> Twilight Chainsaw > by Alkem > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Chainsaw Chapter 1 It was eerily quiet in Ponyville as a foul smelling fog shrouded the entire town that almost blocked out the sun's light. Only the gentle groans and moans coming off the rotting lips of the pony folk that had been turned to member of the living dead could be heard. The fog, a result of the fumes wafting off the hordes rotting corpses. The monotonous sounds the zombies made were sometimes joined by screams. Screams poor ponies survivors made as they were eaten alive. Amid the dead bodies, destroyed homes and general sense of hopelessness of the ruined town, one little pony was making her way around the rubble and chaos. Running into a group of flesh eaters, the sound of her weapon could be heard ripping through the haunting silence around her. *Vrrrrrrrrrrrr* "Come on you pieces of shit!" Twilight Sparkle yelled over the sound of her chainsaw she held in her hooves made. She rushed over to the group and carved down the middle of one. The bisected pony made a popping sound as she turned away from it. "Damn it Spike, you really had to go and get your little claws on a book like that!" she griped as three more ghouls came at her from behind. A purple aura surrounded her weapons and quickly swiped behind her. "Uuuuuuuaaaa—" The ear shattering sound of Twilight's chainsaw as it rent through their necks cut them off just as they were about to strike. With their heads lopped off their shoulders, turning them into walking fountains of crimson, Twilight Sparkle pushed them aside as was walked passed, shaking off the rotted blood that splashed on her. "Wait till I get my hooves on you, you little bastard," she said to herself as she continued moving ahead. Strolling down a peculiarly empty street, she took a moment to look at the pink chainsaw she had been using, taking note of the pretty heart shaped holes in the guide bar that. She sighed. Thank Celestia Pinkie Pie had this kind of thing stashed away in case of emergency. Though when I get the chance I should probably ask her what kind of emergency would need one of these… Never mind, I should just be thankful it was there when I found it. Galloping down the row of house that lined pathway on each side, with the piles of dead ponies lying outside each of them; Twilight noticed something odd with each pile she past, aside from the obvious fact that they were there to begin with. Unable to shake her curiosity any longer, she stopped by one of the festering mounds to investigate. The corpses were ripped, bitten, bleeding, missing limbs, blood was collecting at the bottom as it dripped out of their lacerations. Some of them wore the expression the had as they perished, eyes closed tight and mouth wide open, probably as they cried out. Shielding her nose as she stepped closer, Twilight took notice that each of the bodies appeared to have had something cut out of them. What confused her about it was that the cuts were in certain areas and done with incredible precision.. "Since when did zombies used forks and knives to eat?" While she placed a hoof to her chin and pondered the possible answers, a voice caught her attention. "Heeeehee, haaaahaa, Haha!" Hearing the laughter coming from two houses away, Twilight darted over to the find out who was there, Maybe it was the dragon she had been after she thought. Turning the corner, she slammed her hooves into the dirt and stopped herself. She noticed more piles of bodies stacked up along the path and started heading down slowly. In the distance, Twilight squinted, vaguely making out something. Telling by the figure's silhouette it was pony, a unicorn and, considering the majority, probably a mare. She made her way towards the pony cautiously. Pinkie always says fight off those sad feeling with a smile and a laugh. But I don't think now's the time for that.. As she made her way closer, Twilight looked over to more body piles lining the road. All of them still had the same carving in them. One of the piles caught her eye as she noticed some writing on the grass in front of it. She stepped closer. The words "No more humans" was crudely written by a pony's hoof and done using blood. Twilight kept walking, getting closer to the figure and noticing more writing by the other piles. Where were you when we needed you Humans! I know you're real Why didn't you save us I believe Humanity will save me My Humanity will be complete The rambling words continued with each pile she walked past, all of them consisted of the same topic. Right when Twilight stopped to read what was written by the next groups, she heard someone speak. "You know, I was a good unicorn. When I was little, my mom told me stories. Stories of ancient times, when ponies faced many dangers and it was the humans that came to save us. They sounded wonderful, like heroes that came and saved us when we really needed it." As she got closer, Twilight noticed the pile of bodies were getting bigger, some bodies zombies, some not. "I even had an imaginary human best friend. Other ponies used to laugh and tease me for it, but I didn't care. I knew that humans existed and that one day they would save me." The blood pooling at the base of each mound were looking fresher with each one she past. Twilight looked down at her feet and noticed she was now following a crimson trail against the green grass. "As I grew up, I started studing history. My belief in humans started to waver back then, until I had a revelation. How could no one see it? How could they all be so dense? The signs were all around us. Why do we have jars that we couldn't open with our hooves? Why do tea cup have handles you can't fit your hooves through. Bowling balls have holes in them and no one has any idea why! The list goes on. The answer is right there. Realizing this, I understood that when ponies really needed them, the humans would come and save us…" Twilight now stood just a few feet away from the mint green unicorn that had her back turned to her. She stood still, waiting to hear her finish. "Today was just like any other, that was until that light shot out into the sky. The blast that followed knocked me out. When I woke up, screaming, screaming was all I could hear. I got up and saw ponies running for their lives. I saw ponies eating other ponies, it was horrible. As I saw them cry out in agony, I thought to myself, 'this can't be happening'. Then I saw pony that had die get back up, but they weren't the same… I saw my best friend run for her life. I was about to follower her when she ran behind a house, but when I heard it… when I heard her cry out like that, my legs froze. That's when I thought back to those stories; the stories I was told as a filly. Surely the humans would come and save us. But they never did... I spent my last moments looking up to the sky and