Warforged in Equestria : Chapter Thirty - Pestilence

> Nearly an hour of walking, and one set of directions later, you're in front of the forest from which you emerged scant few days ago.
> You have certainly walked off a great deal of your frustration, however in so doing you realized something.
> Knocking a few trees down could server a practical purpose for you.
> Shelter.
> You don't even need walls.
> Pick a suitable location.
> Move the wood there.
> Use the wood to set up a lean-to and gather stones for a fire-pit.
> Create a rudimentary storage area for firewood.
> Lets go through this step by step.
> One, find trees.
> Step one complete.
> Step Two, Smash trees, obtain wood.
> Time to get to work.

> You walk around the edge of the forest, methodically ripping young trees from the ground and smashing the roots that stay attached, then you gather them into a pile outside the forest.
> Once you have gathered a pile that you think will be large enough for a roof, you begin searching for some form of binding.
> Eventually you decide to simply weave together vines that hang from some of the trees.
> It turn out to be more than suitable.
> Step four, find a suitable location.
> You survey the area around you.
> The area is almost entirely flat outside the forest, off a little in the distance is a short path leading into the forest.
> The forest itself is dark, even as little as a few feet in and you can see that while the forest grows dense very quickly, the ground is just as level in the immediate area.
> You could benefit from the concealment of the forest, however the weather is unpredictable and dangerous creatures will occasionally roam to the edges of the forest.
> However it would also limit your ability to interact with the inhabitants of P0nyville, a consequence you do not desire.
> About a hundred feet from the forest seems a reasonable distance, so you move the pile of wood and vines there.
> You set to work weaving the vines into a make-shift rope.
> Once you have enough, you strip the branches from the small trees and snap them at a uniform length.
> The logs are still a little long for use in a lean-to.
> You would like to be able to stand under it should the need arise.
> A seven foot tall lean-to will look odd, but oh well.
> You lay the two largest logs down several feet apart and one by one, you tie the smaller logs across them.

> You quickly have a roof put together.
> Next you take one of the small logs and snap it so that it is two pieces a few inches longer than you are tall.
> You drive them both a few inches into the earth, leaving them standing only a little higher than yourself.
> Once you are satisfied that they will not simply fall over you raise the roof and set it on top of the two poles.
> You repeat the same process at the back, but only set them about three feet off of the ground.
> You lift the back up as well and tie the roof down to all four poles.
> You step back to admire your work.
> Then you immediately head back to work.
> This time you don't even bother with different sizes or any aim what so ever.
> You talk into the forest, pick the biggest tree you can and knock it down.
> By knock, you mean smash.
> In an explosion of wood bits, your hammer smashes through the tree, sending it to the ground.
> It may not be 'efficient' but it certainly got the job done.
> You drop your maul and pick up the remains of the tree.
> You manage to heft it over your shoulder despite its size and weight.
> It is large and heavy enough to keep you off balance, but the distance is short, so you quickly have it back where you need it.
> Upon setting it down and quickly recovering your maul, you realize something.
> Knocking a tree down with a maul would work just fine, cutting the wood into useable firewood on the other hand...

> You are nothing if not a problem solver, so you quickly find a solution.
> This solution comes in the form of a nearby rock.
> A stone with a slight angle to it.
> You take the stone and position its point against the wood.
> You give it a slight tap with your maul forcing it into place.
> You stand back and hoist your maul over your head.
> You swing down with enough force to drive the stone through the wood.
> It works, though not as well as you'd hoped.
> Some of the wood was still smashed to bits, but you could use it as a fire starter, so it isn't really a loss.
> You lay the remaining small logs on the ground to keep the wood off the ground and set to work making more firewood.
> Progress is very slow, taking almost six hours to reduce the massive log to a pile of usable firewood.
> Well, usable to an extent.
> This leaves you with a usable shelter and firewood, but still no fire pit.

> You move to rectify that by searching the are for sizable stones.
> Unfortunately it seems that the one you used to split wood is the largest one in the immediate area.
> You wander off in search of stones to use, making sure not to wander out of sight of your camp.
> You find suitable stones and one by one bring them back.
> Once you have a few you step five paces from the front of your lean-to and drop to your knees.
> You start tearing apart the ground to dig a small hole.
> Hands made of stone are great.
> Once you are satisfied with the pit, you surround it with the stones.
> Again you step back to view what you have completed.
> This time you are satisfied that your camp will provide all that is needed for you.
> You attention then turns back to the note.
> No you didn't forget about it, you just needed something else to do to clear your head.

