//------------------------------// // Flashbacks // Story: Never Say Goodbye // by lovestruck //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash heard a bang and a moan. She held Twilight closer to her, wrapping her wings around the unicorn. There was another moan, and louder banging. Dash almost let out a sob, but she managed to hold it in. "We should run." Twilight whispered when the banging got louder. "They can't get in." Rainbow whispered back. Her hair stood up on end when she heard the much louder clang of a certain pony kicking the door as hard as he could. "Maybe we should go to the next place anyway." The pegasus moved slowly towards a staircase. The two ponies were in a building that was much too familiar. The floors still smelled of all kinds of apples, and of an old friend. The floor of Applejack's old cellar were cracked cement, a fight from long ago had resulted in smashed barrels and rotted apples being spread all over, and random plants snaked their ways in through the cracks in the walls. Clang. Clang. CLANG. "It's him." Twilight cried suddenly. "I know it is. It must be... He was..." Rainbow hugged Twilight closer, trying to comfort her though she knew there was no way to fix it. Day 1 "Come on!" Applejack grabbed Fluttershy's hair and dragged her backwards. The yellow mare was screaming in fear as the zombies approached on the horizon. Rainbow Dash threw herself at the two, knocking them backwards into the trapdoor, and down the staircase into the apple cellar. "We don't have time for this!" she shouted, turning back to Rarity, Pinkie, and Trixie. "Inside!" The three followed her command, racing inside. A zombie pegasus was getting frighteningly close, and Shining Armor and Twilight were still far behind. Even further behind them were Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "There's no way we can all make it!" Twilight shouted over the thundering of hooves from their pursuers. Suddenly, Shining Armor stopped. With a blast of magic, he sent Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Twilight flying towards the safehouse. Rainbow pushed them all inside, just in time. The zombie pegasus dove for them, and Dash kicked him in the stomach. The kick sent him off in the other direction, flying away and unable to swoop back. However, just as he disappeared, another came. She fended them off, barely managing to avoid getting bitten the entire time. Suddenly, there was a horrible scream. Rainbow turned around and saw the crowd much closer than she had anticipated. Shining Armor held up his magical barrier, hoping to get to the cellar before he ran out of energy. But, ultimately, his shield broke. He lay on the grass, covered with bloody zombies that used to be the residents of Ponyville. His screams hurt Rainbow's heart, and she almost let her guard down. But the thing that hurt most was the call she heard directly behind her. "SHINING!" Twilight cried, tears rolling down her face instantly as she crawled out of the cellar to find the source of the screaming. "No, Twi, get back down here!" Applejack's voice called from inside. "Twilight, go back inside!" Dash ordered. "No, I have to save him!" Twilight ran out past the pegasus. Blue and purple magic both seized her at the same time, their owners peeking out the trapdoor. "You can't survive it, Twilight!" Rarity called. "Twilight, get back in here! He can't be saved now!" Trixie called. Twilight resisted as much as she could, until she felt a touch on her shoulder. It was Dash. "Twilight, even if you got him away from them, he's been bitten too many times. It's too late; let's save the ponies that can be saved." she motioned towards the cellar, where the last living ponies they new were hidden. Twilight sobbed loudly and ran back to the cellar. Dash punched another persistent zombie, ran in, and shut the trapdoor behind her. "If we get out of this-" Twilight started, but Dash covered her mouth with a hoof. "When we get out of this. When." Rainbow corrected her. "I promise it's a 'when', not an 'if'. We will fix this, somehow." Twilight smiled, pushing her friend's hoof away. "When we get out of this, I don't know what we're going to do without them." CLANG! "We can think about it later. We need to get to the next hideout." Dash said, trotting towards a back exit. The group of survivors had come up with a plan; to keep moving, fed, and safe, they would only spend a few nights in one place then move on to the next hideout. They picked places that had secret exits and were usually very safe to leave. And as long as there was a pegasus in the group they could travel by air, which was difficult for zombies and therefore safer for living ponies. Although the list of safe places had gotten lost, they still had it engraved in their minds. The last hiding place had been Sugarcube Corner. No zombies had been in there, and there was a lot of food leftover from