Episode one: the Beginning part 1
It was a year ago that Winged Spirit became the manager for Rarity's boutique in Manehattan. She found herself pondering why, on one of the busiest days of the year, were there no customers? Spirit, although upset by the outcome, took advantage of the predicament by catching up on the dressmaking she was behind on. She heard a bell ring downstairs and rushed to see if it was a customer. To her surprise, it was a light-brown pegasus mare with three shades of grey in her mane.
"Sup, sis. How's work been?" The mare asked. Spirit pounced on the mare, hugging her with great gusto.
"I haven't seen you for five months and that’s all you have to say, Daring?" Spirit said, overjoyed to see her younger sister.
"Okay, I'm sorry I worried you. I'm home now right?" Daring Do said, Hoping her nervous smile would get rid of the awkwardness. Suddenly, an orange, blue-maned pegasus stallion, decked out in the golden armor of the royal guard, stepped in. He froze stock-still when he saw Spirit on top of Daring.
"I-I-I d-did n-not..." The stallion stuttered but couldn't finish his sentence. Spirit got off of Daring with a blush on her face and smiled.
"Sorry about that. I was giving my younger sister a welcome back hug," Spirit said, seemingly bringing relief to the stallion.
"Oh good. For a second there I thought that I walked in on a private moment," The stallion said, smiling at the embarrassing thought.
"It's okay. So, what can I do for you, mister…?" Spirit said, purposefully leaving air in the conversation, hoping to acquire his name.
"Flash Sentry, and I'm actually here for a dress," Flash said, noticing Spirit’s mouth hung agape in shock and adopting a similar expression when he realized why. "No no! Not like that! I'm only picking up the pre-order for the princess," he explained with a sheepish grin. As if the atmosphere couldn't get anymore awkward, a white unicorn with a crazy blue mane barged in and started yelling.
"Yo! I'm looking for a dress for my marefriend," The mare yelled with a smile, dropping her smirk when she noticed the looks she was getting. "Um, what killed the wubs?"
"N-Nothing. Take a look around and see if there is something that catches your eye and I’ll be with you in a minute. As for you, Mister Flash Sentry, I'll be right back with your dress order." And with that, Spirit left the room, taking as long as possible before making her return. Just as Spirit handed Flash the dress and he turned to head out the door, two stallions toppled inside, one on top the other. The one on top was caked in dirt and the other one had a blue mane and coat.
"Get him off me!" The blue stallion screamed, panicking as the muddy one snarled and fumbled for a better hold around his neck. Flash, thinking quickly, grabbed the closest large object he could, a fancy-looking chair, and swung it at the filthy pony’s head. The blow garnered a sickening crunching sound and a spurt of ickor, and what was merely intended to stop the assault sent the dirty stallion to the floor listless and motionless. Everyone stared in stunned silence at the unmoving body.
"Dude… I think y-you killed him," The white unicorn whispered, mouth gaping open.
"...I didn't think I hit his head that hard," Flash said, shocked at what he had just done. Daring, apropo of nothing, walked up to corpse and wiped away the dirt on the flank, revealing a target with an arrow in the middle.
"Umm, I don't know how to say this without being confused myself... but this pony was dead to begin with." Daring said, looking at the baffled Spirit. Everypony gawked for a moment, processing what she just said, before all at once screaming “WHAT?!” in perfect unison, making Daring flinch.
"His name is Bullseye... and he died five years ago," Daring said with a concerned look on her face as she rubbed her chin in thought. Spirit walked up to the dirt caked pony and saw the cutie mark, nopony else speaking as they all stared in confusion at the body. The next thing they heard was a scream from outside. Flash and Spirit looked through the nearest window outside to see ponies tackling other ponies and then… biting into them. Some manner of riot seemed to be taking place. Flash, seeing that it was his duty as a guard, grabbed the chair he used and said, "I need to get as many ponies in here as possible."
