> Plague in the Land of Equestria
>  by killingfrenzycreator
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Quick Word from the Author
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Quick Word From killingfrenzycreator
	

Wazup, everypony! This will be the second official fan fiction that I plan on finishing, the first being A New Day, which was written around a week after I became a brony, and surprisingly I managed to get the characters somewhat accurate. If you want to read A New Day, click here. That story was written with my friend, safetytorches500, an amazingly talented fanfic writer with great potential. You should check him out, if you find the time. Alright, enough about A New Day. This gorefic was inspired by safetytorches500’s desire to write the longest possible story, so likewise, I intend this story to be lengthy, and in the most descriptive manner. In A New Day, the end started taking on some clop elements (although minor), which went against what I originally set out for, and triggered the remake: The Mane 6 Massacre. This fan fiction, I want to keep it true to the pure gore content. Now, without further adieu, here we are: Plague in the Land of Equestria. 


Also, if you want to visit my Main Page (a google document that has links to every story I've ever written, and will contain future stories as well) [No longer active] click here.

To read the Character Bios to see how the characters develop and change, click here. Warning: This contains major spoilers. Read at your own peril.

BTW, safetytorches500 changed his name to Mazki, and as far as I know, he doesn't have a fimfiction account. He is currently writing several MLP stories on Gdocs, though.

Also, feel free to check out the dramatic reading of this story instead: 
 

Please note that I wrote this story long before I read Fallout: Equestria. One of the character's names being Steel Hooves is completely coincidental. Just try to ignore that when you get to it, please. He's a really small background character that's in here for like two lines, don't worry.

Lastly, by "minor clop elements", I meant incest rape. Now that I think about it, I really hate that story. Never read A New Day. It was my first story so I'm leaving it up out of respect to my past self, but seriously, it was bad.
> 1. Sudden Outbreak
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


This fanfiction contains scenes of violence and content people may find disturbing. If you are easily offended by blood and gore, here’s your chance to leave. Also, some strong language may be used. Why did I even put that there? It's rated Mature.






Plague in the Land of Equestria


Written by: killingfrenzycreator





Chapter One: Sudden Outbreak




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        Rainbow Dash shivered as the icy wind blew into her face and ruffled her multi-colored mane. For the last three days, there were nothing but storm clouds and bad weather, and despite her best efforts, Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep the skies clear of the storm clouds. Everypony just stayed in their homes, and didn’t go outside unless it was an emergency. Rainbow’s particular problem was that she was out of food. The stores were mostly closed, due to the fact that almost no one went out, so Dash had some trouble finding somewhere to restock. After almost two hours, she was about to give up.
        “All this bad weather dampened even MY competitivity,” muttered Rainbow Dash. She was feeling better than she had the last three days; today was the first day that it wasn’t pouring, and it was nice to be able to go outdoors without the downpour soaking you down to the bone. Even with this improvement in the gloominess, Rainbow Dash felt incredibly depressed. She sighed as she stepped in a pile of mud and got her right forehoof covered in muck. Rainbow would go ask for some apples in Sweet Apple Acres from her friend Applejack, but she suspected the orchard wasn’t in the best condition, due to Applejack staying inside because of heavy rain, so the farm couldn’t be cared for. Not to mention the fact that the rain itself might have messed up the apple orchards.
“Guess I’ll just go hungry for tonight,” mumbled Rainbow Dash, almost too quiet to hear. She lifted off with her wings and flew to her house. When she arrived, she opened the door, walked inside, and flopped down onto the couch. In minutes she was asleep. Her rest was interrupted by nightmares, of the world being the way it is forever, and in one dream she saw a cloud of flies covering a huge pile. What the pile was made of, she couldn’t tell, but Rainbow could guess. Dash jolted awake with a violent jump, sweat beading her forehead. She had a horrible stomach ache.
“Ooooooh,” Rainbow Dash moaned in agony. She had both hooves on her stomach. Dash rolled off the couch and hit the floor with a loud THUD, sending a spasm of pain through her spine. Rainbow Dash got onto her hooves and ran to the bathroom, then forced herself to vomit. It was thin and somewhat tasteless, and contained blood. She didn’t feel much better afterwards, and she felt exhausted. Forcing herself up, Rainbow Dash stumbled outside. The rain had started up again, harder than ever. It was pouring down so hard that it hurt.
“What in Celestia is going on around here?” moaned Rainbow Dash, then vomited again. This time it was different, though. The vomit was thick and slimy, and tasted like blood, though this time it was pure black, with no visible traces of blood in it. She kept hurling for a while, and even when nothing came up, Dash sat there retching painfully and uncontrollably, then fell on her back. She was done retching, but was twitching. After almost twenty minutes, she was done. Rainbow Dash felt much better; her stomach no longer hurt, she had her strength back, and all the pain was gone. The biggest discomfort she felt now was that she was more soaked than she thought possible.
“I’ll let the rain clean this mess up,” Rainbow Dash soliloquized, then entered her home. After starting a fire in the fireplace and grabbing the biggest blanket she owned, Dash was soon dry and warm, even cozy. Eventually she slipped away into sleep. When she awoke, it was still raining.
“Oh, Celestia. Will it ever lighten up out there?” mumbled a disheartened Rainbow Dash. “I’d love to see the sunshine again.” She sighed and sat staring out the window for the better part of an hour, and when the rain let up a bit (it was still a light drizzle) Dash went outside and traveled to Pinkie Pie’s house. Pinkie answered the knocks almost instantly.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’ve been sooooo boooooored with everypony inside. This is the worst rain I’ve seen since the Royal Cupcake Contest. I remember someone brought waffles, and I was like ‘waffles aren’t cupcakes’, I just ate waffles for breakfast 43 days ago. Do you like waffles Rainbow Dash? We should make some. Or maybe-” Pinkie Pie was losing her train of thought incredibly fast.
“Pinkie, calm down. I’m running low on food, and none of the stores are open. Do you have anything I could take home? I’m really hungry...” Rainbow Dash remembered what happened the night before, how sick she was... how did she magically recover so fast?
“No, sorry Dash. That reminds me; Applejack was terribly sick earlier. Could you stop by and check on her? I was sick once and it suuuucked, and the nurse helped me get better. Have you met the nurse? She’s-”
“I need to get going, Pinkie. I’ll stop by Sweet Apple Acres for Applejack,” interrupted Rainbow Dash.
“Okee-dokey! Have fun!” Pinkie Pie was enthusiastic and happy even when everything was so gloomy and sad. It cheered up Rainbow Dash, but she was back to her bummed out state shortly after. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” There was a scream coming from Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash picked up the pace and raced to the barn, where the screams originated. Big Macintosh was outside the barn, slamming the door and roaring furiously. As Rainbow Dash got closer, she noticed there was something wrong with Big Macintosh’s appearance. His coat was dull, and dustier than usual. His eyes were almost completely white, and his tongue was black. There was some liquid leaking from Big Macintosh’s mouth. Dash realized with shock that it was the same fluid she had thrown up in the rainstorm the previous night. There were incisions along Big Macintosh’s flank and ribs, with matted blood crusting them. He was letting out beastial roars while literally throwing himself at the barn door. It was cracked to hell, and wouldn’t hold out much longer. Rainbow Dash picked up a rock and flew right above Big Macintosh.
“Mac! Hey, Mac! What the fuck are you doing? What’s wrong with you?” she shouted out to him. He looked up with a low growl of surprise, then roared in hunger and started jumping up, desperately trying to catch her. She dropped the rock and closed her eyes. There was an audible cracking sound, and when Dash opened her eyes again, she saw that Big Macintosh had stopped trying to kill her. In fact, he stopped doing everything, due to the gaping hole in his skull, the gray mess that was his brain. Crimson blood was forming a very large pool around the battered corpse. He smelled of rotten flesh, a smell that made Dash gag, barely holding back vomit. She removed the outer barricade on the barn door (Big Macintosh obviously lost most of his intelligence to the sickness that corrupted him) and entered. What she saw shocked her. Applebloom was eating the inner organs of Granny Smith. Blood covered her face, and Granny Smith’s entire torso was open, revealing the remainders of her organs. Most of the floor was covered in blood. Applebloom was digging in vigorously, and her eyes were the same milky white as Big Macintosh’s.
“Rainbow Dash,” sobbed the voice of Applejack. Dash looked up and saw her friend sitting there, mane ruffled, tears flowing down her face, spots of blood on her chest. Rainbow Dash flew up to the rafters where Applejack was hiding from her infected sister.
“My family, they’re gone... everything’s ruined...” cried Applejack. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on her depressed friend’s back.
“AJ... I’m so sorry... but we need to take care of your sister, before she gets any more innocent ponies...” Rainbow Dash started choking up at the end of her sentence. Applejack just nodded. Dash flew down and picked up another rock.
“I don’t wanna watch!” bawled Applejack, turning her head the other direction. Rainbow Dash threw the rock, which bounced off Applebloom’s head, taking about half her head with it. Gore flew all over the place, with bits of brain landing on the walls and floor. A chunk of skull nailed Dash’s right arm, splattering blood all over Rainbow’s arm and chest. 
The rain stopped completely outside. Dash looked up at Applejack, who was crying even harder. Dash heard a low moan, and looked over at Granny Smith, who was getting on her hooves. Due to laws of gravity, all her remaining insides slid out and hit the floor with a wet SMACK. She took one unsteady step towards Rainbow Dash, then another, then another. Her moans turned into desperate roars and growls. She quickened her step. Rainbow Dash hit Granny Smith in the face, hard. Her hoof went clean through Granny Smith’s head. A wet and soggy material stuck to Rainbow’s arm, and once her arm was out, a jet of red blood sputtered out and the contents of her head spilled onto the floor. Dash shook her arm violently, trying to get all the brains off. Golden light spilled into the barn. Dash looked outside and saw that the storm clouds were gone, and the sun shone bright. Even Applejack stopped crying. This sunshine after the days and days of dark stormy weather was the most beautiful thing either had ever seen.
“T-t-the clouds... they’re gone!” drawled Dash. Applejack sat by her dead family members, crying anew. 
“What in Celestia is going on here?”



