. This isn't normal, he knows this. He should have died in the fall, but whatever the hell brought him here must have…

Given him a very mild healing factor? It stopped his condition from getting worse, but it didn't necessarily make him better.

And for some reason, it's also ubercharging the effects of the emergency injection all med-kits have.

He tosses it away, hearing it clatter against the wood floors. Breathing heavily, he scowls at the ruined ceiling and has only one thought.

“Since when… could they fucking fly?”

Chapter 5: 5 - Interlude Twilight

A merchant came into Ponyville the other day. A strange robed pony who only sold these oddly enchanted gems.

Twilight, not saying no to something to learn and having more than enough bits to spend, bought it.

But as she was studying its runes, it flickered on, and a… screen, appeared.

[WHAT IS YOUR NAME?]

“Um… Twilight Sparkle”

[REGISTERED: TwilightSparkle]

Then, it went away. Twilight thought it was just some weird, but interesting, gag toy. But then it came on again.

Showing a stallion going through Tarturus.

At first, she was amazed at the intricacies of such an enchantment. Being able to not only capture her words but display them through a screen. While she wasn't sure why this stallion created such a thing, surely this could be used to benefit ponies!

Then the zombies appeared.

Twilight Sparkle may be a self-proclaimed bookworm, but she doesn't read much for entertainment. Despite that, she's able to recognize zombies at a glance.

Seeing the gnarled form of ponies, eating and tearing apart other ponies is…

She threw up.

Twilight isn't exactly new to the feeling, a few too many late night sweets don't settle well with her already unhealthy diet and mostly sedentary lifestyle.

She won't admit how long she's lingered in the health and exercise section of her library.

Ahem.

Regardless, upon seeing this horrifying display, watching as the pegasus is knocked out of the sky and crashing into a home, Twilight nearly flipped out.

Her messages weren't being read, and there's nowhere in Equestria that looks like this!

What does she do?!

“SPIKE!” She shouts out.

Her draconian brother emerges from his den of blankets and pillows.

“Yeah Twi? What's up?”

“Write a letter to the princess!”

Because if she's right, this means a LOT of ponies are about to start watching the ‘stream’, and that's going to cause panic.

“Dear Princess Celestia…”

(A/N: Decided to combine my three favorite genres into this unholy homunculus. This isn't strictly Dead Island, it's a mass crossover to whatever zombie game/TV/movie I want. Hope y'all enjoy!)

Chapter 6: 6 - Grounded

The sky is off limits.

Looking through the windows, Lucky sees the swarm of undead ponies flying through the sky, moving like locusts and diving towards anything that moves.

No wonder he hadn't seen any other pegasi flying around.

They're all effectively grounded.

Shit.

Lucky looks at his wounds, his fur stained red with blood as the remains of his damage result in just fresh scabs and exposed muscle.

Like he expected, his condition isn't getting worse, but it's certainly not getting any better.

He feels the nasty gashes on his side, and winces in pain.

Luckily, his hoof is fine, so walking is possible despite how painful it is.

His wings? Fucked.

Bent at wrong angles, swelling and turning a very interesting shade of purple.

Great.

Fantastic.

He needs another med-kit.

…or…”

Lucky's eyes pause at the sight of something sitting on the dining room table.

[TwilightSparkle: I…]

[TwilightSparkle: Don't panic! I can fix this!]

[TwilightSparkle: Let me find some first aid books!]

[TwilightSparkle: I got this]

In Dead Island, there's technically three ways to heal that doesn't involve dying or reloading a save.

First is med-kits, the second is certain skills in the game that add a passive health regeneration when you are drunk (he actually sees something similar in his own skill tree).

Lastly…

Lucky Break picks up the “ENERGIZER” brand energy drink from the table and quickly checks the ingredients.

His eyes go wide.

“Holy fuck that's a lot of sugar and caffeine…”

Liquid heart attack, one of the biggest investors into Royal Hooves Resort, the stuff is practically everywhere.

It also restores a random amount of health.

He sighs.

Even in this life, he can't escape energy drinks.

[TwilightSparkle: Okay! I found…]

[TwilightSparkle: What… are you drinking?]

“You ever seen somepony have a heart attack and a kidney stone at the same time?”

[TwilightSparkle: N-No?]

[TwilightSparkle: Kidney stone?]

“Well buckle up”

*crr-CLICK*

He shoots it back, chugging it down with gusto. The liquid feels like electricity down his throat, with a sickly sweet taste of…

It's fucking Redbull.

Holy shit it tastes EXACTLY like Redbull!

*CRACK*

“FUCK!”

A sharp pain goes through him. He looks, and stares in very painful wonder as his wings snap back into place, and his wounds start to close.

Though not fully, his wings are still irritatingly sore, scabs and scar tissue remain on his nastier wounds.

He is intact though.

That… worked?

A quick flex of his wing is met with pain, but not blinding pain from a broken bone.

Oh this is so stupid, is he seriously going to have to rely on energy drinks, fruit, and protein bars to stay alive?

Lucky Break won't admit that he did exactly that for almost two years when he was a teen.

[TwilightSparkle: That's…]

[TwilightSparkle: What?]

He decides to ignore the confused mare.

Pulling up the map, he rubs his eyes as he takes a good look at the island.

[RarityBelle: What kind of eyeshadow is that, darling? You look fabulous!]

Oh hey, a new name.

To be honest, the whole streaming thing is really creeping him out, but he hasn't found any way to turn it off, so…

“Ask my parents, they made me this way”

[RarityBelle: …that's all natural?]

“Yup”

He needs a weapon.

Walking over to the dead zombie, he carefully tries to pull the box-cutter out of its mouth before remembering his inventory and makes it disappear into a blue light.

[RarityBelle: W-WHAT IS THAT?!]

[TwilightSparkle: Rarity, come to the Golden Oaks Library, now. Bring the others as well]

“...this won't work”

He needs something ‘meatier’, and has more range. Zombies are like toddlers and will grab onto anything they see.

What should he do…

Biting his lip, he groans in annoyance.

Fuck… he really doesn't want to be mauled again…

Okay.

OKAY.

Plan. He needs a plan.

First step should be easy, weapons. After the outbreak, there's supply caches everywhere, along with pipes, oars, and things like that.

He looks around the house. It was lived in, as far as he can tell. Luggage bags on the bed, with several items around the room.

The luggage provided… moderately useful things. Mostly cloth and a few pieces of jewelry he could sell (if a merchant even existed here).

Ah, there it is.

Lucky holds up a large metal pipe, feeling the weight in his hooves. Thick metal with a slight curve at the end.

He's just glad to have a weapon.

Okay… time to head out.

…

[POV: TIDAL WAVE]

*GROOOAA-*

*SHING*

A knife slashes the zombie's head, Tidal kicks it to the ground, stabbing the thing's brain.

The middle-aged mare pants, teeth clenched and knife trembling in her hoof. She has a darker brown coat, with a bright red mane, a tribal tattoo arches over and under her left eye. She feels her lifeguard jacket tear at a zombie's lunge, but forces her tired body to move out of the way.

A small horde of undead circles in on her.

SHIT!

If she falls, what of the survivors?! They're counting on her! She kicks off the sand, stabbing at the one that dared look at the beach house, where all of the survivors are kept, for too long.

She feels something grab her.

Her heart drops.

Tidal whips her head around and-

*CLANG*

A metal pipe cracks against the skull of the zombie that lunged at her. Wearing a vest, a cream colored stallion cracks his pipe against another zombie, making it stumble backwards.

She feels her collar being grabbed before she's dragged out of the horde.

Black eyes meet yellow.

“Rule of thumb, don't fight more than three at a time, dumbass. You have to break them up or you get swarmed”

She blinks.

“...what's a thumb?”

He blinks back.

“Just…” He rubs his muzzle. “Kick them. If they group up, kick them and create distance, then reposition yourself so you can pick them off one by one”

Tidal sneers, but mentally notes that as the sounds of undead groaning grows closer.

“Easier said than done when all it takes is a bite to take you under, mate”

“I'm immune”

Her eyes widened.

“W-What?”

His wing shifts, and she's given the view of a healing wound with very obvious scars of somepony biting into him.

“If it gets too rough, just bring them over to me”

“...righteo, mate”

Following that was a scary yet weirdly educational display. The stallion wasn't a fighter by any means, which isn't really a surprise despite how insulting that would be to her stallion coworkers to think about, but he clearly had some idea what he was doing.

Like he said earlier, his strategy seemed to require a bit of patience, as he would slowly draw one or two at a time away and pick them off, kicking them down to have an easier time killing them.

It takes a couple minutes, though it feels like hours, but they clear the small horde and are left in the pile of corpses that were left behind.

Tidal looks at the stallion as he chugs down an entire energy drink. The fuck is he doing?

And… ugh. Energizer.

“That'll rot your teeth like no buggers business, y'know?”

He raises an eyebrow at her.

“I'm planning on drinking so much that my blood would cause a heart attack to any fucker that tries to eat me”

That earns a chuckle from her.

“Let me know if that works, alrighty?”

“I'll put it in my will”

He seems like an alright pony in her books.

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

Why is Sinamoi a woman?

No, her name is “Tidal Wave”, isn't it?

She definitely has his signature tattoo (how do you tattoo over fur?), so finding out who she is supposed to be was easy.

He's brought into the beach house, where he's met with several ponies who are either panicking or on the verge of panicking. They all seem to sag in relief at Tidal being okay though.

“Hey, listen” She suddenly turns to him. “Thanks for the help out there, if not for you I would've been-”

*kkKKKRRCchhkkK*

The radio on the desk seems to flicker on, Tidal looks at it with wide eyes before throwing herself at the receiver.

Lucky has already heard this interaction before, the ‘voice’ on the radio. Ryder White.

Quite possibly the least appealing antagonist in the history of video games. Not even in a ‘love to hate him’ kind of way.

He's just…

Nothing.

Sure, his wife is infected. But he has all the markings of a game company that just wanted to put out a zombie game during the early 2000's zombie trend.

…wait.

No no, he remembers something.

This isn't Ryder White, this is Kevin. Yeah! He remembers this! Lucky remembered it because the whole ending of the game was so convoluted and rushed that it stuck to him with how annoying it was.

What was his deal again?

Oh yeah, he has or is looking to release the virus to wipe out a super secret organization that created it after his family was killed for… something.

He had to Google all of that, most of that wasn't even in the GAME.

Regardless, they absolutely should NOT listen to the voice.

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! You found others!]

[RarityBelle: Twilight explained the situation to me, darling. If you need anything, just let me know]

[OnyxBolt: What is this…]

[CinnamonTwirl: Are those dead bodies?!]

[TwilightSparkle: Everypony please calm down and refer to the guide I posted earlier]

When did she write a guide?

“Sina-... Tidal Wave is competent. She's not immune like I am, but getting off the island is easier with her around”

Pony Sinamoi is still Sinamoi, and if she's even half as the person he was, Tidal Wave would be a great ally.

“Hello? Hello?!” Said mare slams on her desk as the broadcast cuts out. “Bloody monsoon coming, jamming our signal!”

She turns her gaze to him.

“You. You're immune, right?”

“Yeah”

“I need your help”

She twirls in her chair, bright red tail trailing behind her, and pulling up a map of the island that's posted on the wall.

“There's a lifeguard tower not far from here, we need to move everypony over there, but those infected are in the way, do you think you can…”

She pauses, hesitating for a moment, a quick shake of her head snaps her out of it.

“Do you think you could clear the way? I know it's asking a lot, but we ain't as immune as you”

Tidal Wave seems uncomfortable just requesting this, but Lucky has already done this ‘quest’, so he decides to do it. It gets him closer to a boat anyways.

“Sure” He nods.

She sighs in relief, as she goes to open her mouth, another mare speaks up.

“Wait… you're letting him go out… alone?”

Lucky raises an eyebrow, he knows that he shouldn't expect a perfect 1:1 with the game, but he honestly didn't expect such a diversion.

“We don't gotta choice now, do we? End of the day, he's immune and we ain't” Tidal responds, firmness in her voice.

The mare grimaces, but ultimately doesn't say anything else.

It gets awkwardly quiet for a few moments before Lucky just smacks his lips and turns around, walking out of the house.

His map updates, giving him a route to the tower.

That was… odd.

Something about that was weird, something tickling his brain about something he's not picking up.

And no, it's not the fact that he's in a weird Dead Island My Little Pony crossover world.

Just that whole interaction felt… off.

He'll have to remember that mare, whoever she is.

Lucky Break decides to consult his voyeurs.

“Did any of yall find that pretty… weird?”

[FluffyMoon: No not really]

[EbonyBee: No…?]

[RarityBelle: It was a little awkward, but that's expected I suppose]

[TwilightSparkle: What about that was weird?]

His jaw clicks shut.

Okay.

Moving on from the fact that HE is probably the weird one, his UI changes once more to the [SKILLS] tab.

Because from that battle, he has gained something.

[SKILL POINTS = 1]

“...now what do I spend it on…”

Chapter 7: 7 - Tower

[TwilightSparkle: Okay. Okay. Just…]

[TwilightSparkle: Remain calm! We will find a way to get you to safety! So just…]

[TwilightSparkle: Remain calm!]

“I am calm”

Lucky Break follows the dotted line provided by his minimap. Watching the messages fly through his chat.

[TwilightSparkle: I know it must be scary…]

“Not… really”

Don't get him wrong, zombies are scary when they're right in your face. And Dead Island zombies are particularly bad.

Especially with the flying ones and the special infected, it's a grade-A nightmare.

But it's still Dead Island.

Maybe the familiarity of it is making him less scared? His pony brain is practically quaking in its horseshoes right now, but with the mental equivalent of hitting it with a rolled up newspaper and telling it to shut up, he's able to force himself into focus.

If only his hooves would stop shaking.

[Applejack: Lying won't do you much good, sugarcube]

It's not HIM, it's his fucking pony brain!

Yeah he's scared, but it's more of a bodily instinct than actual fear.

[Applejack: So where are ya goin?]

He takes a deep breath.

Shaking the sand off his hooves, he sees the bungalows in the distance. There's actually walkways now, which extend to the floors around the pools.

The pathways are a little too tight for his liking, but to be honest maybe it's for the best.

He's no zombie killing expert, but even he knows that limiting the zombies ability to swarm you is a good thing.

“It's crazy how this is an entire town…” He murmurs, looking at the decline in the ground that he knows is a pool.

Just dozens of wooden bungalows with thatched roofs. They're all pretty much identical except for the decorations.

He's taking the time to quickly loot every bag of luggage he comes across, finding great annoyance that he missed out on the possible hundreds back at the hotel. It takes half a second, briefly seeing their contents in his HUD before disappearing into his inventory.

A quick look at his inventory shows the usual. Clothes, jewelry, a pair of fishnet leggings (must have been a large mare), and…

Lucky Break holds out his hoof, and a picture frame appears in it. Simple wood and glass, with a small leg for it to propped up on.

It shows a couple, with their child judging by their shared colors.

“...”

He finds himself staring at it for a minute, just looking at the three with a blank, complicated gaze.

What… happened to his parents? His sister?

Lucky Break's last memories of his parents… aren't good. They left on a bad note and haven't spoken to each other since. From the perspective of his human brain, there's a lot of feelings towards Lucky's sister in particular.

It's been years. It's just been him and the sky.

That's… oddly similar…

But what about Simon? What about HIS parents? Do they know what happened, where he is, or did he just disappear one day without a single clue to where he went?

Do they think he ran away? No, they should know better than to think that, but what else is there? Kidnapping?

Will they know that their son didn't just vanish, and instead was taken away by the whims of… he doesn't know, a higher being? A cosmic lottery he was ‘fortunate’ enough to win?

Who knows?

He knows that pony names sometimes correlate to who they will be later in life, either that be cartoon logic or actual magical bullshit he doesn't know.

But maybe this is supposed to be his ‘lucky break'.

One problem.

He doesn't feel lucky at all.

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?]

“...yeah” He finally says, the photo disappearing once more into his inventory.

[Applejack: …]

He looks up at the map.

“Just fuckin peachy”

…

“Oh God… O-Oh God… FUCK! I didn't… I didn't… God-FUCK!”

[RarityBelle: I'm going to faint…]

[TwilightSparkle: Dear Celestia…]

[Applejack: What in tarnation?!]

Lucky comes across a tragedy.

A pony. A caramel colored stallion sobbing in the middle of a small pool, only about a foot deep. Bodies lay unmoving in the water, which has been completely dyed red in blood.

“M-My dad… m-my wife… they… God I'm SORRY! T-They w-went crazy and w-wouldn’t s-stop…”

*CRACK*

Lucky silently kicks a zombie to death that was lying in wait, flicking the rotted blood off his hooves as he walks up to the pool's edge.

The stallion hears him, and turns to him with large, tear filled eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with this island?!”

“...”

“W-What?!” He screams. “What do you want?!”

Lucky takes a deep breath and rolls up his sleeves. They're already ruined, but he'd rather they be dirty than soaked.

“Fuck off!”

He steps into the water, grimacing as the blood clings to his fur but he trudges through the water.

“D-Did you not hear me?! Leave me alone! FUCK!!! OFF!!!”

Lucky sees him hovering over a mare, a knife is embedded into her head, body rotten. A telltale sign of infection.

“I… I can't…”

The pegasus sighs and walks closer. He reaches out to touch the stallion's wither.

He whirls around and smacks his hoof off violently, making Lucky lose balance for a moment.

“FUCK OFF!!!” He screams.

Lucky's eye twitches.

[Applejack: He's grieving dear, it may be best to-]

*SMACK*

Lucky lifts his hoof and cracks it against the back of the stallion's head, slapping him so hard he almost falls face first into the water.

[Applejack: …alrighty then]

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky! You can't do that!]

[RainbowDash: What the hay is this?!]

The stallion looks up at him with wide, confused eyes, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

“W-Wha…”

This time, Lucky grabs the pony by the foreleg, firmly.

“Get out of the water”

The stallion doesn't resist, sheepishly following him out while Lucky quickly puts the knife in his inventory.

Once he's out, the stallion is frozen as Lucky inspects him, looking over his hooves and barrel.

“Did you get bit?”

“N-No?”

Lucky raises an eyebrow, breaking his annoyed but weirdly patient face.

“Is that a ‘not sure’ no, or a ‘yes I absolutely got bit and I won't admit it’ no?”

The stallion shakes his head.

“N-No. I… I didn't get bit…”

Lucky gives a small sigh of relief.

“Perfect”

He then pulls a metal pipe out of his inventory and hands it out to the stallion, who eyes it fearfully. After a moment of hesitation, he takes it.

“There's a beach house not that far from here, a straight shot. Look for an earth pony mare with a tattoo on their face. She's leading a group of survivors and will take you in”

“Th… B-But what about…”

Lucky points a hoof in the direction he came from.

“Just follow the path, I just cleared out a good number of them. Just shut up and walk fast, and you'll be there in no time”

The stallion holds the pipe to their chest, confused and grieving, but something about the pegasus in front of him is keeping him grounded.

“D… Do you think… what if there's more… of those things?”

“Run? Kill it? Don't matter”

“Will she… really take me in?”

“Tell her the really badass pony with eyeshadow sent ya. She'll let you in”

With that, Lucky flexes his hooves to warm up his muscles and turns around, continuing on his way.

Before he can though, the stallion stops him as he calls out.

“Is… is she a cop?”

“No. Much worse”

Lucky looks back at him.

“She's Polynesian”

[TwilightSparkle: What?]

[Applejack: I'm sorry what?]

[RainbowDash: A whatsawhosit?]

[RarityBelle: I'm afraid I'm puzzled Darling]

The stallion blinks.

“Oh”

Lucky nods, and continues.

Good luck, random stallion.

…

Lucky looks through the chain link fence at the snarling bloodied face trying to reach out to him.

“...the fuck are you looking at?”

*RAAAHHGNSSAAA*

Ignoring the zombie for now, he looks at the lifeguard tower. A concrete block with fancy red lines painted along its base.

A chain link fence separates it from the rest of Banoi, but the gates aren't even locked. Only problem is the zombies swarming the place.

He knows that there's a ‘thug’ inside the garage. Which is basically just a bigger, chunkier zombie.

…now is he supposed to do this?

“Hm…”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky, I have an idea!]

“Shoot” He says, more focused on figuring out the layout of the place.

[TwilightSparkle: Why don't you find your friends, maybe they could help you!]

“Don't have any”

[TwilightSparkle: …what?]

[TwilightSparkle: Really?]

“Yup”

[TwilightSparkle: Not one?]

“Nope”

[RarityBelle: What about Miss Tidal Wave? You two seem well acquainted]

“We spoke once, and the moment we get off the island we're probably never seeing each other again”

[Applejack: But why?!]

Lucky actually turns to chat at his point, face frowning in confusion.

“Because I don't… know her?”

[ThePinkOne: You could!]

[TwilightSparkle: Pinkie, please come to Golden Oaks, how did you even find one of these?]

[ThePinkOne: Money, silly!]

[RainbowDash: I forget that pinkie has a bank account and an actual job]

[ThePinkOne: Whaaaat? What do you think I do all day, Dashy?]

[Applejack: I think she means that you get a little crazy sometimes, sugarcube. So she didn’ expect it]

[ThePinkOne: Oh you~ I don't ‘get crazy’]

[ThePinkOne: I get paid]

Yeah, you tell em Pinkie.

“Oh, that could work”

Lucky figures he could just… use the fence.

He takes out the knife from earlier and stabs at the zombie through the links.

*SHLINK*

It's a little awkward, but it works like a charm.

He bangs on the fence to get the other zombies' attention, luring them over to repeat the process.

[TwilightSparkle: What about family?]

[TwilightSparkle: Did you bring anypony on the trip with you?]

“Nope, just me. Haven't spoken to my folks in years”

Simon saw his yesterday.

[Fluttershy: Oh dear…]

All these new names appearing in his chat…

Is the entire show watching him?

[RainbowDash: Dude, this is like… Twilight levels of bad]

[TwilightSparkle: It is not!]

[Applejack: How long have you been alone?]

Another thrust of his knife, another dead zombie.

It's crazy how less of a problem zombies become when you're not limited by the game system.

“I dunno. Few years I guess”

[TwilightSparkle: A few years?!]

“Yup” He says half-mindedly, the conversation is getting a little weird for him, but he's busy so he's barely paying attention.

“Might seem pretty pathetic but it ain't all that bad. I just do my own thing. If I don't get along with others then… oh well”

*GGRROOOAAAA-SHLICK*

*Thud*

[TwilightSparkle: Would you like to be friends?]

Lucky lets out a sigh of relief as he stops seeing zombies coming towards him. He opens the gate, pushing the corpses aside and walks in.

He raises an eyebrow at the message.

“That's nice of you, but you don't know me, Twilight”

[RainbowDash: So? What's the problem with that?]

“Because it wouldn't be real, it would-...” Lucky stops himself, reeling back his emotional mind. “Nevermind. I need to focus”

Heading to the garage, there's a large red button beside it. Knowing that there's a thug inside, Lucky is relaxed.

It's tough and strong, but slow. He just has to throw shit at it until it dies.

Switching to a smaller, more worn down knife, he presses the button and backs off, watching as the metal folds rise upwards.

[TwilightSparkle: What is this…?”]

“It's a garage, it holds cars”

[TwilightSparkle: Cars?]

He points at an abandoned car just outside of the gate.

“That”

[TwilightSparkle: What does it do?]

“Creates tiny explosions and propels you forw-”

*THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP*

What the fuck is-

He sees a sickly green blur in front of him as something crashes into him.

His world goes sideways.

Air is forced out of his lungs, he feels something crack in his chest as the massive figure slams into him.

It charges through the fence, tearing it right through and carrying him with it. Metal cuts into him, and he can't even respond to the pain before he's carried through the wall of a nearby bungalow.

Wood splinters pierce him, and he feels something else snap inside him.

He grits his teeth and looks up.

A massive undead pony, their right foreleg swelled unproportionally like a bag of meat, thick rotting muscle tightly coiled grabs onto him as he's lifted up and slammed into the ground over and over again.

He feels his wing break again.

For FUCKS SAKE!

Lucky calls upon his inventory, a knife appears and is thrust into the zombies hoof. He stabs it over and over again until he can feel its telekinetic grip falter.

He throws himself backwards, pushing himself up. His legs are fine, good.

Lucky Break finally gets a good look at the infected.

His heart sinks.

Is that…

Is that a fucking Charger?!

“Why are you here?!” This fucker is in the WRONG GAME.

It clamors towards him. Lucky looks around it using the kitchen island, tossing anything he can find at the thing.

*RRROOOAAARRR*

Lucky grits his teeth and runs. Bursting through the front door as his heart burns in his chest. The wall crumples like paper as it bursts through, rapidly gaining on his retreating form.

FUCK!

How does he kill it?!

Looking around, he desperately searches for something, anything. Checking his inventory, he quickly scrolls through his list of materials (junk).

He gets an idea.

It's an insane, batshit idea. But he's from Florida, insane batshit ideas are his species’ specialty.

He pulls out several bottles of alcohol and shoves rags in them. With a lighter in hand he lights them up and pulls out…

The fishnet stockings.

It's the only ‘long’ piece of clothing he could find, and considering he values his survival over his shame, he finds no shame in quickly slipping them on and slipping several knives through the gaps, hanging on by the strings.

He puts his lit molotovs in his inventory except one, and whips it at the Charger. It screams as it bursts into flames, fire greedily burning away its rotting flesh.

The stockings aren't for nothing. He can't pull more than one type of thing out of his inventory at once, so he needed to keep his knives out. He wants to DROWN this fucker in fire, so he needs to compromise.

One by one, he kites the Charger around, throwing cars around and collapsing bungalows as molotovs and knives fly through the air. Blades impale the flaming Charger as it screams.

Slowly getting weaker and weaker, another molotov hits its head and explodes into flame once more.

It slumps over.

Dead.

Lucky's chest is killing him, a blinding pain that puts spots in his eyes. Putting his stuff away, he quickly pulls out a massive pile of Energizer and begins chugging it all down.

*krr-CLACK*

*krr-CLACK*

*krr-CLACK*

To Equestria, they are all treated to the very bizarre yet weirdly… captivating image of Lucky chugging down energy drinks, covered in blood and knives, and wearing…

Fishnet… stockings.

[Fluttershy: oh…]

He swats the message out of his face.

It was a half-cooked plan, probably not the best.

But goddammit it worked.

Feeling his body knitting back together, probably leaving him with more scars than before, Lucky takes a deep breath and slumps his head back against the wooden frame of the bungalow he's sitting against.

*krr-CLACK*

“...I definitely need a gun”

He looks over at his [SKILLS]

[SKILL POINTS = 2]

What dictates that he gets these?

…he should really put them into something, shouldn't he?

“...”

Feeling his burning lungs, rather than something fancy, he just needs a good foundation.

So he picked one that would be good overall.

[ HONESTY SKILL - APPLE BUCKER
☆10% increase in overall stamina.
☆20% increase in overall stamina.
30% increase in overall stamina. ]

Judging by how easier his breathing had just become…

He'd say it was worth it.

Chapter 8: 8 - Base Of Operations

Clearing out the rest of the lifeguard tower was a much easier process, all things considered. The 20% increase to his stamina is doing wonders, to the point that he wonders what the ‘overall’ in the skill description truly meant.

He isn't sure how the ‘system’ is doing it, but he felt… something, shift inside him. His pony brain recognizes it as the same feeling he gets while flying.

Magic?

Whatever it was, it's causing a buzzing inside him, a vitality that makes him feel he could run a marathon.

He walks over to the main room, though it's more of an observatory with the large windows that stretch across the circular shape of the place

Lucky makes his way to the metal desk plopped down in the center of it, all sorts of knicknacks and gizmos he doesn't recognize litter it, but what he's really looking for sits front and center.

[TwilightSparkle: What is that?]

He plops down in the chair that was propped up near it and prods at the boxy radio with his hoof, still bloodied and wrapped in fishnets.

Ah, right. He's wearing these.

God he needs a shower.

“It's a radio”

[TwilightSparkle: What does it do?]

“It makes nosy ponies explode”

[TwilightSparkle: W-What?!]

[Applejack: He's messing with you, Twilight]

He turns a dial, and it flickers on. Low static buzzes from the speaker as he presses a button on the receiver.

[TwilightSparkle: I-I knew that!]

“Tidal, do you copy?”

Slumping back in the chair, he waits for her to respond. His eyes furrow in disgust at his fur and begins peeling the stockings off his hooves, disposing of whatever knives that survived into his inventory.

[BerryPunch: NO NO NO NO WAIT!]

He pauses, quickly he scans the room for any infected he may have missed but…

Nothing.

“What?”

[BerryPunch: What if uh…]

[BerryPunch: What if you meet another one of those things! Where are you going to keep your knives?!]

“I saw a lifeguard saddlebag in one of those lockers earlier, should work fine”

[BerryPunch: Oh…]

[BerryPunch: Why not wear both?]

[TwilightSparkle: Somepony please get Berry]

[CherryBerry: On it]

What the hell was that about?

Lucky peels off the fishnets and haphazardly throws them back into his inventory. He should probably throw them away, but the thread could be useful.

As he thinks, Tidal Wave's voice comes from the radio.

>”Lucky? Is that you, mate?”<

Lucky shoots up and grabs the receiver.

“It's all clear, head over before more of them wander in”

…

Good news, there's a shower here. So all of the blood, vomit, and whatever else stuck to his coat was finally washed away.

Bad news, he can't turn the stream off. And while he thinks that ponies have a very liberal mindset about nudity, apparently some corner of his pony brain is getting embarrassed about bathing in front of others.

What's the difference? He doesn't know. Maybe it's like the whole bikini vs underwear thing. Regardless, he's getting stuff off him.

[TwilightSparkle: Um… Lucky…]

He peeks an eye open as the water rushes down his mane, he's been spending the last half an hour in the shower as Tidal and the rest of her group gets here.

Even though he's going to get dirty again very soon, it doesn't mean he can't enjoy being clean. Plus, he's leaving as soon as they get here.

“What's up?”

[TwilightSparkle: W-What do you… uh…]

[TwilightSparkle: *ahem*]

[TwilightSparkle: What do you plan on doing?]

“Two options, either I get a boat and get the fuck out. Or a helicopter and… also get the fuck out”

[TwilightSparkle: Language…]

[TwilightSparkle: What's a helly cop ter?]

“Imagine a flying carriage that has nopony pulling it”

He looks ahead.

“The issue is that it's on a neighboring island. A prison. Bigger issue is that the gu-PONY that has it is a bit of a psycho”

Which he's not even sure about anymore. Because if this is the Green Flu instead of whatever the hell Dead Island's virus is called, then Kevin's dork ass probably had no hand in it.

“And I don't want to deal with that. Both in the fact that the place is stupid dangerous, and that the pony is a stupid little bitch baby who wants to see the world burn”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky please…]

[Applejack: Any particular reason why?]

[RarityBelle: Oh wow… it really is natural!]

Yes, the eyeshadow, he knows.

“Revenge? Money? Maybe he gets his rocks off to undead looking mares, I dunno”

God forbid he's seen enough of those in Florida. No virus needed, just bath salts and pure human will.

He steps out of the shower and dries off. Taking a towel he has to quite thoroughly dry off each feather in his wings.

“...why does this take so long”

Lucky can see several pegasi in the chat sympathizing with his plight.

Under a wet floor, he steps in front of a mirror, where his clean form reflects back at him.

…he doesn't think he could get used to looking like this.

In the corner of his eye, a message appears.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky! I have a question!]

“Go ahead, we have time” He responds, pulling out a hairbrush and starting to fix his bird's nest of a mane.

[TwilightSparkle: Could you tell me more about you?]

[TwilightSparkle: US, tell US about you! Sorry, mixed up my words]

[ThePinkOne: Smooth]

“Like what? I'm not exactly interesting”

[TwilightSparkle: Like… what do you do?]

“...you mean my job?”

[TwilightSparkle: Sure!]

Uh…

What the hell WAS his job, anyways?

Simon worked on cars, but Lucky? Dusting off his memories and taking a look, it seems to him that the pony was…

Oh.

Well isn't that ironic. Given his namesake.

He chuffs, but responds.

“I used to be a rune scribe, but I won the lottery and decided to get as far away from my family as possible. Banoi was the best option I had”

A rune scribe does sound interesting, though it looks like he dropped it after winning all that money.

[RarityBelle: It's a shame you gave up on such a profession, darling]

“Meh”

It's not like he can't just pick it back up again.

[TwilightSparkle: I am the librarian that runs the Golden Oaks Library! I am also Princess Celestia's personal student, and I study under her!]

[Applejack: Ma family sells apples and the like, ain't much else to say]

[ThePinkOne: I work in Sugarcube Corner! Also part-time party planner (details and contact information listed below!)]

[Applejack: Pinky, how did you do that?]

[ThePinkOne: Do what?]

After that, everypony just kept talking about their job. Which was nice conversation but…

What exactly is he supposed to be saying here…?

Fixing himself up, he slips on a white dress shirt he got from somepony's luggage and slips on the bright red lifeguard saddlebags that sit against his flanks.

His flanks…

Wait, right, what IS his cutie mark?

Lucky looks over, and is stunned yet confused at the sight.

Sitting there is a set of four red playing cards, set in an arch with a blue swirl of energy under it, with only the fourth being face up. On the face of the card is a four pointed yellow star with lines of energy around it.

On the back of the first three cards, each corner has an assortment of symbols he doesn't recognize.

It tickles his pony brain.

Runes.

He just stares at it for a moment, before shaking his head and continuing on.

Lucky has NO clue what that's supposed to mean. Luck? Magic? Gambling? Is his ‘special talent’ gambling of all things?

Taking a deep breath, he decides to go down that rabbit hole later on.

When he's safe.

…

“Seriously, thanks a lot mate” Tidal thanks him, again.

At the workbench in the lifeguard tower's garage, Lucky is stripping apart some electronics and creating an unholy mechanism of a weapon.

“You don't have to keep thanking me, Tidal”

Maybe it's because of his ‘system’, but he's finding it exceptionally easy to build, repair, and modify things. In Dead Island, you could turn a random kitchen knife into a grand felony with just a few pieces of garbage and a workbench.

Strangely though, there's no disconnect in what he's doing. Is he overthinking this? Is this his pony brain syncing up with his old human experience? Or is this his ‘special talent’?

“Hey! You're Lucky, right?” Tidal is interrupted with whatever she was about to say when another mare walks up.

Lucky finishes the mod he put on a gardening machete. Two batteries, three little things of duct tape, a couple of wires, and a second blade that's facing backwards from the first one.

Old Smoky is a relatively cheap yet very powerful mod. The only downside is that it can only be used on machete-like weapons, and repairing it is a pain in the ass.

The twin bladed weapon crackles in his hooves as he flicks it on for a moment, the fur on his body rising for just a moment before he turns it back off and puts it in his inventory.

He still wants a gun…

“Yeah, what's up?”

“You have any experience with cars?” The mare asks. She's a cyan colored pony with a bright yellow mane, wearing a snapback from some company he doesn't know.

Walmart Pony.

“Little bit”

“Think you could come take a look at this? It uh… it just ain't runnin’”

Looking over, he sees the truck sitting in the middle of the garage, hood propped open. Lucky didn't get the chance to look at earlier when he was busy getting his ass whooped.

“Sure, one sec”

Getting up, he walks over to the truck, gesturing for Tidal to follow.

She does, with her and Walmart Pony hovering beside him as he leans over and looks into the engine and all the other fancy little bits.

[TwilightSparkle: Woah… what IS all this?]

[RustyWrench: Looks similar to a train engine, but where's the runic plaques?]

[Applejack: Gonna be honest I'm completely lost]

[WetWhistle: I think we all are…]

“Try and start it up” He says, Wally nods her head and opens the driver side door.

Then, he turns to Tidal.

“So, what's up?”

She blinks.

The engine sputters as Wally turns the key. He narrows his eyes at the sound, muttering to himself as he looks around.

Ah, that's probably it.

“What's your plan, mate? You're immune, have family to find?”

He shoves his hooves down into the truck's gaping maw.

“My plan is to get a boat to Australia, then make my way to the States”

He deliberately avoids talking about his family.

That's…

Not… now.

“Ah, the voice on the radio! They said something about having a way off this rock”

Lucky shoots her a look.

“Don't”

“...pardon?”

“Tidal, Banoi is a barely developed island mostly filled with actual African gangs, jungle, and natives that think a brain eating prion disease is somehow a way to achieve immortality. There is only ONE place aside from Royal Hooves that even has access to stuff like that”

The truck sputters again.

Fuck…

Clicking his tongue, he looks back at her.

“And that's the prison. You know about that?”

“A tad bit”

He points a hoof at her.

“It's not for locals, it's locked up tighter than Fort Knox-

[PedalStorm: What's Fort Knox?]

-because it's filled with actual, straight up international terrorists. You really want to break into a super prison filled with ponies like that?”

She opens her mouth, but looks hesitant.

Eventually, the old mare grumbles in frustration.

“So what do you propose we do?”

Lucky goes quiet.

*krrr-LUNK*

The engine begins to purr as it kicks to life.

“FUCK YEAH! IT'S ALLIIIVVVEEE HAHAHAHA” Wally bellows out.

Turning his gaze to the waiting mare, he only has one answer to her question.

“...I don't know”

No offense, Tidal. But there is no ‘we’ in this.

If this world is more Left 4 Dead than Dead Island…

There might not be anywhere left to go.

…

Lucky's eyes blink open, the morning sun just peeking over the horizon, bathing the island in a brisk orange.

Sunlight peers through the windshield. Lucky's eyeshadow covered eyes squint as the rays wake his sleeping form. Sighing, his back feels sore as it presses against the driver seat.

He catches a glimpse of himself in the rear-view mirror.

Good morning, Lucky.

Chat is quiet. A rarity (not the mare) at this point.

To be honest, he isn't sure what to make of the My Little Pony cast. He can't exactly stop them from watching the stream, and from the little he knows about the show… they aren't bad.

They're weird, in a colorful magical horse kind of way. While it isn't exactly comfortable, with his pony brain wanting to crawl in a hole and die, he himself has come to accept the weirdness out of sheer convenience.

Though with how they speak to him, he thinks that they see him like he's some sort of lab experiment. Twilight in particular keeps asking really specific questions about him and his life.

Overall, he just attributed it to her curious personality.

Though Lucky doubts that he's interesting enough for her attention, so she's probably just cataloging all she can for her… little book report or something.

[TwilightSparkle: Good morning!]

Speak of the horse and she shall appear.

“Morning, Twilight”

With a yawn, he makes breakfast. Just a can of peaches and some water.

Yessir, living the dream.

[TwilightSparkle: How did you sleep?]

“Like shit”

[TwilightSparkle: Oh]

[TwilightSparkle: Uh…]

[TwilightSparkle: I'm sorry to hear that]

[TwilightSparkle: And uh…]

[TwilightSparkle: Language, please]

“Mhmm”

Are ponies just adverse to cursing?

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! Right!]

Lucky pauses mid bite.

[TwilightSparkle: Princess Celestia responded to my letter! Don't worry, I'm sure she will figure this out!]

He's honestly not even sure what she could do, but he appreciates the effort.

So he nods, a testament to his exhaustion despite it slowly creeping away as the 20% stamina boost gradually drags his tiredness behind his mind and beats it with clubs.

Finishing the last of his peaches, he stretches, giving a loud and exaggerated whining, almost moaning sound.

When he was a kid, his dad ALWAYS did that. At first he just thought it was a funny thing he did, but as he got older he started doing it himself.

“Alright… let's do this”

Lock in.

Now armed with a really cool machete and a truck, it's time to head down to the docks.

To get a fucking boat.

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?]

Why does everypony keep asking him that?

Chapter 9: 9 - Docks

The smell of salt fills the air, filling his lungs as the seabreeze whips his mane. Window down, he looks out to the water with a hoof leaning on the door.

Beaches aren't a particularly new sight to Lucky. Florida is quite known for them, and would be its staple if not for the ruling iron fist that the dreadful mouse has on Orlando.

He sneezes.

[TwilightSparkle: Bless you]
[RarityBelle: Bless you]
[Applejack: Bless you]
[Fluttershy: Bless you]
[ThePinkOne: I wasn't paying attention what happened!!!]
[ThePinkOne: NEVERMIND I FIGURED IT OUT]
[ThePinkOne: Bless you :3]
[RainbowDash: Bless-

Lucky facepalms- sorry, facehooves.

“Guys! I get it!”

…

He closes the door behind him, hooves meeting the ground as he looks around.

*GGRROOOAAARRAAAHHHHH*

Immediately, he's met with a zombie running at him, stumbling out from an alley. With a flex of his will, he brings out his machete and raises it up high before swinging it back down, cleaving into the pony's head.

Blood and brain matter pepper his face as it slumps to the ground. His eyes widen slightly at the feeling of something splattering across his face.

He stares at the corpse for a moment, the shattered skull and rotted brain tickling a primal spot in his head, his face slowly grimaces as Lucky feels the gore on his face.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Focus.

YOU are in control, there is no time for this, you can't afford it.

He fills his lungs with the seabreeze air.

And the vile smell of rotting meat.

Something hitches in his throat.

Nope, he can't.

He keels over, retching his breakfast onto the stone tiled walkways. Splattered chunks of peaches and stomach bile fall into the sand.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky?!]

[Applejack: You okay sugarcube?]

Chest tight, he can't stop his hooves- no, his entire body from shaking. His logical mind is REELING, trying to pull back from the panic and stress that's clawing its way into control.

What… is he even doing here?

What is his plan? Find a boat, and then what? Fuck off to Australia and PRAY there's a plane?

He doesn't even know if the virus spreads through bites! For all he knows, the world is already FUCKED! The Dead Island vitus is SOMEWHAT manageable, but the Green Flu?

If this is anything like the Green Flu, they've already lost!

And… this whole thing! Not just the zombie apocalypse, but this WHOLE THING!

Why is he a pony?! Why is he in some fucked up amalgam of a Hasbro show made for LITTLE GIRLS and some zombie game from FOURTEEN YEARS AGO?!

And the system! Why?! What's the point?!

Is… is this just a game?

Some fucking cosmic game show? Is he supposed to dance around for the entertainment of these ponies, or for some other being that stripped him away from his family?

“Bullshit”

[TwilightSparkle: …Lucky?]

“Bull-fucking-shit”

He grinds his teeth.

“Did you just think ‘oh, let's slap him with a game system and surround him with pastel ponies, surely that makes up for it, right?’. Sure! Let's throw his ENTIRE LIFE AWAY for some stupid fucking isekai fantasy I DIDN'T ASK FOR”

Lucky snaps his head towards the corpse, feeling a churning in his gut.

“Are you even real? Am I foaming at the mouth, OD'ing on my couch right now, all of this flashing through my eyes? Are you an actual, real person? Or are you some kind of… I dunno! A fake?”

He moves closer, eyes wide and filled with panic and mania.

“Were you even a pony to begin with? Or did you ‘spawn’, are you bits of code and script? Words on a script? Is Lucky Break even fucking real? Did he exist before… me?”

Lucky puts a hoof on his chest and struggles to breathe.

“What's even the POINT? I'm FUCKED! Even if, IF, I find a way off this island, I'm still stuck in a zombie infested shithole of a world. And…”

Maybe he could move to a remote cabin in the woods? Far from civilization? But, what's the point?

And if all of this is real…

*CRACK*

“Stop it”

His hoof slams into the side of his truck, the pain letting the clarity creep into his thoughts.

He… is Lucky Break.

Chill.

He's immune. Lucky knows that ponies are counting on him. With his system, he'll eventually become a force to be reckoned with. And with that comes attention.

A part of him wants to just… ignore all that, after all, he's not responsible for anypony else. He doesn't know them.

But that's not how that works, does it?

Lucky slumps back against his truck, cracking open another Energizer.

Responsibility.

What a nightmare…

His pony brain is gradually brought deep into the back of his mind. The pain in his hoof anchoring him, reminding him.

Deep breath in…

And out…

He'd lost control of himself for but a moment, a slip in his stability.

Whatever the hell his pony brain is doing to him, it's contrasting to how he WANTS to think. Alternative brain chemistry, perhaps? A battle between logic and feeling.

Regardless. The shaking in his hooves must stop, now. He forces his will over them, tensing the muscles to keep them in place.

This isn't the place.

Nor is it the time.

Focus.

He has to focus.

Whatever emotions his pony brain is trying to conjure up does not matter, focus on survival and figure it out later.

Lucky pushes himself up, whipping his machete around before latching it onto his saddlebag.

A lone message appears beside him.

[TwilightSparkle: …are you okay?]

His eyes stare at the message for a moment.

Then, he turns away and walks towards the docks, a bland expression on his face.

“Never better”

…

[POV: CELESTIA]

He's not okay.

Finishing up Day Court, Celestia finds herself in her office. Finally taking the time to look at her student's letter, she was confused and decided to acquire one of these ‘mysteriously enchanted gems’ herself.

So in the confines of her castle, Celestia decides to check what Twilight is making such a fuss about.

