“Together with the crown, they create a power beyond anything you could ever imagine, but it is power you don’t have the ability to control. The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you can not weld it. Because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all, the magic of friendship.”, Twilight proclaimed. The girls came together, the magic flowing through them. A bright light engulfed them all. Sunset tried to resist but couldn’t. The light became so bright, Twilight and the rest of the girls had to cover their eyes. “This never happened before.”, Twilight cried out in bewilderment. The light was so bright, it seeped through their closed eyelids, then it all went dark.
The girls all reawoke to find themselves in a crater, all covered in dust. Each of the girls looked around, confused, and slowly rose to their feet. Their wings and pony ears were gone, and Sunset was back in her human form. As Sunset got up, the crown fell off her head and with an unceremonious clunk onto the ground. Sunset scooped it back up and tucked it away in her jacket which Twilight noticed but was too preoccupied to say anything about at that moment. Questions such as “Why are we in this crater?”, “Why is it daytime?”, and “Did I miss the portal?” swam in her mind.
“Crap, I got dirt in my undies.”, Pinkie said. Her voice thundering in the dead quiet. There wasn’t the distant sound of cars or planes. It was quiet enough for each of the girls to hear their muscles moving and blood flowing past their eardrums.
“How come it’s daytime?”, Rainbow asked.
“Why are we in a hole?”, AJ asked.
Sunset was ignoring the group but had the same questions. She climbed out of the hole and what she saw shocked her. “What the crap?!” Sunset’s cry alerted the others, and they climbed up to see what made her say that. What they saw was the school, weathered and decayed. The entire building was taken over by strange plants, the paint was peeling, the roof looked to have collapsed in some places, and the hole Sunset created was still there.
“What happened?”, Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow spun around to find that the Wondercolts statue didn’t fare much better and the houses were in similar states. “We need to find our parents.” The other girls either silently agreed or had no better ideas.
Rainbow led them to Fluttershy’s house, which was the closest. Fluttershy tried to get her key into the lock, but it was too badly rusted over. “Um, I can’t get it open.”, she sheepishly admitted.
“Let me see what Ah can do.” AJ moved to the front of the group, and after getting everyone to back up, rammed the door. It only took a signal hit for the hinges to completely snap. “Wow, how did these get so rusted?”
Fluttershy’s roof was intact, but her home was covered by dirt and dust and infested by the same plants as the school. The girls spread out, some aimlessly, some with purpose. Fluttershy went to her room, which was in the same state as the rest of the house, then to the rest of the rooms. Sunset went to the kitchen and opened the fridge only to be met with the smell of very rotten food. “Oh! Yak!” Sunset slammed the door and tried to clear the air.
“Nobody's here. Not even my animals are here.”, Fluttershy said.
“Twilight, what happened?”, AJ asked.
“I-I don’t know.”
“No surprise there.”, Sunset snarked. “So much for the power of friendship. You nuked the neighborhood.”
“Nuked?”, Twilight asked, confused.
“Now, hold it right there. What makes you think we were responsible?”, Rarity said.
“Because it was your attempt at a magic beam that caused that light, and now, we’re here.”
“Correlation doesn’t mean causation, smartass.”
Sunset was about to retort before AJ cut in. “Simmer down, now! As it currently stands, we’re on our own. That means we need to at least cooperate.”
“Then what do you suggest, farm girl?”, Sunset asked.
AJ pulled out her phone and began fiddling with the settings. “No signal.” Everybody who had a phone pulled theirs out and also checked. The head shakes from everyone told AJ they were all in the same boat. “Okay so, no cell phones, but we still need ta cover a lot a’ ground.”
“What do you mean?”, Twilight asked.
“What Ah mean is that, for all we know, the whole city’s like this. Until proven otherwise, we need to act as if there are no other humans. We need to survive.”
“We need food. I, personally, haven’t eaten since lunch, and all the food in the fridge is way bad.”, Sunset said.
“You can check the pantry. There should be some canned food in there.”, Fluttershy said.
“I think I will.” Sunset began raiding the pantry while the other girls continued talking.
“We also need a safe place to sleep. These buildings are here structurally compromised.”, Pinkie said.
“Water’s out too.”, Sunset called from the kitchen. Everyone, except for Twilight, who had checked out, turned to see Sunset turning the faucet on and off but no water coming out.
