Well, I think you guys have been itching to see what happens next! Two and half week is a killer man, but hey, I've got a few chapters to get the zombie train going again. In case your brains forgot what happened two weeks ago, the quartet made it to Canterlot, only to find it the target of a bombing run. And so now, without further adieu, here is the continuation of Left 4 Friendship! *cue eerie music*
Dash sat flinching as Fluttershy began to work on her damaged wing. At first the pain was unbearable, searing into her side like the bomb she had narrowly escaped. But after some time and some excellent work by Fluttershy, the pain slowly began to subside. Once Fluttershy was done, Dash stood up, testing the broken wing. Although there was still some discomfort, she felt much better.
“Thanks Flutters,” Rainbow said.
“Of course Rainbow. The good news is that it appears your wing will fully heal,” Fluttershy began. “But, um, there’s a bit of bad news. I’m afraid this is…a little worse than when you broke your wing before. And, um, it’s going to be a few weeks before-.”
“A few weeks!” Dash exclaimed in disbelief. “Might as well be a few months, or a few years!”
“It’s not so bad.”
Pinkie piped up, saying, “Yeah, and this chow’s hoof-licking-.”
“Don’t start that up again,” Twilight interrupted. She was busy trying to think of some plan to get them away from the zombie outbreak. But at this time, she was drawing a blank. Although she didn’t want to admit it, things were looking grim.
Pinkie was failing to realize just how morbid the situation was, and tried to cheering Dash up, saying, “You just have to look on the bright side of things, that’s all. For example, that bite on your leg’s looking better!”
“I guess…I guess I’m not turning into one of those things,” Rainbow grunted.
“That’s the spirit!”
While the two were conversing, Fluttershy went up to Twilight, worried. Fluttershy was also feeling distressful after seeing Rainbow Dash nearly die at the hands of the Royal Guard. Combined with the fact that they were all going to die anyway if they didn’t move soon, the yellow pegasus’s anxiety was building.
She asked nervously, “Have you figured out anything Twilight?”
The unicorn replied sadly, “I wish I could say yes, but I’m afraid I don’t know where else we can go. Basically, all I know is that we need to get out of Canterlot. Maybe then we can figure out something.” Fluttershy nodded, and decided take a rest alongside her comrades. Although it wasn’t much of a plan, it was better than having no plan at all.
And frankly, it was all they got.
Xxx
“I think we’ve wasted enough time!” Twilight scolded.
“Oh come on! What’s a few more minutes going to do?” Dash replied, taking a bite out of a biscuit.
“It’s already midnight, Rainbow. We let the light slip away!”
“Alright, alright, let’s go then. Sheesh.”
The quartet was standing next to the drawbridge, awaiting Twilight’s orders. They all had their new weapons primed and ready for whatever waited for them. Even Fluttershy had her revolver out, even though she held it loosely and nervously.
Rainbow was standing by the winch, one hoof on the wheel and the other holding her shotgun over her head. She remarked, “Oh yeah, it’s time to destroy those undead freaks!”
“Conserve ammo. Use your melee weapons as much as you can. And remember, stick together.” Twilight warned.
But Rainbow just shrugged arrogantly and said, “Conserve my flank!”
She spun the winch, letting the drawbridge topple over. With a smash, the platform impacted loudly against the hard cobblestone. When the dust settled, there was a crowd to zombies waiting for them, ready to eat their flesh.
But Dash grinned and finished, “Kill all sons-a-bitches! That’s my official instructions! Whoo hoo!” She charged across the bridge as though her injuries were nonexistent. With a defiant look plastered on her face, she began to blast the monsters left and right. Bodies fell to the ground as Rainbow pumped loads of shells into every enemy that showed its ugly face. Realizing her friends were still standing at the castle’s entrance, struck dumb by Dash’s one-pony army attack, she called out, “C’mon girls, you were the ones who said we were in a hurry!”
With that, the others slowly followed Rainbow Dash’s lead. Their guns were raised as though they were ready to fight, but for now they were just spectators to the Rainbow Show. The bright flashes of the gun’s muzzle punctuated the bleak night while Rainbow pranced around the attacking horde. Her broken wing had virtually no pain, thanks to combination of pain pills and Fluttershy's help. It was quite too easy for the athletic pegasus; the monsters (and her friends) couldn’t keep up. And it seemed as though she loved every minute of it.
Finally, the commotion died down, not because she was tired, but because she was running out of zombies to shoot. Most of the creatures had seemingly retreated deeper into the shadows, the night covering their tracks. Rainbow stood in the middle of a run-down street, letting her smoking gun hang from her hooves. Her friends managed to catch up to her, their eyes wide from the supreme amount of awesomeness they had just witnessed. With a final shot, Dash bravely called out, “C’mon guys, I haven’t even broken a sweat!”
