Left for Friendship

by F4D3

Chapter 1: Dasher

The skies dulled with lifeless clouds, unmoved by the once lively weather-mares. All of Ponyville seemed to hum with a silent hunger, an austere sense of doom. The infinite stillness and silence felt as though it spread all over Equestria, as if a malevolent being was exhaling its bitter breath all over the planet. The only sound heard throughout all of Ponyville was the repetitious pitter-patter of tainted water trickling down a barricaded ginger bread-themed bakery. The muted atmosphere was broken even more by this new sound, the sound of metal slowly scraping past another piece of metal. Finally, the choir of silence imbibed by the rhythmic droplets of water striking the ground and the gruesomely slow sound of sliding metal was shattered by the quivering voice of a carrot-maned pony.

“A-are you sure you got them all?” The other three ponies looked at Carrot Top as if she had broken a pledge of sworn secrecy. The dark azure Pegasus leaning against the bakery’s stained and fissured counter top suddenly became motionless and shot a questioning glare at Carrot Top.

“Would I be standing here now if I hadn’t killed them all?” Carrot shrank down from this verbal attack, and returned to the safety that never-ending silence had to offer. After harassing Carrot Top’s judgment, Cloud Chaser went back to reloading her recently spent shotgun. After depositing the tenth and final slug into her chromed armament with a satisfying Cha-Click, Cloud Chaser was assured of her weapon’s efficacy once again. In an effort to extend her hoof in amity and gratitude, and also to break the tension, a certain toothpaste-maned unicorn attempted to speak some words of acknowledgement.

“Thanks again, Cloud Chaser. I don’t think we would’ve made it if you hadn’t had shown up when you did…” Colgate lamented while passively covering her muzzle with a defensive, yet warm smile that faded away while she spoke of the outcome that almost befell the three trapped ponies. As she finished her report, she sank back down to her recent, pessimistic state. After hearing this, Cloud Chaser opened her mouth to speak, but stopped mid breath and was reminded of the events that transpired mere minutes ago, as if in a hallucinogenic trance

Cloud was wandering the desolate, corpse-ridden streets of Ponyville (not bothering to see if any were still breathing), reminiscing over all of the fond memories this place held for her, while scavenging for any supplies that weren’t already taken by other survivors. But more importantly, she was on the search for her kid sister, Flitter, whom she had lost track of during the first couple of evacs. While on her crusade to find her lost sibling, she stumbled onto a peculiar sight. There were about a dozen Trotters surrounding Sugar Cube Corner, shambling about, looking for any feasible entry point. Cloud Chaser made an effort to sneak up on the undead pony-eaters in order to see what had obtained their attention in the first place. As she tip-hoofed closer, taking great care not to step on any broken glass or severed body parts, Cloud Chaser noticed that the doors and windows had been fortified with nailed gingerbread boards and candy cane bars. It was obvious by this point what had happened, some poor souls had trapped themselves inside Sugar Cube Corner and were about to be seized and devoured by the dozen or so infected ponies that surrounded the decrepit bakery. Once she had gathered the information she so curiously inquired, Cloud Chaser turned around to find a different route to where she was heading. However, as Cloud was leaving the scene of the fortified Sugar Cube Corner she heard the crack of a wall toppling over, followed by a shriek of terror. Cloud’s head jumped up at the sound of the blood curdling scream.

That sounded just like...

Without thinking, Cloud Chaser flew back to Sugar Cube Corner and confronted the diminutive horde of undead ponies. One or two of the trotters turned to confront this new, daring invader, only to be met with the blast of her shotgun. The first two or three shots took care of most of them, and the rest could easily be taken care of with some hoof-to-hoof combat. One of them was able to get behind her and make a single, yet futile, swat at Cloud’s flank. However, this proved to be a wasted effort, as all that training in agility with Rainbow Dash proved to be useful during the apocalypse. Cloud Chaser swiftly and gracefully dodged the sluggish attack of her adversary, flipped around her shotgun, and rammed the end of it through the infected pony’s fore hoof, causing bone fragments and bits of flesh to fly in all directions. The injured trotter fell to the ground, and began to gurgle with aggression while still attempting to claw its way to Cloud in an endeavor to retaliate against her. But Cloud Chaser was too quick for him and had already lodged her previously bloodied shotgun through the trotter’s head, which once again sprayed hefty amounts of gore in all directions. After finishing the last of the trotters, Cloud Chaser rammed through the barred door of the formerly attacked bakery, expecting to see her little sister on the other side. But instead found three very confused and frightened ponies staring at her. One of them was pointing a gun at her head and asked if she was infected, however, when Cloud saw the gun shaking in the orange-maned pony’s hooves, she knew that she was in no real danger. The dark blue pony cowering behind the counter top slid out of her hiding spot and ordered everypony to start re-fortifying the bakery.

