Ponoi: A Paradise to Die For

Act 0: Wake Up Call

“NO!”

She jumped awake, startled by the sound of shattering glass. She could hear screams interspaced with hard thumps and snaps. Finally, there was a harsh bashing sound, followed by two drawn out screams. Then nothing but wet chomping sounds.

Swan May laid there in her bed, unsure of what to do. Somepony might be hurt! She should do something. As she tried to get up, a brutal headache forcing her back down to the bed.

A hangover. Celestia’s gift for that damned bottle of wine she’d had after her shift. Or was it two…three?

It didn’t matter. Everything had gone to hell all at once. The hotel had never seen so many injuries in one night. Nopony knew what was going on, but the going theory was that some kind of animal wandered into the resort. What else left bites like that? She’d needed that drink just to sleep with all the excitement.

The noises continued, only increasing her pain. And her annoyance. She groaned. So what if she’d needed to unwind from the workload? Why should she be punished for it with…this?

“Damn tourists,” she thought as she rolled over on her bed. She’d deal with it when her head didn’t feel like an overstuffed ball of pain.

The chomping continued along with something that reminded her of ripping meat. This went on for almost ten minutes before, blessedly stopping.

“Finally.” Swan closed her eyes, trying to drift back to sleep. Maybe she could get a few more hours in before…
The ponies next door immediately started moaning.

“Princess damn you all!” First they have a feast and now it was an orgy? And they’d probably broken hotel property! Enough was enough!

She pulled herself out of the bed, intending to march next door and demand they stayed quiet.

Then there was a new sound. Right on the other side of her door. Something she could only describe as…sniffing, followed by a low, empty moan.

Swan froze. Something wasn’t right. Why were ponies sniffing her door? What were those moans? She wasn’t sure how she knew, but they definitely disproved the orgy theory. They were just too…soulless. More of an addicts voice than someone in the throes of sex.

That was it! The next room was full of junkies. Probably snorting salt or shooting themselves up with ketamine. She’d write security and have them thrown off the premises.

Idly, she entertained the notion of going out there and dealing with them herself, but decided against it. Let security earn their pay for once.

The moaning flowed down the hall until it faded from hearing. The addicts seemed to have left. Good. She’d give the front desk their room number and that would be that.

She went to a nearby desk and scrawled a quick letter.

West, this is Swan. I think the ponies in room 1408 had some kind of drug party. By the sound of it they were doing some strong stuff. Some of them might be hurt. I heard some glass breaking. I’m going to check it out but some of them left and are wandering around in the hotel. Tell security to be on the lookout for a group of about five or six ponies. They were moaning and trotting very slow. One of them even sniffed my door! How crazy is that? Anyway, be prepared. I think they’re heading your way.

She wrote the desk’s fire-wire code at the bottom of the paper and picked up a transmitter torch. With a button press, a small puff of green flame washed over the letter. The ashes curled up into little glowing cloud and floated away.

Now it was time to act. If those addicts had hurt themselves or somepony else than it was her duty to help them. She remembered the medkit in the bathroom. All staff members had one in case of emergencies. And this was shaping up to be a dozy.

Swan absentmindedly put on a pair of saddlebags from the closet. She staggered into the bathroom, head still reeling with her hangover. She spotted the medkit sitting on the counter and darted toward it, but stopped when she glanced at the mirror.

She was a mess. Her black eyes were bloodshot and had huge bags under them, which accented their slight slant. Her pleasant white coat was ragged and her dark crimson hair was mussed and tangled. Like almost every morning, she mourned that her coloration was the hotel colors. She was practically born for this job, which was probably why they made her a receptionist. It was odd they still made her wear the uniform, but at least they’d let her cut slits for her wings.

She took a few moments to straighten up her appearance. Emergency or not, she represented the company and it couldn’t hurt to put her best hoof forward. After about a minute, she at least looked alright (she still felt like shit). She grabbed the medkit and proceeded out into the hall.

“Hellow? Is everything…” It took all her willpower to keep from screaming. On the floor, with a huge chunk taken out of his neck, was one of her co-workers. She couldn’t tell who, there was too much blood on his face.

Her pulse quickened, her breath became ragged, and she felt a panic attack coming on. Remembering her training, she forced herself to remain calm and walk towards the body. She made it until she got a clear view of the room.

This time, she actually did scream. The hotel room was covered floor to ceiling in blood. The window had a large hole in it and the furniture was smashed. There were more dead bodies in there, another bellhop with an almost identical gash in his neck and a mare in a bikini who was missing a leg.

But the worst part was the two…she couldn’t even call them bodies! They looked more like a butcher’s garbage than something that used to be a pony! Every available bit of flesh had been ripped off! She could see bits of organ scattered about them. Almost all of their bones had been cracked for marrow and scattered about the room. Somehow she could tell they died holding each other’s hooves which only made it all the more horrible.

Swan backed up frantically into her room and slammed the door. She felt bile rising in the back of her throat, but she forced it back down. This was no time to panic. She needed to get the fuck out of here!

