The zombie apocalypse has come true. Everypony has joined the ZPTF.
It was on this fateful day when the clouds turned grey and the call was made; the call of Code 5. The sirens rang out and ponies ran for their lives. Those who were unlucky were the first ones to go. You could hear their screams as the zombies attacked, and then their silence as their bodies went motionless. Nopony knows how it all began, the only thing to know; fight and survive. We have to defeat them, before they defeat us.
Ponyville was usually a fairly quiet town; everypony calmly trotting along doing their everyday activities. This usual air of the town made it a startling moment to suddenly hear a loud siren blaring through the area, the sound bouncing off the walls of the many buildings and echoing into the sky. Everypony looked up at the site of a large red and white vehicle blazing through town. The ambulance drove down the middle of the road, the red and white lights flashing. The tires screeched as it swerved around a corner, the rear end fishtailing, heading towards the hospital. This sight especially caught the eye of a purple unicorn know as Twilight.
“What was that all about?” she asked out loud to nopony in general. Sure, many ponies occasionally had to go to the hospital, but it was highly rare to see the EMS being used.
“Caramel,” Big Mac answered behind her suddenly. Twilight jumped at the sudden presence of the red stallion.
“What?” asked Twilight; confused by Mac’s response.
“Caramel’s in there,” Mac said again, “Ah found him on the edge of the Everfree Forest.”
“What was he doing by the Everfree Forest?”
“Ah dunno, but he didn’t look well. Lying on the ground, moanin’ in pain, very scratched up; like somethin’ attacked him,” the red stallion explained, “He also looked mighty pale, as if something were, how ya’ say, taking over his body.”
“Like an infection?” asked Twilight. Big Mac looked down at her.
“Eeyup,” Mac answered.
5 Months Later
Once again, a siren rang throughout Ponyville, but it wasn’t the ambulance. It was the slow raising and lowering rhythm of the sirens positioned on a tall pole. It wasn’t signaling a dragon attack, not even a tornado, but something much, much worse. The sirens you could hear blaring throughout the town was the signal of Code 5.
A code developed long ago and soon forgotten as it became less and less believed in; until today, when it was called. Ponies ran for their lives, locking and barricading their doors, and for the first time for many, locking and loading. Ponyville Police Officers barricaded the entrances of the town against the horror that was likely to appear. All was silent and eerie, nothing but the wind blowing a couple stray leaves along the cobblestone. A layer of fog settled, limiting everpony’s vision near to none.
“I think I hear something,” said one of the police officers to the others. They peeked up from their crouched position behind the wooden barriers. One of the officers radioed over to the group on the other side of town.
“Anything over there?” he asked. The radio buzzed a bit of static.
“Nothing, I don’t think anything’s coming,” the other pony’s voice came over the radio. “Wait a minute, I think I….” Screams were suddenly heard and gunshots erupted through the transmitter of the walkie-talkie. The police pony froze in terror and the radio fell out of his hoof. He looked up at his fellow law enforcers with a scared expression.
“I think we should….” he was cut off by a sudden moan. Suddenly, ragged forms jumped through the mist, landing on the other side of the barricade. They turned around, training their focus on the officers.
“Oh buck,” the police pony whimpered out. The creatures lunged at them. Gunshots erupted, taking down some zombie ponies, but not stopping them completely. Officers were pushed off balance, dropping to the ground and being dragged away into the fog, their screams being heard before disappearing forever. Others were done away with right then and there, the zombies making a bloody mess with the officer’s bodies.
“You just try to kill me,” said the police pony. He fired at the creatures, giving all he had with a twelve gauge. The uniformed pony pumped the slide once again, only then to here a faint click. The pony’s face went from one of confidence to one of fear.
“Uh oh,” he barely squeaked out. He back against the wall of a building, the zombie ponies advancing on him. The creatures lunged at the pony, slamming him against the wall and dragging him to the ground. He screamed as he was brutally attacked, the zombies ripping and tearing away at him; until the officer’s body went pale and motionless. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Agency
“Train bringing in new-coming agents will arrive in five minutes!” the pocket-watch cutie marked pony called. Applejack looked up at the clock sticking out from the side of the wall from the platform. It read three o’ clock in the morning. Along with her, there were a couple of other ponies wearing the same navy blue vests which read ZPTF on the back in black lettering. The train that would be arriving was only bringing in the higher ranking agents, which were the ponies that needed to arrive first. At most, the train would only have about ten, maybe twenty ponies on board. Applejack yawned. The ZPTF agency had only recently been established and she wasn’t used to being awake this early. She looked out onto the tracks to see a light become brighter in the distance, meaning the train was about to arrive.
The whistle blew as the colorful train pulled into the Canterlot station. The doors to the cars opened and ponies began getting off. Adult ponies were disembarking from the cars more towards the rear while fillies and colts were getting off more towards the front. All of the ponies were wearing the Navy blue ZPTF vests and carrying their saddlebags and most of them, adults and foals alike, had some type of firearm visibly on them. Applejack scanned the ponies for a familiar brown colt. She easily found him because, unlike many other brightly colored ponies, he was almost entirely brown, except for his eyes which were a dark blue. The colt known as Lucky Slots was, along with everypony else, wearing the agency vest, carrying his saddlebags which were the same color as his eyes, and had a black carbine assault rifle strapped on his back.
“Hi there, Lucky,” said Applejack, tapping her cousin on the shoulder. The brown colt turned around and smiled sleepily up at her.
“Hi Applejack, good to see you.” The orange farm pony led him off of the platform and back towards the city of Canterlot.
“So why did I have to wake up so early to come here?” Lucky asked with a yawn, nearly falling asleep as he walked.
“Yer’ one of the leaders of FCD so, you needed to arrive first,” said Applejack.
“Still, I had to come here all the way from Las Pegasus,” said Lucky in complaint, “And the many casinos do not do a good job of keeping me awake.”
“Those are still open?” Applejack asked in surprise. She shook her head, pushing the subject out of the way.
“Anyways, you’ll be co-leading with a pegasus colt named Jetstream and the military FCD units will be lead by Buckshot Gauges and Lockheed Gunship,” she explained.
“Military FCD?” the brown colt looked up at Applejack.
“They’re the units in the young military programs from before this infection started,” the farm pony clarified, “All of the agents there are either in the Equestria Naval Guard or the Equestria Air Guard.” Lucky nodded in understanding.
Chapter 2: Never Insult Derpy The train stalled as his began its ascent on a steep hill. Applejack, Big Mac, and Lucky had been sent out to collect supplies from one of the storages bases. The train stopped as the engine lost power.
“Oh for cryin’ out loud,” Big Mac grumbled. He piled more coal into the furnace and pushed the throttle lever forward. The train struggled, but was soon moving forward once again.
“Will we be there soon?” Lucky asked behind them, having come to the engine from the train car just behind it.
“Just be patient sugarcube, this route takes awhile,” replied Applejack.
“It would go faster if Scootaloo and I were driving.
“Oh no ya’ don’t, last time you two got to run the train, ya’ put a tree limb through one of the cars,” said Big Mac.
