Prologue

"Lunar Battlement Unum! Advance to the riverbanks!"

"Solar Air Patrol Duodecim! Cover them from the air! Griffon Advancement on your exposed left fore!"

"Chaos Troops Quinquaginta and Novem! Get in front and split the enemy troops into small groups!"

Celestia turned away from the troops, watching her sister take her place as commander. "Discord, we're fighting a losing battle..."

"It's not over!" He yelled back, teeth bared. His tone lowered as he surveyed the battlefield. "We still have the Chemicals..."

"We said we wouldn't use them..." The Solar Princess hissed.

"We. Have. No. Choice." Discord growled, turning and breaking another wave of lightning over the enemy lines. "You said it yourself. We're losing."

"Sister! The Griffon Air Squad has attacked our troops! I need help!"

"Coming!" Celestia yelled back, before turning to the spirit. "Not now."

"Well then, Celestia..." He crossed his arms, leaning back and snapping another wave of thunder, "...you just try to hold on."

She looked at him, holding the soft glare, half-saddened and half-disgusted, and turned around, flying up beside her sister. "Philomena! Take out the left side!"

The phoenix darted down from the clouds, lighting her feathers with the solar energy she had absorbed. Her dive lit the sky in shining flame, and screams of tens of Griffons and ponies alike filled the air.

"Solar Air Patrol Duodecim! Fill the airspace over Philomena!"

"Quick! Lunar Battlement Unum! Fill the space!"

"Chaos Troop Quinquaginta! Protect the left flank! Novem, take the right!"

*****

Canterlot still managed to bustle with activity, filled with ponies living their daily lives.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot! With a dozen cupcakes, you get a coupon for ten bits off on your next purchase! Here you go," the pony leaned over the counter and handed the waiting Unicorn a pastel pamphlet. "You're welcome!"

I frowned at Lemon Mane's extreme antics. "Lemon, that deal ended last week."

She turned around, eyes growing wide as she stuck out her lower lip. "But Miss... all the extra papers were taking up space..."

"Then you throw them in the furnace. Celestia knows how much this place costs to heat anyway." I glared for a few more moments before sighing. "Fine. Hand them out."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Dusk Breeze!" She flung herself forward, her pale yellow hooves wrapping around my neck in a hug.

I blew a strand of her neon yellow mane out of my face. "Lemon, what have I told you about the hugging?"

"Oh, sorry Miss, I forgot."

"You always do." I muttered. "New customer coming in. I'll be in the kitchen."

The cheery 'Welcome to The Sugar Stable!' that Lemon was so happy to give out faded from my hearing as I shoved the double doors open. A tall stallion was shouting orders from the counter next to Lemon's, the small notes flying through the drop chute.

"Stir Crazy!" I yelled into the din. "How're the supplies dealing?"

A young mare, only in her twenties from her application, trotted up, her red mane pulled back in an elastic. "We're starting to run low on icing sugar and the daffodil petals are starting to dwindle..."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Anything that's not from the Griffon Republic?"

"Everything's peachy keen that comes from here." She replied.

"At least we get good business from the ponies that come to drown their sorrows in sugar..."

"There's a silver lining on everything, Miss." Stir beamed.

I raised a hoof to my temples. "How's Brownie holding up?"

"Well, I don't mean to gossip..." Stir glanced around before leaning into my ear. "...but rumor is that she's been working down at Hoofer's to keep her income high."

"A pretty, intelligent mare like her working in a place like that?" I frowned. "Who did you hear this from?"

I looked around for the energetic employee, but she had vanished into the steam of the deep-fryers. With a quiet snort, I trotted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

*****

"Sweetie, you look frazzled."

"Not in the mood, Sugar."

My sister glared from the kitchen, candy floss mane falling over her eyes. "Well, suh-ree! Trying to be nice!"

"You're not helping. I need an aspirin."

"I told you that you should invest in a new building. This one's too small, and you know it. The tiny space is too loud for you, and-"

'Stop telling me what to do!" I yelled, gritting my teeth. "The only reason you have a roof over your head is because I have a family tie! You're not my mom!"

