The Trotting Dead

Chapters

Introduction - Officer Valor
Chapter 1 - The Unquiet Dead
Chapter 2 - The Little Things
Chapter 3 - The Rainbow's Shadow
Chapter 4 - In the Dark of the Clouds
Chapter 5 - Blood and Sugar
Chapter 6 - The Road Home
Chapter 7 - Never As It Seems
Chapter 8: Part 1 - Home's End

Introduction - Officer Valor

Officer Valor’s eyes slowly opened. He felt a dull pain in his chest as he stared straight above him at the ceiling. An ugly dull white scheme plagued the room, with just a nauseating hint of yellow. The pain began to intensify and he gritted his teeth as he tried to sit up. Looking around the room, he noticed that he was in a hospital.

The stallion glanced down at his chest to see a blood-stained bandage wrapped around him. The dark look of the blood made him think it hadn’t been changed in a long time. A quick glance at the rest of his body showed marks on his body. They looked like burns.

“Nurse!” He screamed, his voice weak and groggy. He brushed his hoof through his mahogany colored mane. It was long and shaggy, indicating to him that he’s been out for quite a while. With a struggle, he managed to pull himself from the bed and stood up shakily on his legs.

“Ok.” He said to himself calmly. “Gotta try to remember.” He thought hard about what had happened.

In a flash, he found himself staring at a burning building. He remembered that he wasn’t on duty. No, he was off that day. A filly screamed from inside. Valor galloped as fast as he could toward the building hearing a stallion excitedly yell that Philomena was rumored to have accidently sent the building ablaze when she recovered from her ashes. Probably off pranking another pony. That damned bird.

Valor bolted through the door and into the main room, feeling the heat against his face. The furniture was already up in flames, as were the walls and floors. Smoke was forming a thick cloud, making breathing a near impossible task. Another loud scream pierced his ears. He had determined the sound to have come from the basement.

The stairs were beginning to burn like the rest of the house. Valor quickly ran down into the basement to find that the filly was cowering with her back to the wall, tears streaming down her terrified face. Officer Valor sprinted toward her and placed her on his back. As he turned, his eyes met the real cause of the fire. The boiler was expanding with the look of a pot belly stove. Flames poured out of small holes in its metal chassis. It didn’t take a genius to know it was going to explode.

“Oh shit.” He said in disbelief. A loud screeching sound filled the house as the boiler began to spit out hot steam in every direction. Valor turned quickly and began toward the stairs only to find he was blocked off by flames. In a panic he threw the filly gently above the fire and toward the stair case. She looked at him with teary eyes and ran out of the burning building.

Valor looked at the flames and determined that the only way to make it was to try and run through. Sweat poured down his face as the fire grew larger and larger around him. Voices and sirens outside were nearly drowned out entirely by the crackling and hiss the fire was causing. Suddenly a large creaking sound filled the basement. The floor above him began to crumble and fall. One last chance.

Valor took a breath and galloped with all his might through the fire, felling it burn his coat. He felt his head burn as his mane quickly caught on fire. Adrenaline helped, but the pain was still strong. It didn’t matter to him. He was almost there. He was gonna make it.

BOOOOM!

He felt nothing but the sharp pain of something entering his chest. A piece of shrapnel? Probably. The stallion lay where the explosion threw him. Then, nothing.

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Ok, there’s nothing I hate more than authors putting their two bits in at the end of a story, but I got to. I promise this won’t be a regular occurrence. Sorry that this chapter was a bit dull, but you gotta start somewhere. I wanted to worry more about the character than the zombies at first. Zombies will be in the next one and (more than likely) in all the others.

SO! I hope you enjoyed it. And if not, try the next one at least. C’monnnnnnn. ZOMBIES!

Chapter 1 - The Unquiet Dead

Officer Valor suddenly snapped back into reality. He was sweating and breathing rapidly. The wound in his chest began to hurt again.

“Nurse!” He screamed out once more, this time a bit stronger. While waiting for her to come, he decided to remove the bandage wrapped around him. Valor cringed as he pulled off the gauze from his wound. There was no more hole, just a large scar and some residue. Probably just dried blood.

“Celestia dammit! NURSE!” The stallion belted out with all his strength. After a few minutes of waiting on his bed, Officer Valor got up again and walked to the door. Outside he heard hooves walk by his room. Angrily, he tried to open the door but to no avail. He pushed against it with his whole body, forcing the door to open slowly. He didn’t know what, but something was blocking him in.

Valor turned and bucked at the door, finally pushing it open enough for him to squeeze out.

“Is anypony out… here…” He began to call into the hallway, his voice quickly fading in confusion. All the lights in the hallway were out, blood splattered on the floor and walls. A single pony stood at the end of the corridor. Valor looked at the scene in utter disbelief and began to slowly walk to the mare.

“Excuse me, Miss?” He called out softly. There was no reply. Well, no words anyway. He noticed that she grunted lowly. “Miss? I was wondering if you could help me…” He continued walking with caution. From a quick glance in the dark hall he could see that the mare was cut up a bit. Valor reached out a hoof gently to her.

A low gurgle emitted from the pony’s mouth as she turned around to face Valor. He felt a sudden urge to throw up as he saw the mare. Half of her face was missing, blood still oozing slowly from the wound. One eye hung by a strand from the tattered pony’s socket, the other was a milky white that seemed to stare deeply through Valor. A low, but unmistakably excited growl formed in the pony’s mouth as it clumsily lunged forward on top of the already weakened stallion.

“Ahhh! Somepony help!” Valor cried out to anypony in earshot. The disfigured mare began wriggling on top of him,
attempting to bite him. Valor held her off with his hoof and tried calling out again, but when no one showed up managed to push her off. Within a few seconds he was on all four legs again staring down at the mare. She was still biting at his hooves, but was struggling to move forward. He could see that one of her hind legs was broken with the bone jutting out from the skin at a sickening angle.

Officer Valor galloped away while the mare attempted to get up, breaking the leg to a point where it snapped in half. She collapsed to the ground moaning loudly at the escaping stallion.

When he was at a safe distance, he slowed down to rest. His chest was still hurting and the pain intensified with each breath. Behind him at one end of the hall he could faintly hear the mare continue her moans. The other end had a door barricaded with a plank of wood through the handles. A sign hung above the door reading “Cafeteria.”

“What happened here?” He asked aloud to nopony in particular. After fumbling with the wood, Officer Valor gently opened the door. His mouth dropped open in shock at the sight before him. Directly in front of him stood twenty or so ponies, all with gaping wounds around their bodies. Several corpses littered the floor, each one missing most of their flesh. Several ponies were gathered around them, biting into the bodies and scrounging for whatever meat remained on the bleached bones. At the sound of the door they looked up.

A scream escaped Valor’s mouth, but the shock made him completely unaware. His eyes watched the ponies awkwardly hobble over toward the door, all moaning. He felt something touch his hoof and looked down quickly. A filly with her hind legs and flank completely missing was dragging herself toward him, attempting to wrap her tiny hooves around his larger one. Blood trailed behind her as she traveled along the linoleum floor, her intestines hanging and dragging freely with each movement.

Valor kicked the filly off in horror and looked back up to find a stallion about his size right in front of him. It made a guttural noise, exposing hair and flesh stuck in its remaining teeth. The stench of blood reached Valor now and he reeled backwards. The opposing stallion had begun to pursue Valor, as had several other disfigured ponies.

Officer Valor began to back away but fell down when he tried to speed up. “Stop!” he yelled at the pursuing ponies. “Get away from me!”

He was pushing himself backwards on the floor, staring up at the ponies shambling toward him. “Can’t you understand me?!” He cried out while finally scrambling up onto his hooves. He found an emergency exit door and was thrust through it by the large stallion.

The two tumbled down the stairs with Officer Valor on the bottom. The monstrous stallion hit its head on the steps, cracking open its skull. When the two landed Valor jumped up, ignoring the heavy pain in his chest and head. As the other ponies began to hobble and fall down the stairs, he ran off looking back at the stallion; blood and chunks of skull were spewing from the deep wound, yet it looked as if it felt nothing.

When he made it outside, Valor saw an abandoned carriage. He quickly pulled it over, blocking the door he had just walked out of. “What the Hell just happened?” He asked aloud to himself, rubbing his mane. The pain in his head had dulled, as had the stabbing feeling in his chest. He stood in the open and looked out into the landscape, but there was nopony to be seen. Valor rested a few minutes and then began walking toward Ponyville, leaving the hospital behind. The sounds of the disfigured ponies at the door were drowned out by the emptiness and the wind Officer Valor faced as he walked toward his hometown.

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Hope you enjoyed the first actual chapter of "The Trotting Dead." I apologize for the blatant rip-off's of the "The Walking Dead," but I promise that the next chapter and the others afterward are going to more original. I have a story planned out with the Mane 6 that just may blow your faces clean off. Zomponies (oh God, I hate that term) will be plentiful and the methods to combat them will be great. Sorry. No guns.
Let me know what you thought of the first appearance of the zomponies and give me some feedback. More gore? Less gore? I do like leaving a lot to imagination but maybe I should be more detailed? Tell me. I won't bite. The ponies might though.

The next one's gonna be good, just you wait. I won't give much away but Twilight's gonna be in it. Hint, hint.

Chapter 2 - The Little Things

Several hours later, Officer Valor managed to reach Ponyville. Along the way, he had encountered several ponies like those back the hospital. All had been mangled with milky eyes, and all had attempted to attack him. Valor had decided against confrontation and run away from them before they could get close. He no longer felt like vomiting when he encountering one of those… monsters. He shrugged it off; he must be getting used to the wretched smell of blood and death that surrounded him.

The sky above him was beginning to purple on the horizon as the sun began its daily travel downward. A fresh breeze ruffled his mane and for a minute Officer Valor forgot what was happening and smiled. A sigh escaped his mouth gently. “Keep this feeling close,” he said aloud to himself while crossing a bridge toward the town. A small stream ran beneath the bridge, only adding to the ambient beauty. “Lose the little things, and you lose yourself.”

No sooner had he said that, than the smile fell from his face. The town he had known so well was in shambles. Buildings were burned to the ground, dead ponies littered the streets, but ponies were also walking around. No, Officer Valor realized, not ponies… just bodies. Shells of their former selves. The collective of maimed and disfigured ponies lurched around randomly with no apparent destination in mind. Some without legs were dragging themselves along with their remaining hooves, while others were too mangled even to do that. They lay on the ground in a pile of bones and muscle, a surviving amount of flesh making up their muzzles and necks… if they were lucky enough.

Officer Valor looked toward the town with fear rising in his body. Many doors had hastily-written signs reading “DEAD INSIDE.” Some of those doors were wide open, allowing the ponies to freely and aimlessly stumble in and out. Valor spotted a few ponies of various colours lying on the ground with deep wounds to their heads. A small, bloodied hatchet was abandoned near the bodies. Valor glanced around him and galloped quickly toward the discarded weapon.

With the hatchet gripped in his teeth, Valor felt that at least he wasn’t entirely defenseless. One unicorn nearby noticed the movement from its one remaining eye and slowly began to come toward Valor. Her lavender coat was torn, ribs stabbing outward on her right side; her violet mane was matted with blood. Valor had recognized her and stopped in his tracks.

“Amethyst Star?” He uttered in disbelief. “It’s me! It’s Valor!” He placed the hatchet on the ground and tried to talk with his mangled friend. She moaned in reply, slowly walking forward toward him. “Amethyst! Celestia dammit, it’s me!” Officer Valor was getting hysterical now, tears forming in his eyes.

“What the fuck is happening here?!” He yelled out. He was shaking now, a sickening feeling growing in his stomach and tears flowing down his face. Valor grabbed his friend and pulled her close to him, looking into her milky eye. A small stain of its original purple remained. “What happened to you…”

A few groans arose from behind him now. His head whipped around to see that the scene had attracted ten or so of the wandering ponies. He started to back away, but instead walked into Amethyst Star, who had moved forward, her mouth open wide. Valor screamed and fell to the ground. He fumbled with the hatchet and swung it at Amethyst Star, hitting her flank with a sickening sound. Valor looked on in horror as the unicorn advanced, showing no expression of pain on her mangled face. The hatchet stuck deep into her body, a small trickle of blood falling from the wound it created.

“Oh shit.” He said while pulling himself away from her. His back hit a wall from a building. “Shit! Shit! Shit!” He scrambled onto his hooves and looked at the ponies approaching en masse. The outcome was bleak at best. A quick glance showed no way around the murderous group.

SHUNK!

Amethyst Star fell to the ground, a large shard of glass encased in a purple aura jutting from the side of her head. Blood began to flow out of the wound onto the crumpled pony. Valor looked past the dead mare and saw another, living mare give a quick wave. Officer Valor sprinted through the opening in the group and ran toward the building, leaving the other ponies behind.

“Are you crazy?” The mare said to him. “You could have died out there!” Valor watched the lavender coated mare pace back and forth in front of him as he sat down to catch his breath. Her violet mane had a pink streak down it, and at one time she would have looked beautiful. But now she looked beaten and tired. He noticed her horn and knew instantly that it had been her who saved him from the other ponies.

“I mean, what could possibly make you wander out there like that?” She continued pacing, growing steadily nervous. The group that had surrounded Valor before was now already by the pharmacy she had been hiding in. Officer Valor was now standing. He saw them at the door and windows. His savior quickly used her magic to barricade the door with a set of shelves. The ponies outside were pushing against the door and windows with their hooves. It wouldn’t last forever, but they were safe for now.

“Excuse me, uh miss…” Valor began, hoping for a name. The unicorn finally stopped pacing and looked at him worriedly. “Oh, uh Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

“Officer Valor of Ponyville PD. Maybe you can tell me what the fuck is going on out there.” Valor motioned toward the ponies attempting to break through the barricade. A confused look crept on her face. “What? Are you kidding? Where have you been the past few weeks?” Valor looked at her calmly. “Oh my. You’re serious aren’t you…”

Twilight pulled over two chairs with her magic, the purple aura disappearing as the two sat down. “Well, about four weeks ago, news started coming into town about a disease spreading across Equestria. Most of us just shrugged it off as another Pony Flu or something, but after a few days our hospital were filling up with sick ponies from Manehattan and Fillydelphia. Something about their hospitals being too full.” She shrugged.

“That’s when everything started going wrong. The ponies being brought into the hospital weren’t being treated, they were being quarantined. Soon one of them managed to infect a doctor or nurse. Anyway, he turned into one of them and it started to spread into the town. I tried to read up on the subject as much as possible, but there aren’t too many books in my library dealing with… well, this.” She waved her hoof in the air, encompassing the whole town in her motions.

Valor looked at her with a confused look. “So what you’re saying is that these ponies are just sick?”

“Sick? Oh no, no, no. Valor, those ponies are dead.”

CRASH!

The two ponies pulled away from their conversation and looked to the source of the noise. One of the unicorns outside had used its horn to push through the glass of the window. His muzzle progressively pushed through the small hole, cracking the glass around it. Skin and hair began peeling off of him, torn by the jagged glass edges, as he shoved his head through the growing hole. More and more of the unicorn’s skull was bared as bits of blood-soaked flesh dropping to the floor. Twilight grimaced at the skeletal muzzle and walked toward it. She used her magic to pick up a large shard of the glass and stabbed the unicorn in the eye.

The unicorn dropped down, its head still lodged in the hole. Blood came pouring from where its eye used to be. “It won’t be long until the others start breaking through here as well.” She said, walking back toward Valor. His face was blank and confused. “Those things out there are dead?”

Twilight went into the back of the back of the pharmacy and started looking around through the bottles of pills. “Yeah. A good hit on the head will do them in. I just figure that something sharp… I don’t know. Maybe it’s less painful. Do it quickly, you know?” She was holding two bottles, staring closely at both of them. “Ah! Exactly what I need!” She magicked one of the bottles to her saddlebag and then walked back to Valor.

“I guess you can call them zombies, but I don’t know… It just sounds so strange. I’ve taken to calling them Trotters, on account of their slow movement.” Twilight put the saddlebag on and looked at the door. The barricade was holding, but many more Trotters were gathering around. “I know it’s a lot to take in, especially in such a short time. Come with me back to the Library. It’s safe there.” The two walked to the back door and stepped outside. The surrounding area was packed with Trotters, all of which were now turning toward the two dumbstruck ponies.

Twilight slammed the door behind them while Valor began to push over a set of shelves. “Ok, where do we go now?” he asked the purple mare. “Uh, I don’t know!” she responded, clearly beginning to panic. The Trotters at the front were beginning to move the barricade. A few more unicorns were awkwardly hitting against the glass, causing more and more cracks to appear.

Twilight and Valor put all their weight against the door, but the force from the ponies outside was too great. Slowly the door gave way, creeping open slowly. “Shit! Twilight, is there any way out of here?” Valor screamed. Twilight scanned the surroundings. Her eyes set upon a window behind the counter. “There!”

After one final shove on the back door, they galloped at full speed and dove over the counter. The shelves were blocking the door, but they began to give under the unstoppable force of the dead ponies. Twilight attempted to open the window, but to no avail. Valor quickly kicked at the glass, shattering the window into tiny pieces. At the same time the glass covering the front of the store caved in under the force of the ponies. They all slowly tumbled inside and shambled toward the escaping ponies.

Twilight climbed up to the window and tried to go through headfirst, her flank sticking back into the store a bit. Valor couldn’t help but look at the purple mare wriggling through the window. She really was a good looking pony. Maybe if the circumstances were different…

Twilight looked back to find Valor staring at her body. “Hey, a little help here?” She said to him, a disapproving look on her face. Valor shook his head and popped back into reality. “Oh, yeah sure.” She rolled her eyes as he moved to help her through the window. “I already have a stallion, thanks.” She said to him as she fell onto the ground. Valor looked down at her and smiled as Twilight blushed a bit.

Oh the little things…

Valor jumped through the window and landed next to Twilight. They could see the library in the distance, but a sea of Trotters blocked their way. Valor pointed to Amethyst Star who lay on the ground with a pool of blood forming around her. Twilight brought over the hatchet and dropped at Valor’s feet who picked it up.

“Ok, we make a run for it. One…” Valor and Twilight hunkered down and braced themselves. “Two…” Valor gripped the hatchet in his mouth tightly. He felt splinters beginning to break off and stab into his mouth. “Three!”

They darted straight to the library. Valor swung wildly at the Trotters that came close to him. He felt the weapon sink into the ponies’ flesh and watched as blood spurted out from the wounds he had just made. Twilight frantically magicked various items on the ground at the Trotters. She had no clue whether she killed any or not; all she knew was that she was holding them back enough for her to pass by.

