What We've Lostby YzanburgChaptersChapter 2 - The MeetingChapter 3 - The PlanChapter 4 - The DarknessPrologueChapter 1 - The DescentChapter 2 - The MeetingMy bedroom felt eerily cold tonight for some reason. My window wasn't open at all, and I had plenty of blankets, but I swear I can see my breath. Walking over to my dresser to look for a sweater or another blanket, I heard a loud thud down stairs. "Mum?" I yelled from my spot in my room. "Is everything okay down there?" At first I thought she just didn't hear me. As I was about to call down to her again I heard screaming. Immediately my blood ran cold. Rushing out of my room I ran down the hall towards the stairs, the sound of pure fear and agony filling my ears all the while. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, the yelling had stopped completely. The dead silence filling me with more dread than the actual screaming had. No lights were on at this point and I had no idea where the screams had come from. I was about to head towards my mums room when a smashing of glass from the kitchen ripped my attention away. I ran as fast as my hooves would let me towards the kitchen door. The light was on inside, but I couldn't hear a sound inside the room. "Mum... Is everything okay in there?" Edging up to the door, I slowly eased it open. The sudden rush of light caused me to flinch away for a moment. When I finally turned back to the kitchen... I sat up and screamed. Cold sweat rushing down my face as I panted heavily. Placing a hoof to my chest to steady my racing heartbeat. A sudden presence to my left caused me to scream once again and try and retreat. "Whoa whoa whoa, it's okay. It's just me. You're safe here." As my eyes adjust to the dim candle light in the room I realize it's the little dragon from earlier. I must have fallen asleep when we got up here. "What's wrong?" I look down at my hooves for a moment, remembering my dream, or memory, rather. "I just had a bad dream... I-I'm okay..." I say to him, my voice just barely above a whisper. "Are you sure? You look a little shaken up..." The little dragon says as he takes a seat next to me, a warm smile on his face. I can tell he's just putting on a brave face for me though, I can see the fear in his eyes. "I was... I was back in my house. It as everything that happened yesterday before I ran here... I heard my mum screaming from the kitchen then suddenly stop... By the time that... That I got there, she was gone. The kitchen was covered in blood and I just... I'm so scared and I just want my mum!" The last bit of my explanation came out in inaudible sobs as I broke down into the dragons shoulder. All the while he just sat there in silence, gently running his little purple claw through my mane. Softly cooing me and comforting me. "It's okay, It'll be okay." He said as he continued to run his claw down my mane. As my sobs slowly settled down and I regained composure I looked up at the little dragon beside me. He was staring of into the distance, rubbing my mane as if on auto-pilot. "Uh... Sir? Are... Are you okay?" I said while gently shaking his purple shoulder. "Hm? Oh... Yeah, I'm fine, just... Scared I guess. I mean... Yesterday started so normal..." Before he could continue, my stomach growled rather loudly and abruptly. I looked to my stomach then back up to him with a blush on my face. He just smiled and stood up, waving me towards the door. I was hesitant at first, but his reassuring smile was enough for me to slowly follow him back down the stairs towards what I assumed was the kitchen. "I'm Spike by the way, what's your name?" Spike said as he turned on the lights in the kitchen and opened up a fridge. "Um... Molly. Nice to meet you." I said as I took in the new room. It was a rather small room with cupboards lining the top half of most of the walls. A fridge and an oven stood side by side on the far wall and a round table took residence in the center of the room with a low hanging light above the center of the table. "Here," Spike said as he placed a plate on the table with a sandwich on it for me and then took a seat himself as he munched on an apple. I nodded in thanks as I took a seat and slowly ate my sandwich. "So as I was saying," Spike said between bites of his apple. "It just seemed like such a normal day. Twilight and I were walking back from one of Pinkie's little get togethers over at sugar cube corner when we just heard screaming. We didn't know where it came from at first but then we saw this mare running down the road being chased by this stallion when he jumped on her!" "Twilight and I were completely dumbstruck at first, but before Twilight had a chance to help her, the stallion took a bite out of her neck! Can you believe it? That was when we started hearing more screaming and saw more ponies running in terror. Twilight ran back here as fast as she could and before I could protest, she dropped me in here and said she's be back soon... She put a spell on the treebrary so that only I could open up the door and then she said she was going back to Sugarcube Corner to try and find the others..." Spike just stared at his half eaten apple for a bit. I could see the beginning of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He looked lost. "Do you know where she is now?" I asked and immediately regretted it as he shut his eyes tight and turned away from me. We sat there in silence for a few minutes before growling from outside made me freeze in fright as Spike sat up straight and looked around. He turned back to me and help a purple claw to his lips letting me know to stay silent as he motioned me towards the stairs once again. once we made it back into the room upstairs he told me to sit back down as he walked up to the window and looked outside. "Okay so the good news is there aren't many of those things outside. The bad news is they're right outside the library and it looks like they want in..." He turned back to me with a grim expression on his face. "We need to find a safer place. Somewhere with food. Twilight took what we bought at the market with... Her..." Spike trailed off and looked at the floor, a lone tear rolling down his cheek before he took a deep breath to compose himself. "Maybe the town hall? That place should be safe." I pitched in to try and redirect Spikes thoughts back on track. "Hey yeah! And there should be tons of ponies there too!" He said, shaken out of his dark thoughts as he ran to a chest in the corner of the room and fished out a large scroll. "I have a map of Ponyville here, we can plan out a route there." Spike unrolled the map on the floor and we both began looking over the different routes we could take to get to the town hall. We wanted to find the easiest and fasted way to get there to eliminate as much time out in the open as possible. We spent twenty minutes exchanging ideas before we lapsed into silent thought. "Okay!" Spike all but yelled, causing me to shriek a the sudden noise. "Oops... Sorry." He said sheepishly as I gave him a little glare. "Any ways, so here's what we're going to do..." Chapter 3 - The Plan"I know I didn't say it as often as I should have... But... Mum, I... I love you." "What else do you think we'll need, Spike?" I asked while I went over what we already packed. So far we had a length of rope, a couple canteens of water, some parchment, ink and quills, and a few apples. We were really counting on there being at least a few ponies at town hall, and definitely on there being emergency supplies there. Spike looked over at me and at all of the items we had packed. He hummed in thought as he put a purple claw to his chin. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide in realization before he looked down with a glare. "There is... One thing we may need." Before I could ask him what he was talking about he turned on his heels and stalked out of the room, a brooding look on his face. I sat there in silence as I waited for Spikes return. The only thing on my mind being how well this plan was going to work. When I heard Spikes clawed feet make their way back up the stairs I turned towards the doorway and waited to see what he grabbed. When he walked through the doorway, I wasn't expecting the tortured look in his eyes. When I looked down to his claws, my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what he was implying. In his claw was a large cutting knife, at least ten inches long. I just stared at the knife as Spike slowly walked in and placed it next to my saddle bags. "Just in case... you know?" When he looked up at me I could see the struggle going on inside him and I knew he wasn't making this decision lightly. I mutely nodded my head and he nodded his in turn. With one last look over our stuff, Spike made his way over to the window and peered outside. Still sitting outside the front door of the library was a bloodied and mutilated Mr.Cake. Blood and bile leaking profusely from his mouth. It seems he was using his head to try and break down the front door because it was split down the middle and leaking a severe amount of blood and yet he carried on, pacing back and forth outside. Two more creatures were lurking about the streets near the library. Both