Silence.
The unbearable sound of silence pressed hard upon the ears of the living. The birds dared not make a sound, they sat in perfect lines atop the buildings as silent observers, watching the streets for sudden movement. The streets no longer buzzed with talk and gossip, they were as quiet as graveyard. Mud, blood stains and gnawed bones littered them, the whole town reeked of death and decay. Even the wind was quiet, the breeze came and disappeared as quickly as it had come. With no weather team to disperse the clouds, a thick, heavy layer of gray hung over the town. The clouds bathed the town in semi-darkness, it was impossible to know if the shining sun, that beacon of warmth and happiness was casting its loving gaze down on the remaining residence.
Nopony dared to leave their house, they sat, secluded in the darkness as Equestria fell apart around them. Fruit and vegetables sat, rotting, in their baskets in the market and numerous, squashed, baked goods littered the ground.
An overturned bin rattled suddenly, shattering the silence. From out of the refuse emerged a fat, scraggly rat. It scurried about the street in search of food, stopping at regular intervals to chew at a bit of rotten fruit or stale bread. The outbreak had even changed animals, rats, foxes even stray dogs fed upon whatever they could get their claws on, sometimes even each other.
The rat scurried its way up a set of stone stairs into an open house, the creatures nose twitched.
There was food in here.
It sniffed at the ground trying to follow the scent, it moved through a door into another room, the rat raised its head and stared ahead at a large yellow blob, lying in the middle of the floor. The rat moved around the blob and examined it from the other side. The rat paused and stared at the source of the smell, the blob was an orange maned mare, she lay in a heap on the floor, her eyes were wide, red, and puffy and there were a few tears hanging in them. Her throat had been slashed open, blood trickled down her neck and slashed in a heap on the floor and a bloody knife lay next to the crumpled mare's body.
The ravenous rat quickly bit it's teeth into the pony's leg and pulled a short strip of flesh off of it. It would have to move quickly, it new this body hadn't been here long and before too soon another pony might steal its fill. It continued further into the mare's leg eating furiously.
A dull thunk sounded through the empty house from the door, the rat gave a small squeal and scurried under an overturned chair. The sound of heavy hooves on wood drew closer to the rat, accompanied by a low rasping noise. The rat peaked its head out from the chair and eyed the monster that stood before it.
That thing was a pony once, a normal pony living happily in its cosy little village, any trace of that was long gone. Its eyes were glassy and stared, emotionlessly onward, its mane and fur were matted with grime and blood and it staggered on its hooves as it walked, as if it were heavily drunk.
It looked down at the mare beneath it and sank its teeth into her chest, pulling away meat. The rat watched on with envious eyes as the cannibal feasted on its prey, a snap tore through the room, and the monster raised its head, a bone hanging from its mouth. As it brought down its jaw again, a piece of bone fell from its mouth a landed beside it.
The rat hesitated, it stared at the bone intently. Then, quick as flash, the rat shot out and grabbed the bone. The creature turned to face its inferior at the sound of its claws upon the wood. It snarled as the rat seized it's stolen prize and succeed away, and the creature gave chase.
The rat tore out the door and down the street, its pursuer lumbering after it. It turned a corner, searching, but the thief had disappeared. Growling, the vile creature continued to an intersection of paths. As it reached the center, a bright light caught its eye, it turned its head and saw a bright, lavender dome, shielding a fine oak tree.
As if the light was calling to it, the monster dragged its hooves toward the dome. As it advanced closer, the undeniable smell of fresh meat filled its nostrils.
Three? No, four fresh meals awaiting him behind it. It was but a nose length away from the dome, the intoxicating smell of flesh, burrowing into its nostrils. With one final slump, it collided with the dome.
SNAP!, the sound broke the silent air like a whip, the monster disintegrated, burst into pile of ash, and fell to the ground.
**********
From inside the library, Rainbow Dash pulled back the curtains of the library window and stared at the ash pile. "Yes!" Rainbow exclaimed punching the air, "got another one Twi".
"Shh!", another voice said harshly, "keep it down Rainbow, you want the whole dang on top a' us?" Applejack asked. Rainbow closed the curtain and folded her forelegs. A still scowling Applejack turned to weary alicorn who sat before her, Twilight's horn was aglow with a dim lavender light, her eyes were barely open and there were dark shadows under them. Her mane was knotted and tangle and several feathers were ruffled on her wings.
