None of the six stopped for even a millisecond as they sought refuge among the houses, desperately banging and rattling locked doors as they tried to break into houses. Moaning intensified behind them, alerting them to a somehow growing mob of zombies, but none of them dare glanced back.
"Come on!" Shady Daze grunted as he shook a doorknob in it's place, the heavy wood refusing to budge.
"There's no time! We have to keep moving!" Tornado Bolt urged. The persistent moaning grew louder.
Shady Daze let out a frustrated growl and gave up, following his friends as they sprinted out of sight.
Unknown to the six, on the far side of Ponyville, something else was rapidly converging on their location, moving much faster than a zombie could ever try to move.
Back in the group, an idea quickly formed inside Sweetie Belle's head, as quickly as her sprinting legs.
"The library!" She shouted.
Her friends turned their heads at her, not even slowing down from their continuous run. They all nodded and quickly ground to a halt, spraying dust and gravel into the air. They turned right and applied a burst of speed, doing their best to extend the gap between them and their undead pursuers.
Within minutes, the six of them were standing right in front of the library, it's towering tree shape casting ghastly shadows across the ground, at least a mile long in some places. The library was derelict, with no lights and no sounds from the inside.
"What now, Sweetie Belle?" Tornado Bolt panted. All of them were exhausted, their manes and foreheads wet with perspiration and their chests heaving as they tried to control their rapid heartbeats. Alula and Applebloom's legs were shaking, completely drained of all energy.
Sweetie Belle shook her sweat off her head and started digging around in one of the shrubs lining the library.
"I know it's here somewhere..." She muttered, rustling through tangled shrubbery.
"Hurry!" Scootaloo urged. "I don't know how long it will take before the zombies will find us."
"What makes you think we haven't lost them?" Shady Daze asked with some suspicion.
"I don't know for sure, but something tells me they won't stop at anything until they get us." Scootaloo said, her wings fluttering rapidly.
"Got it!' Sweetie Belle exclaimed, proudly holding up a silver key. She ran to the front door of the library and jammed the key into the lock, the door unlocking with a loud click and swinging open.
The six ponies ran inside and shut the door behind them, locking it and then hastily stacking up various books, furniture and other objects in front of the door and the windows, constructing a makeshift barricade.
Tornado Bolt sighed with relief, a sound that was soon copied by her friends.
All was silent until Shady Daze spoke up.
"Uh, guys? Should we turn on some lights?"
The six ponies then realized they were shrouded in darkness, the only visible objects were the outlines of bookshelves and tables.
"Good idea." Applebloom said, slightly embarrassed at herself, a feeling mutually shared with the others.
Luckily, a box of wax candles were on hand, tucked safely into a bookcase along with a box of matches. Once they were lit , the main room was reflecting a dim yet warm orange glow, while ghastly shadows danced along the walls. The six ponies quickly moved from shelf to shelf, pulling out books at random and hoping for any kind of book that could help them for their situation.
"How to we find information on something that nopony believed to have ever existed?" Alula thought out loud as she searched the higher bookcases,her small wings working hard to keep her afloat.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were darting from book to book, skimming every piece of inked paper they could get their hooves on.
"How did you know the key would be in the bushes? Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle smirked. "Rarity takes me here sometimes to find books or talk to Twilight, and we found out that Twilight keeps a spare key hidden in the bushes." At the memory of her older sister and her friends, hundreds of memories surged through her mind, the most happiest ones at that. She could feel her eyes fill with tears and feel her lips quivering. "Where are they now? And why are we stuck here alone?" She whimpered.
Scootaloo put a hoof on her tearful friend. She tried to meet Sweetie Belle's eyes, putting on a comforting smile.
"Don't worry, it'll be okay." She said.
It wasn't much for comfort, but it seemed to help. Sweetie Belle brushed the tears from her eyes and sniffled.
"Okay."
Meanwhile, Shady Daze had gone upstairs into Twilight's former bedroom. Everything was neatly arranged, from the books to the bed sheets. The room was sparsely decorated, the only sign of any personification was the star-dotted curtains and the brush that lay on the bare dresser.
Shady Daze went up to the window and propped himself on his hind legs, taking a view out of the outside world. Beyond him was the empty and uncluttered lanes of cobbled and grassy streets, the traditional wooden houses in which ponies once resided, and the empty night sky that was only punctuated by the twinkling stars and the glorious haf-moon that had slowly risen into it's zenith. The streets were bare, something that puzzled the young colt. Where were the zombies that had chased them here? Had something, or somepony, have led them astray with a diversion? How? Why?
Shady Daze just stared blankly at the full moon, wishing for the answers for the questions that pestered his mind. The moon bathed the streets in a mild glow, portraying long and narrow shadows across the earth while neutralizing the vibrant colors that were prominent in the daylight.
A quick flash of a moving shadow caught the colt's eye. He blinked twice to make sure it wasn't an illusion, but the moving shadow reappeared, looming closer and closer to the library. Shady Daze squinted as he tried to get a better image, when a figure skidded into view from behind a row of houses. The figure, clearly a young mare, carried the same shadow Shady Daze had noticed earlier.
Behind her, just appearing over the top of the horizon, was a pack of slowly moving figurines, their shambling movements instantly indicating who they were.
Zombies.
"Hey! Is that you, Shady Daze?" The mare cried.
Shady Daze took another look at the young filly, ready to help, when his jaw dropped open as shock and disbelief registered.
The faded and pale violet coat, the unicorn horn, the gamboge eyes that radiated inner terror, confusion and a sliver of frustration, and the disheveled gold mane and tail.
'Di-D-Dinky?!'