//------------------------------//
// A Message 
// Story: Left 4 Friendship: Magic is Dead 
// by UnweptSchlipps 
//------------------------------//

Hey there readers? How is everypony doing? I just wanted to say that this intro is basically the same as the Left 4 Dead intro. So if you don't want to read through that, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of this page after the Xs. Anyway, enjoy your feature fanfic presentation!
XXXXXXXX
2 weeks after first infection

No light shone on upon the mystical land of Equestria. Only the bleak night covered the equine country in its gloomy grasp. A cold, eerie wind swept through the dark suburbs of Baltimare. Creeping figures wandered the streets aimlessly, their faces blank and their mouths covered in blood.

The once proud city now stood in ruin. Plumes of smoke rose from numerous buildings, polluting the already darkened sky with ash. Far off gunshots rang throughout the darkness, signaling desperate attempts for escape, for life. The dead carcasses of ponies were strewn everywhere, giving the city the likelihood of a horror film. But unfortunately for the remaining citizens of Equestria, this scenario was all too real.

In a lonely alleyway, four ponies roamed. The group was armed with weaponry ranging from a simple pipe to a military-grade machine gun. Their clothes were tattered, their bodies had numerous scratches and bruises, and ashes caked their tired faces like one of Rarity's facials.

The quartet scanned their surroundings carefully, observing every little detail with a cautious eye. Nothing in this apocalyptic world was as it seemed anymore, and the small team of survivors had learned that the hard way.

Suddenly the leader, a purple unicorn with a green jacket holding an M-16, motioned for the group to stop, commanding, "Hold up." Before them was a pile of dead bodies surrounding the corpse of a seemingly blown-up zombie. A thick green slime trailed from the exploded remains.

The unicorn carefully touched the unknown liquid. Observing it, Twilight said, "Never seen 'em like this before."

Behind her, a rainbow-maned pegasus wearing a leather jacket and biker gloves remarked sarcastically, "Jeez, Twi'. Don't let that stop you from smearing it all over yourself."

The unicorn turned to her cocky friend, her eyebrows raised. Then Twilight wiped the rancid green slime all over Dash's leather vest, replying stolidly, "They're changing."

As Twilight steadily continued forward, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but snicker when Dash said annoyingly, "Aww, dang it Twilight! Ugh, it stinks!"

The rest of the group took no other heed to Dash's whining, so they kept proceeding through the dark alley with their guns raised to strike at any moment. Suddenly, the group heard a soft sound pierce the silence. It was the muffled sound of somepony crying, coming from the inside of an abandoned building.

Startled, another pegasus, a timid pony wearing a pink sports jacket clutching a single revolver, said quietly, "Somepony's still alive!"

Fluttershy and Twilight both went in to survey the muffled sob while the other two kept watch outside. The duo held their flashlights steady as they slowly crept towards the sitting silhouette moaning in the corner. Twilight whispered, "Over there."

Not knowing the dangers of the figure ahead, Fluttershy cooed, "Hello? Hello? Hey, it's okay... We're gonna -."

Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated the hall for a split second, revealing the source of the sobbing. It was a pale mare, whose white hair hung low over her glowing red eyes. But her most noticeable feature: the sharpened claws like knifes that replaced her hooves.

Twilight reacted quickly, swiping Fluttershy's flashlight away and whispering, "Lights off!" The timid pony didn't need to be told twice.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie, who was dressed in a buttoned shirt and a red tie, began to feel her eyes and nose simultaneously begin to flutter. The Pinkie Sense. Which could only mean one thing…

Behind her, Rainbow Dash began to fire her shotgun wildly into the approaching hoard of zombies. The monsters were relentless, charging straight at the quartet of survivors without hesitation. To make matters worse, it seemed with every zombie Dash blasted, two more took its place.

Panicked, Pinkie rushed into the door screaming, "THEY'RE COMING!"

It was not the best move for the hyperactive pony. For when she scrambled into the door, the beam of her flashlight inadvertently flashed across the pale figure inside. All of sudden, the seemingly passive creature became the angel of death, letting out an ear-splitting screech.

Upon seeing this, the normally calm Fluttershy commanded, "Run like hell!" Then she, Twilight, and Pinkie quickly dashed out of the hallway, trying to elude their deadly pursuer. Pinkie slammed the door shut, blocking the Witch inside with her body. But to her surprise, sharp claws protruded through the wood, trying to land a swipe on the one who had disturbed her.