"Twi" Applejack said softly, "how ya feeling?"
Twilight didn't answer, she continued to stare deplorably at the floor.
"Twi?" Applejack asked again placing a hoof on her friends shoulder.
"I'm fine" Twilight snapped moving away from Applejack's comforting hoof, "I'm fine Applejack".
"No Twilight yer not" Applejack insisted, "you haven't slept or eaten anything for days, your exhausted".
Twilight vigorously shook her head, "AJ, worry about yourself, I told you I'm fine, I just..need to get my head clear".
Twilight took a deep breath and returned to her original seated position. Applejack sighed and flopped down on a cushion from upstairs, her once glorious, flowing golden mane clinging to her face and hanging down like the broken limbs of a tree.
She looked around the room, scattered around it were several candles and torches, most of which were burning low by this point. Rainbow Dash sat huddled at the window, pulling back the curtain every once in a while to check for danger. Spike, sat in his bed, his expression, undefinable, she couldn't tell if it was sorrow, anger or hatred. He had sat there for days, hardly speaking, staring at a red heart shaped gem, the only thing he had left to remember Rarity by.
Applejack bit her lip, the memory had come flooding back to her, she bit down harder as the echoes of her friends terrified screams coursed through her head. Applejack shook her head, trying to suppress the thought of her close friend and instead choosing to head over to Rainbow.
"Are there anymore?" Applejack asked, Rainbow pulled back the curtain and spied the street for any more of the undead.
"Nothing", she said with a sigh of relief. Applejack put her back against the wall and sat down next to her friend, she put her face in her hooves.
She gave a low sob of despair, Rainbow looked over at her and put a comforting wing around her friends shoulder. "It has to get better" she assured her, "It'll get better AJ".
"When?" Applejack asked, looking at Rainbow with tear stained eyes, "tomorrow? Next week? In a year? And how is it gonna' get better? Even the princess can't stop it". Applejack buried her face in her hooves again and let out a few more sobs.
Rainbow pulled herself closer to Applejack and hugged her, "she'll find some way of stopping it, she's the princess of Equestria she's smart enough to figure something out".
Applejack's sobbing had reduced to heavy sniffling, she broke the hug and looked at Rainbow, "yer'...yer' probably right".
"Of course I am" Rainbow replied, smiling.
Applejack gave a small laugh, "thanks Rainbow, I'm sorry, it's just...you know". Her ears drooped and she stared at the floor, "the others" she finished.
Twilight let out small noise of despair, the two looked at her, worried. "I'm so sorry" Twilight said, eyes closed and tears starting to form in them.
"It' wasn't yer' fault Twi" Applejack assured her, "nopony could have seen all this coming".
Twilight didn't answer, she stared from the books on her shelf, to Spike, who was still staring into the bright red gem as if he was trying to see past it. Twilight lay on her stomach, closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. The magical aura around her horn increased, outside they could hear the shield flash, menacingly.
A still silence gripped the room, while everypony tried to collect themselves. Suddenly a strange, squirming noise broke the stillness. Rainbow looked down at her growling stomach.
"when's the last time you ate?" Applejack asked, rubbing her eyes.
"I dunno, a day or two ago maybe?" Rainbow thought. "How much food do we have left?"
Applejack got up and headed over to a large barrel in a corner of the room, she lifted the top off and peered inside. She sighed, "only a few apples left" she said in a pained tone of voice.
Nevertheless she reached in, drew out a red delicious and handed it to Rainbow. "Thanks" she said.
"Remember to eat slowly" Applejack reminded her, "we ain't got much left, savoir it". She went back over to the barrel and pulled out two more apples, she walked over to Twilight and held it in front of her.
"Here ya go Twi" she said in a low voice, Twilight looked up with her heavy eyes.
"You sure you don't want it?" Applejack nodded, Twilight levitated the apple and broke it in half, "thanks" she said, taking a small bite.
