Chapters The Galloping Dead
Prologue:
It all started when Princess Celestia tried her new experiment. It was called the Cure All Diseases Project. Or CADP for short. It was meant to cure any sickness. Whether it was mental, physical, or a disease like Cancer. It was created so we could have more Pony folk around Equestria. Or so it was said. I didn’t believe her one bit. She had recently been known for lying. Like the incident with a Pony named Star Splinger. What happened there was that Star Splinger was found dead. Mutilated would be a better term. Princess Celestia said “Oh how terrible! We must find this homicidal Pony at all cost!” A bunch of crap if you ask me. When private investigators found the suspects, it was two Royal Guards. They said it was a direct order from the Princess. Apparently Star Splinger was trying to tell the public about the truth of the CADP. So she put an end to the ‘problem’. But back to the main point. The CADP was said to be tested and it worked. But when it was released to the public, those who used it began acting weird. No one knew why at first, so they shoved all the ones who were acting that way into quarantine. The Ponies continued to use the CADP and soon thousands of Ponies were infected. I have a name for these infected Ponies, too. I call them Remnants. Because that’s what they are. Remnants of Ponies. Innocent Ponies.
These Ponies had a tendency to bite. No, that’s ALL they did. Bite and infect. The Princess said it wasn’t caused by the CADP. Screw her. What has she done nice recently. Or at all for all I know. But these Remnants populate by not breeding, but by biting the living. Those who gets bit, soon become Remnants. I’m still trying to figure it out myself. All of Pony kind pretty much live in a Hell. No, I bet Hell is a lot better than this sick world. Some Ponies have made camps, gangs, shelters, whatever they can to help themselves stay alive. Me? At the time I’m just a loner. I know soon I’m going to need a safe group to stay in. But at the moment, I’m fine. I’m on a quest to find Princess Luna. They say she still lives in the Canterlot palace. But rumors also say that place was the first to become a Remnant Hangout. Remnant Hangouts are towns or places that have few to no life at all. All that are there are the Remnants. Sadly, those places are usually the places with supplies. So they’re nearly impossible to raid because of all the Remnants.
So that’s the life of an alive Pony nowadays. Why do we even fight now? I don’t know. But I promised myself when I was just about six years old, that if I were to die in a bad situation, I wouldn’t go down without a fight. So that’s why I fight. To keep my promise to myself. I won’t let myself down. I refuse. I was thinking about joining up with Rainbow Dash. I heard that she was also a loner. In fact, before the television networks were shut down, she even said herself that friendship gets you nowhere these days. Then left the news station with one last remark “That’s why I’m a loner”. Knowing her, she’s still alive. I didn’t know her very well but we weren’t strangers.
So that’s the gist of how the CAPD started all this mess and what I’m going to do next.
Chapter 1: She Came from Above...
I found Rainbow Dash. After a night of thinking, me and her would be the perfect Remnant killing pair out there. Anyways, it was more like her finding me. She swooped down to see me.
“What’s your name?” She said. It was weird that she didn’t recognize me.
“Fire Burst.” I said. She kind of looked surprised. I guess I did look a bit different with Remnant blood dried up on my body.
“I haven’t seen you since your trip to Las Pegasus! Where have you been?” She kept pounding me with questions.
Finally, I asked her. “I was wondering… If we could pair as a group. I thought of the benefits last night. You’re a loner, I’m a loner, we’re both loners. We both have knowledge and strength. Put two and two together, and it would be perfect.” I sounded a bit awkward when I thought back on what I said. I sounded like I was asking a girl to go out with me back in school.
After about a minute of thinking, she responded “I don’t know… But you do seem like you won’t hold me down. Even though you’re a Unicorn Pony.” She was awfully vague about her answer.
“So is that a yes? If no, I’ll go my separate path and possibly leave you to die.” I blurted out that last part like I was desperate.
“Well if you put it that way, I guess I have no choice but to say yes.” She agreed. Lucky me.
We walked a while. Actually, it seemed like days. Just walking… Walking… With no end. We were in the woods. Neither of us talked, we just walked. The woods seemed to never end. I even thought that we were walking in circles for a while, so I took note on our surroundings. But we weren’t, it was just a really, really, REALLY long path.
I wouldn’t call this the woods anymore. It was more like a forest. Forests were abnormally big in these parts so it made sense that it took forever to walk through. I decided to speak up. I was following her without thought. So I guess it would be nice to know where we were going.
“Where are we going Dash?” I said
“Rarity’s place. I want to know if she’s still alive.”
“But why? You said friendship gets you nowhere nowadays. Why the sudden change?”
“I didn’t change. It’s all true. It doesn’t get you anywhere. But it doesn’t hurt to have it.”
I was going to shut up but then I noticed something. I had to warn her. I shouted. Loud. “REMNANTS!”
She looked at me with this look like I was insane. So I took a tree branch and stabbed it right through a Remnant’s snout. She looked at the Remnants and shouted what she called them. “Zombies!” What a boring name. So vague. But there was no time for questioning her name for them now.
There were Remnants needed to be killed. There weren’t that many. I reused that tree branch to stab the heads. It was sharp, and strong. She used other branches as spears while she blew the Remnants away with her wings.
Finally, we were able to stop them. But not all of them, so we had to run. Now we were running through the never ending forest. I didn’t think it was a good strategy at first, but hey, I’m not going to question what’s keeping me alive. So now we run. Even though Remnants probably haven’t discovered how to use their wings if they had them. They were way behind us but we just kept running and running. Well, she flew now that I think of it. I hope we get to a shelter soon. Or at least find a place where we know we’ll be safe.
We finally slowed down. I asked her a few questions.
“Where are we going to go!?” I asked
“Like you said a while ago, we need some weapons if we’re going to survive out here”
So that’s what we did. We searched for weapons. Or at least a place where we can purchase some if the money is still taken as something useful. We even tried making something to use. Like a slingshot. Didn’t last very long. Only was able to kill two Remnants. We also tried a Poison Joke launcher. Oddly enough, all it did was make them faster. We kept making new contraptions as weapons, until finally, we came across an old, rusty, looking machine. It was big enough that two Ponies lived in it.
We walked in and Dash said their names. “Flim and Flam. Haven’t seen you since you made a fool of yourself challenging the Apple Family. So this is what you went and did when the CAPD was released?”
When she said that, I looked around and noticed weapons. Not simple homemade ones, but elaborate, factory made ones. They made them here. Out of metal. I looked down and saw a portable drill. That’s how they got there metal. They mined it. I decided to speak up. They were just arguing back and forth. “How can we get a hold of these weapons? Do you take Equestria money?” I needed those weapons. WE needed those weapons.
“Equestrian currency? That stuff is useless in a time like this. We need supplies. How about you go down and mine us some metal?” Flam had mischievous smile. But he wasn’t hiding anything. This is how he got his metal. Others mined it, he manufactured it. But the amount you had to mine was a lot more than it took to build the weapon you wanted.
“Are you serious!? I can’t mine! I’m a Pegasus! Not a Unicorn!” Dash was trying to get out of work. If I was going to work, she was too. So I took the spare drill and shaped it with the strength of my horn. I shaped it so if fits on a Pegasus like a saddle. So she put it on and we went to a nearby cave. I had the Unicorn drill, she had the Pegasus drill. Flim said that since I had formed the spare drill into a new drill, they would give us a free knife with our first ‘purchase’.
“Why do we have to do this?” Dash was complaining while we were mining.
“We need to get weapons somehow, and if this is the cost, this is the cost.”
We were done mining after about a day. We even came across some coal. So we figured we could turn it in for a weapon upgrade or something. But then the headlights went out.
“How are we supposed to see now?!” Said Dash.
So far, ever since we’ve seen Flim and Flam, Dash has been more ticked. Like she can’t wait to get away from them.
“Calm down. Remember the coal? I still have that. I’ll just ignite it with my horn or something.” I ignited it.