as twisted and bloody as Mr.Cake. They were just standing out on the dirt road, staring off into space. When Spike turned back to face me, there was fear evident on his face. with a nervous gulp, he hopped down from the window sill and grabbed a few books. "So you know what we're doing right?" He looked over at me and I nodded in confirmation. "Good, so when I throw these books at the trash cans out back, hopefully it makes enough noise for those things outside to investigate. While they're out back, we'll make a break for it as quickly and as quietly as we can and head towards town hall. Once we're there, hopefully there's some sort of guard or at least somepony with a plan. You ready?" I got to my hooves and attached the saddle bags to my back, pulling the straps tightly so they don't slide of while I'm running. "Ready!" "Alright, when I tell you it's safe, we'll head out the front door." I watched as Spike grabbed a few more books and piled them near the window. Opening it up, he looked around one more time before grabbing a book in his claw and breathing a green flame onto the pages. Immediately it caught fire and was burning a brilliant emerald in his grasp. With one swift motion he hurled the burning book towards the trash cans next to the buildings rear and grabbed another book. He continued this routine for a couple more books before the three creatures heard the noise and came charging around the corner to investigate. All the while letting out guttural screams of rage. "Okay Go! go! Go!" Spike screamed as he made his way down from the window. As he passed me, he bent down and picked up the kitchen knife he grabbed early. With a quick nod my way he ran towards the open doorway and the stairs. When I made it down the stairs, Spike was waiting at the front door with his hand on the knob. With one last deep breath he opened the door. As we slowly peered out the door, there were no creatures in sight. We could still hear them around the corner so we ran to the other side of the street before heading towards town hall. As we put more and more distance between us and the tree house, the sound of screams and roars grew fainter and fainter before they were just a distant buzz in the air. Spike took the lead as we walked the quiet streets of Ponyville. My head was on a constant swivel as I walked. Twitching at any sudden noise or movement I saw out of the corners of my eyes. We slowed down to a light jog to save our energy as we carried on. Suddenly I found my self tackled to the ground. One of those creatures standing over me. An older mare with a matted grey mane tied in a messy and and a light green coat. Blood poured from her mouth onto my chest as she loomed over me. She was growling as she reared her head back to strike. I shut my eyes and screamed as I awaited the impending blow. After a few moments I realised that it never came. Opening my eyes a crack, I saw nothing standing over me any more. Shakily getting to my hooves I looked around. The once ravenous creature now lay motionless on the road next to me, a large kitchen knife sticking out of it's eye. Spike was standing over it, his hands shaking as he looked at the creature with wide eyes. "I-I... I had too. She was... She was gunna kill you and I just... Oh Granny Smith... I'm so sorry." He looked over at me, tears evident in his eyes. I just kept looking between him and the body on the ground at his feet. I couldn't comprehend what just happened. The gears were turning in my head but they just weren't going anywhere. Spike's crackling voice brought me out of my reverie. I must have been staring off into space because he looked rather worried. "C-come on Molly! We have to keep moving!" He yelled as he tried to drag me to my hooves. I complied, as if on auto pilot as he lead me towards a house down the road. In the distance I could hear the tell tale screams of the infected ponies as the honed in on us. It would only be a matter of time before they saw us. Spike opened up the front door of the house and locked it with a click as soon as I was through the door way. We stood there, catching our breath in silence as we awaited the arrival of who knows how many of those things. Soon enough we heard their screams as they emerged onto the streets outside the house. Carefully peering out a nearby window I counted at least 13 of them. All searching frantically for their next meal. I audibly gulped as I backed away from the window and back to Spike. He was still visibly shaken from our first close encounter with one of the creatures on this trip through town. He was just standing there staring at his claws and continually opening and closing them. "Hey spike, why don't we look around the house. Maybe we'll find something useful?" He didn't even say a word. Just nodded and followed me as I began to look around. It was a typical two story home. We wandered around the first floor which consisted of a fully furnished kitchen and a nice dining area. Or at least it would have been nice if it wasn't splattered with blood. Everything in the house, from books, to vases, to picture frames, had specks of blood on them. Obviously one of those creatures had been in here at some point. We figured it was gone due to the lack of anything trying to kill or eat us at the moment. The only things of use that we found in the kitchen were another knife, which Spike was very reluctant to grab, and a much needed flash light. Which, looking back on it, we should have packed right away from the library. Finding nothing else of use on the main floor, Spike and I headed up the stairs. About half way up we heard something shatter in one of the rooms and we froze in place. We stood there for a while, just listening. When no other noise came, we proceeded up the stairs. There were three rooms up here. one room on the left, one on the right, and one at the end of the hall. We looked in the room on the left first. It tuned out to be a bathroom. Searching the cabinets we found a standard first aid kit and some pain killers. We decided to take both of these just in case. Crossing the hall to the right most room we entered a small bedroom. From the looks of it, it was a young fillies room. There were posters of famous actors and colt bands lining the pink walls. There was a small pink bed and two dressers in here as well. On one of the dressers was a picture frame. Taking a closer look it was a picture of a young orange filly with what looked to be her parents in a park in front of a fountain. Not finding anything else in the room, Spike and I went to check the final room in the house. We approached with caution, Spike holding the knife out in front of him as he slowly opened the door. Flipping the light switch on we saw what had shattered. A flower vase lay in pieces on the hardwood floor at the foot of the large bed. Before we had a chance to fully take in the room, we heard a quiet whimper from under the bed. Sharing a worried glance with Spike, I slowly knelt down and looked under the bed. Way at the back curled in a ball lay a small orange filly. The same filly from the photo in the other room. "It's okay," I tried to sound as soothing as I could. "We won't hurt you. We're here to help." I glanced at Spike and I could see him give me a worried look before I saw the little filly slowly crawl out from under the bed. As I thought, she was only a few years younger than me. The had a light beige mane and a bouquet of flowers as a cutie mark. She was shaking profusely and it took a combined effort from Spike and I to finally get a name out of her. Flora. We lead her back down the stairs and into the dining room where we told her our plan of getting to town hall and hopefully meet up with other safe ponies. She seemed to understand what we intended but she hadn't said a word since we got a name out of her. When it came time to finally leave the house, Flora was obviously frightened. When spike opened the door she began to shake again and started backing away. "I-I... I can't. I c-can't go out there!" She said with a nervous stutter. "I just can't." "It'll be okay, I promise." Spike said as he gave her a reassuring smile before turning to look back out the door. She bit her lower lip in confliction as she thought about what was going on. Finally she took in a deep breath and followed Spike and I out the door. The town was eerily silent once again. The hoard of infected now back in their hiding spots. A chilling breeze swept through the street as we entered the market place. Town hall was now a few blocks away and could be seen just over the roofs of the nearby buildings. There were abandoned food carts all over the street. It seems all of the vendors made a hasty exit when the creatures showed up and they left all their belongings behind. Flora was paying attention to one of the passing buildings and didn't notice an abandoned apple cart in her path. Before Spike or I could warn her it was too late. The cart began to roll towards a building and before we knew it it crashed into the side, sending apples and pieces of wood flying everywhere. Right away the screams of the infected pierced our eardrums. They started pouring out of alley ways and