> The note itself had said, 'No cheating'
> This bothered you because cheating implied that there where rules.
> Rules which you did not know.
> Whatever it was that gave you the note was toying with you, playing a game.
> You doubt it is for your benefit, but you will play along for now.
> If only out of curiosity.
> You try to think of what to do about the note.
> You can't translate it manually, that won't work.
> Perhaps you are meant to learn Equestrian to read it?
> If that is the case, whatever it is likely very patient.
> It must have known that it would take time to learn a new written language.
> Perhaps that is not the case at all than.
> Maybe it wanted you to bring the note to someone.
> You remember it mentioned wanting you to send aid from p0nyville, perhaps the note was meant for whoever was to respond to its distress?

> Another thing stood out.
> Its parting words.
> "Everyone gets tired."
> It knew your name, by extension it likely knew a little bit about you.
> If that is the case, it knew that Warforged never tire.
> Ever.
> It must have meant something else.
> What though?
> Perhaps it was meant to imply the need for rest?
> That does not make sense though, Warforged do not need rest.
> Unless it was meant to imply where the note was to be taken.
> Rest would mean either an inn or tavern of some kind.
> There wasn't one in P0nyville though.
> The only other possibility being eternal rest.
> Warforged could certainly die.
> If that is what he meant, than this just became a very uncomfortable.

> You know nothing of p0nies last rites.
> Perhaps they use graveyards and you are meant to take it to an undertaker.
> They may use pyres, and you are meant to take it to some kind of warden, maybe even burn it?
> Maybe they follow druidic practices or even similar practices to that of The Undying Court.
> You realize how little you actually know of this new races and come to a conclusion.
> Regardless of how this played out, you would learn their written language and learn a bit about their culture.
> If only to avoid such situations in the future.
> With that you look up and check the time.
> Roughly half way through the afternoon.
> Good, plenty of time before nightfall and hopefully more than enough to get some answers.
> With that you heft your maul to your shoulder and begin the walk to p0nyville.
> You could easily shorten the walk by running, but last night proved that seeing a war-machine come sprinting in to town carrying a massive hammer scared the inhabitants.
> Besides you weren't in that big a hurry.

> After a few minutes of walking, you begin to hear a fain whistling sound on the wind, not much different from that of a distant arrow.
> You look around as you walk.
> You spot a light blue streak flying through the air and colliding with clouds.
> Each cloud dissipates upon impact and the streak changes directions for other clouds.
> Eventually the whistling grows louder as the line of color grows closer.
> You watch as you continue walking.
> Eventually the light collides with a cloud not far from you and stops.
> The cloud dissipates and Rainbow Dash is left hovering in the air looking around.
> Her eyes settle on you and you wave up to her.
> She starts flying towards you as you keep on your way, landing next to you with a slight thump.
> "Sup anon?"
> You aren't sure what that means, but it sounded like a greeting.
"Good afternoon Rainbow Dash."
> You hear her snicker beside you.
> "Dude, you some kind of royalty?"
> You aren't sure if that was a serious question or not.

> You actually think about it for a moment before answering.
"I suppose as the sole member of my race in this land, that would make me either a king or an ambassador, why do you ask?"
> She sputters for a moment.
> "Wait, what?"
> You had thought that was pretty clear.
"As the only one of my kind here, I have no leader or nation. Technically that would make me the leader of my kind."
> You scratch your head to emphasize that you are thinking.
"Though I suppose that without a nation, neither would be accurate. So ,no, I am not in any way royalty."
> You hear no foot-falls next to you for a moment, then you hear the sound of wings flapping and another soft thump.
> "You know that was a joke right."
"You ponies tell terrible jokes."
> That response sounded even more deadpan than usual.
> A moment later she speaks up again, this time sounding somewhat nervous.
> "Um, hey Anonymous, I was wondering... Can you..?"
> You wait for her to continue, but like last night she doesn't.
"Can I, what?"
> She speaks quickly.
> "Never mind, gottagobye."
> With that she takes off into the air, leaving you walking towards the library alone.