Seizing the reins once again, Twilight moved back to the head of the group, but not before telling Rainbow, “Don’t ever do that again.”
Twilight wasn’t the only one surprised by the attack. In fact, it was Fluttershy who was taken aback more than anypony. And she wasn’t sure whether it was from Rainbow killing so many, or the fact that she did it so…easily. So nonchalantly. So bravely.
Fluttershy listened as Pinkie Pie chirped, “Wow Rainbow, that was sooo cool! And with a broken wing too!”
There must have been something she could do. There had to be.
Xxx
Despite Rainbow’s…impressive display of fighting prowess, it still didn’t give the ponies any idea of where to go next. For another two hours, the quartet wandered through the dim city with only the moonlight to illuminate their path. As they glanced up at the sky, they noticed just how bleak it was, there was not a star to be found. It was as if those glimmering jewels had also tried to escape from the massacres down below.
They stopped at the remains of a fancy restaurant to see what supplies were hidden inside. Most of the chairs and tables were toppled over, and the place smelled of spoiled food. “Ew, this place reeks!” cried Pinkie Pie. “Twilight, what are you doing? That stuff’s gross!”
Twilight was lost in her thoughts however, examining all that remained in the eatery. She soon came upon the refrigerator. Curious, she swung the steel door open, brandishing her gun. That was when she was blasted not with a cool chill, but the stench of decay. For in the small compartment was the body of a dead chef, already rotting.
“This can’t be right,” Twilight said. “It would take days for this to happen. How long has this thing been going on?”
Dash replied sarcastically, “Oh, what a surprise! The princesses are keeping secrets from us? I never would have guessed.” After swallowing some pain pills for her wing, she continued, “I swear, they’re probably only looking out for themselves. Where do they get the time to raise the moon and the sun anyway, huh? They can do that, but they can’t save the lives of their own people!”
“Stop it Rainbow! I’m sure they’re trying to escape just like us! So get your ass moving!” Twilight answered fiercely.
Then she stormed out of the restaurant with a trailing Rainbow mumbling, “Sorry…I guess. Hey Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, you girls coming?”
The two were still staring at the corpse in the refrigerator. Pinkie was the first to break out of her trance; she put on a grin and said, “Coming!” And Fluttershy, after giving the body one last unsteady glance, silently followed her bouncing friend.
They didn’t walk for long, however. Soon they noticed a small trail leading to the edge of the city. At the beginning was a sign that read “The Church of the Sun”. Far ahead, they could see a small chapel with Celestia’s sun cutie mark inscribed on the roof. But more importantly, they noticed the lights were still on.
“It looks like somepony’s still alive in there,” Pinkie said. The four ponies began to trot carefully towards the humble chapel, ready to take a close look. Along the way they passed a graveyard, stepping over headstones and plaques inscribed with the names of the deceased.
“They’ve got it easy,” Rainbow whispered. And nopony disagreed.
A few infected were rambling around the church, but they were easily dispatched by the quartet. Finally they reached the church, and they entered through a big gaping hole in one of the side walls. They noticed that the chapel was stockpiled for an attack, with gas cans, ammo piles, and melee weapons scattered about. There was also a safe room, and they could see the lights were on inside. Twilight was fascinated with a grand piano located in the corner, and she pressed down some of the keys from curiosity, letting out a few beautiful notes untarnished by the apocalypse.
That was when a voice emanated from inside the safe room. It was the voice of a stallion, and he spoke nervously, almost frantically. He said, “What was that? Who’s there? I’ve got a bell in here.”
Twilight was ready to answer when Dash stepped forward and replied, “I got this…Ahem, open up, we’re cops!”
But the stranger screamed, “No! No one gets in! I can’t believe it, I can’t believe he bit me. Better safe than sorry, better safe than sorry, better safe than sorry…”
“We’ve got wounded mister and…there’s zombies out here, open the freakin’ door!” Rainbow answered back. She shrugged, and then she began to pound on the door, saying angrily, “Listen candy pants, I will MAKE you-.”
“You think you’re special with your…with your leather jackets and your fancy blood?”
“What?” Fluttershy said.
Seeing as though the situation was getting out of hand, Twilight muttered to Dash, “I don’t think it’s working, Rainbow. I think we should leave.”
But the church pony continued to talk, shouting, “I’m not letting you in until I know you’re not infected!”
“This guy’s nuttier than a candy bar!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
With a final chuckle, the stranger cried frantically, “Oh yeah? It least I’m not dead!”
Suddenly, the deep sound of bells resonated from atop the church. The survivors were forced to cover their ears from the sheer volume of the ringing, along with the Crazy Church Pony screaming, “Ding dong! Ding dong!”
Over the loud ringing came the cry of an incoming horde. From the massive hole Pinkie could see the infected scrambling up the trail towards the chapel. Grabbing a few gas cans, she cried, “If we live, I am so going to get that guy!”
