//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: All Hope Is Gone // Story: Land Of Confusion // by Closer-To-The-Sun //------------------------------// Chapter 4: All Hope Is Gone The four survivors looked down at the corpse of their friend in silence. Seeing what she had done, Applejack threw the firearm down to the floor where it slid away from them. She was panting as she looked at Dash’s now lifeless body, still coming to terms with what she had just done. Spike moved away from the group and came back with the quilt from his own bed. Opening it up and spreading it out, the dragon laid the blanket over the pegasus. It covered the blue pony, protecting her from the continuing stares by them all and giving the dead some respect. They still stood in silence, with the sounds of the outside infected being the only thing that they could hear. It became too much for one, who spoke up. “Well, we gave Rainbow her last request, I guess we can take solace in that,” Twilight spoke in a revered tone. Applejack whipped her head around to give the unicorn a harsh glare, “Are ya really gonna say somethin’ like that? Rainbow Dash just turned into one of those things right before us an’ that’s all ya hafta say?” Twilight was a bit caught off guard by what the orange pony said, “What do you mean? We were able to help Rainbow by giving her last wish, were we not?” “No, we didn’t do nothin’,” Applejack stressed her words, “Ah was the one that pulled the trigger, an’ ah couldn’t even do that much. Ya’ll saw that ah waited….ah hesitated in doin’ it. Ah jus’ couldn’t do it ta her. If havin’ ta do the same ta mah lil’ sister wasn't enough already, ah also had ta pull the trigger on mah best friend.” Applejack’s passionate statement was met with sympatric stares from everypony. “After everythin’ ah did today, ah’m doubtin’ things are gonna get better….ah’m losin’ hope here….” “Applejack….I’m sorry….” Twilight replied meekly, “I can’t even imagine what you had to do….I can’t fathom what you’re going through, I apologize….” The orange mare looked toward her brother first and then to the purple unicorn, “It’s fine….ah’m not expectin’ ya ta understand….but it jus’ makin’ me doubt.” “Don’t say that, Applejack,” the dragon spoke up, “we can still get through this, I just know it.” Spike’s optimism was not met by the others. Instead, the reply to his words was a loud sound of cracking of wood and glass. Turning to find the source, they saw that a few of the infected were attempting to get through the broken window. Their moaning grew deafening as they pushed each other to make their way through. At different windows around the library, the infected ponies were breaking their way into the building. “They’re getting through!” Spike shouted in horror. In one fluid motion, Big Mac picked up the firearm from off the floor. Grabbing a round of ammunition from the table, he loaded it into the chamber and aimed it right at one of the intruders. The stallion pulled the trigger, hitting one square in it’s head and dropping it where it stood. “We need a plan, Miss Sparkle….” he opened up chamber up and the expended shell popped out. “I know, I know….give me a second!” the unicorn panicked. “We ain’t got a second ta spare, Twi!” Applejack hurried to her pick up her shovel from the table, “The sooner, the better!” The purple pony closed her eyes tightly, trying to think of a solution to their problem. However, the stress of the situation was not helping her, “Think, Twilight, think!” “Watch out, Twilight!” her assistant cried out. As Twilight opened her eyes, she saw an infected pony trotting closer to her. The mouth of the pony was wide open and it was making an otherworldly sound. Gasping, the unicorn froze in fear. Thankfully for her, Spike rushed to her side. Headbutting the infected pony with the upside-down pot on his head, the dragon pushed it away from Twilight. Then, with Rainbow Dash’s metal pipe in his claws, he swung at the pony, knocking it back and toward the others. The violent act stunned Twilight, “Spike….” “To save time, let’s just say I had to do what I had to do. There was no way I was going to let you become a zombie,” the small dragon gave a devious smile to Twilight, “if you want to yell at me for doing that, save it for later.” Applejack shouted to the two, “If ya’ll are done havin’ a family moment, we could use some more help pushin’ these things outta here!” Spike swung again at an infected, “I think getting these things out of the library is out of the question now. How about we hide out somewhere?” “That’s it!” Twilight shouted. Using her magic, she shot a few pulses of energy from her horn at the infected, “We might not be able to completely push these things back, but we can hide out in the basement! Even