Undead Equestria

by Sorren

Chapter 4 Heading Out

“How long is this tunnel?” Sunny muttered, his voice echoing off the dry, concrete walls of the seemingly-endless tunnel. He had no idea how long they had been walking for, but it felt like forever. Leaning a little to one side, he tried to peer between Dusty and Brick, who walked just ahead, the brown stallion shining his light off into the darkness ahead.

“Shoot, I don’t know,” Snowglobe answered from behind him. “Never been down here before.”

The tunnel was roughly the height of a pony, maybe with an inch or two to spare, and barely wide enough for two ponies to walk side by side. Willow had gotten tired of not being able to understand Dusty so she had made Brick hold the light—according to Willow, he didn’t need to talk.

Sunny threw a glance to the side, at Moon, then back at Willow, who was behind him with Snowglobe. “Do you have any idea where this tunnel goes?”

Willow just shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I only found out about this place yesterday.”

Sunny looked past Willow to the yellow earth pony in her wake. Blossom didn’t seem to be coping too well. She walked just far enough behind the group so that she was always submerged in semi-darkness, barely picking her hooves up as she slinked along at the back. Sunny looked to Moon and motioned towards Blossom. She shrugged, but gave him a nod.

He slowed to let Willow and Snowglobe squeeze by him and fell in stride beside the yellow earth pony. She was either pretending he wasn’t there, or was so far out of it that she didn’t realize he was there.

“Are you okay?” he asked, then immediately regretted it. She’d just lost her husband. How in Celestia’s name could she be okay!?

Blossom shook her head. “I should have stayed with him.”

Sunny thought for a moment. “It’s alright,” he finally comforted. No, it really wasn’t.

“No it’s not.” She was crying now, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

Great... He was really bad at this.

Sunny didn’t know a thing about making ponies feel better, but he was going to try nonetheless. He slowed and motioned for Blossom to do the same until they were hanging back in the darkness, away from the rest of the group and hopefully out of earshot.

“I know you’re feeling bad,” he started awkwardly. He really wasn’t any good at this. “But if you want to talk about something, I’d be happy to listen.” He tried his best at a reassuring smile that could barely be made out in the wan light.

Blossom sniffed. “I should have stayed with him,” she repeated. “He died... just to save me.”

“What happened?” Sunny mentally hammered himself with an invisible brick. He wasn’t supposed to make her recite it; the goal was to try and get her mind away from it!

“We were in the lobby,” she sniffed. Sunny couldn’t tell her to stop now that he had just asked her to recite it. “Me and your friends were… talking. Then all of a sudden a whole bunch of those…” she trailed off, staring at her hooves. Sunny sucked up his courage and laid a gentle wing across her back. The motion was enough to get her to lift her head. “Then all of a sudden a bunch of those things just… just started falling out of the roof. There were so many of them, ten, maybe more. One of your friends said something about the basement. We tried to head that way, but... there were just way too many of them. So he…” She stumbled and pressed her head into his flank. “He grabbed the gun. And he ran the other way and… and all those things followed him.” She bit her lip and shook her head, silent tears running down her cheeks.

He was really regretting having asked. All he could do was thank Celestia that the mare wasn’t bawling. “It sounds like he saved all of you.”

Hopefully he could wrap this up relatively soon. His wing was really starting to itch and twitch.

“B-but I should have been with him,” she stammered back.

“Hey listen,” Sunny stalled, trying to think of a way to comfort the mare, or at least try and comfort her. All he had managed to do so far was make her cry, and recite her husband’s death. One heck of a therapist he was. “If he gave his life to save you then he must have expected you to survive. You can’t fall apart now. Not after what he did. "

He gave a relieved sigh as he watched the mare’s shoulders slack.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” she choked out, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

“Yeah,” Sunny muttered. “It’s got to be rough.”

Blossom looked at him, wiping tears from her eyes with a forehoof. “You haven’t ever lost anypony?”

Sunny shook his head. “No, honestly, I don’t even know how I’m coping. I went through life never having to deal with anything important at all. Never lost anypony, never had to make a hard decision, definitely never shot somepony. Then all of a sudden ponies are eating each other and I’ve been bitten, suffocated, killed, and then brought back to life again. I mean...”

She gasped. “You got bitten?”

He nodded and Blossom took a startled step away from him, shrugging his wing off her back.

“You can’t be with us,” she gawked. “You know what’s going to happen.”

“B-but I’m immune,” he added quickly.

Blossom lowered her gaze with him, folding her ears. “I haven’t ever heard of ponies being immune...”

“Promise! I got bit almost a month ago, and I’m not trying to eat you. And do you see a fresh wound anywhere on me?”

Blossom frowned, giving him a quick once-over with her eyes. After a moment, she seemed content. “It must be nice,” she murmured, looking down at her hooves. “If I knew that I could never turn into one of… them, to know that you couldn’t become that, I’d be happy.”

Sunny shrugged. “It’s not like I’m invincible or something. It still hurts when they bite you… like, a lot,” he added.

She shuddered. “I never want to see another pony get bitten ever again.”

Sunny gave her a curious glance.

“We were in Canterlot when strange things started happening,” she explained. “Everypony was talking about this group of crazy ponies who had rampaged down the streets the day before. Nopony knew what it was about. The next morning some mare was pounding on my door. She was all bloody and was crying. But I was afraid to open the door, cause’ I had heard about the crazy ponies, and she seemed pretty crazy. Then this other pony came up behind her and jumped on her. I just... stood by the door, listening to her scream as the pony... bit at her. And I was too scared to open the door. I realized, if things like that were actually happening out there, I didn’t want to be anywhere near there. So that’s when we decided to leave. We were almost out of the city when the REA showed up. At first they tried to screen the ponies who were leaving, but after a while they just started shooting them if they tried to go past.”

Blossom frowned. “They would do this thing where they would look at their eyes, and sometimes they would shoot a pony after they did it. But pretty soon, there were just too many. Ponies started to riot and the checkpoints started to break down... That’s when they started shooting ponies. No more checks, nothing... just a full quarantine. Everypony who tried to pass got taken out.”

“Jeez,” Sunny whispered. “That is terrible.” A thought struck his mind. “Back in the square, your husband said that they were evacuating the city... From what you said, it just sounds like they were shooting ponies.”

Blossom sniffed. “He was trying not to scare anypony. Imagine how they would have reacted if he had told ponies that the REA were just shooting ponies.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Sunny looked on ahead, thinking. “Those ponies up there, in the hospital... they all thought the REA was coming for us.”

Blossom shook her head. “They’re not gonna care about some little third-world town in the desert.”

Sunny sighed. “Yeah...”

“Yeah,” she repeated. “I’ve already seen my fair share of messed up things. Not too many ponies out this way know how bad things really are.” They walked in silence for a moment. “Some towns don’t even know at all.”

“So are you feeling alright now?” Sunny finally asked her.

Blossom nodded. “I can’t change what’s happened. But I can’t dwell on it either. I cried it out. Now, I think I’m done.” She forced a grin that looked a bit more like a sneer and shrugged. “T-thanks.”

“Okay," Sunny smiled, trying to look optimistic. “I should probably catch up with Moon before she gets jealous that I’m talking to you and not her.”

Blossom actually chuckled. “That mare’s a feisty one.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked with a little cock of his head.

She smiled. “She has strong opinions. And she sticks to them. We weren’t exactly getting along when… you know… lots of zombie ponies. Either way, I think she was pretty close to shooting me.”

Sunny didn’t want to press any further for fear of setting her off again, so it was left at that.

He and Blossom picked up the pace until they were trotting behind the group again. He was going to have to ask Moon about what her and Blossom hadn’t been getting along about. And why Blossom said that Moon might have shot her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t imagine Moon shooting anypony, or anything for that matter.