abandoned buildings and before we knew it we were being chanced by over twenty creatures. Trying our best to dodge carts and debris that littered the market square. "Don't you know magic or something!" Spike yelled at me as he looked over his shoulder at the growing mass of infected ponies giving chase. I realised he was right and began throwing whatever I could grab with my magic behind me at the creatures. Town hall was now in sight. Putting on a burst of speed, the three of us neared our destination. But in some twist of fate, I glanced over my shoulder and watched in horror as Flora tripped on a piece of a broken cart. She screamed in either pain or terror as the mass of infected came down upon her. I went to go and help her but Spike grabbed me by the tail and pulled me back. I looked on in abject terror as the creatures began to tear into her flesh. Her screams became piercing as the bit into her limbs and torso. The smell of blood permeated the air as more and more of the infected fell upon her. Spike pulled me once again and I turned and ran towards town hall once again, tears freely falling down my cheeks as Flora's screams filled the evening air. When we made it to the front doors, Spike flung open the doors and I ran inside and collapsed on the floor hyperventilating. The last thing I heard were Flora's cries for help finally being silenced before the front doors to town hall were shut once again. Chapter 4 - The DarknessWhen was the last time you actually laughed... "We lied..." "Hmm? What was that?" Spike asked from his spot across from me. I don't know how long it's been since we made it to town hall but it feels like ages since I've moved. That poor filly... What did she do to deserve this? It's all my fault... "We lied to her... Flora. We told her she'd be okay... a-and... and now she's dead." I looked over at Spike in fear and sadness. By the look on his face I guess he shared the sentiment as he stared blankly back at me. "Why is this happening?" I asked no one in particular. "What did we do to deserve this? We're not bad ponies are we?" Spike just continued staring at the floor. I slowly stood up from my spot on the floor and walked to Spikes side and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt his flinch back for a moment before resting his head on mine. I'm not sure how long we sat in silence but eventually the darkness took hold of my eyes and dragged me into a restless slumber. Shooting up in a panic my eyes scanned the room around me, jumping at shadows. I felt a scratching around my stomach and I looked down to find an old wool blanket. Spike was no where to be seen and I felt strangely vulnerable. "Spike?" I whispered out into the dark room I found myself in. "Spike!" I tried again, a little more panicked than before, but no one returned my calls. Swallowing my fear I moved the blanket aside and cautiously stood up to look around. It was fairly hard to see given that the lights were out and the moons light barely shone in from outside. Holding a hoof up against the wall I began my careful trek through the halls. It was eerily quiet in here which had my hopes of finding other ponies in here slowly crumbling away like the thoughts of having a normal life again. I stopped when the wall my hoof was on suddenly ended, telling me that the hall either turned, or just split off from here. Not knowing the layout of the building at all I followed the wall around the corner. Without being able to see I walked right into somepony. "AHH! GET AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU MONSTER!" I screamed as I tried desperately to find something I could use to defend myself. It wasn't until several moments later when I realized I wasn't getting mauled and eaten that I stopped flailing and squinted into the darkness. Spike was standing before me with a concerned look on his face and a flashlight in his claw. A light blush came to my face as Spike helped me up and I brushed myself of the dust on my coat. "Are you okay Molly?" He asked as he looked on in concern. "I'm okay Spike. Where did you go? I woke up and I was all alone. I didn't know what happened to you... I was so scared..." I was near tears as Spike rushed up and gave me a hug. I tucked my muzzle into the crook of his neck as tears began to flow down my face. "Don't leave me alone like that again... please." "I'm not going anywhere, I'm sorry. But you fell asleep and I couldn't so I figured I would explore town hall a bit. From what I can tell there's nopony here. I did find some medical supplies though, so that's good." Spike said with a slight grimace on his face. "There's still a lot of this place left to explore though, come on." I nodded quickly as I wiped my eyes clear of tears and followed his lead. I know he was putting on a brave front.I could see in his eyes he was just as scared as I was but I'm glad he was trying to stay strong for the both of us. We walked through the quiet halls for a few minutes before something finally clicked. "Hey Spike, have you noticed how all of the furniture is missing?" At this Spike took a good look around. "You're right! There's nothing. No vases, tables, chairs. Nothing. I wonder where it all went?" Keeping that thought in the back of my mind we ventured on until we came to another split in the hall. "Well I guess that explains the lack of furniture." Spike said with a confused look. Blocking on of the hallways was a veritable mountain of chairs, desks and small tables. It rose as high as the ceiling and looked to be a few meters thick at least. That left the hall to our right and a door to our left. We were about to head down the hall when we heard hoofsteps. They were faint at first so we stopped and craned our ears. It sounded like they were getting closer. Spike aimed the flashlight down the hall just in time to see one of the creatures shamble around a corner at the end of the hall. "Oh no..." Spike whispered as he slowly backed towards the door behind us. He wasn't paying attention to his footing and he tripped a little and dropped the flashlight. It hit the floor in what sounded like thunder and almost immediately the creatures head shot our way and it let out a feral growl as it began to charge our way. Quickly turning around I tried the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. Panicking I started banging on the door and jiggling the knob with all of my might but it just wouldn't move. "Spike! What do we do?" I screamed as the monster continued to charge down the hall, closing the gap on us quickly. It would be mere moments before it was upon us and ripping us apart. I was about to slam the door again when it suddenly shot open and a pair of brown hooves reached out and pulled Spike and I inside before slamming shut once again. All I could hear were my own screams as I looked around the black room in fear. PrologueBlood. There's blood everywhere I look. On the floor, on the walls... Even on the ceiling. My senses are on lock down. I can't move as I stare in mute horror at the scene in front of me. The sound of something snapping brings me out of my terrified stupor. I turn to my left towards a window. It's been smashed to pieces and what bits of glass that are left are coated in a thick red ooze. Creeping slowly towards the open window, careful to step over and around the blood coating the floor I prop my hooves on the sill and carefully peek out. My jaw goes slack as my eyes fall upon the mare outside. Her coat is matted with blood from head to tail. Her eyes stare blankly into space, lifeless. But that's now the most disturbing part. Is my eyes move over her prone form I see the gaping hole in her chest. Blood and entrails are strewn about haphazardly. That's when I see it. The form off to the right. It's just sitting there, occasionally twitching or moaning. It's back is turned towards me so I can't tell if it's a mare or stallion. I should call for help, maybe they know what's going on. But something stops me. It's covered in blood as well. I try my best to hold in a gasp as the figure suddenly shifts it's gaze back on the dead mare. As it slowly gets to it's hooves I can tell it was once a mare. My neighbour, Ms.Roseluck. Her eyes are sunken in and wild, her pupils a faded white. Blood drips off her muzzle as she slowly shambles towards the corpse on my lawn. When she finally reaches the body, to my complete horror, she sits and begins to root through and eat the entrails that are strewn about the bloodied grass. I can't take it anymore. Turning towards the sink, I lean forward and empty my stomach. Soon I'm dry heaving and coughing into the sink, tears running down my cheeks as I try and calm down. When I turn to look back out the window, Roseluck is no where to be seen, and strangely enough neither is the corpse. A crash against the kitchen door brings me back to reality as I realize what's happened. I've been discovered. Fearing for my life, I open up the cupboard underneath the sink and squeeze myself in, closing the door behind me. It isn't long before the kitchen door smashes open and I can hear that creature make it's presence known, moaning and growling in hunger. I sing my hooves over my mouth to