Applejack took the last apple to Spike, she knelt down next to him. "Spike" she said softly, "ah' got an apple here for ya". Spike didn't answer, "ah' know it's not a gem, but you haven't eaten anythin' for days". Still there was no reply, he just continued to stare at the jewel. Applejack set the apple down in his bed, "I'll just leave it there for ya", she turned and walked over to a small pile of cushions.
She groaned as she lay down on them, she was so tired, she closed her eyes and began to picture images in her head. The bright red barn of Sweet Apple Acres appeared before her, there was Big Mac, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom all smiling to greet her, their forlegs open wide in welcome. She smiled and allowing her fatigue to overtake her, she fell asleep.
**********
The streets silence had been broken long ago, the undead monsters were roaming the streets in their hundreds now, their low moans and groans echoing through the town. Some collided with each other, only to continue on as if nothing had happened. The food was getting scarce now, it had been plentifull at first but now they were luck to eat at all. Several were drawn back to the library only to be met with the same fate by the cold hand of the shield.
"I think it's night time" Twilight said.
"Why?" Rainbow asked.
"Did you see how there's only a few out sometimes and way more out at others? I think they wait till it's night time to all come out at once".
Rainbow nodded, then looked at her best friend, "you feeling ok?"
Twilight nodded, managing a smile, "yeah, that Apple helped a bit".
"Oh, that reminds me" Rainbow said suddenly. She walked over to the still sleeping Applejack. She put a hoof on her shoulder and gently shook her awake, "come on AJ, it's your turn".
Applejack opened one bleary eye and yawned. She got up slowly and stretched her legs, "how's it lookin' out there?"
Rainbow looked around at at Twilight before leaning in close to Applejack and saying, in a hushed voice. "Not good, there's tones of those things out there, and I'm not sure Twilight can keep the shield up for much longer".
Applejack looked at the former librarian and nodded, "ya' might be right, Twilight's' a strong pony, but she looks like she's gonna give".
"I'll keep her company" Dash said pulling away slightly, "keep you're eyes peeled out there". Rainbow flew over to Twilight and started talking to her, Applejack walked to the shielded window and peered out. She gave a small shudder at the sight of the undead abominations that wandered the streets, she knew those ponies once, past the transparent wall of magic she saw Ms Cherilee, stumbling around the street, her jaw hanging down.
Feeling slightly sick, Applejack looked away for a few seconds, trying desperately to push the image out if her mind, but it was as if the sight of the mare had been burned into her skull by a branding iron.
SNAP!
The noise made them all jump, Applejack peered back out to see a pile of newly formed ash falling to the ground. "We got another one" Applejack reported, the words were barely out if her mouth when a second SNAP sounded from outside, then two more.
Applejack looked out the window and gasped, a wall of the monsters had formed in front of the shield, they appeared to have caught on to the idea of the shield. None of them moved, they stood there, eyes wide and jaws hanging.
"Oh Celestia no" Applejack said in terror putting a shaking hoof to her mouth.
Rainbow looked out of her closest window and gasped, "Twilight!" Dash cried, "they're all out there".
Twilight got to her hooves shakily, "don't worry" she reassured them, "I can take care of them". She threw her head back and her horn glowed brighter than ever
Applejack returned to the window to see what what was happening.The shield expanded out, moving into the vast heard of mobsters. A series of rapid snaps met their ears, Applejack tried to count how many the sphere took out, 15?, maybe 20?, so many fell she couldn't keep a count. She gave a small laugh as the herd began to back away in fear.
Then suddenly the shield flashed and there was a strange noise, a noise that sounded like power being drained from something. Applejack turned and saw Twilight swaying, "fine" she muttered, "I'm fi.." Twilight fell to the floor and the light around her horn faded.
A torrent of moans, groans and snarls hit their ears from outside, "no no no no no" Rainbow was trotting in place frantically, sweat forming on her face, "come on Twilight get up!" She cried, shaking her friend.
Applejack ran back to the window and pulled the curtain back, the wave was getting closer by the second. She shut it hurriedly and ran back to Twilight, "Twi come on!" Rainbow yelled , crying in desperation.
Twilight woke up, "wh-what!", she stammered, eyes flitting about the room.
"The shield Twilight!" Rainbow cried, "put up the shield!"
Shaking her head vigorously, Twilight re-ignited her horn and threw her head back, several loud snaps ripped through the air. They sat there in dead silence, listening intently, a few groans reaching them.