Pinkie Pie shot at the creature with her submachine gun yelling, "How do you like that you meanie!" until the clawed hoof fell limp and motionless. Then the pink pony turned to her comrades, who were dealing with the onslaught of infected monsters. As she blasted zombie after zombie with her shotgun, Dash warned, "Stick together!"

From a looming fire-escape stood a tall figure with a tongue that seemed to droop all the way to the ground. With a growl, the Smoker propelled the appendage forward, wrapping itself around Twilight's unprotected body.

Luckily, Dash noticed the creature's attack. "Hold on!" the pegasus said, shooting the zombie with remarkable aim. The tall monster exploded with a plume of smoke, blurring the survivors' vision with its green mist. Coughing, the rainbow flier helped her unicorn friend up off the ground, followed by the quick shotgun blast of a charging infected. With a smirk, the confident pegasus said, "Happy Hearth's Warming!" before returning to the melee that was ensuing.

Fluttershy had somehow managed to break free from the horde. Reaching toward her belt, the timid pegasus pulled out a cylindrical device. It was a simple pipe capped on both sides with an alarm fixed to it (a little creation Pinkie Pie had somehow scrounged up). Fluttershy, using a tiny match, lit the fuse at the end of the makeshift bomb. The sparkling end lit up the dark alley, and the sound of the alarm rang clearly through the city.

"Fire in the hole!" Fluttershy called out. Then she lobbed the grenade far away from the group, and the rest of the horde followed suit. The bright light and the high-pitched noise attracted the mindless beasts, giving the team a chance to seek safety in the streets. With a final beep, the homemade explosive went off, sending a spectacular cloud of shrapnel, smoke, and body parts flying into the air.

Just as quickly as it had begun, the horde stopped. Or at least, so it seemed.

The street was illuminated only by a single flickering light, providing only a small glimpse of the crowd ahead. But, in the distance, something caught the groups' eyes. At first it seemed like a tiny star in the night sky, somehow breaking through the clouds of ash. But soon they realized the light was getting closer and closer, accompanied by the sound of whirling propeller blades. It was a search helicopter.

Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie Pie, being the attention deficit pony she was, ran towards the helicopter and waved her hooves wildly. She called out excitedly, "Hey! We're over here! We're not infected! Down here!"

But the vehicle just continued on its path, disappearing over the rooftops. Dejected, Pinkie Pie uttered, "Dang it," before attempting to head back to her group. But little did she know, a shadowy figure lurked from the rooftops, hearing her plea for help. The hooded zombie had followed the isolated pony into the streets, realizing that she would be its next prey.

With a tremendous leap and a loud screech, the Hunter flew through the air before landing on the pink pony below. The force knocked Pinkie to the ground and knocked her submachine gun out of her hooves. The devilish creature raised his arm, revealing a set of sharp, jagged claws which were ready to strike.

Before the Hunter could dig its claws into Pinkie's flesh, however, it found itself stumbling off the incapacitated survivor, shoved by Fluttershy.

Although she was looking away, the timid pony fired shot after shot of her revolver into the zombie's body. Pinkie Pie, who was still on the ground, took out her pistol and began to assist her friend, pumping lead into her attacker. Soon, the bullet-riddled body fell backwards onto the back of a car. A car that glowed with flashing orange lights.

The moment happened much too fast for the quartet to even comprehend. Before Fluttershy could help Pinkie up, the high-pitched sound of a car alarm filled the neighborhood. "Oh, this is gonna get bad," Twilight uttered, staring at the daunting shadows of the night. Then, a huge simultaneous cry emanated from the ruined city, followed by the sound of an entire army charging towards the feeble company. All hell was about to break loose.

All around them, monsters swarmed. Some were scrambling up fences, others were literally clawing their way through the crowd. The quartet was surrounded. It seemed as though nothing could get worse.

That was when the cart flew overhead. It rocketed high into the air before violently crashing down behind them. Then came the telltale guttural roar as a hulking figure loomed in the distance. And it kept coming and coming, charging through whatever was in its way.

Finally, the monster broke through the horde, revealing a huge, bloated figure that was once a pony. Its muscles were swollen beyond belief, making it ten times the size of a regular pony. The head was practically buried in the masses of muscle, and the remains of the zombies he had smashed covered his hulking frame. But now it had a new target. In this case, four.

The group back pedaled as the Tank advanced closer and closer. Pinkie Pie asked frantically, "Run or shoot?"

Again, she asked louder, "Run or shoot!"

"Both!"

