> Life's Last Breath > by jtc09999 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Genesis > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Hey Dash! Wait up!” Pinkie shouted as she trotted towards Rainbow Dash. “Mind if I join you for lunch?” The pink pony asked with a grin as wide as the earth. “Sure!” Rainbow replied with a smile. “Where you want to eat?” Pinkie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not a picky mare,” she replied non-chalantly. Rainbow eventually lead them to the mare Inn, a small restaurant that had been open since ponyville had been founded. They got their seats, and ordered their food. “Hey Dashie, have you heard about the recent riots around Equestria?” Pinkie Pie asked the Cyan Pegasus with a tone of worry in her voice. Rainbow Dash looked at her. “Yea, I did. They said the ponies went insane; tore others to pieces. I also heard the princess is speaking to Mayor Mare about it because the riots are getting closer.” She ended as she sipped on her sparkling water. “I wouldn’t worry about it.” The pink mare looked around nervously. “What if the riots DO come to ponyville? What do we do then?” Rainbow scoffed. “Even if they did, we would just go find somepony to shelter us until the riots are done. You ARE the friendliest pony here. You know EVERYPONY!” She emphasized the last word by waving her hoof up in the air. “You’re probably right, Dashie. But there was another rumor that some virus caused this. A type of infection. I find it hard to believe, but this could be real!” “Seriously Pinkie Pie? Zombies?” The Pegasus began laughing. After she calmed down, she returned to her conversation. “Twilight was rambling on and being all science-y with this, but even with me toning her out, I got this: There are no such things as zombies.” Right as that statement was finished, the ponies’ got their lunch. Pinkie got a simple salad, while Rainbow got a fruit salad. “Even if zombies WERE real,” Rainbow started as she swallowed a bite, “It would be easy to take care of. They are slow and stupid.” Pinkie bit her lip. “I hope your right Dash. It wou-“Pinkie stopped talking. “Hey, is that Gilda?” They both looked at the door, and saw a familiar looking griffon. There was something strange about her though. She walked with a limp, and looked to be unaware of her surroundings. “What’s she doing?” Rainbow questioned. She had a hint of worry in her voice, but Pinkie couldn't detect it. They watched as the griffon walked up to a table of two female ponies chatting away. “Can we help you?” One of them asked. Gilda grabbed the pony with her claw, and bit her in the neck, tearing off a bit of flesh. The pony screamed as she struggled to get free. “WHAT THE HAY?!” Pinkie shouted. The pony fell to the floor, and tried to crawl away, but the griffon just sat atop of her and stuck her claw in her stomach, pulling out her intestines and eating them. Rainbow vomited on the ground as Pinkie stood up. “Rainbow, we have to leave!” She almost screamed. The ill pony simply nodded her head as they ran past Gilda. The pony that Gilda had killed had suddenly come to life, and sunk her teeth into Pinkie’s leg. “AHHHH!” She cried as she fell to the ground. Rainbow Dash turned around, and saw Pinkie on the ground, injured. “I’m coming!” She said as she galloped to her hurt friend. After helping Pinkie up, they hurried out of the restaurant. ”Oh my gosh, what is happening?!?!” Rainbow cried as she looked around the street. It was chaos: Ponies eating others, those crying out for help. Many of those she recognized. Once friends, who were now monsters killing everypony. She ran past all those innocent ponies that were dying in order to help her friend. Pinkie suddenly lost all strength, and collapsed to the ground. “PINKIE!” Rainbow cried out as she knelt next to her friend. “Come on girl, you can do this!” As soon as she lifted Pinkie’s head up, she dropped it. Her face was now a wreck; blood pouring out her mouth and nose. Pinkie tripped Rainbow, and climbed on top of her. She let out a growl, and went to bite her friend, but Rainbow held her back. “PINKIE, STOP!” She cried as her used to be friend was trying to kill her. She looked around, and saw a small knife a few inches away from her. Rainbow, reaching out with her mouth, tried to grab the knife, but it was too far away. She risked getting bit, and used a hoof to move the knife towards her. She grabbed it in her mouth, and jammed it into Pinkie’s eye. She fell onto Rainbow’s body, blood spurting out of the wound and onto the scarred pony. Rainbow Dash pushed her dead friend off of her, and ran off, broken that she had just killed her bubbly friend. She chose to run into the everfree forest. It wasn't the