silence my breaths as the monster makes its way around the room. I can't hear it open anything. It just wanders around the room aimlessly, growling to itself. It isn't long before all is quiet in the room. I don't dare move or make a sound though, in case it's waiting for me outside. For ten grueling minutes I wait, just listening for any signs that that monster is out there. when I'm almost certain that I'm alone, I open the cupboard door a crack and peer out. an empty room greets me. Walking fully out of the cupboard, I look around the room and notice the bloody hoof prints entering and exiting the doorway. Sighing in relief, I quickly but carefully make my way to my bedroom, cautiously looking in every room before passing them by and entering my own, locking it behind me. My room is your typical bedroom. My bed lies in the corner of the room, my blue blankets and pillow strewn every which way. next to my bed is my writing desk, covered in papers and quills and little cups of ink. My dresser sits on the other side of the room, filled with fancy dresses and winter attire for when I actually need them and topped with a photo I haven't looked at in years. The rest of the room is sparce except for the few posters I have on the walls depicting famous novelists and bands I like. As I walk over to my dresser, I levitate the photo over to me and look at it mornfully. A small white unicorn filly with a light blue mane smiles brightly next to a beige unicorn with a darker blue mane. She's smiling just as brightly. It was taken at my cuteceanera. Me and my mum. I wonder where she is... Putting the picture frame down, I slowly walk towards the window and peer out into the streets of Ponyville. There's chaos everywhere. Mares and stallions alike, all running in a terrified panic from those... Things. I don't know what they are, but they look like residents of Ponyville. Have they all gone mad? I watch in horror as a stallion is tackled to the ground and stifle a scream as I watch his throat get torn out by his assailant, a filly, maybe a year or two younger than me sits on his chest and rips at his neck like some wild animal.He screams for somepony to help him, but everypony seems content to flee the scene and save themselves. As I'm watching this, the little filly suddenly gets off the now dead stallion and sprints after another unlucky mare. as the run around a corner out of sight, my attention is drawn back the recently deceased stallion. His body is twitching. He's dead though, that shouldn't happen. I hold back another scream as the once lifeless body begins to pick itself up and sprint after a terrified filly, tackling her to the ground and ripping her open. I can't take it anymore. Turning around, I collapse on my bed and begin to cry. "What's going on? What's happening to everypony?" I cry into my pillow as the screams of the town filter in through the window. "Where's mum?" The sudden thought causes me to sit up. All that blood down stairs... Was that mum's? Fresh tears begin to fall down my cheeks at the thought of my mum being torn apart by one of those creatures. I don't know how long I layed there crying, but when I finally calmed down enough to look outside again, the streets were eerily calm. Looking over the silent town, I noticed only one house had any lights on. The town library. With a solid resolve, I grabbed my saddlebags, threw my photo frame inside, and slowly made my way down stairs. If anypony knew what was going on, it was the town librarian, Twilight Sparkle. I had to get to her... Somehow... Chapter 1 - The DescentI've been standing by my front door for what feels like hours now. I'm just so scared, I don't wanna die. As soon as I made it down stairs I grabbed a flash light and headed for the door but as soon as my hoof made contact with the door my body froze. What if those things are still out there? Peering through the eye hole in the door, I scanned the near by area. Nothing. It's been quiet for a little while now. No screaming, no growling, no tearing of flesh from bone. almost silent, as if the world outside just froze and is now taking a moment of silence the unlucky ones that were slaughtered. I know better than that though. Something's going on. Taking a few more seconds to calm my nerves, I shake my head and slowly approach the door once more. As slowly and as quietly as I can, I pushed open the door, bracing myself for the oncoming assault by some horrible monstrosity, only to be greeted by the cool, crisp night air of Ponyville. Taking one last breath to steel my nerves, I slowly made my way outside the confines of my home. The air was brisk as I cautiously made my way towards the library. The silence in the streets was slightly unnerving with the amount of blood and gore that littered the streets. I had to try my hardest not to vomit what ever was left in my stomach. The smell was nauseating as I tried my best to sneak through the streets without being seen by anything. I couldn't help but flinch at any sudden noises on my trek through town. Anything that broke the silence was terrifying. I still hadn't run into any of those monsters and I was about half way to the safety of the library. So far it was looking good. As I passed my an alley way I heard exactly what I was dreading. The tearing of flesh from bone. As quickly as I could while staying silent, I hugged the wall of the nearest building and carefully peered into the alley. Immediately I hid behind the wall again, stifling a scream in the process. It was Mr.Cake. Just like the other ones I saw, he too was covered in blood. Taking another look into the darkness of the alley, I could barely make out the figure on the ground in front of him, or at least what was left of her. Bon Bon lay motionless at his hooves. half of her face is gone, flesh torn off right to the bone. Blood stains the ground around what was once Mr.Cake, He's chewing on one of Bon Bon's legs. I can't take any more of this. Turning to go, I Trip over my own hooves. Immediately I know I've been found out. Without stopping to look back, I pick myself up and begin to sprint towards the library. I can just see the top of the tree from where I am. It's so close now. A feral growl from behind me causes me to scream. Sparing a glance over my should, I see Mr.Cake come to a stop outside the alley and lock eyes with me. With a, ear piercing scream, he begins his pursuit. I scream once more as adrenaline takes over and I put on a burst of speed. I can hear the monsters hoof steps getting closer. Frantically I search for some way I can lose him. I run by alley after alley but I can't bring myself to run down any of them for fear of another creature hiding in the shadows. Opting to stick to the main roads, I carry on and scan the area for anywhere I can hide. Nothing sticks out immediately, but eventually I notice an overturned apple cart and dive under it. No sooner had I hidden underneath the cart, the pursuing monster rams the side. I scream in terror as the monster continues to ram its head into the side of the cart. I can see it begin to splinter from the repeated abuse. It won't take much more. Searching for a way out, I see a small gap behind me, the sound of wood cracking forces my decision and I throw myself at the hole, I get my top half out fine but my hips are a bit too big. I struggle with all my might but I'm just a bit too big. The monster still hasn't noticed my attempted escape and continues to ram the cart. With each hit it takes, the cart inches down the road. Suddenly I feel a bit of room. A dip in the road. Saying a silent thank you, I scoot the rest of the way out and sprint away. The library is finally in sight and I smile in relief. That is until I hear Mr.Cake bellow in frustration. He must have broken through the cart and seen my missing form. With out looking back I know he's searching for me again, I can hear his heavy hoof falls. When the library is finally within reach, I go to push on the door only to find it locked. Fearing for my life I pound on the door frantically. "Help! Hello! Please, please open up! I Don't wanna die!" I scream at the top of my lungs. There just has to be somepony hear. Looking behind me, I see what used to be Mr.Cake turn his blood covered face towards the library and I. With a ravenous yell he begins to charge once more. I bang on the door even harder until I hit nothing and collapse on the library floor. I hear the door click shut and lock behind me. I don't look up to see who my saviour is just yet. My heavy breaths drown out anything they may have said as I lay on the floor and catch my breath. That's when I hear Mr.Cake hit the library door. it rattles the room with how hard he hit. Tears begin to flow down my face as the monster begins to batter the door once again. I scream out loud when something touches my shoulder. Turning to look, I see a small purple dragon with green spines on the top of his head. He looks just as scared as I feel, but there's a look of determination and comfort in his eyes. "Come on, we need to get up stairs. It's safer up there..." I look at him uncertainly before I nod and follow him up the stairs. The last thing I hear before we enter another room is the sound of Mr.Cake screaming in rage out side.
