Undead Equestria
By: Sorren
Chapter eight: New Plans
A white earth pony mare looked out the window of the skywagon at the passing desert landscape. Hundreds of multicolored specs dotted the ground below, all heading in one direction. She brushed a lock of her red and white striped mane away from her face and heaved a heavy sigh. Like normal, this reconnaissance mission had been unsuccessful.
The eight of them were currently on their way back to the REA outpost to present the bad news. Desert Sage had been a bust. The town had been totally wiped off the map, completely infected. They had landed on the roof of the hospital to allow the four pulling pegasi to rest. Attempts to scavenge the hospital had been made, but it to no affect. The whole place had been chocked full of zombies. They had had a rather close escape.
One thing was for sure. The ponies in charge weren’t going to be too happy. The hospital could have proved useful for medical supplies.
“Hey Candy,” A blue stallion chided. “What’re your plans when we get back to base?”
She turned with annoyance to the pseudo mares’ killer and shot him a heated look. “Nothing to do with you.”
He laughed mockingly. “What’s wrong Candy? Am I too much stallion for you?”
The other six members of the squad averted their eyes as she glared daggers into the stallion. “I told you already,” she growled. “I don’t like you using my first name. Go by the procedure.”
He shot her a sly smile. “Sure thing, Private Cane.”
The gray earth pony in the back of the skywagon groaned again.
One of the other squad members shot him a worried glance. “You okay Dodge?” she asked.
The gray stallion nodded. “Yeah, I’m just feeling a little weird.”
Candy fidgeted in her battle saddle. The entire squad wore them, with the exception of the medic. They no longer took the saddles off in the wagon like they used to before the infection. You never knew when a quick landing would find you surrounded by zombies.
Number one most important rule upon landing a skywagon, for the love of Celestia, protect the pullers. Without four pegasi to pull the wagon, you were what many of them would call, up shit creek.
Candy spotted the shape of Appleoosa off to the right and ahead. She never understood why they weren’t authorized to explore the town. Everypony in the REA knew that there were ponies living down there. For some reason, they blatantly refused to send a team in. The only excuse was a report deeming the location, ‘unsafe for exploration.’
Currently on board they skycraft, they had a medic, a heavy weapons pony, and six basic infantry. Candy was a member of the infantry and Dodge served as their big guns. The gray stallion wore a specially designed battle saddle modified to hold two light machineguns. He would provide covering fire while the rest of them picked off any stragglers with basic carbines.
“You know what I’m gonna’ do when we get back to base?” a stallion in the infantry asked.
“What?” a red mare—their medic, returned.
“First thing I’m gonna do is take myself off of these air missions. I’ve had enough of this flying nonsense. I’m not a pegasus; I shouldn’t be in the air.”
“Yeah,” a green stallion agreed. “That last call was too close. Those things were hopping off the building after us.”
“What the hay Dodge!?” an indignant voice called. “Back off!”
Candy turned her head around to see the disturbance. Dodge was on his hooves, blood ran in small lines from both tear ducts. He staggered towards their cherry colored medic, who hurriedly backed away.
“He’s infected!” she yelled warningly.
In no more than a second, they were all on their hooves, weapons trained on Dodge.
“Hold it,” the squad leader warned. “Careful where you shoot in the wagon. You hit a spark battery and we aren’t going to make it back to base.”
Dodge lunged forward, biting for the cherry mare ahead of him.
Candy’s eyes widened as Dodge’s teeth came down on the firing bit of his saddle. She dropped to the floor, just in time too.
The others weren’t so lucky.
The stallion’s dual machine guns blared to life, shredding anypony unlucky enough to be in the path of gunfire. Unfortunately, that happened to be all other six squad members. Candy covered her ears with her hooves and cried out in terror has her squad was, more or less, accidentally gunned down.
The blue stallion that had been teasing her managed to loose off a shot before his entire front was riddled with bullets. He fell to the ground in a series of violent spasms.
A clipping from the REA’s ‘Emergency Zombie Training Manual’ flashed in her mind. ‘Load your weapons with hollow point rounds. The creatures don’t feel pain, but hollow points will stop them in their tracks.’ It had come with a little picture of a bullet blowing out the back of a cartoon zombie.
Before his untimely death, the blue stallion had managed to plant a round in Dodge’s shoulder. The heavily armed zombie staggered backwards, relinquishing his unintended barrage of pony shredding rounds. It almost immediately lunged forward again, jaws snapping menacingly. Every time its teeth came together, a few rounds escaped the two machineguns on his back.
The cherry mare writhed on the ground. She had taken her fair share of lead and her middle section resembled that of a block of Swiss cheese. She pulled a pistol from her leg holster and emptied its contents into the infected pony. Dodge fell to the floor, dead, one of the bullets having pierced his skull. The cherry mare dropped her head back to the floor, eyes glazing over, having used her last wisp of life to fire the weapon.
Candy picked herself up and looked around the wagon. She was the only one left. Everypony else appeared to have been attacked with a cheese grater.
She cried out as the wagon pitched left. Candy hurriedly turned and staggered over the bodies of her companions as she made for the front of the wagon. The Plexiglas wind guard had been blasted to pieces by the devastating machinegun fire. Candy reached it and kicked out what was left of the plastic shielding.
The sight outside chilled her bones. She stood on the two foot wagon deck, gaping at the newly discovered carnage. Both of the left fliers had been hit. The closest one to her hung limp, suspended by the harness that was bound to the left and right bracings, blood trailing from his riddled form to be whipped away by the wind. The other pegasus had been shot through the wing and once in the rump. Without the ability to fly, he hung down below the wagon, suspended only by the whippletree jointing him with the dead flier, trying desperately to gain purchase with his one good wing.
The two uninjured pullers on the right struggled with the heavy weight of the wagon. The purple one closest to Candy turned and fixed his gaze on her.
He motioned towards the dead pegasus suspended in the air. “Cut him loose! He’s dead weight!”
Too panicked to question, she pulled out her standard issued knife and began hacking at the straps holding the pegasus up.
“No wait!” the injured one screamed. “I’m hooked to his saddle!”
The bindings snapped and the dead pegasus dropped away. To Candy’s horror, so did the injured one. He fell way from the wagon and spiraled to the ground, his good wing flailing uselessly as the dead weight pulled him to his death.
Candy closed her eyes tight. “Celestia forgive me.”
“We’re still too heavy!” the red pegasus in front yelled back at her. “Tell the others to start dumping gear or we’re going down!”
“They’re all dead!” she yelled back.
The lead pegasus blinked. It took him a second to regain his composure. “Well then dump them off! We are too heavy!”
Candy nodded fearfully and ran back into the wagon. She scrambled over the bloody mess a second time to reach the rear hatch. She pulled the release latch and the back door fell away.
Dodge was the closest to her. She bent down and fastened her teeth in his saddle strap. Trying to ignore what she was doing, Candy drug him to the back door and, with a shove, sent him spiraling away into the wind.
“Keep going!” one of the pegasi yelled. “It’s going to take a lot more than that!”
One by one, Candy pushed her fellow comrades’ bodies from the skywagon. The last to go was a light blue unicorn. Candy grabbed her by the saddle strap and drug her to the rear opening, the spilt blood working as a lubricant and sickeningly allowing the body to slide smoothly across the floor. She braced her hooves on the mare’s flanks and readied to push her over the edge.
