//------------------------------// // You must be this tall... To die! // Story: Dashie and Flutters get Left 4 Dead // by Erised the ink-moth //------------------------------// [Difficulty - Advanced] [Realism - Enabled] [More realism - Enabled] [Extra settings] - Gun shortage (Weapons are not duplicated when picked up) - Slow healing (Medkits heal damage slowly over time instead of all at once) - Relentless dead (Common and uncommon Infected can only be killed with headshots, and will pursue survivors so long as they have at least one remaining limb) - Like a fish (Survivors can crawl and use primary weapons, but not melee weapons, when in final stand mode) - You kids turn that music down (Hordes will be drawn by gunfire, explosions, and other loud noises) - This is NOT a 90’s railshooter (Infinite ammo on pistols is disabled) - Won’t take that lying down (Survivors can fight back against infected incapacitation holds to take reduced damage, but still require help to get free) - Stop, drop, and what now? (Fire doesn’t cause infected to panic) - When push comes to shove (Shove attacks affect allies) - Well isn’t that convenient? Stop it. (Picked up ammunition must be loaded into clips before it can be used) - A little variety (More kinds of Weapons, Armor, Ammo, and Healing items to be found) - Pick up, ALL the items! (Survivors can carry twice as many Healing and Grenade items) - Jolly cooperation/ Stand and deliver (Lone survivors can be encountered and will either help you or attack you) After what must have been a solid two hours of wandering near aimlessly through the woods and ducking behind trees and bushes whenever a loud noise cut through the inky blackness around them, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were positive they weren’t getting anywhere. It was so dark out that trying to get any sense of direction from the air was impossible, and had thus rendered their flight as nothing more than a way to get off the ground; something they had done several times just to feel a bit safer. But now both of them were getting worn out and had stayed on the ground to conserve their strength. Rainbow may have been known for her legendary speed in Equestria, but her endurance… not so much. “Uhh, this is getting us nowhere.” Rainbow sighed in annoyance as she looked around for something, anything that would tell her where she was going. She wiped the sweat off her face, along with a smear of blood. Her wounds from earlier still hadn’t stopped bleeding, light though they were. If only it were daytime out she could fly up and know exactly where she’d ended up, the moon and stars seemed so far away here, their light was almost muted compared to what she was used to. At least Fluttershy was with her, that was a comfort. Rainbow would have preferred having Applejack in this situation, but Fluttershy had her perks too, no mistake. She was great with animals, if there was an animal alive, Fluttershy knew how to care for it. And though she was overly timid most of the time, she also had a good number of wilderness skills under her belt, including first aid. And then there was that stare. By Celestia, the stare; Rainbow had seen her talk down a giant dragon with it. She wasn’t sure if she could fight these monsters with her, but Rainbow was glad to have her by her side. “Hey Fluttershy, how far do you think we’ve walked?” Rainbow asked the yellow pegasus, but received no response. “Flutteshy?” Rainbow looked behind her to find that her friend had gone missing. “Fluttershy, where are you?!” she called out in panic as she leapt into the air, her eyes scanning her surroundings. “Over here.” Fluttershy called softly as she poked her head out from behind a tree. Rainbow swooped down and hugged her. “Don’t do that to me!” “Oh, sorry Dashie.” she apologized “But I found something, come look.” The thing that Fluttershy had found was a large opening in the middle of the woods with a giant, black stone path that stretched out seemingly forever in both directions. Along the sides ran a metal fence, which they propped themselves up on as they looked around. “What is this thing, it’s so flat and smooth.” Rainbow touched down on the surface of the road, remembering the dirt and cobblestone streets back home. Her pondering was interrupted by a set of voices in the distance. Looking over, they saw a bunch of weird-looking creatures standing around a beat-up metal box. Rainbow spied from behind a tree as she tried to figure out what they even were; the only things she’d seen that walk on two legs before were diamond dogs and spike. And these things didn’t look anything like a dog or a dragon. While the two of them watched, she caught a bit of their conversation. … “I hate to be the bearer of bad news guys, but unless Ellis knows how to build a monster truck; we ain’t drivin’ through this.” Nick said in his usual sarcastic, condescending