The two charging ponies knocked Trotters aside in different directions as they continued galloping to the safe house. One mangled pony stood directly in front of Valor, moaning loudly. Valor dug his hatchet into the pony’s neck. Its head fell to the side, hanging by a few shreds of flesh, still attempting to bite at the pair.

Blood spattered onto Twilight’s and Valor’s manes as they fought through the horde separating them from the library. The hatchet’s handle began to splinter in Valor’s mouth, leaving a metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Twilight looked forward and saw they were closing in on the Library. “Valor! We’re gonna make it!” She cried out to him as she continued magically tossing items on the road at Trotters.

SNAP!

The hatchet finally broke, leaving the head lodged in a unicorn’s skull. Valor realized he was defenseless, but the two continued running, leaving the weapon behind. In a desperate move, Twilight used her magic to grab onto the hatched head and slice it wildly in front of them. Flesh and limbs fell to the ground, showering blood everywhere as Twilight continued to maniacally wield the dulling blade.

Finally there stood one pony between them and the door. Its lower jaw was missing, the tongue of the pony half chewed off and dangling freely. An odd moan escaped its mouth as it lurched forward toward Valor. He swung his head still expecting to find his hatchet but instead pelted the Trotter with a piece of splintered wood. Twilight saw and struck the pony square between its milky eyes, splitting the top of its skull. With a sickening sound, the pony dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

Twilight and Valor slammed the door behind them, breathing heavily. The library was dark except for a few candles scattered about that dimly lit the main room. Twilight placed a wooden barricade against the door to prevent any Trotters from entering and dropped her saddlebags, letting out a long sigh. Valor trotted after her. “You know I never got a chance to thank you for saving me earlier. If you hadn’t seen me, Celestia knows what would have happened.”

Twilight smiled at him kindly and shrugged. ”I couldn’t let another pony get attacked like that. We’ve lost too many ponies as it is. Besides, you seemed like you might be very helpful.” She walked to the back of the room and climbed up to the loft. “What do you mean helpful?” Valor asked, taking in the surroundings. “While I don’t exactly know what’s going on here, I feel that it’d be a safe idea to get the Elements of Harmony together and see if we can fix this.”

Valor heard a moan coming from up in the loft. It didn’t sound like Twilight. But it definitely wasn’t a Trotter either. He climbed up to where she was and saw a white unicorn with a perfectly styled purple mane. She was lying on a bed, her leg wrapped up in bandages. “Miss, are you ok?” Valor asked as he approached the mare.

“Ah! Stay back! I look positively hideous!” She cried back at him, burying her face in the pillow. Valor gave Twilight a confused look. “This is my friend Rarity. She broke her leg a few days ago and I needed to get her some medicine.” “Well that explains the pharmacy then, I guess.”

Rarity removed her head from the pillow and was now looking Valor over. “Oh my dear! What happened to you? You look horrid!” Valor glanced down at the diva pony. “Hmm. Well. I was in a coma, walked all the way to Ponyville and had to fight off an undead pony horde. What’s your excuse?” Rarity stared back at him, a smile slowly appearing on her face.

“Well that simply does not excuse your style! Or lack thereof. Your mane is positively bedraggled and your coat is, is, well, diabolical! You simply must get yourself cleaned up immediately! I may be down and out, but it doesn’t mean I should have to put up with… well, with that!” She waved her hoof at Valor.

He stood dumbstruck at the unicorn that just a moment ago hid in her pillow, and was now passing fashion judgments on him. His eyes met hers and she suddenly burst out in laughter that seemed to negate all the horrors going on right outside. Twilight joined in, clutching her sides, and fell to the floor. Valor looked at the two ponies and then looked down at himself. He felt a smile creep onto his face, and then started laughing along with them.

The little things, Valor.He thought to himself as he laughed to the point of tears. Always take the time to enjoy the little things.

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Hey everyone, hope you all liked this chapter. It's starting to now fully separate from The Walking Dead, which is good. I've got plenty of ideas coming up that I'm sure you'll all love. Sorry about the wait, but I'm a busy college guy. Between ponies and pretending to do homework, I'm usually booked up. The next one should be up in another week or so, I hope. But in the meantime, I was wondering if anyone would like to be a pre-reader. I'd love to get some input before I post the story. So yeah, PM me if you're interested .
That's about it for now, so until next time, enjoy!

ps- For Twilight's face at the window part, consult the "NO." meme face and the "gentlemen" rage face. Somewhere between those two, you should be able to pick up on how she looked. Sexy, eh?

Chapter 3 - The Rainbow's Shadow

The night passed by without any problems. Valor was able to sleep without too much difficulty. The occasional groan from a Trotter outside or the sound of one hitting against the barricaded door or a wall would make him jump, but after a few hours he drifted off, leaving the world behind him.

They all awoke at the sun rising in the distance, Rarity moaning in pain at her healing leg. Twilight joined Valor in the main library. “She was out a few days ago trying to get food.” She said nodding her head toward the white unicorn who was seemingly out of earshot. “One of the Trotters followed her back to the Library and knocked her down outside the door. I was lucky to have been down here reading when I heard her yell.”

“Oh Twilight, please! Allow me to tell him what happened!” The prissy unicorn’s voice yelled out to the two. They returned to her bedside and sat down. The groaning outside continued, but it seemed almost commonplace now to Valor. Rarity picked herself up a bit and leaned comfortably on a pillow. “For starters, let me tell you what I’m doing here.”

“I was visiting Twilight here at the Library to get her fitted for a dress. The dear works herself far too hard and rarely gets a chance to go out. I thought it would be for her best interests to set her up on a date with one of my neighbors. Noteworthy, I think it was. He’s a fine stallion, a little rough around the edges but this was just to get her out of the house, you see?”

Rarity began to lose track of the story and thought about what she was saying before continuing on. Valor looked at Twilight who grinned sheepishly back at him, a blush on her otherwise purple cheeks. He looked back with an evil smirk on his face, joking around with the embarrassed unicorn. “A stallion, huh?” “Shut up, Valor.”

Rarity looked at the pair with her eyes half closed; a knowing grin on her face. “Where was I? Oh yes, after fitting Twilight for her dress, we heard a knocking sound at the door. I was much too busy to answer, so Twilight got it. We saw a green mare standing outside, with what looked like a bite mark on her flank. She had these ghastly eyes and tried to attack Twilight! Of course I could never let such a thing happen, so I used my magic to push her outside.”

“Twilight followed me outside and we saw ponies running in random directions, as if no one had a clue what was going on. That poor dear Spike received a note from Princess Celestia that told Twilight to stay indoors and to barricade herself inside the Library. We lost contact shortly afterward. Spike went to Canterlot to see if the Princess had a message for us…” The grin had long disappeared by now as Rarity recalled what happened to her dragon friend. Twilight placed a hoof on her and gave her a sad smile.

Tears began to well up in the white unicorn’s eyes, but she blinked them back. “Well, regardless, Twilight and I have been stuck here for ages now, one of us going out every day to get some food while the other keeps a lookout on the balcony. But about two weeks ago I was attacked and practically shattered my poor leg.”

She pulled aside the blanket for Valor to see the damage. The wounded leg was severely swollen, a sickening greenish-blue bruise around the break. Her leg still had a bump, indicating that it wasn’t healing properly at all. Twilight and Valor walked back down the ladder and into the library, sitting on a few cushions.

“I’m not very good at fixing broken bones. I tried reading as much as I could as quickly as possible, but she was in too much pain. I used my magic to try and set the bone in place, but it’s only getting worse. My pharmacy trip was to get her some painkillers and possibly antibiotics, but those were all gone. Valor, I know we just met but I need your help.”

Valor looked at Twilight dumbfounded. “My help? I’m a cop, not a doctor. She could get an infection or a clot or worse! She needs medical attention!” “That’s exactly why I need your help. I expect that Cloudsdale should be free of this epidemic. I need you to go up there and check to see if hospitals are open or if there are any doctors who could possibly help Rarity. I also need you to find Rainbow Dash. If we’re gonna beat this thing, I want all the Elements of Harmony together.”

“Ok, but how the hell am I gonna get up there?” “I can use my magic to give you the ability to walk on the clouds. It’ll only last 2 days so be sure to get Rainbow Dash and come back as soon as possible. There’s a hot air balloon on the roof that just needs to be inflated. My friend Pinkie left it here after one of her parties…” Twilight began to grin at the memory that seemed so far away. Almost in a different world now.

It didn’t take long for the balloon to be ready. Valor stepped inside, a saddlebag with a hatchet and some food draped across his back. He slowly began his ascent into the sky and looked down at the disappearing Library. He saw a large amount of Trotters wandering the streets, all of them looking relatively normal from this height. His sightseeing was cut short as he began to pass above the clouds. Above him he noted a large, majestic city floating in the sky. “That didn’t take long.” He said aloud to himself.

The balloon was resting behind a building, budding from the cloud that made up the ground. Valor was nervous. If the magic hadn’t taken effect, he would surely fall to his death the moment he left the safety of the balloon. He had slowly begun to edge his front hooves off onto the cloud when he heard a loud scream come from a road over. His head perked up and he lunged out onto the clouds. He panicked as his hooves sank into the soft, white ground, but it held his weight and he galloped toward the source of the yelling.

A scene of utter chaos was unfolding before him. He saw unicorns and Earth ponies running among a mob of bloodied pegasi, carrying various sharp weapons. Some threw weighted nets and others simply used their magic to pluck the pegasi from the sky, sending them crashing into the soft clouds below. All the while several pegasi like the Trotters flew toward the chaotic scene, biting wildly at everything that moved. More nets were thrown into the sky, taking the ponies down with sickening thuds and the sound of bones breaking. It wasn’t clear from where but blood began appearing, soaking into the clouds and staining their perfect whiteness.

Valor thought about the scene before him. He didn’t know which bothered him more, the flying Trotters or the presence of unicorns and earth ponies in Cloudsdale.

Valor shook himself from the sight and ran over to a downed earth pony. He picked up a discarded net and tossed it at one of the offending pegasi. He hit it spot on and she tumbled to the clouds below with a loud crunch. He walked over to it amidst the chaos and watched it bite viciously at his hooves, trying to flap its tattered wings. Valor frowned and lifted his hoof high, bringing it smashing down onto her face. He heard it gurgle and repeatedly stomped until the Pegasus stopped moving entirely.

Off to one side Valor could see a light brown stallion staring down at a net, blood partially covering what appeared to be an hourglass cutie mark. He looked disturbed by the weakly struggling pegasus in the net before him. A pool of blood was forming beneath it, spreading outward and encompassing a knife that lay on the clouds. Valor felt anger rise up in him as he trotted toward the stallion. “We have to do this.” He began to say to the brown pony. “I know it’s hard, but we’re putting them out of their misery. We have to protect those who aren’t infected.”

Valor picked up the knife, blood still dripping from the blade. He approached the netted pegasus, recognizing the distinct orange and amber mane of Spitfire, one of the most prominent Wonderbolts. He sighed and shook his head, wondering how such a fantastic flyer could get infected by one of the clumsy Trotters. Even the flying ones weren’t very agile and seemingly could be out flown with great ease. He lifted the blade and positioned it above her face. Her brilliant orange eyes opened wide in fear at the blade as she let out a small whimper.

The knife stayed motionless in Valor’s mouth. The orange pegasus had tears forming in her eyes as she mustered up enough strength to speak. “Please… Don’t kill me… Why are you doing this…” Valor looked over the mare; her breathing was slow and labored. He noticed that her wings were nearly completely missing, nubs of bone jutting jaggedly from her sides; the remaining feathers were torn and tufted, blood staining her beautiful coat. Behind him, he heard the brown stallion weeping at his handiwork.

Valor’s mouth involuntarily opened in shock, the blade falling to the cloud below. “What the fuck are you doing?!” He screamed at the stallion. “You’re here to kill these… Flyers! She’s not infected, she’s fine! You’re killing her!” The brown pony looked back at Valor, the tears slowing.

“What… what do you mean? We’re all up here to clip the pegasi’s wings. I… I just…” He dropped to his haunches and looked down at the mare, who lay unconscious, but still breathing. “Oh my Celestia, what did I do?” Valor knocked the pony to the ground and stood over him. “You’re going to tell me what the fuck is happening here.”

“I’m sorry, I swear!” He screamed back at Valor. The stallion tried crawling away, but Valor kicked him in the stomach, sending pain throughout his body. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, man! We were up here to keep more Flyers from coming down to the ground. The way the leaders said it made it sound like if we clipped their wings, the pegasi wouldn’t be able to get down to Ponyville or Canterlot or anywhere else without falling and dying. I thought, I – I thought that it’d be like clipping a bird’s wings. You know, simple and painless. But once we came up here, they gave us knives and axes and- and… Oh sweet Celestia…”

The stallion began crying again. Valor didn’t know what to do. He could see that Spitfire was still alive, if just barely. From the look of Cloudsdale, the group of earth ponies and unicorns were running amok, destroying whatever semblance of civilization remained in the once peaceful cloud city.

“Look, you’re gonna take her back down to Ponyville and take care of her.” Valor grabbed the stallion closer to him and looked into his tear stained eyes. “You fuck this up and I swear that I will kill you.” He violently pushed the pony back. “Don’t make me regret this.” He nodded and placed the netted pegasus on his back, carrying her away slowly.

Valor saw him approach a balloon marked with a hastily spray painted U.E.F. The stallion climbed in, joining a minty coloured unicorn with a lyre on her flank. They spoke briefly and she nodded somberly. The three descended from the clouds, but not before the unicorn had crossed out the U.E.F. with matching paint.

“Get your hooves off me!” Valor hardly had time to think when he heard the shout and looked around frantically. The earth ponies and unicorns were still running around plucking the few remaining pegasi from the sky. His eyes caught an orange filly being tossed down to the ground by an earth pony. She looked like a weak flyer. She had just been hovering, it seemed, flapping her wings at a speed that sounded like a small engine.

“Stay down, you little bitch!” the pony yelled out at her. He brought a hoof down on the filly. “Somepony help me! Stop! Please Celestia no!”

Valor was horrified at the sight. The pony picked up a dull, bloodied knife with his teeth and held it down against the filly’s wings. Valor snapped back into reality and sprinted to the stallion, tackling him to the ground as the blade began to pierce the filly’s coat. A small trickle of blood had begun and she was crying. “Leave her alone!” Valor growled at the pony.

He felt a dull pain in his head and collapsed to the ground. He let out a groan and looked up groggily. Valor struggled to keep conscious, the scene before him somewhat cloudy. A blue unicorn stallion walked from behind him carrying a plank of wood with a dark blue aura. “Another one going soft on us. If this bitch were to be infected and come down to the ground, Celestia knows how many she’d infect before she got grounded.”

Valor watched on, unable to help the orange filly. The unicorn held her down as she screamed out to Celestia herself for mercy. The pony’s blade dug into her side as she let out a piercing cry that shattered Valor’s heart. He tried to get up. He tried to look away. He failed. His body remained motionless on the cloud.

A bolt of lightning hit close to the ponies and the crying filly. The earth pony dropped the blade and looked up to find a black pegasus staring him down. They dashed at the pegasus who turned swiftly and bucked at them, breaking the unicorn’s muzzle with a loud crack. Blood poured down his face as he lay dazed on the clouds.

The filly slowly got onto her hooves and staggered over to Valor, who was finally regaining feeling in his legs. The pegasus snarled at the ponies, flashing his black wings in a flurry of rage. “You lay a hoof on her, and I swear to Celestia I’ll rip your fucking throats out.” The ponies looked at each other, defeated, and ran off in different directions.

The orange filly was still crying, her wing badly damaged by the knife. The large pegasus walked over to her and gently wrapped a wing around her. “You okay, Scootaloo?” He offered a smile which she returned as she hugged him thankfully. Valor stood up, still feeling a bit dazed. “Thanks, uh…” He paused. “Dark Lightning.” The red and black maned stallion offered.

Valor gave the pegasus an amused look. “Dark Lightning? Are you serious?” Valor felt a smile crawl onto his face. “You know, I used to think names like Dark Lightning and Shadow Blade were cool. But then I turned five.” Dark looked at him, annoyed. “Ok, it’s a work in progress. It’s not my real name; I just kinda picked it up recently. There was an accident in the weather factory I worked in a month or so back. Since then, I can kinda create lightning if there are clouds around. I’m not really accurate yet and it hurts like a bitch.” He shrugged. “It helps though. Especially now with all these Flyers and the U.E.F.”

Valor looked at him, interested in the pegasus’ ability to wield lightning. “Look, I know you don’t exactly trust me, but it’s dangerous out here. Even a pony of your power shouldn’t be roaming alone. I have a small group in Ponyville barricaded in the library and we could use all the help we can get.”

Dark looked at him, eyes squinted as if trying to read Valor’s expressions. “You’re right. I don’t trust you. What the hell are you doing up here?” “I was sent by my group to look for a hospital. We thought that Cloudsdale wouldn’t have been infected, or if it was, it wouldn’t be as bad as down on the ground.” A grim smile appeared on Dark’s face. “Heh, looks like you were wrong.”

“Dark?” a soft voice from behind him spoke up. The two ponies looked to find Scootaloo standing, dried tears on her face. Dark sighed lightly and wrapped a wing around the filly. “Alright, Officer Valor, was it? Thanks for helping deal with the two ponies back there. But I’m not looking to join anypony right now. I’m too busy helping out up here.” He placed Scootaloo on his back and flew into the air.

“Wait!” Valor called up to the black stallion. He stopped and stared down at Valor, an intense look upon his face. “Could you tell me where Rainbow Dash is? I gotta find her.”

“Last I saw of her, she was guarding the Coliseum. If she’s smart she should’ve abandoned here by now.” With that, Dark turned away again and flew toward the town’s center, Scootaloo clinging to his back with all her strength.

By now the earth ponies and unicorns had left the area, leaving behind a bloody mess. Bodies were strewn about, most of them pegasi. They lay with their wings either half gone or entirely missing, revealing the muscle and bone that lay beneath. Far off he heard more screams; undoubtedly the ponies had made their way to another group of pegasi, continuing their slaughter.

“There’s nothing you can do.” He said to himself. Every bone in his body ached at the corpses before him. He desperately wanted to help the pegasi. Their pained cries reaching him, drawing him closer. But his hooves remained still. His eyes met a young colt’s. They were brown, but lifeless all the same. A panicked look remained on his face, even though the knife in his side indicated he was feeling nothing, and never would again. “You can’t help them.” A fly landed on the colt’s corpse. “Find Rainbow Dash. That’s the only thing you can do.” The fly buzzed and landed on the colt’s unblinking eye. Valor turned and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk to the Coliseum went far smoother than planned. He hadn’t encountered any Trotters, or their flying counterparts. The ponies invading Cloudsdale seemed to be focusing on the outskirts of the city, so Valor didn’t clash with them either. In fact, he didn’t see any other pegasi around the city in general. The pristine, white buildings seemed abandoned, the streets unstained, indicating that nopony had been there for a while.