“That happened only once,” Lucky mumbled. The train pulled up to the abandoned train station of one of the towns. The buildings were decayed and broken down, some of them no longer standing at all. The one building that was still standing well was the old fire department. This building was used as the storage base for extra supplies such as extra ammunition, food, medicine, you name it. Big Mac shut off the power to the train engine and the three began making their way towards the fire department.
“I don’t get why this stuff can’t just be kept at the castle,” Lucky said as he jumped from puddle to puddle, splashing the muddy water playfully. Even in the apocalypse, the brown colt still wanted to enjoy himself.
“If the castle gets attacked by any zombie ponies and we lose what we have there, then we can collect from places like here,” Applejack explained.
“The castle’s protected by a spell. Zombie ponies can’t get within a mile of the front gates,” said Lucky.
“Better safe than sorry,” replied Big Mac. He walked over to the front doors of the fire department and opened them a crack. He instantly shut them and leaned against the wall.
“What is it Mac?” Applejack asked with concern. He put a hoof up to his muzzle, a clear sign to be quiet.
“Zombie ponies,” he said, drawing the shotgun he had strapped to his back. He pumped the slide, loading a round into the chamber. Applejack and Lucky both drew their guns and leaned against the wall. Applejack pulled back the bolt to her rifle and cocked it as well. She opened the door a crack and sure enough, Big Mac was right. The room was filled with zombie ponies, roaming aimlessly.
“What do we do now?” Applejack asked.
“We get back on the train and try to leave without them hearin’ us,” Big Mac whispered.
“Are you crazy? There are so many supplies in there and you just leave?” Lucky said incredulously, whispering as well.
“It’s the only option,” said Mac, “We can’t even get in without them noticin’ us.” The red stallion started back towards the train station. Lucky pulled back the slide of his carbine and let go, loading the chamber. He looked down at his weapon and up into the room.
“Ah screw it,” he said, standing up on his hind legs. He kicked the door open, carbine rifle at the ready. “Surprise motherbuckers!” he yelled, opening fire on the zombie ponies. Many of them went down, but others came at the brown colt.
“Oh for Luna’s sake!” said Big Mac, galloping back over to where Lucky was. He stood up as well and took down zombies ponies three by three with the shotgun. Applejack shot at them as well, serving perfect headshots for every zombie pony that came at her.
“Mess with a bull, you get the horns. Mess with me, you get a bullet to the head!” said Applejack, taking down yet another zombie pony. Lucky, having cleared the front doors with his carbine, galloped inside. More full-auto shots were heard as he took on more inside.
“Lucky! Don’t go in there!” yelled Applejack, galloping in after him. The brown colt was standing on top of the raised platform on the right side of the building, taking down zombie ponies as they climbed up.
“Just bucking die already!” he yelled, kicking a zombie off the wooden structure. He started shooting again, only for the gun to give a small click. He dropped the clip out of the weapon and pulled a new one from his vest. Behind him, a zombie pony climbed up on top of the platform behind him. It stood up on its hind legs, only to be shot in the head by Applejack. It fell backward off the platform and hit the ground, never to move again. Lucky jumped and dropped his gun from just hearing a bullet miss his ear by only an inch. He looked at Applejack, a scared expression on his face.
“Sorry,” the orange farm pony said. Lucky grabbed his gun and jumped off the structure, running up the stairs to the second floor. Applejack followed close behind, reloading her rifle along the way. She came up into a hallway, many doors lining the walls, some parts of the walls were gone, giving more space to the second floor. The area was quiet, and that couldn’t be good. She carefully made her way down the hall, her rifle held up at the ready.
********** Lucky carefully pushed one of the doors open with his muzzle. The room appeared empty. The brown colt walked into the room. The door swung shut behind him and an ear piercing screech erupted from a zombie standing behind the door. It swung at him, missing Lucky by less than an inch. The blue-eyed colt stood up on his hind legs again, M4 pointed at the creature. It stood up on its hind legs as well and stomped against the gun. This threw Lucky off balance and the weapon fell out of his hooves. The brown colt fell backwards onto his back.
“Crap, crap, crap, crap,” Lucky whimpered. He slid himself backwards; the zombie pony advancing on him. His back was now against the wall, trapping him. The zombie pony slowly came toward him. It stood up on its hind legs, preparing to stomp down on him. Lucky closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next. It came down at him, and was then blown sideways by a shot to the head. Lucky opened his eyes to see Applejack standing in the doorway, the barrel of her gun smoking.
“You okay, sugarcube?” she asked. The orange pony went back down on all fours, stowing her rifle on her back.
“I’m fine,” Lucky replied. His breathing slowed and Applejack helped him back up onto all fours. He picked up his carbine and strapped it around his back. “And the supplies are ours.”
*********** Big Mac loaded the last box into the train car and shut the doors. He, Applejack, and Lucky had now completely cleared the building of supplies and loaded them.
“Now where’s Lucky?” Big Mac asked Applejack in annoyance, still ticked about the stunt that the brown colt had pulled. He turned around to see the brown colt making his way toward the train, the strap of his dark blue saddle bags clutched in his mouth and the bags were being dragged across the ground, filled to the brim with apple cider.
“Found what I was looking for,” he said in victory. Mac gave him an annoyed expression.
“Lucky, a word,” he said, beckoning the blue eyed colt to come closer. Lucky walked up to him, his head hanging.
“Are ya’ crazy?!” Mac said, “Pulling a dumb stunt like that.”
“It was either leave and let the supplies go to waste, or do what I did and actually have a chance!” retorted Lucky, snapping his head up.
“Yer’ not badass, yer’ not 007, so stop tryin’ to be!” Mac said irritatingly. Lucky’s face turned red with anger.
“I don’t think I’m badass, I just wanted the supplies,” he argued, “Plus I knew the SAA Cider was in there,” he admitted a bit more quietly.
“You could’ve just been killed, and not only that, but all of us!” Mac said angrily. Lucky’s face went to one of anger and annoyance, never a good sign with somepony like him.
“Well, you know what, we have the supplies, so I don’t need this!” he said loudly. He turned away from Mac and started making his way towards the train engine. This action only pissed off Big Mac even more. The red stallion growled.
“Yer’ more stupid than Derpy!” he yelled, load enough for pony’s miles away to hear. Applejack covered her muzzle with both hooves. Mac just made a serious mistake. Lucky stopped in his tracks. His eyes went as small as they could and his face contorted into serious anger. He then closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath before bowing his head.
“Buck you Mac, buck you,” he said quietly. He continued towards the engine. Though his back was turned to them, Applejack could clearly see he was upset, majorly. She walked up beside Mac. Raising her hoof, she planted a hard hit to the back of his head.
“Ow, what was that for?” he asked, rubbing a hoof where Applejack smacked him.
“Are you a buckin’ idiot or somethin’?” she asked angrily. Big Mac only gave her a questioning look.
“What’d Ah do?” he asked.
“You know what ya’ did, ya’ made the worst mistake anypony could ever make in front of Lucky,” said Applejack.