"I'm coming with you," Spirit said as she followed him outside, grabbing a large stick off the ground as they ventured out. At first they tried reasoning, attempting to calm the wild ponies. Soon enough, they found that they were unwilling to listen. Soon, the madponies’ attention was turned from their victims to Spirit and Flash. In defense, they beat the insane ones over their heads with the makeshift weapons they held. Since they apparently had no eye pupils and that they were, according to Daring, already dead, smashing the head seemed to be the only way of harming them. They made it to a group of four ponies, two of which were mares.
"Hey, we have shelter in that boutique!" Spirit yelled at the group, then smashed a couple more heads. With great fervor, the group sprinted to the boutique. Once the group was inside, Flash and Spirit made another run outside, searching for more in need of help. Unable to find any other pony that hadn’t been mauled, They headed back to the boutique. Spirit was going to shut and lock the door and have the others barricade it when she saw a curious sight. A being, composed of the parts of many animals flew towards the boutique in a zigzag pattern.
"Wait leave the door open a little longer!" the being yelled at Spirit. Spirit didn't have to wait long for the odd creature to swoop through the door, and the instant it did so, she slammed it shut. The most ponies Spirit had on a good business day was three, so how come when ponies are eating ponies does she have eight ponies and a being with multiple animal parts? It made no sense to her, but she went with it.
"Hey, my name's Winged Spirit and I'm the manager here. My younger sister over there is Daring Do. Can everypony introduce yourselves to make this easier for us all?" Spirit said, hoping to calm the situation. Everypony looked at Spirit like she had three heads, but went along with it anyway. The blue-maned unicorn started to clear her throat.
"The names Vinyl Scratch, or you can call me by my stage name, DJ Pon3," she stated. She turned to face the blue stallion that was attacked by Bullseye earlier. "You're up, blue."
"I'm... ah... I'm N-Noteworthy," the blue stallion squeaked, nervous and terrified at the madness outside.
"I'm Flash Sentry of the royal guard," Flash said, taking a glance at Spirit. A light blue unicorn mare stood up and puffed out her chest.
"I'm the Great and Powerful Trixie. Obviously I'm better than all of you so if you want to stay alive, you should do as I say." The light blue mare said boastfully.
"Yeah, you panicked and ran better than anypony else, " a purple earth pony mare said smiling. "I'm Cheerilee. I teach the fillies and colts in Ponyville." Trixie glared at Cheerilee for her remark and then sat back down.
"Well, guess it’s my turn," a brawny white unicorn stallion said. "I'm Shining Armor. At this moment, I don't know where my wife or little sister is. I'm just hoping that they’re safe,” he said with a noticeable amount of dejection. An orange stallion wearing a sombrero came up from behind and put a hoof on Shining’s shoulder.
"I'm sure that they’re a-okay. I'm Cheese Sandwich by the way," the orange stallion said cheerfully.
"Thanks," Shining Armor replied, warmed by the gesture.
"Yes yes, it is possible that they are alive, but there's the same chance that they are dead," the being of many animals said as he appeared in between Shining Armor and Cheese Sandwich.
"And you are?" Shining Armor asked.
"Why, I'm none other than the God of Chaos, Discord. I for one am enjoying the insanity outside. It’s just about the most delightfully chaotic thing I’ve seen in years. It’s simply delicious," the being of many animals replied with a toothy grin. Spirit’s eyes widened in shock, which quickly turned to ire.
"Are you the one that caused all this?" Spirit bursted out indignantly. Discord sat down next to Spirit.
"Why I’d never! I was reformed, my dear Wonged Spared," Discord said as if he was offended.
"It's Winged Spirit," she deadpanned, glaring at Discord.
"Yes yes, whatever. As much as I appreciate that you think I’d be capable of such a catastrophe, I’m quite innocent here. All of my chaos can be undone with magic, but you see, magic has no effect on these things. As I have found out the hard way..." Discord explained.
"Trixie can concur with that," Trixie cut in, still trying to make everypony believe that she was better.
"Same here. I've already tried using magic, but no effect," Shining Armor said, agreeing with the others. "So what do we do?"
"Wait, are you asking me?" Spirit asked nervously.
