Ten Years Later

by MrAlbum321

3: The Undead Horror

Chapter 3: The Undead Horror

"Where exactly do you need to go?" Scootaloo asked Butterscotch.

"Over there," Butterscotch said. She pointed her hoof towards the library. "But we gotta stay clear o' them, or else we're de'd."

"Gotcha," Scootaloo responded. "What do 'they' look like, anyway?"

Look down, Ruby thought.

Scootaloo shivered as Ruby's thought went through her mind. I'll never get used to that, she thought. She looked down.

She saw several ponies wearing long and concealing cloaks down on Mane Street, which the library was on. They all turned to look at Scootaloo as she flew overhead.

None of them can fly, so we are safe up here, Ruby thought. We will have to face them when we land.

Great, Scootaloo thought. Exactly what we need. Anything else I should know before I go hoof-to-hoof with them?

... No, Ruby thought.

The cloaked ponies below followed Scootaloo to the library. When Scootaloo landed, the ponies had formed a line between her and the library. Butterscotch squirmed in Scootaloo's backpack.

"Hold your horses and stay in there!" Scootaloo said to Butterscotch. "We're gonna have-"

It's too late, Ruby thought. They already did it. They were quicker than I thought.

Wait, so what do we-

Scootaloo's thoughts were interrupted when Butterscotch sprang from Scootaloo's backpack, grabbed Scootaloo's scooter, and dashed away from the library.

"Butterscotch, wait! Where-"

"JUST GO!" Butterscotch yelled. Half of the ponies in front of the library chased after Butterscotch. "SAVE YOUR FRIENDS! IT'S THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO NOW!"

Scootaloo didn't know what to do. I should go save her, she thought. But-

The remaining ponies in front of the library formed a ring around Scootaloo, forcing her to forget the idea of going after Butterscotch. In unison, the other ponies threw off the cloaks they had been wearing, revealing the state of their semi-rotting bodies. Scootaloo almost threw up.

Zombie ponies! Scootaloo thought. What in all of Princess Celestia's manes is f***ing going on here?!

The coats of the ponies looked to be in various stages of decay. Scootaloo then noticed the loud buzzing of the flies, which made her stomach more sick. In the spaces where the coats had fallen apart, there looked to be empty space. The eyes were gone, replaced by hollow sockets that showed no substance within the head.

One particular pony was somehow familiar to Scootaloo. It had a dirty yellow coat, a ratty red mane and a fraying, half-undone red ribbon in its hair. Scootaloo couldn't figure out why that pony tugged at her memory, when she suddenly remembered her long-time friend that she didn't say goodbye to.

"APPLEBLOOM?!"

The zombie ponies charged Scootaloo. She took off into the air, only to get pulled down into the resulting fray. Scootaloo's vision became a blurred mass of hooves and teeth as the zombie ponies kicked and bit at her body.

Scootaloo acted without thought; if a hoof came at her, she kicked back. If a mouth chomped her flank, she broke its jawbone. Her vision blurred further as she twirled, faster and faster. There were no words in her mind; she just saw a need, and her body responded. She whirled, the Dervishite dance becoming a hurricane of parry/riposte. Within a minute, she halted herself, her body covered with bruises and bleeding cuts. But her attackers were scattered around her, their heads caved in, their legs crippled, their mouths smashed open, silent, unmoving.

"Wha... what just...." Scootaloo muttered, dazed at what just happened. Something told her to check her flank. She turned to look, and couldn't believe her eyes.

She had a mark on her flank that wasn't a bruise or a wound. It was a picture of an armored horse, its front hooves in the air as part of a battle stance.

"A... a cutie mark?!" Scootaloo said. A feeling of inexplicable joy came over her. She leaped and pirouetted around the clearing, whooping a cheerful cry into the air.

"I'm good at fighting!" Scootaloo shouted, happier than she ever felt before. Then she remembered Applebloom. She looked around, hoping to find that one pony undamaged. But it was too late.

Scootaloo came to the body of Applebloom. Her hooves trembled as she picked up a piece of Applebloom's red ribbon, the other shreds of it scattered around the clearing with the remains of the other zombie ponies. She touched Applebloom's head, and let out a howl of rage.

"NO! No, nononono, I didn't, I, no, I just, no, no, no!" Scootaloo bellowed. She let her anger out on a nearby signpost, her kicks demolishing the structure into a bunch of wood shavings. "No... no...." she muttered as she sank against the stump of the former sign, and she began to cry.

"It's always my fault. I wasn't good enough to save Sweetie Belle from that coma, and now I've killed Applebloom!" she wailed. She continued to sob for a minute.

Then she remembered the other zombie ponies. Her eyes narrowed, her emotions now given a deadly focus. She got up, went to the nearby library, and smashed the door to pieces.

She almost threw up again at what she saw inside. There, in front of her, hovering in the air, was Princess Celestia. Her eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. She was surrounded by a blood-red glow that encompassed both the Princess and a bed in the middle of the room. On that bed, a pony familiar to Scootaloo also lay asleep: Sweetie Belle. But this was not what caused Scootaloo to nearly up-chuck: what upset her groin was a mutilated black alicorn in a giant tub of blood. The blood-red glow emanated from the almost-unrecognizable corpse.

Scootaloo went to the tub full of flesh and blood. "Whoever you are, you deserved better," she muttered. She hung her head in silence, then ran to Sweetie Belle on the bed. Something invisible smacked her head hard, throwing her to the floor. Scootaloo got back up, her vision groggy, and tried to get to Sweetie Belle again. She hit the invisible barrier again, which Scootaloo kicked as hard as she could. It did not budge. Scootaloo pounded on the barrier, trying to find some opening to get to Sweetie Belle's side.

"Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle, wake up!" Scootaloo shouted. "Wake up, please! You gotta wake up!"

Sweetie Belle moaned, but didn't open her eyes. Some unseen magic lifted Sweetie Belle into the air. Scootaloo felt helpless as Sweetie Belle floated above Princess Celestia, with her eyes still closed in slumber.

"SWEETIE BELLE!" Scootaloo screamed. "WAKE UP!"

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes. She looked around, at herself covered in the blood-red light, at Scootaloo's worried face, at Princess Celestia in the enchanted sleep below her. She panicked, and flailed her hooves around. Scootaloo thought she could hear Sweetie Belle shout something, but the barrier of blood red contained the sound. The magic still held Sweetie Belle firm in the middle of the air.

Sweetie Belle heard a chant from... somewhere. Something about that chant... it felt... ancient, soothing, like the gruff voice of a well-meaning grandfather or the raspy tones of a loving grandmother. It chanted some strange language that captivated her. She wanted to know the language, to learn the chant. She closed her eyes again and tried to sing along. She forgot about her position and what she just saw; all she could think of was the chant.

Scootaloo panicked again. She flew up next to Sweetie Belle and kicked the blood-red barrier. Sweetie Belle didn't respond as the light held firm. Scootaloo continued to attack the shield, trying to elicit some kind of reaction to her presence but getting none. Scootaloo slid back to the floor, slumping on the wooden planks, despair etched on her face.

"I... I really am too late," Scootaloo said. "This has gotta be that ritual Ruby mentioned. I... I failed-"

Scootaloo remembered Princess Celestia, still asleep. Scootaloo flew up to the Princess' eye level. "Please, Princess! Wake up, wake up! We need you NOW!"