When the world is basked in eternal night, a new plague spreads among the ponies of Equestria, turning them into living dead. The last survivors must fight through the hordes to reach Canterlot to put and end to the insanity.
"The moon." Laura said quietly. "What about it?" Dice asked. "It has not moved." Both ponies looked up. "Do you hear that?" Dice looked around. "Is somepony... moaning?" Laura stood motionless, staring at a figure underneath a flickering streetlight. Dice followed her gaze. "Hello?" Laura called. The figure turned, it was a young colt, he twitched and began moving towards them. The closer he stepped the louder his groaning became. "Take it easy there, buddy." Dice said. The colt opened his mouth, his teeth were red. His eyes were blank. He did not stop moving. "Dice." Laura said briskly. "Run." When the world is basked in eternal night, a new plague spreads among the ponies of Equestria, turning them into living dead. The last survivors must fight through the hordes to reach Canterlot to put and end to the insanity.
The mist was thick, and the moon hung heavily in the sky above Ponyville. The town was dead silent, not a single pony could be seen. The houses were quiet and lifeless, all buildings were desolate except for one: a bakery in the middle of the town shaped like a gigantic cake. The front door swung open and out stepped two ponies, one was a Pegasus colt with a pure white coat, electric black hair and glistening blue eyes, he wore a plain white shirt and the mark of two dice on his flank, his eyes were restless, he seemed wary and alert. He was followed by a mare, a unicorn, with a cream coloured body, long dark green hair and deep cyan eyes. She wore a beautiful white dress with various flower patterns on it, a rose was pinned into her mane. She watched the colt with anticipation, like he was about to do something grand and spectacular, or something grand and spectacular was going to happen to him. The colt disregarded her and kept walking into the night, the mare followed him closely. He heard her hoof-steps behind him and his eyes narrowed. He walked into an alley between two houses.
"Are you following me?" He asked the mare. His voice was fairly masculine, his accent had a slight southern tint.
"Yes." The mare said bluntly. Her voice was younger than the colt's, she spoke clearly, with a more posh accent.
"Can I ask why?" The colt demanded.
"I'm waiting." She said innocently, as if those two words completely explained the situation.
The colt looked at her for a moment, he scowled. "Who are you?"
"My name is Laurocerasus. You may call me Laura." She spoke proudly.
"Oh, may I?" He imitated her accent.
"This is where you tell me your name." She insisted.
The colt studied her. "Dice." He said slowly. "My name is Dice. What's it to you anyway?"
"I have heard a lot about you." Laura said blankly.
"So why did you ask my name?" Dice questioned.
"I had to be sure it was you. It would be awfully embarrassing if I had found the wrong pony."
Dice just stared at her. His eyes narrowed even more. "Who are you?" He asked again.
"I have told you, my name is Laura. That is all there is."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm waiting."
Dice put his head in his hoof. "What does that mean?"
Laura glanced upwards. "The moon." Laura said quietly.
"What about it?" Dice asked.
"It has not moved." Both ponies looked up.
"Do you hear that?" Dice looked around, a soft sound brushed his ear. "Is somepony... moaning?" Laura stood motionless. Staring at a figure underneath a flickering streetlight. Dice followed her gaze.
"Hello?" Laura called. The figure turned, it was a young colt, he twitched and began moving towards them. The closer he stepped the louder his groaning became.
"Take it easy there, buddy." Dice said. The colt opened his mouth, his teeth were red. His eyes were blank. He did not stop moving.
"Dice." Laura said briskly. "Run."
The colt did not stop, it lunged at Dice who swatted him to the side. The colt got up as though it had felt nothing, it charged again. That time, Dice ran. Laura was already ahead of him.
"Who the hell is that?" He yelled. Laura did not reply.
The colt trotted slowly behind them, more ponies joined him, they all followed Dice. Laura turned a corner and ran to the nearest house. She opened the door and disappeared inside. Dice followed her and slammed the door behind him, then he locked it and took a deep breath. He now stood alone in a dark house, the power seemed to have gone out. There were no other ponies that he could see, Laura was gone.
"Hello?" Dice called. No answer. He backed away from the door and investigated his surroundings. He was in a dusty corridor, on the left was a door that led to a kitchen, and on the right, a door leading to a lounge, straight in front of him was a staircase leading to the second floor. He slowly walked into the kitchen, his eyes shot from left to right, his heart was racing. The kitchen was also empty, a fridge door hung wide open, emitting a faint white light that shone ominously across the rest of the room. On a table in the centre was an unfinished plate of dried hay. Dice came to a conclusion: whoever was here last left quickly. Suddenly a noise came from the lounge, Dice shot around to see a radio happily playing music in between layers of static. He carefully stepped over to it and turned it off. The lounge, like the kitchen, was empty. Someone had spilt something over the sofa, a cup lay on its side on the floor. There was a large wooden cabinet occupying half of one of the walls. A rumbling noise could be heard from within it. Dice picked up the nearest blunt object he could find, a vase, and creeped towards the cabinet. He reached for the handle and pulled it back quickly. Another Pegasus with a light grey coat and yellow hair fell out.
"Gah!" Dice jumped back.
The Pegasus lay upside down, her eyes were crossed, neither looked in the same direction. For a moment, Dice assumed she was dead, until she spoke.
"Hey, do you have any food?" She looked around.
"Woah, you're alive?" He exclaimed.
"Nope, I'm hungry." The mare said, her voice was slightly lower and slower than the average pony's. "Do you have any food?"
"What? Food? No! Who are you?"
The mare spun around and got up. "I'm, uh, Ditz... Dink... wait, I know! Derpy, that's it, that's my name." She said proudly.
"Are you... okay?" Dice asked.
"Nope, I'm hungry." Derpy repeated.
"Look we'll get you food later. Right now I need you to tell me what happened here. Is this your house?"
Derpy looked around, her eyes never focused on anything, they both looked in different directions. "Nope." She said at last.
"What were you doing in that cabinet?"
"I thought I smelt food coming from this room, or was it the other room? I don't know. Do you have any food?"
"Oh for crying out loud... follow me." He led her to the kitchen.
She looked around. "Oh! Yeah, this is where the food is." She stuck her head in the fridge and began eating. Dice just watched, he was incredibly confused.
"Did you see any other ponies?" Dice asked.
Derpy stopped, she emerged from the fridge. "Okay, I'm good."
"Excuse me? I said did you see any other ponies?"
"Oh, um, nope."
"Remind me again what you were doing here."
"I was looking for food."
"Why here?"
"Oh," she looked around, "this isn't my house."
Dice stood open mouthed, he had not been in Ponyville for long, but he was sure that most of the residents did not act like this. Derpy reversed out of the fridge and hit the table, one of the plates fell off and hit the floor, it smashed and gave off a loud crack. Suddenly, there was activity outside again, more ponies moaning and groaning, there must have been at least ten or twenty. Dice gritted his teeth, they were surrounding the house, banging on the walls and windows.
"We have to move. Do you understand?" Dice whispered urgently.
"I used to move." Derpy said proudly, her mouth twisted into a frown. "The company fired me. I think I dropped a piano."
What Derpy was saying made no sense to Dice, but they had to leave, he grabbed her by the wing and pulled her back into the corridor, a hoof smashed through the front door and the moaning grew louder.
"I think somepony is at the door." Derpy said.
Dice ran up the stairs, and oddly enough, Derpy followed. The upstairs rooms were dusty and colourless, cobwebs hung in every corner. There was another smash from downstairs, Dice looked down to see another hoof break through. He looked around frantically, he needed something to defend himself. His eyes rested on a barrel.
"Derpy! Help me move this." He yelled.
Derpy agreed and grabbed the barrel, together they pushed it to the top of the stairs, by which time a third and fourth hoof had already broken in. The door creaked one last time and collapsed inwards into the house. Dozens of ponies with blank, white eyes and pale coats staggered in. Many were covered in blood, some had limbs missing.
"We push on three!" Dice said anxiously. "One, two..."
"Yay!" Derpy screamed as she jumped into the barrel. She nudged it off of the stairs and sent it tumbling down, it crashed into the ponies, pushing them back or flattening them. The barrel stopped at the doorway, more of the ponies tried to fit through, they started to hit the barrel.
"I said on three! Oh, whatever! That barrel won't hold them back for long. We have to find another way out of here!" Dice was not sure if Derpy understood, however, she looked at him like she somewhat knew what he was talking about. She nodded grimly and began searching around the room. Dice walked into another room with an armchair and a few old faded photos in it, he spotted a window, just large enough to fit a pony through, he ran to it, but it would not budge. He slammed himself into it.
"Tried already, it does not look like it is going to open." Said a voice. Dice spun around, Laura sat in the armchair.
"You!" He hissed. "Where did you go?"
"I waited, in here." She said innocently. "Glad to know you cared."
Dice stared at her. "Listen, I don't care what manner of pony you are, even if you make no sense. We need all the help we can get. Those things are going to rip us apart!" He pointed his hoof at the stairs.
"You know, those 'things' were ponies once."
"Well they ain't anymore, that's for sure."
"True." Laura walked to the window, there was a lock covered in dust attached onto the handle. "We will need a key."
There was a scream from another room. Dice ran into the hallway and into the next door, Laura appeared behind him. They were in a filly's bedroom, the wallpaper was a dank pink, the room was full of various dolls and toys positioned on every available surface. Derpy stood silently, staring at the body of a young mare laying on a bed frame. Underneath the mare's hoof was a key.
"I think I found the key." Dice muttered. Derpy backed away behind Dice and stood next to Laura.
Laura stuck out her hoof. "I am Laurocerasus. You may call me Laura."
Derpy took her hoof with her own. "I am Derpy. You may call me Derpocerasus."
"I like this pony." Laura laughed.
"Sh!" Dice murmured. He slid the key out from underneath the mare's hoof and caught it in his own. He showed it to Laura and Derpy and grinned. They both looked past him at the body, which was now groaning and getting up. The mare opened her eyes, they were blank like the others', she opened her mouth and growled. When she finally got to her hooves, Dice could see part of her stomach missing, her rib cage was exposed. The mare stared at them, then twitched and charged. All three living ponies jumped out of the door and slammed it behind them. Dice pulled a cabinet over and blocked the door, the sound of a pony smacking her hooves on wood could be heard from inside. Louder groans came from the stairs, Dice spotted two ponies ascending slowly.
"They broke the barrel!" He yelled.
Laura and Derpy ran back to the original room, Dice threw the key to Laura and began swatting the ponies away with a broken chair leg. The ponies enclosed on him quickly, they were forcing him to back up into the room. Laura thrust the key into the padlock and twisted it. It clicked and fell off, She pulled open the window and grabbed Derpy then jumped through. Dice followed afterwards, narrowly avoiding a bite. They landed on the roof of a shed, Dice closed the window behind them. The ponies flooded out of the house and surrounded them.
"This seemed like a much better plan when we were in there." Laura admitted.