Ahead of him, Valor could see the hulking Coliseum jutting from the skyline. He let out a sigh of relief and galloped full speed toward the massive structure. He arrived at the base of the Coliseum and looked around the plaza, seeing nopony nearby. She must have left, he found himself thinking as he continued walking. His eyes focused on the Coliseum and he noticed that the entire building was closed off. The glorious archways that used to be entrances were now barricaded with thick cloud walls, seemingly impenetrable by the earth pony that cautiously passed them.

He had nearly walked the circumference of the colossal structure when his eyes happened upon a lone cyan mare, standing erect and facing the abandoned city. Her prismatic mane was blowing gently in the wind, her eyes unblinking. As Valor approached her, he could see remnants of royal armor on her body; a torn chest plate, metallic gauntlets on her legs. She wore on her face an intense look, as if threatening anything that dare come near her. “Guess I found her…” Valor whispered under his breath as he calmly trotted to the mare.

“Hey, you! Stop!” The mare had noticed Valor and hunched herself in an attack position. “Calm down, I’m not here to hurt anypony. You’re Rainbow Dash, right?” “Who wants to know?” She maintained her posture, grabbing a small spear in her mouth that was lying by her hooves. Better safe than sorry. “My name is Officer Valor of the Ponyville PD. I’m with your friend Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They sent me up here to get you, something about getting the Elements of Harmony together.”

The grip on the spear loosened and she spat it out back onto the clouds. Rainbow Dash stood up straight and began to eye Valor. “How do you know Twilight?” she asked suspiciously. “She saved me in the Ponyville pharmacy. Brought me to stay with her and Rarity in the library. I know with everything going on up here it’s hard to trust an earth pony, but we need you. Please, come with me.”

The cyan mare dropped to her haunches and looked at him. “Tell Twilight and Rarity I’m sorry. I have to stay up here and protect the pegasi.” Valor was dumbstruck. “What are you talking about? The pegasi are everywhere but here. I saw mobs of them on the outskirts trying to escape!”

“The Commander told us once the Coliseum reached capacity we were responsible for guarding their lives.” Her voice had gained a militaristic tone to it, as if reporting back orders to a superior. “All stragglers were to be turned away.” The stallion looked around him at the “we” she had mentioned. It seemed that Rainbow Dash was the only guard left.

“Rainbow,” he began softly. “Nopony else is here. You’re alone…” She looked at her surroundings and noted that she in fact was a singular military force. Left alone to battle a potentially massive army of raging earth ponies and unicorns. “I move faster when I’m on my own.” Rainbow Dash returned to her original stance and began her duties once more, staring off into the distance. “Tell Twilight I’m sorry, but I can’t leave.”

“But she needs you! You can stop this whole thing!” “Dammit, I told you I’m not leaving! My people need me. My whole city needs me. I can’t abandon them.”

THUMP!

A sound came from behind the hastily barricaded entranceway, shortly followed by a soft moan. Valor looked over the entranceway and noticed that it looked different than the other barricades. This one seemed almost new, and somewhat unfinished. Holes peeking inside were scattered about, letting out rays of Celestia’s sun onto the shaded plot where Rainbow Dash stood guard. “Don’t you dare another step.” She growled at the policepony while still maintaining her stance.

Valor ignored her and continued to the archway, trying to look through the small holes. “I swear to Celestia, I’ll kill you if I have to. Get the fuck away from there now.” She still hadn’t moved, but her voice began to crack. The holes were still too small, so Valor pushed his hoof forcefully through one. It took several tries, but the cloud finally gave way, expanding his view of the Coliseums interior.

Inside lay a massive assortment of pegasi corpses, half eaten by the group of Flyers still roaming around aimlessly. Valor felt hooves grab him and was thrown to the ground. Rainbow Dash turned away and returned to her post. “What the hell are you still doing here? Everypony’s dead in there!” Hooves began to hit against the weak barricade as they spoke. Rainbow ignored Valor and the Flyers attempting to get out. Her body stood rigid in front of the Coliseum, mirroring the statues standing nearby.

“Celestia damn it, give me some answers!” Valor stomped a hoof down and walked in front of Rainbow Dash. Her magenta eyes were wet, a tear coming down her cheek. “I can’t leave them like this. They needed me and, and I failed them. I can’t, I won’t fail them again.”

“Rainbow, you can’t help them now. They’re dead. There’s no bringing them back.” Valor put a hoof on the mare’s shoulder.

Rainbow Dash was visibly broken now, her warlike countenance completely gone. “I’m the fucking Element of Loyalty! How am I supposed to leave them here? My friends… my family… All of them are dead and I couldn’t do a thing about it.”

THUMPF

The clouds blocking the archway disintegrated, a Flyer speeding out of the Coliseum and into the air. A sharp screech escaped its mouth and it plummeted back down at the two ponies. Rainbow Dash let out a scream as it flew directly above her. She dove to the ground, attempting to avoid the offending pegasus’ teeth. Valor thrust his front hoof out, knocking the Flyer to the ground, shooting up wisps of cloud out from the impact.

He frantically grabbed the spear from next to Rainbow Dash, continuously stabbing at the disfigured pony lying before him. Each stab made the beast cry out more, until it finally stopped moving. The spear jutting out of the pony’s skull vibrated from side to side, fresh squirts of blood squirting from the many wounds on its body.

With the Flyer finally dead, the two ponies looked back at the archway only to find all of the remaining Flyers hastily trotting and flying toward the exit and their potential meal. “Rainbow, get up, we gotta get out of here now!” Valor called to the cyan mare, who still lay on the clouds. Tears were pouring down her cheeks as she sobbed heavily into her hooves.

With a quick pull, the spear was back in Valor’s mouth. He galloped full speed at the oncoming Flyers, picking up as much momentum as possible. He felt the pressure of a body pushing against the tip and then a sudden release. He looked up to find a screeching pegasus impaled on the spear, flapping its wings in an attempt to escape. He continued his charge, ramming into another pony and finally a third, until the spear hit and stuck into the Coliseum wall. There were still more Flyers pouring out into the open, all attracted to Valor’s movements.

“Rainbow, c’mon we have to move!” He yelled again to the pegasus. “Leave me here. I failed the pegasi. I’ll fail you and Twilight too.” She gave her somber reply and stood up, turning to the horde of ravenous Flyers making their way out of the Coliseum she swore to protect. One grey mare found her particularly interesting and rose from the ground, knocking over a basket with her abrupt motion, a few muffins tumbling out of the open top. She let out a piercing screech, making Rainbow Dash shudder, and flew toward her rapidly.

Rainbow Dash looked ahead at the incoming mare and prepared for the worst. She knew what was coming. She deserved it. How could she have let everypony down so badly? The yellow mane of the mare was pushed back in her flight, revealing a large hole in her face where an eye used to be. Crusty blood fell off the face from the wind pressure pushing against her. Rainbow waited calmly while Valor could only watch, unable to free himself from the other Flyers that made their ways toward him.

I’m sorry. Celestia forgive me.

The grey mare fell to the ground with a loud thud, violently twitching as electricity coursed over its burned body.

“I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to come here, Valor. Maybe you need more help than I thought.” A voice called from above. Dark Lightning landed in front of Rainbow Dash and readied himself for the grey mare that was getting back up on its hooves. She charged again but with less force, as the electric charge was still causing her damaged body to twitch. Dark turned abruptly and bucked the pegasus. With a loud snap he broke her neck, her head dropping instantly as she collided with clouds below. He raised his hoof and brought it down swiftly.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again.” Valor yelled back after fishing the hatchet out of his saddlebag and planting its blade into the face of a jawless pegasus. He continued methodically slaughtering the nearby Flyers until they all lay in a mismatch of disfigured bodies at his hooves. Before more could come near, he pulled the spear out of the cloud, dropping the three struggling pegasi onto the ground.

Almost immediately one of the pegasi took off, hovering about twenty feet before Valor. He could see through the gaping wound in its body that more of the previously dead pegasi were rising to their hooves. One mare in particular was attempting to fly, even though one of her wings was torn, exposing a bony nub. It flapped up and down wildly as she hung lopsided in the air. His view disappeared as the pegasus rushed at him, knocking him to the ground with a thud.

With a quick turn the pegasus was flying back down at him. Valor quickly grabbed the spear that was knocked from him and stabbed it into the air, landing the point through one of the Flyer’s wings. With the speed it was traveling, the sudden stop tore the wing clean off of its body, sending it tumbling through the air until it flew past the cloud’s end. The mare plummeted to the earth below.

“Dark! We have to get out of here! There’s too many!” Valor shouted to the pegasus who was still standing in front of Rainbow Dash, protecting her from any Flyers coming near them. He bucked randomly, not especially aiming for their heads, just hoping to make some sort of contact lest he miss and fall.

“You’re telling me!” He shouted back. Dark turned to face Rainbow, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. She watched her friends fly and limp out of the Coliseum with murderous intents. Some screeched loudly, piercing her ears. Her head was pounding to the point where she could almost hear it.

“Rainbow, I know this is hard, but you have to leave them.” He tried consoling her while fighting off the horde before him.

Valor had killed the other two Flyers and galloped to Dark and Rainbow Dash. He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her rose-coloured eyes. To their side Dark shot another bolt of lightning from the clouds above and beneath him, narrowly missing a Flyer that was closing in on them. “Fuck this!”

“Rainbow, sometimes being loyal means more than sticking around. Sometimes…well sometimes you have to leave the people you care about behind to really help them. Listen to me. These ponies are dead. You dying won’t help them. Come with me to Twilight and Rarity. Be a part of the Elements of Harmony again. Stop this thing from taking away another pony’s friends and family. We need you.”

Her rose eyes looked back into Valor’s thankfully and she stood up straight. With a last sniffle, she regained her composure. “You’re right. I can do this. I have to.”

“Dark, get your ass over here!” Valor yelled to the black pegasus who was being overrun by Flyers. He bucked wildly and tried to summon lightning, only to find that he couldn’t.

“There’s too many! Leave! I can try to hold them off as long as possible!” His body turned back to the Flyers that attempted in vain to knock him to the ground. Dark’s power seemed to be fading with each shove and buck until he finally seemed to give up.

Within a second, Rainbow Dash darted upwards to an incredible height. She did a quick flip and rocketed toward the ground where Dark feebly attempted to defend himself. A funnel formed around Rainbow Dash, growing thinner and thinner until she broke through releasing a massive stream of rainbow behind her. Her collision onto the cloud sent the Flyers shooting backward, knocking many off the cloud in a broken state. The few remaining were crumpled and dead. Bones were sticking out of random locations, blood seeping and pooling around each body. In the center stood Rainbow Dash and Dark Lightning, seemingly fine.

A quick look of the impact zone showed that Dark, Rainbow and Valor were clear to escape without much of a struggle. Valor called to the two pegasi, beckoning them to follow him back to the balloon. He galloped to where his hatchet was lying and gripped it in his teeth. With Dark and Rainbow flying above as lookouts, the small group of survivors began their flight from the decimated Coliseum and the horrors they had faced there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EPILOGUE:
She looked down from a nearby building, waiting for the three ponies to leave the Coliseum. She had seen the Sonic Rainboom before and knew that the Flyers would be either killed or dazed for quite a while. The force nearly knocked her off the building for Celestia’s sake. When the policepony and the two pegasi left the scene a smile crossed her lips.

With a quick dash, the pony jumped into the air and spread her wings, gently flying to the Coliseum, trying not to land near any of the Flyers. This is going to be easy… she thought to herself as she galloped through the massive archway of the Coliseum. All around her she could see the corpses of various pegasi. Each had with them suitcases full of their most valuable possessions. Truly a goldmine for anyone trying to make a quick bit.

She sighed heavily, ignoring the riches around her searching for one thing. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area once more in vain hope that she didn’t miss it. They stopped upon a small basket lying on its side. She let out a small squeal in excitement. Her hooves pressed against her muzzle, realizing what she had done. The pegasus heard a moan behind her that seemed to be coming closer. She turned to find a Flyer, clumsily walking toward her, its wings fractured in all different angles. It attempted to fly, only to drop back onto its hooves.

The pegasus let out a groan in annoyance and quickly moved in front of the Flyer. She whipped her tail around the front leg of the ragged pony and pulled back, knocking it to the ground. The mare looked down at the Flyer that bit randomly into the air, too damaged to get back on its hooves. The pegasus happily trotted back to the basket and picked it up in her mouth, dashing into the sky after she looked around her once more.

Once in the air, she heard a loud, pained screech come from the clouds below her. A few remaining Flyers were gently rising into air, flying in the direction of the policpony and the two pegasi. Oh thank Celestia! She thought as she hugged the basket in her arms.

Free of the Flyers now, she opened the top of the basket revealing an abnormally large amount of muffins of different flavours inside. “Muuuuffiiiiins!” she cried happily. Suddenly her eyes went cross and a derp expression appeared on her excited face. Derpy put the basket handle in her mouth and flew off into the distance, truly happy for the first time since the virus appeared.

Sorry about how long it took to write this one. But, I think it was worth it. A shoutout to Dark Lightning for letting me use his OC. He adds a nice touch to the story, doesn't he? And the epilogue, I know it looks hastily written. But that's just because it was. And see? Derpy's fine. A-Ok. In fact, she has muffins! She's great! I'd never let Derpy die. She's just magically invincible.
Until next time.

Chapter 4 - In the Dark of the Clouds

Before the group had gone a comfortable distance from the Coliseum, a loud, pained shriek came from the behind them. Valor turned to find several surviving Flyers rushing at them, picking up a surprising amount of speed with their beyond broken bodies. A cone seemed to be forming around the front-most Flyer.

“Keep moving, they’ll be on us any minute!” He cried up to the horrified pegasi. Dark and Rainbow looked at each other and dashed down to Valor, swiftly picking him up in their hooves. They flew skillfully around the abandoned city, attempting to out maneuver the oncoming horde. The more clumsy Flyers hit into walls and tumbled from the sky leaving just the elite few in the chase.

“Dammit, we just can’t lose them!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She hastily blinked back the tears forming in her eyes caused by their speed

Dark looked back at the Flyer’s still on their tail. “Rainbow! Turn toward the city square! I got an idea!” He screamed to the mare beside him. She flashed him a confused look, but complied. Dark led them weaving in and out of several buildings and stopped behind one, gently lowering Valor to the ground. Behind them they heard the Flyers speed by, still thinking they were chasing the trio. Rainbow Dash stood beside Valor and Dark, her mouth wide open in disbelief.

Before them stood what appeared to be a basecamp. Earth ponies and unicorns walked freely among the clouds, weapons strapped to their sides. Several tent like structures were erected, revealing cots, tables and other supplies the ponies brought along.

“We have one chance to do this right. It won’t be long until they come back. You two, stay in the shadows.” Dark stared at both of them as he relayed his message. He suddenly turned and began walking into the camp.

“Wait, what the hell are…” Valor began to shout but Rainbow Dash quickly covered his mouth with her hooves.

“It’s an old Cloudsdale military tactic.” She reassured him. “One pegasus distracts the camp while the remaining army rushes in. That way we have the element of surprise. The only thing is we don’t have an… Oh shit.”

“Rainbow what’s wrong?”

“He’s gonna use the Flyer horde as an army. Celestia knows how long it’ll take for them to find us! Valor, you have to get him back here!” She grabbed his shoulders tightly. “Please. I’m not losing anypony else.”

Valor galloped to the camp, attempting to blend in. He stopped when he saw Dark surrounded by a circle of various coloured ponies. Dark snarled and hunched in an attack position, ready to kill anyone that came close to him. “Crap.” Valor muttered to himself. The ponies moved in slowly, equipping nets just in case Dark attempted to take off.

In a flash, one pony leapt forward, a small knife in his mouth. He swung it randomly, grazing Dark Lightning’s side. The pegasus replied with a quick head-butt, knocking the pony to the ground with a thump. He began to rise to his hooves but stopped when he saw Dark pointing the same knife directly at his throat. Hate filled the pegasus’ eyes. The idea of getting even the slightest bit of revenge was incredibly appealing.

The other ponies understood the situation and maneuvered themselves slightly, preparing for an all-out slaughter. A unicorn standing in Dark’s blind spot winked at the ponies standing opposite him. A slight purple glow emanated from her horn. Several ponies prepared themselves to reach for their weapons and gave the unicorn a signal to proceed.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Dark Lightning and the other ponies stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source of the outburst. Officer Valor stood with a confident face. Underneath, he was horrified and entirely unsure how he’d get Dark out of this. Don’t screw this up. You do and you’re both dead.

“He’s on our side!” Valor shouted again to the group of ponies. Dark watched as they all backed away warily. Valor took the opportunity to rush forward toward them.

“This pegasus was our inside man. How else do you think we knew where the pegasi were hiding out? This guy’s a damn hero!” Valor stared down the ponies that circled around Dark. They stood up, abandoning their attack positions and put back the weapons they clasped in their teeth. Dark tucked the knife under a wing and pushed away the pony he held hostage.

He stepped through the circle and approached Valor, glaring at his savior intensely. “I told you to stay back.” He whispered.

“The Flyer’s will be here soon. We can’t have lost them for long.” Valor replied quietly, trying not to draw anymore unnecessary attention.

“Then leave! You and Rainbow can sneak around the camp and get out of here. I can wait for the Flyers and zip out clean.” Dark looked around him briefly to see the ponies disperse. They spoke to each other and eyed the pair carefully. “Thanks to you stopping me, it isn’t safe for either of us now.”

A unicorn walked over to them, interrupting their dispute. “She wants to see you two.” He said to them. They exchanged looks and followed the unicorn along the camp. They passed a medical tent and looked in briefly. Several badly hurt ponies were lying on cots getting patched up by a single nurse. She spotted Valor and Dark and quickly shut the tents flap.

The unicorn walked to one of the cloud buildings and opened the door. He ushered Dark and Valor in and closed the door behind them. “Please, come in!” A singsong voice called out to the bewildered pair. They slowly walked into a large room with a massive desk in the middle. A leather swivel chair stood behind the desk facing the opposite direction.

“You know, it’s a real honor to meet the pegasus that made this operation such a success.” The sultry voice said again without revealing its source. Valor and Dark noticed two hulking earth ponies standing by the doorway they entered. They both had matching rock cutie marks and sledgehammers gripped in their jaws. Ok, looks like escape may be a problem. Valor thought, sensing his plan collapsing underneath him.