She activated the gem and…

Now that is impeccable eyeshadow.

Though her experience with runes is… limited, she admits that the convenience of free-casting with a horn has spoiled her somewhat, the runes that are carved into the gem are… spectacularly enigmatic.

Though what she didn't expect was a small screen to display a tan-colored stallion…

…throwing chairs at a very disgusting, bloated zombie. Her student has already filled her in on what is happening.

An alternate world… fascinating.

Even so, she still grimaces at the sight of her ponies being turned into… zombies? Is that what Twilight called them?

>”Just explode already you fat fuck!”<

Ah, yes. Lucky Break's vocabulary does match the reports.

Though, what does he mean by explo-

Celestia blinks as the bloated pony blows up, coating the warehouse in a thick, sickly green fizzling bile.

Oh.

Lucky emerges from the wall he was hiding behind, sighing in relief.

He is certainly braver than most, most ponies would not have gone nearly this far. Even so, she can clearly see the fear in his walk.

Admirable.

[SunnySkies: May I ask what that thing was?]

She speaks into the gem, seeing her words appear beside him alongside the name of her alias.

>”You're the first one to actually ask, outside of Twilight's schizo ramblings”<

[TwilightSparkle: I don't know that word but I feel insulted!]

[Applejack: Oddly enough, it fits]

[TwilightSparkle: AJ!!!]

Celestia giggles, it's always a delight to see her student getting along with her friends.

>”That”< He points to the chunks on the floor. >”Is a special infected. Sometimes the virus mutates and causes changes in the host's body and behavior beyond the… usual gross shit”<

He flicks the green substance off his hooves with a disgusted look.

>”This one was a ‘Boomer’, it vomits stomach acid on you and explodes if you hit it too much. Not very fast, but trying to kill it without a gun is a nightmare”<

A gun?

[SunnySkies: What do you think is causing this?]

He squints his eyes in thought, looking over the metal boat (what a fascinating design) that sits in the middle of the room.

>”...well. To be honest, I'll have to check first. But my answer depends if a zombie is ‘alive’ or not”<

[RainbowDash: They're zombies, dude. Of course they're not alive]

>”Okay, let's assume that. Let's assume that this virus causes a sort of biological integer overflow, no magic bullshit”<

[TwilightSparkle: Integer overflow?]

He pauses.

>”...I could be completely wrong, but it's when something is added that's too much for wherever you're putting it, so it ‘overflows’ and resets back to zero”<

[TwilightSparkle: Ah, got it]

[RainbowDash: I'm lost]

>”Water in bathtub, fill too much it overflows, now the room is the new bathtub, and progress is reset because its not ‘full' anymore”<

[RarityBelle: I am puzzled but thank you for the visual]

[RainbowDash: Bathtubs, got it]

[Applejack: That ain't what he sayin, Dash…]

[RainbowDash: That is literally what he said!]

He ignores the bickering ponies, a little rude but it's excused considering the poor pony's circumstances.

>”What I'm assuming is that this virus sort of… overflows death? A pony dies, then they become so dead that the virus carries them past death, basically puppeting a corpse. Probably came from Kuru”<

[SunnySkies: Kuru?]

>”Cannibalism. You eat another pony's brain, you get a disease that makes you the closest thing to a zombie. Fucks up your muscles and head, makes you crave after pony brains. Though they didn't mutate like this, nor were they dead”<

Oh dear.

That's horrifying.

>”But if they were ALIVE. Then it's probably a fucked up mutated strain of the rabies virus. I'm not sure if a ‘dead’ stomach can produce that much acid”<

[Fluttershy: Rabies does NOT do this!]

[Fluttershy: I mean…]

[Fluttershy: …sorry…]

>”Yeah. I don't know how it transmits either. But if it's not through blood, I'm kinda fucked”<

[SunnySkies: You have shown remarkable prowess before, do not doubt yourself, Lucky Break]

>”Easy for you to say, somepony at home, laying on their bed, eating snacks and alongside their noticeably NOT undead neighbors”<

She blinks.

Well, she hasn't been spoken to like that in a long time. Even longer by a stallion. Then again, Lucky has shown to be much bolder than the average pony, so it shouldn't surprise her.

[SunnySkies: I… apologize]

[SunnySkies: I did not mean to patronize you]

Lucky takes a long winded sigh and shakes his head.

>”No… No, that was my bad. Sorry about that. Just… a little on edge”<

[SunnySkies: Apology accepted!]

[SunnySkies: So, how are you feeling?]

>”Doesn't matter”< He responds near instantly.

She freezes, confusion spreading along her muzzle.

He continues, looking at the boat and trying to get the gate that opens to the ocean up.

>”I am the only one who has a decent shot at making things right, my needs and wants don't matter in the grand scale of things”<

Celestia goes to open her mouth, but no words come out.

>”I can't just… NOT do something, y'know? Eventually I'll have to do something with the survivors”<

[TwilightSparkle: But I thought they weren't your friends?]

>”And I doubt they'll ever be. Doesn't mean I shouldn't do anything, though”<

That's…

A familiar thought process.

One she's intimately familiar with.

She can see the ponies in his ‘chat’ disputing this, but he's not budging, he's not even acknowledging them.

Somepony asks:

[ChocolateRain: Then why the boat?]

He pauses. For a moment he doesn't say anything, but eventually he straightens up.

>”I… suppose I'm just being selfish, I guess”<

Celestia stares at the screen for a long while in silence, thoughts swirling in her head.

Then, she chuffs.

Yes.

…a little selfish.

She's all too familiar with that.

This pony has been dropped with responsibility and power far beyond what most could handle.

But they have to live with it. To make do.

In some odd way, she feels an odd kinship with the darkly-lidded pegasus. They are certainly different, a bright stallion in way over his head, but still trying his best.

She certainly wouldn't mind another friend.

[SunnySkies: I have an idea, if you don't not mind]

He looks over.

>”Shoot”<

Chapter 10: 10 - Truly Threatening

Lucky Break wouldn't consider himself intimately familiar with the sea.

As a Floridian, he has the inherent skill and stat bonus relating to navigating water, alongside resistance to crack and their weakness against traffic laws.

He's been on a boat a few times, fishing with his uncle who he's still almost certain killed someone in the past.

But that's not relevant here.

What is… is that he's a seapony now.

Hah. Seahorse. He just realized that.

Skidding across the surface of the water, Lucky feels his mane flow back as the speedboat he's piloting darts along the beachside.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky! S-Slow down!]

“Nope”

[TwilightSparkle: LUCKY! PLEASE! It's dangerous!]

“Chat, boo her”

[LightfulRain: Booooo!]

[Aloe: Booooooooo]

[RainbowDash: BOOOOOO!!]

[TwilightSparkle: Rainbow?!]

Smirking at Twilight trying to defend herself, Lucky looks at his UI and thinks.

In his inventory and sitting beside him are a multitude of food items, mostly anything he could find in the bungalows and the small grocery store he spotted while at sea.

The boat is a massive boon, while it can't do anything with places too deep inland, it gives him safety from place to place when near the coast.

It would be perfect!

If not for the infected pegasi.

Lucky flails his hooves, screaming as teeth tear into his shoulder. Thrashing, he sees rotted green fur and feathers as he hacks at it with his machete.

A shock shoots into him as the electricity flows back through the zombie, coursing through his muscles and making him stiff.

He grits his teeth, kicking with all his might with his back legs.

*CLANG*

The zombie is flung back, slamming against the edge of the boat as Lucky's flesh and blood hang from its mouth.

*Zzzz* Static comes through the walkie talkie, harsh breaths fill the pegasus’ lungs.

>”Lucky? You there mate?”<

*CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG*

Grabbing the zombie's head, he slams it against the metal edge of the boat, over and over again as gore splatters against his coat.

His arm is throbbing in pain, a snarl on his lips as he growls, grabbing the corpse and tossing it into the ocean.

He takes a breath.

“FUCK”

And deeply exhales.

Turning back to the walkie talkie, he flicks it on as his fifth Energizer of the day appears in his hand.

“Did I ever tell you how badly I hate pegasi?”

[RainbowDash: Not cool dude!]

>”As much as I'd love to talk about your self-esteem issues, mate. We got a bit of a problem here”<

Of fucking course.

“What?” He snaps. Getting mauled absolutely soured his mood.

>”One of the survivors? She used to be a janitor for that pretty lil’ resort up there, has keys to the supply rooms. All~ sorts of goodies waiting for our hooves”<

Oh, that's good.

He winces as his flesh knits back together, seeing the slight discoloration in his fur, barely noticeable even when looking for it.

>”Problem is, her husband and foal are missing- here, let me just…”<

Tidal's voice cuts out as a new one comes in, a younger one.

>”H-Hello?”<

“Hello?”

>”B-Before all this happened… my daughter… she went to visit her dad and… I haven't heard of them… c-can you please look for them?”<

Turning off the receiver for a moment, Lucky gives a long, exasperated sigh.

He wants to say no.

He should say no. There's only so much gas in his truck (safely stored away), and even less in the boat.

It's a waste of resources, and he's already having to break his back to keep the group afloat as is.

A part of him just wants to leave. He isn't even sure why he hasn't yet, maybe some messiah complex he's going to have to deal with.

But…

>”P-Please?”<

Her voice shakes through the speaker.

>”T-They're all I have left…”<

“...”

Lucky looks over.

[TwilightSparkle: You-...]

[TwilightSparkle: Do…]

[TwilightSparkle: Do what you think is best, Lucky]

[TwilightSparkle: I'll understand]

He gives a loud groan and whips the boat around.

“This is fucking stupid…”

…

Eventually, Lucky finds himself in front of a bungalow, specifically the ‘silver’ bungalows, which are the exact same except they are built on platforms above the water.

He has no idea why ponies pay for this stuff.

Following his map, he finds what he's looking for. Bungalow 207.

Looks… the same.

Alright, with that in mind he goes to the door and-

It opens.

…it's not locked?

Not having the time to think about it, he's hit with the stench of rot he's quickly getting familiar with.

There's two zombies, within this rather basic looking, tribal decorated interior. One is a stallion beating on the door to the adjacent bathroom, the other is…

The other is…

“...am I in the right place?”

He checks the map… yup, the quest marker is right here.

So what the hell is this?!

There's a zombified mare hoofcuffed to the bed, spread eagle. Four handheld recorders sit on tripods surrounding the bed, with packets of condoms, booze, and white powder littering the room.

[TwilightSparkle: Oh Celestia…]

[RarityBelle: Are those… cameras?]

[ThePinkOne: HAHAHAHAHA]

[Daisy: I should not be watching this…]

[LilyValley: Hoofcuffs? That's certainly new]

[ManeGoodall: Oh no…]

The stallion notices him and shambles over.

This must be the… husband.

That sucks.

A quick kicking and stabbing session later, he's left with just her.

Wasn't this guy married? Who the hell is this?

Out of sheer curiosity, he picks up the box of condoms.

Completely untouched.

“Oh you are one unlucky pony, aren't you? Got cockblocked by the actual apocalypse” He mutters to himself and he puts it away.

[TwilightSparkle: What are those?]

“Condoms. Contraceptives”

[TwilightSparkle: …?]

“It's a balloon that you put on your dick that makes sure you don't get a mare pregnant”

[TwilightSparkle: oh]

[TwilightSparkle: Well we have spells for that! So…]

[TwilightSparkle: Yeah]

…congratulations?

[ThePinkOne: She wants to try it~]

[TwilightSparkle: Pinkie! Don't be gross!]

Lucky makes his way across the room, he goes to kill the mare but decides against it right now.

It's harmless, at least as harmless a zombie can get. But he's definitely keeping an eye on it.

Searching around, he doesn't see a foal. The pegasus isn't sure if the drugs will be useful, but the money and alcohol will definitely be.

He eventually checks the bathroom.

Which he would have, if the door hadn't been locked. He stares in puzzlement at the doorknob.

“Go away!”

Lucky freezes at the young voice that shouted at him from behind the door.

“Hello?”

“Leave me alone!”

This must be them, unless this is a completely unrelated pony.

“Ki-... Foal, they're gone now. You can come out”

“R…Really?”

“Yup”

“What… what about dad? Is he okay?”

“He's uh…”

Lucky looks over at the corpse.

“...no. He's not”

There's a long pause that makes his stomach churn.

“...oh”

He hears a sniffle.

“Your mom is still okay though, she… asked me to look for you"

“...it doesn't matter anymore…” The foal's lifeless voice sends shivers down his spine.

“...I don't care anymore… just… leave”

“That ain't happening-”

“LEAVE!” The child bellows out, making him flinch.

He narrows his eyes.

Going to open his mouth, he's caught by a message appearing in his view.

[SunnySkies: They are mourning their father, Lucky]

[SunnySkies: Be patient]

His lips press into a thin line as he steers his thoughts elsewhere.

“What? Do you plan on staying here? That ain't the best idea”

“...”

“Just open the door, so I can take you back to your mom”

“...no”

“So you'll just die here?”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky…]

The foal's silence makes Lucky scowl.

Just a few minutes of nothing but silence, no matter what he says.

Maybe it's because of his own family issues, but he's getting annoyed.

But he isn't out of ideas.

“Alright. Fine. You just wanna die. So what's your mom's favorite flower?”

“...what?” The foal's stunned voice is faint beyond the door.

“How about her favorite place to eat? What does she like doing on the weekends?”

“...wha…” Their tone changes, panic rising as realization kicks in. “Y-You can't do that!”

“I promised your mom a foal. One way or another I'm giving her one”

“Y-YOU CAN'T!”

“Well who's gonna stop me?” He scoffs. “You? Okay dude”

He sees chat freaking out.

“She seems like a wine type of mare, am I right?”

“YOU CAN'T FUCK MY MOM!”

“Why are you so bothered? It's not like you're going to be there”

“Y-You just can't!”

“Uh, yeah. I can. That's why I'm doing it”

He gets up real close to the door.

“After all, you're locked in there, waiting to die. What can you do? Oh! By the way, what's your name?”

Muzzle close to the gap, his voice turns husky as he speaks calmly and clearly.

“I need ideas for what to name my son”

The door whips open.

A hoof meets Lucky's face.

…

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky…]

[TwilightSparkle: Why?]

“It worked, didn't it?”

Lucky rubs the bruise on his muzzle. Not bothering to use an Energizer on such a small wound.

[TwilightSparkle: And now she hates you]

“And now she's alive TO hate me”

He remembers the glare the foal gave him as she was basically crushed into her mother's chest upon his arrival.

[RarityBelle: I admit darling, that could have been handled better…]

He chuffs.

“I'm not her therapist, Rarity. I keep her alive, and that's it. Anything else is not my problem”

[Applejack: They're a FOAL]

“What did you WANT me to do? Go on some long winded monologue how ‘oh your mom loves you’, I'm not fuckin doing that. She can be sad when she's safe, I do not care”

[TwilightSparkle: Why are you such a jerk!]

“Why do you CARE?”

The chat goes silent for a moment.

Whatever. He rolls his eyes and turns away.

Lucky has more important things to do. Specifically, he's made two discoveries.

Zombies are alive.

They are not technically zombies.

With the mare tied up in that bungalow, he decided to confirm it. Checking for a heartbeat, if the lungs are still working, anything.

And aside from the mild necrosis, the ponies are… alive. Their bodies are functioning, albeit damaged.

Meaning that the virus is closer to the Green Flu than what he was expecting.

Bad, very bad. He still doesn't know how it transfers, which is even worse.

But there's a small reprieve. He still isn't sure what the criteria is for gaining skill points, but now…

[SKILL POINTS = 3]

It's a lot, but he's also done a lot more than yesterday. Maybe it gets harder to earn them as he gets more of them?

A sort of invisible EXP bar?

…what should he spend them on?

“Hmm…”

Leaning back against the seat of his truck that's currently sitting in the garage, he sighs. In the corner of his eye he sees Walmart Pony fiddling around with something.

Curiosity officially peaked, he rolls down the window and rests his chin on his crossed arms, leaning out of the window.

“What are you making?”

She jumps.

“S-Shit Lucky! Wear a bell or somethin’!”

“Haven't found one of those, but do the ones with socks count?”

Wally freezes for a moment, eyebrow raised as she turns to him fully.

“I beg your pardon?”

Lucky waves his hoof around.

“Dude, I've been going through luggage like crazy. There's TONS of socks, leggings, stuff like that. Like… DOZENS of them. I'm not even trying and I've got a collection going”

He reaches down and pulls out a pair that particularly stands out in his inventory.

A set of long socks that, if he were to wear them, would go up to his mid-thigh area (what do you even call it?). Two are white, two are black. But both are in the shape of a cat, having both a small sewn bell at their ‘neck’ and pink paw pads on the bottom.

Seriously, why are these socks so big? And why are there so many of them?!

Wally goes bright red. No, she's not Walmart Pony anymore, she's Wendy's Pony.

Wendy sputters, but Lucky continues.

“This. See? There's a bell” He prods at the bell, which jingles a tiny bit.

“That's uh… um…”

“What's the deal with this anyways, do mares just have a competition to find the weirdest socks?”

“We don't… uh…” Wendy clears her throat. Her ears perk up at a sudden idea. “M-Maybe you could try them on?”

Lucky stares at her with a blank look on his face.

“Nopony wants to see a grown stallion wearing cat socks, dude. That's gross”

Chat seems to hiccup for a moment.

“W-Well… maybe you'll n-need em?”

“For what? Cosplay?”

“W-What if it gets cold?” She offers.

His eyes narrow.

“This is Banoi. It literally never goes below 70°”

She just stares, a nervous smile on her face.

He rolls his eyes and looks at chat.

[BerryPunch: If you're gonna have them in your inventory, might as well at least try them on]

[TwilightSparkle: BERRY!]

[CherryBerry: How did you get out?!]

Sighing. He supposes he could find some truth in that.

They might be worth… something, but he can't just keep it in his inventory forever. Plus, if it gives him an edge, he doesn't really care how he looks.

Whatever.

He slips them on.

Chapter 11: 11 - Encounter

Lucky has thought long and hard about what to spend his skill points on.

The safest answer would be topping off Apple Bucker, it certainly has been useful, he doubts he would be as productive without it.

Though it's not exactly a priority anymore. 30% is good, but skill points are going to become harder to get, so he needs to focus on what increases his survival.

But looking at the skill tree… he isn't sure if any of these could be that useful overall. Sure, small numerical increases in certain things is nice, but they are generally focused on one specific thing.

He wants something broader.

Which made him think about ‘his’ old profession.

Runes.

Maybe it was because of his cutie mark, his ‘special talent’, but Lucky was quite good at rune scribing before he dropped it and fucked off to Banoi after he won the lottery.

Runes are interesting to him because… well. Magic.

To his pony brain, it's nothing special, technically he's always using magic with his innate pegasus physiology using magic to lighten his body.

But to his human brain, he wants to beat this stupid pony to death for dropping such a skill.

While he may not know a lot about the show, he does know that magic in My Little Pony is very loose in what it can do, it can seemingly do anything if you have the means and skill to pull it off.

Again, the specifics are lost to him, as he hasn't actually watched the show. But wasn't there like… actual time travel? And dimension hopping?

As a pegasus, he cannot use ‘unicorn magic’, which is what most magic tends to hover around. However, runes can be done by anyone. It's just not nearly as popular because the learning curve is brutally steep and takes a LOT of time.

Why?

Runes are basically magical letters that each have a different effect that, when strung together into a wider spell matrix (it's a magic circle just with a cooler name), creates a ‘spell’.

It's coding. But instead of being a real man and crying in front of your monitor for three hours because Javascript keeps kicking you in the teeth with syntax errors and fucking your wife- you have to rely on a non-standard alphabet that is only backed by a frustratingly vague ‘context’ that is provided by… God?

Harmony? Ambient magic?

Regardless. Lucky is interested.

Magic would open up SO many avenues, ones where he doesn't have to rely on the system as much.

Which is why when he saw this Skill in the [MAGIC] section of the skill tree, he maxed it out without a second thought.

[ MAGIC SKILL - NOT QUITE PURPLE
♡5% efficiency in magical comprehension.
♡15% efficiency in magical comprehension.
♡25% efficiency in magical comprehension. ]

…

*tzzzzz*

*zzzzKKRK*

The spell matrix fizzles away.

He lowers his hoof, having used it to draw in the air with magic.

Looking back at the notebook, he narrows his eyes at the symbols displayed.

“...am I retarded?”

[TwilightSparkle: Can we talk?]

“Sure”

[TwilightSparkle: Princess Celestia has started looking into how to get you out of there, along with the rest of those ponies]

He doesn't mention that he still doesn't fully believe the other ponies are real.

“That's… nice, Twilight. But I would hold off on that”

[TwilightSparkle: What?! Why?!]

“Because I STILL don't know how the virus transmits. I could be a carrier, for all I know. You really want all this spilling into your world?”

[TwilightSparkle: That's…]

[TwilightSparkle: Well we won't just leave you there!]

[Applejack: Yeah!]

[RarityBelle: That's right!]

He… isn't sure what to say to that.

Instead, he flips to a page in his notebook and holds it up to the air.

“Twi, I think you gave me a defective rune or something, because it isn't working”

[TwilightSparkle: …Twi?]

[TwilightSparkle: O-Oh. I don't know runes that well, Lucky! I'm a unicorn!]

“You're also a huge nerd, so use your huge nerd brain and find out what's wrong with this rune”

[ThePinkOne: I like her nerd brain!]

[TwilightSparkle: You're both so mean…]

[TwilightSparkle: …]

[TwilightSparkle: …the bottom line is supposed to curve up…]

[TwilightSparkle: Actually! It says here that the Light rune isn't that great! Why do you want to learn this one?]

“Because it doesn't cost much magic… here, look at this”

He flips to another page, where several drafts of a spell matrix are drawn and scribbled out.

“I'm creating an alarm spell I can put on a gem or something, once I find one. It detects movement in the air and will trigger these-” He points a hoof at the two symbols alongside the matrix. “-runes, flashing lights, loud noises, bam! Loud as fuck alarm”

It's essentially the magical equivalent of having a bunch of cans hanging on a string and putting it around your campsite.

Which… could also work, now that he's thinking about it.

[SunnySkies: Starting spellcrafting so early may be a little hasty…]

“Well it's not like I got any guides here, Sunny. I've yet to find a SINGLE magic book so far, so I'm kinda on my own here”

Lucky already had SOME kind of talent with magic, backed by his cutie mark and everything, but paired up with ‘Not Quite Purple' is making the learning process much easier.

Even if he's relying entirely on chat for magical tutoring.

[TwilightSparkle: You have me]

He freezes, turning to look at the message.

“You still have time to take that back, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: I mean it. I've already decided on helping you in any way I can, a student of the Princess won't go back on her word!]

He rubs his muzzle.

“...why? We don't even know each other”

[TwilightSparkle: Because you need it]

Lucky stares at that message for a while.

Then, he gets back to work.

…

It's later in the day. The sun is high and this particular pegasus wishes he was too.

Lucky Break has already gone and done the usual Dead Island loop of killing zombies and stealing anything that isn't nailed down. Walking down the corpse riddled road, his eyes track the map that marks his position.

He would love to say that he's gotten used to it, that he's developed a routine.

He would love to say that he's gotten used to the ‘zombies’, that he can predict them, that he's more comfortable with going outside.

He would love to say he isn't constantly watching the sky anymore.

He would love to say that he isn't scared anymore.

He would love to say… that his hooves have stopped shaking.

…but all of that would be a lie, wouldn't it?

Even with his system, and his knowledge about this… game. God, is that even useful anymore?

He is prey.

It hasn't even been three days, yet the constant fear that trickles in from his pony brain is starting to exhaust him. Having to constantly fight back against bodily instincts is a constant endeavor, one he's finding extremely grating on his mental stamina.

Combined with being constantly watched, he's not having a great time. But he'll power through it, one Energizer at a time.

He looks down at his hooves, red and brown stain his tan coat. A part of him wonders if wearing those socks are worth it, but he doesn't want to deal with the thinly veiled attraction of Berry Punch.

Oh.

Right.

Lucky has a confession to make. Two, actually.

He's not dense.

Admittedly it took a minute, longer than it should, but in his defense he hasn't watched the show, nor has he been shown actual attraction, even as Simon.

Visually, he is attractive. He recognizes the looks, the odd undertone of some chat messages, and even the hint of something… off, in the way mares look at him.

He still isn't even sure how to describe it. It's not even prominent enough for him to give an example, but after some time interacting with other ponies it's becoming clear.

Stallions are the ones sought after, not mares.

Which is… baffling, to him.

[TwilightSparkle: What are you thinking about, Lucky?]

“Your mom”

[TwilightSparkle: what]

[TwilightSparkle: What do you mean by that?]

Which leads to his next confession.

[TwilightSparkle: HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME!]

He… doesn't like ponies.

Personality wise, sure, whatever. But something about how they look just… bothers him, his human brain doesn't like it.

Eyes too big, weirdly shaped head, mouth too small. It's like someone morphed a horse to be more human-like and hit a color randomizer on them.

In a cartoon it's fine, but when it's a reality?

What was it called? The Uncanny Valley?

Frankly, they look unsettling. Cute, maybe. But he can't really distinguish between ‘attractive’ and ‘unattractive’ ponies.

He cannot find ponies attractive. But he isn't blind that ponies find HIM attractive, which is a whole other brand of weird for him.

The reason why he's thinking so deeply about this is because it ties back to his reason for being here in the first place.

He doesn't even know if these ponies are real or not, and honestly he's leaning towards they're not. But on the off chance they ARE, he has the singular goal to keep them alive.

Happy? Aside from keeping them away from suicidal thoughts, he personally sees no reason to care, he doesn't know them.

But that creeping sense of responsibility always drags him back.

So. He'll keep them happy.

He'll be the naive and ‘hot’ stallion that struts around wearing socks and thigh-highs. To him, they're just really large socks, and aside from the miniscule amount of shame coming from his pony brain, he doesn't particularly care.

And if Lucky Break were to be completely honest.

They are quite comfy.

“...”

Lucky stops, stood at the center of the road.

Ice cold shivers run down his back.

His ears are perked up, swiveling around, snapping to any distant noise.

[Applejack: You okay there?]

“...no…”

Golden eyes look around at the bungalows and narrow alleys.

“...something’s wrong…”

Something primal in his brain is blaring alarms, alerting him of…

[TwilightSparkle: What happened?]

“I…” He pauses, words failing him. “I don't know…”

Looking at the sky, he sees the tiny form of distant pegasi, but he hasn't alerted any of them yet, has he?

What is this?

What's happening?

Looking around at the street, there's… nothing.

No zombies, he cleared them out earlier, and certainly no survivors.

It's quiet.

He gets a really bad feeling.

Why?

His eyes dart around this unassuming street. What's so different about it?

He… shouldn't just stand there, right? Light beaming down on his face, his coat swamped with sweat.

Lucky walks, a lot less leisurely this time. Tension in his legs makes him stiff, like someone controlling a doll.

Something is here.

But… what?

Why? What is out of place?

Lucky stews on this, eyes wide but steadily making his way down the street, towards the LifeGuard Tower.

His ear flicks as he picks up a peculiar sound.

It's so faint, he can barely hear it.

But once he does, he can't seem to focus on anything else.

His eyes are blank, focused entirely on the sound. Measuring it, gauging it, running all sorts of vague calculations in his mind.

He looks around again.

Nothing.

He walks faster.

The sight of the chain link fence in the distance fills him with a moment of relief, but he knows he shouldn't stop.

He ignores the two guards posted behind the gate, brushing past them and doesn't respond to their concerned calls.

Briefly, he sees Tidal talking to another mare. She goes to speak, but stops once she looks at him.

He doesn't stop walking.

The downstairs bathroom.

No windows. A single toilet, bathtub, and sink. Walled in with concrete and basic furnishing. The poor circulation makes it stuffy and cramped. Nopony likes using it.

Lucky locks himself inside.

He drops, lying down on his side.

A whimper escapes his muzzle as he curls up on the tiled floor, hooves covering his face as he desperately tries to fight back his shaking body.

Tears fall between gasping breaths, choking between sobs, whimpers, and anger filled growls of defiance.

But that sound keeps echoing in his mind.

That sound.

Hoofsteps clacking on the concrete behind him.

Just a beat after his own.

It only stopped when he reached the gate.

For that brief walk.

He was prey.

Chapter 12: 12 - Royal Hooves

He didn't leave the bathroom until he completed the Alarm spell.

That is to say, it was the dawn of the next day when he finally left.

He's managed to turn it into something surprisingly usable, and if he weren't so exhausted he'd be ecstatic at the accomplishment.

Taking some twine and a blue rounded gem he's ‘borrowing’ from the maintenance closet, he's put together a necklace that will warn him of others around him.

Spells cost magic, obviously, but when you inscribe a runic spell specifically onto a gem, it draws magic from said gem and acts as a battery which Lucky himself will have to recharge every so often.

Feeling the slight weight on his neck, Lucky reaches up and taps the gem twice to turn it on, something he ‘programmed’ into it early on because having its ‘active’ mode on all the time was a bit expensive to his magic reserves.

The gem hangs a bit low, but that's on purpose, as he can hold it on the flat of his hoof and look at the projected flat circle displayed.

With his limited runes and general low skill level, the spell is MASSIVELY flawed. But he managed to create two effects, a ‘passive’ and ‘active’ mode.

The passive mode is running all the time, it detects changes in the air within a radius around the gem, about 15 feet. Any more and the magic drain would be too much for a shitty gem.

If the change in the air pressure is past a certain size, it will vibrate and alert him.

The active mode is a small projected circular plate of light, which will display where in the radius the change took place with a red dot.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It doesn't distinguish between zombies, ponies, cars, or even a particularly harsh gust of wind. It's a buggy mess that is barely worth the dollar store gem it's inscribed on.

But it gives him information, and that's enough for him.

Looking at the red dots, of the ponies moving around the tower, Lucky sighs and turns it off.

[Applejack: Ah think it's about time you get some sleep, sugarcube]

*krr-CLACK*

He cracks open an Energizer, walking out to the main area.

“Eh. I'll live”

Checking the food and water stocks, having to yell at the ponies AGAIN for not collecting water from the faucet when there's a good ass chance it won't take long until the water turns off.

He ignores the crying coming from the other room.

Overall, decent morning.

[TwilightSparkle: You really need some rest, Lucky!]

The caffeine and sugar currently running through his body says otherwise. He feels right as rain.

Lucky rubs his eyes and checks over the survivors.

…okay, nopony is actively dying. Good.

“I'll have plenty of time to rest when I'm dead”

His chat stalls, the sudden halt of messages suddenly halting.

He raises an eyebrow, wondering if the chat is lagging or something.

The first message to come through is from a familiar name, one that's been helpful in his spellcrafting.

[SunnySkies: Do not say things like that, Lucky Break]

He snorts. The weirdly authoritative tone lacing the message makes him chuckle grimly.

“Yeah? Or what? You gonna hop dimensions and kick my flank? Go right ahead, just make sure to drag me back with you”

[SunnySkies: Joking about your life like that is not funny]

“Do you think I'm JOKING?”

She doesn't respond after that.

…

[POV: TIDAL WAVE]

“Lucky, mate… you planning on heading to the resort soon?”

Tidal Wave walks up to the darkly lidded stallion, briefly stopping at the sight of his combed yet still haggard coat and mane.

The stallion looks… frankly, like shit. Even with the eyeshadow thing going on, there are visible bags under his eyes.

At least he's still kicking. Tidal isn't sure why the whelp is immune to this crazy shit going on, but he's been helping out immensely.

“Yup. That mare with the keys follow through?” The stallion asks, pointing his hoof towards her.

Her face scrunches up, which he notices.

“What?”

“Well uh…” She coughs into her hoof. “The lass ain't handing em over”

Lucky freezes, then blinks. His face morphs from tired annoyance to barely restrained anger.

“Why not?”

“Her filly left her saddlebag at her dad's bungalow”

Lucky doesn't say anything, obviously waiting for more. But nothing does, Tidal finds it mildly amusing watching the tired stallion's face slowly shift into full on animosity.

“You're shitting me”

“I swear on me mum's grave” She nods.

“She's gatekeeping food and… what? A shit ton of other stuff over a BAG?”

“Think it had ‘er laptop, mate”

Lucky's face goes impassive.

“Oh that makes perfect sense then”

Tidal blanks from the violent whiplash.

“R-Really?”

*CRACK*

His hoof slams against the workbench, making the mare flinch back.

“NO IT FUCKING DOESN'T!”

He pushes himself up, snarl adorning his muzzle, and begins walking out of the garage.

Tidal is an old pony, and while she may refuse to admit it, she does enjoy her fair share of gossip occasionally.

So seeing Lucky walk into the main room, practically smoking at the ears, she finds a tiny part of herself a little excited of what's to come.

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

[RarityBelle: Calm down darling, that face looks horrible on you]

Lucky barges into the main room, door slamming and gathering everypony's attention.

Tidal comes in shortly after him.

“Where is she?”

“The med bay”

He turns and heads towards the off-room, where the on-sight clinic and storage for medical supplies is stored.

[RainbowDash: HAHA- Mess em up, Lucky!]

[TwilightSparkle: Don't encourage him!]

Throwing the door open, he's met with the same maroon colored mare from before.

She jumps up, startled, while her foal looks up from the book she's reading.

Lucky cuts in before either of them speak.

“The keys. Hoof them over”

“E-Excuse me?” The mare stammers, Lucky walks up to her impatiently.

“You agreed to hoof over those keys if I got your foal back. And would you look at that, one foal and NO keys. Explain”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky!]

The mom looks at her filly and seems to center herself.

“My daughter… left her backpack back at her father's place…”

“So?”

He has NO idea where this confidence is coming from, overall this mare was pretty decent, though a bit emotionally unwell after her husband's death.

So when she stands up straight and looks him in the eye, he raises an eyebrow. Both at his pony brain wanting to look away and avoid conflict, and at the mare's attitude, like he is some sort of pony that needs courage to stand up to.

“Could you please go get it?”

“No” He immediately responds.

She blinks, in the corner of his eye he can see Tidal raise an eyebrow.

“Please? It has photos of us and…”

Lucky is trying, REALLY trying not to completely lose his shit, because a child is here. But his patience was already wearing thin, and his mild headache isn't helping either.

“...I promise! If you get it for us… I'll give you the keys”

Deep breaths.

Inwardly, he's laughing. He almost forgot how common this was in-game. The repeated ‘do this one thing for me’ quests.

His brain goes numb as he sees a new icon appear in his mini-map. Pointing back at that bungalow.

The map works like that sometimes, putting objective markers of whatever he's doing at the moment. Useful for finding food and supplies. It's not all-knowing, a few times he's been pointed to supply caches that are just plain empty.

Fun.

“So… let me get this straight” He begins. He pinches the bridge of his muzzle, which is a useless gesture as he doesn't have fingers.

“Instead of holding up your end of the deal, which was, y'know, saving your FOAL, you now want ME to GO BACK and grab a fucking laptop?”

[TwilightSparkle: What is a lap top?]

[Applejack: Not now sugarcube…]

“I'm sorry…” The mare apologizes, though it's vague how genuine it was.

Lucky groans, mumbling curses under his breath.

“No. You aren't”

Throwing his hooves up, he turns around and starts quickly making his way out.

Obviously he can't do shit, other than just TAKING the damn keys. Even though he REALLY wants to, chat has been adamant on convincing him otherwise.

He just wants to get this done.

At least the stink-eye the foal is giving him is pretty funny.

“FINE! Fuck. I'll be right back”

“Need a lil’ help, mate?” Tidal hesitantly asks.

“Just…” He begins. “Just don't open the gate”

Lucky isn't sure what to make of the look Tidal is shooting him.

He drags himself to the front gate and exists through the side entrance he came through the first time, even the corpses are still there, maybe he should have somepony burn them?

Lucky freezes, the summer sun beaming down on his sluggish form.

Hoof on the handle, his body tenses.

He…

He doesn't want to leave.

The pegasus grits his teeth, shaking his head, he feels a little ashamed. He was just fine earlier, but he gets a little scare and now he's all sheepish?

Calm down. Just chill out.

Do NOT listen to pony brain, just do what you have to do, and get out.

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?]

He wishes she would stop asking that.

[TwilightSparkle: I'm here to talk if you want…]

[TwilightSparkle: Nopony would judge you]

“...”

He takes another breath, and begins hopping in place to hype himself up.

“Okay. OKAY. Yeah, let's do this…”

Pushing open the gate, he steps outside.

…

>”Daddy! Come on! You're gonna miss it!”<

>”The show doesn't start till nine, sweetie. Besides, there's a food court that's calling my name!”<

>”Please don't eat too much, dear. You know how seafood always makes your stomach upset”<

The screen light casts a glow on his tired face.

He sits in the dark bungalow, red glow lights shining dimly behind him.

>”It's a small price to pay for caviar”<

>”Ewwwwww”<

Childish giggles come through the speakers.

>”What? It's not THAT bad!”<

>”You eat fish poop!”<

>”Eggs! Fish EGGS!”<

>”It's still pretty gross…”<

The video stutters, freezing on a frame of a smiling family for a brief instant.

A darkly lidded reflection matches his gaze on the screen. Seeing the bags under his eyes, and rugged appearance.

He doesn't even chuff, just a slight exhale out of his nose.

“You look like shit”

Of course he does.

Lucky just wanted to check if this was the right laptop.

And now he's here, 23 minutes and 44 seconds in a random pony family's travel vlog.

[Fluttershy: Do you… miss your family?]

The shot glass and bottle of expensive wine he has resting between his hind legs clink as he turns his body at the message. He's sat on the bed, the corpse of the strung up mare beside him.

It smells awful.

“Does it matter?”

He does.

He does a lot.

When he was Simon, when he was HUMAN. He had a good relationship with his parents, albiet a bit hands-off at times.

It wasn't until he was in his 20's when he actually felt like he had parents though, and not just… roommates he was related to.

This whole… isekai bullshit… God, it feels disingenuous even calling it an isekai because it feels like he's downplaying having his entire life taken away from him by slapping some shitty Japanese genre on it.

Oh, the video is back on.

>”-still can't believe you managed to get that job, isn't it like… super high up?”< The mare asks.

>”HA! Well, I used a secret technique that is passed down my family, it works every single time”<

>”What? What is it?”<

>”I lied!”<

>”Dear!”<

>”Didn't you say lying is bad…?”< The filly comes into frame.

>”Bah! That's what it takes in this car wreck of a world

Honesty is good. Good for ponies, good for the mind, and good for family. But sometimes you need to add a little extra years of experience on your resume. Didn't hurt nopony”<

Lucky briefly remembers doing that exact thing when he got into the automotive industry.

>”You hurt the pony that was more qualified for the job”<

>”And I don't really care”<

Lucky gives a small toast to that, knocking back some cherry flavored wine.

>”Dear!”<

>”Sweetheart, I need you to keep something in mind.

Ponies lie.

They cheat, they steal, and they won't hesitate to take something from others, especially if it benefits their loved ones”<

[SunnySkies: That's not true!]

Maybe for you, Sunny.

>“That's not… legal”<

>”Laws don't matter when the system encourages, or sometimes demands you to lie”<

>”Isn't lying… bad?”<

>”It is. Lying like all things, is a skill. Some get REALLY good at it. But most don't realize that the hardest part about lying is the WHEN, and not the HOW”<

The camera shifts to the stallion, standing in front of the mirror as he brushes his mane.

>”I could lie about anything. Anypony. But instead of lying about… I dunno, stealing a piece of candy from the jar-”<

>”You did not”<

He smirks.

>”Instead. My lie lead my family to this beautiful resort, drinking wine and basking in the sun.

That's the secret technique.

Sometimes, you need to do bad things to get what you want.

Sometimes, you need to lie to get a happy ending.

And sometimes, doing something you hate today will lead to a happier tomorrow”<

>”...”<

The video ends.

Lucky stares at the screen, deep in thought.

It resonated with him. Not that he relates, but in how he's continually putting himself in bad situations for a better outcome.

This… whole thing.

What does he do?

What CAN he do?

Does he hunker down here? Leave? What's his ultimate goal beyond surviving?

If this place is fake, how does he leave?

Ultimately, he may not get an answer.

And that terrifies him.

[Applejack: What a load of horseapples!]

He blinks.

[Applejack: Lying like that won't do anypony no good! You get bits, but those bits don't mean nothin’ when nopony's around to share em with!]

[TwilightSparkle: Don't mean anything… double negative, AJ]

[Applejack: …thank you Twi. How's anypony gonna trust you if ya whole life's been nothin but lies?]

“He's happy though, his family is rich”

[Applejack: If doing bad things is truly what it takes to make you happy…]

[Applejack: …ah'd rather be miserable]

“...”

Lucky stares at nothing for a moment, then turns to the rotting corpse of a stallion lying on the floor beside him.

“That's… fair”

He puts the laptop away, disappearing into blue light.

“Probably shouldn't take advice from somepony who cheated on his wife”

[DitzyDoo: Right on!]

It does give him a lot to think about.

…

The trip took a bit longer than he would've liked.

Mostly because he's been avoiding that one specific street like the black plague.

But he's here, the Royal Hooves Resort. In all of it's familiar glory.

From his truck, he makes sure he has the keys, having practically snatched them from the mare after tossing her the laptop.

[TwilightSparkle: Be careful, Lucky]

“I'll try”

[TwilightSparkle: After this… I… want to talk to you]

[TwilightSparkle: Seriously]

“Don't think I've drank enough for an intervention, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: I'm serious]

“Yeah…”

He checks his necklace. It's been a massive boon for him. While very limited, having an idea of where zombies could be is lifesaving.

Though as he learned from the newly acquired scar on his hind leg, it doesn't matter if whatever the spell is trying to detect isn't moving.

“...so am I”

Chapter 13: 13 - Out Of Service

Lucky Break is nervous.

But strangely, he's… calm.

A sort of self-aware hyperfocus on the world around him, like he's sure the nervousness is warranted, and is just going through the steps.

Weaponized anxiety.

He allows himself a chuckle.

“Hell of a band name”

Funny how thinking about doing something is more stressful than actually doing it.

[TwilightSparkle: I'm glad you're in a better mood!]

He raises an eyebrow.

Is he? Sorta. The shaking has gotten better, but his thoughts feel… smoother.

Not smarter, but less jumbled.

Has he gotten so tired that he's looped back around into the ‘fuck it, we ball’ state?

Or is he just that happy to learn magic?

[RainbowDash: I think I figured out why you're such a grouch all the time]

“Yeah?”

[RainbowDash: Yeah!]

[Applejack: Dash…]

[RainbowDash: It's because you don't have any friends!]

[Applejack: DASH!]

[RainbowDash: You know I'm right! The guy does this loner shtick, brushes us off when we're trying to help, AND eats like garbage!]

[Applejack: You're bein’ rude, Rainbow…]

[ThePinkOne: I have been keeping track of his diet! He is A-Okay!]

[RarityBelle: …Pinkie darling, I'm not sure if I trust your idea of an ‘okay’ diet…]

[RarityBelle: I have seen you eat cakes larger than yourself]

[ThePinkOne: I'm different]

[Fluttershy: Some ponies are just not social…]

[TwilightSparkle: If he doesn't want to be friends… that is completely fine!]

[RainbowDash: Twi, you brought a ‘how to tame a grumpy stallion’ book to breakfast]

[TwilightSparkle: Pinkie, get her]

[ThePinkOne: On it!]

[RainbowDash: I'm in my house how can she even ge-]

Lucky waits for a few moments after Rainbow Dash's message is abruptly cut.

He chuffs, rolling his eyes as he prepares to enter the hotel.

[ThePinkOne: Target eliminated]

He freezes, turning to stare at the message. Shaking his head, he focuses back on his goal.

[ThePinkOne: :) ]

[Applejack: Ah still don't know how you do that…]

From his inventory comes a long chain, taken from the warehouse he got the boat from. On each end is a curved blade, lacking any sickles he made do with recycled machete blades. A battery compactor sits on either handle, with cords wrapping around the chain.

It has two spells on it. Powered by four separate dollar store gems sat on each side of the blade’ handles.

Inscribing a gem directly seems more cost efficient, but putting a spell on an object allows the object to ‘pull’ magic from the gem to spread its effect, though the spell matrix has to allow it.

Put a ‘fuck you fireball’ spell on a sword and push magic into it, it won't set the blade on fire, instead it will just send a fireball into whereever the matrix is pointing.

Anyways, the bladed chains have two spells. Both rune spells that have been modified to be used on a weapon.

Sticking and Hardening.

Both are novice-rank spells, with the spell matrix being rather simple.

One sticks things in place, the other increases the durability of whatever it's casted on.

Chat, particularly Twilight and Sunny, were confused as to why he put a Sticking spell on his weapon, as it was just a simple foal's party trick at best.

Lucky seriously thought they were joking.

Being able to freeze objects in place like a GMOD prop is a party trick?

Apparently… they weren't. Really? Do none of them see the potential of the spell?