All three ponies watched tensely as the hordes of dead ponies swarmed them.
Roseluck struggled against the force of the ponies pushing up against the metal hospital doors. She had seen them break through wood before, but not iron, so she figured she would be safe, however, she did not expect them to come in such large numbers. At least thirty ponies groaned and moaned outside, and although she had set up a barricade of medical equipment and spare beds, they still persisted and fought at such a rate that she had had to put her own body weight on top of it all. She looked around nervously, the hospital was dark and colourless, blood stains decorated the floor. Surprisingly enough, the hospital was empty and silent, she had expected that of all the places she would find zombies, a hospital would be first on the list.
She had been closing up her flower store when she first found them. It was a misty night, she believed that she had seen a pony collapsed on the floor, it came as a shock to her when she realised that the pony had an open chest, it was even more of a shock when it came to life. The zombies, at least that is what she assumed they were, had followed her to the hospital: it was the only place with an open door.
The barricade rumbled and fell slightly apart, the door bulged inwards slightly and Roseluck tumbled to the floor. She backed away from the door, the barricade continued to shake as the zombies attempted to force the door open. Roseluck whimpered, he eyes began watering.
"I'm going to die here." She cried.
She backed into a corner and sat down, she wiped the tears off of her eyes. More of her barricade crumbled and the door pushed forward even more, allowing one pony to stick his pale hoof through the open gap, Roseluck gulped and closed her eyes.
"Why me?" She whimpered.
Hoofsteps came towards her, she tensed and gritted her teeth. She kept her eyes shut tight. Suddenly, the hoofsteps stopped.
"Just get it over with..." She muttered, her voice trembling.
The Doctor galloped through the darkness, he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, clasping his screwdriver in his mouth. The zombies sluggishly chased him in the street below. He squinted in an attempt to see more clearly, he had to find a way out of the town. He spotted an odd pink blob in the distance, his vision was obscured, but he was almost certain he could make out a basket underneath it. His gut instinct told him he should keep moving, find another way out, but his curiosity took over and he skipped across the buildings until he came close enough to realize that the blob was actually a balloon. Perfect, he thought, curiosity always beats instincts, occasionally. The zombies scraped against the walls below him, they propelled themselves up against the bricks in an attempt to reach him. He was about to launch himself to the next rooftop, but a hoof clutched his leg, a zombie mare hissed at him, snarling with red teeth. He kicked the mare back and knocked a pile of zombies over. He leaped onto the house in front of him, but he slipped as he went, leaving him dangling off of the edge. He pulled himself up quickly; zombie teeth just missed his hoof, and ended up sinking into solid brick. The balloon came closer, and the Doctor realized it was tethered by a single rope, the balloon struggled and twisted, trying to escape in the wind. Luckily, the basket was at the same level as the Doctor, and with one final jump, he was safe under the balloon. He released the rope and the wind carried him away. Beneath him, hundreds of pale figures stumbled in circles, looking up at the Doctor. He sat back in the basket to recover his breath, when he stood up, he spotted a large building with a red cross on the front. For some reason, he felt like he needed to go in, not out of instinct, but curiosity. The balloon passed over the roof and he leaped out, he grabbed the rope and tethered it onto a handrail near a hatch leading into the main building.
"What am I doing here?" He asked himself. "There are no survivors left!"
The Doctor looked over the edge of the roof, outside the main entrance, hundreds of zombies had piled up against the door. That's odd, he thought, those weren't the ones that were following me, how did they know I was here? Unless, it isn't me they are after...
Roseluck heard the hoofsteps approach, she winced. A hoof touched her shoulder and shook it. "Excuse me? Are you alright?"
Roseluck opened one eye, above her stood a colt with a light brown coat and dark brown spiked hair. He wore a bow tie around his neck. He was most definitely not a zombie. Roseluck lunged on him.
She began crying even more. "You have no idea... how happy I am to see you... I thought... I thought I was the last..."
"Well, I haven't really gotten us out of here yet, but I'll accept the hug as a 'thank you' for later." The colt said awkwardly.
Roseluck still held on to him tightly, the colt eventually pried her off, he readjusted his bow tie. "I am the Doctor." He said proudly.
"The Doctor? So you worked here?" Roseluck asked, wiping her face again.
"Well, I'm not that kind of Doctor. You can call me Whooves. That's W H O O V E S."
The zombies, which both ponies had forgotten about, finally broke through the barrier completely. They slowly wandered in, their blank eyes set on Roseluck and Doctor Whooves.
"Ah, of course." Whooves continued. "It appears this is the wrong time for idle chat."
Roseluck jumped behind him and backed away from the zombies. "There's no way out of here!" She cried. "I checked everywhere!"
"Way ahead of you, follow me." He grabbed her by her hoof and led her up the central stairs to the next floor, he walked through the corridor checking all the windows. He narrowly dodged trolleys, bookshelves and beds as he ran. He stopped at one window that overlooked the main entrance. Dozens of zombies stormed into the hospital, the first were already on the second floor. Whooves continued moving and Roseluck followed him anxiously, the zombies were trailing them slowly, she could see them at the end of the corridor. Whooves turned a corner and immediately turned back.
"Not that way." He said bluntly. More zombies appeared and Roseluck ran backwards.
"They're surrounding us!" She screamed. Whooves was too busy checking the door numbers, the zombies were less than five meters away on either side when he shouted: "Aha!"
He pushed through the door and Roseluck jumped into the room with him. She slammed the door behind her and laid against it, she was breathing heavily. The zombies banged their hooves on the walls, Whooves moved a set of drawers in front of the door .
"That's thirty more seconds." He said calmly.
Whooves examined the room, he had a small glowing blue object in his hoof, it looked like a large pen or a screwdriver, he shone it around the room.
"What are you doing?" Roseluck asked desperately.
"No, no, no. This is the wrong floor. We need to go up."
"And how do you suggest we do that?"
Whooves walked to the window, he shone the blue light on the hinges and the glass fell to the floor.
"How did you..." Roseluck began saying. She was distracted by the increasing amount of thumping up against the door from the zombies. "Um... Doctor?"
Whooves climbed out of the window, he stood on a slim balcony just outside. His back was pressed up against the wall.
"Come on." He casually called in.
Roseluck obliged and jumped out into the night. "Where now?"
Whooves pointed at up at the window above with his nose. "I'm going to give you a boost, you need to take this," he handed her the blue screwdriver, "and unlock that window. Then give me a lift up there."
Roseluck nodded. Whooves stuck out his hooves to make a cup shape, Roseluck stepped onto them and Whooves pushed her up to the next floor, she leaped onto the next balcony and stuck her hoof back down, she managed to pull the Doctor up as the zombies approached the open window.
"Shine the sonic screwdriver on the windows hinges." He yelled over the sound of the moaning from below.
"The what?"
"The blue lighty pen thing!"
"Oh, okay." She called back.
She pushed a button on top of the screwdriver and it burst into life, she directed the shine onto the hinges and, like before, it collapsed inwards. Roseluck hopped through the open gap and Whooves followed after. He took the screwdriver back.
"How did it do that?" Roseluck inquired.
"Artificial Magic. Works just like a horn, but in your hoof. I'd love to explain more but we must be moving. I imagine they've already heard us." The moaning from below seemed to grow further away: they were heading for the stairs. Whooves walked back into the corridor, he shone the screwdriver on a hatch in the ceiling and a ladder fell down from the roof.
"Ladies first." Whooves bowed.
Roseluck ignored him, she was too busy escalating the ladder. She stepped onto the slanted brick roof, Whooves appeared next to her. It began raining, dark grey clouds appeared above them. Whooves walked around the edges of the building, he stopped next to a large burned tree.
"Something is wrong here." He said quietly.
"Did you not see the zombies? Of course something is wrong here!" Roseluck exclaimed.
"No," he held up his hoof, "this tree was burned by lightning."
"What's so 'wrong' about that?"
"Storms don't occur naturally around here, the Pegasi make them, and if there are no ponies controlling the weather, then how did the clouds get here?"
"I think we have bigger problems!" Roseluck yelled. "They're trying to get up here!"
The zombies stumbled over each other at the base of the ladder, they groaned and reached upwards, attempting to grasp Roseluck.
"I'm sorry." Whooves apologised. "I didn't expect this. It appears my plan has failed."
"W-What?" Roseluck cried.
"I had a balloon, I tethered it here. I didn't expect the wind to blow it away. Which brings us back to the question: where did the storm come from?"
"Who cares?" Roseluck yelled. "We are going to die up here!"
Whooves turned to her. "Listen to me. I am not going to let you die, I promise. Do you understand?"
Roseluck nodded, something about the Doctor made her feel calmer, she decided that she trusted him. "Well, um, what do we do?" She whispered.
Whooves looked over the main entrance, the zombies were no longer outside the hospital, they seemed to have all moved in. The Doctor gazed at his screwdriver, then back at Roseluck. He lifted his hoof and activated the artificial magic, he directed a beam straight at Roseluck. A glow appeared around her and two butterfly wings sprouted from her sides.
She gasped. "What did you do?"
"It's a spell, don't worry, it isn't permanent, but it will last you long enough to get out of here." He spoke calmly, he did not look at her.
"This is brilliant!" Roseluck laughed nervously. "We can get out of here!"
The Doctor still did not look at her. "You... you can get out of here. I'm afraid that's all the power I have left, spells like that use up a lot of energy."
"W-What? But, what will you do?" Roseluck stood beside him, she could hear the zombies struggling to climb the ladder behind them. Whooves looked directly into her eyes, his expression was grim. "No... no, I'm not leaving you. Can't I carry you or something?"
"Those wings will just about be able to support you, they'll never keep us both afloat."
There was a long pause. "Why did you do this?" Roseluck mumbled.
"I promised I wouldn't let you die. Now go, they'll be here soon, and once they're done with me, they'll come straight after you."
"But... I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you on your own."
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do, except live, for me."
"Ahem," said a voice from above, "did somepony lose a balloon?"
The shed was surrounded, a storm had begun and rain poured down on the hundreds of zombies attempting to reach the survivors above them. Dice swatted them away as they launched themselves up against the walls.
"We're not really getting anywhere!" He yelled, kicking a unicorn back. "We need ideas!"
Laura sat in the middle of the roof and watched the catastrophe occur around her, she put her head on her hoof, she was in deep thought. She occasionally opened her mouth, as though about to speak, but then closed it and shook her head.
"Well?" Dice asked, smacking a Pegasus in the chest and pushing it over the edge.
Laura shrugged her shoulders. "I am afraid I am out of ideas."
"Pink." Derpy muttered.
"Damn it!" Dice yelled, thrusting two ponies backwards with his wings. "We can't stay here forever!"
"Pink." Derpy repeated.
"I am deeply sorry." Laura apologised. "But, I am not too sure what to do at this moment."
"Pink."
"I mean," Laura continued, "we could try running, but I doubt we would make it very far. You two could try flying, however, in this wind you would not be able to control yourselves and probably crash."