> 2. Surviving
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2: Surviving


        “What in Celestia is going on here?”
        That day, Rainbow Dash set up a personal funeral for Applejack’s family, then they were all cremated. Rainbow Dash trotted to Applejack’s side.
        “Pinkie Pie told me you were sick. Yesterday, I threw up, a lot, and I felt drained. What happened to you?” inquired Rainbow Dash.
        “Well, I’ll be darned. The same exact thing,” replied Applejack.
        “Strange... maybe it’s some new sickness? I think we should hole up and wait for this to calm down. I noticed when this area was clear of... the sick, the sun started shining, but just in Sweet Apple Acres. That would mean this is everywhere, at least in the Ponyville area. We need to formulate a plan; where do we go, and who and what do we bring?”
        “Well, Ah think we should take a trip down ta Ponyville and find our friends,”Applejack suggested. Rainbow Dash agreed. Applejack took one quick look back at her home, and her family, before leaving.
        First, the duo went to Pinkie Pie’s house on Sugarcube Corner. The old storm clouds were back. Rainbow Dash had put two and two together during the walk, that wherever these...things were, the skies are gloomy and dark. That would mean Ponyville was dangerous, and if the majority of the population turned out to be like the ponies in Applejack’s barn, then the chances of survival was slim.
        When they were nearing Pinkie’s house, Applejack stopped.
        “Did you hear that?” she asked Rainbow Dash. Dash listened closely.
        “Nooo... wait. Fuck, hide!” Rainbow Dash sounded urgent. Applejack ran into a nearby alley, and Dash followed. She peeked out and noticed Carrot Top walking slowly, stumbling occasionally. At first she didn’t look as bad as the others, until she stumbled once and turned to the side, revealing her intestines hanging loosely, green with rot. Her left back hoof was matted with orange body fluid. Rainbow Dash felt sick at the sight. The dead Carrot Top wandered aimlessly, and was getting uncomfortably close to the alley where Applejack and Dash were hiding.
        “Dash... what do we do?” asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply when she saw that Carrot Top was looking straight at her. Her chapped, black lips came up into a demented smile. Black fluid dripped from her mouth as she started trot-limping towards the two survivors.
        What do we do, what do we do? Those words were bouncing around in Rainbow Dash’s mind as she searched frantically for a weapon, or really anything, she could use against the zombified pony that was going to try to make Applejack and Rainbow Dash it’s lunch. Her eyes stopped on a shovel. She smiled in relief, grabbed it’s wooden handle, and swung. The metal blade produced a dull metallic THUNK as it collided with Carrot Top’s skull. The impact sent the orange pony flying into a wall, head first. Her skull split in two and she fell, blood and brain fluid leaking onto the ground. Rainbow Dash enjoyed her victory for a second, until it was interrupted by a hungry screech. Dash turned and saw Lyra crawling onto the ground about 20 tail-lengths away, with her legs full of more holes than Queen Chrysalis’s. Blood trailed behind her in a dark stream. With another swing and THUNK, this new threat was taken care of. Applejack was pressing up against a pink dumpster, shivering uncontrollably and crying anew. Rainbow Dash herself felt sick and depressed from killing other ponies, the ones she called her friends. What had happened to turn everypony into these creatures?
        After a quick glance to make sure there weren’t any more of the sick ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack knocked on Pinkie Pie’s door. No answer. What were they expecting? The two ponies exchanged quick glances, then Applejack bucked the door. It shattered to a bunch of little wooden splinters. Applejack ran in, with Rainbow Dash and the shovel close behind. At first they didn’t see anything, but as their eyes adjusted to the dark, they noticed several dark shapes lurking about in the house.
        “Shhhhh,” warned Rainbow Dash. The two stepped in, quiet as a mouse, and slid along the wall to a corner. 
        “What are we doing in here?” asked Applejack softly, her voice shaking with fear.
        “We need to get Pinkie out,” replied Rainbow Dash.
        “W-what if she g-got...”
        “No. No,” denied Rainbow Dash. “Your barn had these... things in it, and you’re alive.”
        “How did all these things get in here, anyways?”
        “You know how social Pinkie Pie is. One probably tried to pound the door and she answered. Look around, if she’s hiding, we might find her, and if they did get her, at least we’ll know.” Applejack nodded slowly in sad agreement to Rainbow Dash’s plan. Keeping low to the ground, the two ponies searched the areas that wasn’t limited by the shambling corpses. Applejack looked up and waved Rainbow Dash over. Stealthily, Rainbow Dash slowly made her way to her orange friend. She pointed to a table across the room. At first Dash couldn’t see what Applejack was pointing at, but after a second she noticed a bright pink object. Upon closer observation, she made out that it was Pinkamena (her mane and tail was straight and she was no longer a crazy party pony), hiding under a table, right where all the sick ponies were lurking.
        “Hey, Rainbow...” began Applejack. “I just thought a’ somethin’. When I kicked the door, it shattered, but not very quietly. How did these things not notice?”
        “Well, they obviously aren’t very smart. Or observant. Carrot Top had to get within 10 tail-lengths and stare directly at us just to notice us. Lyra only found us because, after I killed them, I noticed a bit of Carrot Top’s skull at the end of the alleyway. It must have landed on her. We can use these ponies’ stupidity against them! I’m a genius!” replied Rainbow Dash, louder than she meant. 
        “Well, genius, ya’ just gave us away,”growled Applejack. Dash looked around and saw all the zombie ponies staring right at them.
        “PINKIE! RUN!” shouted Applejack. Pinkamena jumped up and raced out the door, before any of the zombies noticed her, except for one. That one dead pony managed to nip Pinkamena’s forearm as she galloped past, though she didn’t hardly notice it. The wound didn’t even draw blood.
        Applejack bucked one of their assailants into a wall, leaving a large splatter of dark red blood all over it. Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and dove at one of the zombie ponies, a unicorn, now unrecognizable. Grabbing it’s shoulders, she went up, carrying it with her. The revolting stench of rotting flesh nearly overwhelmed Dash. She took the unicorn up to the roof, held it upside down by it’s hind legs, and dropped it on it’s head. The unicorn’s cranium split into five different strands of soft skull. With nothing containing it, the brain slipped out and slid across the floor in a pool of blood. Looking over at Applejack, she noticed that the zombie ponies were about to trap Applejack into a corner. Rainbow Dash hurriedly counted 5 of the creatures. Shuddering, she flew over to the remains of the zombie Applejack had bucked into a wall. The kick by itself fractured the skull and killed the brain, but the collision into the wall had turned it into a limp, loose bag of rotting organs and bones.
        After taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash picked up the dead pony, flew it over to where Applejack was desperately fighting off the snapping jaws of the zombies, and swung the limp body. Blood showered the room when the body-bat exploded upon collision with two of Applejack’s attackers. The other three were distracted, giving Applejack time to slip away. The two living ponies fled the building as fast as they could. After a bit of running, they eventually lost the remaining three undead. The two stopped. Rainbow Dash picked up Applejack and the two flew up to a rooftop.
        Rainbow Dash flopped to the ground. “That. Was close,” she breathed in relief and exasperation. Applejack nodded and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash was worried for her friend. She wasn’t who she used to be. Applejack had barely been talking, and hadn’t really seemed to care what happened. Losing her family was tough on her, but...
        “Hey Rainbow Dash, where’d Pinkie go?” Applejack’s voice cut through Rainbow Dash’s thoughts. With that, Dash realized she had forgotten about her pink friend.
        “Hang on, I’ll fly up and see if I can spot her,” replied Rainbow Dash, faking a lack of concern. She flew straight up in the air and hovered there, scanning Ponyville for her friend. The first two searches were fruitless, but on her third look around, Pinkamena was spotted, just a block away from the building Dash and Applejack were hiding out on. After making sure Pinkamena’s area was clear, she sped in at an amazing speed, grabbed her friend, and returned to the rooftop.
        “R-R-Rainbow D-Dash? Applejack?” sobbed Pinkamena.
        “Yeah, we’re here, we’re all safe for now. Are you ok?” responded Rainbow Dash. Pinkamena didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep. Dash decided to do the same.
        When the trio awoke, it was night. The day and night cycle continues, so the Princesses must be fine, thought Rainbow Dash. That provided a lot of relief, though the fact that she hadn’t eaten in two days had started playing it’s effects on her.
        “We need some food,” Rainbow Dash thought out loud. The others silently agreed, though nopony really knew where to look. Rainbow Dash found a rock, and scratched a list onto the roof of places to search, and other necessities that’d be useful.

Food: Nearby houses, the Cake’s shop


Weapons: Houses and stores


Winter clothing: Houses

        Satisfied with the list, Rainbow Dash hovered in above the two earth ponies. “Alright, Applejack, you search the nearby buildings for weapons, starting with this one. Pinkie, you go to the Cake’s place and grab what food you can find. I’ll search for weather attire, in case we’re ever out in the rain or cold. Sound like a plan?” Applejack nodded, but Pinkamena just sat there, not talking, not moving. Rainbow Dash feared for her friends’ sanity. Not just Applejack had changed, but Pinkie too. “Alright everypony, let’s get a move on, before it starts raining.” Rainbow Dash took off into the air and flew to a house just a few blocks away. She looked through the window and saw two ponies, a stallion and a mare, stumbling around. That’s why there aren’t very many of these things outside. They’re all locked inside their homes because of the weather before they turned, thought Rainbow Dash. She flew around back and carefully opened the back door. She slipped quietly inside and crawled on her belly to the kitchen, where she located a large knife on the counter. She grabbed it and slipped stealthily into the living room where the two dead ponies were walking around. Rainbow Dash picked up a discarded horse shoe and through it against a wall, on the opposite side of the room.
        There was a loud metallic THUNK. The dead couple quickly turned their heads to the source of the noise. Rainbow Dash took her chance and flew silently behind the mare. She was behind the other zombie, so he wouldn’t notice her dying. At least not before he himself was killed.
        Rainbow Dash took the knife and stuck it into the mare’s neck, right into the brainstem. She dropped, and Dash pulled the blade out of the body, then finished the second zombie with a stab to the top of the head. After an extensive search through the house to make sure there wasn’t any more sick ponies hiding, Rainbow Dash sorted through a pile of clothing and discovered three fur saddles and pairs of boots. Afterwards, Dash sorted through the kitchen in a search of food. She discovered some vegetables, in surprisingly good condition, several bundles of hay, and a loaf of bread. Excited with this small bundle of life, Rainbow Dash returned to the rooftop, dropped it off, and flew to the next house. There wasn’t any visible zombies, so she snuck in the front this time. After a quick search of the house, she decided it was abandoned and continued her search for supplies.
        After deciding to find food first, Rainbow Dash went into the kitchen and began searching for even a morsel. Nothing in the fridge, nothing in any drawers. The pantry was the last place to search. Rainbow Dash walked up to the pantry door and opened it. She didn’t know what it was she saw until the stench hit her, and she heard the growl. There was a zombie pony that had been stuffed into the food pantry. It fell out and landed on her, it’s hot breath in her face, it’s snapping jaws threatening to rip her apart. Dash had been taken by surprise, and could just barely hold the thing’s mouth away from her nose. She looked for the knife she had dropped, and to her dismay, saw it was just out of reach. Fighting hard to keep it away, Dash couldn’t free a hoof long enough to get to the knife, even if it was in reach. Limited on options, Rainbow Dash tried kicking it off. Her powerful hind legs managed to lift the zombie’s rear end up, but nothing much else. She heard a ripping noise and felt a hot, sticky fluid cover her lower body.
        “Fuck me,” she muttered under her breath. Then an idea struck her. She grabbed the zombie’s left fore hoof and shoved it into it’s gaping mouth. The zombie instinctively bit down, which gave her time to get it off safely. She pushed hard, and it went flying up. Dash rolled out of the way just barely in time before it hit the ground again. The dead pony exploded into a red and black mess, with the occasional organ drifting around in the current of blood and body fluids. Rainbow Dash threw up, which surprised her, since she didn’t think she had anything to throw up.
        Rainbow Dash looked into the pantry. Blood and flies covered everything edible. She sighed, picked up the knife, and left the house. When she turned around to look at the next house, she noticed something on the roof of the home she was just inside. Maybe I’ll find something after all. She flew onto the rooftop of the house and got a closer look at the object she had spotted. A tear went to her eye as she saw it was her friends Rarity and Spike, hand on hoof, holes in their heads. Spike had a handgun in his other hand, with a box full of bullets next to it, missing two. Rainbow Dash sat down and cried for the deaths of her friends, then grabbed the handgun and bullets and flew to her rooftop. 
        The sun was already rising when she got back. Applejack and Pinkamena had returned already, and there was a small pile of knives and one bullet box, right next to another pile, this one of food. Dash dropped off her findings and sat on the far corner of the roof. Applejack trotted to her side.
        “What’s wrong, sugarcube?” she inquired.
        “When I was scavenging, I found Rarity and Spike,” replied Rainbow Dash.
        “Are they ok?”
        “Let’s just say it’s how I got the gun.”
        “Oh,” said Applejack sadly. She walked over to Pinkamena, who was sleeping again, and started chewing on some hay. Rainbow Dash followed after a second. She felt tired from scavenging and fighting, and sick because her sky blue fur was now maroon with dry blood. Tomorrow, I’ll take a bath in the river by Sweet Apple Acres, she thought. After eating enough to fill, Applejack and Rainbow Dash curled up beside each other and slept. When the three ponies awoke, it was sunset. Dash sat up with a groan and stretched. She grabbed the loaf of bread, ripped off a chunk, ate it, and looked out into the city below. She saw with shock that overnight, a crowd of the zombie ponies had formed onto the street below.
        “Applejack! Pinkie! I think we have a problem!” she shouted in anxiety. The other two looked down into the horde and gasped.
        “We’re dead. We’re all dead,” sobbed Pinkamena.
        “That’s not true,” said a smirking Rainbow Dash. She pulled out a lighter she found while searching houses the previous day.
        “What do ‘ya plan to do with that?” asked Applejack.
        “Watch and learn,” replied Rainbow Dash. She grabbed the box of bullets that had the least amount of ammunition, lit the lighter, shoved it into the box, and threw it into the crowd as hard as she could. It exploded into a ball of fire, sending the copper tips of the bullets flying in all directions.
        “Get back and get down!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Once the PING PING PING of the flying bullets stopped, the trio looked over the edge. Out of the huge horde of zombies there used to be, only two remained, and they could hardly crawl, due to how many holes had just been opened up in them. Dash took the pistol, loaded it, flew down to the ground, and shot the survivors in the head.
        “It’s clear!” Dash yelled at the roof. This was greeted by cheers as the other two leaned over the edge and saw that Rainbow Dash had single-handedly destroyed a large group of the infected. Blood and burnt, decimated bodies covered the ground.
        “Damn,” remarked Dash. She flew up to the roof. “Let’s go find the rest of our friends. I’ll go to Twilight’s, you two go to Fluttershy’s.” With that, she took off to Twilight’s house.
        Dash had to shoot two infected on the way. She had 6 bullets with her. Once Dash got to Twilight’s door, she knocked. No answer, of course. She tried opening the door. Locked. Dash shot the knob, and the door swung right open. She stepped inside, and felt something really heavy land on her back. Dash fell to the floor, and knocked her head on something. Rainbow Dash blacked out.

> 3. Twists and Turns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Chapter 3: Twists and Turns