I was levitating it in the air. If I touched them I’d probably get a 3rd degree burn or something, and that would just be another thing to deal with.
When we found the ladder it had fallen, It wasn’t very sturdy when I placed it, so I guess it makes sense that it fell. I placed the ladder back up and climbed (Well, walked, since ladders are slanted a bit) up it. Rainbow Dash flew. We got back up there and Dash seemed concerned.
“Do you hear that?” Dash asked.
“Hear what?”
“The zombies… There close.”
We walked a bit, and I finally saw what she heard. It was a herd of Remnants. Not only that, they were around Flim and Flams machine house. Somehow I knew that SOMETHING bad was going to happen. Right when I walked in to their shop I felt it. Just the look of them filled me with worry. We walked further and saw that Flim was a Remnant. Flam was screaming. And all we could do was watch as Flam was torn apart and became the most delicious feast for his brother…
We couldn’t do a thing. We just sat there and watch with faces like we just saw a magician do the best trick ever. Except it wasn’t a trick. It was a gruesome death of a Pony who was just a salesmen…
Chapter 2: The Armor Creator
As we sat there and watched Flam get torn apart and turn into a Remnant, we both must’ve had the same plan. We took the sharpest sticks, the heaviest rocks, and lit coal and attacked the herd of Remnants. One by one, they were falling. We finally got to the last one. It was Flam. No need to feel bad for him now. Especially after what I did. I made a flaming spear with a rock on the end to make it go down harder. I hit him right between the eyes. I hit his brain. See, hitting a Remnant in the heart is pointless. They don’t die. You must hit them in the rotten brain, and they will die. After we watched Flam fall, we walked into the machine house. We looked at each other. Right then I knew this was going to be a long time before we get to safety.
We took weapons, knives, and anything else like food and water to help us. After that I ended up having a knife in a pouch and a pistol in the other. Dash had a weapon that shot rapid fire bullets. On the side it said “For Flam” I guess it was a gift from Flim to Flam. We decided to take the mechanical house. It was drivable. So we drove in the forest now. Also, if we see any Remnants we can just run them over. At least until this thing runs out of fuel. Why it ran on fuel and not magic, I don’t know. It was just a stupid design considering they were both Unicorns.
Dash kept talking about the last fight as I drove the house through the forest. I assumed that it kept her from thinking of the scene of Flam’s gruesome death. I decided to ask her what to do next.
“Off to Rarity’s. She lives in a shack now. Ponyville has been taken over by zombies. She might be able to help us. Maybe even join along. You never know.” Her answer kind of irritated me.
I didn’t know how many people this house could fit. And all Rarity was before this was a famous fashion designer. What could she possibly offer us? A new outfit to bloody up? Great. Just what we need.
Driving… Driving… It was more boring than walking. I hoped this forest would end soon, but I was wrong. We just came through a place with cut down trees and a little building made up by wooden pallets.
“That’s the place…” Dash said
“There? What about there?”
“Rarity’s house.”
She lives THERE!? That place was torn up, had holes in it. And probably some sort of Parasprite infection. We parked the house and we walked out of it. Dash flew into the wooden shack. I just walked. What’s the hurry? Dash soon walked out and Rarity was with her. Rarity was covered in dirt, mud, and a little bit of blood.
“Who’s your friend Rainbow?” Rarity asked.
“This is Fire Burst. Me and him were acquaintances before all of this happened.” Dash answered.
Was this really what happened to Rarity? She invited us inside her house. Or shack. Whatever you’d like to call it. I looked around…
“Well Rainbow, do you like what I do? I make these!” Rarity asked.
“YOU make these!? You went from fashion to this? I’m proud! Maybe that means you aren’t as stuck up as you were!” Dash obviously was joking.
I looked around. She made war like outfits. Pouches, ammo clips, and bullet proof vests were hanging on the walls of the little wooden house. If she could make these, maybe I could get her to join us.
“These are amazing. Just a question Rarity, since you are such a good designer, would you mind joining us?”
Dash looked at me with a crazy look. What? I was strategically right about me and her going as a group, how could I be wrong about this?
“I don’t know Fire, we’re already snug in that small house as it is.” Dash tried to not get Rarity to join us.
“I don’t know, she makes these excellent suits for war, and she seems pretty useful to have around.” I responded.
“I REALLY don’t think that’s a good idea Fire!” Dash seemed irritated and motioned her head at Rarity, who somehow was drinking a cup of tea, which came out of nowhere.
“C’mon, we NEED this skill in our grou-“ Rarity interrupted me.
“Now why don’t I get a say so in this? I will make the decision. And I say I want to go! This shack is old, and that mechanical thingy looks A LOT more comfy then this shack!”
Dash looked mad, but when I had the chance, I told her she’s an ARMOR designer now. Dash still looked mad, but a bit less angry at the situation. This was a lucky chance we had. We also took her because she had spare fuel which she strangely use as perfume. I think she’s going a bit nuts, but we’ll deal with it. She probably just hadn’t had any conversing with anyone else. I would go crazy too. So now that his thing a little crowded, we might have to start walking.
“So where exactly did you guys GET this thing anyways?” Rarity asked.
I could tell Dash didn’t want to talk about it, so I explained.
“Flim and Flam. They were attacked by a bunch of Remnants when we went mining to by some weapons from them. We came back and it wasn’t pretty.”
“What’s a Remnant? You mean infectors. I like the name Remnants. I think I’ll use that instead!” Rarity wouldn’t shut up.
I changed the subject. “So dash, where to next?”
“I was thinking Pinkie Pie.” Dash said. I didn’t understand. Who’s Pinkie Pie?
“The look on your face tells me you don’t know her. Oh well. I guess you’ll just have to meet her if she’s still alive. If not, then just forget about her. We’ll just go on our way and pretend nothing happened.” Dash seemed a bit disappointed that I didn’t know her.
How was I supposed to know? Was she famous or something? I don’t think she was. I still don’t know her even after about an hour of her trying to explain, all I figured out about her was that she was a party planner. I never had many parties, so I wouldn’t know.
“Where exactly IS Pinkie? How do you know where to go?” Rarity asked.
“Before we all parted, Pinkie Pie said she was going to her old rock farm to see her family. So I’ll assume she’ll be there” Dash was almost certain of this answer.
“How can you be certain?” I asked
“I’m not. I said I’ll ASSUME she’s there. I never said she wa- LOOK OUT!” Dash pointed to a town nearby that was FILLED with Remnants. “That’s the only way to Pinkies place!”
Great. Now we have to deal with a Remnant Hangout… Just great.
Chapter 3: It's a 'Photo Finish'
“So what’s your plan to get through the town?” Rarity asked.
“Well, we could circle around the town, but it would be a bit risky and would take longer than I want.” I responded.
“Well we have to do SOMETHING!” Dash added.
Right then, a gunshot was heard from inside the town. We looked in. It was Photo Finish. Photo Finish is a model from before the CAPD. I’m actually surprised that she’s still alive. She was a stuck up when I last saw her in Las Pegasus so I assumed she would just be one of the ones to die off first. I took a better look because I know she couldn’t have been walking through a Remnant Hangout all on her own. We were in a mobile machine and we didn’t have the guts to do it. To risky. I noticed something, she had a bunch of body guards to kill the Remnants for her. In times like these, who would do that, I mean risk everything for a stuck up super model? I sure wouldn’t.
“Look guys, she has body guards. That explains why she’s still alive.” I said.
“Ooh! Maybe I’ll get to meet her!” Rarity added, for she once sold her designs to her.
“Not likely. I don’t think it would be a good idea to even meet up with her.” I argued.
“Maybe she has supplies! When her guards take out the zombies, then we’ll go ask her!” Dash was greedy when it came to supplies.
Once again, we looked over because of an unexpected noise, it was a scream. But not a squeal as if a little Filly saw a small rat, but a squeal of a man. I saw something that made me think even worse about Photo Finish. A guard got killed, just for her. That’s call devoted. But the Remnant was going for Photo Finish, the guards could have just walked off like nothing happened when she got bit. But a stupid guard hopped in the way. And took his life to save another one. But to save THAT life? Why?