The light blue mare lifted her head. “Cane,” she gasped. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. “Help me.”
Candy’s breath caught in her throat. Celestia! She was still alive.
“Hurry it up!” Bellowed the pegasus. “We are about to die if you hadn’t noticed!”
Candy looked around the wagon in a panic. The only things left in here that weren’t bolted to the floor were her and the injured mare.
“Help me,” she repeated. “Please.”
Candy examined the mare’s wounds. She was toast. There wasn’t all that much left of her middle that didn’t have a hole through it. It was an anomaly that she should still even be alive.
“Please!” she choked, fixing her pitiful gaze on Candy.
Candy choked back a sob. “I’m so sorry.” She gave a heavy push and the mare slid from the wagon deck.
* * *
It was two days after the group’s arrival in Appleoosa. Sunny walked alongside Sage through the center of town. Despite the whole apocalypse thing, the overall aura here was somewhat cheery.
Sunny was surprised there weren’t hundreds of zombies gnawing at the barrier around Appleoosa. He decided to ask Sage. She was their leader after all; she should know these things.
“Hey,” he said to get the mare’s attention.
Sage turned to him. “Yes?”
“Why isn’t this place, like, completely surrounded by zombies?”
She shrugged. “Been wondering the same myself. But as I think you saw yesterday, we get a good ten or so stragglers every day.”
Sunny nodded. Every day a small amount of zombies managed to stagger their way to the town. They were always spotted by a pony on guard before they managed to reach the barrier though. That was why there had been a pile of burning bodies when they had first arrived. When he had asked Sage why they burnt them, her only reply had been, ‘So they don’t smell.’
Sunny watched as an earth pony stallion hauled a cart loaded down with apples from the orchard. “Don’t you ponies ever get tired of apples?” he asked idly.
Sage groaned with deep exasperation. “Don’t even bring that up. Half the ponies here would kill just for a single bite of something else.”
Sunny made a mental note not to tell them about their remaining supply of canned food.
“We can’t even make apple pies,” she added. “Town ran out of flour last month, and cinnamon… I really miss the cinnamon.”
He remembered taking a few cans of cinnamon apples from the hospital. Maybe he could give one of them to Sage as compensation for her hospitality. She hadn’t had to let them in, let alone give them a whole house to themselves.
Sage cleared her throat, creating an awkward feeling in the air. “I’m really glad you ponies came when you did,” she confided. “We aren’t exactly well-stocked on weaponry.”
He shot her a glance. “So you, need something from us...?” he prodded.
Sage rolled her eyes. “I was trying to be nonchalant, but since you’ve just gone out and stated it, yes, we need something from you. All those weapons the crazy mare was lugging around, you can’t possibly need them all. I’d like to ask that we use some of them.”
Sunny thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure,” he mused. “Willow’s the one that carried them all the way here—you’d have to ask her.”
She flicked her ears at him. “I’ll check with her about it then.” She gazed up at the sky, her expression switching from contempt to puzzlement. She raised a hoof and pointed at a shape in the air. “What’s that?”
Sunny lifted his head, squinting against the sun to get a better look at it. He could tell that it was rectangular. That was about it; that, and it was rapidly closing distance between it and the town. “I’m not sure. Something big.”
Sage continued to stare up at the unknown object, her eyes steadily widening. “It’s coming our way,” she declared worriedly. Sage took a deep breath. “Big flying object incoming! Be ready for something!” she bellowed.
Sunny jumped. “Loud enough?” he asked sarcastically.
He was surprised Sage didn't have a battle saddle or something. She was their leader after all. It just seemed like the leader needed to be better equipped. She seemed like the type of pony who’d always have a gun.
Sunny eyed the shape again. He could now make out its color—gray. “Hey, I know what that is,” he exclaimed.
Sage shot him a quick look. “Well, spit it out.”
“It’s a skywagon. I saw one crashed out in the desert; only difference is this one is gray.”
The turquoise mare took a step back. “Was the one in the desert flying right at you?”
Sunny glanced at her. “No. Why?”
“Everypony out of the street!” she yelled.
Sunny cringed. “You’re... really good at yelling,” he complimented awkwardly, rubbing his ear.
Sage gave him a sideways shove. “Hurry up,” she said forcibly.
Sunny allowed himself to be led off to one side of the street. All the townsponies watched as the wagon grew nearer, maintaining a direct route to the town.
“Are they trying to land?” one murmured worriedly.
“Come on, turn,” another urged.
The wagon was now close enough for Sunny to spot the two ponies pulling it. The one front sported a red coat and mane, while the one behind it was purple.
Sage took a sharp inhale of breath. “They’re gonna’ land in the street.” She looked worriedly down the center road of town. Wagons were parked here and there along its length, sporting supplies and garbage, or in one case, apples. “Clear the street!” she instructed the townsponies. “They’re landing here!”
Dusty came up beside Sunny, wings flared and looking rather worried. “They’re in bad shape,” he commented, observing the wagon.
The skywagon pitched to one side and dropped a good ten feet before returning to semi-normal flight. The two pegasus fought to keep it in the air as they neared the town.
Dusty tilted his head to one side. “That wagon’s meant to be pulled by a team of four. Why’re there only two pegasi flying it?”
Sunny shook his head. “I don’t know, but they’re going pretty fast.” He watched, tension building in is stomach as the townsponies attempted to clear the street, pulling wagons off to the side and in between buildings.
Dusty shot Sunny a look. “Well of course they’re goin’ fast. They don’t have enough wingpower to hold that thing in the air. All those two pegasi are doin’ is steerin’ the fall.”
“Here they come!” cried one of the townsponies.
The skywagon skimmed over the wooden barrier with inches to spare, the rear skid taking out part of the railing. The lead pegasus missed a beat and the wagon dropped dangerously. It hit the road with a bang that shattered the windows and bent the frame of the wagon. Townsponies dodged left and right as the wagon weaved to and fro on the road. First it leered left, then right and up on a single runner and off to the left again. The lead pegasus gave a heave and managed to wrestle the monster of a skycraft back to the center of the road. The runners threw up dust as the wagon slid forward on momentum, the pullers looking ready to drop dead, only running with the wagon to avoid being run over.
“Wow,” Dusty mused as the wagon went shooting past.
The front corner of the skycraft struck a wagon that had not been fully cleared from the street. It’s contents of wood and foodstuff was scattered about the road as the wagon summersaulted into a building. Finally, the skywagon turned sideways in the center of the road and slid to a stop. It tilted and balanced on one runner for a moment before crashing back to earth.
“Yeehaw!” Dusty jeered, stamping his hooves. “That there was some nice flyin’!”
Neither of the pullers replied. Instead, they both flopped over in the dust, flanks heaving.
Townsponies began to surge forward but Sage held up a hoof. “Stay back!” she commanded.
A white earth pony mare with a red and white striped mane and tail emerged from what was left of the front of the wagon. She hopped down and landed belly first in the dusty road. “Never again!” she declared.
When the wagon had come to rest in the road, it had done so diagonally. Sunny and Dusty ran up to it to aid the landed ponies. Sage made to yell a command at them, but trailed off at the sight of the two pegasi.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she told them strictly.