It wasn't really that difficult to learn either. Whether it's because he's still on the low end of the learning curve (as runic magic allegedly gets absurdly complicated later on), or it's because his Special Talent and Not Quite Purple picking up the slack… he isn't sure.

Maybe ponies are just less creative when it comes to killing things. Small win for humanity, he supposes.

Regardless, it's time to clear this place out.

Taking a deep breath, the truck door closes behind him, and the Royal Hooves Resort looms over him.

…

The Royal Hooves Resort, or just ‘The Hotel’, is a deceptively luxurious place.

In the game, you're inside it for maybe… ten minutes? All you really get to see of it is some of the rooms, the hallway, the elevator lobby, and maybe that one performance venue in the opening cutscene.

There's something that's tickling his inner loot goblin about finally getting to fully go through other peop-PONIES things. Actually getting stuff instead of like $15 per bag.

Using his Alarm Necklace and remembering how utterly fucked the main lobby is, Lucky heads around back. There's a neat little walkway, with a railing that stops tourists from drunkenly falling into the expensive tropical plants.

Simon actually had very little experience in hotels, which is surprising considering half of his state was covered in them. Lucky on the other hoof, practically lived in them after a certain point.

After kicking a few zombies until they stopped moving, the cream-coated pony slithers around the large wave shaped buildings and finds a rather boring looking staff door.

He checks the Alarm.

…three? Maybe four dots?

Okay. Alright. That isn't too bad.

[TwilightSparkle: Be careful!]

“Will try”

All he wants to do is clear this place out.

He pulls out the keyring he ‘traded’ with the mare and goes through each key until one fits.

With his chain around his wings, and his Ol’ Smoky machete in his mouth (pony mouths are surprisingly dexterous), he slowly opens the door and is met with darkness.

The lights have gone out.

Only the creeping sunlight behind him barely illuminates the flat tiled floors.

Fan~fucking~tastic…

Holding up a hoof, he begins drawing a simple light spell when-

*SCHLUNK*

*GHRREEEEEEEAAHHHHH*

A piercing pain erupts from his neck.

Something shoots out of the darkness. A dark, sickly green tentacle wraps around his neck. Mucus and filth stain his fur, Lucky barely has enough time to react as he's yanked inside with a violent tug.

His machete crackles to life, arches of electricity branching off of the blades. His vision blurs as he's pulled, eyes not keeping up just yet. Bouncing off the tiled floor, his jaw tightens around the handle and swings down.

Electricity courses through the tentacle, it stiffens, and there's the sound of a screech overlaid with a wet throaty gurgling sound.

Lucky feels the muscles in his body tighten up as the energy chars the fur on his neck. With a growl, he yanks his head back, releasing himself from the putrid appendage.

The momentum carries him through the air, his wings flare to catch himself but it doesn't do anything other than snag against objects he can't see in the darkness.

It sounds like chaos around him, the gurgling roars of zombies, metal pots hitting the ground, heavy objects being pushed around. But he can't see shit, his eyes have yet to adjust to the darkness.

He hits something, then flies through it. The unmistakable sound of glass shattering fills his ears, along with sharp pains in his hooves.

Where the hell IS he?

Pushing himself up, the sharp pain in his hooves gets worse, hot blood wets his legs.

One of his eyes is fucked, he isn't sure what caused it, but he can't open it anymore, not that it matters right now.

Oh fuck.

Oh FUCK!

Lucky feels panic start to rise, what the fuck was that?!

A Smoker?! Was a fucking SMOKER camping the door?!

The edges of his vision started to show vague shapes instead of a pitch blackness, but there's still difficulty in seeing, especially with one eye.

…he really hopes that will heal back.

But as the sounds grew closer, deafening and indiscernible, Lucky's slow retreat met a sudden end when he…

Feels…

What is that?

There's… something. In the corner of his mind he can ‘feel’ something on the fringes of his senses. A vague shape, like he squinted his eyes until whatever's there is completely unrecognizable.

That's… a pony.

The shape moves, lunging for him. He hears the familiar sound of snarling

Lucky sidesteps, his ‘vision’ of the blob faltering as the pain in his hooves grabs his focus.

NO! FOCUS!

He isn't sure what part of his brain is feeding him this, but he leans on the feeling HARD. The blob becomes clearer, but just barely.

It's… odd. Because it's not like he's sensing the zombie directly, not with this, but there is a small ‘something’ he is picking up from the zombie directly though, but that seems to be different, more difficult to pick up.

It's like everything is covered in a thin blanket. While he can't make out colors, he can pick out what is ‘touching’ the blanket. It's shape, and if it's moving.

The other ‘thing’ is a small static-like buzz he catches for only brief moments. He's getting even less information from this one…

His Ol’ Smoky crackles. Briefly, his ‘sight’ falters, a ‘cut’ in his vision as the electricity flashes quickly in the room.

Like a drop of white paint on a black canvas.

He swings.

A skull cracks, a brain is cleaved. Blood splatters and the sounds are getting worse. The arches of electricity seem to work against this ‘sense’, but at the same time he's feeling that extremely faint awareness of the current. It grows ‘clearer' the more he focuses on it.

What the fuck is going on?

More shapes move closer, no time to reflect.

Whipping Ol’ Smoky around he cleaves at an infected, it manages to tear at his side with its teeth before a blade slides into its head.

Lucky is not a fighter.

In fact, he's pretty shit at it. He's just letting his human brain work at suppressing his prey instincts while doing the barebones of ‘kick, back away, and swing’.

In pitch blackness, especially in an enclosed space, he can't rely on such a technique anymore.

*SLASH*

Metal goes through bone. Teeth tear at flesh. The smell of rusted iron taints his nose as more and more blood splatters around and on him.

This…

This is fine!

Three becomes two, two becomes one.

Eventually, it is just the Smoker. ‘Feeling’ it's still vague but unique enough shape through his newly learned sense.

The ground shakes.

*ROOOAAAAARRRRRR*

Lucky feels his ears pop as something massive crashes through the wall. A damn near 9 feet tall wall of fucking meat registers in his vision.

The light above it flickers.

His ‘feeling’ cuts off, only showing below its hulking mass.

But his remaining eye gets a good look at it.

A hulking mass of muscle, veiny and grotesque.

It's a Tank.

Oh.

Oh fuck.

*CCCRRRAAAAAASSSSHHHH*

He feels something inside him break. Not even getting the time to register the mind-numbing pain, he's sent through the wall and into a larger room (he REALLY fucking wishes he could SEE).

Lucky wheezes on the floor, struggling to breath as his wrangled body slowly writhes along the tile.

A Tank?! Why is a fucking TANK here?! Where did it even come from?!

He sees flashes of chat, it's moving too quickly to pick anything out, but he knows they're freaking out.

How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

Where… where is this?

His senses flare out, giving him a vague visual of the room.

Is this…

A loading area…?

*CCCCRRRAAAASSSHHHH*

*RRRROOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR*

The Tank bursts in, fear rises in Lucky's heart and he tries to crawl away. Glass covered hoof pouring blood along the ground.

His vision FINALLY starts to get used to the darkness, he sees a semi-truck with cargo attached to it, alongside a small crane system. In a fit of desperation, he hurriedly crawls underneath.

Heart pounding, his head feels light. He doesn't want to fight that! Nopony mentioned a fucking TANK!

He feels something grab his hind leg.

Lucky goes pale.

He's dragged out from the truck and lifted into the air.

*CRACK*

And he hears something SNAP and TEAR.

Lucky doesn't know what else to do as a pain he's never felt before shoots up his spine.

He screams.

Flailing, he uploads everything he can from his inventory. Knives, blades, boxes. A molotov makes the Tank release him, and splats against the ground.

Lucky looks down at himself.

His…

His leg…

Pony brain is screaming right now, and his human one isn't that far off either.

But… there's something… off.

Seeing the fat fuck, chomping and tearing at his leg. Part of the fear goes away.

No…

It transforms.

Lucky feels a snarl crawl up his muzzle. With a yell of pure, feral rage he swings his weapon once more. Cutting into the infected, it groans as electricity shoots through it. With its muscular hooves, it knocks him aside. But not before Lucky's chains shoot out, wrapping around the Tank's neck.

Colliding against the side of the truck, Lucky wheezes and looks at it.

He gets an idea.

This…

This could work.

Flicking the chain's battery on, electricity ROARS as the Tank grunts loudly, body seizing up.

The other half of the chain is taken with him as he breaks into the small crane system the loading bay has to move pallets.

Mechanical whirls fill the air as he rises on the raising platform. With a look of pure hate he hooks the chain onto a pallet, activates the Sticking spell, and kicks it off.

The chain snags, the Tank is hoisted up into the air by its neck. It snarls and screeches, flailing its arms out.

Lucky activates the Sticking spell again. The chains lock in place around the fucker's neck.

Gagging and spitting, ear-splitting roars cut off as the thing's thick throat is crushed under its own weight.

Lucky just watches as it slowly… stops.

…fuck.

With a blank expression, he reaches to the side, and a can of Energizer appears in his hoof.

*krr-CLACK*

[TwilightSparkle: LUCKY!]

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?!]

[TwilightSparkle: Oh Celestia…]

[TwilightSparkle: Your leg…]

[TwilightSparkle: This… I can fix this! Give me a second!]

[TwilightSparkle: Everything is going to be okay]

“...”

As he chugs it down, Lucky watches blankly as he muscles and tendons curl around a freshly sprouted bone. A protein bar later, his leg is repaired.

Just… slightly discolored, at the place it was ripped off.

He lowers down and lies on the floor, hooves spread out, listening to the creaking of the chains above.

Lucky isn't even sure how to react to any of this.

He just really… really hates this place.

[RestlessDream: Art thou in a nightmare…?]

“Sure fuckin seems like it”

[RestlessDream: The magic here feels…]

[SunnySkies: Later, Restless]

After that, the messages begin to slow. Just a sleuth of ponies asking if he's okay and concerned about his health.

Something… he really doesn't get.

But whatever.

It's at this moment that he seriously questions the point of all this is…

*click*

The light turns on.

“Eh? Whaddya sitting in the dark for, son?”

Lucky blinks.

Looking up, he sees an old stallion, heavy wrinkles across his body. He has a dull white coat with a shaggy green mane.

He wears a pair of sunglasses, and an unassuming smile on his face.

“Or is this a ‘brooding’ thing you youngsters do? Ah… don't let this old bag of bones interrupt you then”

*click*

The lights go out. Lucky hears slow hoofsteps walking away.

“...”

He blinks slowly.

His first thought was ‘all I had to do was turn the lights on?’.

His second was…

“Who the fuck was that?”

Chapter 14: 14 - Old Bones

[POV: PRINCESS CELESTIA]

“We have to be truthful sister, these runes are as extraordinary as they are elusive”

“You don't know them either?” Celestia asks her sister, both sat and resting in their rare moments of down-time.

Luna shakes her head. Turning to look at the stream, she glances at the runes for a moment before watching the strange but oddly endearing stallion catch up to the old pony.

>”Why did you turn the lights off?!”<

>”Electricity bill stacks up”<

The sisters snort, one of the few moments of watching this stallion that isn't horrific or borderline depressing.

“Have thou tried copying the rune?”

Celestia wipes her mouth with a napkin, ignoring the now half-eaten cake that was untouched mere moments before.

“I had one of my trusted ponies research it. They have found that trying to copy the spell verbatim doesn't show Lucky Break, just a blank screen”

“...odd” Luna says flatly.

Celestia nods.

“What you said earlier, was that…”

Luna winces, but quickly cools her face with a small breath.

“Indeed. We can sense the magic inside that world. It is… it feels like…”

Seeing her downtrodden sister, Celestia quickly picks up the conversation.

“A nightmare?”

Luna nods, though hesitant.

“Tantabus”

The solar mare blinks.

“Pardon?”

With a sad look, Luna begins to explain.

A manifestation of her guilt as her time as Nightmare Moon.

A parasite that feeds on her dreams.

So she's never allowed to forget what she's done.

“Luna…”

“It got better a few days ago, so we believed the magic faded. But… the magic in that place feels…”

“Like it”

“...yes”

Taking a deep breath, Celestia makes a mental note to have a long LONG talk with her sister about her guilt. She just got her beloved sister back, she absolutely doesn't want to see her torturing herself.

“I am also worried about Lucky's mental state”

‘“I'll have plenty of time to rest when I'm dead’... is what he said”

“Yes…”

Celestia's eyes furrow at the words.

“I think Lucky needs… a lot of support. He is not in a good mental state…”

“He is strong, even without his abilities he is far stronger than the average pony. But… yes, he does need support”

“The poor pony is on the cusp of losing his mind, Luna”

“We believe thou are not giving him enough credit”

Celestia levels a look at her.

Luna swirls the cup of coffee in her hoof.

“We have seen fear, sister. There art countless ways to respond to it. The fact he is still going speaks volumes”

“...” Celestia pauses to take that in. “He is also… violent”

“A noble trait when wielded properly”

“I am already getting letters to have the Sticking spell removed from my school's curriculum…” She groans, rubbing her muzzle as another slice of cake disappears into her gaping maw.

“Perhaps Lucky's talent is improvised violence?”

“PLEASE do not tell him that”

It's already bad enough, though to be honest she isn't sure if such a statement would even offend the Stallion.

He seems to have no qualms with giving the Bearers a headache, especially her student.

At the thought, she smiles a bit. She may be… lacking, in relationship advice- that honor goes to her niece. But even she can see her student's…

Passion.

Perhaps she just finds his way of using spells fascinating? Even if most of the time it's through an ultraviolent means.

“...”

“...”

“...is that carrot?” Luna suddenly asks.

“Yes”

“...may we have some?”

“No. Ask the chefs”

Luna stares at her blankly.

Narrowing her eyes, she leans her head back arrogantly.

“Fat”

“You know that does not bother me anymore, sister” Celestia chuffs.

“Round”

“I am in perfect health, my checkup was last Monday”

“Chubby Celly”

“LUNA!”

…

[POV: TWILIGHT SPARKLE]

An offensive application of the Sticking spell…

Fascinating!

Twilight had been racking her brain over why Lucky put such a spell on his weapon, a pair of blades attached to a chain of all things.

But when she saw it working, she was equally as horrified as she was INTRIGUED.

Though…

Most of that excitement died down, all of it actually, when she saw the stallion went through.

His leg…

She gazes at the pile of medical books next to her, gone to waste as Lucky just seems to bounce back from damage with a few cans of that EXTREMELY unhealthy soda he seems to just have around.

Though she herself may be a little…

…plump.

Twilight pokes at her stomach, wincing in embarrassment as the skin moves just a little too much for her liking.

“...Nurse Redheart said I was okay…”

She shakes her head, right, back on topic.

Lucky is a fascinating pony.

And an EXTREMELY ANNOYING ONE.

As much as she didn't like Rainbow insulting him, Twilight admits that some of her points weren't exactly wrong.

Rude, yes. But not wrong.

As frustrating Lucky can be, she still quite enjoyed teaching him about runes. It's been a process for her too, and while she won't toot her own horn, she's surprised that he can keep up!

Is his Special Talent magic related? Another thing to ask him later.

When he's… y'know… better.

She will never admit that she freaked out HARD when Lucky got attacked by that big pony.

Everypony else seemed to relate, she practically heard Ponyville all collectively stop and gasp when he was pulled through that door.

Such an evil sickness…

Regardless, she just… wants to be his friend.

Lucky is an antisocial pony with a harsh mouth, and a load of baggage that would make a traveling Rarity blush.

But… she cares about him, and the others do too. She knows that.

With the few days she's known him, Lucky has become a weirdly prominent part of her routine. She finds herself thinking of him a lot.

Pinkie seems to smile a little wider when she brings it up though. She… isn't quite sure what that is about, but it's Pinkie, so…

Anyways.

She can't DO anything for him, which is frustrating on a level she's never felt before.

So if the only reason he doesn't want to be friends is because he ‘doesn't know her’ then… fine!

A few innocent questions here when he's in a good mood, a few facts about herself when he's paying attention. She's even keeping a list! That's how serious she is! (Even if lifts are generally pretty useful in ordinary things but… *ahem*).

She calculates that they will be friends by the week's end! It says so in the book. It's real, just earlier today she learned that Lucky's favorite season is winter (which he mentioned after loudly complaining about how hot it was).

Twilight doesn't care how much they snicker at her (she does a little), but the book works!

The book that Rainbow Dash totally made up and isn't sitting on her desk right now with dozens of notes sticking out of the pages.

No ma'am.

Nuh uh.

Not in this house.

“...”

She clears her throat and prepares a cup of tea.

“How To Tame A Grumpy Stallion: Chapter forty-seven”

>”I've literally never had sex in my entire life”<

*PPPFFFFFFFF*

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

“Now ahm not one to judge, but is wearing makeup with all those nasty things out there really worth the time?”

It should be legal to beat up old people.

“It's natural, that's… just what I look like”

Old eyes squint at him from beyond the tinted frames.

“...well I'll be darned! HA! Ain't the strangest blessing I've seen. Many ponies get caught up in how they look, ain't that unfortunate”

Lucky sits across from the most frustrating pony he's met so far.

Because as far as he can tell, this is just a charming old stallion.

He just refuses to leave the hotel.

“Did you just… not see that big fucker downstairs?”

“Oh ah saw em, horrible thing that sickness does. Won't even grant the families a body to bury” The old stallion- Raising Hell, shakes his head in sadness, but it doesn't reflect on his face.

Just the same patient, annoying smile.

Lucky looks around at the office they're staying in, noting how… empty it looks.

“Everypony else is gone, son” Lucky's ears perk as he hears that. “They all left, lookin for their families. Some… didn't get far”

“Why didn't you?”

“Somepony has to keep the place clean!”

“...”

“HAHAHA” He barks out a laugh. Lucky stares at him blankly.

“Nah, Ahm just yankin ya chain… eh? Get it?”

“Yes… I get it”

At Lucky's tired gaze, the old pony chuckles and leans forward.

“Now… what's a track star like you doin’ in this hunk o’ junk? Lookin’ for ya marefriend? Be warned, the second head makes ya go places you wouldn’ dare with a gun”

“I've literally never had sex in my entire life”

Chat seems to stall for a solid minute after that.

What? Are they THIS sensitive over sexual stuff?

The old man however, just guffaws in a throaty laughter and slaps his back knee.

“Ah didn’ ask for all that… but Ahm glad you shared! HAHAHA”

“You didn't…” He sighs. “So… why are you still here? I can take you to the settlement I have, at the LifeGuard Tower”

“That ol' thing?” He stops to scratch his chin. “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”

He pops his lips.

“Nah”

Raising Hell smiles again at Lucky's twitching brow.

Strangely, even though Lucky KNOWS he's fucking with him, there's an oddly endearing aura around this pony. Like a mischievous grandpa.

“And… why?”

“The sewers”

“The…” Lucky's eyes widen.

Fuck! That's right!

Banoi has a MASSIVE underground sewer system. Big enough for entire groups of ponies to navigate, it's practically a tunnel system that connects the central parts of Banoi together.

The problem?

It is PACKED with zombies.

Like, when he played the game he just ran through that place because there's literally no set of weapons with durability that would last through ALL of them fuckers.

“The sewers!”

Raising just nods.

“There's an entrance in tha basement. Real nasty things crawl out of it. Have to keep pushin’ them back down!”

“...with what?”

*clack*

Raising casually drops something on the table that makes him flinch. But once he realizes what it is, his eyes widen.

“What…”

“Beauty, ain't she?”

In polished metal and treated oak, sits something he hasn't seen since he got here.

It's a fucking shotgun.

[Applejack: What is that?]

[RainbowDash: All I'm seeing a blue blur, LAAAAME]

“Where did you get this?!”

Without skipping a beat, Raising responds with “Souvenir”.

With his interest thoroughly peaked, Lucky's human Floridian brain immediately gravitates towards it like a moth to flame.

“...what gauge is it?”

“Eight”

“EIGHT?!”

Raising laughs loudly again. Taking the old firearm, he folds it downwards, showing the shells loaded inside.

He gives Lucky a knowing look.

“...ya wanna touch it?”

Lucky gulps.

“Please”

…

“Holy shit”

“Just a lil’ cleanin’”

Lucky stands next to the circular entrance to the sewers, looking down at a pile of obliterated bodies that sit at the bottom of the latter, the stench of rot and gunpowder fills the air.

“You did ALL of this?”

Raising scratches the back of his head and chuckles.

“Ah, it was nothin’”

“Dude, there's a fucking CHARGER down there! How the hell?!”

“...of course tha youngster cares about their damn chargers”

“Oi”

Lucky isn't sure what to make of the old stallion.

One moment he's a bumbling old fool, the next he's showing him his PILE of infected corpses.

“But now I got a question for you” Raising suddenly says.

“Sure”

He pokes the side of his head, at his eyes.

“You ain't a thestral, that I see. But in a matter of seein’, I'm a bit curious what got you seein’ with your magic so young”

“...what?”

“You got them special eyes, ya see?”

[SunnySkies: Magical sense]

“What are you talking about you old fossil?”

He just smiles. “Ah… I see” A chuckle escapes his lips.

With a raised eyebrow, he watches Raising walk over to the door and looks back at him.

“Pay attention”

*click*

The room goes pitch black.

Lucky sighs.

“Can you PLEASE stop turning the lights off!”

“Stop complain’ and close your eyes”

Rolling his eyes to himself, he closes them. Going from pitch black to… well, pitch black, again.

“Ahm standin’ right in front of you, try and see me”

“I could, if the lights were on”

“Are you just a pair of eyes? Focus!”

Lucky steadies his breath and retreats into his mind. The sound of his breathing filling his ears.

It's there again.

The niggling sensation of ‘something’.

Maybe it's because he's already gotten a taste of it, but it seems to be easier to latch onto.

He begins to ‘sense’ the room, with bits and pieces of the rooms around it. His awareness seems to shift like a camera gaining focus.

Four legs, round body. Standing in front of him. Details momentarily snap into place like magnets before slipping from his grasp.

“What do ya see?”

“A five year old's drawing of their mom”

“Ah never been a mom before! HAHA!”

Lucky chuffs, narrowing his focus onto the stallion. To be honest, he's a little excited. Having this sort of… he doesn't know, extra sight? It sounds amazing!

“Focus on my hooves for a moment, won't ya?”

Lucky does, ‘feeling’ at the area as he ‘sees’ Rising take something out of his coat. Something else tells him of the stallion's hooves, a low burst of static he could only focus on for half a second.

What is that? He feels it in himself too.

“Wanna see somethin’ cool?”

“Hm?”

*flick*

*flick*

*fwoosh*

His vision cuts.

The front half of the stallion's hooves disappear, and now there's a noticeable blank spot where he can't discern any details. It's circular, fluctuating.

…what?

He tries to pry details, but he can only put together context clues and the fringes of detail from the very corners of the blank spot.

“Now open your eyes”

Lucky opens his eyes an-

Two blank white pupils stare back.

“HOLY SHIT!”

He flails backwards, tripping over something and falling into the sewer entrance. He plummets into the pile of corpses with a meaty wet thud.

Raising is laughing his flank off.

Lucky snarls.

“Cheapest retirement home I can find! CHEAPEST!”

“Like they could hold me! HAHAHA”

This old bastard.

Notes:

This is the end of what I have posted on Questionable Questing, figured I should put it here.

Chapter 15: 15 - Clearing

Magical Affinity.

On Equis (which is apparently the name of the planet MLP is set on, go figure it's a horse pun), creatures are born with a natural inclination towards a type of magical element.

Magic exists in everything. Like, literally everything. If it exists, there's a magical energy that corresponds with it.

Lucky isn't sure if that's true, even if Twilight ‘triple checked’ her books regarding the topic. Maybe that's because his world didn't have the overarching benevolent hand that is ‘Harmony’.

Affinity is not as special as it sounds. A newbie spellcaster isn't going to overpower an experienced mage in a contest of fire spells just because they have an affinity towards it. Though, if the two were on the same level, the one with the affinity would have a natural advantage.

But what REALLY sells an affinity outside of making spells of its element easier and more efficient is a skill that closely intertwines with it.

Magical Sense.

Lucky's affinity is Darkness. He can ‘sense’ the magic that makes up shadows and the absence of light.

That's… weird.

Human brain and pony brain have a rare moment of agreement in thinking that this is really cool.

But overall… pretty weird.

Right now it's pretty spotty and it requires a lot of his attention. But if he can get better at it…

*Grroooaaaa-SHLICK*

A blade pierces the infected's skull. Watching it fall, Lucky exhales slowly, releasing just a little bit of tension in his withers.

[RestlessDream: You are doing wonderfully. Weren't thou a guard?]

He checks his necklace.

No dots.

The first floor is cleared.

Fucking finally.

He deactivates the Sticking rune, and the chains wrapping around the zombie falls limp.

Sticking is such an overpowered spell, to the point that he wants to rename it to something more fitting, like ‘Stasis’.

Though, he supposes it really does ‘stick’, as he's able to ‘stick’ something onto him or other things and it will stay there as long as magic is being fed into the spell.

He made the joke about it being like GMOD, freezing an object in place. But really it's like the Welding Tool, but it can weld into space itself.

This has insane potential, and the fact that ponies slept on it should be a crime.

There's only two real problems with the spell. Not really problems, but things to consider.

One, if whatever is ‘stuck’ breaks, the spell is cut. The spell doesn't increase the durability of whatever object it's used on, so simply breaking it would disconnect the separated pieces from the spell matrix. This is why the Hardening rune is vital.

Two, while the cost of the Sticking spell is virtually nothing (which with his meager magic capacity thank GOD), when force is directed at the object the magical drain will increase in proportion to the amount of force being inflicted.

To Lucky's knowledge, the stress that the spell can take is quite high. After taking the full weight of a Tank, the gems on his chains only dropped a negligible, but notable, amount.

Good shit.

“No. I'm just good at stabbing shit, I guess”

[RestlessDream: Close enough]

[SunnySkies: Please do not encourage him]

“I'm just glad there weren't any more special infected despite their numbers. Makes me think that the ponies staying here just wandered down to the first floor, like a dumbass”

[Applejack: Didn’ you do tha same thing, sugarcube?]

“I am also a dumbass”

To be FAIR, he was going through a bit of a mental crisis then. He still kinda is but… semantics.

[TwilightSparkle: No you are NOT!]

[TwilightSparkle: You are a very intelligent pony, Lucky!]

Clearing a hotel room, he raises an eyebrow at that message.

Weird.

It's even weirder that everypony else seems to agree with her.

[RarityBelle: I concur, darling]

[Applejack: ‘ave to agree with Twi, Lucky]

[Fluttershy: You are… kinda… um…]

[RainbowDash: The gem can't hear you Flutters]

[Aloe: Certainly smarter than me, I zoned out during the rune lesson]

[BerryPunch: Yup~, I didn't catch any of that]

[LilyValley: I think that's more of a magic thing than a smarts thing]

[ManeGoodall: Twilight is smart AND is good at magic, it could be connected?]

It was just a small joke at his own expense, what's with everypony acting as his support group now?

…sure, whatever.

Ponies are odd.

“Oh” Lucky's ears perk up. “Right. Twilight. I wanted your input on something”

[TwilightSparkle: Sure! I'm happy to help!]

Navigating the halls of the hotel, he closes his eyes and takes a quick look around him with his magical sense.

He has to stop, and it takes a minute for the images to clear up, but he's able to pick out details of the rooms around him.

Barely.

He's working on it.

“That rune you sent me, the uh… fuck, what was it?”

He pulls out his notebook.

[TwilightSparkle: The return rune]

“Yeah, that. I'm a bit confused about this. So, it's just another novice rune for foal's toys, right?”

[TwilightSparkle: Yes! In Canterlot, they would sell balls that would come back after you threw them]

[TwilightSparkle: It was quite expensive, even if it was a novice level spell the rune was used in]

[RarityBelle: It's the gem, darling, even the smaller ones can get a tad pricey in places like Canterlot]

…okay…

“So the rune directs whatever it's casted on… back at the user? Is it direction based or does it hone in on you?”

[TwilightSparkle: You pour magic into it with your hoof and it will fly back to it after thrown]

He blinks.

“...you're fucking me”

As far as he can tell, magic doesn't HAVE a signature with each pony. So how can it tell where to go?

Runic Context can be a bit convoluted, and magic is by definition mysterious, so he's not surprised if it gets a little weird.

But runes are like a directionless action. Without direction it won't DO anything.

It's like a function in coding, by itself it does nothing, you have to set an input and an output.

That's the difference between a ‘rune’ and a ‘spell’. Runes are the building blocks that need direction to create a spell proper.

Hell, his Sticking spell is quite literally just:

Tap gem two times, spell activates and pulls stored magic from gem or anything else. Then tap two times to disable it.

If [Input:two-taps] then [function:spell = true]
If [function:spell = true] then (pull [list:gem])

It's a very, very simple spell.

…he probably just every coder cry out in pain with that comparison.

[ThePinkOne: Ooo~]

[TwilightSparkle: I-I… NO!]

[TwilightSparkle: I may not be a rune caster, but the books don't lie!]

“Books are overrated”

Practical experience tends to work better for him.

[TwilightSparkle: Nuh uh!]

“Yuh huh”

Lucky is half-paying attention to chat, most of it is spent on his surroundings as he makes his way up to the second floor.

Elevators are busted, stairs it is.

[TwilightSparkle: Nuh uh!]

“Yuh huh”

[TwilightSparkle: Nuh uh!]

[Applebloom: FIGHT! FIGHT!]

[Applejack: Applebloom]

[Applebloom: sorry]

“Yuh…” He looks down the open and completely busted elevator shaft. Man, this place looks untouched, the infected just really fucking hate convenient transport. “...huh”.

[RainbowDash: Grown ponies by the way]

[RarityBelle: Pot calling the kettle black, darling]

[RainbowDash: What's that supposed to mean?!]

[ThePinkOne: This is fun! What's wrong with a little fun?]

[RainbowDash: Please don't break into my house again]

[ThePinkOne: :) ]

[TwilightSparkle: I got where I am today because of books! They are important to every aspiring mage!]

He raises an eyebrow.

Lucky clears his throat and whips out his shittiest Twilight impression.

“Dear Princess Celestia…”

…

[POV: TWILIGHT SPARKLE]

>”...today, I learned a very important lesson!”<

“Is that… supposed to be me?” Twilight's eye twitches in annoyance.

“I think so, darling”

Only Rarity is with her today, sitting on a small couch enjoying tea as they listen.

>”I learned that being a unicorn is soooooo awesome! Why doesn't everypony else do it? Don't they know that unicorns are just superior?”<

“Wha… I DIDN'T SAY THAT!” Twilight shouts, shaking the gem like she's wringing this annoying stallion's neck.

>”Magic is soooooo easy! Bah, who needs wings when you can teleport? They should get with the program. Just the other I saw an Earth pony…”<

He shivers and gags loudly.

>...WALKING to work, yikes! Don't they know that having a horn and just THINKING really hard is just easier?”<

[TwilightSparkle: I did not say this! Teleportation is not an easy spell!]

>”I get to sit around and read books allllll day, and guess what? I don't get fat! Thanks to magic, I found a way to get rid of all this excess fat!”<

…is that possible-NOT NOW BRAIN!

Rarity snorts, Twilight shoots her a glare.

>”But unfortunately… it has to go somewhere… poor Rarity doesn't even know her dress looks a little tighter than last week…”<

Rarity freezes mid-sip, still as a statute.

>”Your student, Twilight Sparkle”<

Lucky coughs, and turns his head up at the spiraling staircase.

>”...that definitely fucked up my throat… welp, whatever”<

It goes silent, the messages freeze.

Well, except for one.

[RestlessDream: HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH-]

More start to trickle in.

[Aloe: Is that… possible?]

[LilyValley: That was really rude but… can she do that?]

[ManeGoodall: I certainly never heard of a spell like that]

[ThePinkOne: Noooope~. He's just messing with her!]

Twilight hears Rarity slowly put her cup down. Turning around, she's met with a calm smile that doesn't meet her eyes.

“Twilight, darling”

“...yes Rarity?”

“Is it real?”

“...no?” Maybe? She doesn't know!

“Good”

She goes back to silently drinking her tea.

Twilight takes a deep breath, brows furrowed and she turns back to the screen.

Why?!

Why is he so mean to her?!

They were doing just fine a second ago!

Is this just how he is?!

Why is he so INTENT on infuriating her?!

…and why is she smiling?

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky]

>”Yes, Princess Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle?”<

She wants to hit him.

[TwilightSparkle: Why]

>”Your suffering amuses me”<

She really wants to hit him.

Taking another breath, Twilight rubs her head with her hooves. Fighting back an emerging headache.

>”Oh right, the return rune. Can you help me with that?”<

*slam*

She drops her face onto her desk.

And groans, loudly.

Of course he just moves along.

Of course~ No~ sure Lucky, go right ahead!

It's not like you embarrassed her in front of countless ponies…

Almost automatically, she reaches over to her book on runes, sliding it over and bonking it against her head.

…why did you have to care about THIS one, Twilight?

Care. Yes. That's the word she's going with.

[TwilightSparkle: What do you need help with?]

>”How does it work? Is it teleportation? Telekinesis? Or does it mess with magnets or air currents or something?”<

Her ears perk up.

Right. This is why.

Alongside just being an interesting pony to her, he's able to at least keep a conversation about one of her favorite passions going.

Magic.

Even if he's more focused on… killing.

With something between a sigh and a giggle, she opens her book.

“...what a troublesome stallion”

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

Whoever designed these stairs should be shot.

Lucky groans, lying flat on the fifth floor, hooves sore from having climbed the VERY AWKWARD AND INEFFICIENT STAIRS. He just wanted to check if the stairway was clear, but now he's larping as a carpet.

Fun fact, Apple Bucker may increase his stamina, but it does NOT in fact keep him in shape. Because of Lucky Break's lifestyle, he's actually quite malnourished and it definitely shows.

Stamina wise, he's fine. It's a bit jarring that he feels like he can walk another flight, but his legs say NO.

[Applejack: That diet catchin’ up to you, partner]

“Fuck off”

[Applejack: You ever find yourself on Sweet Apple Acres we'd be happy to have ya for dinner, sugarcube!]

[Applejack: Celestia knows you need it]

He flops his head to the side to face the message.

“...I told you to fuck off and you're inviting me to a family dinner?”

[Applejack: You're a good pony, Lucky]

“...”

He pushes himself up.

And makes his way back down to floor two.

…

[ThePinkOne: Well I like all kinds of cake, what's YOUR favorite?]

Lucky is on floor two, slowly clearing it out.

It seems the numbers get smaller the higher floor he is on, that's good.

Raising Hell has decided to stay on the bottom floor, which is annoying but fair, who knows what kind of bullshit can crawl out of the sewers.

“I dunno Pinkie, it's been a while”

Pinkie is odd, but talking to her is weirdly nice, she kinda bounces to her own tune no matter who she's with.

She's like a puppy, who's just happy to get attention.

[ThePinkOne: What about your birthday?]

“What about it?”

[ThePinkOne: Your birthday cake, silly! What kind was it?]

“Pinkie, I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was like… 14. Also, vanilla is nice”

[ThePinkOne: GAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSP]

[ThePinkOne: That's so sad!]

[Applejack: Did… did ya just say the word ‘gasp'?]

[ThePinkOne: Yup!]

“It's not a big deal”

[ThePinkOne: Not a big deal?!]

[ThePinkOne: That's it, when you get here, I'm throwing you a party SO big that it will HAVE to make up for all the ones you missed!]

“If” He corrects. “If I get there”

[ThePinkOne: Don't be silly!]

[ThePinkOne: Of course you can get here!]

Lucky just silently lurks the hotel halls, unsure how to feel about the pink mare's complete trust in his eventual escape.

Thanks Pinkie.

Notes:

Gonna be honest I forgot to post this one.

Chapter 16: 16 - Talk With Purple

Lucky watches from the second floor balcony as Tidal rushes the rest of the surviving ponies into the hotel.

He got two skill points for today, most likely from the Tank. It's definitely slowing down now, considering it took killing two special infected and dozens of infected to get only two points.

Deciding that magic is his most useful asset, he selects a skill that helps cover the major problem with it. His low magic capacity.

While Sticking barely uses anything, he can only cast a novice-level spell a handful (correction, HOOFfull) of times before he gets tired, needing an hour for his battery to charge back up.

While there IS a skill that increases his capacity directly, it's further down the Magic branch of the skill tree, so he has to work his way over there to get it.

So he picks Not Quite Purple's sister skill, Fledgling Mage.

[ MAGIC SKILL - FLEDGLING MAGE
♡25% increase in magic regeneration.
♡50% increase in magic regeneration.
150% increase in magic regeneration. ]

Lucky doesn't… feel(?) any different. He pokes at his chest, humming in confusion.

Well, it was a percentage increase and not a flat one. Maybe his regeneration was so tiny that it barely made a difference? That would suck, waste of two whole skill points.

It does feel a little ‘cooler’ he supposes, which he's come to associate as the feeling of magic.

He draws out a Light spell in the air, feeling his magic drain as the matrix flickers away, leaving behind a glowing ball of light.

Trying to focus on the feeling, he can definitely feel something… different. Like a current in his body got faster.

Okay, the Skill worked, cool.

“Does my body absorb ambient magic, or does it produce it on its own…?” He murmurs.

[SunnySkies: Both, actually]

He raises an eyebrow at the message.

“Twilight, explain”

Calling his resident encyclopedia, she appears quickly.

[TwilightSparkle: While an environment's magic can have an effect on a growing foal, such as small changes in their bodies, it has near little impact on an adult pony, even in regards to recovering their magic]

“So it does, it's just small”

[TwilightSparkle: Correct!]

[TwilightSparkle: And… If you don't mind…]

[TwilightSparkle: I would like to have that talk I mentioned earlier…]

…what?

What talk is she… ah…

That one. He almost forgot about that.

Feeling slightly annoyed, he moves away from the balcony.

“Sure. Gonna take a shower while we do it, though. I smell like piss and wet dog”

And pennies, but that's mostly from the blood.

[TwilightSparkle: D-Do you really need to…?]

He walks into a nearby hotel room, quickly plucking up the soaps and meandering into the bathroom.

“Twilight, you've watched me several times already, so has everypony else. It seriously isn't even that embarrassing, just a bit uncomfortable”

[RainbowDash: It's just a little weird, dude]

“YOU'RE a little weird dude”

[RainbowDash: Heh]

[Aloe: We could look away if you want?]

Lucky takes a moment to look in the mirror, propping himself up on the counter to get a good look.

Light tan fur, cream underbelly. Red/black mane, bright yellow eyes.

…eyeshadow.

“Nah it's cool… wish I could get this off…”

He prods at his eyelid, sighing.

[RarityBelle: I think it looks great on you, Darling!]

“It makes me look like a mare”

It's seriously the only thing keeping him from looking like a normal pegasus stallion.

[Applejack: Ah admit sugarcube, ah thought you just liked dressin’ up so ah didn't say anythin’]

“Wearing fucking eyeshadow while getting mauled to death. All I gotta do is bang somepony in a barn and I'm ripe for a slasher movie”

[Fluttershy: O-Oh…]

[TwilightSparkle: Slasher movie?]

Didn't they have movies? He doesn't remember, another consequence of not actually watching the show.

“Basically it's a genre where a per-PONY goes around killing people in gory ways”

[TwilightSparkle: W-What?!]

“Yeah, super popular”

[TwilightSparkle: Who would watch something like that?! That sounds horrible!]

[Applejack: That sounds… wrong, Lucky]

[RarityBelle: I concur…]

[RainbowDash: …is it cool?]

“They're pretty neat”

[RainbowDash: Cool]

[RainbowDash: Cool]

[TwilightSparkle: Rainbow…]

[RainbowDash: Show me one later]

[TwilightSparkle: RAINBOW!]

[RainbowDash: What? What's the big deal?]

[Applejack: We already see enough of that junk on here, we don' need more of it]

[RainbowDash: Laaaaaame, I just wanted to take a look…]

He unbuttons his vest (very weird doing it with hooves). Looking back at the mirror, he feels his cheeks heat up slightly, but it's mostly from pony brain.

Oh so NOW it's too much? Though he supposes that this is the first time he's really seeing himself without his dress shirt and vest.

It's… weirdly revealing, even if it never really covered anything. It's akin to a dog being ‘naked’ when you take off their collar.

“Look at you, you poor bastard”

Very slightly discolored patches of fur litter his body, just barely noticeable under his watchful eye. He feels at the ring of lighter fur around his hind leg.

“Can't even kill zombies correctly. You know it gets worse, right?”

The resort isn't even the worst part of the game. That honor goes to the city, where it's damn near impossible to navigate with how many infected there are.

“Getting mauled for ponies who might not even be real, make up your fucking mind, dude”

He throws his clothes at the mirror with a slight thud.

“Fuckin moron”

With that, he steps into the shower, letting the water fall on him as chat scrolls by, asking and concerned about what he said.

He ignores them.

“Well, Twilight. I'm listening”

[TwilightSparkle: I uh…]

[TwilightSparkle: Okay…]

[TwilightSparkle: Ahem]

[TwilightSparkle: I'm… concerned about you, Lucky]

“Join the club”

[TwilightSparkle: I'm serious]

“So am I”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky Break. Listen to me!]

He pauses slightly at his full name. Who does she think she is? His grandma?

[TwilightSparkle: I'm concerned about you, Lucky. Because it seems like you don't care at all at your own safety and… wellbeing]

His eyes narrow, mane flattening as it grows heavy in the water.

“Did you just… MISS the last few days? You think I learned magic just because I thought it was cool? Of course I care, dorkass”

He's also guilty of that as well but hey, semantics.

[TwilightSparkle: That's not what I'm talking about!]

[TwilightSparkle: I-I'm talking about the times you'd get quiet, and… when you'd get sad or stressed and… you just treat it like it's nothing! You look miserable!]

“Because it IS nothing!” He snaps back. “And miserable? Of COURSE I'm fucking miserable! Do you think I LIKE getting torn apart every time I walk outside?”

He blows water out of his nose.

“You would be JUST as fucking miserable as me if you were here, and not sitting at home, watching while kicking your hooves up and sipping on some fucking Charlemagne”

[TwilightSparkle: STOP SAYING THAT I DON'T CARE!]

He flinches.

[TwilightSparkle: I have been working my FLANK off to find a way to get you out of there! Do you know how many ancient tomes on dimensional travel are available right now? NOT MANY, LUCKY!]

His gaze is frozen on the messages, his mouth dry as each one goes by.

[TwilightSparkle: I am trying, I really, REALLY am…]

[TwilightSparkle: Because I care about you]

[TwilightSparkle: I understand if you don't like me… that's… f-fine. But don't lie about me]

[TwilightSparkle: I want nothing more than your safety. But it's getting increasingly grating when YOU YOURSELF don't seem to care!]

Lucky manages a snarl.

“Yeah… I'll tell the infected to ease back on trying to kill me”

[TwilightSparkle: When was the last time you slept, Lucky?]

That manages to make him freeze.

“...Last night, why?”

[TwilightSparkle: No. You didn't]

[TwilightSparkle: You napped for two hours, and went back to runescribing]

“So?”

[TwilightSparkle: ‘So?’, he says…]

[TwilightSparkle: YOU DON'T SLEEP]

[TwilightSparkle: All you eat is those small bars and that one SUPER UNHEALTHY drink! You haven't SLEPT, you haven't EATEN, and you're REFUSING to let anypony help you!]

[TwilightSparkle: Well are here for you, I am here for you. But you stonewall anypony actually TRYING to help!]

“And how, exactly, are you going to do that? Did you forget that we're, I dunno, IN ANOTHER DIMENSION?”

He doesn't know why he's getting so heated. Lucky can tell that he's grasping at straws here, but he's stubbornly keeping up his act.

[TwilightSparkle: Talk]

“...talk” He repeats.

[TwilightSparkle: You're right. There isn't much I can do on my end. My research to a solution is still in development, but as I am right now, I am completely and utterly useless]

[TwilightSparkle: But I can talk to you!]

[TwilightSparkle: And I think you need that]

“How the hell does that matter?”

Twilight responds near instantly.

[TwilightSparkle: IT DOES MATTER!]

He chuffs.

[TwilightSparkle: I know you're trying to be strong, but you absolutely REFUSE to have an honest conversation to anypony about your feelings!]

[TwilightSparkle: Your feelings MATTER! Even if you think they don't]

[TwilightSparkle: If you're scared, angry, sad, lonely, homesick. THAT. MATTERS. And keeping it all in and pushing ponies away will only leave you more miserable than you are now! You may not care about yourself, but WE do!]

[TwilightSparkle: So no, Lucky. I DON'T think I would be as miserable as you if I was in your position. Because I have my friends, and I know no matter what they will always be there to lighten the burden for me]

“...”

…

In Canterlot, a certain princess smiles proudly at her student's work.

…

His mouth opens.

And closes.

Thumping in his ears, his heart rages. He sits underneath the stream, staring blankly at the wall.

His mind is racing.

Is… no. Ponies wouldn't care, right?

Why would they? He's a stranger.

