//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Wait, you were there? // Story: Not Dead Yet // by Nebula Star //------------------------------// Not Dead Yet By Nebula Star Chapter 4: Wait... You were there? *** “SCOOTALOO! HOOVES OFF!” Sweetie Belle's screech managed to pull Apple Bloom back to consciousness. With a groan she raised her head to look around. The wall they'd crashed into luckily wasn't a load bearing wall and in fact seemed to have been made up of simple wood panels that had replaced glass windows. Most likely a corner shop of some kind; looking around it certainly looked like it. Behind them, through the hole they'd made, she barely make out that the avenue they'd been traveling on was completely buried by the fallen building. All in all, crashing through the wall had probably saved their lives. SLAP! Apple Bloom's attention was drawn to her friends; both seemed to be in good shape and had both climbed out of the wrecked car already. Scootaloo was holding her cheek looking shocked, while Sweetie Belle looked simply furious. “Get a hold of yourself!” “I'm trying!” Scootaloo whimpered. Apple Bloom decided it might be best if she intervened. “Easy there, Sweetie. She can't control herself right now, you know that.” Sweetie Belle snorted folding her forelegs across her chest. “Well excuse me for being upset about waking up to one of my best friends feeling me up!” “I meant to just try and wake you... I just... I... I'm sorry. I just can't control it!” Sweetie looked away angrily. “Is Rainbow awake?” In answer the rainbow maned pegasus kicked the driver side door open, breaking it from its hinges, and climbed out of the car. “Yeah, I'm awake and not dead either. So that's awesome. Any sign of Zombies?” “Nope, Cadenza broke off the chase to escape the falling building,” Sweetie Belle told them. “She probably thinks we were crushed.” “She might...” Rainbow agreed. “But she may send some of her minions to search for us anyway, so we better not stay here. Without any form of fast transport we'll have to lay low and try not to draw too much attention to ourselves.” “This wouldn't be a problem if you'd brought something other than a sports car as our get away vehicle...” Sweetie Belle grumbled. “How was I supposed to know you were going to drop a skyscraper on us!” Rainbow exclaimed. “It doesn't matter now!” Apple Bloom interrupted, trying to keep the peace. “What matters is getting back to the ambush point without being caught, while still keeping the zombies' attention.” Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yeah, but let's just focus on getting back. We'll probably have the zombies on our tails the whole way no matter what we do.” “Either way, we shouldn't stay here.” “Alright, then let's move out troops!” Rainbow said gesturing for them to follow as she headed toward the hole they'd made. All three crusaders just glared at her. Rainbow was halfway out by the time she realized they weren't following. “Uh, Girls, times a wastin'; I said move out!” They exchanged glances, finally Apple Bloom stepped forward. “Rainbow, you haven't really worked with us before, so we'll let it slide this time, but in the future, you'd best remember one thing: There are exactly three living ponies that we'll take orders from, and you're not one of them. “So as long as you're with us, you either follow us and do what we say to help, or you just follow. Otherwise you're on you're own.” Rainbow stared at them a few moments. At first she thought they were joking, but the look in their eyes – despite Scootaloo's occasionally drifting toward her friends' flanks – made it clear that they meant it. It was also worth noting that they were the ones with the explosives. “Uh... okay, whatever you say girls.” “You can offer suggestions if you want, but don't expect us to go along with 'em.” “Alright, cool your jets... I'll follow,” Rainbow clearly didn't like it but she knew she didn't have much choice. “Let's go then.” Apple Bloom said finally and the Crusaders trotted out past Rainbow. The avenue they'd been traveling on was completely blocked off due to the tower they'd brought down. Without a second glance, Apple Bloom led the way through the alley toward the next street. From what they could see the next street was in pretty rough shape as well, but at least it wasn't buried. “Hey, girls... I think it might be best if I were in the lead...” Scootaloo whimpered, her voice sounding strained. “A little too much to look at back here.” “Well don't look!