When a lab accidentally unleashes an experimental substance that was meant to help cure fatal diseases, Equestria faces a constant evolving virus that could destroy their world.
Equestria hasn't had to worry about a mass panic or pandemic for 1000 years. Until now. When a lab accidentally unleashes an experimental substance that was meant to help cure fatal diseases, Equestria faces a constant evolving virus that could destroy their world. As mindless beings start to increase in number and roam the streets, neighbors turn on each other, families split, and best friends turn on each other. Will they survive? Or are they doomed to the fate of those already infected?
October 19: Explosion releases substance at edge of a large Equestrian city.
Twilight flipped through the her paper of Equestria Daily News. "An experimental substance in Equestria has been released after a mysterious explosion rocked the lab. The substance was an experimental nano virus that would help fight diseases, such as ALS, Muscular Dystrophy, and was hoped to lead to a cure for Cancer. The nano virus has been deemed harmless by those in charge if the lab." Twilight said aloud in her library. How interesting! Cures for all those diseases is mind blowing! I hope this doesn't set them back too far. she thought as she placed the paper on the table.
"Spike!" Twilight called out. "Can you help me find that book on experimental cures?"
"Of course, Twilight." he said as he walked out of his room reading his latest zombie comic.
"Would you put that down? You've read it about 100 times now!" Twilight said as she searched for the book.
"But Matt, the zombie killer, is about face off hundreds of undead ponies!" Spike cried out. "Hey!" he shouted as Teilight levitated the book away from him.
"You'll get this back when we find the book. I still don't understand why Rarity gave it to you." she said.
"Ahh. Rarity. The love of my life. I'll cherish this comic for the rest of my days." Spike said as he floated over to the bookshelves.
"Focus, Casanova. I want to do some research on what a nano virus really is." Twilight said.
"Right." Spike replied. They searched for a few minutes until Spike finally found it. "Here it is!" he said excitedly.
"Thanks!" she said and handed him his comic back. "And I'm not the one responsible to keep you company at night when you have nightmares!" she shouted to him as he ran back to his room to finish Matt's zombie battle.
"I know!" he shouted back, not necessarily hearing her.
She rolled her eyes and flipped through her own book. "Nano viruses are multipartite single-stranded DNA plant viruses that cause important diseases of leguminous crops and bananas. However, scientists are now looking to these to help fight diseases that are currently fatal. If successful, the nano viruses would be injected into the inflicted area and left alone to keep the disease in check in case of it returning. After a year, the nano viruses would either be removed or replaced, depending on the disease's nature." she skimmed.
"Hmm...that doesn't sound too bad. From what I can see it's not able to transfer through the air. And they did say that the nano virus was harmless. I guess there's nothing to fear." she said with a smile. She put the book back on her shelf and walked to her room. She looked out from her balcony and stared at Luna's beautiful moon.
This had started to become one of her favorite night time passings. She would stare out into the clear night skies and just think. Sometimes it would be about her friends and what they did today or sometimes, it would be about how to improve life in Equestria. She was intrigued by the idea of a cure for muscle diseases. I'm going to have to do more research tomorrow about nano viruses. Maybe I could help them speed the process along with my magic!! she thought to herself. She gave a loud yawn and walked back inside. She crawled snugly into bed and turned out her light. Within minutes, she was asleep.
There was a rustling next to where Twilight was sleeping. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the little baby dragon trying to climb in bed with her without her noticing. "Spike, what did I say about keeping you company tonight?" she asked groggily.
"I know what you said, but I keep hearing these moaning noises from the house. Like they're walking around the library, looking for some nice dragon flesh!" he said, shaking. "Can I please sleep here tonight? You know, in case they do come you can blast them away with your magic?"
Twilight gave her small friend a smile. "Sure, climb on in." she said. The purple dragon's face glowed as he climbed into the protective wrap of Twilight. He gave a yawn as the covers began to warm him up.
"Good night, Twilight." he said.
"Good night, Spike."
***
"I can't believe that pony bit that mare in Manehattan. I mean, it's so disgusting. Cannabalism? I don't think that's ever occurred between ponies." a pony said to her friend as they passed Twilight and Applejack.
"What's that, now? Since when did ponies eat other ponies?" Applejack asked as she took a drink from her cider.
"They aren't really eating each other. They are going crazy after sniffing bath salts." Twilight said as she peered over her book on the side effects of bath salts. "Apparently, they can cause ponies to go completely crazy."
"What are these so called "bath salts" anyways? I ain't ever heard of them until this whole biting thing began happening." Applejack said.
"Well they're mainly used in big cities. Ponyville doesn't really need them. At least not from my knowledge. I've written to the Princess about it, but she says that there's nothing to worry about." Twilight said.
"That's it? Seems a little vague, don'cha think?" Applejack asked.
Twilight gave a low sigh. She looked around her cautiously. "I trust the Princess. If she says that everything is alright, then, despite my doubts, who am I to question her? She is the ruler of Equestria, so she should know what's going on. I'm sure she has everything under control." she said trying to sound like she had full faith in her teacher.
"Ah guess so." Applejack said as she finished her cider. "Well, it was great ta' have a chance to hang out. We should do this again sometime. But I gotta get to work. I'll catch ya' later Twi." she said and ran back to Sweet Apple Acres.
"See you, AJ." Twilight replied. She packed up her book and began walking back to the library. She walked past a creepy looking Sugar Cube Corner.
"Twilight!" a high shrilly voice called to her.
"Ahhg!" Twilight cried out, startled, dropping her book. "Pinkie! You scared me!" she said, looking at the Pink pony sticking her head out from her window.
"Oh, sorry, Twilight! But I just wanted to wish you an early, early, early Nightmare Night!" she cried out.
"Pinkie, that's not for another week and a half." Twilight said as she picked her book back up.
"Yeah, but that's just 11 days until we get more candy!" Pinkie cried out in glee. "What are you going as? You are still coming to my party right?" she asked.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yes, I'll be there Pinkie. And I don't know what I'm going as yet."
"Oh, oh! You should go as that one bearded pony!" she cried out.
"You mean Star Swirl the Bearded? That didn't go over well last time, remember?" Twilight pointed out.
"Well, duh! That's why you go as Dumbledeer, silly!" she said.
"I'll think about it." she told Pinkie. "It's not like hundreds of others were him last year." she said under her breath.
"Well, I gotta go finish up the decorations. I want this to be the best party ever!" she said. "See ya'!" she yelled and went back into her room.
"Oh, Pinkie. I'll never understand your quirky personality." Twilight said to herself. She walked back to the library only to find that Rainbow Dash and Spike were having their own little "Matt: The Zombie Killer" re-enactment.
"Twilight! You're just in time to help me defeat the zombie queen!" Spike called out from his book fort. Rainbow Dash was limping around, moaning as if she had no mental state.
"Guys, come on! This is a library, not a stage! Or a zombie apocalypse!" Twilight shouted.
"Aw, c'mon Twilight. Just play along." Spike begged. Rainbow Dash, as if on cue, turned around and started to limp towards her.
"Rainbow, knock it off. You look ridiculous." she said.
Rainbow stopped and glared at her. "You know, you'd be a lot more fun to hang out with if you were more easy going." Rainbow teased.
"Sorry. It's just that I've been so intrigued by these bath salt incidents, I don't find the whole zombie biting another to be all that funny." Twilight said.
"Wait, bath salts are creating zombies?" Spike asked, dreaming of his imaginary days of zombie hunting.
"No, Spike. Zombies don't exist. It's just a slight similarity that the ponies in the incidents and zombies share." she explained.
"But it could happen, right?" Spike asked.
Twilight sighed. "No, Spike. Flesh eating ponies don't and will not exist. It's not scientifically possible. I don't know why you would like to kill zombified ponies. What if I became a zombie and you had to kill me?" she asked. "Would you be able to do it?"
Spike stopped at this question. "Well, I guess not. But I wouldn't have to do that to you. You wouldn't turn into a zombie. You're too smart for that. You'd know how to get out of any situation." he praised.
"Well I'll never have to find out. Zombies can't exist. They'd decay in the summer and freeze in the winter. There'd be no way for a so called zombie apocalypse to occur." Twilight said.
"That still doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun now and again, egghead." Rainbow Dash said.
"Do you have to do it in the library?" Twilight asked. They didn't respond to that and just continued on with their imaginary zombie game. Twilight sighed. "Just don't break anything, please?" she begged.
"Yeah, yeah. We hear you." Spike said as he "chopped" off Rainbow's head. "Victory is mine!"
"You wish!" she said and started to crawl. She bit his leg and he hit her on the head again.
"Hey! Let go! You're supposed to be dead!" Spike shouted. Twilight rolled her eyes and went to her room.
She walked to her desk and pulled out a quill and paper. "Dear Princess Celestia. I know you told me that there wasn't anything to worry about after the nano virus' were released, but I can't help but feel there's a problem with these bath salts affecting everypony around them. Is there anyway for you to ban all bath salts before things get worse? I only mention my concern because I'm worried about my Ponyville friends. I know that the bath salts causing all these problems aren't in Ponyville, but I hope that they can be exempt from society before another pony gets hurt. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
She heard a crash come from downstairs. "Ugh. I thought I said not to break anything!" she yelled as she walked downstairs.
"We didn't do anything on purpose!" Rainbow shouted back. "And it wasn't my fault!"
"Yes it was! You were the one who was supposed to be dead! It's not my fault that you don't know when you are suppose to die! I hit your head!" Spike shouted.
"Oh, please!" Rainbow Dash shouted back. "You barely nicked me! If I were a real zombie you wouldn't have killed me!"
"Guys!" Twilight shouted at them. They stopped bickering and looked at her. "I don't care how or why it happened. Next time just be more careful! What did you guys break anyway?" she asked.
"Just your little shelf with all your Daring Do books." Rainbow Dash said as she picked up her favorite novel. "Oh! I remember this one! Can I borrow this one again?" she asked.
"After you destroyed the book shelf? Only if you can help me fix it and promise to end this dumb zombie stuff while in the library." Twilight said.
"Oh, come on. I just want to read the book. It's not like I'm going to completely destroy your favorite books." Rainbow replied.
Twilight used her magic to levitate the book out from Rainbow's hooves. "No fixing, no reading." she said, and put the book on the table.
"Ah you're no fun." Rainbow said with a pout as she started to pick up the books.
Spike had started to slowly walk over to his room. "And you, Mr. Zombie Slayer. You have to clean this place up too. No slacking."
"Ah, horse feathers." Spike said quietly as he marched back to the library.
"You two have fun. I've got some research that requires my immediate attention." Twilight said as she climbed the stairs back to her room. She pulled a book out from under her bed and sat it on her desk. "It's a good thing Spike hasn't realized I have this." she said.
She flipped through her zombie survival book. She still didn't believe in zombies, but she did find the story and the idea behind them to be quite interesting. "The only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the system that runs a ponies natural born instincts, such as walking, breathing, and eating. The best way to do this is to cause severe trauma to the head or to sever it from the body." Twilight read aloud. "That's just...barbaric."
She continued to read about how to fight and survive. "Travel light and travel in small-medium sized groups depending on your supply stash. The more there are of you, the better chance you have to survive. However, you don't want to strain your supplies." She took notes down, as had become her habit when researching. "If you are able to, find a place to set up a base. Places such as high security prisons tend to be the ideal place for a base. They are strong and are easy to set up a defensive perimeter. They hold many rooms to house fellow survivors."
"Water will always be a necessity while traveling. At the height of a zombie apocalypse, water purification plants will not be functional, as most of the unicorns that purify the water, will almost surely be either dead, or zombies themselves." Twilight continued to read.
There was a knock at her door. "Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said as she opened the door.
"Agh!" Twilight shouted. "Rainbow! Can you knock first?"
"Um, I did. Were you caught up reading again?" Rainbow asked.
"Uh, yes." Twilight replied. "Are you two done cleaning the library?"
"Yeah! I was just want to borrow the book now. Is that alright?" she asked.
"Yes, it's fine Rainbow. But I want it back in three days!" Twilight said.
"Sweet!" Rainbow exclaimed as she took the book and flew from the balcony.
"Well, back to researching." Twilight said. She turned her head back to the desk and continued her research.
"More and more ponies are running into the bath salt craze. Those who were hospitalized from previous bite attacks, have started to bite as well. The Princess is claiming that this is a fad that will soon pass and that she is doing whatever she can to prevent future attacks." Twilight read as she viewed the first page of her newspaper.
"I can't believe it. Why are ponies still sniffing bath salts? Especially those who were previously bit by somepony on them?" Twilight asked herself. "This doesn't make sense. Is it really a fad?" She couldn't help but think back to her zombie survival book. A pony can be turned into a zombie by a transfer of fluids, usually caused by being bitten by a zombie. she thought.
She shook the thought from her head. "Come on, Twilight! You know for a scientific fact that zombies don't exist!" she exclaimed aloud. She looked back at the newspaper. "Still, it's fascinating to see the similarities..." she said.
"Twilight!" Spike called up to her. "Have you seen my zombie survival guide?"
"Which one?" she asked as she closed the paper.
"Everything You Need to Know About a Zombie Apocalypse." he replied.
"Uhh, nope!" Twilight said as she slid the book into her drawer. She had forgotten to put it back after she had studied it the night before. "You know I don't read those books."
"Well where could it be?"
"Check your room." she said. She slid the newspaper into her drawer as well and walked downstairs. She found the library to be a complete mess as Spike began running around flinging them left and right. "Spike!" she yelled. He stopped his book tossing and looked at her. "It looks like a tornado came through here. Why are you making such a mess?"
"Because I can't find my book. It has to be here somewhere." he replied.
"Well you didn't have to throw them everywhere. Why didn't you just look through the rows like any normal pony would have?" Twilight asked as she picked up a few of the books and put them on their shelves.
"Because I'm a dragon, not a pony."
She rolled her eyes at his smart allelic remark. "Just clean this mess up. I have to run by Rarity's to see how my costume is coming along." she said as she grabbed her pack. "I want this place to be spotless by the time I get back."
Spike groaned. "Fine."
Twilight walked out of the library and headed for the Carousal Boutique. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was a really peaceful day. She passed by Sugar Cube Corner and was shocked to see how dark and creepy it was compared to the rest of Ponyville.
"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed from the entrance of the bakery. "Aren't you excited for this party?!"
"I sure am. I'm sure it'll be just as fun as last year." Twilight replied.
"It'll be even better than last year! So, whatcha doin'" Pinkie asked.
"Heading over to Rarity's to see how my costume is coming along. I see that you are really hitting on he Nightmare Night theme." she said as she examined the Nightmare Moon statue by the front door.
"Super duper ooper!" Pinkie said. "Oh, and Rarity isn't at the Boutique. I saw her and Applejack head over to Sweet Apple Acres about an hour ago. Oh, I think my muffins are burning. I'll catch ya' later!" she said as she bounced back to her kitchen.
Twilight was about to ask her a question, but was too late. Pinkie had already closed the door. "Well, off to Sweet Apple Acres then."
She was passing the news press when a pony shouted, "Breaking News! Pony gang in Appleoosa bites five ponies!"
"Whoa there, Feather Weight. What you got there?" Twilight asked.
"It's the new paper. We got some big news from Appleoosa and our director wanted to get it out before any others could. Want a copy, Ms. Sparkle?" he said.
"Sure, I'll take one." she said. "How's working for the press doing for you?" she asked.
"Great! They let me take photos for the paper yesterday! I got a bunch of great shots." he boasted.
"Well I can't wait to see them. I'm sure they'll be amazing." she took the paper and continued to Sweet Apple Acres as Feather Weight went back to selling papers.
She opened the paper and began reading. "An up and coming gang in Appleoosa had been experimenting with new bath salts. They had travelled to Manehattan and smuggled the bath salts into Appleoosa. Eyewitnesses claim that they were running around snarling and began biting ponies. The victims have been hospitalized and are currently in intensive care." Twilight read aloud. She closed the paper. Its going to Appleoosa? That was such a nice town. I didn't even know gangs existed there. she thought. Something doesn't feel right...
She continued to Sweet Apple Acres as she pondered about the Appleoosa incident. They were starting to become more common, but they were always in large cities and were never close to Ponyville. Twilight began to worry about what may happen should the fad somehow make its way to Ponyville. She decided to write a letter to the princess tonight about it, even if the Princess had been... Unreliable as of late.
She arrived at the barn and knocked on the red door. After a few minutes of her patiently waitijg, Granny Smith opened the door. Her eyes were red as she rubbed them. "Oh, uh, how do ya' do Twilight?" she said, stepping outside the barn.
"I'm doing well. Is everything alright? You look like you've been..." Twilight didn't finish as she heard some sobbing from behind the door.
Granny Smith looked at the ground. "Twilight, listen here sweetheart. Applejack just heard some news. I'll let her tell ya', but she may not be in the most talkative of moods." she said and opened the door for Twilight. She walked in not knowing what to expect. What news could have made such a strong hearted pony like Applejack to not want to talk with her friends? She followed the sound of the crying and walked to the far corner of the barn. There sat Applejack and Rarity on piles of hay.
Rarity, no matter how much she loved cleanliness, she was willing to put that aside for friends. Especially Applejack. She sat there as Applejack leaned on her, crying. Rarity rubbed a hoof over her weeping friend's back, whispering to her. "Everything will be alright. I'm here for you. So are the others. You don't have to go through this alone, deary." Twilight overheard.
