//------------------------------// // Falling pieces // Story: MLP:IPC // by NavyBr0wnie //------------------------------// The following chapter is made from a cumulative effort for a Ch. 10 contest done on Daviantart. --------- Dr. Kilowatt's Office Bunker 16-09 4:30 A.M. "So, Sweetiebelle... care to tell us your story?" The doctor continued to pace around the office, arranging various containers and jars of different shapes and sizes. After a couple switches and movements, Dr. Kilowatt pulled out a small container filled with a viscous purple fluid. Along with this miniscule beaker, he also quickly snatched a needle-point syringe from one of the cabinets near his desk. The doctor carefully thrust the needle through the protective film that covered the beaker, and extracted a small amount of the fluid that it contained. Once enough of the purple ooze was taken, Kilowatt gently placed the beaker back into it's original position. Sweetiebelle stared at the combination of the needle and fluid for a few moments, knowing fully of what they were meant for. She couldn't decide which was worse: the pain that she was already starting to endure, or the dreaded thought of receiving the notorious shot. She continued to glare directly at the gleaming tip of the thin metal rod, before she was broken out of her fearful trance. "Sweetiebelle? Hello?" The doctor continued to urge a response from the frightened filly, but to no avail. He glanced over to Oddball, who used silent hoof movements and gestures to inform the doctor of the issue. Immediately, he found the source of her distraction in his possession. "Ah, not a fan of needles, are you?" Sweetiebelle responded with a slight nod, confirming the doctor's assumption. Slowly, Kilowatt approached the young filly as carefully and friendly as he possibly could, continuing to act in a manner that would assure her that safety was present in their environment. Hiding the syringe from her sight, he attempted to start the conversation once more. "Let's forget about the medicine for now, shall we? For now, let's focus on the topic at hand." Sweetiebelle immediately calmed down, the thought of being punctured with such a tool now absent from her mind. She tried to explain her situation to the best of her ability. "I... I don't really know what happened... I just remember my sister rarity's friends going to the apple farm, they told me to stay at my sisters boutique, I finally got to the farm, I also remember my sisters friend rainbow dash was attacked... Then she saved me and brought me back to the my sisters shop" Sweetie said rubbing a hoof across her forehead. Killowatt sighed as he tried to decipher the fillies story. "Did Ms. Dash save you before or after... Your sister her friends left for the apple farm?" "Before... I had been on the farm for almost a week, I had been trying to survive against some crazy ponies they attacked me...." "Attacked? By the infected? Were you bitten at all?" "No sir, no bites. But..." "But what?" Kilowatt pried. "I knew them. Scootaloo and Applebloom. They... they were my friends..." Sweetiebelle sadly stated as she looked down at the desk, tears falling from her eyes. Kilowatt couldn't help but feel remorse for the unfortunate filly. She'd gone through so much already, now with the addition of her friends becoming infected and attacking her like they'd never known her. After his sentiment started to flow, he quickly snapped back to the topic. "I'm not gonna lie, SweetieBelle, what you did out there was both thoughtless and stupid."  Kilowatt said as he turned his head back towards the little filly.  His dark red eyes, hiding behind a pair of glasses, intimidated SweetieBelle.  Dr. Kilowatt was a tall alicorn, with a large, slicked back mane, and wore a white lab coat and vest. "I just wanted to help my sister and her friends, and possibly gain my cutie mark while I was at it."  SweetieBelle said ashamed, looking teary-eyed at the doctor.  Kilowatt felt sympathy seep back for the small unicorn that stood before him, and felt sort of bad again for yelling at her after what she had been through. "I'm... I'm sorry, Sweetiebelle. I've lost some good friends of mine too, And I've had just as many problems like yours in the past but, running in recklessly can and will get you killed, your sister said to wait for her because she loves you and doesn't want you to get hurt, imagine how she'd feel if she found you dead,." The doctor said sternly as he looked the filly in the eyes. "Look sweetie, i understand your want to help and I admire that but, you have to think before you do stunts like this... Your lucky I had Oddball doing recon when he found you" Kilowatt said,as he tried to comfort the frail youth with his reassuring words. As Sweetiebelle looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes with her front-left hoof. Kilowatt smiled at the tattered white filly, still continuing to try and perk her up. Letting out a large sigh, she noticed that the pain from her horn injury no longer hurt in the way that it did before. Looking over at the doctor, she noticed the now empty syringe that Kilowatt was holding. She glanced over at her flank, which now had a small bandage covering the puncture area for the injection that she had unknowingly received. With a small chuckle, the doctor approached the filly with his horn now beginning to glow. "Now... let's see what we can do about that horn." "Doctor something terrible just happened; Princess Celestia, she was bitten by one of those…things.  