better, we can use the small window in there to get out of here and find others.” “Sounds like a plan to me!” Spike replied as he started to back up towards the basement door. “And I got another idea. Applejack, with me, Big Mac and Spike, keep fending them off,” Twilight instructed. The orange mare and Twilight both trotted to the center table in the main room, “What’cha thinkin’?” Applejack asked. Using her magic, Twilight levitated one of the jars of cooking oil. She uncorked to top and took a sniff of the liquid, “Perfect. We’re going to start a fire. With some luck, the fire should keep the infected away from us.” “Sounds like a long shot ta me,” Applejack admitted, “but we certainly got ourselves enough fuel fer this fire.” She took a quick look at the books that lined the shelves of the library. Placing the glass jar of oil back on the table, Twilight used her magic to pick up the matches. “It kills me to do something this, but if we don’t….well let’s just hope it does work. Now, just break open those jars when I give the signal.” “Can do, just make it soon, will ya,” the orange mare stated. A deep voice loudly cried out, “Runnin’ low on rounds here….if we’re gonna do somethin’ have it be soon, please….” “I hear that, Big Mac, it’s getting a bit tricky over here too!” Spike agreed, “Hurry up, Twilight!” “Okay listen up! As soon as I strike the match, I want you all to get down to the basement, we should be safe down there from the infected and the fire,” Twilight announced as she levitated the matchbook and a single match. Spike shouted back, “Are you sure about this?” “Nope,” Twilight admitted, “but it’s the best option we got! Applejack now!” Using her shovel, Applejack smashed all of jars of oil. The liquid flew out and splattered everywhere, including onto a few of the infected ponies. Taking in a deep breath, the unicorn struck the match against the booklet, lighting it up, “Get to basement, now!” Using her magic, she tossed the match into the puddles of oil. The flames grew and were quick to spread around the library. A few of the infected ponies were torched immediately. However, it didn’t seem to bother them more than just a minor nuisance. The fire still made the infected cautious causing them to back up. Applejack and Spike wasted no time to hurry to the basement door. They entered in and rapidly went down the stairs, fleeing from the flames. “Big Mac, go!” Twilight urged as she rushed to the door. Without losing his focus on the infected in front of him, he replied, “No can do, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight didn’t understand, “What are you talking ab-“ She stopped herself. Looking at Big Mac’s coat, she noticed it was a paler color than before. On his front left limb, there was a bite mark. “Big Mac, you were….” “Ah didn’t wanna be a bother….” he stated as he used the butt of his rifle to hit a few infected ponies back. “Now, get downstairs, Miss Sparkle….” Twilight used her magic again to knock back a few infected ponies, “I can’t leave you to die alone….and I can’t leave these books to their fate like this….so no, I’m not leaving.” “Beg pardon?” Big Mac’s face was full of surprise. “They say that the captain always go down with their ship….I guess that holds true for me as a librarian,” Twilight gave a smile, despite her words being dismal and bleak. The words seemed to touch the red stallion, “Then the least we can do is buy some time fer Applejack an’ Spike.” Twilight nodded used her magic to close the basement door and locking it. This got the attention of Applejack and Spike who rushed back up. Despite attempting to open up the door, it was sealed. “Twilight, what are you doing! Open up!” Spike turned the doorknob back and forth in a futile attempt to get it open. Applejack slammed her hooves against the door, “Get down here, both of ya! It’s not too late!” The unicorn shouted back despite smoke hurting her lungs, “This is it for both of us out here. Big Mac was bitten and me….I’m staying with the books.” “You can’t be serious, Twilight! You can still make it!” the dragon yelled in anger as he pounded his claws against the door. The flames in the library grew. Twilight wasn’t going to bother wasting more time on the subject, “Applejack, take Spike down to the window and both of you get out of here!” “Understood! Come on, Spike!” In one motion, Applejack put the dragon on her back and galloped down the stairs. He protested the entire way. Twilight hit a few more infected with her magical energy as she sighed, “It’s in their hooves now.” “Miss Sparkle? Ah wanna let ya know ah’m honored that yer stayin’ with me durin’ this.” Big Mac gave a warm smile. His coat grew more pale with each passing minute. The unicorn smiled back, “The honor is all