Chapter 2 - The MeetingMy bedroom felt eerily cold tonight for some reason. My window wasn't open at all, and I had plenty of blankets, but I swear I can see my breath. Walking over to my dresser to look for a sweater or another blanket, I heard a loud thud down stairs. "Mum?" I yelled from my spot in my room. "Is everything okay down there?" At first I thought she just didn't hear me. As I was about to call down to her again I heard screaming. Immediately my blood ran cold. Rushing out of my room I ran down the hall towards the stairs, the sound of pure fear and agony filling my ears all the while. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, the yelling had stopped completely. The dead silence filling me with more dread than the actual screaming had. No lights were on at this point and I had no idea where the screams had come from. I was about to head towards my mums room when a smashing of glass from the kitchen ripped my attention away. I ran as fast as my hooves would let me towards the kitchen door. The light was on inside, but I couldn't hear a sound inside the room. "Mum... Is everything okay in there?" Edging up to the door, I slowly eased it open. The sudden rush of light caused me to flinch away for a moment. When I finally turned back to the kitchen... I sat up and screamed. Cold sweat rushing down my face as I panted heavily. Placing a hoof to my chest to steady my racing heartbeat. A sudden presence to my left caused me to scream once again and try and retreat. "Whoa whoa whoa, it's okay. It's just me. You're safe here." As my eyes adjust to the dim candle light in the room I realize it's the little dragon from earlier. I must have fallen asleep when we got up here. "What's wrong?" I look down at my hooves for a moment, remembering my dream, or memory, rather. "I just had a bad dream... I-I'm okay..." I say to him, my voice just barely above a whisper. "Are you sure? You look a little shaken up..." The little dragon says as he takes a seat next to me, a warm smile on his face. I can tell he's just putting on a brave face for me though, I can see the fear in his eyes. "I was... I was back in my house. It as everything that happened yesterday before I ran here... I heard my mum screaming from the kitchen then suddenly stop... By the time that... That I got there, she was gone. The kitchen was covered in blood and I just... I'm so scared and I just want my mum!" The last bit of my explanation came out in inaudible sobs as I broke down into the dragons shoulder. All the while he just sat there in silence, gently running his little purple claw through my mane. Softly cooing me and comforting me. "It's okay, It'll be okay." He said as he continued to run his claw down my mane. As my sobs slowly settled down and I regained composure I looked up at the little dragon beside me. He was staring of into the distance, rubbing my mane as if on auto-pilot. "Uh... Sir? Are... Are you okay?" I said while gently shaking his purple shoulder. "Hm? Oh... Yeah, I'm fine, just... Scared I guess. I mean... Yesterday started so normal..." Before he could continue, my stomach growled rather loudly and abruptly. I looked to my stomach then back up to him with a blush on my face. He just smiled and stood up, waving me towards the door. I was hesitant at first, but his reassuring smile was enough for me to slowly follow him back down the stairs towards what I assumed was the kitchen. "I'm Spike by the way, what's your name?" Spike said as he turned on the lights in the kitchen and opened up a fridge. "Um... Molly. Nice to meet you." I said as I took in the new room. It was a rather small room with cupboards lining the top half of most of the walls. A fridge and an oven stood side by side on the far wall and a round table took residence in the center of the room with a low hanging light above the center of the table. "Here," Spike said as he placed a plate on the table with a sandwich on it for me and then took a seat himself as he munched on an apple. I nodded in thanks as I took a seat and slowly ate my sandwich. "So as I was saying," Spike said between bites of his apple. "It just seemed like such a normal day. Twilight and I were walking back from one of Pinkie's little get togethers over at sugar cube corner when we just heard screaming. We didn't know where it came from at first but then we saw this mare running down the road being chased by this stallion when he jumped on her!" "Twilight and I were completely dumbstruck at first, but before Twilight had a chance to help her, the stallion took a bite out of her neck! Can you believe it? That was when we started hearing more screaming and saw more ponies running in terror. Twilight ran back here as fast as she could and before I could protest, she dropped me in here and said she's be back soon... She put a spell on the treebrary so that only I could open up the door and then she said she was going back to Sugarcube Corner to try and find the others..." Spike just stared at his half eaten apple for a bit. I could see the beginning of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He looked lost. "Do you know where she is now?" I asked and immediately regretted it as he shut his eyes tight and turned away from me. We sat there in silence for a few minutes before growling from outside made me freeze in fright as Spike sat up straight and looked around. He turned back to me and help a purple claw to his lips letting me know to stay silent as he motioned me towards the stairs once again. once we made it back into the room upstairs he told me to sit back down as he walked up to the window and looked outside. "Okay so the good news is there aren't many of those things outside. The bad news is they're right outside the library and it looks like they want in..." He turned back to me with a grim expression on his face. "We need to find a safer place. Somewhere with food. Twilight took what we bought at the market with... Her..." Spike trailed off and looked at the floor, a lone tear rolling down his cheek before he took a deep breath to compose himself. "Maybe the town hall? That place should be safe." I pitched in to try and redirect Spikes thoughts back on track. "Hey yeah! And there should be tons of ponies there too!" He said, shaken out of his dark thoughts as he ran to a chest in the corner of the room and fished out a large scroll. "I have a map of Ponyville here, we can plan out a route there." Spike unrolled the map on the floor and we both began looking over the different routes we could take to get to the town hall. We wanted to find the easiest and fasted way to get there to eliminate as much time out in the open as possible. We spent twenty minutes exchanging ideas before we lapsed into silent thought. "Okay!" Spike all but yelled, causing me to shriek a the sudden noise. "Oops... Sorry." He said sheepishly as I gave him a little glare. "Any ways, so here's what we're going to do..."
Chapter 3 - The Plan"I know I didn't say it as often as I should have... But... Mum, I... I love you." "What else do you think we'll need, Spike?" I asked while I went over what we already packed. So far we had a length of rope, a couple canteens of water, some parchment, ink and quills, and a few apples. We were really counting on there being at least a few ponies at town hall, and definitely on there being emergency supplies there. Spike looked over at me and at all of the items we had packed. He hummed in thought as he put a purple claw to his chin. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide in realization before he looked down with a glare. "There is... One thing we may need." Before I could ask him what he was talking about he turned on his heels and stalked out of the room, a brooding look on his face. I sat there in silence as I waited for Spikes return. The only thing on my mind being how well this plan was going to work. When I heard Spikes clawed feet make their way back up the stairs I turned towards the doorway and waited to see what he grabbed. When he walked through the doorway, I wasn't expecting the tortured look in his eyes. When I looked down to his claws, my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what he was implying. In his claw was a large cutting knife, at least ten inches long. I just stared at the knife as Spike slowly walked in and placed it next to my saddle bags. "Just in case... you know?" When he looked up at me I could see the struggle going on inside him and I knew he wasn't making this decision lightly. I mutely nodded my head and he nodded his in turn. With one last look over our stuff, Spike made his way over to the window and peered outside. Still sitting outside the front door of the library was a bloodied and mutilated Mr.Cake. Blood and bile leaking profusely from his mouth. It seems he was using his head to try and break down the front door because it was split down the middle and leaking a severe amount of blood and yet he carried on, pacing back and forth outside. Two more creatures were lurking about the streets near the library. Both as twisted and bloody as Mr.Cake. They were just standing out