“Are you okay?” Sunny asked the pullers skeptically. The two ponies didn’t reply. The purple one tried to climb to his hooves but failed while the red one just dry heaved.
The pony with the two-toned mane picked herself up off the ground. She sported gray barding which Sunny recognized as an REA uniform. She also wore a battle saddle, a black carbine mounted to the device.
“Say,” Dusty mused, examining the wagon, then the uniformed mare. “You ponies are REA.”
The mare stood up tall. “Private Cane, first class,” she stated routinely.
Sage trotted up. “Don’t pull any of your REA nonsense here; that won’t get you any respect.”
The mare lowered her gaze. “Sorry. Name’s Candy Cane.”
“Fitting,” Sunny mumbled to Dusty. Candy shot Sunny a quick glare and the orange pegasus held up a hoof in apology.
“Don’t you REA skywagon ponies normally work in groups of eight?” Dusty asked. “Why do you only have two pullers and no other ponies on board?”
Candy didn’t reply. Instead, her pupils dilated and she no longer appeared to be consciously in front of them.
“Accident,” the purple pegasus gasped. “Big one.”
A dark blue pegasus with an equally dark red mane flew over to the wagon and peered inside. She leered away almost immediately. “Nopony in here,” she called to Sage. “Just a lot of blood.”
Sage frowned. “Blood but no bodies?” She turned back to Candy. “It all can’t possibly be yours. Heck, I don’t even see any cuts on you.”
Candy kept her eyes fixed on her hooves. “They’re dead,” was her only answer.
The dark colored pegasus trotted over to stand by Sage. “Any bodies?” she asked Candy.
The striped mare mumbled something unintelligible.
“We dumped them,” the lead pegasus replied, his red flanks still heaving. “We had to; there was too much weight.”
Sage paced around the wagon like a detective would a crime scene. Sunny guessed that being a leader of a settlement, she could do those kind of things and not look like a joke. “What was the REA doing so far west?” she questioned. “I thought they pulled out of here a long time ago to protect the settlements up north, or at least, that’s the rumour.”
Candy didn’t appear to be in the mood for questioning, but answered nonetheless. “They’ve mostly pulled out. A few small bases still remain. We were running a reconnaissance and scavenge mission to a place called Desert Sage.” She scoffed. “And technically, me telling you this is a total break in procedure.” Candy rolled her eyes. “Too late now. Either way, the REA is looking for medical supplies. They also told us to keep an eye out for a cure. Like we’re going to find one in some rundown hospital in a town in the middle of nowhere.”
Sunny and Dusty exchanged a glance. “Are you thinkin’ what ah’m thinkin’?” Dusty mused.
Sunny nodded. “I’m thinking about how Willow’s going to react if we wake her up from her nap.”
Dusty raised an eyebrow. “Wow, we really are thinkin’ the same thing.” He hesitated. “So who’s going to wake her up?” he asked seriously. They exchanged another glance.
“Well I don’t want to,” Sunny declared.
Dusty snorted. “I’m not doin’ it.”
The two stallions fixed their gaze on Candy. “Tell ya what,” Dusty improvised. “We tell the REA mare about the antidote thing…”
“Then let her decide whether or not to wake Willow up,” Sunny finished for him.
Dusty smiled. “Pretty good kid.”
Sunny deadpanned. “Dusty… I’m nearly the same age as you. You aren’t allowed to call me kid. I don’t think either of us classify as kids.”
Dusty waved his wing at Sunny dismissively, instead, switching his gaze back to Candy. “So who wants to tell the REA mare about the antidote?”
They exchanged a glance.
* * *
Willow batted away a hoof prodding her in the side. She shoved her head into the pillow. “Leave me alone,” she groaned, words muffled. The hoof prodded her again.
She pulled her face from the pillow and rolled over onto her back, eyes still tight shut. “Poke me again and the hoof comes off!”
There was a brief silence. “Don’t do it again,” the voice of Sunny warned.
“Ah wasn’t going to,” Dusty replied. The pegasus was a terrible liar.
“Well somepony has to wake her up,” an unknown voice declared.
“Can we like, go get Snowglobe to do it or something?” Sunny asked. “I think Willow likes her a little better.”
“Yeah,” Dusty added. “They definitely like each other more.”
“Have you seen that look thing they do?” Sunny mused.
“Oh yeah, definitely.”
Willow spoke up, still keeping her eyes shut. “I can hear everything you are saying. Thanks for jabbing me in my still-healing ribs.”
“What’s so wrong with waking her up?” the unknown voice asked.
Willow smiled to herself. She wasn’t tired anymore, but it was still fun to mess with them. She opened her eyes and rolled to a sitting position, stifling a yawn. It took her a moment to remember where she was. It felt strange not to be sleeping out in the open like she had been for the past few days. This was a small room, fashioned with nothing more than a bed and a dresser. A single light hung from the ceiling and brown shag carpet covered the floor. The walls were a deep yellow. Her memories returned. She was in the room she had picked on the top floor, in the house Sage had leant them.
There were also three ponies in her room, one of which she didn’t know. Dusty and Sunny looked at her, a little skeptical at having woken her up. To the left of them stood a white earth pony, her mane striped both red and white. She also sported a gray REA uniform and nothing else.
Willow gazed coolly at the unknown mare. “Who are you?” she asked contemplatively, but not rudely.
The mare cleared her throat. “My name is Candy Cane.”
Willow snorted. “Well that’s ironic.”
Candy deadpanned. “I am going to change my name,” she said flatly.
Willow rolled off the bed onto her hooves and examined the mare more closely. “No, no. It’s a good name. It’s just a little funny that you actually look like a candy cane.”
The striped mare had no response.
Willow turned to the two pegasi in the room. “So, what’s going on?”
Dusty motioned towards the red and white mare. “Candy had something she wanted to discuss with you.”
Willow shrugged and flopped back down on the bed. “I don’t know,” she mused good-humoredly. “My schedule’s pretty crammed.”
Candy cocked her head to one side curiously.
Willow reached out a hoof and thumped the mare on the chest. “I’m just messing around!” she smiled. “What do you need to talk about?”
“I heard you had means of an antidote,” she started.
Willow shot a glance at Sunny and Dusty. “Really?” she asked with mock surprise. She changed to a serious tone. “Why do you wanna’ know?”
Candy motioned towards her uniform. “I serve with the REA, as you can probably tell. I normally have my battle saddle with me, but the mare named Sage doesn’t want me to have it here.” She paused, as if waiting for Willow to say something.
“Go on,” she urged.
Candy seemed taken aback by Willow’s easygoing attitude.
“Are you always so charming?” Dusty teased.
Willow leveled her gaze with the cheeky pegasus. She raised her hoof and pointed at both Sunny and Dusty. “You two, leave,” she commanded. “Let the big mares talk.”
Dusty hung his head in fake submission. “Fine mom.”
Willow continued to stare them down until both pegasi had left and shut the door behind them.
Candy was tilting her head so far sideways Willow was surprised her neck hadn’t popped. “They told me you work with medicine…” She looked Willow up and down quickly. “I thought you’d be a little more…”
“Boring?” Willow suggested.