I can only fear the worst of what's going to happen." Oddball barked as he stumbled into the office. "The princess, bitten, that's impossible, she's far to powerful" Kilowatt said skeptically. "But, It happened, What are we going to do?" Oddball said pacing back and forth. "I'll tell you what we're not gonna do…panic.  Now here's what I need you to do, I need you to watch over SweetieBelle, make sure she's safe and doesn't stress out, I'm going out there, maybe save some lives and get some answers…"  Kilowatt said as he began to walk away. "Yes sir, and don't worry she won't be turning anytime soon as long as I'm around."  Oddball said with a salute, almost dropping the medicine. "Good, I'll be back soon.  Come Constantine."  Kilowatt said before a crow landed on his back with a caw. Kilowatt's horn began to light up with a bright yellow as tornado like wind began to encircle the black hided pony. Soon a white ball of energy began to grow around the doctors body as the air circled faster around him, in a matter of seconds he was gone leaving a scorched black spot where he once stood. Canterlot Infirmary Halls 5:50 A.M. "Come on! We need to get moving!" Freemane shouted at the top of his lungs, occasionally turning around to check on his party traversing through the ominous hallways of the crimson-stained infirmary. "We're going as fast as we can, here!" Balthazarr replied, also shouting as a means of implicating the stress that the group was currently under. The small group rushed back through the macabre hallways, desperately trying to get their bearings. After the shock of the solar goddess being injured by the infected, the party found themselves in disarray. What would become of Celestia? The mere thought of opposing the turned form of the goddess caused Balthazarr to grimace as he held her in his arms. Would the one that they were trying to rescue become what they were trying to destroy? Suddenly, the entire group found themselves standing at a crossroads in the infirmary pathways. "Gah, this is pointless!" Freemane yelled as he attempted to obtain the slightest sense of direction. The panic that had been stirred up due to recent events had caused him to simply make random turns, in the hope of finding help. "Calm yourself, Freemane!" R'a replied. "Calm? Calm?! Don't you remember what we're dealing with here?!" Freemane shouted, snapping back at the dragon to stare him in the eye. "I understand the urgency of the situation, but panicking won't help anything." "We need to keep moving! Do we just sit here and let the princess die?" "It won't matter if we keep running in circles like this!" Realizing the truth of R'a's statement, Freeman looked down at the ground and closed his eyes. He  began to breathe slowly and collect himself, in an attempt to keep the situation under control. How long had they been running around like this because of him? "You're right... I'm sorry, everyone." Bal looked down at the crippled figure in his arms. Celestia was struggling to breathe, fading in and out of consciousness as the group continued to scatter throughout the halls. Without help, she would surely die soon enough. And that wasn't even considering the possibility of her turning, which was all the more serious. "Apologies aren't necessary... we're all under stress here." Bal began to state. "Our top priority now is to keep the princess safe. This gauze is only going to hold for so long..." "My office. We need to get back to my office." Freemane boldly stated. "Sounds good to me." R'a replied. "Are you certain of which direction we need to go?" Freemane nodded before turning back around to the three paths that stood before them. Even in his calm state, adrenaline still flowed through his veins. The hospital hallways were no longer friendly or familiar in his mind. The floors, walls, and ceiling of each path were asymmetrically painted with an unnerving red, topped off with various body parts splayed amongst it. Desperately trying to remember which corridor would lead them to their destination, he could only remain in an indecisive freeze. Left, forward, or right... Before Freemane