on the dirt road, staring off into space. When Spike turned back to face me, there was fear evident on his face. with a nervous gulp, he hopped down from the window sill and grabbed a few books. "So you know what we're doing right?" He looked over at me and I nodded in confirmation. "Good, so when I throw these books at the trash cans out back, hopefully it makes enough noise for those things outside to investigate. While they're out back, we'll make a break for it as quickly and as quietly as we can and head towards town hall. Once we're there, hopefully there's some sort of guard or at least somepony with a plan. You ready?" I got to my hooves and attached the saddle bags to my back, pulling the straps tightly so they don't slide of while I'm running. "Ready!" "Alright, when I tell you it's safe, we'll head out the front door." I watched as Spike grabbed a few more books and piled them near the window. Opening it up, he looked around one more time before grabbing a book in his claw and breathing a green flame onto the pages. Immediately it caught fire and was burning a brilliant emerald in his grasp. With one swift motion he hurled the burning book towards the trash cans next to the buildings rear and grabbed another book. He continued this routine for a couple more books before the three creatures heard the noise and came charging around the corner to investigate. All the while letting out guttural screams of rage. "Okay Go! go! Go!" Spike screamed as he made his way down from the window. As he passed me, he bent down and picked up the kitchen knife he grabbed early. With a quick nod my way he ran towards the open doorway and the stairs. When I made it down the stairs, Spike was waiting at the front door with his hand on the knob. With one last deep breath he opened the door. As we slowly peered out the door, there were no creatures in sight. We could still hear them around the corner so we ran to the other side of the street before heading towards town hall. As we put more and more distance between us and the tree house, the sound of screams and roars grew fainter and fainter before they were just a distant buzz in the air. Spike took the lead as we walked the quiet streets of Ponyville. My head was on a constant swivel as I walked. Twitching at any sudden noise or movement I saw out of the corners of my eyes. We slowed down to a light jog to save our energy as we carried on. Suddenly I found my self tackled to the ground. One of those creatures standing over me. An older mare with a matted grey mane tied in a messy and and a light green coat. Blood poured from her mouth onto my chest as she loomed over me. She was growling as she reared her head back to strike. I shut my eyes and screamed as I awaited the impending blow. After a few moments I realised that it never came. Opening my eyes a crack, I saw nothing standing over me any more. Shakily getting to my hooves I looked around. The once ravenous creature now lay motionless on the road next to me, a large kitchen knife sticking out of it's eye. Spike was standing over it, his hands shaking as he looked at the creature with wide eyes. "I-I... I had too. She was... She was gunna kill you and I just... Oh Granny Smith... I'm so sorry." He looked over at me, tears evident in his eyes. I just kept looking between him and the body on the ground at his feet. I couldn't comprehend what just happened. The gears were turning in my head but they just weren't going anywhere. Spike's crackling voice brought me out of my reverie. I must have been staring off into space because he looked rather worried. "C-come on Molly! We have to keep moving!" He yelled as he tried to drag me to my hooves. I complied, as if on auto pilot as he lead me towards a house down the road. In the distance I could hear the tell tale screams of the infected ponies as the honed in on us. It would only be a matter of time before they saw us. Spike opened up the front door of the house and locked it with a click as soon as I was through the door way. We stood there, catching our breath in silence as we awaited the arrival of who knows how many of those things. Soon enough we heard their screams as they emerged onto the streets outside the house. Carefully peering out a nearby window I counted at least 13 of them. All searching frantically for their next meal. I audibly gulped as I backed away from the window and back to Spike. He was still visibly shaken from our first close encounter with one of the creatures on this trip through town. He was just standing there staring at his claws and continually opening and closing them. "Hey spike, why don't we look around the house. Maybe we'll find something useful?" He didn't even say a word. Just nodded and followed me as I began to look around. It was a typical two story home. We wandered around the first floor which consisted of a fully furnished kitchen and a nice dining area. Or at least it would have been nice if it wasn't splattered with blood. Everything in the house, from books, to vases, to picture frames, had specks of blood on them. Obviously one of those creatures had been in here at some point. We figured it was gone due to the lack of anything trying to kill or eat us at the moment. The only things of use that we found in the kitchen were another knife, which Spike was very reluctant to grab, and a much needed flash light. Which, looking back on it, we should have packed right away from the library. Finding nothing else of use on the main floor, Spike and I headed up the stairs. About half way up we heard something shatter in one of the rooms and we froze in place. We stood there for a while, just listening. When no other noise came, we proceeded up the stairs. There were three rooms up here. one room on the left, one on the right, and one at the end of the hall. We looked in the room on the left first. It tuned out to be a bathroom. Searching the cabinets we found a standard first aid kit and some pain killers. We decided to take both of these just in case. Crossing the hall to the right most room we entered a small bedroom. From the looks of it, it was a young fillies room. There were posters of famous actors and colt bands lining the pink walls. There was a small pink bed and two dressers in here as well. On one of the dressers was a picture frame. Taking a closer look it was a picture of a young orange filly with what looked to be her parents in a park in front of a fountain. Not finding anything else in the room, Spike and I went to check the final room in the house. We approached with caution, Spike holding the knife out in front of him as he slowly opened the door. Flipping the light switch on we saw what had shattered. A flower vase lay in pieces on the hardwood floor at the foot of the large bed. Before we had a chance to fully take in the room, we heard a quiet whimper from under the bed. Sharing a worried glance with Spike, I slowly knelt down and looked under the bed. Way at the back curled in a ball lay a small orange filly. The same filly from the photo in the other room. "It's okay," I tried to sound as soothing as I could. "We won't hurt you. We're here to help." I glanced at Spike and I could see him give me a worried look before I saw the little filly slowly crawl out from under the bed. As I thought, she was only a few years younger than me. The had a light beige mane and a bouquet of flowers as a cutie mark. She was shaking profusely and it took a combined effort from Spike and I to finally get a name out of her. Flora. We lead her back down the stairs and into the dining room where we told her our plan of getting to town hall and hopefully meet up with other safe ponies. She seemed to understand what we intended but she hadn't said a word since we got a name out of her. When it came time to finally leave the house, Flora was obviously frightened. When spike opened the door she began to shake again and started backing away. "I-I... I can't. I c-can't go out there!" She said with a nervous stutter. "I just can't." "It'll be okay, I promise." Spike said as he gave her a reassuring smile before turning to look back out the door. She bit her lower lip in confliction as she thought about what was going on. Finally she took in a deep breath and followed Spike and I out the door. The town was eerily silent once again. The hoard of infected now back in their hiding spots. A chilling breeze swept through the street as we entered the market place. Town hall was now a few blocks away and could be seen just over the roofs of the nearby buildings. There were abandoned food carts all over the street. It seems all of the vendors made a hasty exit when the creatures showed up and they left all their belongings behind. Flora was paying attention to one of the passing buildings and didn't notice an abandoned apple cart in her path. Before Spike or I could warn her it was too late. The cart began to roll towards a building and before we knew it it crashed into the side, sending apples and pieces of wood flying everywhere. Right away the screams of the infected pierced our eardrums. They started pouring out of alley ways and abandoned buildings and before we knew it we were being chanced by over twenty creatures. Trying our best to dodge carts and debris that littered the market square. "Don't you know magic or something!" Spike yelled at me as he looked over his shoulder at the growing mass of infected ponies giving chase. I realised he was right and began throwing whatever I could grab with my magic behind me at the creatures. Town hall was now in sight. Putting on a burst of speed, the three of us neared our destination. But in some twist of fate, I glanced over my shoulder and watched in horror as Flora tripped on a piece of a broken cart. She screamed in either pain or terror as the mass of infected came down upon her. I went to go and help her but Spike grabbed me by the tail and pulled me back. I looked on in abject terror as the creatures began to tear into her flesh. Her screams became piercing as the bit into her limbs and torso. The smell of blood permeated the air as more and more of the infected fell upon her. Spike pulled me once again and I turned and ran towards town hall once again, tears freely falling down my cheeks as Flora's screams filled the evening air. When we made it to the front doors, Spike flung open the doors and I ran inside and collapsed on the floor hyperventilating. The last thing I heard were Flora's cries for help finally being silenced before the front doors to town hall were shut once again.