“Formal,” Candy finished.
Willow scoffed. “I used to be formal. Then the infection broke out. And that’s about the time I thought, ‘You know what Willow? Things are pretty bad. Ponies are dying, everything’s hitting the fan. If I’m going to wind up dead or eaten by some zombie, I might as well have some fun with it.’ Being an uptight prick isn’t worth it.”
Candy nodded in partial understanding. “Well… Willow. That’s… a good way of looking at things.” She cast a tense glance around the room. “So, about that antidote thing?”
Willow scooted over on the bed and motioned for the striped mare to sit in the spot she had cleared. “Have a seat,” she offered, more or less ordered. “I don’t want to explain this to you while you stand there and act all formal. You don’t have to be so uptight just because you’re wearing that uniform.”
Candy remained where she was. Willow motioned towards the bed again, this time more insistently. Candy shrugged and hopped up next to Willow. She lay down, resting her hooves in front of her.
Willow nodded like a pleased mentor. “See, that wasn’t too hard. Comfortable, huh?” she joked, before switching back to a more serious tone. “So I thought you REA ponies were all about strength in numbers; are you on a solo mission or something?”
Candy shook her head slowly. “There was a bad accident on the skywagon. I was the only one who survived, me and two fliers.
Willow frowned, looking genuinely sorry. She fidgeted, trying to find a more comfortable position.
“So tell me what you know about this cure thing. Considering I’m the only one left of my squad, that puts me in charge.”
Willow pondered the request. “Depends on what you want to hear first. Do you want to hear what I know of the virus? Or do you want my theories on a cure?”
Candy frowned. “Virus first.” She pulled out a small voice recorder and set it on the bed between the two. “Do you mind?” she asked Willow, motioned towards the recorder.
The white mare shook her head. “Nope.” She clicked her tongue, readying herself to begin. “The virus is a pretty long story, so I’m gonna’ keep it pretty brief. Before the virus spread across Equestria, I worked at a hospital in the town of Desert Sage. Majored in medical treatment and yadda yadda all that other official stuff. Either way, I was able to observe an infected pony as the virus spread. I treated him to the best of my ability. Sadly he still… turned. The subject was a middle aged stallion, average weight and height.” Willow paused to recall.
“The virus, while having minor physical effects on the subject, mostly attacks the brain. The physical effects are probably the most useful for noticing an infected pony before they turn. What I noticed with a recently infected pony was not much, other than a minor rotting of the skin. Infected ponies also seem to bleed around the eye and nasal area, suggesting head trauma.”
Candy nodded. “I was briefed on this. The REA was at least able to find that much out.”
“Good,” Willow said. “If I found that out, their scientists better have.” She shifted again, not comfortable with her current spot. “The signs were pretty obvious. I also noticed that the virus appears to repel unicorn magic. Infected unicorns can produce little or no magical effects. I have experienced this myself, having been infected before.”
“What?” Candy broke in. “You were infected? Are you saying that you actually cured yourself?”
Willow pondered the question, glancing between one hoof and the other. “Sort of, but I’ll get to that in a minute. So far, almost every hypothesis I have drawn, is with observation of myself. I was bitten by an infected individual approximately six weeks ago. Upon contact with the virus, I immediately applied means of medical retaliation. In an attempt to quell the virus, which I had observed spread in another pony, I injected myself with large doses of penicillin and a small amount of formalin.”
Candy, who had been drifting off, leaving Willow speaking to the voice recorder, perked her ears in surprise. “Wait? Isn’t that the chemical they use as embalming fluid so the bodies don’t rot?”
“yes it is.”
“Are you crazy!?” Candy balked. “You put that stuff in your body while you were still alive?”
Willow deadpanned. “Think about how ridiculous that question was. I’m not going to wait until I’m dead to inject myself with it.”
Candy flushed. “Yeah…” She motioned for Willow to continue.
Willow did so. “While this did work as a temporary cure, it only slowed my diagnosis. Two days later, I found myself experiencing the effects I had observed.” She paused. “To explain this next part, I’m going to have to backtrack a bit. A couple weeks before the infection broke out, we were accidentally shipped two crates of an unknown antibiotic. The crates carrying the substance were unmarked, and the drug inside was unspecified. The drug inside these crates was one I had never seen before. Inside each vial was a liquid that can be seen to the eye as an electric blue. At the time I was infected, I happened to have this very drug in my possession. Also at the time, I knew the aftereffects of the virus. I had nothing to lose; so I injected myself with the antibiotic.”
Candy was no longer drifting away. Her attention was fixed unwaveringly on Willow.
“What I found is that this drug is so potent, and in some cases, deadly, that it did destroy the virus, but only in its diagnostic form. After the virus comes in contact with the body, it mutates and takes control of the mind. Before this virus mutates, the antibiotic will work in a high enough dose. The first time I did not eliminate it. Over a period of one month I lived with the virus in me, under the impression that it was completely gone. Somehow, during that month, the virus had spread more slowly, affecting my body in ways that I still don’t quite understand, while leaving my mind untainted. It was only when I found myself with night vision and abnormal strength that I realized I was still infected. That night, I injected myself again, this time with twice the dosage I administered last time.”
“Whoa, wait?” Candy cut in. “Strength and night vision? You’re kidding?”
Willow smiled. “You really don’t know much about me sister.” Candy just rolled her eyes at the white mare. “Yes,” Willow continued. “Somehow, I seemed to bond with the virus. Don’t ask me how; I have no idea. From what I know of, I now have the ability to see in the dark. I also have abnormal strength. I believe this is because of a higher activation level in my muscle fibers, something in my brain. For example.” Willow motioned towards the dresser on the other end of the room. “I could juggle that dresser or smash it to pieces with nothing but my front hooves.”
Candy looked confused. “Are you saying you’re, like… a carrier or something?” She moved across the bed, away from Willow.
Willow shook her head. “Absolutely not. I bonded with it, then eliminated it. I’m not carrying it anymore…” Willow cocked her head and rolled her eyes to the top of her skull. “And I think that’s it.”
“I have to admit,” Candy declared, sounding rather surprised. “For your whole gung-ho attitude, I thought you’d be a bit more…” The twirled a hoof in the air, looking for a good word to finish with.
“Dumb?” Willow suggested idly. “Illiterate?”
The striped mare nodded. “Yeah, basically.”
Willow smiled to herself. “Hurray, I’m an intelligent psychopath.”
Candy frowned. “Who ever said you were a psychopath?”
She chuckled. “Just about everypony who knows me.” Willow prodded Candy in the flank with a forehoof. “Let’s just put it this way. When I first got here, I blew up a zombie buffalo by cramming six grenades down its throat while it shook me like a ragdoll.”
Candy’s jaw dropped.
“Not joking,” Willow defended seriously. “Ask everypony here; they’ll tell you the same thing.”
Candy appeared to be running out of ways to express her dumbstruck surprise. “There really are infected buffalo?”
“Definitely. They’re nasty things too. It takes a lot of bullets to kill them.”
The striped mare pushed herself up to a sitting position. “How are those townsponies even still here with those monsters out there?”
Willow shrugged, copying the mare’s movements. “They seem to be able to handle themselves.”
