Rabid Equestria: A Mare's Journey

Rabid Equestria: A Mare's Journey

CHAPTER 1.

JUST A NORMAL DAY

Viruses. We know of them.... we fight them.

We cure them. We study them.

And then we move on. However....

We can't move on. This one... was the last one.

We are the survivors of the Great Plague.

And we can never return to the times of old..

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

I groaned, opening my pale blue eyes. What the fuck... it was still dark. Why was my alarm clock going off?!  I sighed in pure irritation, my wings twitching as I reached my hoof over. After a few punches, I managed to succeed in merely blowing the fucking thing over to the floor.... Probably a better place for it anyway. However, the knocking continued and I stared at the clock, frowning. “… SHUT UP!” I screamed at it, before I realised it wasn't the clock. From my door came a colt’s voice. “… Trigger, no need to tell me to shut up! Get your fucking gear on! The Overlord switched our shift to be an hour early!”

I stared at the door, not enthused. An… HOUR early?! Ugh… “Aight! Give me a mo’, I gotta get dressed and take a shit!” I heard him snicker and step away from the door. Turning away, my eyes went to my Complex Five poster.

Complex Five. A fortress. For what? To protect us. Built before the plague as a war fortress, it would never see the chance to see action. Instead... it would live to see its walls filled with ponies... stallions and mares trying to live away from the rest of the word. Who could blame them? I would personally never step outside the gate, just to face whatever was out there….

Sighing, I reached over and fumbled around my clothes. Everything was just... dirty. I didn't recall rolling around in a fucking mud bath recently... Spotting a clean uniform top and matching red pants, I sniffed them. Eh... they'd do for a day. Or least to keep that fucker Tech off....

Suddenly, my door opened, somepony having had enough of waiting. I spun around and found myself looking at my partner... if you called eating apples as I used the gun 'partnership'.

"Hey Trigger." The colt said softly, pushing his red mane from his matching eyes. I smirked, trotting to him.

"Hey yourself, Radio. You look like ya woke up on the fuckin' floor... again." I snicker, watching him blush as he glares. "That was one time and you know it."

"Yeah. One time's all it takes, and we remember ya as the drunken fuck."

He glared at me, trying to think of one of his 'oh-so-witty' retorts, but ultimately gave up. He stormed out, growling lowly under his breath. "I'll see you on the battlements in five minutes, Appleshake isn't happy!"

Frowning, I ran after him, pulling on my uniform as I did so. "Appleshake isn't happy? Why not?"

"Somepony's stealin' fruit from the greenhouses... She suspects one of the guards... prob'ly us."

I frowned, following him and questioning. Somepony stealing fruit? That was unheard of in Complex Five! If we needed something, we simply asked... we didn't fucking STEAL.

Unless you count the time Pegs stole the Overlord’s keys to get into the armory…

Soon, I came to the battlements, giving Radio a light glare. I watched him trot to his usual broken chair and pull out an apple, sitting down. His horn glowed light blue, an invisible knife slicing a piece from the apple. Smirking, he levitated it to me. I glared at him harder. "Y'know.... sometimes, I swear you're out just to piss me off." However, I took the slice anyways.

His smirk widened as he looked down at the fruit, taking a bite. "What a shame, love."

ACK. The ONE word I couldn't stand colts calling me. Immediately, I had him to the ground, my hoof pressed to his neck. He looked up at me in pure terror. Enjoying the look, I giggled, leaning down and nuzzling his cheek. "Get up, ya worthless shit..." I grabbed his hoof and yanked him up, shoving him back into his chair. "Take your broken pride and go back to your broken chair."

He gave me a small glare. "Ya really need to get over colts callin' ya that...."

I smirked again, pushing my gray mane from my eyes. Colts loved me. They all claimed I had 'curves'. I can't tell how many hours I spent in front of my mirror, trying to figure out how they made the BRILLIANT assumption I had curves. I was a fuckin' mare during a famine... of course I had curves. I settled down in my seat across from him, snickering. “If you insist, my dear.” Turning, I pushed my eye to my scope and looked out. The barren desert was all that could be seen for miles around. Complex Five had been built in the Rahmarin Desert, to keep it isolated from threats, and to protect Equestria’s northern border. Eyeing the orange material on the ground, I spoke to Radio. "Ever wonder what it would be like to walk on that orange stuff?"

"Sand?"