We waited about an hour or so, and we looked at the town. It was empty. Well, except for Photo Finish and her 10 guards. We decided to wait until the guards put their guns down. We wouldn’t want to get shot for no reason. When the guards finally set their guns down, they laid out a blanket and pillows for Photo Finish to lay on. What did these guys see in her? We didn’t drive over there. We walked, but we took weapons just in case and spare ammo we put in out pouches (We wore Rarity’s war outfits).
When we got over there, the guards cocked their guns and pointed it at us. Photo Finish looked over in disgust, that is, until she saw Rarity. Rarity only met her once. How could Photo Finish even remember her?
“Who are you!? What do you want with Photo Finish?!” One of the guards shouted.
“Calm down. We’re just here to talk. I want to know why you prote-“ Once again, I got cut off by someone.
“Gaaaaah! Guards! The Ugly’s are coming again! Stop them now!” Photo Finish screamed like a coward.
“Don’t worry Ma’am. I’ll take care of this.” The guard says as he noticed he’s out of ammo.
“Well!? Out of ammo!? You know what that means don’t you!? It was nice having you as a guard.” Photo Finish said meanly.
As the guard ran towards the Remnant, he had a knife. He stabbed the Remnant, and then the Remnant bit him.
“While he’s getting eaten, we’ll make a run for it! Go!” Photo Finish just sacrificed one of her guards, when we could have killed the Remnant for her. None the less, we ran with her. Into an empty house with some blood smeared on the windows.
“That was a close one! We almost died!” Photo Finish obviously had no real view on what just occurred out there.
“You do realize you just killed an innocent Pony just to save yourself, who wasn’t even in any harm!?” I was ticked!
“Oh, darling we were in TONS of harm! An Ugly just RAN up and almost bit me! Now what would this world do without me?” Photo Finish was just as stuck up as she was in Las Pegasus.
“See, these guards love me! Why would they disobey me? Watch!” She pulls out a knife and throws it in the back of an innocent guard. No one reacted. “See! These guards don’t care what I do to them! And neither will you!” As she said that, she threw some weird powder on me. Suddenly, I realized how beautiful Photo Finish is!
“I won’t be like that guard! I will obey, and always have ammo! I love you Photo Finish!” I said, blank minded.
Dash kicked me. “Snap out of it!” I hit the floor and my head slammed on the floor, leaving a bump. After trying to recover from that fall, I saw the dark Photo Finish she is.
“You shouldn’t have done that! Guards shoot them!” Photo Finish ordered.
The guards held their guns up to us. “What are you doing!?” Rarity was freaking out, her idol was now trying to kill her. I would be freaking out too. Photo Finish started telling them to fire. But Dash stopped that from happening and shot two of them down. Now instead of 10 guards left, there were only 7 left. If this act with Photo Finish is kept up there won’t be any guards left.
“Did you just kill two of my guards!? You… You JERK!” That was the only thing Photo had to say about that?
I was ready to just kill her. But if I were to kill her, I would probably lose all trust with Dash and Rarity.
We all just stood there for a while. I’d say about ten minutes. Ten harsh minutes of just standing there. What were we going to do next? The guards didn’t even move because Photo Finish didn’t ‘command’ them to. This had to have been one of the most questionable things I’ve done in my whole life. I just cut the side of Photo’s skin and walked off. That’s it. Nothing else. Dash and Rarity just looked at me with the look of confusion, which I often got from them.
Photo started crying. A guard tried to cheer her up but she stabbed him in the throat when he even got near her. Six guards. I had a plan. I was just going to kill her when all of her guards had been killed. I don’t care what Dash or Rarity were going to say about it when it happens. Photo Finish was just a waste of time, space, and innocent lives to keep alive.
Of course the next guards took forever to get killed. I ended up luring a Remnant over near a guard without any ammo. Five to go… The next one came towards me and questioned why I hated Photo Finish. I told him she’s a stuck up creature. A vile being. He got mad, held a gun up to me, and I killed him before he shot. Four to go… I told Dash my plan. She agreed. Except she had different way of taking them out. She went and rounded up as many Remnants and led them to the stable we stayed in. The guards killed themselves by running towards the Remnants. They died. None to go... Time to do this.
I invited Rarity and Dash outside to talk about this. It wasn’t really a talk. It was more me handing Rarity my gun and saying “Do it.”
Rarity seemed sad, but she did it. She walked in there, held the pistol up to Photo Finish, and asked for her last words. Her last words were ‘Don’t forget. Celestia’. That was it. That was the end of Photo Finish. Rarity came out in tears, for her idol was just killed by her herself, and she agreed with this action. But the only thing we had to worry about was Photo Finish’s dead body. What if the Remnants get to her? I don’t plan on mutilating the body. I’m not like that.
Our only choice is to run…
Chapter 5: The Killer Mark Crusaders?
Photo Finish's body turned. I saw the Remnant get to her. So we ran. I didn’t shoot. I needed to preserve ammo. We we’re pretty low on ammo. The mechanical house was way across town. And there were a few Remnants in the way. We were running to the opposite side of the town of the house. The town was bigger than I expected it to be. I expected to run maybe a few minutes or so, but we ended up running for like, thirty minutes. And tons of Remnants are behind us…
Gun shots are heard… “I told you guys not to shoot! We’re running low on ammunition!” I shouted
“We’re not! It’s them!” Rarity pointed to a large tower at the end of the town. Who is in there?
We ran towards the tower as a trench gun from a Pony war between the Dragons was firing down all the Remnants that were chasing us. We finally made it towards the tower. There was no way up, and the Remnants had attracted other Remnants around the town. We were surrounded. What do we do? Then all the sudden a ladder fell down from the tower. “Climb up the ladder. NOW!” The voice was deep, like scratchy and muffled. I didn’t want to trust the voice. But we had no choice. We climbed up the ladder, and when we got up there, a grenade was dropped out of the tower, and killed the Remnants.
We looked around. No one was there. It was bigger on the inside than it looked on the out. There were multiple floors of the tower. Three to be more precise. “Hello?” Dash said. The voice came out. It was small. It also had bed sheets over it, hiding itself. “Who are you?” I asked. “I don’t think that is important right at this moment-ent-ent-ent-ent-ententententent…” The voice was flipping out. It was fake. It took off its disguise. It was just a little Filly. “Applebloom?” Rarity was confused. “Hai there Rarity! Nice seein’ you here! It’s safe to come out Scootaloo!” A small Pegasus Pony walked out from the shadow in the corner. “Rainbow Dash! I’m so happy to see you here! You wouldn’t believe the adventure we’ve been through!” After a while of listening to Scootaloo and Applebloom, I learned about them a bit. They called themselves ‘The Killer Mark Crusaders’ and Applebloom is Apple Jacks little sister, and Scootaloo loves Rainbow Dash and stuff like that. But something was missing. They kept mention a third named Sweetie Belle. But I only see two Fillies. Not three. I had to ask.
Before I could talk, I was spoken too. “Who the heck are you?” Scootaloo seemed furious for some reason.
“I’m Fire Burst. I’ve been traveling with Rainbow Dash and Rarity to find Princess Luna.” I responded.
“Oh.” Applebloom looked at Rarity when I mentioned her name. Rarity was confused and a bit sad…
“Um… Applebloom Darling, where’s Sweetie Belle?” Rarity was concerned. See, Sweetie Belle was Rarity’s younger sister. She cared deeply for her sister. “Maybe you should just take a look at Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo and Applebloom took us to the second floor of the tower. They turned on a light, and in a cage, was a white little Unicorn Filly with light purple hair. That was obviously who Sweetie Belle was…
Rarity just watched… No tears fell. No emotion was seen in her eyes or any part of her that is. She was heartbroken… I didn’t even know who Sweetie Belle was and I felt terrible. I wanted to cry. But I would be the only one. Dash and Rarity just stood there and looked. Sweetie Belle was a Remnant.