"I'll check it out" Applejack volunteered quietly, slowly and quietly she walked over to the window and drew back the curtain. A stallions empty face greeted her at it, it's eyes white. Applejack screamed in Surprise and shut the blind quickly, but it was to late.
The next thing they heard was the wrapping of a hoof on the window and the door. "They're gonna get in" Applejack said breathlessly.
"What do we do?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know" replied a panting Applejack, "I dunno', try..."
The window smashed open, shattered glass littering the floor, the three screamed loudly in surprise, with a heavy thud, the stallion hit the floor face first, before straightening up and staring at them. The beast began move oafishly toward them while another fell through the window from behind it.
Rainbows expression suddenly changed, her fearful look transformed into one of hatred. She flew at the monster, drew her hoof back and smashed it into its head. A sickening crack sounded through the library, the force of the blow had carried the undead pony in to wall where it slid down and lay still.
Managing to move her hooves, Applejack joined in by delivering a kick to the second intruder, it staggered backwards and gave a loud snarl. A second mighty kick from the farmer was delivered into its skull, and it fell with a heavy thunk.
"Twilight, we need to block the window" she called over her shoulder while attempting to beat back a third attacker who had entered the building.
Twilight managed to levitate a bookcase over to the window and dropped it in front of it just as a fourth and fifth creature managed to get in. Applejack stamped hard on her assailant, before turning to see Rainbow starting on one of the new intruders. Suddenly something grabbed at Applejack's hair and pulled her back, she screamed and turned to see the other zombie biting down on her long mane and attempting to pull her back.She tried to lash out and kick but she was being pulled to far back.
"Hang on!" Twilight cried charging her horn, but as she did so she saw a purple blot leap up on the dead pony's back and smash it across the head with a red heart shaped stone.
The monsters head jerked forward and it released its prey. Spike jumped off its back, his teeth bared, an expression on his face the like Twilight had never seen before, it was pure hatred. The zombie lunged at him and snapped, Spike drew back his arm with a yell and spat green fire in the beasts face. Its mane was set ablaze and it howled in pain, Spike saw his chance and hit it again with the bright jewel.
The zombie fell and didn't move or make a sound, but Spike didn't stop. He beat the gem into the wretched creatures unrecognizable face his face contorted in pure fury. "Spike!" Twilight yelled, pulling him away from the corpse, "stop, please, it's over". Spike kept his angry look for a few more seconds but then he shut his eyes and tears began to fall down his face.
"Th-They...they killed them" he stuttered, he shook as Twilight held him close to her chest, "they're dead". With that, he broke down, he buried his face in Twilight's chest as she hugged him tightly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks of worry before looking back.
Both gasped at the same time, "no..no, no way" Rainbow muttered.
"what's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight..Spike's...he's" Applejack tried to speak but the words died in her throat.
Twilight looked at Spike and gave a cry of disbelief which turned, instantly into tears of despair.
Carved into Spikes left arm was a clear, fresh, bite mark.
**********
The next six hours felt like an eternity, the who library stank with the putrid smell of rotting flesh from the zombies. Applejack had to push back to book case to look through the broken window, the street was still crowded but the crowd outside stemmed to not have any notice of them anymore.
There was no shield guarding them anymore, Twilight's energy had been drained out of her, she sat propped up against a bookcase, Rainbow at her side, her wing draped around her, cradling a barely breathing spike in her forelegs her eyes streaming.
"There has to be sometin' we can do to help him" Applejack said in earnest.
Twilight half opened her eyes, "n-no" she said in a hushed voice, "you know there isn't, even Celestia can't find a cure for a bite. You know there's only one way to stop him from turning".
"No" Rainbow protested, "Twilight we cant, you cant seriously be saying that".
Twilight's voice started shaking as she spoke, "there's no other way, i know it's horrible, I don't want to, but I'll die before I let him turn".
Rainbow looked at Applejack in desperation, she looked back for a moment and then stared at the ground sorrowfully. "Isn't there some kind of spell you can use".
"Stop" Twilight protested quietly, turning her head slightly away.
"Something you can use to just, I don't know, slow it down or, something!"
