Don't Sleep

by Man of Wonders

First published 23rd of August, 2012

A group of survivors in Ponyville struggle to stay alive as they face hardships.

Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack are the last known ponies left alive in this wasteland. Nopony knew what happened to Equestria. Was it a virus? Plague?

Join these heroes as they struggle to stay alive.

Chapter 1

"GET OFF!" Applejack is found struggling, a bloodied body forcing her down and testing her weight.

"Applejack! Quickly! We have the supplies, we need to get the hay out of here!" A purple unicorn lifts the body off of Applejack and helps her on her hooves, giving her a small wrench to use as a weapon. Applejack takes it in her mouth, and limps out of the building they had been searching.

"Applejack, stop..." Twilight quickly turns her head, facing Applejack. They both stand still listening...

"Twi, were the only ones left in Ponyville. Ah highly doubt-"
"That's where your wrong, Applejack. We aren't the only ones left in this hellhole...I can feel life surging through my horn every time we go out for supplies."

Twilight and Applejack stayed together. They hid in the library after watching the virus spread.

3 weeks ago, a small virus known as the Rage Virus reached Equestria. It infected the first person, taking over his body. Half of his brain would shutdown, using the other half which wasn't controlled by its source. The virus would attack any other pony that wasn't infected, using the infected body as a weapon. It would take just a bite or scratch to infect someone, and it seemed to happen slowly. Painfully, also, after Twilight watched as her friend Daisy turned right in front of her, then attacking. She would kill them quickly, knowing that they were pretty much already dead.

"Twi, we gotta go. We gotta get back to tha house..." Applejack prodded at the still Twilight, whose ears were perked up.

CLONK

Twilight and Applejack jumped as they heard the sound of something metal dropping, showing that something was close.

"Twi, its just wanna those infected ponies...WE GOTTA GO!" Applejack pushed Twilight and started to sprint back to the house, when a voice rang through the building that sourced the noise.

"Hello?! Survivors? Fluttershy, survivors!" a raspy voice rings through the air.

"Did she just say...Fluttershy?" Applejack halts, turning towards the source of the voice.

"R-Rainbow?" Twilight's voice stutters as she calls back at the voice. Then, 2 pegasi burst through the building they had previously raided as they sprint with weapons facing Twilight and Applejack.

They stop and face them.

"T-Twi...I..." Rainbow Dash drops her weapon. Her mane was completely tattered, as though someone had rushed their hoof through it backwards.

"RAINBOW!" Twilight quickly drops her supplies and runs, hugging Rainbow tightly.

"I...I thought you were dead. I thought...you were infected..." Twilight grasps Rainbow harder, who drops the baseball bat she was using as a weapon and hugged back. Fluttershy runs towards Applejack and gives her a large hug, tears streaming down each of their coats.

Then, Twilight breaks the silence.

"We...turned the library into a safehouse...we could add two more beds, if you would like..."

"We've been living out on the streets, eating out of trash cans and killing those...things." Fluttershy responds, letting go of Applejack.

"We would love to accept the offer, Twilight." Rainbow Dash stares Twilight in the face, tears rolling down her cheeks.

-----------------

Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash set down their supplies and head inside. They had each found enough food to last them a week.

"Ah'll prepare ya a 'we-thought-ya-wer-dead-but-ya-weren't-and-now-we-have-another-damned-mouth-ta-feed' dinner. If...ya don't mind, of course." Applejack laughed as she trotted towards the oven and started cooking.

"Were both starving..." Rainbow turns to face Fluttershy, who nods in agreement.

"But you don't have to, if you don't want-" Fluttershy quickly stops as Rainbow puts a hoof on her mouth, silencing her.

Twilight laughs as Applejack continues to prepare them dinner.

"We have two cots down where we've been previously sleeping...we could bring those up, if you would like." Rainbow slightly gulps as she turns back towards the streets.

"They usually don't come out until night...that's when it can get bad." Twilight nods as she see's Rainbow staring through the window nervously.

"If you want to go get your cots, thats fine with me...I'll be here helping Applejack prepare dinner. Just...be safe."

Rainbow and Fluttershy both retrieve their weapons and prepare themselves to go outside.

--------------------

"So...we're going to go looking for Rarity first... I hate to lie to Twilight, but its the only way we can get us all together." Rainbow turns to Fluttershy, who shies away.

"But...what if she..." Rainbow puts her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"She's not infected, Fluttershy. I promise you...she's okay." A tear drips down Fluttershy's muzzle. "But...you saw what happened to P-Pinkie..." tears start to violently stream down her coat as she sobs.