"Ah know. But it's jus' so hard..." Applejack cried.
Twilight walked over to them. "Um, girls? Is everything alright?" she asked, her voice trembling. Whatever it was, it was tearing Applejack apart.
They both looked to her. Applejack's eyes were swollen red from her tears. "Twilight? What're ya' doing here?" she asked wiping her eyes.
"I went to Rarity's to check on something, but Pinkie said she saw you two walk back here. Applejack, what's going on? What happened?" Twilight asked, walking next to her friends.
"Twilight, now isn't the best time-" Rarity started but was stopped by Applejack.
"Naw, it's a'right, Rarity. Sit down, Twi. It's goin' to be hard to say this." she said. Twilight took a seat on a hay stack next to Rarity. "About a week ago, Big Mac was goin' up to Manehattan to get some fertilizer fer the farm here. Applebloom wanted to see what went on when we got our supplies. She hoped to get a cutie mark in supply gatherin'." she said with a light chuckle.
"When she arrived, she met up with her cousin, Babs. She wrote to us everyday and we got her letter the next. She was amazed with the city and what was there. It was much bigger than what she was used to. Babs showed her aroun' while Big Mac got the fertilizer." Applejack started to tear up again.
"On the last day they were supposed to be there, Big Mac, Applebloom, and Babs were jumped by a few crazed ponies. They bit Big Mac and Applebloom. Big Mac was able to fight 'em off until the authorities arrived, but..." she stopped. She began to cry again into Rarity's mane.
Rarity held her tight. "It's okay. Shh." she said quietly.
Applejack let out a sniffle. "Babs wrote to us. Big Mac and Applebloom were in the hospital from the bite wounds. They weren't no normal bites. Babs said they looked like something had taken a chunk from their sides." Applejack explained. "Big Mac died a few hours in the hospital. He took the majority of the attack and had lost a lot of blood. The doctors couldn't help him much. But he had told them to look after Applebloom first, even though he knew his wounds were worse. Me and the family went up a few days ago to see her. But, when we arrived..." she stopped again. She couldn't control her sobs anymore.
"Shh, Applejack. We're here for you, darling." Rarity said, trying to soothe her bawling friend. Twilight was shocked. She walked over to Applejack and held her hoof. She didnt say anything though. She didn't know what to say. She had never seen Applejack like this, and she finally knew what could make her like this.
"When we arrived, Applebloom was in a kind if frenzy. She was kicking and screaming and thrashing around. Me and Granny tried to help her, but when Granny touched her, Applebloom bit her hoof. Next thing I know..." she stopped and took a deep breath. "Applebloom died after that. The doctors confirmed it after we treated Granny's hoof. I saw my lil' sister die in front of my eyes." she said as she let her tears out.
Twilight rubbed her hoof as Rarity held her closer. "I'm so sorry, Applejack." she said. She didn't know what it was like to lose someone you loved. If I ever lost Spike in that way, I'd be devastated, Twilight thought to herself. She had a question for Applejack though. Why did she let Applebloom go after hearing about the ponies biting others in Manehattan? It didn't seem like something Applejack would do, but she didn't ask. It wasn't a good idea to ask that while she was mourning.
"Applejack, is there anything I can do?" Twilight asked. She hated seeing her friends like this and wanted nothing more than to help her right now.
"Naw, Twilight. I sure do appreciate it though." Applejack said. "There really isn't much here for ya' to do. But, her funeral is going to be held on the first of November. You'll come, woncha Twi?" she asked.
"Of course, Applejack. I'm here for you." Twilight said.
"And I as well." Rarity said as she ran a hoof through Applejacks blonde mane.
"Thanks ya'll." Applejack said. "If you girls don't mind, I want to see how Granny's doin'. I don' know how her ol' heart is takin' it. Ya'll can head on home. I think I can handle myself right now."
"Sure, Applejack. We'll be at the Boutique if you need us. Please, darling, come by if you need us." Rarity said, giving her close friend a squeeze.
"Don't worry. Ah'll be fine. I just need to be with ma' family for awhile." Applejack said.
"We understand." Twilight said. "We'll let you go." Rarity gave Applejack one last hug and left with Twilight through the barn doors. They walked in silence through Ponyville for a number of minutes. Rarity was more distressed over this than Twilight was. Of course, Twilight knew why Rarity was like this. She had Sweetie Belle. She was probably thinking about if Sweetie Belle had been in Applebloom's situation.
"How's Sweetie Belle?" Twilight said, breaking the silence.
"She's doing well. She's out with Scootaloo crusading for their cutie marks. She doesn't know about Applebloom yet, neither of them do." Rarity said. "I don't know how to tell them that their friend won't be coming to their little meetings anymore..."
"It's going to be hard on them both. I'm sure we can get Rainbow Dash here for Scootaloo. Does she know?" Twilight asked. For all she knew, the only ones who had heard about Applebloom and Big Mac were Rarity and herself.
"Yes, she does. She was the first one back to welcome Applejack back. I would have been their first, but I got held up back at the shop. I was trying to finish your costume on time. Rainbow Dash is in Cloudsdale though, trying to make sure that the sky is clear for Nightmare Night. Only reason she is is because Applejack asked her to so she and I could talk." Rarity said.
"Why would she ask to talk to you alone?" Twilight asked. Rainbow was very loyal to her friends, and it takes a lot for her to leave them when they are distressed.
Rarity hesitated a little before answering. "I don't know. I think she meant to tell us all one by one. You know, in hopes that it got easier over time."
"I guess." Twilight said, unsure. She had read about psychology and ways ponies would try to forget things, but it didn't seem like Applejack to retell something. They walked up to the Boutique and heard two little fillies shouting inside.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Sailboat Fishers!" they shouted.
"Looks like they're back." Rarity said grimly. "Um, Twilight? Do you mind if I told Sweetie Belle by myself? She's my sister and, well, I can't imagine losing her. It would destroy me. I'd like to just hold her by myself."
"And Scootaloo? What about her?" Twilight asked.
"I'll have her find Rainbow Dash. While she's clearing the sky, I'm sure Scootaloo will find some way to get the attention of her idol." Rarity said.
"Are you sure you want to do this alone, Rarity?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. I'm certain of it." she replied.
"Alright. Well, good luck. If you need me, I'll be at the library." Twilight said. Rarity walked into the Boutique as Twilight turned for the library. Something was concerning her greatly. The biting had stayed mainly in Manehattan. Those who had been bitten started biting others. She couldn't understand why, but she had a theory. She walked into her library, which Spike had cleaned relentlessly. She saw him sleeping on the stairs with a broom and chuckled.
She picked up the sleeping purple dragon and brought him to his room. She tucked him in and gave him a light kiss on his forehead. "Sleep tight, Spike." she said, and walked out of the room. She went to her room and sat at her desk. She opened the drawer and pulled out the files of the attacks and the zombie survival guide. "I don't believe zombies exist, but there might be an explanation when I put the similarities together." she said to herself.
She flipped through the bite attacks searching for attacks happening outside of Manehattan. There was one in Baltimare a few days ago, one that left the victim bleeding out from the bite. She placed it in a separate stack and continued looking. There was another in Las Pegasus, Coltifornia, and even Trottingham. She was surprised that she had missed the ones happening outside of Equestrian borders. Then again, she was only looking for bites in the Manehattan area. She placed the ones in Trottingham in a separate pile from the others.
As she read further, she found tiny sections about other locations that bites have happened. One was in the Saddle Arabia where a man had a minor bite wound before the attacker came back to sanity and helped him nurse his hoof from the bite. Another in Hoofington D.E. where a security guard to the Congressional building was bit by what seemed a crazed pony on heroin. Again, she placed the Hoofington D.E. incident in it's separate pile.
For about an hour, she had established three piles, all categorized by what bites were caused by what. Bites caused by other drugs were in the left pile, bites where the ponies regained their sanity were placed in the middle, while the ones where the bites were severe and the ponies being in the hospital under intensive care, were on the far right. The right pile was by far the largest. It was as if whatever was causing them to bite had taken over their brains completely, while others still had some sense of what was happening.
She compared the incidents to the way a zombie acts. "Stage one: Victim starts to feel dizzy and has muscle spasms. Stage two: The victim starts to moan and has black outs, but eventually returns to normal. Stage three: Victim starts to bite more frequently and more violently. Stage four: The victim loses all form of itself and loses itself to the infection." Twilight read.
But is there a way to cure it before they turn completely? Twilight thought as she continued to read. She came across a section labeled "Cure" and began reading. "There is no cure for a zombie outbreak. If you or one of your friends or family are bitten, the best thing you can do is to say your goodbyes, and kill them before they kill you." That was all it said. The next chapter was labeled, "How to Protect Yourself." There was nothing more in the chapter that would help her.
She shook her head again. "It's okay Twilight. Remember, zombies don't exist. They can't exist." she said shakily. She closed the book and placed it in the drawer. Zombies can't be possible. If zombies did exist and were biting the citizens of Equestria or another country, the Princess would have told me. Right? she thought to herself. She was the Princess' most trustworthy student anyways, so why wouldn't she tell her? Together the Princess and Twilight could find a way to stop the attacks. Right?
Twilight got out from her desk and walked to the balcony. It was midafternoon and everypony was going on with their lives as if nothing was wrong in the world. The bites were just the latest gossip, with nopony here needing to worry about it. But there was an attack in Appleoosa. What's not to say that a pony who went to Manehattan is coming back to Ponyville? she thought. There was a scream coming from Town Hall. She quickly looked over and saw a mare with a child next to her, biting her foreleg. "Oh no." Twilight said, and ran out from the library.
She ran for Town Hall to see that the child had started to cry and wipe his mouth. Twilight was able to see the mare who had been bitten. Bon Bon gripped her left foreleg in pain as Pip began to cry as he realized what he did. Bon Bon was his foal sitter and they were very close. What could have made him do that to someone he cherished so much? Twilight thought. She couldn't help but think back to the stages. Stage two: Victim begins to moan and has black outs, but eventually returns to normal.
"There has to be a more valid explanation for this." she said under her breath. The nurses were taking care of Bon Bon as Pip laid down next to her, sniffling. She walked up to them, wanting to know about what had happened.
They didn't say much, only that Pip suddenly began to bite her. There was one thing that caught Twilight's ears, however. "He went to Manehattan to visit some of his relatives from Trottingham a few days ago. After he returned home, his parents said that he would just start walking around and moaning for no reason whatsoever, and then not remember it." Bon Bon said. "HIs parents don't want to look for a doctor because they think it's just a phase for him to get attention, but I don't think this is for attention." she said as she looked to him.
"I see. Well, make sure you clean that and keep it free of infection." Twilight said. "And I would look for a doctor right away." Twilight whispered so only Bon Bon heard. She nodded her head and Twilight walked back to the library. She had to get a letter to the princess as soon as she could. The bites weren't just a fad that stayed out of her home, but now it had spread to Ponyville and was effecting her friends. She wasn't going to stand for it.
She walked in and locked the door. "Spike!" she called out. "Spike!"
The purple dragon walked out of his room carrying his blanket and rubbing his eyes. "What is it, Twilight? I was in the middle of getting some rest." he said, groggily.
"I need you to send a letter to the Princess." she said as she took a quill and a piece of paper off from her table. "Dear Princess Celestia. I understand that you told me that I didn't have anything to worry about with the bath salts and the bitings that have been occurring around Equestria. I have since been conducting research on the instances to get a better view of what is going on. However, a pony in Ponyville was just bitten by a child who showed the exact same signs as previous bite attackers. I understand that you don't want me to be concerned about these incidents, but it has now reached my home and put my friends at risk. I seek your quick response and direction as to how I should handle this situation. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." She finished the letter and gave it to Spike. He blew a quick breath of magical fire and sent it on it's way to the Princess.
"Are you sure you should be worrying the Princess about a bite here in Ponyville? I mean, she does have better things to do than to worry about a single bite attack." Spike said as he wiped his eyes.
"It's not just about the one bite attack in Ponyville, Spike. I've been researching these incidents that have been happening across Equestria and have seen some patterns. It's not just bath salts anymore." Twilight said.
"Well what else could it be?" Spike asked.
She didn't want to believe it, but it looked as if the nano virus that escaped from that lab explosion could be the cause of it. "It's possible that-" she was cut off as Spike burped out a letter. "You know, no matter how long you've been with me, I always find that a tad bit gross." Twilight said as she took the letter.
"Yeah well, it's a tiny bit uncomfortable every time she sends one back. Like I'm swallowing backwards." Spike said as he rubbed his stomach, which gave a low growl. "What did the Princess say?"
Twilight had re-read the letter about six times. She couldn't believe that the Princess would even say it. "She said that I'm right and that she would contact me soon about the issue." she lied.
"Well that's good. I guess that means she wants your help." Spike said as he headed for the kitchen.
"I guess so..." Twilight said quietly as she walked to her room. She sat on her bed and looked at the letter one last time.
Don't meddle in this, Twilight.
Celestia.
Twilight felt as if her heart was being ripped out from her chest. Her mentor, who had trusted her with Nightmare Moon and Discord, who trusted her to save an entire empire from a dark, evil creature, had told her to stay out of something that was smaller than all the other challenges she had faced. Why would she say that? Why doesn't she want my help? Twilight thought to herself. She felt rejected by her mentor who had always been someone that she could count on. Is there something more to this than what I'm seeing? she thought.
She let Spike have the rest of the day off. He went to find Rainbow so they could do another re-enactment from his zombie book. Twilight laid on the bed, crying quietly to herself for the rest of the day and into the night.
It was almost dark when Twilight walked out of the library and looked at the newspaper that laid in front of her door. She picked it up and brought it inside. "October 31: Hordes of ponies are walking out of cities." she read aloud. She didn't read the rest of it though. She just laid it on her desk and walked to her closet. She found her costume that Rarity brought by the day before. Today was Nightmare Night. A night for the young ponies, and Pinkie Pie, to go out and get candy.
She tried to forget about the letter the Princess had sent her, but it kept creeping into her mind. She couldn't help herself. She put on the costume and looked in the mirror. She had chosen to go as Dumbledeer this year because it would work better than her Star Swirl the Bearded costume and it didn't require many changes, other than a few design changes that Rarity had fixed. Instead of stars and bells surrounding her costume, it was laced with a gold thread that showed off the sparks that ran across the dress and her hat was lined with hanging stars.
"Well, Twilight, it's time to go to the party. I'm sure you'll forget all about the letter once you are having fun with your friends." she said to herself. Spike had already gone out with the others to get candy, which meant Twilight was heading to the party alone this year. She walked downstairs and out the door. The homes around Ponyville were covered in spooky decorations. Some had skeletons hanging from the trees while others used tombstones to cover their porches. None compared to Sugar Cube Corner though.
"Pinkie Pie, you've outdone yourself this year." Twilight said to herself. The rafters were decorated with skeletons and spiders, while the entrance had a Pinkie Pie upgraded spider jumper that launched spider covered cupcakes at unsuspecting ponies. The window had a Slendermare figure looking through it with the illusion of static. Twilight was about to knock on the door when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Howdy, Twilight." Applejack said as she walked up next to her.
"Applejack! I didn't expect you to be here. How are you?" Twilight asked.
"Ah'm fine. Granny thought it would be a good idea for me to get away from the barn and out with some friends. So, Ah'm here to have fun. If that's possible." she said with her head hung low.
Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "It's Pinkie Pie, AJ. I'm sure she can cheer you up."
Applejack gave a small smile and looked to Twilight. "Ah sure hope so. Do you know if Rarity and the others are comin'?" she asked.
"Rarity is at home watching Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash is supposed to stop by, but is probably off scaring some poor ponies like last year." Twilight said with a light chuckle. "And Fluttershy should be here. She said she was going to show up a little after everything got started so she could avoid the rush of ponies to the bakery."
"Ah see. Well, Ah sure hope Sweetie Belle will be okay. She was good friends with Applebloom." Applejack said.
"Let's go in and see what Pinkie's up to. I heard she had a surprise for all of us." Twilight said as she knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened and out jumped a candy covered pink pony.
"Hi girls! Come in, come in! We are just about to start the blood drinking contest!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Twilight observed all the other ponies around her in their costumes. She saw ninjas, elves, and, of course, zombies. Lots of zombies. She turned away and looked back at the enthusiastic pink mare that seemed as if she didn't have a worry in the world. "So, who wants to go first? Anyone? Oh, I know! I'll go first! And then second, and then third, and then after the punch we can go and begin the Pin the Tail on the Orc contest!" she exclaimed.
Twilight rolled her eyes at all the ridiculous names Pinkie began to call out. The heart toss, which was just a red egg being tossed into a vampony's mouth, the blood drinking contest, which was just punch, and the most nightmarish of them all, the showing of Twilight Breaking Dawn. Twilight hated being teased about that movie and her name. She didnt really hate the movie, just the endless array of comments about it. Applejack was talking to Fluttershy, who had only come because she was worried about her, so Twilight snuck off to the party snacks.
She walked over to the punch bowl and grabbed a glass. After pouring herself her drink, she took a sip and puckered. She should have known that Pinkie was going to put something in the punch that didnt belong. She put the cup down and went to find Rainbow Dash. It was fairly easy to spot her, since she was still donning the same Shadowbolt outfit as last year. She was talking to Scootaloo who was sitting in a corner. She was all alone without her friends there. From the looks of it, she hadn't heard about Applebloom yet, but was excited that Rainbow Dash was talking to her.
