//------------------------------// // S3E04: Please, Hear My Story // Story: My Little Zombie: Friendship is Dead Season 3 // by Nortes432 ft Spitfire //------------------------------// "Oh dear Celestia!" Spitfire shrieked. "What happened?!" Secret asked. "Rainbow, she was bitten!" Applejack told him. Rainbow whimpered as she looked around at her friends. She looked back at her wing, studying the bite marks that tore into them. Blood poured from where the teeth had pierced her flesh. She was in so much pain, but at the same time, it felt almost numb. "Please...make it stop!" Rainbow managed through her painful whimpering. Applejack reached into her bag and pulled out a first aid kit. She laid it down and opened it, studying the contents inside. "We got some medical stuff, looks like some bandages and a syringe. We could use this here numbin' stuff or somethin'." She said. Twilight frowned. "I'm sorry Rainbow." She said. "But...we have to remove your wing." Rainbow stared at Twilight in horror. She looked around at her friends, who were also horrified. She nodded slowly. Twilight helped Rainbow lie onto the ground slowly, and she spread her wing as far as it could go. Rainbow clenched her teeth in pain. Twilight then used her magic to pull out Rainbow's katana from under her and held it up. "Applejack." Twilight called. The country mare stepped forward and applied the numbing solution to Rainbow's wing. Rainbow took a deep breath as she awaited the painful experience. Twilight raised the katana and lined it up with Rainbow's wing. "I'm sorry." She whispered. CHOP! Intro Applejack finished applying the bandages to Rainbow's wound. All that was left was a bloody nub. Rainbow Dash's face was now soaked wet from tears. Scootaloo ran up and hugged her, sobbing. Rainbow hugged back, trying to comfort the filly through tears. "It's okay, kiddo." She managed through the tears. "I'll be fine...don't cry!" Twilight looked at Luna. Luna was staring at the scene with emotionless eyes. I don't blame her. She's scared, since Celestia has left us and forced her to be the one in charge. Twilight thought. "It's a shame." Secret whispered into Twilight's ear. Twilight jumped. "You scared me, Secret!" She told him. She then gave a small smile. "I'm starting to like it." Secret smirked. Twilight turned to look at Rainbow, who was sheathing her katana. Scootaloo stood next to Rainbow, tears is soaking her eyes as she stared at the nub that once was Rainbow's wing. "Let's go." Luna called. "Thither's nay point in waiting hither to die. " The rest silently nodded, and they trotted away from Canterlot. Rainbow stopped and looked back at Canterlot one last time. "Thank you, Zeinwolfe." She whispered. Scootaloo tuged at her leg. "C'mon, Dash!" She said. Rainbow sighed and followed the young pegasus. "Where are we going?" Applejack asked. "Where would we even go?" Spitfire responded, sighing. Twilight turned and looked at the two. "There has to be somewhere we could go." She said. "Saddle Arabia? Manehattan?" "Manehattan is dead." Secret said aloud. Twilight scowled. "Somewhere!" Rainbow tilted her head. "What's on your mind, Twi?" She asked from the back of the group. Twilight turned around. She was slowly getting angrier by the second, but realized it. She calmed down and took a deep sigh. "Celestia sent me something in my dreams." She said. "Something is amiss in Equestria. She wants us to figure it out." "When were you planning to tell us?" Spitfire asked. Twilight ducked her head. "I'm not sure, okay?!" She complained, speeding up to trot beside Luna. Spitfire tried to catch up with her, but Secret stopped her. "You must calm down." He told her. "She's hiding something from us!" Spitfire complained. "I know it!" "Then let her." Secret told her. "But-" Spitfire began. "How many ponies know your secret?" He asked. Spitfire's anger turned to worry. She clenched her teeth and stared at Secret. He said nothing, only turning around, just in time for Twilight to shriek. The two galloped to catch up with the rest. When they arrived, it was a sight to behold. The ponies gathered around the mangled corpse of a stallion. He had zombie bites in his hind leg and foreleg. To their surprise, however, he was still alive. His eyes were locked onto Luna and Twilight. "Pri-princesses..." He coughed. "You are...alive..." "But ye are not, we're afraid!" Luna responded, shocked. "That's true..." The stallion muttered, looking down. "Excuse me, sir..." Twilight began. "Would you like me to...you know..." She choked on her words. "I'd guess so." He whispered. "But, please...hear my story." "Excuse me?" Twilight asked. "I've lived for 56 years. I've seen a lot in my time." The stallion rested his eyes on Twilight. "If I'm going to die now, I'd like for someone