"Fluttershy, Pinkie's in a better place now. I know...what happened to her...w-was tragic, b-but everyone's l-lost someone, and t-that was her choice. S-she did it to keep u-us safe..." Rainbow hugs Fluttershy, letting her push her muzzle into Rainbow's coat before they headed towards the Carnivál Boutique.

-------------------

"Twi, why in the hay are they takin' so long? Ah mean, they should be back by now...right?" Applejack lays plates out on the table, ready to serve the food.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon...if not, we'll have to go looking for them..." Twilight sighs as she places the book she was reading back in the shelf.

"I'd bet their on their way back right now." Twilight brushes past Applejack, rubbing her nose with her tail.

--------------------

"RARITY?!" Fluttershy and Rainbow had spent 30 minutes in the boutique, searching for their friend. "Rarit-" Rainbow is cut off when she hears a noise from behind her in the bedroom.

"Rarity?" Rainbow trots into the bedroom, looking for the source of the noise. "Is that you?" she hears the noise again, only louder as she resumes to search for Rarity.

"Rarity...it's me, Rainbow Da-" Rainbow is interrupted when a head pokes from under the bed.

"R-rainbow?" Rarity's mane is tattered, which Rainbow wouldn't have expected even during this epidemic.

"RARITY!" She yells, galloping towards the bed as Rarity notices and quickly diverges.

"It's okay...we can bring you back to the rest of us...Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and I-"

"NO! You don't understand!" She stutters, as she slowly pokes her head out again. "She got me..."

"Who got you?" Rainbow Dash raises and eyebrow and faces Rarity. "Were you...bitten?"

Rarity fully raises her head out from under the bed, as the rest of her body follows.

Rainbow gasps as she notices a large bite mark on the side of her flank.

"But...you're..." Rainbow backs away as Rarity starts to sob.

"I watched them...take Sweetie Belle..." She starts to trot towards Rainbow, who continues to back away as she notices the large bite mark.

"Please...help me..." Blood starts to drip from her flank as she limps towards Rainbow.

"No...don't touch me..." She gallops out of the room, ignoring the pain she felt from knowing she would loose another friend.

"I'VE BEEN HIDING FOR DAYS!" Rarity calls back, forcing Rainbow to halt and turn to face her.

"B-but...you should b-be..." a tear drips from her muzzle as she stares at the helpless unicorn.

"Your irises...there red...how are you not..." Rainbow trots forward, inspecting her body.

"You're a...a carrier. You...can't be infected, but you can infect any one of us." She starts to back away, accelerating as she puts her hind legs behind her front legs.

"Don't touch me..." she leaves the room, tears flowing down her coat as she hears a voice from downstairs.

"What's going on-" Fluttershy quickly stops as Rainbow Dash lushes her out of the way, turning back to yell at her.

"We have to leave, now!"

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash lays on her back, Fluttershy laying on her stomach as she breaths in and out slowly, eyes shut tight. Her mane covers her eyes, tickling the eyelids as she dreams about what Ponyville had been like before this horrible epidemic.

She had been laying down, resting next to Scootaloo, her hooves wrapped tightly around the small filly as she nuzzles her nose into the orange mare's mane, breathing in her soft scent and smiling softly as she holds her tight.
"I love ya, Scoots."

---

Rainbow Dash quickly wakes up, her wings shooting out as she hears a loud, high-pitched scream from the other room. She looks to her side, noticing that the pegasus she had been cuddling with wasn't there. She quickly jumps up onto her hooves, looking around with a worried expression as she hears the sounds of the other mares burst through the doors to find the source of the scream.

"Fluttershy!"

Dash calls out loudly, bursting through her door as she hovers down the steps to find the scream had come from outside the library they were sleeping in.

"EEP!"

Rainbow Dash breaks down the door, gasping loudly as she notices her pegasus friend laying on the ground and whimpering, Twilight and Applejack staring down at her injured body.

"W-what happened?!" Rainbow Dash quickly rushes towards her friend, trying to hold back tears as she tells herself that Fluttershy hadn't been bitten.

"Stay back, Rainbow...let me look for scratch or bite marks." Twilight pushes the worried pegasus out of the way as she scans her yellow friend's body, trying her hardest to show no emotion. "Fluttershy, did you touch any of them? Did anyone hurt you? Please tell us what happened..."

Fluttershy lays on the ground, whimpering softly, unable to reply as she tilts her muzzle down to avoid the gaze of the other ponies. "I...I...I...I'm sorry, I wasn't bitten! P-please don't be mad at me, I just...I just..."

The pegasus sneezes, her mane falling over her face as she whimpers loudly, her hooves curling up to her chest.

"I...I wanted to...to look for Rarity..." Fluttershy squeaks as she looks away, shutting her eyes in embarrassment. "...I'm sorry..."