He squeezed by Snowglobe to walk beside the blue mare again.

“How’d it go?” Moon asked quietly.

“I think she’s going to be okay. She’s just upset,” he replied.

Moon nodded. “I couldn’t ever imagine losing a pony that close to me.”

He looked over at her, taking in her appearance in the in the semi-darkness. A shotgun was strapped to the side of her barding so that it hung down against her flank, and her coat was dotted with patches of smeared crimson. “How’d you end getting blood all over you?” He asked, motioning towards one of the larger crimson stains.

Moon examined a spot on her flank. “It got a little nasty in the lobby.” She nodded towards the shotgun, which also seemed to have blood on it. “I kind of had to use it… a little bit.”

Sunny looked into her eyes. He couldn’t quite be sure in this light, but she almost looked... sad. Well, she probably was. What pony wouldn’t be sad with all this stuff happening at once? But... sad about something else.

But she was serious about the gun. He had to focus on not letting his mouth hang open. She had actually shot somepony. No wait, something. Still though... “Really?” he asked, trying to keep as much surprise out of his voice as possible. Her shooting something was so… un-Moon-ish. He hadn’t known her for that long, but she was a doctor. Doctors weren’t supposed to shoot ponies. They were supposed to make them better, right?

“Hey,” the blue mare replied defensively. “I can handle myself you know.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he added quickly. “I meant, you just don’t seem like the type of pony who would even think of touching a gun.”

Moon nodded solemnly. “Yeah, a month ago I would have agreed with you. But now, having it almost makes me feel safe.” She looked down at her hooves then added, “It’s not like I’m some crazy gun pony though.”

“I know,” Sunny replied. “But there are a lot of crazy gun ponies. There was definitely one back in the hospital. Dusty and I passed this zombie pony on the fourth floor that had been shot up. Like, really shot up. I mean, for the love of Celestia, they shot its leg off. And then they shot it in the head, or the other way around, couldn’t tell.”

“Heh, yeah...” Moon seemed to take a sudden interest in her hooves. “Sounds like what a crazy gun pony would do.” She half-chuckled, then flipped her mane into her face.

Snowglobe laughed bitteryly from behind Moon. “Probably somepony who likes to beat poor defenseless mares with a shotgun.”

Moon shot a heated glare back at Snowglobe. “And it’s a good thing that pony stayed in the hospital,” she growled.

Snowglobe just chuckled again.

“Am I missing something?” Sunny inquired.

“No,” Moon added quickly. “Let’s just be glad we all made it out without any of us being either killed or bitten.” Blossom sniffed and Moon cringed. “Mostly,” She muttered under her breath.

“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “Two was enough.”

“Wait? Two?” Blossom asked, startled.

“Yeah,” Willow tossed her head back. “I got bit about a month ago.” She chuckled, then rolled her shoulders, biting her lip as she did so. She walked with a certain stiffness that he would have expected from a pony a lot older than she was. She probably still had traces of that blue crap in her.

Blossom pushed herself in between Willow and Snowglobe. “Hey...” the gray mare muttered before dropping back to let Blossom take her place. “Fine, fine. Sheesh, just ask next time.

“Are you immune too?” Blossom asked with a frown and a roll of her eyes at the last second.

Willow shook her head. “No, I cured myself,” she replied simply.

Blossom’s mouth fell open. “...W-what?” She continued to gape. “You cured yourself?” She looked at Willow as if the mare had just exploded and glued herself back together again.

“Yeah,” Willow blinked a few times and shook her head. “Why? What’s so strange about that?”

Blossom explained, swallowing her momentary surprise. “When we were leaving Canterlot...” Sunny looked around. Everypony was listening to the yellow mare now “...we could hear the REA going crazy about an antidote. Well, trying to get one. That was back when they were still trying to contain sick ponies instead of just shooting them on sight. They had their medical ponies running around in a frenzy trying to find a cure for the sick ponies. If the REA couldn’t find a cure then how they hay did you do it?”

Willow’s ego seemed to visibly inflate. “Experimental drug,” she chided.”Didn’t even know what it was.”

Blossom chuckled dryly. “A small town hospital mare found a cure over all of the REA’s best medical staff.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Willow asked defensively.

“Hey! Ah think we’re nearing the end,” Dusty called from ahead. “Ah can see a door.”

“What does it look like?” Sunny asked.

Dusty tossed him a backwards glance. “Um… like a door.”

They all continued forward until they reached the end of the passage, conversation forgotten for the time being.

The door was made of metal, but it wasn’t as heavy as the one that had been back in the hospital. Still... metal.

Dusty stepped forward and gave the door an experimental push. “It’s locked.” He tried pulling instead of pushing, still to no effect.

“Move.” Willow pushed her way past Sunny and shouldered in between Dusty and Brick. “Back up,” she ordered sternly. “Give me some space.”

The two did as they were told.

“What are you gonna do?” Dusty teased. “Glare it open?”

Willow turned her head over her shoulder to glare back at him.

Sunny gasped and tried to fade it into a cough. He looked around, hoping nopony else had noticed. As far as he could tell, they hadn’t.

Willow’s eyes were glowing. He had only seen it for the slightest fraction of a second, when Brick had turned his light away, but he had seen it. Her eyes had been emanating a faint yellow light; there was no missing it. He gazed at her, doing his best not to look shocked. She looked back. The two of them shared unspoken words of worry before Willow broke contact.

She reached back and grabbed her key ring. “Keyths,” she mumbled around the ring.

“You think you’ve actually got the key for this door?” Snowglobe asked, her tone suggesting that she didn’t expect any of the keys to work.

Willow sifted through the ring and tried a silver one, then cursed under her breath and tried another.

About six keys later Dusty interrupted: “Uh, Willow,” he murmured, “ah don’t think that any of those keys are gonna work.”

Willow’s head snapped around to the side and she snorted at him. Dusty took a surprised step back, and contentedly, Willow turned away and went back to sifting through keys. She pulled out a big brass one and tried it in the lock. It made it about a quarter of the way in before it stuck. Willow growled again and head butted the stubborn door.

Snowglobe stepped forward. “Maybe I could—”

“No, no, this is the right key.” Willow waved Snowglobe away, then turned her attention back to the door. Frowning at the lock, she gave the key an experimental push, then grit her teeth. She growled, then pushed a little harder. Slowly, her legs started to tremble, her ears twitching here and there with irritation.

“Willow...” Sunny said slowly. “I don’t think that—”

With a grunt and a yell, Willow took a step back and smashed her forehoof against the key, apparently deciding to pound it into the lock. Four, strong hits later, the mechanism gave a broken little ‘click’ from within and Willow took an approving step back. “See. I told you it was the right key.”

“....Are you okay Willow?” Sunny’s eyes darted between his friend and the door. Something definitely wasn’t right with her. She had just broken a metal door with nothing but a single hoof. Her normal, balanced, reasonable attitude was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by this jumpy impatient mare in front of him.

She turned to look at him, smiling. “I think so.” She turned completely around and delivered a heavy applebuck to the door. Something else inside snapped inside and the door screeched open, slamming against the wall on the other side. “I told you I had the right key,” she chided. Sunny just balked. He looked around to the others who all seemed just as shocked as he was. Even Brick looked mildly concerned.

“Er, Willow...” Dusty murmured. “You were supposed to pull... not push.”

As if to add, the last hinge still holding the door, tweaked around backwards, gave with a little groan and a snap. Like a drunkard sliding down the wall, the door did just that until it came to rest on the floor.

Willow pointedly turned around and stalked through the now open doorway, tromping over the poor door. Sunny gave himself a shake and followed, the others following close behind. From what Sunny could tell, it looked like they had crossed into a cellar. A single yellow light hung from the ceiling, filling the small space with its gloomy light. A wooden staircase on the other side of the room led up to higher levels.