As if Willow’s comment had queued it, a distant voice reverberated from outside. “Flier! Flier!” it yelled. There were two resounding gunshots, and nothing more.
“I rest my case,” Willow stated levelly.
Candy cleared her throat formerly. “Now, I need to address something with you. We both know that I don’t know much about medicine, or viruses, or cures, or whatever.”
Willow flicked her tail. “What are you getting at?”
“Well…” Candy hesitated. “I believe the best course of action would be to take you and the antidote back to base camp. From there they’ll decide what to do with it, most likely fly you to Baltimare.”
Willow scrunched her brow. “Baltimare?”
“Yep.” Candy rolled off the bed to land on her hooves. “Baltimare is one of the last standing population centers in Equestria. Or at least, the last big one.”
Willow cheered silently to herself. “I thought all the major cities had been wiped out?”
Candy grinned. “All but a few; Baltimare is one.” She changed topics. “So, will you take up my offer?”
Willow pondered the thought. “And if I refuse?”
Candy levitated the recorder from the bed and returned it to one of the pockets in her uniform. “Well, regulations say to detain you, but I’m not stupid enough to try.”
Willow reached out a hoof and messed up Candy’s mane. “You know me better than I thought.” She stood up and sprung off the bed like a playful filly. “I’ll have to speak with my friends about it first.”
“Of course,” the striped mare clarified, nodding. There was a pause, in which the mare hung her head.
Willow frowned. The candy-colored mare’s composure was deflating like a balloon. Candy sniffed as tears ran from her face to drop lightly on the shag carpet.
That was one reason Willow had chosen this room over the others. It was the only one with carpet.
“I can’t,” Candy choked.
“Um…” Willow looked around awkwardly. “Are… are you okay?”
Candy shook her head, staring at her hooves. “No.”
Willow stood quietly where she was for a moment. “Well… that’s, too bad… or something like that.” Willow couldn’t think of a more awkward moment. One minute she was having an intelligent conversation, now the mare was crying. Had she said something?
The upset mare sat down and sobbed lightly.
Willow took a tentative step forward. “Am I supposed to like… say something?”
Candy looked up at Willow, her face contorted in distress. “Yes! You’re supposed to say something to make me feel better.”
“Well how was I supposed to know?” Willow asked in a defensive manner. “I don’t even know what you’re upset about. You just started crying.”
The striped mare took a shaky breath. “We’re supposed to honor our dead REA members. I just pushed them out of a skywagon. T-two of them were still alive…” She tried to continue, but failed.
“I’m not going to lie.” Willow shot Candy an apologetic look. “That sounds really bad.”
Candy stomped her front hooves on the ground. “You think!?”
Willow sighed and approached the red and white pony. “I’m bad with emotional stuff. Like, really bad.” She paused, thinking of the best way to proceed. “Do you need a hug?” she asked jokingly with a forced chuckle.
The breath was nearly knocked her as Candy wrapped Willow in a tight embrace. She winced as the mare squeezed her ribs. Willow rolled her eyes as Candy sobbed into her flank. She reached out and patted the striped mare lightly on the head.
“I was, kind of joking about the hug thing,” Willow murmured. She hoped the others didn’t walk in on this. She was Willow; she couldn’t be seen hugging ponies to make them feel better. “It’s okay,” she said, trying to put on a soothing voice. “You know, just try and wrap the hug up kinda’ soon.” She sighed. Why did this mare have to choose and have a break down while they were the only two in the room? Why not with Sunny? He seemed good at making ponies feel better.
Willow ran her hoof through the mare’s red and white striped mane. “Come on, stop crying… please?”
Candy looked up and met Willow gaze, eyes shining from fresh tears. She gave Willow’s neck a soft nuzzle. “You’re a really nice mare, Willow.”
Willow froze, before slowly looking down at the striped mare. “Wait… what?”
* * *
Moon watched in boredom as a zombie pony staggered towards her. It had its sickly gaze fixed on her, but for some reason was not running, or paying her much mind for that matter. It was just, watching her.
She sat atop the barrier, looking out over the landscape, the afternoon sun beating heavily down on her from above. There really wasn’t much to do in Appleoosa.
She had no idea where Sunny or the others were. She had seen Brick trotting around earlier, but he wasn’t around anymore. They were probably somewhere around the town.
Moon still couldn’t stop thinking about the way zombie ponies acted. They didn’t make any sense. For one, if they were so crazy, why didn’t they ever attack each other? For creatures that had no common sense, they seemed to know companionship, if nothing more than on an instinctual level. Something she had learned in Desert Sage was that zombies could run really fast, but that was only if they wanted to eat you. When they weren’t busy trying to bite you, the creatures mostly kept to themselves, staggering around aimlessly with no real purpose. One thing she did notice they did however, was feed on one another. Yesterday, she had watched as a townspony shot down an approaching zombie.An hour or so later, there had been two more of the monsters around the carcass, digging into it like normal ponies would a particularly good salad.
Moon heard hoofsteps on the wooden planks to the left and turned to see a night-blue pegasus walking towards her. Her mane was dark enough red to almost be mistaken for black.
“Hey,” the mare greeted cheerfully.
“Hey,” Moon returned levelly.
The dark colored pegasus fixed her gaze on the zombie Moon had been observing. “Strange things, aren’t they?”
Moon shook her head slowly. “I don’t get them.” There was a gunshot somewhere from the other side of town, breaking the quiet air. She had learned to ignore these. A shot always rang out every now and then. The ponies here didn’t like to let the zombies reach the barricade.
The pegasus gave a haughty snort. “I don’t think anyone does.” She turned to Moon. “I haven’t gotten your name yet.”
Moon met the mare’s deep purple gaze. “My name’s Moon.”
The pegasus frowned. “You’re the first Moon I’ve met.” She shrugged. “I’m Jade.” She held out her hoof and Moon took the gesture.
“Nice to meet you Jade.” Moon released the mare’s hoof, feeling awkward for a reason she did not know. There was something nagging at the back of her mind that she had to ask. She looked out over the landscape, purposefully avoiding eye contact. “You’re the only pegasus I’ve seen here,” she stated, allowing a questioning tone to seep into her voice.
“It would be strange if I wasn’t,” Jade replied without hesitation. “Before your group arrived, I was the only pegasus here.”
Moon squinted. “What? There’s like sixty ponies here.”
Jade nodded solemnly. “I know. Apparently, pegasus ponies dropped like flies when the initial infection broke out. The rest of them just seemed to disappear. There’s this rumor spreading from up north that most of the survivors just, flew away somewhere.”
Moon arched her brow. “Well why do they think that?”
Jade examined the zombie pony as it staggered closer. “That big floating city near Canterlot, Cloudsdale it was called. We got word from ponies up north that that place is totally gone, disappeared right off the map.
“How could a whole city just disappear?” Moon asked skeptically.
Jade shrugged. “Well it is a giant cloud. I guess enough pegasi could have like, pushed it away, or something.” She dropped the topic and the two of them sat in awkward silence.
Moon returned her attention the the landscape, eyeing nothing in particular and trying to avoid the gaze of the ever-nearing zombie.
“You ever shot a gun?” Jade asked after a moment
“Yes,” Moon replied immediately.
