“And then there was a scream, and then a boom, and then...and then...then we won. The end!” Pinkie finished with a flourish. She was recanting the story of the Boomer to Twilight again, much to the chagrin of the purple pegasus.
“Man, you should’ve gone down there and helped, Twilight! They were all going after me and stuff; totally epic!” Rainbow said. “I am never going near one of those bloated creeps again!”
The survivors found themselves in a wide ravine. Foliage still surrounded them for a good 50 yards in each direction before steep, rocky walls jutted up from the earth. They had been in the woods for a while now, as it had already gotten dark again. Slowly and steadily they were progressing towards the station, guided by signs and graffiti left by fellow survivors. A soft glow emanated from Twilight’s horn, lighting up the forest just enough for the ponies to see. However, that was basically the extent of Twilight’s magical abilities, because the bump on her head would cause her to get a massive headache whenever she attempted to do anything else.
There wasn’t exactly much to see at the moment besides trees anyway. So they were passing the time with idle conversation. “So, about that fat looking thing…” Rainbow began.
“Are you going to make fun of the bump on my head again?” Twilight interrupted.
“No. Well, okay yes. But I also wanted to ask you something,” the colorful pony replied. “I figured there are probably other zombies out there like that one. And the one with the tongue. And the one with the hood. I figure we should come up with a name for ‘em. Y’know, so we can tell each other when one’s coming.”
“Oh! How about ‘Big Scary Explody Thing’! Or maybe ‘Fat Gurgling Thing!’” Pinkie said, jumping up and down.
The rational Twilight said, “How about the Boomer?”
“You’re so creative, Twi’.”
“You’re lucky I don’t smack you with my golf club-.”
“Speaking of luck…look,” Fluttershy said, pointing ahead. Twilight focused her light a little more, providing a better look at the shadows ahead. They saw railroad tracks, railcars, trailers, and the like. Across the way they spied a long wooden bridge spanning the entire ravine. They were at the train station.
The place was strewn with the remnants of an evacuation station. But unfortunately, that’s all they were, remnants. The tents were torn and collapsed, tables were overturned, all of which showed signs of a hasty retreat. The only ponies left were the undead.
“This doesn’t look like an evac station,” Pinkie whispered.
Dash gave an exasperated sigh, saying, “Ain’t that just our luck! I hate train yards.”
“No worries, girls. We can still make it to Canterlot. We just have to find a way up the cliff side,” Twilight decided after scanning the rocky outcroppings.
Dash remained skeptical, and replied, “How are we gonna do that? You can’t teleport us up there with that huge bump on your head.”
“Which, by the way Fluttershy, you did a good job wrapping it up,” Twilight complemented to a beaming Fluttershy.
Dash rolled her eyes and continued, “Yeah okay, whatever. Anyways… and I definitely am not carrying all of you girls with those hoodie guys leaping around the place.”
Although Twilight felt ready to berate Dash for being lazy, she figured she’d spend her time trying to find another solution. And if there was one thing the intelligent unicorn was good at, it was finding solutions. She searched her surroundings, looking for any other hidden pathways up the mountain. She analyzed the rock faces, the train cars, anything that might help them climb higher. Finally, her eyes rested on the wooden bridge towering over the station.
Well, it’s a start, Twilight thought. She shifted from the bridge back to the train cars below, and a plan began to formulate in her head.
“C’mon girls,” she said, trotting excitedly towards a lone railcar.
Her friends followed, trying to keep up with their friend’s quick, energetic pace. Pinkie told Rainbow, “I know that look on her face, Rainbow! Twilight’s got an idea!”
“So what’s the plan Twi’?” the pegasus asked.
“Well, you see that bridge? It’s the only path that leads up the ravine towards Canterlot. I figured we could get up if we could make that bridge into a ramp. And, lucky for us, we’ve got a station full of make-shift battering rams! More specifically, that one,” the purple pony replied, pointing at the traincar which was derailed from the rest of the track. “Lucky for us, it’s perfectly aligned. If we apply a little force, we’ll send that train car off the tracks and into one of the supports. The bridge’ll collapse, and we’ll be able to get the heck out of this forest.”
“How will we get the train to move?” Fluttershy inquired.
“Well, it’s a train station Fluttershy! There’s gotta be some gas cans around here that we can set off. It doesn’t need to be a huge explosion. It just needs to be enough to get the thing moving. I think I’ve got sufficient magic in me to contain the explosion and force it to exert more pressure onto-.”
Dash interrupted, “English please!”
“I use magicky to make big boom push train,” Twilight answered cynically.
Fluttershy, still hesitant, began, “But won’t the noise attract-.”
“I’m afraid that’s a risk we’ll have to take.”
The timid pony wasn’t too keen on the prospect of fighting more monsters. She looked down at the only feasible weapon she had, a stainless steel frying pan she had picked up back at the cabin. Her trembling hooves flipped the pan back and forth, just as she had done countless times since leaving the house. She could faintly make out a blurred face in the chrome. In that image she saw many things. Fear, reluctance, panic, anxiety. It was not, however, the face of a killer.