reaching out for something." Twilight was about to step closer and place one hoof on her shoulder. "Oh Lyra, I'm—" She was interrupted by Lyra, who now spoke in a coarse tone. "When I woke up again, I got this idea in my head. If humanity won't come to me, I'll just have to make em," The purple unicorn stepped back, thrown off by what the mare just said. "Lyra, you can't possibly hope to bring humanity here." Lyra turned her neck to face her. That's when Twilight got a good look at her. Her green coat had become faded, bloodstains smeared her body, bits of her figure were torn, exposing her muscles and bones. She looked at Twilight, one eye completely red while the other colored bright yellow. "You've got it all wrong Twilight Sparkle. When I said 'I'll make em' I didn't mean bring humanity here." Twilight looked back, remembering all those bodies she saw as she got closer. "So you're... That's gross! Using ponies to make something that isn't even real." Lyra scowled hearing her say that. "Shut up! They are real! And they're gonna save me!" She started pounding her hoof on the ground as her horn started glowing. "You're just like everyone else. Making fun of me and telling me humans aren't real! Well I'm gonna show you! I'm gonna show everyone! Ahahahahahaha!" The ground at their feet rumbled. Twilight could barely stay on her hooves as she watched Lyra, still laughing, being lifted up by a massive mash up of flesh, bone, muscle and other body parts that were combined together to resembled that of a hand. Twilight jumped back as the opening expanded. The monstrosity below the surface pulled itself out of the soil and stood on two feet. "Now I see why I didn't run into so many zombies around here and why there were so many bodies missing some pieces. All of that, just to make that stupid thing? You seriously need a better hobby," Twilight said as she grabbed hold of her weapon. "Make fun all you want Twilight, you're like everyone else." The golem took one step forward and pulled its arm back to punch. "And like everyone else, you'll soon be a part of Humanity here. Now die!" The abomination's fist left a bloody imprint as its fist slammed against the ground, making a combination of squishing and cracking noises as it hit the soil. Twilight jumped away but was still knocked back by the force of the impact. She charged and jumped on the giant's fist. Running up its arm, Twilight dug the revving blades deep inside the beast's arm and pulled it behind her. The creation's arm was splitting in two as the mare, ran up to its shoulder. "Noooooo! Don't hurt him!" Lyra shouted from atop her creation's head as Twilight, using her telekinesis wielded her weapon to carve the right arm slices off. Retaliating with her magic, Lyra maneuvered the monster's left arm to swat Twilight. Grabbing on to the chainsaw handles, Twilight slashed as the hand slammed down on her. With a thud the massive hand pressed down on its shoulder and the purple pony vanished under it. A confident smile appeared on Lyra's rotten lips, seeing Twilight get crushed. But the smell of burning meat reaching her nose cut her celebratory moment short. She leaned over, looking down and noticed Humanity's hand shaking violently. The chainsaw roared as Twilight ripped through meat hand and landed on its wrist. She looked up at Lyra, gnashing her teeth. "Do you know how long it'll take me to wash all this shit off!" she growled as she tried cleaning off the blood and chunks of meat that stuck onto her coat. With the blades of her chainsaw glowing orange from the heat, she slashed down and cleaved the monsters hand clean off. Lyra gasped. "Do you know how long it took me to get those hands just right? Do you know how many ponies I had to go through?" Controlling her beast, Lyra swiped its arm, forcing Twilight off. Sent soaring, flying just over the ground, she drove her chainsaw into the ground to slow down, clumps of mud and rocks went in the air as the chain torn into the ground. Meanwhile Lyra's Humanity was grabbing bodies from the piles she left behind and started absorbing the bodies into itself. "See that Twilight Sparkle, Humanity is all powerful. You can't stop it. You have no hope of—Whoa!" A chainsaw flew towards her monster, cutting through its neck, sending Humanity's head, along with Lyra, falling down below. The unicorn landed on her neck in front of Twilight with a bone shattering crunch. Lyra lay on the ground with her neck completely bent and her creature standing behind her, both motionless. Twilight looked down at her. "Huh, that was easier than I thought," she said, kicking the mare and laughed to her self. Normally no sense in beating a dead horse, but in this case I think it's an exception. "Well, now that this waste of time is over, I got to go find that dragon assistant of mine and give him a piece of my mind… figuratively speaking. Hmm, I get the feeling I forgot something." As Twilight turned to walk away, Lyra sprang to her hooves and lunged. "Haaaaaaa!" She was just inches away when her body can to a sudden halt. Her body began to shake violently. turned her head down and notices something impaling her. The familiar sound of Twilight's chainsaw revved as it landed on Lyra. Cutting through her back and out her stomach, it harpooned her into the ground. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggh!" she cried as she desperately tried reaching for the unicorn standing in front of her. She dragged herself forward, slowly splitting the lower portion of her body further and further in half as she dragged against the fast spinning chain, coating it in her blood. Her horn began to shine, trying to move her golem to aid her. Twilight, not paying any attention to the screaming mare behind her, turned her head back. "Oh right." she walked towards Lyra and reached her hoof out. "How could I have almost forgotten this. Silly me." With her forelegs grasping the chainsaw's handle, she placed a back hoof on Lyra's horn and pushed against it as she pulled on her weapon. "Aaaaaaaguuuuuuuhwwwaaaaaaaah!" The zombie pony gurgled as her upper half was being torn in two. Chunks of red meat with patches of pale green fur scattered as Lyra was pushed into the orange glow of the super heated blades. Finally prying her weapon out of the ground, Twilight walked away, leaving the two halves of Lyra lying on the ground. Behind her, her Humanity wobbled as the pieces it was constructed out of were falling off. As her creation fell forwards on her, the two halves of Lyra's mouth uttered something. "I just... I just wanted to be with humanity…" The giant fell, crushing her as the bits of muscles, organs and bones spilled everywhere, painting the area around it red. Off in the distance Twilight, using her magic to remove the crap that still clung to her coat and mane, was already continuing her search to find who she was searching for. "Sheesh, all I'm trying to do is find one little dragon to get that stupid book and put a stop to all this and I get a crazy zombie pony with an obsession with something that isn't even real." Walking around the shrouded mess of a town, effortlessly dispatching a few more of the living dead along the way, the sound of music caught her ear. Glancing down the incline to the source of the blaring tunes, she spots an assortment of colorful lights shining from a stage. "I guess I should find out what's going on over there. Maybe it'll lead me to Spike, or at least some clues on finding him." Before Twilight went down the ravaged pathway, she turned her head to the tool she had been using this entire time. A thought she'd chosen to ignore suddenly popped into her head. I hope the rest of them are alright. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Chainsaw Chapter 2. It was impossible to tell whether it was day or night anymore inside Ponyville, thanks to the fog blanketing it, The white skyline fortunately reflected the light coming off various fire to, give the town what little illumination it could. The thick smog made it impossible for anyone on the outside to see what was going on. But it was better that way, for the ponies stuck inside wished they never had laid witness to the horrors that took place on their side. Given what was going on, small signs of activity were going on throughout the town. One in particular garnered Twilight Sparkle's attention. By the southwestern edge of town, a few blocks away from Carousel Boutique, a mass of zombies had gathered at the front of a large stage. The clouds above the the area were painted a spectrum of colors by the spot lights on the scaffolding. The eye catching light show was accompanied by music coming from the collections of massive speakers placed throughout the stage. The zombies were standing around, bobbing their head to the booming beat. Some bobbing intentionally while others that lacked neck control, were being forced to by the strong vibrations. Hiding a safe distance away inside of a shop stall, Twilight cautiously peered her head over the counter to investigate, clicking her teeth at the sight. "All of them. The whole crowd is made up of those ugly creeps. Wait a second..." Something in the center of zombie horde suddenly caught her eye. "What's that?" "Aaaaah! Please no! I don't want to die! Please! someone save me!" A colt, tied by his forelegs, dangled helplessly above the mob of undead ponies. They pushed and shoved among themselves, reaching their cracked blood soaked hooves up to try and grab the light amber earth pony. As they started climbing over one another. The stallion pulled himself up to avoid a hoof that brushed against his grayish tangelo tail and almost scratched his three horseshoe cutie marked flank.. The sound of a record scratching erupted from the speakers, sending a sound wave that curved air as it traveled to the ground below. Zombies were scattered by the sonic blast, clearing out the ground below the hanging colt. Following the blast, the voice of a girl called out from the speakers. "Now chill out everyone!" The swarming audience, scrambling to fill in the newly opened space, obeyed her. The colt looked down to the still crowd when he he suddenly heard the sound of something whizzing through the air. His rope was sliced as a record flew right through it, sending him falling to the ground. After he hit the grass, he untied his binds and scouted around himself. "Oh Celestia no, not like this." He breathed quickly as he stared at the horde surrounding begin to close in. Another blast of sound stuck down, knocking back the zombies from getting close and forcing the stallion to the ground. "Aaaaaaaaah!" he cried, pressing his hooves against his ears.. The mares voice called out again. "Nu-uh uh, I didn't say go yet," The zombie ponies did as they were told, stopping once more from advancing. The colt, alone in the center of the circle, had a hoof to his chest, his breathing was sporadic, sweat falling down his face, and his eyes darted between every monster eyeing him like fresh meat. He looked to the stage and dropped to his knees. "Please just let me go, all I want is to find my girlfriend." "Aww, well ain't that sweet everyone," the voice sarcastically replied. The crowd remained motionless, except for those that bit of skin peeling off. "Sorry pal, looks like the crowds not with you on that one. Okay everyone, how would you all like a mosh pit instead?" The entire horde growled in response. "Looks like they've spoken, and as best DJ around I always give them what they want. Sorry babe but looks like you won't be getting away. But look on the bright side, you'll get to be one of us and listen to me play forever!" she said with a chuckle. "Alright everyone, ready?" Surrounded by thousands of drooling slack jaws; snot, sweat and tears combined as it ran down his face and stained his coat. The fleshed rotted ponies surrounding him, licked their arid lips as their hooves scratched the dirt, were ready to attack. Up on the stage, the sickly yellow white unicorn jumped on top of her DJ booth and looked over her army of ravenous zombie fans. She lifted her cracked purple tinted sunglasses over her grayish blue with lighter pale blue streaked mane, revealing her blood red eyes, pulled a microphone up to her lips and took a deep breath. "Mosh Pit!" Her voice echoed through the crowd which did they were told and started charging towards the colt. Something in the back was making its way through the mob. Tearing through ponies like a blender, Twilight's chainsaw roared as it wildly tore through everything in her path. Arms, legs, torsos and heads, all sent flying as she became a whirlwind of blood. She burst into the open circle and landing in front of the colt. Wielding it with her magic, she swiped her weapon in a giant arc, dropping dozens of zombies as their heads fell to the floor. The colt, cowering down on the grass, moved his hooves away from his eyes to see the blood soaked unicorn in front of him. "You alright Caramel?" Twilight asked as blood dripped off her body. "T-T-Twilight Sparkle, is that you? What is going on?!" "No time to explain, just get the hell out of here!" Nervously nodded to her, Caramel dashed through the bloody pathway Twilight left behind, managing to escape and leaving her standing alone against the army of growling slobbering zombies. On stage the mare at the booth looked down at the red and purple pony. "Looks we've got a live one boys and girls. So little lady, come to listen to me drop my beats? I dunno though, I think it may be too much for you." Twilight pointed her chainsaw at the DJ. "Shut the hell up Vinyl Scratch, I'm just trying to find what's responsible for all this and put a stop to it." The unicorn used her magic to