“And that is?” the red stallion asked.
“Just get on the damn train, I’ll tell you on the way back,” Applejack said in disgust.
*********
“Ah still can’t believe you said that,” Applejack sighed, putting a hoof to her head, “of all things to say to Lucky, ya’ just had to say Derpy.” They were in the engine again, Mac shoveling coal into the furnace.
“Ah still don’t know what was so bad about what Ah said,” said Mac. Applejack just gave him a WTB face.
“Ya’ don’t know this? How slow are ya’?” said Applejack, “The number one thing ya’ never do in front of Lucky is insult Derpy.”
“And why is that?” Mac asked.
“Because, Mac, Derpy’s his best friend, not only that, but she’s the only one that really relates to him,” Applejack said, “He really cares about that mare. Now he’s in the apocalypse, he doesn’t know where she is, and he misses her. He’s real sensitive on the topic.”
“Oh really,” said Big Mac, “I’ve never seen that colt cry once.”
“He broke down faster than a building filled with dynamite within the first hour of the first morning,” said Applejack. Mac gave her a questioning look.
“And ya’ can take a guess as to why,” said Applejack. Flashback
Applejack walked through the double doors into the FCD squad room, Lucky following close behind. They were standing on a walkway above the main area. The walkway led around three sides of the room, the fourth side being the large ceiling to floor windows. Doors lined the wall on the walkway, these being where the agents slept. Down below was filled with desks and computers, the work areas for the agents. The whole room looked like a remake of the NCIS squad room. The place was empty except for Applejack and Lucky, who being one of the leaders for the Fillies and Colts Division of ZPTF, had to show up first before any other agents.
“Okay Lucky, this is where you’ll be during most of the day,” said Applejack, “Everything thing else should have been told to ya’ by letter. Any questions?” The brown colt looked up at her.
“Just one,” he said, “Do you know where Derpy is?” he asked, his voice small. Applejack looked at him for a second before turning her head away.
“Uh…Lucky….” She stammered, “Ah don’t think ya’ want the answer,” she finished, looked at him once again. The colt’s blue eyes went large.
“Yes I do,” he said, “You do know where Derpy is, right?” Applejack rubbed behind her head with her hoof. She knew only too well how he would react to any answer other than yes. Why was being the element of honesty so inconvenient at times like this?
“Well, Lucky…The truth is…..we haven’t seen her since this all began…and,” Applejack said uneasily, “Given her amount of….intelligence…..most of us think she’s…..dead,” the orange farm pony finished. The brown colt remained silent, his blue eyes going extremely small.
“Are you okay, Lucky?” Applejack asked kindly, placing a hoof on his shoulder. The colt just stood completely still, his face frozen and eyes unblinking. His back legs suddenly seemed to buckle beneath him and his rear went to the ground, thin brown tail tucked underneath. He closed his eyes and began sniffling. A couple seconds past, and the dam broke. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks and he didn’t even try to muffle the loud sobs escaping from him. Applejack pulled him towards herself and wrapped him in a tight hug. He brown colt nestled his head against her soft, orange furred chest. After a couple minutes, he became quiet; the loud sobs had finally subsided back into soft sniffles. Applejack looked down at him, a sorry expression on her face. She couldn’t leave him like this, with the thought of that grey mare being gone.
“Lucky, Ah swear to ya’, Ah will find Derpy for ya’ if it’s the last thing I do,” she said. He removed his head from her chest and looked up at her.
“Really?” he asked. Applejack nodded.
“But on one condition,” she continued. She placed a hoof under Lucky’s chin and raised his gaze to hers, “You need to be strong, and be the best leader you can be; So that this apocalypse can be ended. Promise me?” The blue-eyed colt nodded eagerly.
“Thank you Applejack,” he said, giving a soft smile. End Flashback
“Okay, so he gets upset when Derpy is brought up,” said Big Mac, “Still don’t see what’s so dangerous about what Ah said.” Applejack groaned in annoyance, slamming her head into her hooves. After that whole story, he still didn’t get it.
“Okay, let me sum it up for ya’. Yer’ lucky he didn’t smack you in the head with a crowbar,” said Applejack. Now this caught the red stallion’s attention.
“You, mah friend, are so slow,” sighed Applejack irritatingly.
The guard at the train gates stopped the approaching engine. He signaled for the team to search around the cars for anything infectious.
“What took you so long?” the guard asked jokingly. He knew very well that Mac didn’t want to ride a train run by Scootaloo and Lucky.
“Lucky didn’t drive,” Applejack responded with a smile. The guards finished the searches and gave the all clear for the train to go through. The engine passed through the gates and pulled up along the platform. Power was shut off to the engine once again and the three left it to be unloaded.
“Well, I think I’m gonna sleep for a while,” said Lucky. The brown colt began heading towards the door to the main corridor when Fluttershy stepped through. She was wearing her white lab coat that red Fluttershy in black stitching above the right pocket.
“Lucky, see me in the medical room,” the yellow pegasus said. She said it in a commanding tone; being in charge of medical made the yellow pegasus more assertive, not crazy like that mina-tore had once caused her to be, but just enough that ponies could take orders.
“Ugh, can’t this wait?” Lucky groaned.
“NOW,” Fluttershy said sternly. Lucky groaned once again. He followed Fluttershy through the double doors; Big Mac and Applejack staring after them.
“He’s gonna have to talk to Jetstream, isn’t he?” asked Big Mac.
“Yep.” They both shook their heads. Anything between those two wouldn’t end well.
**********
Lucky followed Fluttershy into the medical room. There were numerous medicines placed neatly into the cabinets or on the counter. Another pair of double doors red Sickbay on the wall above them. The yellow pegasus led Lucky towards another room, which was her office. She pushed through the door and went inside.
“Fluttershy, what’s so important that you had to….” Lucky stopped midsentence as he entered behind her. An only too familiar white pegasus colt sitting in one of the chairs. Lucky narrowed his eyes in anger.
“What...the buck…is he doing here?” he said; giving a nasty look towards the red and white manned colt. The pegasus gave him the same look back.
“Same reason you’re here,” said Fluttershy. She motioned with a hoof for Lucky to sit in the other chair. “So you two remember our little meeting a month ago,” started Fluttershy, “When you two had a little….disagreement.”
“Little?! He broke my wing!” exclaimed Jetstream. He extended his right wing, neatly wrapped in bandages.
“You started it,” said Lucky blankly, “With one big mistake.” The white pegasus glared at the brown earth pony.
“I don’t care who started it,” continued Fluttershy, “The fact is, Jetstream, you know how Lucky feels when somepony negatively brings up Derpy. And Lucky, physical abuse is never the answer.” The brown colt looked down at the floor.
“Now, I….” Fluttershy was interrupted by a knock at her door. Rainbow Dash peeked her head inside.
“Hey Fluttershy, uh, somepony fell down the staircase at the west guard tower and they we could really use your help,” the blue pegasus said; putting emphasis on the “really” part. The yellow pegasus sighed.