could come to a definite decision, Balthazarr noticed mangled figures approaching from behind. The infected had caught up with them while they were planning. "Now would be a VERY good time to remember, doctor!" Bal shouted. R'a immediately stood in between the infected and the rest of the group, attempting to cast various wards and spells that could buy them whatever time they could. He waved his staff in an almost rehearsed manner, with a multichromatic light show streaming from the orb on the upper end. The light flowed in the direction of the infected, who were now sprinting frantically at the group with unhinged jaws and bloodcurdling screeches. The flowing aura took shape of a barrier, halting the infected with a solid fortification. Freemane, now under extreme pressure, became even more indecisive of the choices before him. Two paths spelled death, only one spelled life. The thought of him being the one to decide made his body and mind seem to lock up and freeze in time. "I won't be able to hold this for much longer, Freemane!" R'a shouted, exerting all of his energy into holding the diminishing barrier. As Freemane was on the verge of breaking from the pressure of the situation, even more figures began to approach the group from the left and front pathways. R'a was struggling to keep up one barrier, so three were out of the question. Bal literally had his hands full, and Celestia was near powerless to the event unfolding around her. With the infected running full force from multiple angles, the only choice was presented in front of them. It was now or never. "Right! We're going right!" Freemane shouted, still uncertain about their direction. Instantly, R'a released the barrier that held the persistent infected back. Him and Bal followed Freemane in a desperate sprint, barely making it past the infected charging at them from the other pathways. Now in a single-file line, the party ran through one straight corridor with the infected snapping at their tails, hoping to find their salvation in Freemane's office. As they ran, R'a occasionally turned around in a flash to strike at one or two infected with his staff. The skulls of the infected ponies cracked and snapped in a variety of gruesome blows, each almost guaranteed that the ones receiving them would not get back up. "Come on! Keep up with me!" Freemane frantically shouted back at his followers. After multiple turns and corners, Freemane noticed a reception area at the far end of the hall. The reception area had reinforced metal doors that would surely keep the pursuers off of their backs. "There! We can make it!" The group followed with a desperate sprint, each member praying that they would make it through the double doors that comforted them with a feeling of safety. The infected were now directly upon them, making it even harder for R'a to fend them off while running. Freemane dashed through the metal frame, followed by Balthazarr and Celestia, then R'a. If they didn't act quickly, the infected would follow after them. "Now!" Balthazarr shouted, signaling R'a to shut the doors. With a lightning-fast wave of his staff, R'a attempted to shut the large rectangular metal doors on the infected pursuers. The orb on the staff quickly emitted a single spark and flash, followed by the doors slamming shut upon the bloodthirsty ponies. Some were unfortunate enough to have their necks snapped between the doors, decapitating each one with a quick splatter of blood and snap of bone. After managing to close the doors, the group stopped to catch their breath and gather their bearings. "Heh... talk about cutting it close..." R'a commented with a smirk. Upon further inspection of the office, the group observed the gruesome scene that had also made itself present in their temporary haven. Though not as grim as the areas that they had visited earlier, there were still long streams of blood and various body parts splayed upon the floors and walls. Apart from the organic features of the dimly lit room, there was a stationary receptionist's desk, bookshelves stocked to the brim with various titles and magazines, and several chairs that had been overturned or broken completely. Further towards the opposite end was another exit, as well as a back closet for assorted supplies and equipment. Freemane made his way towards the closet to search for any supplies that could assist them, while R'a brushed the receptionist's desk clear of debris and bloodied paperwork. Balthazarr gently placed Celestia on the cleared receptionist's desk, making sure to put pressure on her wound without causing her pain. As she rested on the desk, Celestia began to regain consciousness. "...A-ah..." "Take it easy, princess." Bal gently said, still caring to the injured princess' wounds. "What luck!" Freemane shouted, opening one of the doors