"Oh, you did not just go there." Sugar Petals hissed, trotting out of the doorway.

"I did." I growled. "Now leave me alone."

She lifted her nose, snorting. "The aspirin is in the cupboard on the left."

"Thank you."

*****

I reached up to grab the tub of medicine when a sudden wave of nerve-tingling paranoia washed over me. Unnaturally terrified, I backpedaled out of the washroom, past my confused sister, and out onto the small balcony. My eyes grew wide as I scanned the horizon, the normal plumes of thick smoke still billowing, muffled explosions present...

There.

Rushing over the hills in the distance, a green-yellow wave of smoke, boiling across the ground, not drawing away or slowing down. A small town was absorbed in seconds, no screaming audible from this distance.

"Sugar, get downstairs!"

"Why?"

"JUST GO!" I shouted, cantering back inside. She quickly followed, our hoof-beats knocking down the stairs. She ran past me, out into the cafe, while I tried to rush the kitchen ponies down into the basement.

Sugar bolted past, dirt and powdered sugar flying up in her wake, a small stampede vanishing deeper into the house. The kitchen staff followed.

I glanced around for any stragglers before going towards the stairs myself.

"Miss Dusk!"

I gasped and turned around, seeing Lemon standing in the doorway from the counter. "What's going on?"

"Lemon, hurry inside!"

"There's nothing wrong that I can see."

I saw the green fog starting to roll through the Canterlotian streets and a few tendrils poking curiously through the door.

"Lemon! Just hurry!"

"But there's no..." she turned around, following my gaze, and screamed.

Tears in my eyes, I pulled the door shut, sliding the locks and trying to hide the picture of Lemon being consumed by the eerie fog.

Through my blurring vision, I saw a tiny wisp of smoke drift around the hinges of the door.

"The fallout gear..." I breathed, smashing the single container in the underground facility. This house was built for a single pony...

I slid the heavy mask over my muzzle, slipped the nylon over my fur, and stepped into the rubbery boots. The visor on the mask flickered to life, the neon arrows and numbers scrolling past as it re-awoke. I sighed, my breath steaming up the cold glass for a few seconds.

...and only a single pony would remain.

*****

1: Awakened

View Online

*****

I slowly opened the door, the billowing mist already down the stairs. The screams had faded. I was alone.

With shaking steps, I nosed the door open, the shadows distorting around me. I couldn't cry. I had to be strong. There would be others, who had seen, who had lived...

...there had to be.

Resolve trembling, I decided I had to look for Lemon's body. I could put all of them in the basement, keep the animals away until I could give them a proper burial.

"Miss Dusk?"

Damn, I could still hear her voice...

"Miss Dusk? Is that you?"

I stood up a little taller, the ear flaps on the hood flicking up. I scanned the room, the strange fog messing up the visor's readings.

"Lemon Mane?" My voice sounded strange, the speakers on the front of the mask projecting my voice. "How... how are you alive?"

"Why are you wearing such a weird suit?"

She appeared like a specter, the fog dancing around her body. Her eyes almost seem to glow, green lenses reflecting the small headlight beside the visor. I lifted a hoof and turned it off, expecting the shine to fade. It didn't.

"That was creepy..." she hissed, shivering. "It was so cold..."

"Like...?"

"Like death." Her eyes flickered again, and she stepped closer.

*****

I reared back with a whinny, slamming my hooves down in front of her face. She backed up, terror playing across her face.

"Miss Dusk?! Why are you attacking me?!"

"Because you're going to kill me!" I yelled, striking out again.

"No!" She sidestepped, dropping under a table. "I swear! I wasn't!"

I bent down, glaring through a sea of chair legs. "The fog-"

"It did nothing! I swear by Celestia's holy mane!"

I hesitated. "But all the rumors say that these gases... they've been tested on criminals... and all that happens is fighting and death."

"I don't think these are our Chemicals, Miss Dusk. There's no way the Three would let their security be compromised. The only place our Chemicals were stored were right behind the Three's lines. If these were Equestrian, we'd all be dead... and we've never made anything this strong."