send a microphone towards Twilight, while it floated over to her, DJ-Pon3 turned the volume up. "What was that girl? I couldn't hear you." "I said I'm trying to find and stop what caused all this!" Twilight's voice repeated on the speakers, only it was so loud that It traveled through the whole town. Shortly after her announcement, the howls and wails of undead ponies could be heard coming from every direction. Pon3 smiled as her mic came back to her. "Aww, you hear that guys? Little Twilight Sparkle is trying to put a stop to our fun! Sorry Twilight, but can't let you do that. You see, I don't ever want to go back to normal, assuming that'll even happen if you managed to stop this. I like the changes. I don't need to rest, I've got all the time to work on my music, I got a audience that'll never tire and leave. Why would I want to give all that up? Plus there's this." She moved her hoof to the volume dial and turned it up. "Aaaaaah!" Twilight feel to her knees as a loud blast of music moved through the crowd and reached her. Pulling her hooves off her eyes, she looked and noticed blood on them as her ears kept ringing. "You hear that? That ringing in your head? That what I heard before, back when I was still Vinyl. That ringing, getting louder and louder as the days went on. I knew that some day that would be all I could ever hear. How was I supposed go on doing the thing I love at that rate! But then that wonder blast of light shot out, and I woke up like this. Now I don't hear the ringing, everything's clear as a bell. I can play as loud as I want and never have to worry. DJ-Pon3 will never stop with her beats. There's no way I'm giving this up. Check this out, I can go even louder… like this," she said as she turned up the dial. Another blast of sound burst of the speakers, The ground rumbled from the destructive force. It was strong enough to blow zombie standing too close to pieces. Heads in the crowd were popping like soda bottles as the sound wave traveled through. Twilight raised her chainsaw in front of her and started revving it as loud as she could while creating a magic barrier and braced for impact. Her weapon shook violently and her shield started cracking as the sound wave passed through. Thankfully she managed to avoid taking the hit. "Using your chainsaw's vibration to weaken the force of my music while shielding yourself. You do live up to your cutie mark. Otherwise you'd be just like my fans out there, well except you wouldn't be trying to find your head." DJ-Pon3 grabs a record from under her table and started playing it. "This is my party Twilight Sparkle, and I'm not letting anyone stop it!" The mob rushed Twilight with the music blaring. She charged, chainsaw in hoof, hacking her way into the mob. Cutting down ghoul after ghoul, she didn't notice a batch leap at her from behind. More zombies joined in, dog piling on her while the mare on stage could be heard laughing through the music. The mountain of bodies stacked on top of her began to rumble as a familiar revving sound could be heard coming from the bottom of the pile. An explosion went off underneath that flung bodies everywhere. Rocketing out from the top of the detonated mound, Twilight gracefully landed while the stack behind her was blown to bits. She shook her body vigorously. "Aaaagh, that was so gross! You're gonna pay from that one Vinyl you psycho!" More zombies continued storming towards her. After cleaving through a batch of them Twilight grabbed their bisected torso, using her telekinesis, and tossed it into the others. She then leaped into the air and carved down on more of the undead. Something large slammed into the ground right next to her and Twilight jumped back in shock to see it was a speaker. Pon3's voice shot out. "You bitch!" The intensity of her voice blew out the speaker, knocking Twilight back. With her back on the ground, she noticed more speakers looming overhead. She started making a dash for the stage as they dropped one after another. She galloped through, holding her weapon in front of her to clear her path. With each dropped box, Twilight heard Vinyl's voice shout out. "Party with us!" "Just die!" "Give up!" "Just let my fans have a bite!" "Stop her guys!" Speakers were dropping left and right, flattening zombies and blowing up as they missed the running mare. Now at the front of the stage, Twilight hopped on the heads of the ponies at the front row and flipped onto the stage with her engine revving. She made a run for the booth but the razor sharp records Vinyl flung at her forced Twilight to change course. Pon3 started laughing as she scratched her records. "Don't go thinking it was going to be so easy." While she continued scratching, a circular part of the stage started to lift up, carrying the DJ and her booth with it. The edge of her platform started buzzing as it spun rapidly and started moving forward. Twilight rolled out of the way as the flying disc headed off the stage and into the audience. The buzz saw record butchered through, cutting the the crow like butter, wiping out what was left of the mob. A loud bang could be heard coming from the massive speakers behind Twilight as Pon3 bashed her hooves down. "Damn it! Look what you made me do to my fans! What's a DJ without the roar of the crowd?" "Me? You're the one who--" "Shut up! I'm not letting you get away with this!" Her flying record turned and charged the unicorn on stage. Twilight stood her ground, griping her chainsaw tightly in front of her. The music playing was matching the intensity of their fight. The two collided, Twilight, using all her strength and magic, stood against Vinyl's record as hard as she could but was slowly being pushed back. Behind her was the set of large stereos still belting out Pon3 tunes. "Face it girl, if I don't slice you up, you'll be blown to bits by my rockin' tunes." Twilight dug her hooves into the wooden paneling. Vinyl looked on in shock as the pony struggling in front of her was actually managing to hold her. "How the hell are you doing that?" she howled, doing everything possible to push her platform forward. "Fuck! You just have to have so much magic in you!" she yelled, glaring her seething hateful eyes at Twilight. Unwilling to accept the stalemate, Pon3 climbed over her booth and lunged at Twilight. The lavender mare tilted her head to see the zombified DJ's hooves reaching for her neck, drool dripping out her open jaw, her red veiny eyes focused on chomping down on her. Twilight quickly dropped to her knees. Still pressing her saw blade against the giant spinning record, she power slide as under as it flew forward. Pon3, missing Twilight as she ducked, was caught by her own device. She was hit in the middle of her torso, but insted of slicing through her the platform carried her with it, crashing into the two massive speakers. Smoke billowed out