Jade shot her a sideways smile. “Really?” her tone suggesting she believed otherwise.
“Yeah.” She reached for the shotgun at her side before realizing she had left it at the house. Moon swore silently to herself. “Yeah, I’ve shot guns, and killed zombies. I used to use a double barrel before I got a better shotgun.”
Jade motioned towards a rifle mounted on the railing a little ways to the left. “Prove it then.” Her voice held that challenging tone that meant Moon could not turn her down.
Moon pointed her nose to the air and trotted over to the mounted rifle. “Fine, I will.” The rifle was mounted on a pivot, allowing use for earth ponies and pegasi without a battle saddle. Moon took the bit in her mouth and lined the sights up with the advancing zombie pony. It gazed back at her; if a zombie could look curious, that was how this one looked.
She took a deep breath and bit down. The rifle bucked a little harder than she had expected. She released the bit and rotated her jaw sorely. She was so used to absorbing any recoil with magic that she hadn’t been expecting the force from using her mouth instead. On the bright side, she had hit the zombie. It lay where she had shot it, dead.
“Nice shot,” Jade complimented.
Moon allowed herself a smug expression. “I told you I know how to shoot.”
Jade nodded and smiled, but didn’t speak. The two mares went back to looking over the landscape.
Moon found the whole meeting with Jade uncomfortable. There seemed to be some sort of unknown tension in the air. Jade cocked her head, as if feeling it too, and turned to look at Moon. “Could I ask you a serious question?” Jade asked after a moment.
Moon nodded skeptically. “Sure?”
The dark colored mare opened her mouth, only to close it again. She took a deep breath. “What do you think the best way to get a mare is?”
It took Moon a moment to understand the question. When she finally got it, her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, no,” she laughed, blushing. “I have no idea. I’m not… You, really thought I was…?”
Jade shied away, somehow going red despite her dark blue coat. “Not you,” she replied hastily, her wings unfurling and fluttering nervously. “Another pony.”
Moon chuckled with relief and to shed the awkward feeling. “Okay, sorry. For a minute there I thought you were…”
Jade shook her head vigorously. “Absolutely not.”
Moon froze; she turned to jade and slowly raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jade’s face was beginning to match the color of her mane. “I mean… I-I don’t,” she groaned inwardly and dropped her forehead onto the railing. “I’ve got my eye on somepony else,” she said, eyes closed and head down.
Moon smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m just giving you a hard time.”
The mare lifted her head slowly. “I noticed.”
Moon flicked her tail. “But honestly. I have no idea how to help you with that question. I’ve never really… liked mares.”
Jade covered her face with a wing. “Sorry I asked.”
“No it’s okay,” Moon reassured. “It just took me a little by surprise is all.” Moon hesitated, not sure whether or not she should continue. She decided to press; what could it hurt? “So, who is it?”
Jade shot Moon a non-angry glare. “I’m not telling you!”
“Well why not?”
“Because it’s embarrassing.” She smoothed her ruffled feathers and folded her wings back to her sides. “Besides, I don’t really even know you.”
Moon raised a hoof. “Sorry. I was just asking.”
“Hey you two,” Moon heard a familiar voice call. She turned to see Dusty behind them on the ground. “Sage is rounding us all up. We’re havin’ some kind of meetin’ at the house. She asked for you and a pegasus named Jade, whoever that is.”
Moon hurriedly turned and set off towards the house without another word. “Nice timing Dusty,” she whispered to herself.
* * *
“There they are,” Sunny declared as Moon, Dusty, and a deep blue pegasus entered the sitting room.
“Yay,” Sage drawled. “Now we can start.”
Sunny observed the room from his spot on the floor. Sage, Moon, and Willow had jumped the couch like a pair of hungry predators would a rabbit. Moments ago, he had been introduced to Candy, technically, Private Cane. She and Willow kept exchanging glances that he couldn’t quite decipher.
Snowglobe took a seat to his right and the three new arrivals sat on the other side of the room. Brick sat formerly behind the couch, unmoving except for his eyes, which were vigilantly surveying the room.
Sunny looked around at the eight other ponies. For some reason, the meeting here reminded him of the one in the hospital they had had so long ago, minus the big table in the center and the horribly white walls. None of them bore any weapons apart from Dusty, who never seemed to remove Valediction. More surprisingly, Willow was the only other one sporting a weapon; it was the automatic pistol she had used on the buffalo. Even though she wore no barding, and stretched leisurely on the couch, the holster and pistol remained. The white mare’s eyes were calm and relaxed, but her ears were perked expectantly, as if waiting for a zombie to jump out of the roof at her.
All eight of them sat in a quiet circle, each waiting for the other to speak.
Sunny rolled his eyes, deciding to break the silence. “So what’s the whole big meeting thing for?”
Sunny’s hint was all that was needed. Willow clopped her hooves to draw everypony’s attention. “Okay, I call this meeting to something blah blah order something formal prick stuff yadda yadda. I have been talking with Candy, and she has a proposition for us, more specifically, me. But I wanted to include you guys because we’re like one big happy group of friends or something like that.” Willow turned to the striped mare. “You wanna’ explain?”
Candy nodded once, taking the limelight. “The whole reason I was out this far west, was because the REA was looking for some type of an antidote for this… thing. I was on a reconnaissance mission to the hospital in Desert Sage. Well, it was me and my squadron… On our return flight, there was a rather… bad accident. Long story short, everypony died, I didn’t die,” she said in a closed tone, silently warning them not to press. “I was informed of a cure by two stallions in your group and I’ve spent the last hour and a half with Willow, discussing a cure.”
Willow shrugged. “I’m pretty sure we only spent an hour of that time talking.”
Candy shot Willow a warning glance. “From what I’ve seen around base, this is by far the closest thing to a cure on record; if Willow is correct, which I assume she is. So if this really is what I see it made out to be, the REA is going to want this—bad.” She paused. “After some… persuasion.” The two mares exchanged a glance. “Willow has agreed to let me have a vial of the liquid. The problem is, I don’t know a single thing about medicine. I would prefer Willow to come back to base with me and help with the analysis. There’s scientists there that could use her help. But this leads to another problem; we only have two fliers and a damaged skywagon.
“Yeah,” Dusty murmured. “Ah noticed that your wagon kind of looked like a block of Swiss cheese.”
Candy nodded. “I have no idea how only one spark battery was hit, but I am one lucky pony.” She glanced around at the three pegasi in the room. “If I’m going to get back, I’ll need two more fliers. It takes about twenty wingpower to get the wagon in the air. With the weight of me and Willow, and preferably another pony for safety’s sake, we’re looking at a minimum requirement of twenty five wingpower. With a dead spark battery, it’s going to be more like thirty. My two remaining pullers average about eight each.” She looked around in turn at Sunny, Jade, and Dusty. “Would two of you be willing to fly us there?”
Dusty nodded immediately. “Sure.”
Candy looked to Sunny expectantly. He unfurled his wings and beat them once. “Sorry, I… can’t fly.”
Candy frowned. “Wow, really?” The flightless pegasi took a somber expression, nodding once. “Well…” Candy gave her head a quick shake, instead, turning to Jade. “Would you be willing to?”
The dark pegasus shot Sage a questioning look, as if asking her approval. Sage shrugged impartially.