"Yeah... sand... that stuff." I lean around in my scope, checking, before letting a soft sigh. "Radio... what's the point of being guards if NOTHING'S attacking us? I got better things I could be doing! Like screwing Daffodil!"

He blushes faintly and glances my way. "You and Daffodil now? What happened to that... zebra mare?"

".... Oh. Zeclash? She liked her tea a little bit too much for my tastes." I giggled, reaching into my bag and pulling a bottle from it. "Celestia Brand Vodka's where it's at, boooy." Popping the cork, I leaned back and took a relaxed sip. I could tell he was glaring at me. Drinks weren't supposed to be on shift... but who gave a fuck? The Overlord never came up here, so we could do as we fuckin' pleased!

Down below, an argument starts. I set the bottle down and peered over the edge to watch. Two colts... as usual. Probably fighting over a mare. What else was new? There was really no point to life other than to eat, sleep, grow food, and banging everything you thought you were in 'love' with. I smiled, closing my eyes and leaning back. Fucking... easily the BEST way to waste time to Complex Five...

Suddenly, my dream got interrupted as Radio threw an apple at me.

"Oi. Horseface. When you're done fuckin' yourself in your head, you mind guardin'?"

My nostrils flared as I threw him a killer look. "YOU are on DUTY with ME, Radio."

He shrugs. "Yes, but you're the hot mare with the gun. I don’t gotta do shit." A grin breaks onto his face and I quickly threw a shell casing at him. It bounced harmlessly off his nose as he laughed.

"Fuckin' dick..." I mumbled, looking back through the scope. I scanned the horizon, when my eyes fell upon... a shadow? No, it's not connected. A.... pony? A... something? Maybe something to shoot? My eyes narrowed in glee as I pressed harder against the scope, aiming at what could logically be assumed as the being's head. Right as I was about to pull the trigger, it turned, looking up at me. My heart stopped as I looked into... sockets. It was another 'wanderer', as we called them.

Wanderers are.... or at least WERE... ponies at one point. But after the virus had finished with them, they became nothing more than mindless, soulless flesh-eating killers. Motioning to Radio, I aimed at the creature staggering in my direction. With a swift pull of the trigger and as a shot rang out, I smirked. Zooming in with the scope, I watched as the bullet flew down and entered the wanderer's head, exploding through in a flash of blood and gore, tearing out the back of his head and leaving a bloody mess on the ground. Pulling away, I turned to Radio proudly. "And another beautiful shot by yours truly~"

"I wouldn't call that beautiful... looked like you were eye-fucking your scope."

I could have murdered him.

Later that evening, I found myself down with the other mares, sitting at the Complex's bar. Conversation here was routine... who fucked who, something that happened to a young one, somepony getting in trouble, et cetera. Tonight, however, the topic was the upcoming celebratorial party of the Overlord's ascent to the top. They'd all done this, according to books... every year, a huge party celebrating the overlord because FUCK YEEEEEAH.... and that was pretty much it. My ears flicked, listening to my friends chat about what they were going to wear. Daffodil turned to me and grinned. "Trigs! Watchu got planned?"

I smirked, throwing my hooves up in a shrug. "Same as last year.... nothing! 'Cept for some vodka bottles covering my mare bits."

Daffodil giggled, nuzzling my cheek. Turning my head, we connected lips, gently making out. It took a loud, irritated cough from my other friend Silver to make us both look away, a connected strand of saliva hanging from our lips.

"You two may like fuckin' in public, but you're makin' the rest of us jealous."

That made us all smirk and retake our seats. I looked around, viewing my friends.... Silver, the unicorn mare that would probably die a virgin. She was cute enough... she just could not talk to the colts. Then there was Crabs, the earth mare.... why her mother named her Crabs, we still try to guess. We all tend to agree on torture or some shit like that. Maybe it was because her mane was rust colored, with her coat an even darker variant. Her eyes were simply red. Third, there was Dell. She was a Pegasus, like me. She was also a rather quiet technician, with glasses and deep blue eyes. It seemed as if she 'reeked' innocence... yet we all knew she was the biggest whore in the Complex. Finally... Daffodil. My Daffodil. With her perfect white-skinned Earth pony body, her blonde mane and gentle, yellow eyes... what more could a mare ask for? Well.... besides wild, drunken sex.

