Prologue: The Beginning of the End

If there was ever a time I read a story, it usually started with the words 'Once upon a time...'. Every time I heard that phrase, I would always groan, due to it being the most overused phrase in the world. When it came to that phrase, nine times out of ten it was the Equestrian Story.

'Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria'. I heard that story so many times as a filly, I got sick of it. If I'm gonna make a story of my life, I sure as heck will not use the phrase, 'Once upon a time'.

Oh I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Skylight Shadows. But you can call me Skylight, or Sky for short. You might by wondering why I was ranting about making my own life story. Well, I'm hoping to give you an answer. But instead of giving it right away, I think it will be best to start of from the beginning, so you can understand what I've been through; and everything that happened as a result.

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Patient Zero, the stallion known as the beginning of the end. After exploring the Everfree forest, this stallion stumbled out. He was severely sick, but the doctors were unable to discover what caused it. Then two days later, the stallion died. He had no known family, or even a name, since the stallion was found passed out on a pathway. The mortician took the stallion and began to look for any record on his family. He was hoping to find somepony related to him by using DNA samples. However, as he was opening the cabinet to pull the body out, a cloud of toxic spores was released into the air. The doctor died within hours after contact...or so they thought.

Turns out, the doctor never actually died. He 'awoke' during an examination of his own death, and had bitten the autopsy ponies in their forelegs...That's when it spread. Ponies were getting bit left and right, becoming ill; infected if you will. The ones who didn't survive getting bitten became hosts for the spores, which were discovered to be a mutant string of cordyceps. It acted just like the fungi which killed insects by the numbers. The infection would go to the brain, turning the host into nothing but a mindless husk with only one objective, eat. When the host died, the body would then grow stem-like fungus, which would explode and release thousands of airborne spores, infecting anything within breathing distance. Eventually, the Equestrian CDC called for a world-wide pandemic.

That's when Equestria's Royal Guard stepped in. They began to create quarantine zones within all major cities, attempting to save any healthy pony they could. Arms research was developed, as the Princess realized that spears and swords weren't enough to kill the infected. This marked the point in history where Equestria became a super-power of its own, with the new weapons that were called 'Firearms', integrated into the Equestrian Military. No-one ,not even the Changeling Army, was bold enough to attack Equestria in its time of despair.

Soon, Everypony began to turn for help from the Princess and her Elements. They all hoped that the Elements of Harmony would be able to push back the infection, and make Equestria pure once more. The newly dubbed Equestrian Guard, armed with their weapons, escorted the Elements on a mission to the area where Patient Zero had been located, in an attempt to nullify the infection. All hopes were high as word was received that the Elements made it to their destination safely, thanks to the Guard.

That's when the Elements had failed. All Hope was lost, as Celestia ordered the Guard to return and take control of the major cities, closing them off from the outside world. Celestia knew that if the Elements couldn't stop it, no pony could. The last city to close off completely was Canterlot. A pink shield formed around the city, in an attempt to keep everyone safe inside, and infection free.

Soon afterwards, Celestia and Luna stepped down, putting the Equestrian Military in charge. With this new power, they declared Martial Law on all quarantined zones, while a cure was to be found. Twilight Sparkle had been hired on to be the head of research, and stayed inside Canterlot. She hoped to be able to develop a cure to give out and purge the country from infection as soon as possible

Even though they were given the choice to stay, the rest of the Elements went back to their own families. Equestria had finally gone dark, and soon, the rest of the world went with them. The last recorded death-toll before the government shut down, was up to around 3 Million

Fast-forward to 20 years later, the search for a cure had all but been given up on. An anti-government militia group known as 'The Fireflies', began to call for Princess Celestia and Luna to restore themselves to power, and help guide the country back into its Golden Age, and help with the search of a cure. The leader of the group however, remains mysteriously anonymous for unknown reasons.

The Military does not see the Fireflies as a friendly group, however. The Military labels the group as terrorists and tyrants. They refuse to cooperate with a group that has shown hostilities to their own kind, and anyone caught as a Firefly will be shot on sight. This happens to be the main reason why the Fireflies are fighting a losing battle. Their numbers are dwindling fast, and soon they will be all but dissolved.

Now we jump 5 more years, and here I am...living out my miserable life inside the Manhattan quarantine zone. A mare with no parents, or any family living with her. I'm all by myself, with only one other friend. She happens to be the only one I can look up to as a motherly figure, and I have lived with her for as long as I can remember. We may not be perfect, but its the best we have.

So there you have it, I've told you everything that has led me to the next point in my life. Sadly, this part happens to be the longest. So go grab a comfy spot, sit back, eat some popcorn, and let ol' Skylight here tell you the story; the story of how we became....

...The Last Of Us

Author's Note

Here it is! This is an idea that I came up with one day while playing The Last Of Us. If you haven't played this wonderful game, I suggest you do. Even if you haven't played the game, don't let that discourage you from reading this story. It may follow loosely with the storyline of the game, but I will ensure that this will be, for the most part, spoiler-free to anyone who has played it.

I also would like to thank Kkat and her awesome story, Fallout: Equestria. That wonderful masterpiece was what inspired me some to write this. I may not have high hopes that this story would one day rise to the category of Fo:E, but I do hope that you enjoy this story, and that this story just might get somewhere, maybe even inspire others to try something like this out as well.

In conclusion, I welcome you readers to this story. Strap yourselves in, because this may turn out to be one wild ride.