safest place to be, but it was heck of alot safer than out in the streets of ponyville. Rainbow ran until she couldn't run anymore, and plopped down against a tree. "W-what's happening?" She asked out loud. There was no one around to answer, so she didn't expect one to be given. "Why did Pinkie attack me? Was she a-" Her voice stopped, afraid of what might have happened. "No! I'm stupid of thinking she was a zombie! But what was with Gilda...?" The Cyan pegasus looked up into the sky, and saw pegasi trying to escape, only to be stopped by other pegasi who had lost their minds. Rainbow Dash sighed. "I don't know what's going on, but all i can do is pray Celestia will do something about this. If not, this will be Life's Last Breath." > Chapter 1: Goodbye > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -20 YEARS LATER- “Look through the scope, and adjust the zoom. When you have your target in your sights, put your hoof in the grip and pull the trigger.” Rainbow commanded. She looked at Scootaloo, who she was teaching to use a M21 Sniper. Scootaloo looked down the sights and aimed at the bottle Rainbow had set up for her to shoot. She fire, and the glass bottle exploded into shards. “I did it!” She exclaimed. Rainbow Dash gave the filly a noogie. “Good job, kid. We’ll someday be able to move you to hoofers.” The young warrior smiled as she walked with Rainbow back to camp. "Oh! I almost forgot." Rainbow excalimed as she turned around to face Scootaloo. "Only shoot LIVING ponies as a last resort, only if they want to hurt you, ok?" Scoots nodded. Rainbow turned back around, and continued her walk. “Oh my gosh! I’m getting THE Rainbow Dash to teach me how to fire a gun!” Scootaloo felt like she was about to explode inside. “Maybe I can get her to teach me a few more!” She looked around, and realized she was back in camp. “We’re back, everypony!” Rainbow shouted as she looked around the camp. She saw Rarity run out of a tent. “Shhh! Do you want to attract THEM?!” She asked frantically. “We cleared out the infected long ago, we’re fine!” The Pegasus responded as she sat in a chair. Relax, girl.” “Oh! Well, EXCUSE me for not being calm because of the HAVOC in Equestria!” Rarity responded, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I’m out of shampoo.” She whined as she walked back into her tent. “Is she always like that?” Scootaloo whispered to Rainbow. She simply nodded her head, and laid her head back. The filly walked into her own tent she shared with Rainbow, and sat down. “I wonder what gun I could try next? Maybe a grenade launcher! Or a machine gun!” The orange Pegasus gasped. “Or maybe a rocket launcher!” She imitated herself holding one of those gigantic things, and firing it at hordes of the hoofers. She was unaware when Rainbow entered the tent as well. “Uh, what are you doing?” Scootaloo whipped around, embarrassed. “Oh, nothing!” She said as she smiled. “Ok then.” Rainbow grabbed a long, metal object from the side of the tent, and put it on like a backpack. “And you’re not ready for those strong weapons just yet.” She winked as she trotted out of the tent and over to Twilight’s tent. “So Twi, you gonna teach me how this thing works?” She said as she walked into the tent. “In a minute, Rainbow. I’m busy.” The unicorn simply stated. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be with you.” While she waited, Rainbow Dash looked around Twilight’s tent and inspected all of her “Specimens”. Because of the outbreak, she used as an opportunity to inspect the pony body. She had various bones of ponies hanging around her tent. Rainbow did her best to name them all, but she always fell asleep in biology. Hell, she fell asleep in ALL her classes. “So, what do you need Rainbow?” Twilight asked her. “How does this thing work?” She looked at the metallic item on her back.” “Ah! Well, it’s quite simple Rainbow.” She levitated a small M9 pistol and set it on the table. “Now, if you inspect the grappler, as I call it, on your back, you see that it is made up of all metal. ” The “Grappler”, as Twilight called it, was a metallic object that ponies used to hold guns. The base was two pieces of curved metal, allowing anypony to put it on like a backpack, and strap it on with the straps at the ends of each metal piece. From the left or right side, depending on which hoof is dominate, two metal rods stuck out, eventually forming into one, and then holding up a small rectangle of metal sticks. Twilight placed the butt of the handgun in the metal sticks, and twisted a small knob next to one of the sticks, making the metal sticks come together and grasp the metal sticks, holding the handgun in place. “As you can see, the metal has become small enough to hold the