Smiling gently, I looked to the radio. The Complex had its own radio station that was completely automated, though I’d heard a colt performed maintenance on it. A familiar tune came on and my smile widened. It was one I loved. An old, pre-infection tune.

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of Luna,

She is taking the vintage where the hooves of wrath are stored.

She hath loosed the fateful moonbeams of her terrible swift horn!

Her truth keeps trotting on!”

With a light perk of my ear, my eyes moved to a small pool table nearby. It was in rough condition. The green felt had been peeled off who knew how many decades ago, and one of the legs had been torn off. We’d had to replace it with books until we found a replacement… and with no trees, I was sure replacements were just lying around everywhere.

“You girls up for some pool?” I asked, my eyes narrowing in slight glee. They hated me at pool.. I was too good at it for them. Crabs was somewhat decent, but she lacked the trajectory. She usually ended up punting the ball across the room. We already had a colt still in the medical wing after her last incident. I hope they managed to get his nose back on his face..

“I have seen Her in the stars a few dozen darkened nights,

They have builded Her a Castle from the night time lights.

I can read Her celestial sentence by the dim and flaring stars,

Her night is trotting on…”

We trotted over to the table, Dell turning on the musty light above us. Grabbing a pool cue, I found myself being glared at by Silver. I returned her gaze.

“… What?”

“Please, no sword fightin’ with Crabs again.”

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it that Crabs had challenged ME to a duel. Yeah, I’ll be sure to not do that…

With a light smirk, I glanced at Silver. “So Silver, how’s the romance with Blitz goin’?”

She blushes, looking away slightly and scratching her ear. “Ehh… He’s good in bed.” I bet he is. “But he prefers to stay quiet. Which is fine by me, I don’ mind him bein’ quiet.”

I smirked, rolling my eyes at her in a ‘But-I-bet-he’s-a-screamer’ look. She got the hint and giggled a little, giving her head a light nod. Crabs glanced at her, then at me.

“So Trigs, ya gon’ propose yer idea to th’ Overlord?”

I shrugged, placing the white ball and taking aim. Leaning down, I positioned my hoof and drove forward, chuckling in satisfaction as it connected perfectly, already sending a ball into a sock. The others groaned at me, Silver muttering about life hacks. I snickered at her, trotting around. “He’s not exactly… on the best of terms with me right now.” After an odd glance from the group, I sighed, placing my cue down. “Somepony ransacked his office. I was on guard duty that night in his hallway. He accused me.”

“Is that why he searched your room?” Daffodil asked with a soft wince. I nodded, making her whimper.

“But he don’t got nothin’ on me. Though I didn’t see anypony that night… I think they got in through th’ window.” The others nodded, thinking. Daffodil came over and kissed my cheek, leaning against me as we both watched Crabs take her shot. One panicked dive to the side later, we looked back to see the ball had shattered one of the bar’s many old-time paintings.

“…. Celestia DAMN Crabs, this ain’t the fuckin’ major leagues!” Silver growled at her, getting to her hooves. Crabs just shrugged and looked away. “Not my fault…”

Dell laughed at her comment. “Not your fault?! You ARE the one whacking away like you’re tryin’ to set a world record!”

Dell then gave a light sigh, reaching up with her hoof and rubbing her brow. “Just… calm down.” To this, Crabs merely shrugged again.

Turning away, I helped Daffodil to her hooves, pecking her cheek. She smiled, nuzzling my snout and gently clinging to me. Looking back, I watched as Silver took her shot.

"Hey Daff, ya got da alcohol fer da party?" Crabs asked, flicking her brown-skinned ear.

Daffodil merely nodded and grinned. "Of course I do... brewed it myself!" The other mares giggled. Daffodil’s alcohol was… famous for being tasteful in flower, and heavy in intoxicating. I leaned in and nuzzled her cheek, looking around. What could possibly go wrong tonight?

After the rather disastrous game that involved Crabs throwing her cue across the room and nearly impaling some colt, I found myself walking down the living quarters. Complex Five had a great deal for its living quarters… three floors of just bedrooms.

The kitchen was located topside, along with the armory and Overlord’s office. The rest was all battlements and towers. As for below, there was the bar, the underground swimming pool… maybe I’d head there in a bit. I hadn’t been there in a few days….