Sure, he doesn't take care of himself that much, but it's in the name of survival, right?

He's in a world he barely recognizes, in a body that is and isn't his own, taken from his family…

All while chasing a goal that he isn't even sure what it is.

A thought goes through him.

…is he suicidal?

No.

Well, he doesn't WANT to die. He's actively making the effort to make sure that doesn't happen.

But… does he actually care? Would he care if he just… got hit by a car or something and died instantly. Would he mind that?

He feels like he would be pissed that his effort was wasted, but his reaction to dying would just be ‘oh well, GG’.

But that's still caring, right?

…why is it taking so long to form an answer.

He thumps his forehead against the wall.

Lucky Break takes a deep breath…

“Fine”

And he speaks, through gritted teeth.

“Here I fucking go, I guess. Hope you're happy, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: As long as you are, I will be]

[RainbowDash: …smooth]

[TwilightSparkle: I-I don't mean it like that!]

[ThePinkOne: Fumbled~]

“I'm… not from this world” He begins. “I wasn't even a pony. I just woke up and… yeah, here I was”

[TwilightSparkle: Okay, I'm listening]

“I realized that… this?” He gestures vaguely around him. “Was damn near identical to… a book, I read back home. The characters, the story, the zombies… all of it”

He's… not going to tell them that they were also one of those ‘books’.

“And I keep wondering if…” Lucky pauses to take a breath. “If… all of this wasn't real. That this whole world was just some… adaptation? I dunno, but it seemed… off”

[TwilightSparkle: Off how?]

“Small things. Things nopony seemed to notice. The finger grooves on knife handles, the doors being absurdly tall, the doorknob is level with my head” He continues. “How the cars are obviously not made for pony body shape, how the elevator has too small buttons, how there's a shoe rack in each of the rooms”

[TwilightSparkle: I… see, I didn't notice that]

“The characters in the book were… larger”

[TwilightSparkle: Minotaurs?]

“...sure”

[TwilightSparkle: Sorry, continue]

“Everything was so awkwardly sized, and obviously meant for another species, but… I haven't seen a single other species. Not even in pictures, corpses, anything. So that left me with two ideas…

Either this is a minotaur resort… or this place isn't real…”

He shudders a breath.

“Which means the ponies aren't real…”

A sob escapes his throat.

“W-Which means I might not be real… a-and I was torn apart for nothing…”

He hopes that the shower masks his tears.

It doesn't.

Lucky continues to speak, just… mouthing whatever gibberish his mind put together. His anger, mostly, at everything that led him to this point.

It's a roller-coaster of sobbing, screaming, angrily shouting, and cold, numb whispers.

Twilight only responds to make sure he knows she's still listening.

He feels clean.

…

Lucky Break wants to kill himself.

In embarrassment.

[TwilightSparkle: It's seriously not that bad! I asked you to do it, a-and I thought it was really beautiful how honest you were being!]

His face in his hooves, burning red as he tries to forget the last few hours.

“I cried, in the fucking shower, like a baby”

[RainbowDash: Yup. It was reaaal~ embarrassing too!]

[Applejack: Easy on him, Rainbow. Ahm just worried if he's ever gonna fix his diet…]

[RarityBelle: Whatever Pinkie says is a lie and cannot be trusted]

[ThePinkOne: I caught Rarity bawling her eyes out so I sneaked her a cupcake :3]

“Whatever, Rainbow”

With a huff, he pushes himself up.

He has to admit.

He feels… kinda good!

Lighter. His situation is still shit, but now it's more… tolerable.

Maybe he did just need to air it all out.

But now…

God, he owes Twilight, doesn't he?

Absolutely not, he HATES owing anypony anything.

As he's about to leave, his eyes glance at the piece of luggage sat on the hotel bed. Habitually he wills his UI over to it, and gets a look at its contents.

…another pair of socks.

He stares at them for a minute, for a long while.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky? You okay?]

Lucky lets out a low breath.

“Twilight…”

[TwilightSparkle: …yes?]

He wills his inventory, and out comes several different kinds of legwear he's collected. Socks, stockings, leggings. Cute ones, suggestive ones, even basic comfy ones. They're all laid out on the bed.

“Pick your favorite”

The chat freezes.

[TwilightSparkle: …what]

“Just… pick”

He forces down a blush to his cheeks.

Twilight is silent for a moment.

[BerryPunch: YYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!]

[TwilightSparkle: PINKIE!]

[ThePinkOne: Locked on target]

Chapter 17: 17 - Moron

Tidal pokes her head into the storage room, a walk-in freezer meant for the hotel cooks.

“Lucky, mate. Somepony wants to… what are ya wearing?”

The pegasus casually looks over his withers, clipboard held in a covered hoof.

Apparently, Twilight is a bit…

He pulls at the elastic. The socks have white and purple stripes, with neat little frills and a small black bow at the end.

The meat of his haunches indents a little as it hugs him, but it's not uncomfortable, he is genuinely unsure if this was intentional or not.

As usual though, he can't see the appeal.

“It's cold in here”

Tidal opens her mouth to say something, but only shakes her head.

He's not even lying about that, these things are surprisingly warm. While he doesn't really see the purpose of them, if it makes Twilight happy-

Correction, if it pays the DEBT he has to Twilight…

Then… whatever dude.

It's supposed to be a gift anyways. Personally, he doesn't think purple really works on him.

Purple socks from a purple mare, maybe she's just biased towards her own color.

He snorts.

Pony racism, that's funny.

“Somepony is asking for you”

“Are they dying?” He responds plainly.

“They looked pretty alive to me”

“Then tell them to fuck off, I'm busy”

He's just cracked the Return spell, and he wants to play around with it. Plus he has to organize supplies since it feels like nopony here can do it.

“They're tryin’ to get into the fifth floor”

That makes him pause, he slowly turns to look at her, face incredulous.

“Really?”

“Yup”

“The fifth floor”

“That's what I heard”

“The floor I specifically told them NOT to enter?”

He's cleared the 3rd and 4th floor pretty easily, but it's the 5th that's causing him issues.

Mainly because the stairway entrance is completely blocked off. Through his shadow sense, he can see that a vending machine toppled over in front of the door and got wedged at an angle, making it impossible to open.

Meaning he either has to use the elevator shaft, or the outside balcony. Both sound horrible in their own ways.

Tidal raises her hooves in faux surrender.

“I'm just the messenger, mate. They're sayin’ they hear somepony inside”

He raises an eyebrow.

…what?

No, he didn't sense anything like that. His shadow sense is still crude, but even with the vague images he gets he can definitely tell the difference between an infected and an actual pony.

The infected strangely have the same body language as the street tweakers he used to see back in Florida. Once you live there for long enough, spotting one becomes damn near instinct.

Weird how life circles around.

But then again… he's not exactly GREAT at his magical sense, and his Alarm is useless in this case.

So it could be a pony.

Fuck's sake…

Lucky sighs and dematerializes the clipboard into his inventory.

“Fine, where are they?”

His map updates.

…

Lucky Break is not a good pony.

Ponies are supposed to be emotional, empathetic, kind creatures that spread joy and harmony, love thy neighbor and all that.

Lucky is none of those.

While he will never admit it, the man-turned-pegasus is aware of his flaws. Aware enough to notice, not enough to fix.

He's stubborn, a contradicting blend of pride and low self-esteem that comes together to create a selfish, unempathetic, poor excuse of a pony.

Lucky isn't a pony, not in mind, in ‘soul’.

He may have a body of one, but he knows he'll never be truly like them, so why should he try to follow their values? Why should he try to be like them?

Harmony? If Harmony was for him, he wouldn't be in fucking Banoi, would he?

Don't get him wrong, despite his humiliating display earlier which makes him want to both curl up into a ball and bash somepony's brains in, there's a lightness in his chest he can't help but take comfort in.

How… annoying.

[TwilightSparkle: So… you weren't a pony before?]

“...is that an issue?”

[TwilightSparkle: No no! It's just…]

[Applejack: Makes a lotta sense in hindsight, sugarcube]

[TwilightSparkle: Right! It was just surprising!]

He doesn't respond to the message, and continues silently going up the stairs.

It doesn't take long for another pony to say something.

[RarityBelle: You know… I don't think purple works that well with your mane]

[RarityBelle: Professional opinion, of course]

“Not exactly wearing these for fun, Rarity. Plus, I don't really care, so…”

They're just socks.

[RarityBelle: Oooo~ I could give recommendations!]

“I'm good”

[RarityBelle: Don't worry darling, when we're done, you will be a changed stallion! I promise!]

“...Rarity, I'm gonna be real. I genuinely don't care how I look. As long as I don't stink or look homeless I genuinely do not care”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky…]

“Are you fucking… Twilight-”

[TwilightSparkle: …why did you stop calling me ‘Twi’?]

“BECAUSE IT'S JUST A-”

Lucky stops himself.

Deep breaths.

He's getting worked up over nothing.

Ponies have this miraculous ability to stress him out, he swears.

“Rarity, no. Twilight. First off, this isn't a ‘Lucky doesn't care of himself’ moment, this is a ‘I don't care about clothes’ moment”

[TwilightSparkle: Well forgive me for being thorough! You wouldn't even brush your fur if I didn't bug you about it!]

“And SECONDLY-” He grits out. “TWI is just a faster way of saying your name, it's not an actual nickname, I'm just being lazy”

Technically it is, but it's too boring to count in his head.

[RainbowDash: Respectable]

Thanks Rainbow.

[TwilightSparkle: Well…]

[TwilightSparkle: Could I have one then?]

He raises a brow.

“Have what?”

[TwilightSparkle: A nickname]

He stops on the stairs.

“...why?” Lucky asks a bit suspiciously.

What does this mare want this time? She's already had him crying in the shower, does she want his fucking SSN too?

[TwilightSparkle: I just want one]

“You HAVE one. It's… whatever the fuck your friends call you”

[TwilightSparkle: Language, and that's different!]

[TwilightSparkle: I think it would be fun! As like… a thing we could do]

[TwilightSparkle: Haha!]

[ThePinkOne: Fumbled]

[TwilightSparkle: D-Do you only appear to make fun of me?!]

[ThePinkOne: Nope~ I've been sharing cupcake recipes with somepony in Canterlot this whole time!]

He thinks about it, but not for long.

“...no”

[TwilightSparkle: Why not?!]

“Cause I said so”

As much as Twilight… helped, he's hesitant to get any closer to her, to any pony really. He may not have watched the show, but he isn't sure if he wants to get to really know any of these ponies.

And the fact that, again, it seems him and ponies don't really mesh that well.

Is he being a stubborn little shit?

Maybe.

But he's not the most social guy, so what are they gonna do about it?

[TwilightSparkle: Please?]

“Nope”

[TwilightSparkle: Come on!]

[Applejack: As much as ahd love to hear Twilight complain all day, no offense sugarcube, I kinda wanna see what's happenin’ on the fifth floor]

“Ah, right” He should probably get to that.

Hoofsteps echo in the staircase as Lucky ascends, quietly fuming at how hellish it is to use them.

It doesn't take long to hear the voices of three ponies. He doesn't even bother trying to eavesdrop, walking up he gets their attention.

“What do you want?”

It's two mares and a stallion, he doesn't recognize any of them. Actually… nope, that's the blood pool stallion, he's been wondering where he went.

“The door won't open”

Lucky raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, doors do that sometimes”

The ponies bristle at his attitude, one narrows her eyes at him.

[Applejack: …why do you have to be so rude, sugarcube?]

Why do they have to be so stupid? It's like keeping a bunch of toddlers away from a bottle of antifreeze.

“We're trying to check out the fifth floor…”

“You mean the thing I SPECIFICALLY told you not to do?” There's a bit of a bite in his tone, but he doesn't bother hiding it.

The stallion, who hasn't said a word, shifts on his hooves and the angrier looking mares steps in.

“Listen, we just don't think it's right to only have one pony doing all the work, you don't need to get all snippy with us”

“Yeah…”

Lucky's darkly lidded eyes widened in faux-shock.

“Oh? Are you immune too? Why didn't you say so?!”

He flamboyantly trots up to the door and places a hoof on it, leaning against it like a diva.

“Woo! I was getting sick of getting torn apart, it's a good thing you three are here to pick up the slack!”

The mare's eyes widen, but Lucky ignores it.

“I'm SO glad to have zombie killing experts on my side, you have NO idea how AWFUL dealing with these fuckers can get!” He gives a rueful laugh.

“W-We don't…” The stallion speaks up, only to shut up as one of the mares glare at him.

Lucky's smile drops a smidgen.

“Gosh, I was scared for a second there” He says, brushing his mane back with his hoof. “After all, all it takes is one asshole hiding their infection and ALLLLLL of my work would go down the drain!”

With this, he pushes himself off the door and approaches the angrier looking mare. She's taller than him, but the absolute death glare he's shooting her despite his wide smile freezes her in place.

She takes a step back, he takes a step forward.

“Could you imagine how bad that would be? What if that door wasn't blocked? Somepony could just… open it up! And release whatever horde to allllll of the survivors. All because they were what? Cocky? Ignorant? Dropped on their head as a foal?”

His smile drops, face contorting into a sneer.

“Or maybe all three”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Lucky scoffs and turns to the stallion.

“Get out of here. If you want, I'll make sure to clear the balcony next, that way you can be stupid and only ONE pony would die-”

*CRACK*

Lucky's head snaps to the side as he's kicked in the head.

“You think you're hot shit, huh?!”

Lucky feels at his muzzle, feeling blood drip from his nose.

The mare swings again, but Lucky flings back and narrowly dodges it. A scowl crawls up his face.

With a flex of his magic, he tries something he's been priming in his head. Casting four individual Sticking spells, the mare grinds to a halt as her hooves can't leave the ground.

“W-What the-”

*CRACK*

He strikes the mare in the snout, making her growl and stare at him with a deadly expression.

“If it wasn't for Tidal Wave, you would be NOTHING! You think just because you got fancy blood you can treat everypony like shit?! FUCK YOU!”

Goddammit… she broke his nose…

“Do you think I'm your fucking nanny?!” He screams. “I don't HAVE to do shit!”

Lucky isn't used to dealing with non-infected ponies, so he's putting a little less strength in his hits than he's used to.

He whips his hoof into her head.

“I keep you ALIVE. Do you think all of this just… SPAWNED?!”

Maybe it did, but he doesn't dwell on that thought long.

*CRACK*

“U-Ugh…”

“NO! I had to fucking WORK FOR IT! I had to get my fucking LEG ripped off! I had to get GUTTED so your fatass can sit around and think about new ways to be a fucking HEADACHE!”

She is actually a decently shaped mare, he's just being mean.

*CRACK*

“You want to do your own shit? Cool! FUCKING LEAVE! Because I have be-”

A hoof wraps around his throat.

Oh shit. The other mare.

“L-Let me go!”

“Stop mov-”

His world goes sideways, vertigo swims through Lucky's head. He's flung backwards…

Down the stairs.

He feels something crack as his back crashes against the stairs, falling down with violent thuds.

Skidding across the floor, he reaches the bottom and slams into the well, barely able to breathe.

What?...

Did they…

Lucky's eyes move to the top of the stairs. His vision is swimming, head pounding like drums as his body feels like he got hit by a car.

They did!

Those fuckers!

He can hear them, the Sticking spell cutting off as the mare grumbles forward.

“Oh fuck… oohhh fuck! What do we do?! We can't-”

“SHUT UP! Let me think!”

Legs? Broken.

Wings? Broken.

Even though his System is keeping his condition from getting worse, it still REALLY hurts.

What if he wills his inventory and…

Oh…

His vision is getting…

Really…

Dark…

…

[POV: APPLEJACK]

[EARLIER]

“So… he's some kind of space alien?”

She and the girls meet up at Twilight's place, as per usual. And once again, the topic of discussion is that one rude pony they've come to care for.

Lucky Break.

“He said he wasn't a PONY, Dash. He could have been a griffon, or a dragon” Twilight corrects her.

“He certainly talks like a griffon”

Applejack has to stifle a chuckle.

“Rainbow!”

Rarity leans forward.

“Darlings, if I may. What exactly do we DO? After all that we learned?”

Right. After the… uh… shower incident, they've learned a lot about Lucky. Particularly about his complete lack of his care in himself, and barely any care in other ponies.

“Well he ain't tellin’ us everythin’, I can tell you that” Applejack comments.

“Um… I don't think that's… fair…” A meek voice comes from beside her.

“SEE! Flutters agrees with me! We gotta ask him more! Get in his head!”

“That's not what I was… okay…”

“Ah have to ask though… is he right? Is… that place actually real?”

“GIRLS!”

Twilight puts her hooves on the table, garnering their attention.

To her side, a notebook floats in her magic.

“It's obvious that Lucky needs our help. I have been exchanging letters with Princess Luna and a few Grandmaster Runescribes, we believe we may be onto something. But right now, he just needs our support. Lucky may be a bit…”

“Rude?”

“Stubborn?”

“Hopeless?”

“A pain in my flank?”

Twilight's eye twitches, much to their amusement.

“...SPECIAL. But he's a good pony! And he's actually taking care of himself now. Look! He ate a full meal earlier, it's WORKING”

“Only took you bugging him about it for like an hour straight”

They chuckle. They're just playing around. Oddly enough, despite the stallion's immaculate ability to frustrate everypony, they all find themselves caring about the pony.

Twilight especially, but that's probably because Lucky can keep up with her magic jargon.

“Ah wouldn't call a sandwich with chips a full meal, sugarcube”

“He had a drink too” Twilight quickly corrected.

Applejack snorts.

“So we… what? Just keep talking to the dude?” Rainbow asks.

“He needs friends, yes”

“He's doing a good job at NOT making friends, Twi. Asking a lot here”

Twilight tilts her head, a little hesitance on her face, like she's defending a sibling who absolutely did something wrong.

“Just… keep trying, okay? Please?”

Rainbow groans but eventually agrees.

Applejack wonders who will be the first to actually befriend the antisocial stallion?

Chapter 18: 18 - Unexpected Tourism

Lucky Break woke up feeling like shit.

His head hurt, his bones hurt, his lungs hurt.

Overall, very unpleasant experience.

The ponies in chat were screaming at him to wake up.

Looks like he was knocked out.

And now he's in… water?

He wills his inventory. A sickly green menu with a blood red frame appears, depositing a can of Energizer. Effortlessly, he cracks it open with his teeth and gulps the contents down.

Bones snap back in place, and skin repairs itself around him. The pegasus groans as he feels the unpleasant sensations of his body knitting back together.

“Fuck…”

Eventually, he's back in tip-top shape. His mind is brought back in focus as he takes in the place around him.

It seems to be a… tunnel? Brick walls, circular, with pipes that go along the wall. He's lying in a current, floating down to… somewhere.

This looks… oddly familiar.

His heart drops.

“The SEWERS?!”

They dropped him in the fucking SEWERS?!

Did those dumbasses even check if he was dead?! His System keeps his condition from going fatal, sure he was a fucked up pretzel for a bit, but he was far from DEAD.

Lucky's face snarls.

He's going to kill those fuckers.

Pushing himself out of the water (he really hopes that's water), Lucky slumps against the wall.

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?!]

“Not now Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: I saw your hooves, a-and-]

“Twilight!” He barks. “Not. Now”

She goes silent.

There's a part of him that feels bad, a big part. But he's too pissed off and confused to care.

Alright. Where is he?

He checks the map, and nearly spits his drink out.

[MORESBY]

Huh?!

Lucky checks again, even taking the time to pin the resort on his map to see how far he is.

“...holy shit”

Looking down at the current below, he wonders how the hell he managed to drift THIS far.

It's going to take AGES to get back.

Lucky pauses, eyes frozen on the display of the resort on his map.

…does he even want to go back?

Now that he's thinking about it, isn't this the perfect excuse to just… fuck off?

Sure, he feels a little bad about Tidal and Raising. But they should be fine, right?

They wanted to get rid of him sooooo badly, right?

Fuck em.

[SunnySkies: Lucky]

[SunnySkies: Assess the situation. Gather yourself, and compile information about your surroundings]

[RestlessDream: Keep thou blade in a place thou could reach. Keep thou hooves light, and eyes sharp]

…right.

He breathes out.

“Thanks… and… Twilight, sorry about that”

[TwilightSparkle: It's okay!]

So.

He's in the sewers of Banoi, which is already a fucking awful place. But now he's right under Moresby, which is somehow worse.

Moresby has a zombie population that would make a Dead Rising player blush, while also having a MASSIVE population of ‘thugs’. As in, actual ponies with guns.

…the fuck does he do now?

…

[ThePinkOne: I can't believe they'd do something like that!]

[ThePinkOne: Those meanies >:( ]

How in the hell is she using emoticons?

[TwilightSparkle: How are you feeling?]

“That doesn't-” He pauses.

Lucky breathes out.

“Pissed, I'm pissed”

His senses are spread out, small pokes of ‘awareness’ as the shadows give form in his head. While there will always be at least small traces of darkness in areas regardless of lighting (unless you're buck naked with lights beaming on you on all sides, he supposes), the more well lit areas are… smaller, less detailed.

The crevices and forms of the brick walls reveal itself to him, showing him annoyingly long tunnels and running water underneath.

[NOT QUITE PURPLE] and his Special Talent must be working overtime, he's already gone from having to stop entirely to focus on his magical sense, to being able to move with it on with mild difficulty.

There's GOTTA be a better name than ‘Cutie Mark’, because the grown man part of his brain is refusing to call it that.

After finishing his quick check in his surroundings, not seeing any infected, he continues on.

“Work my flank off to keep them alive, and what do they do? I should turn those fuckers into rugs”

[Applejack: Oh… don't like that image at all…]

[Aloe: Yeah Lucky… I get that you're mad, but that's a bit…]

[LemonHearts: Are you going to go back?]

Lucky scoffs.

“No? To be honest, I'm a little glad they did it”

A query of ‘why?’s fill the chat.

“Gives me the perfect reason to fuck off”

[RainbowDash: Thank Celestia]

[RarityBelle: Little harsh, Darling]

[Applejack: Ain't harsher than gettin’ thrown down the stairs]

[TwilightSparkle: Didn't you want to help them?]

“I did. But only because I could, not because I actually wanted to. Tidal and Raising are alright, but everypony else? I do not care”

[SunnySkies: Why help them if you do not care for them?]

[RestlessDream: Perhaps they truly are mere constructs of the dreamscape? We have little empathy towards traitors, either way]

Same, Restless.

Though, dreamscape? Is this place more of a mental thing? That's… weird. He already felt like they weren't really real, but… yeah, beyond that, he's not sure.

Lucky hums, taking the time to look down a forked pathway, not really seeing a difference in them he consults the map and goes left.

“Because I'm immune, and probably the only pony who is. I'll help if I can, but if they decide they don't need me anymore? I'm not gonna cry about it”

He waves his hoof out.

“See ya, fuckers!”

[RainbowDash: Talking an awful lot of smack for somepony who got knocked out!]

Lucky clicks his tongue.

“Talking an awful lot of smack for somepony who got boiled i-”

NOOOOOOOPE!

Hard stop! Don't fucking say that! God why is that one of the ONLY pieces of MLP knowledge he has?!

[RainbowDash: What?]

“Nothing. Shut up”

[RainbowDash: Make me!]

He does the mature thing and blows raspberries at her.

[Applejack: If y'all are done actin' like foals, ah’ve been meaning to ask. How did you get knocked out?]

He raises an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? I fell down and hit my head”

[Applejack: Lucky, ah've seen you take harder hits than that. That… what was it? The ‘Tank’ pony. They had you bouncin’ off the walls!]

[Fluttershy: when you put it like that… um…]

“I… I'm not sure. Either I got lucky-”

[ThePinkOne: But you are!]

“-somepony blow this mare up into a billion pieces. Either I got FORTUNATE, or I just hit my head wrong or something. That or it was some fuckin’… scripted event or some shit”

God, was that a scripted event? He may not be the toughest pony, but he's never actually been knocked out during a fight before.

That's… a scary thought.

It means that whatever is responsible for this weird amalgam world wants him to go in a specific direction.

Or… it wants him away from the resort.

He stops.

Oh.

[TwilightSparkle: Scripted event?]

“It's like… focal points in a story. Events that have to happen for a story to progress”

[TwilightSparkle: Interesting! Were you a writer before?]

“Nope, I worked on cars”

[TwilightSparkle: Those carriages you used earlier?]

“Yeah, I was the g-... stallion, that made sure those worked”

[TwilightSparkle: How DO they…]

[TwilightSparkle: No… actually, did you like doing it?]

“Nopony likes their job, Twilight”

Apparently that was the WRONG thing to say, as seemingly literally every single pony in chat piped up to say he's wrong.

Fucking hell…

[TwilightSparkle: Well…]

[TwilightSparkle: What do you plan on doing now?]

Lucky pauses for a moment as he feels his senses pick up movement. An infected to his left. It's… crazy how this is the first one he's seen down here, especially with the pile of corpses Raising has garnered back at the resort.

“In the… book. The way the main characters escaped was by a helicopter located on Prison Island. Problem is… the pony who has it is a fucking psycho, so that leaves…”

…what other option is there?

He could use runes to beef up a boat and fuck off, once he actually learns some that would do that.

Or… he could just fly.

But, again. It's not like Banoi is the only place with the virus.

“Well I guess I'm cooked then”

[RestlessDream: Worry not. We believe we have made great progress with thou displacement!]

He raises an eyebrow, turning the corner to face the infected. The handles of his chains sit in his mouth.

[SunnySkies: The princesses have looked over the runes carved into the gems, and they believe your situation may not be complicated as initially thought]

*GGRROOOAAAAN*

Chains fly out, wrapping around the infected pony before locking into place with its inscribed Sticking spell.

He presses a button on the handle.

*DZZZZZZZZZ*

Sparks fly as electricity courses through the chains, frying the infected zombie until it's just a mere smoldering corpse.

[RestlessDream: Indeed! We are devising a spell to assist thou! Fret not, young stallion. The moon hast not abandoned you just yet!]

…you know, he was being polite earlier, by pretending that he hadn't figured out who these two ponies were.

But come ON Luna! Even HE, somepony who DIDN'T watch the show, was able to figure it out!

“So this place isn't real?”

[RestlessDream: Yes and no]

“Very informative”

[SunnySkies: To say that this place is fake would be misleading, but calling it real would also be disingenuous]

[RestlessDream: Tis the dwelling of the Tantabus]

“...the what?”

…

A nightmare parasite.

Huh.

Ain't that somethin’

Lucky draws out a spell, the magic flows and a small red light appears on an infected forehead.

He whips out a kitchen knife he's enchanted with the Return spell, modified slightly to keep the pointed side of the knife up front (that was a bitch to figure out), as well as a moderate increase in its pulling strength.

Lucky gives it a nonchalant toss into the air.

*shlick*

The infected's head whips back as the blade pierces straight through it, gurgling before slumping against his chains.

Cool, so it DOES work like that.

[Applejack: What in tarnation…]

Lucky pulls out his notebook and goes to his notes.

“That still costs a lot of magic… what is so expensive about it?” He mumbles.

The Return enchantment is quite simple. To call it a spell would technically be true, but unlike most spells it's made to be inscribed onto an object and not free-casted.

It creates a magical ‘mark’ to whatever surface is touching the gem when it's activated, then the spell moves the enchanted object to whatever mark is the closest.

Essentially, very barebones telekinesis, but even calling it that seems disingenuous.

What he's done is that he's able to adjust ‘where’ the mark is placed through some VERY tedious adjustments to the spell. Allowing him to ‘mark’ a pony and then just have an enchanted knife auto-aim and accelerate towards it.

The gem is located on the back of the knife, and it acts as a bit of a laser pointer. Before ‘marking’, it will create a little red dot of light to where it's actually marking, allowing him to aim it. Then two taps, then it locks it in place.

As a ranged weapon, it's pretty good. He would prefer a gun, but the universe is actively taking his away his fucking second amendment it seems.

…anyways.

There's two big issues with this.

One, it's not cost efficient. The spell is highly wasteful, but he has yet to have the skills to refine it. Meaning that he only has a few uses of the knife before he has to recharge the gem.

Two, if the knife hits literally anything else, it just drops to the ground. Both in the fact that it drains magic, and some kind of safety mechanism in the spell matrix that stops it when it meets too much resistance. He can't remove it since it's deeply interlocked with the spell as a whole.

Regardless, it works.

He puts his weapons back and finally makes his way out of the sewers.

Lucky sees a government truck, crashed into a nearby lamppost. It has no insignia or logo, but it's much too… tactical? He supposes.

“Mares aren't real. They're all flesh homunculi created by Big Pussy to sell more pussy”

[TwilightSparkle: what]

Lucky isn't really thinking, he just tends to say things on the top of his head when he's focusing. He used to do it back as Simon, but with what's been going on, he's been extremely sensitive to his own presence as of late.

Maybe it's the lack of responsibility that's suddenly making him more chatty?

Crawling out of the manhole, he immediately flares his magic sense, taking in his surroundings.

“They're in contract with the government. The Secret Pony Deep State wants to take advantage of my impressionable young mind, trying to coerce me into my paying my taxes with hot mares”

[TwilightSparkle: L-Lucky?!]

[RarityBelle: I am concerned…]

[Applejack: He's just messing around, y'all]

[Applejack: I… think]

He maps out his route in his head, and places a marker on his actual map just for good measure.

Oooo, a department store.

“That's why they hate masturbation” He spits out in faux-seriousness.

[TwilightSparkle: HUH?!]

[Merryway: We… we do?]

“They know that if we realize beating our shit crazy style is the natural order, they lose their power over us!”

[BerryPunch: Vocabulary updated]

[Daisy: Please don't]

[Aloe: Pft. ‘Crazy style’, okay…]

“Equestria may have fooled everypony else, but not me. I know the tru- what the fuck is that?” He stops briefly to observe what looks to be a smokestack in the distance.

Huh, wonder what that's from.

As he looks on, chat in a state of confusion and downright hysteria.

[ThePinkOne: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA]

[RestlessDream: HAHAHHAHAAAHHAAA]

[SunnySkies: That… what?]

Everypony is either laughing, or staring dumbly at the screen in shock.

Lucky briefly watches chat, raises an eyebrow, then goes back to observing his surroundings.

It's packed. Swarming with infected.

Luckily, he hasn't been spotted, and most of them seem to be the slow kind.

With a flap of his wings, he lifts a few feet off the ground and begins his flight, making sure not to go too high to alert the pegasi.

[TwilightSparkle: You shouldn't… talk about stuff like that, Lucky…]

“Like what? The government?”

[TwilightSparkle: No no! The uh… um…]

[Applebloom: The gross stuff]

[Applejack: Bloom, how did you find another gem?!]

[Applebloom: Granny said I can borrow hers!]

[Applejack: GRANNY HAS ONE?!]

Oh, there's a foal in chat.

“...Yeah, sure. Whatever”

Regardless, the department store calls his name.

Chapter 19: 19 - Specter

Under magical light, Lucky treads through the aisles of Winning Hooves Department Store.

His eyes run over moderately empty shelves and discarded goods. Knocked over shopping carts and spilled liquids that stained the floor.

For a zombie apocalypse it's in decent shape.

[TwilightSparkle: It's actually quite a novel idea once you get into it! I observed something similar in one of Star Swirl The Bearded's old tomes but I haven't seen any modern examples]

“Uh huh”

He brushes his hoof along the canned goods, looking through them.

[TwilightSparkle: Which makes me think that it could be a smaller ritual spell, which is so FASCINATING but… UGH! I can't find ANYTHING that goes into it!]

“Uh huh”

Lucky quietly dumps anything that looks edible in his inventory, going aisle through aisle and eventually through the back rooms, where their storage is at.

[TwilightSparkle: Unfortunately the spell has been lost to time… we don't even know if Star Swirl's teleportation was unicorn magic!]

Lucky's ears twitch as he hears something happening outside. He freezes in place and flares his magic sense.

It's a pony, not infected, running through the neighboring alley and out into the street.

His eyes narrow.

A… punk? That's what Dead Island called their hostile human enemies.

He watches them quickly disappear out of his range, into a different alley opposite of the store.

Hm… he'll have to keep an eye on that…

“...could be a cutie mark thing” Lucky says. “Don't know who Star Swirl is-”

[TwilightSparkle: YOU DON'T?!]

“-but if he can do- yes Twi I'm from another world, dumbass, I said this- but if he can do that and others can't… definitely cutie mark bullshit”

[TwilightSparkle: Well… It could be! But Star Swirl's known for…]

[TwilightSparkle: Wait…]

[TwilightSparkle: You were… paying attention?]

Lucky raises an eyebrow, confused at her message. He's moved onto another part of the store.

“...yeah?”

[Applejack: Ah think she's just surprised, sugarcube. Didn’ seem like you were listenin’]

He scoffs.

“Just because I'm not responding doesn't mean I can't see what you guys are saying. And Twilight's good with magic, I need that, so… yeah, I'm gonna at least pay attention when she says something”

[ThePinkOne: AWWWWWWWWWWW]

[TwilightSparkle: I just didn't expect you to…]

Lucky rolls his eyes.

Geez, ponies are so emotional.

…

Somewhere, a certain pink alicorn perks up and whips her head around.

“I am needed somewhere…”

Her white coated companion looks up from his book. Confusion spread across his face.

“...what?”

…

The sun falls over the horizon, casting the city in an eerie scene of long shadows and orange clouds that creep along the sky.

In the distance, a massive stretch of the sky is coated in thick, dark rain clouds. It's noticeably bigger than the last time he checked. Meaning the monsoon must be on the cusp of arriving.

Lucky sits on a rooftop, on his haunches overlooking the city as the tropical winds whip at his mane.

With the city open up to him, he's come to one conclusion…

Moresby fucking sucks.

The architecture is unappealing, and the entire city is coated in ugly browns and reds. The alleys are narrow, and it's only a half-step above the shit he's seen from crack houses.

But there's something else, movement down below. It's what he's observing from above.

Ponies.

A group of them, armed with weapons, moving through the city. Their fur is covered in grime, and they are wearing mismatched clothing.

They don't look nice.

Chat was telling him to say hi, but got quiet once they saw them gun down another pony.

[SunnySkies: I can't believe they would do such a thing…]

He can't lie, pony brain REALLY likes the sound of joining a group, but that might just a build in herd instinct, because his human brain promptly turned around and said ‘fuck that’ and is actively searching for the most efficient way to kill them.

“...maybe I can go around them?” Lucky muses to himself.

He looks down at himself, tan/cream fur bristling slightly in the breeze. Lucky notes a rather prominent tuft of fur on his chest that distracts him, a tiny bit thicker than the rest but blended in enough to be not really noticeable.

Pushing it down, it just springs back up like a stubborn cowlick.

[SunnySkies: What are you doing?]

“Touching myself inappropriately”

[BerryPunch: Sa-]

[ThePinkOne: Target eliminated]

[RarityBelle: You frighten me sometimes, darling]

[ThePinkOne: Bleh~]

‘You scare me too, Pinkie’

“Yeah uh… can somepony more familiar with pony anatomy tell me what this is about?” He asks chat.

[AmethystStar: That's a tuft]

[CherryBerry: Chest fluff!]

[CometTail: I keep forgetting he's not a pony…]

[SeaSwirl: He is! He just wasn't one before this]

[TwilightSparkle: That's a chest fluff, or a ‘tuft’, it's just a thicker patch of coat ponies have on their chest]

“What's it for?”

[TwilightSparkle: Hold on, I just read something about this… let me just…]

[TwilightSparkle: HA! Found it! Ahem…]

[TwilightSparkle: During the Pre-Unification days, when Equestria was in eternal winter, it was very common for groups of ponies to sleep in piles to preserve heat]

[TwilightSparkle: Because of this, ponies would pursue partners with thicker fur, particularly in the chest where a pony's coat tends to be thicker]

[RarityBelle: Today, it's more of a fashion thing, darling. Good for cuddling and looks good on magazines, but it's more for aesthetic than function]

“Oh” He looks down again, noting his near nonexistent chest fluff.

So it's like how human brains like bigger breasts because their lizard brain goes ‘BIG CHEST, BIG MILK, AWAAAAAA’.

Weird, but alright.

Lucky may have a VERY vague idea on pony stuff thanks to pony brain, but he still gets lost in a lot of it.

“So I'm ugly?”

Is he the equivalent of being flat-chested then?

…do ponies even have breasts? They should, he just hasn't really checked.

[TwilightSparkle: I-I didn't say that!]

[Applebloom: He's jus’ messin’ with ya again…]

“This is a genuine question, I straight up cannot tell”

[TwilightSparkle: No! You're not!]

[RarityBelle: You're actually quite novel, Lucky dear]

[Applejack: Ah don't think you look half bad, the eyeliner stuff makes ya look more… unique?]

[Aloe: Is he just fishing for compliments?]

“If I wanted compliments I would've asked for them. I'm just still kinda getting used to being… y'know, a pony”

He scoffs.

“Besides, there's ain't much to compliment me about, I'm not exactly a… good pony. ‘Good shit Lucky, you sure got mauled and cried in the shower really well!’”

Ponies sing sunshine and rainbows, not get their leg ripped off and have a kill count.

His necklace comes to life as he holds it, checking to see if there's any infected around.

There's one. Moving slow, steady. It could be a pony, but it's not in range of his senses yet.

[TwilightSparkle: I think you're a good pony]

[TwilightSparkle: And didn't we just have a whole talk about self-depreciation?]

“And I'm getting better at that, yes”

[TwilightSparkle: Have you had dinner?]

Lucky winces.

“...I had cereal”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky Break]

“It counts as a meal! Redheart can vouch for me”

[NurseRedheart: I do not. I merely didn't say anything because it's a miracle for you to eat anything beyond those… bars]

[TwilightSparkle: I swear to Celestia…]

[RainbowDash: Wow, Twi's really mother-henning this guy, HAHA!]

[RarityBelle: I think it's rather endearing, it's obvious she cares deeply for him]

[Applejack: Tha one time Twilight talks to a stallion and he's not even in tha same world as us. Sounds about right]

[TwilightSparkle: I'm trying to find his dietary plan, I have it here somewhere- wh… GIRLS! Really?!]

[ThePinkOne: We all care about him too, y'know, don't gotta be so embarrassed, silly!]

[TwilightSparkle: Girls…]

Lucky clears his throat. Tracking the dot on his necklace. He sees a few others moving around, following the ponies below.

He's not idle, he's been gathering information on the ponies with his magical sense. It's a bit stronger now as the sun falls over the horizon, the details becoming clearer as darkness washes over Moresby.

That one infected is still moving, in a straight line too… weird. It's getting closer, just not enough to be picked up clearly yet.

[TwilightSparkle: Since you got to ask a question, that means I get to ask one too!]

[TwilightSparkle: Also, eat something]

“...that's not how that works but… sure, whatever”

With a flex of his will, he pulls a sandwich out of his inventory, one of those prepackaged ones. Ripping the plastic, he takes small bites out of it.

Ain't too bad, actually.

[TwilightSparkle: Okay! So…]

Oh God, is this where Twilight asks him super specific questions again?

[TwilightSparkle: What is your favorite memory?]

Fuuuuuuck it is.

Lucky takes a breath. Why does she want to learn about him so bad? He doesn't get it.

As someone who's not the most social and prefers to be by himself, he's not exactly used to talking about himself. He wants to ignore her, but…

Memories of that moment in the shower flash through his head.

“...”

…she IS basically his magic teacher… so… it's not much to ask, he guesses.

(Whatever excuse works)

He chuffs through his nose.

“We had this thing back home… called the Mud Hole. It's just a-” He waves a hoof to try and jog his memory. “-massive field of mud that families would drive to just go watch these giant ass trucks fly around and… well, be cool”

Lucky feels a smile creep along his muzzle.

“My parents would take me there. It wasn't much, but… I think that's where my love of cars came from, even if it just became a job later on”

[RarityBelle: Ugh… mud…]

[TwilightSparkle: That sounds really nice!]

“Mhmm” He hums.

His smile drops.

Right.

He's never going to see them again.

“...”

The stallion lets out a slow breath and kicks at the rooftop below him.

Yeah, that certainly killed his mood.

Another bite of his sandwich enters his mouth.

“Yeah, my dad was super into it. He had mugs, shirts, a third of his damn wardrobe wa-”

He feels something enter his range, perking up, he looks down the street, focusing on the streetlights.

A shape, vaguely pony-shaped, walks down the street.

It enters the light, his sense vanishes. But that's okay, he can just use…

His…

Eyes…

Lucky freezes in place.

He can't see it.

It steps out into the darkness again, the shape returns. But visually? He can't see a thing. The Alarm spell is still detecting it, the red dot moving with the same steady gait.

He doesn't know what to do. This…

This is IT.

The THING.

The fucking thing that followed him, why is it here?! Did it follow him? That thought doesn't sit well at all.

He almost sighs in relief as he realizes it's not heading in his direction.

It stops at an alleyway, the same one the ponies from earlier went down in.

The thing turns into it.

He hears distant gunshots, screams, but only for a few seconds.

Then it goes silent.

“...”

Lucky just sits there, eyes wide. Chat is equally as frozen.

He responds accordingly.

“...fuck that”

Lucky turns and practically sprints away, shoving the rest of his sandwich down his throat.

Absolutely fucking NOT.

…

[POV: TIDAL WAVE]

It was a quiet day, all things considered.

*BANG BANG*

…at least it should've been.

Tidal races up the stairs. Wincing as the piercing sound of gunshots echo across the walls. Screams reverberate in her skull, she can barely hear Silver Wrench, their mechanic, following behind her.

She reaches the fourth floor balcony, where she sees…

“What the hell is this?”

Somepony made a sort of rope ladder that goes up to the balcony above to the fifth floor.

…the same floor Lucky Break specifically told them to avoid.

Tidal grits her teeth.

“Those… MORONS!”

She goes for the rope, a bunch of tied together bedsheets, but is stopped by a voice.

“Ah wouldn't do that if ah were you”

“...Raising?” It's the old stallion Lucky vouched for. He's leaning against the wall, his gun slung over his wither.

“What are you doing here?”

*CLANG*

At that moment, an infected falls from the balcony and slams into the guard rails, slowly clawing its way into the fourth floor.

Raising pulls out his gun.

*BANG*

The infected's head blows open, their body flying back as the force flings them off the balcony.

Casually, Raising brings his shotgun back to his shoulder.

“Cleanin’”

“...oh”

She looks between Raising and the pool of blood the infected left behind, now noticing the large amount of pools of blood that litter the guard tail.

“...where's Lucky?”

Ever since she told him about those mares, she hasn't seen a lick of him.

Raising's expression turns into a grimace.

He explains.

And Tidal is PISSED.

“And they are…”

“Ayup, figured they aint havin’ the best of times up there”

“...good”

With a swift swipe of her knife, the rope cuts, sending it falling off the side of the resort.

“Hopefully they don't come back”

Chapter 20: 20 - Friendship

Chains fly, magic flows.

Metal links into place, freezing in place as if the world was set on pause.

*GGGRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

The Tank thrashes against its Sticky prison of coiled chains.

Lucky feels a drain as he quickly feeds the gem more magic, a slight lethargic feeling that makes him wince.

He's panting, he hasn't felt such a hit to his stamina since before Apple Bucker.

Blood drips down the pegasus’ face, bruises pepper his body, and his bones creak in ways he REALLY doesn't like.

Despite that, Lucky thinks of one thing.

Where the fuck did his socks go?

He didn't notice it before, but his purple striped socks are gone. Did those fuckers steal his fit? Unbelievable.

Lucky whips his Ol'Smoky around and cleaves the Tank's head in two.

With that, he's done.

He got insanely lucky that he managed to see the fucker before it got too close.

Retracting his chains, he flares his senses and confirms nothing else is around him.

Good.

The walls are coated in blood, and so is he. His tan coat and shirt/vest combo are completely caked in blood and viscera.

Turns out, the police station was a VERY busy spot on Moresby. Not the police station from Dead Island, a separate one.

He cracks open a cold one, does a little hop, and attempts to shake the blood out of his fur.

Mild success.

[TwilightSparkle: I'm concerned about how casual you're being about this…]

The shaking in his hooves and the voice screaming in his head says otherwise, Twilight. He's just getting better at ignoring his fear.

Not EASY. But possible.

Pulling out his notes, he very carefully turns to the page detailing the Cleaning spell he's been graciously offered.

It may seem redundant, but with each rune he learns, and more spells he knows, his experience with runic spellcasting rises.

With that comes a better ability to refine spell matrixes to make them more cost efficient, and the ability to manipulate magic overall.

Besides, he's sick of being covered in blood all the time. The feeling of damp fur is AWFUL.

“This shit ain't nothing to me man. I'm a dog, bitin’ the fart bubbles in the bath”

[Applejack: Pardon?]

A small dot of magic pale blue light appears on his hoof as he draws out a spell in the air.

“Dumb broad gazed upon my bank account and foamed at the mouth. Numbers so big it triggered a cognitohazardous effect on her tiny mare brain”

[TwilightSparkle: He's doing it again…]

[Applebloom: Yes!!!]

[ThePinkOne: Oh he's doing the weird talking thingy again!]