"Hi Rainbow." she said as she walked up to them. Rainbow looked at her with a look of relief.
"Hey, Twilight!" she said. From the look on her face, it seemed as if she was trying to tell her what happened, but was unable to bring herself to it. "How are you?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Considering." Twilight said, wanting to see if her subtle statement would get through to her.
Twilight guessed it did by the way she nodded at her. Rainbow glanced to Scootaloo. "She doesn't know." she mouthed to her. "So what you think of Pinkie's party? Out did herself didn't she?" she asked Scootaloo.
"Yeah! Totally!" she exclaimed.
"Anything here scare you?" Twilight asked.
"Pssh! Scare me? I'm not scared! I'm tough, like Rainbow Dash!" she boasted.
"You sure about that squirt? There's not a thing in the world that can scare me!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Ponies should be scared of me! I'm the toughest pony here! Well, you know, next to you Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said.
"Heh, that's right." she said.
"Where's Sweetie Belle? She said she would be at the part tonight. And Applebloom. I thought she was supposed to be back from Manehattan a few days ago?" Scootaloo said.
Twilight and Rainbow looked to each other. "Umm... You see, squirt..." Rainbow started. She looked to Twilight for help.
"Applebloom is..." she started but stopped herself. She always admired Scootaloo's pride despite her handicap. It was something you didn't see a lot of fillies her age have. Telling her about Applebloom would crush her, and Twilight didn't think she had the ability to do that to this orange bundle of joy.
"Let's find Applejack. I'm sure she can tell you." Rainbow Dash said. Twilight glared at her, but she shrugged Twilight off as she left with Scootaloo to find Applejack.
She was still talking to Fluttershy, who had obviously been crying recently. Applebloom was brought up again I see. Twilight thought. She didn't want to see what would happen when Scootaloo found out, but she didn't want to leave Rainbow Dash alone with her.
"Hey AJ." Rainbow said. Applejack turned and looked at her and the small filly by Rainbow's side. She gave her a look and Rainbow nodded her head.
Applejack sighed and lowered her head to be eye level with Scootaloo. "Why don't you come with me? There's somethin' Ah gotta tell ya'." Applejack said. Scootaloo ran off with her into a back room where they could talk in peace.
"How do you think she is going to handle the news?" Twilight asked Rainbow.
"I'm not sure. If it were me, I'd probably lose it. It'd be like losing one of you." she said as she nudged Twilight.
"I know what you mean." Twilight said.
"Think we should make sure everything's alright with her when she's told?" Rainbow asked.
"No. Let's leave it to them and if we're needed, we'll know." she said. They walked away from the room and looked for Fluttershy. They bumped into a pony dressed as a zombie. He let out a moan and continued on his way, limping past them. "Some ponies take the roleplaying a little too far." Twilight said.
"You know it. Who are you supposed to be? That one Starburst pony?" Rainbow Dash said.
"His name was Star Swirl the Bearded. And no, I'm Dumbledeer. You know, from Mare and Potter? The book about the Unicorn who goes to Pigfarts to study magic? I let you borrow it last month! Did you even read it?" Twilight asked.
"Oh. That. Yeah it didn't really catch my attention. It wasn't like Daring Do." Rainbow Dash said.
"Don't you ever read anything else?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Not really. No pony is cooler than Daring Do!" she said.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's time for the costume contest!" she heard Pinkie shout in glee. "Every pony gather around to be frightened by all of the creepy ghouls here!" she said, trying to sound scary, but when she laughed, she ruined the "scary" atmosphere.
"Might as well see what crazy costumes ponies made this year." Twilight said. They walked to the bakery's front entrance where Pinkie had constructed a stage of some sorts. It was a large circular stage that was decorated with bats and ghosts. The first pony to take the stage was disguised as a character from Immortal Combat. After him, a filly walked up in a Mare White costume with a bright red apple.
"Come on, ponies! I want to see some really spooky costumes!" Pinkie exclaimed again. This time, a vampony walked up on stage and hissed at the crowd. Pinkie laughed and hissed back. Another pony took the stage as a werepony. Of course, this sparked a small battle of cries over who was better. Team Coltward, or Team Jackmane. They walked off the stage hissing and growling at each other.
"These are all great costumes! But where's the ones who look real?" she cried out again, trying to liven up the crowd a little. Then, a small green pony walked onto the stage, moaning and growling. He sounded real and made everypony there cheer. "Now this is what I'm talking about!" Pinkie cheered.
"Dang, I'm impressed! He looks just like a real zombie!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"It's weird too. Like, I'm kind of nervous about him." Twilight said.
"Aw don't worry. It's just a pony in a costume." Rainbow said. "If you're scared of a little disguise, I don't think you'd last three days in an actual zombie apocalypse."
"I'll have you know that I know more about zombies than you think." she responded.
"Wow! I can even smell him!" Pinkie said, drawing back Rainbow and Twilight's attention. The pony had walked a little closer to her, moaning and growling even louder. "Haha! It's almost like he's real!"
There was a sudden scream as he jumped on the pink pony, biting and tearing at her neck. She screeched in pain as the creature ripped and tore at her throat. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were standing there shocked by what they were seeing. Twilight quickly got back into focus and ran up to the stage. She kicked the deranged pony off of her friend and threw him against the wall.
"Pinkie Pie! Are you okay?" Twilight asked the pink mare that was on the ground. She convulsed as blood began to pour from her open esophagus. More ponies began to scream as they saw the sight. "Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed again. The pink mare looked up at her and reached out with her hoof. She dropped it to the ground, breathing out one last breath before dying.
No... No no no no no! She thought to herself.
"Twilight! What happened?" Rainbow asked as she flew over. She looked at Pinkie and gasped in shock. "Pinkie..." she said slowly. The entire crowd was preoccupied with viewing the body that nopony noticed the zombie stand up from the wall and attack a stallion in the front row. He let out a mangled cry as the zombie bit him and tore his foreleg clean off. The crowd screamed and began to run wildly across the room.
"Rainbow Dash! Find Fluttershy and the others! Get them to the Library and barricade yourselves in!" Twilight commanded.
"But what about-" Rainbow began to say.
"Just do it! We don't know how many there are!"
Rainbow Dash flew off into the crowd searching for her friends. Twilight began to slow down her thoughts so she could think through them as she ran for Applejack and Scootaloo. Great. So the biting has finally reached Ponyville. To make matters worse, the pony who is biting them is about four times as strong as any of us. He is on a biting spree and looks just like a zombie. she thought. She found Applejack and Scootaloo behind the bakery counter. "Applejack! Scootaloo! We need to get out of here!" Twilight exclaimed.
"What in the hay is goin' on here Twi?!" Applejack shouted.
"No time to explain! Just get to the library and make sure that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are there! Barricade yourselves in when you are all there!" she ordered.
"How will you get in then?" Scootaloo asked as she heard Rainbow Dash's name.
"I'm a unicorn. I'll just teleport in." Twilight said with a light smile. She didn't want to frighten this filly anymore than she already was. "Now go. There isn't much time."
The two of them jumped out of a window while the other ponies were trampling over each other trying to get out the exit. Twilight, using her magic, teleported out of the room and outside the bakery. The chaos was starting to spread outside as well. There were a number of ponies who were walking around groaning and biting. "Are you serious? How..." Twilight said, surprised by how many more there were out there. She ran for the Carousal Boutique to grab Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Hopefully, the creatures had yet to make it there.
She ran hard and fast, avoiding all other ponies that she could. She had forgotten about her costume and noticed that it had gotten very muddy and trashed as she was running through the panic. Rarity will just have to deal with it. she thought. She arrived at the Boutique and kicked down the door. The two ponies were huddled together and jumped at the sound.
"Twilight? What on earth are you-" Rarity started to say before she saw the costume she had worked hard to fix. "What the-" Twilight cut her off.
"No time for that Rarity! We need to get back to the library! There's something going on in Ponyville and I need all the help I can get. Bring Sweetie Belle. It isn't safe for her to be alone right now." Twilight explained without letting either of them get a word in. "If we're lucky, the others are already there."
"Twilight, what's happening?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't know, but for now you need to follow Rarity and I to the library." Twilight replied. Sweetie Belle looked to her older sister with red eyes.
"It'll be alright, darling. I've got you." Rarity said as she lifted Sweetie Belle onto her back.
"Wait!" she shouted and jumped off her sister's back and ran to her room.
"Sweetie Belle!" Twilight called out to her. "Ugh, we don't have time for this!"
"Twilight, what in the name of Celestia is going on here? I just calmed her down after hearing about Applebloom, and I don't need her to be anymore upset." Rarity whispered.
"You know about those bitings that have been going around Equestria? Well, it's here, and I have a feeling bath salts aren't involved. There was one at the party and he didn't seem...alive. I looked at him and he felt like death." Twilight whispered back as Sweetie Belle ran out with Smarty Pants. Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle confused. "When did you get that? I thought Big Mac had it."
"He did. But he gave it to Applebloom after she had some very bad nightmares. Before she left...she gave it..." Sweetie Belle began to cry softly as she hugged Smarty Pants. Rarity gave her a quick hug and put her on her back once more.
"You hold tightly to me and Smarty Pants, Sweetie. Everything's alright." she said. She nodded to Twilight and they ran out of the Boutique. As they ran back through Ponyville, Twilight saw how quickly the panic had spread. Buildings were being ransacked as the biting creatures began to bite ponies off to the side. Most had tried to fight, hitting and kicking at their bodies, but the creatures didn't seem to notice it.
"Hurry!" Twilight called out.
"Rarity...Why are these ponies biting each other? Why is that one missing her leg..." Sweetie Belle asked shakily as she took in the sights around her.
"Sweetie Belle, close your eyes. You remember that old nursery rhyme mom and dad used to say to you? The one after you had a nightmare?" Rarity asked. Sweetie Belle nodded her head. "Say it with me. Hop hop hop, go and never stop. Where it's smooth and where it's stony, trot along little pony. Go and never stop. Hop hop hop hop hop." she said, trying to get her sister to get her mind away from the disturbing images.
Sweetie Belle began to sing along and hugged Smarty Pants even tighter. They passed Sugar Cube Corner, which was basically a pit of fire now. "Pinkie..." Twilight whispered to herself. They kept running and made it to the library.
Rarity got there first and tried to kick the door down. "Why won't it budge?" she asked Twilight.
"Good, everyone else is here. Get ready to-" Twilight said but got cut off by Rarity screaming at her.
"Behind you!"
Twilight turned around and screamed as she saw one of the creatures lunge at her. She shot a quick magic bolt at her and sent her flying into a hay stack behind her. She stood back up, out of the hay, uninjured and walking back towards the girls. "That should have at least knocked her unconscious!" Twilight shouted in surprise. She was able to see the pony more clearly and noticed that she was covered in blood and had a large portion of her side removed. Twilight saw the ribs of the pony and held down her instinct to vomit.
She hit her again with a bolt and she simply flew back and stood right back up. "How..." Twilight stammered. This time, she charged her magic and waited for the creature to get about five yards in front of her. She aimed her magic at the creature's head and released the magic bolt. The creature went flying and slammed into the ground, only this time, she didn't stand back up.
"Twilight, what did you just do to that barbaric...thing?" Rarity asked.
"I...I don't know...I think I killed it..." Twilight stammered. She looked at the unmoving body and winced as she got a glimpse at the Cutie Mark. Three candies.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Rarity asked Twilight.
"Yeah...I'm...I'm fine. Let's get inside." she said. Twilight charged up her teleportation spell and zapped all three of them into the library.
"What in the hay were those things, Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"I...I think they were the victims of the nano virus." Twilight said.
"But, I thought they were harmless." Rarity said.
"I did too, but I've been putting the pieces together and something doesn't feel right." she said. She walked up to her room in search of her folders. She found them and grabbed her zombie survival book as well. When she walked downstairs, she noticed that all eyes were on her.
"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked. She walked up next to Twilight so she could whisper in her ear. "Ah heard her scream at the party, so did Scootaloo. I told her it was because of the costumes. What happened to her, Twi?"
Twilight sighed. "She's dead. Rainbow and I saw it at the party. I'll explain in a moment." she whispered back. She walked in front of the others. "Do you all remember the explosion with the nano virus'?" They all looked at each other nodding their heads. "And then the bath salt incidents? Well...they are related." She took the newspapers out of the folder and laid them on the floor.
"If you look at the areas where the bites have increased, you will notice that they start around Manehattan. The city where the explosion happened. They've been showing signs of, dare I say it, zombification." she said.
"You can't be serious, Twilight. Zombies aren't real." Rarity said.
"That's what I thought. Turns out that the nano virus' have caused...something in the brain to cause them to act like this. You saw what happened when I hit Bon...that pony outside. I had to hit her in the head to take her down."
"So what yer sayin' is that zombies have taken over Equestria?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure. Spike, I need you to send a letter to the princess right away." Twilight said. Spike ran next to her with a pen and quill. "Princess, there is no time for formalities. I know that the nano virus is the cause of what is happening. What are you hiding? I need to know so I can help. Pinkie Pie died because of this. My friends and I will be on our way to Canterlot soon. Please respond with the utmost urgency."
Spike finished the letter and blew it away in a puff of magical fire. "Twilight?" Sweetie Belle called. "Pinkie isn't really dead...is she?" she said with tears in her eyes. Twilight didn't respond. She looked at the ground sighed. "So...both her....and Applebloom....are gone?" she asked, trying desperately to prevent herself from crying uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle." Twilight said.
Scootaloo was standing next to Rainbow Dash, trying hard not to cry in front of her idol. Rainbow Dash put a hoof over her shoulder and pulled her close. "It's okay, squirt. Go ahead. Let it out." Scootaloo bawled into Rainbow's chest. Rainbow was close to tears too, but she held them in, just barely, so Scootaloo would be okay.
"Girls, we need to stick together. No matter what. We'll get through this." Twilight said. "Sweetie Belle? I want you and Scootaloo to be right next to each other all the time. Can you do that?" she asked.
With tears streaming down her face, she nodded. Twilight looked to Rarity. "Stick close to her as well."
"Umm...Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "What about us? What are we going to do?" she whimpered.
"We are going to go to Canterlot and figure out how to solve this." Twilight said.
"But....what about those....things?" Fluttershy squeeled again.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine Fluttershy." she said.
She saw Rainbow put Scootaloo on her back and walked over to Fluttershy. "It'll be fine. You got me here." Rainbow said and put a hoof on her shoulder. It seemed to calm Fluttershy down.
Spike let out a belch and a scroll landed on the ground next to him. Twilight picked it up and read it aloud. "Twilight, if you must come to Canterlot, go through the train tunnels. The train has been shut down to try and isolate the infected from Canterlot. Twilight, I'm sorry about your friend. I hope that one day, when this is over, you'll forgive me."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Rainbow said after Twilight had finished reading the letter. "Let's get going before the entire place is overrun!"
"But Rainbow, if we do run out there now, we'll be in the mess that all the other ponies are in. Ponies will be trampling each other to get away from the zombies." Spike said. "If we wait until morning, we'll only have to deal with the slow zombies. It'll be easier to avoid them."
"My thoughts exactly, Spike." Twilight said.
"But what about ma' family? Granny Smith is all Ah got left here! She's still at the farm. Ah need to make sure she's okay!" Applejack said.
"Applejack! You can't go out there and face those monsters!" Rarity exclaimed. "They'll get you amidst the chaos!"
"What am Ah s'pose to do? Leave 'er to die?" Applejack shouted. "I can't do that. I'm not losing anyone else!"
"Applejack, you can't go out there. I know a way that can tell you if they are alright." Twilight said. She walked over to her mirror and charged her horn. When she released the spell, an image of Granny Smith appeared on the glass. She was barricading their windows and doors with hay stacks and barrels.
"Thank Celestia she's a'right." Applejack said with a sigh of relief. "Ah need to talk to her. Tell 'er Ah'm a'right."
"I promise, we'll stop by tomorrow before we go to Canterlot. You won't be able to stay long though. We need to be able to get to the Princess so we can find a way to fix this." Twilight said. The image on the glass faded away and Applejack stood next to Rarity.
"Wait, couldn't you just teleport us all to Canterlot?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the magic to send seven ponies and a dragon to Canterlot. It takes a lot of magic to teleport multiple beings, especially over that distance. I'd barely be able to teleport just Spike there." Twilight explained.
"So, we're stuck here? Until morning?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's safe here though, right?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes. We'll be fine here, just as long as we don't make much noise. From what I've read, it's possible that they could find us by the sounds we make." Twilight said. "Of course, I highly doubt that's possible."
"You said the same thing about zombies, yet you believe them now." Spike said.
"And I'm not excited about it. I saw one attack Pinkie Pie and was attacked by one myself." Spike looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry Spike, but this is not like your zombie books. Ponies are really dying, and they won't be back. I'm looking at facts and what I've seen. So far, there is enough to tell me they are zombies, but not enough that they can hear." Twilight explained.
"Can we not talk about ponies...dying..." Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes. Let's not talk about that dreadful topic." Rarity said.
"Right. Let's get ready for the trip." Applejack said. "Twilight? Got any extra saddle packs?"
"Yes. I'll get them. Girls, grab food and water from the fridge. We need to travel light, so no luxuries." she said.