"The Griffons have no reason to attack here-"

She rolled her eyes, scuffing a hoof on the worn tile. "They didn't have a reason to start the war either. They don't need a reason."

Her mane flipped as she tilted her head. "Although...I don't need a reason for wanting that suit, do I?"

"What?"

She bucked the table, sending it flipping over my head. I ducked before I could get my horn taken off. "Hey!"

"Don't make this easy." She hissed, pouncing forward and landing on my chest. I sprawled, feeling her weight vanish as she jumped backwards.

"Lemon!? What's gotten into you?!" Sugar! Sweet salvation! "The suit's mine!"

My ears dropped as the silhouette of my rescuer leaped away, a wet thump sounding as she collided with her target. I scrambled to my hooves, whimpering at the scene.

Lemon was pinned under Sugar, each kicking and biting. I knew Lemon Mane's strength, she could kick Sugar across the room any moment... for now, she was nailing my sister's ribs, over and over...

There was a snap, and Sugar screeched in pain. Lemon lunged up, mouth open, towards my sister's throat. I swallowed vomit against the inevitable...

...and Sugar brought both her hooves and her skull down on Lemon's exposed chest.

The waitress let out a little gasp before going limp, her raised head falling to the floor.

Sugar stepped back, looking horrified... her eyes were wide, ears down...

...and grinning.

She knelt down, bringing her teeth to one of the exposed shards of bone. She gripped it gently, pulling it back and out. With a slender hoof, she tugged on the open fringe of skin.

I turned away and tried to cover my ears through the helmet as a tearing sound echoed around the small room.

"Oh, sis-ter~"

I gulped. "Y-y-y-yes?"

I felt her hoof wrap around my shoulder, mocking an embrace. I could feel how could it was, even through the insulated fabric. She moved the hoof beside my helmet. I could see the blood dripping onto my suit, even in the dim light.

"Why don't I just borrow this helmet here?" She crooned, her hoof catching on the rim. "I'll just lift it off now..."

*****

"No!" I kicked out, feeling her hit against my hooves and slam into the table behind me. I spun, ignoring Lemon Mane's mutilated carcass, and sprinted for the door.

"Get back here!" She screamed, getting up and charging after me.

I managed to kick out a hoof as I ricocheted out of the building, the door slamming behind me. I heard Sugar slam into the door...

*****

...and the sound of the door being snapped out of it's frame.

I screamed and leaped sideways as the wooden weapon crashed into the ground where I had been standing, splintering along one edge and skidding away.

Sugar's hoofbeats filled the still air as she sped up, barely hindered by the door. "Get back here!"

"No!" I don't know how I managed it, but I jumped, landed on a barrel, and jumped again, getting onto the roofs. Without time to comprehend what I had done, I ran, seeing Sugar skid past as she tried to stop. The rhythmic clicks of my shoes on the slate got faster, so fast I virtually knew I was going to fall over.

And then I saw it.

The end of the rooftops.

Beyond that, open air, and beyond that, the border. I couldn't turn around. I could hear my sister on the roof behind me, catching up.

I forced myself to go faster, faster, faster, putting every single ounce of energy I had into motion, my eyes watering against the wind.

And as my front hooves cleared the roof, I jumped.

*****

For a single moment, everything was still. The air was thick as mud, and I could see the ground dangerously far away, and my sister just reaching the last rooftop...

*****

And I was on the ground, somehow intact, and off like a bolt. My sister stopped at the edge of the roof, a few shingles falling down in front of her. She screamed angrily after me, but, to my relief, turned around and trotted away.

*****

2: Survivor

View Online

*****

The city - my city - vanished into the fog. I was alone with my thoughts.

What on earth could make ponies act like that? Make ponies... - I felt bile rise in my throat - ...kill? And beyond that, destroy? No doubt Sugar was taking out her frustration on Lemon's body, or the other ponies in the building with her...

"Nope, not thinking about that!" I shouted to the air. "Definitely not!"

*****

I jumped. I could have sworn I heard the sound of a Pegasus landing - too loud to be hoofsteps...