Twilight shook her head, "no, I wish there was, but-" Twilight stopped mid sentence, her head lulled forward and she held the dragon closer. A few tears rolled out of Rainbows eyes and splashed on the floor.
"Well if there's no other way, it shouldn't be you that does it".
"No Rainbow, I'm the one that raised him, it should be me".
"How'll you live with yourself?"
"It'll be fast Rainbow"
"Ah'l do it" Applejack said suddenly stopping the two's argument.
"Applejack" Twilight started but she cut across her.
"Twilight, listen to me, no family member should ever have to do something like this, I know I couldn't, please, let me do this.
Twilight gave her a long, sad look, then looked back down at the tiny dragon in her hooves. "Okay" she said finally.
She hugged him tightly one last time, then handed him over to applejack, "turn around" Applejack asked them, "I-I don't want you looking". Twilight buried her face into Rainbows shoulder, even Rainbow, the bravest pony Applejack knew, didn't have the stomach to watch.
Applejack set Spike up against a wall and readied herself, in the dim light she saw how pale he looked, he was sickly green and his breathing was low and raspy. Applejack turned and readied herself, she took a deep breath and raised her back legs, but then she stopped. It had just hit her who she was about to kill, Twilight had raised Spike since she was a filly, surely she would never forgive her if she went through with this.
A voice whispered in the back of her head, "do it, send him on his way".
"Ah' can't" sounded her own voice inside her head.
"AJ just do it already!" Rainbow ordered, holding Twilight close as she began to break down into heavy sobs.
"Do it" the voice ordered more firmly, Applejack screwed up her eyes and began to breath heavily.
"AJ!" Rainbow screamed
"DO IT!" the voice screamed back
Applejack let out a scream and kicked out with her back legs, there was a horrifying, gut churning, crunch, that sounded from the point Applejack had struck, she felt hot liquid splatter over her legs. She stared at the floor, eyes wide and terrified, she wondered if she should turn and see what she had done, to see if she had crushed the boys head so badly that he was unrecognizable.
Slowly she turned and looked at the body. Spike's head had been crushed between her back hooves and the wall, blood leaked out from the back of his head, he made no sound and lay perfectly still, eyes closed.
Applejack collapsed on the floor, she pulled her forelegs up to her face and began bawling crying. Twilight continued to sob into the shoulder of a horrified looking Rainbow Dash who surveyed the scene with a petrified look on her face.
Applejack couldn't bring herself to look at her friends, she lay there and cried, and didn't think she'd be able to stop.
**********
Rainbow pulled open one of the cabinets in the kitchen and looked in.
"Tea bags and sugar" she said quietly to herself before pulling them out and stuffing them into her saddle bag. She had emptied almost all the pull outs in the kitchen, and her saddlebags were packed with items from Twilight's house. She'd made a plan for herself and the girls after Applejack had broken down.
Ponyville was done, there was nothing left but a bunch of courses roaming around eating everything. If there was any hope of surviving it was somewhere else, Canterlot or Baltimare maybe. "Anywhere but here" she said in her head. She pulled open the last cabinet but found nothing.
Leaving it hanging open she walked back into the main room of the library, nopony had dared go near Spikes body, it still lay in the corner, looking strangely pathetic as Rainbow layer her eyes on the lifeless mass of scales that was once her friend. Applejack and Twilight where sitting opposite each other, their eyes both very red.
"Right" she announced, "let's go".
Applejack and Twilight looked at her confused, "go?" Twilight asked, "where are we going?"
"Anywhere" Rainbow responded, "anywhere that's not here, we have to get away from all this, now let's go". Rainbow awaited the two to let out shouts of protest, for them to tell her that she was stupid and to stop being silly. What she got however was even worse, they looked at her, then turned their heads back to the floor.
"What's the point?" Twilight asked, "all of this will still be here wherever we go, there's no getting away".
"Twilight, come on" Rainbow urged, "you can't tell me you want to stay in here till you die?"
"We either stay here and live or leave and die" Twilight retorted.
"I don't want spend my time cooped up in here waiting to die" Rainbow snapped back, " and Applejack doesn't either, right?"
Applejack looked at her, her look of despair changing into one of determination, "I think she's right Twilight" she said finally, "even if it is just a bad out there, it has to be better somewhere else".