"Pink."
"Can't you use some spell to get us out of here?" Dice slammed his head into a tower of zombies, causing them to tumble.
"Pink."
"If you mean teleporting, then no, I am not powerful enough to move us all, and even if I did, we would not get far."
"Pink."
"Derpy what are you..." Dice turned to Derpy, and a huge pink balloon smashed into the shed.
"Pink!" Derpy screamed with delight, she hopped into the basket.
"Good work, Derpy." Laura remarked as she joined her in the balloon.
"I'm not even going to ask." Dice sighed whilst he climbed aboard.
"Hang on." Laura rubbed her horn with her hooves like she was trying to start a fire. A ray of concentrated light shot out and lit the flame underneath the main balloon. They flew up into the air, the zombies and the shed shrunk.
"Whew." Dice wiped his forehead. "I was getting a little worried then."
"This fire," Laura pointed to the flame, "it will not last for long. We need to land somewhere safe."
"Won't the wind carry us?" Dice asked.
"This wind is pulling us back into Ponyville, if we fly left it will only take us a few minutes to reach the outskirts of the town."
"How long do we have?"
"A few minutes."
"Then how do you suggest we..."
"Woo!" Derpy interrupted. She jumped out of the side of the balloon, in her mouth she held a rope.
"I think Derpy has the right idea." Laura admitted.
"I thought you said the wind was too strong."
"For one pony. But with the combined force of two, and perhaps a bit of magic..."
"Alright, whatever." Dice grabbed a rope and launched out into the sky.
For a slow pony, Derpy was quite a fast flyer. Dice found great difficulty when he tried to catch up with her. I've never been good with flying, Dice thought, maybe it's just me?
"How are things out there?" Laura called.
"We're having a whale of a time!" Dice replied sarcastically.
"Give me a moment." Laura called again.
She engulfed the balloon in a veil of magic, it gradually began moving faster. They flew over the dark, damp and dreary streets of Ponyville. Most of the power in the town had gone, only a few streetlights flickered. Although it was dark, under the light of the moon Dice could make out the buildings below him. Most were houses, some were shops, he spotted the bakery, where he and Laura had first met. He would have to ask her more about that incident later on. Then he saw the giant tree library and Carousel Boutique, a thought came to him: What about the Elements of Harmony? Or at least the ponies linked to them? Where they alive? The town was desolate and silent, too silent, dead silent. There are no ponies here, he realised, surely it can't just be us three left? As if answering his question, the wind suddenly changed direction and dragged them forward, revealing a large building, too big for a house or shop, it was the hospital. On the roof, Dice could make out two figures, their coats were not pale and they seemed to be conversing.
"Laura! I think we've got survivors!" He yelled happily.
Laura looked over the edge and her eyes settled on the hospital. She nodded and signalled him to fly lower, he obliged, and Derpy followed him. Dice soon realized that this was the area the balloon had come from originally, it must have belonged to the two figures. As they came closer, Dice's vision became clearer, he could make out both ponies. One was a colt, with dark brown hair and a lighter coat, the other was a pony with translucent butterfly wings. She had a cream coat, like Laura, however, she had darker, shorter red hair, in comparison to Laura's which was long, green and smoother.
They came into range of the two new ponies, neither of them noticed the balloon. "Ahem," Dice said, "did somepony lose a balloon?"
The colt turned to the sound of voice, he looked up and smiled. "I was wondering where that had gone." His voice was calm and somewhat soothing.
The mare laughed nervously. "I guess I'm not leaving you here after all." Her voice was tense, not nearly as firm as the colt's, but it was young, innocent and undoubtably scared.
Derpy and Dice flew down and picked up the colt. The mare examined her odd wings like it was the first time she had seen them, she began flapping them lightly and slowly lifted off of the ground, at first she seemed to be having trouble, but eventually she picked up speed.
Derpy and Dice dropped the colt in the basket. "Thank you for saving us. I am the Doctor, you can call me Whooves."
"Hooves!" Derpy yelled contently.
"That's W H O O V E S. Like who and hooves mixed together." He double took when looked at Derpy, he studied her unbalanced eyes.
The mare flew alongside them. "I'm Roseluck. R O S E L U C K." She said awkwardly.
"My name is Laurocerasus, you can call me Laura."
"Laurocerasus..." Roseluck murmured. "Did you know that's a type of flower?"
"Yes, it is a berry. I am surprised that you knew." Laura remarked.
"I'm a florist, well, I was."
"Wonderful, we should get along excellently."
"Anyway," Dice coughed, "I'm Dice, and this is Derpy."
"Derpy?" The Doctor muttered. "I mean... um, this place probably isn't fit for introductions, we should get moving."
"He is right." Laura confirmed. "The fire will not last much longer, and the wind is picking up speed once more."
"Let's get moving then!" Dice exclaimed. "Um, Roseluck, could you lend us a hoof out here?"
Roselick tilted her head and stared at him like she did not understand, then she realized she still had her wings. "Oh, um, sure." She picked up another rope, tied it around herself and flew back out.
"Be careful with those wings, Roseluck." Whooves warned. "They're made of gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate." Roseluck nodded to show that she understood and joined Derpy and Dice. "Now then," Whooves continued, "there's no point in me standing around here uselessly." He pulled out a small object, it looked like a pen at first, until he shone it upwards upon the fabric of the balloon. They gained even more speed suddenly.
"I say! How did you do that?" Laura asked.
"Sonic technology." He replied, flipping the object in his hooves. "Artificial magic stored within a solid object and dispersed at the users will. Quite useful, and far more powerful than a regular horn, it takes a lot longer to recharge though."
"I have never seen anything like it. It is quite remarkable. Did you create it?"
"I... well, not entirely. You see I..." There was a flash, followed by a loud bang from above them. Lightning narrowly skimmed Dice. "I'll explain later, I think we have trouble!"
"Damn!" Dice yelled, dodging another bolt. Derpy seemed to be having problems with the lightning too, it shot past her wings and face.
Roseluck looked up with fear in her eyes, a bolt came down and intercepted her directly. "Ah!" She screamed, her wings burnt up and disintegrated and she fell loosely underneath the balloon, hanging on by the rope tied around her.
"Roseluck!" Whooves yelled.
She was dazed and burnt, yet she was alive. They were approaching the end of town, but without a third pony pulling them they would not make it. They now seemed to drop lower slowly without the extra set of wings to keep them in the air.
"Damn it!" Dice shouted.
"You know, shouting 'Damn it' will not solve everything." Laura called.
"This isn't the time for snooty remarks! We have to help Roseluck!"
"I have an idea." Whooves said slowly. "But it's a bad one."
"What is it?" Dice sounded desperate.
"If I can accumulate enough energy, I can power the sonic screwdriver and teleport us to safety. The only problem is that there isn't a power source around here, except for..."
"The lightning." Laura said.
"Exactly."
"Wait, let me get this straight, you need to be struck by lightning?" Dice asked.
"Lightning travels towards the earth, which means that if it hits us it will pass straight through, unless we intercept it and convert the energy."
"But that would mean you need to be above the balloon." Laura gasped.
"I said it was a bad idea." Whooves said.
"It's the best hope we've got." Dice admitted. "But, if either me or Derpy stop flying forward, we'll plummet to the ground."
"I know." Whooves put the screwdriver in his mouth and grabbed onto the thin rope frame that kept the balloon in place.
Underneath the basket, Roseluck began to regain her senses. "Huh? Wha...?" She grumbled.
"Can't you put up a force field or something?" Dice asked Laura.
"Force fields have to be perfectly spherical, it takes great skill to make them in any other shape. If I tried to stretch one around the balloon I would sever the rope that keeps Roseluck attached. Besides, I am not experienced enough to make a force field that big anyway."
Whooves was halfway up the balloon now, he was reaching for the rope above him when another lightning strike shot past him and startled him, he fell back and hung on with one hoof. A thunderclap reverberated through the area and shook the balloon, Whooves lost his grip and fell. He landed on a soft, spongey object: Laura was keeping him afloat using a sheet of solid magic. He grasped the rope again and Laura pushed him upwards, her eyes began watering.
"Hur...ry." She whispered.
Whooves finally arrived atop the balloon. He looked around him, the storm had grown, it coated most of the sky. The moon still shone through the clouds, allowing him to see. They were coming incredibly close to the ground, if he was not quick, Roseluck would hit a building and they would crash. The rain beat down on him, the wind blew against him and the thunder and lightning exploded. He raised his screwdriver to the sky, he shone it up in an attempt to attract the lightning.
Derpy pushed the balloon up from underneath, Dice continued pulling the rope. Roseluck had almost fully recovered, she clung onto the rope, her teeth were gritted and she looked up desperately. Laura was almost unconscious in the basket, but she watched the sky above with one sleepy eye
"Come on!" Whooves cried. "Come on, already!" He pressed further and summoned every piece of power within him.
Dice watched, open mouthed, as Whooves shone the screwdriver towards the miserable storm. A bright, white light shone back down onto the balloon, illuminating it in the night. The ray of light was followed by a massive bolt of sheer, concentrated lightning which launched directly into Whooves and passed into his screwdriver.
"GAH!" He cried.
"Come on!" Dice yelled.
Whooves gritted his teeth and forced the screwdriver into the balloon, as the lightning travelled through the Doctor it became a light blue blast of magic and coated the whole vessel. There was an ear splitting bang and everything disappeared.
When his vision was clear again, Dice realized that the balloon was no longer in the middle of the storm, neither was it in Ponyville: they were about a mile away from the town. The balloon no longer flailed and shook in the wind of the storm, everything was quite and motionless. Laura lay unconscious in the basket, Derpy was struggling to keep herself up and Roseluck still hung underneath, clutching the rope and shivering. For a moment, Whooves was nowhere to be seen, then he emerged on top of the balloon, he was covered in soot.
He looked up at Dice, his expression was dark. "We may have a problem." He shouted.
"What? What is it?" Dice shouted back.
"The lightning, although it was absorbed, partially ruptured the fabric of the..."
A huge gust of wind burst out from the top of the balloon, knocking Whooves straight off, Roseluck caught him as he fell with her spare hoof, however, the balloon still spewed out hot air. They shot downwards towards the earth at a rate much faster than falling.
"Derpy! Pull up!" Dice yelped.
Derpy nodded sleepily, she tried to lift herself up but the weight of the balloon dragged her down. Only Dice was left, frantically flapping his wings trying to lift the balloon. We're still moving too quickly, his mind told him, if we don't pull up soon we'll be crushed!
"Dice!" Whooves called over the wind. "Catch!" He threw the screwdriver, Dice caught it between his teeth and dropped it into his hoof. "Point it at us and think of somewhere safe! We've got enough power for maybe two more teleports!"
Dice did as instructed, he aimed at Whooves and Roseluck and thought of a safe place for them to land: a nearby lake. There was a blue flash, and they were gone.