“We feed her the dead Ponies that die from the Freaks! We do what we can! She’s much nicer then when she first got bit! Honest!” Applebloom was trying to cheer Rarity up. But there was no reaction from Rarity. So I spoke up…
“Unlock the cage, and open it up.” I said. I noticed Sweetie Belle never moved. She just looked.
“But why should I? She might bite us like she did before!” Applebloom was scared of her once good friend. I cocked my gun and aimed it at Sweetie Belle. The cage opened up, and Sweetie Belle just walked out and stood there.
“Sweetie Belle isn’t biting at us!” Rarity ran and gave Sweetie Belle a hug, and that’s when she snapped. Rarity fell. I looked. She was bit… Rarity was bit. Sweetie Belle looked at us. She ran towards Dash. I shot. Rarity was lost… and I knew it. Rarity was screaming with anger and pain. She was mad at me. Dash gave me a look of hatred, and the Fillies were crying with sorrow. What have I done? I had done something I had thought was good. I thought that Remnant was sane. What a stupid thought. I could of just let them keep feeding the caged Remnant. But I had to get the cage opened. I had to get Rarity killed, and get everyone’s hatred.
I left the room. I couldn’t stand to see Rarity in pain, to Fillies crying, and Dash about ready to kill me. I let down the slanted ladder and walked out of the tower. I walked out of the town. I’m so stupid. I just killed an innocent Pony. I may as well be a Remnant myself. I’m leaving. I’ll find Luna on my own. If anyone goes with me I’ll probably kill them too. But something stopped me. I couldn’t just leave Rarity in a room with Ponies who probably didn’t have the guts to kill her when she turned. I had to do it. So I went back.
I walked into the room and they had thrown Sweetie Belle out the window and Rarity still lay on the ground. “Go away.” Dash had a knife in her mouth and was ready to slit my throat. “Stop! I didn’t know Rarity would try to actually hug a Remnant! Now put the knife down.” Dash dropped the knife when I told her to. I picked up my gun just in case. I looked at Rarity’s bite. It was deep. There was a huge gash in her front right hoof. You can tell she was starting to turn. She was twitching, burning up, and making grunting noises. I know this because my mother turned the same way.
“What is she doing!? She’s twitching like crazy! What’s happening!?” Dash was freaking out. Her friend was turning. I held the gun to Rarity’s head. She looked at me with terror, but also with a look like this was the best. She closed her eyes. She was ready to die. I spoke. “I’m so sorry…” I shot. Rarity was dead. We all stared at her dead body. That was the end of Rarity.
A few minutes have past. Applebloom and Scootaloo had stopped crying and we were all just standing there.
“I honor the dead. I think you should do the same.” I said, as I picked up Rarity’s dead body.
“How?” Dash responded
“Burying them. Go and start digging, I’ll bring the body.” I was already climbing down the ladder from the third floor to the second. They ran ahead and started digging. I got down there and the hole was half dug, so I helped. After about ten minutes I dropped Rarity in the hole, and we filled the hole up. No one said anything. We just walked away. Dash and I continued, and Applebloom and Scootaloo went back to the tower.
We walked out of the other side of the town onto a pathway to take us to Pinkie Pie’s place. That’s what we did next. We walked once again. Just me and Dash… and a sense of loneliness without Rarity…
Chapter 6: The Pink Disaster
All was silent… Talking was probably just going to make things awkward. But I don’t know the way and Dash was just walking. I had to talk. I needed to at least know what and where our destination was. Were we still going after Pinkie Pie? Has our mission just become a long suicide trip? I don’t know.
“So, where are we going now?” I asked.
Dash let out a sigh and looked at me. “Pinkie Pie’s place. She might be able to shelter us if she’s still at her rock farm.”
“Good…” I responded with a voice of desperation.
We stopped talking and started walking again. While we walked we killed some Remnants and drank a little water to keep us hydrated. “Are we almost there? Where exactly is this rock farm?” I asked, for we have been walking for hours upon hours. It was night, and that’s when the Remnants seemed most active. “There” She responded while she motioned her hoof in a direction where the rock farm was.
I looked into the window with hope for a sign of life. There was! There was a candle burning in the window. Dash noticed it too. She smiled. We ran towards the building, but before we could make it bullets were being shot at us! They must’ve thought we were Remnants! I had grabbed a flair I had in my pouch and lit it to ensure them we’re alive. When I did this they stopped firing and let us get closer. When we got there we were greeted with a bitter old voice yelling at us.
“Who are you!?” The old voice was even older than I had thought!
“I’m Fire Bur-“ Rainbow Dash interrupted me.
“It’s Rainbow Dash. I’m one of Pinkie Pies friend. Let us in!” Dash wasn’t even asking. She was demanding!
“Ugh. You. Fine, fine come in.” The old voice opened the door and let us in. “Pinkie’s this way.”
We walked towards the room where she told us to go. I didn’t really want to go in. There were noises in there that I didn’t like. Crashing noises and laughter. Were there people in there? Were they killing someone or something? I had no idea what to think of the noises. But I went in anyways.
I walked in and all I saw was a pink Pony jumping on the walls and destroying everything. “Pinkie Pie! Calm down!” Dash yelled. Pinkie Pie stopped and screamed. “Dashie! You’re okay! I was so worried! What about the others? Do you know anything about them?” I looked at Dash. Once again, I had to do the explaining. “Rarity’s dead. I don’t know about any ‘other’ Ponies. But I can tell you that much.” As I said that, tears were starting to swell up in the pink Ponies eyes. I didn’t want to bring it up, knowing what I had done to prevent her to become a Remnant. “How did she die…?” The pink Pony asked. I didn’t want to say it, but I had to tell the truth. “I killed her she died with a bullet to the head befo-“ I couldn’t finish because I found myself knocked onto the floor and being repeatedly kicked by Pinkie. They were kicks of fury. “You killed her! I’ll return the favor you.. YOU!!!” Dash kicked Pinkie Pie in the face as hard as she could, which had knocked her out for a bit.
We decided while she was knocked out, to just go meet her family. But strangely, they were all gone. So we stole some food from the food cabinet (Which by the way took about forever to find.) and ate while we waited for the pink Pony to awake from her hit to the face. Which, by the way, also took forever.
Finally, after an hour or so, the pink Pony woke up and was too tired to attack. Which was lucky for me because she’s stronger than she looks. “Wh-Why did you kill Rarity…?” I don’t like explaining when I use the term Remnant. So I said the simplest most understandable thing I could think of. “She started to turn. Her sister bit her.” Simple enough. She even stopped looking sad. “I’ve seen things happen like that all the time. My sibling killed my other sibling. I didn’t even know she was bit!” She wiped the tears from her eyes and started to smile. “What’s your name?” She asked. “I’m Fire Burst.” She looked at Dash and had this smile like she knew something. I didn’t want to ask, because I’m afraid to know the answer.
“So… Pinkie… It’s glad to, uh, see you’re okay… We’ll just be going now!” Dash nervously said, also seeing the smile.
“Oh you don’t have to leave now, silly! Dashie, you and that fire guy can stay here for a bit! That is, until we’re low on food.” Pinkie wanted us to stay, but I can see why Dash wanted to leave. This Pony was insane. She seemed to be awkward in all ways possible. Why did I feel so unsafe around this Pony? I have never feared for my life more when I thought that meant I had to sleep here. Who knew what she would do to us when we fell asleep. She could do something stupid or minor, like putting out hooves in warm water, or she could do something more serious like poison or just a flat out bullet to the head. I didn’t feel safe around this Pony.
“Oh, um, you don’t have to that, Pinkie! We’ll be, uh, just fine on our own?” My God, Dash was the worst person to ask to get out of a pinch like this ever. She added ‘um’ and ‘uh’ to about every other word! So it was made pretty much certain that we would have to stay here. I’m sleeping with a few guns tonight.