“Yes,” Jade said after a moment. “I’ll do it.”
The striped mare smiled. “Good.” She clopped her hooves together, examining the two volunteer fliers. “Okay, new topic; wingpower. What can you ponies pull?”
Dusty tilted his head. “Maybe about thirteen to fourteen.”
Candy raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty good.” She turned swiftly to Jade. “You?”
The dark pegasus bowed her head. “About six,” she muttered.
“Well that’s okay. That’s enough to keep us up.”
Sunny threw a quick glance at his own wings and sighed. They looked normal enough; they just didn’t work. A quick bout of resentment overtook him for a moment before he shoved it back down.
“So when are we leaving?” Willow asked.
Candy turned. “Well, preferably as soon as possible, but I would like another pony along for the ride, for the sake of extra guns.” She looked around at them, her eyes silently willing somepony to step forward.
Nopony did so; not even Brick, which was surprising, considering he never seemed to be away from Willow.
“Sorry,” Sage said levelly. “I can’t leave and I’m pretty sure you all know why.”
Willow shot an expectant look at Sunny. ’Well?’, it seemed to say.
Sunny rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I really wouldn’t prefer it.”
“You’re the only one with a battle saddle,” Willow insisted.
“Yeah,” Snowglobe added. “I could fit it to take another weapon.”
“No thank you.” He hung his head, trying to avoid the prying eyes. He had just gotten here; there was no way he was going to leave already.
Willow deadpanned and stared at the orange pegasus. “Sunny,” she said once, flatly, her eyes speaking the real words.
He looked around, seeing no way to win. Nopony else appeared to be on his side and none seemed to have any protests to his going. Except Moon, she looked rather put-off, but didn’t speak up.
“Fine,” he groaned after a moment. He threw another glance at Moon. The mare shifted uncomfortably and turned her head away.
Sunny tried not to look at her. He really didn’t feel like taking a guilt trip right now. It was pretty obvious that Moon was head-over-hooves for him. Sunny really wished she wasn’t; he wasn’t the type of pony to go falling over, let alone receive a second glance. Why he didn’t like her back beyond normal friendship, he did not know. It had seemed like the best thing ever when he had met her that day in the store. He didn’t know what was wrong with him now. Ever since the infection, things had changed. He had seen so many ponies die, or turn to monsters—that he was afraid to be close to anypony, because if they died, which there was a good chance they would, Blossom as an example, it wouldn’t hurt him as much. Sunny believed this was why he was avoiding the unicorn mare. He couldn’t like ponies, because he was afraid they would die.
“I think the best Idea would be to leave in the morning,” Willow declared. Candy nodded in agreement. The two mares set to talking about the flight in low tones.
“Will you be coming back?” Snowglobe looked at Willow, concern reflecting in her light green eyes.
Willow smiled. “Of course I am. I’ve been with you ponies since the start of this whole mess. You’re the closest thing to family I have left.” Sunny and Dusty nodded their agreement; Willow had spoken well enough for all of them.
“So that settles it,” Willow said with a sudden change of tone, killing the sentimental feeling in the air.
Candy stood up. “We’ll pack up tonight. Get some sleep. We leave first thing tomorrow.”
Sunny was really starting to wonder why Willow called these things meetings. She was usually the one that did most of the talking. All of the decisions were made by her too. It had to be a Willow thing.
* * *
Sunny fidgeted as Snowglobe finished the adjustments on his saddle. He had been waiting patiently in a back room of the house as the mare did her work. The morning was tinged with the tranquil feeling of sleep that always came with an early awakening. In such a desolate environment, it was almost unnerving.
“There,” Snowglobe exclaimed, tugging one last strap heartily. “All done.”
“Thanks,” Sunny said halfheartedly, examining the upgrades added by the gray unicorn. He still had the sleek black rifle on his right. But now, on the left, Snowglobe had mounted a shotgun. She had said it was similar to Moon’s, only it was clip-fed and had a semi-automatic mechanism. Snowglobe had also hooked up a new mouth bit. Sunny now had the trigger for the rifle on the right, and the one for the shotgun on his left.
“We’re just going to an REA base,” he complained. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Snowglobe rolled her eyes. “I have no idea. Maybe the wagon could crash,” she suggested idly. “Look, that Candy mare just said she wanted extra guns. I’m just sorta’ making you more of a gun.”
Sunny threw a backwards glance at her. “Well… that’s an interesting way to put it… I’m not even that good with guns.”
“That’s because you haven’t shot them enough,” the mare replied simply. “Me, I love guns. I just don’t like shooting them. I’ll tamper with them and build them and modify them all day long, but I don’t like the bang part.”
“So you’re using me as some sort of gun tester?”
She cocked her head. “Yeah, something like that.”
He chuckled. “Fine, I’ll be your experimental gun.”
Snowglobe stepped back and examined him such as a mother would do after dressing her foal. “Looks good,” she declared with a smile.
Willow poked her head into the room. “You two done playing dress up yet? Everypony’s ready to go.”
Sunny started forward. “Yep, let’s get going.”
“To the skywagon!” Willow exclaimed dramatically before dashing away down the hall, her hoofsteps pounding loudly on the wooden floor.
“Well somepony’s excited,” Snowglobe murmured.
Sunny followed Willow out into the hall. By the time he emerged, Willow had already thundered around a corner. He continued on through the living area and out into the street, surprised he hadn’t seen Moon on the way.
The sun sat low in the sky, casting every aspect of the town into long shadows across the earthen ground. The street was what one could call busy, which was strange for this time of day. The skywagon sat in the middle of the street, where it had been left the other day. Dusty and Jade had already been tethered to it, alongside the other two fliers that had brought it in. Dusty held the front position next to the red pegasus, while Jade was set behind dusty, next to the purple one.
Candy stood beside the wagon, trying to act as formal as possible. The mare was forced to dodge out of the way as Willow bolted by, prancing like an excited foal.
“She’s crazy,” Sunny chuckled to himself. “Why do we even let her have a gun?”
Townsponies crossed to and fro as he approached the wagon. When he reached the skycraft, he couldn’t help but cringe. “Is this thing even airworthy?” he asked skeptically.
The entire front was completely riddled with bullet holes and all the windows had been blown out in the landing. The paint left on the wagon remained a dull gray-blue, standard REA colors.
“Yeah,” Dusty replied. “Ah had myself a look over it. There may be a lot of holes in it, but everythin’ else is fine.”
Willow hopped into the wagon from the back end and sprinted to a seat in the front on the right side. “I don’t care how many bullet holes are in it,” she declared, checking her barding. “As long as I don’t die in it I’m fine.”
Sunny hopped in as well, followed closely by Candy. He took a seat near the front, on the other side of Willow. Candy moved up and sat right beside the mare.
“You do have the vial, right?”
Willow patted her left saddlebag. “Sure do. Come on Candy.” She gave the mare a hearty nudge that almost knocked her out of her seat. “Have some faith in me.”
“I was just making sure. Just imagine how bad it would be to get up in the air, only to have to come back and get something. My parents used to do it all the time.”
Willow smiled almost ear to ear. “Do you have to go to the little filly’s room before we go?” she asked jokingly. “Once we’re on the trail, I’m not stopping this wagon just because you didn’t go.”