“Okay, one moment,” she said; turning her attention back to the two colts, “I’ll leave you two alone for a minute, and I expect you to make up,” she said with authority. She then left the office, followed by Rainbow Dash. Jetstream began glaring at Lucky once again, anger in his red eyes.
“So, how many anger management classes have you failed so far?” he asked mockingly. The brown earth pony was still looking at the ground.
“None,” he said plainly. In admittance, that was only because there weren’t any. An evil smile came across Jetstream’s face.
“Well, I’ve been here for a month with a broken wing and that leaves just you in charge of FCD,” he continued, “I’m surprised it hasn’t burned down yet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucky asked accusingly; shooting his head up to meet Jetstream’s gaze.
“Well duh, you’re pretty stupid I must admit. I mean like, muffin bazookas, really?”
“First off, everyone loves them and second, I’m smart,” Lucky defended.
“Yeah, at Blackjack maybe, but when it’s comes to life, you’re a total dumbass,” Jetstream said.
“You’re not really in a position to say that,” said Lucky, “Seeing that I can easily kick your flank.”
“Cowardly move, you put me in the hospital because you can’t control your emotions. I’m not scared of you, Lucky.”
“I can too control my emotions,” said Lucky angrily, “Derpy’s just a sensitive topic,” he said a bit more quietly. He looked down at the ground once again. This only made Jetstream’s smile wider. The white colt got a devious idea.
“You know, with the amount of intelligence you have, you make Derpy look like the smartest pony in Equestria,” Jetstream said evilly.
“Jetstream, stop it.”
“Where is that mare anyway? Oh yeah, she couldn’t tell right from left and got bitten,” the red and white manned pegasus continued.
“Jetstream, I’m warning you,” Lucky said.
“And what does her cutie mark represent? That’s she got bubbles for brains?” That did it. Lucky jumped off the chair and began making his way towards the door.
“Where ya’ going?” Jetstream asked mockingly. Lucky turned around, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I will bucking kill you if you say one more word!” he yelled. He ran out, slamming the door behind him. The white pegasus settle back down in the chair. His job was done. As he thought about what he had just done, he began to have second thoughts. Maybe that hadn’t been the best idea, not because most likely his life was on the line now, but because that wasn’t really how he wanted it to go. He sighed and put his head in his hooves. He had to go apologize. He hopped out of the chair and trotted out of the medical area.
“Aw man, now where did he go?” he asked out loud. The large hallway was completely empty, except for the distant sound of galloping hooves. Jetstream turned around just in time to see a thin dark brown tail disappear around the corner. He galloped after it; his wing still not healed enough for him to fly.
“Lucky wait!” he called after him. He came around the corner to see the light brown colt running down the center. He looked back at the white pegasus, his blue eyes still watering, and then galloped faster.
“Oh come on,” said Jetstream. He was way better at flying, not running. He still ran after Lucky, not wanting to lose sight of him. The colt could disappear without a trace so easily. As Lucky rounded another corner, his hoof slipped on the tile and he fell to the floor, rolling up against the wall. Jetstream took his chance and jumped at the brown earth pony, tackling the colt as he was getting back up.
“Get off me!” Lucky said angrily, struggling against Jetstream’s pin.
“Lucky, please just wait,” the pegasus pleaded. His red eyes suddenly stung as something liquid hit them. The brown colt had just sprayed him in the face with pepper-spray. Jetstream fell backwards and Lucky stood above him, the can in his mouth. He spit the canister out, the metal object clanging loudly on the floor.
“So making fun of me in the medical room wasn’t enough for you? You just felt the need to chase me down for more?” he asked angrily with hurt in his voice.
“No Lucky, I….”
“I hate you,” Lucky stated. He continued his gallop down the hallway. Jetstream finally opened his eyes to see the earth pony had disappeared. The red and white manned colt bowed his head. His eyes began watering as well, from both the pepper-spray and at what Lucky had just said.
“Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Wake up!” a voice whispered. The orange filly sleepily opened her eyes to see Sweetie Belle standing beside her bed. She looked past the white unicorn filly to the clock on the wall. It read three o’ clock in the morning.
“It’s your watch now,” said Sweetie Belle quietly. Scootaloo yawned and climbed out of bed. She grabbed her navy blue ZPTF vest from where it hung on the wall above her bed in her mouth and slid it onto her back.
“Okay Sweetie Belle, I relieve you from watch,” said Scootaloo tiredly. There was actually a military way of doing the whole watch thing, but the fillies and colts in the Military FCD were the only ones who really followed along with it. The white unicorn trotted out of Scootaloo’s room. The purple-manned filly grabbed the over-under shotgun from its leaning position against the wall next to the door. She made her way out of her room onto the raised walkway above the main area. She took notice of Sweetie Belle heading towards the double doors to the main hall.
“Sweetie, your room is over there,” said Scootaloo, pointing a hoof towards one of the doors on the right side of the squad room along the walkway.
“I know, but I’m going to the Military FCD room,” said the white unicorn.
“Why would you do that?” asked Scootaloo, suspicious of the filly’s actions.
“To see if Buckshot’s awake,” responded Sweetie Belle, “He said we’d play Navy Assault 5 around this time, it’s makes the game a whole lot scarier. I can go, right. It’s your call being on watch and all.” She gave Scootaloo a puppy-beg face.
“Sure,” agreed Scootaloo, waving the unicorn away. The orange pegasus turned around and began walking along the raised walkway. She stopped as she saw a light out of the corner of her eye. She looked down into the main area. One of the computer screens was turned on. The light of the monitor shone onto the pony’s brown face.
‘It’s just Lucky’ thought Scootaloo sadly. She had noticed the brown colt’s mood yesterday. When she asked him he had just replied Jetstream. That one word was all she had needed to know. She peered down at the computer monitor. Lucky was probably just surfing around on it, being that he was most likely too upset to sleep. Scootaloo paused as she heard an only too recognizable sound coming from Lucky’s direction. Her face nearly went green.
“Never mind, he’s fine,” she whispered to herself, turning around and leaning against the railing. Note to self: try to get that thought out of her head in the morning. A sudden creak sounded from the double doors. Scootaloo quickly raised the shotgun towards the door. The light from the hall shone on part of the figure, shining against the candy-cane colored tail.
Jetstream silently shut the door behind him. He turned around to have the two barrels of a gun shoved against his face. He was pushed against the wall up on his hind legs. The light of a flashlight blinked on, showing the orange face of his attacker.
“What are you doing?!” the white pegasus colt whispered with terror. His red eyes went small as he focused on the weapon jammed up under his neck.
“I have two rounds in this gun, and I want one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off,” the Scootaloo commanded. Jetstream looked up at her with a scared expression. Was she serious?
“Because you wouldn’t stoop so low?” tried Jetstream. The weapon was pushed harder against his neck.
“Because all life is valuable?” he tried again. And the gun was pushed harder.
“Because you’ll most likely be punished,” he tried a final time. He held his breath as Scootaloo continued to jam the barrels against his neck. The purple manned filly broke open the shotgun, expelling the two unused rounds. The red and gold objects made little taps as they landed on the floor.