“Look Miss, we’re really sorry about this. My friend and I were just trying to get out of Cloudsdale. He’s not infected at all, you can check him.” Valor began, motioning to the furious Dark. “Please if you’ll let us, we’ll be on our way. We have no intention of harming you or your… operations.”

“Miss? Oh no, no, no, no, no.” The chair swiveled back to face them. “Please. Call me the Mayor.”

Rainbow Dash stood in the shadow of the building and stared at the camp, hoping to catch a glimpse of Valor or Dark. She silently cursed herself for letting Dark go so easily and for telling Valor to go after him. It should have been her. She should have at least gone with them. Or floated above on a cloud or something! Celestia knows what’s happening now.

Rainbow Dash sat on her flank and waited, hoping everything was all right.

The hulking ponies in the back slammed their hammers on the ground, blocking the exit. Valor and Dark jumped at the sound and exchanged glances uneasily. The mare sat before them, placing her hooves on the desk. Her blue eyes pierced Valor and Dark who could do nothing but listen. “You two have quite the gall to come to my camp. And then to lie to my brothers? My Celestia, you two are quite the remarkable duo.” She pushed herself back into the chair, making it squeak a little. Valor turned to Dark whose red eyes fiercely glowered at the Mayor.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t have Rock and Roll kill you two right now?” She motioned to the massive ponies who hadn’t moved since they slammed their weapons down. A wicked smile crossed her face.

“You try anything and I’ll kill all three of you.” Dark growled back at the Mayor. Valor felt sweat form on his brow. He realized diplomacy had failed. They only way out now it seemed was to fight. His mind raced, trying to form a plan of attack.

The smile faded quickly on the Mayors face. “Very funny. Rock, Roll; why don’t you boys bring our friends to the prison balloon. We can deal with them once we’re finished up here.” She waved a hoof at them, as if they were filth and turned her chair away again.

“Lady, you either let us go, or you’ll wish I killed you.” Dark only seemed to get angrier. The look he was giving seemingly could tear through someone. He gritted his teeth together viciously as he spoke, spitting a bit as he did.

The Mayor turned to face them again. “Listen you little shit, do not talk down to me. I’m in charge here!” The Mayor bellowed, hitting her hoof against her chest. “I’m the one with the power! You’re an insignificant little pegasus that just happened to avoid what’s been coming to him.” She was screaming now, her voice filled with rage at the rebellious ponies. She suddenly calmed, “Rock, Roll. Kill them now. Why wait until Ponyville?” The two picked up their sledgehammers and started forward slowly. “Oh! And make it quick. I have places to be.” The Mayor laughed maniacally.

Rainbow Dash could feel that something was wrong. Neither Dark nor Valor had crossed her field of view since they entered the camp. Maybe they were caught. She found herself thinking. I killed them… She couldn’t stop thinking the worst. It was her fault again. More ponies were dead because of her.

“No.” She quietly said to herself. “Not this time.” Rainbow Dash flew into the air slowly and plotted a course for a rescue. Behind her, she heard the sound of wings approaching.

Before Dark and Valor could turn they were thrown to the ground with a blow of Rock’s sledgehammer. Dark lay on the floor struggling for air, having taken the full brunt of the force. Valor was up almost immediately and charged at the colossal ponies.

Fuck! He thought to himself, rolling out of the way of a swing that seemed to crack the cloud it struck. He hurried to his hooves and ducked under the other sledgehammer that was aimed directly for his head. Within a second, Valor had successfully used his entire body to tackle Rock to the ground. He stomped down on the pony randomly with all his force, first breaking its front leg and then shattering various ribs in its chest. Valor raised his hoof again, but suddenly found that he couldn’t breathe.

The handle of a sledgehammer was pushing deep into his throat, and it seemed to only go deeper. Valor struggled at the handle with his hooves feeling all his strength dissipate. He tried to yell out to Dark who was still feebly trying to rise but all he could muster was a slight gurgle. Roll was laughing as he tightened his grip, preparing to break Valor’s neck with a quick twist. Valor’s vision began to fade to black; his heart slowing down drastically.

Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and landed back on the clouds. The flurry of wings seemed to be getting closer to her. She kept close to the wall and looked beyond it to find the horde of Flyers in the distance, traveling down the alleyway that led toward the camp.

She felt her stomach drop as the throng of flyers approached her rapidly. In panic, she rose in the air and darted away, toward the camp. She had to get Valor and Dark before it was too late. There were far too many Flyers to fight. Even with the U.E.F. on their side, there was no way the battle would last too long. Out of nowhere, a net landed on Rainbow Dash, tearing her from the sky and onto a cloud below.

“Looks like we missed one.” An orange earth pony was standing over her, his mane draped across his eyes. "Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you.” He kicked a hoof against the struggling Rainbow Dash. She felt the air escape her lungs as he kicked her again and again.

“You gotta let me go. The Flyers are coming.” She pleaded weakly, fighting back tears.

“Flyers. Heh, that’s a cute name for `em.” He hardly had finished speaking when a pegasus landed on top of him, biting down viciously on his throat. The pony tried to scream, but found that only gurgling noises escaped his mouth. Rainbow Dash struggled to fly away, but the net was effectively holding her to the ground. Around her she could see the Flyers invading the camp, sending all the ponies into a frenzy.

One shot. Valor thought quickly, as an idea popped into his head. With all the power he had left, he shot his back leg into the crotch of the pony standing behind him. Roll shouted in pain and dropped the sledgehammer to the ground. Valor collapsed to the floor gasping for air. The pain in his throat was extreme, but masked by the adrenaline pumping through his body. With a lunge forward, he brought a hoof to Roll’s snout, dazing him. Valor reared back his hoof and slammed it again into the pony’s face, pushing Roll’s shattered nose bone deep into his brain. Roll stumbled faintly and collapsed to the ground.

The tide seemed to be turning in his favor. Rock was still on the ground, fighting to keep conscious. He groaned weakly in pain as large bruises formed where his ribs were broken; undoubtedly ribs must have punctured his heart or lungs. Roll was dead on the floor, blood pouring from his nostrils. But a sudden kick to the back sent Valor back to the ground again. The adrenaline was wearing off and he could only muster up enough strength to turn around and stare at the Mayor who stood over him, breathing heavily. Her grey mane was disheveled and her blue eyes appeared bloodshot.

“You ignorant little fuck!” She roared at him. “Do you have any idea who you’re fucking with?” She hit Valor across his face with a hoof. Blood began trickling from his snout slowly. “Idid all of this! I made the United Equestrian Front! I led them to slaughter the pegasi! You don’t think I can kill two pathetic ponies like yourselves?” She punched Valor in the face again, sending a spatter of blood on the floor. “I can handle the Flyers, and I can handle – Arghh!”

She screamed in agony as the knife Dark had hidden pierced her back. Dark Lightning smiled grimly at her and bucked the knife deeper into her body. Her body cringed as she felt her insides tearing from the jagged blade. “You’ll live.” Dark practically cooed to her. “But after this, you’ll wish you hadn’t.” He knocked the Mayor’s body to the floor. She squirmed in a pool of blood that formed around her body. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she watched Dark lift Valor up. Dark focused his energy on the Mayor, wincing as a bolt of lightning shot from the cloud walls and struck the knife in the Mayor.

“That’s for my brother.” He said softly, as he and Valor left the building.

Once outside, they could see that the Flyers had finally made their way to the camp. A massive pack poured through the narrow alleyway opening, all headed toward them. Ponies ran about, shouting orders to each other and attempting to control the situation. However, the amount of Flyers was far too much, and they easily broke the defenses the ponies and unicorns were trying to make.

“Valor, we gotta find Rainbow!” Dark shouted to the policepony. They could see the building she was supposed to be near, and saw no trace of the cyan mare. Dark attempted to shoot in and out of tents in hopes of finding her, but found that the Flyers were congesting the sky too much to maneuver safely. Valor called out her name in vain, his cries lost in the cacophony of ponies screaming and dying.

Beside Valor a purple unicorn was tackled to the ground by two Flyers. They savagely bit into his body, spreading a gory mess on the clouds. Valor ran over to kill the Flyers but found the effort pointless. Either way the pony was dead. He turned around hurriedly and used the distraction to look for Rainbow Dash. Over his shoulder he saw the pony raise a hoof weakly, it suddenly being bitten down on by one of the Flyers. The unicorn let out a death scream and then fell silent.

Rainbow was lying in the net, watching a Flyer tear into the remains of the orange pony that had struck her. She gave up flying away and attempted to roll in the net to get as far away as she could. With a push from her wing, she started moving slowly away. In her excitement she failed to look at her surroundings, bumping into a table and knocking over various foodstuffs onto the cloud. With a grunt, the Flyer turned its muzzle away from the dead pony and toward Rainbow Dash.

Blood was dripping from its muzzle, glistening in the afternoon sun. The Flyer chewed on what appeared to be intestines hanging from its open mouth and cocked its head to the side. Rainbow Dash remained as still as possible, her heart racing. The intestines dropped back to the orange corpse as the Flyer unfurled its wings and let out a loud shrieking noise.

Valor brought his hatchet down squarely into the Flyers skull; its lifeless body dropped face first into the orange pony’s opened stomach. He ran to Rainbow Dash and used the hatchet to cut the net open. Rainbow Dash thankfully hugged Valor and looked at him with a small smile.

“Took you long enough.”

Valor and Rainbow Dash met up with Dark Lightning by the edge of the camp. He stomped his hoof forcefully to the ground and caused lightning to strike out randomly at the Flyers nearby. With them incapacitated, he waved for Rainbow and Valor to follow him. The three galloped away from the camp, leaving the chaos behind them. Even after it was out of their field of view, the pained screams of the devoured ponies were heard echoing throughout the abandoned city.

After a long run, they finally saw Valor’s balloon in the distance. Rainbow Dash recognized it immediately and squealed happily. She scooped up Valor and flew toward it, Dark trailing behind them slightly. By the time he got there Valor had already started preparing the balloon for departure.

“It’ll be nice to get some rest on these wings.” Rainbow Dash fluffed her wings out and cracked them. “Hadn’t flown on these babies like that in a while.” Dark laughed and agreed, sitting lazily on his flank. Valor boarded the balloon at last and sent the balloon on a slow journey down to Ponyville. The three enjoyed the sunlight above them and relaxed for the first time since Celestia knows when.

Their relaxation was brought to a halt, however, when their balloon lurched suddenly, toppling Dark forward from where he sat. He grumbled and rubbed a hoof through his red mane. “The hell was that.”

They leaned out of the balloon and looked up to find a Flyer gliding along the balloon clumsily. It crashed into the balloon foolishly, biting into the fabric deeply. Small holes were appearing with each bite, sending the balloon dropping faster. Attracted by the increased movement, the Flyer screeched and flew at it wildly.

“Oh shit, hold on!” Valor directed the pegasi. They grasped the sides of the balloon with their hooves and prepared for impact. The Flyer pierced the balloon, sending it plummeting through the air. The Flyer was stuck inside the fabric, making noises in confusion as it too fell to the earth at an alarming rate.

Dark and Valor clung to the side of the basket, hopelessly awaiting their imminent deaths. Rainbow Dash, however, smiled and jumped out of the balloon. She gripped a rope from the balloon in her mouth and flew upward with all her strength. I got this. She thought to herself. The balloons weight was dragging her down, but with the opposing force, they were no longer racing at lethal speeds.

The balloon crash landed in Ponyville with a loud bang. Dark and Valor exited the basket, more shaken than injured. Dark moaned about his wing that appeared to be sprained from the landing. Rainbow Dash had long since let go of the rope and landed besides them. Trotters had begun to appear along the buildings, encircling the trio.

“We just can’t get a fucking break can we?” Dark asked angrily. He concentrated and let out a low grunt as a bolt of lightning shot from the clouds above and hit a Trotter that approached them. “Better come up with a plan fast. I can’t exactly do this forever you know. The clouds are too damn far.”

“Valor, you said you needed to get the Elements of Harmony, right?” Rainbow questioned the policepony standing next to her. The Trotters continued the pour from every street toward them. “Yeah, why’s that?” He asked automatically, trying to plot an escape. Dark shot another bolt to the ground, narrowly missing a Trotter. He cursed under his breath and tried again.

“My friend Pinkie Pie lives down the road in Sugarcube Corner. She’s the element of Laughter.” Valor’s head perked up. “Dark, take Rainbow Dash back to the library. I’m sure she knows the way.” A lightning bolt struck the Trotter Dark had aimed for. It collapsed to the ground, twitching slightly.

“Fuck yeah!” He hoof pumped and then realized what Valor ordered. “Wait, what the hell are you gonna do?” Valor searched through the balloon wreckage for his hatchet. “I’m gonna rescue The Element of Laughter. I need you to protect Rainbow Dash. We need her alive and the library is the safest place I can think of.”

The Trotters were uncomfortably close to them, leaving Rainbow Dash and Dark Lightning no time to argue. They nodded at Valor and watched him run at toward the direction of Sugarcube Corner. “He’s gonna get himself killed one of these days.” Dark sighed. “Rainbow, I need you to carry me to the library. I hurt my wing in the crash.”

The cyan mare flashed a showy smile and darted up into the air. Her wings began to cramp up from over use, sending back to the ground in heap. “Well, that’s not supposed to happen.” Around them, the Trotters were still closing in leaving no possible area of escape. Dark sighed again. “Should have stayed in Cloudsdale.”

Valor turned a corner and saw Sugarcube Corner in the distance. He had narrowly avoided being bitten by the Trotters by sheer luck. A quick chop here and there either killed them or slowed their advance. He had expected the fight to last longer, but instead the road he turned onto was bare. Not only were there no Trotters, but all traces of bodies in general were gone. He cautiously walked, eying the spots of blood that remained on the ground and the walls. Suddenly his ears perked up.

A voice was softly singing somewhere nearby. “Hello? Anypony here?” Valor called out, hearing his voice echo back to him. No one answered and the singing only continues. It was too faint for him to hear the words, but it sounded upbeat.

“…Cupcakes…tasty…don’t be…” the voice sang. As Valor neared the source he could hear how forced the words were. The song was no longer a pleasant one, but instead was out of tune and tortured. He walked up to Sugarcube Corner and tried to peak through the windows, but quickly noticed they were barricaded from the inside.

“Anypony in there?” He called again. While nobody replied, the singing from inside only quickened. Valor heard what appeared to be a spoon stirring.

“So sweet and tasty! Cupcakes… d-don’t be too hasty!”

Valor looked around himself once again to make sure he was safe and went to the front entrance. HE found the door unlocked and gently pushed it open, facing nothing but darkness. A light was on in another room, flickering on and off. He shut the door behind him and stepped inside. Suddenly the singing stopped.

“Pinkie Pie? My name is Officer Valor of the PVPD. I’m here to bring you to safety…” Valor walked toward the lit room but stopped in his tracks. Is that… he looked at the far wall. Splatters of red were slowly dripping down to the floor. A dull pain smashed against the back of his head. His vision went black. Valor heard a laugh and then, nothing.

Chapter 5 - Blood and Sugar

“What the hell are we gonna do now?” Rainbow Dash screamed to Dark Lightning. The two were standing close together, their bodies practically pushing against each other as they attempted to stay as far away from the Trotters that were approaching en masse.

“How am I supposed to know?” He growled back. Dark Lightning clenched his teeth as he forced another bolt of lightning down from the sky. It struck a three-legged unicorn that had hobbled clumsily toward them. In an instant it became scorched and fell to the ground, twitching wildly and then falling still.

He looked around at the balloon wreckage again, hoping to find something, anything, that could aid in their escape.

Fabric, wood, rope…

“Dark, hurry up…” Rainbow Dash was beginning to lose her cool.

Celestia dammit! Fabric, wood, and rope… What they fuck can I make with this…?

The Trotters were incredibly close now. Rainbow was visibly sweating as the tattered ponies neared her continuously, biting viciously at the air. She let out a yell as one lumbered forward unexpectedly. With a quick turn, Rainbow Dash bucked it in the head with a loud crunching noise. It fell to the ground, tripping several other Trotters behind it.

“Seriously, hurry the fuck up!” She screamed at him, returning to his side.

Fabric… Wood… Rope. Wait! Rope!

“Rainbow, help me throw the balloon onto the Trotters by that building.” He nodded his head hurriedly to a nearby home. The two pegasi grabbed the balloon fabric in their mouths and tossed it into the air, watching it drift over the Trotters. Dark Lightning grabbed a splintered piece of wood and stabbed it through an edge of the fabric, into the ground. Rainbow Dash saw his plan and did the same. Disoriented by the tarp, the Trotters underneath staggered in random directions, entirely unsuccessful in their attempts to break free.

“Get some wood.” Dark told Rainbow Dash who immediately complied. He reached down to the ground and grabbed the rope at his hooves. “All right, follow me.”

The two jumped onto the covered Trotters to their immediate surprise. Under the balloon, they could feel the decimated bodies and watched blood soak through the fabric from the prolonged exposure to wounded Trotters. Some Trotters tried biting through the fabric, their teeth occasionally tearing it slightly. The pair galloped quickly on top of the Trotters and reached the end of their balloon fabric.

“Oh shit.” Dark Lightning tripped slightly but caught himself before he fell into the horde of Trotters before him. Rainbow grabbed his mane and pulled him back up.

“Die after you get us out of here.” She said to him, almost mockingly. Underneath them, they could feel the Trotters shifting aimlessly as they attempted to figure out where they were and, more importantly, what was standing on their backs. Before them, more Trotters were still coming toward the balloon crash. The group was still too dense to maneuver safely.

“Ok, rookie. What’s your plan again?”

Dark Lightning grabbed the wood from Rainbow Dash and tied it hastily to the rope. With a well-aimed throw, he tossed the wood into an open window and tugged back on the rope. The wood quickly became lodged in the windowsill.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Ahhh, shit.” Officer Valor grumbled, opening his eyes slowly. His head had a dull ache that pulsed repeatedly, giving him the urge to vomit. Valor gently tried to rise to his hooves, but found himself restrained with ropes. The room he was in was entirely black; the barricaded windows let in tiny streams of dying light that failed to light up any aspect of his surroundings.

He frantically moved his head trying to find some hints to his location, his breathing increasing rapidly as he did so. His eyes suddenly stopped at a doorway that led to what appeared to be a kitchen. A steady beam of fluorescent white light ominously beamed out, flakes of dust floating slowly in the light. The light began to flicker unexpectedly, much to Valor’s dismay.