“Pinkie, we’re back. Did your friend and her companion leave yet?” Pinkie’s old Mother returned from who knows where.
“No, Mom, they’re going to stay here a bit and help us out with the farm and the small infection things out there.” Pinkie answered her. Now that she had said that we were pretty much being forced to stay here.
“Eh… Why did you invite two people I know hardly a thing about to stay in my house?” The Mother responded to Pinkie’s previous statement. I felt like we were going to get off the hook with staying here, but her Mother said something that made us stay. “I guess that’s a good thing. We’ll just give ‘em a little grub throughout the day and we get some labor, and also a bit of company.” When she said that last thing it made me realize that there wasn’t a father here.
“Here! Let me show you two to your rooms!” Pinkie motioned her hoof up the stairs. We followed her as she walked down the upstairs hallway. “Here, Dashie! You can have this room! It was my two sisters old room! But there not here anymore.” Dash walked into the room. It was pretty dull and had a few small toys in it. “And, uh, Fire Burst was it? You can have this one.” She points to a room across the hall from Dash’s and pushes me into it. There was one small bed and a little chest with a few farming tools in it. “Well you two, it’s off to bed while I go and set up the defenses for tonight!” I walked into my room and Dash walked into hers. My room didn’t have a window, so I took an old light bulb and used a spell to turn it on for light. I looked at my bed and noticed there wasn’t even a pillow. Great. I get an ultra small bed and a nonexistent pillow. Woohoo. This is going to be the best sleep I’ve ever had. I’m joking really. Sleeping on the ground was comfier than this old crusty bed.
I walked down the hall because I had to use the restroom. When I did, I look out the window and notice Pinkie Pie at a bar across the farm setting off a self firing turret. Where the heck did she get that kind of technology!? I’ve only seen those once, and that was when I went to Apploosa when I traveled alone! This Pony was surely crazy! Why does she need a turret to take out a few Remnants? With us being inside, the Remnants wouldn’t even see us! So they’d wander a bit and we could kill them in the morning! All this was NOT, I repeat, was NOT needed to protect a locked up house from a few mindless Remnants. I can imagine how terrible this sleep is going to be…
Chapter 7: Oh the Ponies you Meet
Tck tck tck. Tck tck tck. Those turrets were nonstop firing. They had to of been shooting things a mile away to shoot that much. I couldn’t sleep whatsoever. Why couldn’t we just kill the Remnants in the morning? Heck, I don’t know. How often does a rock farm get raided by Remnants anyways? I couldn’t see it being raided very often, for there’s no livestock on this farm. Just plain old rocks. Come to think of it, what exactly is a rock farm? What is its purpose? Maybe I’ll figure it out tomorrow because my payment for staying here is farm work.
I woke up, and I was right about the terrible sleep. I kept tossing and turning, it was terrible! I want to leave this place. Maybe I’ll try to get ‘Dashie’ to leave too, because I am surely not traveling alone again.
“Up and at ‘em! Time to do some farm work!” The pink pony had slammed open each of our doors.
“Ugh. Fine. What do we have to do? Rock moving of some sort?” I was tired, and it seemed pretty early.
“No silly! That’s the old farm! The new farm is about moving the dead undead things out from the farm land!” The pink pony seemed happy about, well, just about everything!
“I’ll get the shovel.” Dash responded as if she already knew what to do.
“I guess I will too.” I said, but the pink pony stopped me before I could.
“I have an ultra special job for you! See, we’re running out of food, and we all know that food is very essential to anypony’s survival! So I need you to go to town, and just raid an empty store for its food. Sound easy enough?” It did sound better than shoveling a bunch of corpse to a random place. So I agreed.
This wasn’t as easy as I thought though. It wasn’t easy at all now that I think of it! On my way there, I got lost a bajillion times, and I came across a few Remnants. I found the town after a bit of searching, but by a bit I mean a few hours. I found the nearest store looking place (They all looked alike, empty and abandoned.) and walked towards it. As I look more and more at the store, it seemed to have things moving in it. I was thinking Oh God, a bunch of Remnants. But to my surprise it was Ponies. Normal, uninfected Ponies. Maybe, just maybe, I can make peace? But then they saw me…
“Oh hey man! How’s it going huh? Heh heh heh. Guys look, fresh meat!” A pony with a tattoo confronted me.
“Man, he ain’t got nothin’ interstin’ on him. Why’d we gotta mug this man.” A Pony with a bunch of scars responed
“Aw look he’s tremblin’! Tremblin’ with fear!” Another Pony spoke up. How many were there?
“C’mon man, let’s kill dis man!” I soon got attacked with by them with… BB guns?
“Dang it man, you got the wrong guns! These are the training guns!” The tattooed Pony said.
“Well hurry up, man! We need to kill dis man! He might escape!” Said the scarred Pony.
“I’m goin’ man! Hold your pants on!” said a random one of their gang.
Considering there terrible grammar, and over use of the word ‘man’ they’re probably in a gang. So I might want to leave… Or fight them on myself. They do seem very uncoordinated.
I turned to leave, but they stopped me with an actual bullet right next to me.
“Where are you goin’?” the scarred Pony said.
“Dang it man! You missed! You could’ve killed him! Now we gatta fight him!” Said another Pony.
“I know man! We might lose a few guys here!” Responded the scarred Pony.
I wasn’t stupid. When the CAPD was released, I took fighting classes. I can kill these guys with a knife or a gun. So I challenged them. Why not?
“I’m a kill you, boy!” A few of them said circling me, with out there guns out.
“Ok, try me.” I said as I pulled out my gun.
“Oh man! We gonna lose dis battle!” The scarred one said. I shot him first. He was the most annoying. I killed him instantly. But before I could shoot another bullet, something happened. Something I would have never expected to happen in a million years. He turned. Just out of nowhere. He started to kill off his own comrades, and they all turned with him. As that was happening, I managed to sneak in and hijack some food from the food stash. But when I walked out, It wasn’t just a few random gang members, it was a horde of Remnants. How did that man turn? I’ll think about it later, because now, I have to run.
“Oh man oh man oh man oh man!” They were on my tail! Those Remnants ran fast! I shot them dead one by one and I was soon running alone. I ran back to the farm, yes I ran even though there weren’t any Remnants left. I made it back to be greeted with a Remnant clean farm. At least someone did good.
“Did you get any food?” Said Pinkie.
“I did...” I said, out of breath.
“What happened? You’re out of breath!” Dash said, handing me some water
“Just a few Remnants… Don’t worry. I killed them.” I said, not wanting to say what I saw.
“Well OK then! Bring the grub inside and let’s eat!” Said Pinkie, walking towards the house.
We all sat down at a wooden table that looked pretty weak. I dumped out the food from my satchel and the Mother began to place it on glass plates. The food was mostly just boxed foods like Cheezy Bytes or Hay Crunches. But it was better than nothing, so we ate.
“There’s going to be a storm tonight.” Pinkies mother said.
“What? Are your ‘Pinkie Senses’ tingling?” Teased Dash.
“No. The clouds. Anymore smart comebacks?” Said the Mother sternly.
Everyone shut up. I walked away from the table and up stairs. I didn’t want to sit there and force myself to keep shut about the random Remnant turning without a bite. I sort of felt guilt.
“Well goodnight everybody. I’m off to bed.” I said.
“Goodnight.” Pinkie and Dash said. Pinkies Mother spoke unless needed, and never took off her hood, so no one really new what she looked like other than her face… What's up with her?
Chapter 8: An Old Friend... Of Some Sort...
Thwack! I awaken with a smack in the face, as I have been doing so for the past few days. I guess it was time for farm work and scavenging for resources. I guess after a while you just get used to working here.
“Time to wake up!” Pinkie said gladly, as usual.
“Ugh. What now. Farm work? Scavenging?” I asked.
“No, silly! I have a new job for you! I need you to go and get rid of a little problem we have.” She answered.
“Problem? What kind of problem?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t got out of bed.