"I-is anypony there? Hello?"

A blur danced through the fog on my right.

"Show yourself!" My horn flickered briefly before sputtering out. With a short gasp of horror, I began desperately searching for my opponent. No magic... I was helpless.

"Doesn't seem very smart to go flaunting your presence." A drawling voice echoed from the mist. "Better to keep quiet."

There was a gust of wind, and I saw two wingtips blur through the fog. A small patch cleared, and my challenger walked up.

*****

I guess he would have been wearing a self-satisfied smirk, but from the angle what little light was hitting his helmet, what little face I would have been able to see was obscured.

On top of that, most of his fur was showing - his pant legs were rolled up to the base, slashes cut around his wings, and tail swinging freely.

And he was a Griffon.

He extended a claw in greeting, "Hey, fellow survivor!"

I backed up a few paces. "Y-you're the enemy. I can't t-t-talk to you."

He glared, tilting his head the other way so his eyes were visible. "From what I've seen, the fact that I'm not clawing you makes me an ally." He resentfully put his claw back on the ground. "You seem pretty loyal, considering the situation."

"Of course I'm loyal! I'm a proud member of the Canterlotian elite!"

"So, you can flip a few coins. Big deal. That won't matter out here."

"I do not flip coins - what do you mean, that won't help? What do you know?"

He growled. "I know what chemical this is."

We stood in silence, me waiting for him to continue. I gave up pretending to be aloof. "What is it?"

"A potent mix. The essence of a 'Want It, Need It' spell, a couple splashes of oxygen-reactant color, and a very large helping of dragon DNA."

"Dragon DNA?"

He tossed his head, obviously not into explaining. "Dragon DNA? The greed-to-growth gene?"

"Oh." I briefly remembered a brutal essay from my schoolfilly days - Dragons and their Dens - and understood. "Ponies will get bigger as they kill?"

*****

"Not just kill." He added. "Collect, injure... the thing is, the 'Want It, Need It' makes everything a treasure to the infected, so they start hoarding. And as they hoard, they get larger, stronger..." he paused, "...and one pony I ran into barely looked like a pony anymore. Legs out of proportion, scales down half his neck, muzzle twisted... but he was dead." He hurried. "Very dead."

"Oh... um... good?"

"Extremely good."

"But... he had a family!?"

"Yeah, and he would have attacked me just the same. If he's been killed, it means I won't have to get my talons dirty." The Griffon shrugged. "It's better this way."

I sputtered. "You don't even feel bad for him?!"

"Look, fuzzy, would you rather kill a pony or see a dead one?!"

"I would... would..." Damn... he was right... "I would rather not see anything, to be perfectly honest."

"Hmph." He shrugged and looked away, the way I was heading. "Good luck going that way and not seeing anything... disturbing."

"Why shouldn't I go that way? Why should I even listen to you?"

He shrugged. "You should listen to me because you're helpless," he nodded to my horn, "and you shouldn't go that way because you look too innocent to need to see that."

"Maybe I will go this way."

He snickered, stepping to the side. "Go ahead."

I stiffened. The road ahead was blanketed in the thick green fog. As if highlighting my stupidity, a sudden, haunting screech echoed from the road ahead.

The Griffon must have been smirking again as I took a cautious step forward. "Fuzzy, do you want me to come with you?"

"N... yes." I sighed. "Get over here."

"You don't need to do this." He growled, still behind me.

"You're scared too." I noticed.

He hissed through his mask. "Just don't want to see a pretty girl like you get hurt like them."

"Oh, ha ha. Flattery will get you nowhere."

"And you don't have wings, so you'll be going somewhere, slowly."

"I'm leaving without you."

"Go ahead."

I trotted a few steps. "I really am."

"I can tell."

I snorted. "Fine! You win! Get your feathery butt over here!"

"Ugh. Mares." He loped up beside me, tail puffed up in anger. "Pulling guys along wherever they want."

"Shut up."

The Magpie Syndrome

by canonkiller

Prologue

1: Awakened

2: Survivor