from the wreck. The music stopped and the sound of static could be heard coming from the sound system. Twilight looked back to find DJ-Pon3 upside down and impaled on the speaker speakers. Blood ran down her shoulders, head and hair. Hacking up more blood, she reached down for something on the ground. Twilight took one look at what the pony was reaching for and started making a run for it. Her body twitching and with mic now in her shattered blood dripping hoof, she pulled it to her face. She struggled but finally took a deep breath. "Twilight Sparkle..." Her voice was scratchy and grainy. The next thing she said was with all her strength. "You fucking bitch!" With those final words, Vinyl Scratch disintegrated. Her intense shout exploded through the speakers, distorting the stage and everything nearby. The stage and body ridden field around it were vaporized by the passing sound wave. Out in the blood drenched fields, galloping as fast as she could, Twilight could feel the pressure of the blast reaching her. Desperate, she focused her magic and teleported herself away. Near by houses surrounding the stage were blown apart, leaving very little left standing, but the sonic blast had past and everything fell silent once more. Twilight, having teleported behind a house, opened her eyes andpulled her hooves out of her ears. She looked back to find the house she hid behind was was gone, all but the small portion of wall she had been standing behind. Happy to find herself still in one piece and the ringing in her head fading away, she breathed a heavy well deserved sigh of relief. Turning her head to the left she caught sigh of something unpleasant. "Uuuuaaaaaah," a zombie moaned as it stood inches away from her face. "Aaaaah!" Twilight reached for her chainsaw, but the creature was too close. Instinctively her eyes closed. Under the dark of her shut eyelids, she heard a loud bang followed by what sounding like something splattering against a wall. Her eyes opened to the sight of a spine and larynx sticking out of the zombies neck. Twilight pushed the decapitated pony away and looked to her left to find bits of the zombie's head splattered on the wall chunk. In the mess of blood she noticed a small hole. "What the hay was that? A bullet?" She took a moment to determine the trajectory of the bullet based on the angle it struck the wall. Figuring out where it came from, she took off galloping for the hilltop where the Sweet Apple Acre fields were located. Ok, someone up there just saved me. Sweet Apple Acres, hmm. Maybe it's her, maybe the others are with her. I better hurry. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Chainsaw Chapter 3 The walk to Sweet Apple Acre fields was quiet. A thin layer of fog blanketed the area as Twilight Sparkle was tracking down the source of the shot that saved her earlier. She looked down at the beaten path and judging by the number of hoof prints she saw, ponies had fled into the fields for safety. Unfortunately she also noticed some hoof prints seemed like they were dragging their hooves. Trails of dried blood led her to suspect that limbs were also dragged against the soil. She felt this unnerving sense of calm all around her walking down the path. As if nothing was nearby, living or otherwise. This sense of tranquility, given her current situation, didn't sit well with her. She reached a hill top where she turned and gaze down at Ponyville. The once bright and lively place she had grown to love had become dark and twisted. Everywhere she looked, walking hoards of the dead were roaming the streets in search of food. She shut her eyes, turning away from the sight and continued onward. Approaching the entrance to the apple tree fields, one word slipped out of her lips as she realized why she hadn't seen or heard anyone in awhile. "Whoa," Strewn out before her were dozens of zombified ponies around the start of the field. They're all dead. Well dead again I guess. She cautiously neared one of the corpses was about to lean close. "Let's take a—" She quickly stepped back. "Whoops! Almost forgot." The hum of her chainsaw rang through the trees as she plunged its spinning blades deep into the corpse's chest, churning through bones, muscles and organs that spew out and pelted Twilight's coat. The cadaver only shook violently from her weapon but did nothing more. "Okay, he's definitely dead for sure." she assured herself, pulling her weapon out of the bloody crater she'd left behind. She then knelt down to begin her investigation. Face to face with the corpse Twilight spotted a suspicious hole in the middle of its forehead. "Hmmm?" Using her telekinesis, she yanked out what was inside with surgical precision and levitated a glistening blue crystal before her. "A gem?" Moving to another body, taking the same precautionary steps as before, Twilight investigated a similar hole on the second body and found another crystal embedded in it skull. She went and investigated the other around her. Every single one had the same type of head injury with the same projectile. More gemstones and they're all so gorgeously cut. There's only one pony I know who'd have so many perfectly cut jewels like this. But, she couldn't possibly have done all this. Could she? How? Slow down Twilight, you're probably just over thinking things. First I should find who did this. Then I'll get my answers. She turned her head towards the fog covered forest. "I just hope whoever they are that they're okay." She stepped into the fields and resumed her quiet stroll, until she arrived at a dilapidated tree house. "Oh no…" headed closer to the wrecked structure and examined what remained of the clubhouse belonging to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The roof was caved in, the window was shattered and the door was broken into. The once pink walls that were painted with care were now splattered with streaks of red and hoof prints on it. Twilight wanted to check inside, but the ramp leading up to the door had been destroyed. She was just about to use her magic to teleport in, but recalling her past experience with teleporting back near the stage, she decided it best not to. With a heavy sigh, she turned her back on the club house, praying to Celestia that what had befallen it had not also befallen the three fillies she had on her mind. Getting away from the tragic site, she resumed her search for the pony that saved her deep within the tree fields. Suddenly she felt something approaching and noticed the leaves above her head rustled. "Hehehehehe. Look girls, it's Twilight." "Yeeeeeaaaaah, Twilight." "Twiligh', you're just in time. We wanna play a little game wit' ya'." Twilight tilted her head up towards the familiar set of voices. She smiled. "Girls! I'm so glad you're safe. Where are you?" "Ooooover here!" Apple Bloom's voice called out as some leaves fell from a in the distance. "Hurry," Sweetie Belle's voice spoke as more leaves fell a little further away. Following the trail of falling greens through the fog, Twilight made it to s small opening where she heard the girls' laughter coming from all around her. She circled around the clearing, her eyes darting from one tree to the next, waiting for the girls to say something. "Girls, come on out already." "Nooooo, we wanna play," Apple Bloom called out. "Yeah! Yeah! I love our new game," Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Let's play," Scootaloo suggested. Twilight looked up to the rattling branches with one brow raised. "What game?" Apple Bloom's voice rang out. "The rule's simple, it's sorta like tag really. Ceptin' there's a twist. Me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will be it." "So I have to not get tagged right?" Twilight asked. "Noooo," said Sweetie Belle in a playful tone. "You get to be base." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Wait. So if I'm base, who are you three going to tag?" "That's where thing are different." Scootaloo replied. "The ponies we have to tag are straight ahead, on the other end of the field. If you get to them before us you win. If we get to them first they lose." Twilight shook her head, trying to ignore a troubling thought she had in the back of her mind. "Girls, this is no time to be playing games. It's really dangerous out here. Let's get out of here. I'll find you three a safe place to hide." Apple Bloom spoke. "Sorry Twi, but we just want to play. Ready, go!" "Wait!" Seeing the leaves above jostle violently, Twilight gave chase, catching up and then blowing past the frail of leaves. Making some distance, she noticed something moving up ahead of the path. "Oh great, more zombies. Uuuugh. I don't have time for this!" Galloping closer to the small group, Twilight heard a loud bang echoed through the trees. It was quickly preceded by more of the same. Ahead the zombies suddenly jerked their heads back violently and then dropped to the ground. With her path cleared, Twilight galloped through. More zombie ponies impeded her along the way, but each time the same noise went ripping through the air, pelting every undead pony in the head. Way behind Twilight, the filly trio running through the treetops watched as she ran through the fields unimpeded. "No fair, she gettin' help from someone," said Apple Bloom. "We've just gotta move faster!" Scootaloo ordered. One big group stood along the trail and again the sounds of blasts echoed. One by one the walking roadblocks dropped, but it wasn't enough. There was still a few left standing as Twilight got close. Reaching with her mouth, she drew her weapon, did a short skipped into the air, landed on her knees, Twilight did a spinning power slide. Her saw blade she held away from her mowed through the remaining ponies, chopping them from their ankles. More bang rang out that struck the chopped undead before they hit the ground. Still sliding through, Twilight jumped from her knees onto her hooves and continued galloping. Finally reaching the other edge of the field, she noticed something at the end. Those must be the poor ponies that got pulled into this mess. At the final stretch, she lunged with her foreleg stretched. "Home free!" Twilight shouted, touching the tied up ponies and then looking back to see the rustling leaves stop right behind her. "Awww. How'd we lose?" asked Apple Bloom. "No fair!" Sweetie Belle whined. "And we really wanted to play tag with you afterwards. Fine you win, come on girls," said Scootaloo as she and the other girls in the trees with her shook the leaves as they went back into the depths of the fields. With the three of them gone, Twilight went to the bound ponies and used her magic to undo their restraints. Freed of their rope bindings of them, a light arctic blue pegasus with grayish gold hair immediately embraced her. Twilight feel a wet sensation on the back of her neck as the mare hugging her sniffed constantly. "Thank you, thank you so much. I thought we were all done for. Just like all the others. Thank you!" the mare shouted. Twilight looked at the other two standing behind her, both of them with also giving her their gratitude with bows and giving their thanks as well. Twilight broke out of the mare's tight squeeze and faced her. "What are you doing here?" Wiping the tears from her eyes, the mare looked down to the dirt and breathed deeply. "I'm, I was. I was looking for my colt friend. I spotted a bunch of ponies run into the field when all this craziness started. I thought I'd find him here. But I was knocked out and found myself tied up by those three." She let go of Twilight and placed her hooves in front of her mouth. "Oh I just don't know what I'll do if something happened to my sweet little Caramel." Twilight quickly snapped her head towards her. "Wait a second, Caramel? I ran into him earlier. He told me he's out there looking for you." A tear suddenly rand down her freshly dried cheek, but this time it was accompanied with a smile. "Oh merciful Luna, thank you! I've have to go and find him. Thank you so much Twilight Sparkle." she said hugging her once more time as she and the two other pegasus took to the sky. "You're welcome!" Twilight shouted. waving to the mares flying off. She then placed her hooves around her mouth and yelled. "Wait, what's your name?" "It Wind Whistle, My name is Wind Whistler. If you happen to see my Caramel again, let him know I'm looking for him as well." Twilight stood alone now, watching the pegasi she just saved fly towards town but then turned back towards the forest, hearing the familiar sound of leaves rustling. The falling leaves stopped right in front of her. "On second thought, we've decided we're still gonna play tag with you," Apple Bloom voice announced from the tree tops. The three fillies then leaped out of the collection of leaves, each with their mouths open wide and aimed straight for Twilight. Instinctively, Twilight reached her chainsaw, but hesitated when she thought about who she was about to use her weapon on. Another bang rang out as the girls were now centimeters away from Twilight. In an instant the lunging trio was knocked away, back into the foggy shadows. Twilight, holding the handle of her chainsaw between her teeth, keep her eyes focused on the direction the three of them were flung. But then she head hoof steps coming up from behind. She quickly turned, chainsaw revving, to look down a long metal barrel aimed right between her eyes. Following the long chrome shaft and seeing through the fog, she found a light grey unicorn staring other end of it. The unicorn's eyes widened with a bright gleam in her blue eyes, recognizing the mare she was aiming her weapon at. "Is this how we greet other nowadays Twilight dear?" asked the mare as she pointed her weapon