Heeding Twilight's advice they began to fire at the behemoth, but to no avail. Then they quickly darted though the horde, retreating from the mob. They headed into a nearby alley, continually shooting the Tank as well as the horde. Finally, Pinkie spied a fire escape leading up to the top of an apartment complex. "Get to the roof!" she shouted.

She, Twilight, and Fluttershy began to scramble up the ladder while Rainbow stayed down, trying to buy some time. She pointed her shotgun at the Tank, taunting, "Come on! Come on!"

But just as she was about to pull the trigger, the monster swung a Common Infected at her, knocking her to the ground. Dash raised her hoof to see the Tank's huge arms raised and ready to crush her.

But Twilight saw this and quickly shot at the Tank, distracting it long enough for Rainbow to climb up the ladder herself. The unicorn gave a smirk as she followed suit, thinking, Merry Hearth's Warming Dash.

Fluttershy stood atop the fire escape, firing off her revolver and saying, "Go! I'll hold them off!"

The rest of the team quickly made their way onto the rooftop while Fluttershy continued to fire into the crowd. The Tank's animalistic nature, however, would not let its prey go without a fight. With surprising leg strength because of its tiny legs, the behemoth leaped up and grabbed onto the fire escape. The sudden jolt sent Fluttershy into the railing, causing her to drop her gun.

The fire escape could no longer bear the Tank's weight however, and the ladders began to detach from the building with a creak. A panicked Fluttershy began to run up the collapsing railing. Giving a quick flap of her wings and extending her forelegs, she jumped up, calling, "Rainbow!"

With the reflexes of a well-trained stuntpony, the colorful pegasus managed to catch her timid friend in the nick of time. Fluttershy watched the Tank fall back into the wreckage of the fire escape as she dangled off the edge. The giant monstrocity lay motionless, pierced by the crooked metal. Finally, with the help of Pinkie Pie, the group pulled the yellow pegasus up to safety.

Fluttershy and Dash scrambled away from the edge, and a wave of relief washed over them. They lay back on the roof, trying to catch their breath from yet another near-death experience.

Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches, giving an eased grin. She chuckled, "We made it! I can't believe we made it!"

Pinkie and the two pegasi began to laugh and pat each other on the back. But Twilight only sat with indifference, reloading her gun.

"Girls, we just crossed the street," she began. "Let's not throw a party until we're out of the city."

The only reply was silence.

xxxxxx

*Crackle Crackle*

Hey. Is this thing working? Good. Haven't used a recorder in a while, prefer the ol' pen and paper myself. But in times like this, obviously I don't have the time.

Anyway, my name is Twilight Sparkle. It's about…two weeks into the infection. I'm here with my friends Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie (who says hi. Pinkie, you do realize they can't talk back to us, right?). We're on top of this abandoned apartment complex surrounded by hordes of zombies in the once-beautiful town of Baltimare.

Y'know, it's crazy. Only two weeks ago, things were fine. Equestria was at peace. Nopony fought anypony, there was no plague, no war. We were so carefree and joyful back then. The biggest thing we had to worry about everyday was hanging around and learning about friendship and whatnot. As cute as that may sound, I would give anything for things to be that way again.

Now, there is a devastating war on our own turf. Casualties have risen into the millions. And the enemies? Our own neighbors. The ponies who would invite you to come over and eat dinner, are now mindless freaks who want you for dinner. It's hard killing the ones who were once your friends, neighbors, ponies just like you or me. It's hard waking up every day thinking that today will be your last. It's hard knowing that the only goal you have…is to survive.

But that's what we've been doing for the past fourteen, now fifteen days. Surviving, fighting…murdering. It's a job that nopony wants to do. Well, maybe besides Rainbow Dash. [Hey!] Oh, I'm just kidding Dash, you know that.

But anyway, back to why I'm doing this. Truthfully, I'm not sure. Maybe so our story will someday be heard. Maybe it's a way for us to clear our conscience, get everything off our chest. Maybe the pony who hears this will learn from our mistakes. I don't know. 

I don't know about a lot of things. Will this ever end? Will we make it through? Where are we even going? These are questions that I don't have an answer to. 

But there is one thing I am sure about. It's that we did not come this far, kill so many zombies, travel so many miles, to die now.

The account you are about to hear is 100% true. This is our story. The story of the ones who were left for dead…
~~~~

Unfortunately, it seems the italic and bold stuff aren't working. Oh well. You can also see this story on FanFiction if you want the real format. If it doesn't bug you, then props to you!