“I think we’re in somepony’s house,” Snowglobe said quietly.

Dusty gave her a narrowed look. “What would an old tunnel from an REA hospital be doing leadin’ to a pony’s cellar?”

Sunny rolled his eyes at the two and nodded towards the stairs. “Well, let’s go and see.”

The stairs did indeed lead up into a house. Though it was night, the hallway he emerged into was well-lit; the lights set off little alarm bells in his head. The city didn’t have any power, so...

Snowglobe appeared beside him. Nodding to Sunny, and keeping her pace slow, she started to move forward, one hoof after the other on the soft carpet, leaving Sunny to follow a few steps behind while the others sidled into the hall.

“Do you know why there would be power here?” he asked after a moment.

She nodded. “Spark battery in the cellar, must be a pretty nice one to keep constant power for this long with all the lights on.”

Sunny frowned. “What if the lights aren’t always on?” He and Snowglobe exchanged a glance. They’d come out into a small living room that looked like it had been used quite frequently for just that.

Somepony cleared their throat loudly a short ways behind Sunny, a stallion, somewhat gruff by the sound of it.

Snowglobe snorted. “Well, saw that coming.” She sighed and folded her ears. “Don’t shoot us please.”

Sunny frowned at Snowglobe. “How do you even know he has a gun? What—”

“You make a single move and I’ll blast ya.’” the gruff voice growled from behind them.

“Nevermind.” Sunny shut up at the will of Snowglobe, who was giving him her best glare.

“Now turn around, now!” the stallion demanded. Sunny and Snowglobe both complied. If Sunny was correct, his friends would be coming along to the living room any minute now.

Moon was right on cue, trotting down the hall with little care for subtlety. “This is a nice looking place,” she declared happily, eyes darting all over the place. “Could do away with the wallpaper though. Uegh.” Her eyes fell on the stallion who seemed to be holding Sunny and Snowglobe at gunpoint. “Oh... uh, hello. This must be your house?” She chuckled, her ears folded flat to her head as the stallion glared unamusement in her direction. “Lovely wallpaper, by the way.”

The stallion opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, giving Moon a small shake of his head before turning his attention back to Sunny and Snowglobe. “What the hay are you three doing in my house? And how the hay did you get in here?”

Sunny looked away from Moon and back to the accusing stallion. He looked old, his brown coat graying, deep lines etched in his face, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t intimidating. He wore an expression of concealed anger and was sporting a saddle of the likes Sunny had never seen before. Mounted to the saddle on his back was a rifle, it sat off to the right so that it ran adjacent to his body about a third of the way up from his belly to his shoulders. A curved piece of metal ran from the saddle around his front so that a bit hovered right below his mouth. It took Sunny a second to realize how it worked. After closer inspection he could see that a metal cable ran from the bit along the curved piece of metal, where it was then attached to the firing mechanism of the rifle on his back. The stallion could fire the rifle by biting down on the bit. Genius. Now that he thought about it, he’d seen an REA pony sporting one of these once.

Sunny looked back in time to see Willow, Brick, Dusty, and Blossom all file out of the cellar into the small hallway.

“What they hay is this!?” the brown pony spluttered. “What are all you ponies doing in my cellar?”

Snowglobe spoke up. “We came in through the tunnel in the basement.”

The poor stallion seemed to blow a gasket. “What Celestia damned tunnel in the ce--” He cut himself off, then sighed. “Oh, that tunnel... I’ve always wondered what’s behind that door.” He glared around at all of them. “What’s behind that door? Those bozos with the army paid me to live here because of that damned thing.”

“It’s an escape route from the hospital,” Sunny replied.

The stallion stomped his hoof. “I should have known!” He mumbled something irritably under his breath, then snorted.

Sunny shifted his stance with a nervous little glance to the others. There was an angry pony with a gun in front of them, who now happened to be talking to himself. That was a wonderful sign.

Eventually, the old stallion turned his attention back to the real ponies in the room. “Why are you here then? I thought all you ponies who locked yourselves in the hospital were all safe and sound in your little hidey-hole.”

Willow pushed her way forward until she was nose-to-nose with the weathered stallion, gun or not. “Look, I don’t know who you are, and frankly I don’t give a damn.” Sunny cringed; he wasn’t sure whether to be worried for Willow or the old stallion with the gun. “Things didn’t go too well in our little hidey hole,” Willow spat. “Me and my friends barely made it out alive. Now if you don’t want us here then fine, we’ll leave. But for the love of Celestia, don’t give us any more of your shit at gunpoint! Because I don’t want to hear it!”

Sunny’s mouth jaw went slack. “Willow,” he murmured under his breath. “You do realize he has a gun, right?” This wasn’t the Willow he remembered, not at all. There was no doubting something was up, but did he dare ask?

The stallion took a respectful step back from Willow. “Take it easy now. If seven ponies suddenly climbed up outta’ your cellar in this situation, you might get a little on the defensive side too.

Willow snorted and pointedly turned her back on the stallion. She was shaking, literally shaking; whether from anger or from something else, Sunny wasn’t quite sure.

“Er... Willow,” Sunny said, half hoping she would hear him and half hoping she wouldn’t.

Her head snapped around to reveal very angry eyes. Sunny had to resist the urge to veer away. The look she gave him was pure fire. It looked like a very angry ghost had wormed its way into the white mare’s body and taken over her emotions. She looked scary.

“Willow?” sunny repeated, lowering his head a little and cocking it to one side. “A-are you okay?”

Like a rubber band stretched a bit too far, the tension snapped, and then Willow was back to Willow again. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I guess… I’m just tired.”

“Well...” The brown stallion frowned, still looking a little unnerved by Willow’s sudden outburst. “I guess I can invite you to stay a while. Seeing as you brought your own food.” He motioned towards the stuffed bags carried by the two pegasi. “Come on then,” he muttered halfheartedly. “Follow me.” He turned and led them down the hall. A moment later they emerged into a sitting room. “And don’t touch anything!” he added in a snappy aftertone.

“So I take it you know what’s going on out there?” Sunny asked.

The old stallion snorted. “Well yeah, why else do you think I’d have all my windows boarded?”

Sunny took a good look around the room. The front door had been boarded up, along with the two windows on either side. The walls were papered with a dingy, yellow-brown striped paper. The carpet was also brown, but not quite as dark as the paper on the walls. Overall, it was a pretty brown place—not all too pleasant on the eyes.

The old stallion looked at them all in turn, summing them up, his eyes lingering a little longer on Moon. “Now I’m not too keen about having you all stay here. But since you’re here, you might as well settle down... and don’t touch anything.”

Willow sighed. “Good, would you mind telling me where I can sleep?” she asked, before turning to look at the rest of the group. “Sorry... but I’m not feeling too good.”

The old stallion rolled his eyes. After a moment, he shrugged, probably remembering Willow’s outburst in the hall. “Up the stairs, second door on the left.”

“Thanks,” Willow muttered. She turned and set off down the hallway. Brick watched her for a moment before setting off after her.

“Makes me wonder,” the old stallion murmured to himself, keeping an eye on Willow until she had passed out of sight.

“Excuse me?” Snowglobe asked. The stallion turned to look at her. “That saddle you’re wearing. Exactly what is it?”

“Oh this thing?” he looked back at his saddle and the rifle mounted to it. “It’s called a battle saddle. The REA started making them so that non-unicorn ponies could fire larger weapons. You can mount almost any weapon to one of these things.”

“That’s sort of what I was thinking, but still, I didn’t even know these things existed.” She trotted around the old stallion in a little circle, examining the saddle from what seemed like every angle. “You mount the weapon on it and link the cable to the firing mechanism on the weapon of choice. Then you can fire it from your back with your mouth. This is a genius design. I don’t know why I haven’t ever heard of one of these before.”