“Okay so, we need food, water, and shelter, and we also need ta see if there’s anyone else around.”, AJ summarized.
“I can lead a team to get a camp set up. Do any of you have any survival knowledge?”, Sunset asked while munching on a can of beans.
“What makes you think you get to be in charge?”, Rainbow asked accusatorily.
“The six of you had your parents or guardians to provide you with food, water, and shelter for the entirety of your lives. I’ve had to survive, by myself, ever since I came to Earth.”
“You seriously had no one? That’s sad.”, Pinkie said.
“It is what it is. Now, any volunteers for ‘camp setup’?” AJ, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy raised their hands.
“I guess that leaves me and Twilight to search the city.”, Rarity said. “Twilight?”
“Huh, what? What were you saying?”
“Twilight, are you okay?”, AJ asked.
“Oh, I’m fine.”, Twilight said unconvincingly. “I was just thinking.”
The other girls, except for Sunset, all wanted to question her further, but they were burning daylight.
“Okay, we’ll meet back up by the statue at sundown. So, get movin’. We don’t have much time.”, AJ instructed. Everyone nodded in confirmation. Sunset and her group went off towards the stores while Rarity took Twilight’s hand and they began walking in just any direction.
“So, what’s the plan?”, Rainbow asked.
“Bargain-mart, that place is a one stop shop for everything we could need.”, Sunset answered.
It took a while to get there without vehicles. Upon reaching the store, the glass doors had to be pushed open, and the inside was dark. Surprisingly and despite the outside being almost completely covered, the inside was free of plant life.
“This might actually make a good campsite.”, AJ said.
“Yeah, but there would be no way the seven of us could heat this place up on our own. Something smaller would serve better.”, Pinkie contested.
“We could set up a tent in here.”, Rainbow suggested.
“That would work.”
“That would also mean we wouldn’t have to carry our supplies far.”, Fluttershy added.
“Okay then, find lights and weapons, and let’s secure this place.”, Sunset instructed.
“From what?”, Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know, and that’s the point.”
Rarity watched the other girls walk off with purpose before she and Twilight began meandering through the streets. Rarity and Twilight looked through the windows of the houses but found no one.
“Twilight, you’ve been very quiet. Are you okay?”
“I-did I really cause this?”
“I don’t know. None of us know what’s happening. All we can do now is try to survive.”
They continued to search for anyone but came up with nothing. There weren’t even any bodies, human or animal, just plants.
“You know, this kinda reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of the villages surrounding Chernobyl.”
“What’s ‘Chernobyl’? And Sunset said a word that I didn’t understand earlier too. What does ‘nuke’ mean?”
“Well, Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant that went critical and blew up, causing widespread radiation poisoning of the land and a radioactive cloud, and nuking refers to eradicating or completely destroying something.”
“What does ‘radiation’ mean, and what’s a power plant?”
Rarity was caught off guard by that. All this knowledge was just so basic to her along with most American highschool students. I guess a world of magic would have no need for nukes. But how could they not have power plants? “Do you have electricity in your world?”
“We do. We just don’t call it that. For us, it’s just lightning.”
“Good, that makes things easier. Humans have learned to harness lightning for everyday use, but we need a way to make it. That’s where power plants come in. We make electricity using them.”
“Okay, I guess you would need another way to power everything without magic.”
“Yeah. Nuclear power plants use special rocks to create electricity. I think Sunset knows more about how they work, so you can ask her later, but the relevant part is that these rocks are very dangerous. They produce radiation, which is an energy that will rip apart your DNA and kill you or give you cancer.”
“What’s DNA?”
“It’s what tells your body how it should work.” Rarity was trying to explain it in the simplest way she knew how, but she wasn’t the best at explaining it.
“How can-”, Twilight tried to ask, but Rarity cut her off.
“Ask Sunset. She’s better equipped to explain it to you.”
“Okay”, Twilight said, a bit disheartened that she would need to wait for her answers.
The two continued searching until the sun started to go down. At that point, they were forced to turn around and head back to the school. Once they got there, they found the other girls waiting there with headlamps and bikes.
“That should make getting around easier.”, Rarity commented.
“I would not have thought humans could ride bikes.”, Twilight said.
“You have bikes in your world?”, Rarity said, slightly shocked. “I wouldn’t have thought ponies could ride bikes.”