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Apple Bloom sighed. “Its probably for the best. Go ahead,” she said gesturing for Scootaloo to take the lead. “Keep your ears open though never know whats around the next corner. “Yep...” Scootaloo said taking the lead then shivered visibly. “Damn... is this what it's like to be in heat, Rainbow?” Rainbow blushed. “How should I know, I've never been hit by one of Cadenza's spells...” “Yeah, well I've never been in heat. If it's anything like this it must suck!” “Oh don't worry, you'll know the joys of being in heat soon enough...” Rainbow told her with a smirk. “Just be glad we'll be able to get that spell removed as soon as we get back to base. No such luck when you're in heat.” Scootaloo whimpered softly as they reached the end of the alley. “I don't know if I can handle waiting that long...” “BRAINS!” “AAAAAAHH!” Scootaloo reflexively grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin as a zombie that had been just around the corner leaped at her. She was knocked to the ground as the zombie tackled her and the grenade was knocked from her hoof flying almost strait up in the air. “Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted unable to do anything as four more zombies appeared around the corner. A gray blur slammed into the zombie on top of Scootaloo, knocking it away. They only got a glimpse of a gray pegasus mare as she caught the grenade out of the air, jammed it into another zombie's mouth and then spun, knocking it back into the others with a powerful roundhouse kick. A moment later it exploded silhouetting the gray mare as she landed in front of Scootaloo. They all stared in shock as the mare turned back toward them and smiled, revealing her golden misaligned eyes. “Hey, girls!” She said cheerfully. “Derpy!?” They heard a moan from behind and turned just in time to see three more zombies on top of a pile of debris get taken out by two magical blasts and a hard buck that sent the last one flying. Then a mint green unicorn climbed up over the pile. “You gals need a hoof?” She asked with a cocky grin. “Hey, I know you!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “You're Lyra right?” “That's right!” She said hopping down as several others appeared around the side of debris. First was a cream colored earth pony mare with a purple and pink mane, followed by an orange and green mare, then there was a white unicorn mare with sunglasses and a wild blue mane along side another earth pony mare dark grey in color with an even darker mane and tail that was carrying what looked like a cello case on her back. The first few were all familiar faces while the last two they only vaguely remembered. But not one of them had ever set hoof in their base. In fact, they'd all been presumed dead. The last to appear was a dark purple alicorn with a dark indigo mane and tail striped with purple and red. They didn't recognize her at all. “What the hay? What are you all doing out here?” Rainbow exclaimed. “We thought you were all dead! How long have you been in the city?” Lyra snorted. “See Bonnie, I told you they hadn't noticed us. They never notice us.” Bon Bon nodded. “It's kind of sad though, considering we've been in the city as long as they have...” “You have?” Sweetie Belle asked sounding surprised. “Yep, we've been here the whole time, and no one noticed,” Lyra said with a nod. “No one ever notices us. We follow the mane six all the time and no one ever notices. Heck, I went to school with Twilight! I followed her to Ponyville! Colgate and I were two of Princess Cadence's original brides maids! They never noticed!” She finished breathing hard, her teeth clenched. “Easy dear, you're getting worked up again.” Bon Bon said putting a hoof around Lyra and giving her a squeeze. The Crusaders and Rainbow stared at them a moment, not sure what to say. Finally Sweetie Belle broke the silence. “So... who's all your friends.” “Oh right, introductions. Well I think you all know Derpy, Bon Bon and I...” “Hang on! Derpy! Where's Dinky!?” Sweetie Belle interrupted. The sound of a kicked stone drew all their attention as another zombie with vacant eyes stumbled around some of the debris in the road. There was a small black blur that seemed to appear right in front of it and launched itself into the air. A flash of a blade, and a loud thud later, the decapitated zombie collapsed to the ground. Shing. The sound made the Crusaders turn around to find a filly dressed entirely in black sheathing a way-too-large-for-her katana across her back. Her yellow mane and tail were all they could see of her save for a tiny bit of gray-purple fur around her eyes. Once her sword was secure, she reached up and pulled down her mask revealing her face. “Hey Crusaders! I'm a ninja!” Dinky said grinning broadly. The Crusaders stared for a moment in shock. Finally Apple Bloom broke the silence. “Pip isn't going to like this...” “How is Pip?” Dinky asked eagerly. “He's doin' alright, but