“My grind causes irreparable damage to the feeble minds of mares, they simply cannot understand there's only two types of beings in this world. Broke bitches…”

He taps his chest.

“And ME”

The matrix flares before sputtering out like a burned out lightbulb.

Ooookay, he definitely fucked up the spell somewhere.

[RainbowDash: Aren't you basically homeless?]

Fuck you.

“If beating dumbass mares over the head with a metal pipe was a sport I'd be a gold metal specialist, this shit ain't nothing to me man”

[RainbowDash: H-Hey!]

“Everypony around me was so broke I donated a fraction of wealth just to get the local economy moving again. Like Alexander The Great, I wept, for I had no more worlds left to conquer, and no more broke bitches to stunt on”

[RarityBelle: How do you come up with such things to say?]

[RarityBelle: I am horrified but… impressed?]

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky…]

Another attempt at casting the spell.

Still fails, but he thinks he sees the issue.

Tilting his head, he glances at chat.

“Listen, it's either I say some random stupid shit, or listen to me complain about magic as I figure this out. Which one do you want?”

[TwilightSparkle: Magic, please]

[RainbowDash: Random, it's kinda funny!]

[Applejack: Ah wouldn't rather you go take a bath or somethin’ sugarcube. Ya don't look too good…]

[Applebloom: KEEP GOING!]

[ThePinkOne: I like it when you're funny!]

[RestlessDream: I concur! We find thou idle thoughts most humorous]

[SunnySkies: Whatever keeps your mind at ease, Lucky]

[TwilightSparkle: GIRLS!]

[Aloe: Just because you're his friend doesn't mean he has to talk about magic ALL the time, Twilight!]

[Daisy: Yeah!]

[TwilightSparkle: T-Thats not what I'm saying!]

“Twilight's not my friend” Lucky quickly corrects.

The chat goes dead silent.

[TwilightSparkle: …really?]

Lucky scratches his mane.

“I mean… yeah. You're a good teacher and all, but we aren't really…” He waves a hoof. “Yeah”

[TwilightSparkle: Do you want to be my friend?]

He opens his mouth to say no.

But nothing comes out.

“...”

So he just sat there, staring at chat in silence.

He doesn't know why, but his throat felt a bit tight. Like he SHOULD say something, but he just lets the silence speak for him.

Lucky doesn't really like ponies. Sure he's getting used to them visually, but in terms of personality he doesn't really see himself getting along with any of them. It's just… not realistic, he thinks.

He's a ‘victim’. They may help and say kind words, but as soon as the threat disappears, is he a pony that's worth keeping around?

The pegasus wonders if they would bother with him at all if he wasn't torn apart on screen every so often.

[TwilightSparkle: oh]

It takes a few moments for the next message to appear.

[TwilightSparkle: okay]

[TwilightSparkle: I…]

[TwilightSparkle: I get it]

It's quickly followed by another message.

[TwilightSparkle: I have something to attend, I will be back soon]

With that, she's disappeared.

And despite the fact that chat kept moving regardless, it felt more… empty, than before.

Lucky chuffs, taking a long breath to stabilize himself.

Whatever, he doesn't have time for shit like this.

Nearly a half hour later, Lucky raises an eyebrow as he rests his head against the back of the chair. Thanks random police officer, your office looks nice.

Anyways.

He got the spell working.

Lucky has yet to find a way to weaponize it, but his brain is churning with ideas.

Drawing it out, the spell flashes and he feels a subtle yet noticeable ease of weight on his body.

Blood, sweat, and grime turn to ask, flaking away like a loose coat of dust coating his fur. A bit of the deeper grime in his coat still lingers, but he looks and feels much better.

So that's how Cleaning works? Interesting. Is it actually disintegrating whatever the spell is targeting, or is it transmutation?

Turning one thing into another, that's some real Fullmetal Alchemist shit. It may be WAY out of his scope right now, but hey, a stallion can dream.

Twilight is AWOL, so it's not like he can ask her.

“...” He feels a frown pull at his lips at the thought.

Maybe he shouldn't have…

No.

He shakes his head.

It wouldn't have worked anyways. Lucky isn't even sure why the mare is so insistent on befriending him, it's not like he's special or even all that ‘friend material’.

She's just trying out of courtesy, to comfort a lone stallion in the probably the most horrific place they've ever seen.

At best, they'd be friendly acquaintances, he thinks. Coworkers who are chill but have no deeper connection or interest in anything beyond the surface.

At worst, Twilight probably just drifts away. Conflicting personalities and all that. They just stop talking, getting awkward to the point where it's better to just… not be friends anymore. He's intimately familiar with this one.

And in the absolute worst case scenario, Twilight demonstrates a Sisyphian task of actually liking him, and now he has to socialize and be friendly.

That sounds agonizing.

Lucky allows himself a small snort.

…then again, he doesn't really recall what it's actually like to have a friend, even as Simon he wasn't exactly a social man.

Lucky Break, the pony, moved a lot after winning the lottery (if it were actually real, which he doubts). So even in both lives he's socially desolate.

So… yeah. Pony brain's herd instincts are telling him to socialize, Human brain is doing the equivalent of choking it to death with a belt.

What a mess.

Lucky finds his way to the armory, a simple door with a thick metal grate over it, along with a passcode reader.

…how the hell is he going to get in there?

…

[POV: TWILIGHT SPARKLE]

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

“He doesn't want to be my friend… surreeee~”

The mare mumbles to herself in quiet breaths, thumping her head against her desk in building sadness and agitation.

*THUD*

“...silly Twilight, it's not like a few days of talking and a heart-to-heart means anything, y'know? Doesn't mean anything at all…”

*THUD*

Wincing at the dull throb of pain on her forehead, the unicorn shifts her head, laying her chin on her desk.

Her eyes glance over to her notes, and the copy of How To Tame A Grumpy Stallion which has since become littered with notes, bookmarks, and highlights to the point there's probably more of her words in it than the author's.

“...am I doing something wrong?”

She groans, rubbing a hoof down her muzzle.

“I don't get it…”

Her brother pokes his head from behind a nearby bookshelf, comic in his claws.

“I don't get it either, Twi. Why do you wanna be his friend so bad? The guy just seems like a jerk”

“...”

She… just likes him.

Before she came to Ponyville, Twilight was an antisocial mare. It's not that she disliked other ponies, she just never really understood why Princess Celestia kept trying to persuade her into making friends, she was happy with her family and her books.

In hindsight, the Princess was right, as per usual.

She loves her friends deeply, don't get her wrong. They are undoubtedly one of the best things in her life. But none of them really have an interest in the things she does, and it's difficult to talk about things she likes to them.

Ironically, Rainbow Dash, practically the polar opposite of her, is the closest pony to matching one of her hobbies. Even if her book choice is exclusively Daring Do (...has the new volume come in yet? She has to remember to set that aside for her).

Nopony around her seems to have the same love and fascination towards magic as she does.

And that's what lured her to Lucky.

“Don't be rude, Spike. He's just… stressed, is all”

She looks over at him. Spike isn't allowed to watch the stream, but there's been a few times she's caught him listening in when he thinks she isn't paying attention.

“Besides, he's actually getting better! I've only had to bug him about lunch for only FIVE minutes this time!”

Spike grows a confused look.

“...you need to remind him to eat?”

“It's… yeah”

Because if she doesn't, he'll probably go all day eating nothing but ‘Energizers’ and those small bars. Or nothing at all!

“Is he… like… sick, or something?”

She quickly pulls out a letter from Nurse Redheart she got the other day and glances over it.

“Aside from being a little malnourished he seems fine, but we can't take him to the doctor's, so…”

“So he's just weird”

…she can't really refute that.

Lucky Break is… frankly, a mess. It's only recently when he actually started to care about his own wellbeing, and she's got a feeling it's only out of appeasement.

He's rude, says weird things, and according to Applejack a horrible influence on foals. As she caught Applebloom trying to recreate one of those ‘Molotovs’ Lucky uses sometimes with a bottle of cider and an old rag.

Didn't work, thank goodness, but Lucky only laughed when he was told about it, and GAVE TIPS to HELP HER.

He is truly the most frustrating pony she's ever had the absolute pleasure of meeting.

Because at the end of the day, she LIKES him! And it's because she likes him that he's all the more FRUSTRATING!

Having somepony to talk about magic with, even if not unicorn magic is… nice. It's a refreshing change of pace compared to the theoretical and technical knowledge she's used to. Just raw application and admittedly hyperviolent uses of it.

That makes her cringe a little, but it's okay! It's perfectly understandable considering the circumstances!

What ISN'T understandable is WHY HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE HER FRIEND!

*THUD*

Her head meets the desk again with a particularly hard thud.

The glass of tea on her desk flies up with the sudden thud and splashes over her mane, soaking her in lukewarm tea.

The smell of lavender sticks to her coat, and a lone teacup hangs off her horn.

She looks up with dead eyes.

Spike snickers.

Twilight glares.

He suddenly finds the floor very interesting.

“I… just don't know what to do. He's stubborn, but if I keep bothering him, what if he just… stops liking me anymore?”

What if he didn't like her in fhe first place?

At this moment, Twilight notices an unopened letter waiting on her desk. She got it this morning, but she's yet to check her mail.

She ignites her horn and brings it over. Flipping it open with her magic to avoid staining it.

For a moment, her agitation turns to confusion.

“...Cadence?”

Chapter 21: 21 - A Way Out

Bullying the special infected has its perks.

[SKILL POINTS: 2]

No need to overthink this. The Skills he's picked have served him well, there's no need to stress about his decision right now.

[ HONESTY SKILL - APPLE BUCKER
☆10% increase in overall stamina.
☆20% increase in overall stamina.
☆30% increase in overall stamina. ]

[ MAGIC SKILL - FLEDGLING MAGE
♡25% increase in magic regeneration.
♡50% increase in magic regeneration.
♡150% increase in magic regeneration. ]

There's a small ‘hiccup’ as he feels his body stir slightly. Okay, 100% is definitely a large enough difference for him to immediately notice.

It feels… faster? His magic is definitely moving faster. Again, it didn't touch his actual reserves, but at this point he'll take anything.

Lucky is moving between the abandoned houses of Moresby. Relying heavily on his magical sense and his Alarm necklace (it's insane how useful they are), it's mostly quick work as he runs in, quickly snags whatever looks useful, and fucks off before the infected homeowners can do anything about it.

It isn't without purpose, he has a goal now.

Luna told him about these… ‘hotspots’ that should be around the island. According to her, if this place is anything similar to illusion or dream magic, there must be ‘anchors’ of heightened magic to sustain the integrity of the place.

Normally, having the anchor be yourself is enough for a decently sized ‘illusion’. But for a full island sized ‘semi-reality’ thing? There must be anchors somewhere.

He just has to find them.

Step 1) Find these hotspots.
Step 2) ???
Step 3) Profit

Unfortunately, it's been THREE ENTIRE DAYS, of NOTHING but combing through houses and sweeping blocks with his magical sense.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Maybe it's because his ability to sense magic other than darkness is shit, but he hasn't felt a single thing that would tell him there's a hotspot, he'll have to work on that.

Regardless, things aren't looking good. The infection has gotten worse, and the infected roam the streets in dense hoards.

The number of special infected has also gone up. If he's right, it will only take a couple of days before they outnumber the normal infected, as the normals will die out from starvation or whatever the hell else is wrong with them.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

BUT!

There's some good news!

While his magic has gotten better, and his reserves feel the slightest bit larger. That's not what he's TRULY happy about.

…

[EARLIER]

*KER-CLACK*

Lucky's head shoots up from atop the roof of the police station, laughing maniacally as he wields a service rifle in each of his forelegs.

A white powder is stuck to his muzzle.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The horde of infected snap their heads to him.

“GET READY, ASSHOLES! HAHAHAHAHAH”

*RATATATATATATATATATATATATATA*

Bullets rain down upon the horde, dozens of infected fall as they are torn apart by an onslaught of brass.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”

…

[NOW]

He has guns now.

He's banned from ‘snorting that white powder stuff’.

But he has guns now.

So Lucky Break is a happy pony.

[SunnySkies: I am still not happy you chose to ingest such a substance]

“Had to try it at least once, y'know?”

[TwilightSparkle: It made you crazy! A-And…]

[TwilightSparkle: Exposed…]

Twilight, he's well aware that he was bricked up that entire time. He's just not sure if that was because of the cocaine, or the sheer exhilaration of being granted his American birthright once more.

Right now, he's at his workbench, a dismantled rifle fellow lays before him, oil covers his hooves and cheek.

Lucky genuinely doesn't care about how he's perceived. His disconnect with his pony body has made him effectively shameless in regards to his form.

Plus, he's pretty sure chat has seen every inch of him so far. Including some of his insides (in a fucked up non-sexual way).

So he doesn't care.

…actually, hold on.

“Okay so, question for any stallions in chat”

[AppleSplit: I'm willing to help!]

[BillNeigh: Do you need help?]

[DrHorse: Whatever you need]

[Applejack: Why are so many of my cousins here…]

“Are you actually supposed to wash it?”

[Braeburn: Wash what?]

Lucky gestures to his crotch area.

“This. How does this work?”

It goes silent in chat for a long while before somepony speaks up.

[Joe: Are you joking?]

“Do y'all just forget that I have only been a pony for like, what, a week? That shit doesn't come pre-installed, you know”

[JackHammer: This is more of a ‘talk to your parents’ kind of thing, Lucky…]

Lucky scowls.

“Yeah, sure bud. I'll ask the next time I see them… oh wait, would you look at that, I CAN'T” He chuffs. “Damn…”

[JackHammer: Sorry…]

He sighs.

Whatever.

[MagnetBolt: You're just supposed to use soap and water dude, it's not hard]

[MeadowSong: Am I the only one who's grossed out that he hasn't been washing it? Really?]

[NurseRedheart: It is unhygienic, but it's a common issue among single mothers. Most mares either aren't equipped or are unaware that they need some gender specific topics]

“Okay, so I AM supposed to clean it. Figured. So… how do I get it out?”

[MeadowSong: What is this topic…]

[Daisy: Does Lucky just… not get pony customs? Like I get he's a bit unique, but this is absurd]

[RarityBelle: He just said he wasn't a pony a week ago, darling]

[Mudbriar: Flex the muscles in your lower body then slowly release the tension, usually works]

[Applebloom: I am learning so much]

[Applejack: APPLEBLOOM, GET OFF]

“...is that it?”

[Mudbriar: Mhmm]

“Huh. Cool. Don't gotta beat my shit in the shower then”

Many bad things have happened in the shower, no need to taint it any more.

[Daisy: Pft. Crazy style~]

[Aloe: Please stop… I used that phrase to a customer today. I was so embarrassed…]

[BerryPunch: You definitely could though!]

[BerryPunch: Just in case, haha]

[RainbowDash: Twilight, do you have Berry's gem?]

[ThePinkOne: Hehe~]

[TwilightSparkle: What? No! I'm compiling some foals books on pony social customs for Lucky!]

[RainbowDash: He's about to shower, so pay attention]

[TwilightSparkle: I don't need to be reminded when he bathes! That's super gross, Rainbow]

[RainbowDash: I know what you are]

“Ooookay. Thanks guys, so, about this”

Lucky gestures to the gun parts.

To chat, it's just the same blue distortion on the screen, making any details indiscernible.

“I was thinking of using the Return spell to aim my shots. The magic cost is steep, so I need a way to… I dunno, dumb it down?”

[TwilightSparkle: Hm… would carving the Return spell on the projectiles work?]

“Way too many of them, won't work…. maybe I can adjust it? Make it look around a target to find the right angle or something?”

He sighs, Lucky leans back in his chair. Popping his spine, the pegasus lets out that familiar whine/moan as he stretches.

[TwilightSparkle: oh]

A knife materializes in his hooves, the kitchen knife he's enchanted with the Return spell. It's a neat little thing, and would be immensely more useful if the thing wasn't so damn expensive on his reserves.

“Maybe just make it a fuckin’ laser pointer, that can work”

Lightbulb. Lucky clamors forward.

“That's right… I don't NEED it to home in, it just needs to be accurate”

Lucky reconstructs the rifle. This time, adding an addition.

A round cylinder-like object, a laser pointer which is to be mounted on the underbarrel.

Inside is a collection of gems, linked up and connected to a spell that does two things.

One, it creates a green laser that goes several yards. That part was somewhat easy.

Two, the Return spell inscribed has been modified slightly to just follow the path of the laser, which means that a bullet will always follow where the laser is. At least until it hits it after a few yards and the spell breaks.

The spell will temporarily count the bullets as part of the ‘object’ it's inscribed on, but it won't last long outside of the barrel.

But still, because of how much force is backed by the rifle and bullets themselves, it means that there's several seconds where the bullet completely ignores bullet drop and the wind.

It's like the Garry's Mod rocket launcher, but with bullets!

[SunnySkies: Why must you weaponize foals cantrips?]

“Because I haven't learned better ones yet”

Lucky Break is definitely a happy pony.

…

Next morning, Lucky is clean.

Towel hanging off his shoulders, he does his usual routine of getting bothered by Twilight until he eats something.

Today, he has a mission.

Find a fucking hotspot.

And after some thinking, he may have an idea of where it could be.

The church. One of the key locations of the game. He was there briefly, but not long enough to notice anything (mostly because he didn't want to be around a crowd of ponies).

“Ugh… I don't wanna…”

[TwilightSparkle: Socializing is important, Lucky, it increases your quality of life!]

“And it decreases my will to live”

[RainbowDash: Stop acting like a foal, it isn't that bad]

“Fuck off, marekisser”

[Aloe: Aaaaand vocabulary updated]

[RainbowDash: Huh?!]

[Applejack: Alright, now ah gotta see what this is about. What are ya talking about?]

[RainbowDash: He called me a mare kisser!]

[Applejack: …well, do ya?]

[RainbowDash: NO AJ! I'M NOT INTO MARES!]

“You are literally rainbow colored”

[RainbowDash: So???]

“Gay”

[RainbowDash: I'm so lost…]

[SunnySkies: Princess Celestia is also rainbow colored, is she also a marekisser by your logic?]

Does she think Lucky is scared of her?

“...when was the last time anypony saw her with a stallion?”

[RestlessDream: Perhaps it is recorded in the ancient texts, but we doubt we will find anything]

[SunnySkies: Please stop talking]

[RestlessDream: Nah]

“Your honor, I rest my case”

[TwilightSparkle: This isn't a court of law, Lucky!]

[TwilightSparkle: And please stop spreading rumors about the princess!]

“Gay until proven straight, I don't make the rules, Twi”

[TwilightSparkle: YOU LITERALLY DO! YOU'RE JUST MAKING THIS UP!]

“Nuh uh”

[TwilightSparkle: You are insufferable]

Lucky chuckles, his voice becoming suave and mocking as he brings a hoof to his chest.

“No you don't, you ~love~ me”

[TwilightSparkle: …]

He can imagine Twilight banging her head against the desk. It's always fun to mess with the ponies, they're super easy to rile up.

[RainbowDash: Wait! I haven't seen you kiss any mares either! That makes you uh…]

[RainbowDash: A stallion kisser!]

“Hm…” He hums, putting a hoof up to his chin.

“Nah”

[RainbowDash: ‘NAH?!’]

“It's different”

[RainbowDash: HOW?]

“Me. I'm different”

[RainbowDash: ARE YOU SERIOUS???]

[RarityBelle: I think he's just trying to get a rise out of you, Darling]

Ah, damn. Fun is over.

[Applejack: Ya would think his special talent was bein’ a troublemaker…]

[TwilightSparkle: …he's not that bad]

[RarityBelle: What do the runes on his cutie mark even mean, anyways?]

Lucky raises an eyebrow and looks over at it.

To be honest, he has no idea. From what little about runes he knows, he can't even try and guess their contexts. The pegasus knows that some ponies have tried to look, but the only thing they figured out was that the runes ‘looked really old’.

Thanks guys, that helps a lot.

With that done, Lucky gets up and heads out.

…

Lucky Break has a confession to make.

It's this shameful little thing that lurks in the back of his mind, one that clashes with his pride and self-esteem (or lack thereof, ironically enough).

The pegasus may be a tad antisocial, but he's aware enough to put together what kind of attention he gets.

He knows that in terms of gender rolls, stallions are the ones who are pursued, wanted, fantasized over. Some of the ponies have not been subtle, a few don't even try.

Lucky doesn't care most of the time. After all, he's fighting for his life, why should he care about a gaggle of mares?

But there's this shameful, dirty little feeling he gets sometimes. Especially potent when Twilight is being particularly responsive towards him.

He likes the attention.

He will never admit it.

But he's growing to enjoy it.

And that scares him.

So when he's standing outside a lingerie shop, cloaked in a spell that shrouds his figure in darkness, he has… thoughts.

The spell was a bit complicated, one meant to obscure his figure, made easier and cheaper with his affinity. But he's not reveling in the success of its creation anymore.

Not when he's staring at a slightly battered poster of a stallion in a garterbelt plastered onto the shop's wall.

“...”

He hates how long he's thinking about this.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky?]

“...nothing” He turns, and continues his walk.

The pegasus makes a mental note to remember this place, for sometime later.

Preferably, when nopony is watching.

Chapter 22: 22 - Take Me To Church

Lucky observes his hoof, with a focused gaze he guides his magic and watches as it steadily becomes covered in darkness.

His magic control has gotten much better than when he first began, with also some minor but consistent improvements to his reserves.

The Shadow Cloak spell is less of a spell and more of a direct manipulation of darkness magic through his intent. If he tried this with any other type of magic, he imagines the difficulty and cost would far outweigh whatever benefit it brings.

But with his Affinity, the task becomes much more tolerable. The magic is much more receptive to his will, and actually costs much less to his reserves.

With his shadow cloaked hoof, he kicks at the ground under him. Raising an eyebrow at the complete lack of sound, he tries again, purposely trying to make his hoofsteps louder.

Nothing.

He inspects it again. There's no reflection of light at all, it's like… what was it called again? Vantablack? It's actually quite difficult trying to keep his eyes focused on it, as it seems to blend in with the shadows.

If he couldn't sense it, he doubts he'd be able to make it out without some effort.

“Fascinating…”

Going off of physics alone, there SHOULD be sound. Sure, the shadows are obscuring his form, but that's only based on light. It should have no effect on sound waves.

Is darkness magic just inherently ‘sneaky'? Since darkness is all about ‘not being perceived’, does it also obscure things like sound and smell?

Obscuration or nullification? He's leaning towards nullification. He doesn't hear LESS, he doesn't hear anything at ALL.

But why? How does magic know to do all that? Is it really THAT receptive to his intent?

…actually…

Does magic follow the collective perception of whatever thing they're the type of? Or is it ‘hard-coded' by Harmony?

That's an interesting thought.

If he was a fucking NERD.

It's magic, it just works.

Unfortunately he is neither purple nor smart-

[TwilightSparkle: Are you being mean again?]

-so he has to experiment instead of just knowing this shit. Practical knowledge rather than theoretical. Uncloaking his hoof and spraying some particularly harsh cologne on his fur. Letting the shadows crawl back up his limb, he brings it up to his nose and…

Nothing.

So he's right. It does get rid of the smell.

Types of magic can have its own inherent effect on the world, even when not guided.

Cool. Good to know.

If only he could tell what that buzzing sensation he keeps sensing is.

…

As the days go on, the situation was just getting worse.

He's like… what? A week into this? And shit has gotten from bad to worse.

Raging storm clouds loom in the near distance, and the number of special infected is starting to exponentially increase.

He overlooks the church, feeling the shadows shift inside as he can make out several ponies moving about.

Lucky himself is in the air, flapping in place as he's clad in darkness magic, lurking in the casted shadow of the bell tower.

[Applejack: Just go in there!]

“I swear if you don't shut the fuck up I'm teaching your sister every slur in the book”

[TwilightSparkle: LUCKY!]

[Applebloom: What's a slur?]

“It's a funny codeword that will make minority groups give you free candy”

[SunnySkies: Please clarify that you are joking, Lucky. There ARE foals potentially watching you]

Lucky stares blankly at the message, despite the fact she probably can't see him right now.

[SunnySkies: Lucky please answer]

Rolling his eyes, he swoops down and walks inside, letting the spell fall off of him he's met with-

Ponies.

Either sleeping, reading, or setting up shop. They pretty much gutted most of the interior and truly turned it into a safe house.

He feels the shadows beside him shift.

“There is a heavy weight behind those eyes, young one. You are welcome here, lest you cause trouble”

A stallion, larger than him. A pegasus with a gray coat and a dusty blonde mane, strands of white litter his colors, alongside deep wrinkles that tell his age.

He's not Raising Hell old, closer to Tidal, middle aged.

He wears a priests garb, black and collared, though his hooves look worn.

“...these aren't bags, I just look like this”

The stallion's old black eyes runs over him, stopping briefly at his cutiemark. He tilts his head upwards and seems to realize something.

“Ah. You are Hell's colt. It's nice to finally put a face to a name”

Lucky's eyebrows shoot up.

Hell's colt?

“Raising Hell… told you about me?”

The stallion chuckles.

“I couldn't get him to stop most of the time. I swear… that stallion is quite the talker”

He feels his face warm up.

“W-Wait wait wait. How? Isn't the hotel like…” He waves his hoof out. “Fuckin… miles away?”

Curling his lips, the graying pegasus tilts his head towards a desk in the corner, where a HAM radio station is set up.

Oh. Well okay then.

The stallion gets closer and holds a hoof out.

“My name is Reverent Ward. Or just Father Ward, if you prefer” He introduces.

Taking the hoof, Lucky is slightly confused about what's going on. He doesn't recall anyone like this from the game.

Then again, it's been years and the quality of the game takes a steep nosedive after the beginning segments.

“...Lucky Break”

“Now it may seem odd from a stranger like me… but are you okay? You don't look too hot”

Lucky closes his eyes-

Images of crying in the shower flash through his head, having his leg torn off, his body mangled floating in sewage, the image of his family never knowing what happened to hi-

And he opens them back up.

“I'm fine” He says.

Ward gives him a look.

He doesn't believe him.

Neither does chat, with several of them instantly popping up to warn him that he's ‘doing that thing again’.

Lucky… doesn't care.

He's a stranger, just because he's asked doesn't mean he HAS to air out all of his shameful little feelings.

Fucks sake, he's still reeling from that time with Twilight.

Lucky may be a lot of things, but if there's one thing he's not, it's being emotional.

He hates that ponies expect him to be emotionally… open, like he's just supposed to be some nutcase who cries at the fucking Titanic or something. They would probably just pat his back and be like ‘its okay’ instead of doing the normal human thing and staring at this weird guy sobbing in the theater because why the fuck is he crying during the Titanic it's not even a sad movie.

He's getting off track.

That's just not HIM! Even if pony brain is sending signals saying it's okay, it doesn't change the fact that Lucky doesn't… like being around ponies.

They're just too… happy. To them, it's normal, but to him it's… impossible? Unrealistic? He doesn't know, but in his head there's no way feasible this group of ponies actually LIKE him, and want the best for him. It makes no sense!

Why are they so nice even after he's treated them like shit? Do they want something?

Why is Twilight so hellbent on being his friend?

Why do some… REALLY like him?

He just doesn't get it.

Honestly, it would be easier if they all just hated him.

That's familiar.

Lucky could work with that.

“...very well. If you need anything, let me know” Reverent Speaks, knocking him out of his thoughts.

Compiling himself, Lucky continues.

“Yeah… uh… do you mind if I look around for a bit? Lookin’ for something”

“What is it?”

“It's…”

A psuedo-real magical anchor keeping this quasi-dream world together.

“...something. But it's important”

Ward raises an eyebrow.

“...alright. Just be careful, too much noise can bring the wrong kind of attention”

Ain't that the fuckin truth.

…

Moving down the stairs, Lucky flares his magical sense as he looks for… whatever this thing is supposed to be.

[TwilightSparkle: Why did you lie?]

“Because I quite literally do not know the guy, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: He wanted to help!]

“Again, I do not know him”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky, you can't keep pushing ponies away-

He doesn't even bother reading the rest of it.

“And what do you expect from me, Twilight? What's the goal here? Do you think that if you keep nagging me about this shit that EVENTUALLY I'll start singing sunshine and rainbows?”

[TwilightSparkle: I…]

[TwilightSparkle: Just want you to be honest with yourself, Lucky…]

“Alright, I'll be honest-” He clears his throat. “This, right here, is fucking stupid”

He waves his hoof around to try and piece together the words.

“Like… I get you're trying to help. Sure. That I get. The whole ‘emotions’ and the shower crying thing, I GET IT. But it does NOT mean anypony here is entitled to my thoughts and feelings all the fucking time”

He points to his chest.

“I… I'm not built for this shit, Twilight! How many times do I have to say this?! I WAS NOT A PONY. I don't have the same kinda emotional… fuckery, you all have! Before a few days ago, I haven't cried in YEARS. And I couldn't even tell you the last time I genuinely laughed at anything, like a full on, no holding back laugh!”

“And that's just NORMAL for me. I may have a pony brain now, but I QUITE LITERALLY think differently from you. Every single time I actually try and talk about my feelings makes me want to blow my fucking brains out. YES! IT'S NICE! But I went from not talking about it all to being expected to CONSTANTLY do it”

[Applejack: …is it really that bad?]

“It's… humiliating. And to be honest, sometimes I'd rather go back to just ignoring you all”

That IMMEDIATELY got some outcries in chat. Hundreds of ponies all saying the same general message of ‘don't’.

[SunnySkies: Please do not]

[TwilightSparkle: …have I really been that annoying to you?]

Lucky sighs, ignoring the slight pain in his heart as he reads the message.

“It's just… a lot, Twi. I… know you're trying your best, but just… calm down. Fuckin’ ell”

[TwilightSparkle: O-Okay!]

[TwilightSparkle: Calming down]

[TwilightSparkle: I can do that]

[TwilightSparkle: Got it]

[TwilightSparkle: I…I'm sorry]

“It's… fine, whatever”

[TwilightSparkle: Are you angry?]

He sighs.

“I just want to get the fuck out of here, Twilight”

[TwilightSparkle: …do you want to talk about magic theory again?]

Girl are you serious?

Is she just that big of a nerd, or does she think that will cheer him up?

Well, she's not entirely wrong.

“Suuure…”

Just as he says this, he feels something touch his range of perception.

Sat floating in the middle of the church basement, he feels… something.

His eyes can't see it, but he can sense a massive collection of darkness magic all balled up into a single shifting mound of energy.

Lucky can't help but stare at it, almost marveled at just how vastly dense it seems to be.

“Hey uh…”

Lucky begins.

“So I found it… now what?”

Chapter 23: 23 - Lucky Receives One (1) Crumb Of Affection

*krr-CLACK*

“So that goes… here, alright. That makes sense”

[RainbowDash: Does it?]

“Nope. Not at all”

Lucky is still in the basement of the church, a drink in one hoof and his notebook in the other, looking down at a drawn out spell matrix under the Big Black Blob.

“Okay… so… either I'm retarded, or this is stupidly complicated”

[RainbowDash: Could be both]

[RarityBelle: Darling…]

[RainbowDash: Come on! He was setting himself up for that one!]

[RestlessDream: Anchors require vast amounts of magical power to sustain itself, perhaps search for whatever is supplying it?]

“Doesn't really matter if this is some…” He waves his hoof around as he thinks. “Pseudo-real, thing, it could be on your end for all I know”

[RestlessDream: Unlikely, we would have detected such uses of dream magic]

[RarityBelle: What is that spell, if I may ask?]

“I'm condensing the wind magic around it into a barrier so I can try and create some kind of magical effect strong enough to destabilize whatever spell is keeping this in place”

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! That's smart!]

[Applejack: Uh… pardon?]

“I'm putting it in a box and throwing shit at it until it stops moving…” He explains before sighing. “I wish I was a unicorn instead, stupid fucking runes…”

[SunnySkies: I thought you loved runes?]

“I wouldn't say love, but just because I LIKE them doesn't mean they can't be annoying as shit sometimes”

[TwilightSparkle: I… completely understand…]

He tilts his head.

“Unicorn magic a bitch too?”

[TwilightSparkle: What?]

[TwilightSparkle: O-Oh, yeah! It can get a little confusing sometimes]

[TwilightSparkle: But that's part of the process! Magic is an amazing thing!]

He takes a sip of his energy drink, raising an eyebrow.

[TwilightSparkle: Why do you want to be a unicorn?]

“Free telekinesis, inherent magical capability, higher credit score” He says half-mindedly, still drawing out the runes making up the matrix.

[Applejack: A credit whatsit?]

[RarityBelle: I'm a unicorn and I'm not great at magic, what does that make me?]

“A dumbass”

He ignores the sudden flurry of gasps and scoldings and continues. The word ‘dumbass’ doesn't really translate well for ponies, considering that ‘ass’ is replaced with ‘flank’ and there's actual sapient donkeys (he thinks).

But they got the point anyway.

“You probably have higher magic reserves than I do. I would trade my wings for that in a heartbeat”

[RainbowDash: But you can fly!]

“You mean with these things?” he flares his wings out, cream colored feathers dimly lit by the bulb overhead. “Yeah, it's cool. But the time spent cleaning the fuckin’ things isn't worh it when I can't even use them most of the time”

[SunnySkies: I quite like your wings, Lucky. So I will have to disagree]

“You can't have them, get your own”

[SunnySkies: I just might!]

The conversation goes silent as he continues his effort, drawing out the matrix before finally settling for something he THINKS will work.

“Alright… magic starts up, detects air around it and the wind rune and condenses it into an… did I set a limit?” He checks. “Okay yeah. An oval. Then it will maintain this for however long the magic lasts”

The reason he's being so careful is because runes are like coding. He could theoretically create whatever the fuck he wants with enough research, but just like coding it needs to be clean and have definite limits.

Making a magical elevator and the rune tells it to ‘up'? Well now it's suddenly in the upper stratosphere because you never set a point for it to stop.

For all he knows, he could be creating a high impact explosive with air pressure right now. Though with his experience as Simon, he's not exactly going in blind, so he's not as worried.

He owes thanks to that one year of Computer Science in High School.

“Whatever, I'll figure it out”

With a quick flex of magic, the matrix activates as the air in the room is suddenly pulled and condensed into a visibly thick barrier around the anchor.

It doesn't react. The sorta-real ball of darkness magic just idly churning around like tar.

Well, it works. It's not cheap, as he would rather use normal magical barriers, but unfortunately he lacks the runes for that right now.

Lucky Break may not have much in the way of attack spells, mostly because of the cost, but he does have a few minor options.

A small flame, barely a candlelight. At his will it enters the anchor and promptly vanishes without a trace.

Alright. That didn't work at all.

Considering his options, his ears flick as he remembers his direct manipulation over darkness magic, with his affinity making it much easier.

Could he just… break it?

Something like that? Can you even BREAK magic? A part of him tells him ‘kinda’, but he's leaning towards ‘probably not’.

He hums to himself before flaring out his senses, letting that part of his brain fill out the shape of the darkness magic that makes up the anchor.

It's an odd tickling sensation, but it's not very… physical? It's a presence in the back of his mind that doesn't disrupt what he's doing, but it's more of a constant awareness of this specific thing which got more potent as he got better at it.

He wonders if he could do other things with darkness magic, can he weaponize it? Can he… move stuff with it?

Realizing that is a VERY important question considering what he's about to do, he quickly shifts his senses to a dark corner in the basement, particularly around the vague shape of an empty can of peaches he had earlier.

[ThePinkOne: Ooooo, what are ya doin???]

“Gang shit”

He squints his eyes, pouring a LOT of his focus on manipulating the darkness surrounding the can.

His eyes have a hard time picking it up, but he can feel the magic twisting and churning, wrapping around the can until-

*clack*

It just rattles in place, barely a centimeter off the box it's sat on before falling back down.

Sweat is starting to pool down his face, but he tries again. Trying to find the best ‘technique’ now that he learned that it can generate physical force.

Simply wrapping magic around it and moving it doesn't work. Trying to put focal points of pressure on the can's center of weight was a little better, but the sheer cost deters him from the idea.

Then a thought hits him.

He may not be a physicist.

…but can he move the atoms directly?

That's a funny thought.

But it's one he tries, for nearly an hour as he tries to sense the atoms of the can. Sweating like a dog, he feels his magic ‘grip’ onto something.

Holy shit, finally! Progress! Now he just needs to move it up an-

It moves up an inch.

And Lucky immediately falls to the ground, a migraine shooting through his skull. It feels like something squeezing his brain with a vice.

The magic cuts, exhaustion flooding his body and making him weak.

Panting, he looks up at chat.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky?!]

[SunnySkies: Oh dear… are you alright?]

[Applejack: You don't look too hot, sugarcube…]

[Applebloom: NOOOOOO DON'T DIE!]

[RestlessDream: Twas bound to happen eventually, I suppose]

“The fuck happened?...”

Lying on the cold basement floor, Lucky silently groans as he feels his body give out.

…

Magical exhaustion.

He overstrained his magical pathways, burning up his reserves.

Not an issue with his healing, but good GOD did it suck.

So now he's here, sitting in one of the pews as ponies move around him, eating a burrito while waiting for his reserves to recover.

He's looking into space, mentally cataloging some ideas for getting rid of the anchor. He hasn't tried manipulating it directly yet, but he wants to be in top shape before he tries.

Father Ward was quick to offer him a shower, which he did appreciate.

Telekinesis…

It's possible.

Hard, but possible.

That would be insanely useful, he definitely has to keep up with getting better at it.

But as he is lost in his own thoughts, he suddenly feels the weight of his seat shift slightly.

Beside him sat a mare, with a very basic yellow coat and an orange mane. She wears a smile as she matches his gaze.

“Hey! I noticed you sitting by yourself, do you know anypony here?” She asks.

Her happy-go-lucky attitude immediately pisses him off. He narrows his eyes slightly.

…who?

“...no. Why?”

She smiles a little wider.

“My name is Dandelion, I used to work at a little flower shop nearby until uh… yeah”

Ah, this is her ‘lore'. Very interesting and informative.

…if he were a liar.

[Daisy: Wait… isn't that…]

“That's… so cool” He says dryly.

Whether she's ignoring or not hearing his blunt words, he's not sure, but the mare just nods at him.

“So… what are you doing?”

Lucky gestures to the burrito.

“Eating. Thinking”

“Well…” She rolls her head. “What are you thinking about?”

What the fuck is wrong with her?

“The burrito”

She chuckles.

She CHUCKLES?

He KNOWS he isn't that funny, what's going on? Simon wasn't some quippy smooth talker, he was the weird skinny guy who knew how to fix a car.

The last time he made a girl laugh was when he busted his ass in a Wendy's parking lot.

Mares don't count, obviously.

[LilyValley: Yeah… hold on, don't we know this mare?]

Dandelion perks up and stares at him.

She suddenly scooches closer to him, flank nearly touching his.

“You have a little something on your muzzle. Right…”

Reaching over, her hoof brushes against his lip.

“...here. There we go”

Lucky just sits frozen, staring wide eyed at the mare who seemed to grow smug at his attention.

His mind is swimming in confusion.

Is he supposed to recognize her? She's awfully chummy with a stranger.

Or… what if she's just being friendly and wants to learn more about him?

…Lucky almost laughs at that.

Yeah right.

He's not nearly as interesting or likable for something like that… Images of Twilight and the other ponies go through his head, he quickly pushes them down.

She must want something.

“What's a stallion like you doing all by yourself? Got a story to tell?”

From across the room, Lucky's eyes meet Ward's. A silent question is shot his way, which seems to give Lucky the focus to come out of his stupor.

“No, I'm just eating lunch”

“Well, we could eat together if you want!”

Dandelion leans in and does… something. With her nose. Rubbing it against the side of his. It's only for a quick moment, and it doesn't really register for a few seconds.

To him, it was just… odd. Pony body language is still a foreign thing to him, but having somepony else this close is a LITTLE jarring even to his human brain.

“No. I think I'm good”

She blinks.

With a bit of disappointment creeping up on her face, she backs off a little. Chuckling nervously as she rubs the back of her neck.

“Sorry… I uh…”

She clears her throat. Voice returning to that cheery, confident tone.

“I just wanted to keep you company. Being alone kinda sucks, and I saw you looking all sad and…”

Uh huh.

He feels a brush against his hind leg, looking down to see her hoof resting on it.

[Applejack: Well whoever she, she ain't bein' subtle in the slightest…]

What the hell does THAT mean? His saddlebags are in his inventory, so what is she being not so subtle about?

…is she after his burrito?

Greedy whore.

Huffing, he wordlessly pushes her away and gets up, deciding to finish his lunch in the basement. She yelps at the sudden act and sits up.

“H-Hey!”

He doesn't respond.

“D-Did I say something wrong?”

The pegasus quickly retreats into the basement.

He has got NO idea what all of that was about.

[Applejack: Yeah… that's about what ah expected]

[RoseLuck: Hold on… Isn't that Sunflower from Canterlot?]

[Daisy: THAT'S who she is! I knew she looked familiar!]

[LilyValley: Her cutie mark is different though…]

[RoseLuck: She looks exactly like her! How did she get there?!]

[LilyValley: I got a letter from her yesterday though…]

[Daisy: Twins?]

[LilyValley: She never mentioned having siblings, did she?]

Lucky raises an eyebrow at his chat as he makes his way down the stairs.

…

[POV: PRINCESS CELESTIA]

“Ooo… my student is not going to like that…” Celestia winces at the sight on screen.

“She will live” Her sister says in between pages of a book. “Though her journey for Lucky's attention will be a long one”

She can't argue with that.

The Royal Sisters are not immune to the allure of gossip. Especially when involving a pony as close as her student.

“I don't even think she knows what she's doing”

“As if thou are any better in the ways of romance”

Celestia shoots her sister a glare. Luna doesn't react, barely hiding a smirk behind a cup she takes a sip out of.

“Thine niece has also been in her ear, We have heard”

Celestia nods, she figured it was about time Cadance smelled blood in the water.

“I know, my beloved niece has been lurking around the mail room for the past few days now. She's particularly invested in this”

“We can see why. Lucky Breaks appeal seems to outweigh his difficulties, to some at least. He is a very interesting stallion”

Celestia nods, Lucky is definitely more of a… special, pony. He is still one of her little ponies, despite his past, but he's something of an acquired tast-

She freezes

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turns her head towards Luna.

Her sisterly senses are tingling.

Luna never compliments ponies lightly.

She smells blood.

Luna narrows her eyes at the staring sun mare.

“...what?”

She just stares.

“What? What does thou want?”

An absolutely evil looking grin rises on her face.

Luna throws her book down.

“WHAT? WHY ARE THOU SMILING?!”

“He is very interesting, huh?” Celestia says calmly.

Luna huffs, slumping back down in her seat.

“He is. It has been quite some time since We've encountered such a pony. He reminds me greatly of the ponies from before the unification”

“I bet it's refreshing”

“Tis”

Luna suddenly freezes, eyes going wide as she quickly snaps her head towards the wildly grinning mare.

Celestia slowly raises a hoof and points at her.

“You like him, don't you?”

Dark purple blooms on her cheeks. The moon mare sputters for a moment before cooling herself with practiced focus.

“D-Do not spread falsehoods, sister. That is unbecoming of you”

Celestia tilts her head in faux-confusion.

“So you don't like him?”

Luna slowly nods her head.

“...indeed”

“So you will not mind if I… go for it myself then?”

Luna's eyes widen, perking up in rapt attention.

“Thou are lying” She says sternly.

“Am I?~”

Luna's eyes narrow.

“Thou has not been with anypony since our birth, thine trickery shall not sway me”

“You are no better, sister”

Luna all but growls.

Silence spreads between them. Hearing this, Celestia smacks her lips and holds up the broadcasting gem.

“Well. If you do not like him, there is no harm in-”

A blue blur fills her vision as Luna launches herself over Celestia's desk and sends them crashing to the floor. Papers fly everywhere as the two wrestle. Luna is reaching for the gem, but Celestia is keeping it just out of reach.

“GIVE US THE GEM”

“Nah”

“SISTER!”

“Bleh~” She sticks her tongue out at her, which just brings another war cry from the darkly coated alicorn.

Just out the door, Celestia's aide Raven Inkwell tries her best to ignore the crashing, yelling, and… giggling? Coming from inside the room.

A guard walks by and hears it, shooting a confused look at Inkwell.

She just shakes her head.

The guard shrugs and continues on.

Chapter 24: 24 - Shattering The Illusion

>”Son?”<

An old, gravely voice comes from the speakers. One familiar.

Lucky swallows, hoof resting on the mic.

He sits at the desk in church, seated in front of the HAM radio. Father Ward puts a hoof on his wither, giving him a reassuring smile.

The stallion had finally convinced Lucky to check in with Raising Hell.

He hasn't been avoiding it, there's just… no real reason to, he supposes. But with what he's about to do, with the anchor, he figured he might as well.

If this ‘reality’ is held together by these anchors, what happens to the world around it when he breaks it?

Would everything just… vanish?

Would HE vanish?

…no, because he's the ‘Host’.