“There are design differences, but both species can ride bikes made for their species. Now, get on. We have something to show you.”, Sunset ordered.
The trip back to the store was significantly easier now that everyone was riding their bike instead of having to walk because they had to tango with two extra bikes. Twilight did take a couple minutes to get the hang of it, but they were back to the store within fifteen minutes. They placed the bikes in the racks, not bothering to lock them, and entered the store. Sunset picked up a newspaper and showed it to Rarity and Twilight. “Whatever happened happened on the day of the Fall Formal.”
“Only more evidence that we caused it.”, Twilight said solemnly.
“That’s not all.” Sunset opened the paper up to a missing persons ad.
“Noka Wilds, what about him?”, Rarity asked.
“That’s tha gruesome part.”, AJ said. Team camp setup led Rarity and Twilight to the refrigeration aisle. Everything was gross, smelly, and moldy, but that’s not what they wanted to show them. In the middle of the aisle was a unit that was removed from its spot, scrubs, glasses, a mask, gloves, and a mummified, dead body. AJ pulled Noka’s wallet out of her pocket and handed it to Rarity. “We present to you, Noka Wilds.”
“I couldn’t tell you how he died or when, but I can tell you everything weird I found while examining his body.”, Sunset said.
“Like what?”, Twilight asked.
“He shows clear signs of insect predation, but it seemed like the insects just stopped. There are many holes where botfly larvae should be. Insects should have eaten him to the bone, but he’s still got a lot of meat on him, and do you notice his lack of smell?”
“What does this mean?”
“Haven’t you noticed that we haven’t heard any sort of noise that would suggest life of any kind?”
“Fluttershy, what is she getting at?”, Rarity asked, much to Sunset annoyance.
“There aren’t any insects, rodents, birds, or anything else aside from us and plants. Even the bacteria that should be eating him isn’t there.”
“What the fuck happened?”, Rarity asked.
“We can figure that out in the morning. We need ta eat dinner n’ go ta bed.”, AJ said.
“Before we do that, can we do something about him?”, Twilight asked.
AJ and Sunset shrugged and dragged the body outside and away from the doors. With the body out of the way, the girls picked out their preferred canned goods, cured meats, beverages, and candies and congregated around the lantern. The campsite consisted of a large tent with seven sleeping bags, flashlights, and metal baseball bats and seven camping chairs set around the lantern.
Twilight looked around at all the girl’s choses. She was most intrigued by the slender red things called ‘Slimithy’s Jimmies’. All of the girls, except for Fluttershy, had at least one. “What are those?”
“This?”, Sunset asked, holding up the item in question. Twilight nodded. “It’s cured and smoked meat.” That was all Sunset was going to say until she remembered Twilight wouldn’t know what cured and smoked meat was. “Basically, humans use a lot of spices to keep the meat good for a long time then cook it by keeping it in an enclosed space with hot smoke instead of directly over a fire.”
“Humans eat meat?”
“We wouldn’t have had the energy needed to develop such big brains if we didn’t, but you don’t have to eat meat if you don’t want to. We’re not obligate carnivores.”
Twilight knew she couldn’t judge a species based on their eating habits, but seeing her friends chow down on meat was still off putting. “Thanks” was all Twilight could say as she tried to process this on top of everything else.
“Do you think our parents are okay?”, Fluttershy asked.
“Ah hope so, sugarcube.”, AJ said solemnly,
“Clearly whatever happened happened a long time ago. If they are still alive, they likely think we’re dead.”, Rainbow said bluntly.
“Did you have any parents, Sunset?”, Twilight asked.
“I’d rather not talk about my moms.”
“Okay”
The conversation died down after that. None of the girls wanted to think about the possibility that their parents were dead on top of their lives, as they knew them, being over. Once everyone was done eating, the girls went inside the tent and crawled into their sleeping bags. After some tossing and turning, everyone was asleep.
All seven girls were awoken by the sound of someone banging on glass. They jumped to their feet, grabbed their bats, and ran towards the banging. They got to the front doors and found Noka, or what was Noka, banging his fist on the door. Noka had those same plants growing out of him, and his eyes were completely white.
“What the fuck!? What the fuck!? What the fuck!?”, Rainbow screamed, brain failing to process that there was a zombie on the other side of the glass doors.