tone. “Sorry guys, guess it wasn’t such a hot idea after all.” Ellis replied as he looked at the wrecks blocking the highway. “Hell, it got us this far. We’ll find another way to New Orleans.” Coach assured him as sorted out their remaining supplies; a couple of melee weapons, an MP5, two magnum pistols, an SAS auto shotgun, and a bolt-action rifle along with three first-aid kits and a shot of morphine. “So, any of you boys know where we are?” Rochelle asked as she checked her map. This unlikely quartet of survivors had met up at an evacuation area in the city just as it had left them behind. Since then, they had teamed up to get to New Orleans; the closest military outpost not overrun by the hordes of infected. They had their differences, and argued amongst themselves most of the time (especially with Nick), but all of them knew that the only way to survive was to stick together. And when things got tough, each would do everything in their power to pull through for the rest; that’s how they’ve survived this long. But for all they’d overcome together. None of them had any clue of what was to come. “Hey there!” a high-pitched voice called over to them. Each of them whipped their heads around to see… a rainbow colored, cartoon horse with wings? “Ow hey, enough with the lights!” Rainbow shielded her eyes from the flashlights shining in her face. “Okay, that’s better. Now I- Hey, are you guys okay?” Rainbow flew over to them as their mouths hung open. “Hey. Heeeelloooww, anybody home?” she waved her hoof in front of their faces, trying to get some kind of response. Nick was the first to say something. “Uhh guys, are you all seeing what I’m seeing?” “Well… I’m seeing a little horse like the one I wanted back when I was five.” Rochelle said, just as confused as the rest “What are you guys seeing?” “Holy shit guys!” Ellis ran over the out-of-place pony and looked her over before pulling her into a headlock and turning back to his friends “Did ah ever tell you ‘bout the time mah buddy Keith pissed off the brony fandom? Those’r the worst burns he ever got, and he’s gotten some bad ones I tell you what. Man I’ve never known anyone's been in the hospital that long.” “Hey, take it easy!” Rainbow backed away from the strange bipedal in a tee-shirt and coveralls “I just need to ask for directions. Any of you know how to get back to Equestria?” “Well… see gettin' to Equestria might be a bit tricky seein' as how it's in a different world an' all. But y’all can come with us to New Orleans if ya want; ‘bout the only safe place left.” Ellis offered “What d’ ya say guys?” The rest of the survivors looked at each other unsurely. “Aww c’mon. She’s gonna get eaten by the zombies if we leave her here.” “I guess it couldn’t hurt.” Rochelle shrugged, still weirded out by this new turn of events. “We best get movin’ either way; don’t want to get caught out in the open.” Coach told them. Ellis gave a quick fist-pump of victory and rejoined them, beckoning their newest team member to follow. They were slightly surprised when the Rainbow pony turned and beckoned to someone behind her as well. After a few seconds she seemed to get irritated and flew off into the forest again. … “Come on Fluttershy! These guys say we can come with them.” “I don’t know Rainbow. Are you sure they’re not monsters like those ones in the woods.” “Well they didn’t try to eat me, or drag me off a cliff. And they weren’t screaming and growling like the others. I think they’re the good guys or something.” “Well, okay… if you say so.” She flew out from the cover of the bushes and hid behind Rainbow as they made their way over. “Good God, they’re multiplying!” Nick face-palmed “Ellis, what have you gotten us into?” “Oh man, these abandoned cars go on for miles.” Rochelle commented as they walked in between the clogged streets of the highway. “Maybe people left them when they got rescued.” Coach said optimistically, though it was mostly to keep everyone else’s spirits up. “That’s… one theory.” Nick said slowly as he inspected a broken, blood-smeared window on one of the cars. “So who are you guys anyway?” Rainbow asked “And what are these things?” she tapped the barrel of the pistol in Nick’s hand, causing it to fire a round into the air. “GAH!” “Whoa!” Nick staggered back before glaring at the nosy pegasus “Okay first off… this is a gun and no you can’t have one. And two… My name’s Nick, and If you ever do that again I’ll be shoving this gun up your- A familiar wail echoed across the highway, signaling the approach of a horde. “Aww dang-it.” Coach readied his shotgun “Everyone, get in formation.” With that, the survivors formed a semicircle with a bus guarding their backs. They were in a defensive stance not a moment too soon, as nearly three dozen infected charged out from the treeline, scrambling over and around the abandoned cars like a river around rocks. Flutteshy and Rainbow took to the air as the survivors opened fire below. The noise was nearly deafening as shotgun blasts and bursts of machine gun fire filled the air, the metal pellets felling several infected while grazing a few others. The group held their ground as the thirty remaining infected descended upon them, using their guns as shields between themselves and the mob of post-human cannibals they shoved back the infected in front causing them to fall over into the rest of the horde. Using this time, Nick and Rochelle lined up headshots with their pistols and SMGs while Coach and Ellis switched to melee weapons; a machete and tire iron. They had taken out another row of the infected and were holding them off adequately until… *”KTH-SPITHC!”