Starlight

by Nickel Alloy

Day 18

We found Apple Bloom first. Then Colgate turned up, and Derpy. Last week three ponies went missing: Roseluck, Neon Lights, and Cheerilee. They turned up two days ago. Every one of the ponies that was snatched was found without eyes, and their heart appeared to have been ripped out. Those who were pegasi were missing their wings. We don't know what took them. Yesterday Vinyl and Octavia went into the woods to search. They didn't come out.

I'd hoped this would never happen, but I had to take whoever would come into the underground bunker below the town hall. Not many came. Spike and I are down here. The Cakes and their children are here, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came, Lyra and Bon Bon came, along with about two dozen other ponies. We try to get new recruits every day, but it mostly fails. When it does, we steal food and magic books from the newly constructed library. We also scour the town hall for anything that could help us. Not a lot has been found, but what Rainbow Dash got one time was a battered Alicorn Amulet and a branch from the Tree of Harmony.

"Twilight!" Applejack's yell wakes me up from my reverie. "We found Vinyl and Octavia." I'm pretty darn sure they're dead, but I go up anyway. It's a two story bunker, something really rare. But it's designed to hold most of the town, so it's big. When I get to the top I see Lyra and Doctor Hooves dragging in two bloody ponies. I immediately see that Vinyl's dead; her torso is a ravaged mess and her face is covered in blood. But Octavia's a different story. Her body is covered in gashes, but only one of her eyes is missing and there's no telltale hole in her chest. Plus, she's breathing. We bring her into the small infirmary and lay her down on a cot. Doctor Phoebus Horse and Nurse Four Leaf Clover, the only two medical personnel we've got, immediately start to examine her. I'm pretty squeamish, so I retreat into the part of the bunker where we keep the books, downstairs in what used to be a supply room.

Four hours later, Fluttershy retrieves me to go visit Octavia. From this, I gather that she's still alive. I walk into the infirmary and sit down, watching her. She's been cleaned up well, and her missing eye is bandaged along with treatments on most of the rest of her body. She stirs, and I lean over her.

"Vinyl?" she whispers, her good eye still closed. "Vinyl?"

I shut my eyes, dreading what I have to say. "Octavia...she's gone. I'm sorry."

Octavia shakes her head. "No. No. She's not gone." Her voice is quiet and forced, but I can hear the anguish.

"Octavia, she didn't make it. What attacked you?"

"Ah- I..."

"What attacked you?!" I say louder. My harshness surprises me. But I have to push, I have to.

She shakes her head again, squeezing her eye shut.

"What was it?" I yell. "What's been taking my friends?"

Octavia gasps, and a hoof touches my shoulder. "Stop it," says a voice.

I whip around to see Doctor Hooves. His eyes are soft, but his jaw is set. "Stop it," he repeats. "She can't take any more."

"But..but I need to know," I whisper. "My friends are dying and she's the only survivor. She knows! She knows! I have to know too so I can stop this!" My voice rises, but I can't stop it. Beside me, Octavia has fallen into unconsciousness.

"Her mind isn't ready," he says sternly.

"But what do you..." My eyes dart through the air as I try to grasp what he's saying. "Oh."

Hooves nods. "She's under a spell."

"Under a- a spell. A memory undoing spell. She's not in a good enough condition to do a surgery on it...whatever attacked her must have magic. And that means it could be a- a pony." My brain whirrs. I can almost see Hooves's doing the same.

"How about researching memory spells?" Hooves says gently. I can see he's trying to comfort me. "You can figure out what kind of creatures have that capability."

I nod, swallowing. "Good idea." I start to retreat back to the library when I hear sounds coming from a small closet. They sound like crying. I open the door and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo fall out. Their eyes are swollen.

"What happened?" I ask. I think I know the answer.

"This all happened!" Sweetie Belle yells. "These- these things attacked us and killed Apple Bloom!" Next to her, Scootaloo continues to sob. My heart cracks.

"Why don't you visit Fluttershy," I say, trying to think of something to appease their grief. Scootaloo stumbles off, but Sweetie Belle stays.

"Twilight," she begins, but then stops. She almost appears to be hiding inside herself, like she's trying to shield her own body from the world. "Twilight, to tell you the truth...Scootaloo had a bit of a crush on Apple Bloom. I think it was mutual. And Scootaloo never got to tell her."

I blink. Scootaloo...and Apple Bloom? But it is horrible. Especially since Apple Bloom was the first to die. I sigh, my eyes dried out from holding back tears. "Thanks, Sweetie Belle. How about you join Fluttershy?"

She obliges and wanders away. I run to the library and hide myself under blankets with a journal, where I really start to cry. I write down a file of the scientific parts of this. Like how being underground interferes with magic, making it almost nonexistent. And how the earth ponies are the strongest diggers, since they use their legs the most. But my scientific accounts aren't enough to keep me happy, and I cry myself to sleep instead.

I'm woken up by Spike. He notices my red eyes, face grim, but says nothing about them. Instead, he tells me that Rainbow Dash is gathering ponies in the upper room for an announcement and that she needs me there. When I go up, she pulls me in front of the ponies and speaks in a clear voice.

"Okay, ponies, this has been a rough week. I'm hoping that this will, if not make you happy, then at least keep you busy. My proposal is to expand the bunker." I hear some sharp intakes of breath, and I'm also surprised. We don't have unicorn magic, not really, and digging more would take weeks. Rainbow Dash sighs. "Okay, yeah, you're thinking I'm crazy. But don't you remember we have a princess and the alicorn amulet, plus a team of strong diggers?" Applejack cheers feebly, the sound echoing.

I frown. "Even with my magic and the amulet combined, it would still sap me of a lot of energy."

"Yeah, but that's almost the point. We don't have any other plans and we'll go crazy without anything to do. This brings me to my second proposal: jobs!"

"Jobs?" Lyra calls out. "Like every pony's assigned something to do daily?"

"Pretty much," Rainbow says. "Fluttershy, you could be a therapist, since so many ponies are dealing with loss." I expect Fluttershy to hide behind her mane, but instead she salutes. These attacks have hardened all of us. "Doctor Horse should be head of medical. Doctor Hooves should work on technology. Applejack and a team can work on food collection. Stuff like that."

Ponies are brightening. This gives them a purpose. I nod and step up in front of Rainbow. "Yes. Find a job that you want that would be useful." I decide to amp up my authority. "Rainbow Dash is in charge of recon missions. Anyone interested, find her. Go to Applejack for food collection. Doctor Hooves for technology. Doctor Horse for medical. And..."..searching for a good enough pony...."...Mrs. Cake for distribution of needs such as water or bedding." There, that should do it.

Everypony disperses and heads to the different team leaders, or to the library, or to other places I don't know where. Rainbow walks up to me. "Twilight. If you're going to use the Alicorn Amulet for construction, you better start now. We don't know how long this is going to take."

I sigh. Ever since I got everyone into the bunker I've been seen as the leader. A princess. But really, I'm just a pony like everyone else, and I have to do my part if we're all going to survive. I start towards the library, where I've put the artifacts, when Spike runs up to me, short of breath. As I watch he belches out more flames, and at least three scrolls with it.

"Twilight," he pants. "I'm getting reports from all over Equestria. The attacks...they're happening everywhere. Canterlot especially, and fewer towards the country. Appleloosa, for example, has only lost a few ponies, and the rest have holed themselves up in a bunker not unlike this one. And Twilight...."

I wait for the news, holding my breath. This can't be good.

"Celestia is missing."

Author's Note:

Yay, a zombie thriller.
This is actually really fun to write. And any feedback is appreciated.