> When you reach the library you aren't really sure what to do.
> Should you knock?
> You technically stopped being a resident as soon as you set up your camp.
> Then again it is a public building.
> You knock anyway, just to be on the safe side.
> As soon as you do, the door swings open, revealing Twilight sitting at the same table you used prior.
> She is flanked by large stack of books, in front of her, the table is covered in an assortment of papers, scrolls and some rather new looking notes.
> Without looking up at you she says.
> "It's a public library, you don't need to knock during the day."
"Sorry, I was not sure."
> She looks up when she hears your voice.
> "Oh good, you're back. Come here I have something to show you."
> She waves you over with a hoof and you walk over.
> She pats the ground next to her.
> "Here take a seat, it's easier to concentrate without you towering over me."
> You drop to your knees next to her, but are still a great deal taller.

> "Here look at this."
> She levitates a book from the pile beside her, finds a page and turns it to you.
> The script is equestrian, so you still can't read it.
> Before you can mention this there is a slight flash of light, and your vision blurs.
> For almost a minute you can't see anything.
> When your vision clears again, you are still looking at the book in front of you.
> More than looking at it though you're reading it.
> The words appear to be in common now, and are easily legible.
> The book has something to do with magic, but out of context it means nothing to you.
> You turn your head to Twilight.
"What did you just do Twilight?"
> She eagerly asks.
> "Did it work?"
> To which you reply.
> "I do not know, what was it supposed to do?"

> She turns the book back a few pages and points a hoof at the writing.
> "If it worked you should be able to read this, so... can you?"
> You look at where she is pointing.
> You begin to read.
> The comprehension spell, well that explains what she did, is a spell which allows the user to impart their own comprehension and knowledge of language and linguistics into a target entity for a period of time ranging from a few minutes to a few days depending on the skill and experience of the caster.
> There's some stuff about its common uses, some history about the spell, runic patterns, various bits of magical jargon that fly over your head.
> Doesn't matter to you.
> You look up from the book and turn it back to Twilight.
"Yes I can."
> She claps her hooves together excitedly.
> "Good, I wasn't sure it would work since you're a machine."
> She levitates a note in front of you.
> You look at it, and once again you can read it.
> It just says, 'This is for testing purposes'
> You look up at Twilight.
"What exactly is this?"
> "She looks at the note.
> "Well this one is draconic..."
> She levitates a few more notes over.
> "And theses ones are ancient equestrian, gryphonian, minos and english."
> She levitates them over to you.
> "Here see if you can read these."
> You look at each note in turn, they all say the same thing as the first.

> You nod to confirm that you can read them.
> She smiles and pulls up another, familiar note.
> She levitates it in front of you and you look at it.
> Your frustration return immediately upon reading the note.
> 'What did I say about cheating?'
> You stop yourself from shredding the note and burning it.
> On the bright side that means your second guess is a lot more likely.
> This note was probably meant for someone specific, now you just needed to find out who.
> You explain your thoughts to Twilight.
> She explains that there is no standard response group for something like a stuck carriage, usually a few able bodied p0nies would just head out to help.
> Okay so that means it is more likely the other possibility.
> You explain your more morbid idea to Twilight.
> She cringes at the idea, but points you in the right direction.

> Greener Pastures Funeral Home...
> Not half an hour later, you're standing next to Twilight in front of the building.
> It looks much the same as the regular homes in P0nyville with only a few minor differences.
> It is larger and it stands alone just outside of town, though that doesn't surprise you.
> One major detail sticks out about it though.
> It looks deserted, as though no one has visited it in months.
> You aren't sure if that's a good thing or not.
> On one hand it could mean that no one has died in a very long time in P0nyville.
> On the other, it could mean you've run into a dead end.
> Theres only one way to find out.
> You walk up to the door, there is no indication of whether or not the place is open so you knock.
> Your knocking rings out louder than you would expect, as though the door is beginning to rot on the inside.
> No one answers, instead the door simply swings open slowly, revealing a heavily darkened interior.
> You turn back to Twilight and shrug.
"An open door is an invitation, shall we?"
> You gesture to the door before walking in yourself.
> She hesitates for a moment before walking in herself.