“Well yeah, basically,” the stallion replied,eyebrows a little raised. “I’ve seen ponies who’ve hooked up four guns at once on one of these things.”

“Where’d you get it?” Snowglobe asked, still looking somewhat awed.

“I was in the army.” Although the stallion spoke sorely, there was no hiding the pride that still shone in his eyes at the mention of the REA. “This was standard issue, but these ones were the best. They don’t make them like this anymore. Heck, I don’t even think you can find a battle saddle like this anymore. The REA recycles all of their old equipment.”

“Wow.” Snowglobe sat back, her eyes glued to the contraption.

The stallion cleared his throat. “Well, I’m guessing you all want to get some sleep. So let’s set up some sleeping arrangements. Now, I’m also guessing your snappy friend and that big fella took one of the guest rooms so that leaves one more. There is no way one of you is getting my room. So I’ll let you decide who sleeps where.” With that the stallion turned tail and headed off down the hall. “Oh yeah, and I got a pretty nice water heating talisman,” he called back. “Feel free to use it. Army pension hooked me up right. And don’t touch anything! ...apart from the hot water knob, I suppose...”

“Ah don’t need a room,” Dusty declared, glancing over the rest of them. “Floor’s fine for me.”

Moon trotted over to stand beside Sunny. “Me and Sunny can share a room,” she mused, giving him a soft nudge.

Sunny thought it over. “It might be nice to let more than two ponies share a room. There are five of us.” Moon just sighed and shook her head. “What?” Sunny asked.

Dusty brought his hoof up to his face. “Sunny,” he managed. “Take the room.”

“But what about you guys?” he asked Snowglobe and Blossom.

“It’s okay.” Snowglobe chuckled. Dusty stumbled over to a wall to lean on for support. “We’ll just sleep on the floor,” Snowglobe reassured, smiling. Moon was turning as red as a cherry.

Sunny frowned. “Are you sure? Cause—”

"Sunny!” Dusty cut him off. He stomped a hoof on the ground and hissed under his breath, “Just take the damned room!”

“Okay, take it easy. I’ll take the room, okay!” Sunny rolled his eyes. What was the big deal?

* * *

No rest for the troubled. Try as she might, tossing and turning and burying her head under the pillow, she just couldn’t. Her body ached and throbbed, every nerve ending screaming its disapproval. She’d soaked the bed in sweat by the time she’d given up trying to sleep

Now sitting at a small desk opposite of the door, Willow groaned, looking at the vial of penicillin in front of her. “It’s not working anymore Brick,” she fretted.

The brown stallion shot her a worried look from where he’d been lying in the corner.

Willow took a long look around the little bedroom. Why did the walls have to be white? She hated white. Every damned wall in the hospital had been white. She sighed, being grudgingly grateful for the room.

She let her head drop to the desk, her forehead pressing against the cool wood as he muzzle dangled over the edge. Her body felt all wrong. It literally felt like her innards were moving around inside her—throbbing, aching... burning. Her muscles ached and her bones hurt. And she could swear it by Celestia, anytime she wasn’t looking at her coat it started squirming.

There was something really wrong going on inside of her. And it scared her. Worst of all, she had a pretty good idea of what it was.

She had been too afraid to tell anypony. But, back in the tunnels, she could see in the dark. When Brick had turned off his light, or pointed it away, the tunnel had remained for her in a dim, yellow-gray haze.

“What am I going to do?” she muttered glumly. By far, the most confusing part about everything was how sturdy she felt. One would think that her body would be struggling to keep going, but it seemed to be the exact opposite. She felt strong, even if everything did hurt. She could feel it in her limbs, the raw strength that surged through her body. There was no easy way to describe it. Willow bet that if she wanted to, she could get up right now and run straight across Equestria.

Which was terrifying, because there was only one explanation for that sort of strength. Notebook and Sugar Apple had torn their way out of their restraints—artificial leather belts, one for every hoof to hold them to the bed.

Zombies were stronger.

She was stronger.

“I think I know what’s going on, Brick." She lifted her head from the table and turned to him. “I’ve still got it… I didn’t cure it.”

Brick nodded slowly, meeting her eyes for a second before averting his to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” she added. “I should have told you earlier, but I wasn’t sure then and I didn’t want to worry you.” She looked over to her barding which sat in a corner. All of those medical supplies, useless. The two metal cases sat on the floor a ways away; she tried not to think about them. “I can feel myself changing. Sugar Apple said it felt like there was something crawling in his skin... I’m starting to feel the same way.”

Brick got his hooves under him and paced over to her side of the room, sitting down a foot or so from her and closing his eyes.

Willow just sighed. “I’ve been taking the penicillin to do... something, but it’s not working anymore.” She tossed another nervous glance at the two cases. She couldn’t just waste it. The cold truth was that she was infected. And she was going to die. Either that or end up like one of them. “...I don’t want to die.”

Something seemed to click. It was the sort of gear falling into place that powered the machine designed to slap her into gear. ‘Stop whining about it and do something!’ it seemed to scream. An invisible pony dragged her to her hooves and forced her head around towards the metal cases stacked in the corner. ‘It’s all or nothin’, sister.’

Willow looked to Brick, then gave a brief nod towards the cases. “Go get me the vial I used last time. Get a needle and fill with thirty milliliters of the stuff.” Brick raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes, I know how dangerous that is,” she replied. Panic was starting to bubble up from the pit of her stomach. What if she didn’t wake up? There was a very good chance that this was going to kill her. She might die, right here. But, she was going to die soon anyways. There was no harm in trying. It could only be for the best.

She didn’t want to die. She really didn’t want to die. Right now, the most important thing to her was living, staying alive. She had managed to survive what had killed so many others. And this was it. She was here, now, and they weren’t. She couldn’t just drop out now. This was what mattered, living, just to move on to see the light of the next day. But if she was about to do this, and with chances this high of never waking up, the others at least deserved to know why.

She trotted over to the dresser against the far wall and pulled open the top drawer. It was empty. She slammed it back angrily, cracking the wood housing. She sifted through the others and managed to find a scrap of parchment and a quill, along with a small bottle of ink. She laid the paper out and looked at it, waiting for the quill to dip itself and start writing.

Willow groaned; no magic. With a gasp, she finally came to realize why her magic wasn’t working. It wasn’t because of the drug she had taken; it was because the virus had still been inside her. She had been sick this whole time!

“Stupid!” she growled under her breath. “Stupid stupid stupid!”

Growling the last bit of her self-anger away, she picked up the quill in her mouth and set to writing a note. It took a little while, and it was a little sloppy, but still legible. If this was her death note; then she wanted ponies to at least be able to read it. Hopefully it wouldn’t be her death note.

“You ready Brick?” she asked, not really wanting to know. The brown pony trotted over to her with a large needle in his jaws. It was filled with a familiar-looking electric blue liquid. He fixed his eyes on her, then gave a single, brief nod.

“Right, neither am I,” Willow replied with a small chuckle. “Okay,” She took a deep breath, “jab me.”

* * *

Sunny lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. No matter how tired he was, there was no way he could sleep. Not after tonight. He couldn’t stop recapping the entire day in his head. Everything from the meeting on had been nothing but havoc. Zombie ponies, ponies dying, falling through roofs, tunnels, and whatever else in between.

He felt bad... All the time they had been running or coming up with plans, he hadn’t helped at all. So far the only thing he had managed to do was get bitten. While everypony else had been surviving in the hospital; he had been in comatose. He hadn’t done a single thing to help. He was nothing but a burden trotting around behind the bigger and smarter ponies. He needed to do something that would make him worthy of the ponies he was with. Because right now...

The sound of the door opening broke his train of thought. He glanced up just in time to see Moon step in and close the door behind her. “This place has hot water!” she exclaimed happily.