"W-where am I?" Rainbow Dash had woken up tied down onto a table, staring at the ceiling. "Twilight?" Rainbow Dash heard some muttering from somewhere in Twilight's house. "Who are you? Why am I tied down?" Dash tried to flap her wings, but found that they had also been pinned. She strained her ears to hear what the other ponies were saying.
"The quarantine zone won't last forever. Each day more waves of the dead flock to it, battering the walls, keeping them from receiving supplies, picking off guards who attempt to hold them back..." The voice sounded very familiar.
"What can we do?" That voice was recognizable.
"Soarin?" Rainbow Dash asked in surprise. This time the others heard her.
"She's awake," said the other voice. Rainbow Dash figured out who it was: Spitfire. The Wonderbolts were here? Joy surged through Rainbow Dash as she realized her idols still remained in this new world of corruption and disease.
"Were you bitten?" asked Soarin, anxiously.
"No, but I've had several really close calls," Dash answered. 
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Like any of these slowpokes could ever get a taste of me."
"Alright, we're going to untie you and search you. If we find a bite, even a scratch, you're going outside."
"She doesn't know what's outside. She's been unconscious," reminded Spitfire. The two Wonderbolts freed Rainbow Dash. 
"What is outside? Apart from the things I already know?" inquired Rainbow Dash after stretching her stiff limbs and flapping her wings to wake them up.
"Well, when you shot the lock off the door, I instinctively flew at you fast enough to send you to the ground, which knocked you out. However, your gunshot ended up attracting every one of those... creatures around. Soarin and I barricaded the door and windows as fast as we could. Hear that banging? That's them trying as hard as they can to get in and take us down. This tree won't last very long," answered Spitfire. Then Rainbow Dash remembered why she was here.
"Was anypony here when you arrived? A purple unicorn, perhaps?" asked Rainbow Dash, an edge of worry to her voice. Spitfire shook her head. Dash's spirits dropped.
"Your friend may have went to the quarantine zone," said Soarin. "We were going to leave for there in an hour if you were awake, but since you're up now, we'll be going. You're welcome to join us."
"I don't know... I have two other in my group here in PonyVille. I don't think they'll appreciate if I left them here, but if Twilight's there... how far away is this 'quarantine zone'?"
"Not far. A day's flight for the Wonderbolts. You think you're up to the challenge?" Spitfire had a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Me turn down a challenge? Never!" accepted Rainbow Dash, now hovering in the air.
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking echoed throughout Twilight's house. The dead had gotten through a barricade on one window, and several were already piling in through the window. Through an opening in the bodies, Dash glimpsed several more zombie ponies, eagerly waiting to get a chance for a meal. Bestial roars bellowed from seemingly every direction. If the dozen undead that had breached the building weren't a big enough threat, the hundred others outside that were about to literally rip the house apart would be.
"Upstairs! Now!" ordered Spitfire. Soarin and Rainbow Dash happily obliged. Once the trio were in Twilight's bedroom, they quickly shut, locked, and barricaded the door.
"That ain't gonna hold!" Rainbow Dash was stating the obvious. Spitfire turned around a threw a thick book at Twilight's large window. The glass shattered to a million pieces, and the Wonderbolts quickly flew outside. Rainbow Dash was about to follow when she noticed her gun on the floor... right by the heavily cracked door. Rainbow Dash flew at the gun with record speed, but her momentum carried her a bit farther than she wanted. Dash slammed into the door hard enough to destroy it. Fortunately for her, the impact on the door sent the attacking ponies down onto the ground, but they were already getting back on their hooves, and more streamed up the stairs. Dash grabbed her pistol, but before she could fly away to safety, one of the dead ponies grabbed her left wing. She bucked him away before he could sink his teeth into her, but it bought the others enough time to get at her. Rainbow Dash screamed as three, then four, then five rotting dead ponies got on top of her. Dash had dropped the pistol, and couldn't grab it because she was occupied trying to fight off the snapping teeth that continuously attempted to sink into her. The weight of all the dead ponies on top of her, added to the overwhelming stench of festering flesh was too much for Dash. More and more zombies piled on top of her. Just when Dash thought it was the end for her, she heard a loud bang, followed by another, and another.
Several zombies fell off the top of the pile, dead. The other undead that were on Dash looked up, distracted by the noise. Rainbow Dash shoved with all her might, allowing instinct to take over her body. To her surprise, the pile of zombies lifted, and Dash instantly flew out from under the pile. She looked over at her savior. It was Soarin. He shot two more bullets into the crowd, then click click click. The crowd was closing in fast, and there wouldn't be enough time to take off into the air.
"Go! I'll hold them back!" Soarin screamed.
"No! We can make it!" protested Dash.
"Rainbow, we really don't have enough time for this! GO!" Soarin thwacked two zombies on the head with the butt of the gun to give him space, then grabbed Dash. He kissed her on the lips, whispered in her ear "I love you," and threw her out the window. Dash was shocked, by several things. One, there was at least a thousand undead crowding the streets all around Twilight's home. Two, she was shocked that she was even alive. The entire situation had really seemed hopeless. But most of all, Dash was shocked at what Soarin had done. Sacrificing his life so she could escape? Dash knew there was absolutely no chance he survived, but she still felt an impossible amount of gratitude. 
Rainbow Dash flew up and looked for Spitfire. She saw her just a little ways away, hovering uncertainly. Dash sped over to her.
"Where's Soarin?" Spitfire asked worriedly. Dash didn't answer, but the tear that welled in her eye told the Wonderbolt captain enough. "We can't just leave him in there!" she shouted, suddenly outraged.
"There were at least a hundred in that small room. He had less than two tail-lengths of space, and his only weapon an out-of-ammo pistol. The only exit was the window, and he hasn't come out yet..." Dash choked up at the end. Secretly, she had loved Soarin too. 
For a long while, Spitfire said nothing. Then, she said "if you still want to visit the quarantine, come with me."
> Chapter Three Bonus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

killingfrenzycreator: Ok, if you haven't read chapter three yet, go read it because this contains spoilers galore. Anyways, this is the battle where Soarin saves Rainbow Dash, but from Soarin's point of view. This is just a side story from the main story and not an actual part of the main plot. Enjoy!


Chapter 3 Bonus


Soarin and Spitfire were waiting impatiently outside for Rainbow Dash. They watched as more and more undead flooded the surrounding streets, coming from not just PonyVille, but the areas outside of the town. Why is Dash taking so long?
"I'm going to go check on her," said Spitfire. Soarin stopped her.
"I'll go. Wait here." with that, Soarin flew into Twilight's house once again, and to his shock, saw Rainbow Dash with over ten zombies on top of her. She was desperately fighting off their hungry, snapping teeth, but the fight was not in her favor. Soarin desperately searched for something to save her with, and spotted a handgun not too far from Dash, though she was obviously too busy to grab it herself. Soarin rushed over, picked up the gun, and shot several of the zombies off. There was only 2 shots left in the gun, so he decided to use them wisely. Soarin helped to lessen the weight off of Dash, and to his amazement, she shoved 6 zombies off of her at once. Dash ran over to the window, and Soarin followed. Soarin turned and fired off the last two shots into the closest undead, then click click click. Too much time had been wasted, and the mass of dead ponies closed in. Zombies were literally inches from the two living ponies. If they tried to fly away, the dead would just grab them and rip them apart. Soarin knew only one could make it out, and he didn't want the love of his life to die so he could live on.
"Go! I'll hold them back!" Soarin had made a decision. Sadness filled his body, then anger as he swung the pistol at every zombie dumb enough to lunge at them, which was way too many.
"No! We can make it!" Rainbow Dash didn't want to leave Soarin to this unmerciful army. Soarin beat down two more undead. Soarin wasn't going to take this. The zombies were closing in really fast.
"Rainbow, we really don't have enough time for this! GO!" Soarin grabbed the blue mare, kissed her quickly, whispered in her ear that he loved her, and before she could respond, he threw her out the window. To his satisfaction she flew away to safety.
Soarin felt a dry, dead hoof land heavily on his shoulder. Rage filled him and he bucked it hard enough to make it's head explode. Sticky blood covered his hindlegs. The undead grabbed his legs before he could bring them back to the ground and pulled him into the middle of the group, but Soarin wasn't about to die yet. He swung wildly, loving the sounds of the dead ponies' skulls cracking open, enjoying the spray of infected blood on his face. Eventually he had fought his way back to the window. The handgun was falling apart from constantly beating the dead, but no matter how many he killed, they would be replaced from the swarms of dead from outside. Piles of bodies littered the bloodstained floor. Soarin was beginning to think he'd make it, but before he could fly off, he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder. Cursing his shit luck, Soarin turned and completely obliterated the zombie's head, along with his weapon. Now there was an opening for escape, but the bite...
Soarin flew outside. He was completely covered with blood, with not one spot that wasn't thick with blood and gore, not counting his eyes. He couldn't tell if he had any wounds or if it wasn't his blood; Soarin was in a rage-tastic dream state the entire fight. With one look back at the building, Soarin took off, away from the overrun PonyVille. He had no idea when he would succumb to infection, or if he even would...
> 4. Quarantine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4: Quarantine
	

Rainbow Dash spent most of her flight with Spitfire silent, thinking about Soarin. The flight was relatively uneventful, with the occasional group of undead here and there. Rainbow Dash had never been to this part of Equestria before; it was mostly countryside, with no settlements or signs of life. The farther out they went, the more rare the undead became.
"This place looks safe. Why didn't you build a settlement here?" inquired Rainbow Dash.
"Too close to cities. The dead don't just build up in towns. When cities become very dangerous, survivors hiding in them will flee. Now, as you should know by now, these things really enjoy eating the survivors, therefore the undead will pursue runaways. Eventually the cities become safe and the rural countryside that you'd expect to be uninhabited by them are overrun. There have been places in the middle of nowhere that were worse than the PonyVille we just left," answered Spitfire.
"Tell me more of this 'quarantine zone'."
"Well, there are several settlements built all around Equestria that are made for taking the infected and locking them away from the rest of the world. This was designed to prevent a spread of this new plague, but as you can see, it failed. Now Royal Guards from Canterlot move around clearing out these quarantines of the infected, and now survivors are using them as shelter. But, as I said earlier, the dead follow the living, and now the vast majority of these zones are under a large scale attack. The one we're going to is the closest. Most ponies who heard of these quarantines tried to make a break for one. Some failed, some succeeded. Now I'll warn you, our zone is barely surviving. I don't doubt that in the next three days, it will probably fall to the dead."
"Thats what you and Soarin were talking about back when I was tied down," Dash realized. Spitfire remained silent. It was an hour before morning when the two arrived at the quarantine. Spitfire was right about 'large scale attacks'. This outpost was surrounded completely by an enormous mob of rotting meat, banging uselessly at the stone walls of the quarantine. Canterlot Guards roamed the top of the walls, ready to act at the first signs of being overrun. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire flew into the safety of the inner walls. Spitfire gave Dash a quick tour, showing her the supply room, the infirmary, the sleeping quarters, and the cafeteria.
"Any idea to where I can find my friend?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"What does she spend most of her free time doing?"
"Reading. She's an egghead."
"Check the supply room. We keep books there." Rainbow Dash nodded her thanks and checked out the supply storage room, which was an old warehouse with a scrap metal roof, which threatened to blow away in the wind at any moment.
Rainbow Dash slowly opened the large metal door and peeked inside. There were stacks of food, clothes, weapons, ammo, and books, but no Twilight. Dash thoroughly searched the rest of the compound, but to no avail. She cursed at her coming all this way for nothing, at her close friend being missing in the beginning of an apocalypse, and pretty much everything that had happened since the storm clouds moved in. It hadn't rained since Rainbow Dash first found Applejack, thankfully. If she and her group were caught outside in a storm, they'd freeze to death in hours.
Rainbow Dash would not give up the search for her friends, even though she had no idea where to look next. Rainbow Dash was about to decide upon returning to PonyVille and seeing if there was somewhere she overlooked when an idea struck her. What if Twilight went to Canterlot to meet up with Princess Celestia?
Rainbow Dash asked one of the guards to notify Spitfire that Dash was leaving. He nodded and grunted, and Rainbow Dash took off for Canterlot. It took some time to get there, and Rainbow Dash really wished she had brought some food from the quarantine, but it didn't matter. She had arrived at Canterlot, which was amazingly unscathed by the evil that surrounds it. Dash tried to fly in but found that there was a force field. 
It does explain how this city isn't overrun, thought Rainbow Dash. She floated down to the train tunnel and saw two guards, on the other side of the force field. She managed to get their attention, and once the guards were convinced Dash wasn't infected, they let her in. Dash felt so much safer the second she was inside the force field.
"Are the Princesses here?" questioned Dash.
"Why do you want to know?" asked the guard, cautiously. He was grayish-brown with a golden helmet and spear, and his cutie mark was two spears crossed over a gold shield. He spoke with a rough, gravelly voice.
"I'm looking for a good friend of mine," answered Dash.
"I'm sorry, but I can't give out the information you seek," said a voice from behind. Rainbow Dash turned around and saw a captain of the Royal Guard. Everything about her had an air of authority. "Who is it you are searching for?"
"Twilight Sparkle."
"Twilight? The Princess's top student? Alright, I'll allow you to speak with Celestia." The captain strode quickly towards the castle. Rainbow Dash, usually the fastest, could hardly keep up with this pony. She was being respectful and sticking to the ground, and had to trot. When the two arrived at the castle gate, two guards pulled open the doors and let them inside. 
"They'll be in the Astronomy Tower. You should know the way," said the Captain. Rainbow Dash nodded and headed to the Astronomy Tower.
> 5. The Quarantine's Downfall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5: The Quarantine's Downfall
	