"Derpy! Detach!" Dice called. Derpy nodded again and released the rope, she floated lightly away. "Your turn Laura." Dice continued. He aimed the screwdriver and fired, the magic missed Laura and instead coated the entire balloon, it vanished leaving Laura falling aimlessly.
"Damn!" Dice flew towards her, he had about ten seconds before they hit the unforgiving earth. At the last moment he swooped in and pulled her up, he flew over to the lake where he had dropped of the others. He lay Laura on the floor and helped Roseluck and Whooves out of the lake.
Derpy landed elegantly beside Laura. "Nap time." She yawned and fell asleep on the grass.
"Phew." Whooves breathed. "For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to make it." He plucked his screwdriver from Dice's hoof and examined it. "Yeah, we're out of power completely. How's Laura?"
"Alive. Just really, really worn out. Levitating a pony isn't easy, I'd imagine she'll be out cold for a while."
"Well, we're two ponies down and without magic, any ideas?"
Dice analysed the area around the lake, a few trees and flowers occupied the edge of the water, reeds and lily pads covered most of the space on the lake. Dice could see a forest in the distance, a few mountains behind them and, of course, Ponyville on their left, however, the land was fairly bare. There were no signs of zombies, or anything moving for that matter, just a vast plain of sickly green grass all around them, rustling in the wind.
"We... we have to... we have to get to shelter." Roseluck panted, she was completely exhausted. She toppled to the right but Whooves caught her.
"We better think fast or we'll be three ponies down, Dice."
"The forest would be no good, too dark and dangerous, we can't stay out in the open and we certainly can't go back to Ponyville." Dice thought aloud. "The only other option is..." He turned towards the mountains.
"That's at least a mile walk from here, we can't move that far in this state." Whooves explained.
"Alright, how about we rest here for an hour or two, then when everypony's ready we'll head off."
"Sounds good." Roseluck breathed. She slumped on the floor like a sack of rocks and began snoring lightly.
"Well," Whooves yawned, "you want to stand guard and we'll switch later?"
"Sure, go get some shut-eye." Dice sighed.
Whooves sat down slowly and proceeded to lay on his side. "Wake me up when you feel like it. Oh, and thanks, for earlier."
"Whatever you say."
Dice sat with his back against a nearby boulder and his hooves behind his head. He was growing tiresome, but he knew he could not sleep. He was not sure if he could even trust the other ponies, it was survival of the fittest now. Dice had never had many accomplices, he worked alone and he always had. But something about these ponies made him feel safer, he had no clue why, he had barely known them for more than a few hours.
Laura stretched out her hooves and her eyes blinked open. "How long... was I out?" She muttered.
Dice checked his watch. "About an hour."
"Uh..." She grumbled. "My head..." She put her hoof on her forehead and winced. "I'm sorry... I have... I have little experience with... certain."
"Don't worry about it. You saved us back there, or you saved Whooves at least."
Laura got up slowly with one hoof still pressed against her head. To Dice, she looked a lot more scruffy than she had earlier: her mane and tail looked frizzier, her white dress was torn slightly and she looked generally paler. Dice knew that he was not anything too awe-inspiring either, his previously white shirt was now red and brown with patches of blood and dirt, and he had acquired a few bruises. The others were fairly worn down too, Whooves and Roseluck were spotted with soot and burns. Only Derpy, who ironically seemed to be the most normal in appearance, had escaped looking no different.
"Earlier you said you were waiting," said Dice, "what were you waiting for?"
"For you." Laura replied softly.
"For me to do what?"
"Wake up."
"What do you..."
Someone screamed and Roseluck shot up shivering. She looked around, utterly terrified, breathing heavily.
"Roseluck!" Dice called.
"No, no, no. Please no." Roseluck muttered, she did not notice Dice or Laura.
Dice touched her shoulder, she screamed again. "No! Please! No!" She started crying.
"Roseluck!" Whooves got up and ran to her. "Roseluck, it's me! Roseluck, look at me." She stared at him, her eyes were filled with tears. "You're alright," he hugged her, "I promise. You're alright."
She struggled to form words. "I... I... N-Nightmares. I... I don't want to... I don't want to..."
"It's okay. You're okay now. Nothing is going to hurt you, I promise. I swear." Whooves reassured her.
Poor Roseluck, Dice thought, she's too young to be caught up in all of this.
"No..." Roseluck stammered. "You... I don't want to... not alone... not again..."
"You're not alone, I'm here, we're all here."
"Not again... please... not again..." Roseluck mumbled, still shivering.
"Dice." Whooves said firmly. "We're getting her to somewhere safe. The cave, now."
"The cave?" Derpy asked, she had woken up and joined the group.
"Over there." Dice pointed his hoof at the base of the mountain in the distance. "We'll be safe there."
Derpy nodded, Laura still held her forehead, and Roseluck clutched the Doctor tightly. Dice took that as a "we're ready" and walked off towards the mountain.
The group wandered in the dim light of the moon, which still had not moved. In the distance the storm around Ponyville finally began to clear, the town was plunged into total darkness. Roseluck could almost still hear the horrifying moaning of the zombies in her ears. She knew she was not the bravest of ponies, however, she never expected herself to break down after one measly dream. She still remembered the dark figure's words: You will be alone again. She whimpered, Whooves patted her on her shoulder. Only one can save you, the figure had said. She groaned silently, she did not want to be alone, not again. The Doctor and her were trailing behind the group.
"Listen," the Doctor said calmly, "I'm always here, if you need me."
Roseluck nodded and moved closer to him. "Thank you." She whispered.
"We're here." Dice called to them.
Roseluck looked up, a huge stone wall stood in front of them. Protruding from the ground around it were jagged rocks and worn pathways. A pitch black cave opened like a mouth at the bottom of the mountain, like Dice had said.
"We'll be safe in here." Dice stated. "There isn't one pony for miles around."
Laura whispered something to Dice, Roseluck could not hear it clearly, but, it sounded like "I hope."
Whooves approached them, Roseluck staggered alongside him. "Let's get settled then." He said.
The ponies trotted into the cave, it was pitch black, Laura illuminated her horn. The cave was bare, just three rocky walls, a stalactite covered ceiling and a rough floor. Whooves lay Roseluck down gently, she released her grip on his shoulder. He stared at her sympathetically.
He turned to Dice, who was examining the area. "She can't sleep here."
"What can I do? Magic up some pillows and a mattress? Can't your glowing blue pen do something?"
"It doesn't work like that. And it's a screwdriver."
Dice held up his hooves. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."
"It's fine." Roseluck said suddenly. "I'll be fine."
Whooves just looked at her for a moment, he opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again and nodded.
"Well, I ain't sure about you," Dice said, "but I'm ready to hit the hay." He walked over to a corner of the cave and lay back against the wall. Laura and Derpy sat down and lent back against the cave wall. Whooves looked out of the cave entrance one final time, then sluggishly walked to the opposite wall.
"Wait." Laura murmured. Whooves turned back to her, she shifted aside slightly. "Could you... I mean... you can sleep, um, over here, if you want."
"Sure." Whooves agreed, he stumbled back to her sleepily and lay by her side. "Sleep well."
Roseluck rested her head on the smooth wall, she shut her eyes and drifted off into sleep.
"Darkness is upon us," the figure hissed, "you must end the eternal night. Fear holds you back, only one can save you, you will be alone, again."
"No, not again!" Roseluck cried. The darkness enclosed on her, the figure turned and trotted away. "Wait! Please! Not again!" She curled up on the cold floor and shut her eyes tightly. "Not again." She whispered.
The Doctor opened his eyes, it was still just as dark outside, he glanced at his wristwatch. Something is definitely wrong, he thought, it's never this dark at eleven in the morning.
"No..." Roseluck whimpered, she was shivering and rolling around in her sleep.
"Roseluck? Roseluck!" Whooves shook her.
"W-What? No! P-Please don't." Roseluck shouted.
"Roseluck! It's me, it's Whooves!" He shook her again and she opened her eyes.
"W-What? Huh?" Her eyes shot around frantically as though she could not see him.
"You're alright. It was just another nightmare." Whooves held her tightly.
"You okay?" Dice asked, trotting towards them, Laura and Derpy followed.
"I, um, I... Y-Yes. It was just... no more nightmares, please." Roseluck said softly.
"You're alright now." Whooves patted her back.
There was a sudden grumble, Derpy looked down at her stomach. "Hey, do you have any food? I think we need some."
"She's right." Laura admitted. "We have nothing."
"Things would be a lot easier if we had some equipment too." Dice agreed.
"Well we cannot just wish for it." Laura said.
There was a long pause.
"You ain't thinking what I'm thinking, are ya?" Dice inquired.
"You mean...? Return to Ponyville?" Laura gasped.
"Where else? We can't last out here, we don't have a choice."
"Woah, woah, wait!" Whooves intervened. "We can't just trot back into Ponyville, we'll be eaten alive! Literally!"
"What about the balloon?" Derpy suggested.
"That thing's resting on the bottom of the lake, it'll take forever to lift it out." Dice sighed.
"What about your wings." Roseluck said suddenly. "You could fly in."
Dice considered the idea. "I guess that could work, but we wouldn't be able to bring much back."
"What about Laura?" Roseluck mumbled.
"What about her?" Dice asked.
"If you two could get her in, maybe she could teleport some stuff back?"
"That... could work." Laura admitted.
"So we walk back to town, airlift you in and drop you off at a bakery or something, and you could get supplies back here?" Dice tapped his chin.
"Yes," Laura's smile faded, "yet I would not be able to bring too much back."
"Take this." Whooves threw her the screwdriver. "It can act as a boost, like magical adrenaline."
"You are not coming?" Laura asked politely.
"No," he still held Roseluck, "I'll stay with Roseluck."
Laura and Dice exchanged looks. "Suit yourself." Dice shrugged. "We'll head out in five minutes, alright?"
"Sure." Laura and Derpy said in unison.
"Laura." Whooves called. "Take care of it, I'd like it back in one piece."
Laura and Dice began discussing their plans on the opposite side of the cave, Roseluck rested her head on Whooves shoulder. "Um, thank you." She whispered. "I'm sorry... I'm being ridiculous."
"What are you talking about? There's a zombie apocalypse! It wouldn't surprise me if you were a little scared." Whooves laughed.
Roseluck looked up at him. "Are you scared?"
Whooves thought for a moment. "No. But that's just me."
"But what is 'just you'?"
Whooves hesitated. "I don't know if that's grammatically correct..."
"You know what I mean. Who are you?"
"The Doctor. Just, The Doctor." Whooves murmured.
"Alright." Dice turned back to Whooves. "We're going to get moving. You sure you'll be okay here?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Roseluck said nervously.
Dice nodded. "Derpy, Laura, let's go."
Derpy, Dice and Laura trotted to the cave entrance and hopped outside, leaving Whooves and Roseluck alone in the cave.
"Well," Whooves said awkwardly, "now we wait."