Cloud Chaser zipped back to reality, and finally took in her dull surroundings. There was little light inside the bakery, save for a few cracks in the ceiling that dripped streams of dismal light onto the creaky planks that were the bakery’s floorboards, and the dimly lit lantern that was left on the far side of the countertop. Several scrolls lay strewn about the cracked granite that covered said countertop, one of those scrolls was a map of Ponyville, another was one of the several health and safety flyers issued by PNI. She read the plain text on the flyer to herself:

Wash your hooves periodically

Ensure the sanctity of any and all perishable items

Keep a calm state of mind...

Cloud Chaser, now weary of her current predicament, shut her eyes, and leaned back even further in her seat. “You know what I hate about all this?” Cloud Chaser asked. And not giving anypony the opportunity to speak, immediately answered her own question.

“The fact that everypony knows each other in this town. I mean, if you happen to kill any of those trotters, you’re probably killing somepony you knew, or at least talked to at some point.” Everypony in the room sunk even lower into their seats, one of them had begun sniffling and silently sobbing to them self. As if to play it off as a joke, chuckling Cloud Chaser said “That is, unless you happen to not like anypony in this town. Then I guess you’re alright.” Everypony stared at Cloud Chaser in befuddlement; Carrot Top shot an unwavering, disgusted glare in the direction of the spiky-maned Pegasus. A pair of light gray ears flopped down in a hopelessly depressed arrangement. Seeing how sad it made her, Cloud Chaser patted Derpy on the head and said in an assuring, almost caring tone.

“Don’t worry kid, I was just kidding!” Derpy perked up slightly, and wiped the tears from her estranged eyes, both of them completely ignoring the fact that Derpy is older than Cloud Chaser. Colgate grew tired of listening to Cloud talk to herself, and knew that she needed to bring up the fact that they weren’t going to survive forever in this broken down bakery. Seeing that Cloud was now preoccupied, Colgate took the opportunity to speak.

“Alright, I’m going to say what everypony here doesn’t want to admit. The fact of the matter is that we aren’t going to survive here forever. At some point, we’re going to have to at least try to escape!” It seemed as though when Colgate spoke, all of Equestria voluntarily bowed their heads out of respect, and attend to her every word as if princess Celestia herself was speaking. Yet there was an ostensibly hostile atmosphere about the barely standing bakery. Cloud Shifted in her seat. Carrot Top stood up and walked over to the arched and torn scrap of paper that the map of Ponyville was inscribed upon.

“I hate to say it, but you’re right. There’s no way we can stay here forever. We need to find a safe way out of Ponyville” Carrot Top planted her hoof firmly on the tattered map, gesturing everypony’s attention to it. Colgate and Derpy huddled around the broken counter top and began planning their escape route alongside Carrot.

“We’ll need to do a bit of preparations.” Colgate said, keeping her eyes glued to the map of Ponyville.

“We should probably scout out the rest of town. Y’know, find the safest way outta here.”

“Yeah, we should also pack pretty light, no need to get weighed down…”

Cloud Chaser listened in bemusement and slight annoyance to the three ponies huddled around the glowing light produced by the lamp lying on the broken glass of the countertop, doing nothing more than stating the obvious. At this point Cloud Chaser completely lost interest. Cloud caught a glimpse of a damp cloth lying in the corner of the shadowed bakery. Realizing that she and her gun were still covered in dried blood, Cloud Chaser walked over to pick it up. Cloud knelt down and grabbed the cloth with her free wing and trotted back to her seat. The cloth smelt rancid, and it had some stains, but it seemed safe enough to use. With a few swift motions of her wing she cleaned the blood away from her pristine blue fur. She then continued onto her seat, began cradling her shot gun, and began cleaning the gun with her cloth. When she was done, she got up, and headed for the broken down door.

“Well, that’s perfectly fine for you guys. I’m going to get on out of here and leave you guys to do you’re planning.” Cloud Chaser continued walking toward the entrance before Colgate got up to plead with her.

“No, wait! Cloud Chaser, we need you. None of us have been outside since all the Evacs left. We need someone who has experience with those... things.” Colgate got up close to Cloud, in order to emphasize the urgency of her staying. Cloud Chaser, however, brushed her off, and persisted in her trek towards the door.

“Yeah, I kinda get that. But the thing is, I don’t need you! I’d be much better off if I went by myself. Sorry to say, but you guys don’t have anything I need,”

“We have food.” Colgate drew out a large smirk across her face. She knew how important the concept of food was now because of the infection. It showed on Cloud Chaser’s face. The last time she ate anything that wasn’t from a can or found on the floor was before the infection happened, that must have two or more weeks ago. The smell of the various sweets inside the bakery soon became apparent to the now fatigued Cloud Chaser. Cloud’s stomach roared with a furious absence of something to eat.