"I'm sorry. She left here two days ago," said Princess Celestia.
"Do you have any idea where she could have gone?" Rainbow Dash was urgent to find her friend. She was genuinely worried.
"Well, her brother, Shining Armor, went with Cadence to the Crystal Empire. That's your best bet, if she's not in PonyVille."
"Thank you, Princess." Rainbow Dash turned to leave, then a question popped up in her head. "Do you know how this all started?"
Celestia sighed. "Yes, I'm afraid I do... last week, these mysterious storm clouds appeared over the Everfree Forest. No matter what, our Pegasi could not clear the skies of this unscheduled weather. I sent a few of my Guards in to see if anything was causing this occurrence from within the forest... only one returned. He had several bites all over his body, and had some strange fever. No matter what, we could not get him to tell us what happened in the forest. We all thought some creature in the Everfree attacked him, but we were far from the truth. A day after, the soldier died. When he was taking to the burial grounds, he turned and attacked the ponies that were gonna bury him. Then we had three of these things inside of Canterlot..." Celestia paused, and a tear formed in her eye. Rainbow Dash didn't think she had ever seen this Princess cry. "I survived. My sister wasn't so lucky. She was bitten. Now, the power of being a goddess is delaying her turning; she just got a fever after a week, whereas normal infected got a fever in hours. The sad part is that eventually, she will turn, though when, we aren't sure. I have her locked up in the dungeon."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Princess. But do you know how these ponies got sick? Where this sickness came from?"
"Nopony knows, not even me. I have my top scientists and doctors working day and night for a cure, and a cause. So far, we have nothing. It would help a lot if they had a live subject. Rainbow Dash, would you like to help find a cure?" Dash knew where this was going.
"I'll go bring you one of them," she said with fake enthusiasm. Celestia nodded her thanks, and one of her guards handed Dash a rope and a pistol.
"Just in case," he said as she grabbed the gun. Dash nodded and flew out. She flew outside of Canterlot, and circled around until she spotted one of the dead. It was a green pony, with a red and blue mane and tail. Dash saw it was a Pegasus as well. It had white eyes, just like every other undead. She flew in close, so that she was hovering just out of his reach. Rainbow Dash almost puked as she saw his stomach- literally. His intestines were bulging and dripping the black fluid that was in the undead, and had maggots swarming them. All his organs were slimy and heavily rotted. 
Once the Pegasus spotted  Dash, he flapped his wings, trying to lift up and get her, but unfortunately for him, his wings were too weak with decay to lift him more than a few inches. Dash tied a loop in the rope, lassoed the zombie, and tied him up, so that he couldn't even move any of his limbs. It was very tricky trying to tie him up without him biting her, but eventually the job was done. Dash lifted him up and carried him back to Canterlot. After briefly explaining to the guards why she was trying to take an infected into the city, she was allowed in. She brought the zombie back to Celestia.
"You have done good," praised Celestia. "Bring this one to the labs." Two guards came, lifted the pony, and carried him off through a doorway.
"Thank you for the information, Princess. I'm off to find Twilight," said Rainbow Dash.
"Thank you as well. You've done an amazing thing," replied the Princess.
Rainbow Dash left the palace, and to her surprise, was greeted by Spitfire.
"How dare you leave when we needed you the most!?!" shouted Spitfire, angrily.
"I needed to find my friend," defended Rainbow Dash. "I think she went to the Crystal Empire."
"I don't care! The quarantine was breached, we're trying to evacuate everypony here to Canterlot, but the guards are overwhelmed. I need to speak with the Princesses about the evac, you get to the quarantine zone! They need all the help they can get!" Dash nodded and flew off for the quarantine zone. If this was a Wonderbolt drill, she would've set an academy record. The long distance from Canterlot to the quarantine zone was closed in just barely ten minutes.
Spitfire was right about the outpost needing all the help it could get. The stone walls that used to protect from the relentless army of the undead had crumbled and fell under the endless beating and clawing from the undead. Even stone will eventually fall under the dead. The Guards were huddled in the middle of the quarantine zone, surrounding the civilians. They were desperately fighting off the dead with their spears, and several rather large piles of dead zombies had already been formed, but the soldiers definitely wouldn't last much longer. Rainbow Dash shot off all 12 of her bullets into the heads of the dead, but it did very little to help. She grabbed a bloodstained spear off the ground and joined the fight. Then she remembered something she had seen in the supply warehouse: explosives. Dash lifted off, and shouts such as "get back here and fight!", and "traitor!" echoed out from the guards. Dash ignored them, and to her delight, found the explosives in a far corner of the warehouse. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by zombies. Rainbow Dash was ready; she was no stranger to combat with these things, especially when it came to overwhelming amounts. She rushed in, grabbed the bundle of TNT, bucked a zombie off her back, and flew away from the hungry mouths.
Outside, the guards were down by two more. Undead guards wore strong helmets that were hard to get through, which meant an even tougher battle. Dash flew down to the crowd of undead, pressed a button on a remote she found with the explosives, dropped the bundle into the undead mass as she heard a sizzle, then flew up as fast as she could. Dash heard a loud BOOM, looked down, and saw that her plan had succeeded. The explosion had created a path through the undead, with a few stray survivors. The guards and the civilians they were defending rushed down, dispatching the few zombies that roamed in the open area. The survivors had escaped before the undead even realized what was happening. Frustrated at the loss of a meal, they turned and tried to give chase, but could not possibly keep up with the group of the Living. Rainbow Dash followed the guards. When they were too far from the crowd for them to even begin catching up, a very important looking Guard called for everyone's attention.
"Ok everypony, we're safe from all the dead that was attacking the quarantine zone, but we have no idea how free of the dead this place is. I'll take three guards and provide a search of the area, the rest will stay here to protect you all. If it's safe here, we'll hunker down for the night and head down to Canterlot in the morning. It'll be at least a three day journey, so if you have any food, make it last. We might find something on our travels, but we all believe that it'll be a hungry journey. You'll be tired, hungry, cold, and scared, but the reward is worth it: Princess Celestia has cast a force field over Canterlot. There are lots of farms that were created inside the city, enhanced with powerful magic. There's food, warmth, and safety there. Is anypony hurt?" rasped the guard. Rainbow Dash believed he was a captain or other high-ranker. One pony raised a hoof. "Yes? What's wrong?"
"One of the strays nipped me when we were escaping. It didn't break skin but it hurts," the pony answered. The captain mantained an emotionless stare.
"Come with me," he said. The injured pony looked excited to finally get medical attention and happily followed the captain into a nearby grove of trees. Nothing happened for a few minutes, then the sharp crack of a gunshot. The captain returned alone.
> 6. To Canterlot!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6: To Canterlot!
	

The area was relatively clear. There was one wanderer that the guards dispatched quickly. Soon a fire was started, the night guard schedule was sorted out, and the sleeping areas were outlined, for maximum safety while unconscious. After an hour, everypony was asleep, except two guards, who constantly circled the camp, alert for signs of trouble. In the morning, the group was awoken and on the move quickly. The day was uneventful; they only saw a small group of undead, and that was way off in the distance. That night's camp was similar. However, the group woke up to a surprise: all the guards were gone, with the supplies.
Rainbow Dash was furious. She wanted to hunt the traitorous Royal Guard down and kill them, but she knew she didn't stand a chance against a dozen heavily trained, heavily armed soldiers, especially since she no longer had a weapon. Rainbow Dash took position as leader of the group and the now disheartened survivors continued the journey to Canterlot. Dash wanted to make good time, so they continued well into the night, until they were too tired to continue. Instead of creating a makeshift night watch, Rainbow dash fell asleep, along with everyone else. They were rudely awoken.
Rainbow Dash jumped awake as a high pitched scream rang out. She looked around frantically for the source of the screaming, and spotted a dark blue pony with velvet eyes, and the rotting hulk of a brown pony right behind her. He had his mouth on her shoulder, and crimson blood ran steadily down her body. The screaming intensified, as more of the survivors joined in.
"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash screamed anxiously. The crowd continued to holler in fright. Dash picked up a rock and threw it at the zombie pony's head. Soft with decay, it's head just caved in, and blood oozed onto the ground. Another rock was used to terminate the newly bitten pony. Covered in blood and flecks of brain from beating in the infected survivor's head made Rainbow Dash look frightening. "You are all idiots!" she hissed in seething anger. "You probably just attracted every one of them nearby with all that screaming!" The group looked ashamed and guilty. "Great. Now we have to get as far away from here as we can, which means we'll be too tired to travel in the morning, and we'll have to spend the majority of the day resting. I don't see us ever reaching Canterlot alive with you all acting like that."  Without another word, Dash turned around and started trotting to Canterlot, with the group close behind. The sky was pink with early sunrise and birds were beginning to chirp when the exhausted group sat down to rest. Most of the ponies had overstepped their limits and were breathing heavily and panting, and everyone was coughing. Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and scanned the area, and once she was sure there won't be any surprise attacks, she came down and gave them all permission to rest. Most of them were asleep in seconds.
It was late afternoon when the travel-weary group got up and continued walking. They reached Canterlot at sunset. The Guards that waited by the train tracks let the group in, inspected them for bites, and let them through. Spitfire flew down to Rainbow Dash.
"Looks like it was a success," she remarked.
"Yeah, apart from two civvies dying and the guards stealing our food and running off, everything went well Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find my friends," Dash spat. Spitfire's face hardened for a moment, then relaxed. After all, due to her Wonderbolt rank, she wasn't used to being spoken to in that manner, but Spitfire had realized she owed Dash a lot for what she did. Spitfire just nodded in acknowledgement. Rainbow Dash was glad she was finally able to continue her search for Twilight. Without another word, she turned in the direction of the Crystal Empire and took off.
	
> 7. An Unexpected Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

              
Chapter 7: An Unexpected Reunion


It was late night when Rainbow Dash finally arrived at the Crystal Empire. She was exhausted from walking half the day and flying the rest. She landed, a bit too eagerly, which produced a dull thud and a poof of dust. Dash coughed while the air cleared up.
I'll just camp out here for the night, so the Empire's guards don't mistake me for one of them, Rainbow Dash thought. She flew up onto one of the storm clouds that seemingly never went away and fell asleep. She woke up, and judging by the sun's position, it was afternoon. A rush of excitement surged through Rainbow Dash as she realized how close she was to finding Twilight. If she survived, said a dark voice in the back of her mind. Dash shook the thought away and trotted towards the entrance. Two guards blocked her way. They raised spears at her when she got near.
"Halt!" The one on the left ordered. "We don't need infected here. We ain't gonna be like the rest of Equestria."
"I'm not infected!" Rainbow Dash screamed in outrage. 
"We aren't taking that chance," the guard to Dash's right replied coolly. Rainbow Dash tried walking past and the two shoved her back, hard enough to send her sprawling to the ground. 
"I haven't been bitten. How would I be infected?"
"How do we know you weren't bitten?" The guards weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, nor the brightest bulb in the box.
"You could always just search me for bites."
"Yeah, but then you'll kill us!"
"I think I would have to die first. You two boys, all big and tough, afraid to take a girl on?"
"You aren't coming in. Don't waste your time," the guard to the right said. They were obviously getting irritated at Dash's stubbornness. 
"Is there any possible way you'll let me in?" Dash asked hopefully. The guard on the right looked like he was about to say no, but then the guard on the left whispered something in his ear.
"Alright, we do have one thing that needs to be done," said the guard on the right. "Steel Hooves here, his brother was sent to the farm outside of PonyVille. What's it called? Sweet Apple something. Anyways, he hasn't come back yet. Steel Hooves is getting worried. If you want in, you either bring him back alive, or you tell us what happened to him."
Great, another huge flight. How much more of this can I take? Dash thought, but she nodded to the guards. "I'll leave immediately," she informed them. Steel Hooves nodded in obvious thankfulness and Dash took off immediately. The flight was very, very long and hard, but eventually she arrived at the farm. She was exhausted more than she thought possible. Dash sat on a fence post. It was still bright and sunny here, so Sweet Apple Acres hadn't been overrun in the time Rainbow Dash had been gone. She looked over at the barn where she found Applejack and instantly regretted it.
Big Macintosh's decomposed body lay on the ground, his head smashed open, just like the last time Rainbow Dash had seen him. The dirt around his body was brown with dried blood. However, his body had rotted further. His skin (now missing all it's fur) had slipped off the bones and fell into his body, which was full of insects. All his organs were shriveled green lumps. Dash gagged and looked away.
I'll just find that guard and get the hell back to the Crystal Empire. She began her search for the missing guard.
Rainbow Dash decided to start with the house. She walked to the front door and opened it. It was dark inside, so she was cautious to step in. Dash took a deep breath and moved forward.
WHACK! Rainbow Dash fell to the floor, unconscious. She awoke in a corner of the house. A lamp was on, and in the light, Dash saw something that shocked her more than anything that had happened. There was a pistol to her temple, but that wasn't what shocked her. What surprised Dash so much was the pony holding the gun.
It was Soarin. He was alive, and from what Rainbow Dash could see, unharmed.
"W-h-how-who-WHAT?!?" Rainbow Dash's mind blanked, and she couldn't even form a sentence.
"Good, you're still alive," Soarin said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was worried you and Spitfire hadn't made it out of PonyVille. The town was pretty stirred up. Where is Spitfire, anyways?"
Rainbow Dash had questions of her own. "How are you still alive? You were cornered by at least a thousand of them!"
"Excellent question. After you left, I fought hard to stay alive. I had killed at least a hundred of them; clubbing them with my pistol and bucking them in the face. I did have a lot of close calls, but after a while, the buildup of dead bodies ended up creating a makeshift barricade, which bought me time to get out. However, right before I left, one of the fuckers came out of nowhere and bit me on the shoulder." Rainbow Dash felt a fresh wave of shock as she heard about his bite. "But," Soarin went on, "my Wonderbolt suit kept the things teeth from breaking skin, which can't infect you. The worst I felt was a little pinch. I had killed it before he could do worse, and then I made my escape. I came here, bathed off in that river in the orchard, then came to this house."
It was amazing. Rainbow Dash really thought it impossible to survive in that room. Then she remembered why she was here. "Have you seen anypony else here? An armored guard, to be exact?" Soarin looked down to the ground.
"He came a day after I got here. I thought he was a threat." 
"You killed him?" Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.
"I thought he was attacking me! Haven't you heard of the bandits?" Soarin defended.
"Bandits?"
"Ponies who believe the only way to survive is to take from others. They band up, and rob and kill other survivors."
"Wasn't the armor a good enough sign?"
"A bandit can very easily kill a guard and steal his armor. Anyways, why do you care?"
"I found my friend. She went to the Crystal Empire, but they won't let me in unless I find a missing guard. A guard who was sent here to scavenge for supplies."
Soarin's eyes filled with regret. "Can I go to the Crystal Empire with you? I want to finally be safe," he asked.
"I dunno. That guard was another guard's brother. If he knew what you did, he wouldn't let you in. He'd probably kill you on the spot," Dash answered. Soarin looked disappointed. Dash thought it wasn't just the fact he couldn't go. She remembered when they had last seen each other, they had kissed. She felt that same affection for him. "Alright, but we have to think of a believable lie, so they actually let you in."
Soarin responded immediately. "That's easy. We found him, infected and bit, already turned, so we gave him some mercy and put him out of his misery." It seemed solid enough. Dash nodded.
"Alright grab whatever provisions you have, we're leaving right now," Dash said, then changed her mind. "Actually, I'm really tired and worn out from the flight here. We'll stay the night here, and leave first thing tomorrow." Soarin nodded acknowledgement.
The rest of the day was spent with the two ponies conversing. "Oh Celestia, what I wouldn't do for some apple pie... all these apples are bad now," Soarin moaned, just as the sun was setting, which bathed the house with reddish-orange light.
"I think it's about time to hit the hay," Dash said. "Pun intended."
"You never answered my earlier question. Where's Spitfire?" Soarin asked, an edge of worry in his voice.
"Don't you worry. She's staying in Canterlot to watch over the quarantine survivors. The whole city's a safe zone."
"The quarantine finally fell? How many dead?"
"Around four to five out of the thirty we originally had. Mostly guards. Anyways, we should get to bed." With Soarin alive and a huge journey ahead of them, the two ponies curled up next to each other and slept.
> 8. The Return to PonyVille
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8: The Return to PonyVille
              