“I’ll let that one pass…..for now,” the filly said. Jetstream let out a breath and slumped against the wall, sliding to the floor.
“You have quite a nerve showing your face here,” Scootaloo said angrily.
“I….work….here,” replied Jetstream, puffing out the sentence in short, heavy breaths.
“You’re not coming back until ten in the morning so until then, you’re trespassing.”
“Actually, I’m not.” The white pegasus went silent as Scootaloo flipped open a switch-blade.
“Then again, you’re the one with the gun,” continued Jetstream. The orange pegasus flipped the knife closed.
“What are you even doing here? Coming to make fun of Lucky again?” Scootaloo asked mockingly.
“No, I just want to talk to him,” responded Jetstream. The red and white manned colt stood up on all fours again. He began walking towards the staircase to only be blocked by Scootaloo’s extended wing.
“Sure, likely story,” the filly said sarcastically, “If you think I’m gonna let you pass me, then you must have bits for brains.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” said Jetstream in annoyance. He tried to push past Scootaloo only to be shoved back.
“Did you not catch the hint? You’re not going near Lucky.”
“But I just want to….” He was cut off as Scootaloo slapped him across the face.
“First ones with my hoof, second ones with my knife,” the pegasus filly stated firmly, “get out.”
“Go buck yourself you little devil,” said Jetstream angrily. He turned around and galloped towards the double doors. He ran into the wall first before backing up and going into the hallway.
“And it doesn’t end there,” said Scootaloo to herself deviously.
“Goooood mor-ning FCD!!!!!” Lucky’s voice came over the PA that went to every bed-room and the main area of the squad room. “It is that special day again known as the Great Cider Search Day. I want everypony awake, dressed, and out of their racks by the end of this song,” he finished. The song Holiday then came over the PA, the rock music blaring loud enough to wake up anyone who hadn’t already been woken up by his announcement. By the time the song ended, all of the colts and fillies were standing on the raised walkway, some of them having already been there long before the music stopped. Lucky sat below them at his desk, swiveling in the chair as he looked up at all the agents ready to start searching.
“You all know the rules. There are five six-packs of Sweet Apple Acres brand cider hidden randomly around the squad room. You may help each other as you wish, but I give no hints. If one of you finds a pack, you may not search for more.” The brown colt aimed a shotgun into the air and fired off a blank, signaling the search may begin.
*********
Another shotgun blank was fired off, telling all of the colts and fillies to cease searching.
“We have our winners!” exclaimed Lucky. Behind him stood three colts and two fillies, all of which were holding a six-pack of glass-bottles cider in their mouths. The whole room cheered for the winning ponies. Lucky sat back down at his desk and the others began making their way towards their work areas as well.
“Aw man, I never find one,” said Mist sadly. The unicorn filly wasn’t the best at searching and this had been the tenth search in a row where she hadn’t been successful. Lucky noticed and pulled a chain from around his neck which had a small brass key on it. As Mist walked by his desk, the brown colt, without looking up from the computer monitor, reached out his hoof and dropped the chain. It landed perfectly around the filly’s left ear, hanging down in front of her face.
“Huh,” she said in confusion. She looked around until her gaze found Lucky.
“If you go into my room and to the back of the closet, there will be a huge fridge. Unlock the door, six-packs are on the top shelf,” he said; still not looking up from the computer. Mist beamed at him before galloping up the stairs towards his room.
“You are suckered into things so easily,” said Scootaloo behind him. The brown colt turned towards her.
“Eh, one of the nicer thing about me,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. He suddenly looked up towards the exit of the squad room.
“Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention,” said Lucky. He pointed a hoof towards the direction he was facing. Scootaloo turned around to see Applejack looking down at her with a stern look.
“Applejack wants to see you,” the blue eyed colt said, “Something about an incident a week ago.” Scootaloo made her way towards the staircase and up next to Applejack. The orange farm pony didn’t say anything but beckoned the filly to follow her.
“Ah can’t believe you,” said Applejack angrily as they walked downs the hallway, “You jammed a shotgun against another pony’s neck?!”
“He deserved it,” replied Scootaloo. Applejack only glared at her.
“Nopony deserves that,” the orange mare said, “Ya’ know, Ah only used to need to worry about ya’ breakin’ a window on the barn, but now, Ah have to worry about a stupid action like the one you pulled last night.”
“If you’re trying to guilt me, it’s not working,” said Scootaloo plainly.
“Ah shouldn’t have to guilt ya’ for you to know it’s wrong,” said Applejack, “So instead, I have an idea in mind to resolve this.”
**********
“We’re going to do what?!” exclaimed both Scootaloo and Jetstream. They were all in Applejack’s office. The two could only look at the orange farm mare in disbelief.
“Ya’ heard me, you two are going on a supply hunt together,” said Applejack.
“So I get a gun shoved in my face by this crazy filly, and your idea is to send us off alone were she has even more privacy to assault me?!” said Jetstream.
“You’re not going alone, two Naval Guards from Military FCD will be watching over you,” replied Applejack. At that moment, two more young ponies stepped through the door. One of them was a pegasus colt and the other was a unicorn filly.
“Hi guys,” said the white unicorn. It was Sweetie Belle, wearing the NWU uniform with the black and golden patch of the Equestria Naval Guard. The pegasus colt standing next to her was a navy blue color with a black and light blue mane with brown eyes and two crossed shotguns for a cutie mark. He as well was wearing the same uniform with the ZPTF vest over it.
“Sweetie Belle, you’re a Naval Guard?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yep, signed up about three months ago. You never noticed?” the white unicorn asked.
“But who are you?” asked Jetstream to the navy colored pegasus.
“My name’s Buckshot,” he replied, “I take it you’re Jetstream.” The white pegasus nodded in response.
“Okay, so now that ya’ll have met, you should get goin’,” said Applejack. The two colts and fillies left the office.
**********
The four ponies made their way to the large building where the numerous trains were. Buckshot looked around before spotting the black train engine. There were three passenger cars behind it, each one a full-auto machine gun mounted on the roof.
“Here we go,” he said, sliding open the door to the engine. He climbed up inside before helping Sweetie Belle up into the locomotive as well.
“You two just go into one of train cars, we’ll be driving,” Sweetie Belle told them. She then slid the door closed. A nervous look came across Jetstream’s face as he made his way towards the train car behind Scootaloo. Once the door was closed, the pegasus filly turned on him, flipping open the switchblade she held in her mouth. Once again, Jetstream was backed against the wall.
“Is it your mission to ruin my life?” asked Jetstream in annoyance.
“Uh huh, seeing as what you did to Lucky,” replied Scootaloo, holding the knife in her hoof against Jetstream’s neck.
“Do you even know what happened?” asked Jetstream. This stopped the orange filly for a moment, but she recovered.
“Your name is all I need to hear,” she said.
“Everyone in FCD now hates me because of the lies you told,” continued Jetstream.
“Good. It’s what you deserve.”
“How would you know if it’s what I deserve if you don’t even know what happened?!” said Jetstream angrily.
“Because I….”