"You don't expect me to go without my eyelash curler?" Rarity exclaimed.
"I'm sorry Rarity, but yes, no eye lash curler. No mane straightener, no perfume, and no overly large tents." Twilight explained. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to learn to live without any of those things. At least until we get to Canterlot."
Rarity looked at her like she was crazy. "But...but...how do you..." she stammered.
Applejack gave Rarity a small hug. "Don't worry. Ah'll look after ya' and Sweetie Belle. Jus' follow what Ah do and you'll be more comfortable than you think." she said with a light chuckle.
"Let's gather what supplies we can for the night. Food, water, some puzzles and coloring books." Twilight said.
"Why would we need coloring books during a zombie apocalypse?" Rainbow asked. "Wouldn't we need some weapons? Like knives and stuff?"
"We want to pack light. We can use sticks as weapons that we find laying around. It seems to be effective to hit their skulls as hard as you can. And the coloring books are for the kids." she said, looking to Scootaloo. "I think I have a Wonderbolt one and some racing ones lying around here somewhere." she said smiling.
"I'll get them. Where are they?" Sweetie Belle asked, calmed down.
"Check Spike's room. They're probably in there." Twilight said.
Sweetie Belle ran off into his room. "Hey! Wait! No girls are allowed in my room!" he shouted as he ran after her.
Rarity gave a small laugh. "What he doesn't know is that Sweetie has a small, adorable crush on him."
"Well ain't that cute." Applejack said. "Well, let's go see what we can gather. Don' want to be unprepared for this here apocalypse." Rarity followed her into the kitchen with some of the saddles.
Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "You alright?" she asked.
She nodded her head. "I'm just worried about all my little critter friends. Oh, you don't think they'll be harmed, do you?" she asked frantically.
"I can't say for sure. But I'm sure they'll be fine." Twilight said.
Rainbow walked over to her with Scootaloo and pulled her in close. "Don't worry. I'm sure Angel will kick some zombie butt if he has to." Fluttershy let out a soft whimper and put her head on Rainbow's shoulder. She looked at Twilight. "Who would have thought that I'd become so caring like this?" she said with a chuckle.
Twilight smiled. "We'll all find something that we didn't know about ourselves during this." I for one, learned how to kill friends... she thought.
Scootaloo let out a small gasp. "You okay, squirt?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." she said.
"You know, it's alright to be a little scared." she said. "Don't tell anyone, but I was a tad bit scared myself." she whispered.
Scootaloo sniffed. "Really? Somepony as tough and brave as you was scared?"
"Remember it was just a tad. It's not like I was entirely scared out of my wits." she said.
"Okay. I guess I'm a little scared. " Scootaloo replied.
"Oh, you two are much braver than me. I'm really scared. About my animals and all those ponies who are being attacked." Fluttershy said, shakily.
"Don't be. I have you and Scoots covered." she said.
Twilight left them alone and walked to her room. She pulled out her own saddle bag and opened it up. She put quills, scrolls, and her scarf. It was going to get cold at night in the tunnels that went through the mountain. She grabbed a number of books as well, including the Daring Do series. "Rainbow Dash will like these. Maybe she'll read to Scootaloo." she said aloud.
She looked to her drawer shelf and saw a number of pictures standing. She saw pictures of all the gang laughing, playing, picnics and parties each of them had attended. There was one that caught her eye though. A picture of Pinkie Pie. It wasn't an ordinary photo though.
It was on her birthday a few months ago. Pinkie had thrown her a huge party in Ponyville where all her friends had been invited. Just like normal Pinkie Pie. She had given her a picture of them laying on the grass together at a picnic. Twilight loved it. Simple and sentimental.
A loud bang made Twilight jump. "Twilight Sparkle! Thou shall allow us to enter thy residence!" a loud shouting voice exclaimed. She ran downstairs and opened the door. In front of her stood Luna, Princess of the Night.
"Princess!" Twilight said, bowing.
"We do not require formalities, Miss Sparkle. We are here to guide thee and thy friends to Canterlot safely." she said as she stepped in with two of her Lunar Guards.
"Did Princess Celestia send you?" Twilight asked, closing the door quickly.
"She did. My sister believes you are the one who can help bring this plague to an end. What do you know of it thus far?" the Princess asked.
"Um, well, they're stronger than us, they can see us, and you need to hit them in the head in order to kill them." she replied.
"That is not all." she said. She looked to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo. "Evening girls." she said and walked to the table. "So far, we know that they can see and hear us. They can walk, are barely able to run, but unable to fly. We think they are able to learn from what they see, like newborn fillies."
"So, what, you're saying that they'll eventually be able to fly? Maybe even talk in the future?" Rainbow asked.
"No. We believe that they only have base instincts, such as eat, drink, and moan. No part of their brain is alive in order to do more complex functions. In cities where the plague began, the undead began to walk. Eventually, they learned to run. Here, however, they are coming from Appleloosa, a newly infected town. They are still learning." the Princess replied.
"But what about the nano virus'? How are they transmitted?" Twilight asked.
"Through bite or blood transmission. During the explosion, a few of the workers received cuts and a variety of open wounds. That's how it started. The nano virus entered the blood stream and took control of the host. It grew accustomed to a pony's body and began to learn how to take control. After a few weeks, it took a bite out of another pony and transmitted itself."
"But how? If there was only one pony infected with the nano virus, then wouldn't that pony be dead after transferring itself to the other pony?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's a self replicating nano virus. It was meant to help ponies with cellular and muscle diseases. Over time, the nano virus would need to be replaced to avoid infection. However, it would also mean we would need to replace them. The self replication would make re-injecting the nano virus' each week. The old get flushed out and the new get to work." the Princess said.
"Which means that now it runs rampant in the pony's system, replicating constantly. Once bitten, that pony has enough nano virus' to continue to bite and transfer." Twilight said.
"Which is why you and your friends need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible. My sister is working on a cure, and you need to be there to help her. The castle is safe from the infected, so you'll all be perfectly fine there." the Princess said.
"Twilight, I found the coloring books!" Sweetie Belle said with a big smile on her face.
"That's excellent Sweetie. I hope you enjoy them on our little trip. Did you get the crayons?" Twilight asked.
"Mhm." she said, opening the book, letting them fall to the floor.
"Be careful now. Don't want to lose those." she said, using her magic to pick the crayons up and put them back in the book. "Why don't you put them in my saddle over there." she said as she motioned over to stairs.
Sweetie Belle ran off and placed them in the bag. "You have a way with kids Twilight Sparkle." Luna said.
"I just want to make sure they have something to keep their minds off of the troubles. It'll be easier on them." she replied.
"How did thou learn to be the motherly figure?" the Princess asked.
"Books. I've read plenty of books with mothers in them. I guess I've picked up some things while reading." she said with a small smile.
"Hey Twi! I got us some food an' water, jus' like ya' asked." Applejack said with her pack overflowing.
"And I found some amazing delicacies you kept hidden away in your pantry." Rarity said, following Applejack out.
"Great. We'll need all we can for this."
"When do we plan to leave, Twilight?" the Princess asked.
"Tomorrow morning. We want to wait until after the chaos dies down. It'll be easier in the day time too." Twilight said.
Scootaloo let out a loud yawn. "I'm tired. Do we have time to sleep?" she asked.
"Of course squirt. Take a nap. I've got you safe right here." Rainbow Dash said. Scootaloo laid her head on Rainbow's shoulder and began to fall asleep.
"Sweetie Belle, why don't you get some sleep as well. It's going to be a long journey to Canterlot and you're going to need your strength." Rarity said. "Come sit with me. We'll sleep together tonight." Sweetie Belle yawned and walked to her sister.
Spike walked out of his room in a small daze. "Spike, you should get some sleep too. In fact we all should." Twilight said.
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his gaze. "Oh! Right, yeah, sleep." he said. He walked over to Sweetie Belle and curled up next to her.
"That's odd." Twilight whispered to herself. "Usually he sleeps next to me or in his bed."
"Maybe it's so he can be close to Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, nudging herself closer to Rainbow Dash.
"I guess." Twilight sighed. She walked over to an empty spot on the floor and made herself comfortable. "Have you gotten any sleep Princess?"
"Not for a few days. We won't be sleeping though. Our duty is to protect you and your friends." she said.
"But Princess, you need to sleep. You won't be able to do any protecting if you're falling asleep." she said. "And if it makes you feel better, I'll put a spell that will tell us when they are by the door."
"No need, Twilight. I did so before we came in." she said. "You two should get some sleep. We'll be fine on our own." she said to the guards.
"Yes, your highness." one of them said. They walked over to another empty spot by the bookshelves.
"You too Princess. You need to fall asleep or else you'll be unable to help us." Twilight said. "And we're going to need all the help we can get in order to make it to Canterlot safely."
The Princess sighed. "Fine Twilight. We'll be going to sleep. But don't expect us to during our travels. We need to be fully alerted during this." she took a spot next to Twilight, but kept her eyes open at the door.
Twilight laid her head on the ground and looked over to Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy and Scootaloo were asleep on her shoulders while she snored with her head hanging down. Twilight chuckled. She looked over to Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Both were asleep, but Spike had his tail wrapped around Sweetie's hoof. She smiled wide as she saw that everyone was comfortable with someone. Even Applejack had given her hat to Rarity so she could use it as a pillow.
Every pony is comfortable. They each have someone they can trust and care for. Twilight thought to herself. She smiled as she felt her eyes grow heavy, slowly falling to sleep.
Twilight woke up after hearing a book fall off her bookshelf. She yawned and looked around her. The warning that Luna had put around the house hadn't gone off, so she wasn't worried. She stood up and walked to where she heard the sound. She found Luna looking through one of her books called Mary Trotter: The Pegasus Stone.
"You ever read that series, Princess?" Twilight asked.
"We never did have much time to read. The moon doesn't have a library with an array of texts." she replied. "Tell me, Miss Sparkle, what is this story's plot?"
Twilight chuckled at Luna's dialect. "It's about a Unicorn who is raised by Earth Ponies. She doesn't realize she's a Unicorn who can do magic and gets visited by a teacher at a school for gifted Unicorns. He tells her she can do many things that others can't. So he takes her to the school where she finds out she's actually part of a bigger historical event. She has to save the school in just her first year. But I'm not going to tell you everything. Read it and see if you like it. It's a very popular series." Twilight explained.
"We think we shall. Even back in Canterlot we didn't have an opportunity to read in the library. As royalty we have too many responsibilities that require our attention." she said.
"Here, take the other six books as well. We have kids with us, so we may need to stop at night so they can sleep. I hate having to slow us down by doing that, but I doubt we'll have a choice in the matter." Twilight said as she took the books off the shelf.
"Twilight? Can I ask you something?" Luna asked.
"Sure, Princess." she replied.
"Please, just call me Luna." Luna said.
Twilight looked at her with a smile. "Okay, Luna."
Luna looked at her. "What is your plan on keeping our group safe?"
"Well, I plan to have us all stick together, travel light, and move fast." she explained.
"And if you get caught by a horde?"
"I guess we'd have two options. Fight or run." Twilight said.
"What would you do at the first sign of an attack?" Twilight had to think about it for a moment. "And now you're dead." Luna said.
"What?"
"You hesitated. You can't hesitate once they've got you cornered. If you do, everypony you care about is dead." Luna said.
Twilight stood there. She's right. Hesitation means death. she thought. "So we need to always be on our hooves."
"You're in a field with a forest to your right and a lake to the left. There's a horde running in your direction behind you. What do you do?"
"Run to the forest."
"Why?" Luna inquired.
"Because we're faster than they are and have a better chance of surviving there than the water." Twilight explained.
"Good. Now you're cornered with a horde charging in front of you. You can either let them come and fight them off, or you could stop them with a rock slide to block their path, trapping you and your group on the opposite side. What do you do?"
"If I were in that position I would send the rocks on top of the horde, but leave a way for us to get out. It wouldn't do us much good if we were trapped." Twilight said.
"Smart thinking Miss Sparkle." Luna praised. She looked out the window and noticed the first rays of sunlight peering over the horizon. "It's morning. Time to wake everypony up."
Twilight and Luna began to wake them all up. Sweetie Belle yawned as Rarity stretched out her tired legs. "Come on Sweetie, it's time to get up. We've got a long journey ahead of us." Twilight said.
"Twilight, deary, before we go, I need to give myself a short mane curl. It'll only take a minute." Rarity said.
"Rarity, we ain't got time for that. The only reason we're going to the barn is so Ah can see the last of ma' family before we go. And besides, I do have some supplies that could come in handy while there. It's not far from the tunnel where the train leads into." Applejack said.
"But what about looking glamorous?" Rarity complained.
"We don't have time for looking spiffy! There are zombies running around outside, so the last thing you should care about is your mane." Rainbow said as she rubbed her eyes. Scootaloo was rubbing her eyes next to her and Fluttershy was walking around waking the others.
"Listen sugarcube. It's going to be rough. It'll be just like when we went camping with the little ones, just without your giant tent." Applejack said.
Rarity looked to Sweetie Belle and saw that Spike still had his tail wrapped around her hoof. She sighed. "Well fine. I guess I'll have to make due with more primitive procedures." she said. She picked Sweetie Belle and Spike up and placed them on her back.
"Is everypony ready?" Luna asked. "We need to arrive at Canterlot as soon as possible."
They all gathered their packs together and gathered near Twilight. She looked out the window and saw some ponies she recognized. Only, they weren't quite themselves. "Okay girls. When we leave this library, we need to be very quiet and very careful. I don't want one of them finding us and leading the rest of them to where we are."
"Don't worry, Twilight. You lead the way, an' we'll be sure to follow you." Applejack said.
"Um, Twilight? Are you sure you know what we should be doing?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight sighed. "No. I don't know exactly what to do. This is a first. Something you don't find in history books. But I've been doing zombie research with the help of some survival book, and I think I've got it down to the basics. Plus, I've got someone who I'm sure can fill me in on what I missed." she said as she looked to Spike who had gotten off of Rarity's back and walked to her.
"What are you looking at me for?" he said.
"You're the only one I know who is an almost perfect expert on zombies. Since the infected ponies resemble those of zombies, I'm sure you'll be able to fill us all in on what we should and shouldn't do. Think you can do that?" she asked.
"Um, I guess so." he said as he twiddled his thumbs.
"What about me?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I'm a zombie fan too you know."
"Yes, but I wouldn't go around calling yourself that." Twilight said. "Ponies have died because of these 'zombies.' And Spike has a knack for remembering things that, no offense, you tend to forget."
"But I know how to kill them quickly."
"And you shouldn't be proud of that." Luna said. "Those ponies were your friends and neighbors. Killing them isn't going to be as easy as you think."
"She's right Rainbow. I had to kill Bon Bon last night." Twilight said. "It doesn't seem hard during the act. But afterwards, when you're plagued by their face in your dreams, that's when it becomes unbearable. Knowing you killed somepony is hard, Rainbow." Twilight closed her eyes as she saw Bon Bon appear in front of her again. "They never leave you." she whispered.
The group looked at her quietly. There was a scream outside and some crying. Luna looked out the window to see what happened. "They found a group hiding in the house across the street. We should go now, while they're distracted."
"And leave that other group there? They need our help!" Rainbow shouted.
"But we can't afford to let ourselves be seen by them. Even though the panic has died down, the infected are still out there." Luna snapped. "Our sister sent us here to keep you all safe on the journey to Canterlot. We can't allow you to risk your lives for them." she shouted.
"But Luna! They're dying! They need our help!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Hey! How about Rainbow flies the kids over to the farm? That way not all of us are in danger." Applejack said.
"Are you kidding me?" Rainbow cried out. "I'm not leaving these ponies behind!"
"Well somepony has to take them out of here!" Applejack shouted back.
"It's too late." one of the guards said as he looked back out the window. "They're all dead."
They were quiet for a few moments. "You can't be serious." Rarity said first. She ran over to the window and looked over to the house. She put a hoof over her mouth as Sweetie Belle let out a small squeak. "Oh my...It's barbaric!" she exclaimed.
"Get Sweetie and Spike away from the windows!" Twilight said. She didn't want the small ones to see too much of what was going on. Rarity quickly moved away and stood next to a trembling Fluttershy. Twilight looked to Luna. "We could have saved them." she said.
"Perhaps. But it was not worth our lives." she said cooly. "It wouldn't have changed anything."
"It would've changed for them! They could still be alive!" Twilight shouted. Luna looked at her confused. She had never been yelled at before, except her sister. "How many?"
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
"How many died!? Were there fillies? Was it a family!?" Twilight shouted.
Luna looked at her perplexed. "Why does it matter?"
Twilight glared at her. "Because I want to know who you left behind."
Luna looked a bit hurt from the comment. "There was a stallion and a mare. Nopony else other than the infected."
Twilight let out a breath. She hated knowing that two ponies had died by their inaction, but was relieved that no fillies were there. "Luna, from now on we don't leave anypony behind unless there is a 100% chance that we won't survive. You got that?"
"It is out duty to protect you girls and you girls alone." Luna replied.
"Then in order to do that, you'll have to protect us while we save the others." she said as she turned to the others. "You girls ready? We need to get moving so we can reach Canterlot as soon as we can."
"Ah'm all set." Applejack said quietly.
"So are we." Rainbow Dash said as she put a hoof around Fluttershy and Scootaloo. "I got you both, okay?" she whispered to them.