Exhaustion. Although it was something Rainbow Dash was used to after flying all over Equestria and taking on huge hordes of the undead, it still wasn't very nice. Rainbow Dash and Soarin were experiencing just that when they arrived at the Chrystal Empire, even with several breaks along the way. They had to dispatch several ponies who's names no longer meant anything to the world during their travels.
The two guards at the front didn't include Steel Hooves or the other one, so the Pegasii duo had to wait. The guards changed shifts every six hours.
"You know, two guards won't be enough to hold back a swarm. There aren't even any walls," remarked Soarin.
"There's a force field. The guards just decide who goes in or out," replied Rainbow Dash. Soarin nodded in realization. They waited for several hours, drifting in and out of sleep, until Dash saw it was Steel Hooves's shift. Her and Soarin flew down and broke the news (with the lie about the dead guard's fate). Steel just remained quiet, though Dash spotted a tear forming in his eye.
"Ok. A deal's a deal. You may enter," he said, his voice shaky with sorrow. "I guess this disease just takes from everypony." Soarin just rushed into the safety of the magic field. Rainbow Dash felt annoyed at his lack of pity; after all, Soarin was the pony who killed Steel's brother. Dash dipped her head in respect of Steel Hooves's loss, then followed Soarin.
"Alright. Where can we find your little friend?" asked Soarin, a hint of both impatience and sarcasm in his voice. He was starting to irritate Rainbow Dash, but she hid it well.
"She'll most likely be at the library. That's her solution to everything," Dash replied. Soarin nodded and the two ponies went to the library. They passed several crystal ponies on the way. The way they sparkled and shone rejuvinated Dash.
"Race ya there!" she exclaimed and zoomed towards the library. Despite the short head start, Soarin was soon caught up. Dash won by a feather-length. The race had lasted 2.5 seconds total.
"Dammit," murmured Soarin.
"Oh be a good sport. I promise I won't tell anypony," giggled Rainbow Dash. Soarin shot her a disapproving glance. "What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," he snapped, then instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry. These recent events have been hard on me, since the battle in the PonyVille library."
"I forgive ya. None of us have had it easy."
Rainbow Dash almost kicked open the library doors. Relief flooded over her in a wave almost big enough to knock her down when she spotted a familiar purple unicorn with her nose buried in a book.
"Sup egghead!" Dash teased, her voice shrill with glee. Twilight jumped, then hugged Rainbow Dash.
"Where in Equestria have you been?" Twilight asked, then noticed none of her other friends was with Rainbow Dash. "Where's the others?"
"Applejack and Pinkie are in PonyVille. I had them look for Fluttershy. Hopefully they found her by now. Rarity and Spike... they..." Twilight could see by Dash's faltering that the news wasn't good.
"You don't need to say any more. I've been trying to find out if this new disease was new at all. Turns out, this same thing happened thousands of years ago, before Celestia was even in power. It wasn't very well documented, however. The only thing the book mentioned was the symptoms. Nothing in the way of a cure, however. If everything I read is true, then Equestria is in for something too big for us to handle..."
"Can you make it back to PonyVille?"
"My magic won't be able to handle teleporting anywhere near PonyVille, even if I was by myself. But I did hear of a train that some engineers have been working on..."
"Then that's our ticket outta here. C'mon, let's go find it!" The three ponies took off outside and traveled to the train station. Sure enough, a large train sat there. The sight of it filled the trio with newfound hope.
"I need to tell Shining Armor and Cadence," said Twilight. Rainbow Dash nodded. Soarin just grunted impatiently. A few minutes later, Twilight returned. The trio walked to a trainpony and asked if the train was ready.
"Well, yeah, in it's current condition, it'll take ya righ' out side a' PonyVille. But, we nee' it," he replied. The engineer was missing several teeth, which explained his slurred speech.
"Alright," replied Dash. "Let's go, everypony."
"Dash, we-" Twilight was cut off by Rainbow Dash.
"Just shhh, come on." Dash flew off slowly, and the other two followed. "We'll come back at night and steal it," she said, when they were out of earshot of the engineers. The others nodded agreement.
Night fell. The trio snuck around the back streets, sticking to the shadows. They reached the train undetected. 
"Sooo... how do we start this thing?" asked Rainbow Dash, uncertainly.
"Just dump some coal into that box and pull this lever," answered Soarin. Dash did just that. The train roared to life and several lights came on.
"Now we just wait for the engine to warm up for a few minutes," muttered Soarin. Dash could already hear Guard voices coming her direction.
"We need to distract them," Dash said.
"How are we supposed to distract them enough to forget about us stealing a train?!?" Twilight screamed in outrage. 
"To make someone forget an explosion, you need to set off a bigger one right next to it," Soarin stated. Dash nodded and looked at Twilight.
"Think you can set off a magical vortex?" Dash asked.
"I sure can," Twilight responded. Her horn was illuminated by a soft purple glow and she squeezed her eyes shut. Just a few blocks down, a light erupted. At first it was a blinding white, then slowly changed colors, to gray, then blue, then green, then red. The source of the light swelled up and flared, then exploded into a huge ball of magical energy.
"That'll work," Rainbow Dash commented. A few minutes later, the train was ready. The ponies hopped into a car and locked it up. Soarin stayed by the engine to make sure there was enough coal to complete the journey. In just an hour, the train had arrived just a mile from PonyVille. The landscape looked surprisingly clear of undead, since the last time Dash was in PonyVille, the town and all it's surrounding areas were filled with undead. Then she remembered what Spitfire told her: the undead follow the living. PonyVille was nearly deserted, so the infected probably moved on to find more food.
The walk was uneventful. It was around midnight when the ponies arrived at the outskirts of PonyVille. Rainbow Dash was wondering if Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and possibly (more like hopefully) Fluttershy had survived the massive invasion. Dash also wondered how so many of them had gotten here so quick. 
The library was in ruins. Instead of a doorway on the tree, the entire front had collapsed under the sheer weight of hundreds of ponies. Dash was grateful she had wings, otherwise that would have been a death trap. She was surprised that Soarin had survived. Twilight, however, was just in distress of the damage done to all the books in there.
Dash heard groaning. She signaled for the others to keep quiet, and then slowly slinked to the source of the noise. It was the mayor. She had bites all over her face and her flank, but she wasn't rotten at all. Rainbow Dash figured that she had turned recently. It didn't matter. What mattered now was that it was a threat to the group and had to be dealt with accordingly. Dash picked up a medium sized rock and crept up behind the mayor (well, what used to be the mayor) and thwacked it on the head. Since it was a fresh corpse, the skull remained intact (mostly), but the brain had been fractured by the shock of the impact, which disabled life for the used-to-be mayor.
The group passed by the corpse without looking at it. Rainbow Dash took them to the rooftop where she had first went. She told Twilight to teleport up once Soarin and Dash had gotten to the top. Twilight agreed. Dash started ascending, praying to Celestia that her friends were alright...
> 9. Bandit Country
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9: Bandit Country
	

Applejack was furious. They had found Fluttershy, but Dash's extended absence had worried them so much they were almost ready to leave the rooftop and search for other places. Rainbow Dash sat through a lecture, and when Applejack was finished yelling (out of worry and relief), she finally noticed Soarin.
"Well, how do 'ya do?" she asked, faking cheerfulness.
"Fine. I didn't risk my life for a train to take me to a lecture, so will you two just cut your shit out?" he snapped in response. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in shock. "What are you looking at?" he said angrily to Dash.
"What's gotten into you?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You aren't the Soarin I knew!"
"No, I'm not. Are you satisfied?"
"No!"
"Well, that's just a bit too bad. We need to focus on survival, not your personal feelings." As much as Rainbow Dash was hating him right now, he still had a good point.
"Whatever. What should we do?"
"Well... um..." Fluttershy squeaked, too quiet for anypony to hear. She wasn't the kind of pony to interfere in arguments.
"Canterlot."
"No! That would take too long. How 'bout we find another train and go back to the Crystal Empire?"
"Yeah, cuz we're just gonna find a train, in perfect condition, just lying around for the taking."
"Shut up! We don't need sarcasm right now, Soarin!"
"Ah don't think we need arguing either!"
"Ladies..." Fluttershy had an idea.
"Shut up, you orange country scum!" Soarin yelled out aggressively. Dash wouldn't stand for him detesting her best friend, be him her idol or not. She tackled him to the ground and beat him with her right forehoof until his face was bleeding. He roared and kicked her stomach, launching her into the air and off the rooftop. If she wasn't a pegasus, Dash would've died. Rage took over her body and her mind. She no longer thought rationally. Dash flew up and delivered a buck to Soarin's face. He fell back, his nose broken, his face soaked with his own blood. Dash picked up a knife and put it against Soarin's throat.
"Give me one good reason not to kill you. You are nothing more than a burden to this group, and you're just generating problems and hostility. You threatened our survival. GIVE ME A REASON NOT TO KILL YOU!" she screamed in rage.
"I'm so sorry," Soarin sobbed. "This apocalypse is getting to my head! That day, when I saved your life in the library, I was mentally scarred. I'm not who I was."
Dash tossed the knife. "I understand." Soarin stood up. Dash thought she saw him shoot Applejack a smug look, but she wasn't sure. Twilight was just sitting there, wide-eyed with shock at what Rainbow Dash just did.
"Um... hey..." Fluttershy was cowering in a corner, but she still had that idea.
"Yes, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
"I heard Fillydelphia was safe... from those poor, sick ponies. The Royal Guard is leaving that place alone. W-we could try there!" It really wasn't a bad idea.
"Ah think it's worth a shot! It'll be one heck of a trot, but not as bad as Canterlot or the Chrystal Empire. I vote yes!" Applejack stomped her hoof down with fresh enthusiasm.
"My wings are sore as hell from flying across Equestria and back this week... but ok!" Rainbow Dash agreed. Soarin remained silent. Twilight just nodded.
"Then its settled! We're movin' ta Fillydelphia!" Applejack was trying to cheer up the situation with false enthusiasm, and it worked.
After leaving the rooftop, the Elements (minus Rarity, to everypony's despair) got on their way. Soarin flew ahead, just barely staying in sight, but Rainbow Dash chose to catch up with her friends.
"Anything interesting happen while I was out being awesome?" Dash said, to break the silence.
"Well, Ah found Fluttershy. Pinkie here seems to be pretty darn good at fightin' those things, with knives mostly," Applejack replied. Pinkamena was completely silent, which was very unusual for her. The collapse took a lot from everypony, it must have taken the Pinkie out of her. Now all that remained was a dangerously depressed pink psycho badass who could snap any minute.
"How many of the dead did you have to deal with?"
"Not much, considerin'. They seem to have moved on."
"Yeah, there wasn't any at all when I got here, which is pretty cool, since last time I was here, this town had gone to hell. Just wondering, how did you survive? The invasion, I mean. There was more than enough to break through the doors, even the walls if they had to."
"We all kept our heads down and our mouths shut."
"Ah... Soarin saved my life."
"What? That two-bit psycho?"
"He wasn't always like this. Times have been hard on him lately."
"Times have been hard on us all, Rainbow."
Rainbow Dash had nothing to say to that. Despite recent hostilities, Rainbow Dash still loved Soarin, and she felt the need to defend him, but she couldn't argue with logic. Applejack had a point.
"He threw me out the library window and tried to hold them off... there was hundreds of them bombarding that tree! Soarin must have had a hard time escaping, but he pulled it off," Dash informed her friend. "I'm gonna talk to Twilight. See ya." Rainbow Dash trotted to Twilight. "Sup egghead. Any idea what's going on?"
"No idea at all. I've never seen anything like it, except that it happened a while ago. It must've been contained somehow... or was it?" Twilight was now deep in thought.
"What?" Dash inquired.
"Maybe the disease wasn't defeated at all. Maybe it was just contained, the infected quarantined successfully... and somehow broke out again."
"Makes sense. I can't imagine a disease being wiped from the face of Equestria and then suddenly coming back, out of nowhere. But how would they have kept it hidden so long?"
"I'm not sure. What does Celestia think of this?"
"Beats me. She seemed like she was holding back a lot of emotion, though. Emotions too powerful for even the Goddess of the Sun... she mentioned Princess Luna being infected."
"How is that possible? The divine shouldn't be affected by this!"
"Celestia told me it took a week for the first symptom to show, whereas normal ponies get it in less than an hour. I guess it just slows it down."
"Interesting. This needs more study, more research."
"Celestia has her top scientists working on it. They're using an actual zombie for their studies." Twilight looked shocked.
"But that's dangerous!" she screamed in outrage.
"They're taking tons of safety procedures, don't worry. There's no better way to find out more about this thing."
"I guess..."
Suddenly, a pony jumped from a tree. Dash saw that it was a yellow pegasus with a black mane and tail. He was caked with dirt and blood, and was pointing a 9mm sub machine gun at the group.
"Don't move!" he screamed. This new stallion had a gruff, deep voice, and was very big and threatening. "Poison, we got 'erselves some tresspassers!" This stallion was cackling maniacally. A new, green unicorn pony walked around from behind the group. He had a bottle of black fluid with a skull label as a cutie mark.
What a terrible thing, to have something so violent as your special talent, Dash thought. Her friends were starting to panic, especially as Poison drew a very large knife from his belt. Where the fuck is Soarin?
Poison was like an ant compared to the other bandit. He was so buff, he looked like he could blow a pony to pieces with a single punch.
"Ye wan' know wha' we do ter' tresspashers? Y'all gon' find out," Poison cackled, laughing insanely. These two meant business. All Dash had was a standard kitchen knife; even if the first bandit didn't have a gun, she was no match for that long knife. 
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Soarin dive bombed the buff pony's head, with enough force to knock the giant down. Poison looked up in surprise, and Dash took her chance. She rushed forward and thrust the knife deep into Poison's throat. He gurgled blood for about thirty seconds once the knife was out, gave one last weak cough, and died on the spot, in a pool of his own blood. Dash looked over and saw the overly-buff bandit regain control. He sent his right forehoof right into Soarin's chest, and he went flying. 
Dash remembered seeing one Wonderbolt training exercise; spinning them really fast and sending them flying, then having the trainee regain balance in midair and land as gracefully as possible. Soarin obviously remembered the trick and performed a perfect landing, sending dust flying as he made impact with the ground. Determination and rage clouded his eyes, and the grey pegasus rushed the bandit head-on. Clearly the bandit hadn't seen this coming; he probably expected Soarin to have died upon impact with the punch. Soarin wrapped his hindlegs around the brute's neck, and with all the force he could muster, slammed both his forehooves into the bandit's nose. The attack was very successful, and blood sprayed everywhere as the bandit's nose shattered. The giant fell on his back, then stood up. He had crimson blood squirting from his face, and his once yellow coat was now stained a dark red, but the thing just refused to die. 
The bandit no longer saw fun in this, he wanted to avenge his horribly disfigured snout by ripping Soarin to pieces. Dash wasn't gonna sit back and watch. She threw herself at the bandit as hard as she could, with the knife pointed at his shoulder. The blade sunk in down to the handle. The bandit screamed in agony and swatted Rainbow Dash away. She slammed into the ground and could just barely get back to her hooves. She turned and saw Soarin drawing his own knife and throwing it at the muscular bandit. The knife hit the dead center of his chest, with enough force to cut through the muscle and snap the bone beneath. Unfortunately, the knife was slowed down too much by all the mass it just penetrated, but luck was on Soarin's side. The bandit fell on his face in pain, and that knocked the knife deep into the soft, now unprotected organs of the bandit. He jumped up and pulled the weapon out, and with it came a spurt of blood. The vital fluid was pouring out; the bandit was beyond saving now. He tried to get to his hooves, but collapsed into the pool of blood, which sent up a splash of it. The bandit sat there choking and coughing for what felt like forever, but eventually slipped away. Soarin collapsed as the adrenalin left his body.
Dash galloped over to Soarin. He went into a coughing fit, and coughed up a mouthful of his own blood. 
"Fluttershy! Get over here!" Dash screamed. The yellow pegasus obliged. "Can you help him?"
"No need. Nothing seems fatal. I felt his ribs, they aren't cracked, so no organs were punctured. I think the impact of the punch just knocked some stuff around in him, but with some rest, he should be fine," Fluttershy said. Dash felt extremely relieved. Soarin grinned.
"You can't kill me. Nopony can."
> 10. Fillydelphia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10: Fillydelphia