gun in place. All you need to do now is wrap your wing around the gun, place the tip of your wing into the compartment where the trigger is held, and pull the trigger.” She beamed at her invention. “This one I thought of myself.” “Ingenious, yet simple. Rainbow commented.” She was about to speak, when Spike came bursting into the tent. “Back, Twilight!” He said as he took off his backpack. “I Managed to gather a few rounds of ammo for a shotgun, nothing else.” “Thanks Spike!” Twilight said as she magically moved the shells into a container. She noticed something was wrong, and took a step forward. “Everything ok?” Spike looked at her, and hung his head down. He stuck out his arm, showing a bite mark. The Mares gasped. “Oh no….” Twilight said sorrowfully. “That can’t be!” Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Twilight, it’s true.” “No! Maybe he won’t turn! He might be immune! The infection-“ She was cut off by Spike’s hand on her mouth. “Twilight, its true. I’ll turn soon.” -------------- Twilight hugged Spike for the final time. “I love you, Spike. Don’t ever forget that.” She began to cry as the memories of Spike and her flooded her mind. Applejack and Fluttershy came to comfort her. Rarity came and kissed him on the cheek. “Bye, my little spikey-wikey.” Tears formed in her eyes, but she turned away. Spike embraced her, and his emotions got the best of him. After a tight embrace with Rarity, he walked over to Rainbow. “I’m ready.” She nodded her head, and they walked away from camp. When Rainbow felt she was far enough away, she told Spike to sit against a tree. He obeyed, and the Pegasus wrapped her wing around the M9 pistol which the gripper was still holding. She looked at him, and thought about everything that had happened. A single tear rolled down her check. “Goodbye, Spike.” She said softly. Her wing tightened, and she pulled the trigger. > Chapter 2: Debate > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Rainbow walked back to the camp, many questions flooded her mind. Had she made the right choice? Will Twilight and Rarity be ok? Could Spike have been saved because he wasn’t a pony? She pondered these things until she had arrived back in camp, where she saw a zombie pony, commonly known as hoofers, in the middle of the camp. “Damn hoofers.” She said through gritted teeth. Rainbow grabbed a knife from her utility belt with her mouth, and slowly crept up towards the infected. When she was just inches away, she shoved the knife into the dead pony’s neck. It squirmed, and then fell to the ground. “Thanks, sugarcube.” Applejack said as she and the rest of Rainbow’s friends came out of Twilight’s tent. “No sweat” She replied. Scootaloo, Applebloom, an Sweete bell all came running out of Twi’s tent as well. “Oh wow! That was AWESOME Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed, causing the Pegasus to beam with pride. “Were you scared?” “Was that your first hoofer?” “Can you teach me to do that?!” Rainbow turned to the excited fillies, and pointed a hoof at Applebloom, then Sweete Bell, and finally Scootaloo as she answered their questions. “No, no, and maybe when your older.” She said. Scootaloo looked disappointed. “When can I kill MY first hoofer?” She asked. Rainbow gave her another noogie. “I want to be like you!” “I’m flattered that you want to be like me, but I don’t want to risk your life just to teach you to kill a hoofer. You are only a filly, you know.” “Rainbow, it might not be such a bad idea to teach Scootaloo how to kill a hoofer.” Twilight suddenly said. “In fact, you should teach all three of them.” Rarity gasped with astonishment. “MY little Sweete Bell, handling a GUN?!?!” She asked. “That would be the WORST POSSIBLE THING!” She exclaimed as she fainted onto a lush sofa which had appeared out of nowhere. “Twi, y’all sure it’s a good idea to teach them fillies how to use a gun?” Applejack asked. “If they get in a situation where they must defend themselves, and we don’t teach them how to, they would die.” Twilight explained. “It would be a smart idea to teach them.” “Well, I WON’T allow my sister to touch a gun!” Rarity said as she woke up. “And I’m sure Applejack agrees with me. Applejack nodded her head in agreement. “Um, I think it’s a good idea.” Fluttershy said quietly. All the ponies looked at her in shock. “Wow, wasn’t expecting Fluttershy to support me.” Twilight said to herself. They all turned to pinkie, who was thinking. “Weeeeell….” She said out loud, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “I think it would be a TERRIBLE idea because so many things would go wrong and the girls could killthemselvesandpossiblyhurtandattractmoreinfected-“ Applejack shoved her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “She says no.” The earth pony said. “Even if we all say no, it’s up to Rainbow and the girls to decide.” Twilight said. “What do you think Rainbow?” They all turned to face her. “It might take a while and a few sessions, but I think it’s a good idea. And I’m up for the task.” Rainbow turned to the three fillies. “What do you girls say?” “If ya say no, I’ll cook ya one of my famous apple pies” Applejack whispered in her sister’s ear. “No tempting her!’ Twilight said as she pulled Applejack away with her magic. “Sweete Bell, if you say yes, I’ll-“ Twilight shoved a cloth (clean, for Rarity’s sake) into Rarity’s mouth. “No threatening her either!” The group watched as the three fillies huddled into a small group, and discussed what had been given to them. After a few seconds more, the girls popped out of their huddle and turned towards Rainbow. “YES!” They said in unison. > Chapter 3: Tragedy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The girls were whispering excitingly to themselves as they followed Rainbow Dash to a secure place to learn how to use a gun. “I can’t believe this is happening!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed. “Ah’ hope we get to shoot some hoofers!” Apple Bloom whispered “I know the ropes, I’ll teach you guys what to do!” Scootaloo said matter-of-factly. “If I let you teach, you’ll end up killing all of us” Rainbow responded to Scootaloo, and the young foal returned a sheepish grin. As they were walking, a lot ran through Rainbow’s mind. Was this the right choice? Should I really teach them how to use a gun? Will they end up shooting themselves or herself? Why was Pinkie so-? Wait a minute. Pinkie died 20 years ago. This stopped Rainbow in her tracks. Pinkie Pie died 20 years ago when all this started. She turned into a hoofer, and Rainbow killed her. Then why did she see Pinkie in the camp? Surely Applejack saw her too; she stuffed her hoof in her mouth! “Uh, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked, confused. “Raaaaaainbow Daaaaaash!” She poked the Pegasus with her hoof. “Oh! Uh, sorry girls. I got lost in thought.” She said briefly before continuing to move on again. The three foals shrugged and followed her. -------------- The group walked into an abandoned shop at the edge of town, and Rainbow shut and barricaded the door behind them. “Before we start, I need you girls to promise me something. Promise me you will do EVERYTHING I say while we're here, and you WILL NOT argue or question me, do you understand? The foals gave their heads a nod. “Good, now let’s get started.” Rainbow Dash taught (and re-taught Scootaloo) the Crusaders how to handle, aim, reload, and clean a handgun and assault rifle . “Now, we’re going to shoot a few hoofers, It will be Scoots first, then Applebloom, and then Sweetie Bell.” Rainbow grabbed a smaller version of the grappler and attached it too Scootaloo. This version, however, had a small cord sticking out of it, which, when pulled, would fire the gun. Scootaloo walked up to the window and looked out. “Rainbow, there are no-“A hoofer came from the bottom of the window and grabbed the foal. She was pinned to the wall as she screamed at the top of her lungs. “RAINBOW!” She shouted. “HELP ME!” Rainbow turned to see the hoofer attacking Scootaloo. In a rage, Rainbow charged to rescue Scoots, but before she could reach her, the infected sunk its teeth into the foal’s neck. She cried out in pain, and escaped from the hoofer, trying to crawl away, tears pouring from her eyes. Rainbow was almost there, when a Pegasus hoofer came in through the window and tackled her. She held back the ravenous pony, as she looked over to see that the dead pony had picked up Scootaloo by her head. “RAINBOW, PLEASE H-“The hoofer dug into the back of her head with its teeth. Scootaloo screamed, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Rainbow watched her body go limp as the hoofer feasted on her body. “NOOOOO!” Rainbow bellowed as she kicked off the hoofer and put a bullet through it, running to check on the orange foal. She bucked the hoofer’s head, decapitating it. She knelt down next to Scootaloo, and checked her body. She was dead. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Rainbow heard from across the shop. She looked, and saw Applebloom’s legs sticking out from behind a shelf, and saw the flank of a hoofer. Applebloom’s legs kicked as she screamed, and then stopped. Rainbow watched as the infected ripped off the foal’s head and ate it in a few bites. It turned to Sweetie Bell, who was sobbing in the corner. The hoofer screamed, and sprinted towards Sweetie Bell. Before it could reach her, Rainbow shot it in the head, killing it. “Are you ok?” She asked, running over to the young unicorn. “S-scoot-a-aloo and a-a-a-pplebloo-m are dead!” She wailed, crying into Rainbow’s forelegs. “It’s ok, I got you” She said as she bolted out of the door, head straight back for camp. > Chapter 4: On The Run > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow had never ran faster in her life. With Sweetie Bell on her back, and multiple hoofers hot in pursuit, she knew that if she even slowed a little, they would both die. “Keep running!” Sweetie Bell screamed on Rainbow’s back. “What do you think I’m doing?!” She harshly replied. Since the foal was on her back, Rainbow couldn’t fly. A few months before, she was in a fight with a group of bandits. At the end, a horde of hoofers came and killed the bandits. One, before he died, fired a stray shot which hit Rainbow’s left wing. Twilight was able to remove the bullet, but now her wing was so weak she couldn't support more than her own weight while flying. Rainbow made a sharp turn and continued her full on sprint. She could no longer hear the hoof steps on the infected, but didn’t take the chance of death if she stopped. They made their way back to town, and took refuge in a building. “I…. think we lost… them.” Rainbow said as she breathed heavily. She set Sweetie Bell down, and took out her radio that she always carried. “This is Paradise to Believer, are you there?” She spoke into the radio. Silence. “Are you there, Believer?” There was a crackling sound, and then a voice. “This is Believer, I hear you Paradise.” Twilight’s voice said over radio. “What’s up?” “The training went south; I need you to send somepony to my cords.” Rainbow said as she pressed a button on the radio. It began emitting the sound of a radar. “I see you. What happened out there?” Twilight spoke with a tone of worry in her voice. “I’ll tell you once we get back. Over and Out.” Rainbow switched the radio off, and placed it in her rucksack. “What do we do now?” Sweetie Bell asked her. “We stay put until-“ She was interrupted by an unrealistically loud scream that forced her and Sweetie to cover their ears. She crawled over to the window, and saw a horde beginning to form. In the middle was a plain infected, but it soon proved to be otherwise. It looked down, and Rainbow saw its head split apart, revealing the creatures brain and jaw. Many tentacle-like muscles came out of its mouth, and it looked up into the sky and screamed. The two ponies covered their ears again, and the Pegasus saw a large group of infected run towards the creature. “What is that?!?!” Sweetie asked frantically. “It’s a screamer.” Rainbow replied, emotionless. She looked around the shop, and found an earth pony’s corpse leaning up against the wall. Its head had appeared to have exploded due to the screamer’s scream. She spotted a small bag next to the pony, and snatched it up. It had a single grenade in it, along with a note. If you don’t kill it, it will kill you with its scream. Rainbow knew she had to kill that thing before they ended up like the pony. She pulled the pin on the grenade with her teeth, and quickly adjust the grenade into her mouth. As she ran towards the window, the screamer prepared another scream. Just as it was about to let it out, Rainbow threw the grenade. It Flew through the air, and landed right inside the Screamer’s mouth. “GET DOWN!” Rainbow shouted as she pulled Sweetie to the ground with her. They both covered their heads with their hooves as the grenade exploded. Shouts from the infected were heard, and an object flew in from the window right in front of Sweetie. She looked in horror at the head of the screamer. Its forehead was cracked, exposing the brain, and it was missing and eye, on eye hanging out of the socket. She turned and vomited on the ground. “LET’S GO!” Rainbow bellowed as she snatched Sweetie and out her on her back. She out her pistol in the grappler, and jumped out the window. A hoofer stumbled toward her, and she put a bullet in its head. Rainbow made her way through the remaining horde, Sweetie on back, knife in mouth, and gun in grappler. -BACK AT CAMP- “Twi, where is Rainbow?” Applejack asked Twilight, clearly worried. “She just came in over the radio, she needs help.” She replied, loading a revolver. “I need you to go out and see if you can help.” “Ok. What will ah’ be using?” AJ questioned. Twilight laid a grappler, combat knife, and revolver along with ammunition on the table. “We’re short on weapons, so this is all can be spared. Spike would be searching for more weapons, but not since he…” Twilight trailed off as a tear rolled down her eye. “Not since he…. he…” She was now covering her eyes with a hoof, crying softly. Applejack came to her side and put