“I’ll explain downstairs! I still need to wake Dashie up!” She said, still being happy.
I get up as she leaves the room. Great. Now I have to go and do some kind of special mission or something. What weapons to bring? Maybe I should figure that out when I learn what I have to do. I hope it doesn’t involve shoveling Remnants. That job is the worst. I put on my ammunition vest Rarity made me before she died. I open my door and begin to walk down the stairs. What could possibly be so important?
“There you are Mr. Fire. Ready for your job today?” Pinkies mother asked.
“Sure. What is it?” I responded.
“Well, there’s a group of people in the nearby town that I need you to get rid of.” She sounded very serious.
“Why? From what I know they haven’t done a thing to us.” I said.
“Remember when you came across that gang?” She said, deviously.
“Um, How did you know about that?” I questioned her. Was she stalking me?
“Oh, come on. You think the first day I’m not going to watch over you?” She looked mad.
“Oh… Yeah… Ok…” I didn’t know what to say. That means she knows about the guy that turned!
“So go and kill the rest of ‘em. We can’t have them coming towards us.” She demanded.
So I grabbed my gun and walked to town. I don’t want to stay there. They knew too much about that trip I took the first day. Luckily, I knew my way now. So I shouldn’t get lost like I did then.
“Hey! I hear something!” A female Pony nearby shouted.
“What is it?” Another voice said.
“I don’t know… Creeps?” The female voice spoke again.
“Really? We just killed a bunch!” Another different voice said.
“Why did we stray so far from the group!?” It was a voice that sounded familiar… But I just couldn’t place it…
Time to show myself. For two reasons. One: They thought I may be a Remnant, and two: I need to know who that voice was. I walk out of the woods and into the town. I made sure to use my Unicorn powers to hold a gun so they know I’m not infected. Like I said earlier, Remnants couldn’t use their horns or wings.
“Don’t shoot!” I shouted.
A female Pony with a light red coat, dark red mane, and a broken heart for a cutie mark turned and looked. She looked at me in disgust. It all came back to me… It has been so long… Shining Heart.
“Oh great it’s you. Well guys, we may as well shoot him. He’s worth nothing.” Shining Heart said, angered.
“No wait! Don’t! I mean no harm!” I pleaded.
“Who’s he?” Said a blue pony said with a knife for a cutie mark. He couldn’t be older than the age of twelve.
“That’s Fire Burst.” She said storming off.
Another Pony walked up. She had a purple mane and a purple coat. She also had some random stars for her cutie mark. She spoke to me in a kind voice.
“Sorry about her. How did you upset Heart so bad? Do you know her?” That Pony was pounding me with questions!
“Oh I’m sorry, My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m on a science expedition and we sort of strayed off from the main group…” She said.
“My names Fire Burst. Shining Heart and I go way back, it’s a long story.” I said. I didn’t really want to explain.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Twilight said.
“So, Twilight, can you help me? I was sent to kill you guys, but I really don’t want to, now that I know that Shining Heart is in your group” I said.
“Kill us? Why would you want to do that?” She asked.
“Well, I myself don’t, but Pinkie does.” I said.
“Pinkie? As in Pinkanema Diane Pie!?” She said, practically yelling.
“Uh… I guess? I just know her as Pinkie Pie.” I said, totally confused.
“Well guys! Pack up your things. We’re heading to Pinkie’s place!” Said Twilight.
“But why!? I don’t want to go anywhere else today!” Said the knife boy.
As those two were bickering about going to Pinkie’s, Shining Heart walked out of the random building she was in. She was still ticked.
“I’ll go. But only because the rest of the group is going. Don’t expect me to take any apologies from you Fire.” Heart said.
“But Heart…” I said, getting interrupted.
“I don’t want to hear a word from you!” She yelled.
“It’s settled then… I guess.. Off to Pinkies!” Twilight announced, walking the wrong way…
“It’s that way…” I said.
Chapter 9: Oh, the Sweet Memories
“So how far exactly is Pinkie’s place?” Asked Twilight. She keeps asking that. Why? She won’t shut up. She’s asked that about three times now. It takes time to walk.
“Not too long…” I’ve used that response for two of the three times she’s asked now. But this time I was serious. It was right around the corner.
“Well everyone, we’re here. Watch out for any self firing turrets.” I warned. Who knows if Pinkie had set them up yet.
“Why?” Asked the knife boy.
“She sets them up at night so no Remnants get by.” I said.
“What’s a Remnant? Some kind of super zombie?”
“No. Just a regular zombie.” I responded.
Twilight spoke to the knife boy. “Remember, Death Wing, we agreed to call them Creeps for easy explanations about them.”
I knocked on the door. “Hello? Anypony home? Pinkie?”
The door slammed open. “Who’s that!? I give you shelter and food and you bring a gang to my doorsteps!? How dare you!” Pinkie’s mother yelled and scowled at me until Pinkie Pie came to the door and stopped her.
“Mom! Don’t yell at them! This is my friend, Twilight Sparkle!” Thank god Pinkie Pie stopped her mother, or else I would
probably be without a shelter.
Twilight ran and gave Pinkie a hug. “Pinkie Pie! I’m so glad you’re okay! Have you met up with the others?” Disregarding everyone else’s needs, they continued to talk back and forth.
“Well, Twilight, FireBurst and Dashie came by one day and now they live here.” Pinkie stated, about to continue until Twilight interrupted her.
“Rainbow’s here, too!?” Twilight was surprised.
“Well, yeah, and Rarity’s dead.”
“She’s… Dead!?” All this must’ve been news to Twilight. I didn’t even know they all knew each other.
“Yeah… Sorry you’re now just hearing.”
Twilight was tearing up. “How… How did she die…?”
“A quick explanation, a bullet to the head from FireBurst… But she was bitten by Sweetie Belle, so she didn’t get killed alive…”
“Oh… it makes me feel better to know she died trying… Have you come in contact with Apple Jack?”
“No, not yet. Not Fluttershy either. How about you?”
“Oh don’t worry, Fluttershy’s alive. In fact, she’s in my groups HQ.”
At this time I sort of walked away. So did everyone else, for all they talked about was their pasts. I go into the living room where Dash was and sat down in an empty seat. Shining Heart and Death Wing (the knife boy) did the same. All was quiet. There was electricity, but only one channel on the television, and all that the channel did was complain about the Remnants, or Undead Things as they called it.
“Sooo… How has it been, Heart?” I asked, trying to break the awkward silence and tension in the room.
“Fine.” She quickly responded.
“Well, me too?” I said. How stupid was I? I just said a statement in a question form.
“I’m just going to leave. I’ll be in the kitchen if needed.” She got up and left.
Dash Spoke up. “What’s up with her? She’s acting as if she lived here, and I can feel tension between you two.”
“It’s… a long story. But she has the right to be mad…”
“Tell me about it.” Dash said, possibly trying to get a solution to our problem.
“You see, a while back I was kept at a facility. She was there. She was my best friend there. When we had free time, we would always see each other. We were held there against our will… But it wasn’t prison, It was a volunteered to go, not knowing what it was, multiple Ponies signed up. Me and her were one of them. She said whenever we were to be let out we would go and live in a nice town and buy a nice house together, and that was our plan! The day they let us out we didn’t lose sight of each other until we reached a nice town where we got a job. One day we won a simple little prize draw that got us a nice house. Just lucky I guess. We lived together, and I even asked her hoof in marriage! But I heard about the CADP and had to go… It was part of my medical job. It was until I got there I realized that I probably wasn’t going home…”
“Wow… That’s a deep story…” Death Wing said. “I might be able to help.”
“How could you help me?” I asked in disgust, for he did butt in.
“Oh, come on. I’ve worked with her ever since the facility got back together for the Creep breakout. I know a few things about her.”
“The facility got back together, and didn’t inform me…?”
“I guess not. But do you want my help or not? The only thing I require would be shelter for a few days.”
“I would love your help…”
“Good. Now go get us some permission to stay here for a few days, and I can make it happen.”