Rainbow Dash was thinking to herself as she trudged along the trail. This disease, if that's what it was, had come out of nowhere. Overnight, it had decimated Equestria's population. No disease could spread that fast! Rainbow Dash had a very hard time believing everything that had been happening to her, even though she had lived through it. Tears welled in her eyes; she had been killing ponies! It wasn't their fault they were like that! Dash had been too worried about the future of her and her friends to really dwell on what she had been doing. Once her mind went to the thought of her friends... the way she had just brushed off the deaths of Rarity and Spike! They were very dear friends of hers, they at least deserved a burial and proper respects!
"Rainbow Dash! Catch up!" Rainbow Dash suddenly snapped back to reality, and she realized that she had fallen far behind the rest of the group. Gathering her thoughts, Rainbow Dash shook her head and galloped to the front of the group. They were out in the open, and vulnerable to the infected; she had to keep her wits with her. Yet that little twinge of depression and regret lingered in her chest, threatening to consume her...
"Look! I see Fillydelphia!" Fluttershy exclaimed with excitement, though the others could still barely hear her.
"Hold up. Let me get a better look!" Dash warned, then took off into the air, shooting straight up.
Fillydelphia was definitely looking the worse for wear. Though in it's day, it didn't look that different from PonyVille, right now, it was downright terrible. Concrete shards and other various bits of rubble littered the majority of the once-great town. Blood could be seen where unlucky townsfolk where caught and pinned down by infected, and clusters of bones, and even piles of very decomposed flesh, still remained. Large, black pits of ash remained where disaster fires once burned. While plants had not yet started to take over the remains, weed clumps still poked through cracks in the streets and sidewalks. Although Fillydelphia obviously took quite a beating from the infection, no wanderers were seen anywhere in the city.
"Alright, we're good, for a while. Looks like they all left in search of food," said Rainbow Dash, as she rejoined the group and touched the ground.
"What if they aren't?" Pinkie spoke for the first time in a while. "What if they're just hiding?"
"We'll be fine," snapped Soarin. "We came here because we heard it's safe. I was beat to hell so we can all get here alive, so I implore you cut the bullshit and get a fucking move one."
"Can it, Soarin!" Dash retorted. "You can go first, if you're so eager to get in there!"
"With pleasure," breathed Soarin, both angrily and sarcastically. He started hovering a few feet from the ground, and drifted across the city limits. His hooves touched the ground as he turned and shouted, "see? I'm fine!" Afterwards, he turned and started to round a corner, when a zombie tackled him to the ground, roaring furiously. He appeared to be freshly dead; Dash noted that there must be more of them around.
I could let it get him... he's causing enough problems as it is, thought Rainbow Dash, but instantly regret even considering that. She may kill the undead, and even bandits, but that was when her life depended on it. This was a pony she knew, who had saved her life, and she had considering letting him die like that? No.
Soarin was screaming and desperately balancing between shoving away the zombies battered hooves and keeping it's gray, rotted teeth away from his throat. Rainbow Dash flew in hard, landing headfirst into the zombie's side. If it wasn't freshly dead, it would've tore in half and infected Dash with the spraying blood, but thankfully, all she did was send it flying a few feet. And also damaging her nose; she thought it was broken, as blood was pouring steadily down her face and dripping from her chin, and the pain was almost unbearable.
The zombie, however, just stood up and turned to the still-recovering Dash, eyes full of rage and hunger. Blood oozed out of his face and that mysterious black fluid dripped from his mouth, as he smiled, revealing his crooked, yellow teeth. Then, suddenly, he jumped at Rainbow Dash, and-

BLAM! The zombie dropped straight down to the ground, his head having been blown in half. A nearby building got a new coat of red paint, as blood sprayed all over it. The bittersweet red fluid formed a puddle around the zombie's corpse.
Rainbow Dash had turned to thank Soarin, when she was interrupted by distant yowls and roars. "OH SHIT!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "They definitely heard that! Pinkie was right!" She reached out her dirty hoof and picked Soarin up off the ground, and then they turned and hastily caught up with the already fleeing ponies.
The undead were all somewhat fresh, the one in the worst condition had only just started losing fur. As a result of their recent turning, their muscles were more intact, and they still had enough energy remaining in their bodies to sprint. So sprint they did, and Dash soon realized running was pointless, as the dead are incapable of feeling exhaustion. However, living ponies can, unfortunately. 
"Twilight, over here!" Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly, coming to a complete stop.
"What?!? Are you nuts?" Twilight responded anxiously.
"Trust me! Get over here before they catch up!" The undead were, in fact, closing in rather fast. The rest of the group sat staring, worried yet curious. Twilight sighed and galloped to where Rainbow Dash was impatiently waiting.
"What?"
"Can you cast a spell on them?"
"I can try. Although I studied some battle magic while at the Chrystal Empire, I'm still not too familiar with it..." Twilight directed her horn at the oncoming horde. She shut her eyes tightly, and her horn began to glow.
"ETA thirty seconds!" 
Twilight's horn began to form a glowing purple sphere.
"C'mon, Twi! We have about ten seconds!"
The sphere slowly began to grow, with small rays of light beaming off in random directions.
"We have about five seconds! Hurry the fuck up Twilight!"
The undead were frighteningly close. The smell of blood reached Dash's nostrils. This is it... we're done! The magic will fail, and we'll be ripped apart!
And then, as if to directly contradict Rainbow Dash's thoughts, a large whitish-purple beam exploded from the sphere, and the zombie crowd was hidden behind a giant cloud of lavender smoke.The roars were suddenly cut off. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was burnt bone shards and a large pool of blood. The remains of the horde were smoking.  
Rainbow Dash breathed a heavy sigh of immense relief, and Twilight lay on the ground, panting heavily from using such a powerful spell. Judging by the look on her face, she was amazed she had even pulled it off.
"Well... I think we're good to go!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, clapping her hooves together.
"Wow, Twilight... that was amazing!" bellowed Applejack, impressed.
"Wow... we're alive. That was kinda cool, actually!" put in Soarin. Rainbow Dash was surprised; this was the first sign of gratitude Soarin had shown in a while.
"Um... sh-should we still go back? I don't know if it's safe, and I'd hate to see one of us get hurt..." Fluttershy squeaked.
"Obviously the town isn't that safe. You all saw them, how recently they had died? There's more in there, I'm sure of it. We're alive right now based off of sheer luck, but luck runs out, and you never know when. I wouldn't test whether or not we still are. I vote no!" Twilight had a strong, valid point. 
"I agree. We didn't survive by needlessly putting our lives on the line!" agreed Rainbow Dash.
"Ah don't know... if there were any more, we would've attracted them as well. We could hide out there, maybe get some supplies. We're runnin' outta food here, and our medical supplies are just a bunch of band-aids," Applejack tossed in her opinion.
"I say no. Rainbow Dash told me about scientists researching this for a cure in Canterlot. Instead of us all getting mauled, how 'bout we go and see if we can help?" Rainbow Dash had completely forgotten about the testing in Canterlot, and Soarin just reminded her.
"All in favor of going to Canterlot?" everypony raised their hooves. "Then off we go!" 
We've got a looong walk ahead of us...
> 11. Meeting the Doctor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11: Meeting the Doctor