“So I take it you had a nice wash?” he asked casually, deciding she was better to look at than the ceiling. Droplets of water clung to her coat and her mane was wet and sleek. It ran smoothly down her neck and flank. She really was better to look at than the ceiling.

“Sure did,” she replied, crossing the room with a casual gait. “A month in that hospital without warm water got old really fast. It was nice to finally have some hot water again.” Moon looked down at the bed and shot him an annoyed look. “Sunny, look what you did.”

“What?” He looked around. “What’d I do?”

Moon just rolled her eyes and pointed a hoof at the bedspread. “You’re still covered in dust.”

Sunny looked at his coat, then to his disheveled mane. “Oh, whoops.” He rolled off the bed and looked at the Sunny-shaped white spot. “Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly.

Moon waved away his apology with a forehoof. “Okay,” she chided. “Here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to get a new comforter, while you go and clean yourself up.”

“But I’m tired,” he protested.

She shot him a stern look. “I’m not asking. I’d drag you down the hall myself but I don’t want to touch your dirty coat until it’s clean.”

“Okay, fine...” She was giving him that look that seemed both cute and intimidating at the same time; there was no way he could say no to that. He trotted over to the door and pushed it open as Moon muttered irritably about the comforter.

He left the room and set off for the washroom, hesitating momentarily outside the door to Willow’s room. He was worried for the white mare. She had been acting strange ever since they’d reached the tunnel. She had gone to bed early because she wasn’t ‘feeling good’; it was a bad sign. Still though, he didn’t want to poke his head in and wake her up if she was trying to rest.

Against better judgement, he decided not to bother head and turned towards the bathroom.

Moon had been right; hot showers did feel good. Great actually. He realized just how much he had taken things like warm showers for granted. Only a month ago, a cold shower was about as much of a foreign thought as zombie ponies. But now a pony was lucky enough not to die, let alone shower.

Funny how things changed.

He enjoyed the water for a little longer before shutting off the nozzle. How did this pony have hot water here anyways? He had said something about a heating talisman, but what was that, exactly? With a shrug, he left the washroom, the source of the strange stallion’s hot water not really a pressing matter. He headed back down the hall, passing Willow’s room once again and debating whether or not he should peek in to see how things were. After a moment he decided against it. Right now, sleep seemed like one of the best things in the world. After today, he deserved it.

“I take it you had a nice shower?” Moon asked with an overflowing air of cheekyness as he entered the room.

“You were right,” he said in compromise. “Warm water is nice.” Trotting over to the bed, he flopped down on the new covers and immediately stretched himself out with a happy groan. “Do you think Willow’s okay?” he voiced aloud, staring up at the ceiling.

Moon flopped down beside him. “I’m not sure,” she said with a sigh. “But something is definitely up with her. You saw how strange she was acting. And what she did with that door back in the tunnels.”

Sunny scooted a little ways away from Moon; a foot of space was enough, right? “Yeah,” he added.

Moon noticed his movement and shot him a puzzled look. “What was that for?” she asked.

“What was what for?”

“Moving away from me,” she replied, managing to actually look offended.

“Did I?” Sunny tried to play it off coolly, but was failing miserably. He wasn’t used to ponies being close to him. Not like standing in crowds or waiting in line, but actually close to him. In bed was a place where he liked his space.

Moon dropped the accusatory glare and took up a softer expression, which was even worse! “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He tried to wave her question away. The look Moon was giving him meant that it definitely wasn’t, ‘nothing,’ to her. He sighed. “It’s just that… I’m not used to being near other ponies, okay. Like in the park, I felt so uncomfortable with you near me, well, on me. You have no idea how uncomfortable that was. Like, it was bad... like, bad bad.”

Moon seemed to contemplate him, the smile dropping off her face as she chewed her inner lip “Well,” she mused, “I guess I’m just going to have to get you used to it.” She rolled over a bit, scooting closer to him.

“W-what!?” Sunny scooted himself away, putting himself at the edge of the bed. “Sorry,” he added quickly, feeling a bit regretful for it and yet not.

“It’s not like I’m going to bite you.” Moon said with a roll of her eyes and a growing smile, edging herself up beside him once again.

“No, it’s okay.” He made to move further away, but there was no more room on the bed. His forehooves reached out for purchase as he lost his balance, but only came into contact with Moon’s coat. With a startled cry, he drew his hoof back. Over the edge he went, coming to a jolting stop on his back with a hit that shook the floor and rattled his brain.

Moon poked her head over the side at him. “Are you okay?” she asked, giggling. “Get back up here.”

“Throw me a pillow. I’m good,” he answered.

Moon looked down at him, a strange look gleaming in her eyes. “Fine then,” she said with an impartial little shrug.

“Wait? What’s that supposed to mean!?” Moon wasn’t the pony to just give up on something like that.

And then it hit him.

“No wait, Moon, okay you winI’llcomeback—”

The blue mare rolled off the bed and landed on top of him. Sunny gasped as the mare pushed the air from his lungs, his hind legs kicking out as he tried to worm his way out from under her.

“Hey there,” she said with a pleased chuckle.

“Nononono!” he cried, turning his head this way and that. “You’re crazy.”

“Maybe you should stop being so weird,” she teased.

“Hey, I’m not weird,” he protested, trying to push the mare off. He tried to roll over on his side so he could get his hooves under him, but Moon planted her hooves on his belly and pushed him back down. He gazed up into her eyes. “You’re a little close,” he murmured, trying to wriggle out of her grasp. “Moon, I am not okay with this!”

“I know,” she whispered.

Sunny stopped trying to squirm. He was hypnotized, her amber eyes sucking any thought from his mind. Her face was close to his... really close.

The hypnosis was broken by a bloodcurdling scream. Moon’s head snapped up as she looked around. Her eyes darted back to Sunny and she seemed to fight a small battle with herself before rolling off him. Sunny took the chance to scramble to his hooves.

The scream had come from Willow; there was no mistaking it. He’d heard that very same scream back in the town square, only it hadn’t sounded as agonized as this time.

“Was that Willow?” Moon asked, making a beeline for the door.

He nodded. “I’m pretty sure.”

Moon cursed under her breath. “I knew something was wrong with her.”

“I didn’t want to say anything.” Sunny followed her into the hall. Why hadn’t he checked to see if she was alright? Judging from the sound they had just heard, she definitely wasn’t alright.

Moon pulled open the door to Willow’s room and charged inside, Sunny following right on her tail. Upon entering, Sunny noticed two things. One, Willow was on the ground having some sort of seizure. And two, Brick stood stiff legged over her, an empty needle in his jaws.

It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

“Don’t let her hurt herself!” Moon yelled, running over to Willow’s jerking form. “Hold her steady!” Brick dropped the needle and helped Moon hold the thrashing mare. If Sunny hadn’t known any better he would have guessed Willow was throwing a fit. She gave a strong buck of her hind legs that send Moon tumbling backwards. One of her thrashing forelegs struck Brick across the face and the large stallion went out like a light.

Moon picked herself up from the ground and looked at the still shape of Brick. “She’s strong,” she gasped. “Like... really strong!” Turning to brick, she gave him a firm kick in the ribs. “Wake up, I need you!”

Snowglobe and Dusty chose that moment to charge into the room, eyes wide and wary.

“What’s going on?” asked Dusty.

Moon looked down at Willow. The white mare was no longer thrashing around, but she was still twitching. “I don’t really know...” She dropped down next to Willow as Dusty and Snowglobe moved forward, taking a place on either side of the white mare.

The door behind them burst open and the old stallion barged in, battle saddle at the ready. “Just what the hay is all this damned noise about?” His eyes fell on the white mare held in Moon’s grasp and his eyes widened. “She’s got it!” he yelled, panic flashing in his features. Taking the firing bit of the battle saddle in his mouth, he took aim at Willow.