"No it wont" Twilight said shaking her head, "Celestia couldn't protect Canterlot, Cadence couldn't protect the Crystal Empire and I couldn't stop it here. Face it, if we couldn't stop it, nopony can".
"We don't know that" Rainbow insisted, "it's been six months, maybe things have changed".
"And if it had" Twilight said in a harsh voice, "don't you think the princess would have informed me".
"Well...' Rainbow eyes flitted around the room, it was evident she was think hard.
"Appleloosa" Applejack said suddenly, they both looked at her, "it's a long way from any city and it would have time to defend itself. The outbreak might not be so bad down there".
"It's perfect!" Rainbow shouted, "come on Twilight, you have to agree with that, we could just stay there until all this blows over".
Twilight opened her mouth to speak but stopped suddenly, the was bang at the door. Applejack bolted to the window and pulled back the bookcase, she drew back quickly and screamed as a rotting hoof shot through the broken window. Twilight drew back the curtains on the other window, "there's hundreds of them" she said terrified pulling the curtain back.
There was a sound of shattering glass from the kitchen, Rainbow flew in to see more ponies climbing through a broken window. she stomped on the head of the one closest to her and kicked the fridge over, blocking the window and crushing the ones still crawling on the ground.
She ran back to her friends to find them fighting off some that had managed to get in, "Twilight!" Rainbow yelled, "the bookcase!" Twilight looked over at it, levitated it over to the window and dropped it. The door banged open and several of them spilled into the room and fell on the floor.
Twilight fired a few blast of magic at them but there was to many storming through the door. "Upstairs!" Twilight ordered, Applejack dashed up the stairs, Twilight and Rainbow flew up with her and landed in the bedroom.
"Now what?" Applejack asked, the zombies were making their way up the stairs now, Twilight looked hurriedly around the room for something. Then her eyes fell upon the window.
She blasted it off, and looked down to the ground, there were very few of them below her. "Come on" she said gesturing with her hoof.
"How am ah' supposed to get down?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow flared out her wings, "come on" she said standing beside her, "hang on".
Applejack grabbed hold of Rainbow as she prepared to take off. "You two first" Twilight said as she turned back to the stairs, a few zombies had managed to reach the top. Rainbow took a huge jump out, she plummeted a few feet with the extra weight, she flapped her wings furiously trying to stay up.
She and Applejack flew over the streets to the outskirts of the town, Rainbow dropped a little, struggling with the weight of the pony she was carrying. They reached the edge of the village and Rainbow dropped out of the air, allowing Applejack to fall hard on the ground.
Rainbow lay beside her, panting. She looked up and saw Twilight shakily flying towards them, she landed next to the and pulled them up. "Come on" she urged, they started galloping as fast as their hooves could carry them down the dirt road, away from home.
**********
Rainbow flew back down to join her friends on the ground, who were walking beside a set of train tracks. "Nothing" she said with a sigh of relief, "there's nothing ahead, I think were okay".
"We wont really be okay until we get to Appleloosa" Applejack said.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get there?" Twilight asked.
Awe keep going the pace we are now, we should arrive by dusk tomorrow". Applejack replied.
Applejack sighed, "ah' hope Braeburn's okay" she said starring at the long line of tracks ahead of them.
"If what you said turns out to be true, I'm sure he'll be fine" Twilight reassured her.
"I hope they have some pie on standby" Rainbow said a dreary smile overtaking her face, their stomachs gave a collective growl.
Twilight laughed, "hey girls" she said, looking at them both in turn, "yeah?" Both replied.
"Thanks" Twilight said simply.
"No problem" Rainbow said smiling, "my route will have us all sitting pretty in Appleloosa in no time".
"No, I mean thanks for staying with me all that time" Twilight replied.
"Why wouldn't we?" Applejack asked, "you're Twilight you're our best friend" she added, "Ah' would have thought that by now you'd have figured out that friends stick together".
Twilight gave her a watery smile, "thanks" she said again. They walked in silence for a while through the cold night air, keeping close together as they did, a bright full moon shining down on them and lighting their way to their sanctuary.
"Maybe it'll be okay after all" Twilight wondered out loud.
"I think after today Twi" Applejack said, turning to her, "we're through the worst of it".