Chapter 4 - The DarknessWhen was the last time you actually laughed... "We lied..." "Hmm? What was that?" Spike asked from his spot across from me. I don't know how long it's been since we made it to town hall but it feels like ages since I've moved. That poor filly... What did she do to deserve this? It's all my fault... "We lied to her... Flora. We told her she'd be okay... a-and... and now she's dead." I looked over at Spike in fear and sadness. By the look on his face I guess he shared the sentiment as he stared blankly back at me. "Why is this happening?" I asked no one in particular. "What did we do to deserve this? We're not bad ponies are we?" Spike just continued staring at the floor. I slowly stood up from my spot on the floor and walked to Spikes side and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt his flinch back for a moment before resting his head on mine. I'm not sure how long we sat in silence but eventually the darkness took hold of my eyes and dragged me into a restless slumber. Shooting up in a panic my eyes scanned the room around me, jumping at shadows. I felt a scratching around my stomach and I looked down to find an old wool blanket. Spike was no where to be seen and I felt strangely vulnerable. "Spike?" I whispered out into the dark room I found myself in. "Spike!" I tried again, a little more panicked than before, but no one returned my calls. Swallowing my fear I moved the blanket aside and cautiously stood up to look around. It was fairly hard to see given that the lights were out and the moons light barely shone in from outside. Holding a hoof up against the wall I began my careful trek through the halls. It was eerily quiet in here which had my hopes of finding other ponies in here slowly crumbling away like the thoughts of having a normal life again. I stopped when the wall my hoof was on suddenly ended, telling me that the hall either turned, or just split off from here. Not knowing the layout of the building at all I followed the wall around the corner. Without being able to see I walked right into somepony. "AHH! GET AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU MONSTER!" I screamed as I tried desperately to find something I could use to defend myself. It wasn't until several moments later when I realized I wasn't getting mauled and eaten that I stopped flailing and squinted into the darkness. Spike was standing before me with a concerned look on his face and a flashlight in his claw. A light blush came to my face as Spike helped me up and I brushed myself of the dust on my coat. "Are you okay Molly?" He asked as he looked on in concern. "I'm okay Spike. Where did you go? I woke up and I was all alone. I didn't know what happened to you... I was so scared..." I was near tears as Spike rushed up and gave me a hug. I tucked my muzzle into the crook of his neck as tears began to flow down my face. "Don't leave me alone like that again... please." "I'm not going anywhere, I'm sorry. But you fell asleep and I couldn't so I figured I would explore town hall a bit. From what I can tell there's nopony here. I did find some medical supplies though, so that's good." Spike said with a slight grimace on his face. "There's still a lot of this place left to explore though, come on." I nodded quickly as I wiped my eyes clear of tears and followed his lead. I know he was putting on a brave front.I could see in his eyes he was just as scared as I was but I'm glad he was trying to stay strong for the both of us. We walked through the quiet halls for a few minutes before something finally clicked. "Hey Spike, have you noticed how all of the furniture is missing?" At this Spike took a good look around. "You're right! There's nothing. No vases, tables, chairs. Nothing. I wonder where it all went?" Keeping that thought in the back of my mind we ventured on until we came to another split in the hall. "Well I guess that explains the lack of furniture." Spike said with a confused look. Blocking on of the hallways was a veritable mountain of chairs, desks and small tables. It rose as high as the ceiling and looked to be a few meters thick at least. That left the hall to our right and a door to our left. We were about to head down the hall when we heard hoofsteps. They were faint at first so we stopped and craned our ears. It sounded like they were getting closer. Spike aimed the flashlight down the hall just in time to see one of the creatures shamble around a corner at the end of the hall. "Oh no..." Spike whispered as he slowly backed towards the door behind us. He wasn't paying attention to his footing and he tripped a little and dropped the flashlight. It hit the floor in what sounded like thunder and almost immediately the creatures head shot our way and it let out a feral growl as it began to charge our way. Quickly turning around I tried the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. Panicking I started banging on the door and jiggling the knob with all of my might but it just wouldn't move. "Spike! What do we do?" I screamed as the monster continued to charge down the hall, closing the gap on us quickly. It would be mere moments before it was upon us and ripping us apart. I was about to slam the door again when it suddenly shot open and a pair of brown hooves reached out and pulled Spike and I inside before slamming shut once again. All I could hear were my own screams as I looked around the black room in fear.
PrologueBlood. There's blood everywhere I look. On the floor, on the walls... Even on the ceiling. My senses are on lock down. I can't move as I stare in mute horror at the scene in front of me. The sound of something snapping brings me out of my terrified stupor. I turn to my left towards a window. It's been smashed to pieces and what bits of glass that are left are coated in a thick red ooze. Creeping slowly towards the open window, careful to step over and around the blood coating the floor I prop my hooves on the sill and carefully peek out. My jaw goes slack as my eyes fall upon the mare outside. Her coat is matted with blood from head to tail. Her eyes stare blankly into space, lifeless. But that's now the most disturbing part. Is my eyes move over her prone form I see the gaping hole in her chest. Blood and entrails are strewn about haphazardly. That's when I see it. The form off to the right. It's just sitting there, occasionally twitching or moaning. It's back is turned towards me so I can't tell if it's a mare or stallion. I should call for help, maybe they know what's going on. But something stops me. It's covered in blood as well. I try my best to hold in a gasp as the figure suddenly shifts it's gaze back on the dead mare. As it slowly gets to it's hooves I can tell it was once a mare. My neighbour, Ms.Roseluck. Her eyes are sunken in and wild, her pupils a faded white. Blood drips off her muzzle as she slowly shambles towards the corpse on my lawn. When she finally reaches the body, to my complete horror, she sits and begins to root through and eat the entrails that are strewn about the bloodied grass. I can't take it anymore. Turning towards the sink, I lean forward and empty my stomach. Soon I'm dry heaving and coughing into the sink, tears running down my cheeks as I try and calm down. When I turn to look back out the window, Roseluck is no where to be seen, and strangely enough neither is the corpse. A crash against the kitchen door brings me back to reality as I realize what's happened. I've been discovered. Fearing for my life, I open up the cupboard underneath the sink and squeeze myself in, closing the door behind me. It isn't long before the kitchen door smashes open and I can hear that creature make it's presence known, moaning and growling in hunger. I sing my hooves over my mouth to silence my breaths as the monster makes its way around the room. I