After nearly a week of exhausting travel and hiding from infected, Canterlot was finally in sight. To the travel-weary ponies, it looked like a golden gate to heaven, and with their spirits refreshed, they picked up the pace with renewed vigor. By sundown, they were within the safe confines of Canterlot City. There was a little hassle with the Guards over letting so many new ponies in, but eventually, they were granted access. Rainbow Dash was guessing it was because Twilight was with them.
Twilight immediately went to greet the Princess. Rainbow Dash followed; she really wanted to know how the testing was going, with the zombie she had captured. Upon seeing Celestia's top student, the Entrance Guards immediately allowed her inside, but barred the entrance from Rainbow Dash.
"Hey! What gives?" voiced a very annoyed Rainbow Dash.
"It's ok, she's with me," Twilight informed the Guards. With a grunt, they opened up the entryway, and the two mares continued walking. 
The Royal Castle looked so empty without all the Nobles and what-not. Rainbow Dash could guess what happened; Princess Celestia had told her about the attack Canterlot had suffered, before the force field was up. Twilight, however, had yet to find out.
Celestia greeted the duo when they entered her throne room. She looked exceptionally happy to see Twilight, still breathing. Rainbow Dash trotted over to one of the stained glass windows while the two were catching up, and became lost in thought. At first, she worried about Princess Luna. Had her symptoms developed? Dash knew it was slower for her. Was she in pain? And when she turned, would she have the power of a goddess? While Dash dwelled on the matter, another thought came to mind. Maybe the Princess could use her powers to do one last thing of good, and fight the undead. If she saved the Quarantine Zones, maybe Canterlot could build up an army from the survivors, clear out the towns, and save Equestria. The thought of a holocaust, whether it was necessary or not, made Rainbow Dash a little sick to her stomach. However, she knew that these things were already dead and rotting, and that a cure would be useless on them. That could be the only solution...
"Rainbow Dash? I understand you wish to speak with me?" Celestia's voice cut through Dash's emotions and thoughts, and she quickly snapped back to reality.
"Uh... yeah. About the research that's being conducted... how's it going?" questioned Dash.
"We're making amazing progress, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. I hear that Doctor Test Tube found something interesting. I can have my Guards show you the way, should you wish to speak with him."
"Yeah, that'd be great... how's Princess Luna doing?"
Celestia let out a weak sigh. "Her condition is worse. The fever is frighteningly high, at one hundred and six degrees. Now, her eyes have turned bloodshot and her breathing's forced. However, those conditions have been seen in average victims at three hours after infection."
"Sorry to hear that... I think I'll go talk to the Doctor now."
"As you wish. Iron Spear, Silver Wing, show her the way."
"Yes, Your Highness," responded a white Pegasus. With him was a light gray unicorn. Both wore the shiny golden armor that all Guards had. "Right this way, Ms. Dash."
The two Guards led her through a maze of brightly lit and beautifully decorated hallways. They stopped at a small oak door.
"Right in there," Iron Spear informed.
"You might want to put these on," warned Silver Wing, handing Rainbow Dash a lab coat and a P100 mask. "The scientists in there don't like taking risks; they still don't know if an airborne mutation happened right under their noses, and if you go in there with no protection, they'll take you and put you into quarantine."
"Thanks," stated Rainbow Dash, donning the lab coat and slipping on the mask. She pressed the mold to fit her face, then slowly opened the oak door. It produced a rather loud creaking noise, and when she closed it, the weight of the door caused it to slam. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Dash was confronted by two ponies wearing full Hazardous Material (HazMat) suits.
"Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing here?" yelled the one on the left, obviously annoyed by her presence in the lab.
"Celestia sent me to speak with Doctor Test Tube," Rainbow Dash responded, coolly. "So would you pretty please let me through?"
"Alright, no need to get cocky. You can find him in the Subject Testing Room, 206," said the pony on the right.
Rainbow Dash trotted by, and when she was out of ear shot of the two, she said under her breath, "assholes." Following their directions, Dash arrived at a room. The room had a sign by the door, that read: 206. Under the number, it said: Subject Testing.
Looks like this is the room, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Taking a breath of filtered air, she brought her hoof up to the door and knocked loudly. After a couple of seconds, Dash heard a soft click, and the door opened, revealing an old brown Earth Pony, wearing a lab coat and mask, similar to Rainbow Dash's. His cutie mark was a glass tube, filled with a purple fluid.
"Yes? Can I help you, miss?" the doctor's voice was rough and scratchy with age. His facial expression was that of mild annoyance. Behind him, Rainbow Dash could see two ponies with HazMat suits, both poking a zombie with various objects. Dash recognized the zombie; it was the one she had brought in for testing.
"Princess Celestia told me you have an update on whatever's affecting these ponies?" Rainbow Dash answered, curious.
"Ah, yes!" he shouted, excitement taking over the annoyance. "I took a sample of that black fluid, and put it under a microscope. Turns out, that stuff is a result of body fluids mixing together, with some very small cells that are produced by the disease. Well, that vile fluid is just crawling with it; I've found that it's a new breed of virus. It would be quite an extraordinary discovery, if Equestria's situation was a slight bit better. How does the infection process work, you may ask? Well, once the bug's inside of ya', it travels via blood flow to the brain. Within three days, it takes over your brain stem, spinal cord, and through that, your entire body. Your heart fails soon after; we're guessing it's the virus's doing.
"And then, that pesky little illness forms a connection with your brain. It takes full control over your entire body, but since you're now dead, it no longer has a source of nutrients to keep the virus cells alive. Therefore, it uses the body to find food. Right now, we have no idea why it favors living ponies over ordinary food. The bigger problem, however, is a cure- it'll require us to use something that can remove unwanted cells from your brain. Currently, we have nothing that can do that without killing your brain with the virus. The only real cure we know results in the death of the patient. Most frighteningly, we've discovered that it's on the brink of another mutation. We're hoping it makes it less deadly, but since we have no knowledge on this new virus whatsoever, for all we know, it could give it supernatural freakin' powers! Anything that makes this more critical will likely result in the extinction of the pony race. I have a team of scientists working around the clock to find out where this came from, and how it has a connection with these damned storm clouds all over the place!"
"Wow... this is serious. How long do you think we have before it mutates?"
"Judging from our test results, I'd have to say... eta five days."
"Five days? That's it? Do you think you can engineer a vaccine by then?"
"I hate to break your spirits, but I highly doubt it."
"There's nothing you can do? So we all have to sit and hope it doesn't cause any more problems?"
"Hate to say, but yes, that's all anypony can do."
"Damn... I better tell the Princess. Her sister's infected, after all."
"I know about Luna. Damn shame."
"That it is..." Rainbow Dash let out a soft sigh, and turned away. "Thank you for the information, Doctor, and sorry for interrupting your research."
"It's fine, darlin'. We don't have much else to do anyways; we're running out of supplies and our equipment is barely running."
Rainbow Dash's ears perked up. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I'm not sure you can handle it... there was an... accident, out near the eastern part of the Everfree. A huge amount of top grade medical supplies and equipment; a shipment from the zebra land. I had Celestia send out a team of those Guards of hers. That was about five days ago. They're still gone; we sent them with a chariot, it should've taken a day at the most! I fear the worst... after all, that region is known to be infested with the infected. And I mean infested. I couldn't send such a beautiful young mare like you into there."
"Can it, old man. I can handle myself better than you think. I'll be going when I have the chance."
Test Tube sighed. "Alright... be careful. I'd hate to see you get infected."
"I'll be fine. I'll give you the supplies when I get the chance."
"Excellent. You're doing a great thing!"
Rainbow Dash smiled and left the lab, returning to Celestia and Twilight. Twilight was sitting on the ground, levitating a cup of tea.
"-she found me in the Chrystal Empire. I swear, she gave me a heart attack! I was so worried about my friends, before she found me. Then we took a train to PonyVille, and found Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Rarity had-well... she and Spike-..." Twilight was telling Celestia the story of her survival, and on her last few words, she started to tear up.
"It's alright Twilight..." Celestia tried to comfort her student. "We've all lost something."
"Hello!" Rainbow Dash yelled, making herself known, as she trotted into view. "I found out some things on this virus. It apparently takes over your brain, and kills ponies to supply the virus with nutrients, since the host is dead, and can't be a source. They aren't anywhere near a cure. Oh, and it'll mutate in five days," Rainbow Dash tried to seem cheerful, but she didn't know if she succeeded. 
"That's terrible!" gasped Twilight.
"Yeah... I'm going to go talk to the others," responded Dash. She wanted to see how the rest of the group was faring. Dash trotted outside, and immediately spotted Pinkie Pie. To her great relief, her hair had poofed back up, and Pinkie was once again wearing a large smile on her face.
"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie bounced over to Rainbow Dash.
"Hi," Dash responded.
"How are you? Is the Princess ok? Isn't this city great?"
"Good, yes, and yes. How are you, Pinkie?"
"I'm good. The bite I got in the bakery at PonyVille healed up!"
Dash's jaw dropped. "Y-you were bit?"
"Well, sort of. It was an itsy-bitsy little snip, didn't even hurt! And I would be sick if it was a real bite, right, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah, I guess that's right. Why didn't you tell anypony?"
"I don't know. I was just really really really really sad. You saved my life, didn't you?"
"Yeah, me and Applejack!"
"Thanks!" Pinkie wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash, locking her into a giant, crushing hug.
"G-g-good to h-have you back, P-Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash had to force out the words; she couldn't breathe.
"You are such an awesome friend!"
"T-thanks! P-Pinkie, I c-c-can't b-breathe!"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Pinkie lessened her grip, but kept up the hug. Rainbow Dash wrapped her right arm around Pinkie's shoulder, patting her back. After a few minutes, they let go of each other.
"Where's AJ and Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked calmly.
"Fluttershy went to the Gardens to see the animals. Applejack went to buy some apples. She said she wanted to taste an apple one more time," Pinkie answered enthusiastically.
"Thanks. I'm gonna go catch up with them." Rainbow Dash didn't want to spoil Pinkie's good mood with the news about the mutation. Instead, she went along and, with help from wandering civilians, found the apple stand. Applejack was staring at a bright red apple, sadness lingering in her eyes. She didn't notice Rainbow Dash when she walked over and sat beside her.
"Y'all right?" Rainbow Dash questioned, concerned. Applejack jumped.
"Y-yeah, it's just... reminds me o' home. Before all this happened, y'know? It reminds me of my family," Applejack responded, gesturing towards the apple. "Ah wish Ah could go back ta' buckin' apples and bein' with y'all."
"Everypony wishes things were back to normal. We can't let any of this get to us,"
"Ah know, sugarcube. It's just... Ah'm tired. Ah don't know how long Ah can fight off that feelin', that feelin' that we're all doomed."
"You're the strongest pony I know. You can hold out."
Applejack sighed. "Yeah... yer' right. Ah have to keep goin'. Fer' mah family..." a small tear rolled down her cheek. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on Applejack's back. 
"I have to go talk to Fluttershy. She's probably not doing too well... will you be ok?"
"Of course, darlin'. Thank you."
Rainbow Dash nodded and took off for the Canterlot Gardens. Fluttershy was spotted almost immediately; she was laying on the grass, speaking softly to a small squirrel.
"Hi, Fluttershy. How're ya' holdin' up?" Rainbow Dash trotted over to where her yellow friend was conversing with her animal friend. Fluttershy squeaked and jumped, then turned, while blushing with embarrassment, and greeted Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. I was just talking to my little friend here. How're you?"
"I'm fine. You never did tell me what happened to you when this whole thing started."
"Oh..." Fluttershy looked uncertain. "I got terribly sick that night. I tried to go to the hospital, but I was too weak to move. I was throwing up this disgusting black stuff. My critter friends were so worried about me... I ended up falling asleep. In the morning, somepony knocked. I didn't want to answer, because I was embarrassed about the mess I had made, and I didn't want anypony to see it. He kept knocking and knocking, hitting the door really hard. I started to get scared; I thought he was going to rob me! So I snuck out the back door, taking Angel with me, and I flew away, as fast as I could! When I got back to PonyVille, I saw the whole town was acting strange, so I hid, until Applejack found me. And here I am!"
"Wow, Fluttershy. You got pretty lucky. Where's Angel?"
"Oh... uh... well... while we were hiding, I couldn't get him any food, so he ran away..." Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry.
"It's ok, Fluttershy. You don't need to say any more. You got us, now. And we're safe."
Fluttershy smiled weakly. "I know... and you are the most wonderful friends ever." She gave Dash a brief hug, and went back to talking to the squirrel, who was looking warily at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash didn't tell any of her friends about her mission. She didn't want them to worry about her; they were dealing with enough stress as it was.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, and waited a bit for them to adjust to the darkness. Princess Celestia had given her and her friends a spare bedroom. Soarin, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were all sleeping soundly. Rainbow dash slipped out of bed, as quietly as possible, and tip-trotted out of the bedroom. The hallways outside were dimly lit, and completely devoid of life. Rainbow Dash, still trying to be quiet, sneaked down the hall, towards the exit. She stopped when she heard voices from around a corner, coming her way.
Oh crap! she thought, and frantically looked for a hiding place. Luck was on her side, as she spotted a bright marble pillar. If she squeezed behind it, the two Guards would never spot her, unless they were really searching for hiding ponies. Which they ere not.
Rainbow Dash smiled and slipped behind the pillar. It was the opposite of comfortable; Dash was being smashed between hard marble and cold stone, but it was worth not getting caught. The Guards walked on by, completely oblivious. Dash waited until she was sure they were gone, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It took a little effort to slip out of the hiding place, and it created a little bit of noise, but thankfully, nopony was in earshot, and Dash remained undetected. 
Then came the real challenge. The doors to the Castle. Rainbow Dash took almost an hour opening and closing the gates, because their size also made them really loud. Finally, she was in the clear. The Guards at the force field let her through without question. Rainbow Dash had grabbed several large saddlebags to hold the supplies before she left, and once she was out of Canterlot, Dash took to the air and flew to the Everfree, almost fast enough for a Sonic Rainboom. The entire journey took about four hours. Finally, she spotted a large carriage, laying in pieces on the ground, right at the edge of the Everfree. The burn marks made it look like it was hit with a spell... but it wasn't Dash's position to figure out what really happened. What mattered was what the carriage contained, and how it could potentially save all of Equestria. 
However, she couldn't just take it. No, that would be way too easy, right? There were infected everywhere. At least a hundred of them, and they were all over the carriage. There were several white metal boxes lying on the ground, all of them having a red cross on them. Along with that, she could spot medical tubes, syringes, and chemical bottles full of unknown liquids everywhere. This was like a gold mine! 
Now, what to do about them... Dash pondered several possible solutions, before her eyes came across a dead body, obscured from the infected's view by a couple of bushes. Dash just had to hope it was still fresh enough to be appetizing for the undead. Shuddering, she swooped down and grabbed it's arms, lifted it up into the air, and dropped it, about twenty yards away from the carriage. The body's impact on the ground produced a loud THUMP. Most of the zombies turned their heads and moved to the corpse, though some of them stayed where they were. Dash knew she could handle them easily, and dive-bombed her first target. After breaking it's neck, she turned and punched the next one in the jaw, ripping it off and knocking the zombie onto a small tree. It was impaled by a branch, and was thus made immobile. Rainbow Dash picked up a rock and beat the third zombie down. Another one grabbed her arm, startling her. She shook her arm violently, causing the zombie to lose his grip. However, another one grabbed her from behind. She put her left forehoof on it's forehead, keeping it from ripping a chunk out of her shoulder. The other zombie she had shook off took it's chance and tried to get her. Panic took over her mind, and she flailed her legs. The zombie in front of her took a powerful kick to it's soft belly, ripping several organs out and stunning it.
The zombie behind her roared in frustration and put in more effort. The zombie in front recovered and came in for the kill. Dash let out another kick, ripping the zombie's head off. Dark crimson blood splashed out, and when the zombie hit the ground, a very large puddle had already formed around it's neck and shoulder. Rainbow Dash elbowed the one behind her with her right arm, knocking it down. She turned and stomped it's head in, leaving red string-like material all over her hoof. The commotion attracted two more undead. She grabbed a broken tree branch off the ground and swung at both of them, smiling at the cracking noise the impacts produced. Both infected dropped to the ground, brains showing. Taking the opportunity, Dash started tossing supplies and medical equipment into the saddlebags. She had her doubts that it would all fit in, but she managed, and made one last sweep to make sure she didn't miss anything important. Looking up, Rainbow Dash realized that the undead had finished eating the body, and were returning to their spot. They obviously saw Dash, as they were whooping and roaring, and were moving a fast as their rotting limbs could manage.
"Oh shit!" she cursed, and took off into the air. Flying was more difficult and tiresome because of the added weight, but adrenaline and fear kept her going, and she reached Canterlot at sunrise. The Guards eyed the saddlebags suspiciously, but once they saw what they contained, they let Dash through without hesitation. She again snuck through the Castle, this time to the labs, then threw on the coat and mask, and rushed through the door. The two jerk-offs at the bottom let her through this time,  after recognizing Dash. She found Test Tube in the same room, and tossed him the saddlebags. Test Tube opened them, and upon seeing what they contained, formed the biggest smile Rainbow Dash had ever seen.
"You did it! I can't believe this! We all owe you our lives... you just helped every pony that still draws breath in this world!" Test Tube was jumping up and down, doing a little dance of happiness, despite his age.
"I had a little trouble, but I'm fine. Make that count," she returned, smiling. Test Tube grabbed her and gave her a big bear hug, almost crushing her to death.
"Right. And now to start on that cure..."
> 12. The Attack on Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Chapter 12: The Attack on Canterlot


Rainbow Dash returned from the labs and snuck back to her bed, sliding under the covers. She had cleaned all the blood off of her in the labs; her friends wouldn't suspect a thing. After a night of flying and fighting, Rainbow Dash was beyond exhausted; she needed sleep or she would surely die. Unconsciousness came the second her heavy eyelids had shut, and she slept peacefully. 
"Rainbow Dash! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Twilight's desperate hollering made Rainbow Dash bolt awake, slightly panicked.
"What? What is it, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash shook the sleep out of her head and stared at the hyperventilating Twilight.
"L-Luna g-g-got out! She w-was infected, and s-s-she destroyed t-the force f-f-f-field!" Twilight was now sobbing, with worry and grief. "A-a horde o-of infected s-sh-showed up! They've infected h-half the town already! T-there's so m-m-many of t-them out there!"
"How're the doctors? Is the lab secure?"
"I don't know! Dash, we have to help the town! I have no idea where Celestia is!"
"But the lab may be our last hope for a cure!" Dash shouted, outraged, then instantly regretted her negligence for the safety of the ponies outside. "You're right. C'mon, let's go," she added, in a melancholic voice. Twilight smiled, tears still forming in her eyes. She hugged Rainbow Dash.
"You were one of the best friends anypony could ever wish for."