Ah don't think he'll be too happy once he finds out you're a ninja now...” Apple Bloom told her. Dinky frowned. “Why not?” “'Cause he's a pirate,” Apple Bloom told her like that explained everything. “What do you mean?” “Pirates hate ninjas, they're like mortal enemies,” she explained and the other two Crusaders nodded in agreement. “That's silly,” Dinky objected. “I bet Pip will think me being a ninja is awesome!” The Crusaders exchanged glances. “Don't count on it.” “Anyway... Lyra, you were introducing your friends?” Rainbow said to change the subject. “Right. You all know Derpy, Bonnie and me, and probably Carrot Top as well,” she said gesturing to each in turn. “As for the ones you may not know, this is Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch.” Lyra grinned as all her friends gathered around her. “We're the Background Ponies!” Sweetie Belle raised a brow at that. “Background ponies?” “Yep! It's a club I started right after the summer sun festival when Twilight first came to Ponyville. Anypony who's ever been involved with some major event simply due to being around the mane six can join, and when we can we try to stay close by the mane six so we can get involved with anything that may and usually does happen around them. That's why we came to Manehattan.” “Wait, wait... What do you mean, the mane six?” Rainbow asked, eyes narrowed. She rolled her eyes. “You, Twilight and all your friends of course! You know the ones that everything exciting seems to happen to.” “So you've been following us around? That's a bit creepy.” “Nah, just think of it like storm chasing.” Lyra said waving a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, doesn't really help.” “I would like to point out that most of us do not actively follow you and your friends around.” Octavia cut in. “Most of us just happened to be nearby when some of the... events, that tend to happen around you and your friends occurred.” “Yes, it's mostly just Lyra that stalks you.” Bonbon agreed. “The rest of us usually have legitimate reasons for being around you when things happen. We just like to get together and share our experiences of when we've gotten caught up in major events.” “Right, so only the mint green one gets a restraining order. Got it.” Rainbow nodded. “So who's the alicorn?” “Oh, we actually just met her. She said her name is Midnight Star, but I've never heard of her before.” “I told you, I'm not from here,” Midnight said with a sigh. “I don't even know why I'm here; this isn't even my world!” Without warning, Pinkie Pie popped up out of a nearby pile of debris. “It's probably because of something akin to nepotism.” Midnight groaned. “Pinkie! What are you doing here!? You're supposed to be with Twilight!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Oh yeah!” And with that, she dove back down into the debris and vanished. “What... how did she? Where did she go!?” Octavia exclaimed, staring in shock. “Don't ask... trust me... just don't ask.” Rainbow told her, shaking her head. “Tell me about it. I'm still wondering how she managed to pull me out of nowhere at that wedding reception,” Vinyl agreed. “One moment I was at home, ready to turn in early after the whole changeling invasion thing, the next I feel a tug on my neck and I'm next to Pinkie Pie behind a DJ table... Sweet gig, paid well, but that mare... She's crazy.” “What do you mean though, that this isn't your world?” Rainbow asked Midnight. “Just what I said, this isn't my world, it isn't my Equestria. I come from an alternate Equestria.” They all just stared at her. “An alternate Equestria?” Sweetie Belle asked skeptically. “Yes!” She tensed suddenly and her expression and tone of voice shifted. “You know, the world we call home technically isn't our Equestria either.” Then her expression and voice both shifted back and she groaned. “You don't have to take control to talk to me.” “Eh. It's more entertaining this way. Besides, it's not like we need to keep it a secret here.” “Maybe not, but you're freaking everypony out!” “You're the one getting mad and yelling at yourself. You don't need to talk out loud to me either, you know.” Everypony was staring at her at this point. “I'm fine!” Midnight insisted. “Right...” Lyra said taking a short step away from her. “Great, now they think we're crazy...” “We kind of are.” Midnight just groaned. “So... yeah...” Rainbow said deciding it would be best to leave the mare alone. “How have you all been surviving out here anyway?” Lyra grinned. “Well, Derpy is a third degree black belt of... what did you call it again?” “The way of the open wing. It's a pegasus martial art,” Derpy answered. Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I've heard of it. You're a black belt? Maybe we could spar sometime, see how it compares to regular pony karate.” Derpy shrugged. “Sometime,” she said and gestured for Lyra to continue. “You saw Dinky's skills. As for Octavia, she's the reigning champion of the underground ultimate fighting ring in Canterlot. Vinyl has some crazy sound magic; you'd be surprised the devastation she can cause with sound-wave vibrations alone. Nopony gets in Carrot Top's way, and I have some crazy magic of my own,” Lyra said buffing a hoof against her chest. A pointed clearing of a throat made Lyra glance at her marefriend. “Oh, yeah. And Bonbon's a changeling.” “What, really?” With a flash of green fire, Bonbon reverted to her true changeling form making Rainbow and the Crusaders jump. “Why?” Everypony looked at Sweetie Belle. “What do you mean?” Lyra asked, not sure what Sweetie was asking. “Why is Bon Bon a changeling?” “Uh, because her mom and dad were changelings?” Lyra offered. “No, I mean why would a changeling pretend to be a candy maker in Ponyville? I mean, you've been in Ponyville longer than Twilight, so it wasn't to keep an eye on the bearers... unless you replaced the real Bonbon!” “No, no! I didn't replace anypony!” The changeling objected quickly. “Then why would you come to Ponyville?” “Uh... well, I kind of sort of ran away. And well... I always liked candy.” “Hmm, works for me.” Apple Bloom said with a shrug. “If you've been in Ponyville that long, you can't be that bad. Besides, you make the best caramel apple suckers.” “Uh, yeah, sorry if me or my friends gave you a hard time in Canterlot.” Rainbow said rubbing the back of her neck. “I wasn't there,” Bon Bon said dismissively. “And concerning the invasion, I have one thing to say: My mother is an idiot,” she said then with another green flash, returned to her pony form. “Okay, okay, done with introductions and stuff? That's nice, now can we please get moving!? ” Scootaloo whined, practically dancing in place. “What's the rush kid.” Lyra asked with a wry grin. “She got hit by one of Cadaver Cadenza's lust spells and wants to get back to base so she can get the counter-spell,” Apple Bloom explained dully. They all winced. “Oh, ouch,” Vinyl said sympathetically. “No need to wait, though, I've got ya covered.” “You know the counter-spell?” Scootaloo asked hopefully. “Yep, she hit Octi with it a few months back. Let me tell ya, I never thought I'd get to the point that I was tired of sex, but after a few days I was pretty desperate for the counter-spell.” “Vinyl Scratch! Did you have to tell them that!? And in front of young fillies no less?” Octavia groaned, covering her eyes in shame. Vinyl grinned. “You know you were enjoying it too!” “I'm not denying that, but that does not mean you should tell everyone about it!” She shrugged. “Anyway, just hold still kid, it just takes a second.” Her horn began to glow and a similar aura surrounded Scootaloo as the air was filled with the sound of a saxophone playing a soothing melody reminiscent of Kennel G, the famous diamond dog musician. When it was over Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. “Well... that was interesting.” Vinyl smirked. “Yeah, the cure for uncontrollable lust is smooth jazz. Go figure.” “At least it worked. Now I can relax and not worry about accidentally molesting my friends...” Scootaloo said with a wry grin. “Ah, come on, you know you enjoyed it,” Lyra said with a wink and a grin. “No. No I didn't,” Scootaloo deadpanned. “Ah come on, we all know you're into fillies.” Scootaloo groaned. “Why does everypony automatically think I'm into fillies? Just because I'm athletic and tomboyish doesn't mean I'm a fillyfooler!” “Yeah, that's right!” Rainbow agreed with a nod. Then she blinked and looked at Scootaloo. “Wait, you're not!?” She asked sounding completely surprised. Scootaloo's eyes went dreamy. “Well, for you I could be...” Rainbow laughed nervously. “Cute, kid, but I'm not really into fillies either.” That seemed to snap Scootaloo back to reality. “You're not? Oh good, cause neither am I!” She said quickly. “Well I am.” Everypony looked at Sweetie Belle again. “You are?” Scootaloo asked truly surprised. She never would have guessed Sweetie Belle would be into other fillies. “Are you kidding? Do you know how many times I've walked in on Rarity with different stallions, when they were...” She shivered visibly. “Wait, how many stallions we talking about here?” Rainbow asked, eager for some dirt on her otherwise uptight friend. Sweetie Belle sat back on her haunches and looked up at the sky as she thought back. “Well let's see. There was the senior Wonderbolt, I forget his name...” “It wasn't Soarin was it?” Rainbow asked sounding worried. “Nah, the first time was one of the older members, I caught her with Soarin the week after that. 