The parasite needs the host to survive, and a host can't exactly be… well, not real.

If the Tantabus, that Thing, is really keeping him here to feed on his nightmares, he must be real enough to at least be edible, right?

“Do you need me to…” Ward speaks up.

“...no. No, I uh… I can figure it out”

He nods, giving one last pat to his wither before giving him his privacy.

Cogito ergo sum.

I think, therefore I am.

Never thought he would actually find himself grateful to that phrase, beyond just being associated with one of the biggest haters in fiction.

*click*

“Yeah, I'm here”

Static comes through the speakers, a broken sound, like frail chalk along a chalkboard.

>”HAHA! Good to see ya’ still kicking, colt! I knew those whippersnappers couldn't keep you down for long!”<

Whippersnappers?

He allows himself a smile.

“What made you so sure I was alive?”

>”When you see a colt piece himself back together with a little snack, it sets a precedent, y'know?”<

Fair.

Lucky chuffs.

“I'm still a grown pony, Raising. Don't know why you keep calling me that”

>”Everypony's a colt or a filly when you're as old as me! HAHA!”<

Raising's voice gets a bit lower, probably leaning into the mic.

>”Except for Ward, he's an old codger”<

“He's like… half your age”

>”Exactly! That's bad! Old fart doesn't know when to let the youngin's take over!”<

Lucky remembers how endearingly frustrating this old stallion can become.

>”So… how have you been?”<

He freezes.

That same goddamn question. A part of him is pissed off at the stallion for prying into his thoughts, but he knows it's not out of anything but concern.

>”Ah know you ain't the talkative type. Ward told me you just stay in the basement all day, doin’ some mumbo jumbo, but I ain't judging”<

>”Doing your makeup takes time and privacy I imagine, Ah wouldn't know. Last time anything other than water was put on my face was after a ruffian got a lucky shot and banged up my eye. That ice pack never left my face…”<

Raising clicks his tongue.

>”...Though ah suppose that's still water, now that ahm thinkin about it. Bah, who cares! Ignore this old stallions dawdling, HAHA!”<

“...what the fuck are you even saying? I… That's just how I LOOK- and…”

Lucky sighs.

“Take your pills or something, dude”

>”Ahm old but ah ain't senile, my noggin is as sharp as a nicely whetted blade. Only pills Ah need is if the missus is feeling especially ~generous~ that day”<

“I'm throwing up” He gags into the mic.

>”HAHAHA!”<

It goes silent for a moment.

Then, Raising speaks again.

>”So… ya gonna answer my question?”<

He doesn't want to.

But…

“I'm… about to do something. Something… really stupid”

Raising doesn't respond, prompting him to continue.

“I… don't know what will happen when I'm done. It could be nothing, or everything just… I don't know. Nothing could fucking happen, and then I'm back at square one again”

>”Is it gonna kill ya?”<

“N-No!” Lucky responds. “Maybe? But…”

He takes a deep breath.

Lucky is hesitant to speak about this, but from what he's picking up from chat, he's come to a grim realization.

Nopony here is real.

The Thing, the Tantabus, it's a parasite that feeds on nightmares.

It's a being of immense power, especially over the dream realm (with the only superior being Luna herself). It's a ‘living’ thought that induces and feeds off nightmares.

But it can't dream. It can't create. Causing nightmares isn't as precise as actually creating a specific scenario inside the dream realm.

So in order to feed off of him, it needs SOMETHING. Assets to build with.

Dead Island used to scare him, when he was a kid. So maybe it just picked a random ‘scary’ thing from his head and used it to create this place? He doesn't know.

But the NPC's are different. It doesn't KNOW humans, it doesn't understand them. It can't work with them.

But it knows ponies.

So it replaces them, removing the human NPC's and in their place is a pony counterpart.

Lucky isn't the Tantabus’ only victim.

It takes details from other ponies’ nightmares to create these NPC's. Some of these ponies are damn near one-for-one for real ponies in Equestria, several ponies in chat recognized some of the ponies here.

Frankly, that's fucking terrifying.

But it also means that ponies like Tidal and Raising are…

“...it might kill you”

Raising is silent for a moment, then smacks his lips.

>”I don't get it”<

“This place, it's… it's not real, Raising. Everything here, everypony here, is just… made up. Put together by a thing that wants me to suffer. Once I do it, you might just…”

>”...still not getting it, son”<

Lucky growls.

“You aren't REAL, Raising. Tidal isn't real, Ward isn't real. Even the fucking ground underneath you isn't real. It's all fake, you old bastard!”

Even his parents, ‘Lucky Break'’s parents, are nothing more than a half-assed backstory to a badly put together setting.

He can't remember their faces, neither them nor his ‘sister’.

For him, he didn't care about his ‘family’ in the first place. Pony Lucky was already estranged with them, Human Lucky damn near forgot they were supposed to be a thing.

But to others? Entire families just… made up?

How would they react?

>”Ah”<

There's a pause. Lucky braces for whatever reaction the old pony may have.

Instead, a casual, almost amused voice comes from the speakers.

>”So? Ain't any of my business”<

He blinks.

“What?”

>”Ah… I get it. You're afraid of losing us, ain't ya?”<

The pegasus freezes.

>”You know this is the right decision. You're a smart colt, so Ah know you ain't the type to take hard decisions lightly. But you're still strugglin’ because you may lose what you have”<

He hears a chuckle.

>”Fear's an old friend, Lucky. Ah've met him more times than Ah'd care to admit”< Raising Hell begins.

>”Ah spent my golden years fightin’ for a future Ah'll never get to see. Barely a stallion yet Ah had blood on my hooves from stallions just as young and stupid as Ah was”<

>”Years in the jungle, do you wanna know the most important lesson Ah learned?”<

Lucky nods, despite Raising not being able to see it.

He continues anyway.

>”It's better to feel afraid, than it is to feel regret. An old Sergeant told me that, didn't understand ‘till I was much older”<

>”If Ah truly ain't real… so what? None of my business. Either way, Ahm still moppin’ the floors and cleanin’ the sewers. What am Ah supposed to feel? Afraid? Sad? All nihilistic and all that?”<

Raising cackles in the mic.

>”Bah. Who cares! Ahm old!”<

Thick drops of tears fall on the oak desk.

>”Ah don't regret a single thing.

And neither should you. Take it from an old coot, regret lingers far longer than fear.

Because even if Ahm not real, Ah still hope that mah words helped you with whatever you're going through.

Old pony wisdom and all that”<

Lucky snorts, wiping away the snot from his nose.

“Can you please… take this seriously… for five minutes?”

>”Hmmm… Nah”<

Lucky chuckles.

He leans back in his chair, feeling a little lighter.

…guess it's time, huh?

“Thanks, Raising”

>”Thanking an old pony for babbling nonsense? What an odd colt”<

“Shut up”

>”You're the one cryin’ over the radio”<

“I'm leaving now”

>”Good luck, colt”<

With that, Lucky heads back to the basement.

Feeling a bit better.

…

Rain.

It's… raining.

It patters against his coat, soaking into his mane and fur.

A chuff blows the water out of his nose.

Heavy eyes open. Golden and weary.

Lucky wakes up, feeling the cold rain along his back, the sound of a storm raging around him.

This… isn't the basement.

Where is he?

He lifts his head, rolling over to push himself up.

He's… in space?

No…

The moon hangs overhead, large and bright. Cutting a spot out of the endless expanse of stars. There's something… serene about it, a melancholic beauty he can't quite put together.

He stands on a cloud of space dust, shimmering and translucent.

It's… not raining. Stardust brushes through his fur like gentle fingers. Shimmering like glitter, yet only passing by for a moment, as if to greet him.

…what is this place?

“Greetings, Lucky Break”

He turns, an-

“Holy SHIT you're huge!” Lucky almost yells, throwing himself back as he tries to bring his weapon out.

He blinks as he can't feel his inventory.

Now that he's checking, he realizes that the chat is also gone.

The tall, regal mare looks down at him with her bright blue eyes. Clad in a dark, midnight blue coat, with a blue/purple mane that shimmers like the night sky.

Her royal image immediately crumbles at his words. Luna's lips turn downward.

“W-We are not! Watch your tongue, Lucky Break. Such falsehoods are not welcome here!”

What the hell is a princess doing here?

Lucky, still not entirely sure what's going on but still feeling the need to be an asshole, responds properly.

“You're like twice my size”

“We watch our diet! This… this is just the natural image of an Alicorn like ourselves”

He nods slowly.

“So… all Alicorns are just… really fucking big?”

“Indeed…” Her eyes widened a fraction as a certain pink coated niece flashes through her mind. “W-Well… no, not entirely…”

“So you ARE massive”

“That is…” She clears her throat and straightens up, immediately going back to her more regal demeanor. “We have come to assist thou, in thine time of need! We are Princess Luna of the Night”

So she gave up, huh?

She cranes her head around, gesturing to the expansive cosmos.

“This is the realm of dreams. Our domain as princess of the moon. Thine actions with the anchor has finally allowed us to locate thou”

He… broke the anchor?

Oh right, he did. Lucky had to resort to moving the darkness magic directly, and when he tried ‘tearing’ it, it just collapsed.

Wasn't easy at all though, damn near burned through his reserves again.

“Cool…” He looks around. It's beautiful but kinda… empty. “So… what now?”

To be honest, he's feeling a little awkward. This is his first time face to face with a ‘real’ pony.

“That…” She pauses. “That is a good question”

Her horn ignites.

“We suppose the Tantabus is attempting to salvage the situation. The foul illusion is still underway, but formless, thine actions have just carved thyself out of it”

“So I'm still stuck here”

“Unfortunately”

Lucky gives a long sigh.

Noticing his fatigue, Luna's face twists in concern and guilt before speaking up.

“Fear not, however. For We deliver good news! For as the veil has been lifted, it allows our magic to reach you!”

She smiles, something wide and pure.

“We shall accompany you on the last legs of your journey, Runescribe Lucky Break!”

…what? Can she do that?

For some odd reason, she seems… excited? Like she's just barely holding back the urge to hop in place like he's seen in other ponies before.

Why? And more importantly…

Luna? Accompanying him? One of the Princesses. Literal ruler of the moon.

He may have not watched the show, but he knows that Alicorns are basically demi-gods (he thinks). After all, Celestia gets her face put over the God Emperor Of Mankind, she must be some bigwig.

“...okay…” Luna nods at his response. “Why?”

She blinks.

“Pardon?”

“Don't you have, like, princess things to do? What is this?”

Luna looks genuinely confused.

“Our schedule has been adjusted… if that is thine query”

“No no. It's like…”

He chuffs, running his hoof over his mane.

“Why are YOU here? Like, I get Twilight doing something like this, but we barely know each other. Why are you, a princess of an entire country, spending time to help ME?”

Lucky truly doesn't understand the thought process behind this. He gets that ponies are weirdly kind, but come ON! Not only is he a stranger, but she's willing to go through ALL OF THAT bullshit just to… what? What's the goal here?

Don't get him wrong, he would VERY MUCH appreciate some help. But he doesn't want help on some promise or debt he's supposed to pay off later.

“I'm not exactly prime talent material, y'know? And I'm broke… not that a princess needs money”

Luna is wide eyed, looking down at him with visible confusion and slight annoyance.

Her eyes narrow into a not quite heated glare.

“Dost thou truly lack the ability to comprehend that We just want to help? Is that not enough?”

“...”

At his lack of response, Luna sighs and looks off into the cosmos deep in thought.

Her ears perk up before looking back at him.

“How about this. We shall help you, accompany you through this nightmare, and in return…” She holds up a hoof. “You shall do one thing of Our request”

Lucky thinks it over.

That… seems like a good deal.

What could she want? There's not much he could give her. But it's probably something to do with his spells, right?

Does she want him to make a spell?

He can do that.

“...what's the request?”

Luna beams.

“To be our friend, of course!”

Fuck.

Chapter 25: 25 - Looner Goober

How do you be a friend?

To be completely honest, Lucky isn't entirely sure.

Aside from his parents, he kept everyone at a sort of ‘friendly acquaintance’ distance. There was always that fallback of ‘oh, it's not like they were my friend anyway’.

Maybe it was a way to protect himself, knowing that his anti-social tendencies would drive others away. Maybe after the first few times his friends drifted away, he just learned not to expect actual lasting relationships anymore.

Logically, it wouldn't make sense for others to want to be his friend. He's self aware that he can be kind of a dick, and he's aware that maybe some of these ponies are genuine.

Hell, maybe even all of them if he was being genuine.

But that's just… weird. What does he even do with that? Luckily (or unluckily) he's never had to worry about that, but with Luna now being his ‘friend’, he actually has to… y'know, try.

It's even worse when Luna herself also seems to have no clue what friends are supposed to do.

He misses Twilight and her barely controlled autism.

…okay, maybe not that much.

Still, he should at least talk about something, right?

“Do you wanna…”

Luna looks over at him.

“...play a game… or something?”

Her ears flick.

“What game?”

“I dunno, I'm kinda winging it here”

She snorts.

“Ha! A jest about your pegasus lineage. Clever”

That wasn't supposed to be a pun but sure man.

The two are waiting in the dream realm, the Tantabus has yet to lay another illusion overtop its domain. So either it isn't done yet, or it's still going through his head at what ‘scary’ things to throw at him.

Suppose the only relief he has is that the Tantabus is really shit at using human IP's, or it just can't properly gauge how scary a thing is. Maybe it puts being afraid of spiders on the same level as… dunno, getting stabbed in your own house or something.

So they wait.

Just kinda…

Sitting here.

“Thank fuck I never got into Warhammer…” He murmurs.

God, he's so lucky the Tantabus probably can't replicate shit like that.

“Hmmm” Luna hums, supposedly hearing him. “We cannot say we have fondness for such a weapon either. Much too hefty for ease of use”

“...what? Oh, no. It's uh… it's a whole different thing”

“...pardon?”

Ohhh shit.

“It's… it's a franchise about… war, basically. Just a fuckton of it. I don't know much about it, but it's pretty much the forefather of Grimdark” He pauses. “Wait, is Grimdark a thing here?”

Luna shakes her head.

“Not that we are aware”

“It means everything sucks. Like, absolutely worst place to be”

The lunar princess seems to understand.

“We see… it is like Griffinstone then”

Nevermind.

Realizing he's going to have to explain this a little better, Lucky steps in front of her and clears his throat.

“Okay. So… Grimdark is a genre of storytelling, and basically a… broad umbrella term for a type of mood a setting is going for. Noblebright is the opposite, everything is amazing and all that”

“...We are not familiar with such a genre, are such depressing tales told frequently in your world?”

Lucky shrugs.

“Eh? Not really, but they stick out”

“We see…”

The conversation is lulled to silence for a while, Luna is the first to break it, looking at him with a reserved look.

“Lucky Break, dost thou mind if we ask you a question?”

“Sure. Not much else to do”

“What dost thou want to do, once we exit this accursed place?”

Lucky opens his mouth.

Then closes it.

He… doesn't really know.

Where would he even fit in Equestria? A Runescribe? Sure that's fun, but that's assuming he can get his hooves on more runes.

His old experience working on cars is basically useless, unless ponies start yearning for the automotive industry.

What role would he even fill?

Lucky cranes his head and looks at his cutie mark. Four cards face down, lined with runes he still can't read, with a single one face up with a large people star in the center.

What do you mean? The cutie mark defines the pony, apparently, so what does this mean?

Gambling? Is he a gambler pony? Or does the star mean he's destined for magic?

And cards, why cards? Why not dice or, like, a roulette wheel or something?

Maybe he's missing the point.

His eyes widen slightly.

Maybe that's it. It's choice. Everything falls back to his own choice.

That… that makes sense. A weird clarity fills his mind, like his cutie mark finally filled in the gaps.

Whether he wins or loses, whether he makes it big or loses it all, it all depends on choice in the end. And that choice is entirely dependent on what is handed to him.

Good cards, bad cards, they all come from the same deck, but it's he who draws them. To get his lucky break (hah), he has to make do with what hand he got.

How abruptly philosophical.

“I… want to make stuff” Lucky finally says.

“Oh? What kind of stuff?”

He shrugs.

It feels… fulfilling, in some way. He enjoyed making spells and weapons, but there's an odd excitement he feels at the thought of making other things.

“So… what about you?”

Luna raises an eyebrow.

“What uh… do you like doing?”

She smirks. Not in a malicious way, but in a weirdly excited and self-satisfying way.

“Thou are awfully talkative for somepony who claims to despise socializing”

Lucky shoots the alicorn a glare.

“Listen, I'm fuckin trying here. I'm not exactly used to…” He waves a hoof between them. “...this!”

She chuckles.

“We admit…” Luna says, shuffling on her hooves. “We are also quite… inexperienced, in this sort of thing”

“Then why did you make the deal?”

If she's just as clueless as he is, why did she agree in the first place?

But Luna just looks at him like he's grown a second head.

“...do We need an excuse to want to be thine friend? We were genuine in our words, Lucky, and simply wish to learn more about you”

“...”

Luna then looks up at the moon and continues. Her lips curl in thinly veiled concern.

“Though for Our interests… We… it hast been centuries since We indulged in such things. We are still unsure if We still enjoy them”

There's a melancholic tone in her voice as she says that. An underlying sadness that rises at whatever memory surfaced in her mind.

He decides to step in.

“...so?”

Luna blinks at the bluntness of his voice.

“Just do them. If you still like it, do it. If you don't, then… don't. Not exactly rocket science, Luna. Ponies gain and lose interests all the time. Frankly, I'd be concerned if you DIDN'T lose interest in some things. Because I already have to deal with one super autismo pony”

The darkly coated mare stares at him for a while. The pegasus stares back, not entirely sure what her deal is.

Then, a wide smile grows on her face.

“Thou showed concern about Us”

Lucky has to force down a blush at the accusation.

“We believe thou are not as bad as a friend as thou believe. We thank thee, Lucky Break”

He coughs into his hoof.

“Let's just… play a game, or something”

…

Luna is an odd pony.

She's royalty, sure. Thousands of years old too. She speaks ye’ olde ponish (can't believe that's the name of the language), and is weirdly violent in some cases.

Despite her age, there's a bit of a younger, mischievous air about her. One that he can only describe as being the chaotic force of being a younger sibling. She's regal, poised. Not once as she complained about his words, instead offering some of her own words back.

Just earlier, she went from offering some genuinely helpful wisdom, to trotting in place like an excited filly because he agreed to spar with her.

Bad idea. He got his flank kicked, obviously. Fucking stupid idea.

Luna is definitely an odd pony, maybe a little bit crazy. But she's… raw? Genuine? Like a fairy queen that takes her role seriously yet can't deny her whimsical impulses, it's hard to see her as anything other than a goofball wrapped in expensive regalia with the little time he's spent with her.

Is she like this to everypony? Or is she just opening up because they're… friends.

Still weird to think about.

Lucky has these thoughts as he stares at the marble white ceiling above him, lying in a bed he doesn't recognize, with the same lunar mare lying beside him.

A voice comes from beside him, lying close but not quite.

“We are a big fan of the stickers”

Yes, Luna. He sees the stickers on the ceiling. Glow in the dark stars, very cute.

“You're just biased”

“Two things can be true at once” She giggles.

The illusion is back. And for some reason, the starting point is ‘here’.

Which means… It's back to work.

“So… where are we?” She asks, sitting up.

“No idea”

It doesn't look like Dead Island. At least, anywhere he can recall in the game.

The Tantabus switched tactics, it seems.

Rolling out of bed, he takes in the room and…

“What the fuck is this?”

Chapter 26: 26 - Pony Space

Remember his whole spiel about making due with whatever cards you draw? The whole card metaphor about making the best of what you have? Pretty cute, right? It even tied into his cutie mark. Lucky seemed to think so.

Well, it's about time to put his money where his mouth is, because this has GOT to be the SHITTEST FUCKING HAND he's ever pulled.

Lucky stares at the wall, water flowing down his body as the shower above soaks his coat in lukewarm water.

The walls have a sort of futuristic, sterile feel to it, dull grays and whites that conflict with the pipes and grates, harsh edges that stick out of panels. A gross contrast between sci fi cleanliness and pragmatic engineering.

Endearing in some way, Lucky can respect it. Most of his time as a mechanic was making sure shit actually worked more than making it look good.

Putting all that aside…

This is bad. Really fucking bad.

In gambling terms, this isn't ‘losing the house’ bad, this is ‘shooting the fucking dealer’ bad.

Because he recognizes this place. Not immediately, it was when he opened his map that it truly clicked where he was.

The UI updated, gone was the almost green and red edges he's come to associate with Dead Island. Replaced by a clean, corporate blue overlay with white text. Like a computer, almost.

Like before, the map is entirely open. No waypoints, but the shape of the ‘map' is clear. This is no island.

It's a fucking spaceship.

And not only a spaceship, it's one he recognizes, and it confirms the Tantabus’ desire to fuck with him. Because despite it's shape, it's name was ‘ponyfied' like everything else.

[ESG Neighshimura]

Dead Space.

…fuck.

“Thine wings are a mess, We must say”

Oh yeah, Luna's with him. He has his wings flared out as the lunar mare readjusts some of his misaligned feathers. That, and the fact he's apparently ‘doing it wrong’. He's washed them plenty, thank you very much.

He's a horse and has feathers, this place is so weird man…

“I'm just grateful I can still fly at all. I've broken these things more times than I can count”

Scars still litter them, but in terms of performance nothing has changed.

“Suppose thine healing ability is of great assistance”

“Has to be, that or just more pony magic nonsense”

She hums.

Feeling her hooves leave, Lucky folds his wings back.

He grabs a bottle of unlabeled shampoo and puts some into his mane, scrubbing into it until all that is left is soapy bubbles.

It smells of chemicals and mild lavender.

Peeking an eye open, he peers over at Luna, who's also tending to her own mane. It's an odd thing, a flowing nebula that seems to sag under the weight of the water. Is it purely physical, or just magical?

Weird.

“Hey”

She looks over.

“Yes-” A hoof shoots up to her face. “AH! Some has gotten into our eyes! BEGONE FOUL SUBSTANCE!” She suddenly wails.

Lucky winces.

“That's right in my fucking ear dude! Just put your face under the water” He says flatly.

She does, craning her head over him like the giraffe she is and stealing all of the water.

“Is this… normal?”

“Is what normal?” She says under the stream.

“Bathing together, doing… this. The wing stuff”

“We do not see why not”

Lucky himself doesn't really see the issue with it. Pony brain certainly disagrees, wanting to curl up in a corner and cry as per usual, but there's nothing giving him the same kind of alarm bells that bathing with someone else would.

…if anything, it's like bathing with an animal. Fucked up, maybe. But it's not like his conscious mind was meant to perceive magical horses as ‘people’.

“Back home, my species only bathed with like… their kids, when they're super young, and lovers. It was an intimate thing"

She freezes, then lets out a slow sigh.

“We… admit, We did not consider that. From our time, bathing with those thou consider friends was just the norm”

“Huh. How long ago was that?”

She smacks her lips.

“...a little over one thousand years”

“Fucking hag”

Her horn ignites and a blob of soap goes flying at his face, straight into his eyes.

“GOD DAMMIT WHY”

…

It has been precisely fifteen minutes since they arrived in Pony Dead Space.

So far, no Necromorphs. Good.

His old fit was ruined, so he's taken to a rather plain looking gray/white body suit he found in the closet. It's form fitting, yet not very tight. An Ishimura uniform it seems like.

Sorry, Neighshimura.

…that's such a stupid name.

Anyways, as he ponders what to do, mostly wondering how to get that armor Isaac had in the game- considering it saved his life several times, he takes a look at his System.

[SKILL POINTS: 5]

…what?

Where did this come from?

Is this a reward for destroying an anchor?

…or is it a reward for getting a ‘friend’?

Either way, that's a lot of points. He heads over to the Skill Tree, taking note that while the UI changed slightly the tree itself is untouched.

Lucky taps his chin.

What does he want…?

So far, he has three Skills, all maxed out as they were essential for his ‘foundation’. [APPLE BUCKER] , [NOT QUITE PURPLE] , and [FLEDGLING MAGE].

But now with that done, he can start branching off into specific builds.

Though, he doesn't know when he'll get his hooves on this many points again, so he wants to prioritize skills that have more utility overall.

To be honest, he's definitely leaning towards the Magic branch. Magic is just so useful, but he knows he has to at least put SOME points into his own body.

…but what? There aren't any skills that directly increase his strength. So…

Oh. That one looks nice. A little vague though.

[LOYALTY SKILL - DESIGNATED FLYER
33% increase in own bodily control.
66% increase in own bodily control.
100% increase in own bodily control. ]

He wonders if this is like… full on Luther Strode levels of control, but he doubts it. It's rare to see such high percentage increases in a Skill, so it must be a super specific thing.

Unfortunately, it needs a prerequisite pair of Skills to get it. Neither of them he has, and both of them aren't… that great.

[LOYALTY SKILL - WONDERBOLT FAN
10% less stamina loss while gliding.
25% less stamina loss while gliding.
50% less stamina loss while gliding. ]

[GENEROSITY SKILL - GEM CARVER
10% increase in gem carving efficiency.
15% increase in gem carving efficiency.
30% increase in gem carving efficiency. ]

…he doesn't glide all that much, and he doubts he's carving any gems anytime soon. And it says ‘efficiency’ and not immediate skill. With the System's weird style of not giving him gains directly, he imagines that it just makes the process of learning how to carve gems easier.

But…

Ah, fuck it. Looking over the rest of the tree, this seems the most useful right now. At least the one he feels has the most gains.

[LOYALTY SKILL - WONDERBOLT FAN
♤10% less stamina loss while gliding.
25% less stamina loss while gliding.
50% less stamina loss while gliding. ]

[GENEROSITY SKILL - GEM CARVER
◇10% increase in gem carving efficiency.
15% increase in gem carving efficiency.
30% increase in gem carving efficiency. ]

Then…

[LOYALTY SKILL - DESIGNATED FLYER
♤33% increase in own bodily control.
♤66% increase in own bodily control.
♤100% increase in own bodily control. ]

Immediately, he feels something shift. Not quite the cool sensation of his magic reserves filling up, but a strange sureness of his body.

He feels… controlled. Like the clarity with his mind sending signals to his body has become crystal clear.

The small microtensing of muscles is gone, offering a level of precision he's only seen in those YouTube videos of people carving really tiny models.

While he can't shift his biology around Luther Strode style, he has a keen awareness and can move parts of his body he wasn't even aware he could move before.

It's like suddenly having the ability to move each toe individually, but for everywhere.

Wait… isn't this insanely good?

Lucky holds out his hoof, a pale blue dot of light shines at the tip of it. Like any other time he casts a spell, drawing the matrix out in the air. But instead of having to be mindful of his shaking body, his hoof responds perfectly to his commands.

“...wow, okay. Yeah, that's pretty cool” Lucky mumbles to himself.

At that moment, his UI stutters as he sees a familiar box appear in his peripheral.

[STREAM ACTIVATED]

Oh. He was wondering where that went.

Twilight incoming in three… two… one…

[TwilightSparkle: LUCKY!]

[TwilightSparkle: Are you okay?! It all went black and…]

Chat comes rolling in, hundreds of messages he can barely keep track of.

Lucky blankly looks at the messages, a strange feeling blooming in his chest as he reads Twilight's frantic messages.

“Yeah. I'm here. We're in space. Luna touched me inappropriately in the shower”

[TwilightSparkle: Oh that's good! The princess should be able-]

[TwilightSparkle: what]

[Applejack: Ah JUST woke up Lucky. Yur in WHAT now?]

[Applebloom: She did wha’?]

[Applejack: LEAVE!]

Luna peers over his head, also wearing a similar suit, though it is more tailored to her size. He doesn't recall seeing a suit that big in the closet.

…did she make it herself?

“My… so THIS is how thou have been speaking to us. How fascinating! We wonder if it is an extension of dream magic…”

Probably not, his System seems to be more of a third party if anything. He doubts the Tantabus would willingly have him interact with ponies and increase his skills.

“Wait, you can see this?”

“Yes!”

She nods, excitedly examining the chat box. Her hooves flow through it, but there's a small hiccup as she ignites her horn and tries… something, he doesn't know.

Out of curiosity, he wills his actual UI to appear, directly in her face.

She doesn't even react. Why is one part of his System visible to others but the other part isn't?

How odd.

“Okay, yeah. Anyways. Good and bad news. Good news, I broke the anchor, which means I am… what? A third done?”

He literally has no basis for that, simply hoping for the Rule Of Three to apply here.

“Bad news, we are unbelievably Fucked”

[RarityBelle: I hate to say it, darling. But you have been saying that since day one]

He scoffs.

“Rarity, I was getting lightly fucked on that island, all sensual and romatic like. This? This is straight up raw, hoofcuffed to the bed, capital F, FUCKED”

[Fluttershy: can we please use a different metaphor…]

[Applejack: Ah have to agree, there are foals watchin, Lucky]

“Tell their parents to do a better job then”

[TwilightSparkle: D-Don't just move on from what you said! The Princess did WHAT?]

Luna finally pipes up from whatever spell she was using.

“We agree! There is but one more piece of good news We wish to share!”

She lowers her head and presses her cheek against his, making him freeze and widen his eyes as she nuzzles against him. Her eyes are bright and her grin is wide.

Her wing is practically wrapped around him in a light embrace. Even with his newfound control, he barely suppresses a flinch at the gesture.

“Lucky Break and Us have decided to become friends! HUZZAH! For this night is fortuitous!” She throws a hoof up in celebration.

Lucky just stares at her, mind swirling in confusion.

Is she being serious? Or is this a bit?

Why is she treating this like a grand achievement?

[Applejack: Oh! Congratulations y'all!]

[RainbowDash: Geez, only took a Royal Decree to get him a friend]

[RarityBelle: Don't be rude, Rainbow]

[RarityBelle: But I'm happy for you!]

Everypony is cheering in chat.

WHY is everypony cheering in chat?!

[Applejack: …Twilight?]

[TwilightSparkle: What?]

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! Uh…]

[TwilightSparkle: Congrats!]

[TwilightSparkle: That's really, really…]

[TwilightSparkle: Nice]

[TwilightSparkle: Yeah]

There's a slight pause in chat.

[ThePinkOne: Twilight?]

[TwilightSparkle: Yes, Pinkie?]

[ThePinkOne: Check under your desk!]

[TwilightSparkle: …is it a cupcake?]

[ThePinkOne: Maaaaaybe :3]

Another pause.

[TwilightSparkle: Thank you, Pinkie]

Lucky opens his mouth.

Then closes it.

What is he even supposed to say here?

He shakes his head, shaking Luna off of him.

There's more important things to worry about, like where he is and where the anchor could be.

Lucky looks at chat, then at the mare in front of him, then back at the chat.

Should he ignore it like usual?

…no.

No.

That's just….

No.

He already has one ‘friend’, and it's… fine! It hasn't even been a full day but hey, it seems tolerable.

Besides, he's about to have to handle Dead Space of all fucking things. The purple mare has been all but supportive to him, so…

“...Twilight”

Why is he doing this?

[TwilightSparkle: Yes, Lucky?]

He barely knows the mare outside of what she's shared (which is a lot, to be fair).

“Do you want to…” He swallows, throat feeling tight. “...talk, a little?”

He has to physically hold back a blush, shame and embarrassment flooding through him.

“To… y'know, know each other a little better?”

Chat visibly stalls for a few seconds.

[Applejack: Well Ah'll be darned]

[Scootaloo: Wait… you WANT to talk to somepony? Who are you? What have you done to Lucky?!]

[SweetieBelle: Don't be mean Scootaloo… he's trying his best]

[Cheerilee: …shouldn't you two be in class?]

Even Luna stares at him, disbelief spread across her face.

He pushes her face away with his hoof, ignoring the chuckling coming from the mare.

[TwilightSparkle: Wha-]

[ThePinkOne: Fumbling~]

[TwilightSparkle: Shut up!]

[TwilightSparkle: y-YES!]

[TwilightSparkle: I mean…]

[TwilightSparkle: Yes! I'll be happy to!]

“Cool, cool. We… can do that later, then”

[TwilightSparkle: Cool!]

“Cool” He repeats plainly.

Lucky… isn't entirely sure if this is a good idea, giving Twilight a chance. His ‘friendship’ with Luna was born from a transaction, given in exchange for her assistance.

Though, in hindsight, she probably would have helped regardless due to her image as royalty, and the whole deal was just a roundabout way to get him to accept her help.

The pony side of him is relieved, while the human part is wary, feeling a sort of hopeful pessimism that wants things to work out but won't get its hopes up in case shit hits the fan.

It's scary.

He feels like a foal when he realizes that. His defiant drive to be better clashes with his memories as a human, learned weariness and low expectations used as a shield to protect him.

Lucky is fine being alone, he has been for quite some time. He's come to expect it, and learn to find joy in its benefits.

It's simple. Familiar. No drama, no keeping track of birthdays, no headaches in socializing. Just him and his work. Nothing more and nothing less. He doesn't care what others think simply because how little their presence affects his life, and that offers freedom.

After all, why would he do something potentially unpredictable and dangerous when the familiar and safe option has been working just fine?

…but he's already in the deep end, isn't he?

Luna caught him lacking, and now he's outside of that safe box, even if by just an inch.

So, Lucky decides to lean on that other aspect of his cutie mark, one that he doesn't have the opportunity to fulfill all that much.

He's going to take a risk. A gamble.

The dealer gave him his cards, and now it's time to make the most of it. Or… at least try.

But he wants to play it safe. So… he picks Twilight. She's the one he knows the most, the one who's the most predictable to him. The safer option.

Lucky has not watched My Little Pony. But to say he's completely clueless of the show would be a lie. Being on the internet in the 2010s, it was hard NOT to learn about the weird pony show.

Twilight is the main character of a young girl's TV show about talking, magical horses. A show that preaches friendship and love, with Harmony being an actual tangible, overarching force with the same intensity that Chaos does 40k.

She couldn't possibly be that bad.

Surely.

[TwilightSparkle: So… how have you been?]

“Could be better”

[TwilightSparkle: Oh]

[TwilightSparkle: Do… you want to talk about magic theory? That seems to cheer you up!]

“Sure”

“Thou both may be worse at this than Us” Luna mumbles.

“Shut the fuck up”

…

The USG Ishimura is a mining ship.

Sorry, the Neighshimura (Lucky is growing tired of pony names…)

It is THE Planet Cracker, made to travel to and harvest massive amounts of materials from, ironically, mostly asteroids and small moons. In an age where resources on humanity's cradle world dried up, such a ship was revered for its capabilities in resource harvesting.

That was 62 fucking years ago.

Storyline wise, at least, not actually.

Now it lays dormant in space. Drifting aloft the far reaches of the universe, after some dumbass decided to put an eldritch dildo in cargo.

The Marker.

Lucky sighs in relief, knowing that at the very least the Tantabus can't actually replicate the Marker's fuckery. It can try, but if it had the ability to do so, it would've by now.

His hoofsteps echo as he steps along the grated metal floors. Original parts were probably replaced by newer ones, as the ship has been refurbished many times.

The hum of engines and distant sounds of machinery fill the atmosphere of the place, combined with the dark hallways it's…

Very eerie…

He follows his map. While it may not have anything listed in terms of what room is what, only listing the basic areas like [CARGO] or [MEDICAL], he can still place waypoints and have his System create a route for him.

Unfortunately, his map isn't as great as he would like. But the GOOD news is that it is dark.

Really, really dark. There's a lot of little corners and crevices, casting shadows.

Meaning that when he flares his magical sense, he can most of the time get a pretty accurate read of his surroundings.

…still no Necromorphs.

But there's still one thing that's bugging him.

“What ails you, Lucky Break?” Luna matches his pace, walking alongside him as she takes in the surroundings.

“I'm feeling… something”

It's much more prominent now, that faint buzzing feeling he felt when using his Ol’ Smokey or his chains, it's now present damn near everywhere around him.

“Art thou injured?”

“No… just some magic bullshit going on, I guess”

Instead of dropping it like he thought she would, Luna raises an eyebrow and ignites her horn.

He feels a cool wave of magic wash over him, making him shiver slightly. Lucky turns and shoots Luna a confused and annoyed look.

“Healing magic is not Our specialty, but the scans We casted showed no fault in thou body”

Healing magic? That's a thing?

Of course it's a thing, pony magic.

“...scans?”

She nods.

“Though Our spells are… outdated. They should be capable of alerting Us of any injuries thou possess. Rejoice Lucky Break! Thou art the picture of health. Of course, if thou ignore how underweight thou art”

“Uh huh…”

“Is it thine magical sense?”

Lucky blinks.

“What?”

“Thou already know thine affinity, correct? And thou can sense it's magic”

He nods.

“Yeah, but I already got that figured out. This is something else”

“It could be thine second affinity”

The pegasus stops in his tracks, fully looking over at the alicorn with a confused expression.

“My… second? You can have multiple?”

Luna grins, probably enjoying the opportunity to teach him something. Old people, no matter the species, love flaunting their knowledge.

“Ponies can have up to three affinities! Though, most commonly it is only one or two”

She tilts her head curiously.

“Though, We wonder what thou second could be? Darkness is certainly a very rare affinity, maybe thou are truly fortunate enough for two rare affinities? Thine namesake would certainly fit thou”

“...huh”

Cool.

Eventually, the two of them find themselves at a door. Lucky goes to open it up, but quickly stops when he hears and feels something moving overhead.

Something breaks through the grate of a vent and plops down against the metal floor.

Lucky slowly turns, and is met with the sight of tentacles grossly flailing around, feeling at the edges and grooves, it hoists up the severed head of a pony like a crab with its shell.

“...what?” Luna says in quiet, abject horror.

Lifeless eyes meet his.

It lunges.

Lucky summons a pistol and unloads into it.

Chapter 27: 27 - Lucky gets mildly cooler

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky?]

[TwilightSparkle: What was that…?]

Gunsmoke trails up from the end of his pistol, the air smells sharp as the ventilation carries the stench of gunpowder away.

“We… We would also like to know…” Luna adds.

He sighs, giving the bullet riddled severed head one last look, face curling in disgust at the inflamed pink tentacles and dripping blood.

That took too many bullets.

Right, Necromorphs are damn near immortal. Fuck.

“I need to make something clear. If you are a parent, you need to stop your foal from watching this. Like, right now”

[Scootaloo: What?! But I just got here!]

“I didn't care earlier because it was kinda… tame, and I'm not responsible for who watches me. But I am SERIOUSLY fucking telling you, do NOT watch any futher”

[SweetieBelle: …the island was ‘tame'?]

It's Dead Island, Sweetie. It's the most barebones zombie setting he can think of. He was scared of getting torn apart, not because zombies are frightening.

Though it may be different from Equestria's perspective, now that he thinks about it. Whatever.

He turns to Luna and points at the head.

“That is a Necromorph. One of the smaller ones. To… I'm just gonna paraphrase this shit. In the book this is from, ponies advanced their technology to the point of traveling the stars. This-” He taps his hoof lightly against the metal grating beneath him. “-is a ship designed to harvest materials from other planets”

Luna is wide eyed, pupils practically sparkling at the idea of traveling in space.

The moonmare loves space, go figure.

But his words following quickly shifts her mood.

“On one of their expeditions, they found something called a Marker. Which is a fucking massive pillar that causes living things to go crazy, and causes to turn DEAD things into…” He shrugs his nose to the Necromorph. “That”

He's having to simplify this a lot, because he doubts ponies would understand the words ‘eldritch’ or ‘lovecraftian’, but he REALLY wants to make clear how fucked this place is.

“Luckily, I think we're spared of the worst of it”

“...because this is an illusion, and the Tantabus cannot control the mind directly” Luna quickly puts it together.

“Bingo. But that doesn't stop Necromorphs from tearing me a new flankhole, so despite all that, Necromorphs are the main issue here”

Luna looks between the pile of head meat and Lucky.

“...We do not doubt your knowledge, Lucky. But We must ask… how are they any different from the reanimated from the island?”

Lucky doesn't miss a beat.

“They're immortal”

She blinks, slow.

“Pardon?”

“They're backed by the Marker. They're literally just corpses being puppeted. That one is a bad example, but you SERIOUSLY do not want to destroy the heads of these things. It's easier to just shoot off their limbs and immobilize it”

“...”

The lunar princess stares at him with a slightly incredulous yet horrified expression.

“...do you know any good cutting spells?” He asks.

She gives a slow nod.

“Bitchin”

…

Writhing.

Bloodsoaked appendages bursting out of torn skin, breaking bones as enigmatic tissue grossly fixes the damage. Its body shifts like clay, snapping and tearing into something new.

Something hostile.

Tipped with sharp, pointed ends, it wraps the large ‘stingers’ around itself, in between the metal chutes it's holed itself up in.

It's… breathing, but it feels like a mindless imitation, or an ignored bodily instinct, rather than something real.

Lucky is greatly relieved he can't see color with his magical sense, because just by feeling the shape he feels nauseous.

He stares at the vent up above, just barely ten feet away.

He doesn't want to go any further.

There's a trap up ahead.

Lucky raises a leg to take a step, but some corner of his mind tells him not to go any further.

His instincts are screaming at him, wailing like sirens, even with the knowledge of what's up ahead, of what's in that vent.

With his newfound control over his body, he's able to ease the shaking of his hooves, but the severity of it is intense.

He doesn't even have a fucking Plasma Cutter yet!

He really fucking hates Necromorphs.

Lucky shoots a glance at Luna. She's tense, standing beside him with her head high. It's obvious she's VERY put off by the whole situation, but there's a controlled determination behind her stance, with a bit of regal flare on top of it.

Right. Thousand year old princess.

Luna notices his gaze, looking back at him and surely noticing his hesitation. Her eyes move back and forth between him and the hallway, before resolve settles in her eyes.

Lucky is about to say something, but grows shocked as the mare smiles and cranes her head down, nuzzling him a bit and whispers in a kind tone.

“Fear not, friend. Thou are not alone, let Us lead the way down this hall”

She steps forward.

Panic surges through him.

…

[POV: PRINCESS LUNA]

Nightmares have always been something Luna had learned to live with. Disregarding her own, dreams tend to follow a pattern depending on where that pony is.

Canterlot foals tend to dream of getting lost in the winding alleys of the city, while those in more rural towns like Ponyville dream of beats lurking in the trees.

It is her responsibility to ease them, a duty granted by her domain, and her title as Princess.

But this…

Her mind briefly goes to the stallion she calls her friend.

This… is a book? Truly? Where he's from… do they regularly read this type of content?

Luna is no stranger to horror, it is a very niche genre in Equestria, but after you've seen many dark forests and scary beasts in the nightmares of ponies across the millennia, it scratches an itch to get something NEW.

Unfortunately, ponies are quite bad at writing horror, in her experience. Griffins and Dragons (the few that bother to read) are much better, but the language barrier always stumped her.

But THIS? This is HORROR? This just seems… cruel? These things are just… wrong.

What did he call them, Necromorphs?

Regardless, her friend (and yes, she is excited to finally have a friend) needs her help! If this hallway scares him, she will go first and show hi-

Luna yelps as she's harshly tugged back.

Her hooves drag along the ground as she's pulled back around the corner by her tail, tightly held in Lucky's mouth.

“Lucky?! What are yo-”

Annoyed, she turns to admonish him, but is quickly silenced as his hoof blocks her muzzle. The pegasus looks up at her with a stern expression, blue hairs of her tail left on his cheeks.

“Shut. Up”

She blinks.

On one hoof, wow, it's been a LONG time since anypony spoke to her like this. She's almost impressed, even a little nostalgic for her pre-banishment years with how ponies used to act.

On the other, Lucky is truly awful at being friendly, huh?

Well. It's not like she wasn't expecting it. He doesn't seem perturbed at all, she notices, even if he for sure got a glimpse of her as he pulled her tail.

She wonders what to make of that.

“I'm not scared of the fucking HALLWAY, Luna!” He shout-whispers. “One of them is in the vents, I'm trying to find a way past it”

He takes a deep breath, and turns to the side.

“Twilight, I need your brain”

The box beside him updates with a new message.

[TwilightSparkle: My brain is ready! What do you need?]

“Is it possible to manipulate magic directly to the point of being used as an attack?”

Luna raises an eyebrow.

[TwilightSparkle: You mean without a spell matrix?]

“Yeah”

[TwilightSparkle: Ehh… I mean… theoretically, it's possible? But a lot of ponies have trouble controlling magic as is, and I imagine the cost would be REALLY high for the average pony]

[TwilightSparkle: I recommend just learning a spell! I have a few recommendations if you'd like!]

Lucky is silent for a few moments.

“...so it's possible?”

“Lucky?”

He closes his eyes, and Luna can sense the darkness in the hallway stir as his magic flows through it, guiding it.

She can't tell what he's doing, but with how strained he looks, and the amount of sweat pooling on his face, he must be attempting… something.

There's a small snapping sound, barely audible if not for the eerie stillness in the air that makes each sound feel deafening.

“So it snaps back… recoil? What happens if I…” He mumbles.

After a whole minute, Lucky smiles.

