Chapter 6
As the undead streamed in, the armed fillies began their attack, poised and waiting for the right moment.
Applebloom tensed as a pale grey stallion lumbered towards her, moaning louder and more intensely.
"I'm right here." She growled, before swinging the extinguisher at her attacker, the glossy crimson canister connecting to the side of the stallion's head, the hit area caving in, the zombie crumpling to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Without wasting any time, the pale yellow filly backed up, leapt onto the library's central table and swung her weapon in a vicious downwards arc, nearly splitting the head of a blue mare in half.
She ducked as a tool box whizzed above her head, colliding violently with an oncoming zombie, who joined a quickly populating list of unmoving corpses.
"Have at it, Shady Daze!" Applebloom cheered.
What happened next was blurry to the little ponies. Projectiles were launched at the undead marauders, and one by one, they met their ends, each shot scoring a direct hit, as if by magic. Not that the ponies minded,since they were desperate to stay alive.
A flying encyclopedia, nearly two feet thick, brought down the final zombie, both ghoul and projectile dropping like a stone. The fillies and the sole colt tried to catch their breaths. Zombies, objects, trash and shattered materials littered the floor, and the horrible reek of rotten flesh only intensified, causing the weak-stomached to gag, the only sounds audible in the silence of the night.
After a few minutes of the unnatural silence, Dinky finally spoke.
"What do we do now?"
A gust of wind swept through the door and circulated the room, gently whipping the manes of the young ponies.
"I guess we go forwards." Applebloom answered.
"What should we do with these bodies?" Tornado Bolt asked, pointing towards the mass of dead ponies.
Applebloom pondered the options, but none of them seemed any good.
"I guess we just leave 'em here." She said. "They're dead now, and I think that they ain't coming back to life again."
Nopony voiced complaints, and in single file, the young ponies crept around the corpses, trying with all their power to not touch the undead.
Once outside, the seven of them grouped up again.
"Where should we go?" Tornado Bolt asked.
The question floated through the air and expanded into the desolate town.
Applebloom looked down and sighed. "Look y'all, I don't like it, but I think we best leave Ponyville."
Nervous chatter aroused from her friends.
"I know it sounds bad," She agreed, cutting off the murmurs. "but it's the only thing left to do. We've seen what's left of Ponyville. There's nopony here anymore. What we need to do is get out, now."
"Do you have a destination in mind?" Scootaloo asked.
Applebloom nodded, a smile returning. "We should get to Canterlot. I'm sure everypony fled there. After all, the royal place is there, and the whole town can be guarded by a force field."
"Which could work against zombies." Shady Daze speculated.
Applebloom beamed. "Exactly! And maybe the train is still waiting here for us!"
"But none of us know how to drive a train!" Sweetie Belle pointed out.
Her pale yellow friend just shrugged. "How hard can it be?"
Astounded looks were drawn from he friends.
The western filly sighed. "Look, I know it's far fetched. But we have to try. I miss my family too. It hurts when they're not here. And everypony is most likely to be in Canterlot, so I think we should go."
Sweetie Belle whimpered. "I miss my sister, too."
Everypony felt gripped by self-pity and the longing of not having their families. They knew they were only kids, and no kid should have to fight zombies, to go through what they had to go through.
Applebloom looked upwards, her eyes taking up a new steely determination to her already present one. She had been raised in a family that had lived in the countryside, growing up in traditional ways. In their past, times had been tough, and there hadn't always been enough to sustain the whole family. But there was one part of the Apple Family that was hard-wired and tamper-proof, something that had been etched into Apple Family genes since Granny Smith was a young one. That was the one bit of willpower that kept them going, the inability to give up. Some ponies think of it as pride or close-mindedness, but in reality, it was a blessing that kept the family going through thick and thin, and held the family ways together.
"I'm gonna keep going." She said. "If anypony wants to stay behind, you're welcome, but I'm movin' on. I'm gonna get on that train and make my way to Canterlot."
She started walking away, but it wasn't long before the others followed, their faces also plastered with new energy to keep going.
"Where do you think you're going?" Scootaloo asked.
"You're not going anywhere without us." Sweetie Belle said.
"We're in this together." Dinky confirmed.
Before the western filly could express her thanks, moans emerged from a side street, and a group of zombies, about five mares and stallions sauntered towards them, homing in on them like guided missiles, their stench, sounds and desire for devouring all too prominent.
Unarmed, the fillies knew better than to try and fight. But what left a sour taste in Applebloom's mouth was that the zombies had cut off their route to the train station. But, powered by only a vague plan and an even more obscure prediction over where everypony had disappeared to, as well as keeping all her friends together and alive, Applebloom was still more determined than ever.
"If the zombies wanna do it the hard way, I'll do it the hard way. It's all worth it for getting back to family."