Dice was feeling oddly excited, it had been a long time since he had gone on any sort of mission or quest. He still did not know if he could believe everything that was happening around him; even for Equestria, zombies were a little too out of the ordinary. Ponyville appeared through the mist, the great town hall was crumbling slowly in the centre, it had taken a great amount of damage from the storm, most of the buildings had. Whooves had mentioned something about the storm appearing so suddenly, and without the use of Pegasi no less. Strange things are happening, he thought, perhaps the zombies won't be our only problems.
"Do you think we are close enough?" Laura asked.
"No, not yet. Give it another minute." Dice replied.
"If we get too close, those ponies..."
"I know, I've met them too."
Ponyville came closer, Dice swallowed back his nerves. Am I getting too old for this? He wondered. It has been, quite some time since...
"Stop." Derpy said suddenly.
The ponies froze, directly in front of them a lone zombie stood shivering and twitching with it's back facing them. Dice gave Laura a nervous look. Derpy began moving back slowly, Dice and Laura stood side-by-side and reversed. The zombie, a pale green mare, wandered around aimlessly for a moment and then stopped again, luckily it did not face them.
"I guess this is close enough." Dice whispered. He grabbed Laura's front left hoof, and Derpy took her ear. "Her hoof, Derpy. Not her ear."
"Oh!" Derpy grabbed her tail.
"Hoof. Derpy! Her hoof!" Dice yelled. The zombie turned and faced them. "Oh, for crying out loud. Fly!" Derpy readjusted her grip and finally found Laura's hoof in time to lift off and dodge the aggravated dead mare. They lifted Laura up into the air.
"We can not go into town with that poor creature following us." Laura said calmly.
"If it alerts it's friends we will have no chance of retrieving anything."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Dice asked. Laura looked Dice straight in his eyes, her expression was deadly serious, she looked stern. "You don't mean...?"
"Lower me down, I will prevent it spreading the word." Laura growled.
Dice looked at Derpy, Derpy attempted to look back at Dice. "I think I like this new Laura."
Dice and Derpy slowed the pace of their wings and descended. A light glow appeared around Laura's horn.
"Just a little closer." Said Laura.
The mare was still staring at them, twitching, shuddering and moaning. Laura's horn grew brighter and a small orb appeared at the tip of it. A beam of solid magical energy protruded from the orb and shot towards the mare with immense speed. The orb and the beam faded, the zombie shuddered once more and slouched onto the ground. A small, burnt hole appeared in the zombie's forehead.
"Woah!" Dice marvelled. "What was that?"
"Just a little trick I have been working on."
"Why didn't you do that earlier?"
"I could not concentrate, and I was utterly exhausted. But that matters not! Onward." She pointed forward.
Whooves and Roseluck lay together against the cave wall, Roseluck still shivered. Whooves put his hoof around her to comfort her.
"You... you didn't answer my question." Said Roseluck. "Who are you? I mean, do you have any family?"
Whooves paused. "No, it's... it's just me." He cleared his throat. "But, um, what about you?"
"I... no, my parents, they died long ago. I never had any brothers or sisters. I think I have an aunt or a cousin in Canterlot, maybe. But other than that, it's just me." There was another pause. "How comes I hardly ever saw you?"
"What do you mean?" Whooves inquired.
"I worked in a flower shop in the middle of town, I spent everyday out there, but, I don't remember seeing you... ever."
"I kept to myself. I was in charge of the clockwork in Ponyville, some ponies called me Time Turner or something along those lines. I never really loved the job, that's why I spent a lot of my time inventing and experimenting with magic."
"Your accent. You weren't born in Ponyville were you?"
The Doctor stared at his hooves. "I... let's just say I was rather adventurous in the days of my youth... I guess I just got lost one time and ended up here."
"Ended up here?" Roseluck mimed his words.
"Don't get me wrong, I love this place, far more peaceful than anywhere I've ever been before, or at least it was... before, all this happened."
Roseluck just stared at him. "You've seen the world then?"
"I suppose you could say that." Whooves hesitated, he heard a disturbance in the silence outside and put his hoof over Roseluck's mouth. She mumbled something angrily that sounded like "what are you doing?"
"Sh." Whooves whispered.
Then Roseluck heard the sound, the sound of a pony moaning. Her heart began racing, thumping so quickly she thought it might explode. You will be alone, the figure's voice echoed in her ears. No, please, not again! She thought. Her mind was in pieces, she wanted to scream, but she could not form words. I don't want to be alone again! Her mind shouted.
Whooves looked at her like he was reading her thoughts. "I won't leave you." He whispered. The moaning outside grew quieter. "See? Everything is going to be..."
"Raargh!" A pale brown colt launched through the mouth of the cave bearing his teeth.
Roseluck screamed and ran back up against the cave wall. The zombie spotted her weakness and shot towards her, but he was intercepted by a large rock, thrown by Whooves. The zombie, whose face was now distorted, snarled at Whooves and leaped onto him. He gnashed his teeth and bit into the air, attempting to reach Whooves while he pressed his face back.
"Roseluck..." Whooves called. The traumatised mare shivered in the back of the cave, she seemed completely unaware of the situation. "Please..."
"Not again." She cried, clutching her head.
The zombie's biting came closer. "Roseluck! Help!"
For Roseluck, time slowed down, everything froze and neither the zombie or Whooves moved. A figure appeared in the moonlight, the same figure that Roseluck had seen in her dream. The figure was larger than the average pony, with long flowing hair. To Roseluck, the figure was just a silhouette, one of a pony with wings and a horn.
When the figure spoke, her voice was like a loud, sleepy, hissing whisper, it was a female voice saying: "I am sorry if I startled you before."
"Who are you?" Roseluck cried. "Why are you terrorising me?"
The figure tilted her head, although Roseluck could not see her face, she felt the sympathy she was emitting. "I never planned to scare you like this, child. I am weak, my magic is shrouded by evil."
"But... but, who are you? How comes I can see you?"
"Your mind is... more open than the others. You can accept and understand things that they cannot, you possess a different kind of willpower."
"Wait, I... I don't understand!"
The figure began to shimmer and fade. "You must help your friend, or you will be alone again. This will not be our final meeting." The scene began to whizz back into motion. The figure turned to Whooves. "Help him. He will save you." The figure faded completely and the world was back in real time.
"Roseluck!" Whooves called.
Roseluck, without thinking, lunged into the zombie and knocked it sideways off of Whooves and onto it's back. Roseluck stamped on its face repeatedly, crushing it under her hooves and crying. The zombie's tortured moaning silenced, and it stopped moving. Roseluck stared at her blood covered hooves and turned back to The Doctor, who was now standing. Her eyes watered and her lips quivered.
"I... I..." She mumbled.
The Doctor approached her and wrapped his hooves around her, he held her closely. "You saved me. Thank you."
"I... I'm a monster..." She wailed. "I... I killed him."
"You are no monster." He looked her directly in her eyes. "You are beautiful."
Laura felt fantastic, she was soaring above the streets of Ponyville after shocking both her friends with her incredible magical abilities. For some reason, part of her felt slightly upset. Was it because I lied to my friends, she wondered, or maybe I'm just too eager to tell the truth... No! I can not tell them, not yet, they might not trust me, especially Dice. As if sensing her emotions, Dice glanced at her, he was grinning, he had been ever since her magical stunt, she smiled back at him.
"Food!" Derpy shouted.
"Hush now, Derpocerasus." Laura joked. "We do not want our deceased friends being alerted of our presence."
"No, look, it's the bakery." Dice pointed forward.
Surely enough, the gigantic cake-shaped bakery was straight ahead of them. The previously bright pink icing atop the building had almost lost its color, now it was a dank, greyer tone. The roof had taken multiple blasts from the storm and was now covered in black burns. Part of the roof had fallen in where the huge candle used to be, revealing the wooden frame underneath.
"There has to be something useful in there." Laura explained.
"There'll be food, for sure. The place looks intact still." Dice said.
"Lower me down." Laura ordered.
Derpy and Dice slowed their wing speed once more and descended slowly into the bakery. The interior was bare; they were in a room with a number of empty barrels and a wooden door.
"They'll be more food downstairs." Dice promised. He reached for the handle on the door.
"Careful now, Dice. We have no idea as to what lies on the other side of that door." Laura said calmly.
Dice pushed the door forward and peeked through. "We're clear."
"Yay!" Derpy jumped into the door and rolled down a set of stairs.
"Derpy! Quiet." Dice whispered.
Derpy's smile turned to a wobbly frown. "Sorry."
Dice trotted down the stairs and Laura followed. They arrived on the first floor, where Dice and Laura had originally met. She remembered spotting Dice during a party, the streamers and balloons still hung limply around the room.
"Where did everypony go?" Laura asked herself.
Dice just stared at her, almost exactly as he had done the first time she had approached him. She had heard many rumours about him from her colleagues, she was intrigued by him and believed that she could remind him of who he was. She saw the apocalypse as an opportunity, even if she had not expected it.
"Derpy," Dice whispered, "check the kitchen for more supplies."
"Sure thing, Boss." Derpy saluted and disappeared behind the counter.
Dice's expression turned serious, and he turned back to Laura. "Funny." He said. "We were stood here not long ago. Remember? The party?"
"How could I forget?" Laura gasped.
"Heh... yeah. You still didn't explain what you meant?"
Laura tilted her head slightly and stared at him.
"You know," Dice continued, "yesterday. You said you were waiting for me to 'wake up'. What did you mean?"
Laura's smile faded. "I..." She cleared her throat. "I, well, what I meant was... it's difficult for me to explain."
"How difficult?" Dice came closer.
"Do you remember when I told you that I had heard a lot about you? Did that not seem a little odd to you?"
Dice paused, his expression grew dark. "You? No! You're not...?"
Laura nodded slowly, she braced herself.
"I told you! I told all of you that I'm done!" He yelled.
"Dice, please, keep your voice down." Laura pleaded.
"You know, for a second I thought I was beginning to trust you. I guess I was wrong again."
"That's not why I am here." She whispered briskly.
"Then why are you here?" He approached her and she backed away.
"I thought, that maybe, I could wake you up. Open your eyes."
"I've had my eyes open for far too long! I've seen things that no pony could put into words with my opened eyes. So I shut them, I tried to forget. But, you can't have that can you? You have to ruin my life even more!"
"Listen, Dice! I know what they did to you! They betrayed your trust, and I will not. I want to help you, our agency is falling apart, we need an expert, a veteran like yourself."
"I want nothing to do with 'the agency' or you! When this is all over, I hope I never see you again, and I hope you never see me!" He shouted.
The groaning outside increased. "Dice." Laura warned. "The zomb-"
The sound of hoofsteps came from outside, and a sharp knocking came from the door.
Roseluck felt terrible, she had just killed a pony, even if he was already dead, his blood was literally on her hooves. She sat with the Doctor, staring at the body of the zombie. For some reason, she felt like she could not look the Doctor in the eye, she felt like she had disappointed him or betrayed him. He was the one pony that cared for her now, the one pony that gave her hope in the new dark world. I can't lose him, she thought, I can't be alone again...