The infected wasted no time rushing towards the lonely chapel on the hill. Even though the zombies were on their way, the deep ringing never stopped. The Church Pony wanted the survivors dead.
The four dug themselves in, standing at the biggest entryway possible, the gaping hole in the wall. “Pinkie, get back here!” yelled Twilight, aware of the horde coming closer and closer.
Pinkie positioned the last gas can and replied, “Coming!”
With the horde barely on her tail, the party pony galloped back to the chapel, bouncing through while saying, “Shoot the gas cans! Shoot them!”
Obeying Pinkie’s command (excluding Fluttershy of course), they all opened fire on the red containers on the ground. They burst open, and flames spilled across the ground, engulfing all the zombies in its path. The wall of fire protected the front of the church, leaving the four to worry about the infected coming in through the windows.
The quartet systematically began to pick off the zombies breaking in through the boarded windows as the fire continued to rage on outside. Rainbow stood atop the piano, blasting her shotgun into the crowd. Twilight, although suffering some minor scratches, was able to hold her own while atop one of the pews. And Pinkie and Fluttershy found refuge by the altar, also doing their best to avoid the zombies’ attacks. A few Smokers and Hunters were spotted, but the four were able to kill them before they ever got too close.
Outside, the gasoline fire was beginning to die down. But the sound of the church bells still continued, as did the horde.
Dash, who was busy reloading her gun while kicking a few monsters back, cried, “Doesn’t this guy ever get tired?” For a while, it didn’t seem like it. The horde was still attacking relentlessly, and the quartet was consuming ammo quickly. Soon they were forced to take out their melee weapons to conserve ammunition. It became a frenzy of baseball bats and wrenches and bodies falling to the ground.
Then finally, the bells ceased their violent ringing.
Once the horde began to dissipate, Twilight gathered her friends next to the safe room door. She gave them time to gather themselves, regain their breath, and reload their gun. Then she said, “Pinkie and I will go see if there’s another way inside. Rainbow, you and Fluttershy try to knock some sense into that guy.” Then she and Pinkie when off, leaving the other two to deal with the insane stallion.
“Sheesh, why is everypony besides us either zombies or assholes?” Rainbow remarked, pumping her shotgun. She was ready to knock on the door when she noticed the sound of coughing coming from inside. She asked, “Hey buddy, you okay in there?”
She gave the door a slight push and was surprised to see it creak open just a bit. Taking out her baseball bat, she said angrily, “Oh, you are gonna get it you crazy mule.”
She busted the door open and was ready to come face to face with the Crazy Church Pony. But when she charged in inside, there wasn’t some insane stallion waiting for her. Instead it was the face of a Smoker. And the zombie didn’t waste any time snaring her in its awful grasp.
She fought to break free from the Smoker’s tongue, but every time she struggled the tongue seemed to pull even tighter. Losing her weapon in the struggle, Dash managed to call out, “Fluttershy!” before the zombie began to constrict her.
Fluttershy rushed inside to find her friend getting the life squeezed out of her by some grotesque monster. And worse, only she could save her. Basically, it was the yellow pegasus’s worst nightmare.
Fluttershy began to panic, the sound of the Smoker and her choking friend filling the church. Rainbow’s constant cries for help seemed to intensify, bouncing off the walls of Fluttershy’s clouded mind. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. The timid pony raised her revolver, her eyes closed, her hooves trembling violently.
Then she pulled the trigger.
The power of the revolver sent her falling backward onto her bottom. She felt a shower of blood come down on her face, and she immediately thought, “Oh Rainbow, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!” She felt herself get snagged in the grasp of some unknown being. At first, Fluttershy thought it was the Smoker, taking her in as its next victim. Terror took over every bone in her body, and she began to scream. She tried to wriggle free, but her failed attempts only made her scream even more.
Then she heard, “Fluttershy, stop! It’s me, it’s me!”
The frantic pony opened her eyes, only to see the messy rainbow mane filling her vision. It was Rainbow Dash, who had taken her friend in a tight embrace, trying to calm her. The cyan pegasus said, “It’s alright ‘Shy, we’re fine. We’re both going to be fine. You did great.”
For a moment Fluttershy was able to calm herself, feeling the friendly warmth of Dash’s hug. “Just don’t look at it, Fluttershy. Just look at me,” Rainbow warned. But it was too late. Fluttershy had already seen a glimpse of the grisly scene behind them. The blood splattered on the walls. The remains of the Church Pony/Smoker lying on the floor, its head completely blown away. The embrace wasn’t just to relieve the timid pony, but to shield her from the murder she had just committed. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked.
Wrapped in the hooves of her brave childhood friend, Fluttershy began to sob, cursing whatever divine being had done this to her.