“Okay! If he breaks through, we rush him! Aim for the head!”, Sunset ordered. Nobody did or said anything in response, focused more on not peeing themself, especially since none of them have gone to the bathroom yet. Suddenly, Fluttershy dropped her bat and ran back into the store. “Get back here, woman!”, Sunset ordered. “Stand and fight!” Fluttershy didn’t listen, and the sound of breaking glass forced Sunset’s attention back to the front.
“Oh! Why did it have to be zombies!? I couldn’t have died to a vampire or werewolf or any other sexy mythical monster!”, Pinkie cried.
“You think werewolves are sexy?”, Rarity asked.
“I have a thing for fluffy, pointed ears and tails!”
Bladders were relieved as Noka broke through and began advancing. “Aim for the-!” bang Sunset war cry was cut off by the sound of a shotgun blast. Noka’s head was obliterated, and the girls turned to see Fluttershy holding the offending gun. “You know how to shoot?”
“I’ve seen it on TV.”
“What’s that, and what’s a ‘zombie’?!”, Twilight asked, freaked out.
“We really need to get her to a library or something.”, Rarity said.
“No way. What if there are more of them out there?”, Rainbow protested. “There’s never just one zombie.”
“We can’t just stay locked up in here forever. We’ll run out of food and water.”, AJ said.
“We also need to wash ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I ain’t sitting around in my pee soaked clothes.”, Pinkie added.
“Sunset?”, Fluttershy asked.
“Why are you asking me?”
“You have kinda been taking charge a’ everything since we got inta this mess.”, AJ said.
Sunset gave AJ a scowl before taking a deep breath to clear her head. “We’ll definitely need guns, but we only have limited ammo. We need something else.” That’s when a realization hit. “Come with me.”, Sunset ordered. The group went back over to the tent, and Sunset pulled out the crown from her sleeping bag.
“Didn’t that thing turn you into a demon?”, Rainbow asked.
“It did, but it also gave you guys powers. If the princess can make this thing work again, we’ll have what we need to take on any more zombies.”
Twilight looked down at her crown then back up to Sunset. “It’s also the cause of this whole mess.”
“No, your friendship laser was. You avoid doing that, and you don’t start another apocalypse.”
Twilight gingerly reclaimed her crown and placed it on her head.
“Now what?”, Fluttershy asked.
“Everyone, sit on the ground in a circle. I’m going to try something.”, Twilight ordered. Everyone, except for Sunset, complied. “That includes you Sunset.”
Sunset was surprised by that. “You’re not worried I’d turn into a she-demon again.”
“I am, but I’m willing to risk it.”
“You’re a fool, Twilight Sparkle.”, Sunset said but joined the circle in between Pinkie and Twilight anyway.
“Now everyone, hold hands.” Everyone did, and Twilight closed her eyes. She focused on the magic in her crown. It felt like the magic was hiding, cowering away from something, but Twilight was still able to pull on it. She pulled the magic into her body then guided it down her arms and into her friends. The seven of them began to glow and their ears, tails, and wings came forth.
“This feels nice.”, Sunset thought.
“Yeah, it does.”, Twilight said.
“What’d ya say?”, Sunset asked.
“You said “this feels nice”. I was saying “it does”.”
“I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking that.”
“Odd”, Twilight thought.
“Holy crap, I just heard you speak without your mouth moving.”, Sunset said.
“I heard it too.”, Pinkie said. The other girls all nodded. They heard it too.
“Hang on, what number am I thinking of?”, Twilight asked. “Twelve, twelve, twelve, oh twelve pancakes would be good.”
“You’re thinking of pancakes.”, the other six girls said in unison.
The glow dissipated and the girls stood up, releasing each other’s hands.
“Hm, mama likes what she sees.”, Pinkie thought.
“So, we're all still telepathic.”, Sunset deadpanned.
“Can we do something about getting bathed and changed?”, Fluttershy asked.
“Right, everyone, grab a gun.”, Sunset ordered. “Remember, our supply of bullets is limited. Use what you need but make every bullet count. Grab backpacks, whatever can pass for armor, soap, a change of clothes, towles, and pads, if you need them. We’re going to head back to the school. Hopefully, we can use the pool to bathe, and Twilight can use the library to get a bit more caught up on Earth. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight, you’ll fly ahead and scout for any more zombies. We’ll follow behind on the bikes. Any questions?” Twilight raised her hand. “Yes?”