"I'd imagine they're on there way back now." Whooves said suddenly. "Wait until they hear about this, eh?" He chuckled nervously. Roseluck still did not look at him. Whooves cleared his throat. "Listen, um, thanks. You saved my life." Roseluck was silent. There was a long pause. "What did you see back there?" Whooves was suddenly serious. Am I being too stubborn? Roseluck wondered. What if he doesn't like that? What if he thinks I don't appreciate him? She started panicking, she wanted to say something but could not form a word. She slowly turned her head and looked at him, she tried to speak, but her voice was gone, so she just shook her head.
"I'm sorry." Whooves said.
He's apologising? She thought. What if he thinks it's his fault? Why aren't I good enough for him? She became angry with herself, a small amount of rage was bubbling up inside her.
"Stop." Said a firm voice, the voice of the figure. Whooves did not react, so Roseluck assumed he could not hear her. " I am not going to let you lose yourself. Remember who you are, Roseluck. You are strong, you are unique."
"I'm a murderer!" Roseluck cried. Whooves was stunned, Roseluck looked into the air like she expected to see something.
"Not to him." The voice said calmly. "To him, you are beautiful, a wonderful thing. Don't you see? He cares for you."
"I've lost it!" Roseluck laughed. "I've officially lost it!" Her eyes watered.
"Roseluck!" Whooves took her hoof. "I promised I would get you out of this and I will!"
"You don't understand!" She pulled away. "You don't want me! Nobody does! I'm useless." She struggled to form her last sentence through her crying.
"Roseluck, I... I..."
"Just go!" She cried. "Leave me alone, leave me alone again!"
"Please..."
"No one loves me! No one! I'm... nothing. Just a crazy mare!"
"Listen to me!" Whooves yelled.
"No!" She ran back and almost tripped over the body. "Not again! Please!" The cave grew darker, the light of the moon seemed to slowly fade, leaving her in the dark. "Not again! Not-" everything stopped, the darkness grew lighter and her vision cleared. Whooves stood closely to her, leaning in with his hooves wrapped around her and his lips on hers.
"I love you." He said proudly. Roseluck stared at him, the frown on her face wobbled and curved into a smile.
"I'm no expert." Said the voice. "But I think you've found yourself a keeper."
The zombies broke through the windows of the bakery, reaching in with desperate hooves.
"Damn!" Dice yelled. He turned to Laura, his expression was dark and angered. "This isn't over!" He grabbed her hoof and led her into the kitchen. "Derpy?"
"Here!" The blonde mare called from the basement.
"Derpy we have to get out of here! Now!"
Derpy emerged from a hatch in the floor, dragging with her a large bag containing assorted food, balloons, streamers, a grapple hook, a few knives and a baseball bat. She dumped the bag on the floor. "I do good?" She asked.
Dice smiled slightly. "You did brilliantly." He turned to Laura and became angry again. "Now get us out of here!"
"I can not." Laura muttered. "I need a clear path, there are too many physical objects in the way."
"Argh." Dice grumbled. "Come on!" He launched up the stairs and into the attic. Derpy and Laura appeared behind him, they slammed the door shut.
"They'll be here soon! We have to get out of here." Said Dice.
"I have an idea." Laura mumbled.
Dice turned on her. "It better be a good one."
Laura pulled out the sonic screwdriver and directed it at the wall. "Perhaps we may be able to use this." She activated her magic and combined it with the screwdriver's power. Concentrated light erupted from her horn and blasted through the wall, leaving a small smoldering hole.
"We can't fit through that!" Dice complained.
"We don't need to." Laura replied. She put her hooves on Derpy and Dice, she placed the screwdriver in her mouth and pressed the button with her teeth then attempted a teleport. She focused on the mountain that she could barely see through the hole she had made. Suddenly, the mountain came closer, and the trio were now stood outside the cave.
"Hooray!" Derpy cried. An echo reverberated across the valley.
"Sh! Derpy!" Dice whispered. His ear twitched. "Something's wrong. Roseluck? Whooves?" He ran into the cave, and saw the body of a light brown colt laying on the cave floor. "Oh... No...."
Laura arrived by his side, she gasped.
"It's alright." Said Whooves's voice. He and Roseluck stepped out of the darkness. "We're okay."
"Thank goodness." Said Laura.
Dice snatched the screwdriver from Laura's hoof and threw it back to the Doctor. "What happened here?"
"One got in." Roseluck did not make eye contact with any of them. She stood remarkably close to Whooves.
"But where did it come from?" Laura asked.
"Was anyone talking to you?" Dice turned on her suddenly with rage in his eyes.
Whooves tilted his head, Roseluck simply said. "We don't know."
Whooves examined Dice and Dice examined Whooves. "What happened to you two?" They both said in unison.
"Wait!" Derpy said suddenly. Everyone looked at her, even Roseluck. She looked up at the moon like a wolf ready to howl. "Good night Luna." She fell onto her side and began snoring.
"Did she just...?" Roseluck murmured.
Suddenly the valley outside of the cave became illuminated with a bright white light, as if the moon had increased its illumination. Everyone yawned.
"Well, I'm feeling a little..." Whooves fell to the ground, asleep.
"Whoo... ves?" Roseluck groaned and fell beside him.
Laura struggled to keep her eyes open. "Dice..." She yawned. "Something... is not... right... here."
Dice dropped to his knees. "I'm getting... too old for this." And with that he joined his friends in slumber.
When Roseluck finally got to her hooves, she knew she was not awake. The area around her was just like her other dreams: an endless space of black with a few twinkles of light and rays of colours spreading across it. It looked like the Northern Lights in the night sky. There was no floor below her hooves, just an exact reflection of what was above her.
"Roseluck?" Said a weary voice. Behind Roseluck, Whooves stood rubbing his eyes. "Are you wearing... a dress?"
Roseluck looked down, it was true, she was wearing a gleaming white dress, with various red roses pinned into it. She felt her mane, it was much longer an silkier than it had been before. As her vision of Whooves cleared, she gasped. He was wearing a stylish brown suit with a light purple shirt underneath. His bow tie was still around his neck. He stared at his reflection in the floor.
"Wow. I look... good. Like, really good."
"Uh..." Said a familiar voice. Dice shimmered into the dream world, his hair was now neater and his scruffy shirt had sorted itself out. The bruises he had on his face had vanished. "What the...?"
Laura appeared next to him and Roseluck was stunned. Her dress was now completely repaired, the blood stains had disappeared. She looked oddly more beautiful, but Roseluck was not sure why.
Derpy was the last to arrive, elegantly landing beside Laura. She now wore an odd, yet surprisingly fitting, green dress decorated with tiny muffins. She had a ring of flowers in her hair.
"What is going on here?" Dice demanded.
"I was about to ask the same question." Said Whooves.
Laura examined the strange world. "Wherever we are, we were not put here on our own accord."
"No kidding." Dice mumbled sarcastically.
"I'm terribly sorry if I startled you." Said a wispy and sleepy mare's voice. A silhouette of a large pony appeared.
"You!" Roseluck shouted.
"Yes, I. " The figure replied.
"Wait, Roseluck you know this thing?" Whooves asked.
"She's the thing from my nightmares!" Roseluck cried.
The figure winced on the word 'nightmares'. "Thing? That's no way to address a princess."
"P-Princess?" Dice inquired.
The figure stepped forward, her body was illuminated. She was a tall alicorn with long flowing blue hair and a dark blue body. "Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?"
"Wait just a second! You're Luna!" Said Dice.
"Princess Luna?" Laura bowed. "It is an honour to meet you."
Dice rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here? Where is 'here' for that matter?"
Luna stretched out her wings and lifted her head up high. "My apologies for bringing you here like this, I'm afraid that due to my... current state, I am unable to visit you personally."
"So you visited us in a dream..." Whooves marvelled.
The Princess nodded. "Indeed."
"So this world is... a dream?" Roseluck asked.
"And I don't really look this good?" Whooves sighed.
"Yes... and no."
"But, how did you get us here? And what's with these clothes?" Roseluck inquired.
"I used what little power I could to cast a sleep spell. Being the Princess of the Night has it's benefits, one being that I am more powerful at darker times, and another being that I can see everything under the moonlight. As for those clothes, well, the strange thing about a dream is that you tend to look better, or in your case, more formal, in them. Then again, in your dreams, you can be anything."
"Alright." Dice said suddenly and angrily. "Why did you bring us here?"
"Just getting to that, I need your help."
"What's new?" Dice mumbled.
Laura glared at him. Luna continued. "I'm afraid that due to a series of events, I am unable to control the sun or the moon, and thus you will remain in the dark until you free me."
"Free you?" Laura asked politely. "From where?"
Luna lowered her head, like she was embarrassed. "It's a, um, long story."
"I'm sure we've got time." Dice hissed.
The Princess considered him. "I know you, Dice. I remember."
"Well that makes two of us, I hope it stays with you until the grave."
"You must understand, what happened before, we never intended for..."
"I've heard that speech hundreds of times, don't lie to me." Dice stepped closer.
Whooves and Roseluck stood watching the two ponies, Derpy was still investigating her own reflection. Gasping at the muffins on her dress.
"Now is not the time, Dice. We have more urgent matters." Said Luna. "The safety of Equestria, and for that matter, the world, is at stake."
"Yeah, we noticed." Dice scowled.
"I have an assignment for all of you. You must retrieve a Cockatrice's head and bring it to Canterlot."
"A Cockatrice? Don't those turn people to stone? Why would need one of those?" Roseluck asked.
"It's probably best if I show you, rather than tell you." The floor bellow the princess shimmered and faded to an image of what appeared to be the top of a royal tower. The image began moving and the tower came closer. "This is a memory of mine, you will see things through my point of view. " The image continued to move, Luna landed on the tower and galloped downstairs.
"Sister? Sister!" She shouted.
She arrived in a large hall where a larger pony with similar characteristics to Luna, but a white body and pinker hair, stood gazing out of a window. It was dark outside and the moon hung in the sky. The other pony, Princess Celestia, turned to her sister. "Luna! What news do you bring?"
"Things are not looking good, the infection is spreading at a catastrophic rate. Soon, all of Equestria will become..." A faint groan could be heard outside of the hall. "What is that?"
The groaning grew louder, and more groans joined it. The sound of hooves simultaneously stomping came from behind a large door. Suddenly, hundreds of pale skinned ponies flooded into the room. Back in the dream world, Roseluck whimpered and hid behind Whooves who put his hoof around her.
The zombies charged at the two Princesses, who retaliated with magic, but the sheer force of the ponies pushed them back, more zombies came from behind them. "Celestia? We're cornered!"
Celestia watched the ponies approach, slowly swarming them. "Seek help my sister. Find survivors. End this." She fired a beam of light from her horn as the zombies grabbed her. Luna looked at her hooves as the slowly turned to stone, and then the image went black.