mine.” ------------------------------------------- In the basement, Applejack was trotting quickly with Spike on her back. However, the dragon was not happy with what was going on. “Come on, let’s go back! Twilight and Big Mac might still be okay!” the dragon pleaded with Applejack. The orange mare didn’t reply. Instead, she continued her gallop toward the small basement window. “Applejack, please! They’ll be alright if we go back up and help them! We can save them!” he continued. “Or we make things worse an’ get ourselves in trouble along with them!” Applejack finally replied, stopping below the window. She looked up to see it was higher than she expected. Spike would need to stand on her back if they were to have a change to get it open. “But we don’t know if we don’t try!” Spike continued. Applejack had enough. She bucked the dragon off her back and looked down at him. “Ah know what will happen if we try. An’ as much as it hurts ta say, they’re gone. Mah brother and Twi gave us a chance ta get outta here an’ we gotta take it.” Her words were stern at first, but grew sorrowful as she continued, “Ah don’t want ta believe that they’re gone, but ah know it’s true. Jus’ like all the ponies back on the farm….Granny Smith….Applebloom….ah wish this was all just some nightmare an’ wake up….but it’s not. An’ we gotta get outta here.” Standing up, Spike agreed, “Right, we need to get out of here and find others.” The orange mare raised her hoof up towards the dragon, “Together.” Spike nodded and met her hoof with his claw, “Together.” Climbing back on Applejack, Spike stood on top of her to try and open the window. He was shocked to find that it refused to open. “It’s stuck!” “Ya gotta be kiddin’ me!” Spike pounded and even punched on the glass, but it would not budge, “This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening!” For a few tense-filled minutes, Spike stood on top of the mare’s back, trying to get the window open, but to no avail. Defeated, Spike hopped off the orange pony’s back and sat on the floor. “That’s it….” he mumbled, “game over. We got so close….but for nothing….” Applejack also sat down, her shovel still in her hooves. She didn’t say anything, but her face was just as beat up as the dragon’s. “Everything we did….pointless. The fighting back, the attempt to get food, the fire, all of it a waste,” he continued his muttering. “Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, Twilight….everypony gone.” The orange pony spoke softly, “At least we tried.” Spike turned to the mare sitting next to him, “Huh?” “Ah’m sayin’ at least we tried. We never woulda gotten this far if we didn’t try and havin’ some hope that we would get through this,” Applejack mused slightly. “Sure, but all hope is gone now,” Spike grimly stated as he took the pot off his head. “Hey now, just ‘cause we might not have some hope in this situation doesn’t mean we can’t give ourselves a pat on the back. In fact, ah think we did quite a bang-up job lastin’ this long,” Applejack tried to give a little cheer to the small dragon, “An’ who woulda thought a small runt like yerself would take charge when Twi was actin’ all crazy? Ya got yerself a lotta courage in that small body of yers.” A small smile appeared on Spike’s face, “Well, I think we all deserve some credit for surviving today. Still, some terrifying day it’s been.” Applejack nodded as she sighed heavily, “That it has, Spike, that it has.” The two sat quietly together as they heard the both infected ponies and the raging fire upstairs. Both of them were hungry, exhausted, and beaten up from their fighting. There panting was the only sound that they would make for a solid ten minutes, echoing through the basement. Using the metal pipe he used as a weapon to help him up, Spike stood up and turned to the orange mare, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to stay down here, waiting to die.” “Ah can agree with that,” Applejack said as she looked at the dragon as he adjusted the metal pot on his head. “So, how about we go upstairs, break down that door and see if we can’t take out a few of those zombies before they get us?” Spike smiled as he extended claw to the mare. Returning the smile, Applejack took the dragon’s claw and got up to her hooves. “Sounds like quite a fine way to go out, mah fine, scaly friend.” The two climbed back up the stairs to the door that Twilight had locked on them. With one strong buck of her hind legs, Applejack toppled the door. On the other side, the flames continued to rage with a number of infected ponies staring at them with their cold, emotionless eyes. Applejack and Spike looked at each other, weapons ready, and gave a smirk and a nod to each other. With a battle cry, both of them rushed forward to their fate. END