Nuclear explosions…

One thing which is seldom known in Equestria. But it still exists nonetheless.

Equestria was overrun... overrun by an enemy we knew as friends and family before the infection and the nukes. We don’t know how many may have survived the blast, but we know they are out there.

But as the search continues, we may have to accept a harrowing truth...we will have to fight the extinction of ponykind, the problem is the way it will have to be done.

Applejack was leaning against the door, breathing heavily, the implications of what had just happened hit her. It all seemed like a dream, one terrible nightmare. But this felt too real… too vivid.

She gazed around the small nuclear shelter, her eyes sliding from one pony to the next. There were only four of them, and she had no clue who two of them were.

The first one wore a hood with a clock, and he was leaning back against the wall, whispering to himself. Every so often, his eyes darted around to look at the others before he resumed his quiet monologue. Applejack couldn’t make out anything much about him, apart from his piercing blue eyes.

The next one she didn’t know either. He sat in the darkest corner but his features were still quite clear. He wore jeans, ragged from fighting the undead, and he had an air of confidence around him. His black mane was brushed in front of his eyes; his coat was a dark grey, near black. Applejack could feel whatever hid behind the hair watching her.

Her eyes slid to the only familiar face she knew, and it was the most scared out of the bunch. Her aqua eyes were darting around so much that they almost seemed blurred. Her yellow coat was slightly spattered with dirt and mud; the same colour wings tucked tightly into her body. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and she looked down at the ground, trying to hide them from view.

For the longest time, none of the four said a word. They were either too fearful to say anything, or they were watching the others with a keen eye, watching… waiting for any sign of weakness.

After what seemed like an hour of prolonged silence, the stallion in the darkest corner stood.

“The name’s Mist Sh-” The stallion faltered. “The name’s Mist, I know that this isn’t the best way to meet, but it seems that circumstances brought us here for this reason, to survive the wasteland, and since it is only proper to introduce ourselves so I must ask, what are your names?” Mist asked, keeping a solid gruff tone.

Applejack slumped to the floor of the bunker realizing that four of her closest friends have been killed in the blast. She buried her face into her arms, quietly sobbing. She felt somepony place a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up, hoping to see Fluttershy, but she was taken aback by the appearance of the hooded pony, who threw off his hood and cloak in an instant. His coat was a light brown and his mane was a slightly darker shade of the same brown, out of which protruded his horn. He smiled down at Applejack reassuringly.

“I’m Mountain. Mountain Heart.” he said. “And what’s your name?”
Applejack wiped her eyes and managed to choke out, “A-Applejack.” Mountain Heart sat down next to the orange mare and placed a hoof around her shoulder. Applejack started to cry again, still grieving over the friends she had lost.

Mist walked over to the yellow pony, who still had to introduce herself. “Hey there, what’s your name?” he asked her in a calm reassuring tone. The yellow mare didn’t answer instantly; she just slightly moved away from Mist, fear still plaguing her eyes.

Mist looked into those eyes, he knew that look, he once again asked for her name. The yellow mare took a deep breath.“I’m- I’m Fluttershy.” Fluttershy stated, her voice barely above a whisper and she once again dropped her face to stare at the expressionless ground.

Mist sat down next to Fluttershy and placed a hoof under her chin and lifted her face to look her in the eyes. For a while, no one in the shelter spoke; only held each other in a quiet moment of companionship.

Mist looked over to Mountain and asked “How’s she taking it?” with a concerned tone.

Mountain Heart leaned over and whispered into Applejack’s ear. “How you holding up?”

“Everypony I ever loved is most likely gone. My friends, my family. It’s just- too much.” cried Applejack, and she broke down into sobs.

Mountain looked back at Mist. He knew what she was feeling. He considered himself a loner, but he still had family… he still had friends… at least, he did.

“Not very well.” said Mountain.

Mist stood and walked over to Applejack, motioning calmly for Fluttershy to follow, and sat down on the other side of her, wrapping a comforting wing around her.

Fluttershy sat down in front of her, whispering words of comfort to her. The three of them just sat there, comforting Applejack, disregarding their own losses at the sight of the weeping mare.

After hours of crying, Applejack finally calmed down, still sniffling, wiping away her tears. She looked at Mountain, who returned her soft gaze with an almost loving affection in his eyes.