“No!” Sunny yelled. Without thinking, he threw himself at the stallion, knocking his aim off. the old stallion tripped over his own hooves and fired a shot off as he went down, Sunny halfway on top of him.

“Back off!” the old stallion growled, batting at Sunny with one forehoof as he writhed on the floor.

“You can’t shoot her!” Sunny yelled back. That stallion had been less than half a second away from shooting Willow. He had almost killed her! And he would have too.

The old stallion pushed Sunny away and scrambled to his hooves. “That’s what they all say,” he growled. “She may be your friend now. But wait until she bites you in the ass. I’ve seen it happen before, and trust me, I’m doing you five a favor.” The old pony snorted, looking at Willow’s unconscious form. “I knew she was infected from the second I saw her. How long ago was it?” he asked demandingly. Brick picked his head up and looked around, still looking dazed.

“A month,” Sunny answered.

“Don’t you lie to me!” he snapped. “The longest I’ve seen a pony last is four days. Now, she is in my house and I want you to tell me the truth!”

“You guys.” Moon gasped. “I got a bit of a problem over here.”

Sunny turned to look at blue mare. “How’s Willow? is she...” He trailed off. Moon was looking pale... very pale. His eyes darted over her form, then to the blood drizzling steadily down her right foreleg from a spot just below the shoulder.

“J-just a flesh wound,” Moon said with a nervous chuckle, wincing a bit as she lifted the leg off the floor. “Nothing too... nothing too serious.”

“Don’t you dare move,” Sunny heard Dusty growl.

“What do I do?” Sunny asked frantically, ignoring the confrontation behind him as he rushed up to Moon.

Moon flopped down on her side. “Check in Willow’s bags,” she gasped, caressing the wound. “She should have some healing potions. Thank Celestia we raided a hospital, because those things are hard to find.”

Sunny did a quick sweep of the room and spotted Willow’s bags in one corner. Brick was by Willow’s side, keeping a protective stance over the trembling mare. The old stallion stood observing the scene, doing his best to look impartial while Dusty glared at the old pony from the side. Snowglobe just stood by the doorway looked dazed. Blossom wasn’t even here.

As quickly as he could, Sunny dashed over to Willow’s bags and dug out one of the bottles filled with purple potion, then trotted back across the room and held out the bottle to Moon. She levitated it from him and uncorked the bottle with her magic. As quickly as she could, the blue mare downed the deep purple contents of the bottle.

“Thanks.” She finally gasped, fighting for breath. Sunny watched as the bleeding stopped and the wound began to stitch itself back together, the flesh and skin slowly stretching to cover the fresh wound. it was sort of like watching a wound heal over a course of weeks, though there was no scabbing involved here, and some of the meat and flesh itself was actually growing back.

Sometimes he really did envy unicorns.

“What they hay is wrong with you!?” Dusty yelled suddenly, glaring at the old stallion.

“She is dangerous.” The weathered pony pointed an accusing hoof at Willow.

“You shot Moon!” Dusty spluttered.

“It’s not like I was aiming for her,” the old stallion defended. “If your orange friend hadn’t of hit me I wouldn’t have missed!”

Sunny wouldn’t have been surprised if Dusty were to pounce the stallion right then and there; the light blue pegasus could have shot lightning bolts from his eyes. Sunny could feel something similar to anger building up inside him as well, though it was only covering the churning sickness in his gut. Moon had almost died. Six inches to the right and three inches up and she would have! Willow had almost died!

And the stallion still wanted to shoot Willow; Sunny could see it in his eyes.

“Then you would’ve shot Willow!” Dusty spluttered. “You don’t shoot ponies!”

The old stallion glared. “That time bomb isn’t staying in my house.” He took a step towards Willow but Snowglobe skittered into her path, her hooves shaking so bad that Sunny was surprised she could stand. “Get out of the way,” he growled, trying to push past Snowglobe.

“Don’t touch her,” Dusty growled. After what looked like a moment of internal conflict, Dusty drew his pistol and leveled it with the stallion.

The old pony stopped and turned on Dusty. “Put that gun away,” he commanded, narrowing his eyes and showing a rather daunting lack of fear.

“Ah won’t let you hurt her,” Dusty spat around his gun.

“I said put that gun away!” he repeated, leveling his rifle with Dusty. Moon pulled herself up to all fours and hobbled over to where the two ponies were having their standoff. The old stallion shot her a sideways glance. “Come any closer and I’ll shoot you,” he growled.

“You’re not going to shoot Willow,” Moon spoke firmly, taking a step closer.

The old pony made to turn her way, and for reasons unknown, Dusty chose that moment to shoot, his shot striking the weathered stallion square with a characteristic thwack. He stumbled and took the bit in his mouth, staggering around to try and get a bead on Dusty. The blue pegasus didn’t give him the chance. Dusty fired two more shots, each striking home, and with a hitch and a heave the old stallion crumpled to the floor.

Dusty dropped his gun. “Damn it!” he yelled. “Ah didn’t want to! Damn it! You made me do it!” He turned and propped his head against the wall, shoulders heaving.

Sunny cautiously approached the shot stallion. Blood trickled from three neat holes in a spot just below his heart and bubbled from his mouth and chest. “Celestia fuck me sideways.” He gurgled, or chuckled. Sunny couldn’t tell which. “Didn’t think he had it in him.”

Sunny could only watch as the old stallion closed his eyes. It was less than a moment before his breathing grew faint and a shudder wracked his body. A moment later he was still.

Sunny turned away. Somewhere in his heart, there was a sense of loss for the old pony, but strangely, no shock or horror. Ponies dying almost seemed to be becoming normal. It wasn’t that scary anymore.

What was happening to him? How could he watch a pony die and feel almost no remorse? It felt as if the old stallion had just disappeared, or left, but not died.

“Four,” Dusty murmured softly. His head thudded against the wall for a second time. “Damn it, that’s four.”

Sunny did his best not to think about the dead pony on the ground behind him. He trotted over to where Brick was still standing over Willow. The big brown pony looked up and nodded towards the white mare. Sunny sighed with relief when he found that he could see the gentle rise and fall of her flank.

“Did she take more of this stuff?” Moon gasped, levitating an empty syringe in front of her.

Brick just motioned towards the dresser.

Sunny followed Brick’s gaze and trotted over to the decorative dresser on the opposite wall. When he reached it, Sunny saw that atop it was a mouth-written note.

“Hey, look at this,” he called to the others. All of them except Brick came to his summons. “It’s a note,” he stated.

“What does it say?” Snowglobe asked.

Sunny looked down at the note. It was a little untidy; but he could still read it. Throwing a quick glance over the others, he cleared his throat and read it aloud.

“I am writing this letter because I do not know whether or not I will be able to tell you all later. I thought that I had cured the virus. I didn’t. The whole time, it was dormant inside me, held back but still there. The measures I took only isolated it, but it must have spread again, and recently too. So I made a choice. It was either end up like one of them, or take a chance with luck. I took a much higher dosage than I did in the square that day. If you are reading this note, I am either unconscious or dead. So I wanted you all to know that I tried to eliminate whatever it is inside me once and for all. But if what I did didn’t work, and I’m either dead, or haven’t woken up, I need you all to keep that medicine safe. it worked for me, for at least a short while. I did a little bit of paperwork digging before we left the hospital; whatever it was, it was shipped to us by accident when it was supposed to be heading to the REA. A special shipment for some pony named Striker. I think it’s important. You need to get it to ponies who know what they are doing. Maybe they can find something to do with it. I have high hopes that I will wake up soon with every muscle in my body hurting, but if I don’t, then I just wanted you all to know it was nice while it lasted.”