I’d had too much shit to do with Radio getting into trouble two days ago. The idiot had gone on armory guard duty. He evidently got bored, because the sirens going off told us somepony had broken IN to the armory. After the rest of the guards had scrambled topside and pointed our guns at the door, out came Radio, eating a fruit. I’d taken a severe verbal beating by Appleshake for that one…

I eventually found myself at a door. Door 223 to be specific. My parent’s door.. I’d undressed earlier. My parents weren’t fond at the thought of me up on the battlements. My father had accused me of doing guard duty just to ‘shoot shit and look good doin’ it.’ With a light knock, I smiled as I heard my mother’s familiar, light voice call out. “Come in!”

Opening the door, I stepped in. Reaching up with a hind leg, I kicked the panel and listened as the door slid back hut. Moving forward, I turned to the left. There they were.. my mom and dad sitting on their cook. Reading as usual.. I smiled.

“Hey mom. Hey dad.”

My mother glanced up and let out a soft squee, getting up and trotting over to hug me. She gave a quick glance to my plot. “… Still nothing?”

With an irritated sigh, I reached down and rubbed my flank. I had never gotten my mark. So many opportunities I’d had, and not one had given me it. As good as I was with a gun and a scope, I’d gotten nothing… which was a shame. A cutie mark of a scope would be fucking awesome! “No mom… nothing yet.”

“Well… eventually.” She said with a smile.

I nodded. “Yeah… eventually.” Trotting over, I kissed my father’s cheek. He smiled at me and wrapped his hoof around me, pulling me in for a hug. I sighed quietly. I’d never heard my dad’s voice. Before I was born, he’d gotten into a fight with a drunk colt. The colt had pulled a knife and sliced my father’s throat, which resulted in him being taken to the medical wing… which is where he’d met my mother. They both had their cutie marks… hers being a red cross with a syringe across it, his being a hammer. He daily performed repairs around the Complex, since the crappy materials used kept flaking off the walls. Thank goodness for quick cement…

I gently nuzzled his cheek and smiled. I had his colors… but my mom’s body. I wasn’t sure whom I’d gotten my eyes from. My dad’s were dark purple, and my mom’s were green. Personally, I felt my eyes went perfectly with my dark green coat and silver/gray-streaked mane.

“Did you do anything interesting today?”

I glanced at her. Yeah, I stood guard, stood guard, shot a wanderer, stood guard and… played Deadliest Pool. “Not really.”

She sighed, nodding. “Well… at least you aren’t getting hurt up on those battlements.” She mumbled, fixing her mane slightly. She smiled.

“Mom, it’s the battlements. What could happen?”

Meanwhile, up on the battlements, another guard duo observed the barren. Both were mares, one using a high-powered rifle. Aiming around, she spotted the body of the wanderer killed earlier. "Another one? Ehh.... headshot!" She giggled, as did the other mare. Looking up, she suddenly pales, coughing. The second mare gives her a worried look.

"You alright sis?" She immediately was handed the rifle and told to look north. Mounting the rifle down to the cold steel, she lied down and looked through. The red night vision inside picked up only blue. It was simple... red for living targets, blue was the terrain and gray was dead. As she moved the rifle up, a huge amount of gray shapes blocked her view. She blinked, watching them lumber closer. It slowly dawned on her and she jumped up. Rushing to a button marked 'Horde', she slammed her hoof into it multiple times.

I frowned, my ears perking as the sirens turned on. Was this a drill? As I looked at my parents, we generally assumed it was and continued talking. However, it was the gunshots that made me jump to my hooves. "Mom, dad, go hide!" Watching them blink at me in terror, I yelled at them again. "Hide in the toilet if you gotta! Just go!" With a light nod, they tore off into a separate room, leaving me in their living room. With a quick turn, I raced to the door, punching the terminal and letting myself out. I think I can say I got to my room in about ten seconds flat.

"Gun... gun... gun!! Where the fuck'd I put my gun?!" I swore at myself in a loud and more than annoyed tone. Why could I never re- oh, here it was. I quickly yanked it from under some clothes and quickly pulled on my battered armor once again. Turning, I ran back out, narrowly avoiding smashing into a colt guard. Gripping my gun between my teeth, I flew up to the battlements. As my eyes adjusted, I soon saw the horde of wanderers... slowly approaching our beloved Complex. Pulling my gun up, I aimed down the sight. I picked out several targets before settling on one... a rather chubby colt with half his face missing, the jaw hanging down from one socket. Retching slightly, I pulled the trigger. The top half of his head exploded miraculously into jelly, spraying the wanderers around him with blood. They were immediately on the corpse, their teeth ripping the sodden flesh from muscle, chewing off the tendons and bone marrow.