“Okay.” Why not? What do I have to lose?
I walked around the house trying to find Pinkie’s mother. Where on earth could she be? A few minutes of searching and I finally found her, in the kitchen, talking to Shining Heart. I think I’ll just wait.
“So did you get us some shelter?” Death Wing said as I sat down.
I let out a sigh. “No, not yet.”
“Well, no shelter, no deal.” Stubborn brat.
Right after he said that crashes were heard from the outside. I go to look out the window and to my surprise it was the worst thing I have ever seen! Remnants… All over the place, breaking through the fences towards the house…
Chapter 10: Back to Square One
“What was that?” Asked Dash.
“We got to go! Now!” My god… They were everywhere… I haven’t seen so many at one! What was there to do!? I didn’t have the ammunition nor did anyone else!
“What!? Why!? What’s happening!?” A few moments later and everyone was in the living room.
“The Remnants… They’re everywhere! Look!” I pointed out the window and everyone gathered around. As they looked, looks of horror and terror were set on their faces.
“My god… What do we do!?” Panicked Pinkie Pie.
“We run! Kill only those who are in our way! Everyone, quickly assemble into groups of two! One of I’ll go alone. Quickly! Hurry!” Everyone was looking at me in awe. I didn’t know I had that much leadership. Even Heart was looking at me and not disgusted.
The groups were assembled. Pinkie Pie and Twilight, Death Wing and Pinkie’s Mother, and Dash and Heart.
“What about you?” Asked Dash.
“I told you. I’m going alone.”
“Ok… be careful…”
“I will. I’ll be make sure of it.”
“The groups fled out one by one. First Pinkie’s group, then Dash’s, and finally Death’s group. I followed closely behind.
“Creep! Six O’ Clock!” Screamed Twilight to Death Wing. He quickly knifed it from the neck, removing the head. I see why is cutie mark is a knife. He’s good with one.
All the sudden, a scream was heard. Not a scream of the dead, but one of a living one. It was Pinkie’s mother. We were so close to the exit and she tripped.
“Help… Me…” She said weakly.
“No! If I help you it would be for the sake of the group! I can’t stop! We could all die!” I had to yell to her because our gunshots to the Remnants were extremely loud.
“You have to! She’s my mother!” Pinkie now stopped and was risking her life. Are these Ponies stupid!?
“Why can’t you understand!? We’ll all die if I do!”
“I’m not leaving without her!” Pinkie was screaming at me.
“If you stay, you’ll rot with her! Let’s go!”
As I said that, a Remnant got to Pinkie’s mom. Her face was now being torn apart and becoming a delectable meal for the undead. Soon others were swarming around the dead body. This was perfect bait. Now was our chance. The only problem was getting Pinkie to leave.
“Now’s our chance! We have to go!” I said, for all the others had already left the farm and were running on the dirt road.
“No! I… I can’t leave…” She said. I was tired of trying to reason with her. I dropped my gun and used the magic from my horn to drag her away. Soon, we caught up with the others.
“Where… Where do we go now?” Asked Dash, who had to speak loud enough to drown out Pinkie’s crying.
“We can set up camp here. We haven’t seen a Creep for a few miles.” Said Twilight.
“Alright, SOMEPONY shut her up!” I screamed as I threw Pinkie towards Twilight.
“Why can’t you be sensitive? She just lost her family!” Said Dash.
“Well, no one was sensitive when I lost my family! All I got was three bullets and a cheap toy gun to get away. Being sensitive has no meaning in this world!” I was yelling and a few tears went down my face for I had accidentally remembered the death of my mother. I try not to remember that day…
“Now’s not the time for everyone to complain! We need to set up camp!” Said Heart.
An hour later and we had small tents for everyone set up, and a nice little fire. We all gathered around the fire and began to roast some berries we found in the woods. Roasted berries surprisingly taste better than it sounds.
“Well, I’m off to bed.” I was the first to go to bed, as usual.
“Goodnight. We’re waking up early to discuss what to do next.” Said Twilight.
“Ok. I just need sleep.”
The next morning came and I was sure enough woken up early. We all gathered around the campfire which was now nonexistent. The ground was wet. It must’ve rained.
“What do we do now?” Asked Dash.
“I have an idea. Does anypony have a map?” Said Twilight. I totally forgot about that. I did have a map! Why didn’t I use it before? I could have been talking to Princess Luna by now! All the things I could have done if I had remembered about this map I had.
“I do.” I spoke up.
“Great, hand it here.” I handed the map to Twilight.
“Here, Fillydelphia. We have an HQ up here and it’s pretty clean of the undead.” Twilight circled part of the map.
“Sounds good to me.” Said Death Wing. “I’d like to go back, anyways.”
“Anypony object?”
“How far away is this place?” I ask.
“It’ll be some distance.” Said Twilight
“Well we better start walking then?”
“Yup! Let’s go!” Twilight was cheery. I wonder why?
Chapter 11: Into a Pit of Spikes
My god. We have been walking for days. “Oh, it’s a bit of distance.” She said. Yeah right. Also, half the time she doesn’t even walk. She uses this crappy little bubble thing and floats in it. I don’t know how to make that! Maybe I’ll just take my map back and head right on up to Canterlot.
“Almost there!” Announced Twilight.
A few moments, I was falling. I don’t know what was happening. Everyone was gone, and I was just falling. Thwack! I landed on the floor. What the heck just happened?
“Who are you!? Why were you holding Twilight hostage!?” Shouted a high pitched voice. Who do we have here?
“What are you talking about?” I protested.
“You know darn well what I’m talking about! You were holding a fancy shooting device and walking behind Twilight and her friends! You had them hostage! I’m getting Miss!” Footsteps were heard walking off. Where am I? What’s going on? My hooves are tied up… I must of stepped on some sort of trap. Have the others noticed? I mean, I was in the back of the group. *Sigh*
“You see, Miss! He was trying to hurt Twilight!” Said the voice. I thought Twilight said this group was friendly.
“Now, Spike, maybe you’re just making assumptions.” Said a kind, soft voice.
“No! I was sure of it! We need to lock him up!” Shouted Spike. That is most definitely not a Ponies name. Maybe a Cow?
“How about we just ask him? He hasn’t been talking, so maybe he’s innocent.” She said.
“But... He’s evil!”
“Okay, Spike. Go back to your duties. We need you to keep watch again, in case anyone tries to go and hurt Twilight.”
“Uh, yes, right away Miss!” He said, running off. Oh good, maybe this pony has some sort of kindness left in her.
“I’m sorry about that, he’s sort of over protective when it comes to Twilight. Anyways, what were you doing with twilight and her friends?” She asked, untying my hooves.
“Twilight was just escorting me, Dash, and Pinkie to somewhere safe. What, uh, what is going on?” I asked.
“Oh, sorry, Spike is just over protective, as I said. Here, follow me back to your friends.” She said, walking through a door.
We walked through the door, and to my surprise, there were tons of Ponies. It’s very surprising, also, because the place is clean.
“Miss Fluttershy, it seems we have a disturbance on floor two, room 18, Laser Lab. Please come as soon as possible.” Someone was speaking into the overhead.
“Oh, sorry, it seems they need my help with the lasers again. Um… Here, head to this room and stay there. I’ll get Twilight to get your little group together soon!” Said Fluttershy, handing me a slip of paper.
Floor 14, room 10. Hm. Better get up there.
I get up there to my room. This hallway seems more abandoned, but still clean, and has a Pony or two in it. Now time to wait. I hate waiting. This whole time I could’ve been heading right on up to Canterlot to see Luna. But now I just sit here, waiting. For what seemed hours.
"Hello? Fire?” Said a voice on the outside of the door. It was Twilight.
“Come in.” I said. She entered with Spike (Who is a dragon) on her back, and Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy followed.