* That was the sound a zombie with a stretched neck and a melted jaw made as it spat a florescent green gob of acid at the survivors. “Burning shit coming!” Coach called out as he and the others scrambled away from the impact zone. Small splashes of the acid still landed on them, burning into their clothes and skin where it touched, but this was nothing compared to the waves of zombies that were bearing down on them with their formation broken. … Rainbow and Fluttershy had watched as their new allies fended off the waves off the same ravenous monsters that attacked them in the woods. Seeing them getting wailed on and knocked to the ground, Rainbow Dash decided to get in on the action and help them out. Diving to the ground she bodyslammed the first zombie she found, sending it flying several feet. She flew back up and repeated the process with one of the five infected Rochelle was fending off as she tried to reload. With a fresh clip in her gun, Rochelle was able to make quick work of the other four and help the others. Speaking of which, Nick was standing atop an SUV like the captain of a sinking ship, headshoting any zombie that tried to climb up the sides. With most of the remaining horde focused on him, Coach and Rochelle managed to pick off the infected with relative ease. … Fluttershy hovered above the battle, watching and wondering what she could do she could do to help. She wasn’t that great in a fight, and being the pacifist that she normally is, had stayed well away from the action below. That is, until she heard a sound like an enraged bull, a crash and the sound of shattering glass, and Ellis call out for help. Ellis had gotten separated from the others when he went after the Spitter. Until now he’d held off the two common infected that had pursued him, but now found himself pinned by a freaking Charger; those things are a lot faster than you’d think was possible. Now one of the massive one-armed infected had slammed into him from out of nowhere and was repeatedly hitting him against the side of a tour bus. “Help, Charger’s got me!” he yelled out as the Charger smashed him against the bus and he felt a few of his ribs crack. “Let him go you big bully!” Fluttershy yelled as she came to his rescue, but it wasn’t much of a rescue as the tiny pony’s attempted to pull the Charger off, which it pretty much just ignored and kept hitting Ellis against the bus. “Get my gun! On the- OW! -ground over there!” Ellis pointed to his desert eagle. Fluttershy quickly did as she was told and picked up the shiny piece of metal. “Now shoot it! OW! Pull the trigger and shoot the Charger man! OW! It’s poundin’ me to death!” The pistol shook in Fluttershy’s hooves as she held it upside-down, trying to figure out how to work the thing. A couple seconds seemed like painful frustrating hours as she fumbled with it. “I’m sorry,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks “I don’t know how!” A shot rang out and the charger toppled to the ground with a gaping hole in its head. “Jesus Christ, Ellis, how many time have we told you not to get separated when we’re fighting a horde?” Nick said as he reloaded a pistol and Coach helped Ellis to his feet. “And you…" he turned to Fluttershy "What the hell was that!? Ellis almost died ‘cause of you!” “I’m sorry, couldn’t do it. I just didn’t know how. I’m sorry.” Fluttershy blubbered as she dropped the gun on the ground. “HEY!” Rainbow Dash swooped down to get right in Nick’s face “Leave her ALONE!” “You’re the one that brought all those damn zombies in the first place! So don’t go talking to me like I’m the asshole.” “Nick, take it easy will you?” Rochelle scolded him “It was all just mistake, so stop yelling at the… colorful ponies.” Nick just scoffed and kept walking down the highway as Rainbow pulled Fluttershy into a hug and tried to calm her down as she kept crying and whispering that she was sorry. “Hey there, don’t cry. It’s oookaaay, I’ll be fine.” Ellis said when he walked over and patted Fluttershy on the head “It’s not your fault, and besides, this happens all the time. Nothin’ some gauze and prescription-grade painkillers can’t fix. Now let’s get movin’ again.” He grabbed his gun off the ground and practically skipped away, bandaged up and high as a kite on morphine. A little while down the road the group of survivors came across a billboard illuminated in the moonlight. It was advertising a carnival fairground a few miles away and had the words “Military Evac” hastily written on in spraypaint. “Hey, Whispering Oaks!” Coach said as he looked at the sign “Shit, I used to go there when I was a kid!” “Oh good, now we can die there as adults.” Nick snarked. “We head down that off-ramp over there, and we should be right at the Whispering Oaks motel, might be a good place to search for supplies.” Coach said, ignoring Nick’s comment. … Near the off-ramp were a few makeshift campsites which they decided to search for anything useful before moving on. Meanwhile, Ellis had decided to go on ahead to check out a military Humvee that was crashed at the bottom, near the overpass. Seeing him split off from the rest, Fluttershy decided to follow him. “Oh umm, I really don’t think we should split up.” she said as she galloped after him “What if more of those monsters come?” Ellis gave a chuckle as he searched the truck. “Ah don’t worry about it, more of those zombies come and I can handle ‘em. Especially now that I got this.” he pulled an AR-15 and a helmet off a dead soldier “I’ve wanted this gun since I was like nine.” he smiled as he stuffed as many extra clips as he could carry into his pockets as well as a couple hand-grenades. … Back at the campsites Rainbow and the others were sifting through coolers and collapsed tents, and had found a few over the counter medicines (Pills here!) as well as a box of incendiary ammo and a freaking chainsaw... without any gas in it. “So who are you? I get the feeling you’re not exactly from around here.” Rochelle asked as she stuffed a few cans of food in a backpack she’d found. “Well, my name’s Rainbow Dash, and I’m from Equestria.” she introduced herself “My friend back there is Fluttershy. We were helping Twilight with some old dig site when this hand grabbed us. I guess it brought us here somehow. Where is here anyway?” “Right now we are in Gorgia, in what’s left of the USA.” Rochelle sighed “Ever since this infection hit, everything’s just been going to hell. But where are you from, and more importantly, what are you? You remind me of some cartoon I used to watch when I was little.” “Me? I’m a Pegasus. What, don’t you have ponies here?” “Well, yeah. They’re just…” Rochelle struggled to find the right words “Not like you are?” The multi-colored pegasus seemed to take this as a compliment more than anything else. “Well yeah they couldn’t be like me. I’m way too awesome!” “Not really what I meant.” Rochelle rolled her eyes and headed for the off-ramp with the others. “So what did you mean ‘infection’?” Rainbow asked as she followed close behind, carrying a few cans of soda. “Right, right. Well… it’s some new kind of disease, messes up people’s minds and turns them into ravenous, mutated, homicidal maniacs.” Rochelle explained matter-of-factly “All those things that attacked us back there, they used to be as human as you or… well I guess not like you so much, but they were human at one point is what I’m saying.” Rainbow looked back at the piles of bodies they left in their wake. Unsure of what to say, she simply followed the rest as they continued on in silence. Whispering Oaks motel. This overpriced, two-star lodging was once a place where families would stay before heading down the road to enjoy their weekends and vacations at the Whispering Oaks theme park. Now it only served as a reminder of how much the world had fallen apart in the wake of the infection. A military barricade blocked off the highway overpass and the road to the theme park while more Humvees were parked in the lot. Dead bodies drenched in gasoline piled high inside the swimming pool and in a ditch near the roads. It seemed the main hotel had been turned into a sort of purge area for disposing of infected bodies before it was overrun by the very things it sought to get rid of. “Oh god the smell.” Rochelle gagged as they passed by the first buildings. “What is that?” Rainbow asked as she tried not to breathe. “Looks like the military was burning bodies to try and stop the spread.” Nick commented as he saw the piles of carcasses. “Somehow I don’t think it was the military that done this.” Coach motioned to a number of zombies hanging from pikes, and a bedsheet that hung from the second floor with a message that read [WE DON’T SHARE: LEAVE US ALONE] written in blood. “Oh my goodness. Maybe it’s best if we leave.” Fluttershy suggested as she edged as far away from the bodies and smoldering piles as she could. “HEY!” shouted a voice from high up on the roof “Can’t you fuckers read? GET LOST!” the figure them proceeded to fire a spray bullets at them, peppering the ground at their feet. “Whoa