"I am unsure of what my sister's fate was , but I do know this: the zombies have a taste for flesh, not rock." Luna said finally.
"Wait, your a statue? Bold thing for Celestia to do, maybe she should do it more often, when other ponies need help." Dice laughed.
Luna replied sternly. "My mind remains intact in this dream world. I have little power, but I can effect the outside world in some ways."
"I still do not understand how a Cockatrice comes into this." Laura was equally as serious.
"A Cockatrice can reverse the effects of Stone Paralysis." Luna explained.
"And after we turn you back, what do we get out of it?" Dice asked, still grinning.
"Have you ever noticed how pale a zombie's skin is?" Luna questioned.
"Are you saying there's a reason for this?" Whooves asked.
"Correct, unfortunately, this is not the first time my sister and I have encountered these things, just never in such great numbers."
"And what did you find?" Whooves was now intrigued.
"Their weakness, or rather, the cure. Sunlight."
"So we free you, you lower the moon and these things just return to normal?" Dice was sceptical.
"Just as they were before infection."
"Oh... no." Roseluck whimpered.
"Something wrong, my dear?" Luna tilted her head.
"I... killed one of those things! Does that mean..."
"Sacrifices must be made..." Luna looked down.
"No... no... I'm a murderer." Roseluck began crying.
"You're not murderer, you had no choice." Whooves reassured her. "And you didn't know anyway!"
"I'm sorry, my child." Luna said slowly. "For all I am putting you through, and all I have put you through."
Roseluck continued crying slowly. Dice looked and Laura. "Don't worry." He said. "There's only one murderer here. "
Laura knew he had meant her. "I did not know either!"
"If I can find away to reverse all of this, I will. " Luna promised. "But until I am free, I need you to do whatever it takes."
"Fine." Said Whooves. "I'm in."
"I agree." Laura nodded.
"Yay!" Derpy shouted.
"Whatever, getting a little bored of all this anyway." Dice examined his hoof.
"I will... help." Roseluck muttered. "But I won't hurt any pony else."
"Thank you, all of you." Luna remarked. "You are making a valuable contribution to..."
"Enough with the fake your country's proud of you lies!" Dice yelled. "We'll get it done, and you leave us to it, okay?"
Everyone else was shocked, even Luna. "Fine, if that is how you feel, I will awaken you now. I would begin your search in the Everfree Forest, it is one of the few places were Cockatrices still exist. Be wary, and good luck, I will speak to you again when I can." The world around the ponies faded and turned dark, Luna turned and walked away.
Roseluck opened her eyes and felt grass against her face. She got up and realised her dress was gone, the others were now back to normal as well. Only Roseluck and Whooves were awake, Dice, Laura and Derpy still laid dormant. Roseluck ran to the Doctor and embraced him. She wrapped her front legs around his neck and kissed him.
"Good to see you too." He laughed.
The others began to stir and Roseluck quickly removed her hooves. Dice got up first, he glanced around, dazed, then shook his head as though nothing had happened. By the time Laura and Derpy had awoken and re-joined the group, Dice was investigating the supplies. He turned to his comrades. "Well , I guess we've got quite the journey ahead of us." He trotted backwards and forwards. "Which means we'll need to be active, alert and ready for anything. Danger could be lurking anywhere, there's no telling what kind of situations we'll find ourselves in. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Whooves saluted. Roseluck and Laura nodded and Derpy yelled: "Hoorah!"
"I hope we've got enough here to last us." He examined the supplies.
"I hope we last long enough to use all this." Laura muttered.
The group stood in the fields just outside the cave, Dice was busy organizing the supplies whilst everyone sat awkwardly watching him.
"So, the Everfree Forest is where we're heading?" Whooves asked sheepishly.
"Yep." Dice said sternly whilst adjusting his saddlebag.
There was a short pause, in which Whooves and Roseluck glanced at each other, and then Whooves said: "Did something happen?"
"What are you talking about?" Dice's eyes narrowed.
"You're acting differently. I'm struggling to pinpoint which emotions you're showing."
"Oh, no, I'm great, really, just super happy to be taking orders again." Dice laughed sarcastically.
"Again?" Roseluck raised an eyebrow.
Dice glared at them, his eyes filled with something between anger and insanity. "Why don't you ask Little Miss Lies?" He gestured to Laura, who sat on a small hill staring up at the moon, and aggressively readjusted his bag.
"Enough." Whooves decided. "What happened?" His tone was serious and somewhat frustrated.
Dice stared daggers at him. "Let's just say Laurocerasus isn't who we thought she was."
"Then who is she?" Roseluck asked.
"What is this? Pester Dice day? Can't you see I'm busy? If you want answers go talk to her!" He snapped and angrily trotted away, still attempting to fix his saddlebag.
Whooves and Roseluck exchanged looks, Roseluck was the first to speak. "Looks like whatever went down between these two was... pretty serious, huh?"
"No kidding, he's completely lost it." Whooves agreed.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I want answers." Roseluck walked towards Laura, she climbed the hill and sat beside her.
"Good evening, Roseluck." Laura said peacefully without even looking at her.
"Um, yeah, good evening to you too." She said awkwardly. "Listen, there's something I need to ask you."
"Ask ahead." Laura's eyes stared directly at the moon.
"It's about Dice. Who is he?"
Laura turned to Roseluck. "Still working that out."
"Okay, then who was he?" Roseluck countered.
Laura turned back to the moon. "A legend, known for his expertise."
"Expertise in what?"
"You have seen his mark? The dice? They do not just reflect his name. Notice how both have the six side facing up."
"Which means?"
"Luck, he was known for his luck."
"Known by who?" Roseluck asked, suddenly she became more intrigued.
"Dice has a... rare characteristic. It is a mixture of bravery, fearlessness and insanity; let us just say that a certain group picked up on this."
"And I'm guessing you're part of this group too?" Laura nodded grimly. "Do you wanna tell me who this group is?"
Laura sighed. "If only it were that easy."
"Laura, this is it. The end of the world! I'm pretty sure you can tell me."
"In time, young one, in time." Laura stood up, brushed the dirt off of her dress and regrouped with Dice, Whooves and Derpy.
"If we live that long..." Roseluck muttered.
"The trek'll be about ten minutes." Dice marched backwards and forwards. "Once we're in the forest, it'll be a totally different story. I'm no expert on this place, but I'm pretty sure it ain't safe."
"We've lived in Ponyville longest. If anyone knows the forest it'll be one of us." Whooves suggested.
Dice studied him. "Agreed." He said at last. "Let's move out!"
As the group came closer to the forest, the sickly green grass began to turn into an even darker tone. The number of trees and exotic plants also increased. Strange dark green vines hung from the branches of the trees, and there were more odd abundances of multicolored flowers that Dice had just said were "not too fun" and winced. He never walked through them, and oddly enough, neither did Laura. The thick wall of dead trees approached, ominous noises could be heard from within.
Roseluck was scared of a lot of things, she could write a list if she tried, but forests and supernatural occurrences would not be part of that list; for the first time in a while, Roseluck felt brave, unless they ran into zombies.
Whooves had felt different since the encounter with Luna, not necessarily scared, but, more wary. He felt like he had died inside and regenerated as another pony. The way he felt about Roseluck had changed also. Is this what love is like? He wondered.
Laura, for the first time in a while, felt utterly afraid. Not of the zombies, or the forest, or any dangers that they may face. But of Dice; she had heard the rumors about him: supposedly a proud pony who hated being lied to. If the legends really were true, she could only wonder why she was not dead.
Dice could feel the fear the others were emitting. He knew that Roseluck and Whooves's relationship had changed somehow, whether it was more respect for each other or love, he did not know. He began to feel like there was not a single pony he could trust.
Muffins, Derpy thought, I wonder if there will be muffins. I hope there will be muffins. I like muffins.
"Right." Dice said suddenly. "Let's get this straight. We go in, get the bird and get out. Okay?" Everyone stared at him, their trains of thought were cut off. "I said... Okay?"
Whooves nodded. Roseluck muttered: "Hmm?" and Laura's eyes widened.
"I hope that's a yes. Now stick together." Dice turned to the wall of trees behind him and jumped through a small gap. The others followed him cautiously. As soon as they entered the forest, the world turned pitch black. Laura illuminated her horn and Whooves activated his screwdriver. The ponies were illuminated in an ominous blue glow.
"So, where do we start?" Roseluck asked.
"Well, I was hoping you could tell us." Dice admitted. "You said it yourself: you've been in Ponyville longest."
"The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place, bad things happen here, unnatural things." Whooves explained.
"Honestly," said Dice, "with everything that's happening, I don't think there's much more unnatural stuff we haven't seen yet."
"Believe me, the forest is not a good place." Roseluck whispered. "We don't even consider it as part of Equestria. Nobody goes in, nobody comes out... well, except..."
"Wait." Dice interrupted. "This is where the Elements were found, right? Can't be that dangerous if they managed to recover them."
"True," Whooves admitted, "but a lot has changed since then. Rumour has it that the forest is changing... adapting."
"Not my problem. We need to go deeper in, nothing could live in a place this dark." Dice replied.
The others agreed silently and the group pushed forward in the darkness, occasionally hitting low branches or boulders that could not be seen. Whooves stood at the back, illuminating the area behind them. Roseluck stood in front of him, her eyes darted around restlessly. Derpy stood in the middle of the line, her expression was blank. Laura was behind Dice, she lit the path in front of them as well as she could.
Suddenly, a faint, hissing laugh reverberated into Roseluck's ear. She turned around, and Whooves walked past her. "Hey, did you hear that?" She asked. There was no answer. Roseluck turned to where Whooves had just stood, he was gone; Roseluck was alone. "No... no!" She screamed. "Not again! Not alone..." She ran forward crying: "Hello? Anyone? Some pony please help me!"
"She was right behind us!" Whooves exclaimed. "She couldn't just disappear! We have to go back for her."
"I told everyone to stick together! We've got no chance of finding her in there." Dice retorted.
"We must do something!" Laura insisted.
"Hey if you wanna go wandering through a pitch black forest full of monsters to find a pony we don't even need, you be my guest." Dice replied aggressively.
"What do you mean 'don't even need'?" Whooves yelled. "Where's your damn sympathy?"
"All I care about is getting this job done!" Dice retaliated. "I don't care if we've lost your pathetic girlfriend!"
"How dare you!" Whooves said, enraged. He jumped at Dice who intercepted him in mid air, grabbed his front hooves and swiftly smacked him in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. When Whooves recovered, Laura, Dice and Derpy were gone. "Where are you?" He called. Moments later he realized he too was totally alone. He pulled out his screwdriver and shone it on his surroundings. Something with fur brushed past him, he turned and yelped. A bright light shone and Whooves collapsed onto the ground.
"Where is he?" Dice breathed angrily.
"He could not just vanish, this defies logic." Laura said.
"Listen, we need to get this done. Whether it's five of us or three." Dice looked around. "Wait, where's Derpy?" Laura and Dice were alone in the darkness. "Great, of all the ponies, I get stuck with you. Come on, we gotta move."