I watched the gorefest from afar, eyes widening as the wanderers completely licked the body clean. Checking my scope again, I could see blood dribbling from their mouths, torn flesh hanging from their teeth. I trembled... what the fuck kind of virus... did this to somepony? Taking a deep breath, I aimed again. One bullet, one's head clean off. Two bullets, one's chest imploded. Three bullets, legs blown off. Yes, how killing these fiends thrilled me! I'd killed them before... and the thrill just never got old. Aiming again, I pointed the dot right between a mare's eyes. I cackled with glee as I pulled the trigger and -click-. I blinked, then swore, emptying the magazine and reloading.

Next to me, the twins were having a grand time, mowing down wanderers with their laser rifles. I had to hand it to them... they were great snipers. Wanderer heads were exploding left and right, even if they were getting closer to the great doors that sealed off the Complex from the world. I leaned back casually, watching them. Such grace... and elegance... damn, I could use some tips from them! A light smile crossed my face as I turned and jumped down. The twins had it well handled...

I landed down to the ground and straightened up, looking towards the living quarters. Rushing in, I ran to Daffodil's room and unlocked her door. "Daff?" A light squeak told me everything I needed to know. Moving over, I gripped the couch and flipped it back. "Daff, behind the couch sucks."

"Y-yeah, I g-guess..." She winced, looking scared. Sighing, I moved next to her and nuzzled her cheek. "Wanna come see the fun?"

Her face perked up slightly and I took that for a yes. I wrapped my hooves around her and flew from her room, heading up. Landing on the battlements, I grinned. "Welcome to Fun." Her eyes widened and she peered down. By now, the Wanderers had reached the door and were smashing their heads against it desperately, hooves, anything! Several of them even turned on each other and attacked, feebly using their dismembered limbs as tools to beat the door.

"See Daff? We're fine in here! Nothin' to be scared of! The door’s too damn thick for them." I gently grabbed her again, flying her down to the ground. "They can't get in here... nothin' can!" Suddenly, my ears twitched as above, I heard one of the twins scream.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

Turning, I frowned, then screamed as the door opened! W-what the fuck?! How?! Slowly, Wanderers started staggering in. They spotted us and growled, limping towards us. Grabbing Daff's hoof, I turned to run. A scream from her made me turn back.

A wanderer had grabbed her hind hoof. Everything suddenly... slowed down. I watched in pure horror as the wanderer crawled up and sunks his teeth into her hoof. She screamed out, the wanderer ripping a strip of flesh from her leg.

“N-NO! DAFFODIL!” I screamed out, trying to rush back to her. A Wanderer turned to me and growled, his blood dripping mouth open to show the meat he’d taken from her slowly being chewed. I tackled the monster and put my gun to its head, pulling the trigger and reducing his upper half to nothing more than a bloody, grisly mess of brains and bones.

Other wanderers slowly came up and dug into her. One sank into her side, tearing the flesh off to reveal her bloody undermuscle and ribs. I stared, quickly firing more rounds into the crown of undead freaks, trying to help my marefriend. Seeing her reach out, I grabbed her hoof and tried to pull her away. Her hoof slowly let go of mine and I stumbled back. A great ripping filled the air as her stomach skin started to split, her steaming guts spilling to the ground. Her continued screams rang through my ears as I scrambled to my hooves, watching her body get ripped in half.

“D-Daff! I-I’m so s-sorry!”

Tears came to my eyes as I quickly turned to run, the sounds of the Wanderers finishing off my marefriend filling my ears.

My hooves pranced along lightly as I trotted for the greenhouse. I was on my way to get my usual rations… ten daisies, a daffodil, and some sunflower seeds. As I entered, I cringed at the sudden heat pouring down on me from the massive sun lamps hanging from the ceiling. Moving in, I glanced around at the various mares and colts doing their gardening. That dirt…. I wonder what it feels like… However, any pony not in the greenhouse wasn’t allowed to touch the plants until after it had been extracted. The Overlord was ADAMANT on that law. He was always saying how untrained hooves could contaminate the food supply or some shit… I sighed, looking longingly at the dirt, fantasizing about someday just kicking the flowers out of the way and rolling around in the dirt. However, a sudden bump and a crash brought me back to my senses. Looking down, I had apparently knocked over some flowers held in a pot. The mare tending them was giving me a horrified look. I tried my best to pull a “Oh-hey-what’s-up?” face.