within the reception area. He rummaged through a few supplies in the back room, before pulling out various painkillers and medical supplies. "These should help hold her over," Freeman began, "but we'll need more than this to ensure that she'll make it." "Thank you, doctor." Bal replied as he received the supplies from Freemane. With the assistance of the doctor, the blood-stained gryphon applied a palette of assorted medications and antibacterial solutions to the wound that Celestia had sustained. Through the procedure, the solar goddess winced and flinched at certain movements of the duo, as it was clear that she was in pain. Over the course of minutes that flowed like molasses, Bal and Freemane tended to Celestia's wounds to the best of their ability, hoping that she would live through the chance of infection. Though the group was uncertain of her fate, the princess showed signs of strength and control, despite the circumstances that had befallen her. After their work was finished, Celestia attempted to stand on all fours without assistance. Once her hooves hit the floor, she was able to stand in an erect manner for only about five seconds, as her knees began to collapse. "Please, princess. Focus on resting for a bit before we move on." Balthazarr insisted. "I can not allow my injury to be a hindrance... if we do not push forward, our fate is uncertain." Celestia responded in her normal regal manner. "It would do us no good to lose you, princess. To push forward in your state would be an act of suicide. We'll make certain that the perimeter is secure. Please. Rest." "I... I understand..." After convincing Celestia to remain in her prone state and rest, Bal stood up to make sure that the doors were truly reinforced. The doorway that they had entered through had been thoroughly secured and shut, ensuring that nothing would enter through it's fortified barrier. After checking the first set of doors, Bal turned around to check on the doorway on the opposite end of the room. As he stepped forward, the door began to creak open with an eerie squeal. As Bal froze in place, hands on his sheathed blade, a small, silhouetted figure stepped through the narrow passageway. The small robed pony brought about a sense of comfort to the group as a familiar form. Balthazarr stood upright in a relaxed manner, as he took his hands off of his sword's handle. He attempted to speak to the scribe, still standing in the shadows near the door. "Young scribe! Thank the goddesses, you're alright. What news do you bring?" No response. No movement. The figure remained standing in it's stolid position. "Scribe! Answer!" Still, nothing. "Balthazarr..." R'a interrupted, in a sorrowful manner. Bal turned his head towards the dragon, who gave a glance which indicated his fear and sadness. He quickly shot his gaze back over to the shrouded pony, still standing in the shadows. "...No... Scribe! ...Please, answer me!" Bal shouted in despair. The small shadow took two steps forward into the light, revealing his true figure. His eyes were completely bloodshot with yellow irises and dilated pupils. His teeth had grown elongated and crooked from his now gaping jaw. Balthazarr began to reach for his blade once more, trembling with a plagued mind and grieving heart. Celestia could only bear witness to the shuddering gryphon preparing to attack the now infected foal. "Balthazarr... please... there must be another way..." She pleaded. "I'm... afraid this isn't the time for diplomacy, your highness..." R'a intervened, his face revealing and sharing the princess' sorrow. Bal unsheathed his sword from it's scabbard, slowly assuming a battle stance. The infected foal began to stumble towards him, showing that it's legs had been injured during the scramble with the other insane mares. Bal slowly stepped towards the stumbling youth, his heart pounding in his chest with every regretful footfall. The rest of the party could only watch as the gryphon walked closer and closer to the ravaged shell of a familiar child. "Look away, princess..." Freemane insisted. Celestia slowly closed her weeping eyes and covered them with her forelegs, waiting for the too-familiar sound of metal meeting flesh, hoping that it would not have to occur. Balthazarr was only a few steps away from the infected foal, tears rolling down his cheeks as he raised his blade into the air, ready to strike. The foal continued to stumble on bloodied and broken legs, giving no concern to the pain it must have felt. "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." Bal whispered as he sobbed. With one quick swipe, the encounter had ended. The infected scribe had taken the last attempted step that is ever would. The atmosphere fell silent as Celestia began to reopen her eyes, awaiting the gruesome scene that would appear before her. The corpse