“Scootaloo put the knife down,” said Buckshot sternly. He was standing in front of the door from the train car to the engine pointing a SPAS-12 at the orange filly.
“I’m not afraid to shoot, you know.” Scootaloo backed away from the red and white manned pegasus. Buckshot gestured for her to give him the weapon. She groaned before giving up the switch blade.
“The shotgun too,” he said. Scootaloo gave him the two barreled gun as well. He left the two in the train car and went back to the engine. In a few moments the train was finally underway.
“I can still beat the crap out of you,” said Scootaloo. Jetstream looked at her angrily.
“Just leave me the buck alone you little snatch,” he said before making his way towards the back of the train car and going into the one behind it.
***********
The train pulled up to the station and the power was shut off. The sign hanging from the ceiling by only one of the chains read Ponyville in red lettering. The town itself was abandoned in shambles but Sweet Apple Acres was still run to produce food.
“Scootaloo, I swear to Celestia, if you come back alone without Jetstream, I’ll know exactly what happened,” said Buckshot as he gave the pegasus filly her weapons back.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” replied Scootaloo without a care. She and Jetstream started off down the main road of Ponyville while Buckshot and Sweetie Belle went the opposite way. Once the latter was out of sight, Scootaloo stopped.
“Okay, so I can’t do anything to you, but that doesn’t mean I have to do this hunt with you,” she said, “so I’m going this way and you just go wherever.” The white pegasus rolled his red eyes.
“Ah screw you,” he muttered before continuing down the main road. Scootaloo darted off down an alleyway. Jetstream started making his way towards one of the buildings. He drew his semi-auto hunting rifle from behind him and slowly pushed through the door. The bottom floor was empty; just some toppled over chairs and a broken table. The curtains were drawn across the shattered windows, but were ripped, allowing small amounts of light into the room.
“Nothing in here,” Jetstream said to himself. He started making his way up the stairs to the second floor, the hallway contained many doors, all of which were closed. The red and white manned pegasus wasn’t fond of opening doors in abandoned buildings. The number of surprises that could come crashing through once he did. He sighed in defeat and started sneaking towards one of the doors, he shook at the knob; locked.
“Okay, one door down, about seven more to go,” he said in sarcastic joy. He dropped back down to four hooves and walked past the door. He stopped abruptly as he heard the sound of the knob shaking. He turned around and sure enough, the brass object was jiggling.
“What the buck?” he whispered to himself. The wooden door came crashing down followed by numerous ragged forms. The creatures got up and focused their white eyes on him. He stood up on his hind legs and fiddled his rifle to get it from behind him. And not a moment too soon, the first zombie pony, a mare, charged the colt. Jetstream fired the weapon, the hunting rifle living up to its name. The mare went down instantly. Another zombie pony that was a stallion lunged at the much smaller colt, the rifle was fired once again, the bullet missed where Jetstream had intended but got the stallion in the leg and the creature fell to the ground.
“Ohhhh, suck it!” yelled Jetstream in mockery to the zombie. He fired the rifle into the stallion’s head, making sure that it was dead. But the moment of triumph was soon washed away as more zombies began their attack. The white pegasus continued to fire off shots at the creatures, taking them down slowly but surely. He ran past the now unmoving bodies and galloped back down the stairs, as he made his way towards the door, another zombie pony got in his way. It flipped around, the shards of glass tangled in its ragged tail slashing him across the cheek. Jetstream recoiled in pain and fell to the ground, dropping his rifle. This zombie pony, unlike the others, was only a colt, about the same size and probably same age as Jetstream. The creature began moving towards him slowly, as if relishing in the fact that it was going to make a kill.
“Not gonna happen,” said Jetstream and kicked the rifle back towards him. He aimed it at the zombie colt and fired off the rifle. The gun made a small click. The weapon was jammed. Jetstream looked up at the zombie colt.
“Mind giving me a moment?” he asked. The colt rolled its white eyes and stood in place, waiting for the white pegasus to deal with his gun jam. Though the colt's eyes were white, there were black lines visible on the zombie colt’s eyes so you could tell where the eyes had been black, white, and colored.
“I can never figure out these things,” said Jetstream in annoyance as he removed the ammo clip from the rifle. He fiddled with the slide for a moment to try to shake the jammed piece out, but to no success.
“My life just keeps getting shittier and shittier,” groaned Jetstream. He let the rifle fall out of his hooves, the wood and metal objet clattering to the ground. He leaned against the wall and slid to the ground in defeat.
“I don’t even care anymore,” he said, “Just have your success and do away with me,” he said to the zombie colt in front of him. Even though it had only been a week since the incident with Scootaloo, she had been able to tell many horrible lies about him to everypony in FCD within the mere two hours from when the whole squad room was to be woken up to when he returned to the division. Within that week, he had a couple agents almost try to gang up on him, a switchblade thrown at him five different times by five different ponies, and the computer at his desk virused; the things that mere fillies and colts would do now-a-days.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked the ragged colt in front of him, “You heard me, I’m all yours,” he finished before putting his head in his hooves. The zombie colt only stared at him for a minute before walking towards him. But instead of infecting the white pegasus colt like he originally intended, he came around to Jetstream’s left side and lied down next to him. He nudged his head against the other colt’s left hoof, trying to push it out of the way. Jetstream moved his front leg out of the way and looked at the zombie colt in confusion, since when did the very creature that wanted to kill you do that?
“Huh?” Having successfully gotten Jetstream’s front leg out of the way, the colt rested its head on the pegasus’ rear leg and closed its eyes.
“Well that happened, but okay,” said Jetstream, surprisingly being comfortable with a zombie trying to…was it trying to comfort him? Jetstream rested his front hoof on the zombie colt's mane and began petting it. Though the colt was a zombie, its body wasn't all that bad. In fact it didn't really have a scratch on it at all. Its body was the same as Buckshot's; a dark navy blue, and it's mane and tail were a blueish green. Jetstream began to relax when the sudden intrusion of another voice kicked his thoughts back up.
“Jetstream! Jetstream!” he could here Buckshot yelling for him. The zombie colt instantly shot up, it would be unlikely that it would..."live" much longer if the other pony saw him. Jetstream looked back at the zombie colt as he stood up. He saw that he was shuddering at the sound of another voice.
“Do you want to come with? I’m sure I can convince Buckshot to trust you.” The colt merely looked at him, fear showing in the outlines of its eyes.
“Okay then, stay safe.” The zombie colt gave him a small smile before disappearing into the shadows. Jetstream made his way out the door of the building and back into the sunlight of outside. He tripped on the three steps and toppled into the navy blue colt; both of them stumbling to the ground.
“Oh, sorry Buckshot,” said Jetstream as he stood up. He helped the other pony to his hooves. Buckshot bent down and grabbed the NWU eight-point hat in his mouth. Flipping it into the air, it landed perfectly on his black and whitish-blue mane.
“That’s fine,” he said, “Where were you? Scootaloo came back to the train alone, as I expected,” he muttered out the last part. “Are you okay?” he asked, putting his hoof up and turning Jetstream’s head to the right to reveal the slash on his cheek.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied.