shit!” Nick yelled as he and the rest dove into cover, narrowly avoiding the inaccurate barrage. “Hey whoa, hold on there! We are NOT infected!” Ellis yelled. “Like I give a damn!” came a reply from their assailant. “Listen. We didn’t mean to wander into your place.” Coach tried to negotiate “We’re just passing through on the way to the fairgrounds. What do you say you just let us go, and we never bother you again?” Another burst of bullets was his answer. “Oh screw this, we need to take this asshole down.” Nick loaded the bolt-action rifle and took aim at the man on the roof “I’ll keep him pinned, you guys work your way around the buildings and flank him.” The other three nodded and went around the management building to get at the stairs on the other side. Nick fired off a round that grazed the man’s leg, making him duck for cover before blind-firing over the edge of the roof with his SMG. Within about a second, his weapon had run dry and he fumbled to snap in another magazine. It was at this point that the other survivors had reached stairs. Ellis was the first to make it up the makeshift ramp the man had put in place. Ellis made it to the rooftop just as the man finished reloading and aimed right at him. Ellis’ eyes widened as he saw the muzzle flash and he tried to duck out of the way. But there was no time, he would have taken a huge amount of lead if a third party hadn’t intervened. “NOOOOO!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she grabbed the gun, pushing it away from its intended target and sending the bullets flying harmlessly into the air. “Grr, gah. Ger-roff mah gun you freak!” The man shouted as her tried to wrestle his gun back from the angry pegasus. Coach and Rochelle had joined the others on the roof, but none of them could get a good shot on the crazed gunman with Rainbow in the way. And unfortunately, she had lost the advantage. The man had managed to maneuver his gun so it faced into Rainbows torso. His eyes lit up with glee and he pulled the trigger. Rainbow screamed. It was the worst pain she had ever been in. Crashing and breaking her wing wasn’t as bad, flying through a big stack of rocks wasn’t as bad, helping Applejack demolish her old barn and getting splinters for days wasn’t nearly as bad. She fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, bleeding heavily from a gash in her neck and three holes in her shoulder and left foreleg. “How DARE YOU!” Fluttershy yelled as she flew into the man’s face, her stare drilling into his soul “You should be ashamed of yourself. What gives you the right to hurt an innocent pony like that? We’ve done nothing to you!” The man raised his gun and tried to shoot her only to find that it was empty again. Terrified out of his mind, he backed closer to the edge of the roof, trying to put some distance between himself and the stare. “What do you have to say for yourself?” Fluttershy demanded sternly as she pursued him. Just as the man was about to make a response, a gunshot rang out and his head exploded, showering Fluttershy with blood and bits of grey matter. Her eyes widened and she stared quivering in horror as the decapitated body just slouched there before her. “Was no one else gonna’ shoot that jackoff?” Nick questioned the rest as he cycled the bolt on his rife. Rochelle glared at him before rushing over with Ellis to help Rainbow dash, Coach gave him a disapproving shake of his head before doing the same. Nick looked back at Fluttershy, who was slowly coming out of shock and fighting the losing battle of not bursting into tears. “Hey come on, he was totally asking for it!” Nick walked over, doing a terrible job of consoling the traumatized pegasus “You saw what he did to your friend, guy deserved it.” he gave the still standing body a small nudge with the butt of his rife. That small nudge was enough to send the dead body of the former maniac plummeting over the edge and landing right onto an alarmed sports car with a shatter of glass. The constant obnoxious beeping coupled with the gunfire from earlier was like a dinnerbell for the infected, who were now swarming the motel and piling on top of each other, scrambling up the walls to get to the squishy beings up top. “Oh shit.” “Everyone, this way!” Coach called to them as he jumped down to the second floor carrying a bandaged up Rainbow Dash on his back. “You heard the man, time to move.” Nick started after them only to notice that Fluttershy was still glued to the spot, unwilling to move “We don’t have time for this, come on!” he pleaded with her as she kept staring down at the body laying broken on the car below. While Nick was distracted, the first of a great many infected made it to the roof and charged at him, grabbing onto his ten-thousand dollar suit. Nick quickly pulled out his pistol and shot the infected off, only to see about a dozen more charging at him across the roof