Berry Punch and Lyra Heartstrings' Zombie-Filled, Blood-Splattered, Gore-Pasted Adventure (With Zombies)

The town of Ponyville was never usually this empty, was it? There were just a few near-silent residents hanging around the streets now, shuffling aimlessly with stiff, jerky movements. Berry's mind tried to take in all of this information. However, due to her horrendous hangover, the main thought that floated into her head at that moment happened to be, 'I'm hungry.'

She trotted slowly down Mane Street, oblivious to the shambling, grimy-looking ponies clustered around. Their breathless groaning and gurgling went unnoticed. Heading toward the Sugarcube Corner, Berry tried to shake her head clear. The attempt just happened to make her headache worse, and so she stopped. Stepping through the door of the bakery and hearing the familiar tinkling of the bell, she slumped down into the nearest chair and sighed, staring at the ceiling. She picked out the mass of moving shadows being cast onto the ceiling and wall below it from outside, the figures of many ponies moving in a slow and uneasy gait. Something was realised in her mind, but when she tried to discern what it was, she was met with the hazy pain of the hangover.

"Service, please!" Berry barked out irately. A wheezing gasp came from behind the counter. "Hello?" She called, stepping toward the counter. She quickly peered over the top, but couldn't see a thing in the shadows behind the counter-top. Giving a snort of annoyance, she trotted out of the bakery again. As she left, the half-mauled, broken and blood-stained figure of Pinkie Pie slowly dragged herself up over the counter, watching the mare leave. She tried to climb over the counter, but fell back down again, one of her legs snapping backward as she hit the bakery floor.

Berry had made it about halfway to Lyra and Bon Bon's house before her head began to clear. And with that clearance came abject horror. By the time she had briskly cantered up the house's front path, she had noticed the apparent lack of normality in her surroundings. Ignoring the few shambling ponies which slowly approached up the path behind her, she slammed the door shut and trotted inside. Lyra was watching My Little Human again.. As usual. She seemed oblivious to the change around them.

"Bon Bon hasn't come back yet. You seen her around?" Lyra inquired, eyes glued to the screen. "It's been a while."

"It's been a fucking day." Berry muttered, sitting down beside her friend on the sofa. The ponies outside began to bang weakly against the door, hooves sliding down the wooden surface with a squeaking.

"I think there's someone at the door, you know." Lyra spoke softly. Berry glanced worriedly over to the hallway, taking note of the three silhouettes through the door's small window. All three looked a little worse for wear.

"Lyra, I think there's something wrong with everypony. They're acting weird."

"Maybe you have something on your face, and that's why they're acting weird around you." Lyra offered.

"Do I have anything on my face though?" Berry asked, a little annoyed. Lyra's golden eyes roamed from the TV screen to Berry's face.

"Um.. No." She mumbled, returning her gaze to the TV.

"There you go then. Besides, it's not like they're just laughing at me, or something. They all look wrong, they smell bad, they move slowly and they're not talking at all." Berry stared back to the three ponies at the door. They continued to bang on it slowly, and it appeared two more had joined their ranks.. Along with a few tapping on the house's living room window. There were dark red stains of something on the windowpanes where their hooves met the glass. Berry's mind began searching frantically for the least worrying explanation. The best she could come up with was an out-of-season Nightmare Night party.

"Oh, fuck's sake, they're messing up the windows.. Hey!" Lyra's voice broke the tense silence. The mint-coloured mare haughtily stomped up to the window, glaring at the ponies outside. "Stop making a mess on our windows! Look, go and paint your own windows red if you want, but leave ours alone! Me and Bon Bon worked hard to-" Berry stepped up behind her.

"Lyra, I don't think that's paint."

Lyra didn't listen. In her blind rage, she set off to the front door - only to find the same mess-making going on. There were bloody hoof marks smeared on the front door's window, and she was not going to stand for this. She flung open the door.

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to stand for this, things have got to.. Oh.. Oh shit." Lyra noticed the large group of lopsided, battered-looking ponies. Blood encrusted around open wounds on their bodies, and slimy, dark gore dribbled from their open mouths as they stared at her with lifeless, dull eyes. They moved forward, shambling and moaning weakly, into the hallway. Lyra dashed back into the living room, slamming the door shut. Berry watched as she slid as many articles of furniture in front of the door as possible. It would be comical if it weren't so terrifying. "Shit, shit, shit.." Lyra repeated, eyes darting around at the uncovered windows. The undead ponies outside began to batter on them.

After a few minutes of boarding up the doors and windows, Berry and Lyra sat down on the sofa again. Lyra resumed watching MLH. Berry trotted out to the kitchen, and returned with a bottle of strong cider. She downed half of it in one gulp.

"So.. What now?" She asked, watching Lyra as she stared blankly at the TV.

"I dunno." She mumbled, eyes not leaving the screen. Berry felt herself losing her temper. She considered tossing the bottle at the wall, and then remembered that the contents of the bottle tasted good. So she downed the rest of it, and then made good on her initial plan. The glass container exploded into shards against the wall with an echoing smash. "Look, you can't just sit here and watch TV while that happens out there.. That's just stupid."

"Why not?" Lyra retorted, tearing herself away from the screen. She looked dumbfounded. "As long as we stay here and pretend nothing is happening out there, we won't have to deal with it." Berry facehooved.

"That is not the way to go about dealing with problems at all, you dolt." She grumbled.

"Well I don't want to deal with the problem, I want to watch My Little Human." It soon became apparent to Berry that her friend was not going to cooperate, and so she made a decision. A decision to do the unthinkable.

Climbing off the sofa, Berry stepped over to the TV. Before Lyra could react, she yanked the electrical plug out of the socket. The TV cut out and died. Lyra gasped, horrified.

"What have you done?!" She cried.

"I'm sorry, Lyra.. But it's the only way." She stood on her hind legs, and picked up the TV in her hooves. She started towards the window.

"Wait, what are you.. What the freaking hell are you doing?!" Lyra yelped, hopping off the sofa and edging closer. Berry rammed the TV against the barricaded window, smashing the wooden planks across it. The groaning commotion of the ponies outside became clearly audible again.

"I'm sorry, Lyra." She sighed, taking a moment to contemplate before tossing the TV out into the crowd. The heavy piece of equipment hit one of the shambling undead, smashing his skull to pieces. His brain splattered across Lyra and Bon Bon's lawn.

"NO!" Lyra wailed, dropping to the floor and weeping openly. Berry hastily re-boarded the window before stomping over to her sobbing friend. She smacked Lyra's head lightly with a hoof, glaring at her.

"Get a hold of yourself, and help me check on these boards." She ordered, pointing to the boards nailed over the windows.