“I’ll get Fluttershy to patch that up for you,” said Buckshot. “Come on.” He began walking back towards the train station, Jetstream following close behind. He looked back at the building he had come out of. He hoped the colt would be okay.
Lucky Slots was awoken by a soft shaking on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and rolled over in his bed to look up at the unicorn filly known as Mist.
“It’s your watch now, Lucky,” she said, “The watch schedule said it’s a three way watch on yours.”
“Okay then, go back to bed Mist,” he said with a smile. The unicorn filly yawned before leaving his room and going back to hers. The brown colt slid his navy blue ZPTF vest onto himself and strapped his M4 around him. The clock on his wall read 12:00.
“Ah, good, this isn’t the bad shift,” he said in acceptance. The worst watch shift to have was the one where when you were finished, you would only have about an hour left to sleep. Lucky made his way out of his room and onto the rough-carpeted floor of the raised walkway. All of the lights were off in the squad room, the only light coming from the moon in through the windowed wall opposite him. He slid down the hoof rail of the stair-case to the main floor. He made his way down one of the aisles of four workspaces towards the floor to ceiling windowed wall. As he came around a desk, he saw the familiar white face and wind-swept forward red and white mane of Jetstream. The pegasus colt was looking out the windowing. Lucky smiled, he wanted to settle things with Jetstream, make amends. He began walking towards him when suddenly he saw Scootaloo emerge from the shadows behind the pegasus colt.
“So I’m on a three way watch where you’re included, that’s convenient,” she said, a tone of mockery and….was that a slight mixture of evil in there too? Lucky thought to himself. The brown colt stopped, staying hidden in the shadows as he watched the scene before him.
“Go away,” said Jetstream sadly, bowing his head as he continued facing the windowing, his back to the filly.
“Bow your head in shame,” said Scootaloo with a tsk, “Heh, coward.”
“I said go away!” said Jetstream loudly, turning on the filly. Scootaloo only smiled evilly.
“And who’s gonna make me?” Lucky didn’t understand what was happening, he wanted to do something but found himself rooted to his spot in the shadows. Jetstream sighed.
“Why do I even try anymore?” he asked to no one in particular, bowing his head once again.
“I know right, there’s no point,” Scootaloo remarked snide. She seemed to be enjoying herself, treating the colt like this. Jetstream’s lip began quivering.
“Just shut the hell up and leave me alone,” he said, his words coming out in sharp breaths.
“And why should I?”
“Because my life sucks enough already, you made everyone in FCD hate me, you’ve threatened my life, and I don’t need anything else, but here you are making me even more miserable,” Jetstream replied, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.
“Well, duh…” Scootaloo was interrupted by Jetstream.
“I’m not finished,” he continued, his breathing becoming even more rapid, “You want to know something, I was very happy living in Mareland, I had many friends and I lived fairly close to the Chesnutt Bay, where I would always hang out with my friends,” his speech began coming out between sobs, “But then, the infection started, and next thing I knew, I was shipped off to here. I don’t know anypony here, none of them are from my hometown. And my only friend at at the moment is a zombie! I actually met him like that, but I like him, because he was actually kind to me.” Lucky wanted to intervene very badly, but he couldn’t find the courage to do so.
“And because of one small argument, one that you don’t know anything about, you felt the need to turn everyone here against me,” Jetstream was full-on bawling now, but he continued talking. “You’ve made my life miserable, with horrid lies, and you don’t even give a damn. I heard about you before this infection started, and you seemed like such a nice pony, one that stood up for her friends, one that could be kind to anyone. But you don’t even know me, and what you’ve done over something so small is so great on an evil level.” Jetstream looked up at Scootaloo, his red eyes staring deadly anger into hers.
“And one more thing, you’ll be happy to know that I’m considering transferring to a different area or...” he looked at the pegasus filly with extreme hurt, “Or, if I don’t want to take a risk of being hated in a different place, well, I have a handgun in my saddlebags.” With that, he walked off, leaving Scootaloo seemingly frozen to her spot. Lucky gasped silently and put his front hooves over his muzzle. It couldn’t be real, Jetstream could not have just said those last few words.
I have a handgun in my saddlebags, echoed in Lucky’s mind. He couldn’t be serious. He galloped out of the shadows and past Scootaloo, the unmoving filly not even seeming to notice him run past her. Lucky ran as fast as he could, Jetstream had disappeared into the shadows of the squad room. Where was he?! Lucky darted around workspaces in search of the white pegasus. He checked under and behind desks, anywhere he could have gone to. As he ran alongside the wall of the squad room, he tripped over something in the dark. Rubbing his head, Lucky stood back up to all fours and checked out what he had tripped over. On the floor lay the hunting rifle that belonged to Jetstream and his bright red saddlebags, one of which was open and some of the contents spilled on the floor. Lucky looked around wildly.
…in my saddlebags. This couldn’t be good. The blue-eyed colt perked up his ears to a sound that suddenly invaded his mind. He heard whimpering, coming from……over there! He carefully made his way towards the corner of the room. The small shine of moonlight coming into the area glistened a light blue off the white coat of Jetstream. His figure was huddled in the corner, his face smothered in his crossed front hooves. In front of him lay two things, both black and shiny. One was an L-shape and the other a rectangle. As Lucky came closer, he saw the things were an ammunition clip and a pistol with a silencer attached.
“J-J-Jetstream?” Lucky stuttered. He shined his flashlight onto the pegasus colt and was relieved to find the colt breathing and no pool of blood surrounding him. Said colt looked up slowly, putting a hoof up to block the light.
“Are you okay?” Lucky asked, shutting off the flashlight and stepping closer. Jetstream flinched at his movement. Lucky stopped instantly. Oh Celestia, he’s afraid of me.
“Don’t c-c-come any c-closer,” Jetstream said, “Who knows what Scootaloo might do to me if I’m near you.” He put his face back into his hooves and continued sobbing into them. Lucky turned around and stared angrily over where she was. Scootaloo didn’t notice as she was still standing in the same spot with her back to him. Lucky returned his gaze to Jetstream. He dropped his carbine from his back, setting it down carefully before continuing towards the red and white manned colt. Jetstream noticed this and began scooting farther into the corner.
“Please don’t hurt me,” he said, reaching towards the pistol on the ground. Lucky kicked the weapon away, causing Jetstream to yank his leg back. Fear came across his eyes as Lucky continued moving towards him. The brown colt reached down and took Jetstream’s vest into his mouth and dragged him out of the corner. The blue-eyed pony then lied down alongside of the cowering colt. Jetstream looked next to him into Lucky’s concerned eyes.
“Don’t think like that,” Lucky whispered into Jetstream’s ear. The white pegasus buried his face against the light brown coat of the other pony. He silently cried against it for at least a couple minutes before calming down to soft whimpers. He slowly removed his face from Lucky’s body and rested his head in his hooves. The brown earth pony draped his front leg over Jetstream. Within less than a minute, they were both sound asleep.