a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s ok, Twi. He’s in a MUCH better place than Equestria. It’s like Tartarus has come here in Equestria. The two ponies embraced in a hug. “T-thanks AJ.” Twilight said softly as she broke the hug. “No problem, Twi. Ah know it’s hard losing one whom you love. Ah' am also worried about App-“ “GIRLS!” Rarity screamed as she burst through the tent. “GIRLS! IT’S TERRIBLE! THIS IS THE WORST. POSSIBLE. THING TO HAPPEN!” “Calm down, Rarity. What happened?” Twilight asked, head cocked. “She’s probably out of shampoo again.” Applejack whispered in Twilight’s ear. “It’s Fluttershy! She’s turned!” > Chapter 5: Camp > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. > Chapter 6: Awake > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Rainbow regained consciousness, she could faintly hear commotion around her, but could not specifically make it out. As her senses became more aware, it dawned on her that there were two sounds - A voice, most likely a stallion, grunting, and what sounded to be like a mare, moaning. Rainbow’s vision returned to her, and she opened her eyes, but only saw a blur. She shut her eyes, shook her head, and re-opened her eyes to find her vision had cleared up. “P-please stop…” The mare groaned. She let out a soft squeal, before exhaling sharply. Rainbow looked to the source, and saw a lime green mare, covered in sweat, all hooves tied to a table. A stallion loomed over her, grinning wildly. “Psst!” A voice hissed. Rainbow turned her head to the direction of the voice, only to find out that she was tied to a table as well. She found a source of the voice, which was a white unicorn, with a deep blue mane. “Who are you?” Rainbow questioned the unicorn. “Keep it down! He hears us, and we’ll be next!” She snapped at Rainbow. “Next for what?” Rainbow said with slight irritation in her voice. “What do you think? Next in line to lose our virginity!” “Do you mean… he’ll rape us?” Rainbow asked as she raised an eye. “YES!” The ticked off unicorn replied. “Now if you don’t shut up, we’ll AHHH!” She suddenly shouted out as the table she was on turned in a 180, which made the pony’s back face the ceiling. “You know not to talk to the other mares in here, Streak.” The stallion said as he approached the unicorn, which was named Streak, from the back. “You know the punishment.” “N-no! Please! It was her fault, she spoke to me first!” Streak cried out, trying to blame Rainbow Dash for what she had done. “What? No I didn’t!” Rainbow sharply remarked. “Shut it!” The stallion snapped at Rainbow. She gave the stallion a glare, but obeyed. “She just got here, so she doesn’t know the rules yet. But you do.” The stallion planted his hooves on the mare’s hips, and lifted her tale up. “Sweet Celestia.” Rainbow whispered before she shut her eyes and turned her head. She heard the stallion groan, and the mare squeal like a school filly. Rainbow assumed that he had inserted himself into the mare, but she didn’t want to check just to make sure. After five minutes of groaning and heavy breathing, it stopped, and Rainbow opened her eyes. She saw the mare, now glistening with sweat, breathing heavily and staring at the table she was on. “Let me explain the rules to you.” The stallion suddenly said beside her. “You will not talk to any other mare in here. You will not talk unless spoken to and given permission. You will not beg or ask for ANYTHING. You will eat and drink what we give you, no matter what it is. If you break any of these rules, there will be punishments. First offence, you will have sex with a stallion, but nothing more.” He said as he pointed to Streak, who had committed her first offence. “Second offense, you will have sex with the same stallion AND become pregnant. Third offense, sex, and you will kill and eat your own foal. Fourth and final offense, which only one mare has gotten, will be…” He chuckled to himself. “Let’s just say it’ll be the worst day of your life.” He began walking to the door, when he turned to Rainbow and said, “Oh, and you’d better hope no pony thinks you as sexy, because they will MAKE you break the rules.” “HOXTOOOOOOOOOON! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!” A voice cried out from another room. “I’M COMING!” The stallion who was talking to Rainbow shouted back as he walked out of the room and shut the door. “Great. I’m in a rape chamber where I’m bound to get pregnant.” Rainbow mumbled to herself as she began to look around the room. It wasn’t very big, just enough to hold about five three-inch tables, which the mares were tied on. There was a table against each wall, and a single table in the middle, which was empty. The other four tables had mares on them, who were all ill and starving to death. Rainbow was just about to risk speaking with one, but the door burst open as two stallions burst in, wrestling a mare. They both struggled to hold her as they moved towards the table, as she was much stronger than they were. The female grabbed a knife from the empty table and stuck it in one of the stallion’s eye. His body fell with a thump as the other stallion tackled the mare, which sent the knife flying towards Rainbow. It landed and stuck directly next to her head, and she grabbed it and quickly cut the rope holding her hooves down. Once she was free, she noticed the stallion was suffocating the mare very quickly with his magic, and with a swift slice, the cyan Pegasus cut the pony’s throat. “You alright?” She asked the mare who was on the ground. “Yea, I’m fine.” She replied, and looked at Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow widened her eyes at the mare before her. “Spitfire?” “How did you get here?” “I was just about to ask you the same thing.” “Well…” Spitfire began. “I was at a small base camp a few survivors and I had set up. A few hours ago, these guys had attacked our camp and killed everypony. They grabbed myself and another mare, a unicorn by the name of Vinyl Scratch, and hauled us off to where I guess was here.” Rainbow told her story, and Spitfire listened intently. “So what happened to those three foals? Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” Rainbow shivered when she heard those names. “Well, I, um.” “You alright? You’re shaking.” Spitfire raised an eye. “You didn’t hurt them, did you?” “NO!” Rainbow almost bellowed. “I took them to teach them how to use a gun, when we were ambushed by hoofers. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom…. Died in the ambush.” “Sorry to hear that. What about the other one?” “We escaped and got back to camp, and you know the rest of the story. I just have no idea where she is now.” “Well, we can look for her and find a way to escape.” Spitfire suggested as she turned and pointed toward the wall. “There is a vent that one of us can go through while another one of us could free the other mares.” “I’ll go through the vent, see how many stallions there are.” Rainbow commented as she climbed in the vent. “Alright, just be careful.” Spitfire cautioned as she picked up the knife in her mouth. --------------------- The vent was very congested and humid as Rainbow quietly crawled through it, hoping to find an exit. She came across an opening, and peeked around to make sure it was clear. She quickly pulled her head back through, because the room had a single stallion in it. “Wonder if the boys took care of Shining Armor….” He wondered aloud. “He could put a stop to us very quickly.” Rainbow listened very intently, because she recognized that voice. Risking being seen, she looked at the stallion one more time, then ducked back. “There is no way…. Sorian?” She wondered to herself. “That can’t be!” “Sorian! We’re starting in a minute, if you wish to join us.” A deep male voice bellowed from another room. “I’m good! Have fun, though!” He called back. “Yep, that’s Sorian.” Rainbow sighed. She crawled past the opening when he wasn’t looking, and continued until she reached a dead end. She was about to turn around, when she noticed one more opening directly to her left. She looked out, and saw a large group of stallion, sitting on their haunches, in a circle. “What are they do- OH SWEET CELESTIA!” She almost cried out as she looked away from the jerk circle. She scampered through the vent until she fell out into the small holding room where the mares were being held. “Oh! There you are, Rainbow. What did you find?” Asked Spitfire, who had been checking on all of the mares, now freed from their tables. Rainbow Dash stood up and brushed herself off. “Well…. I found out that Sorian is a part of the group, but not much else.” She looked at Spitfire. “Uh, Spitfire?” The yellow Pegasus was staring at Rainbow In awe, mouth agape. She quickly snapped out of it, then commented, “Oh, um, yea. Ok. How many Sorians, er, stallions were there?” “I would say about 30, not including the dead ones.” Rainbow replied. “Then this won’t be very hard, we just have to-“Spitfire stopped again, and looked directly behind Rainbow. “Really Spitfire? Stop doing that!” The cyan Pegasus said, clearly annoyed. When she didn’t speak again, Rainbow casually turned around, and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, Celestia damn it.” > Chapter 7: Breached > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow froze in her tracks when she saw a screamer and listener side by side, blocking their exit. “What the f-“Spitfire started, but was interrupted by Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth. She