I can’t do this, Fluttershy thought, wishing that the face in the pan wasn’t hers. The image of her friends defending themselves from the swarming hordes filled her head. Fluttershy tried to place herself in their hooves, fighting admirably alongside her allies. But no matter how hard she tried, it always came back to this. Her, standing alone while her friends did all the work. Amidst all the darkness and chaos, she was just a defenseless pony who was unwilling, no, unable to fight back.
The others were already placing the gas cans in place behind tthe rail car. At least it was a bit comforting to know she had friends who could hold their own. Dash noticed Fluttershy staring uneasily at them, so she asked, “Hey ‘Shy! You okay over there?”
The quiet pegasus blinked, snapping out of her trance. She replied, “Oh…yeah. I’m fine, don’t worry. Is there, um, anything I can do to help?”
Twilight Sparkle answered, “Can you just pull the emergency brakes? It’s time to get this thing rolling!”
Although every fiber of her being screamed, “Don’t do it. You’ll all be killed!” Fluttershy obeyed her intelligent friend’s command. She pulled the emergency brake back, and it was followed by the sound of metal parts creaking apart. With the train car freed from the ground, Twilight nodded to Dash, who was making a trail of gasoline away from the car. As her friends retreated to the safety of the train station, the pegasus pulled out a single match. She struck it on the ground, and stared at the glowing orange flame emanating from the tip. Smiling, she whispered, “And now the real fun begins.”
She threw the match into the trail of gas, and raced the hell out of there.
Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight watched from the entrance of the station as the gasoline erupted into flames. They spread across the dirt, coming closer and closer to the barrels of explosive substances. The containers became consumed with the burning, glowing, orange fire. Twilight’s horn began to glow as a faint force-field surrounded the raging inferno, guiding it closer towards the rail car.
Rainbow had time of soar into the building, screaming, “This is gonna be-.”
Then the sound of an explosion echoed throughout the forest, waking every monster within a mile. The sheer force of the explosion shattered the magical force field within a second, causing Twilight to cringe in pain. But that second was all it took to send the train on a crash course towards the bridge. In fact, it seemed Twilight had miscalculated just how powerful the explosion had been. For the train wasn’t just rolling, it was rocketing.
There was a loud crash, complete with twisting, wrenching metal and splintering wood. There was a split second where the bridge seemed to hang there, suspended, not wanting to give up its perch on the ravine. But even behemoths must submit to gravity, and the wooden structure came crashing down.
Dust was sent up into the air, obscuring the quartet’s view. Amidst the coughing and dirt, it was Pinkie who first called out, “It worked, Twilight! It worked!”
As the dust cleared, Dash looked at the ruined bridge forming a perfect ramp up the ravine. She excitedly cried, “Twilight, this has to be the best plan you’ve ever created!”
But then came the screeching. She turned back to the site of the explosion to see countless numbers of zombies pouring out of the tree line. It was as through the entire forest was in a frenzy, attracted by the thunderous crash. Suddenly fearing for her life, the rainbow pegasus cried, “This is the worst plan ever!”
“Everypony up the ramp!” Twilight shouted, thinking quickly. On command, the group rushed towards the makeshift ramp, trying to outrun the horde. Not wanting to look back, they scrambled up the bridge. To their horror, they saw the monsters climbing up the opposite cliff side, waiting for them to reach the end.
“We’re gonna have to charge through them!” Twilight yelled. Swinging their melee weapons wildly, the ponies bashed through the waiting barricade.
Dash, who was now in the air, said, “Hey girls, I can see one of those safe rooms up ahead! Let’s go!”
They were at a full gallop with the zombie horde in pursuit. Adrenaline flooded their bodies as they willed their legs to pump harder and faster. The safe room was in their sights, and yet much like their run into the Everfree, safety was still so far away.
Fluttershy lagged behind the group, managing to match the quick tempo of her friends. However, she could hear the incessant shouting of the horde close behind her, and she began to pant not just out of exhaustion, but also fear. In her panic, she looked back. Her eyes widened as she saw a particular zombie, pouncing towards her with a hood pulled tight over its head. It was far ahead of the rest of the pack, and it was headed straight for her.
Oh no no no. Please no!, she thought. But then the Hunter gave an ear-splitting scream as it gave one final bound. With the zombie zooming at her, Fluttershy could only close her eyes and squeal, waiting for the impact.
But the impact never came. She opened her eyes to see Dash wrestling the zombie out of the air. She bashed its head once with her wrench, then threw its limp body down while yelling, “Stay the hell away from my friend you hooded buckhead!”
The cyan pegasus then took Fluttershy’s hoof, saying, “Don’t worry Flutters, I got your back. Just keep going!”
The duo rushed towards the safe room, where Twilight and Pinkie were waiting. The moment they passed through the door, Pinkie slammed it shut and Twilight blocked it with whatever crates she could find. For a few minutes, the zombies crowded the steel door, scratching and pounding. But soon the sounds began to die down, and the forest was quiet once again.
Fluttershy sat on her haunches, trying to replay the last few minutes in her head. Once she found her voice, she told Dash, “Th-thank you, Rainbow.”
With a soft grin, Dash replied, “No prob, Fluttershy. I’m sure you’d do the same.”
Although Fluttershy nodded timidly, no amount of smiles could extinguish her doubt.
Do you guys mind cursing? It is rated Teen after all, but I was just wondering.