top. One was taken down by a headshot, and two more were sent stumbling and falling over as their legs were shot out. “Come on, grab ‘er and let’s go!” Ellis yelled as he fired the last four rounds in his pistol at the infected, downing two more. For once Nick did as he was told and hurried after the rest of the survivors as they headed into a broken out room. … Coach and Rochelle were laying down suppressing fire from the doorway as more and more infected tried to force their way in. “Three comin’ in!” Ellis yelled as he and Nick, who was carrying Fluttershy, climbed inside over the pile of bodies. “Over here, out this window.” Rochelle led the way, followed by Nick and Coach. Ellis picked up the rear after throwing one of his grenades into the room. It exploded a couple seconds after he got out, causing the rotting roof to collapse and block of the room. This didn’t slow the infected for long however, as soon they were vaulting over the fences while more rushed from the nearby roads to join the swarm. With the main road blocked, the survivors had no choice but to turn right. A drop-off of at least sixty feet greeted them as the horde closed in. With barely a second thought, each of them slid down the cliff, the infected leaping and throwing themselves off in pursuit. It was then that they heard a loud hacking cough. And of all the things that could have happened at that moment, this was, the. Worst. Possible. Thing. A Smoker lashed out with its tongue and snared him around his neck, dangling him out of reach of the others. The asphyxiation caused Coach to lose his grip on Rainbow Dash, who forced her eyes open the smoker choked the life out of him. Quickly acting through the pain, she bit into the Smoker’s tongue and ripped through it with her teeth. Coach rolled to the bottom of the cliff, coughing as he pulled the rest of the Smoker’s tongue off of himself. “Hey, thanks.” he wheezed as he looked over to where Rainbow Dash lay as she nodded in response before falling unconscious. “Whoa now, stay with us, you hear?” he picked her up again and began moving down the water run-off with the rest, stepping over the mangled bodies of the infected that followed jumped down the slope as they went. … Ellis and Rochelle were on point, clearing the way for their friends who were busy carrying the incapacitated ponies. They were down to their final clips and Ellis had switched back to his tire iron. Fortunately, very few infected seemed to be chasing after them now, when they reached the top of the hill and to the entrance of the fairground, they realized why as a car flew over their heads. “Oh shit, TANK!” Ellis alerted them to the obvious as the improbably large, boss-class infected barreled towards them. “Scatter!” Coach yelled and they all split into different directions. The Tank chose to go after Nick and Fluttershy, charging after them and smashing the ground in frenzied attempts to make them part of it. A barrage of machinegun fire echoed out and multiple projectiles embedded themselves into the Tank’s stretched out hide. It turned its attention to the offending survivor, who’s efforts to kill it by emptying the last clip from his assault rifle only served to anger it further. Slamming its gargantuan, meaty fists into the ground, the Tank ripped up a chunk of pavement and lobbed it at Ellis, who swiftly dodged out of the way, making it instead hit the fuel tanker behind him and spew gasoline everywhere. “Everyone, get inside the safehouse!” Ellis yelled before turning back to the Tank “Hey you! Yo mama so fat, when people ask me to pick the top five fattest people I know, she’s three of them!” The tank charged at Ellis, even more enraged than before if it were possible. Lifting up its humongous arms into the air, it smashed down on the fuel tanker where Ellis had been not half a second ago, lodging its arm into the metal and getting covered in the flammable liquid in the process. Scrambling away from the two varieties of tanks, Ellis pulled the pin on his last grenade and chucked it into the pooling gasoline. Twenty feet from the saferoom, the leaver sprang out of the grenade. Seventeen feet, the grenade bounced on the ground once. Thirteen feet, the grenade skidded to a halt next to the gas tanker. Ellis stumbled at five feet, the Tank had freed itself and made began to pursue the survivors again. Ellis scrambled on his hands and knees two feet from the iron door of the saferoom, the Tank stepped on the grenade. The grenade exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere, blowing off one of the Tank’s legs, and igniting the gasoline. Several pairs of hands and a pair of hooves grabbed Ellis, dragging him into the saferoom as the fire spread into the fuel tanker. The door slammed shut, and the tanker exploded into an inferno of shrapnel and death that swept across the entire parking lot of the Whispering Oaks themepark.