Loud knocking on her door woke Twilight up. She had fallen asleep while studying again and now she had to wipe her eyes before standing up.
‘Twilight, open the door! Hurry!’ She heard Applejack’s voice. Something was off about it, Twilight noticed, something wasn’t quite alright. She decided to obey and ran towards the door. Behind them, there was Applejack with Fluttershy floating in the air nearby.
‘Come in, everypony, has anything happened?’
Applejack didn’t answer; only now did Twilight notice tears flowing down her cheeks. She backed off, let her friends in and closed the door. Fluttershy landed on the floor and put down something she had been holding in her hooves while she’d been flying. Applejack’s lips were trembling, she was shaking and looking at the small bundle laying on the floor. It was obvious that she’d burst out crying if she tried to voice a single word.
‘It’s… it’s Apple Bloom…’ Fluttershy whispered, looking at the little filly wrapped in a blanket. Twilight ran towards her to see what had happened to her. Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who started to explain.
‘Haven’t you noticed what’s happening all over the town…?’ she asked quietly and led Twilight to a window. She pointed her hoof to a pony wandering on the streets. She was acting in a really odd way, walking slowly and looking around her. Suddenly, she noticed the two ponies observing her; she leaped in their direction and in a few seconds, she was less than a meter from them, banging on the window from the outside.
‘Everypony is… will this window survive this assault?’ Fluttershy asked.
‘It will, Celestia has casted some spells on the whole tree. But what’s happening?!’ Twilight didn’t know if she should be focusing more on the odd acting pony or her friend Applejack crying over her little sister.
‘Everypony is acting this way. It started a few hours ago and now… I have no idea… Ponies like the one out there bite everypony they see and their victims… Their victims pass out or die and then… they wake up to be like this.’ Fluttershy flicked her eyes towards the creature still banging on the window. ‘One of them… one of them bit Apple Bloom. It’s merely a scratch though… Applejack carried her all the way here from the market and we came across each other so I decided to come too. Your house was the closest and we thought somepony has to warn you about what’s happening outside…’ Fluttershy exhaled loudly. It may have been her longest speech ever. She put a lot of effort in it; she knew Applejack wouldn’t be much help in her current state. Twilight put her gaze off the mare gone mad and slowly approached Apple Bloom. She leaned over her and gently unwrapped layers of cloth she had been secured with. The filly was asleep, breathing heavily, with easily noticeable effort. Small teeth marks, by now almost faded, were still noticeable on her flank; almost exactly in the place where her cutie mark should appear.
‘She got bitten by some small foal, two times shorter than her… He couldn’t reach any higher…’ Fluttershy muttered sadly.
‘Do you have any idea what we should do about it?’ Twilight asked seriously. ‘Is it… true?’ Her voice grew quieter as she saw Applejack’s face. ‘Do all of the bitten ponies change to… those… things?’
Fluttershy didn’t say a word. She went to wet a small handkerchief and then started washing Apple Bloom’s wound of any dirt that had gotten stuck to it when she and her sister had been escaping from their attackers.
‘I think I’ll check if there is anything written about such a… disease… in one of my books.’ Twilight gently touched Applejack’s neck. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll make sure your little sister is safe and sound again.’ Twilight gave her a reassuring smile and entered the library, not really knowing where to search. With all of her knowledge, she has never heard anything of any illnesses causing ponies to go mad. The one she saw had those scary eyes, emptied of any feelings. She – or maybe it was an it now? – kept banging at the window, did nothing else, with its only drive being the will to reach the healthy ponies. Possible victims. In moments like that, Twilight was really happy about all the magic making her home one of the safest places in whole Ponyville.
She wasn’t the kind of pony to believe in everything she was told without looking it up in a book and even though she had seen the mysterious diseases’ victim with her own eyes, she wasn’t quite sure if all this issue wasn’t some stupid joke. Or maybe a test, a test from princess Celestia? Should she expect Pinkie Pie appearing out of nowhere and bursting with laughter, Applejack wiping the tears and smiling widely, Fluttershy getting ashamed of what she took part in? Or was it all serious? Was Apple Bloom really sick, was she about to change into a mere ruin of the foal she used to be?