Outside was a scene of such chaos, Discord himself would be impressed. Fires raged in the burnt remains of buildings, and black smoke belched from the piles of blazing wood. Infected were sprinting everywhere, releasing a frightening howling noise. Dead bodies, too mangled and chewed up to reanimate, littered the streets. It was hard to spot any bit of ground that wasn't covered in blood or a viscous black fluid. The townsponies who were still alive galloped behind a line of Guards. The Guards looked more frightened then the citizens, but they held their ground, pointing spears at the army of approaching undead.
"Right, arm up, gentlecolts! Here they come!" shouted a high-ranking Guard, the only one there who had no fear in his eyes. When the infected started to get close, he added "it was an honor to serve with you fine stallions."
Rainbow Dash and Twilight ran to the Guards as fast as they could, trying to beat the infected there. On the way, she picked up a spear that was laying in a puddle of blood. She didn't know where the former owner had gone, but she did know that he was no longer serving with the soldiers. Twilight's horn lit up as she prepared to do another battle spell, and the two reached the front lines.
"We're here to help, Captain!" Dash informed the high-up. And then she recognized him. He was the one who stole all the group's supplies while they were evacuating the Quarantine Zone. "You bastard!" Rainbow Dash punched him in the face, knocking his helmet off. "Stop trying to act like an honorable Guard! You robbed a bunch of ponies who needed the supplies! You cold, heartless fucker!"
"Stop! Not now, Dash. I know what I did. If we both survive this, we can talk it over. Right now, I have to defend this city!" he was glaring at Rainbow Dash. Dash grabbed his hoof and pulled him off the ground. Together, they turned to the approaching army of zombies, who would reach them in about ten seconds. Twilight shut her eyes, her horn beginning to glow even brighter. Dash raised her spear.
The first infected went down with a ghastly gurgling noise, as Dash shoved the spear into it's throat, severing the brain stem. She barely had enough time to rip out the blade and thrust again as the next infected came sprinting up. The Guards fought furiously, swinging their weapons, stabbing, beating the infected down. Rainbow Dash was soaked with vile-smelling blood, but she fought hard. Dash wasn't about to let another town become destroyed at the hooves of the dead. After her sixth kill, the blade of the spear broke off, but she didn't mind; she started using the stick as a bat, cracking the zombies over the head, putting them down for good. The hardwood handle lasted quite a while, but eventually, that too broke. 
"Shit!" Rainbow Dash cursed, looking at the two halves of the stick. She looked up to see a zombie leap at her. Instinctively, Dash lifted the stick up, and the zombie found itself impaled on it. Mustering up all the strength she had, Dash started swinging, using the zombie on a stick as a club. After a while, the Guard's numbers were cut in half, and Rainbow Dash was exhausted. The once-zombie was now just a few strands of wet, red flesh. It had literally been beaten to a pulp, as all it's organs and bones were scattered across the ground, leaving only the flesh on the battered stick. Dash dropped it and went for another spear; there were enough dead Guards that nopony really cared about taking weapons from the dead.
"Retreat!" The Captain yelled. He was covered with bites and open wounds, and was barely breathing. However, he miraculously stayed standing, and even dispatched two more infected before stumbling off into the city to die. Rainbow Dash and Twilight stood still, continuing the fight. They were fearless; Rainbow Dash was determined to clear out the city and save as many lives as possible, and Twilight had set up a protective spell over herself. Rainbow Dash's cyan coat had been turned completely red with blood, and little bits of flesh from the infected were stuck in her fur. 
Finally, after a good while, Twilight's magic started to fail. The protective spell she had used deactivated, and the battle magic turned too weak to kill anypony. She was sweating gallons and panting hard, and finally collapsed onto the ground.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash saw her friend go down, but couldn't take a break from fighting to go help her. Three infected piled up on top of Twilight, ripping out chunks of flesh. Twilight screamed in agony and squeezed her eyes shut, blood running down her coat. Suddenly, her eyes opened, but there were no traces of pain in them. Only anger. Her horn lit up once again, and her body started glowing a purplish-white. Then, she exploded, killing off several infected. "TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash started to cry and fight even harder, adrenaline taking over. The spear was destroyed, but she started using shards of wood to stab the infected, and when that ran out, she resorted to punching. Her hooves were cracked and bleeding, and the infected started to surround her. Rainbow Dash didn't care. She would go down fighting.
And then, just when she lost hope, a familiar voice rang out from behind the crowd of rotting bodies. "Howdy, y'all!"
All the infected turned away from Rainbow Dash. Dash stood still, panting heavily, with a scowl on her face. Applejack and Pinkie stood there, coated in blood.
"Pinkie here's invitin' y'all tah one o' her parties. There ain't no party like a Pinkie Pie party, right, Pinkie?"
"You betcha!" Pinkie smiled. The infected all started moving towards the two, forgetting about Rainbow Dash. Dash thought she saw a little happiness in Applejack's eyes.
"This is fer' the Apple family!" Applejack suddenly rushed the crowd, holding two large knives. Pinkie lifted up a spear, her mane and tail deflating. Her face turned from happy to insanely bloodthirsty. Then, the pink pony rushed in, right behind Applejack. Rainbow Dash couldn't see what was going on, but more dead zombies fell into visibility than she could count. Dash picked up another spear and dashed in, attacking the army of undead from behind. In just ten minutes, that entire area was clear. Pinkie was unscathed, just sitting on the ground, smiling with satisfaction. Applejack, however, had been ripped apart in the battle. She was laying on the ground, ribs exposed, bite marks on her arms and shoulders. She was still breathing, barely. Dash ran over to her fallen friend.
"Hey Applejack..." her voice choked up, and tears ran freely down her face.
"Howdy, p-pardner..." Applejack's voice was soft and weak. She coughed, sputtering blood onto her ripped open chest.
"You're gonna be fine..." Dash said, running her hoof down Applejack's cheek to comfort her.
"Now don't you worry 'bout me. Ah'm lookin' forwards tah seein' mah family again." Applejack let her head fall back, hitting the ground. Her breathing went more and more shallow, then came to an absolute stop. Rainbow Dash started sobbing uncontrollably. She heard hoofsteps behind her, as Pinkie walked over.
"Pinkie-" Dash cut off when she saw Pinkie stab Applejack in the head. "NO!" Rainbow Dash tackled Pinkie to the ground, hitting her in the face twice, hard. This wasn't Pinkie; Pinkie wouldn't do that. Her friend had been replaced by a monster. Rainbow Dash continued beating her until she was dead. Then, standing up, she turned around and set off down the street, towards the next Guard barricade. "I want to help."
"Not here. Get to the castle and secure the Princess if you really want to be of assistance," denied the Guard that appeared to be in charge. The oncoming group of infected was much, much, much smaller than the one Rainbow Dash was just in. The Guards would be able to handle it. Nodding, she started flying towards the castle.
The gates were wide open, and inside Guards were battling the infected ferociously. Blood and bodies littered the once grand hall, red masking the gold. Dash galloped to the throne room, and found Celestia hunched over something. Not knowing what it was, Dash got closer, and then she spotted it. Celestia was leaning over her dead sister's body, crying.
"Rainbow Dash... you need to evacuate the town. Canterlot has been lost."
"No! We need to fight them off! There's still hope!" Rainbow Dash protested.
"There was never any hope to begin with. The lab has been breached, all the scientists are dead. There's no hope for a cure now. Even Canterlot has now been overrun. Please, Rainbow Dash. Don't let any more innocent ponies die by the infected. Get them out. The Guards will cover you."
"What about you? You have to come too!"
Celestia sighed, and lifted her right wing. There, still bleeding, was a large bite. "I tried to save my sister. It didn't work."
"M-maybe you won't turn?" Rainbow Dash was shocked.
"Come on, Rainbow Dash. Even the divine will succumb to this virus. You saw it happen with Luna. I need to get myself away from the rest of Equestria. I'm going to the sun."
Rainbow Dash didn't think her jaw could drop any further, but it did. "Y-you're banishing yourself to the s-s-sun?!?"
"It's the only way. Luna was more powerful than any other infected. If I stay here and turn, I'll destroy all of Equestria."
Rainbow Dash sat in silence for a minute. Then, with a sigh, she said, "Alright. I'll get the rest of the town out of here."
"Thank you. You're doing a great thing."
Rainbow Dash hung her head and left the room. The infected were winning the battle in the entrance of the castle, as only six Guards remained, of the eighteen Dash saw when she entered. She had to fly out of there, to keep away from all the hungry mouths below her.
Once outside again, Rainbow Dash bolted down to the Guard brigade. That had successfully warded off the attack without losing any of their numbers. She dropped to the ground beside them.
"Princess Celestia asked me to get all the townsfolk to safety, and ordered me to tell you that you will be our escort," she informed the leader.
"'Fraid not, ma'am. I'm aware I'm disobeying a direct order from the Princess, but it's my job to defend Canterlot, and leaving would be the opposite."
"You have to help us! We're getting the citizens to safety!"
"Look. I understand that discretion is the better part of valor here, but my men are ready to die. We have to keep these damned things from getting out. I know you understand."
Rainbow Dash was frustrated, but she just shook her head and went out to find civilians. After collecting all the survivors she could find, and dispatching quite a few infected, they were ready to go. She had found Soarin, fighting alongside a line of Guards. Finally, the group left. The panicking townsfolk galloped as fast as they could. Several of them stumbled and fell, and the group had to leave them behind. A large mob of infected were following close behind, howling in hunger and excitement. Adrenaline kept the group going, but they were forced to stop as they ran into another group of infected, almost a mile away from Canterlot. They were quickly surrounded.
There was a small gap in the infected. Rainbow Dash conducted the survivors through, until it was just her and Soarin.
"Alright, let's g-" Soarin was cut off as a zombie lunged and grabbed him, trying as hard as it could to rip into his flesh. Rainbow Dash ran in to help.
"Catch, bitch!" Soarin shouted, as he grabbed the infected and threw it at Rainbow Dash, then bolted out of the mob. The zombie spun as it was being projected, and slammed into Rainbow Dash, knocking her down.She tried to hold it away, but the infected smiled, as it had just caught prey- and that black fluid dripped from his mouth, and as Dash opened her mouth to scream for help, she instead caught a mouthful of it. Spitting it out, she desperately threw the zombie into the air and flew out of the group of zombies, then, as fast as she was able to, caught up to the group. They soon left the zombies far behind, and took shelter in a small cave. Dash turned to Soarin.
"So... what do you have to say for yourself this time?" she asked, gritting her teeth. The taste of the black liquid was beyond vile; there was really nothing to compare it to. That taste lingered in her mouth, threatening to make her puke.
"W-w-well, ya see... I thought I was gonna die, y'know, I panicked, and just through it blindly. I didn't know you were there, I swear!"
"Bull. Shit. I heard you yell out 'catch, bitch!' I'm not stupid. Now, tell me one reason not to make me kill you, right here."
"Want a reason? How about this: you won't be able to take me. That fight on the roof? I wasn't prepared. But right now..." Soarin drew a large knife. "Right now? I say, come right on at me!"
Rainbow Dash grinned, kicked up a medium sized rock, and threw it at Soarin's head. He tried to dodge, but it still bounced off his forehead, and he was briefly stunned. Rainbow Dash lunged at him, pummeling him with her front hooves. He dropped the knife and covered his face, which was a huge mistake. Dash picked up the knife and thrust it into his stomach. He slowly lowered his hooves, an expression of shock and pain on his face as he slowly looked down at the knife in his stomach. Blood dripped from his mouth as he looked up at Rainbow Dash, with pleading eyes.
"I-I d-don't wanna die! Don' wan... d-die. I do-don't wann...a die..." he choked out the words, sobbing. Rainbow Dash had to end this. She ripped the knife out of his stomach, making it squirt red blood all over the cave floor, and put the blade to his throat. Then, applying pressure, she slid the sharp part of the knife across Soarin's throat. He gurgled blood, choking, trying to breathe, but to no avail. After almost a minute, Soarin lay dead against a rocky wall. Dash had a slight headache, and felt a little sick to her stomach. She asked one of the frightened Canterlot refugees to check for a fever. She nodded her head, eyes wide. 
This is it... I'm sick. After only twenty minutes, I've got a fever. I have to get out of here. I have to let these ponies live... Dash looked up, scanning the dim cave. She picked the biggest, most confident one, and asked him if he would lead the group. He nodded and saluted. Rainbow Dash smiled and flew out of the cave. Then, she flew straight up, and looked at the world below her. The world she was leaving today. Smiling, she closed her eyes, feeling the wind ruffle her mane. Dash kicked one of the storm clouds, allowing a ray of sunlight to come out. And then, she dove towards the part of the ground that the light had landed on. She heard a boom; a Sonic Rainboom. She was nearing the ground now, but instead of lifting up like she used to, she kept plummeting towards the earth. Dash closed her eyes, and pictured her and her friends in a group hug. Smiling at the memory, she accepted her fate, a little tear starting to form in her eyes.
And then Rainbow Dash hit the ground, and never got back up.
> Epilogue- 10 Years Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Little Sunshine stared out of the window of the shelter, staring at the sky, looking at the gray masses of storm clouds. That's all she had ever known in her life; the filly had been born after the plague struck. She had lived with death her whole life, and it didn't bother her at all. She did see it every day, after all.
Her father, Rock, had told her stories. Of course, most of them were about the time before all this happened, but he had told her one in particular, one that she would never forget. It was about a heroic mare named Rainbow Dash, who had made the ultimate sacrifice to make sure her father and the other's survived. Rock had told her about them leaving the cave to see a giant rainbow in the sky. He said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. 
Rock had trained Sunshine to scavenge, to hunt, and of course, to kill. It was the normal way of life; neighbors these days tended to greet each other by pointing guns at each other and walking away slowly and carefully. Sunshine was a dead shot with a rifle, and despite her tender age, killing the infected was her favorite pastime. Food was scarce; all the towns and farms were overrun years ago, and food production was at an all-time low. They hunted in the Everfree for all their meals now; while most of the meals consisted of fried Parasprite, occasionally the hunters would bag a Manticore. Manticores were delicious, once you got out their claws and venom sacs.
Rock and his friends were always going on about how the pony race couldn't continue going on; how they would run out of food, or the infected would finally catch them. They've mutated several times in Sunshine's life; being able to gallop with the muscles being in such low condition, growing strange protective tumors on their heads, and even being able to be transmitted through rodents. That's why the hunters always burn the Parasprites they catch in water before cooking them; an extra precaution. It seems to be working; nopony's been infected by that yet.
Sunshine lived a good life (considering the circumstances), until one day, her father was bitten. Since the survivors only look out for themselves and their own families, Sunshine was left an orphan. She left the shelter one day, in her teenage years,  to live life for herself. She went around, staying in abandoned towns, villages, and houses, taking food from whomever and whatever she could, and shot anything that dared try to get to her. Every day, Sunshine fought off the depression that was created by her father's death. She vowed that she would eradicate this disease to avenge him. One day, the world would be safe again. One day...