Sunny looked up from the note, his mouth dry after reading the paragraph, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. “...Signed, Willow,” he finished.

“So… what do we do?” Snowglobe finally asked.

Moon looked back at the still form of Willow. “Well, she definitely isn’t dead. So we wait a while to see if she gets better... and tie her up in the meantime.”

* * *

“Celestia, everything hurts,” Willow groaned. “I should really be used to this by now.”

Sunny turned his eyes to Willow; the white mare sat at the other end of the table, forehooves on the table and with her head on her forehooves. She looked absolutely miserable. Her blue eyes looked almost gray; the same went for her white coat, which had about as much luster as gray paste.

It had been three days since the whole incident upstairs, and nothing had really changed. The house was thiers now, he supposed. it seemed wrong to just... take it, but the owner was dead and it wasn’t as if the authorities were about to come knocking on the front door.

Willow took another bite of her freeze-dried mashed potatoes and swallowed with a pained grimace. The seven of them sat around the dining room table, eating what Sunny figured to be a late lunch. An awkward silence hung in the air, nopony feeling comfortable enough to speak. This was Willow’s first time down the stairs since she had injected herself and Sunny didn’t think she looked too good. Her normal white coat no longer shone, instead, looking more like a dull gray than white. The roots of her crimson mane had also managed to go gray in a very short time, leaving the first quarter inch of her mane a pink-gray color on contrast to the normally-brilliant crimson.

“I’ve heard ponies say something always hurts less the second time.” Willow chuckled dryly. “I don’t think so.” Her voice rasped, like a pony who’s been sick for a solid week.

“Are you feeling any better today?” Moon asked the sickly mare.

“I keep telling myself that I am,” Willow replied with a sigh. “Still... I suppose it’s better than being dead.” She trailed off, staring at her bowl of applesauce—one of the only foods she had been able to eat the previous day. “I think I killed it, and I think, I mean I know I killed it, because if I didn’t then I might as well have Dusty put a bullet in my head and cut me some of the pain.”

“Hey...” Dusty muttered, glancing up from his food. “That’s no jokin’ subject.”

Willow only flicked her ears. “It better work...”

Moon frowned. “I think that you managed to stall the rate of infection by isolating it first with immediate medical treatment. Are you sure that... blue stuff, really does anything at all? I mean, no offense, but blindly injecting it into your body isn’t a very good control test.”

Willow chuckled. “Moon, it wiped my immune system clean. If the virus survives while my immune system takes a digger… well then I guess I’m out of luck.” The white mare looked back at the faint traces of the wound on her back. It had healed up rather nicely and the flash didn’t look agitated anymore. “The bite wound looks a little promising. When it was fresh, the exposed flesh was... cauterizing. I can’t think of any other way to put it. This virus is smart. It takes over a pony, then builds up their body. The flesh around the wound, or at least, the exposed flesh, began to rot; at first I thought it would spread, but then it just stopped... But I think I know why now. That was its way of protecting my body. Think about it—dead flesh can’t bleed, a-and the rot itself doesn’t spread beyond what’s exposed!”

Dusty looked up from his food. “Ah lost my appetite...”

Willow flushed. “My bad.”

Dusty shrugged. “Well, Look, ah hate to bring somethin’ like this up now. But ah can’t let it go unspoken of much longer.” Silence spread as everypony fixed their attention on him. “Ah’ve just been thinkin’ it over. We can’t stay here. Ah’m guessin’ we walked no more’n a mile or two in that tunnel. That means we’re still somewhere in the city, and the city’s pretty messed up right now.”

Snowglobe nodded. “I had that idea nagging at my head. We don’t know at all where we are, other than a house with all the windows boarded up... somewhere. I was planning on asking that stallion before…” She stopped herself.

Dusty muttered something under his breath and continued. “Now, ah reckon we want to get out of the town. You know, considerin’ all the zombie ponies.”

“I kind of like that idea,” Sunny added.

Dusty gave him a brief nod. “Now, the nearest town is a ways away. But if we just sit here for too long we aren’t gonna have enough food to go anywhere.”

Blossom tapped her hoof on the table, drawing everypony’s attention. “Appleoosa is to the northwest. We came through there trying to get away from Canterlot. By the time we made it there, we were hearing from other ponies that Manehatten and Baltimare were in the same shape as Canterlot. But I don’t know whether or not those were just rumors. Either way, when we were passing through, the Appleoosa folks had already heard about the virus. They didn’t even want to let us in.”

Dusty pointed a triumphant hoof in the yellow mare’s direction. “Yes!” he exclaimed happily. “Appleoosa might still be there.” He frowned. “Shoot, but that’s a forever away from here.”

“Las Pegasus is closer,” Moon suggested.

Dusty shook his head. “No way. The bigger the city, the more dangerous it is. Las Pegasus has over a million ponies living there. If the virus did make it that far... that place is a death trap.”

“So far, I’m liking the Appleoosa idea the best,” Sunny said. “But you have a good point Dusty. How are we going to make it there?”

The blue pegasus scratched his mane with a forehoof, thinking. “There are a few smaller settlements between here and there. More or less, if there are, or aren’t ponies there, there should at least be some food and water. But Appleoosa’s too far away to make a straight shot for.”

“Water is a harder thing to come by in the Equestrian desert,” Snowglobe mulled. “It doesn’t rain much. Most of the rain clouds are flown over here by the weather pegasi. But I doubt that’s top priority now that there are zombie ponies everywhere.”

Dusty nodded. “Things are going to get dryer out here as time goes on without the normal imported rain. It don’t rain naturally too often.” He looked around at everypony. None of them seemed to have any objections. Dusty tapped his hooves together. “We may have to work out a plan as we go. But one thing’s for sure, we can’t stay here. This town is a timely death trap.”

“Agreed,” Willow croaked. “When do we leave?”

Moon raised an eyebrow, looking at the white mare. “You aren’t in any condition to be going anywhere soon.”

“Nonsense.” Willow waved her hoof at Moon. “Just because my entire body hurts you assume that I’m weak. I may get a little tipsy here and there but my muscles work fine. Besides, if I do decide to keel over, Brick can always carry me.” She prodded the large stallion beside her, who nodded.

Dusty looked around at all of them. “Ah don’t want to leave any later than tomorrow. The longer we stay here, the less food we have for the road.”

“Let me address an issue,” Snowglobe cut in. “Weapons. What’ve we got?”

“Ah’ve got about thirty rounds for Valediction,” Dusty replied.

Snowglobe frowned. “Valiwhat?”

“My gun.” Dusty motioned to the revolver strapped to his upper right foreleg.

“You named your gun?” Snowglobe asked, a smile breaking on her face as she tried to hide it with a forehoof.

“Yep, Valediction,” he replied simply.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunny asked, shooting a glance between Dusty and a silently giggling Snowglobe.

Dusty scoffed. “What do ah look like, a dictionary? You’ll find out if you really want to know. Ah’m not explainin’ it; it’ll ruin the meanin’.”

“Okay, back to guns.” Snowglobe broke in. “Moon, how many shells do you have for that shotgun?”

“Sixteen,” the blue mare replied.

Snowglobe turned to address Blossom. “Do you have any ammo for that gun of yours?” The yellow mare shook her head.

“How about that stallion’s battle saddle?” Willow asked. “It’s still sitting up there in my room. I can bet you anything he had more ammo for that thing lying around here somewhere.”

"Perfect!” Snowglobe exclaimed. “Brick, could you go get it?”

Brick leveled his gaze coolly with Snowglobe’s, but didn’t move. Willow cleared her throat and gave the brown earth pony a soft nudge. He spared her a small glance, then got to his hooves and set off down the hall.

“Why does he only listen to you?” Snowglobe grumbled, flicking a lock of purple mane out of her eyes.