of the beheaded foal lay in the darkened corner of the room, moved by the sorrow-filled Balthazarr, who refused to lay eyes upon it. Bal was stationed at the door of the scribe's entry, ensuring that it was sealed, as tears continued to roll down the sides of his face. After completely securing the room, Bal walked back towards the group, taking a seat in one of the reception area's chairs. He wiped the tears from his eyes, before planting his face into the palms of his claws. He could only manage to speak one sentence, each word filled with an emphasis of anger and remorse. "What should youth know of death?" The gryphon said as he leaned back in his chair. "Nothing, they shouldn't... But these times... These times..." Freemane hesitated. "These times have been hard on us all," "Hard, I have seen more dead children this day, then I have in my life...", Balthazarr said calmly. Freemane dropped his head slightly with a sigh. "I cannot say the same but, I can say that... At least you tried to fight for them...", Freemane said walking closer to the gryphon. "If this was still the territory wars, I'd have no feeling to this" Balthazarr said with a hint of fear. "Happens to us all, in our age we grow kinder, more caring for life, we learn what we couldn't when we were young", R'a chimed in.  "Is it me, or has it gotten quiet?" the doctor said turning to the dragon and gryphon. "Ay, It has gotten rather quiet" Balthazar said as he raised from his chair. His hand landed on the handle of his sword as the party began looking around. Just then the sound of banging could be heard from the door they had blocked. "Doctor, Do you have any ideas?" "None at the moment", The doctor said as he hurried over to the princess.  "I believe we need to move...", Princess celestia said in a higher version of her regal tone. "I'm sure we are f-..." the doctor was interrupted by a loud clang, as  several of the objects blocking the door flew backwards.  "I stand corrected..." the doctor said as another hit sent things flying.  "I concur we the princess", Balthazarr said as he ran to the other doorway. He ripped open the double doors, only to be greeted by a group of infected ponies. Celestia quickly created a small magical barrier between the gryphon and the infected before they could swarm him. "It appears both ways are blocked", R'a said as he readied his staff to whatever was trying to break in through the opposite door. Celestia used her magic to push the infected back long enough for Balthazarr to close and lock the door way. Finally releasing her hold she sprawled weakly on the floor. Freemane noticed the toll it had taken on her body. He walked closer to comfort her. "Princess, Be careful..." he pleaded as he looked over her body. He noticed a small black ring forming around the wound. It appeared that small black veins had also began protruding from underneath the bandages.  "Princ-..." the doctor was interrupted by another slam, this time the door curated open sending derbies and junk in every direction. Freemane looked to see what had caused all the commotion. He felt his mouth drop as an overly large pony stumbled in through the doorway. It wore orderly scrubs that were covered in various blood splatters. It was as tall as celestia and about as wide as Balthazarr. It's front hooves where as thick as trees and it's teeth looked like it was replaced with serrated knives. It looked around after a few seconds it let out an ear piercing roar before it began to charge after Balthazarr, who rolled away from its path causing it to crash into a nearby wall. Several infected that didn't get caught in the charge started to crawl through the hole in the wall. Celestia tried to crawl to her hooves and move but fell earth bound once more. Bal ran and picked her up once more followed by Freemane and R'a. The raced out through the busted door hanging left they heard another roar and the sound of walls being broke through. Freemane took the next right running past parallel glass windows. Several shadows began trying to break though as the group ran by. Celestia turned her head to look behind the gryphon and saw a group of infected ponies closing in. Her horn lit up as an aura began to surround the nearest one. Drifting in and out of consciences, she lifted the pony and squeezed causing it to implode inside a little bubble. When she released her hold the chunky remand landed on the ground with a nasty plop. She felt her neck give out making her head fall limp swaying back and forth, silently she blacked out again. Freemane came to another intersection. His head bounced between the options. He heard the sound of his party close behind. "What's the problem?" R'a asked as he was the first to arrive.  "Intersection", Freemane simply said. Freemane heard the sound of hooves hitting tile in the distance. He turned to see a small group of infected sprinting towards the group. R'a lit the head of his staff with a bright red aura and sent a beam of energy towards the small group frying the ones closest to the blast, while burning the ones farther away. "Doctor I do suggest we move, now" R'a said as he fired another blast of energy. "I'm trying alright, every path is blocked by the infected" Freeman yelled back. "Well if safe isn't an option, then we go the clearest" Balthazarr said as backed away from a shambling infected. "By Fausticorn I hope this works", Freemane said as he bolted down the center hallway. R'a and Balthazarr followed soon after. Balthazarr stood in the center of the group trying to not get nicked by any infected that wanted to get personal with him. He felt the princess's body begin to shake in his claws.  "Princess, You need to hold on, we are almost safe... And hopefully the scribe was able to get help before he... Fell" The gryphon said as he curved around a corner. Celestia simply groaned to herself causing Balthazarr to push whatever strength he had left in his legs. "Doctor, How much farther?" Balthazarr screamed.  "About 400ish meters", Freemane said as he turned in a drift like motion to face the gryphon. Afterwards he continued galloping forward. R'a continued close behind occasionally firing fast flying green bolts of energy. Stopping halfway in the hall he turned and charged up his staff with a bright blue aura. Firing it, a wave of bright whitish blue energy washed everything not bolted down away. When the flash cleared the only thing left was the black scorthched walls. "That's should keep us clear for awhile" the dragon said as he turned to catch up with the group. Freemane continued to gallop forward when he heard an explosion. He didn't stop, not caring what caused it as long as he made it away from it. He turned another corner seeing a familiar sign just above his head. 'Infirmary Exit'  With a sigh of relief he continued away. Balthazarr still following close behind. "Almost th-..." the doctor was interrupted by the wall to his left bursting into powdery white chunks. The doctor tried to jump back but, instead fell on his back right in front of the gaping hole in the wall. On the other side a shadow could be seen. Freemane felt a hole grow in his stomach as the monstrosity showed itself. It was the creature from before. It came do close the doctor could see the dark black milkyness in its eyes. All the doctor could do was let out a little whimper before the creature sent out a loud blood curdling roar into his face. The doctor tried to scramble away but was swatted by the creatures oversized hoof. Freemane felt his body slam into the dry wall with a loud crunch. Balthazarr began trying to back away from the creature but triped sending the princess flying away. The injured Alicorn landed mere feet away from the large infected. It looked down at her as it raised its oversized hoof. The princess could only watch as her body was to weak to move away. "Hey ugly, Betty says she wants her role back" A western like voice said making the infected turn to see who it belonged to.  "Names Alt-Fire, and I'm here to kick your ugly flank... Any questions?" the mysterious voice said. Freemane turned his head to see a pony wearing a familiar armour. The only noticeable difference was it had the acronym of P.A.N.S.Y. The infected simply roared as it began to charge at the armoured pony.   "y'all might wanna get down." said the pony.  "I don't want you getting cought by stray rounds" he explained. "now hit the deck!"  The pony began opening up on the creture promting who ever didn't want to get shot to do as they were told.   "ya like that? Huh!" mocked the pony. "here have some more!" he yelled jumping around and spraying it with more rounds. After several seconds of constant fire he decided to change tact.  "looks like I'm gonna have to open fire on your flank!" he said as he astonishingly stood on his hind legs pulled a G5 smart fire hoof grenade out of a pocket. he then ran straight at it only narrowly avoiding its tree trunk sized arms. seeing this as an opening he jumped on the infected creatures forehoof and ran up it, when he reached its head he jumped on its face and began prying the things mouth open with an in-pony amount of strength. When he finally got its mouth opened he primed the grenade and threw it down the monsters gullet.    "Eat up ya ugly mother Hubbard, need to take your vitamins!" he yelled as the monster burst into flames from the inside out.  