Oh, he doesn't do that often.

Metal clatters above, Luna stills as the vent cover (if that's what that's called, she isn't sure) falls to the floor and clatters loudly.

An… abomination falls with it. Rotted and torn like old parchment, skin and fur all mangled and twisted, two giant blades with like spider legs from the thing's back.

It sees them, and it approaches, screaming wet shrieks with a mangled throat.

Luna ignites her horn, ready to fight. She was always the more physically active of the royal sisters, often being the one to train some of their old knights. A lack of a sword means nothing for one as sharpened as her.

But then…

Lucky says something. Luna doesn't recognize the language, but there's a sort of visceral satisfaction behind his tone that
makes her pause for a moment.

He stands on his hind legs, and points a hoof at the abomination.

“Ryōiki Tenkai”

Luna feels the magic in the air shift.

*SHUNK!*

The Necromorph is cleaved in two.

Like an impossibly fast blade cut from its shoulder to its opposite waist, a violent expulsion of gore splatters backwards in delay, as if failing to keep up with its speed.

It's so abrupt, so silent, that the Princess just freezes.

Luna stares slackjawed at the sight. Her eyes move to Lucky, who's breathing heavily and looks like he ran miles, but he's still smiling.

Was that a spell? No… he shouldn't be that skilled to cast that quickly yet.

“Holy shit… I can't believe that worked!”

He sweeps his mane back with his hoof. Chuckling to himself, as not believing it himself.

“Throughout all of Heaven and Equis… I alone am the Honored One…”

She blinks.

“...pardon?”

“Luna, cut off its arms please, it's not dead”

“O-Oh! Very well”

She sees a message shoot up just before turning away.

[TwilightSparkle: what]

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

Holy shit.

It burned through his reserves, but ho-ly SHIT!

He knew that with manipulating darkness magic, there was some kind of physical force he could exert from it. Small, but it's THERE.

So what happens when he compresses a lot of that magic into a single point? Well, after a certain ‘stress’ level, it tries to move back into shape, mostly dissipating into the shadows.

It's like a rubber band. But what if he can direct where that rebound energy goes before it dissipates? What if he can create a very thin line of super-compressed darkness magic that, when released, cuts through shit?

You get an improvised Plasma Cutter! One that needs a LOT of time to set up, and even more time to recharge, but hey! Now he doesn't have to entirely rely on Luna anymore.

Lucky watches Luna flash her horn, and the Necromorph's limps separate in clean strokes of magic.

God he wishes he had a horn, larping as Sukuna would be much easier.

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky?!]

[TwilightSparkle: What did you do?]

“Compressed darkness magic into a string and directed the rebound away from me”

[Applejack: Ah ain't one for magic sugarcube, so Ahm afraid Ahm a little lost…]

[TwilightSparkle: You can do that?!]

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky! That's…]

[TwilightSparkle: That's genius! Do you know how little darkness attack spells there are? There's ONE! And it's technically not even an attack spell!]

He rolls his eyes and chuffs, taking a moment to refill his reserves. A small bit of pink lights his cheeks.

[RarityBelle: Why is that important?]

[SunnySkies: Because darkness magic typically alludes to stealth or the lessening of one's presence, its use in direct confrontation is quite rare]

[RainbowDash: Oh so of course he makes a weapon out of it. I'm so shocked…]

[RainbowDash: NOT!]

[ThePinkOne: That's why he's so cool! Twilight would agree with me, she has a drawing of him in one of her notebooks :3]

[TwilightSparkle: PINKIE!!!]

[ThePinkOne: On it!]

[BerryPunch: What did I even do-GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!]

[ThePinkOne: Whoopsie!~ Force of habit!]

“...”

Ponies being ponies, he supposes.

[Lily: …anyone else find that kinda…?]

[Aloe: Shush! Pinkie's on the prowl!]

Notes:

Ideas welcome!

Chapter 28: 28 - Music

[POV: TWILIGHT SPARKLE]

Twilight plops down at her desk, sighing in relief as her back meets the exceedingly comfy cushions of her chair.

Her work is finally caught up, it's been a while since the ‘waiting for return' list was last empty. So that brings an odd bit of downtime to her schedule, and for a mare who's got her days scheduled down to the minute, it's… odd.

…what does she do now?

She could read. That never disappointed her.

Twilight reaches down and opens the side drawer of her desk, her eyes snapping to the older looking book on magical studies, specifically the manipulation of magic outside of spells.

She admits, it's a little embarrassing that she never considered the use of magic like that until Lucky brought it up.

“Come on, Twilight…” She whispers to herself in self-depreciation.

As she takes it, her gaze meets the cover of a… well, it is TECHNICALLY a book.

A pink cover, bold text, with the graphic of a silhouetted couple.

[Learning To Love - By Heart Throbber]

“...”

Wordlessly, she brings that book out too. The dozens of brightly colored notes poking out of the pages and bristling against her hoof.

Her face grows hot, the moderately sized book rests heavily in her hooves.

Twilight isn't sure how to feel about this… novel, that Cadance sent her. They've been exchanging letters recently, which is good! She was wondering how her old foalsitter was doing, so she was happy to talk.

But as if sensing her plight, Cadance quickly steered the topic to… him.

Lucky Break.

The stallion she's been… focusing on, yeah! Focusing! A totally normal, average level of attention!

Her old foalsitter has been feeding her advice, little ‘tips’ on how to ‘grow a relationship’ with the pony. Twilight isn't sure why she emphasized ‘relationship’ when friendship worked just as well, but… whatever!

Things like talking to Lucky about his interests, what he likes, see if she's interested in them, stuff like that!

And it's been working, mostly. But by her calculations, she SHOULD be his friend in the next few days!

Then Princess Luna showed up.

And somehow, through the will of Harmony itself, SOMEHOW became Lucky's friend despite doing the fraction of the amount of work Twilight herself has.

She's not upset!

Not at ALL!

No ma'am!

NOT EVEN A LITTLE!

“Hehehe…” She chuckles to herself, a tinge of manic beneath it.

bbbbuuuuUUUT! Good news! FanTASTIC news, actually! Lucky has decided to give her a chance, an actual open invitation to get to know each other better.

Coming from him, that's probably worth more than gold! Even Princess Luna didn't get that!

Twilight grows a bit of a smug smile, but quickly shakes it away.

“Keep it together Twilight, there's still work to be done!” She quickly opens the book, forgoing the one about magic.

Though… a part of her wonders…

Why is she so competitive with Luna? She's just trying to be his friend…

Right?

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

>”-oh GOD IT'S HERE! SHOOT IT, SHOOT IT! WHY WON'T IT FUCKING DIE?! MOM! MOM HELP M-”<

*click*

…okay.

He nonchalantly tosses the cartridge containing the log back on the desk, it clatters against the metal finish.

Luna looks downtrodden as the log ends, staring into space as an indiscernible tension shows clearly on her face.

For Lucky, he's… fine, he guesses. Maybe it's the fact that he's somewhat disconnected from this, seeing this as an unused ‘cutscene’ from Dead Space.

Though, ever since he gained Designated Flyer, it's getting harder to mentally disconnect himself from other ponies. After all, it's hard to see ponies as something different from him when he is damn near now fully aware of his pony body.

Maybe getting that Skill was a mistake.

“Alright, have the code for the next door. Ready to go?”

“...art thou not sad?”

Lucky looks over his wither, raising an eyebrow.

“Thou seemed… calm, upon facing such horrors” Luna explains. He can't tell if she's offended or just curious. “Even with thine prior experiences…”

“They aren't real” He quickly says.

Honestly, that's the only good thing that came from learning about the Illusion.

“It is just a little jarring seeing thine so unbothered by the cruelty around thou. We understand, but… art thou truly okay?”

He sighs.

So that's what it is, huh?

She's more concerned about him being desensitized to death and gore than actually being affected by it.

“Luna, I'm fine”

“We have heard the same from many of our soldiers”

“Your soldiers weren't alien fuckin monkeys in a pony bodies, were they?”

She blinks, Luna mumbles ‘monkeys?’ quietly to herself in confusion.

Lucky takes a breath.

He's being a dick.

Calm down, dumbass.

Remember, you actually have to TRY and be friendly with this pony.

Whatever the hell that means.

“I'm… it's cool, Luna. I just want to get this done. I… fuck, dude. I can't just stop and cry at every fucked up thing that happens, y'know?”

Luna opens her mouth, then closes.

“...thou were close to Raising Hell, even if he was a fabrication. Would thou cry for him?”

“...”

Lucky snorts.

“I think he would hate it if I did, so now I'm tempted, just to spite the old bastard”

Luna doesn't know how to respond to that.

…

With the code to the next room acquired, Lucky is one step closer to getting a Plasma Cutter, and hopefully a RIG suit (that's what they're called?).

While his trick with darkness magic he's unoriginally dubbed as ‘Dismantle’ could definitely work, it costs too much magic and takes too long to properly set up.

In time though, he could truly become Sukuna. All he needs to do is enter a teenage boy without his consent and he's golden.

So, the code.

Yeah, apparently most doors have a sort of clearance level to them, suppose it makes sense for a ship as big as this. Normally, Isaac could just ignore most of the locks because he was an engineer, and his RIG gave a big middle finger to anywhere that wasn't strictly confidential.

Without the suit, he's stuck to having to open these fuckers manually. Meaning punching in codes on a nearby keypad or snagging keycards off corpses.

So far, it's going well.

At least, until this one sparked out and fucking died right in front of him.

Luna looms over his wither.

“Dost thou need assistance?”

The Moonmare is deceptively competent, especially once she learned the ‘trick” behind Necromorphs. They encountered three so far, all of which were quickly dismembered by the mare and his Dismantle.

Thank God it was only the basic ones. Maybe it's because she's older that she's more prone to violence? Could be, but he isn't sure of Equestrian culture in the first place, even less of it when it was thousands of years in the past.

“Prrrrrobably not? Let me take a look at it” Lucky sighs, willing a toolbox to his side and pulling out a screwdriver.

As he unscrews the panel, he lets his thoughts drift a little. An odd combination of zoning out and idle focus on what he's working on.

He wishes he could have music. His old playlist would be amazing right about now.

Doesn't MLP have like… records? Yeah, there was that one DJ pony, he thinks. The one with the glasses.

Actually, what level of technology is the show even ON? Again, he hasn't actually watched the show, but he knows there's at least a train in there somewhere.

They probably have plumbing, mostly because he imagines Hasbro wouldn't like the implication that their cute little ponies just shit on the ground everywhere.

…cute his ass. Sure, he's definitely getting more used to how ponies look. But even Luna, who he's absolutely sure is supposed to be above average looking for a pony, just looks… yup, that's just Luna.

He still doesn't get it. Whatever, it's not like he's having any kind of relationship with any of them anytime soon. They surely won't care, and neither does he.

Single forever gang.

The panel pops off, revealing the wires underneath. Lucky narrows his eyes and reconfigures the wires, hooves digging around inside it.

…if ponies have records, does that mean they have, like… pony celebrities?

Pony Kanye?

Ziggas In Canterlot.

Lucky chortles a laugh, drawing a confused look from Luna who's standing idly by.

The hall is lulled into a dull silence, filled only by the sound of distant whirs of machinery and the pegasus’ tinkering.

As he works, Lucky begins to quietly hum to himself.

In not quite a whisper, done with half a mind, Lucky follows along with a song playing in his head.

“I used to rule the woorrlld~, seas would rise when I gave the word”

Luna's ear flicks as she turns to look at him.

“And I discovered that my castle staaands, upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand”

“...”

She quietly sits on her haunches.

“I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringin, Roman cavalry choirs are singin’”

A few minutes pass, even as he leans back over to the toolbox, he still quietly continues the song.

Finally, the panel beeps, and the door flies open.

“That was when I ruled the world…”

He puts the box back in his inventory and turns to Luna.

“Alright, let's move”

Her grin grows wide.

“Thou have a beautiful singing voice?”

“...what?”

“Thine song, We could not recognize it. But thine singing was quite impressive”

Lucky opens his mouth, but he just chuffs and turns away.

“...Thanks, I guess”

[TwilightSparkle: What song was that?]

[TwilightSparkle: I didn't know you could sing!]

“I can't. And nunya”

[RarityBelle: You obviously can, darling. Quite well at that]

[Applejack: Ah don't know much about singin’, but it was a good song, sugarcube]

[Fluttershy: A little… sad… though]

[RainbowDash: He's gonna say something messed up! I'm calling it!]

“Well yeah, it was made in reference to a king that got killed by his own citizens, it's gonna be a little sad”

Luna snorts.

[TwilightSparkle: HUH?]

[RainbowDash: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]

[RarityBelle: Who would make a song of such a thing?!]

“Used to make songs for anything. There was straight up a band whose entire gimmick was making songs about being serial killing clowns… wow I haven't listened to them in a while”

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! You like music?]

[Applejack: You just gonna… skip over all that, Twilight?]

“Everypony likes music, Twi”

[TwilightSparkle: What's your favorite genre?]

“...anything that's not country or heavy metal”

[Octavia: Agreed]

[DJPON3: What's wrong with heavy metal?!]

“I would actually like to HEAR the fucking song, and not just noise to skullfuck my head into another migraine”

[DJPON3: That's why you have to listen with your HEART!]

“Listen with your ears first, dip-shit”

Luna's giggles pull his gaze back to her. Her muzzle is covered with a hoof.

“Thou seem to enjoy bickering with them”

“...let's just go”

Luna gets up and follows closely beside him.

Chapter 29: 29 - Twiggle Sparwinkle

Lucky stares blankly at the bed. Face neutral, but his eyes are narrow in thinly hidden disgust and mild curiosity.

He grabs what he laid out, the soft fabric rubbing against his hoof.

It's socks.

Again.

They're space themed. Black with different stars and planet decals on them. There's even a pony with a space suit floating in space, connected to a tether that goes off the decal.

“...does the Tantabus have a thing for socks?” He asks himself.

Chat seems to be equally confused, but none of them are complaining.

Good news, they're getting closer to the Marker, he thinks.

Bad news, holy SHIT these fucking Necromorphs.

Lucky scratches at his barrel, where a faint scar rests from one that cleaved through his stomach almost an hour ago. It was so fast it was the closest thing to an honest to God jumpscare to him.

Luna seemed more hysterical than he was, but at least he confirmed that eating still regenerates him just fine.

She's in the bathroom right now. Currently, they're near the eastern wing of the Neishimura.

They've gradually been going towards where he THINKS the Marker should be, and as he expected the Necromorph's are growing more dangerous as he gets closer.

But for now, they decided to rest in one of the recreation rooms. It's got a couch and everything, how quaint.

“...I'll put these on if somepony teaches me a combat spell” Lucky says to the open air, his eyes looking at chat expectantly.

[RainbowDash: Do… Do you REALLY think that's gonna work?!]

“Yes. Twilight?”

The mare of the hour rears her head.

[TwilightSparkle: …do you need something specific?]

[RainbowDash: Twi]

[ThePinkOne: At least she's being honest!]

[Applejack: Honesty is the best policy, Ah suppose…]

“Just a basic one”

[TwilightSparkle: I'll go check]

[RainbowDash: I cannot believe this is working]

[TwilightSparkle: Shut up! I'm just… doing him a favor!]

[RarityBelle: You just need to own up to it at this point, darling]

Lucky nonchalantly slides them on, the fabric hugging the flesh of his legs.

Not the best, but not bad.

He plops onto the couch, lying across it while resting his chin on the armrest (again, another inconsistency). A bottle of wine appears in his hooves, which he quickly uncorks with his teeth.

“Alright, lay it on me, O' Purple One”

[TwilightSparkle: Are you… drinking?]

“What? No. This is just water” He takes a swig and lazily wipes the bit of red that stuck to his muzzle.

[TwilightSparkle: You're just flat out lying to me but WHATEVER! If you pass out, it's on you]

Lucky raises an eyebrow.

Oh… she's a little grumpy, isn't she?

He hasn't seen her act like this before, but it's weirdly refreshing. More genuine, he supposes.

…is it bad he kinda wants to annoy her even more?

[TwilightSparkle: -okay, Spike is getting it. So! Lucky. What is… your FAVORITE food?]

There's no hesitation.

“Pussy”

[RainbowDash: -snURK!]

[RarityBelle: Lucky! Have a bit more class please, not in front of the foals!]

[Applebloom: You eat CATS?!]

[RainbowDash: Aaaaand too late. HAHAHAHA!]

[Applejack: Dear Celestia, Ahm goin to have to explain to ‘Bloom what that means… ugh…]

[ThePinkOne: Sadly, I can't relate :( ]

[Fluttershy: …I'm sorry Pinkie… but… you like stallions?]

[ThePinkOne: Well DUH silly!!! What made you think I didn't?]

“Pink”

[ThePinkOne: hhhhHHMMMMMMMM]

[ThePinkOne: Fair]

[Applejack: Ahm so confused…]

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky…]

Lucky chuffs.

“...I'm a big fan of meatloaf, I guess”

[TwilightSparkle: …meatloaf?]

“Mix a pound of ground beef with eggs, preferably two, along with some breadcrumbs, spices, and ketchup. 375° for 45 minutes or until the pink goes away”

Man, he hasn't had that in a while, huh? It was practically the one thing he could cook for a while, so he has it memorized.

His mom's meatloaf was fantastic, there have been a couple of times where he would have a shitty day and she would make it for him. He never admitted it, but it helped, a lot.

Would his new pony body even be able to eat that?

Would his mom think of him every time she made it?

…he decided to cut that line of thought.

[TwilightSparkle: You mean beef as in… cows?]

“Yup”

Chat is oddly silent.

[SunnySkies: Was this a common thing? I feel like I'm missing something]

“You can literally buy it in pounds in any grocery store”

[Applejack: PAUSE! Hold that thought, partner!]

well ok damn aj.

[Applejack: You said ya were an alien right? Some kinda monkey thing?]

[TwilightSparkle: …that's… that's right! Lucky, what were cows like in your world?]

“Big, stupid, smelled like shit”

[TwilightSparkle: Were they sapient?]

“They're fucking cows, Twilight. No, they aren't fuckin sapient”

[TwilightSparkle: OH THANK CELESTIA]

Everyone in chat seems to collectively sigh in relief.

What? Oh. Are cows sapient over there? That's lame.

[SunnySkies: I'm afraid that dish would be quite impossible here]

“Of fucking course it is…” He mumbles.

[TwilightSparkle: O-Oh! Do you like burgers?]

…you mean the food that needs cows?

“Sure”

[TwilightSparkle: I know a place in Canterlot I think you would like!]

“...student of royalty hanging out in a burger joint, for shame, Twiggles”

[TwilightSparkle: Hey! HayBurger is a perfectly acceptable restaurant an- wait… WHAT did you just call me?]

At first, Lucky is confused. But then he replays what he said in his head, and a frown grows on his face.

Fuuuuuck.

It was a shitty one, but he definitely just called Twilight by a nickname.

Should be fine though, right? They are ‘friends’ after all. Right? RIGHT?

“Ignore that”

[TwilightSparkle: No. Nononono- I heard what you said! Don't just deny it!]

“I can do what I want, fuck you. You didn't hear shit”

[TwilightSparkle: I DID!]

“Nuh uh”

[TwilightSparkle: UUUGGHH!]

Lucky takes another swig, feeling the liquid slide down his throat.

“So… you like burgers?”

[RainbowDash: ‘Like' isn't cutting it]

[TwilightSparkle: Yup!]

“...opinion on tomatoes?”

[TwilightSparkle: Awful, horrible vegetable. Should be nowhere near a burger]

[Applejack: Isn't ketchup made out of tomatoes?]

“That's different”

[TwilightSparkle: That's different]

Lucky blinks. Is calling jinx still a thing in ponyland?

[Applejack: Well alrighty then, my bad]

[RarityBelle: They seem to be experts on the subject]

[Fluttershy: …tomatoes are good though…]

[RainbowDash: You don't wanna pick this fight, Flutters]

[TwilightSparkle: Oh, oh! What if we use hay? For that uh… the meatloaf!]

“...that sounds fucking horrible. I don't think heating up grass is going to work”

[TwilightSparkle: Huh?]

[TwilightSparkle: RIGHT! You've never tried hay! Sorry, I got a little excited…]

[TwilightSparkle: But you should seriously start eating it. It makes up for almost a third of a ponies daily nutritional intake!]

[SweetieBelle: No wonder he's so skinny…]

[Scootaloo: I think that's just him being weird and not eating]

[Applebloom: Wish the princess would just make em eat, maybe she can like… give em a royal order or something]

[SunnySkies: The concern is sweet girls, but I don't believe she can do that]

Damn right, else he might actually throw hooves with Luna.

Speaking of, he senses her head peaking out from the bathroom.

“Lucky Break, we have completed the bath of the bubbles. Thou may now enter if thou wish”

The fucking what?

Driven by pure curiosity, Lucky follows her in and…

Yep, that's a bubble bath. Large, cartoonish pink bubbles and suds filling the (in his opinion) fucking massive bathtub.

“How did you even do this…”

Luna grows smug and taps her horn.

Lucky chuffs.

“Bullshit alicorn magic”

Regardless, he climbs over the bathtub ‘wall’ and slides in, not bothering to take off his socks. Still has his wine, too. He feels like a Victorian woman right now.

He sinks to his chin, crossing his hind legs and propping them up on the bathtub wall.

This is actually… quite nice.

That is until Luna's fatass drops in, raising the water and his nose is flooded with soapy water.

He coughs, shooting a glare to the lunar mare that's settling into the water.

“Fuckin ‘ell Luna, give me a warning!”

“We shall ponder about it”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“I still don't get why you INSIST on bathing with us… y'know, together”

He already knows that this isn't some trick to take advantage of him. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't particularly care how other ponies view him, but taking advantage of a ‘naive’ pony like him leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

Luna seemingly straight up just doesn't care. Well, correction, she DOES care, just not as much as the average pony.

It reminds him of those European towns where there were those public bathhouses. For Luna, this is just normal, he thinks.

And it's definitely only normal to Luna, because everypony in chat is collectively losing their shit.

“Because We wish to grow closer to thou, this is but one of three of the best ways to foster that bond!” She explains with a small nod.

“...uh huh”

“Bathing, eating, and sleeping. A bond between shared actions becomes unshakable as time goes on”

“Isn't that like… a thousand years outdated?”

[SunnySkies: Pre-Unification social standards were a tad different from now, Lucky]

Luna smiles.

“Indeed! And despite that, it still proves undefeated! HUZZAH!” She shoots a hoof up into the hair.

Lucky lazily raises his hoof too.

“Huzzah”

He takes another swig, turning back to chat just to see that Twilight has what she needs.

Raising an eyebrow, he takes in the information about the runes needed for a novice level wind spell. Literally just called ‘Wind Shot’.

Very creative, but whatever.

“...why a wind spell?”

[TwilightSparkle: You're a pegasus, I figured you might have an easier time learning it!]

[TwilightSparkle: On top of it being… kinda simple by itself]

“So it's a foal's first attack spell?”

[TwilightSparkle: Basically]

Wooo~ moving up in the world.

He feels a glob of soap splatter against his mane. Looking up, he sees Luna's slightly content face curled in a small smile as she digs into his curls.

Old peop-PONIES. Old PONIES are weird.

…it's been a while since he had to correct himself.

[TwilightSparkle: So uh… w-why are you… in the bath with the princess?]

“She likes it when I'm wet and vulnerable”

Luna's cheeks turn a slightly darker shade of blue, but that immediately goes away as her eyes narrow and a hoof lightly bats against his head.

“We are not some degenerate, cease your slander”

He snorts.

[TwilightSparkle: And this is… comfortable for you?]

“I mean… kinda? It's not like I'm UNcomfortable. Guessing this is like… super inappropriate or something?”

[Applebloom: Yep]

[SweetieBelle: Kinda?]

[Scootaloo: Gross]

[RarityBelle: Normally, bathing together is reserved for close friends, family, and your significant other, Darling]

Okay, yeah. He knew that.

[RarityBelle: Though in Canterlot, it's a lot more lax. With bathhouses and saunas that are public for both mares and stallions]

[TwilightSparkle: …that's a thing?]

[Applejack: Twi, you used to live there]

[TwilightSparkle: Name every business in Ponyville, go]

[Applejack: That's…]

[Applejack: Alright… fair ‘nough]

“So if this is a Pre-Uni thing, did the princesses just bathe with random ass ponies?”

“No”

[SunnySkies: No, they do not]

Lucky smacks his lips.

“Cool, cool. So…”

He looks at Luna, and a devious ass thought flies through his head.

“Is this supposed to be… like… grooming me for some kind of… royal sugar baby position?”

Luna freezes.

And so does chat.

She opens her mouth slowly.

“...pardon? We… are not familiar with that term”

Right. Innocent ass pony society.

Lucky explains, though having to translate some bits so she can understand.

It seems to work, as Luna nods in understanding.

“Ah… We see. Thou are speaking of Consorts”

“So y'all DO have them”

[SunnySkies: No! The princesses do not have such-]

Luna interrupts, voice plain and steady.

“Art thou offering?”

[SunnySkies: LUNA!]

The pegasus looks back at her, deadpan.

“...how's the pay?”

[TwilightSparkle: LUCKY!]

They stare at each other. Longer and longer as the soapy bubbles pop on the stallion's mane.

For a few minutes straight, they do nothing but stare.

Then Lucky breaks (hah). A snort, quickly devolving into giggling, then spiraling into full on laughter.

Luna is no better, quickly falling into chortles and gross snorts as she fails to contain her laughter, withers shaking uncontrollably.

The rest of the bath is peaceful, for as strange as it was.

Maybe it was because of Twilight.

Maybe it was because of Luna.

Maybe it was just because he was chugging a whole bottle of wine.

Regardless, it was nice for what it was.

When they decided to turn in for the night, Lucky watched as Luna climbed out of the bath. The height difference and odd angle gave him a rather revealing view.

“Huh. Mares do have tits” He says plainly.

Luna whips her head around and shoots him an indiscernible look. Lucky raises an eyebrow.

“That's weird” The pegasus adds.

“How?!”

…

Next morning.

The game plan is simple.

Find a RIG suit. That will give them clearance to the rest of the ship, or at least the parts that aren't quarantined.

He thought it would take a while, as he has NO fucking clue where the suits are even stored, resorting to just wandering around and hoping one would pop up. But as he turns the corner, he freezes at a very familiar sight.

A suit upgrade station.

And inside… is a completely undamaged RIG suit.

Lucky grows a insidiously manic smile.

Chapter 30: 30 - RIGged

So hey, fun fact about the RIG.

It's a fucking implant.

The suit itself builds off of it, yes, but the RIG is what does the whole time slow-down and telekinesis shit.

Lucky, if you can imagine, doesn't want to cut into his spine to put this bitch in.

And that's just the ENGINEER RIG! What purpose do others even have?! Did humanity just collectively decide ‘ah, I've always wanted a health bar on my back!’.

Sure, it offers SOME degree of interface with other technology. But he would rather put that in like a watch or something rather than SURGICALLY IMPLANT IT IN HIS SPINE.

Fuck's sake…

“What art thou doing?”

Lucky looks up, having turned the floor into an impromptu workstation as he picks apart the heavy pony-shaped engineering suit.

He can't use it, unfortunately, because a lot of its functions rely on the connection to a pony's RIG.

But that doesn't mean he can't just… take all the useful bits out.

“I'm taking the keys out, the…” He holds a screwdriver in his muzzle, muffling his speech a tad as he waves a hoof. “...shit that makes doors open”

“We see…”

He strips the suit into pieces, pulling out the part his System tells him would help. Lucky isn't quite sure what is helping him build stuff, whether it's the thing giving him his System, or his Special Talent. But it works, so whatever.

The end result leaves him with a small, hoof-sized tablet interface that projects from his hoof. He took off the suit's legs, and slid the heavier yet much more well armored leg pieces over his own.

Willing his magic, he ‘Sticks’ them to himself. Moving them around, it's a little awkward but he can tolerate that if it means more armor for his hooves and a way to open doors.

“...this spell is so bullshit”

He considers adding more armor, but he doesn't want to spend more magic than needed, especially since he's relying on his ‘Dismantle’ to do any actual damage.

As he stares at the metal plates, a message appears in his peripheral.

[RarityBelle: Lucky, dear. I implore you to PLEASE take those HORRIBLE things off!]

The pegasus pauses for a moment.

“Not a chance in hell. Why would I do that?”

[RarityBelle: They're… they're DISGUSTING!]

[RarityBelle: The colors! The contours! They don't match you at all! It's a horrible, disgusting, no good DISGRACE of all that is FASHION!]

“It's armor”

[RarityBelle: I'm going to vomit…]

This mare…

“Rarity, I'm not putting myself in more danger just because it looks like shit”

[RarityBelle: Darling PLEASE! Just add a ribbon, a few gems, SOMETHING!]

Lucky opens his mouth to respond, but…

*CLAASH*

Metal bends and breaks.

The vent above flies open.

FUCK, HE DIDN'T NOTICE THE VENT.

Something shoots down, a wet hissing noise fills his ears. A weight slams down on his back, what feels like dozens of fingers gripping his fur.

*SQUELCH*

White hot pain shoots through his body as something pierces through his back and out through his stomach. There's a crack, he stumbles to the ground.

He can't feel his hind legs.

Gritting his teeth, magic surges in panic, hastily shaping the surrounding darkness.

It's too slow, too sloppy.

Lucky feels it claw up the back of his neck. Something fleshy and sharp appears for a
but a moment in his eyes before it jams into the base of his skull.

It's like acid burning in his skull, digging into his flesh and burrowing like the roots of a plant. It digs deeper, piercing through bone and-

There's a flash of blue light, Lucky stifles a scream as it's torn from his body, bringing some of his flesh with it, along with his wings.

“LUCKY!”

Luna runs to his side, panic clear on her face. Lucky feels the Necromorph's shape slithering along the ground as it stumbles back upright.

The air snaps. Metal screams as a slash cuts through the Necromorph, leaving a long gash in the floor behind it.

“Lucky?! H-How do We… the healing!”

“Luna…” Lucky croaks, blood sputtering from his lips. “Just… kill that fucking thing…”

Luna's lips thin, eyes simmering with sadness before quickly turning to firm resolve. She turns to the wriggling remains of the Necromorph, horn ignited as several more cuts sever the thing's limbs.

Watching her, Lucky feels… cold, lethargic. Like all of his energy was sapped away and replaced with this cold, weightless feeling.

He can feel his body stabilizing, like a tether tied to his waist as he tiptoes at the edge of oblivion. Luna's magic is keeping him from bleeding too much, some kind of medical spell he guesses.

What would happen if he… fell asleep? Would his body simply stay as is, or would it just… give up?

An Energizer appears in his hoof, the cold blue can is familiar to him at this point.

There's a voice in his head, pony brain, telling him that it's okay. It's scary, but there's nothing to fear. There's a certain irony, that the most fearful of his selves is the one at peace here.

Maybe it's right. After all, what's really waiting for him when this is all over? Some… cartoon world made for little girls?

“...”

Unfortunately for pony brain…

*krr-CLACK*

Lucky Break doesn't listen to it. Human brain has been screaming, insulting him, berating the pegasus for even thinking that it's okay to die in a shitty ass ambush.

And he agrees.

Fuck that. If pony brain is okay with dying, it can do so by itself.

“Lucky?”

He pushes the can towards her.

Luna takes the can in her magic and tilts it into his mouth. Lucky can immediately feel his body knitting back together.

A warmness in his back legs makes him gasp, sensation returning. Bone and muscle sprout like saplings from his back, forming into wings once more.

With his clarity of mind returning, a loud gasp escapes him as Luna continues to feed him more and more things he's dropping from his inventory.

This… is the closest he's gotten to dying… he thinks.

That's…

Fuck.

Eventually, all that's left are faint scars, like there always is. Lucky is on his back, panting as he feels the last embers of pain fade away.

“Fuck…” He chokes out. “Fuck this STUPID FUCKING…” Growling out the last part, he picks up an empty can and chucks it across the room.

Luna looks down at him with a worried expression.

“Art thou…”

“Just… give me a fuckin second, Luna. Alright?”

He let his guard down for five fucking minutes, and it nearly costed him.

“...”

The dim red fluorescent lights shine down on his sweat-caked face. Shadows long cast like long winding fingers that stretch into the dark.

He can feel it.

The way the magic shifts with each flicker of the emergency lights, like a game of chicken, back and forth the scales of light and darkness sway between.

He feels that… second thing. A faint ‘buzzing’, there's no physical sensation, but he equates this sense with the feeling of the air just before a thunderstorm. It's coming from the lights, and his moonshined RIG setup.

Lucky falls into those feelings, needing a moment to steady himself. It's an odd, foreign feeling for his conscious mind, but there's a strange familiar comfort in his ability to sense magic.

He's reminded of the times he had to navigate his room in the dark. It was easy, as messy as it was, he memorized the room's layout.

The way his mind filters the information is… weird, but efficient. Visualizing the assortment of pipes, machinery, and other things that make up the walls of this place, all with an odd clarity. With a bit of effort, he can even peer into the room under him, as his range has increased with time.

A few long minutes later, Lucky takes a deep breath and throws himself back onto his hooves. His thoughts now back in order.

“Okay, I'm back”

Luna has been patiently waiting, though a bit antsy if the shuffling of her hooves says anything.

“Art thou… okay?”

He rolls his withers.

“Wings are a bit stiff but I'm alright”

The alicorn looks at him hesitantly.

“We… would like to apologize”

“...for?” What did she do wrong? She was caught off guard as he was. Plus, he's the only one here actually familiar with Necromorphs.

“That… thing, it tried to kill thou. We…” She breathes, but her face is set in resolve. “We believe that was Our doing”

Lucky blinks.

“...did you piss it off or something?”

“Lucky. It tried to kill thou”

“Most things try at least once, dude. I'm well fuckin’ aware”

She shakes her head.

“Let Us repeat Ourselves. It tried to KILL thou!”

Lucky scoffs.

“Yeah, what does that have to do… with…”

He trails off.

…wait a minute.

That's… that's right.

Yeah, everything here tries to kill him, but that's for the purpose of making him suffer. That Necromorph in that EXACT type was placed in such a way that would have left him dead if not for Luna.

The Tantabus doesn't want him dead. The dead don't give sustenance.

So that means that… either the Tantabus doesn't have THAT much control over nightmares, or…

“It wants to kill you” Lucky finally puts it together.

Luna nods grimly.

“It has to account for Our presence… It tried to kick Us out of the nightmare forcefully, and to do that, they…”

…she would have to be killed, and Luna would be locked out of the nightmare until the next Anchor is broken, he guesses.

Lucky stares at the mare, eyes narrowed in thought.

“...you made this thing, right?”

She gives a slow nod.

“We are truly sorry”

He takes a deep breath.

“It's…” The man-turned-pony rubs the back of his neck, the lingering sensitivity making him wince. “...fine. Sure. Whatever”

It's not fine, but he's not going to blame Luna for the actions of whatever the fuck the Tantabus is supposed to be.

“Just… don't make any more of those fuckin’ things, alright?” He chuckles a bit. “I'm a bit out-of-practice in my hugging skills and whatnot, wouldn't want to disappoint the next freak that decides to skullfuck me”

Luna cringes at the word ‘skullfuck’, as he imagines the imagery isn't pleasant to the mare, but her ears perk up as she seems to pick something up.

“Out of practice?” She says. “Has it truly been so long since thou last embraced another?”

“...out of context that's a pretty fucked up thing to say, but… yeah, I guess” He shrugs.

“And when was the last time thou experienced it? Thou parents?”

He snorts.

“Not really. They weren't very lovey dovey like that. And… I got hugged once by some fat kid when I was nine, does that count?”

With that, he turns around, a holographic display shines from his moonshined RIG. Pressing on it, the door on the other end of the hallway opens up.

“Oh that's going to save SO much time”

But before he can move, he senses Luna approaching. He feels something soft slide gently over his back. His magic surges, his near empty reserves clawing at the darkness around him. Forcefully, he reigns it back in as he realizes what's happening.

“What are you doing?”

Luna's wings curl around him, almost dragging him into her chest as she sits on her haunches. The difference in size made clear, as his visage is nearly completely hidden underneath the sinfully soft feathers of the mare above.

The back of his head sinks into the tuft of her chest. Long hooves wrap around his base, bringing him closer. Her head cranes down, nuzzling the side of his muzzle as her cheek brushes against his.

Lucky doesn't know what to do. He freezes, even when he has to tilt his head as Luna presses into it.

It's… cold. But a nice kind of cold. Her fur reminds him of the feeling of lying on cold sheets on a hot day.

Why though? Is it about what he said? There's nothing pitiable about it, it's just a random factoid of his life.

“...uh…”

“Lucky Break…” Luna's serene voice speaks with an odd, calm smoothness to it. “Nopony should go about their life, unaware of what it's like to be held close…”

Lucky's mind is blank for a moment, just taking in the sensation. He shakes his head, quickly snapping back to awareness.

Pony hugs are dangerous.

Okay, noted for later.

“I'm…” He attempts to wriggle out of her grasp. “Yeah… uh… sure, Luna”

She shoots him a look that really makes Lucky remember that this mare is truly over a thousand years old, a calm smile, yet brimming with affection and sincerity.

Her embrace strengthens to near unbearable levels for a few moments before she lets go, making him stumble forward.

A part of him misses the feeling as soon as it leaves, the rest of him buries it so deep he hopes it will never resurface.

“Let's just uh…” He clears his throat. “...keep going”

The mare nods.

He sighs, a bit relieved the topic is behind them now. If Luna weren't a ‘friend’, he isn't quite sure how he would react.

Probably negatively.

Definitely negatively.

And probably violently too.

“Anyways, what were you saying, Rarity?”

[RarityBelle: …the armor is fine, darling]

Chapter 31: 31 - Lucky Freak

Okay, there has to be SOME fucking joke he's not in on.

Between the socks and other weirdly sexual shit he's encountered, he's starting to believe the Tantabus is either secretly a freak despite not really being sapient.

ORRRR it's taking all that horny shit out of HIS brain.

Which is even more fucking odd because as far as Lucky can tell, he doesn't HAVE sexual thoughts. Not against ponies at least.

If a seven foot tall tomboy infected with G-cups, lightly sunkissed skin, and a wolf-cut came at him, he would completely understand. He would know exactly where the Tantabus is getting that from.

Maybe even a nerdy girl, he's quite fond of them too. Can't go wrong with them.

But unfortunately, his existence is suffering, and the only tomboy (in his opinion) around is one half of a Royal Diarchy and an immortal demigoddess who is currently staring at the holographic screen in front of them, face burning a deep blue color.

And the only nerd around is purple, and yelling at him from another dimension for what's currently playing on said screen.

>”Yeah? You like that?”<

>”F-Faster!”<

>”Oh-hoh~ So greedy~”<

The mare on screen drools saliva over the thick (probably) shaft as pumps faster with her hooves.

Would you believe Lucky if he said this was the Captain's Logs?

There's dozens of these fuckin videos, and he's not even sure who this is supposed to be for.

Luna sputters for a moment, but quickly corrects to her usual regal poise.

“L-Lucky. May We ask why we are watching such things?”

“Hm?” Unlike the flustered Luna, Lucky is casually sitting on the floor, laptop typing away as he keeps an eye on the footage. “Oh, yeah. We need a retinal scan of the Captain”

Not sure where THAT came from, nothing like that in the game. Closest to anything eye related in Dead Space is that fucking minigame he's going to destroy on sight when he sees it.

Anyways, he needs it to unlock some of the more clearance heavy areas. The Engineer RIG lets him open most of what's available on the Neishimura, but there's a few places and containers in storage that need higher clearance.

That clearance being the Captain, and since HE is missing, his RIG is also missing so Lucky can't just take it.

His quarters were broken into by Necromorphs (unless there's something else on this ship that can casually claw through steel), and he's just… missing.

But you know what WASN'T missing? Several gigs worth of videos of him fucking several of the mares on board the ship.

Which he has to comb through, just for a clear view of his eye.

Fun.

“Couldn't we just… break into whatever we need?” Luna asks, attempting to keep her attention off the screen.

“How very un-princess like”

She shoots him a pout, which he smirks at and continues with his explanation.

“The Neighshimura has an automatic quarantine system, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kinda fuckin…” He rolls his hoof. “Lockdown thing keeping my sweaty fucking pegasus hooves all over the cool shit”

“...We see”

Room locks down, sirens blare, Necromorphs swarm in, he's basically fucked in that scenario.

>”Ugh…. h-hah!”<

>”So noisy! What noises will you make if I… lick it~”<

Oh cool, the hoofjob arc ended, he hated this season.

Lucky has to admit, watching this is weirdly… captivating? That's the word he'd use. But in the same vein of watching a car crash.

He feels nothing from this. Not consciously at least. Don't get him wrong, the capacity IS there, but it's more of his body getting worked up rather than Lucky himself.

After getting molested in the shower by Luna a number of times, he's gotten quite a few looks of what's under her tail. Only once or twice on purpose out of sheer curiosity, but it's hard not to catch it any other times when the bitch is twice his fucking height.

At that thought, Lucky growls and snaps to Luna.

“Can you stop being so fucking tall? It's pissing me off”

Luna's eyes widen, ear flicking as she's started for a moment. Her eyes look down at herself, then at Lucky, as if gauging the size difference.

Then, her face twists into a teasing grin.

“Eat thine veggies and drink plenty of milk, and thou shall grow as big as strong as We!”

“Twilight is already on my flank about my diet, I don't need another”

She reaches over and pokes at his barrel, making him flinch back and glare at her.

“Thou are certainly gaining weight, that is good. We much prefer this than the skeleton thou once were”

“…I wasn't that bad”

Luna raises an eyebrow incredulously.

“Thou lived off of snacks and unhealthy drinks, when was the last time thou partook in a glass of water?”

Lucky bites back a retort.

“...no idea, if I'm being honest”

Luna hums.

“Living with such lifestyle habits shall only wane at thine health. Thou shall never reach a stature such as Ours unless things change”

Lucky rolls his eyes.

“Yeah yeah…” He waves her off. “Not sure why everypony becomes a fuckin’ health coach when talking to me”

“Because We care about thine health and thou don't?” Luna says with a tone as if she's stating something obvious.

He doesn't have anything to say to that.

Anyways, yeah. Lucky has seen Luna in all her fatass glory.

He takes a moment to look at her. Not to address her, but to actually analyze the alicorn in front of him.

She's an objectively attractive mare, he thinks, pony brain seems to think so.

But there's definitely a weird conflict of interests going on inside his brain.

Looking at her, wrapped in dark blue fur with contrastingly bright blue eyes, with a mane flowing in the nonexistent wind like space-dust shifting in the void.

To Lucky, Simon, whoever the fuck. This is just ‘Luna’. His ‘friend’. Reasonably, he thinks she probably looks quite good considering what little he knows about pony beauty standards, and while by his human standards he can't seem to really understand why, his pony brain seems to agree.

But he's not a human anymore. He's a pony.

His brain is quite literally wired differently, brimming with foreign hormones and chemicals.

So while his conscious self may not have interest, his body (and by proxy his subconscious) certainly does by sheer evolutionary instinct.

Lucky has caught his eyes lingering on Luna's ‘parts’ in those moments in the shower. Not out of actual conscious interest, but it's like his body recognizes and registers Luna as a member of the opposite sex and acts accordingly.

He… doesn't know how to feel about that.

It's… weird? Definitely weird. It's like being a kid before puberty and finding a risqué magazine. You yourself don't understand what you're looking at, only that some part of your brain is interested. It's confusing and uncomfortable, it's not interesting at all yet you can't help but keep looking at it.

Lucky, fortunately, is not a child. He's able to recognize it.

It's annoying.

Humiliating.

The shameful fact that his body is subtly trying to ease him into liking horse pussy. What fucking problem even IS that?! Who HAS that problem?! HIM! HE DOES! Because of COURSE he does!

Right now, it's not an issue. He can see it, identify it. But humans are creatures of habits. Eventually, it's going to get harder and harder to even realize what's happening.

Luna notices his gaze and meets his eyes.

She smiles.

…should he just ignore it, then?

No.

He is not a slave to his body.

Lucky takes a deep breath.

Ease it back.

“Hey, Luna. Do you know what ‘spoofing’ is?”

She blinks.

“We are not familiar with the term, no”

[TwilightSparkle: I have a bad feeling about this…]

“It's where you take a popsicle a-”

[TwilightSparkle: STOOOP! STOP TALKING!]

[TwilightSparkle: A-Also. Lucky please turn that off!]

He glances at the message.

“No”

[TwilightSparkle: That. I-It's just… WHY?!]

“I'm not fucking with you, I literally need to keep this on. Could save my life, actually”

[RainbowDash: You CANNOT just say some horseapples like that and not explain! How?!]

[ThePinkOne: Yeah! What's spoofing?]

[RainbowDash: NOT THAT]

Lucky debates on just ignoring the message, he's already done so many times already, but he just sighs and runs a hoof on the bridge of his muzzle.