before the infection had spread. However, they had been driven out after a few days, not because of a shortage of food, but because of old friends. Day 30 "Did you hear that?" Twilight asked, almost dropping her sandwich. "Trixie heard nothing." Trixie, looked around, not sure what the purple pony had heard. It was only the three of them; Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Trixie Lulamoon. Possibly the only ponies left in the world. "I heard it too, Twi." Rainbow stood quickly and peeked out of the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. At that moment, there was a stallion-like moan and a bang as the door was punched. Twilight and Trixie screeched with fear and leaped backwards. The pounding grew louder and faster, the door shaking under the pressure. "We gotta get out of here." Rainbow stepped back into the kitchen. "It only sounds like one, though." Trixie said, trotting over to a drawer. She opened it and her horn glowed, picking up all of the drawer's contents. She held up at least 20 huge knives, a few large forks, and even a couple spoons. "This place has a ton of weapons. We can take it." Rainbow nodded in agreement, but Twilight looked a bit worried. "We could get infected if we risk it. We should..." she stopped talking when a strong kick made a hole in the door. Startled, she shot the doorway with a blast of raw magic. There was a flash and the door burned away, leaving a pile of ash on the floor. "Now we don't have a door! What are we going to do?" Trixie asked, scared and annoyed. "Don't blame me!" Twilight growled. Suddenly, every knife and fork fell out of Trixie's magical grip and onto the floor. Twilight's jaw was wide open, and Dash's whole frame drooped in shock. The zombie pony at their door was a large, white stallion with blue hair that had light blue streaks in it. He was a unicorn, a very fit pony that in life was very strong and athletic. He was now very messy; fur stained with mud and dirt, tears in his skin, missing teeth, glazed eyes, the cliche zombie look. But even in his undead state, the three ponies could recognize him, especially Twilight. "No. No. No. No! No! Not him! Not now! No!" Twilight started out whispering, but her voice grew into a yell. She barely had time to start speaking before the zombie Shining Armor dove at Trixie, the nearest pony. The blue magician was knocked to the floor. With Twilight too shocked to move and Trixie frozen in fear, Dash had to save them. Though this wouldn't have been a surprise to many ponies, this was one to Rainbow; punching a zombie in its side does not kill it. Shining growled, barely noticing the pain. He simply reached out one hoof and kicked the troublesome pegasus away. Rainbow flew backwards, the force of the hit carrying her all the way outside. Rainbow Dash groaned from the pain of hitting the ground so hard. She was winded, but had to catch her breath fast. She had to, for her groan wasn't the only one in the air. She lifted her head and looked around. Hundreds. Hundreds of zombies were stumbling around, a few towards her. She recognized one. A pink earth pony was coming right for her. It had long, straight hair, glazed light blue eyes, tears in its skin, and was missing a leg. Rainbow was suddenly unable to move. She lay there, mouth and eyes wide open, as her undead best friend came running up to her. "eeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Rainbow's heart stopped. Maybe she was having a heart attack. She certainly thought she was. The late Pinkie Pie, torn from her not long ago by the evil undead monsters known as zombies, was going to come kill her. Inside the Sugarcube Corner was the last ponies she had, the only friends left for her in this world. One was completely frozen and defenseless because of the appearance of her zombie BBBFF, and the other... The other had just given that shriek. That shriek that rang so loud, the entire world seemed to stop. The zombies stopped moving, the wind stopped blowing, time itself stopped. But the shriek continued in Rainbow Dash's ears, fading slowly and taking the life of Trixie Lulamoon with it. The pegasus suddenly launched herself off the ground. She spin-kicked the zombies surrounding her, including Pinkie, and flew into Sugarcube Corner again. She was too late. Trixie lay, bleeding and lifeless on the floor. But Shining Armor wasn't pinning her down anymore, and this was because of one simple fact; Twilight had thrown every single knife in the room directly at Shining's face. The stallion shouted and stumbled backwards, allowing Twilight to run out the doors. Without hesitation, Dash grabbed Twilight and flew up into the air, leaving the horrifying scene behind. After that, they had run to the nearest shelter they had. The old apple cellar. Now Shining had followed them, and they needed to get away as quick as possible to the next and possibly the safest hideout.