The creature yelled in pain as It burned inside out. After several more seconds it began to slow down then stopped moving all together. "And that ladies and gentle colts is, how you take down a ground pounder, any objections?" Alt-Fire said as he took a now in front of the smoldering corpse of the recently killed infected. Apple Family orchard: Surrounding fields  2:45 Am The group of four ponies walked silently through the rows of trees that surrounded the outer fields of the farm. "Nothing here..." Sparks said as he and his group scanned another empty area. "Oh woohoo big surprise there", Sprinkles complained "There's nothing here, There's nothing there, there's no bucking thing anywhere!" "Sprinkles, Calm down... Please", Sparks pleaded. "Oh shut up sparks. No one gives a buck about what you say," Sprinkles barked, Sparks backed away from the angered pony. "All you are is a waste of space, And this whole situation is a waste of bucking time" "Hey, Watch what you say", Dash said interrupting the argument. "Oh look it's the little foal, Standing up for this weak pile of manure" Sprinkles scoffed."Watch out, Rainbow crash is on the loose" "WHAT, Did you say?" Rainbow said coming in closer to sprinkles. "I said, WATCH. OUT. RAINBOW. CRA-..." Sprinkles was interrupted by a hoof to the side of his face. The guard was sent skidding away sending a puff of dirt. "You... You... You Bucking Whorse... Your going to pay for that" Sprinkles said as he picked himself up off the ground. Dash simply walked away as sprinkles threw threats at her. "Hey, I'm not done with you!" Sprinkles said as he charged after the pegasus. He tackled dash sending both of them to the ground in a ball of dust and anger. Sprinkles landed a hoof to dashes face causing a stream of blood to seep out of her snout. She retorted with knee between his legs and hoof across his face. The guard rolled over wincing at the double whammy. Dash crawled upto her hooves and looked at the whimpering pony. "I don't want-..." dash was interrupted by the sound of rustling. The group began scanning the area. Everywhere the sound of leaves brushing against each other was heard. As shadows were making themselves present. "H...Halt... State your buisness!" Sparks said as the group began to tighten. More shadows began to show themselves to the point where ever you looked you could see something standing by the trees. "I said Halt!"  "Oh shut up, It's useless they won't listen" Sprinkles said as he slapped a hoof across the privates face. "I have to agree, They out number us four to three", Zecora chimed in. The surrounding trees were filled with shadowy forms of ponies that still kept encroaching on the group. "Uh, Rainbow... I believe it would be in our, particularly my, best interest to... I dunno... Run?" Sprinkles said looking back at the Pegasus who wore a stern face as her sight bounced between trees finding a way away. "I'd love to, but it's hard when every path is blocked" Dash said not moving her head. "Zecora you have any ideas?" "I'm sorry rainbow dash, But I have nothing that wouldn't be brash" Zecora said as the circle of shrouded ponies stepped into the moonlight revealing their disfigured and mutilated bodies. "Stay back!" Dash yelled as one of the figures tried to jump her. It was a short pony with a big gash across his face and gash across his left forehoof. Dash turned to get away the group following close behind. She ran straight towards a wall of figures slamming into them knocking the majority to the ground.  "We must hurry, While they are distracted by rainbows flurry" Zecora said as she and the 3 others galloped past dash who was luring a group of the figures away. "Hey meatheads, Ya wanna play lets play!" Dash said as she galloped leading the small group of figures farther from the main pack. She expertly weaves through trees and over fallen limbs. She looked back to see most of the figures had gotten stuck or were just shambling towards her. Though there were some whom were able to sprint right on her tail. One took a chance and leaped into the air and landing with its hooves one her flank. Dash kept running dragging the figure behind. A plum of dirt was following after the figure as it held tight onto rainbows flank. It pulled its self till it was halfway onto her body. She swerved trying to knock it into a tree ,but everytime she would it'd switch to a different. "Get off mah....agh!!" Dash said as she skidding onto her side into the ground as the figure bit a chunk of flesh out from her inner thigh. She heard the sound of chewing as the pain finally made itself apparent. She looked to see the large crater left within her leg. She gritted her teeth as she applied pressure to the gushing wound. She looked up at the figure who was still chewing on her removed piece of flesh.  She was thankful it wasn't paying attention to her as she tried to scoot away from it. She felt her back hit a tree and moved to get around it. The sound of growling came close to her ears. She looked to see the dark sickly ringed eyes from the figure who has recently bit into her. "Ah B-..."