away and placed it in a pouch she had strapped around her shoulder along with a saddle bag. The vividly colored chainsaw fell to the ground with a thus as Twilight went to embrace the mare in front of her. "Oh Rarity! You don't know how happy to see you." With her chin resting on the Twilight's shoulder, Rarity returned the hug. "Likewise darling. It is good to see nothing dreadful has befallen you either." Her attention was grabbed by the large metal object next to Twilight she tapped her hoof against. "I see you've armed yourself as well. Though I must say it's a rather surprising choice for a pony such as yourself." Twilight patted her hoof on the weapon on her friend's back. "I could say the same about you. I mean where did you even find such a thing, and how do you know how to use it?" Rarity pulled the rifle out from over her shoulder, laid it besides Twilight's chainsaw and sat across from her. "Well Twilight, as you know, My father never had a son. Being the sports maniac he is, he used to take me out to do all sorts of sporting activities. Hunting was something I happened to excel at. For sport of course. We used special cork guns. We never hurt what we hunt. Though I hurt his feelings when I eventually told him I was dedicating myself to pursuit of being a fashionista." She then looked down and patted her weapon. "When all this craziness started I pulled this thing out of my attic. It may have been an old cork gun, but after a little bit of the ole' Rarity touch It was exactly what I needed. It's just fortunate that after all those years I haven't lost my touch." While the two of them carried on explaining their ordeals, the leaves in the trees next to them dropped. The two mares both looked over to the leafy ceiling and heard a set of voices call out to them. "We still want to play," Scootaloo announced. "Yeah, and now that you're here sis, I can show you my cutie mark!" said Sweetie Belle. With a quick slash of her saw, Twilight brought the rattle tree to the ground and out popped the girls who had been giving her so much trouble. They were half exposed, with the back half still covered by the fallen trees leaves and fog. She and Rarity stared at the fillies, whose bodies were all scratched up and marred with various large nicks and gashes "Girls please. You have to stop this." said Rarity. You're sick. But I can find a way to get you back to normal. Please before you end up losing yourself like the others." The three young mares slowly stepped forward. Twilight and Rarity both gasped as they got a full look at their bodies. "Oh really Twilight, can you fix this?" said Apple Bloom as she Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all knelt down, presenting the side of their rears at the two unicorns. The spot on their flank, that special place where a pony's cutie mare would appear for the world to recognize what makes that pony special. The one thing that defines a pony. Gone. Replaced by a hideously grotesque bite mark on all three of them. "You see that?" Scootaloo asked in a stern tone. "You two all always said we'd get our marks eventually," said Sweetie Belle. "To wait patiently! Apple Bloom shouted. "Well now what are we do? Even if we ever do get our cutie marks now, we'll never be able to see what it is." "So we decided that this will be our cutie mark." Scootaloo said. Sweetie Belle hopped up and down. "Yeeeeaaaah, and since we've all got the same cutie mark at the same time, it means the three of us will be together forever!" A wind blew through the area, gusting away the leaves and fog around the crusaders and causing the dried up skin flaps on their stale bodies to flail as Apple Bloom took a step forward. "So now we're gonna show ya'll what we can do." The breeze sent a chilling sensation up Twilight's spine, brushing the two older unicorn's manes to the side while they took a step back. "Wait girls, please. Just stop this," Rarity pleaded. "Sorry big sis, but this is just too much fun," Sweetie Belle replied. The look in her sister's dried out eyes, a least the portion of her eyes Rarity could recognize. A fleeting memory of the sap green eyes she one had. Now they lifelessly stared at her with dark intentions. Rarity's vision became blurry. She quickly wiped her hooves over her eyes, hiding the sorrow welling in them under a determined expression. "Sweetie Belle, please... We're sisters. We're not supposed to fight. We learned to get along as sisters together. Remember?" Rarity world quickly slowed to a crawl in the brief seconds in which her sister's eyelids shut. There was nothing she could do; watching the last shred of color in the unicorn filly's eyes vanished as she opened them again eyes again. All that was left were a pair of sickly white orbs with red cracks on its sides. In Rarity's eyes, the last of her sister get snuffed out in that instant. Only the husk of what looked and spoke like her sister remained, stomping her hoof on the ground. "Rarity, this is what me and my friends have become. This is our cutie mark now. And now were gonna live up to it." Looking at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, Twilight noticed the other two fillies had deteriorated as Sweetie Belle had. Whatever ounce of ponydom that existed in their little frames had disappeared like the windswept leaves around them. The filly trio leaped into the trees that thrashed from the wind that started to pick up. Twilight and Rarity quickly stood back to back against each other and kept their eyes peeled. The wind suddenly died down and then the two of them could hear Sweetie Belle. "They all say that you will get your mark." "When the time is really right." Then Apple Bloom's voice rang out. "And you know just what you're supposed to do." Scootaloo's voice then came thundering in like a set of smashing plates. "But that all ends with just one bite!" Suddenly Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came rushing at them from the trees. Thankfully Twilight and Rarity managed to dodge the zombie fillies that charged past them and back up another set of trees. Twilight used her magic and swiped her chainsaw through the thick tree to knock it over. Nothing but leaves and apples dropped out as it hit the dirt. Rarity stood on her back legs, held her rifle with her forelegs, placed a hoof through the hoof sized trigger guard, and scanned the area. Sweetie Belle's captivating singing voice rang out again, only the song she sang was different from what the two mares below were expecting. "Cutie mark seekers, that's what ponies called us. Why? Cus we just wanted our marks. Now we ne-ver will. You say that you can save us. But you two don't have a clue. You girls are so damn naive!" Rarity took aim and pulled the trigger, sending a red gem tearing into the trees. Scootaloo dropped from a tree behind her and charged. Twilight cleaved her