"Well, I suppose that Sweetie and I are prepared for this adventure. You still got Smarty Pants with you Sweetie?" she asked.
"Mhm." she said as she pulled it out of the saddle bag that Rarity had. She gave him a tight squeeze and looked to Spike. "You'll be careful...right?"
"Pshaw! Of course I will. I'm a dragon remember?"
Twilight looked at her friends one last time. "I love you girls. Remember that." she said. She turned and slowly opened the library door. As she looked around she saw ponies with gaping bite wounds. One had his stomach hanging out and dragging behind him, leaving a dark, crimson trail of blood behind him. Twilight had to try her hardest not to vomit. "Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? Close your eyes, alright?"
Sweetie Belle nodded her head and hid her eyes behind Smarty Pants. Scootaloo looked to Rainbow Dash. "Don't worry, squirt. Even with your eyes covered, you're still brave." Scootaloo covered her eyes after giving Rainbow a nod.
"Keep her close." Twilight told Rainbow, who picked her up and placed her on her back, and walked out the door. The group followed with Luna's guards staying in the front. They walked silently through town, passing corpses, infected ponies, and whatever survivors were left, pillaging what they could find. Despite them being able to be seen, Twilight figured that if they moved slow enough and didn't make any fast movements, they could pass undetected. They passed Sugar Cube Corner and Twilight couldn't help but let a few tears fall down her cheeks. I'm so sorry Pinkie. she thought.
She quickly wiped them away and continued moving forward. "Is everypony okay back there?" she said, loud enough for them to hear her, but quietly enough as to not draw attention. She didn't believe that the infected could hear them, but she didn't want to take any chances.
We're doing fine, Twilight. How much further are we to the farm?" Rarity asked.
"Not very far." Applejack said. There was a groan from the right of the group and Fluttershy let out a squeal.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow exclaimed quietly. "You need to be quiet. We don't know a lot about these zombies so we need to be careful."
"But they're so scary." Fluttershy whimpered.
"Look, you have me to keep you safe. I'm not going to let anything to you, Scoots, or anypony here." Rainbow said reassuringly. Fluttershy only let out a whimper.
They continued to the farm avoiding any big groups of hungry creatures. When they finally arrived, Applejack ran up to the barn door and started knocking. "Granny Smith! It's me! Applejack! Please open up. Ah need to see ya'!" she said. She started knocking harder when there was no response. "Granny!"
The door slowly creaked open, but not because somepony opened it. It only opened a few inches from the force of Applejack's knocking. She turned to her friends and ran inside. "Granny Smith! Where are ya?!" she shouted.
"Applejack!" Rarity shouted after her. "Wait for us!" She ran in with Sweetie Belle on her back, still holding onto Smarty Pants.
"Rarity!" Twilight called out. The rest followed them into the barn. She trailed Rarity out the back and into the apple orchards. Applejack was standing frozen in front of Rarity, who was trying to call her over.
"Applejack, deary. Please come back here. Don't go near her." she said.
"Rarity, what's going on?" Rainbow asked.
"Take Sweetie Belle, Rainbow!" she said. Rainbow flew over, leaving Scootaloo next to Fluttershy, who was trembling.
"Luna, what's going on?" Twilight asked as Rainbow returned with Sweetie Belle.
"We don't know. We think that it may be Granny Smith." she said.
"Applejack, please, come back here. She doesn't know who you are. She might bite you." Rarity said.
"But..it can't be. Ah saw her put up boards to protect the house and barn..." Applejack said. Twilight walked next to her and Rarity and finally saw what was going on. Granny Smith was in the middle of a horde of infected ponies, with a giant hole in her neck and a missing front leg.
"Applejack, let's get back to the barn. You said you had supplies there that you could grab." Twilight said. Applejack didn't respond. "We can't do anything for her now. I'm sorry, but we need to go."
"Jus'...jus' give me a second." she replied.
Twilight turned to Rarity. "Can you stay here and watch her? I don't want Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo seeing this. Having them help us gather more supplies will give them something to do instead of constantly having their eyes closed." she said.
"Of course, Twilight. I'll take Applejack back to the farm as soon as I can." Rarity replied.
The others went back to her house and began to gather food. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo?" Twilight called to them. "Why don't you go sit over there with Fluttershy and begin on the coloring books. Maybe you guys could make a story to tell why we're out here."
The two fillies walked over to the table with the coloring books. "Come on Sweetie Belle! We need an awesome story to make this trip interesting." Scootaloo said.
"Maybe we could get our Cutie Marks in story telling!" Sweetie said happily.
Twilight couldn't help but smile. Even when the world is ending, they're still worried about knowing what their destinies are. Foal innocence. she thought. Rainbow was going through the pantry and shelves looking for whatever food she could. "Find anything?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing! It's like somepony came and emptied everything!" she said, angrily.
"Well, it doesn't surprise me. A farm has a lot of food and supplie that are ripe for taking in a situation like this." Luna said. She walked over to a closet and was surprised by what she found. "Twilight, come here. I think you need to see this."
She walked over and instantly knew what was wrong. "I knew on a farm there were a lot of tools that were dangerous, but I didn't think they'd go that far to keep them protected." she said as she stated at the array of machetes laced with locks. They weren't ordinary locks though. These were high grade locks that could only be bought in Canterlot. "These will make any intruder cringe trying to break them free."
"There has to be a key somewhere." Luna said. "They're protected by magic against magic, and we don't have the brute force to break them."
"We'll wait for Applejack to get back to get them." Twilight said. "I have a feeling these are the supplies she was talking about."
Rarity walked in with her head low. "Hey rarity. Where's AJ?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, she's still out there. She's finishing something." she said.
"What's she trying to finish? There aren't any apples out there for her to harvest." she asked.
"She's not trying to harvest, darling. She's...finishing one last chore here before we leave." she said, glancing to her sister.
"What?" Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow, leave it." Twilight said. She had a good idea what Applejack was doing. Granny Smith is her last family member left here. She doesn't want her to be suffering and like those things. She's cleaning up her farm. The Apple family is losing its oldest member, for good.
She looked out the window and saw Applejack walking back, with blood on her back hooves. She didnt say anything when she entered. She walked upstairs, grabbed a key, and came back down. She unlocked the locks and started handing them out to her friends. "Be careful when using these here tools. If they chip, we can't fix 'em, and they won't do as good of a job."
"Umm...what job exactly are they supposed to do?" Fluttershy asked.
"Kill. Aim fer the head." Applejack said as she gave her a small axe.
"What?!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Oh no no no. I couldn't possibly do that!"
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but you'll need to learn to." Applejack said. "At least take it for yer own protection."
Fluttershy gingerly took the axe and looked at it scared. "Don't worry. You won't have to use it. I'm here to protect you, remember?" Rainbow said reassuringly. Fluttershy nodded her head and leaned against her.
"We have five minutes before we should start heading out again." Luna said. "Applejack, if there's anything else you need here, now would be the time to get ahold of it."
"Ah'll be back. Ah want to get some photos before we leave." she said as she walked back up the stairs.
"Will she be alright?" Twilight asked.
"I do sincerely hope so. She's worrying me and that's no good on my complexion." Rarity said as she looked up the stairs. "But Applejack is a strong pony. I'm sure she'll be quite all right."
As the girls waited for Applejack to return, there was a scratching sound coming from the front door. One of Luna's guards walked over to a window and peered through it. "Your highness, there's a pony at the front door with a glazed look in his eye and a big bite wound from his neck. This place will be compromised soon." he said.
"We need to hurry. If there's one, it won't take long for others to follow." Luna said.
"Rarity, how many were out back when you left?" Twilight asked.
"Not more than two dozen if I recall correctly."
"Luna, do you think we'd be able to fight them off and get to the tunnel safely?" Twilight asked.
"If we don't stall and keep moving, yes. We should be fine. Thou had better have a good plan for keeping those creatures away from us." she replied.
"I do. I don't know if Applejack will like it though." Twilight said as Applejack walked back down. She had a small pack sitting on her back.
"What won't Ah like?" she asked.
"Well... In order to get away from them, we need a distraction. Something big that will draw them away from us. And the biggest thing we have now, is your barn." Twilight said.
Applejack nodded her head. "Ah understand. We settin' this place ablaze then?"
Twilight was a little surprised that she took the idea without a second thought. "Um, yes. When it falls, it should make a loud enough noise to attract a majority of them to the barn. It'll draw them away from town, allowing other ponies to escape as well. We might have a few of the infected to deal with through the orchards, but other than that, we should be clear."
"Sounds good. In all honesty, Ah didn't wan' this place around if ma family wasn't runnin' it. Now that Ah'm all that's left, Ah'll be able to put it to good use one last time." she said. "An' don' worry. Ah already have all Ah need."
Twilight nodded her head. "I'm sorry about your Granny Smith. She was always a nice pony to have around."
"Thanks Twi. Now let's make this barn glow like Canterlot after New Years." They went around gathering whatever flammable thing they could and placed it inside the barn.
"Who's going to light it?" Scootaloo asked after they finished.
"Ah will be, sugarcube. It's ma barn, and Ah should be the one who leaves it." Applejack said.
"But will you be able to get back in time? As soon as you light it, they'll be on top of you in an instant." Fluttershy asked.
"Ah'm fast. Plus, if anyone of them rotten zombies comes near me, Ah've got a strong kick that'll knock the virus right outta them."
"But you could get bit! Then you'd be on of them!" Rarity exclaimed.
"If Ah go down, Ah'm going to go down fightin.' They've taken everything from me. All Ah got left is y'all. Ah'm not losing you too." she said.
"Just be sure you run fast on your way back." Rainbow said as she looked out the window. "We've got more coming to the front. We need to leave now."
"Right. Girls, pack your things." Rarity said to the fillies. They put the coloring books back in the packs and walked over to the group.
"Rainbow Dash, can you carry both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in the air? I want them to be as far away from the ground as possible." Twilight asked.
"Yep. It'll be easy." she said proudly.
"Fluttershy, stay close to Rainbow. Luna and I will lead the front. It's a straight dash to the tunnels." Twilight said.
"I'll have our guards trail in the back and cover us from any that try to follow us." Luna said.
" A'right. Y'all go ahead. Ah'm gonna light this place up, and when Ah do, it's gonna go fast." Applejack said hastily. They left her to the barn and dashed out the back. It didn't take long before they were attacked by a green haired pony. Luna kicked it in the head, killing it instantly.
"Run!" she shouted. They ran hard for the tunnels, putting as much distance between them and the barn. Twilight turned her head, expecting to see a barn in flames. It was still standing, though.
"Why hasn't she lit it yet?" she said to herself. They didn't stop though. They closed in on the tunnels and ran in.
"Were we followed? Did everypony make it?" Luna asked.
"We're all here. I don't think we were followed, but as long as the barn is distracting them, we'll be fine." Rainbow said.
"But that's the thing. The barn isn't burning..." Twilight said, frightened.
"What ever do you mean?" Rarity asked. "Applejack said she'd light it so those barbarians would be distracted."
"But I don't see any smoke. If there was a fire, there should be smoke right?" Twilight asked.
"She's right. Something must have gone wrong." Rainbow said.
"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Applejack is going to be okay...right?"
"Shh, of course she will Sweetie Belle." Rarity said. She looked to Twilight with that same question in her eyes.
"Applejack's a strong pony. I'm sure she'll make it." she said, trying to be believable. She looked back to the orchard and squinted, hoping to see the tiniest bit of smoke. There was nothing.
"What...what are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked.
"We're waiting here, obviously!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "We can't just leave without her."
"We'll wait until the sun sets beyond the horizon." Luna said. "If she's not with us then, it's assumed she succumbed to the horde."
"Wait, you want us to ditch her? What if she's injured and just can't move fast enough? What if she just got bit and is losing blood? We need to find her!" Rainbow shouted.
"If she's been bitten as you said, it would be best if she was dead. You don't want to have to see her turn into one of them and you have to kill her, now would you?" she replied.
Rainbow closed her mouth and groaned. "Hey, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, why don't you finish some more of this coloring book?" Twilight said.
"I don't want to color anymore." Scootaloo said.
"Well it's a good thing I grabbed some of these." Twilight said, pulling out Marey Potter. "How about you girls read these?" she asked. "They're full of adventure, deception, and there's a love story in there." she said with a smile.
"Love story?" Spike asked. "I don't want to read a love story. That's stuff's gross."
Twilight giggled. "There's a lot more adventure than the love story. Princess Luna?" she asked.
"Yes, Twilight?" she replied, walking over to her.
"Do you think you could read this story to the girls and Spike? They need somepony who can really deliver a story with their voice, and, to be honest, mine doesn't really work so well." she said.
"Are you complimenting us Twilight?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course!" Twilight replied. "Only you could deliver that story perfectly. And besides, I thought you wanted to read it too?"
"Well...We don't know." Luna said carefully.
"Pleeaase??" Sweetie Belle asked with big eyes.
"Well...Okay. We shall read this story to you three." Luna said.
"Yay!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exclaimed. Luna walked over to the corner of the cave and sat down with the book as the three young ones nestled into her wings. Twilight saw that Luna was a little uncomfortable with this interaction. It was obvious she hadn't been around children often and didn't know how to act around them.
She'll learn soon enough. Twilight thought with a smile. She walked over to Rarity who stood by the cave entrance. She was staring out to the orchard, hoping to see some sign of Applejack or the fire. "You okay, Rarity?" Twilight asked.
"Hm?" Rarity asked, not fully aware of what was asked of her as she continued to stare out.
"I asked if you were alright?" Twilight said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"Oh. Oh yes, I'm fine. I'm just worried that's all deary." she said nervously.
"I understand. Applejack's a strong mare though. She'll get through it. Even if she wasn't able to set the barn on fire, I'm sure she got away." Twilight said reassuringly.
"I sure hope so." Rarity replied quietly, a small tear running down her face.
Twilight wiped the tear away from her friends face. It hurt her knowing what Rarity was feeling. The anxiety of not knowing when or if the one you cared about most would ever be returning. At least Rarity had some hope. There was none for Twilight. She knew that the pony she cared about more than anything wasn't coming back. She forced the thought out of her head. She had to focus on her friends here and make sure they would be okay.
"You really care about her, don't you." Twilight asked. Rarity only nodded her head. "Why don't you tell me about what you two did?"
"Like what?" Rarity asked.
"I don't know. Anything you want to talk about." she replied.
"Well, a few weeks ago she took me to a rodeo round up. I'm not a big fan of them, but I went with her since she loved them." Rarity said. A smile began to form on her face. "What I didn't know was that they took ponies from the crowd and made them participate. And guess who got picked?"
"You did?" Twilight answered with wide eyes.
"Oh yes. It was a dual rodeo challenge and the spotlight landed directly on top of both Applejack and I. She was shouting and was all excited, but I was more on the tentative side of things. I didn't want to get dirty or anything, but she forced me up onto the stage anyways."
"It was a six legged race. While running, we had to balance an egg on a spoon in our mouths. And that was just the first part of it. After we completed that part, we had to crawl through mud, still tied together, and reach the third and final ordeal. They untied us there, but they didn't give us a chance to get cleaned up. It was horrifying being covered in that much mud."
"But you did it anyways. For Applejack." Twilight said.
"Of course darling! I wasn't going to let her down and not do something she adored. It would be uncouth of me." she said. "After they untied us, and this is the weird part, Spike jumped on her back. It was just like the buck contest that Applejack had competed in with Rainbow Dash."
"Wait, Spike was there?" Twilight asked surprised. "He never said anything about going to a rodeo."
"Well I think he didn't want to get in trouble with you for being out of town at his age." Rarity said. "Anyways, he had a firm grip on her and would not let go. It was actually pretty amusing to see Applejack have trouble with such a little guy. It took her about a minute to get him off. I guess he learned a lot since last time." she said.
"Then it was my turn. Now I had never done this in my entire life. I didn't even know what to do. All she told me was to put my weight on my front hooves and kick my back legs out. It must have been a decent one since he soared through the air after I attempted it."
Twilight laughed to herself. Spike's little crush on her must have been what did that.
"Applejack was laughing and gave me a hug, congratulating me. The crowd was cheering and whistling and I even got a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They were gorgeous." Rarity said. "Turns out that she was the one who had them give me the flowers. She knew that I disliked those activities so it was her way of saying thank you. That and..." she trailed off.
"What?" Twilight asked.
"It was also the day she asked me to be her marefriend." Rarity said blushing.
"And did you accept?" Twilight asked. She had a good feeling that Rarity had, but she wanted to be sure.
"Why of course! She's an amazing pony who has a big heart." she said smiling. "What's funny is that I actually had a lot of fun while I was there. Despite being riddled with dirt and mud, it was a very enjoyable experience. I'd happily go with her again."
"You must really love her." Twilight said.
"I do. She's one of the most dependable ponies I've ever met. Her heart is bigger than I could have ever imagined." she said. "You know, she always thought that I was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. But I don't feel like that. I put on fashionable clothes and make myself look this way. I've always admired the ponies who had a natural beauty, where they didn't need anything to help them. It's something I wish I could have that Applejack does."
Twilight thought about what Rarity was telling her. Twilight knew where she was coming from and understood what it felt like to have to try to make yourself look presentable. "Have you told her about that?" she asked.