“… Uh… hey, what’s up?” I asked, forcing myself to grin.

The mare merely glared at me, before beginning to sweep up the spilled flowers and dirt. I made a motion to touch it, but her words stopped me.

“You must be that mentally challenged guard everypony mentions…”

I stared at her. Me? Mentally challenged? No fuckin’ way! “No way! I’m Trigger! Easily the BEST guard in this complex!”

She gave a soft snicker. “I’m Daffodil…” I took this as an invitation to talk more and I readily accepted. Leaning on a table, I smirked.

“I’m here for my rations.”

“I believe ya just wrecked them, Miss Mental…”

I gave her a small glare, before grinning again. “Then you should totally buy me dinner!”

She glanced up at me with a faint blush, before shrugging.

“As long as you don’t wreck that too.”

I snickered. “Of course not!” I reassured her as the table under my hooves collapsed.

That first moment kept playing in my head… our first minutes together, when we’d met. Tears flowed from my eyes as I dashed past several more ponies rushing to the Complex entrance. As I turned a corner, I felt a hoof grab my arm. Immediately, mental flashes of the Wanderers eating Daffodil flashed through my mind and I started screaming, punching and kicking at whomever was holding me. I yelped as I was suddenly yanked into a room. Crabs looked into my face, her eyes wide.

“Triggah! Whaddah fack is goin’ on!?”

I stared at her, trembling as again, Daffodil’s death played in my mind. Keeling over, my vision clouded as my eyes closed and I fell unconscious.

Complete mayhem ensued. The first guards to arrive assessed the situation. Several wanderers were chewing viciously on some mare’s inner organs, and others were attacking a colt near the armory. Turning their safeties off, they quickly started unloading into the Wanderers. This undoubtedly caught their attention and the brain-dead ponies turned to them, staggering for them and groaning in the unforgettable drawl. The guards hold steady, though several notice the guard at the armory getting pushed over and devoured.

“We can’t hold them!” A mare screamed out, panicking. The other guards ignored her, quickly reloading their weapons. None of them thought to shoot the head..

The first guard to get pounced and eaten was a colt by the name of Lucky Times. How ironic. As the Wanderers dug into his flesh, he had the sense to put his gun up to his head and blow his brains out, splattering them on the ponies behind him. The Wanderers took notice and with surprising speed, lunged over the body and started attacking the rest. As guard after guard went down, more wanderers came through the door, heading into the Living Quarters. The various unarmed ponies living there stood no chance. Foals were slaughtered, mothers were eaten, fathers were disemboweled…

One colt, thinking fast, charged up to the Wanderers with a torch, distracting them. As they chased him down to the lower recreational area, he ran into the pool room. As every Wanderer piled in, he pressed a yellow button on the master control terminal, closing the door and sealing it permanently.

No pony would ever know who’d sacrificed himself in an attempt to save Complex Five..

Silence. I heard nothing. Just pure silence.

I awoke with a soft groan, rubbing my head as I looked about. I was still in Crab’s room… lying on her bed with a blanket tucked over me. Said mare herself was at the door, listening intently. I groaned slightly at her, clutching my side as I crawled out of the bed.

“Crabs…” She jumped and looked at me. “What’s… what happened?”

She winced. “I… I’m not too shure. I saw some o’ da guard’s run bah, and I stayed in heah to keep an eye on yah. There were some shahts, but it’s been sahlent now fur some time now.”

I nodded, feeling the dried tears on my cheeks. Rubbing them with my hoof, I staggered to her, listening with her. “… Did anypony come by to sound the all-clear yet?”

She shook her head. I rolled my eyes. “Figures… should we take a look?”

She nodded again and pressed a button on the dark red control panel. The door slowly slid open and we both screamed as a partially devoured body fell through the door into Crabs’ room. Looking at the poor mare’s face, I winced… it was my old firearms instructor, Muzzle Loader. I reached down and gently stroked the dead mare’s mane, before pushing it back out into the hall. Clambering over it, I looked around. There were bodies everywhere… However, one lone colt was at the end of the hall, tapping on a door. Breathing a sigh of relief, I motioned to Crabs to follow me. She clambered over the body and took my right side as we started down the hall, watching the colt bang at the door. As we neared him, I cleared my throat.