“Hey, uh, it’s time to wake up,” Scootaloo said softly. The filly gently shook Lucky’s front left leg. The brown colt opened his dark blue eyes slowly and looked up at the pegasus. He was still lying on the floor with his right front leg draped over a sleeping Jetstream.
“Oh, okay, thank you,” he replied before yawning. He removed his leg from around Jetstream and gently shook him as well. The white pegasus colt awoke with a start before calming down once he took in his surroundings. Lucky sleepily stood up and looked at Scootaloo.
“I’ll go wake up the next watch,” said Lucky. He wanted to tell Scootaloo to do, well, something to make up for what she had done to Jetstream, but he was too tired to really do anything. He would deal with it in the morning. The brown colt began making his way towards the staircase to the raised walkway with the many bedrooms. Jetstream stood up to all fours as well and walked over to his stuff. He retrieved the pistol and began putting it back into his saddlebag. Scootaloo stepped forward from behind him.
“Jetstream,” she said quietly. The colt tensed up.
“What do you want?” he asked. He closed his saddlebag and pulled them onto his back. He slowly turned around to face the orange filly. She looked down at the ground and rubbed the back of her mane.
“That I’m sorry,” she said.
“Huh?” asked Jetstream.
“I’m sorry,” Scootaloo said again, still looking at the floor.
“Come again?”
“I SAID I’M….” she snapped her head up to see Jetstream smiling smugly.
“Just messin’ with ya’,” he said, getting a playful punch in response. Then he suddenly had Scootaloo’s front legs wrapped around him in a tight hug. He hugged back, of course.
“But you do accept it, right?” the orange pegasus asked hopefully.
“I accept it,” he replied.
************
It was around ten in the morning, rain pelted the windowed wall and thunder rumbled above them. Everypony was at their spot in the squad room doing their usual work. Well, everypony except Lucky, who was avoiding his work to look at funny videos he had downloaded to his computer. He pulled up another one and watched intently, before bursting out laughing and falling to the floor.
“What’re you even laughing at?” Mist asked from behind him. She looked up at the screen before ending up doing the same actions as Lucky. They stood up again and continued watching the video. Suddenly, the screen started going grainy a couple times before buzzing and going out completely.
“What the…” Mist began saying when the room began flickering. The unicorn filly looked up to see every light in the room starting to go on and off. Many murmurs came from all of the fillies and colts in the room. All the computer screens were going grainy or flashing before going completely black. Suddenly, the lights went off and didn’t come back on. The agents looked around in confusion. The room was now relatively dark, the only light coming in through the windowing.
“Look!” a colt yelled out, pointing a hoof up at the raised walkway. A single silhouette of a figure stood on the middle of the walkway. Lightning flashed, revealing the ragged pony looking down on them all with its whitened eyes. The room went dark again and the thunder boomed. After a second, lightning flashed again, this time there being a whole horde standing all around on the walkway. This scene issued a scream from some of the agents.
“Shoot them!” a filly called out, grabbing up her gun and taking aim at the zombies. Other agents did this as well, arming themselves as quickly as they could. Confidence was soon replaced with terror as a chorus of clicks echoed throughout the room.
“W-w-what in the….t-t-t-there’s no ammunition,” the filly murmured. The zombie ponies climbed over the railing, landing on the ground perfectly on their hooves. They smiled evilly, mocking the terrified fillies and colts as they began advancing on them. The agents dropped their weapons and began slowly backing up. As groups were backed against the wall, the creatures’ evil smiles grew wider. A zombie colt pushed in front of the group of zombies, eagerly getting closer to the group of cowering ponies. Mist, being sort-of more at the front of the huddling group, daringly made one last move. Reaching out a hoof, she slapped the zombie colt hard across the face. The colt turned his head back towards her with an astonished look. After a couple moments, the rest of the horde suddenly burst out laughing and the lights and computers suddenly came back on. The colt pulled a grey wig off his head, revealing the black and whitish blue mane underneath.
“Dang, you may as well have sucker-punched me,” said Buckshot, “Good hit.”
“Uh, thanks?” Mist replied. The rest of the horde began pulling off parts of costumes. Under the costumes, were a bunch of colts and fillies, either wearing the NWU camouflage uniforms and eight-point hats worn by Equestria Naval Guard or the BDU jungle camo and black ball caps worn by those in the Equestria Air Guard.
“You seemed a bit bored today, so we decided to pull a little prank,” said Lockheed, the other leader of Military FCD. “Well really, we were bored.”
“Bucky!” said Lockheed, causing the navy colored colt to facehoof.
“Whatever, okay see ya’,” said Buckshot. The uniformed ponies turned to leave when the lights and computer monitors began flickering again.
“Guys, the jokes over,” said Buckshot. The room continued flickering.
“Uh, Gauges, I shut the lights off before,” said Lockheed. The electricity went out once again in the squad room, leaving it in the dark again except for the lightning.
“Then, who’s doing it?” asked Mist. As if on cue, many moans were heard right above them along with the sound of hooves on the roof. Suddenly, the floor to ceiling window shattered behind them, the glass raining down on the floor of the squad room. Zombies came from the roof and dropped down to the floor. They focused their eyes on the many fillies and colts.
“Uhhh, Bucky, what do we do now?” asked Lockheed.
“Well, Gunship, we….RUUUUUUNNN!” he yelled. Many of the agents screamed and ran for their lives, tripping over each other as they scrambled towards the double doors. They all made it through, Buckshot and Lockheed slamming the doors shut and leaning up against them. They pushed against the doors when the zombies started trying to force them open. Three other agents began pushing against the doors as well, trying as hard as they could to keep them closed.
“It’s at times like these….” started Buckshot. The doors were forced open a crack and he and the other agents pushed them shut again. “…that I really, really, wish I had gotten that Gatling gun for my birthday.”
“I think you did get one,” said one of the other agents, “but you lost it.” The doors were forced open wider, only to be shut once again. They couldn’t hold the door much longer. Lockheed Gunship looked over at the other FCD agents. They were standing around in the corridor, most of them looking towards the doors in fear. A familiar orange earth pony came through the crowd with a couple agents behind her. It was Applejack.
“Get FCD out of here!” she commanded towards Buckshot and Lockheed. The tan pegasus colt looked towards the many fillies and colts.
“Get to the train, all of you!” he yelled. The agents did as they were told and galloped in the direction of where to get to the train. Suddenly, the doors were flung open, sending the young ponies flying. They fell to the floor but soon recovered and were galloping after the others.
************
“Sweetie Belle, power up the engine!” yelled Buckshot as he jumped into the locomotive. The agents that had held the doors shut hurriedly boarded the train. Within under a minute, the train crashed through the busted gate to the Canterlot castle and was steaming down through the woods.
“How did they even get in?!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. Buckshot pushed the throttle lever one gear up, and then suddenly looked up to the windshield of the train. He could see a reflection of something in it, something outside the train and flying. He put his head out the window, to see thousands of zombie pegasi following the train, while flying.
“They’re chasing us!” Buckshot screamed.
When you work for the ZPTF, your life can get screwed up in so many ways, but in this special scenario there’s only one thing I can say……..Man are we bucked.