Laura hesitated, then followed Dice closely. "You know, nobody ever said you were this aggressive."
"Well, my apologies, remind me to update my profile back at HQ when this is all over! Just so all the gossiping brats at the agency can see exactly who I am!" He replied, both sarcastic and livid.
"I... I am truly sorry." Laura said as apologetically as she could.
"Look, I don't care what you know about..."
"No," Laura said firmly, "I mean, I am sorry about what happened before all of this. You were abandoned, and they had no right to do that."
"Well, they did. They sent me in and forgot about me." Dice said calmly. "You have any idea what that's like? When you figure out there is no evacuation coming? When you realize you've outdone your usefulness, and you get thrown away?"
There was a long pause. "How did you do it?" Laura asked at last. "How did you escape?"
The sound of hoofsteps approached. "I'll explain later, we've got company."
Roseluck knew she was being followed, she could hear faint panting behind her. Regardless, she continued running forward, too scared to do anything else. "Just leave me alone!" She screamed. Suddenly, the ground underneath her disappeared and she tumbled down a rocky hillside, smashing into various jagged stones as she went. When she finally reached the bottom, she slid forward in the wet and muddy earth and hit her head on a tree stump. She groaned and turned over onto her back, she saw the moon piercing through a gap in the canopy, then a silhouette of a pony obscured her vision. "P-Please..." She managed to mutter before fainting. Everything went black, the darkness crept into her sight and shrouded everything, the moon faded. "Rainbow!" A low pitched, slow voice yelled, as the world halted and disappeared.
Roseluck was alone. There were no ponies, none whatsoever. Nothing alive nor dead. Nothing.
"H-hello?" She mumbled.
Everything was dark, the world was black, Roseluck could not see anything. The strange laugh-whisper that Roseluck had heard earlier brushed past her ear.
"Who's there?" She yelled. "I-I'm not afraid of you!"
"Us?" Said a hissing voice. "No, not us." The voice was similar to what Roseluck imagined a snake would sound like if it could talk. A cold shiver ran down her back whenever it spoke.
"Who are you?" Roseluck turned, attempting to find the source of the voice.
"Poor, poor little pony." The voice whispered. "So lost, so alone." Every time the voice spoke, it seemed to move closer towards Roseluck.
"What do you want?" She asked as firmly as she could, but her voice still trembled.
"Alone again!" The voice taunted as the laughter increased.
"W-What? Stop it!" Roseluck tried to back away, but she could not move her legs.
"All alone! Nobody loves you! Nobody wants you!"
"No! That's not true! Whooves..."
"He doesn't want you! He thinks you're a freak! He thinks you're useless! He doesn't really want you, nobody does."
"Stop!"
"Alone again!" The voice cackled cruelly. "All alone again!"
"No! Not again!" She screamed.
"Who's there?" Dice asked the darkness. "Friend or foe?"
"Hello?" Said a mare's voice, neither Roseluck or Derpy. "Is somepony there?" A faint purple light appeared in the distance.
"Who are you?" Dice yelled .
The light came closer and a purple alicorn, no taller than Dice or Laura, appeared from the hollow space. The alicorn's mane and tail were a dark blue-purple color, in her hair she had a pink and purple streak. She looked exhausted and rattled. They exchanged weary and wary looks.
"You... you're not zombies." She muttered.
"And neither are you." Dice returned.
"My name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle." The mare said.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Laura asked, suddenly interested.
"Well, um, yeah, I guess." Twilight replied awkwardly.
Laura bowed. "It's an honour to meet you, Your Majesty."
Dice rolled his eyes. "Princess, huh?"
Twilight stared at Laura, who was still bowing. "Um, perhaps we should move somewhere safer."
Laura looked up, she was smiling with her mouth open. "O-Okay." She squealed with delight, and slowly reached for her hoof. Dice rolled his eyes, again, and grabbed her leg.
Twilight closed her eyes and illuminated her horn and a blast of purple magic coated the trio.
"Uh..." Whooves moaned.
"Hello?" Said a shaky mare's voice. "Anyone home?"
Whooves squinted his eyes open slightly, he caught sight of something light blue with multiple colors atop it.
"W-Wha..." He mumbled.
"Hey Zecora!" The blue creature yelled. "I think he's waking up!"
Whooves's vision clarified, the blue creature solidified into a pegasus with a rainbow-coloured mane and tail.
"Where... Roseluck?" Was all he managed to mutter.
The pegasus watched him as he tried to stand. "Woah! Take it easy." She said.
Whooves sat back down. "Where am I?" He asked.
"The Everfree Forest, just not where we found you." The pegasus replied.
"We? Who exactly are you?"
"Name's Rainbow Dash, expert flier and generally awesome pony, at your service." She bowed.
"Okay, and who's 'we'?" Whooves rubbed his forehead.
"You are very lucky that you were found," said a new, rhythmic voice, "the forest is neither safe nor sound." A pony with black and white stripes moved into view, she wore gold rings around her hooves and as earrings.
"This is Zecora, she's a friend." Rainbow gestured to the zebra.
"Wait, have you two been living out here?" Whooves asked.
"Well, not just us two..." The was a sudden flash and three ponies appeared. One was a purple alicorn and the others were Dice and Laura.
"That... was... amazing." Laura giggled.
"Dice? Laura?" Whooves questioned.
"Whooves?" Dice replied.
"You guys know each other?" Rainbow examined the ponies.
"Yeah, we travel together. We got a little lost in the woods." Whooves admitted.
"You were not lost, you were separated," Zecora said, "no doubt by a demon, a creature of hatred."
"What?" Dice stared at her. "Wait, Zecora?"
"You certainly took your time, I see. Yet, I assumed you would recognise me."
"How long has it been? Seven, eight years?" Dice embraced Zecora.
"Hold it! You guys know each other too?" Rainbow looked surprised.
"Yeah, back when I used to... travel, I met Zecora. In her old village, that is. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I moved not long after you, to Equestria I came, for something new."
"Well, it's good to see you again."
The purple alicorn was breathing heavily, she sat down on the grass outside a small hut embedded in an old tree.
"Are you alright, Princess Twilight?" Laura gasped. "Do you need something? Water? Food? A bed?"
"No... I'm fine, just a little worn out." Twilight panted. "And, um, just 'Twilight' is fine."
"Okay." Laura giggled. "Twilight."
"Not alone. No. Not again. No." Roseluck whimpered. She was laying on her side with her hooves over her eyes.
The voice's evil cackling still pierced her ears. "What's wrong, Rosie?" It hissed.
"Leave me alone!" Roseluck screamed.
"But I thought you didn't want to be alone? I thought you wanted friends..."
"I have friends!" She cried.
"No, they don't like you. Especially not the Doctor. They think you're useless, they don't need you, they don't want you, nobody does."
"Stop it! Just stop it! Please!"
"Face the truth Roselump, you're nothing but a crybaby!" The voice's words ringed in her ears like an echo.
"No... I, but..." She stammered.
Suddenly, a group of ponies appeared around her, they looked exactly like the bullies from her old school. Their eyes were blank, they pointed at Roseluck and laughed.
Roseluck just cried. "No..." She murmured, her voice trembling.
More ponies appeared, including Dice, Laura and Whooves, all with blank eyes and all laughing.
"Get away from her!" A new voice said.
Roseluck looked up, and before her stood Princess Luna, emitting a bright, shining glow. She extended her wings and stomped her front hooves into the ground, vaporising the unreal ponies. She shone her horn directly upwards and the entire world illuminated. Roseluck now stood in a new domain, one much similar to Luna's.
"Roseluck!" Luna sat beside her.
"You... I..." Roseluck mumbled, tears still rushing down her face.
"It's okay." Luna wrapped her wing and hoof around her. "You are safe, I promise."
Whooves and Dice explained everything that had happened, since leaving Ponyville up until losing each other in the forest. They explained the task that Luna had set them also. Twilight seemed relieved when she heard that Luna still lived.
"I see." She said. "So you need a cockatrice's head?"
"Yeah, sounds a lot easier than it is." Whooves rubbed the back of his head.
"We'll help you in whatever ways we can," Twilight promised, "but first I guess I should explain our side of the story. I was in my library when the infection struck, I managed to escape and later found Rainbow Dash, then we came here, it was the best place we could think of."
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight and nodded.
"Oh, yeah." Twilight said. "You didn't happen to see any other living ponies while you were in Ponyville, did you?"
"I'm afraid not, why?" Dice asked.
Twilight and Rainbow became suddenly disappointed. "You see, when I fled," Twilight continued, "I originally planned to rescue my friends and then come here, but there were so many and... well, I don't know if they made it out."
"I'm sorry, there were no others." Dice said bluntly.
"How about we make a deal?" Rainbow looked up suddenly. "We help you catch a cockatrice and if you see our friends, or anypony else, tell them we're here, and that we're alive."
Dice studied her. "Deal."
"Wait a minute." Whooves intervened. "You explained how you got here, but how did I get here?"
Twilight looked at him guiltily. "Heh, I, um..." She laughed nervously. "That was an accident. I guess I kinda... well... long story short, I went in, I heard a noise, thought it was a zombies and..."
"You knocked me out?" Whooves inquired.
"Sorry about that." Twilight murmured.
"Wait!" Laura yelled. "You knocked him out... with magic?"
"Er... yes." Twilight winced.
"That is... so awesome." Laura whispered.
Dice cleared his throat. "Anyway, about the cockatrice?"
"Oh yeah," Rainbow grinned, "we'll help you find the cockatrice. Zecora?"
"I will do what I can to help this nation, I have just the item for this situation." Zecora replied in a rhyme. A moment later she returned from her shack holding a few pairs of thick sunglasses.
"What are these?" Dice asked whilst studying the peculiar object.
"They will protect you from a Cockatrice stare, they will help you, whether stallion or mare."
Whooves placed the glasses over his eyes. "Hey, I can see through these pretty well."
"They're magical glasses." Twilight explained. "You can see out but nothing can see in."
"Hm." Whooves laughed. "Yes I spent some time working with... magic that was different on the inside compared to the outside."
"Okay, so we've got our equipment, anybody even know where to find a cockatrice?" Said Dice.
"Actually, I was turned to stone by one some time ago..." Twilight admitted.
Laura gasped. "A-Are you alright Pri- I mean, Twilight?"
"Yes," Twilight replied awkwardly, "it was a while ago." Laura still stared at her seeming partially concerned and partially in awe. "Anyhow, I think I remember where I found it. It isn't far from here."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" Dice slid the glasses onto his face.
"I'm not gonna lie." Said Twilight sheepishly. "I'm not exactly one hundred percent sure I remember exactly where it was... not from here, at least."
Dice grew frustrated. "What d'you mean, not from here?"
"I mean, I sort of wandered off while heading to Zecora's one time. Like I said, I don't know the exact path there, but if we just travel down the main road, I'm sure it'll all flood back to me."