To Hope to find Something, Yet Find Nothing
Pinkie listened to a cricket, its plaintive song echoing in the cool night air.
Were it before everything happened, the mare would have found the song soothing. A sleep aid.
That's how the foals curled up against Pinkie still felt.
But not anymore.
For her, it was a reminder that their gods were dead.
The sun was gone, and as was the moon, for neither could live without their links.
The sky was dark, with only Twilight's stars to light up the pitch black darkness.
The discomfort would always prevent a full slumber.
But her job wasn't to take care of herself, it was to make sure the foals were safe.
She eventually dozed off, only to be awoken by Maud.
The pink mare looked at her sister, and for once, she saw full emotion on her face.
But it wasn't happy.
The look on her face was familiar, pure terror.
"Pinkie, I need help," she whispered.
Pinkie yawned.
"Please, I really need you to do this for me."
Pinkie coiled her blanket, lifted the twins' head, and placed the soft mass under them.
"What is it?"
"I need you to help me."
"Of course."
"I need to know if mom and dad are alive
"Why is this coming into light now?"
"I don't know, I can't even say I truly believe they're okay. But I can't take the stress of not knowing. I think,...I think my hair is falling out."
Pinkie squinted at Maud's mane, but all that had come off was a loose strand that had fallen off her brush.
Nonetheless, she felt the need to help her. With honesty, a large source of her own stress was induced by the fact that she didn't know what happened to the rest of her family.
"I'll help, but first, I need to tell Cheese Sandwich something."
"Alright, I'll pack us supplies."
A half-hour later, they were ready to go.
Pinkie gave a final look at Cheese, slumbering beside the foals, then shut the door, ready to go.
A large heard of the undead had been passing through, and was thusly in the way.
A look of despair crossed Maud's eyes, and she turned to go back. However, Pinkie grabbed her shoulder in a firm but gentle way.
She bent down, removing a pouch and a roll of duct tape from. The pouch was full of scissor blades. Pinkie removed one, before unraveling a long piece of tape from the roll. She wrapped the tape around the blunt part of the blade, forming a firm, easy-grasping handle. Pinkie made a shiv.
The mare whistled softly, attracting a nearby trotter. Pinkie gripped its neck, and stuck her shiv into the back of its head.
"You look like you've done this a lot..."
"No, but when the foals nap, I'd observe them. I-I'd like to try some of the methods I've come up with. Now pay attention, this is important." Pinkie gripped the shiv in her mouth, her muzzle cringed as she dug into the creatures abdomen. she ripped the intestines from their place, rubbing them against her coat without a whiff of disgust in her eye.
Maud shivered. "Why are you doing that?"
"When I went to escape with the foals. A "friend" showed me a stallion outside doing this. He blended in with the horde, until he panicked and subsequently died. But it worked, so I use this method to get around. Just close your eyes and I'll get you covered. Word of the wise, hold your nose, this will not be pleasant."
Gagging, Maud allowed the substance to be put on her.
When Pinkie was finished, Maud looked more miserable then a Quaray eel out of its nook.
"Okay, you have to walk, and don't make a sound. Act like you belong and you will belong. There's a lot of those things out here, and they're hungry."
"That's all?"
Pinkie bit her lip. "There is...one more thing. We should stay separate. Th-the trotters may get suspicious if there's too much tension in one area. I nearly got the foals killed when trying to get them through."
Pinkie cringed as her sister quivered fearfully.
"Alright. I guess you're kind of the expert here."
"I wouldn't even call myself an expert. You ready?"
"I'm not sure I could really ready myself anymore."
Maud slowly crept into the herd. Pinkie followed after a few minutes.
The mares got lucky. A sparse few noticed something was wrong with Maud, but there were no accidents.
They traveled another mile away from the herd before Pinkie finally agreed to a campsite.
Just as a fire was set up, Pinkie pulled out two, unlabeled cans.
She smiled "Let's hope for something good." she grabbed another scissor blade and ripped off the top of the first can. "Refried beans, always nice."
Maud shrugged, her deadpan face returning from that tense bout.
Pinkie opened the other, then gasped in glee. She hugged the can, smiling. "Sliced peaches! That was always my favorite treat at the farm. Well, before I discovered cake of course."
She scooped up a hoof-ful of the beans, before handing maud the other half of the can. She tried to refuse the peaches, as she had a heavy distaste for them, but Pinkie reminded her that she needed to eat what she could, as she needed the calories. Begrudgingly, she swallowed the canned fruit.
"I think I'll go explore," Maud said, "There's a neat cliffside near here, with some odd rock formations."
Pinkie smiled "Well, if you're recognizing the landmarks around here we must be getting close. Maybe I'll come with you."
"You should get some rest, you didn't have a chance to get too much sleep back at East End."
She couldn't argue with that logic. The fire would deter the trotters, she'd be safe. As Maud walked away, Pinkie slipped into slumber.
She was awoken by a loud THUMP!, and Maud wasn't there.
The fire was completely out, and not even an ember survived, she'd been out a while. Surely Maud would've checked up on her by now, right?
Right?
Worry set in when she didn't come back two hours later.
Following her compass, Pinkie galloped to the cliffside she had gone. The colorful stones, even Pinkie admitted to herself that she could spend several minutes staring at a single rock before repeating the process of doing it again with a different stone. But she had one thing she needed to search for
Had she abandoned her? Maud...she wouldn't do that, would she?
She didn't see anything, where could she have gone?
Pinkie started panicking, her sister was nowhere to be seen. As the scene became desperate, she made the risky move to cry out. "MAUD!?"