“How do these ‘guns’ work?”
“Fluttershy, may I borrow yours?” Fluttershy nodded and handed Sunset her gun. “Guns are basically the next step up from crossbows. This is called a shotgun. It’s very powerful but doesn’t have much range. You load what are called rounds in here.” Sunset pointed to the relevant piece. “This is called the chamber. A round is a cartridge with a fuse and explosive stuffed with gun powder and a bullet. A bullet is a piece of metal that is launched from the chamber, through the barrel, which is this part, and into whatever’s unlucky enough to be in front of the gun. When you pull the trigger here, it pulls back and releases a hammer that strikes the fuse, firing the bullet.”, Sunset explained then handed the gun back to Fluttershy.
“Me and ma family had ta shoot critters that would get into the fields, so Ah’m a pretty good shot. Ah should probably give people tha rundown on how to shoot before we go.”, AJ said.
“That sounds good. I’ve only shot a handgun before.”
“Um, how’d you get a handgun?”
“I stole one off a cop shortly after I got here. I had no idea what it was at the time. I just knew he was aiming it at me and it was most likely a weapon.”
“How’d you take one off a cop?”, RD asked.
“I scared him, he dropped it, and I grabbed it and ran. Not much to it.”
The six girls looked around at each other warily but shrugged it off. The girls set off to grab the stuff they needed for their trip, then to the gun section. The girls took their time picking out which guns would work best for them. Fluttershy traded out her shotgun for a rifle and handgun, and Rainbow also chose a rifle and handgun.
“Here Twi. We’re going to be up in the air. You’re gonna need something with range and something for close range defense.”, Rainbow said.
“Oh, okay.”, Twilight said.
The other four girls chose shotguns of varying sizes and handguns. “Okay, follow me outside, and Ah’ll teach ya how to shoot.”, AJ said. The girls followed AJ out of the store, but as they passed Noka’s body, they noticed the plant was still alive and squirming and growing.
“AJ, what is that thing doing?”, Pinkie asked.
“It looks like it’s trying ta root itself, but Ah don’t think it will be able to.”
“We should still move it out of here. We don’t know what this thing is capable of.”, Sunset said.
“Isn’t that how that thing came back to life in the first place?”, Fluttershy asked.
“Um, we can put it in the shade or dumpster.”
“How exactly would that help?”, Rainbow thought.
“Ever heard of photosynthesis? It’s a plant.”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide before she mentally facepalmed. “Stupid telepathy.”
Sunset and AJ dragged the body out of the store and into the shade, which there was a lot of due to it being early. As soon as the body was in the shade, the plant slowed down to an almost imperceptible amount. “Okay, we’re putting this thing in the dumpster.”, Sunset ordered. Pinkie and Rainbow opened the lid, and Sunset and AJ lifted the body in. After closing the lid most of the way, Pinkie poked her flashlight in, and the plant had shriveled up and retracted into the body.
“These things shut down in the dark.”, Pinkie transmitted.
“Now that gives us an advantage, but for now, AJ”, Sunset said.
AJ took them to one of the trees in the parking lot. AJ taught each of them how to load their guns then stood in front of everyone. “Now, tha first rule about using a gun is to always treat a gun like it’s loaded, even if ya think it isn’t. The second rule is ta never aim your gun at friendlies. Third rule is to not put your finger on tha trigger or aim it at anything unless ya plan on shootin’ it. That thing around tha trigger is called a trigger guard. That’s where ya can rest your finger. Now, when actually firing the gun, you need to apply equil pulling and pushing force. When firing your large guns, place tha butt against your shoulder and prepare for kickback. Watch what Ah do.” AJ turned so she wasn’t facing anyone then held her shotgun up to her shoulder. After everyone had a chance to see, AJ lowered her gun then turned back to the group. “Go find a tree ta shoot at and make sure you’re not firing in the direction of anyone else. Ah’ll come ‘round, and once Ah okay ya on your hold and position, ya can start shootin’.”
The six girls each found their own tree, making sure to be facing away from each other and the storefront. AJ went around, checking everyone’s grip and making adjustments where needed, then gave each girl the ‘okay’ to start shooting. None of the girls were the best shots, but they could hit something that was shambling towards them. After proving they could hit what they aimed at, the girls reloaded their weapons and geared up to possibly fight through the city.