“Hey, fix that stupid light!” A strange voice called from in the kitchen. Officer Valor tried piecing together the accent, figuring that the voice was from a male; more than likely from the outskirts of Manehattan or even Detrot City.

“Oui! Ze lights are too dim!” Another, higher pitched voice cried out. Valor was confused by the French accent this other pony had. A wave of panicked washed over him as he realized there must have been several ponies in the group that had captured him.

“Okie Dokie Loki!” A third voice replied somewhat excitedly. Valor strained his eyes to see what the pony looked like that entered his field of view. His vision still fuzzy from the blow to his head, he could make out a pink blur with a straightened mane. In its mouth was a spoon that it used to hit the light gently several times. It flickered slightly and then continued beaming, slowly waving back and forth.

What the fuck… Valor’s vision was returning, the blur decreasing at a rapid rate. He watched the pony stand and stare at the swaying light, its head slowly following the lamps movements. He could hear her softly humming a song, tossing several words in sweetly. Ok, a pink mare... Valor thought to himself, taking notes on his environment. He blinked furiously to help keep his sight clear. And at least two more ponies in the kitchen.

Suddenly his eyes noticed the streaks of red that stained the far wall behind the pink mare. He remembered the drips of wet blood he saw when he first entered the building, noticing that now they were much bigger. They were still slightly wet, glistening gently in the bright, white light. He could feel his breathing increase uncontrollably, a small gasping noise escaping his mouth.

The pink mare stopped moving her head suddenly and quickly turned her head to face into the dark room Valor was laying in. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! He tried to hold back his breathing. The last thing he wanted was any attention before he could come up with a plan of escape. The humming continued as the pink mare smiled into the room, her straight pink mane looking frazzled and sticky with dried blood.

“Oooooh! I think he woke up!” Her smile widened as she began slowly walking to Valor. He could see her eye twitching slightly as she approached him. Valor tried desperately to free himself, unsure of the mare’s and the other ponies in the kitchen’s plans with him. He felt the rope dig into his forelegs and gave up, a slight trickle of blood running down his hoof.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” The pink mare pronounced happily, the toothy grin on her face quickly losing its cheerful effect and adding to Valor’s uneasiness. Her wide, unblinking eyes swept over Valor’s body, finally settling on his cutie mark.

“Oooooh, handcuffs! That’s so cool! Were you a policepony? Did you ever arrest anypony really mean? Did you ever…” Pinkie Pie stopped her stream of rapid fire questions long enough for her eye to twitch suddenly, her face remaining entirely the same. She let out a giggle and closed the space between their faces. He could feel her warm breath against his muzzle.

“Did you… did you ever kill anypony?”

“And just how the fuck are we gonna swing that?” Rainbow Dash asked Dark Lightning, dumbfounded. “The ropes too long! We’ll just hit the ground.”

The Trotters they were standing on were still maneuvering randomly beneath them, but the sheer mass of bodies limited their movements greatly making standing on them possible, albeit still difficult. Trotters had long since started walking aimlessly around, apparently losing interest in the balloon crash after finding no meat. However, a small group was still gathering at their hooves.

“We’re not gonna swing it. We’ll try and fly it.” Dark Lightning grabbed the rope tightly in his mouth and fly into the air, ignoring the sharp pain in his wings. He moved slowly toward the building when suddenly he felt his right wing begin stinging sharply. It shot back to his side and he began plummeting to the ground, the rope swinging him toward the building wall. He hit it with a loud thud and scrambled up the wall in through the window.

“Your turn!” He screamed out to Rainbow Dash. He felt a smile coming to his face from the rush of excitement, but remembering their situation quickly stopped. The Trotters at the edge of the canvas were beginning to turn around and leave the tarp, making it increasingly unstable to stand on.

“Dark! Throw the rope!” She screamed at him, feeling the “ground” slipping away. She lost her footing and fell to her haunches, sending the Trotter she landed on to the ground. She heard a loud rip and turned to face a horde of bloodied Trotters. Their milky eyes glistened from underneath the shadow of the make shift tarp; their voices joined together in a single wanting moan.

If she wasn’t frozen in place from fear, she would have heard Dark Lightning screaming down to her to fly up as high as she could. She would have possibly thought of that herself, possibly even noticing that her fall knocked back several Trotters, giving her a small space to possibly escape from. Instead, she stood face to face with a disfigured earth pony mare with an orange mane. On its flank was a large bite mark, part of a carrot appearing below it.

“Oh Celestia, Carrot Top! What… what happened to you…” Rainbow Dash reached a hoof to her friend, half expecting her to reply with a smile. Instead, the mare’s dead, emerald eyes stared ahead blankly as a gurgling noise escaped its open mouth. In a second, Rainbow Dash found herself on the ground underneath Carrot Top who tried desperately to bite into Rainbow’s cyan coat. Rainbow Dash struggled mightily, holding her dead friend back with both of her hooves. She could feel her strength sapping quickly with each step the other Trotters took toward her.

Officer Valor stared up at Pinkie, refusing to answer her question. Her grin faded quickly, turning into a disappointed frown.

“Ugh, you’re no fun! The other ponies at least spoke to me!” She whined. “I know you’re mad I tied you up like a Hearth’s Warming Eve turkey, but I didn’t want you running away!” She moved her face back and plopped her flank down on the hardwood floor with a small thud. Her straight, pink mane dangled carelessly to the floor and covered half of her face.

“What do you mean ‘other ponies?’” Valor finally spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. His voice was somewhat raspy from being knocked out. He tried remembering the last time he had something to drink…

Pinkie Pie abruptly giggled at his question. “You silly filly! You think you’re the only pony to help me with my party?” Out of the blue, she pulled a green spotted party hat and shoved it onto Valor’s head, the elastic band snapping loudly against his light brown coat.

Valor cringed slightly. “Well no, you got the other ponies in the kitchen. What do you need me for?”

“Ponies in the kitchen?” Pinkie asked, giving Valor a look of confusion. A smile appeared on her face in realization. “Oh! You mean Rocky, Sir Lints-a-lot, Mr. Turnip and Madame LeFlour!” Her face quickly turned to a fearful frown. “They… they aren’t too nice when it comes to helping me with the party…” Pinkie Pie’s voice trailed off as she turned to stare back into the kitchen.

“Pinkie, is everything ok? Are they hurting you?” Valor questioned quietly, lest the unknown ponies hear him. His eyes scanned over her body searching for cuts or bruises. Several splotches of blood stained her pink coat and straight mane; however none of it seemed to belong to her. “Pinkie, my name is Office Valor. Twilight sent me to get you and bring you back to the library.”

Pinkie Pie brightened up instantly, her mane randomly turning into a large poof. “Really?! Twilight’s alive? Howbout everypony else?”

“Yes,” he said calmly, shushing Pinkie Pie. Any unwanted attention from the other ponies could damper his plans greatly. “Untie me and we can get out of here.”

“What? Are you crazy!? I can’t do that! What about the party!” Pinkie jumped up on her hind hooves and waved her forelegs excitedly in the air.

“Shhh! Pinkie, please untie me. I’ll talk to everypony in the kitchen. Maybe they can handle your… party.” Valor felt sweat on his brow as he tried desperately to get Pinkie to let him free. Silently, he tried breaking through the ropes again, only to reopen the cuts on his wrists and continue bleeding.

“Uh… uh…” Pinkie Pie turned her head back and forth between the policepony before her and the kitchen. “Just sit here; I’ll go ask my friends!” She turned abruptly and trotted happily into the kitchen.

“Rainbow!” Dark Lightning cried out the window. He watched in horror as Rainbow Dash collapsed under the unexpected weight of the yellow mare. His first response was to fly to her rescue, only realizing halfway out the window that his right wing refused to flap.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” He mumbled lowly as he surveyed his surroundings for anything that could save Rainbow Dash. He heard her scream and quickly returned to the window. Rainbow Dash punched a hoof into the mare's face that knocked it off of her and into the dirt, sending some flying into the air. She dashed to her hooves again, finding herself in an even worse situation: Trotters surrounding her, entirely ready to feast.

Dark Lightning let out a soft sigh and dove out of the window, the rope that dangled from the windowsill swinging lightly from the breeze he created. He landed with a thud and galloped to Rainbow Dash, ramming the sporadically located Trotters in his path out of his way. Rainbow Dash was only a few feet away, blocked by a wall of Trotters. She stood in the center, backing away from her constantly closing space, pure terror on her usually collected face.

Dark Lightning smiled wickedly and shot into the air, his wings spread as wide as they could go. He concentrated his powers, feeling the power of the lightning flow through his body, revitalizing him. He glided over the Trotters with ease and landed dead center in the horde. Upon seeing Dark Lightning, Rainbow Dash jumped, frightened.

She grabbed him tightly, pulling his body as close as she could. Dark Lightning furrowed his brows as the smile of his face grew larger. He reared up on his hind legs and stamped his front hooves down on the ground, feeling the energy in his body disappearing in a flash. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky straight toward Dark Lightning, splitting in half when it neared him and Rainbow Dash. It struck the ground with a massive amount of force, a large shockwave of electricity shooting in every direction and electrocuting the Trotters nearby.

The smell of burnt flesh began filling the air as they all fell to the ground. Several remained twitching involuntarily as the current continued passing through their rotted bodies; still more had smoke rising from their opened wounds, caramelized blood mixing with the dirt to make a putrid blend.

Dark Lightning stood still with Rainbow Dash holding onto him thankfully. The feeling of power had long since left his body, leaving him feeling weak and unsteady. Dark Lightning collapsed to his haunches, Rainbow Dash preventing him from hitting the ground.

“Shit, Dark…” She looked at him with concern in her magenta eyes. He didn’t respond, feeling his mouth go numb as well as the rest of his body. It was all he could do to try and stay conscious. Rainbow Dash noticed and helped him back onto his hooves, putting his foreleg over her and led him to the library. “Let’s get you somewhere safe…”

“Pinkie, wait!” Valor whispered loudly, but she didn’t hear him. “Fuck.” He muttered under his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small bowl with liquid in it. The feeling of intense thirst passed over him suddenly as he eyed it achingly. He tried pushing his body to the floor, but remained upright. All the while, Valor could hear Pinkie arguing with the other ponies:

“What do ya mean let him go?!” The outer-Manehattanite yelled suddenly.

“But, Rocky! He’s gonna bring me to Twilight and everypony else!” Pinkie cried in defense.

“You should just stay here.” Another masculine voice replied, somewhat menacingly.

“I… I know, but I miss my friends, Mr. Turnip.” She sounded on the verge of tears, clearly torn about what to do.

“But, my dear, think about the party!” A formal voice said. “You’d be letting everypony in town down if you gave up now!”

“Oui! I agree with Sir Lints-a-lot!” Valor could only assume the final voice belonged to Madame LeFlour, but paid little attention to the content of their discussion. With a well-placed shove, Valor found himself lying on his side, next to the bowl.

“I guess you’re right. I’ve already baked so many tasty treats! I should at least finish baking before I leave…” Valor could hear Pinkie Pie walking around in the kitchen and listened for the sounds of other hooves. When he didn’t, he began to worry; but the feeling faded quickly as he inched forward and found his face directly above the bowl. Valor dropped his face in the cool, cold water and felt it against his coat. Refreshed, Officer Valor began quickly drinking it, the cold water stinging his sore throat.

“Hey, maybe you could get your friends over here!” Rocky offered to Pinkie Pie.

“But… but…” Pinkie Pie sounded dismayed.

“We need as many ponies as possible.” Sir Lints-a-lot quickly rebutted.

Pinkie Pie sighed. “I guess your right…”

“Precisely. Why not get that policepony in here first?” He added again.

Officer Valor picked up his head at the mention of his profession and stared toward the doorway. Pinkie Pie stood between the frames and watched Officer Valor, her mane once again deflated. She wore a deep frown on her face and shook her head sadly.

“I’m sorry.” She said quietly and began walking toward him, her hooves dragging against the floor.

Dark Lightning opened his eyes slowly to find Rainbow Dash sitting before him. Her prismatic mane hung partially on her face, blocking one of her tear stained eyes. When she noticed him waking, she lunged thankfully on to him and began sobbing. He returned with a small hug and looked around his new surroundings.

“Where the hell are we?” He asked, noting the large bookcases surrounding him. A massive window stood on the opposite wall; through it he could see stars beginning to dot the sky.

“We’re in the library. I brought you here after you… well, after you saved me.” She responded, quickly hugging him again. She pulled away and stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes again. She flipped her mane back, revealing her other eye. A smile crossed her face. “Not bad for a rookie, I guess.”

“A rookie?” Dark said, laughing. “Ah, screw off. If it weren’t for me, you’d be nothing but a pile of bones.” He stretched his wings and rose to his hooves, feeling a bit tired still. “Did Valor get back yet?”

“Oh, goodness, you’re awake!” Twilight called down to Dark Lightning and Rainbow Dash. “Are you feeling any numbness or shortness of breath?” She began walking down the steps to the foyer.

“Eh, just a crick in my neck. I’m good though. Who’re you?” Dark Lightning twisted his head, cracking his neck loudly.

“Twilight Sparkle.” She announced, cheerfully. “And you’re Dark Lightning, I presume? Rainbow Dash has told me a lot about you while you were resting.” She trotted up to him and studied his body closely for any damage. “You have the power to control lightning, right?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Dark Lightning looked around the library, familiarizing himself with everything. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were speaking about everything that had happened since the outbreak began. He went upstairs and found Rarity lying in bed, breathing heavily in her sleep. Her broken leg hung out from under her covers looking yellow and swollen. He cringed at her and returned to the main floor.

“Did Officer Valor get back yet?” He asked again. Rainbow Dash and Twilight turned to him, frowning.

“Not yet.” Twilight Sparkle answered. She looked concerned. Rainbow Dash noticed and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Valor? He’s a badass. He’ll get back here soon and I know it! I wouldn’t be surprised if he already rescued everypony else and is leading them here now.”

“You told him Sugarcube Corner was near the crash site. What if he’s held up in a building?” Dark Lightning said suddenly, walking to the front door and looking through the peep-hole for any Trotters in the vicinity. “It’s dark out. If he’s trying to come back now, he’s as good as fucked. I’m gonna go help him.”

“What? Are you crazy?! You’ll get yourself killed!” Rainbow Dash cried to him. “Besides, you’re weak. You have to rest.”

“Dark, please. Come back and lay down a bit longer.” Twilight waved a hoof, beckoning him to the makeshift bed he woke up on.

“You’re gonna let him stay out there like this?” Dark Lightning narrowed his eyes. “He risks his life to save your friends and you’re letting him die out there?” Twilight looked hurt and turned away. With that, Dark Lightning unlatched the door. He suddenly found himself on the floor, Rainbow Dash on top of him.

“I’m not letting you open it. He knew what he was getting into. We told him not to go, he made his own decision.” She clambered off of his body and stared down at him. “Valor will be fine. You and I both saw what he was capable on Cloudsdale. He and Pinkie Pie will get here somehow. And if you so much as go near that door again, you’ll never come back in here.”

Rainbow Dash turned and went to Twilight Sparkle who sat in a corner on a pillow. Her head rest on her hooves, the sound of sobbing filling the otherwise silent library. Dark Lightning remained on the floor and frowned at the front door.

Celestia dammit, Valor. Where are you…

Officer Valor was motionless as Pinkie Pie dragged him toward the kitchen by the ropes. He watched the dark room grow farther away and the blood on the kitchen wall grow closer. The overwhelming silence of the kitchen confused him; the realization that he hadn’t seen these mystery ponies or heard them move washed over him.

The light shone upon a massive assortment of baked goods; cupcakes, muffins and the likes lined the walls. Valor was surprised by the loud sound of fly’s buzzing around the room, all attracted by the strange aroma that filled the air. What bothered Valor more was the presence of not only no ponies, but instead of several strangely placed items wearing party hats.

He eyed a small pile of rocks sitting on a stool that stood next to a bloody kitchen table. A knife sat close by, gleaming menacingly in the fluorescent light. Nearby was a half empty bag of flour, the sack wrinkled to the point of slightly resembling a face. A rusty bucket full of rotting turnips sat on the counter near a plate of cupcakes, a large ball of lint by its side. While Pinkie Pie dropped Valor onto the kitchen floor, it suddenly clicked.

“Pinkie, you have to let me go. We need to get to the library.” Valor began, trying to rationalize with the insane mare.

She quickly went to the pile of rocks and phased out. “What are you talking about? She’s gotta stay here with us!” Pinkie Pie dashed over to the flour and grasped it in her hooves, some of the white powder falling to the floor in a small pile.

“Oui! She must be here for ze party! Zese treats won’t cook zemselves!” She squeaked in a high pitch voice. In an instant she was back by Valor’s side, completely oblivious to her changes in personality.

“What the hell is all this talk about a ‘party’?” Valor demanded. He could feel rage boiling up in his body.

“Everypony’s been so sad recently…” Pinkie Pie sighed as she looked down at Valor. “Every day they’re outside moaning and, and crying!” Tears were forming in her blue eyes as she explained. “Nopony even comes over anymore…” Her voice trailed off.

“Pinkie…” Office Valor was cut off by Pinkie, who slapped a hoof against his face.

“And one day!” She began again, excitedly. A grin began forming on her face. “One day, Rocky came up with a super-wonderful idea! He said I should throw everypony a party!” With that she darted toward the counter and grabbed cupcake, returning to Valor. She extended it happily and waited for him to bite it.

“Uhh, no thanks.” Valor said softly, reeling his head back. Pinkie Pie frowned angrily and pushed the treat into Valor’s face. His eyes opened wide at the foul, strange taste in his mouth. He recognized the bitter, metallic taste of blood and grimaced.

“So I made everypony a big cake!” She quickly grew a stern look on her face. “But nopony ate it. It just sat there all day! Can you believe it?”

Officer Valor spit the cupcake out of his mouth and wished he had more of that water to eliminate the horrible taste it left behind. Pinkie Pie frowned at him and walked over to the kitchen table. Three bones lay on the floor, partially blocked by one of the wooden legs. Alarm washed over Valor.

“One day,” She began again. “I saw a pony eating another pony! It was so gross, I felt sick. But it made me think.” Officer Valor spotted a nail sticking out of the hardwood floor a few feet away. He slowly moved himself over it and began rubbing the ropes that restrained him on it. Pinkie Pie stared at the piles of food and scanned them.

“Why would one pony eat another one? Does my cake taste that bad?” She asked to no one in particular. “Of course not!” She cheerfully answered herself. “So I thought, ‘maybe ponies taste good!’ I took a couple of the ponies in the street and tried using my recipes. And everypony loved them!”

