Luna of the Dead

The sky was grey. Clouds blocked out even the smallest ray of sunshine, and a dense fog had formed. It was midday, yet it felt as dusk. Faded shadows filled the streets, a wheel from an overturned cart creaked slowly, and all color had been wiped from the town. A slow, cold breeze blew through the empty streets, swaying old shop signs and ripped pieces of cloth. There was no movement; just eerie silence.

A figure swiftly and silently moved through the dead streets, careful to not make a sound. It wore a dark cloak with a hood that covered its' face. It had saddle bags filled with tools and supplies, lightly jingling as it trotted down the road towards the train house. It arrived at the large, wooden doors, quickly looked around, checking to see if it had been followed, and then grabbed the handle in its' teeth and pulled the door open. The hinges silently screamed from the motion of the old door, and musty air poured out from the building. The figure made its way inside, took one last glance outside at the somber husk of Ponyville, and sealed itself inside.

~~~~~~~~~~

She arrived at the front doors of the Train Station. She couldn't believe that it had gone missing, but she had to force herself to move past it. There wasn't anything she could do about it now. It was gone; there was no changing that. Rarity took a deep breath, cleared her mind of her grief, and slowly turned the handle leading inside. The inside of the waiting room looked the same as it always had: cold and empty, baggage near the walls, and scraps of paper littering the creaky floor boards. With her pistol ready, she inched forward to the ticket counter. She cautiously looked over the counter where she saw a corpse with a broken jaw and sliced eye. She flinched back a bit, but hesitantly whispered, "Hello?"

"..."

"Hello?" she called out a little louder.

"...Rarity?"

She let down her guard when she heard Spike's voice. The little dragon came out from behind a counter, followed by Apple Bloom. Spike smiled when he saw her calm, charismatic face, but Apple Bloom cringed a little. She looked hard at Rarity's face, observing it. When Rarity began noticing how she was being looked at by this filly, Apple Bloom looked away. Spike opened the door leading to the ticket office and wandered out towards Rarity. Apple Bloom emerged, and noticed a blue head looking through the open doors. It smiled when it saw the filly, and then began to move forward, reveling Princess Luna.

"Well, it appears we've all made it here safely."

"Yeah Princess," Apple Bloom hesitantly smiled, "were all here, nice and safe."

"Good. We grew worried when we saw the sky."

"What's worrying about the sky?" Spike asked curiously.

Could she tell them? Could she bring herself to say that her sister had turned and was on the loose? That now the balance of life was in peril, not only because of the zombies but because her sister still had control of the sun? Could she bring herself to tell the grim news that sunlight may never again touch Equestria? No, she couldn't...not yet. She had to lie.

"It's just a bad omen. It's midday, yet there is no sun and fog covering the ground. It just made us feel...uneasy."

"Alright, well, clearly it's nothing, so what is our plan?" Rarity asked inquisitively.

"We are...unsure. We must get to the Crystal Empire, yet we have not yet planed on how."

"Well, we're at a Train Station, so how about a Train?"

"Unfortunately it is not that simple Apple Bloom. We thought it would be good to follow the tracks to find our way, but using a train might not be possible. The trains were all used for evacuating the citizens, and it doesn't appear any have returned for a long time. And if we found one, there is no telling if it is even working."

"Hey, everypony," Spike said nervously. "There's a light flickering over there."

Everypony went over to the loading platform and looked to where Spike was pointing. There indeed was a white light rapidly flashing from inside a wooden building, almost as if somepony was using a welding torch. They all gazed at it, curious.

"What could it be?" asked Spike.

"Ah don't know. Maybe there's somepony over there."

"Should we investigate?"

"We are unsure. Whoever is over there could be hostile."

"Ah think we should check it out."

They waited for a while, but eventually all agreed to go see what it was. Creeping through the tall, dry wild-grass that surrounded the train tracks, they made their way over to the old train house. Everypony had their weapons raised and ready for anything. Luna flew up to the window on what appeared to be the second story of the building. Cautiously, she looked through the dirty glass, and into the middle of the dark room. The light continued flickering, briefly illuminating the interior. She could see that the window was next to a loft that contained a vast number of spare railroad tracks, and beneath that was the silhouette of a Train Engine with the shape of a pony along side it. It was welding a part of the large, iron wheel on the train, until it glanced up at Luna. The welding light turned off, and all was still. Luna was curious as to what was going on. Distracted by her thoughts, she could not react to the brittle window exploding outwards at her, flinging broken glass and balls from a shotgun shell into the field. Luna plummeted to the ground, landing directly next to Apple Bloom. Rarity magically flung the large doors open and fired a few shots into the darkness. The sound of gunfire filled the air, and Spike noticed a few zombies in the field making their way towards the train house. Apple Bloom helped Luna to her hooves, who quickly ran to Rarity. The gunfire had ceased, and all was silent. It felt like an eternity had passed before a voice called out.

"WHO IS OUT THERE?!"

She hesitated before replying, "Luna, Princess of the Night. Who are thou?"

The voice did not reply, and the growling, snarling sounds of zombies slowly became louder. Finally the voice called out again.

"Luna? Is that really you?"

"Yes, and who are thou?"

"It's me, Ember!"