‘What should I do…?’ Twilight muttered to herself. She gazed at hundreds of books stacked on high shelves, not sure where to begin her search. She has already read most of the books, especially those with most valuable information, and she was sure there’d been no mention of the bizarre illness.
‘Fluttershy?’ She called for the Pegasus. ‘Have you ever encountered anypony with such symptoms before?’ Fluttershy entered the room.
‘N…never, Twilight…’ she whispered, looking scared. ‘Apple Bloom… She seems to be really sick…’
‘Where do you think I should search for an explanation?’ Twilight asked, hopelessly looking at all her books about to let her down for the first time.
‘Ask Spike, if he doesn’t know, it means no one does.’ Fluttershy smiled slightly.
And then Twilight Sparkle realized she hasn’t seen Spike since she woke up to find the world gone mad.
***
‘Hey, Pinkie, would you already tell me where we’re going?’ Spike asked. What he had thought to be fun has already started to annoy him. Pinkie dropped in a moment after Twilight had fallen asleep and promised him she’d take him to see the best party he has ever seen, her masterpiece she’s been preparing for weeks. Some of her assistants were supposed to be there, taking care of all the equipment, making sure the party cannon would not break down in the key moment. The whole thing has been designed as a surprise for all of Pinkie’s friends but first, she wanted Spike to check if everything was as perfect as it could be. However, the “surprise” part demanded on Spike not to see where the party was held, so he had some piece of cloth tied on his eyes. And it was starting to irritate him.
‘Don’t worry, Spikey, we’re getting closer and closer every minuteee!’ said Pinkie in a melodic voice, apparently jumping around him, as the direction her words were coming from was continuingly changing.
‘And here… we… are!’ She yelled happily. Spike heard her unlock the door and then gasp in surprise.
‘Pinkie?’ he asked. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Hey, guys, what’s up with you?’ he heard her ignore him and start talking to some other ponies. She seemed to be kind of confused. Spike put off the cloth that had been preventing him from seeing anything and screamed in terror as he saw one of the ponies unknown to him jump towards Pinkie with her mouth open, blood dripping from ner chewed, stick out tongue. Pinkie Pie started laughing.
‘You almost got me there, Daisy!’ The pink pony backed off a little, but there was no fear in her eyes; she was honestly amused. ‘Your make-up is absolutely perfect, and all this “blood”! I hope you didn’t use all the ketchup we have for the party?’
The pony didn’t reply. She kept pushing forward, looking at Pinkie with no expression at all. Spike could hear some moaning from the house in which the party was to take place. He saw Lily and Rose follow their friend, locking at the pink pony the same empty gaze Daisy was using. Pinkie was just about to laugh when suddenly, her whole body moved in a convulsion. Insecurity appeared in her eyes followed by an expression full of dread.
‘Run, Spikey!’ she yelled. ‘My Pinkie sense… we have to ru-u-un!’
Spike was all for it. Pinkie started running in town center’s direction and so did he, every few seconds looking back at the scary ponies getting left further and further away. They were trying to chase them but surprisingly, they didn’t run, they didn’t rush; just walked, keeping pretty quick, steady tempo, as if assured there was no need to hurry. They’d reach their victims sooner or later with their never-ending effort.
A smile appeared on Spike’s lips as he made out the well-known buildings on the suburbs. “Where was this party supposed to take place?!” he thought, approving Pinkie’s responsibility. Party thrown in a place no pony ever heard of would be an amazing surprise, if only there weren’t any crazed folks trying to eat the organizer. It wasn’t going to be a trouble though, not in a minute or two. They were getting closer and closer to the town where the weird event would quickly get explained and pony and dragon would be safe at last. Spike began panting, not used to running such long distances. When they were a few meters from the first building in sight, Pinkie Pie stopped.
‘Why have you stopped?!’ Spike shouted. ‘They’re still behind us, I can tell!’