revving weapon against Scootaloo, sending the speedy orange blur back to the shadows. Apple Bloom came down and charged in to avenge her friend but Rarity swung at her with her rifle, knocking the red headed undead to the trees tops. With the fillies out of the way, Twilight turned to unicorn a few feet away. "We have to get out of here; we're sitting ducks in these fields." Rarity nodded and followed Twilight as she galloped out of the small clearing and down a pathway. All of a sudden Scootaloo could be heard singing from the forest depths. "Swee-tie would have been a sing-er. Now her talent just tor-ments her. Signing while she takes aim. Picking somepony to maim!" A white streak jolted at the running duo but Rarity saw her. She held her rifle with her magic and fired, striking Sweetie Belle in the leg and causing her to roll. Twilight then readied her weapon and swung, connecting but it wasn't who she thought it was. Apple Bloom had quickly rushed in and shoved Sweetie Belle out of the way, getting her right back leg lopped off in the process, but that didn't slow her from taking her friend into the safety of the shadows. Twilight and Rarity were on edge, the girls were fast, agile, organized, and could come flying at them from anywhere. One little mistake would mean disaster. All they could do was stick together, weaving through tree after tree, waiting for the girls to strike again. And then, they heard Apple Bloom's voice. "Scoots is great when she's on skates. She's sooo fast. Through you she'll just blow right past. So go ahead and swing or shoot, you're just wasting your time. She's just too sublime!" Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came running together. Rarity fired one round after another, striking the two in their chests but they kept going forward. Twilight then swept her chainsaw towards the two of them who quickly jumped to avoid it. Rarity quickly reloaded and unleashed another pair of gems into the girls while they flew overhead. The Scootaloo and Apple Bloom hit the dirt but quickly recovered, running away again. Twilight and Rarity had their eyes peeled, pounding their hooves on the earth as Sweetie Belle's alluring vocals plagued the tree fields once more once more. "Apple Bloom with tools is good. Fixing things with ease for her is a breeze. Too bad there is no need, when she only wants you to bleed. A handymare? Oh please." This time Twilight and Rarity spotted all three fillies charging at them together. They were rushing forward when Twilight tossed her chainsaw on the ground levitating it with magic. Rarity took careful aim and sent a gen slamming onto the tip of the floating power tool's blade, sending it into a wild spin. The cutie mark crusaders leaped over to avoid it but a few blasts from Rarity caused them to fall towards the spinning blade. Thinking fast, Scootaloo spread her little orange wings, gliding the three of them safely over the make shift blender and ran away. Twilight recovered her weapon and she and Rarity continued forward. Shortly afterwards all three of them broke out singing. "Death weeeeeee've beeeeeeen spuuuuuuuuurned. Forever cutie marks unearned!" "Together we'll make this work somehow. The ZMC will rule you'll see. You two think we're wrong but really you don't have a clue. Dream on you nosy fools! The trio burst forth from the darkness in three separate spots. This time Twilight grabbed hold of Rarity with her magic and lifted her overhead. No longer troubled with the constant rattling from running, Rarity held her weapon in her hooves and took a deep breath. The sound of the trio got louder as their cracked and worn set of hooves carried their fetid decomposing bodies closer and closer. All they needed was to land a single bite. But the booming roar from the end of Rarity's rifle denied them that. Rarity opened fire, quickly turning towards the next mare and doing the same. Three direct hits into crusaders' skulls only slowed them, they stilled moves towards them but the strike had taken its toll. The girls ran forward lifelessly. Their bodies moved on will alone, using what strength remained in them. With a heavy heart, Twilight held her weapon before her and swung. Rarity dropped down to Twilight's side while the girls fell behind the two unicorns. The field fell silent. Neither mare said a word. The wind itself ceased as if in recognition of the moment. They simply stood before the Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo lying on the ground before them. The two unicorns had gathered them up, both their lower and upper halves and placed them together so they seemed as they were sleeping. What seemed like an eternity passed before one of them spoke. "Twilight," said Rarity, still looking down towards her sister and her friends. "Why did this have to happen?" She was caught off guard. Twilight didn't have a clue how to reply. She bit her lower lip, trying desperately to think up something to say. She opened her mouth, praying the words would just come to her. "I'm sorry dear. You don't have to answer that. It's just that I... I don't know what else I can do but question it." The brave face she had worn all this time dissolved from the wall of tears that had build up in her eyes. "I was her big sister. I was supposed to protect her. I came here to the fields to find her. But when I did... I couldn't do anything more but watch her. When you showed up Twilight, I decided I would confront Sweetie Belle then. But by that time she was already gone." Twilight simply sat at her side, hanging her head down as she looked at the girls. Finally the only words she could come up with came out of her mouth. "Rarity, I'm sorry." Rarity forced a smile at her friend, wiping her tears away. She then took deep breath and exhaled. "We should get going. I may be hurt, but we aren't in the right place for it. we should find a safe place to rest." Twilight reached a hoof out and placed it on her shoulders. The smile on Rarity's face twitched slightly, seeing the concerned look on Twilight's frowning face. But with one rough sniff she smiled and reassured her worried friend. "I'm alright darling, really." The two of them moved on, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders to rest within the field of trees. The two of them finally reached the end of the field and found themselves facing the Sweet Apple Acre Farmhouse. They surveyed the area. Remarkably there wasn't a single zombie to be found and the lights appeared to be on. "It doesn't look like Sweet Apple Farm has been affected yet. Maybe we can find Applejack and rest there," said Twilight, looking over to the spaced out unicorn standing beside her. Rarity stared blankly at the farm and sighed. "Yeah." The two of them silently marched forward. They may have made it through the field unscathed, but the way they walked said otherwise.