"No. I'm afraid if I do she might be insulted or something that I view her as somepony who doesn't try to look pretty." Rarity said with her head low. "I'm afraid I could lose her. Like I'm about to now."
"It's not a bad thing. You are giving her a compliment by saying that she is beautiful when she doesn't put on fancy clothes or does anything fashionable. And Applejack is the most dependable pony here. She will come, even if she's fighting a horde on her way." Twilight said. "I can tell that she loves you, just by the way you two act, and if I know Applejack, she won't leave her loved ones. Not unless she is forced to."
Rarity nodded her head and looked back out to the orchards. "Thanks Twilight. I've never really told anypony about us. But it was nice to tell a friend that." she said. She gave Twilight a hug, a tear running down her cheek. "Now, you should go to Luna and figure out what we need to do. Because as soon as Applejack comes back, we need to get to Canterlot and fix this."
"We will." Twilight said. They released each other from the hug and Twilight left to go back to the cave.
She passed Rainbow Dash who had a sleeping Fluttershy nestled in her wings. "Hey Rainbow." Twilight said.
"Hey, Twi." she replied. "What's up?"
"Just got done talking to Rarity. She's worried about Applejack." she said.
"We all are." Rainbow said as she ran a hoof through Fluttershy's mane. "Do you really think that she'll make it?"
Twilight had been calculating the odds of Applejack surviving, and they did not end up in her favor. "Well...I think she has a chance. If she's fast and heads straight to us."
"Yeah. Well, I guess a chance is better than no chance, right?" Rainbow asked.
"Right." Twilight replied.
Fluttershy gave a slight whimper as she encountered something in her dreams. "Hey, I'm here Fluttershy. Don't worry. I got you." Rainbow whispered to her, tightening her wing around her.
"How's she doing?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy was the most timid of them all, and this had to be really scary, especially for her.
"She's holding up. A few nightmares here and there, but she seems to be huffing through it. She's stronger than I think ponies give her credit for." Rainbow said.
"I'm glad to hear that. What about you?" she asked.
"Twilight, come on. It's me you're talking about. Nothing scares me." she bragged.
Twilight smiled. Typical Rainbow Dash. she thought. "Well I'm happy both of you are alright. Hopefully AJ will be here soon and we can get moving to Canterlot."
"The sooner the better." Rainbow said, putting another wing around Fluttershy.
Twilight walked over to a corner by herself. She grabbed her saddle bag and took one of the pictures from it. She sighed as she saw the picture of the pony she missed the most. It wasn't her parents or any family of hers, but a friend. A friend who she cared deeply for and would have tried her hardest to protect if she had the chance.
The image of her being bitten and torn apart by those creatures flashed through her mind. She tried to shake her head but couldn't. Her mangled, bloody body laid on the ground as ponies ran in every direction, not worrying about who had just been killed, only that they needed to get out quickly.
She cursed them and herself for not trying to help Pinkie. She wanted to help, but couldn't move from the sudden shock of the attack, and by the time she could move, it was too late. She saw her, lying in a pool of her own blood as she reached out for somepony to help her. But none did. They only looked out for themselves. Just like she had.
She was thrust out of her flashback when Luna let out a low voice, making the three she had nestled close to her laugh. "You're a Unicorn, Marey."
Twilight smiled, remembering the synopsis. A Unicorn is raised by Earth Ponies who have never treated her right. By hiding the fact she is a Unicorn through a magic spell, they treat like she is lower than them. But when a large Unicorn with a scraggly beard tells her the truth about herself, she will be put to the test during her first year as dark forces start to move.
It was a popular book that she had read many times. It helped keep her mind off of Pinkie Pie. She placed it back in her bag and laid her head down. Right now, they were safe. The guards would warn them if something was amiss and they had to leave. Twilight knew Rarity wasn't going to go anywhere until Applejack returned, and Rainbow Dash wasn't going to leave Fluttershy.
She sighed. Everypony has somepony... she thought. She closed her eyes, dreaming back to the days that she and Pinkie Pie had, just weeks before she died.
Twilight dreamt of Pinkie and their first time together alone after she was given her favorite picture of them. They went to see the newest Daring Do movie that came out. She would have gone with Rainbow Dash, but she had gone opening night. Both of them were entranced by the scenery and thinking that Daring had to do. Twilight actually found some of the puzzles difficult to decipher herself. But what really made that night special is that Pinkie had put a hoof over Twilight's.
She was never a very social mare before coming to Ponyville, and she had never thought of having a colt friend or a mare friend. It was foreign and scary. Yet, for some reason, Twilight was happy that Pinkie did that. She wrapped her hoof around Pinkie's, who laid her head on her shoulder. Twilight knew she was blushing like crazy, but she didn't care. She had Pinkie Pie here with her, and that was that mattered. After the movie, they went back to SugarCube Corner and had some of Pinkie Pie's brand new cakes. She had tried a different recipe than the previous ones, and she wanted to know how they were.
Twilight took one bite and loved it. "These are amazing!" she exclaimed.
Pinkie let out one of her laughs that always made Twilight smile. "Well of course they are silly! I made them just for you!" she said happily.
Twilight blushed at the comment. "Thanks Pinkie. I like them." she said. She was hesitant to use say she loved them, in case Pinkie might have thought she meant it toward her. She remember reading in a book that sometimes harmless comments like that could actually be interpreted into meaning different things.
And then it happened. A zombie horde stormed threw the bakery and swarmed over Pinkie Pie, engulfing her in their bites and groans. Her blood curdling screams sounded almost un-pony. And all the while, Twilight just sat back and watched, helplessly. She wanted to run to her, take her hoof and pull her out of that mess. But she sat there, frozen with fear and shock at what she was seeing.
Her screams died down as they zombies finished off what was left of her. They retreated, not even noticing Twilight. She looked at the mangled and bloodied corpse of Pinkie, who's face seemed to ask, "Why? Why didn't you save me? Why didn't you help me?"
And then she began to move. She picked herself up and staggered. She looked to Twilight and let out a low groan before lunging at her.
And that's when she woke up. She gasped for air as she looked around the cave she was in. It was a dream... she thought to herself. It didn't happen. She took a deep breath to recollect herself. But it did. Pinkie's dead because I didn't try to help her.
There were a few shouts as Luna's guards spotted something in the distance. Twilight quickly ran over to see what was going on. When she reached the entrance, she saw a large group running towards them. "Who are they? Ponies?" she asked.
"We don't know. They could be the infected, but they're moving awfully quick." one of the guards said.
"But didn't Luna say they could learn to run?" she pointed out.
"Yes, but the ponies infected in Ponyville are just recent. It should take much longer before they gain those skills." the other said. "We need to get out of here. If those are the infected, you all need to get away as soon as possible."
"And if they're ponies?" Rainbow Dash asked behind them. "We can't leave them to die!"
"But you ponies are more important." Luna said. "My sister needs you to help end this pandemic. You'll be no use to her dead."
"If she was here, would she leave them to die?" Twilight asked. "Would she leave the ponies she cares so much for to die because of a small group?"
"If in order to save the whole of Equestria, yes." Luna said bluntly.
Twilight stood there, silent. "I don't believe that." she said and ran out toward the group in the distance.
"Twilight, return here at once!" Luna called out as Rainbow Dash and Rarity quickly followed Twilight.
They made quick haste to get to the group in hopes to save them. Twilight looked behind her to see that Luna had followed her out herself. She smiled. I knew you couldn't stay behind. she thought.
As she closed the gap to the group, Rainbow and Rarity had caught up with her. "So what's the plan?" Rainbow asked.
"You need to fly high above them so you can see if they are ponies or infected so we know what we're dealing with." she replied.
"I'm on it." Rainbow said and flew ahead of them.
"Maybe Applejack is in there." Rarity said.
"That's what I'm thinking. It might explain why we didn't see any smoke earlier." Twilight said. As she got closer, she could see another group behind the others. "And it looks like my assumption is correct." she said as she saw Rainbow Dash fly back to them.
"They're ponies all right. But there's another group behind them that they seem to be running from. And they were moving a lot slower than the others." she said.
"Did you see Applejack?" Twilight asked.
"No. I didn't look for any pony in particular. I just knew that I saw a bunch of ponies running, some with kids on their backs." she replied.
"Then let's go get them." Twilight said. They reached the ponies, shouting at them to keep going and to head for the cave. Some of the ponies who looked like they had been running for days tried to give their kids to Twilight and the others. "Rainbow Dash! Take some of the kids and fly them to the cave!" Twilight shouted.
She nodded and swooped down, taking two kids at a time. Twilight saw Rarity looking through the crowd frantically. "Do you see her?" Twilight shouted.
"No!" she exclaimed. Twilight ran to the back of the group and saw the horde that was chasing them. And to her amazement, she saw another pony in front of them. She seemed to be limping and having trouble getting away from them. "Rarity!" Twilight shouted, pointing to the horde.
Rarity looked and must have seen the same thing that Twilight saw, because she turned to her and nodded. They ran to the pony, ready to attack any of the infected behind her if need be.
"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed as they got closer. Twilight was too busy focusing on how to deal with the horde to notice that the pony was actually Applejack. Rarity picked up the pace to meet up with her and quickly took hold of her. As Twilight reached them, Applejack had fallen and was unable to pick herself up. She looked terrible. Her body was bruised and bloody. Her leg horribly twisted, but Twilight saw no obvious bite marks.
"Get her out of here." she told Rarity, who nodded. They picked her up Rarity led her back. Twilight stayed back though. She knew that they would be overtaken by the horde soon with Applejack's leg the way it was.
"Twilight! Come on!" Rarity shouted.
"Keep going! I need to stop them or you'll both be dead!" she shouted back. She summoned up all her magic and focused it on one spot. As she built up the strength to cast it, a thought shot through her mind. I could die. This spell could get me killed. She shook her head. "If it keeps my friends safe, it's worth it." she said, and shot the spell at the horde that was just a few yards from her.
The air suddenly became cold that sent a shiver through her entire body. It lasted only for a second, and in that time, a huge explosion destroyed the area where the horde had been. It sent Twilight rocketing backwards, where she rolled past Rarity and Applejack. When she was done tumbling, she opened her eyes and saw Luna flying towards her with Rainbow Dash right behind her. Then everything faded to black, and silence.
Twilight felt warmth to her right as she came to. She opened her eyes and saw a torch next to her in a dark section of the cave. She quickly sat up but felt like she was about to vomit soon after. "Careful Twilight, for you must rest. Look at me for a little test." she heard a familiar voice across the room.
"Zecora? Is that you?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, little pony, now listen well. Of the zombies you saw, what could you tell?"
Twilight tried to think back to what happened. "Well, all I can remember is that there were a group of survivors being chased by a horde of infected." she said. Her eyes went wide as she remembered Applejack was with them. "Applejack! Is she okay? Did everypony make it back safe?"
"Your apple bucking friend is quite alright. A twisted ankle was the reason for your plight." Zecora reasurred her.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia."
"Celestia is not the one to thank, the one of night deserves that right." she said.
"Luna?" Twilight asked, clarifying. "She only came to help when I was in danger." she said angrily.
"I was sent to help you and keep you safe." Luna said as she walked into the light. "If it weren't for me, none of the ponies you recklessley saved would be alive and safe."
"What did you do? You didn't run out to risk your life for them. You rushed out to get me." Twilight shouted angrily. She knew it was rude and definitely wrong, but she didn't care.
"I found this place while you slept. I ran into Zecora and led Fluttershy and the kids here. I came back just in time to see that there was a horde coming." she explained.
"If you knew of this place then why did you want to leave the others to die?" Twilight asked.
"Because resources are low as it is." Luna said harshly. "These ponies are mainly from Appleoosa and the cities that were hit by the infection first. They are already cramped to the brink here and there is little food to go around. Now that they have an extra 150 mouths to feed, they're going to be in more danger than if they didn't save the others."
"And what did they want to do? The ponies who were here first, what did they want to do?"
Luna was hesitant to answer. "They had my oppinion. They didn't want to stretch their already thin resources. Those that made it would be allowed to stay. Those who didn't..." she trailed off.
Twilight was speechless. She wouldn't, couldn't, believe that ponies would leave others to die when they were completely defenseless. "But...there were kids..." she said.
"And they agreed that that was the hardest part about the decision. They knew children would be in any groups that came to them, and they knew some would die. But they logistically couldn't hold all of them." Luna said.
"Moving further down the mountain pass, that is what your endeavor has forced this mass." Zecora stated.
Twilight just looked at the ground. Why do ponies only look out for themselves? she thought to herself.
"Every action you do, can have a negative effect, even if it holds good intention. It's why I choose to let others handle themselves. Because they are usually better off by themselves or with their small group than heading to a large, already full hide out." Luna explained.
"A short rest is what you need. Call for me when you are ready to leave." Zecora said as she left.
"Are we being kicked out?" Twilight asked.
Luna shook her head. "I told her of what you were needed for. We need to keep moving so we can get to Canterlot as soon as possible."
Twilight sighed. "I want to see the ponies here first." she said.
Luna nodded her head. "You can after you rest. Whatever spell you cast took most of your energy from you."
"It was a spell of my own creation. I made it after Spike was going crazy over the latest zombie survival book he got. I made it just for fun, but never tried it out. Never thought I'd have to." she said.
Luna narrowed her eyes. "Wait, you created that spell?" she asked. Twilight nodded her head. "That's...strange."
"Why is that?"
"Nopony has created a new spell for 500 years. The last to do it was myself as a way to make the stars brighter and more beautiful while I was on the moon." she stated.
"But how do you know if somepony else didn't make a spell while you were gone?" Twilight asked.
"Because my sister knows a spell that lets her know when a new spell is created. She uses it every night as a way to make sure nopony is trying to find a way to attack Equestria." Luna explained.
"So you're saying she knows I made a new spell?" Twilight asked.
"No. Not yet at least. I'd assume that she has more troubling matters at hoof than an attack from a foreign nation." she said. Luna looked to Twilight. "Rest. We need to leave as soon as possible. You can visit around when you are done resting, but the latest we should leave is tomorrow morning."
Luna left as Twilight thought about what she was told. I created that spell awhile ago. It was so simple. she thought. Maybe I could make another one that does the same but with less energy consumption. She looked around her and when she was certain she was alone, she found a stick and started to write in the ground.
In 15 minutes she figured she had made three new spells. They had a mix of some other, simpler spells, but the outcome was different than the others. One would make anything with dead flesh explode, another cause the target's brain to hemorrhage. The last one was the most dangerous. It didn't just disintegrate the target, it could potentionally pass from one to another in less than a second. Twilight wasn't certain on the range of the jump since she had yet to test it, but she didn't want to use it unless it was a dire emergency.
"Twilght! Yer up!" Applejack exclaimed as she walked in with the others.
"Are you alright, darling? You took a nasty fall after that explosion you caused." Rarity said.
"It was so cool! You rushed in, saved AJ, and then destroyed all those zombies in a giant blast! It was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with excitement.
"I'm fine, girls." Twilight said with a smile. "Applejack, Zecora told me that you twisted your ankle. Is that why you weren't able to light the barn?"
"Yeah, that's why. Ah was about to light it when Ah heard crying from the back room. When Ah walked over there Ah found a little filly. Ah had to get her out of there. When I rushed out through the orchard, I ran for a bit before Ah found the group you rescued. Her mom was in the group crying. She thought that she had lost her to those creatures.
"Ah told them about the horde back at the barn and told them to run for where we were headed. I didn't know where else to go, so we ran as fast as our legs could carry us. Ah must have been running too fast becuase there was a little hole Ah musn't have noticed and twisted ma' ankle." she explained.
"I'm just glad you're safe Applejack." Rarity said.
"It's gonna take a lot more than a dumb horde to take me down." AJ said.
"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "What did you write in the dirt?"
"These are some spells that I made." she said.
"Wait, you made a new spell?" Rarity asked, shocked.
"Yep. Well, technically four now. That one that I used to kill all those infected was a spell I made after Spike was going bananas over zombies. I didn't think I'd ever use it, so I just put something together without thinking too much about it."
"But how?" Rarity asked. "I've been trying for ages to make a spell that could spawn new dress ideas without success."
"Well, I don't know any spells that can think of ideas, so I don't think that is possible. However, material spells that can control matter and elements are much easier to create." Twilight said.
"How do you know that though?"
"I've read about it. I used a combination of spells that were already made to create a stronger one that covered a large area." She moved to show them the spells she had in the dirt. "This one targets dead flesh, this one causes the brain to hemorrhage, and this one disintegrates the target and any surrounding it." she said, pointing to each respective spell.
"That last one sounds kinda dangerous." Applejack said. "Are you sure that one is safe to use?"
"Well...no." Twilight admitted. "But as long as I make sure there are no ponies around, it could prove to be very effective."
"Ah don't know. It just sounds like something awful could happen."
"Don't sweat it, Applejack. This is Twilight we're talking about. She can do all kinds of magic." Rainbow said.
"Ah know." she said with a sigh. "Jus' be careful."
"I will. I don't plan to use it unless I absolutely have to." Twilight reassured. "Lets take a look around. I want to see what these ponies need." They walked out of the little section of the cave that they were in. Within seconds Twilight saw just what was the conditions were like. The are wasn't that big, and the had what looked like the entire population of Ponyville in an area much smaller than that..
"It's so crowded." Twilight said.
"Yes, but most would rather be crowded and alive, then free and dead." Rainbow said.