can't hear it open anything. It just wanders around the room aimlessly, growling to itself. It isn't long before all is quiet in the room. I don't dare move or make a sound though, in case it's waiting for me outside. For ten grueling minutes I wait, just listening for any signs that that monster is out there. when I'm almost certain that I'm alone, I open the cupboard door a crack and peer out. an empty room greets me. Walking fully out of the cupboard, I look around the room and notice the bloody hoof prints entering and exiting the doorway. Sighing in relief, I quickly but carefully make my way to my bedroom, cautiously looking in every room before passing them by and entering my own, locking it behind me. My room is your typical bedroom. My bed lies in the corner of the room, my blue blankets and pillow strewn every which way. next to my bed is my writing desk, covered in papers and quills and little cups of ink. My dresser sits on the other side of the room, filled with fancy dresses and winter attire for when I actually need them and topped with a photo I haven't looked at in years. The rest of the room is sparce except for the few posters I have on the walls depicting famous novelists and bands I like. As I walk over to my dresser, I levitate the photo over to me and look at it mornfully. A small white unicorn filly with a light blue mane smiles brightly next to a beige unicorn with a darker blue mane. She's smiling just as brightly. It was taken at my cuteceanera. Me and my mum. I wonder where she is... Putting the picture frame down, I slowly walk towards the window and peer out into the streets of Ponyville. There's chaos everywhere. Mares and stallions alike, all running in a terrified panic from those... Things. I don't know what they are, but they look like residents of Ponyville. Have they all gone mad? I watch in horror as a stallion is tackled to the ground and stifle a scream as I watch his throat get torn out by his assailant, a filly, maybe a year or two younger than me sits on his chest and rips at his neck like some wild animal.He screams for somepony to help him, but everypony seems content to flee the scene and save themselves. As I'm watching this, the little filly suddenly gets off the now dead stallion and sprints after another unlucky mare. as the run around a corner out of sight, my attention is drawn back the recently deceased stallion. His body is twitching. He's dead though, that shouldn't happen. I hold back another scream as the once lifeless body begins to pick itself up and sprint after a terrified filly, tackling her to the ground and ripping her open. I can't take it anymore. Turning around, I collapse on my bed and begin to cry. "What's going on? What's happening to everypony?" I cry into my pillow as the screams of the town filter in through the window. "Where's mum?" The sudden thought causes me to sit up. All that blood down stairs... Was that mum's? Fresh tears begin to fall down my cheeks at the thought of my mum being torn apart by one of those creatures. I don't know how long I layed there crying, but when I finally calmed down enough to look outside again, the streets were eerily calm. Looking over the silent town, I noticed only one house had any lights on. The town library. With a solid resolve, I grabbed my saddlebags, threw my photo frame inside, and slowly made my way down stairs. If anypony knew what was going on, it was the town librarian, Twilight Sparkle. I had to get to her... Somehow...
Chapter 1 - The DescentI've been standing by my front door for what feels like hours now. I'm just so scared, I don't wanna die. As soon as I made it down stairs I grabbed a flash light and headed for the door but as soon as my hoof made contact with the door my body froze. What if those things are still out there? Peering through the eye hole in the door, I scanned the near by area. Nothing. It's been quiet for a little while now. No screaming, no growling, no tearing of flesh from bone. almost silent, as if the world outside just froze and is now taking a moment of silence the unlucky ones that were slaughtered. I know better than that though. Something's going on. Taking a few more seconds to calm my nerves, I shake my head and slowly approach the door once more. As slowly and as quietly as I can, I pushed open the door, bracing myself for the oncoming assault by some horrible monstrosity, only to be greeted by the cool, crisp night air of Ponyville. Taking one last breath to steel my nerves, I slowly made my way outside the confines of my home. The air was brisk as I cautiously made my way towards the library. The silence in the streets was slightly unnerving with the amount of blood and gore that littered the streets. I had to try my hardest not to vomit what ever was left in my stomach. The smell was nauseating as I tried my best to sneak through the streets without being seen by anything. I couldn't help but flinch at any sudden noises on my trek through town. Anything that broke the silence was terrifying. I still hadn't run into any of those monsters and I was about half way to the safety of the library. So far it was looking good. As I passed my an alley way I heard exactly what I was dreading. The tearing of flesh from bone. As quickly as I could while staying silent, I hugged the wall of the nearest building and carefully peered into the alley. Immediately I hid behind the wall again, stifling a scream in the process. It was Mr.Cake. Just like the other ones I saw, he too was covered in blood. Taking another look into the darkness of the alley, I could barely make out the figure on the ground in front of him, or at least what was left of her. Bon Bon lay motionless at his hooves. half of her face is gone, flesh torn off right to the bone. Blood stains the ground around what was once Mr.Cake, He's chewing on one of Bon Bon's legs. I can't take any more of this. Turning to go, I Trip over my own hooves. Immediately I know I've been found out. Without stopping to look back, I pick myself up and begin to sprint towards the library. I can just see the top of the tree from where I am. It's so close now. A feral growl from behind me causes me to scream. Sparing a glance over my should, I see Mr.Cake come to a stop outside the alley and lock eyes with me. With a, ear piercing scream, he begins his pursuit. I scream once more as adrenaline takes over and I put on a burst of speed. I can hear the monsters hoof steps getting closer. Frantically I search for some way I can lose him. I run by alley after alley but I can't bring myself to run down any of them for fear of another creature hiding in the shadows. Opting to stick to the main roads, I carry on and scan the area for anywhere I can hide. Nothing sticks out immediately, but eventually I notice an overturned apple cart and dive under it. No sooner had I hidden underneath the cart, the pursuing monster rams the side. I scream in terror as the monster continues to ram its head into the side of the cart. I can see it begin to splinter from the repeated abuse. It won't take much more. Searching for a way out, I see a small gap behind me, the sound of wood cracking forces my decision and I throw myself at the hole, I get my top half out fine but my hips are a bit too big. I struggle with all my might but I'm just a bit too big. The monster still hasn't noticed my attempted escape and continues to ram the cart. With each hit it takes, the cart inches down the road. Suddenly I feel a bit of room. A dip in the road. Saying a silent thank you, I scoot the rest of the way out and sprint away. The library is finally in sight and I smile in relief. That is until I hear Mr.Cake bellow in frustration. He must have broken through the cart and seen my missing form. With out looking back I know he's searching for me again, I can hear his heavy hoof falls. When the library is finally within reach, I go to push on the door only to find it locked. Fearing for my life I pound on the door frantically. "Help! Hello! Please, please open up! I Don't wanna die!" I scream at the top of my lungs. There just has to be somepony hear. Looking behind me, I see what used to be Mr.Cake turn his blood covered face towards the library and I. With a ravenous yell he begins to charge once more. I bang on the door even harder until I hit nothing and collapse on the library floor. I hear the door click shut and lock behind me. I don't look up to see who my saviour is just yet. My heavy breaths drown out anything they may have said as I lay on the floor and catch my breath. That's when I hear Mr.Cake hit the library door. it rattles the room with how hard he hit. Tears begin to flow down my face as the monster begins to batter the door once again. I scream out loud when something touches my shoulder. Turning to look, I see a small purple dragon with green spines on the top of his head. He looks just as scared as I feel, but there's a look of determination and comfort in his eyes. "Come on, we need to get up stairs. It's safer up there..." I look at him uncertainly before I nod and follow him up the stairs. The last thing I hear before we enter another room is the sound of Mr.Cake screaming in rage out side.