She then looked over to Mist, wing still around her shoulder. He looked at her with a look that could almost seem to express the same feeling she felt before she began sobbing. She could see the emotion he’d been holding back for so long.

Then her eyes turned to Fluttershy, who’s aqua eyes glistened with a light that seemed only apparent to her.

Applejack pulled the three into an embrace, showing her appreciation for her new friends and Fluttershy, they returned her embrace with the same appreciation.

After an hour, Mist said “We really should consider getting some rest.” yawning from exhaustion, even though not much was done other than sitting in a bunker and comforting his friend in her time of need.

“He’s right. After what had transpired today, we really should rest up.” Mountain stated, yawning soon after.

Soon they were all in their bedrolls they had in the bunker, all but one drifting off to sleep.

“Why is this happening to us? Why couldn’t I save all of my friends? Who is the one responsible for all of this in the first place?” Applejack thought to herself, looking up at the ceiling of the bunker, her eyes threatening to burst again.

After an hour had passed, Applejack finally closed her eyes, letting out a sigh, drifting into the dream world.

She saw the outside world, destroyed due to the explosion rent by the warhead. Rising up out of the rubble were four other ponies. She recognized them instantly. Her friends… they were alright! She galloped towards them, hoping to ensnare them all in a hug. However, as she drew closer, she noticed that her friends were not… normal. They were all darker shades of their former colours. The ‘new’ Rarity noticed her and let out a groan, raising a rotting hoof. The other members of the mane 6 turned their heads slowly to face her. Applejack let out a scream. The four ponies ahead of her slowly trotted closer to her.

They were all rotting. Bits of flesh hung off their bodies and their eyes were sunken and lifeless. Pinkie Pie was even missing an eye. Her smile was stretched out wide, so wide in fact that it was scary. Rainbow Dash was missing one of her wings. Twilight Sparkle, who led the slow progression of Applejack’s friends towards her, had part of her face missing, so that Applejack could see the skull underneath.

Applejack was frozen in place. She couldn’t move. Her friends were upon her, and then… they started feasting on her. Applejack watched as her vital organs were ripped out of her body. She watched as her blood flowed from her body. She watched as her friends slowly consumed her. Her voice had gone, so she couldn’t even scream for help. All she could do was watch and feel the pain coursing through her.

Applejack sat bolt upright, smashing her head on something.

“OW!” yelled Applejack and another voice simultaneously.

Applejack blinked a few times to clear her foggy vision.

It was dark in the bunker, but she saw what she had hit.

Mountain Heart was on the ground rubbing his head and staring at Applejack with a look of concern on his face.

Applejack looked around, she was still in the bunker, she noticed that neither Mist nor Fluttershy had awoken.

“Are you alright?” asked Applejack, trotting over to Mountain and helping him to his hooves.

“I’m fine. How about you? I heard you talking in your sleep, and it didn’t sound good, so I came over to see what was wrong. I was about to wake you up, because you were rolling around frantically.”

That must of been when I woke up, thought Applejack.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I told you already. I’m fine.” replied Mountain. “But you’re not though. Tell me what happened.”

Applejack shook her head. She couldn’t bring herself to speak about that… nightmare.

“Are you sure?” asked Mountain. “Talking always helps.”

“No!” shouted Applejack. Mountain stepped back from her.

“Fine… goodnight, Applejack.” said Mountain bitterly.

He started trotted back to his own bedroll.
“Mountain, wait!” pleaded Applejack. Mountain stopped, but he didn’t turn and look at Applejack. “Could you- would you… can you sleep near me tonight?”

Mountain turned, his head cocked to one side. “Why?”

“I just… want somepony friendly near me.” said Applejack.

Mountain turned and trotted away.

Good on you, Applejack, she scolded herself. You’ve just lost one good friend. I mean, sleep next to me? Why did I even say that!? Why would I ask somepony who I haven’t known for longer than a day to do something like that? Why-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something being dragged across the ground.

Applejack looked around and saw Mountain dragging his bedroll towards her.

He laid it next to Applejack and laid himself on it, looking at her.

Applejack laid herself onto her own bedroll and gazed right back at him, both sighed in relief knowing that things were okay, for now.

“Thank you.” whispered Applejack, as she once again closed her eyes.

Mountain just laid there, staring at the sleeping mare, who had a slight smile on her muzzle, for a while, thinking "She really is taking it hard, I'll need to keep an eye on her just in case she breaks down or has another nightmare again." before drifting back to sleep.