There was a flash of light at the desk. WEST! She needed to warn him about…whatever it was she saw in the hall.

She literally flew over to the desk and almost ripped the letter try to get it open. The ribbon holding it snapped and she poured over the words.

To anypony reading this…that wasn’t West’s hoof-writing. You are in terrible danger! There’s no time to go into the specifics, our connection to the island is weak enough as it is. Suffice to say that events of disastra…unfathma…really, really bad things are happening! I know you’re probably scared, but you need to stay calm or you are going to die! Read very carefully: I have a floor plan of the hotel. There is a maintenance room on the second floor. You need to go there and get a weapon. If you encounter anypony that looks the least bit strange, turn around and get as far away from them as possible!Do not approach them! Do not try to talk to them! And most importantly, DO NOT LET THEM BITE YOU!

Good luck and may the Princesses watch over you.

Maintenance…she knew were that was!

Twelve floors below her.

Swan took a deep breath. She was going to have to go back out there. From the sound of that letter, this wasn’t just some fucked up party goers; this was all over the resort! An entire town full of ponies…eating each other.

A strangled sob made its way out of her throat. NO! There’s no time for that! Remember your training!

West. If there was even a chance he was alive she needed to warn him. She wrote a quick note telling him to get out of the hotel and sent it on its way. Now it was time to act.

She steeled herself. If she didn’t go now, she may never work up the courage. There could be other ponies out there. She needed to help them and she sure as hell couldn’t do it in here. It was now or never!

She pawed the ground agitatedly, sucked in a huge breath, and charged! She slammed into the door, almost knocking it off its hinges, and immediately took off down the hallway.

DON’T LOOK IN THE ROOM! DON’T LOOK IN THE ROOM! DON’T LOOK IN THE ROOM! DON’T…

She repeated the mantra over and over as she flew down the hall, eyes shut. This was not her smartest move as she didn’t see the luggage rack somepony had left in the hallway.

*CRASH*

Okay, that didn't help her hangover. Each beat of her pulse felt like ten base drums in her skull! She groaned and looked up to see that, amazingly, the rack hadn’t moved one inch. She tried pushing it over but a wall of luggage on the other side kept it firmly in place. Almost like a barricade.

Those…things weren’t here now, so there must be a way around. She looked around until she spotted a conspicuously open door. How’d I miss that? Oh right. I was flying with my eyes closed.

Deciding she could mentally kick herself more later, she walked through the door into another hotel room. It was with some measure of pride that she recalled the day she was given a deluxe suite for her ‘incredible dedication and outstanding performance.’ Just because she hated her job doesn’t mean she can’t be good at it.

This room was a standard double, with two queen sized beds, a small bathroom, and a door linking it with the next room.
Perfect! That must be how the things got around the barricade! She trotted over to the door and gave it a push.

Locked. Great. She pushed harder, and again, and again. Finally having enough she backed up and rammed herself against the door. The lock gave with the sound of crunching wood.

Demolishing hotel property. There goes employee of the month.

Finding a similar room on the other side as well as an energy bar. Glad to have anything in her stomach, she ate it with relish. Swan felt slightly better afterwards. Almost…refreshed. Healthier.

She chocked it up to earth pony magic (the wrapper said something along those lines) and continued into the hall. She had to push a few suitcases out of the way, but otherwise there was no trouble.

The hallway ended in a large room with stair access and elevators on a balcony. Since the idea of being trapped in a small metal box terrified her (as it did all pegasai) Swan tried the stairs.

Locked. Again. She tried bashing her way through the door like last time but this one was sturdy metal and barricaded on the other side. A charging manticore couldn’t move this.

So that meant she either had to fly or use the elevator. Tough choice.
It only took a few flaps to get her in the air and soaring to the balcony. Soon she would be able to glide down to ground level and…

Glass broke somewhere above her as two pegasai went flying past her scaring her right back down to the floor. One of them was on fire with his mouth clamped firmly on the other’s neck. She was trying to scream, but the blood from her neck wound just made it come out as a strangled gurgle. Swan heard her screaming all the way down.

She took a few tentative steps forward until she could see over the rail. The two ponies were sprawled on the ground and she could see splashes of red near them. More ponies appeared, shambling toward the bodies. When they finally reached them they started…

Swan backed up, terrified. Now she saw other ponies flying around. But they were…wrong. Their movements to jerky, their turns to slow.

If you encounter anypony that looks the least bit strange, turn around and get as far away from them as possible!

The letter was the only thing she had to go on and after what she just saw, it sounded like good advice.

Elevator it was then. Just. Fucking. Great.

Her hangover flared up again, causing her to stumble. She didn’t know where those things from the hall were, but if they caught her like this...she wouldn’t bet on her chances.

She stumbled over to the doors, hoping against hope she’d have good luck for once today. Denial was swift and cruel. Every single door was in emergency shutdown. Except one.

The one with an elevator a floor below her.

“Why doesn’t anything ever work when you need it?” She was going to have to jump down and use the hatch. Simple enough.