“I guess I could hang with you guys for a little while…” squeaked Cloud Chaser, whose face was red with embarrassment. Carrot stifled a giggle of amusement towards the dull purple pony’s humiliation. There was something that was simply hilarious about a tough pony like Cloud Chaser being defeated by something as trivial as food. Cloud immediately shot daggers from her eyes towards Carrot Top in retaliation. Carrot Top abandoned her laughter, and in its place laid a devilish grin over her muzzle. Colgate broke Cloud’s eye contact with the yellow farm pony, shoving a slice of overly decorated pie in front of Cloud’s curious snout.

“Alright, we’ll get ready while you finish eating.” Cloud Chaser could barely hear Colgate talking to her as her eyes glazed over and drool began seeping from both corners of her mouth. Cloud covetously gobbled the entire pie in a few seconds. After a few minutes of packing and prioritizing, the four ponies were finally ready to leave the sanctity of Sugar Cube Corner, and enter the unknown hazards that lay within the rest of Ponyville.

Cloud Chaser turned from her recently finished meal just in time to see a sight that gave her a mixture amazement and hilarity. What stood behind her were three ponies, a Unicorn, a Pegasus, and an earth pony, all of which had been festooned with various armaments. Not yet used to the additional weight of the weapons, the three ponies warily stumbled toward the entrance of the bakery, taking great care not to trip or fall. There they stood in front of Cloud Chaser, who carefully sized them up; Colgate, who was unanimously deemed the leader of the group, led the other three ponies to the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner, and with a twinkle of her horn, shoved the crooked door out of the way, allowing light to flood into the room as the four ponies left their domain.

Colgate, Carrot, and Derpy stared in horrific awe of their surroundings, the unmoved clouds, the once beautiful yet now decrepit buildings, and the stacks of dead ponies lying on every street corner were a sensory overload to the three ponies that had spent these last few weeks in a dark room with no outward communication. Cloud Chaser, however, leisurely glided over the dead corpses, broken boards, and whatever else was lying on the forgotten streets of Ponyville. The other three ponies found themselves unwilling to cross the sea of death and destruction in order to reach the clean plot of land Cloud Chaser was hovering over.

“Hurry up! I don’t have all day!” The three ponies were unmoved by Cloud Chaser’s sentiment. Cloud shook her head in disapproval, and sat down on the clean patch of grass she had found.

“Derpy, you have wings! Why don’t you just fly over?” Cloud Chaser yelled in irritation.

Derpy stared at the ground thoughtfully for a few seconds, and then, as if a light bulb went off in her head, looked up and exclaimed “Oh, right!” and then proceeded to fly over to the area clear of debris in a fashion similar to Cloud Chaser.

Carrot Top, realizing that sitting out in front of the bakery was a foolish endeavor, got up, and trudged through the mess of body parts and broken boards over to where Cloud and Derpy were sitting, slightly covered in dirt and blood. Lastly was Colgate, who sat adamantly in front of the partially destroyed bakery, hooves crossed, and wearing a smug pout on her face. A few seconds later, Colgate, deciding not to as nonchalant as Cloud, or as terribly blunt as Carrot Top, used her magic to levitate the piles of rubble and bodies out of the way in order to make a neat path to the rest of the group. Colgate beamed with confidence as she strode over to her fellow compatriots.

Cloud Chaser let out a heavy, annoyed sigh, and asked “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”

Colgate blinked at Cloud Chaser, as if not understanding what she had asked, but not a second later realized what she meant as her cheeks began to turn a light rose color.

“Oh, right…” The whole group began to chuckle at how silly they’d been, save for Carrot Top, who still had dirt and blood stains on her hooves.

Suddenly everypony became hush and still. Then came the fearful realization. The fact that they were out in the open, smack dab in the middle of a heavily quarantined area. There could be dozens of infected around every corner. The fear of being watched, day in, and day out, by creatures who want nothing more than to devour their flesh, and revel in their innards. The silence drew out for a few more seconds, until it was finally broken by a certain toothpaste colored pony fishing something out of her saddlebag. It was a small folded piece of paper. Colgate levitated the parchment between herself and the other three mares, and began to unfold it. The parchment was the map from before! Colgate began to speak.

“First things first, we need to find a way out of Ponyville. I think the best way out of here to head to the-“

Cloud Chaser interrupted the toothpaste pony. “Not so fast, I’m not leaving this Celestia-damned place until I find my sister!”

So what do you suggest, we wander all around town looking for somepony we don’t even know is here until we all get attacked?” Carrot Top asked Cloud sarcastically.