to remember me." Twilight thought deep. They didn't have time to sit around, but the poor stallion was dying. His only wish was simple, and she could not bear to be rude when the old stallion was close to death. "Please, tell us." Twilight said, sitting down in front of him. Luna followed her lead, along with the rest of the group. The old stallion smiled weakly and looked around at the ponies. "Very well." The old stallion coughed. "It was about a year or so ago..." 1 Year Ago The old stallion awoke in his bed. He looked out the window. It was a beautiful morning. He got out of the bed and stretched. He then went downstairs. He trotted into the kitchen to see his wife cooking breakfast. "Morning sweetie!" He called. His wife turned around. "Oh, good morning!" She hummed. He smiled and sat down at the kitchen table. He picked up the newspaper that his wife laid out for him. He perked his ears as he heard obnoxious hooves galloping down the stairs. He rose his head as soon as his daughter rushed around the corner and straight to him. She immediately hugged him. "Morning daddy!" She said, giggling. He smiled and looked at her. She was young teenager now. Her cutie mark, which was a sixteenth note, always brought a smile to his face. He remembered when it first appeared, during one of her piano practices. She was a born natural. "Morning, my little cupcake." He replied. His daughter grabbed a plate of hay bacon and turned to him. "I'm going to hang out with my friends. Love you mom! Love you dad!" With that, she went out the door. Present Day "That was the last I saw her that day." He told Twilight. He coughed, and his eyes widened. "Wait, I...I do remember you, Princess Twilight..." Twilight's eyes widened. 1 Year Ago The stallion looked up as Twilight jumped on the stage and picked up the microphone that was on the podium. "ATTENTION!" She called loudly into the mic, so that it would reach most of the ponies in town. "Can I have your attention, please?!" She called again as the whole Town Square froze and stared. "There are..." She gulped, not even believing what she was going to say. "Undead animals at the cottage!" She said in fear and regret. Despise Fluttershy's fear, the ponies simply laughed. They thought that the alicorn went crazy, there were no such things as 'Undead'. They complimented her acting and went back on their merry way. Twilight called into the mic once more. "I'm not joking! This is an emergency!" The stallion rolled his eyes. There was no way that the mare was serious. He continued his way home, not phased by the announcement. Present Day "I'm sorry for not believing you, princess." The stallion managed, a tear rolling down his face. He then began to cough violently. Twilight approached. "Are you okay?!" The old stallion nodded. "I'm good." He said. "Just need to...skip ahead a bit..." He sighed. "Then the apocalypse broke out..." 1 Year Ago "Dust!" He female voice screamed. The old stallion burst through the door. "Honey?!" He called. "Cinni! I'm coming!" He rushed down the steps to find his wife being attacked by a couple of zombies. "Dust! Help me!" She screamed as one of them bit her. Dust grabbed the mounted shotgun and shot them. After disposing of the bodies, he looked at his Cinni. She was on the floor, blood gushing out of her neck. "No! Cinni!" He cried as he went up to her. Cinni coughed. "Dust...help...me..." She then stopped breathing as she passed away. Dust stared in horror at her. His mind came back into reality when the corpse came back to life. Cinni was now a zombie. Dust aimed the shotgun at her, but was not able to go through with killing his wife. He instead galloped up the stairs. He stopped in the middle of the upstairs hallway and reached for the rope above him, pulling it down with his teeth. This opened the attic door and let down a ladder, which he used to climb to the attic. He pulled up the ladder and closed the door, covering it up so nothing could get in. He took a deep sigh and started sobbing. Present Day "I'm so sorry." Twilight said. "Please...my daughter is still out there..." He said, his voice getting raspier. "Your daughter?" Twilight asked. "How do you know?" "I know..." He smiled weakly. "She's my daughter..." Everypony fell silent as Rust slowly stopped breathing. Spitfire checked his pulse. "Dead." Twilight took a deep breath and lifted her scythe. "We can't let him turn." She walked up the corpse and lifted the scythe. SLICE. The survivors stood around a fire. In the middle of the fire was Rust's body. Twilight looked down at the picture that she recovered from Rust's corpse. It was a picture of his daughter, with the name written on it. "Keynote." She said to herself. "What a beautiful name..." She looked back at the fire. "She had a nice father."