Until she noticed the frayed cable which was the only thing keeping this two ton box of steel and metal from falling several stories and turning into a fiery explosion giving anypony inside a horrible and extremely violent death.

So, yeah. Simple.

Well, my talent is grace after all. This was true; her cutiemark was a beige swan denoting her natural grace and agility. Should anypony look closely (not that she would let them) they’d have noticed that the swan’s beak was actually a pair of tiny blades.

She wouldn’t admit the meaning behind this, but she hoped the maintenance room had a machete.

Swan decided to get it over with and hopped out the shaft, flapping her wings a few times to slow her descent. She lightly touched down on the elevator, but even this minor disturbance was enough to make it groan. She stood still as Discord in fear until the box stopped groaning.

She found the emergency hatch and flipped it open, dropping down inside. It groaned again, but otherwise remained stable. Swan sighed in relief.

*SNAP*
“OH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…”

The elevator fell with a scream, overpowering her own a hundred-fold. Sparks flew from the sides and the doors raced past. Swan felt herself lifted off the ground and grabbed the side rail, hanging on for dear life.

Suddenly the elevator lurched to a stop, slamming her into the ground. She heard several shrieks and cries of alarm. The doors were open and three ponies were outside. They screamed and charged right at her.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening, the elevator fell again (this time only three stories) before tipping foreward and crushing her against the half open doors.

She shuddered, determining that after this it was nothing but the stairs. She could weigh three hundred pounds, be nine months pregnant, and have no legs, but there was no fucking way she was going near another of these death traps. Ever.
She laid there for about five minutes, body wracked with pain. Finally she came to a conclusion!

It was the cupcake. That damned cupcake she had with the wine last night put her over the edge.

“No more dessert…ever.”

It took another ten minutes for her to get back to her legs, ten minutes of agony. And I thought a hangover was bad. She was astounded she was alive, let alone nothing was broken! She dragged herself through the doors and out onto a balcony.
The sunlight was more subdued and there was some dust on the ground from her crash. Just like the hallway, luggage was piled everywhere. It looked like a lot of ponies were trying to leave in a hurry.

Swan looked back to check the floor number. TWO! Not only had she survived her ride in the elevator, she was exactly where she needed to be!

“Well at least one thing went righ…”

Not ten feet from her was another of the ‘bodies.’ This one looked like it’d been ripped to pieces. Its legs were in four separate piles around it. Its bones had either been crushed or snapped. There was a rib in the ceiling. How does that even happen?

This time, she did throw up. The strain of a hangover, the crash, and some barely contained emotions forced the meager contents of her stomach onto the wood floor. Her throat burned from the bile since the last time she’d eaten was that damned cupcake.

Any hope she had of the scene upstairs being a freak accident were now gone. Whatever was going on, it was a whole lot worse than really, really bad. It was more like fucking APOCALYPSE!

Swan leaned against the wall, her vision going blurry. She needed to get moving before she collapsed. Luckily, maintenance was just down the hall. She could rest there.

She staggered down the hall, almost tripping over mountains of luggage. Seriously, who needs this much shit? She waded through to the end, turning right into yet another luggage filled hallway. It was just one of those days.

Without warning, three ponies rounded a corner up ahead. Their trot was…off and their movements were erratic. She could hear small grunts and moans as they wandered down the hall.

Suddenly one of them spotted her. It let out an inequine scream which was quickly followed by two more.

Turn around and get as far away from them as possible!

“Oh shit.” Swan turned and bolted, flapping her wings to increase her speed. Her headache was forgotten, overpowered by the sheer unbridle adrenaline of flight. She could hear them thundering after her, screaming all the way. She dashed into the next hallway; knocking over a luggage rack in the hope it would slow them down.

There was a loud crash and some more screaming. She chanced a look back… “SWEET CELESTIA!” It didn’t even faze them. They’d just plowed right through it. Swan leaped, becoming airborne, flying faster than she ever had before!

Finally, she saw it. A big, beautiful, metal door right at the end of the hall.

With the monsters right on her heels, she dashed inside slamming it behind her. There were three loud thumps, then silence. She sighed in relief.

*WHAM*

She heard a shrill screech and the side of her head exploded with pain. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was a snarling, bloody mouthed, mare…

Swan slipped into unconsciousness.
****************************
“…already been bit! There’s no point in saving her now! Just get it done with and move on!”

“She’s not showing any symptoms.”
“It’s been ten fucking minutes! That doesn’t prove anything…”

Swan drifted between waking and sleeping, barely having the strength to open her eyes.

“…alright. But when she starts chewing on your face, it’s your problem!”

“Fine, now will you help me with her already!”

Her eyes fluttered open weakly to glimpse a red stallion in a fishing hat and an orange stallion with a strange tattoo on his face. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, especially her side.

“There ya are, miss,” the orange stallion said, “everything’s going to be all right…”

She felt faint, like a hangover but a thousand times worse. Her eyes refused to stay open.

“Don’t say that. You know she’s going to…”

“IT’LL BE FINE! Just fine. Don’t you worry miss; the good doctor will fix you right up, then everything…”

Her eyes closed.