“Why don’t you learn how to keep your mouth shut, carrot breath?!”

“Don’t call me that! At least I know how to use common sense once in a while, blue brain!”

“Come on gals, we’re all friends!”

Both Carrot Top and Cloud Chaser shouted in unison “SHUT UP DERPY!”

Eventually the argument devolved into Carrot and Cloud yelling, and calling each other immature (and rather uncreative) names, while Colgate and Derpy attempt to placid their hateful emotions. They continued to argue for what seemed like hours on end. Colgate and Derpy eventually grew tired of attempting to calm the two angry mares, and stood by waiting for them to finish fighting. But regardless of their interference, Carrot Top and Cloud Chaser continued to assault each other verbally. That is, until Rainbow Dash appeared.

In the middle of another one of Carrot’s derogatory slurs toward Cloud, A lurid, ear-shattering scream tore across the sheet of dull clouds overhead. Suddenly, another screech was heard in a similar fashion, except it now sounded as if it was directly above the four equine survivors. A small shadow plummeted from above the clouds, and smashed into the ground. Debris flying everywhere, producing a cloud of dust around the shadowy figure. When the veil of filth cleared, it was obvious who was standing in front of them: Rainbow Dash. But it wasn’t Rainbow Dash anymore. She had been mutilated almost beyond recognition. Her eyes had been dug out with some type of crude device, the markings of said device visible on the corners of her face. Her tongue was snakelike, and slid about her mouth with no purpose. She had the posture of a rabid animal. Rainbow began to cock her head left and right, attempting to hear where that curious sound had come from, so that she may devour whatever it was.

All five of the mares that now stood in the center of Ponyville, continued to stand frighteningly still, waiting for somepony else to make the first move. Cloud Chaser (who knew that of all of her accomplices, she stood the best chance against this zombified Rainbow Dash) made that first move. With lightning fast reactions Cloud Chaser pulled the chrome shotgun out of her saddlebag, and blasted two slugs at Rainbow Dash’s head. The two slugs punctured several holes over Rainbow’s already emaciated face. Rancid blood flew in all directions, but Rainbow Dash was unperturbed. Cloud knew she would have to get closer to Rainbow in order to finish her off. Rainbow had already begun to sprint towards Cloud. Cloud flew up into the sky.

“Hey, Rainbow Crash! Why don’t we race for old time’s sake?”

Rainbow Dash gladly obliged her, and burst into the sky with a single, swift thrust of her wings, and gave chase to the shotgun-wielding purple Pegasus. Colgate attempted to shout at Cloud Chaser.

“Cloud Chaser! What tha hay are you doi-” Carrot Top quickly covered Colgate’s mouth in order to keep her from yelling. Carrot whispered in her ear.

“What are you, crazy? You want that thing coming after you? Let that jerk kill herself, we need to get out of here!”

But as Carrot Top finished her statement, a distinct sound reverberated throughout all of Ponyville: the sound of dozens of hooves thundering towards the center of town from all directions.

Comments

[DetectivePingles]

I can see the Mane six as the special infected already - RD the witch, AJ the tank, PP the jockey, and Rares the smoker. I guess that only leaves Flutters to be the spitter, but TS doesn't fit as the charger. I guess she would survive, since she probably has a zombie survival plan. So maybe just some Wonderbolt as the charger.

[MemoryLane]

Hm, interesting. I wonder what that device could possibly be. Maybe the Mane Six were used for experiments, and the device on her face..hmm...Part of me wonders of Rainbow Dash can even see in the first place due to said device. Maybe the Device helps her see? I dunno. A blind Rainbow Dash though, that's quite interesting, If I do say so myself.

I can imagine Rainbow screaming as she flew down ontop of them, and lemme say that it really gave me chills. I really enjoy you're writing style. As much as I love Left4dead and zombie/pony fan fictions, I don't see many good ones. However, this one is off to a pretty damn good start. I'll thumb up and fav and wait eagerly for the next chapter.

[F4D3]

2520806 Well, if you count them there are more special infected than the mane six so there are bound to be other characters that will fill those roles as they come along. But you won't know who until later in the story...

[Viking Hoof]

2536915 no... not Rainbow Dash... NOOOOoooOOOoooo!!!!

[SCP Pinkamena]

...Granted I'm a Pinkie fan, I don't like the idea of having Rainbow Dash killed off. It...makes think of bad things... but either way good story so far, Fade!

[Samey90]

Good start, there are some grammar and punctuation mistakes, but they don't divert me from the plot.

[Nightstar McSomething]

“You know what I hate about all this?” Cloud Chaser asked.

That you aren't wearing a vest?

[Cromegas_Flare]

Reading on, to give you a review.