After a rough night, Fluttershy wakes to the newly familiar sight of dense concrete walls, dusty concrete floors, and dark corners, the others still sleeping somewhat peacefully. After sitting for a moment she decided to stand and walk around while walking to the store room, taking note of the supply of food and water stored. She also noticed a few weird looking suits hanging from the walls. She left the supply room and sat down on her bedroll, thinking.

After about an hour, the rest of the group begins to wake up. Mist closed his hoof on the door handle, but then withdrew it. It would still be quite dangerous to leave, not just because there might be those things still out there. Nuclear radiation...

He turned and looked at Fluttershy, the only pony completely awake. “What’s the supply look like?” he asked.

“There’s enough food and water for a month. At the most.” she stated “I also saw some weird looking suits in there.”

Weird suits? Mist walked into the supply area and looked at the suits. He didn’t have the faintest idea of what they were.

He walked out of the store area, pondering what those suits might be, but to no avail. Mountain Heart was just flickering his eyes open. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and stared wearily at the pacing stallion.

“Mist, what are you doing?” he questioned.

“Fluttershy found some sort of suits in the store area, I went to look at them and I can’t seem to figure out what they are.” Mist answered “Might you be able to tell us?”

“Suits?” Mountain’s eyes lit up. “I’ll take a look at them.”

He got up and stepped carefully over Applejack before making his way into the storeroom. After a moment, a shout reached the ponies outside.

“Ha! Celestia has blessed us!” said Mountain, trotting out.

“You know what they are?” asked a puzzled Mist.

“Sure do! They are hazardous material suits. Hazmat for short. They will protect us against any radiation still floating around. These one’s are top notch too. Class A standard.” Mountain exclaimed.

“How do you know that stuff?” said Fluttershy.

“Well, when your special talent is surviving, you have to know this stuff.” Mountain said in a matter-of-fact like tone.

“So that means that we can go out there, but what do we do about other forms of protection. We need weapons, don’t we?” asked Mist with a hint of confusion “In case there are any mutated creatures out there.”

“I’m pretty sure that the infected have been destroyed, but it can’t hurt to be prepared.” replied Mountain.

After a minute of discussing the suits and defense, Applejack awoke from her slumber, blinking her eyes a few times, wiping away the sleep.

“What have I missed, y’all?” Applejack asked, shaking her head slightly, her long ponytail swinging around. Applejack had lost her hat somewhere.

“Well, to start off, we have a month’s supply of food and water. On the other hoof, we have hazmat suits to protect us from the radiation.” stated Mist. “Unfortunately though, we don’t have
any sort of weapon to protect ourselves with.”

”I believe there might be a shotgun back at the old barn, maybe we could start searching there?” Applejack started, slowly getting to her hooves.

“You seriously not thinking of going out there, are you?” asked Mist, his eyes wide.

“I know Ponyville better than most ponies, even if it is destroyed. I’ll be the best one out there right now.”

“Well, you’re not going alone.” said Mountain, trotting over to her. “I’m coming too.”

“Just be careful out there, okay?” Fluttershy said, her voice just audible enough to be heard.

“We will. Mist, are you gonna take care of Fluttershy while we’re gone?” asked Applejack, looking straight at Mist. For a fraction of a second, Applejack though she saw Mist blush, but she blinked, and whatever she saw had gone.

“Yeah, I assure you, I will let nothing happen to her.” Mist said positively, assuring Applejack that he would let nothing happen to her as he placed a leg over her shoulder.

After putting on the hazmat suit, Applejack felt alert and ready. She nodded at Mountain Heart, who has already got his hazmat suit on and the two walked towards the door. Applejack placed a hoof on the handle and with a strong tug, opened it. Applejack turned and waved at Mist and Fluttershy, who were sitting together in the middle of the shelter. They waved back to Applejack and Mountain, who stepped out of the shelter and closed the door behind them.

There was another door here, so Applejack opened this one as well. As it slid open, Applejack gasped as the destroyed remnants of the little town she once knew came into her view. The sky was a dark grey and no sunlight filtered through the dark clouds.

This was Ponyville.

Author's Note

This is just the beginning of the collab that I am writing, the clop, however, doesn't come in until closer to the end, so just bear with us ladies and gentlemen.