The Spread

by Radioactive Cheese

Chapter 5: The road to Canterlot (Rainbow Dash)

As I closed the latch, I saw tons of zombies all over Rarity, Applejack, and Big Mac. After I closed the latch, I walked ahead of everyone to take the lead. As of right now, I am our leader. We walked a few steps until we heard the door open. Down came Rarity and Applejack, but not Big Mac. AJ closed the latch and made sure it was locked. "Where is he?" I asked. "Where's Big Mac?" Applejack looked don with sorrow. When she moved her head back up, here were tears in her eyes.

"Gone." she replied. "They got him." She turned to her sister. "Ah'm sorry Apple Bloom. There was nothin' we could do to save him." Applejack went forward to go and comfort her little sister after what she just heard. Rarity got in front of me and resumed her position as leader.

The tunnel was dark and smelled of manure. As we continued walking, I saw something dangling out of her saddle bag. It looked like a piece of clothing. "Of course. She was more worried about saving her work than she was Big Mac."I thought to myself.

"Psst." I heard a whisper in my ear. I looked and saw that it was Pinkie.

"What do you want Pinkie?" I whispered back.

"Is it okay that I stay next to you for comfort? I'm actually really scared right now."

I stopped dead I my tracks, thinking. Because of this, me and Pinkie were all the way in the back. I finally looked her in the eye and said, "Sure you can. You're one of my best friends after al/ I don't know what I'd do without you?" Pinkie got really close to me as we walked. I could tell that she was terrified. I don't want to make her sad, so I let her stay as close as she seemed fit.

"We're here" Rarity said. She opened the door that led to the outside. It was nice to finally have some fresh air again, in a way. "Canterlot is that way. Just stay close to me and we should be fine." We followed her and didn't bother questioning her. The faster we get to Canterlot, the better.

It's been 5 hours and not a single zombie. Pinkie has stayed right next to this whole time. "How much longer, Rarity? You told us that we were taking a shortcut." Rarity looked at me.

"Just a few more minutes Rainbow Dash. Be patient. Why don't you talk to Pinkie Pie to kill some time?" I sighed and looked at Pinkie. She gave a weak smile to me.

"Alright Pinkie, what do you wanna talk about?"

Pinkie Pie just looked at me with sad, but serious eyes. "Shoot me."

"Wh-What?"

"You heard me. I want you to shoot me."

I just stopped walking and looked at her in awe. "What do you mean? Don't you want to survive? I mean, I know things haven't been good recently, but that doesn't mean it's too late. We're going to find a cu-" Before I finished, Pinkie pulled up her mane, revealing bite marks on her neck.

"Hey! What's holding you two back there?" asked the Doctor.

"Nothing! Just some girl talk!" I replied. I looked back at Pinkie. "How long? How long have you been infected?"

Pinkie didn't even hesitate, "5 hours. I only have a few minutes left until the exact time. 2 minutes to be exact. Please Dashie, shoot me now. I don't want to turn into one of those monsters. As my final wish, please shoot me now." I went through my saddle bag and pulled out my gun. I only had 1 bullet left. I aimed the weapon at her, but didn't have the guts to pull the trigger. I dropped my weapon to the ground.

"No, I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna shoot you. Not my best friend. I mean... what if you're actually immune? We don't have to go to Canterlot to get the cure. We can just extract it from you right here. Hold o a sec., I might have a syringe in my bag." I heard Pinkie pick up the gun. I turned to her. "No Pinkie, don't do it! Don't pull the trigger!"

As she had the gun at her head, she said her last words to me. "Good-bye Dashie. When you're struggling to survive and you've given up on hope, just remember me. I'll always be with you, no matter what happens." She tightened her grip on the trigger.

"Pinkie, please." I suddenly came to realization that it's been 2 minutes. "Wait! Pinkie, your 2 minutes are up. You haven't turned."

Pinkie Pie gave a weak smile. "Look again." She pointed to one of her eyes. It was completely white. "I'm holding it back, just to say good-bye. This is the end of the road for me, Rainbow Dash. If you find Twilight, tell her that her cupcakes were ready 3 months ago." Her grip on the trigger was even tighter than before now. "Take care, Dashie." There was a loud bang and a flash of light as blood splattered all over the dirt road. I just sat there, next to her still body.

"Take care... old pal." I turned around and ran to meet up with the others. I left my gun in Pinkie's hoof. I thought it could resemble my flowers for her.

"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Apple Bloom asked.

"She's gone kiddo." I replied. "She had been bitten. I'm sorry."

Apple Bloom grew furious, "First mah granny, then mah brother, and now mah cousin?!?! Why is it me that's sufferin' and nopony else?"

"You call this suffering?" I asked. "Look here, squirt. You're alive, aren't you? Doesn't that count for something? As long as you're alive and have somepony to call family, you shouldn't complain." Those were my word of wisdom to her. Didn't think they'd be coming out of my mouth.

"Yeah, I guess yer right. Sorry fer not controllin' my anger."

I couldn't help but smile. "Hey, it's okay. We're all in this together, and it's almost over. Once we get to Canterlot, everything should be okay."

We made it to Canterlot, and boy is it quiet. There are few zombies around, so we were able to avoid them easily. When we got to the castle, we were surprised to see that there was nothing protecting it. We entered and it was completely deserted. "Let's split up into groups." I suggested. "We could cover more ground and find any survivors faster." Everyone nodded in agreement and split up. I got paired up with Scootaloo and Rarity. As we moved, we examined our surroundings. The walls were chiseled, carpet torn apart, and flags ruined. "Must have been a large outbreak here?" I stated.

Rarity looked at me and replied, "It would seem so. I doubt we'll find anyone here, but we should keep looking just in case." It was silent for a moment as we searched until I heard a voice off in the distance.

"Rarity, Rainbow Dash? Is that really you?" We all looked in the direction the voice came from. Let me tell you that I completely recognized that voice.

"T-Twilight?" I couldn't believe my eyes. We actually found her. We all thought she was dead, but here she is. Twilight survived!

"Twilight, thank goodness we found you." said Rarity. "Tell me, do you know where Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are?"

Twiight responded, "Yeah, I do. They went to the Crystal Empire for extra protection. Apparently, due to the crystal heart, no zombies can get in. But, enough of that, I'm just glad to see you guys. It's been so lonely with just me and Spike struggling to survive."

I looked at Twilight with a puzzled face. "Tell me, why can't you use your magic, or better yet, your wings, to get there?"

Twilight sighed and showed us one of her wings. It was bandaged and covered in blood. She then pointed her hoof towards her horn. I didn't think it was possible, but her horn was cracked. From what I've heard, a cracked horn prevents a unicorn from doing magic. "Well, are there any other survivors here?" I asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Other than Spike, I'm afraid not. But, since you guys are here, you can maybe help us get to the Crystal Empire?"

Rarity looked at me, then back to Twilight. "We'll have to get the others first."

Twilight gasped, "You mean there are more than just you three? How many more?"

"Four more. It's not much, but it's enough to survive."

"I'll go get them." I said. "Scootaloo, you stay here with Rarity and Twilight."

"Got it." she responded.