leaned and spoke into her ear, “Be VERY quite, and do NOT move or make a sound.” She hissed in Spitfire’s ear. She HATED being told what to do, but the orange Pegasus thought it would be best to oblige. Rainbow looked to the other mares in the room and put her hoof to her mouth, and mouthed the words “Don’t move.” The other mares just stared at her with pale faces, which was good enough for her. She looked around the room to find her pistol and grappler on a table a few feet from her location. She motioned to the only unicorn in the room, and pointed at the table. The unicorn understood what she meant, and levitated the items to Rainbow. Once she had the grappler on her back and the gun in the grappler, she looked around for a silencer. The only thing that was near her was a thin blanket. Better than nothing, she thought. The cyan Pegasus wrapped the blanket around her gun tightly, and looked at the two hoofers. If she shot the screamer, it couldn’t scream, and they wouldn’t be discovered by their captives. On the other hoof, though, the listener has amazing hearing, and might hear the shot. Rainbow thought this through for a moment, and made her choice. She lined up her sights, and fired at Spitfire. The bullet grazed the side of her front left hoof, and entered her waist. Spitfire held in a cry as she collapsed to the ground in a heap of pain. “W-what the hell?!” She exclaimed in a hoarse whisper as she looked at Rainbow, a mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes. “Sorry, girl.” Rainbow started. She threw the blanket to the ground, turned to the hoofers, and shot the screamer. It let out a small shriek as it fell to the ground. She then turned to the one unicorn in the group, and shot her as well. The bullet entered her head, killing her instantly. “When your life is in danger, you’d do the same.” She finished as she sidestepped the listener’s frenzy attack. It hit one mare in the side of the head with such force that it cracked her skull killing her. The infected, still on a rampage, tripped over the mare’s corpse, and landed on Spitfire. “GET IT OFF ME!” She cried out as the listener begun tearing up the Pegasus. It ripped off her right wing, then made a giant gash down her back. Spitfire fought with everything she had, but the bullet in her side was still burning, limiting her with what she could do. The hoofer ended Spitfire’s life by sinking her teeth into her neck. Spitfire screamed as she felt the skin being ripped off her neck, and blood pouring out of the wound, ---------------------------- In the midst of all the chaos, Rainbow went back into the vent where she had seen Sorian, hoping that the stallions in the room having their version of “fun” had cleared out. As she crawled, she could hear the screams of Spitfire and the other mares as the listener tore them apart. Rainbow was truly sorry for what she did, but the truth was in black and white: If she had tried to escape with all those other ponies, they would’ve been caught and chained down again. She reached the final vent, and looked through it with relief that there wasn’t anypony there. Rainbow carefully removed the vent from the wall, and set it down on the floor as she got out and stretched her wings. At that moment, a loud explosion was heard, and the entire building shook. The cyan Pegasus struggled to stay standing as she heard a voice come from what she thought was a intercom. “Attention all members! We have been breached by the infected! Repeat, we have been breached by the infected! Half of you will head to the armory to get armed, while the rest of you will go to our holding chambers and get our hostages! The more fit captives will help us fight, while the younger and older will be used as bait for the hoofers. Over and out.” Rainbow now had three choices: Escape alone, escape with Sweetie Belle, or go to the armory to help fight. She could easily leave alone since she wouldn’t have Sweetie on her back, allowing her to fly, but would her guilt overtake her if she did? Rainbow pushed these things aside, and ran ahead into a hallway with two halls to her left and right. A sign marked the left as exit, and right as armory. She trotted down the left hallway to see how the exit looked, but sprinted back when she saw a giant horde of hoofers were blocking the exit. Having no other option, Rainbow Dashed (No pun intended) down the hallway toward the Armory. As she turned the corner, she saw the metal door to the armory beginning to close with many stallions inside. Rainbow kicked into high gear, and sprinted down the hallway, avoiding the grasp of a few straggling hoofers. Rainbow fell onto her back and slide under the door just as it closed and sealed shut.