"I think it's absolutely dreadful that they keep this many ponies in such a tight space." Rarity said. "They get so dirty so fast."
"My worry isn't their cleanliness. It's what could happen should an outbreak occur. If one pony gets sick, then it'll spread like wildfire." Twilight said. "This place is like a Petri dish."
"A what?" Applejack asked.
"It's a place where scientists study bacteria. Except instead of a dish, it's ponies, and instead of it being controlled, it could spread faster then they can stop it." Twilight explained.
"Well why doesn't the Princess move them to Canterlot?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight thought about, and she didn't like the answer she came up with. "With so many ponies here, trying to move all of them to Canterlot would take too many resources than she has to spare. The guards are probably busy keeping the infected ponies out of Canterlot. If she moved any number of guards here to escort them, she could lose most, if not all the guards and all the civilians." She sighed. "In all honesty, they are safer here than out there."
"And what happens if a hoard breaks in? There are so many ponies here that would be trying to escape that it would just turn into a stampede! Ponies would be trampling all over each other." Rainbow said.
"I don't like it Rainbow, but at least here, they have a chance. These walls are solid rocks. The only way in is through the front door which should be guarded at all times." Twilight said. She saw a pony to her right with an amputated foreleg and she was forced to look away. "Come on. We need to find the Princess. I'm sure the kids are with her. And I don't want to see anymore of this." She started walking through the mass of ponies, searching for Luna.
"Hey, Ah see Zecora over there." Applejack said. They walked over to her as she gave a bubbly liquid of some kind to a pony.
"I see you've rested. Come with me, I'll take you to whom you want to see." Zecora said as the pony in front of her passed out. She led them through a small gap where Luna and the kids were sitting. Sweetie Belle was reading their book as Luna watched over a group of ponies cut away at a rock wall.
"Feeling better Twilight?" Luna asked.
"Yes. And I wanted to say I'm sorry about how I acted back there. It wasn't right of me." Twilight said.
"It's alright. she said. "I understand your concern for them. But we need to keep moving to get you and your friends to Canterlot."
"We're almost through, your highness." one of ponies said.
"Good. We need to have another way out should a horde attack." Luna said.
"Do you think another horde is on the way?" Fluttershy asked.
"Something we've found out about them is that where there's one horde, there's always more on the way." she said. "They seem to flock to others like them. Eventually, this group will have to move. The infected seem to know where their prey is. Once everypony near them turns or runs, they'll be out looking for us next."
"So this is jus' an extra escape route?" Applejack asked.
"No. It's the only escape route other than the entrance." she said.
"What? You can't be serious!" Rarity exclaimed.
"I'm afraid so. They didn't realize how close the horde was and hadn't planned for an escape just yet." she said solemnly.
Twilight sighed. "So how long until it's done and we can move on?"
"A few more minutes we believe. Once it's open, we'll be on our way. I've already told Zecora to be ready to leave in case a horde shows up." she said.
"Will they all be able ta make it out?" Applejack asked.
Luna looked to the cowmare. "Sadly, no. Those who are weak will not be able to make it out. Only those who are strong and able bodied will make it out."
"There has to be some way we could help them." Rarity said.
"Unless you plan on healing every sick pony here, you won't be able to do much." Luna said.
"But what about all the kids that are here?" Rainbow exclaimed. "They won't be able to fend for themselves and they'll be trampled by the stampede of ponies trying to get out!"
"Rainbow Dash, I understand your concern." Luna replied. "These are the ponies that I have watched over for a long time. I knew some of their ancestors before I was sent to the moon. And the fact that my actions may sentence some of them to their death is almost too much for me to handle." She walked up to the rainbow colored Pegasus. "I've had to kill friends of mine during this pandemic. Ponies who's ancestors I was close to, who's ancestor's children I've played with. Every time I killed one of them, I felt like a part of me was dying with them. I have severed too many lines of ponies for my soul to rest well. But we need to continue and leave some for dead in order to save Equestria."
Rainbow hovered there speechless as Luna turned away from her. Twilight knew what she was talking about. She still hadn't gotten over killing Bon Bon. She's killed many zombies in the past, but none that she was able to identify. She walked up to the Princess who was trying her hardest to keep a calm complexion. "Luna...I'm sorry. I didn't know what you had done."
"It doesn't matter now. No need to look on what has occurred in the past right now. Only when this hell is over can we grieve and remember those we lost." she said.
"Your highness!" one of the mining ponies said. "We're through."
"Excellent. Open the cave wall large enough for a large number of ponies to escape through." she ordered. The pony nodded and began mining again.
"We'll be leaving soon. If there's anything else you need to-" Luna started to say but was cut off by the miner's blood curdling screams.
"Get back!" Luna shouted, shoving Twilight towards her friends. Twilight saw that the zombie was wearing fancy clothing and looked like he had lived in a high society area. Luna ran up to the zombie and kicked it in the head, sending it flying off it's mangled body. The pony bitten was on the ground, holding a hoof up to his bleeding neck, drowning in his own blood.
"What in the hay are they doin' here?" Applejack asked.
"They're from Baltimare. But how? We destroyed the area to contain it and kill all the zombies there." Luna said under her breath.
"You what?!" Twilight exclaimed, shocked.
"Nothing. I'll have my guards warn Zecora that they need to go, now. We'll move on ahead and they'll rendezvous with us before we get to Canterlot." she said. "He seemed to be the only one, but they don't travel as individuals. There's more on the way."
"But, what about us?" Fluttershy asked.
"You all will take the kids out of here and to safety. I'll be right behind you as soon as I instruct my guards what has occurred here. Don't worry though. I won't be long." she said and ran out of the gap they were in.
"Twilight? What do you think?" Applejack asked.
"We can't just leave these ponies to fend for themselves! They'll get slaughtered!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"But if we do, we run the risk of getting killed ourselves. And Applejack is not in any sort of condition to fight." Rarity pointed out.
"Ah'll be fine. Ah agree with Rainbow Dash. These ponies are sick an' confined. We need to get as many out as we can before it becomes a panic and ponies get trampled." Applejack said.
"But...with so many ponies we may not be able to get out before the horde comes. We could easily be putting ourselves in danger. It might be best for us to avoid getting caught up in an attack..." Fluttershy said. "But I don't want to leave anypony behind! I want to help them. Just...not if we all will die..."
Twilight stood there looking at her friends. Each with great reasons as to why they believed what they did. What do I do?
Pinkie Pie flashed into her mind, making her wince. She saw her staring back at her, eyes bloodshot with a chunk of her torn from her neck. No. Not again. she thought. "We're leaving." she said.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "You can't be serious?"
"Rainbow Dash, I am. We can't risk our lives for them. Princess Celestia needs us to stop the virus from spreading. If we fail, then these ponies would die anyway." Twilight explained. "And...I can't lose any of you again..."
"Twilight, don't do this because Ah'm impaired. We need to help them." Applejack said.
"No. We can't. I've made up my mind and we're leaving as soon as Luna gets back." Twilight said, firmly. "Spike, help the girls get their things put away."
"Right." he said, getting up from his spot next to Sweetie Belle. He began packing up the blankets and books that they had with them.
"Are we leaving?" Scootaloo asked.
"I guess so." Rainbow said with a grimace. "Fluttershy, stick with me. Scoots, you too." They walked over to her, Fluttershy holding herself close to Rainbow.
"Alright. The guards are starting evacuations." Luna said.
"Good. We're leaving." Twilight said.
"Decided that quickly have you?"
"It wasn't a hard choice. she said quickly, turning to the hole in the wall. "The Princess needs us safe and sound. Without us she may not be able to find a way to fix this."
"You're right. Let's get going. We need to move and get to Canterlot. My guards will handle the evacuation." Luna said.
"Come on, girls. Let's head on through here. Be careful though. The cave isn't very wide, so we'll have to be on guard." Twilight said. "Luna, Rainbow Dash, can you take the lead? You two will have to warn us if there are any of them ahead of us. I heard moaning, so I want to make sure we don't run into them while we try to escape. Rarity, you and the others will follow and I'll take the rear in case we get flanked."
"On it." Rainbow said. She walked through the crevice with Luna behind her and Fluttershy and the kids following suit. Rarity helped Applejack carry herself through, nodding a look of thanks to Twilight.
She sighed. "Are you okay Twilight?" Spike asked, worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hope that when we get to Canterlot we can figure out what to do about this nano virus." she replied.
"Okay. I just want you to know I'll support you, 100%." he said, jumping on her back.
She smiled. "Thanks, Spike." She took one last look at the cave they were leaving, saw a little filly stare at her, confused, before bolting through the crevice.
"How long does this crevice go?" Rainbow Dash asked Luna.
"About a mile. We wanted to make it larger so more ponies could get out, but with the surprise guest we had, they'll have to make due with what they have." she said.
"Is there any way you could make the pass any wider behind us, Twi? Just so that way ponies are able to get out easier?" Applejack asked.
"I would, but these rocks aren't stable. If I were to do it, I could cause a rockslide and block off the exit or crush us." Twilight explained.
"Don't worry about them. My guards will handle it and get as many ponies out as they can." she said.
"I still don't think we should have left them." Rainbow said.
"We are in no condition to fight, deary. Applejack is limping and Twilight cast some spell that I'm sure has left her very tired." Rarity said as Applejack leaned against her for support through the rocky terrain around them.
"But there's still-" Rainbow started but was cut off.
"She's right." Twilight said. "Applejack's hoof may get injuured worse if she were to get into any unnessary skirmishes."
"Twilight, Ah told ya', Ah'm fine." Applejack said. "A few zombies ain't gonna bring me down."
"Maybe. But I'm not risking it." Twilight said. She kept looking behind her, making sure nothing was following them.
They continued to walk in silence. Nopony was too talkative after the decision she made, but they didn't know what she had to consider. She had lost one friend due to inaction, she didn't want to lose any others. She felt Spike tap her shoulder. "Is something bothering you?"
"I was just thinking on if I made the right choice." she replied.
"Of course you did. You're looking out for your friends to help save more lives than the ones in the cave. You saved Applejack from the attack that would have come, not to mention Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." he said.
"Oh yeah, how are you and Sweetie Belle doing?" she said, with a coy smile.
"Uh..what do you mean?" he said blushing.
"Oh come on Spike. I saw you two together back at the library. You two slept next to each other and you had your tail wrapped around her hoof."
"It's nothing. She was just scared and wanted me to help protect her." he countered quickly.
Twilight giggled. "Okay, Spike."
"Umm...can I ask you something?" he asked.
"What is it?"
"Well...I know it's not like the comic books, but...what's it like when you kill one of them?" he asked, carefully. She didn't reply right away. "Is it easy?"
"...no..." she said quietly. "No, it's not easy. They don't leave Spike. I still have nightmares about Pinkie Pie and Bon Bon. They're the only ones that I knew died because of me."
"But you didn't kill Pinkie Pie." Spike pointed out.
"Well, not directly, but I didn't act. I just stood there, not moving." she explained. "I didn't make an effort to help her."
"But you can't blame yourself for that. It was unexpected and you didn't know what to do." he said.
"Still..." she said quietly. She lowered her head as they walked on.
"Hey...I'm sorry for bringing it up." Spike said, trying to comfort her.
"It's fine. I just hope you never have to do what I did. I care about you and want you to stay safe." she said, nudging his arm with her muzzle.
"Shhh." Luna said, stopping and listening. Everyone else followed suit, paying close attention to what she had noticed.
"What's going on?" Sweetie Belle asked quietly.
"Shh!" Luna hushed again. The only sound was the rustling of the wind. "We must be close. The exit should be up ahead." she said.
"Wait..." Twilight said. She had heard something else among the wind rustling. "There's something else."
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked, shakily.
Twilight cast a spell that helped resonate sound from a certain direction. She still had to listen very closely to hear it, but the sound was unmistakeable. "They're coming!" she exclaimed. "We have to keep going! If we don't, they'll cut us off at the exit."
"You heard her girls! Let's go!" Rainbow exclaimed and zoomed through the cave.
"How far is the exit?" Twilight asked Luna.
"About half a mile. The infected?"
"A mile. If we move faster then they do, we should be able to get out and away before they get here." Twilight replied.
"That'll be cutting it awful close." Applejack said, trying to keep up without injuring her hoof again.
"It's all we got." Twilight said. They ran down the crevice as fast as they could.
After a few minutes Rainbow was able to see the light from the exit. "It's right up ahead!" she exclaimed. A zombie crawled in front of her and she quickly kicked it's head in. "We have company!"
"Rainbow! Take the kids out of here! We'll meet by the river!" Luna ordered. She nodded her head and grabbed them, flying off over the few zombies that made it to the exit. "Rarity, help Applejack out of here. Twilight and I will cover you."
"Take Spike, too." Twilight said.
"What? I'm staying with you!" he protested.
"You're safer with them. Please Spike." she said. He sighed and walked over with Rarity.
"Let's go, darling." she said, pulling AJ through.
"How long do we have to hold out?" Twilight asked.
"As soon as Rarity is cleared we should be good. Let's draw their attention." she said, shooting a bolt to one of the infected.
"Hey!" Twilight shouted. "Scumbags, over here!" The infected started to make their way towards them, away from the others. "Okay. Now what?" she asked.
"Now we fight." Luna said, smiling. She ran up to the closest one and kicked it hard, knocking its head clean from it's body. She moved on to the next two and used her magic to implode both of their brains.
I guess now is as good of a time as any. Twilight thought. She built up the power to use one of the spells she made. She targeted the closest one and released the spell. The body exploded, sending bits of flesh everywhere. "It worked!" she exclaimed. The zombie's head was the only part that survived and was rolling toward her. It continued trying to bite her before she stomped on it, staining her coat with bits of brain tissue and blood.
"Twilight! More are coming over here!" Luna called, battling a number of them herself. Twilight ran over to her, kicking another one that got in her way. She sent a shockwave into a group of infected that were closing in on Luna. "They're getting real close. The horde is twice the size we met when we saved AJ and the group."
"Is Rarity and the others clear?" Twilight asked.
"Almost. But if we don't leave soon, we'll be overrun." she said.
"Right. Well, let's buy them some more time." Twilight said, charging into another group. She charged the other spell she made and released it on the group. They collapsed, telling her that their brains hemorrhaged. "It's good knowing these are working." Suddenly she collapsed, feeling exhausted. "What..." she said, short of breath.
"Twilight!" Luna exclaimed, rushing over to her. "You alright?"
"Yeah..." she said, slowly getting to her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You're exhausted. Have you been using more spells you created?" she asked. Twilight nodded. "Damn it. You can't do that. You don't know the strain it could do to your body and energy. If you're not careful, you'll pass out, and now is not the time to let that happen." she explained, kicking the head off of another zombie that came close to them. "We have to move. You can't fight any longer."
"Luna, I'm fine. They need time to get out." Twilight tried to convince her.
"We don't have time to argue!" Luna shouted. "We need to go!"
"If I can buy them more time, I will!"
"But you'll die, and then all of Equestria will be lost!" Luna shouted back at her, shooting more bolts at the zombies closing in.
Twilight looked around and saw that the horde had surrounded them. All my other spells work... and maybe if I use that last spell I could save all of us. But what if even conjuring the spell knocks me unconscious? Luna would have to fight them all off and carry me away. I could just leave like she wants, but then Rarity and Applejack might be in some trouble. Could I stay and fight with what energy I have left and run when it's too unbearable to continue?
Twilight stood up, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Luna, get out of here." she said weakly.
"Are you crazy? You need to get to Canterlot!" Luna exlaimed.
"I know and I will, but only if you leave! I'm going to cast another spell that will kill all of them. I don't know if it affects other ponies that aren't targeted since it jumps from one to another. When I cast it, you need to come back and take me to the others." she explained.
"I cannot advise this!" Luna shouted.
"You'll do it if you want Equestria to be safe!" Twilight shouted back. A zombie had popped up behind her. Luna shot it with a magic bolt, sending it flying back into the horde.
"Damnit! Fine! I hope you know what you're doing!" she shouted and flew into the air.
I hope this works. If not, well I was going to die anyway. she thought. She drew the energy to cast the spell, feeling her body grow colder and colder. Her vision started to fade, blurring the horde of zombies in front of her. When she had built up enough power for the spell, she cast it at the nearest zombie.
The creature disintegrated in a flash and was followed by the two behind it, then the next four. In a few seconds the entire field was clear. Twilight felt a smile grow on her face. "Thank Celestia..." she said, before collapsing on her side. She saw Luna flying towards her.
She blinked and saw her standing over her, shouting her name. "Twilight! Wake up!" Luna exclaimed, shaking her.
"Did they make it?" she asked, losing feeling throughout her body.
"Yes they did. Now stay with me, Twilight." Luna said calmly.
"Good." Twilight said with a smile. She saw her vision start to close from the sides. She saw Luna casting a spell and felt herself slip away.
***
Luna flew back to the other ponies, carrying Twilight on her back. Spike was the first to run over to her when she landed. "Twilight!" he exclaimed. "Is she alright?"
"I don't know. I hope so." she said. "We need to move though. There's a place we can camp out North of here. Once we're there I'll send a message to my guards to head there instead of Canterlot."
"Is it safe up there, your highness? With both Applejack and Twilight unable to fight, we are drastically hindered." Rarity said.
"Ah can still fight, ya'll." Applejack said.