Armed with guns, baseball bats, and Bargain-mart armor, the fliers took flight, and the bikers followed. As the fliers went higher, they noticed more human-ish shapes both in the streets and embedded within the larger plants. The ones in the streets were coming out of the larger plants. The fliers transmitted all this information to the bikers.
“Do you think they’ll be hostile like Noka?”, Pinkie asked.
“Most likely. Is there a way to avoid them?”, Sunset asked.
“There’s no way to completely avoid them, but we can guide you down the least populated route.”, Rainbow explained.
“Do it.”, Sunset ordered.
The fliers guided the bikers down an alley with many shadows. The bikers swerved from one shadow to the other, as the zombies within the plants reached out to grab them. “The plants have arms! The plants have arms! Aaaiiiyyy”, Pinkie screamed. “Start panic pedaling!” After picking up speed, it only took a few more minutes to get to the school and find a dark spot to hide.
“Pew, Sunset.”, Rarity said.
“I can’t help it!”, Sunset complained.
“What is this smell?”, Twilight asked as the fliers landed.
“A byproduct of how humans became top dogs.”, Rainbow said, but it didn’t clear up Twilight’s confusion.
“Humans get rid of excess body heat by sweating. Unfortunately, bacteria like to munch on our sweat then… um, fart, for lack of a better term.”, Rarity explained.
“And some of us have stinkier bacteria than others.”, Sunset added. “And bacteria are one of the many really small life forms that live on our skin, and there’s nothing we can do about them.”
“Wait, so the theory of mycro life is correct?”, Twilight asked in astonishment.
“Huh, I guess Equestria’s scientific field has advanced quite a bit since I left.”
Once everyone was done catching their breath and cooling down, they began sneaking into the basement. The school was filled with plants reaching up through the holes in the floors and roof and firmly rooted through the foundation, making the floor cracked and uneven. The girls avoided those areas in case the plants reached for them again and because of the questionable stability of the floor and they could see the zombified faces of their classmates twisted amongst the plants. Fortunately, the plants were mostly around the destroyed front entrance, making the rest of the school sparsely or not at all populated.
Despite the holes in the floors above, the basement was very dark. It was almost to the point the girls couldn’t see. The pool room was even worse. The plants and grass completely covered the above ground windows, the lights weren’t on, and there were no plants inside.
“At least we’re safe.”, Fluttershy squeaked out.
“Hang on, I have a spell for this.”, Sunset said. Sunset turned around, and her hands began to glow. The girls' sclera turned black, their irises began to glow, and their pupils became vertical slits.
“Wow, AJ, you should see your eyes.”, Rainbow said.
“So should you.”
“Sunset?”, Twilight asked.
“It’s an old dark seeing spell. I used to use it to sneak around the castle at night and pull pranks. The glow’s too dim for anypony without the spell to see it.”
“Seriously, pulling pranks? You were Celestia’s personal student. That position demands respect.”, Twilight chastised.
“Precisely, that’s how I was able to get away with so much crap.”
“I mean from us.”
“Hehehe”
The girls began undressing and unpacking their bags. “What should we do with our dresses?”, Twilight asked.
“Toss ‘em.”, Sunset said.
“Ah, Sunset!”, Rarity said indignantly.
“We’re in a fight for our lives. Dresses aren’t exactly conducive to that.”
Rarity huffed but threw her dress into the pile.
“Fuck! That’s cold.”, Fluttershy yelped, causing an echo.
“Wow, Fluttershy, I didn’t know you can be loud enough to echo.”, Pinkie said.
Sunset hovered her hand above the water and cast a heating spell. “Twilight, come help me with this. There’s a lot of water here.” Twilight mimicked Sunset’s posture and siphoned power from the crown to help. It was odd channeling her power to her hands instead of her horn but not hard. Huh, humans didn’t seem to have hard set magic channels like ponies. The magic just flows freely around their new bodies.
“Ah, that’s better.”, Fluttershy said. Twilight placed the crown by the edge, and she and Sunset joined the rest of the girls in the water and began lathering. “I wish we could use magic like you.”
“You probably can.”, Twilight said. “We’re not casting our spell as we would if we were unicorns, and you’re using magic to fly.”
“Can ya teach us?”, AJ asked.
“I can. Twilight, you should read up on Earth.”, Sunset said.
“Are you sure you can handle it?”, Twilight asked.