Twilight turns her head, raising one eyebrow as she softly, lovingly places her hoof on the pegasus's shoulder. Rainbow Dash flaps her wings before folding them back in her side, sighing loudly as she is reminded of her white, unicorn friend.

"F-Fluttershy, sugar-cube...you have to let it go." Applejack is the first to speak up, tears welling in her eyes as she slowly reaches down to grasp her scared, weak friend's hoof with her's. "It'll be okay, sugar...I promise..."

Rainbow Dash shivers, having told all of her friends about what had happened back at the Carnivál Boutique. Twilight was the first one to break down, and they had all comforted her as they tried their hardest to remember the best memories they had with Rarity. Winter Wrap-up, the Gala...

"I-I know she's still alive...I know it..." Fluttershy whimpers, her hooves covering her face as she softly cries. "W-we can go back and save her! P-p-please!"

"It's too dangerous, Fluttershy...I'm sorry, we can't. If anyone touches her, they'd become infected, and I don't want to lose any of you girls. We've already lost enough..." Twilight lowers her head, sniffling as she tries to contain herself. "Come on, Fluttershy...let's go back inside. It's dangerous out here, and we need to prepare ourselves for the trip."

"What trip?" Fluttershy tilts her head, a worried expression on her face.

"Twilight, you shouldn't have told her..." Rainbow Dash sighs, looking over at the purple unicorn and stomping her hoof. "She's going to want to come along."

"Rainbow Dash, stop. She can come along if she wants, it's her decision. We're just going to the farm to get some apples and supplies..."

"I don't want her to get hurt!" Rainbow Dash stomps her hoof again, louder this time as she looks deeply into Twilight's eyes. Tears begin to well up in her own as her wings flare out.

Twilight sighs before nodding in agreement, blinking slowly.

"Applejack, is it alright if you stay here and try to comfort Fluttershy? She's been through a lot..."

Applejack only nods, brushing her pelt against Fluttershy's as she allows the pegasus to rest her muzzle on the earth pony's shoulder. "Y'all be safe..."

"Don't worry, Applejack. We will, I promise."

-----

Twilight and Rainbow Dash both trot past the Ponyville City Hall, the mares sighing to themselves as Twilight looks up into the bright sky, her eyes focused on the sun as it shines down on both of the traveling mares.

"At least Celestia is okay..." She sighs as her gaze turns away from the sun and towards her friend, Rainbow Dash, who's eyes are pointing forwards, her face blank as she tries her hardest to ignore her surroundings and just get to the farm.

"Dash, is everything okay...?" Twilight nudges her friend worriedly, but her friend doesn't respond. The two mares just continue walking, trying not to make as much sound as they approach the farm.

-----

"Do you think that's enough apples?" Rainbow Dash balances two buckets, full to the brim with ripe apples that she had picked herself. Twilight holds a bucket in her mouth, dropping it onto the ground to reply.

"I think we have enough. We should head back before it get's dark..."

The two mares grab their things and prepare to head back when they both hear a loud banging noise coming from inside the farmhouse. Rainbow Dash's fur pricks up on end as she shivers, scared, not wanting to turn around. Twilight jumps also, her hair pointing up as she slowly but cautiously turns around, gasping as a disembodied hoof laying on the floor only a few feet away from the two mares. It appears to have flown through the window, and Twilight loudly screams as Rainbow Dash jumps into the air, her eyes glued towards the bloodied arm laying on the grass.

"Twilight, we have to go! Come on!"

Twilight quickly uses her magic to pick her bucket of apples off the ground and starts galloping towards the exit, Rainbow Dash not far behind as the two mares balance their buckets, spilling only a few apples before reaching the exit and slowing down to a halt. Rainbow Dash pants, dropping both of her buckets on the ground as she sits on her hindquarters to catch her breath.

"T-Twilight, that was so...so messed up!" The cyan pegasus shivers, scared out of her mind as she continues panting, catching her breath. Twilight doesn't reply, her eyes focused ahead of both of them as she shakily stands up.

"R-Rainbow, we have to go...NOW!"

Before the pegasus can respond, she is quickly pulled onto her hooves and dragged across the grass, the loud groan of one of those undead creatures echoing through the area. She loudly squeals as she drops one of her buckets, but forgets about it as she rushes towards the library, looking back only once to notice two or three large, bloodied ponies chasing after her, rage in their eyes.

"DASH, GET INSIDE! NOW!"

Rainbow Dash quickly jumps inside the library, helping Twilight lock the door as she pants heavily. She's then pushed back as the door knocks them away, a loud banging noise echoing through the room. Applejack and Fluttershy stay behind, watching worriedly as the door shakes from the force of one of the creatures trying to get in.

Then, after a few seconds, it all stops, and the four mares collapse, the buckets of apples sitting near the bookshelf as they pant and heave.