There was a reply, a gargled cry for help.
The mare scanned the scene more closely, finding a familiar, dully-colored shape outlined under a colorful boulder.
Terror overcame her.
She struggled to push the boulder off her sister, but it was far too massive for any hope of saving her.
Tears welled in her eyes, her mane flattened, and she struggled to suppress the urge to scream.
Blood dribbled from Maud's mouth, but she smiled, hope flickered in her eyes.
Pinkie bent down stroking her mane until that hope faded from her eyes.
"How could you have let this happen?" she sobbed.
From her saddlebag, she removed her pistol.
"Please..." she whimpered, "Forgive me."
Her hoof shuttered, she looked away, and pulled the trigger just as Maud's dead eyes opened.
20 minutes later
Pinkie sniffed, but at last, she'd reached the farm.
It used to be home, but in comparison to the structures of former Ponyville, it was just a pathetic hovel.
She broke into a gallop and burst through the door.
"Mom? Dad?" She called.
She searched the house. On a table was and empty can, with some of the contents within spilled. The liquid hadn't congealed yet, it had to have been opened recently. They were alive!
There were other traces that ponies were still in the house, but no actual ponies. Pinkie Pie trotted upstairs.
As she passed the guest room, a thump emitted from within.
She knocked on the door. "Mom! Dad! Its Pinkamena!"
Nothing.
Pinkie reared her hind legs, then struck out.
A foul scent instantly overtook her senses. An immense wave of nausea wafted over her.
The mare turned around, "Mom, dad, I-"
No
Pinkie Pie found herself staring at two grey lumps on the ground.
No, No
She approached them, scared about confirming what she already knew.
No, No, NO!
She lifted her Mother's head. It had a single bullet hole on it. As did her father. Gripped in Cloudy's hoof was a note. In Igneous's was an old, rusted revolver. They'd clearly been dead for at least a few weeks.
Pinkie picked up the note.
Many things were said. Farewells to Pinkie and her sisters, prayers for them.
Two words were scribbled hastily at the bottom.
FORGIVE US
The rest of the page was slathered in old blood.
Pinkie whimpered, and palpitated.
"You didn't have to do this." She sobbed. "You, you...why?"
She slumped against the wall, tears falling from her eyes.
There was talking outside, happy chattering. But Pinkie couldn't hear it, not until it was too late.
The front door creaked open, startling Pinkie Pie. The vaguely familiar voices of mares reached her ear. Pinkie stood away from the corpses, crept out of the room, and hid within her mother's armoire, praying to Celestia that she wouldn't be found.
Sounds of suspicion emitted from the mares. Pinkie shivered, stifling her fearful whimpers as she heard the ponies trot upstairs.
And then there was a scream, followed by pleading, mournful sobbing.
And then she recognized one of the voices.
Pinkie softly tip-toed out of the armoire, stopping just outside outside the room.
She held her breath, "Blinkie?" she asked pleadingly.
Several ponies pulled guns on her, only to see the source of the voice.
Cheerilee, and Roseluck, and Golden Harvest,...and, and
The first to ease her aim, to soften her gaze was a bedraggled, dull-white unicorn. Were it not for her cutie-mark, Pinkie may have never recognized the mare as Rarity.
Blinkie Pie turned away from her parents and towards Pinkie, tears cascading down her cheeks, a few worry induced wrinkles dotted her face and muzzle.
"Y-y-you."
Pinkie galloped over her, and gripped her in a teary hug. Rarity immediately joined in
"We thought you'd died." Blinkie said.
"It's been too long, Pinkie Pie." Rarity smiled.
Blinkie looked back at the bodies. "Inkie...sh-she bit the dust after she tried to face a bunch of walkers on her own. Always had to be the hero. And now...now this? Maud, she was with us for a while, but she told us she had to find you. I thought I was the last Pie. Did... did she succeed?"
The thought of Maud under that boulder entered her mind. "She was the reason I came here, she was scared that something had happen to them. She..was right."
"So she's with you?" Blinkie asked hopefully.
Pinkie's eyes shimmered with tears. "Sh-she went to explore the cliffside while I slept. She wasn't there when I woke up. I tried finding her,...but she was..."
"Crushed." Rarity murmured, she swore under her breath.
"We used to go to that cliffside, lots of food and water. It was already weak whenever we went. Then a storm came, and we were foolish enough to send some of our people there again, despite the obvious erosion. We lost some good mares in a resulting landslide. I forbade anyone from going there again." The mare took a breath. "Damn it all!"
Blinkie sighed and punched the wall. "Sorry, Pinkie. I'm happy that you're here, overjoyed! I just," she sighed, "So many have died. It's just hard knowing that every one of those things we killed were once are friends, and how likely it is that we'll become one of them at any time."
"I've told you, we can't just holdup here forever. It's too small and unprotected. Not to mention that we're out in the open, we could be attacked by bandits at any time." Cheerilee said.
"Pinkie, where have you been?" Rarity asked.
"There's a huge group, almost fifty ponies, with a lot of room to grow. It's at east end Ponyville. Twilight has survived long enough to see her leadership come through. She's gathered survivors, and fortified that entire area. Its safe, and farms are grown with magic. We aren't much, but we're thriving."
She offered her hoof to Rarity, whose eye went wide upon the realization that one of her best friends was still living. "We could use the extra fire-power. This applies to all of you."
Rarity put her hoof on Pinkie Pie's, followed by Blinkie, Cheerilee, Roseluck, and Golden Harvest.
Twilight will be happy.