Friendship is Infectious

by Brony-327

Chapter 6 Despair

Chapter 6
Despair

She had been flying for hours. Her wings burned, every muscle screamed for rest and relief. But Rainbow Dash ignored the pain and pushed forward with all her might, focusing her agony and using it to fuel her determination to reach Canterlot. “Gotta make it...” She gasped. “Must warn the princess...she’ll...what to do...”

As she crested another ridge she finally saw the shining walls and looming towers of Canterlot. Hope sprung to life like a fire in her chest and she surged forward. But as she drew nearer that spark of hope faded out of its brief existence as she saw the smoke rising from the city.

She landed in front of the main entrance and saw that both gates had been torn off their hinges. “What did this?” she wondered.

As Dash wandered through the empty city there was no sound, save the eerie whisperings of the wind as it rushed unimpeded down the narrow corridors of buildings.

She made her way towards the palace itself. If there were any survivors in the city, they would most likely be there, she told herself.

Creeping into the throne room she was almost bowled over by the solid wall of stench. There was blood everywhere, and whatever survivors had been here were strewn all over the walls and floor. Bile rose in Dash’s mouth and she ran back outside, where she retched for several minutes.

She didn’t want to spend another second in this horrible city, but the sun was nearing the horizon, and screeching cries from the middle of the city told her that there were still some of those things in Canterlot.

“They must come out at night...” Dash realized. She needed to find shelter, and soon.
She slipped stealthily back down the abandoned streets, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hole up for the night.

Dash was about to give up hope and attempt the long flight back to Ponyville when she spotted the Canterlot theater. She noticed with a feeling of irony the Now Showing film was called Invasion of the Pony Snatchers. It looked as good a place as any. Quickly trotting up to the door she tried the handle. It turned easily, allowing her entrance into the darkened cinema.

It looked empty. All the front windows were boarded up, and the thin beams of light drifting through the cracks illuminated the candy packets and empty paper cups that were strewn all over the maroon patterned carpet. Dash had time to take in all of this in a brief instant before something collided with her temple. Stars exploded in her vision, and the world around her faded to black.
*****

Dash awoke with ringing in her ears and a splitting pain. She put her hoof to her head and felt something warm and sticky. She pulled her hoof away and saw it stained red with blood. It was a small cut, and would heal in a couple days. But more importantly, who had hit her in the first place?

She looked up at the two figures standing over her. It was hard to be sure in the dim light, but one of them looked like he was wearing a Wonderbolt uniform. The other figure was a earth mare by her stature. She advanced menacingly towards Rainbow Dash, the broken neck of a cello grasped in her hooves.

“Have you been bitten?” She growled in a low hushed tone.

“Huh?” Dash was still dazed and was having trouble understanding the question.

The blue pegasus tried to intervene, coming between Dash and the rearing earth mare. “Tavi, relax. She’s cool. I know her. C’mon, just put the weapon down...”

“You do not know that Soarin. She could be turning. You witnessed what happened to Spitfire. She refused to be careful, and now she is deceased. Do you wish to join her?” The pegasus stallion said nothing, merely stepping back into a corner of the room.

The grey mare returned her gaze to Rainbow Dash. “I am not going to ask you again, mare. if you refuse to answer I am going to bash your head in. Now, have you been bitten?” Dash shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

“Nope, I’m clean. You can check. I got out of Cloudsdale without a scratch and flew here. I was hoping to get help from the princess. But you are the first two ponies I’ve seen since I left.”

The gray mare approached warily and gave Dash a quick once-over. “She appears to be clean.” Dash heard an sigh of relief from the blue stallion.
A few seconds later a dim lamp had been switched on, lighting the room and casting sharp shadows on the walls. Rainbow let out a gasp as she recognized the pegasus.

“Soarin? What are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you Dash, surviving.” Dash’s head was in a whirl.

“But, you guys were supposed to be at Cloudsdale. I was joining your team, remember?” There was a snort from the grey mare.

“...More important matters now...” she muttered.

Soarin shushed her. “We were. But when we saw what was going on with the ponies in Cloudsdale we had the same idea as you did. Only half of us made it here. the rest were killed or bitten. Finally it was just me and Spitfire. We were looking for somewhere to hole up when we came across a small filly. Poor girl. Whole family had been killed, and she had been bitten. I knew we couldn’t afford to bring her with us, but Spitfire was insistent. I know I should have argued the point more, but Spitfire’s always been persuasive. There was nothing I could do to save her, the little filly turned on us to fast. I would have been killed too if not for Octavia here...”

He gestured to the mare, who was still clutching the broken neck of her shattered instrument. “Since then we’ve been hiding here, waiting for everything to blow over for these things to go away-”

“They are not going to go away.” Said Octavia. “Who are we trying to fool? These unsightly creatures feed off of the living, so as long as there are any of us left alive, they will hunt us. Hunt us to extinction. There is nothing we can do to prolong the inevitable. we are all going to die. We are already dead! We are...”

Octavia broke off into quiet sobs. Soarin walked over and put a hoof around the earth mare. “Now now, Tavi. We’ll make it outta here. We can’t be the only ponies left alive. Dash, you got any suggestions?”
Dash thought for a moment.

“We need to go back to Ponyville. I know it’s dangerous, but I need to know if my friends are still alive. I’ve already lost one friend today, I’m not losing the rest of them too.” Soarin nodded.

“No reason to stick around here any longer anyways. Those monsters have been going by every few minutes now. It’s not long ‘til they find us here.”

Octavia gulped and sniffed, but regained her composure and nodded. “Very well. What is the plan for getting out of this accursed city?” Dash grinned.

“Same plan I always use... we’ll improvise.”

Comments

[SparklingGrapeCider]

God I have an unhealthy addiction with this fic.

[Brony-327]

581645 That means my evil plan is working! :)
But in all seriousness, I'm glad you're enjoying it.