The ropes around Valor’s wrists began fraying, but not nearly enough to break free. When Pinkie Pie turned to face him, he stopped moving.

“Then it sounds like you solved the problem. Why do you need me?”

“They kept moaning!” She screamed at him. “I gave them every cupcake I made and they kept making those fucking noises…” Pinkie Pie began sobbing. “I just want them to stop. I want them to be happy…”

With that, Pinkie Pie grabbed Valor and dragged him toward the kitchen table. The ropes were stuck on the nail and with a tug, Pinkie Pie managed to separate them, the ropes fraying even more. She used all of her strength to lift him onto the table. He could the feel the blood on the tale seeping into his coat, as well as tears from Pinkie Pie dripping onto him.

“Pinkie Pie, why do you need me?” He asked again, trying to keep his composure.

She trotted to the counter and grabbed a small set of knives in her teeth. Panic flooded through him. He pulled as tightly at the ropes as possible, but remained restrained.

“Pinkie Pie, those ponies are all dead.” Officer Valor hardly had enough to time to finish speaking when Pinkie began yelling.

“Fuck you! Who are you to tell me what’s alive and dead! Those ponies are walking around!” She sniffled lightly. Valor could see the anger and sadness in her eyes.

“You know they are, Pinkie. You’ve seen how disfigured some of them are. There’s no way anypony could survive like that.” Pinkie just stared at him with tears welling up again. “I know it’s hard, but we have to try and accept this.”

She dropped the tray to the floor with a loud clang and began crying again. “I don’t want to do this anymore…” She said in between sobs to the rocks, bag of flour and bucket. “I can’t hurt anypony else.”

Her eyes went blank and she grabbed the rocks. “What do you mean stop? Don’t you wanna make them happy?” She bounced the rocks in rhythm to what she said. In a flash she was holding the ball of lint.

“You ran out of bodies outside. We agreed on using more… fresh ingredients.”

Pinkie Pie reverted to her regular self. “I don’t care! I didn’t want to ever hurt anypony.”

“Shut up, you foal!” Pinkie was moving “Rocky” once more. “I always knew you’d crack up sometime. I’ll bake for the party myself then.” Pinkie Pie grabbed a knife and put it in front of Valor. Her eyes stared deeply into nothing.

Officer Valor thrashed wildly on the table, feeling the ropes around his wrists snap under the extreme force. He hit the knife to the floor with a free hoof and pushed himself off the table.

“What is this? It’s downright despicable!” Pinkie Pie cried in Madame LeFlour’s voice. Valor reeled back a hoof and smacked Pinkie Pie across her face, knocking her to the ground. He stood over her and watched her eyes blink quickly and glance around the room. She spotted the bucket of turnips and frowned.

“Are you ok?” Valor asked as he offered her a hoof. She gratefully took it and pulled herself back on all fours.

“I’m… I’m so sorry…” She said softly, avoiding eye contact with Officer Valor. “I didn’t mean to hurt anypony. Honestly, I just…. I lost myself.”

Valor smiled uneasily and pulled Pinkie Pie into a hug; one that she returned gratefully. She cried lightly, remembering everything that she had done. The ponies she had killed, the insanity she had suffered through.

“Please forgive me… I… I…”

Valor let her go and looked at her face with a kind smile. “It’s too late to go back to the library tonight. Let’s stay here and go back tomorrow.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and went into the kitchen again. She picked up the flour, bucket of turnips, dust ball and the rocks and threw them outside. She returned to Valor and approached a couch.

“I guess,” She sniffled. “I guess I’ve always been a bit crazy.”

Valor looked at her and grinned. “Pinkie, there’s a fine line between laughter… and lunacy.”

Pinkie Pie laughed and wiped her eyes. She leaned back on the couch and felt exhausted. Her body welcomed the feeling of rest and within a few moments she was already drifting away.

“Valor?” She said softly.

“Yeah Pinkie?” He replied. He sat on the opposite end of the couch.

“I hope you can forgive me…”

“…Get some sleep.”

Chapter 6 - The Road Home

Officer Valor woke up early; the sun just barely shone through the cracks in the barricaded windows. Valor had slept lightly the night before, uncomfortable with being so close to the pony that only hours prior had attempted to kill him. He looked to his side to find Pinkie Pie still lying on the couch, sucking on her hoof and snoring lightly. He sighed in relief and felt a smile crawl on his face.

He grumbled to himself, cracking his neck loudly. Pinkie Pie let out an unconscious groan at the abrupt noise and returned to her slumber. A drop of drool fell from her mouth and fell onto the couch.

Valor rose to his hooves and glanced around the room. His eyes surveyed the staircase in the corner, Pinkie Pie on the couch, the front door and suddenly stopped on the water bowl from the day before. A visible amount of dust and dirt had found its way into the water, making look far less appetizing than he wanted to admit. His stomach growled noisily as he trotted over to the water and began to slurp the rest of it down his throat, ignoring the slightly thick consistency and bitter taste.

He felt a hoof nudge gently into his side, sending him jumping, the bowl in his hooves falling to the floor and spilling the remaining liquid.

“Hi Valor.” Pinkie Pie had a sad smile on her face. Her pink mane was still deflated and stuck out randomly over her face.

“Oh, uh, hey Pinkie. Feeling ok?” Valor stepped back from her a little and examined the part of her face that he had hit the day before. She had a bruise, but the damage was minimal.

“Yeah, everything’s… fine.” Pinkie’s blue eyes swept over Valor as if sensing his unease. The smile disappeared, replaced by a deep frown. “I’m really sorry about this… about everything.” She moved toward him, closing the gap between them. “I mean, after what I did to those ponies… What I almost did to you.”

Pinkie paused and wiped her eyes, several tears falling down her cheek.

“When you broke free, you could… should have killed me! Should have thrown me outside overnight or, or something! It would’ve been for the better…”

“What?” Valor asked, alarmed at Pinkie’s outburst. “C’mon, Pinkie, I know that you didn’t mean to do what you did. With the situation at hand here, you know, fucking zombies, if any of us don’t go a bit crazy, that’s when we have to start worrying.”

Valor reached out a hoof to Pinkie Pie who slapped it down, the frown deepening. “Valor, I killed ponies. I did it.”

“You weren’t in your head…”

“Stop doing that!” she yelled, a small stream of tears coming out of her eyes. “Don’t try to downplay what I did. You should leave me here or something. I don’t want to hurt anpony else.”

“Pinkie, you’re ok now.”

“How do you know? How do you know I won’t randomly go all crazy again!?” The look on her face was one of pure terror. She paced back in forth, waving her hooves in the air wildly. “If you bring me to my friends, I could kill them.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Valor tried again to put a hoof on her shoulder, comfortingly. She cringed under his touch and was reluctantly pulled into a hug. She wriggled free and looked down at the floor.

“If I do kill them, you’re responsible.”

“Pinkie…”

“No, listen to me. You won’t let me hurt them, right?”

Valor sighed. “Yes. I’ll protect them with my life. But you’re…”

“Will you kill me if you have to?”

A confused look crossed Valor’s face. He studied Pinkie’s face, noticing her serious expression. “I won’t need to.”

“Will you kill me!?” she screamed at Valor. Pinkie Pie stomped a hoof down on the hardwood floor and stared into the poilcepony’s eyes.

“…Pinkie, if that’s what it takes to protect everypony, then… then I will. Now please, you have to come back to the library with me. We need all the Elements to stop this.”

Valor turned to face the door, but Pinkie Pie stuck out a hoof and turned him back to her.

“You Pinkie promise?”

Office Valor smiled lightly and nodded. “Let’s get going. Celestia knows how long it’ll take to get back.”

He led Pinkie Pie to the front door and glanced outside, noticing that the area was still relatively clear of Trotters and corpses. He started outside; Pinkie Pie lingered in Sugarcube Corner for several seconds, staring into the eerily lit kitchen at the bloodstains on the opposite wall.

Don’t hang around with that loser. Stay here!

Oui madame! Help us bake!

Pinkie Pie gazed at the dried blood and tray of knives lying scattered on the floor; she shook her head. “No. Not anymore”

She walked outside into the sunlight and quietly closed the door behind her. Valor was waiting in the distance, scouting the surrounding area for weapons. She slowly galloped toward him, Sugarcube Corner shrinking in the distance until it was a dot on the horizon.

“Shh, get back.” Valor waved a hoof at Pinkie Pie, who quickly moved behind a nearby building. The library stood about three blocks away, but in between them and it were several sporadically located groups of Trotters. Valor dove into cover, next to Pinkie Pie.

“Alright,” he began, peeking around the corner once again to memorize the layout. “This shouldn’t be too hard for us. I count six groups of Trotters, each having around…” he took a quick mental count. “Like twenty or so in them.”

Pinkie Pie nodded in response. She sat on the ground, waiting for him to continue. Tied hurriedly to her left hind leg was a small knife that had been scrounged from the skull of a Trotter. It was dull and rusted with blood, but she refused to have a weapon that could cause any serious damage to anypony she cared about, lest she revert to “Pinkamena.”

“If we move fast enough, we can easily run around the first three groups without having to fight off a single Trotter. But after that, we pretty much have to play it by ear. The rest will have noticed us and I’m sure they’ll cluster together. Just be ready to hack and slash at everything that comes near us.”

She nodded and rose to her hooves, stretching slightly.

“You sure this is a good idea? What if you’re wrong?”

“The Trotters are slow and stupid. You stay close and we’ll be fine.” Valor put on a reassuring smile.

“Not about that, but with me coming with you. What if this isn’t a good idea?”

“Pinkie, it’s too late to turn back. Everything will be ok, just come on.”

Officer Valor snatched a 2x4 off the ground and proceeded to walk out of his cover, Pinkie Pie following him reluctantly.

“Ok, on three. One…” Valor crouched down and narrowed his eyes. “Two…” He dug his hoof into the dirt and readied himself to take off toward the library. “Th…”

Pinkie Pie shrieked and hopped into the air, her tail twitching wildly. Valor turned rapidly and shoved her back behind cover.

“What the fuck are you doing!? You trying to get us killed?”

“I’m, I’m sorry! My tail was twitching.” Pinkie explained.

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“It means that something’s falling from the sky…” Pinkie explained. She suddenly peered behind Valor, a horrified look on her face. “What’s that?”

Valor turned and saw three pegasi flying somewhat shakily at them.

“Oh shit. Pinkie, get your knife out. We have to get to the library now.”

Pinkie Pie unhitched her knife and put it into her mouth, galloping behind Valor. They narrowly avoided the first grouping of Trotters, the majority of them not even noticing Pinkie Pie or Valor until they were already out of reach. They moaned hungrily behind the pair as they stumbled in their general direction.

Valor looked ahead to find the second group of Trotters begin to turn toward them. At the head of the group was a brown unicorn, four arrows jutting out of his chest in an erratic pattern. It lunged forward but missed Valor entirely. It landed on the ground with a thud directly in front of Pinkie Pie. Valor spun around but found Pinkie had already dug her knife into the pony’s skull.

“Come on!” He grabbed onto Pinkie Pie and pulled her forward into a run in an attempt to avoid being surrounded. One of the Flyers dove down at the duo but was hit swiftly with Valor’s 2x4. It landed on the ground; one of its wings was broken at an obscene angle and fluttering randomly. Valor brought the wood down onto its head several time until he heard a sickening crunch. Above, the remaining Flyers circled overhead and screeched loudly.

Valor caught up to Pinkie Pie and successfully avoided any contact with the third group of Trotters. They moaned loudly and lurched toward the pair, but their awkward movements practically held them in place. A smirk appeared on Valor’s face as he saw the library in the distance grow larger, but it quickly faded when he saw that the remaining Trotters had already begun to form into a massive crowd.

Officer Valor stopped, panting heavily. Pinkie Pie stood beside him and looked around their surroundings. The Trotters behind them were still on their trail, but were making very little progress.

Valor narrowed his eyes and bit down on the 2x4, welcoming the taste of blood from the splinters stabbing into his mouth. Adrenaline pumped through his veins.

“Stay close. One false step and we’re fucked.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and galloped in pursuit of Valor into the onslaught.

“We’ve waited long enough, Rainbow. We have to look for him now. It’s been almost a whole fucking day.” Dark Lightning paced around the foyer of the library. Several loud screeches from outside suddenly caught his attention. “Fuck.” He mumbled to himself.

“The library’s surrounded. You wanna get yourself killed?” She spat back at him, watching a hundred or so Trotters congregate outside. They all moaned loudly, hungrily, as if somepony was nearby.

“If you want to watch those corpses walk around all day, go ahead.” Dark growled at her, grabbing a crowbar in his mouth. “I’m gonna go out and look for the stallion who saved your ass.”

“Dark, please.” Twilight trotted over to him, frowning. “What if we need to protect this place? Without you we don’t stand a chance.”

“Without me, Valor’s as good as dead. Look at it out there!” He pointed out the window. “If he’s stuck out there, he could be pinned down in a building, or worse.”

“He knows what he’s doing. He saved Rainbow and you, didn’t he?” Twilight replied, calmly.

“I didn’t need saving!” He screamed at the purple unicorn who flinched back. Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the argument and watched quietly. “I joined him because he needed help. And for all we know, he needs help right fucking now.”

Twilight frowned at him and retreated back to the second floor of the library with Rarity. Dark Lightning turned to Rainbow Dash.

“Are you coming with me or not.”

“I’m sorry, Dark. But…” she sighed. “But I’m needed here. If you leave, Celestia knows who’ll protect Twilight and Rarity. I have to be here for them.”

He glowered back at her and grabbed the crowbar in his mouth. “Suit yourself.” He quickly exited the library, waiting for the sound of Rainbow Dash barricading the door. The Trotters outside met him almost instantly, shambling forward gracelessly.

“Valor, to your right!” Pinkie Pie screamed, dodging a green pony that bit at her. Its teeth grabbed onto her mane and pulled her toward it. She screamed in pain and pushed at the pony with her hooves frantically.

Valor turned abruptly and jabbed the 2x4 into the pony’s face. It let go and groaned loudly, scrambling after Pinkie Pie again. Valor hit the pony in its forelegs and shattered its knees. It groaned loudly in pain as it collapsed to the ground, a cloud of dust rising into the air.

“Thanks!” Pinkie Pie turned back to the library and continued galloping. Valor stood over the pony that stared back at him with dead eyes. He glowered at it and stomped down onto its head, savoring the crunch of bone against his hoof.

“You little fucker!” He screamed at the body as he raised his hoof again and thrust it back down onto the broken skull.

“Valor!?” Pinkie Pie stopped in the group of Trotters and punched at the ones closest to her. He snapped back into reality and saw that his forelegs were covered in blood. Pinkie stood in the distance, fighting off a tattered earth pony. She saw Valor swing the 2x4 at a nearby Trotter, sending it falling back into several others. He galloped to Pinkie Pie and rammed into a pony that was shambling toward her.

“We’re almost there. Don’t lose yourself now.” Pinkie Pie knowingly said.

They continued to the library when Valor suddenly saw a familiar pegasus smash a crowbar down onto a Trotter’s spine. A loud crack filled the air, the pegasus grunting with effort.

“Dark!?”

Dark Lightning’s head rose at his name and his eyes met with Valor’s.

“Holy shit, you’re ok!” Dark punched a hoof into a Trotter’s face with an audible thud.

“Pinkie, follow me.”

Valor and Pinkie Pie galloped toward Dark Lightning, who smashed the crowbar at every Trotter unlucky enough to be near him. A Flyer took notice of the pegasus and swooped down at him at an incredible speed.

“Dark!” Valor called out to the pegasus. Dark Lightning, however, had already noticed and summoned a bolt of lightning that struck the Flyer out of the sky. It landed in a charred heap, smoke billowing up from the crowd of Trotters.

The remaining Flyer swooped at Pinkie Pie, screeching loudly. She sidestepped the pegasus and tackled it to the ground. She grabbed its head and slammed it against the ground until she saw a pool of blood and its struggling had ceased.

“Took you long enough to get here.” Dark smirked at Valor and Pinkie Pie. He swung the crowbar and smashed a unicorns skull wide open, blood pouring out quickly.

“Ah, fuck off. You could’ve come to us, you know.” Valor approached a Trotter and brought the 2x4 down. The Trotter lurched forward, making Valor stumble and miss its head. The wood hit the pony’s back and shattered in two splintery fragments stabbing out of the pony’s back.

“Oh shit!” Valor jumped back and bumped into Pinkie Pie. She ignored Valor and bucked her hind hooves at a pair of Trotters. They flew backwards and lay in a crumpled pile. She smiled widely. “Dark! We have to get back to the library.”

Dark Lightning continued assaulting the offending ponies. His crowbar was dripping with blood and a pile of bodies had been forming at his hooves for a while. A unicorn missing half of its face slowly came toward him; shortly after, it fell to the ground with the crowbar wedged in its shattered skull. Another pony clambered over the body and met a similar fate, except that the edge of the crowbar found its way into the pony’s eye. Blood poured out of the hole onto the dead bodies and pooled beneath them.

“Dark!” Valor screamed again. He turned his head to face the policepony. “We have to go, now!”

“We can’t!” He shouted back over the sound of the groaning corpses. “They could break into the library. They do, and we’re all fucked. We have to shed some serious numbers first.”

With that he turned around and bucked a stallion with half of its neck bitten out. Its mutilated neck snapped loudly and its head toppled onto the ground, still opening and closing its mouth automatically.

“We don’t have any fucking weapons!” Valor shouted. He pulled Pinkie Pie away from the wall of Trotters and stood her between himself and Dark.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Dark Lightning reared onto his hooves and threw the crowbar into the center of the group of ponies. He smiled, eyes glaring at the Trotters standing before him. He shoved them back, widening the circle that separated the trio from the Trotters.

“You stupid piece of shit!” Officer Valor punched Dark Lightning and knocked him to his haunches. “We have nothing to fucking defend ourselves now!” He kicked a hoof into Dark’s side.

Pinkie Pie grabbed Valor and pulled him back. Dark Lightning looked up, rage on his face.

“Valor, let’s get back to the library…” Pinkie Pie began pushing him in the direction of the door

“Don’t move.” Dark growled at them, gruffly. “I told you I got this.” He rose to his hooves and concentrated all his energy on the crowbar that sat randomly among the Trotters that closed in on them. The duo receded back to Dark Lightning reluctantly.

Just then a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and hit the metal crowbar. The area it had hit began to glow yellow. Several surges of electricity shot from the crowbar in random directions, arcing between ponies, each of them seizing and falling to the ground.