'Course with how loud they were I'm surprised all of Ponyville didn't know about that one. Apparently he's 'quite an animal.'” Rainbow went pale. She'd had her eye on Soarin for years. Sweetie Belle didn't seem to notice as she went on. “Then there was Big Mac, I walked in on them at least three times.” “WHAT!?” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “I caught her with Shining Armor, a couple weeks after the wedding. I bet Twilight would love to know about that one... Oh and Spike, that was last week, and pretty weird really. She's more than ten years older than him! “There was Prince Blueblood, don't ask me how he managed to find his way into her bed after what happened at the gala. And then there was Filthy Rich, and oh boy was he filthy! “I've caught her with Thunderlane twice though I saw them together a lot more than that.” Rainbow groaned. She'd had a relationship with Thunderlane and she'd never even known that he'd been with Rarity. “Three of Luna's nightguard...” She paused to shiver visibly at the memory before adding; “at the same time... “I caught her with Fancy Pants one time when she took me to Canterlot, as well as a couple other upper crust jerks. And there were at least four others that I don't even remember their names!” Sweetie Belle shook her head in disgust. “After all that, along with the horror stories she's told me of stallions that may or may not have made it into her bed anyway, I decided I'd rather just stick with other fillies.” “Really?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle looked at her and nodded confidently. “SWEET!” Apple Bloom exclaimed before anypony could react, she threw her fore-hooves around Sweetie Belle and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Sweetie Belle seemed surprised at first, but quickly melted into the kiss, putting her fore-hooves around Apple Bloom returning her passion. “Wow!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed when they finally parted, then immediately kissed Apple Bloom back. Scootaloo groaned watching her two friends make out as she realized that this would likely be a common occurrence from then on. “Yeah! You go girls!” Vinyl cheered them on while Lyra somehow used her fore-hoof to whistled encouragement. “Yes, go for it, girls!” Cadenza cheered standing next to Lyra. “Show mama what you've got!” “Not bad for fillies, huh.” Lyra commented, still grinning. “No, not bad at all. I can't wait to add them to my harem.” Lyra snorted. “Harem? What do you...” She trailed off realizing that everypony else had fallen silent and were all staring at the mare next to her in horror. Slowly Lyra turned, knowing, but still afraid of what she would find. “Why hello there!” Cadenza said, their snouts only a few inches apart, her rotting stench filling her nostrils. “... H... hi Cadenza,” Lyra stammered. “Oh, Lyrie, you know I prefer Cadence.” She said with a leer. “Now how about we pretend I'm your foalsitter again, only this time I'm not going to be the good girl...” “Uh... I'd rather not, you see I've got a marefriend now...” A black form wreathed in green flame slammed into Cadenza knocking her away, and Bonbon was standing in front of Lyra, back in her changeling form. “Stay away from my Lyra, you rotting hussy!” “Yeah, her,” Lyra said numbly. Movement all around them caught their attention then as zombies appeared by the dozens, coming out of buildings and emerging from behind the debris that filled the road. “Right... minions.” Bonbon grabbed Lyra by the neck and dragged her to the others as they all started backing toward the alley Rainbow and the Crusaders had come from. “They've got us surrounded,” Derpy groaned. “Not quite.” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “We can go through the buildings and find another way out...” “We'll have these guys on our tails the whole way. And there may be zombies in the buildings as well.” Octavia cautioned. “Even if there are, we'll stand a better chance than we will being completely surrounded here.” Midnight Star sighed. “You know what... I just don't care anymore. Your turn, have fun,” she said to no one in particular. Her expression changed to eager excitement in an instant. “Wahoo! Don't worry guys, I'll hold them off. Escape while you can!” She shouted charging toward the zombies with her horn glowing as two swords appeared at her sides. “It's just like one of those zombie survival games!” She laughed gleefully as she leaped into the middle of the horde, slashing and casting spells indiscriminately at the Zombies around her, blood and body parts flying. “All in favor of leaving the crazy alicorn behind?” Lyra asked. Everypony raised a hoof without hesitation. “Okay, let's get out of here.”