//------------------------------// // 10 - Tomorrow Is A New Day // Story: Without You // by Dustchu //------------------------------// ooo000---000ooo The sun's touch graced my face, its rays warming my otherwise cold body. My eyes to slowly opened to spot the bright blue sky above me, the clouds drifting aimlessly and the sun itself a beacon in the distance. A calm wind brushed over me, tickling my fur causing a sigh to leave me. Today felt really nice for some reason. I kept laying on the ground and stared up into the sky before lowering my eyes, watching as a few ponies fluttered around aimlessly. I was looking for a specific one that had caught my eye. He was a stallion I had, once upon a time, seen in posters, wallpapers, and almost up close during shows and stuff. But I had never been able to get any closer to him, not once in the entire time that I've known about him. I was always let down that I could never see him up close. It didn't help he was a famous pony and I was just... me, a young mare living in Cloudsdale who dreamed big and trained hard to become something great. I wanted to create a legacy for myself as I grew up and worked my way up to becoming the top Wonderbolt, I wanted to climb the skies until I reached the apex of my career alongside my stallion. I wanted to master flight and be the first to set new world records in flying and acrobatic flight, I wanted to be the first to set a new example for new recruits. I smirked and opened my eyes, looking up into the sky again. But I only saw cloud covered skies, burning such a fierce red I swear I they looked like they were on fire, that thought alone sent shivers down my spine. When I looked back towards the city I grew up in, I saw flames burning away at the buildings, I saw the ponies running and flying away from... From... My eyes widened when I saw some ponies stumbling down the street towards me, where I was laying in the park. All of them... their fur was patchy, their eyes grayed and milky. I saw the markings on their bodies, their necks and legs, the tears and rips from teeth. When they moaned, that's when everything came rushing back to me. "N-no," I sprang up onto my hooves and spread my wings, preparing to fly. "N-aaah!" I was tackled to the clouds hard, landing on my chest and being pinned down. When I turned my head to look at whoever was holding me down, my heart stopped... It was him. I barely had enough time to register his teeth sinking into my neck, and the burning pain that rushed through me. I couldn't scream as I was piled on by them all, and torn into... ooo000---000ooo My eyes shot open and I jolted up, only to slam into the underside of something metal and give my head a good knock around. "Gah!" I felt dizzy and fell back down to the floor, holding my head and barely suppressing a whine of pain. "Ow! Stupid... bed." I grumbled and opened my eyes up, wincing from the light snaking in from the window. But then I realized I wasn't in my bedroom, again. I was still in this damned hospital. My heart skipped a beat as I glanced around from underneath the bed, making sure the coast was clear before I scooted out and stood up. My legs shook and I felt lightheaded even though I was taking it slow, and all of my injuries decided now was the time to start acting up. I don't think I've ever felt so weak before. A small shake of my head and I wandered over to the window nearby, where I reared up onto my hind legs and propped myself up on the edges to look outside. I moved the curtain a little and peered out into the city, and saw the sun was slowly beginning to rise up over the darkened and burning skyscrapers that lined the city skyline. And in the streets below, I saw them all wandering around aimlessly in search of their next meal. N-not a dream... this is real. I touched my cheek with a hoof. It felt cold to the touch, making my shivers even worse. This was the second nightmare I've had before I woke up, and was reminded that I was living a nightmare, one that used to be in movies and comic books. I remembered those horror stories my dad used to tell me when I was growing up, the ones I always asked for even if they caused nightmares. The spooky stories of monsters that ate the flesh of living ponies, necromancers and all that kind of stuff. Was this the work of a necromancer? I know Dee told me that this was a virus, but... that was so insane! I could only swallow and shake my head, this was starting to get to be too much. And that alone made me realize just how pathetic I sounded right now. I was Rainbow Dash! I was going to be a fearless Wonderbolt! Why was I being so scared? What's gotten into me? I slapped my hooves against my cheeks a couple of times. "I need to get my head together." I glared down into the street, eyes narrowed. "I can't keep chickening out! These things are just stupid monsters... right? T-that's what Dee said." I kept looking down at the two legged monkey things, I watched as they stumbled around aimlessly with only a few heading towards the hospital's front entrance. "Just stupid monsters... j-just like back home." I swallowed hard and shook my head. I wasn't going to let these things scare me! I pushed off of the window and landed back on the floor, and I turned around. I needed to get out of this place, but how was I going to do that? We needed to get a keycard or something, and that nurse had it on her. I had no idea where that nurse was though. Was she that monster that attacked Dee...? His scream replayed in my mind when he fell, the look of fear in his eyes frozen in my mind. I should have moved faster, but now he was... I shook my head and slapped myself on the cheek. No, get it together, filly! I couldn't lose focus now! I had to find a way out of this place, I had to find a way home! But where do I even start? I didn't know where to go or where to even look for that keycard! And where was that stupid doctor anyway, why wasn't he trying to help us? I haven't even heard anything from him... neither had Dee. It didn't matter now though, I had to get moving. I had to find that keycard if I wanted to move on and get to a safer place. Well, safe as I can be in this freaking nightmare. I could still hear them outside, and my ears could pick up the faint shuffle of their movements in the halls. I needed to keep a close eye out for them, I didn't need to run into anymore of those stupid things. Yet even as I moved down the hall, I couldn't stop myself from the thought of what happened to Dee. I was stopped in my tracks when a sudden distorted screech assaulted my ears. I yelped and quickly glanced around, trying to find out whatever was making that noise and discovered it came from the ceiling. I saw one of those weird boxes that the doctor talked to us through, covered by a mesh. It made some kind of noise, but I couldn't tell what the heck it was. Until the first voice spoke. "They're breaking through the gate! We have to move!" "W-what? But how?!" I heard the voices yell and my worry began to grow, what was going on? One of those voices sounded like that Hursh person, but... "No! Get everyone ou-SCREEEEECH!" The next thing I heard over that thing was screeching, the moans of the zombies, and screaming. Damn it! I shook my head and started to move again. I kicked off of the floor and sped through the halls and did my best to ignore the pain that grew in my legs and barrel. That gunshot wound had begun to affect me badly, it wasn't healing fast enough! I needed to get help, but with those noises I heard... Something told me I wasn't going to get the help I was promised. I kept up the gallop down the hall until I turned left down another route. I was stopped when several figures blocked my path, more of those humans. Not more zombies! I skidded to a halt and was about to turn around, but something was off about them, they weren't covered in blood, they didn't immediately start moving towards me. They were all dressed in black clothes, the weird masks they wore had blue lights on them, and they held those firearms Dee told me about. I froze when one of them spoke. "This is Lupo, objective Rainbow has been found."