Both mares broke out in hysterical laughter. Candy rolled over onto her back while Willow stomped a forehoof on the ground, leaving small dents in the metal floor.
Dusty turned in the saddle to look at the two mares. “Am ah missing something?” he asked slowly.
Willow waved a hoof at him, holding back laughter. “No. Just, childhood memories.” She sighed heavily. “Yeah… not too many of those left.”
Sunny found himself able to relate to the whole, use the bathroom before the wagon ride thing. Those years seemed so far away now. Something about shooting zombie ponies seemed to rob you of those precious memories.
“Are ready to dust off?” the red pegasus asked irritably.
“Yeah, yeah,” Willow replied. “Just do your flying thing up there. We’re busy talking about things that don’t matter back here.”
The pegasus muttered something under his breath and turned away. Together, the pegasus team pulled the wagon forward, leading them to the end of the street. With some effort, the ponies managed to turn the wagon around to face the other way. The street ahead proved as an excellent looking runway. Townsponies lined up on either side of the street, waiting for the wagon’s takeoff. Sunny could only guess why they were so intrigued. They probably hadn’t seen anything interesting for months.
Sage trotted up to meet Jade. “I need your help running this place,” she said with a small smile. “Make sure you come back.”
Jade smiled back. “Don’t worry, I would never leave you.” Her voice was layered with such emotion that Sunny was surprised Sage hadn’t noticed.
The turquoise mare turned to leave. “I expect to see you back soon!”
Sunny jumped as a pony loudly cleared their throat to his left. He turned hurriedly to come face to face with Moon. She was reared up against the wagon, her front hooves propped in the window frame.
She grinned. “You almost left without saying goodbye.”
Sunny flushed. “Sorry…” The two shared an awkward silence.
“Don’t be gone too long,” Moon said after a moment, abbreviating it with a small forced laugh.
He nodded once. “I’ll try not to.”
Moon continued to gaze at him quietly. Sunny cocked his head, shooting her a questioning glance. Without warning, the blue mare moved swiftly forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Stay safe,” she said hurriedly, eyes twinkling. She turned and cantered off, disappearing into a building.
Sunny wiped the spot on his cheek, casting a quick look around. That had been… awkward. Thank Celestia Willow had been to occupied talking with Candy to notice. If she had seen that little exchange, he would be hearing it the whole ride and then some.
The pulling team started forward, slow at first, but steadily gaining speed. Sunny watched out his window as buildings began to slide by at increasing speeds. The runners of the skywagon ground on the dirt and the hoofbeats of the fliers echoed around the small enclosed space. The front of the wagon lifted well before the barrier on the opposite side of town and they cleared it with plenty feet to spare. The whole scene felt anticlimactic. He was expecting it to play out like things did in a storybook, with the wagon tilting or something interesting happening to leave the wagon clearing the barrier with only feet to spare. No, they had just taken off, and it had gone perfectly.
Sunny eyed the dry, dead landscape below as the wagon gained height, the town shrinking as they gained distance from it. This was the first time he had ever been close to anything that could be considered flying in ages. He couldn’t remember the last time he had flown, apart from that time Dusty had flown him to the hospital.
Flying had always made him slightly queasy. Being a pegasus with the inability to fly seemed to induce the minor fear of heights. He swallowed the rising bile in his throat and tried to ignore the churning in his stomach.
Willow scratched her mane, already having bored look about her. “How long is this flight?” she asked Candy.
The uniformed mare sighed. “Normally about three hours, but I had your friend Snowglobe modify the wagon. With one shot spark battery, there wasn’t enough magic to run the devices used for upward lift. So she diverted the battery for forward propulsion to the vertical generators. Average airspeed is a little less than that of a normal wagon. Unless the pegasi really work it, which I don’t think they should, we’ll be there in about ten hours. We’ll also have to stop somewhere for about half an hour to let them rest.”
Willow groaned, resting her head in her hooves. Suddenly, she sat up and turned to her saddlebags. Nuzzling open one of the pockets, she produced a can of peaches. She examined the can for a moment and nodded approvingly.
Candy’s eyes had gone wide. “Peaches?” she balked.
Willow grasped the can with her forehooves and pried the top end off with her teeth. She spat the shredded top out the window and levitated the can under her nose, closing her eyes and drawing a deep breath. “Yeah,” she answered, levitating one of the sweet slices to her mouth. “Why?”
“I haven’t seen peaches for months.” Candy licked her lips as Willow produced another slice.
“Want some?” Willow asked impartially. Candy nodded vigorously. The mare levitated a slice of peach from the can and held it in front of Candy’s face. “Open,” she commanded.
Candy leveled her gaze with Willow. “I’m not a foal; you can just—” She was cut off as Willow crammed a peach slice into her mouth.
“See,” Willow said, taking another one for herself. “Good.”
Candy chewed for a moment before swallowing. “Thanks…” she said slowly, as if unsure whether or not she really needed to thank Willow for shoving food into her mouth.
Sunny laughed quietly to himself as he watched the two mares continue to converse. Candy’s attempts to maintain a formal appearance mixed with Willow’s buck-anything-that-gets-in-the-way attitude created something along the lines of just plain hilarious.
“Keep an eye out for anything flying that isn’t us!” the red pegasus yelled to Dusty over the wind.
“Why’s that!?” the light blue pegasus returned.
“Zombie pegasi can fly! They can be real nasty to a skywagon crew if they get you in the wrong place!”
“You know,” Willow mused, rubbing her chin and turning to candy. “You’re pretty cool for an REA pony. I always thought they were a bunch of uptight rule junkies.”
Candy shrugged. “Most are. I normally am too. It’s just, with a lack of REA ponies around me, there isn’t really much initiative to walk around and act all pissy.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Willow changed topics. “How is the REA pulling through with this whole thing?”
“I’m actually not quite sure,” Candy replied. “The higher ups try and keep all the ponies that aren’t them in the dark, but I can tell that we’re hurting real bad. Everything I know, I’m basing off of gossip from other soldiers form other bases. We’ve got a few bases dotted here and there, and one really big one up north. The whole problem is, most of our ponies were off duty and off base when the infection broke out. In any state of emergency, any REA staff member is required to report to the nearest operations base to help with the situation. Not very many made it. The ponies that were on site at the time are just about the only ones we have; sadly, that was only about half. We’re using just about everything we have to defend Baltimare. It’s the last standing civilization point this side of Canterlot. The base we’re going to is on the verge of pulling out to aid the Baltimare defense. The REA’s pulling out of the southern regions altogether.”
Willow raised an eyebrow. “Things are really that bad, huh?”
“You can bet your tail they are.”
“So how are they on a cure?”
Candy shook her head slowly. “Now that, I have no idea, but they wouldn’t be asking us to look for a cure if they’ve already found a one.”
Sunny returned his gaze out the window. This was one mess he really didn’t want to get caught up in.
~~~~~~~
This chapter only went through three rounds of editing by me without the help of anypony esle, so if there are badly noticable errors, I apologise.
Bear with me, I had to use this chapter to set up plot so if it were a little boring then sorry.
Yeah, that's all I have for notes... sorry for the wait, here you go.
~Sorren