> As soon as her back clears the door frame the door swings shut behind you.
> You immediately check the door.
> It has locked behind you.
> You motion to kick the door off its hinges, but as soon as you do it begins to glow a dark blue as a magical barrier appears before it.
> Dammit, you really should have seen that coming.
> You look at Twilight to see her examining the door, likely attempting to discern how to get it open.
> You tap her at the base of her neck, she turns to say something but you immediately signal for remain quiet and follow you.
> You slowly and carefully make your way through the dark interior of the funeral home, checking side rooms and hallways methodically searching for some way to disable the barrier.
> All the rooms are entirely empty, no furniture or decorations, just decaying wooden floors and dry-wall.
> Not even light fixtures adorn the walls or ceiling.
> A few times, you attempt to open windows and the wall but every attempt is thwarted by the magical barrier.
> If you want out, you're going to have to drop it, which means finding whatever the source of the barrier is and destroying, deactivating or killing it.
> You're hoping it is just a security measure meant to trap intruders while authorities arrive, but you wouldn't hold your breath if you had it.
> You keep searching until you hear a loud inhalation, followed by Twilight whispering.
> "Do you smell that?"
> You turn to her and point out your lack of a nose.
> She face hooves.
> "Right, sorry. I can smell... I don't know I think it's ammonia and..."
> She sniffs the air again.
> "I don't know what else, but it smells disgusting."

> Shit.
> Ammonia and an unpleasant other smell, probably means decay.
> You speak as quietly as you can.
"Can you tell where it is coming from?"
> She starts walking around sniffing the air.
> "I think so, follow me."
> She continues sniffing the air and leading you through the building until you reach a flight of stairs heading down into a completely dark room.
> She stops in front of them and smells the air.
> "It's definitely coming from down there."
> Of course it is.
> You start your descent into the only room you've yet to check.
> Only a few steps down you hear Twilight gag behind you.
> Funny, you thought equines couldn't gag, guess not.
> She whispers.
> "You're lucky you can't smell that, it's disgusting."
> Definitely decay.
> You whisper back.
"Can you create a magical light?"
> She whispers back as her horn starts to faintly glow.
> "Yeah, gimme a second."

> A moment later a bright light fills the room.
> By the Gods you wish it hadn't.
> You hear the sound of vomiting from behind you and the light waivers slightly.
> The walls and floor of the ceiling are caked in a terrible amount of blood.
> Worse still, in the middle of the room, upon what looks like an embalming table is a festering corpse.
> You can't even tell what colors or type of p0ny it was supposed to be, it's to badly mutilated.
> You hear quiet sobbing behind you.
> You turn to see Twilight, tears falling down her face while she stands over a puddle of vomit.
> You don't really know what to do.
> You understand her reaction, non-combatants and rookies always react badly to this kind of thing, but you don't really know what to do about it.
> You do the only thing you can think of.
> Start looking for some way to get the damn barrier down so you can get her out of here.
> You find a switch on the bottom of the table and flip it.
> Immediately, a barrier leaps into existence at the entrance to the small room and the three walls at the sides and back begin to slowly slide open.
> You hear the faint sound of an electrical discharge over the grinding of stone and mechanism.
> Moments later you hear a different noise, much more faint then the electricity.
> You turn around  before toss Twilight into a corner.
> The now in shock unicorn voices no complaints as you drop into a defensive stance in front of her, your maul at the ready.

> The walls stop moving, but silence does not follow.
> Instead the grinding is replaced by moaning.
> A sound you know all to well.
> A sound which always accompanies the undead.
> You wait in front of Twilight, ready to dispatch whatever approaches.
> The groaning grows steadily louder and louder until you can see pairs of eyes faintly glowing a sickly green in the dark.
> You look between each the two darkened tunnels that you can see.
> In both you can count six sets of eyes.
> Assuming that the one you can't see is the same, you're about to fight at least eighteen opponents at once.
> You stand there patiently waiting for them to make the first move.
> Eventually one of them steps forward enough to be seen.
> No hair or fur covers any of its body, you can clearly see its gray and decaying skin.
> It appears to have either chewed through its own lips or had them removed, regardless you can see it baring teeth that look much to sharp to be that of a herbivore.
> Whoever did this to them was definitely trying to make weapons out of them.
> It stands there staring back through its lifeless eyes for a moment.
> It stops looking at you and instead looks past you, you assume at Twilight.
> It slowly starts to stalk towards you but you make no move towards it.

