Genetic Dead End

by peacevic

Chapter 6

Genetic Dead End ch. 6

One time, Apple Bloom asked to borrow one of Spike's comic books. The dragon had said it was pretty popular, insisted really, though she hadn't ever heard of it. The cover proclaimed it to be 'The Trotting Dead', and the story certainly lived up to its moniker. At no point did the filly ever actually feel scared while reading it, however. The book tried- hoo boy did it try- but, despite the quality of the art, there was a thought that kept surfacing in her mind and ruining the tension. How could something like a zombie apocalypse happen when the zombies themselves were so unthreatening?

This thought was back with a vengeance now that she apparently was in the midst of one.

Apple Bloom skirted around another undead pony, then continued down the street at a leisurely pace. In spite of what the book claimed, the dead didn't really trot. It was more of a stumble. A slow, extra-uncoordinated stumble. Outmaneuvering them was fairly easy.

Given the fact that it wasn't much of a chore to evade the rotting husks, she began to notice a couple things. The first being that there were no destroyed buildings or dismembered bodies lying around. This alone was strange for Ponyville, as even stampeding bunnies were enough to cause some property damage.

The second thing was that she didn't recognize any of the zombies. Ponyville wasn't a large city and, while she wasn't friends with everypony like Pinkie, she was familiar with the faces of the townsponies. Her inability to do so with these zombies was an unexpected, and welcome, relief.

That relief aside, she still couldn't find Applejack. The two of them were supposed to meet at the square a few minutes ago, but the only thing waiting there was a zombie. Apple Bloom didn't think her mom would've just run away. Not for a second. So where could she be?

Apple Bloom's musing halted abruptly when she spotted a strange, ritual-looking stage just ahead, with two hooded ponies standing nearby. On it were two stone tables and a wooden podium.

Luckily, the guards hadn't noticed her. Dropping down low, she slowly crept closer

As she approached, a third hooded pony came galloping to the stage. Following just behind was Princess Twilight and some stallion. They didn't seem to be happy.

From her vantage point behind a corner, Apple Bloom noticed a cup on the podium and muttered to herself, "Could that be what he meant?"