"Stop being so stubborn, AJ. You're leg is still hurt. The ponies back at the cave did their best, but you are still not able to fight." Rarity replied.
"Can we just go to the safe place? I don't want to see anymore of them." Fluttershy said.
"We'll be fine. Princess, how far away is it?" Rainbow asked.
"A few miles. I can carry Twilight until we reach it, but we'll have to stay there for a little bit. At least long enough for Twilight to recover." she replied.
"Umm...Princess Luna? Can I-" Spike started to say, but was cut off as Luna picked him up and put him on her back with Twilight.
"Of course you can, little one. We'll leave in a few minutes. I want to see if Twilight may become conscious before we leave." she said.
"Ah'll be fine on my own now, Rarity. But thanks for helping me out when Ah needed it." Applejack said with a smile.
"You're welcome deary." she said. She noticed Sweetie Belle by herself a few feet away, poking at the ground. "I need to talk to Sweetie Belle and see how she's doing. A lot has happened to her recently."
"You do that. She needs her big sis after all." Applejack said.
Rarity walked next to Sweetie Belle and sat down next to her. "Hey, Sweetie. How are you doing?" Sweetie didn't say anything and kept poking at the dirt. "We're going to be leaving soon."
"Will she be alright?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Why of course she will, darling. It's Twilight. She's a strong mare." Rarity said.
"Is she like this because of us?" she asked.
"No. Why would you think that?"
"Because we left her there. We didn't help her." Sweetie Belle said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Hey. We left because we had to take care of Applejack. Rainbow was keeping you and the others safe. Twilight only did what was best for us." Rarity explained.
Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight's limp body. "I wish I could help her in some way. I may be small, and not able to do a lot of magic, but I want to be of some use. I hate feeling like I can't do anything." she said, kicking a rock away from her.
"Hmm, I think I know how you can help out if you really want to." Rarity said with a small smile.
"Really? Like what?" Sweetie Belle said, her face lifted.
"You see Spike? He's the one who's dealing with this the worst. Why not go over to him and comfort him a little?" she suggested.
"But he's with Twilight. I don't want him to think I'm being uncaring." Sweetie said.
"You'll be fine. He's an understanding dragon. He'll know that you are there to help him." Rarity said. She nudged her sister to him and Luna. "Go on."
"Okay." Sweetie Belle said. She turned her head to her big sister. "Thanks Rarity." she said with a smile and ran over to him.
Rarity laughed lightly to herself. I'm glad she's lucky to have somepony during this troubling time. she thought. She looked to Applejack and saw her talking to Fluttershy. And I'm lucky too.
***
"How ya' doing sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, well, I'm okay, I guess. I haven't been bitten, so that's good." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Ah'm glad that you're doing well. How's Rainbow doing takin' care of ya'?"
"She's doing great. She always keeps me moving, even when I'm too scared to run away." she replied.
"Well, that's Rainbow for ya'. Always there for her friends." Applejack said with a smile.
"There is one thing, though, that I want to ask you." Fluttershy said in a hushed voice.
"What is it?"
"Well, it's about Twilight. The Princess claims that she is the only one who can help cure this...thing. If that's the case, why didn't she teleport her to Canterlot?" she asked.
"Remember what Twilight said? She doesn't have the magic powerful enough to send eight ponies, plus the guards, and Spike to Canterlot. It's too much for her." Applejack pointed out.
"Well, yes, but why not just send Twilight? We could have made our way to Canterlot by ourselves, and by that time, Twilight could have found a way to fix it." Fluttershy explained.
"She would never do that. She wouldn't leave us to fend for ourselves."
"But look at her. This is the second time she's knocked herself out, and if it weren't Princess Luna, Twilight would be dead. What would we do then?" she asked, nervously.
"Then we would find another way. And Twilight knows her limits. Ah know she wouldn't do anything to put herself in danger." Applejack said uneasily. "And don't think like that. We're all going to make it to Canterlot, safe and sound."
"Oh, I hope so. I don't want to imagine what would happen if we were to lose someone else." Fluttershy said.
"We ain't gonna lose anymore ponies. We'll keep each other safe. Ah promise." Applejack said, pulling her yellow friend into a hug.
"Okay. I'm just so scared." Fluttershy said.
"Ah know. But we'll be fine. We got the Princess and Twilight here to help us. Not to mention you got Rainbow Dash. She'll look after you." Applejack said.
"I know. But I think she's getting annoyed with me. I've done nothing but be a burden." she said, hiding her face.
"No you haven't." Applejack said.
"What have I done to help us?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well..." Applejack trailed off. She hasn't really done much. She hasn't fought any of these things and we're going to need all the fighters we can get... she thought. "Well, you took care of the little ones and you voiced your opinion on what we need to do in certain situations. We're a team, and every ponies opinion matters. That's how you help us." she said.
"But I mean physically. I can't fight them. I can't hurt another pony, even if I need to."
"But they're not ponies. They're monsters. Ponies don't eat each other. Only monsters do." she said.
"They look like ponies though." Fluttershy said.
"Ah know. But we just have to remember that they aren't actually ponies. It'll be okay. We'll get through this. Hopefully we won't have to fight anymore of them." Applejack said. She held Fluttershy comfortingly and hoped that Twilight would become conscious before long.
***
Rainbow Dash sat away from the others. Twilight is doing so much for us. And she keeps putting herself in danger to save us. she thought. There has to be an easier way for her to get to Canterlot without us hindering her.
"Hello Rainbow Dash. What are you doing here, away from your friends?" Luna asked as she took a seat next to her.
"Nothing, Princess...I've just been thinking about a way to keep Twilight from constantly saving us. It feels like she's doing all the work while we're just tagging along for the ride." Rainbow replied.
"Why do you think that?"
"Well she saved us in Ponyville, she saved us at AJ's farm, she saved us in the cave, and she just now saved us from that horde. She's passed out twice, and we've done nothing more than put her in danger. She's needed in Canterlot to save Equestria, so why are we here?" she asked.
Luna looked at Twilight. "From my understanding, she loves all of you. You're her friends, and she wants to make sure what happened to Pinkie Pie doesn't happen to all of you. It's hard enough on her as it is that Pinkie is gone and I don't think she could survive another one of her friends turning out like her."
"But we seem to always put her in more danger. Luna, I hate that Pinkie is gone, she was a really good friend of mine. I don't think anypony here could survive another friend going like she did." Rainbow said. "We need to do something to help save Twilight and Equestria. We're the Elements of Harmony for ponies sake!!" she exclaimed. "Well, we're five of the Elements of Harmony."
"While there may only be five of you, the Elements can still do great things. The elements are just that. Elements. It's the ponies who wield them that give them their power. As long as you stay true to them, your elements may just save your life and your friend's lives." Luna explained.
"How? Without Pinkie Pie's element they're completely useless." Rainbow Dash said.
"Only in the way that you know. I've been gone a long time and my memory of the Element's powers are bleak, but when one element loses it's beholder, it channels itself into the others, and gives them the magic of that element. So when you think about it, Pinkie Pie isn't really gone. There's still a part of her that lives in you." Luna explained. "We should get going. We can't stay here too long. If you could go rally up the girls please."
"Yeah. Will do." she said. She walked over to Fluttershy and Applejack first. "Hey, Luna says that we're leaving soon. Get ready."
"Alrighty sugarcube. I'll go tell Rarity." Applejack said as she limped over to her friend.
"Hey Fluttershy. You alright?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy just shook her head. "I know you're scared."
"Why can't I be like you? You're not afraid of those things. You're not afraid to do what you need to do." Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash looked around carefully, making sure nopony was in ear shot. "Well, the truth is that I'm really scared. I don't show it, but everytime I see one I'm afraid. Not because I may die, but because of you. I don't want anything to happen to you or any other pony."
"You're afraid?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah. I'd be insane not to be. But being afraid is okay. Fear gives you a reason to fight for something. It's why I fight to protect you." Rainbow Dash said quietly.
Fluttershy looked at her with admiration. "Okay. I guess I can be afraid. But what if I can't fight them?"
"Then you run. You may not be able to fight them, but you can outrun them." Rainbow said.
"Okay." she said. She stood up and smiled at Rainbow. "Thanks for the advice."
"You're welcome, Flutters. Now let's get back to Twilight." she said.
"We're almost there." Luna said to the group. They had been traveling for about two hours straight since they left.
"Good. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo need to rest. They're exhausted." Rainbow Dash said.
"How's Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"She's still unconscious, but she's alive." Luna replied.
"Will the guards be there when we get there?" Fluttershy asked.
"One of them will be. We can't stay long for both of them to arrive. They know that if we are not there that they need to move to Canterlot. They need as many guards there as they can." she replied.
"How far from Canterlot are we Princess?" Rarity asked, carrying a tired Sweeite Belle.
"About 50 miles. We'll take refuge at our next stop and gather our strength. We'll need it." she said.
"Where are we exactly? Ah've never seen this place before." Applejack said.
"We're in the Unicorn Range. We came out at the base of the mountain. If I'm correct, the castle is just on the opposite side of this mountain." Luna said.
"Why don't you fly up to the castle with Twilight? It would be easier for you and she could help save Equestria." Rainbow Dash said.
"Do you really think Twilight would be happy if I left you here with an injured friend and two little fillies?" Luna said. "I know that Applejack can hold her own, but it still doesn't change the fact that with an injured ankle she can't fight as well."
"She'd understand though." Applejack said. "She knows that she has to stop this nano whatever to save us all."
"Just because she knows what she has to do, doesn't mean that she will. She's already lost one friend, and I'm not going to make her lose another." Luna said. They stayed quiet after that as they remembered Pinkie. "There's a shortcut through this cave. It leads us right under the city. It's how Chrysalis was able to sneak in when she tried to take over." she said, motioning over to a small cave in the distance.
"That seems like a bad design flaw." Rainbow said.
"After my sister had defeated me and banished me to the moon, she had Canterlot built. She was constantly being protected and watched over to protect her from others who tried to take over as I had." she said. "She had a close friend of hers create the tunnel, so she could sneak out undetected and have some time to think."
"How do you know all of this?" Fluttershy asked.
"She showed me around the city when I returned. She knew that the guards would want to keep a close eye on me, but she told me of a secret tunnel she had built in my chambers a few years before my escape from the moon. This way, she knew that I could have time to think to myself."
"Isn't it guarded though?" Rarity asked.
"No. Remember, it was meant as a way for us to leave the city undetected. Only a few guards know about it, and they are the most trusted ones. And it's how we planned to get back in the city." Luna said.
"Will we be able to rest a little bit?" Sweetie Belle asked, exhausted.
"Yes, little one. We're almost there." Luna said. They walked into the cave and placed their saddle bags down.
"Oh man, Ah can't wait to relax a little bit." Applejack said, leaning against the wall.
Luna examined the cave and was disgruntled that the guards weren't here yet. "Let's make sure the place is clear first. Don't want there to be any surprises while we rest." Luna said, placing Twilight with her head on a saddle bag for support. "Fluttershy, keep an eye on the kids. Spike, if Twilight awakens, call for us."
They searched the cave but didn't find anything suspicious. They returned to the cave entrance and found one of the guards nursing a wound on his leg. "Flint? What happened?" Luna asked, worried that he might have been bitten.
"A rock fell on my leg and cut it open while I was trying to get out. Don't worry, I swear it's not a bite, your highness." he said.
"Let me look at it." she said. He showed her the wound and she gave a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. I just had to be sure. The mission is way to important and we're so close."
"I understand. If it had been a bite, you wouldn't have seen me here. I would've either fought till I was overrun, or killed myself." he said.
Luna hesitated before asking her next question. "How many did we lose?"
"About 4/5. Those closest to the exit made it out easily, but those that were farther away didn't stand a chance. The ones in between were trampled by those behind them in the frenzy to escape." he said, lowering his head. "I don't want to know how many were children..."
"I'm sorry..." she said, quietly.
"Reck didn't make it. He was one of the first to go. He told me to go to the exit and make sure that everypony could escape. He was going to hold them off for as long as he could." Flint said. "Not two minutes later and I heard him scream in pain over the sound of the crowd. That started the frenzy that killed most of the ponies in there."
Luna felt like her heart had stopped. Both Flint and Reck had been her personal guards around Canterlot. The three of them formed a close friendship and Luna couldn't believe that one of them was gone. She felt tears start to form, but quickly pushed them back. "We'll mourn them all later. We need to get a shield up to protect us in case they try to surprise us." Luna said.
"Yes Princess." Flint said. She stood up and walked over towards the entrance. The first spell she cast would alert her to the presence of anything from the outside. If anything crossed it, she would know. She stepped back a few feet and cast the shielding spell. It wasn't a complex spell, but a simple shield. It could easily withstand multiple hits from the zombies, and with the alarm, they would be well away from them by the time they broke through the shield.
She walked back to the group who had already started laying out their beddings. "Get some sleep. We're going to need our energy. And this may be one of the few times we get a chance to rest." she said.
"We should take turns on watch. Y'know, just as an extra safety precaution." Applejack said.
"I'll take first watch. I need to bandage this up some more anyway." Flint said.
"We'll trade off every hour. It's almost dark, so we'll leave in the morning." Luna said. She knew that her sister could handle the raising of the sun and moon, but felt awkward knowing that her duty was no longer hers.
"When the hour is over, wake me up." Rainbow said, laying next to Fluttershy.
Flint nodded his head and took a seat that was close to the entrance. Luna walked over to Spike and Sweetie Belle who were sitting next to Twilight. "You two think you can keep an eye on her?" she asked. They both nodded. "Okay. If she stirs, wake me up. I want to make sure she knows where we are at and what our plan is."
She walked back to the other side of the wall and curled up on the ground. She knew that with an alarm, a shield, and somepony on watch every hour, that they would be safe. But she couldn't help the feel of dread wash over her as she tried to fall asleep. She lost one of her closest friends and knew that Flint was going to take it harder than she was. She tried to push him out of her mind, but as she fell asleep, thoughts of the three of them snuck into her dreams.
***
Rainbow Dash hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Scootaloo had cuddled up next to her and Fluttershy and had been shaking and groaning in her sleep. Rainbow knew it was nightmares, but she hated not being able to sleep. She stood up, being careful not to wake them up, and walked over to Flint.
He had stayed on guard wide awake throughout the entire watch. "Hey." she said, taking a seat next to him.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked.
"I can't. Scoots is having nightmares and is keeping me awake." she said. "I can take over. I'm not going to sleep anytime soon and I need something to do."
"Okay. But just realize that you're going to have to still be awake for your hour." he said.
"I know. But it's better than being still and not doing anything." she said. "And I think you could use some company." He stayed quiet. "So, what was it like being in the royal guard? You know, before everything happened?" she asked.
"Early mornings, constant alertness, never having a true good nights sleep, but it's all worth it." he said.
"Sounds rough." she replied.
"It's not too bad. Nice living quarters, free food, and having the duty of protecting the Princesses makes everything worth it."
"Do you think I'd be able to make it into the guard?" Rainbow asked.
"Depends. How alert are you?" he asked.
She thought about it. "Pretty alert. When you're as fast as a flier as me you have to know your surroundings."
"Humility is something you would have to learn. Bragging is not something looked high on in the guard. Without your partner, you can't succeed. You're a team." he said.
"Sounds like the Wonderbolts." she said.
"They're trained at the same level as we are. They use our training for the discipline that they require for their stunts." he explained.
"Oh." Rainbow said.
"Well, since you're awake, I might as well get some sleep. I only had about 15 minutes left anyways before you were supposed to take over." Flint said, walking over to a cleared spot.
"Can I ask you something before you go?" she asked, turning to look at the guard.
"Sure."
She let out a heavy breath. "Is it really as hard as Twilight says it is? To kill them?"
He lowered his head. "Depends on who they are. And it's different for each pony. Some can't do it because they still view them as ponies and not as...well." he said. "Some find it easy. They take all their old hate and use it to fight and kill them. Others, like myself, can't do it unless they turn. I wasn't able to kill someone before they turned because they were still ponies. But when they turned, I was able to finish them."
Rainbow lowered her head. "But the short answer, it depends." he said.
"Okay." she said, turning back to the entrance.
"And sometimes, when you are forced to kill, you may find a hidden part of you that you wish you never found." he said, laying down.
Rainbow Dash thought about what he said. She knew that things were different from what her and Spike used to think of, but now that she actually lived it, it finally hit her. She didn't know what she would do if she had to kill any of her friends, let alone Fluttershy or Scootaloo.
She quickly pushed the thought out of her head. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. she thought. She filled her head with fantasies about the Wonderbolts and how she would fly in formation with them. She imagined the wind flowing through her mane and wings with the sky above and below her.
She immersed herself in this world she made, quickly passing the hour and then some. The only reason she was shaken out of her fantasy was because a loud thud came from the other end of the cave. "It was probably just a rock falling." she said to herself. She walked over to Rarity and woke her.
"Up and at 'em Rarity. It's your turn to take watch." she said with a yawn.
"It can't possibly be my turn already." Rarity said, trying to avoid waking up.
"It is. I even watched through part of your turn, so don't be so against it." Rainbow said.
Rarity groaned as she stood up and stretched her legs. Rainbow walked back to Fluttershy and Scootaloo and laid down next to Fluttershy, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Well at least it's a clear and beautiful night. Might give me some inspiration for my next designs." she said, taking a seat next to the shield, beginning her watch.