“Yeah, I just need to teach them how to lob magic at zombies. Not that hard.”
“Alright, but if you need any help, just ask.”
“Yeah yeah”
The girls finished up cleaning themselves, pulled themselves out of the water, and dried off. Sunset’s gold hair was going to turn green, but she didn’t care so long as the others didn’t make Christmas jokes. The girls began dressing, and much to Sunset’s delight, all the girls chose clothing made out of demun, faux leather products, and other sturdy materials. The girls packed up their bags, and Twilight put hers on while the others put theirs along the walls.
“Sunset, here.”, Twilight said, then handed Sunset her crown. Sunset was a bit surprised by this but quickly took it anyway. “You can use that to help teach them.”
“You’re putting a lot of trust in me not to steal it.”, Sunset joked.
“Sunset, I know you’re not stupid.”
Sunset gave Twilight a sly grin and tucked the crown away in her jacket. “You need me to dispel the dark seeing spell?”
“No, I know how you cast it. I can undo it myself.” With that, Twilight took off out of the pool room.
Sunset turned back to the human borns. Their attention was fully on the plants outside the windows. They were moving but had not tried to enter. Hopefully, it will stay that way. “Okay girls, line up. We’re going to start with the basics.” The girls did as instructed and lined up in front of Sunset in a zig-zag due to the narrow space. “Now, the basics are simple. You use your magic to affect and manipulate the world around you and yourself. What makes this both tricky and easier is that magic can ignore many of the laws of physics, but it takes a lot more power to do so. Spells like teleportation are so difficult because it needs to break many of those laws. It’s easier to just work within the laws of physics.” Sunset stopped talking when she saw Rainbow raise her hand. “Yes, Rainbow?”
“What about our ability to fly? There’s no way that our, what, four foot wingspan can support us in flight, and using magic to fly majorly breaks the laws of physics, but it took so little energy.”
“You’re right. I’m not well versed in flight magic, but you are using magic to keep yourself aloft. Flight magic is a combination of wind, gravity, and spatial magics. The ability to use it is innate to pegasi, which is why you can use it so easily. Now, let’s first work on learning control.”
Sunset taught the girls how to move their magic around their body. It was very different from when she was a unicorn. It flowed freely through her body while also still feeling directed. It felt like blood. The girls picked it up quickly and promptly began throwing balls of magic at each other like snowballs. AJ’s turned into dirt and plants, RD’s turned into wind, Rarity’s turned into crystal, and Pinkie’s made a small explosion. Sunset just watched on in disbelief as Fluttershy hid behind her. “We’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and you’re launching the one thing that can save us at each other like it’s a game.”, Sunset said indignantly.
“Oh, lighten up, sourpuss. People have to have fun, or else they’ll end up looking, well, like you.”, Pinkie said.
Sunset glared at Pinkie, and Fluttershy backe away. Any further argument was cut off by Twilight screaming over the mental link. “Help! It’s the plants! They’re attacking!”
Everyone sprinted to grab their bags and run out the doors, but as everyone got their bags and weapons over their shoulders, Sunset dispelled the dark seeing spell and teleported them to where she sensed Twilight. As they popped into existence within the library, they saw Twilight bound by vines and the zombified bodies of their classmates being led by zombie Flash. Strangely, the vines were avoiding exposed skin and Twilight’s hair as she tried to whip them with it, and the zombies weren’t attacking.
“Magic, give magic.”, Flash said in a voice that was far from his. It was deep and sounded like an alien was trying to figure out how humans spoke.
“It wants the crown!”, Twilight clarified. “Sunset, whatever you do, don’t give it over!”
“Give magic.”, the plant said again.
“I don’t know what you are, but you clearly don’t have access to Flash’s memories. If you did, you’d realize that tactic would never work on me.” Sunset pulled out the crown and placed it on her head. She then formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at the base of the vines holding Twilight. The zombies let out a horrific screech as the vines dropped Twilight. Before Twilight hit the ground, Sunset teleported her and the other girls away, leaving herself alone with the zombies. “I am Sunset Shimmer! And this crown rightfully belongs to me!”
Twilight and the other girls landed outside the school with a thump. Rainbow jumped up and tried to run back in, but AJ grabbed her. “What the hell, AJ?! Sunset’s still in there!” Instead of a verbal response, AJ simply pointed to the now burning school. “Oh”