“E-excuse me sir? I-Is anypony e-else alive?”

The colt’s banging stopped and he slowly got down to all four hooves. Then, he slowly turned to face us. Crabs gasped and I cringed as we saw that half the colt’s face had been chewed off, leaving nothing but bloody bone and muscle. Crabs slowly stepped forward, raising her pistol as the colt lunged at us. The resulting shot blew off the colt’s head, showering us in blood and brain matter. The body dropped and twitched. That was it. I turned and hurled up the contents of that day’s dinner onto the floor. Wiping my mouth on the sleeve of my uniform, I teared up. “Crabs… the Complex is overrun. We need to leave.”

Crabs looked around, eyeing the bodies. Her eyes fell upon a red mare, which made her shiver. “… Y-yeah… Les’ go…”

I spotted the red mare and sighed. “Oh…. Fish…” Fish had been Crabs’ sister. Gently taking Crabs’ hoof, I started for the entrance to the living quarters, occasionally stepping on a chewed off limb or bone. Every time we looked at bodies, we saw the face of somepony we’d known. Silver was torn in half near her door… Dell had been decapitated, her partially eaten head lying nearby. I… even spotted my parents, their hooves tightly clenched together as they died. That had forced me to stop and bawl me eyes out, realizing I had absolutely nothing left in the Complex now.

After about five minutes, our hooves were completely soaked in blood and gore. Exiting the quarters, we looked around again. Bodies were strewn about, as if carelessly tossed there by some giant hoof that had gotten bored of a toy. My eyes fell upon a corpse… Radio.

“… Crabs… wait…” She nodded and I moved over, taking a seat next to Radio’s body. His hoof had been gnawed off, and I could tell he’d crawled here from the armory before succumbing to his wound. Reaching a hoof out to stroke his mane, I smiled gently at him. “It’s okay Radio… you’re in a better place… one not filled with monsters.”

Crabs watched as I came back over. Glancing up to the battlements, I saw the two sisters… they’d managed to stay alive! With a gasp, I grabbed Crabs and flew up.

“Aloe! Lotus! You stayed alive!”

The two glanced at me and I could immediately tell… this would never escape them. “Yeah… alive… woo…” Lotus muttered, looking down at her gun. Aloe leaned over and nuzzled her.

“We’ll… be cleanin’ up. We’re stayin’ here… our home… our mess…”

I gazed at them, unbelieving. “You… want to stay here? After this?”

They nodded, Lotus sighing. “Why… are you both leaving?”

“… Yes… every pony’s dead. We’ve.. got nothing. We’re going to take our chances on the outside.”

The mares looked at each other, then to us, before coming over. We all exchanged light nuzzles and hugs, grasping our hooves and sobbing lightly. “Celestia bless you both…” Lotus whispered quietly. “Stay safe.”

Crabs nodded, as did I… if you counted a saddened jerk of the head nodding. I’m going to miss this place… Grabbing Crabs around the middle, I flew back down for the armory, landing just inside the door. Thankfully… no pony had been slaughtered in here. Most of the weapons were missing from their caches, though. Trotting for the back, I grabbed a new scope for my small rifle, whereas Crabs grabbed a fucking heavy machine gun. My eyebrows raised as I looked to it, then to her. She shrugged.

“A mare’s gotta have her heavy weapuns!”

Heh… I giggled. Turning away, I pulled on an industrial saddlebag and started filling up the pockets. Industrial saddlebags had eight pockets for various ammos, and two main pouches that had been magically altered to appear small, yet had an enormous amount of space to carry items inside. I quickly grabbed a few incendiary grenades from a shelf, along with various spare gun parts to keep my beloved 12mm rifle in constant shape. Turning away, I looked to Crabs. She had also slipped on an industrial saddlebag and was filling it with ammunition. I smiled half-heartedly at her, before trotting out. True to their word, the twins had started clearing the bodies, piling them up into a corner.

I trotted to them and sighed. “You mares sure you’ll be fine?” Their only responses were saddened nods. Nodding back, I turned. A flash of yellow caught my eye and I stopped. Daffodil’s body was lying on top of a smaller pile. I winced and teared up as I stared once more into the face of my lover… and I moved towards her. Leaning down, I pressed my nose to hers and nuzzled it affectionately. “I love you Daff… I’ll miss you…” The words rang and echoed in my head as I got up and turned.

Now… it was time to leave.