> Its eyes remain locked on Twilight as it approaches.
> You hear a faint whimper from behind you, causing you to tighten your grip on your weapon.
> The zombie lets out a shriek as it tries to jump past you at Twilight.
> As soon as it does you swing your maul with as much force as you can.
> Your maul connects with the beast at its mid-section.
> To compare the impact to your earlier wood cutting would not be inaccurate.
> However rather then wood chips exploding out the side, it's the gray rotted organs of the dead, mixed with what you think is either embalming fluid or ichor.
> Also unlike the wood, rather than a felled tree falling to pieces, it is the badly broken body of the dead.
> Both ends of the unfortunate soul are sent off course and slam into the already painted wall, falling to the ground once more returned to their natural state.
> You count yourself lucky that they do not require destruction of the head.
> You look up towards the tunnel to see the other eleven zombies begin to emerge from them.
> Unlike the first these ones step from the darkness and look absolutely pissed.
> With a feral shriek they begin their charge.
> One leads by jumping on top of the table in the center of the room and jumping straight at you.
> As it does you swing your maul upwards at it, connecting with its skull and sending it into the ceiling.
> It falls to the ground dead.

> You can see that your hunch was right, leaving you with sixteen zombies charging at you.
> As they begin to pounce at you, time itself seems to slow.
> Three seem to be leading, one leaping at you, one about to leap at you and one about to charge at Twilight.
> The one leaping at you is dead center, the one about to is on your right, the one attempting to charge past you is on your left.
> The one on your left takes priority, so you swing your maul down and just as it connects, the leapers both impact with you.
> They are attempting to bite and snap at your face and shoulder, both equally ineffective due to your natural composition.
> You certainly can't say that being made of wood and metal doesn't have its advantages.
> They aren't blocking your sight, but you need to get them off of you.
> You drop your maul and with both hands free grab each in turn and hurl them at the approaching undead.
> Each strikes other groups sending the poorly co-ordinated undead to the ground.
> A few remain standing and begin to move in to attack you, cautious not to leap, having seen how that ended for the other four.
> As one approaches you move to kick it.
> To your surprise it side steps the kick and immediately tackles you while off balance.
> It collides with your chest and brings you to the ground before attempting to leap off of you at Twilight.
> You manage to grab its hind leg before it can get to her and you swing it over yourself slamming it into another approaching zombie.
> Judging by the sound of bones breaking and the splattering sound, you think its safe to say they're both killed by the impact.

> You leap to your feet and recover your maul.
> As soon as it is in your hands again, everything stops.
> Every thing just backs away.
> They just stand there staring at you.
> They have made their attack, now they are on the defensive.
> Were it not for the fact that you can not defend Twilight while openly attacking, you would gladly switch to the offensive.
> It dawns on you all of a sudden.
> These are undead.
> You are Warforged.
> Twilight is neither.
> The attacking and defending party can continue forever, but the objective can't.
> You need a plan, or one of you isn't getting out of here.

> Focus on your training.
> First rule of offensive fighting, mobility is the key to victory.
> Problem.
> You move too far and Twilight's as good as dead.
> Solution.
> Find a way to move within range to attack undead without leaving her vulnerable.
> What you wouldn't give for a returning throwing weapon right now...
> No point in thinking about the equipment you don't have though.
> Take inventory.
> All you have is your maul, your cloak, your bag and your...
> Your body... Your armored plates.
> They where large, heavy objects made of metal...
> They also slowed you down immensely while you had them on...
> If you were to throw them as a weapon, you may be able to kill enough of the undead and gain enough mobility to take out the remainder without them being able to harm your charge.
> You lower your hammer to the ground, waiting a moment to ensure your opponent does not charge before reaching up and wrenching a plate from your chest.
> You feel no pain, though you do register it as damage, given that they are supposed to remain attached to you.
> As soon as you have the plate off and properly in your hand, you hurl it at the nearest zombie.
> As predicted it connects and the undead, becomes dead once more, hitting the ground like a bag of hammers.
> The other are immediately on there toes as you begin to wrench another plate from your torso.
> Your torso only has three plates, your back is covered by four, legs and arms had four each.
> Given how quickly they learn you find it unlikely that you'll be able to go one for one or even one for two.