‘I-I-I-I… I thi-i-ink there’s another one coming…’
‘Where!?’ Spike jumped and started turning his head in every possible direction.
‘I don’t mean one of those monsters, silly! I me-e-ean… this!’ Another convulsion ran through Pinkie’s body, making her jump a few times and also twitch her tail. ‘This one is ever more complicated!’
‘Oh no… You don’t mean… There is something worse than them ahead…?’
‘Not only a-heeeaaad’, Pinkie sang happily. ‘Behind us, too!’
Spike saw three ponies slowly coming out of darkness into their view. Only now did he notice he hadn’t really paid attention to day changing into night as they were trying to outrun their pursuers. Omnipresent shadows made him fear the hunters even more; it might have been a joke, it might have been some kind of misunderstanding, but Spike would never deny: even considering all the possibilities, he was scared like never before.
‘Come on, Pinkie! We need to reach Twilight’s as soon as possible, understood?’
He caught her mane and made her follow him. She started squeaking in protest, but he didn’t let her go, so the pink pony finally decided to do what Spike wanted her to. They ran faster and faster to finally reach the market square; there, they finally stopped to look around and both gasped. Ponies, crazy ponies everywhere, most of them in blood, some with bodies heavily mutilated. Them moving seemed impossible, yet they did; horrible moaning and growling came from everywhere, sometimes also screams full of pain and terror.
‘What the hay has happened?’ cried Spike. And then, the ponies noticed them. They didn’t make any facial expressions showing it nor did they say anything, but it was clear that Pinkie and Spike were far from safety. All ponies locked their empty gazes on Pinkie, ignoring the little dragon, and started walking towards her; some with vigor, Spike thought of them as the enthusiasts, even though their eyes showed no emotions. Some slowly, step by step, their bodies falling apart in the phrase’s exact meaning; bones cracked, flesh chewed, skin ripped.
‘To Twilight’s, fast!’ he yelled. They started running as fast as they could, trying to make it to safety before getting eaten. Every step seemed to take ages as the crowd was getting closer and closer, locking the friends inside a deadly moaning circle of monsters. They could see a light inside Twilight’s house, one of the few still dimly lit homes on the street, just a hundred or so meters ahead.
‘She must be fine… Oh, I so hope she is…’ Spike panted, exhausted, but eager to make whatever effort needed. Suddenly, he tripped. Pinkie didn’t really notice, as she had finally begun taking the situation seriously and she was as scared as she should have been from the very beginning. When Spike finally managed to stand up, Pinkie has already reached Twilight’s door and started knocking furiously.
‘It’s us, Twi, please let us in! NOW!’ she screamed, not singing anymore. ‘Spike’s with me! Spi…’ she turned back to see the little dragon overflown by monster ponies. ‘Spike!’
Even though her scream made some zombies pay attention to her instead of her friend, most of the ponies preferred checking out the closer meal; Spike felt tears running down his cheeks as he started fleeing. Actually, he was able to escape easily; he was shorter than most ponies and therefore was able to slip between legs of the taller ones. His smallness also make it easier to fit into spaces between ones he couldn’t avoid the other way. He was getting all dirty with disgusting liquids; he started sliding on blood puddles and he was openly crying. However, Spike knew he was getting closer to his target; he knew he could stop now. Suddenly, he felt sharp pain in his tail. A small filly bit it and got hold of it, not letting go even though dragon’s thorns must have shattered her mouth inside.
‘Let me go!’ he cried and made a weird sound as a small ball of fire left his mouth and set the filly ablaze. His eyes widened and he felt an odor of flesh burning. He shook his tail and finally managed to make the monster release him; in a few desperate leaps toward Twilight’s house’s door he eventually reached it. It had already been opened and his violet friend was staring at him, cheering him to run faster. He lay still on the floor as he heard the door closing shut behind him and started panting, not really understanding what had happened.
'So what are these things, why are they after us?!' He and Twilight asked at the same moment.
‘Don’t you get it?' Pinkie Pie snorted. ‘Zombie ponies. These were the zombie ponies!’