//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Camp // Story: Life's Last Breath // by jtc09999 //------------------------------// After their long hike, Rainbow and Sweetie arrived at camp. “Hey everypony, we’re back!” Rainbow hollered into camp. “Hello?” The camp was deathly silent, and this worried Rainbow. She walked over to Rarity’s tent and poked her head in. Empty. “Everything seems to be in place…” She wondered out loud. “But Rarity isn't here!” Sweetie poked her head in. “Sis? You in here?” She asked. “Where’s Rarity?” Her voice had a tone of sadness and worry in her voice. “Don’t worry Sweetie, she’s probably… um…” Rainbow couldn't think of anything to say to the young unicorn. “Is she d-dead?” She asked hopelessly, tears starting to form in her eyes.” “No, I’m sure she perfectly fine.” Rainbow said with an assuring voice. She looked up and saw a shadow of a Pegasus in Twilight’s tent. “Look! There’s Fluttershy! I’m sure she’ll tell us where the others are!” Rainbow said as she pointed her hoof at Twilight’s tent. They approached the tent, and entered it. Rainbow’s smile turned to pure horror as she saw blood smeared across the table, along with the mutilated body of Applejack. “Oh, sweet Celestia.” She stated as she prepared her handgun in her grappler. She looked at Sweetie Belle, who was staring at the table in horror. Rainbow hoisted her onto her back, and then noticed a gurgling sound. She looked to her direct right, and saw Fluttershy. She was missing her entire bottom jaw, and the rest of her face was covered with what looked to be like boils. They would burst, spilling blood onto her soft yellow fur, and then another boil would instantly appear. Rainbow and Sweetie froze as the infected Fluttershy swayed back and forth, emitting a gurgling sound. It then moved away from the two ponies, and began feasting on Applejack’s remains. Rainbow pulled out a knife, and took a step forward. The second her hoof touched the ground, Fluttershy’s head looked in her direction, and looked around. After a moment, it went back to eating. “It seems to be completely blind, but its hearing is AMAZING.” Rainbow thought to herself. “I’ll call it a listener.” Rainbow put her wing around the trigger of the gun, aimed at what used to be Fluttershy, and fired. The corpse of the Pegasus fell on top of Applejack’s, and all of the boils exploded, sounding like a pound of C4 had exploded. The explosion was so intense, AJ’s body flew across the room and hit a shelf of various items for what Twilight had called “Top secret experimenting”. All of the jars shattered, and the corpse hit the ground with a thud. “We gotta move.” Rainbow hastily said as she exited the tent. She spotted a sight that made her sick to her stomach. Twilight was standing in the middle of the camp, with blood splattering her entire body. Next to her was the head of Rarity, staring up into the sky. There were also four hoofers which Rainbow didn't recognize. “Oh, sweet mother of Luna.” Rainbow said with panic in her voice. She ducked behind the tent and loaded her gun fully. She let out a deep breath, and stepped out to face her dead friend. She looked at the group, who was now in a formation: Twilight in the middle, while the four hoofers surrounded her. They slowly but surely made their way toward Rainbow. “What the hell?!” She cursed out loud as she fired at a hoofer. Twilight’s horn lit up, and covered the hoofer who Rainbow was firing at, deflecting the bullet. Rainbow looked in pure shock as the intelligent bunch of dead kept walking toward her. She tried shooting different infected, bank-shooting, and even a grenade, but all proved futile against Twilight’s magic. “What do I do?!?!” Rainbow thought to herself. She looked up, and saw a giant branch on a tree looking like it was about to collapse. She had an idea, and ran to it. “That’s it, come on!” She cooed softly as she got the group directly under the tree. When Twilight was under it, she fired at the branch, and it came crashing down. Unfortunately for Rainbow, Twilight’s magic grasped the branch, and threw it into the forest. When all hope was lost, a shot rang out, and Rainbow saw Twilight fall to the ground dead, along with four more shots, and the other four infected fell shortly after each shot. The Pegasus saw a unicorn holding a rifle with his magic, and with a ragged suit on. He was a light brownish color, and he was wearing dark sunglasses. Rainbow opened her mouth to thanks the stranger, but he turned to her and fired directly at her. The bullet grazed the side of her front left leg, and she stumbled as she quickly dove behind a box for cover. “Come on out, boys! Looks like we got another delicious mare and her daughter to play with!” A deep voice exclaimed. Rainbow thought about what he meant by “delicious” and “play”, but was interrupted by the butt of an assault rifle striking the side of her head. As she hit the ground, Sweetie Belle was trapped underneath Rainbow’s body weight. “How long do you think she’ll last?” One stallion asked. “Well, if she’s a hooker, quite a while. If not, I’d say enough for each of us to have a go at her at least once.” Another replied. “Duuude, look at that ass!” Another exclaimed. “I call first dibs!!” Rainbow lay in her spot and didn't move, worried about what would happen if she moved. “What about the filly?” Asked the one that held the rifle. “We can use her as hoofer bait.” The one that took interest in Rainbow’s flank commented. Rainbow’s body twitched, not wanting Sweetie Belle to be put in danger. She was tempted to run, but held back. “I swear I saw her move!” A mare suddenly said. “That’s because she’s not out.” A voice next to her stated as she felt a sharp pain in her neck. “This should put her out for a while.” Rainbow suddenly became very tired, and began closing her eyes. She tried to fight it, but to no avail. She closed her eyes and blacked out.