> One decides to test your defenses while occupied, however with the distance it has created you see it coming and intercept it.
> You grab it by the neck as it attempts to pass, hoist it into the air and smash your previously occupied fist into its face.
> Repeatedly.
> When you're satisfied that it won't be trying that again, you hurl the corpse back into the group.
> You don't manage to hit any with it like the first time.
> That doesn't bode well for your chances.
> You continue to strip and throw plates into the group but only manage to kill three more.
> There are now nine remaining, each has stepped further back to avoid your plates, leaving them roughly forty feet from you.
> You look behind you to gauge how much distance you have between you and Twilight.
> Roughly eighteen feet.
> Create a triangle.
> Ninety degrees from the right hand wall to you.
> You position yourself within the room to create an isosceles triangle with the walls at equal length from you.
> You have the angles, ninety and two forty-fives, as well as the hypotenuse, eighteen feet.
> That means you're about twelve and three quarter feet from the walls in both direction.
> Your weapons reach, arms included, is only half that.
> As it stand you'd barely be able to keep them off of Twilight if they rush past you, press to far forward and you won't be able to at all.
> Accounting for mobility you think you could cover double your current distance before it became a problem.
> After that it came down to swinging and hoping you could get them all before they could get Twilight.

> You take a step forward.
> Two more feet between you and Twilight, two less between your targets.
> They make no move to attack.
> Another step, same result.
> Three more and the distance has increased to twenty eight feet.
> This is when they make there move to attack.
> All nine of the remaining hostiles charge at once.
> They close the distance between you and their starting point in a split second and just as quickly you fell two of them.
> You backpedal to keep them in front of you, swinging with each step.
> You're rapidly closing the distance between yourself and Twilight, barely able to keep them in front of you.
> Your swings have left three standing each having grown more adept at dodging.
> One manages to slip past you and out of range.
> You immediately hurl your hammer at it.
> It doesn't see it coming and winds up like its fallen brothers.
> Two left, no weapon.
> You grapple the one closest to you and toss it into the other.
> Neither are dead from the impact but one is stunned and the other is upside down.
> You boot the upside down one in the head, the tell tale sound of cracking bones lets you know you've scored a killing blow.
> The other one is up and moving again just as you do, it begins a mad dash for Twilight and is just out of reach.
> You leap forward at it dragging it to the ground as you connect with it.
> Without your plates you aren't heavy enough to anchor it to the ground and it slowly begins to drag you towards Twilight.
> Shes just staring ahead at the table in the center of the room seemingly unaware of her impending doom.

> You wrap an arm around the zombies neck and bring your fist down into its head as hard as you can.
> The creature falls limp, its skull caved in, mere inches from Twilight.
> You stand up and hurl the corpse back towards the center of the room.
> You take a moment to survey the room now.
> Nineteen corpses lay strewn throughout the room.
> Twilight is alive and appears physically unharmed.
> She still appears to be in shock and will likely suffer at least minor psychological damage.
> There's really nothing you can do for her at this point except attempt to get her moving and try to find the way out.
> You approach Twilight and lean down to get a better look at her.
> She's just laying on her side staring at the table in the center of the room.
> You can see and hear her breathing, that's a good sign.
> You pick her up and put her on her hooves.
> She stands ram rod stiff, her eyes remaining locked on the table.
> You check for any injuries you may have missed, as well as checking to ensure you didn't break anything when you threw her into the corner.
> She is as you observed, physically unharmed.
> You try a few times to wake her from stupor but your efforts are in vein.
> You don't want to move her unless it's towards the door.
> The way she's staring at the table, you think she would likely die of fright if she had to see the corpse up close.
> You do another sweep of the room to ensure there is nothing in here you have missed.
> When you're confident that you haven't missed anything you begin to check the tunnels.
> After a few minutes of searching you find that the left holds nothing to deactivate the barriers nor does the middle.
> About halfway back down the middle tunnel you hear a high pitched scream emanate from the central room followed by the sound of...
> Magic missile?

> You immediately break into a sprint towards the room and hope you aren't too late...