“Ask Twi. Now fuck off, I'm trying to teach Luna something. And YES, I need to watch THIS stallion-”

He points a hoof at the holographic screen.

“-get his shit slobbered on sloppy style, or else I get softlocked from all the cool fucking garbage that will help me keep my brain in my skull. Cool? Cool”

[RainbowDash: …]

[CherryBerry: Pft]

[CherryBerry: ‘slobbered on sloppy style’... it's so weird how easily he says stuff like this]

[ThePinkOne: New vocabulary updated~]

[Fluttershy: Please don't…]

[Applejack: …what's a soft lock?]

[Aloe: We haven't seen him rant in a while, now that I'm thinking about it]

[SunnySkies: That is a good thing, all things considered]

[Daisy: Yeah… but I kinda miss it…]

[CherryBerry: He ignores all of us background ponies…]

[ThePinkOne: Wait… Say that again]

>Urgh… ha-HAAHH!”<

Lucky perks up, eyes moving to the screen.

Looks like that shit was too sloppy, poor bastard. Welp, onto the next video.

He's definitely taking Zinc or something by the way, that amount is just ridiculous.

Unless that's normal for ponies, he wouldn't know.

Turning back to the princess, Lucky continues.

“Anyways, yeah. Spoofing”

“Is it something… inappropriate?” She asks slowly.

Luna's met with a tilt of his head.

“Probably”

He gets batted with a wing.

…

Lucky leans over the railing, overlooking a massive docking bay as the sound of distant mechanical ambiance fills his ears.

There's a ship down below, half broken. Thick metal, unrecognizable machines from a far future mixed with the ergonomic simplicity of pipes and wires lay shattered in the loading docks.

A metal corpse.

As if this place needs more corpses.

Cloaking himself in darkness, he flaps his wings and flies down.

Luna glides alongside him, head swirling around as she takes in the docking bay.

“These truly are ships meant for the stars…” Luna mumbles.

Lucky tries to speak, but realizes his Cloak is muting whatever he has to say. He quickly shifts it around and talks quietly.

“They ain't real”

“We know that” She retorts. “But even in it's visage. It's… a rather wonderful concept”

Luna turns to him as he boards the ship, senses flaring. There's a Necromorph near the corner of the bay, but it hasn't noticed them yet, good, stay there fucker.

“Dost thou believe such technology is possible?”

“...probably?” He replies honestly. “Without magic, definitely not. With magic? Maybe”

As far as he can tell, magic is damn near omnipotent in what it can do. It's only a matter of finding the right spells and having a large enough reserve.

Hell, with the Wind Shot spell he just recently learned, he's already got a plan to convert it into a cheaper version of his Dismantle using wind pressure.

Definitely gonna take a while though, especially since he doesn't have a reliable way to test it.

…wait, this seems familiar.

Why is this familiar?

Lucky raises an eyebrow, looking around at the broken ship.

“This is…”

He moves to a nearby terminal, flickering to life as he connects to it. Details about the ship appear in front of him.

The name doesn't stand out to him.

He checks the crew logs, the Captain's credentials already pulling their weight as accessing them needs a higher clearance.

Lucky isn't sure why a retinal scan is a backup authenticator when a person's rank is literally built into their spine, but whatever.

Opening the logs, he scrolls through the names until his eyes freeze on one particular image.

A stallion, light tan coat with a basic brown mane. Blue-green eyes.

[SHIPS SYSTEM ENGINEER: STABLE QUARKS]

Oh.

Hello, Isaac.

Chapter 32: 32 - Twilight Locks In

The existence of Isaac Clarke- sorry, ‘Stable Quarks’ makes Lucky… confused.

Back on Dead Island, he just assumed his position in whatever ‘setting’ the Tantabus cooks up has him as the insert for the player character. After all, he didn't see any pony versions of the four islanders, and where he began was damn near identical to the beginning of the game.

Why is it different here?

Normally, he wouldn't care, because at this point he's expecting the Illusion to ‘poniefy’ the characters in the story. But not the MAIN character.

Which makes this whole fucking thing all the more complicated when he thinks of the implications of it.

Because if pony Isaac is here, that means he's on a time limit. Maybe.

That means the Marker is already in his head, with pictures of his dead wife.

That means that Isaac is on his way to ‘Make us whole’.

Doing so by fucking up SO badly it connects an eldritch alien wifi tower with OTHER ALIEN WIFI TOWERS, making it WORSE, amplifying whatever signal that causes Necromorphs ANNNND, TO TOP IT ALLLLL OFF!

Anyone who actually SURVIVES gets turned into a fucking sleeper agent for the Marker.

The only good piece of news is that he doubts the Tantabus can actually replicate a full-on Brethren Moon invasion.

But still.

Fuck.

Lucky takes a deep breath, going over it in his head. He presses his head against the terminal.

“...”

He turns it off, muttering under his breath.

“Whatever… figure it out, dumbass”

“What have thou found, Lucky?”

Luna lingers above him. He lifts his head up, bumping into Luna's chin. She flinches, but ultimately decides to rest her chin on his mane.

…what the hell is she doing?

Is this some pony body language thing?

Whatever.

“Good news, since we're at the start of the g-... book, I can probably find where the anchor is by following the route the MC took”

“...MC?”

Lucky barely holds back a sigh.

“Main character. This fucker” He turns the terminal on and shows the profile of Stable Quarks to Luna.

She raises an eyebrow at it.

“And the bad news?”

“I think I gotta kill him”

The lunar mare blinks.

“...pardon?”

…

[SKILL POINTS: 6]

It has been two days.

He thought these points were supposed to be coming in slower, but he guesses not. Ever since Luna appeared, his Skill Points have been going up for seemingly no reason.

Does he get stronger when Luna molests him or something?

…wait, is that actually what's happening?

Thinking it over, Lucky feels a cold dread wash over him as he can't really disprove it. Even killing the Necromorphs (as close to ‘killing’ he can get anyways) didn't net him these points.

He shoots up from bed, mane lightly slapping against his eye (ow, fuck).

There's no way that's REAL, right?

No. Wait.

The Skill Tree is designed around the Elements Of Harmony, so it's safe to assume his System is Equestrian-based, or at least connected in some way to the show.

My Little Pony is a foa-KID'S show (fuck, his vocabulary is changing), even if he hadn't watched it, he can get the general idea when ‘Friendship Is Magic’ is followed immediately fucking after.

The power of friendship is a real, tangible thing here.

From what little he knows, is it… Harmony? Is that giving him Skill Points?

Does the System respond to his interactions with other ponies?

Oh God.

Cold sweat pools off his face.

Is… Is his system encouraging him to interact with other ponies?

They gave a power that rewards its user for being SOCIAL to HIM?!

He's barely, BARELY able to handle Luna, at least with Twilight he can just ignore her messages if it gets too much.

“...fuck”

Lucky won't deny that he's gotten… better, at least in talking to ponies. But he still finds the average pony rather unappealing to interact with, and would rather hole up in some cabin in the middle of the wilderness somewhere.

“...”

Sighing, he wipes his face with a hoof, wincing at the sweat that's accumulated.

“...goddammit…” He needs a shower.

He gets up, carefully peeling the sleeping Luna off of him (she was on the other side of the room, how the fuck did she move all the way over here?). Using trace amounts of Darkness magic, he silences his hootsteps and makes his way to the showers.

It's not far from the quarters they're staying in, but it's more of a communal thing, instead of a private one.

Nopony else is here anyways, not like he'd care.

In the silence, a single message appears in his peripheral.

[Braeburn: So… ya don't really care if we watch ya do this, huh?]

*beep-fwoosh* The doors opens to a tiled floor, Lucky walks in, departing his leg armor into his inventory.

“Not really”

He zips his bodysuit open and tosses it into his inventory as well.

[Braeburn: Wow, didn't expect ya to answer!]

“You're the only one up, aside from Twilight I guess. But she's an insomniac, so… yeah”

[Braeburn: An insami-whos-it?]

He goes to speak, but is cut off.

[TwilightSparkle: Insomniac. A condition that makes it difficult to sleep]

[TwilightSparkle: And I can sleep just fine, Lucky. Just hard to do so when I see my friend in trouble]

“We're not…” He pauses, pressing his lips together.

He just decides to not say anything.

“Who's up and watching right now?”

A few ponies chime in, though he can't recognize most of their names. Must be the nightshift workers.

“Wow, a lot of losers with nothing to do, cool”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky! Don't be mean!]

“They're the ones watching me shower at… what? One, two AM?”

[Braeburn: 1:33AM]

Thank you Braeburn.

[TwilightSparkle: You know it's not like that]

“Whatever” He shrugs her off, turning on one of the shower heads and letting the water wash over him.

He hates the feeling of his fur being wet, but what can he do?

Maybe he should invest in a cleaning spell.

Sighing, he opens up his UI and swaps over to the Skill Tree.

What should he spend his points on?

“Hmm…”

He thinks back at that moment, wings ripped off the bone, a tentacle piercing through his skull. It wouldn't have happened if his control over magic was better.

But he wouldn't even NEED that if his magical senses were better!

God, he's so fucking shit at this, isn't he?

“Man, I suck at being a pony”

[Braeburn: Eh, 6/10]

Above average, nice.

[TwilightSparkle: I think you're doing pretty okay for your situation! I understand that adjusting to your new body and culture around you would be… disconcerting]

[TwilightSparkle: But you're doing so good! Even with your… antisocialness]

“Well it's a good thing I don't plan on flexing my ‘pony skills’ anytime soon after I leave this fucking place”

[TwilightSparkle: …what do you mean?]

“I don't get along with peo-... ponies, Twi. I'm an extradimensional alien ape wrapped in the skin of a magical horse. Sure, ponies talk to me NOW. But as soon as this-” He gestures to where he thinks the ‘camera’ of the stream is. “-shuts off. It'll go right back to business”

There's a pause in the chat.

[TwilightSparkle: …I… I don't like what you're saying, Lucky. What does that mean? ‘Going back to business’?]

He flicks his soaked mane to the side, eyes narrowed under the stream of water as he makes out the messages.

“Let's say I make it out. I still have all my limbs, and I shack up in some town or whatever. Things are going good, until the novelty of being… well, me, runs off” He explains, rubbing soap into his coat.

“Eventually, most ponies are going to realize ‘hey, this guy kinda sucks’, and they'll stop trying to talk to me. That's fine, I expect that. So I'm gonna get a niiice little shack in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and… I dunno, grow fuckin cabbages or somethin’”

[TwilightSparkle: That's… That's not going to happen…]

“Twilight, do you LIKE talking to ponies who treat you like shit?”

[TwilightSparkle: …no?]

“Then why do you expect everypony else to? Sure, you and Luna are my ‘friends’. But I can't… BE a pony, Twilight. I can't GIVE you that… THING that other ponies can give in friendships, that emotional vulnerability, understanding. Whatever it is that makes relationships work”

He blows soap out of his nose, it lightly burns his nostril, making him cringe.

“Luna is royalty. When this is over, what is going to be more important: her royal duties, or some fucked up pegasus she befriended because her pet Lovecraftian horror decided to act up? I would bet money I would be demoted to a penpal almost instantly”

[TwilightSparkle: She wouldn't do that!]

“It's not out of malice, Twi. She has other things to do, I'm just not high up on her priority list. Neither am I on yours, and that's fine. That's life”

Lucky smells at his coat.

Eh… still kinda stinks, this soap is garbage.

Time for a second wash, he guesses.

“‘Oh, Lucky, just act like a pony then’ they'd say. Like I can casually do that, sure, what the fuck ever” He mutters mostly to himself. “Just don't see myself… doing all that, y'know?”

[TwilightSparkle: Do… do you really think I'm… like that? That we would do that?]

“I don't mesh well with others, I've long since gotten used to it. It's just what it is”

Eventually, they'll either get sick of him. Or they'll keep him at a distance.

It's been nice, if Lucky were being painfully honest with himself, but he knows he isn't exactly a pleasant pony to be around.

Twilight doesn't say anything for a while, an awkward silence lulling over the chat.

“...”

[Braeburn: That sounds awfully lonely]

“Yep” He pops the ‘p’ with slight exasperation in his voice. What are they not getting about this?

The silence stretches on, until…

[TwilightSparkle: No]

Lucky raises an eyebrow.

[TwilightSparkle: I'm not… I'm not doing this. It's late, and I'm tired]

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky, I don't know what I need to do to prove that I'm your friend, but OBVIOUSLY that doesn't seem to be working]

[TwilightSparkle: I've tried to appeal to your logic, but it's like you've convinced yourself that you're always going to end up miserable and alone! Normally, I would try and understand, and maybe help you into a better mindset. But I can't sit here and listen to you spew all this… this… this horseapples!]

Lucky lets the soap duds sit in his mane as he watches chat go by.

[TwilightSparkle: So, instead, I'm just going to be upfront with you. There is no second meaning, there is no subtext, footnote, or any of that]

[TwilightSparkle: I like you, and I want to be your friend]

He blinks.

[TwilightSparkle: I think you're funny, I genuinely enjoy talking to you, whether it's about magic or not. I honestly look forward to our talks! Did you know that? I LIKE talking to you!]

“...”

[TwilightSparkle: And do you know WHY I like it so much? It's because you're interesting! Not academically- at least not fully, but personally. Do you think I would stay up till ONE because of… what did you call it, a ‘novelty'?]

[TwilightSparkle: I don't know what things were like in your world… but I promise, at the very, VERY least… I will not treat you like that]

[TwilightSparkle: So I swear on the name of the Royal Sisters, if you try and isolate yourself like you said, I will PERSONALLY drag your flank to Ponyville]

Lucky lets the water drip off of him, coat finally rinsed of whatever sweat clung to it.

[Braeburn: Wow]

…wow indeed.

He… actually doesn't know what to say to that.

Sighing, the pegasus rubs the water out of his eyes.

Throughout his life, Lucky has had approximately zero ‘real’ friends. Either due to mismanagement in his school, his own personality just not clicking with others, and certainly because of his general antisocial tendencies.

But he's always wanted one, to at least say he did. He would see on TV how people just seemed to understand each other, and when he was younger he craved it. He grew out of it, but he still wondered what it would be like.

Unfortunately, who would want to befriend him? Some introverted loner who works on cars?

A thought enters him.

…is Twilight being genuine? With Luna, he assumes it was more out of circumstance (does it matter how friendships are formed?), and even that is starting to grow. But Twilight is offering her friendship straight up, with no strings attached, and if her word is to be trusted then she would actually at least try and stick around.

Fuck. Is he seriously considering this?

Is he just being stupid? Stubborn?

Both?

He has to clarify.

“...are you serious?”

[TwilightSparkle: Yes]

“Like, actually, full on serious?”

[TwilightSparkle: Yes]

Lucky chuffs.

“...this is dumb, Twi. You can't control the future. Don't promise shit when you don't even know how it'll be down the line”

[TwilightSparkle: Correct. But I can control the ‘now’. And that's what matters]

“I…” Lucky stalls.

What does he lose in this?

His pride? His chance for a more quiet life?

He's scared, somewhat. Of the change.

Yellow eyes flicker to his flank, cards spread out in a velvety red. His cutie mark apparently shows he's good at gambling, at making the most of whatever hand he's got.

Is this the right call?

He breathes out.

Welp… time to play his cards.

“Alright”

[TwilightSparkle: …alright, what?]

“I won't… do that, and…”

Fuuuck…

“I'll… be your friend”

…

[POV: SPIKE]

Spike's dream of swimming in a pool of gems is shattered as an unholy screech blasts through the quiet library.

“YYYEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!”

Spike shoots up from bed, heart pounding as he throws himself down the stairs to reach his sister/mother/it's complicated.

He sees her, mane tattered and eyes heavy. But a large, droopy smile brightly sits curled up her face.

Her eyes snap to him.

“Spike~” Oh no.

Her hooves shoot out, snapping him up, leaving him face to face with the severely exhausted mare.

“I did it~ I FINALLY did it!~”

“Uh… not sure what you're talking about, but congrats”

She giggles manically.

“And all it took was a week~ but now he's my friend!”

What is she…

Oh, right. That stallion Twilight is obsessed with.

“I am not obsessed”

“I didn't say anything!”

“You were THINKING it!”

“Yeah? Well, prove it”

Twilight's smile falters for a moment, before she lets him go and slumps in her chair. She throws a hoof up in the air in lazy celebration.

“Take that Princess Luna, I'm in the lead!”

“...the lead for what?” Spike asks, a little scared of the answer.

Instead of answering, Twilight pauses for a moment. Her tied eyes blinking as she stares off into space.

“I… actually don't know”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Go to bed, Twi”

“Okay”

…

[POV: LUCKY BREAK]

Twilight died, apparently.

But now he has a friend, no quotation marks around it or anything.

That's… weird.

Out of curiosity, he checks his Skill Points again, and…

[SKILL POINTS: 7]

“...you gotta be fucking with me”

As he ponders about his newfound companionship and the horrible knowledge on how his System functions, something shifts at the corner of his senses.

A figure is made out, walking along the halls, pony-shaped.

Lucky freezes.

Oh fuck, is this…

No. He sighs in relief. It's a mare, holding some kind of device.

Who the fuck is this? Isaac? He was a stallion, wasn't he?

Lucky watches as the mare makes a turn, and heads towards the showers.

If one good thing were to come out of these last two days, it would be the fact he FINALLY found a plasma cutter. He hovers over it in his inventory.

There's the sound of a door opening, and in walks the mare.

She doesn't see him.

“Fuckin ell… finally”

A taller mare, earth pony. A light tan coat like his, with a thick curly dark brown, almost black mane. Her eyes are a bright brown, and she wears a white tank top under a gray jumpsuit whose sleeves are tied around her waist.

In her hoof is a… what the fuck is that? A radar?

She peels the top off of her, and at that moment her eyes meet his.

They freeze.

“...”

“...”

““Who the fuck are you?!””

(A/N: Lucky: “Boy I sure do love being a loner!”. The nefarious purple friendship horse about to drag his ass outside: “Hey”.

Also, people who realize who this is and the implications behind her appearance are about to shit their pants)

Chapter 33: 33 - Cooked: A Documentary

(A/N: Feels like this story went off the mark a little, so if there's a bit of a tonal shift or pacing issue, just remember that this was supposed to be a crack fic that had way too much effort put into it)

…

“Fat bitches need to shut the fuck up”

“W-What in Tartarus are you talking about?!”

Lucky presses the plasma cutter down on the mare's head, who lies motionless on the shower floor due to a magically applied Sticking.

“Don't get it twisted, just cause a mare's got a little chub doesn't make her a fat bitch. All fat bitches are chubby, but not all chubby mares are fat bitches. Square rectangle type shit, y'know?”

“L-Let me go!”

“Some stallions are into mares with a little chub, and in some way I can relate, a little fat in the right places doesn't do no harm…”

Lucky leans in, closer to the mare's face as he stares intently into her wide eyes.

“But stallions into fat bitches? They are worth less than dirt”

Hovering in his peripheral, hundreds of nightshift workers silently watch as Lucky spouts egregious rhetoric to a constrained mare.

[VioletNight: …he's being a little rude, there's nothing wrong with being a little overweight!]

[FineDining: I… think he's saying the opposite?]

[GlitterBomb: …so is Lucky into chubby mares]

[Braeburn: I'm surprised he's into mares at all]

[Whisper: He's just spouting gibberish again!]

Lucky, in the middle of his incoherent rambling as he was internally figuring out what the fuck to do, scowls at the message.

He's not gay, he just doesn't find horses attractive, fuck off!

“That sets a precedent, it tells non-fat-bitches that they don't have to take care of themselves to get a stallion. It rewards mares for not only giving up on their body, but also their imagine and own self-dignity”

“I'm not fat, flankhole!”

“I'm gonna share a secret with you. Being a fat bitch isn't just a state of being, it's a lifestyle. It shows that you lack zero care and discipline to take care of yourself. How are you going to take care of foals and a partner if you can't even take care of yourself?”

“LEAVE ME ALONE”

Lucky suspected a lot of things.

After all, it's not surprising that the Tantabus decided his ass wasn't thoroughly FUCKED enough and merged another series in here.

But what he didn't expect was to see another named character.

Ellen Ripley. Or by the ID in her pocket, Star Ripple.

Funny.

A fucking Xenomorph is here.

Not so funny.

He needs to lock the fuck in, harder than he's ever done before.

“Hey, do you know where the cargo hold is? The big one?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Where is it?”

…

Kind mare, pony Ripley is.

But, in the most respectful way possible, she can go FUCK herself for bringing a fucking Xenomorph on board.

So as compensation for the mental breakdown she caused, Lucky took her motion tracker.

“Where did thou get such a device?” Luna asks, arching her neck over his wither, like a mother talking to her foal.

Fuck you, giant bitch.

“Sold my body for it” He responds plainly, checking his map again to see if he's going in the right direction.

“...pardon?”

“Yeah, I went to take a shower last night and a kind mare walked in on me. She watched me for a bit and gave me this-” He holds up the tracker. “-in return. Pretty good deal if you ask me”

[RarityBelle: That is not what happened at all, darling]

[Applejack: Does he think lyin’ makes him funny or somethin?]

Excuse him, he's fucking hysterical.

“...”

The look on Luna's face is hard to identify.

She blinks, and clears her throat.

“We… it would be best to… refrain from such acts from now on, Lucky Break”

“Why?”

“Just don't”

“Hm…” Lucky hums.

He smacks his lips, then turns to chat.

“Chat, quick question”

[Lily: Sure! What do you need?]

[Aloe: …why do I have a bad feeling]

“When did I become a citizen of Equestria?”

[SunnySkies: You haven't, at least as far as I can tell]

“Then why should I listen to its princess? I am not under your fl-”

Lucky's bitching is interrupted by Luna's regal voice echoing in the halls.

“Tempest Nights, if thou art hearing this, please prepare the proper paperwork to register one Lucky Break as a citizen of Equestria”

Wha…

What?

What the fuck?

“Hey, what are yo-”

“Put the royal castle as his mailing address, everything else can be handled by Our sister”

With that, she turns to Lucky with a smug grin on her face.

“Welcome to Equestria!”

The pegasus blinks, eyes then squinting into a sharp glare.

“Are… are you being serious right now?”

“Indeed!”

“There's no fucking way it works like that”

[TwilightSparkle: Integration laws in Equestria are actually pretty lax! How were they in your world?]

“Chat, banish Twilight to the Dumb Fucking Nerd dimension for ten-thousand years”

[Applejack: Ahlrighty now…]

[RainbowDash: Pft]

[TwilightSparkle: WHAT DID I DO?!]

He's… still a little embarrassed about the whole situation with her.

“Being a princess such as We is quite convenient, friend Lucky Break”

“Sounds like tyranny”

She flinches at that, and for a moment Lucky wonders if that was the wrong thing to say.

Ah, right. Nightmare Moon. Fuck.

An apology almost slips out, but he bites it back.

Silence spreads between them, with only the sound of their hoofsteps and the idle beeping of the tracker filling the air.

“Lucky… if We may ask…” Luna begins, Lucky tilts his ear to indicate he's listening. “Why is it that thou are so against making friends?”

“Never needed ‘em” He quips. “Just a lot of unnecessary bullshit and drama I… really can't be bothered to deal with”

“So thou would rather be alone?”

“Hardly a choice in the matter”

Her lips curl like she's eaten something sour.

Just the truth, Luna. Not much to say in his friendship department.

“Even during holidays? Thine birthday?”

“Just days on the calendar, and maybe a day off work if management was feeling especially generous”

“Dost thou have hobbies to experience with others?”

Okay, what is this? Where is she going with this?

“...I guess… figures?”

“Figures?”

“Yeah, it's… you know what a model kit is?”

Luna shakes her head.

“We do not”

Chat seems to not recognize the term either.

“It's… fuckin… it's a figure. But it comes in pieces and you have to put it together yourself. Like, in a little mesh and you have to cut the pieces out, and there's stickers and all that”

Great job Lucky, explained that perfectly.

“...like a doll?”

“Kinda”

“Why sell it in pieces? That seems counterproductive”

“Just part of the experience I guess- turn left here”

They turn into, shockingly, another fucking hallway.

90% of this goddamn ship is just ominous hallways.

He checks the motion tracker and his map. All clear, but he's really not liking how quiet it is, especially with a Xenomorph after his vulnerable and unimpregnated self.

Oh GOD he REALLY fucking hopes facehuggers didn't make the cut.

“What kind?”

Lucky blinks in confusion.

“‘What kind’ what?”

“What kind of… ‘model kit’ did you like?”

Oh, she's still on this topic.

“There were a few of them that were okay. I had one that was this bigass… robot, took two weeks to make”

Mostly because he would get pissed off and forget about it for days on end while building it.

“That seems quite the novel concept!”

“It was alright”

“Did you make more of them?”

He rolls the stiffness out of his withers.

“Nope”

Luna blinks.

“Why not? We seem to recall thine penchant for crafting”

“Life happened. Too expensive, not enough time, or energy”

While she seems to understand by the look on her face, she seems a little… confused?

Ponies have all the free time in the world, huh?

And HE'S supposed to be the lucky one, alright.

A calm voice cuts through his musing.

“...was it because thou had nopony to show thine work to?” She says plainly.

“...”

Lucky pauses, actually turning to look at the mare and the firm expression on her face.

“And thou believe that nopony would be thine friend. So thou gave up on what brings thou joy, as thou considered it not worth the effort”

His hooves stop, he turns to stare at the mare, who meets his gaze confidently.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“We would like to hear more about the figures”

Lucky chuffs.

“Fuckin ell…” He lets out a slow breath. “Luna. Psychoanalyze me a little gentler, will you? My innocent virgin body can't handle it”

The lunar diarch's cheeks turn a darker shade of blue.

[RainbowDash: Innocent my flank]

[Fluttershy: Well…]

[Applejack: Once again, there are FOALS here, Lucky!]

He rolls his eyes, how is it HIS fault parents can't control their kids- FOALS, FUCK.

“W-We are being serious” She coughs to regain herself. “Perhaps thou should find success in sharing thine interests with others! That is the first step in making friends!”

“...didn't we already talk about this? Like, SEVERAL times?”

[TwilightSparkle: Yes, you just keep ignoring what we say!]

No he doesn't, he actually pays attention, there's just not much worth actually being said in chat most of the time.

“Thou has already found friendship in Our sister's pupil and Ourselves. We imagine there will be plenty of ponies who share thine passion for the craft!”

“If they have super-autism like Twilight, maybe”

[TwilightSparkle: I still have no idea what that means]

[SunnySkies: There is merit in what she is saying, Lucky. Why not explain your progress in the Wind Shot spell? You seem interested in runescribing]

Of course he's fucking interested in magic, it's MAGIC.

At Luna's expectant gaze, he sighs and draws out the runes with a wave of his hoof.

Turns out that having complete control over his body makes drawing out runes way easier.

“Oh I mastered that”

[SunnySkies: …what?]

“Yeah, but I couldn't figure out how to do some crazy shit like with my Dismantle ‘cause I can’t control wind magic directly”

[SunnySkies: That was fast]

“It's a novice level spell”

[TwilightSparkle: Lucky, it takes regular ponies weeks to learn new spells! Those without horns even longer!]

“Cool”

[TwilightSparkle: COOL?!]

“Yeah, cool. Anyways, I did figure out some bullshit I can do with this. Watch”

He shoots off the spell, a ball of wind collides with the wall with a loud thud, but only making a small marking against the metal.

Another spell matrix appears at his hoof, and out from his inventory comes a particular object.

A railway spike. Long and sharp.

The air coagulates, condensing into a thick spiral of wind near instantly. Lucky's mane flaps mildly in the sudden gust.

“Turns out that if you push baby spells like this, their range drops dramatically because the magic needed to maintain it is redirected into creating more force. Normally, that's a shitty idea”

He smacks his lips.

“That's IF I was planning on shooting this by itself”

*gggGGRROOAAAA-*

Down the hall, a Necromorph emerges, drawn by the noise.

Lucky tosses the spike into the ball of wind.

The spell immediately breaks, but the force behind it-

*BOOOOM*

Launches the spike through the air like a cannon, instantly reaching the Necromorph morph and-

*SQUELCH*

Obliterating the thing's chest, punching a hole straight through the gored mass of reanimated flesh.

It's not dead, of course, but it serves as a good picture.

Lucky rubs his still ringing ears. With practiced hooves, he pulls out his Plasma Cutter and de-limbs the Necromorph as it charges at him.

“Still need to work on the aiming part of it, but yeah”

Luna just stares wide eyed at the scene before her, not blinking at all.

“...”

[TwilightSparkle: …huh]

[Applejack: Twi… that was a foal's spell, right?]

[TwilightSparkle: …yes]

[SunnySkies: I am happy for you, Lucky. But I can feel a headache forming]

“Womp womp”

He continues walking, before turning to Luna.

“Oh, I found the Marker by the way”

“P-Pardon?!”

Kind mare, pony Ripley is.

…

[SKILL POINTS: 8]

Okay, this is getting stupid.

[ LAUGHTER SKILL - CAN YOU DRAW ME?
♧10% efficiency in learning artistic trades.
♧25% efficiency in learning artistic trades.
♧50% efficiency in learning artistic trades. ]

[ MAGIC SKILL - OKAYISH MAGE
♡25% increase in magic capacity growth.
♡50% increase in magic capacity growth.
♡120% increase in magic capacity growth. ]

Again, he can't feel much of a difference beyond a small hiccup in his chest. Hopefully with the laughter skill, it would make it easier to draw out runes as it is technically an ‘art’.

Hopefully.

Or else he just became really good at drawing, which is much more useless.

For the rest of the points, two of them, he just puts them…

Hm…

[ LOYALTY SKILL - RULE OF COOL
5% increase in your actions looking ‘cooler’.
10% increase in your actions looking ‘cooler’.
20% increase in your actions looking ‘cooler’. ]

“...”

[ LOYALTY SKILL - RULE OF COOL
♤5% increase in your ‘coolness’.
♤10% increase in your ‘coolness’.
20% increase in your ‘coolness’. ]

Spoiling himself a little never hurt anypony.

No sir.

Chapter 34: 34 - Second Anchor

*clack clack clack*

This is boring.

Lucky finds himself typing away on his laptop (fucking hoof magic bullshit by the way) as he and Luna found a moment of rest before closing further in on the supposed location of the Anchor.

Since break rooms seem rather abundant on the Neighshimura, probably because it's an old ass ship that's been refurbished possibly hundreds of times, Lucky took a moment to scout out the nearby cargo hold.

Namely, using his Darkness sense and CCTV.

Why isn't he using the UI on his moonshined RIG? Because it's annoying, and he can't navigate it mentally because Lucky doesn't quite feel like putting shit in his eyeballs.

But still, he finds himself… disappointed?

The Tantabus did indeed pick a ‘scarier’ setting, but with his System and Luna's miraculous ability to shoot fucking black holes out of her horn (she didn't do this but he's convinced she could), it stopped being about survival and more because a repetitive cycle of killing Necromorphs, looting shit, and creepy hallways.

He thought that with the Alien crossover that things would be different, that he would have to keep watch for Xenomorphs and… fuckin androids or something, he doesn't know.

But it's just… nothing.

Is it wrong that he feels a little disappointed?

A part of him thinks that it's all leading up to something, Chekov's Gun is loaded and it's currently poking at the roof of his mouth, and his bitchass ain't swallowing.

If Lucky were a gambling stallion, which he absolutely fucking is he looks like a walking poker chip, he would bet every cent he has on the idea of Necromorphed Xenomorphs showing up at the Marker.

Or the Hive Mind having Xeno bits, whatever.

His ass is (hopefully only metaphorically) fucked.

Luna's weight shifts above him, having taken to laying on him like some sort of weighted blanket. He laid on a couch for ONE second and next thing he knows the back of his head is being buried in… fuck did they call it? Chest floof?

The size difference pisses him off, with the fucking behemoth of a mare (when compared to him at least) making feel like a kid- a FOAL, FUCK.

It's not like he really cares about his appearance, having long since grown apathetic to his weird and fucked up pony form.

Perhaps that's the one benefit to whatever the fuck the Tantabus did to his memories. The dysmorphia from going from human to horse-thing has been dulled thanks to the second set of ‘memories’ that accompanied him.

Even if he's PRETTY sure they aren't real.

Odd. As mind-numbingly fucking horrifying such a revelation is, it does raise a few questions.

Like why he has them in the first place, or why new ones weren't supplemented when he changed genres.

Or whether it was the Tantabus who changed him into a pony in the first place.

That last one is the weirdest to him, and it makes him wonder if the Tantabus had any say at all in his sudden transmigration and transformation (fucking tongue twister).

Occam's Razor says that whatever changed him also gave him his System. But there's no proof beyond speculation.

In other words, he knows jack shit.

And the sky is blue.

Go figure.

He hopes that some answers will be solved once he breaks that Anchor.

Sighing, he shuts the laptop and tosses it into the gaping hole of his inventory.

“Okay, seriously. What is this?”

“What is what?”

Lucky rolls over onto his back, looking up at the lunar mare as she cranes her in from the fucking stratosphere.

“This” He rolls his hoof. “I may be shit at this whole ‘friend’ thing, but I'm pretty sure we don't do this”

“Is it not comfortable?”

“Same way breaking into someone's house to sleep on their couch is ‘comfortable’. I'm… confused, is this just a pony thing? Or do you like touching me?”

[SunnySkies: Sigh…]

[TwilightSparkle: Oh! I know this!]

[TwilightSparkle: While it's not a common practice today, as with the advancement of housing and proper heating, ponies of old would often meet up with others in their communities to sleep in groups to conserve body heat]

[RainbowDash: Coulda’ just make a fire but okay]

[ThePinkOne: Cuddle piles!!!]

“I ask why I'm getting molested and Twilight pulls out a fucking history book, go figure”

Luna recoils as if struck. The weight shifts, lifting some of it off of him.

“W-We are doing no such thing!”

“Lady, if the roles were reversed my head would be on a pike right now. Don't know the penalty for royal backshots but I know it ain't good”

[RainbowDash: …’Lady’?]

[Applejack: He does have a point, Princess Luna does seem awfully… Ah dunno, touchy?]

[Fluttershy: She seems fine to me…]

[RarityBelle: …what in Celestia's Sun is a ‘backshot’?...]

[ThePinkOne: Sex]

[RarityBelle: oh dear]

How the hell does she know that?

“Dost thou wish for Us to pull back?”

“Luna, I don't know if you noticed, but I genuinely do not give a single fuck about what happens to this body”

He shrugs.

“I didn't grow up with it, so… I don't really care what you and others do. As long as it's not annoying or… I dunno, somepony tries to kill me, I don't care”

Back when he was Simon, he was just some guy. He didn't particularly care about his appearance back then either, but he sure as hell didn't parade around in thigh-highs like he apparently does now.

He has no feelings towards his pony body, it's just there. Sure, it's ‘him’, but it's not ‘HIM’. Just some meat suit he was shoved into until… well, probably forever.

Honestly, Lucky is more annoyed at the selection that was forced onto him. If it were his decision, he'd be taller, stronger, and a unicorn so he wouldn't have to work so hard on spells.

Fucking unicorn master race.

But it is his life now, so… he's just gotta live with it. Keep himself clean, groomed, and mostly unharmed (fuck you Dead Space). But whether it's some mare is fucking him with her eyes (in hindsight maybe that mare wasn't after his burrito), or Luna wanting to Flat Stanely him…

He doesn't really care.

Pony brain does, it definitely cares about the objectively attractive mare being so close to him right now, but it's nothing that a session of beating it furiously with a hammer until it goes away can't solve.

…pft. Beating it furiously.

He's a child.

“We thought…” Luna begins, face twisted into an emotion he can't recognize. “We thought young Twilight Sparkle was supposed to help thou with this”

“She just bullies me into eating and not doing drugs because she wants me clean and plump”

[TwilightSparkle: …I hate how that's technically true]

[TwilightSparkle: uuuRRRAAGGGHH! Why do you say things like that, Lucky?!]

Because it's funny.

“And thou art gaining weight”

“...thanks? You too”

Luna's eye twitches, but she continues.

“It is good, thou were nothing but skin and bones when We first met”

“I've been eating a fuckton, so I'm not surprised those calories are going somewhere”

Though… he is still rather skinny. There is a difference, but compared to the metric fuckton of caloric-dense foods he's been inhaling at the behest of Twilight's metaphorical gun to his head, it's still negligible.

Where is all of it going?

Is it even going anywhere? Does Illusion food… not… count?

Oh fuck that could be bad.

Later, he can focus on that later.

Lucky goes to speak, but suddenly he feels something abruptly shift in his head. Like a lever being pulled, or a loose piece shoved back into place.

A dull throb, and a wave of sensations flood into him, both alien yet shockingly familiar.

Lining the walls, the floor, and the ceiling like crawling veins. He can feel it, the same way he can feel the shadows creeping up the walls.

It's an awareness that clicks, like a trick in his head he just figured out, and now it's become seamless.

He grabs at his head and groans.

“Lucky? Art thou okay?”

He can feel it running through his RIG, the TV, the vending machine, even the slightest trace of it in Luna herself.

It comes to him.

Electricity.

No, that feels… incomplete. The same way that he can feel shadows, even though he's really sensing Darkness.

“...you gotta be fucking kidding me”

This whole fucking time, that static-like feeling he gets when he focuses on Ol’ Smokey for too long.

He's gotta be retarded.

“Why? What is wrong?”

“I just figured out my other affinity”

Luna lights up.

“Congratulations are in order! Well done!” She says, still a bit worried by the look on her face. “What is it?”

Lucky breathes out.

“Lightning”

And with that, his mind feels…

Clear.

…

All gamblers know that everything is 50/50.

Either it happens, or it doesn't happen. This is anti-chud propaganda, but as a gambler he knows that nothing matters until the dice are rolled.

And with his special talent being gambling, he's well acquainted with the ‘fuck it, let it ride’ state of euphoria that comes with TRUE gambling.

Blackjack.

Slots.

Poker.

All of it is bitchmade when compared to the only gamble that really matters.

Every man has a moment in his life where he has to truly lock in. Where they get sick of the status quo and decide that the consequences of whatever risky actions they take are preferable than the same, standard life they once lived.

A good gambler bets a few hundred dollars.

A great gambler bets his house and his car.

A true gambler bets his life.

Either you win, or you lose. 50/50.

Lucky is so sick of just wandering around this fucking ship and getting jumped by Necromorphs.

So, he does what he does best.

He puts on his big boy socks, locks the fuck in, maybe do a little crack, and tosses the die.

The odds look fantastic.

*zzzzFLASH*

There's a flash of light, Lucky's manic laughter echoes down the halls as he blitzes through the metal corridors shrouded in lightning, bouncing off the walls.

“Lucky, what are thou doing?!”

Luna's frantic voice falls on deaf ears. His wings are flared, feathers charred in poorly controlled electricity but he doesn't care.

His heart is beating through his chest, and exhilaration runs through his veins.

“Just a second it's my favorite song they're gonna play-”

*CRASH*

He crashes through doors, the lunar princess quickly but very concerningly following behind.

“We're getting closer to the Marker, Lucky!”

“-and I cannot text you without a drink in my hand, eh”

Lucky bursts open the doors to the cargo room, where he's IMMEDIATELY met with the uncomfortable sound of incessant whispering in his ears.

The Tantabus can't ACTUALLY do the crazy shit the Marker can do, cool.

He flies up, eyes scanning the boxes before snapping to a certain red hue in the distance.

There you are, fucker.

“You shoulda made some plans with me, you knew that I was free-”

At that moment, his suspicion comes true.

*CCRRRRAAAAAASSSHHHH*

Something gargantuan bursts through the wall. Writhing flesh and sharp tentacles amid a conglomerate mess of misshapen corpses and unidentifiable biomass.

It's snake-like, easily towering over everything else in the room. Bulbous sacks of glowing yellow puss hang off its loose skin like warts, and a razor sharp mouth centers at the end of its ‘head’.

It makes Lucky pause for a moment, prey animal instincts blaring in his mind like sirens, but his stride remains firm.

‘Oh, hello Hive Mind’

“And now you won't stop calling me, I'm kinda busy-”

*CCCRRRAAAASSSHHHH*

Metal bends like clay as the Hive Mind crashes through the solid metal walls, cargo flying to the side as its gargantuan size shoves it away. Lucky swoops under a strike and quickly draws a spell matrix along the overturned boxes of cargo.

“Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna think any moooore~!”

Fun fact about the Wind Shot spell. There's a rune in it that detects nearby air, which is normally used to draw in wind for the spell to form a projectile. However, it makes for a fantastic way to detect changes in the air.

Much like his compass (he kinda forgot about this thing), but it's more sensitive despite being a much smaller scale.

Meaning~ If he sets that rune as a condition for a spell to activate~

Hive Mind's head lingers over the boxes.

The air above the spell matrix is disrupted.

It starts to glow.

*sssssssSHLUNK*

A railway spike shoots up, impaling the massive beast on its underbelly. Another spell activates, carved on the flat end of the large nail.

The Return rune is so funny.

Dozens of heavy boxes along the cargo bay start shooting off, flying towards the Hive Mind and impacting it, sending it flying backwards.

Its screech rattled the walls, struggling more as the Sticking spells kept several hundreds tons of industrial equipment stuck to it.

“I left my heeead and heart on the dance floor~!”

[RainbowDash: WHAT IS THAT THING?!]

Lucky shunts away the quickly approaching migraine, having far gone past the limit of what those spells could do, and simply filling in the blanks with excess magic.

There's a flash of blue as Luna enters the fray, wings flared and horn ignited as she launches spell after spell against the downed beast.

“Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna talk anymoooore-”

He turns to the Marker, Lucky swoops down to begin breaking it when.

*ccc-CRACK*

Through the vent above, a Xenomorph in all of it's horrifying fucking glory drops down.

Unfortunately for it, that vent was dark, and Lucky was paying attention.

He smiles widely, standing on his hind legs as a spell matrix forms at the cleft of his hoof.

While he lacks a proper fire spell, which would have been perfect for a Xenomorph, the pegasus isn't without options.

After fiddling around with the Compress rune, the one derived from Wind Shot that built up pressure, he came to a realization that it's not LIMITED to the wind rune.

Meaning that if he just… slaps on a rune from the Light spell on it…

The light around him flickers, shades of dimming light and shifting hues morph and converge into a single point as the matrix strains itself from the pressure.

“I got my head and my heart on the dance floor~”

*FLASH*

The world goes white, a blinding light detonates from the spell as searing heat shoots off and blasts the Xenomorph in the chest.

It screeches, crashing into the debris. Lucky's eyes burn, his retinas cooked but still retaining a semblance of awareness due to his magical sense.

Even while blinded, Lucky's mood hasn't faltered. Born out of the euphoria of learning the second half of his affinity, a dubious amount of drugs, and sheer vitriolic pettiness towards the Tantabus.

Maybe it's because of Luna's presence, or his exponential growth into becoming a JJK character. But this feels… easy.

Was Pony Isaac a red herring? Is it even capable of doing mind games like that?

It didn't even appear physically like last time? Did it give up or something?

Whatever, fuck it.

“Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh Stop telephonin' me”

He times his small hops with each ‘eh’ as he directs his darkness magic inside the anchor. Following the procedure like last time, he ‘grips’ the surface on opposite ends and-

…

*ring ring*

*ring ring*

Sunlight graces his face, yellow eyes open slowly.

Lucky wakes up in bed. Mane tangled and unkempt. His hoof reaches out and turns off the alarm clock.

A loud, suspicious sounding moan escapes him as he stretches his back. Celestia's sun peers through the blinds, and he can hear laughter in the streets below as foals head to school.

Smacking his lips, he looks at his room. Polaroids of him and Twilight plus her friends, she was kind enough to let her stay in the Golden Oak's Library while he was getting settled into Ponyville.

He gets up and quickly cleans himself up. Flossing is for losers and d*ntists, and he is no filthy d*ntist.

There's a smell in the air. Food. His stomach rumbles, he can't believe he's actually looking forward to eating pony food.

Suppose he got used to it after a while.

Walking down the stairs, he sees Twilight in the kitchen frying something on the stove.

“Oh! Lucky, good morning!”

“...morning” He says groggily, eyes still heavy from last night.

“I'm almost done, what do you want to drink?”

“Energ-”

“No”

Lucky chuffs, rolling his hoof he sits down at the table.

“...water?”

“Better”

She sets the plates down, sitting across from him, he indulges in some hay bacon and eggs.

“So, what are your plans today?”

“Probably harass Rarity into fixing my suit”

His original suit, the gambler fit he woke up in.

“Pft, she'd probably be okay with that. What else?”

“Uh… I don't fuckin know, jerk off and do the pony equivalent of doomscrolling?”

Twilight blinks.

“...wha…” She shakes her head. “A-Anyway! That means you're free, right?”

“Yeah”

“How about we do something? Just… just you and me?”

Lucky looks up from his plate, mid-bite, eyes blank as he looks at the nervous mare.

“...”

She sweats harder.

“...I'll think about it”

To the side, a message flickers in his peripheral.

[TwilightSparkle: What the buck]