“We have to talk to you. We have… Bad news.” She said, looking quite sad. “You see, we are the Elements of Harmony. I am Magic, Fluttershy is Kindness, Pinkie is Laughter, and Rainbow is Loyalty. We are missing Honesty and Generosity. Applejack is Honesty, but even if we were to find her, we are still missing Rarity, the Element of Generosity… and she’s gone…”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“What I’m saying is, from what we know, there is no hope.” She said sadly.
“But, what about Luna?” I asked.
“It would be pointless to find her. What could she do?”
“She could use the Elements! Like Celestia did.” I responded.
“I don’t think so… Only Celestia has been able to do that. It would be very risky to act on something we don’t have evidence if it’s true! We don’t even know if she’s still in Canterlot!” She said.
“I won’t give up. I won’t. When I saw my mother die from one before the outbreak even started, I vouched to find a cure, and so help me I’M GOING TO!” I was shouting. They all looked sad. Maybe there is no hope. Maybe I should just give up...
At that moment, Death Wing walked in. “Give up hope, Fireburst.” He said. Looking me dead in the eye. I can’t give up hope. I just won’t!
“Gimme the map.” I demanded Twilight.
“What?” Asked Twilight.
“I said give me the map.” She handed me the map.
“I’m leaving. I won’t just give up. I’m going even if I have to go alone.” I stood up, grabbed my stuff, and walked out the door.
I turned around. “Anyone care to join me?” I asked. No one answered.
“No? Then may this be the last time we meet.”
I walked off, out the door, and into the streets. But then someone ran up to me. “I’ll join.”
Chapter 12: Dead with no Remains
I look back. It’s Shining Heart. Why would she want to join me? After all that had happened, I would expect her to be the least likely to ever come to liking me.
“Why do you want to go?” I said, sternly.
“I’m giving you a second chance. We were engaged, so I gave my life to you, and you gave me yours. If you die, I want to be there and die with you.” She said.
“I don’t want you to die with me. I know I’m practically committing suicide. Don’t do the same.”
“You can’t stop me. I’m going with you.” She chuckled.
I laughed. There’s no point in trying to stop her. Looks like I won’t die alone.
“Well, this way to Canterlot.” I said, marching off onto the path.
I’m not going to explain the whole trip to Canterlot. Honestly, it was boring, and literally no Remnants. It was a strange trip. Not a single undead.
“Is that it?” Asked Heart.
“It seems a bit… Quiet.” I responded.
“Look, the gates are torn down!” She ran over to the gates. Not only were they torn down, they were destroyed. The metal was all twisted in a way that was obviously the work of a Unicorn.
“What happened here? It’s completely destroyed!” I said, motioning my hoof forward into the large, empty, quiet, city.
“Sweet Celestia… What monstrosity could have done this?” She said with her mouth in a gasp.
“I have no clue. But the buildings, it looks like they’ve been melted down from the top. Oh, and the ground… it’s stained in red…” I responded.
“Could it be blood?” Asked Heart.
“The only ones with power this strong would be the Alicorns. Why would they do this?” It was disgusting to think about, a blood stained city with melted walls. For all we know they could have been clean Ponies. Uninfected.
“This is giving me the chills. We should turn back…” She said, but I quickly interrupted her.
“You agreed with coming with me. I’m going in, and you should, too.” I said.
“Okay…” She said, with a nervous gulp.
We came across a small house on a street, it was the safest looking one, so we entered to see if there were any hints on what happened.
“Run when the night comes…” I read out loud from the wall. It was written in blood on the wall.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Asked Heart.
“I don’t know… Lemme read you some more.” I said. “The night will kill. It hides in the shadows. It rises at night.”
“Sounds like something killed them.” Said Heart.
“Seems so. It’s almost sundown. We should check out the murderer.” I responded.
“Are you crazy? It’ll kill us! You read the walls!” She shouted in fear.
"I want to know what’s in the night.” I protested.
“But we’ll die!” She said.
“Only if you give up.” I said.
“But… Argh!” She gave up. Just like I told her NOT to do. Oh well.
We waited silently until night. The wind started to pick up.
“Is it part of the night time murders?” She asked with a trembling tone in her voice.
“It’s just wind. Calm down.” I assured.
The wind suddenly stopped. The air was motionless and eerie, almost as if it knew we were there.
“What was that!?” Worried Heart.
“What was what?” I asked.
“Listen…” I was listening. Something was happening, alright. But what?
Swoosh! The wind pushed us in one sudden burst.
Ahh.. Ha ha ha ha ha!
“It’s laughing at us!” Said Heart. Suddenly a green cloud exploded in town square. A figure walked out of the smoke. It was some sort of Alicorn… But the air around it was so distorted. I can’t tell what it is…
“Our house! Leave our house? I think not!” It said, or they said… I can’t tell. It sounds like millions of voices all at once.
“Here it comes!” Shouted Heart, as it flew towards us.
It tackled me to the ground. I checked it’s cutie mark for identification.
“No… It can’t be…” I said.
"Who is it!?” Shouted Heart, who was trying to pry it off me.
“It’s Luna…” I said, breaking free from her hoof.
“THAT’S Luna!?” She said in surprise. She looks so different.
“No one leaves without saying good-bye!” Said the distorted Luna. She’s not going to…
“Good-bye, Mister Fireman!” She said in a tone that was too happy. Suddenly she raised her head and lowered it almost as soon as she raised it, I thought she was going to stab me, but instead she places her horn on my head.
“What’s this!?” I said as she used a spell on me. I was starting to fade out.
“What!? No! I… Can’t…” I said struggling.
“Fireburst.. What’s happening!? Why are you see through!?” Shouted Heart.
“It’s an old… spell… Only the royal members… knew it… I’m going to fade… out of existence…” I said.
“You can’t die! No!” She yelled.
“I’m not dying… I’m… disappearing…” I said. I felt heavier.
“No… Don’t leave me!” Cried Heart. Tears rolled down her face.
“I… Want your last thoughts to be this… I love you…” I said, for I knew she had the same fate. There was no escaping Luna. I thought I would die of a Remnant… But this is just so different… I’m not dying… I’m…
Chapter 4 (Short): Pony Choppers
A city known as Fillydelfia has been a town of interest for years. Princess Celestia has always looked at that place as if it were Canterlot itself. Of course, that town was one of the first to be infected by the CAPD. The city has no life. Just those walking dead Ponies. They wander around the place looking for food. Like a horse, a cow, or a lonely wanderer. It’s impossible to get past those alone. Or with just two Ponies. The cities themselves had thousands of occupants before the CAPD and when it was released, few made it out alive. The exact population of Fillydelfia before the CAPD was 15,925 Ponies. Only a few hundred escaped. So you take a town with over ten thousand undead Ponies, and only a few alive Ponies try to take it over, you lose.
But a gang of Ponies came up with a diversion. A Pegasus powered flying machine. It was big enough for all the undead Ponies to see it. And over half of them followed. Thousands of miles across Equestria the dead ponies walked. Even though they lost sight of the Pegasus’ machine. They kept walking just because they were before. They don’t know why. They do. If they start walking, they won’t stop unless they see something of interest. If they don’t, they go. A lot of them stray off if the walk is long. Which is what happened this case. Only about two hundred undead Ponies were left walking the same way. Because the others strayed off.
And the undead Ponies were heading straight towards a small farm…
Back at Fillydelfia, the gang of Ponies took over a building at the edge of towns. The gangs elite members wore hoods so the other live Ponies couldn’t see their true faces. Their true identities. This was vital to the gang staying hidden from the rest of the living society. No elite member could be seen. Even the regular members wore something to cover their faces. They wore makeup or a black mask over their eyes. No one outside of their gang knew who they truly were. Even in the gang they had nicknames.
The nicknames were given to them for what they accomplished. If they were new to the gang, they were just called Rookie 1 or Rookie 2 and so forth. But if one were to kill, say hundreds of undead Ponies, they would get a name like ‘The Killer’, or something of that sort. The gang had its ups and downs, but they managed to survive in the present state of Equestria.
These, are the new inhabitance of Fillydelphia…