A surge shot by Valor’s face, narrowly missing him and Pinkie Pie. It instead struck a unicorn that had been quietly coming up from behind them. The electricity flowed through its body; the pony’s eyes expanded and eventually exploded, thick blood pouring from the holes in its face.

The majority of the Trotters were now dead; the several that remained standing moved toward them slowly and clumsily, tripping over the dead bodies in their paths.

“Dark, I’m… I’m sorry, man.” Valor trotted over to the black pegasus. “I should’ve just trusted you.”

Dark grinned in reply. “If you threw our only weapon into a group of walking corpses, I would’ve kicked your ass too.”

“Can we go now?” Pinkie Pie asked the two stallions, a smile on her face. “I wanna see Twilight and everypony!”

“Yeah, this is good enough” Dark Lightning shooed Pinkie Pie off who hopped happily to the library. He stood next to Valor and waited until she was out of earshot.

“What took you two so long?”

“We had some trouble at Sugarcube Corner. A horde blocked us in.” Valor rubbed a hoof against his head, wiping off sweat and blood from the previous fight.

“You’re lying.”

“What?” Valor tried to feign surprise at the pegasus’ reaction.

“You’re a bad liar. You look to the left whenever you’re making shit up.” Dark snorted and began walking back to the library, leaving Valor behind. “At least we know you’re not the Element of Honesty.” He shouted back over his shoulder.

Officer Valor stood still for a minute and watched Dark. He smiled and shook his head.

“Wait up!” He galloped to Dark Lightning and walked into the library, shutting the door behind him and barricading it.

Pinkie Pie crept up the steps in the library to the second floor where Twilight, Rarity and Valor slept. She had a twisted smile on her face and voices running through her head.

Do it! a voice screamed to her.

The world is sick, make it better… another hissed in her head.

Sometimes, we have to purge things from the world. Even if we love them. The voice sounded oddly familiar to Pinkie Pie. She jumped in fright when she realized it was her own. More than that, she had actually spoken those words aloud.

She found herself sitting over Twilight, a twisted smile on her pink face. An electric drill buzzed softly in her hoof. She placed it against her friend’s skull and prepared herself mentally.

3…2…1…

The drill spun quickly and dug into Twilight’s head, a small trickle of blood dripping down her sleeping face and onto the cold, wooden floor. After she was sure her friend had died, she pulled the drill out and looked down. Twilight’s eyes were still closed in a peaceful rest, but a large toothy smile was on her face. Suddenly her eyes shot open.

She sat up and stared at Pinkie Pie who retreated a few steps. Twilight’s eyes were becoming red with blood, small gooey chunks of brain dripped from the hole that was burrowed into her skull.

“That’s not fair, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight eyed her friend, the smile still on her face. “Rarity’s the sick one! She should’ve gone first!”

Twilight collapsed back onto her bed and stopped breathing. Her grin remained on her face and her eyes stayed wide open. Pinkie Pie slowly moved over to Rarity, feeling Twilight’s eyes follow her over.

Rarity moaned lightly in her sleep. She felt a massive amount of pain in her leg throughout the day and night and her injury was only worsening. Pinkie Pie frowned at the white unicorn and gave her a hug.

“I’ll make you feel better, I promise!” She reached under Rarity’s head and pulled out a pillow. She thrust it down over Rarity’s face and felt her body convulse in attempts to get air. She flailed her hooves wildly at the pillow but quickly gave up. Pinkie felt her body go limp and removed the pillow revealing Rarity’s smiling face, her eyes wide open and a toothy grin matching Twilight’s.

“Thank you, darling! I feel soooo much better now!” She cooed from between her closed teeth.

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Glad I could help!”

“I think Officer Valor’s been sad lately. Maybe you could help him too!” The white unicorn offered.

“He did seem a little down today…” Pinkie Pie brought a hoof to her chin and thought about the day before. “I bet I could make him smile!”

She suddenly found herself in the kitchen, a large knife in her hand.

“Oh boy!” She smiled and began trotting toward the steps back upstairs.

“Hnnngh…. Uhh… Fuck…” Valor slowly woke up. He blinked his eyes open quickly and looked around him, finding that the room was too dark to properly discern anything.

“Oh boy…” A voice from downstairs called out.

“Pinkie Pie?” Valor said softly so not to wake Rarity or Twilight. “Pinkie? Is everything ok?”

He stood up and trotted over to the edge of the stairs. He listened closely but didn’t hear anything but the occasional moan from a Trotter outside. He climbed down the stairs slowly, the stairs creaking under his weight.

“…Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!” Pinkie Pie called out from her slumber. Rainbow Dash stirred in her sleep and punched Pinkie Pie lightly to shut her up.

Valor trotted over to Pinkie Pie and gently shook her awake. She jumped up, and began panting. Her face contorted from a sleepy smile to a sickened grimace.

“Oh Celestia, it was horrible!” she cried.

“Shhh, its ok.” Valor wrapped his hooves around her. “What happened?”

“Valor, it wasn’t a good idea to bring me back here…”

“Why? What happened?”

“I… I killed them… All of them…” She was still panting, tears furiously pouring down her face. She turned to face Valor.

“I have to tell them about everything...”

Chapter 7 - Never As It Seems

“What?!” Valor asked, taken aback. Panic washed over him. “Listen, Pinkie you can’t tell them anything!”

The pink mare sobbed uncontrollably, rubbing her forehooves against her tear-stained eyes. “B-b-but-”

“Pinkie, no buts.” Valor grasped her by her shoulders and pulled her face close to his. She stared into his brown eyes, fearful of his sudden aggression. “I know this looks bad, but we need you. You and your friends could be the only ponies able to stop whatever the hell is going on out there.” The policepony broke his grip on the mare and motioned his forelegs, encompassing the entirety of the infected Equestria.

Pinkie Pie shook her head and tried to stifle her crying, worrying that it would make her sound weak. “Valor, I can’t d-do this! I hurt so many ponies already. I-I can’t do that to my friends!” Her attempts to sound stronger failed, making her voice even more feeble and desperate.

“Pinkie, that wasn’t you who hurt them! We both know you would never have done such a thing if you were… well, you.” Valor said encouragingly, desperation tingeing his voice.

Pinkie Pie looked at him, a frown adorning her face and her straight pink mane disheveled from her restless night. Deep inside she knew that coming to the library had been a huge mistake. She sighed and chose not to argue with Officer Valor and instead sat in the silent night, staring at a stray moonbeam that shone through the foyer window and onto a large pile of discarded books. Specks of dust danced in the air freely, luring her blue eyes by their eerie, almost predestined movements.

“I don’t think you realize how much shit we’d be in if you told everypony.” Valor added calmly, trying to break the silence. “They could stop trusting you. Or, or worse! Pinkie, we need to keep what happened a secret. Just a little while longer.”

He smiled at Pinkie Pie softly, putting a comforting hoof under her chin. “Trust me. I wouldn’t make you do this if it weren’t for the best.” The mare smiled back at him falsely.

“Alright Pinkie Pie, let’s get back to sleep. We’ve had a long day.”

Officer Valor stared warily at the pony standing before him. The pony, its sunken eyes unblinking, stared back. Valor was unsure of how to respond. He knew that being in a coma for so long in addition to the events from the past few days would change his appearance, but he no longer even remotely recognized himself.

“Shit…” His voice trailed off as he brought a hoof to his face. Valor’s eyes followed his hoof in the mirror as he brought it through his disheveled mane. He checked over his face, his eyes stopping at unfamiliar scars and scrapes. Valor’s once sleek brown coat was now dull and matted with dried blood; his youthful luster seemed to be long gone.

“You’re not looking too good, old man.” He said aloud to himself, desperately attempting to crack a smile. He glanced at the mirror and watched his grin fall flat, instead appearing as a scowl. He sighed and dropped his head.

Valor opened the bathroom door and stepped into the library’s foyer. Dark Lightning and Rainbow Dash sat together on a sofa reminiscing about their respective years in Cloudsdale Flight School, their voices echoing in the otherwise silent library. The policepony smiled lightly at the duo and joined them, enjoying a moment of relaxation.

Upstairs Valor could hear Twilight speaking softly to herself as she changed Rarity’s bandages, the white unicorn groaning occasionally in pain. The sound seemed to mimic the all too familiar moans of the Trotters that were gathered outside the library, bumping against the walls in an attempt to gain entrance.

“You know,” Rainbow dash burst out, breaking Valor’s concentration. “You know, way back in Flight School I did a Sonic Rainboom.” The cyan pegasus beamed triumphantly at Dark. Her overzealous pride seemed to wash over the stallions.

“Rainboom, huh?” Dark replied, smirking back at her. “What is that, with rainbows and stuff? What are you, five? Rainbows are for kids!”

Rainbow Dash stared at Dark, her mouth agape in shock from his rebuttal.

Dark ignored her reaction and glanced at Valor, giving him the same smile. The policepony picked up the hint. “I think Dark’s right. You’d think a flier of your… ability… would be able to do something better by now instead of going on about what she did as a filly.”

“B-wha-I…” Rainbow Dash sputtered, surprised by the ridicule she was facing.

“What is everypony talking about down here?” Twilight asked from the top of the staircase, dirty sheets from Rarity’s bed floating in a ball before her. Rainbow Dash turned her head and gave her a pleading look.

“She was just telling us about her Sonic Rainbooms.” Dark said, winking at Twilight over the cyan pegasus’ head.

“Yeah,” Valor added. “We get that it’s a cool trick and all, it’s just that it isn't anything that special after all those years of the same thing.”

“Twilight, help me out here!” Rainbow begged her friend, reaching her forelegs out to her. The unicorn shook her head, smiling and joined the trio on the couches. “Tell them about how awesome my tricks are!”

Twilight Sparkle brought a hoof to her chin as if deep in thought. “You know,” she began, breaking the silence. “I've I know I've heard you talking about the ‘Buccaneer Blaze’ and some other tricks, but I've yet to see you perform any of them.”

Rainbow Dash reeled back, surprised by the stab in the back from her friend.

“Now don’t overreact, Rainbow.” Twilight said reassuringly, placing a gentle hoof on the prismatic maned pegasus’ shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with being a one trick pony.”

Silence filled the foyer as Rainbow Dash recoiled, her mouth agape. Her friends exchanged looks and burst out laughing, Dark falling to the floor and clutching at his sides. “Oh-oh Celestia!” he cried between gasps for air. “M-my sides! Bahahaha!”

“I-I can’t believe you fell for that!” Twilight said, trying to throw her arms around Rainbow Dash for a hug.

The pegasus swatted Twilight’s hooves away and pouted, furrowing her brow. She crossed her forelegs and watched the trio laugh wildly. “You guys are assholes.”

“Oh-oh c’mon, Rainbow.” Valor began, catching his breath. He brushed his unkempt mane out of his face and slid back onto his seat. “We’re just kidding.”

“Yeah, you’re the most talented flier in all of Equestria! Remember how you won the Best Young Flier Competition?” Twilight added, joining Valor on the sofa. “You saved the Wonderbolts and Rarity!”

Rainbow Dash tried to hold back a prideful grin but failed. “Yeah, well… I guess I am pretty awesome.”

The black pegasus by her hind legs grunted at her, slowing rising to his hooves.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “You got something you wanna say, Rookie?”

“Me? A rookie?” Dark laughed as he plopped next to the Rainbow Dash, a small cloud of dust ejected from the couch. “No offense, but I could fly circles around you.” He folded his forelegs matter-of-factly.

“Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash retorted, puffing her chest out.

“What? No.”

“I knew it. You’re too scared to race me.” Rainbow Dash spread her wings to their full length and beamed. Twilight rolled her eyes at the overzealous pegasus.

“Scared? Not at all. Frankly, selfishly, I just don’t want to deal with you crying after I put you in your place.”

“What did you just say?” Rainbow Dash growled, furrowing her brow. Dark Lightning smiled mischievously back at her.

“What, what didn’t you understand? The part about me kicking your flank, or the part about you crying when I beat you? Though I guess they’re pretty much the same thing…”

Twilight Sparkle turned to the policepony sitting by her side. “Should we stop them?” she whispered into his ear, watching Rainbow Dash glare at the black pegasus.

Valor smiled in response. “Are you kidding? And miss all this?! You’d have to be craz-”

“Uh, excuse me, guys?” Pinkie Pie peeped, standing before the group. Valor turned to find her long, pink mane covering part of her face and dangling all the way to the floor. Her countenance and confidence from days prior seemed nonexistent. “Can I talk to all of you?”

“Of course, Pinkie! What’s on your mind?” Twilight asked, smiling at the party pony.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Rainbow added, turning away from Dark Lightning, her expression instantly lightening.

Valor frowned as he recalled what happened the night before. Pinkie Pie crying on his shoulder as she recounted her vivid nightmare in which she willingly killed everypony in the library, friends and all. There was no way that anypony would react well to her confession. It was up to him to keep this precarious peace. At least for now.

“Pinkie,” he began calmly. “Don’t you think maybe this could, you know, wait a bit? Until maybe we talked?”

“What?” Twilight gave Valor a confused look and turned back to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, what do you have to tell us?”

Pinkie’s frown deepened. “Well, you guys-”

“Pinkie…” Valor warned, giving her a cross look. “I really think this should wait a bit. Don’t you remember what we talked about yesterday?”

“What is so important that you don’t want any of us to know?” Twilight said crossly as she stared at the stallion sitting beside her.

“Nothing.” Valor replied, a calm expression on his face. “If it was anything really important I would have told everypony already.”

“Then why not let Pinkie tell everypony what she has to say?” Twilight probed, her expression growing increasingly irritated.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash added, not wanting to be left out from defending her friend. She turned her gaze to Dark Lightning and nudged him. The black pegasus sighed.

“Yeah, Valor. Let her talk.”

Officer Valor felt sweat forming on his brow as he racked his brain for something, anything, to use as an excuse to silence the pink mare. He knew that if her secret slipped, their precarious alliance could unravel almost instantly and the only possible way of saving Equestria would be lost.

“Well guys, what I gotta tell you is kinda bad…” Pinkie began, her voice shaky and nervous.

Fuck! Think! Officer Valor grabbed at anything but instead found himself sitting, waiting for Pinkie Pie to confess her misdeeds. He had nothing.

“Before Officer Valor found me in Sugarcube Corner, you know I was all alone.” She began, unsure where to continue. Everypony calmly waited for her to talk, smiles adorning the mares’ faces. Valor watched, helpless. “I did some things I wish I didn’t. I hurt so many…” Her voice trailed off.

Everypony exchanged awkward glances as the watched Pinkie Pie’s ears perk and twitch, as if honing in on some distant sound. “Pinkie, what’s wr-”

“Shh!” The pink mare hissed at her friend. “Does anypony else hear that?”

The group ceased all movement and strained their ears, listening intently. Valor watched Pinkie’s ears continue twitching, her face surprisingly stern. Suddenly Valor’s ears perked up as a faint noise caught his attention.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said aloud, jumping to her hooves. “Sounds like it’s coming from outside!”

Everypony darted to the front of the library save for Pinkie Pie and Valor. The policepony flashed Pinkie Pie a furious glance and slowly trotted to join the others by the front door. They stood still, waiting to hear the mysterious noise again; however their efforts were foiled by the sounds of Trotters groaning directly outside.

“Ah, shit.” Dark Lightning said after a minute of hearing nothing but the Trotters moans. “I can’t hear anything over `em .”

“Yeah, me neither.” Rainbow Dash agreed, stretching her wings. She turned back toward the couch. “Guess it was nothing.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m not so sure, you guys. It had to be something if we all heard it.” She pressed her ear closer to the door.

“I don’t know, Twilight.” Valor began, lifting his head from the door. “I don’t hear an-”

“Sunny?! Baby, where are you!”

Everypony in the library froze, exchanging nervous glances. Outside, they could hear a mare galloping through the streets, breathing heavily. Shortly after, they heard the Trotters shamble away from the door, groaning excitedly.

“Honey, it’s mommy! Please come out!” the mare called again into the lifeless streets of Ponyville. Valor listened as she tore through the roads, out of breath and yet, still pressing on. Images of the fire from months prior flooded his mind. Images of the filly inside screaming for her life. Images of the explosion that nearly killed him. The one that he wished did.

“We need to help her…” he said flatly to himself, his mind fading back to his dark reality.

“What?” Twilight asked, standing beside him. On her face was a look of concern.

“We… Well, we need to help her out.” He repeated firmly. Valor turned and trotted toward the corner his hatchet lay in. He scooped it up slowly, weighing his decision. The stallion sighed slowly and returned to the door, reaching out toward the doorknob.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Dark Lightning asked from his sedentary position on the couch. Everypony stopped and turned to face the black pegasus. His face seemed cool and collected, almost as if he felt at home in this situation.

“What do you mean?” Valor asked, placing the hatchet on the ground by his hooves. He took a step away from the door.

“Do you seriously believe there’s a mare running around outside with this shit going on?” Dark asked. He floated from the couch and dropped silently onto the hardwood floor. “Short answer? Not a chance. It’s gotta be a trap.”

Valor stared at Dark Lightning, confusion and annoyance on his face. “What? Ar-are you serious?”

Dark Lightning glared back, his eyebrows furrowed.

“What would somepony gain from this?! Running through a street full of fucking Trotters by themselves? It’s suicide!” Valor continued, stepping toward the pegasus. He waited for a response, but the room was entirely silent, save for the panting of the mare running outside, occasionally shouting for her child.

The policepony snorted and turned back to the door, only to be interrupted by Dark Lightning laughing lowly. “It’s so sweet that you care.” Dark mocked as Valor turned around once more. “But,” he continued, “your… ‘heroics’ aren’t going to help anypony this time. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but times have changed. Ponies want to survive.” Dark Lightning moved closer to Officer Valor slowly, keeping eye contact with him. “They’ll do anything to keep on top.”

Officer Valor clenched his teeth and fought back the urge to strike the pegasus. He knew the mare outside needed help. He knew she wasn’t faking. He knew there was no trap. He could feel it. The ponies just needed to trust his intuition.

And they need to understand I’m not responsible if there’s a body count. I’m just doing my job.

“Cloudsdale.”

Officer Valor’s attention snapped back to the pegasus. The silence in the library seemed to grow deeper, stronger. Twilight and her friends simply watched the stallions, entirely helpless.

“You were there, Valor. You saw firsthand what ponies are capable of once they’re scared. They killed my friends. My fucking family. They willingly killed thousands of innocent pegasi. All because they were afraid of something that might happen. To save their own asses.”

The pegasus was clearly getting angrier, his voice low and gruff, and his eyes staring directly at the Officer Valor. “I’m not going to let you put any of us in danger like that.”