“Because he’s Brick,” Willow replied cheekily.

“So who wants to wear the saddle?” Dusty asked. “There’s no way we can just take the gun off and leave such a great piece of equipment behind. Besides,” he added, “that rifle’s a unicorn gun.”

“What does that mean?” Willow asked him.

“Means that without a battle saddle, only unicorns can shoot it. Just like Moon’s shotgun. It doesn’t have a bit on it because the firin’ mechanism is made for a battle saddle or other firin’ device. A unicorn can shoot the gun manually because they got their magic stuff. But we earth ponies and pegasi need a battle saddle to shoot one of those.”

“I don’t want to wear one of those things,” Blossom said. “Too tight—constricting.”

“Same,” Dusty added. “Ah got my gun, an’ that’s all ah need.”

Snowglobe cast a glance at Willow, who shook her head. “My horn may not work; but I’m not much for guns.” Willow said. “And Brick’s out too because he has to carry the cases.”

Snowglobe looked over to Sunny. “Well?” she prodded. “You don’t have a gun.”

“I’ve never shot a gun before,” Sunny murmured sheepishly.

“Don’t worry,” Dusty reassured, “you get used to it real fast.”

Sunny glared. “Not very reassuring, Dusty.”

“What time is it?” Willow spat out, seemingly out of nowhere.

“I’m guessing evening-ish,” Snowglobe replied, looking at the slivers of horizontal light shining in through a slit in the boarded window.”

“Right.” Willow gave her head a quick shake. “If we are going to leave, it would be best to do so in the morning, so we have as much daylight as possible.”

“Agreed.” Dusty stood up from the table. “Sunny can try on the battle saddle in the morning.”

“Okay everypony.” Willow stood up with a grunt of pain. “Try to get some sleep. We’re getting up early tomorrow.” She put on a big, fake grin that could have scared a foal away from the world’s biggest cookie jar, then let it slide off her face. “Ugh...”

Everypony stood up from the table. Snowglobe stretched with a moan of satisfaction, her belly almost touching the ground. Sunny couldn’t help but blink. Not a groan of satisfaction; A moan.

“Enjoying yourself there?” Moon teased the gray unicorn.

Snowglobe raised herself back up to normal height and threw a sideways glance at Moon. “No, but I bet you are.”

Sunny covered the smirk on his face, watching Moon’s blue cheeks go a shade of purplish red. Willow seemed to get a pretty good kick out of the comment as well, because she was leaned up against the wall, cackling breathlessly.

“Oh shut up!” Moon hissed, rolling her eyes. “I don’t swing that way.”

“Ah can’t wait until ah can fly again,” Dusty said, experimentally flapping his wings. “It feels like it’s been ages.”

Sunny deadpanned at the pegasus “Rub it in why don’t you.” He rolled his eyes away from Dusty, then threw a quick glance over the others. “So is that our plan then? Go outside, get out of town, try not to die, and get to Appleoosa?”

Willow nodded. “Sounds about right, but you forgot the part where something goes wrong and Willow ends up having something stupid happen to her.” She chuckled dryly. “Well, night everypony. I’m gonna have Brick bring the saddle down, then we’re both going to bed.” Willow set off for the hall.

Sunny looked around at everypony else. Moon caught his attention, her eyes gleaming mischievously.

He would sleep on the floor before he’d share a bed with a mare with that sort of look in their eyes.

* * *

Sunny squirmed as Snowglobe fitted the saddle to him, binding the straps tight against his belly. He winced as the gray mare gave one of the straps a hearty tug and flared his wings, fanning the air. “Take it easy. A pegasus still needs to breathe, you know.”

Snowglobe just chuckled. “If you’re going to be shooting a gun from it then it needs to be tight. Otherwise it’ll move and throw your aim off.”

“Don’t worry, Sunny,” Moon chided, examining the battle saddle. “You look good in black; it matches your mane.”

He looked back at the saddle and had to silently agree. Just like the bags from the hospital, it matched his mane pretty well. Why did he keep ending up with the black barding? He rubbed a sore spot on his flank with a forehoof. Moon had insisted on sleeping on him last night. Literally on him, despite his protests, the persistent mare had prevailed, earning herself a pony-sized pillow.

He’d hardly slept a wink, fighting off shivers and the occasional burst of panic. Honestly, the last thing he wanted to see right about now was the blue mare’s face.

Sunny heard the squeal of a nails as Brick pulled another board from the front door. Sunny no longer had to wear his can-filled bags. Snowglobe was now wearing his old barding over her utility harness. Both her and Blossom had split his load between them, Blossom filling her own bags. He guessed that the old stallion in this house had been in some real trouble when they arrived—there had been hardly any food left in the pantry when they had searched it, more or less, maybe enough for a single pony to last a week. Snowglobe had found a few boxes of rifle ammo in the stallion’s room. They were now safely tucked away in the side pocket of the battle saddle.

He looked around at everypony else in the room. They were all suited up and ready. Moon’s shotgun was strapped to her side. The night before she had sewn a series of fabric loops on the outside pocket of her bag, then filled the loops with shotgun shells for easier accessibility. Also, everypony was equipped with a jug of water, filled earlier this morning.

Safe water, from a tank in the cellar.

“Could you remind me of how this thing works?” he asked Snowglobe.

The gray mare nodded, looking him over to make sure the saddle was done up right. “So, on the bit that sits right below your mouth, is a firing mechanism. To shoot the gun, just take the bit in your mouth and bite down on the trigger. Now the bit itself has a small circle of free movement to provide more flexibility when firing. There’s a little lever on the bit as well, that’s the safety. It’s meant to be flipped by a pony’s tongue. If you aren’t shooting something, it’s on. Got it?” She gave him a stern look. Sunny nodded and the mare continued. “With the firing mechanism right in front of your mouth it would be really easy to shoot one of us by accident. But, other than that, it’s basically just point and bite. Aim your body the way you want the bullet to go. Since the rifle is mounted on your back, you should have a pretty good idea of where the bullet’s going to go. Rifle holds six shots. You can reload by yourself, but it would be a lot easier to have me or Moon do it for you. And that’s it really.”

Sunny nodded and experimentally took the bit in his mouth. Now that Snowglobe had pointed it out, he could feel the safety catch on his tongue.

Brick gave a heave and the last board came free from the front door.

Dusty trotted over and turned to face them. “Everypony ready?” He asked.

Sunny’s heart was racing. He had no idea of what they would face when Dusty opened that door. Hopefully not a bunch of zombies.

Willow shifted her stance nervously, looking around at the rest of them. One thing was for sure—this wasn’t going to be a picnic.

Dusty gulped, and opened the door.

Comments

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

Do not fear ponies! Heavy will mow down puny zombies like Red team with his trusty mini-gun

[Monochromation]

One thing, my friend. Some earth ponies and pegasi (I'm assuming that your fair characters do not have this ability, but I felt like pointing this out) have the ability to hold things in a single hoof, using their magical reserve, for, as you may know, all ponies, of all breeds, have some magical abilities.

[Lucario247]

I honestly found this chapter somewhat boring, except for that cute scene with sunny and moon.

Damn it sunny! Just let her luv u! Ull regret it later if u don't.
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/creepypasta/images/9/9a/Fap-now-kiss-l.png

[Desert Storm]

sunny and moon...
KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!

[FishyPony64]

I neared the end of this chapter and told myself I would play Fallout New Vegas after I finished, then DAT ENDING, and Fallout just gained more dust.

[Moak]

663342
Ignoring the fact that your comment was posted about 39 weeks ago. He did write that into the story.
At one point when it's following Willow. I believe when she was gathering medical supplies in the hospital it mentioned the small amount of magic that earth ponies and pegasi are able to use within their hooves to help grab things.

[verypeeved]

man, moon is a asshole