“H-he’s right, Valor.” Rainbow Dash added, stepping forward. “I mean, just think about it.”

Valor turned to the cyan pegasus. “You know I’m right, Rainbow Dash. If you doubt my ability as a leader, then just tell me.” He answered flatly. Rainbow Dash stepped back, surprised by his reaction, and fell silent.

Valor returned his attention to Dark Lightning, closing the gap between them. The two stallions stood in the center of the room, Twilight and her friends watching on. Outside they could hear the echoing sound of the mare’s hooves against the paved ground and her cries for help.

“Does that sound fake to you?” Valor pointed toward the direction of the mare. “I’m asking you to trust me on this. I know what you’re thinking, but she needs help. We can’t sit around here thinking everypony is out to kill us!” His voice was sincere, almost as if begging Dark Lightning to agree with him.

Dark grunted. “Is that what you told yourself before asking me to join you? Just let anypony you see help you out? Do you have any fucking common sense at all? You don’t know who I am. I could just as easily kill everypony here right now.” He glanced furiously at the mares in the room, all of which stepped back. “Is that what you want? You got fucking lucky with me. Next time you might not.”

Valor wasn’t sure how to respond. He felt the eyes of everypony on him, waiting for him to justify his rash decision.

“I had a gut feeling.” He defended. “I knew I could trust you, Dark. And I know this mare needs help. Just listen to me.”

“You go out there for even a minute and you’ll give us away!” Dark Lightning slammed a hoof on the floor furiously.

“You and I both know that I’m not just going to let her run around outside like that! One way or another we’re going out there to help.”

“I swear to Celestia, if you step one hoof outside, you’re not coming back in.” Dark Lightning pawed at the ground. “This pony isn’t someone special. We need to protect the Elements of Harmony, not kill them. We lose one of them and we’re all fucked.”

Valor felt something snap. He hunkered down as if preparing to charge the pegasus and waited. Dark Lightning smiled menacingly and unfurled his wings to their full extent. In an instant he was dashing at Valor full speed.

The policepony only had a second to react, quickly diving to his side as Dark Lightning whizzed by in a flash. Valor jumped to his hooves and turned in time to dive on top of the pegasus, bringing him down in a heap.

Dark grunted and smashed a hoof upside Valor’s head, knocking him onto the floor. The two scrambled back onto their hooves and eyed each other ferociously. Valor wiped away a small trickle of blood at his lip.

“I don’t want to do this.” He said finally, straightening his composure. “We need to work together.”

Dark crouched into position again. “Do what? You haven’t done shit to me.” At that, the pegasus dashed up into the air and back down at Valor. Officer Valor dropped to the floor and watched Dark Lightning fly overhead and land behind him and by Twilight. The mare quickly darted away from them, instead seeking refuge with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, who watched, dumbstruck.

Officer Valor lunged on top of Dark Lightning again, this time wrapping his forelegs around the pegasus’ neck. He quickly contorted Dark Lightning into a half-nelson and shoved him into a wall with a loud thud, the pegasus grunting at the sudden impact. Valor pulled him away and threw him onto the floor, looking down at him.

“Heh.” Dark said, coughing. “Not too bad. For a cop.” The pegasus stayed on the floor, facing away from everypony else. “Go ahead. Go ‘help’ her. I’m not going to stop you anymore.”

Officer Valor brushed a hoof through his mane unconsciously and glanced at the mares, fright on their faces. Clearly the display had done more harm than good. It seemed rather than protect their unstable alliance; he had succeeded only in screwing it up even more. He took a deep breath, unsure where to proceed.

“Just don’t get any of us killed.” Dark added, digging in the knife.

Suddenly a shriek from outside pierced the room. Valor turned from the downed pegasus and galloped toward the door. He stood by it and hesitated for a moment, Dark’s words echoing in his mind.

The mare outside screamed again.

Officer Valor sighed and shook his head, opening the door and dashing outside into the streets of Ponyville completely unarmed. He scanned his surroundings, eying the cloudy sky; the sun was nowhere to be seen.

How appropriate.

Silence filled the air, the only sound being an occasional gust of wind and the sound of Valor’s hooves against the pavement as he slowly walked from the safety of the library. Behind him, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway, keeping eye out for any Trotters so they could barricade the door.

Hopefully, Valor thought, with me inside.

He shook the thoughts from his head and listened closely. Not even the Trotters could be heard. It was as if Valor was the only thing on the streets of Ponyville, living or dead. He walked down the road, looking around at the dark-windowed buildings, dried blood splattered here and there like some macabre art piece.

Valor was confused. There wasn’t a single sign of the mare or Trotters in sight, and yet only minutes prior he heard screams. Fear crept over him slowly at the thought that maybe he was wrong.

That maybe he had wandered dead into somepony’s trap.

“No…” he said to himself quietly. He knew that it wasn’t a trap. There was no way anypony would willingly risk themselves. Besides, he and the group had nothing to give, nothing of value. There would be no reason to set a trap in the middle of a dead town…

Almost as if on cue a gust of wind blew into his face, temporarily blinding him with dust and dirt. The stallion stumbled backward and hit into a wall, falling clumsily onto the ground. “Dammit.” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes until tears began to form. He blinked them open and looked around.

His eyes were drawn to a bright orange piece of paper, one that seemed to contrast entirely with the black, brown and blood red town. He picked it up.

“The U.E.F….” Valor said aloud to nopony in particular, reading off the top of the sheet. The flyer showed an image of two hammers crossing each other to form an ‘X,’ a skull in the background. The image seemed to stick in his mind, for an unknown reason. Everything about the paper filled him with a feeling of dread that could not be explained. “Sounds so familiar…”

SCHWAFF!

The orange flyer shot from Valor’s hooves and embedded itself in the wall behind him. Next to Valor’s head was an arrow, splintered from repeated use and matted with dried blood.

“Fuck!” Valor dove to the ground, another arrow flying into the wall, exactly where his head had just been. The stallion scrambled to his hooves and galloped toward a nearby building. He jumped behind a small stone staircase that led up to the front door, listening to another arrow whizz by his head and implanting itself in the ground a few feet in front of him.

Valor ducked down as low as he could. For all he knew, he was trapped.

Officer Valor didn’t know how much time had passed. It could have been ten minutes; it could have been an hour.

He remained as still as he possibly could, making sure that not a single part of his body left from behind his stone cover. He knew already that a good sniper could wait for hours, even days before giving up on a target. And judging by the marksmanship, this wasn’t an amateur.

Not a single arrow had flown after the one that landed at his hooves.

This could mean two things, Valor thought to himself, wishing he could peek from behind his cover. Either another arrow is knocked and waiting for me…

The policepony searched his surroundings once more, hoping to find an alleyway or nearby building with an open door that he had overlooked. Or he put the bow down and is waiting for me to move…

Just then the sound of groans filled the air. The stallion’s ears perked as he stared down the road, only to find a small group of Trotters slowly shambling his way. The group was headed by a tattered stallion, his legs stripped to almost bare bone. It clumsily cantered up the road, its milky white eyes fixed upon Valor in a wanting gaze.

“Celestia dammit!” Valor mumbled, a sense of urgency in his voice. He turned and haphazardly jumped up from his hiding spot, only to dive back to the ground, remembering his situation. Fear washed over the stallion as he watched the Trotters come ever closer, almost as if they knew he was stuck.

And that no matter what he did, they’d still get their meal.

Before Valor could think he was scrambling up to his hooves once again, this time will full intent to make a run for it. The Trotters seemed to sense his urgency and picked up their speed, moaning as their battered bodies pressed on toward him. He vaulted over the steps and hit the ground galloping as fast as his body could take him. His eyes scanned the rooftops as he ran, jumping from building to building in hopes of a glimpse of the mysterious sniper’s perch.

Almost as if on cue, an arrow whizzed by, tearing his right ear and turning it into a bloody mess. Never before had he felt such a sensation of pain. Officer Valor dropped to the ground, screaming and grabbing at his head. His body flailed wildly on the ground, kicking up clouds of dirt that settled and mixed with the forming puddle of blood, congealing into a bizarre brown mixture. From down the road, he could hardly hear the Trotters groan excitedly at his fall.

Slowly, he brought himself back to his hooves and galloped to the side of the road, to try and buy himself some time. “Ahhh, shit.” He groaned, shaking his head, trying to fight back the dizzying sensation of his vision spinning before him. He glanced back and noticed the Trotters, their path clear, and their goal even more so.

Before him in the road was a small puddle of blood, an arrow sticking out of the ground. A weak smile crept on Valor’s face. With a little effort, he knew he could track the source of the arrow. Judging from the direction of the arrow, it wasn’t hard to determine that the sniper was at least on his side of the road, meaning that if he remained close to the buildings he would be relatively safe.

Keeping in mind the Trotters, Valor slowly made his way along the buildings, occasionally peeking out from the shadow for a hint of where the sniper could be holding up. Not far up the road he spotted a shadow of what appeared to be a chair with a small satchel sitting beside it. Next to it was the almost unmistakable silhouette of a pony.

He quickly glanced behind him, noticing that the Trotters were still in pursuit. For now they were far enough. Officer Valor trotted quickly to the front door, fumbling with the doorknob, only to find it was locked. He grunted and trotted back a small distance, crouching into a ready position. In a dash he sprinted at the door full force, letting his weight easily smash through the weak wood door.

Officer Valor landed in a heap and quickly jumped up to his hooves, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. He unconsciously brought a hoof to his ear, wincing at his own light touch. What remained of his ear was a raw mess, most of it torn away and now lying in the middle of a road in a bloody puddle.

The element of surprise… He found himself thinking as he turned toward a staircase. There was no way that the sniper would be ready for him and his bold charge. Valor darted up the steps clumsily, occasionally bumping into the railing and stopping at the top quickly to shake his vision clear once again. Losing too much blood at once. I gotta get this patched up.

He sighed lightly and turned around, bucking the door off of its hinges. The door flew across the roof, bouncing off the end and plummeting down to the ground below. Valor burst through the open doorway and instantly locked his sight on a the back of a dark blue earth pony standing near a quiver of arrows.

The sniper slowly turned around to face Valor. The policepony was dumbfounded. There only ten feet in front of him stood a mare. The blank look on her face said it all.

He was wrong.

“You… you…” Valor stammered, trying to think of something to say. His head was pounding. A feeling of ire and betrayal washed over him, as well as nausea from his blood loss. “What the fuck!?” Officer Valor slammed a hoof on the roof and started forward. The mare stood still silently, a small breeze blowing through her mane. “You were screaming! I-I thought you needed help! I-I-I don’t… You fucking shot me!”

The mare looked him over and closed her eyes, as if dismissing him. She slowly turned her head back to the street, uninterested.

Valor growled and hunkered down. He had to restrain her. Do something. He charged at the mare, slamming into her and bringing her down, a small cloud of dust rising from beneath them. Valor raised a hoof above his head to strike her, but suddenly stopped. The mare looked up at him, fury in her eyes but a grin on her face. In her hoof was an arrow, the point of which placed delicately at the base of his throat, only centimeters away from plunging into his windpipe and finishing him off entirely.

Valor slowly dropped his hoof down. He was beat. The mare reached her free foreleg out from underneath Valor, grabbing a small whiteboard. She lifted it up to his face, smiling.

Didn’t work out the way you wanted, huh?

Chapter 8: Part 1 - Home's End

Chapter 8 - Home's End
Part 1

Apple Cobbler galloped as fast as she possibly could down the cobbled street, her hooves clacking rhythmically and echoing with each pace. Her breath was short and quick, the exhaustion from her long sprint making each breath harder and harder to take through her parched throat. She instinctively looked back, expecting to see the horde of tattered ponies she had encountered minutes prior; however, there was not a pony to be found.

Apple slowed to a halt, feeling her body go limp from fatigue, and collapsed onto the ground; she panted and heaved, praying that the burning in her chest and legs would stop long enough for her to find someplace to hide. She slowly raised her head to glance around at her surroundings, using a free hoof to brush aside her bloodied, blonde mane.

The mare instantly found her eyes drawn to an alleyway hidden between two large, boarded up homes. A hopeful smile crept on her face. “I just,” she began, cutting herself off to take a deep breath. Her voice was scratchy and rough. “I just need to a rest a bit.” It took an extraordinary amount of effort, but she was soon upon her hooves and slowly walking toward the alleyway.

“Then I can look in the houses for a better spot.” She concluded to herself. It seemed that finally something was going her way. And with enough rest, she could be sure that she would be able to find her daughter…

“Sunny…” her tired voice trailed off as tears began to well in her light blue eyes. Apple Cobbler rubbed a hoof vigorously against her eyes in a desperate attempt to hold back her tears. She needed to be strong now. She needed to regain her strength. Slowly she hobbled over to the alleyway, checking one last time to make sure nopony was around to watch her enter.

The alley was dark and damp, various bits of trash scattered about on the ground. The stench from several overturned garbage cans toward the back of the alley was nearly unbearable, making the mare gag before she finally covered her mouth with a hoof and continued forward. She recalled that it had been months since the Ponyville Sanitation Department had last been around to pick up the now rotting trash that surely lie on every street corner.

Apple Cobbler grinned darkly as she approached the cans, checking behind them for any stray bodies. “My tax bits at work.” At that she lowered herself down on a torn trash bag, eagerly welcoming the rest her body deserved. Her deep blue eyes scanned the mouth of the alleyway, half hoping, half fearing that somepony would turn up. For far too long it’d been just her and Sunny…

She sighed heavily and turned on her side, facing away from the opening to the street. Her eyes danced over the brick wall that stood only a few feet away from her, connecting the two buildings. She attempted to shift her focus to the sky but found the buildings and the wall effectively blocked out the sun; her surroundings, she noticed, were all coated in a dark shadow.

Apple Cobbler had no clue what time it was or how long she’d been running from the tattered ponies but soon felt exhaustion wash over her. It had been days since she properly slept, and her body had been crying out for rest for nearly as long. And now that she was in a dark, secluded alley, it seemed that she finally had an opportunity for respite. Her eyelids slowly began to drop, feeling heavier with each attempt to flutter them back open.

The mother sighed heavily. “Sunny…” She turned on her side and slowly faded into sleep.

“GoOoOOooD….”

Apple Cobbler’s eyes shot open and she bolted upright, breathing quickly. The mare had been sleeping soundly, if somewhat lightly, and the voice had easily startled her into alertness. Quickly she looked around her surroundings a few times, making sure she was alone in the alley, which she proved to be.

Apple Cobbler wiped a hoof against her forehead and settled back on the makeshift bedding of trash bags and scraps. She was sure she had heard something. A voice, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Good…?” she echoed, thinking over what she heard. It seemed random, impossible even as she began checking around more slowly this time, to make sure she hadn’t missed anything during her frenzied search. She stopped and stared forward, feeling her mind slowly return to its tired state. However, her body was in alert mode and stayed wired. “Good…” the mare mumbled to herself again, stretching. “Good what?” She had half a mind to return to sleep, noting that the alley was now significantly darker than when she had first entered.

But suddenly something caught her eye.

Apple Cobbler froze in her spot. From out the corner of her eye she noticed a shadow at the mouth of the alleyway standing still. Even from her limited view she was certain; standing only a short distance away was the unmistakable silhouette of a pony. The pony stood there a moment longer but then shambled past the opening, beyond her sight.

“W-wait!” she cried. Before she knew it, Apple Cobbler found herself on her hooves and hurrying toward the road. “Wait, mister! Please!”

She turned the corner and found instantly found herself standing before possibly the most tattered and torn pony she’d ever seen. While its body seemed to be all in one piece from the silhouette, she could now see a plethora of deep cuts and other wounds scattered about the bloodied stallion.

Parts of its front legs were stripped of their flesh, revealing milk-white bones and occasional tufts of skin that had been missed. Its face was a light grey and a deep bite wound on its throat indicated that its blood had been drained. The stallion’s eyes were dull and vacant, however they still seemed to stare right at Apple Cobbler who turned around and darted back into the alley, screaming.

Apple Cobbler turned around the corner quickly and stumbled over her hooves, sliding face-first on the cement. She moaned and turned around onto her back, only to find the derelict stallion shambling toward her; its mouth hung open as if it were unable to close it at all and a low moan escaped its slit throat.

Fear froze Apple Cobbler in her place; she could do nothing more than stare at the stallion that was slowly moving itself toward her with awkward, uneven steps. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out, save for a quiet whine. This was it. Her heart raced as she lay on the cement ground, awaiting her imminent demise.

Nothing could possibly save her now.

She opened her mouth again and whispered the name of her daughter - the one thing that had kept her going for far too long.

“Sunny…”

Apple Cobbler’s muscles tensed as she waited another moment for the teeth of the stallion to bite ferociously into her, but felt nothing. She opened her eyes to find the stallion standing still, looking around as if something had just passed it by. It let out a strained groan and turned its milky eyes back toward Apple Cobbler. She slowly began to back away, finally able to move again.

The mare suddenly bumped against something and stopped. However, it seemed to be neither a wall nor a pony. It was large and muscular, with a short and shabby coat of fur. Apple Cobbler whimpered, afraid. She slowly looked up to find a Diamond Dog looming over her, a gruesome necklace of what appeared to be bloodied pegasi wings dangling from its neck. A second look revealed that there were wings of various colours, all cut up into different shapes and pierced by the string.

The Diamond Dog smiled maliciously at her and stepped forward toward the ramshackle stallion. He clasped its head in his hands and without much effort squeezed until a loud, painful crack was heard. The stallion stopped moaning and fell to the ground in a heap, blood and brain matter oozing into the cracks of the cement floor of the alleyway.

“GoooOOoOOoDddd.” The beast growled.

Slowly the Diamond Dog turned back to the shaking mare, the smile still on its face. It lazily wiped its bloodied paws on its fur, matting it even more. Finally the brute looked up, locking eyes with Apple Cobbler. Its yellow-toothed smile grew larger.

Apple Cobbler felt her heart pounding inside her chest but her body refused to move. She gaped up at the immense Diamond Dog, shuddering in fear, her eyes unblinking – waiting. She flinched in anticipation and froze once again.

The Diamond Dog was beaming down at her.

“BbbYyyyYyeeeEeeEee.”

Author's Note

Been a long time since I've updates this beast. But I'm happy I finally did! As my system goes, it will be updated every month at the end (or very beginning in this case). I intend to write much much more for this story, and until I have free time time and a desire to write, this is how it will be done. So none of you will be sad! :D

Also, I need a better title for this chapter. This is NOT the end of my story. Not even close. I'm just out of ideas for a title for now. SO ignore it. Got any ideas???

(written when the title was "Beginning of the End")