"Well you did say that you’re the manager of this store. It only makes sense," Shining Armor replied. Everypony except Trixie, who was upset that she wasn't in charge, seemed to agree with the statement.
"Okay then…” Spirit took a deep breath, steadying her mind so that she could think clearly. “I’ve got an old radio upstairs. Let’s bring it down and wait for a transmission or something. Flash, you know what frequency the royal army uses, right?” The guardpony nodded, prompting Spirit to continue. “Alright, Daring and Shining, I need you two to come up with some weapons. Anything better than sticks and chairs would help.” Both ponies immediately got to work searching the boutique. “The rest of you, let’s put up some barricades and fortify this place. I’ve got a feeling we might be waiting for a while,” Spirit finished, casting a worried glance out the window at the bodies in the street. With all their roles assigned, they got to work, though, with no small amount of complaining from Trixie. It seemed like Spirit was adapting to her sudden position of apparent leadership quite well.
Author's Note
In the next episode...
The story picks back up five days later day's later when the group gets a radio transmission that there is a safe house in ponyville. The only problem is that they are out of supplies and the weapons that they have suck. Good thing that there is a store that sells antiques and appliances ten blocks down, plus it has a small cafe.
Episode two: the Beginning part 2
Five days have past since the incident first started. The moaning had already stopped and everypony was finally calm. Spirit laid on the covers on her bed. It wasn't because she was tired or bored, but worried. What was she going to do? Are there any other living ponies out there? What if they don’t make radio contact? Spirit couldn’t help but to dwell on these things. It's not like she wanted to be the leader, but she couldn't say no. The ponies were panicking and needed somepony to follow.
"Knockity knockity!" Daring said before entering. Spirit remembered doing that when she was little. Daring sat on the bed next to Spirit.
"You okay sis?" Daring asked, placing her hoof on Spirit's back.
"What if somepony dies? I don't think I'll be able to handle that kind of pressure," Spirit said. Daring replied without looking at her sister.
"You'll be fine. You can't save everypony, but you won't be in this alone," Daring said, patting Spirit on the back.
"Easy for you to say. You're the adventurous one," Spirit said smiling at her sister. The two mares laughed and Flash ran in with a huge grin on his face. He didn't even need to say what it was, because the sisters already knew what it was. They had finally gotten a radio signal. The three of them ran downstairs to the radio and listened to the voice that crackled out of it.
My name is Fireblitz, and I'm calling out to anypony. I'm in a safe house in Ponyville. We're developing a cure. If anypony is out there, we will welcome you. I repeat, safehouse in Ponyville and we are developing a cure.
Everypony listened as the report ended and all they could hear was static.
"The only way to Ponyville is on the train, but that's all the way on the other side of Manehattan," Cherilee said. Everypony looked at Spirit for a decision.
"Even if we leave, we don't have enough supplies. Plus, in case you haven't noticed, our weapons aren't what I’d call ‘top of the line,’" Spirit said. She was all too right, though. Their arsenal consisted of kitchen knives, chairs, small metal poles, and a stick. Foals playing cops and robbers would have better weaponry than them.
"How about we go to the appliance store ten blocks down. It has a cafe and it also sells antiques. We are bound to find something useful in the way of weapons," Noteworthy suggested. Spirit thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it would probably be dangerous. She didn’t want to let anypony die on her watch. Reluctantly, she agreed and the group gathered their so-called ‘weapons.’ Cheese opened the door slightly and hesitantly peeked outside.
"How's it look?" Shining Armor asked.
"All clear. No, wait. Now I see them. They’re right in the way of where we need to be heading," Cheese replied.
"Now what?" Flash asked Spirit. Spirit stayed silent for a moment and then sighed.
"There is only one thing that we can do. Charge through," Spirit said, finding that nopony seemed to have any better suggestions. Cheese opened up the door and the ten of them ran out. They charged into the swarm, and to their luck it was only a small cluster, nothing they couldn’t handle. They smashed heads left and right, spilling their rotten and half-coagulated blood onto the road. Spirit couldn't stop bashing the heads in. In her mind, the phrase “They are no longer ponies, they are no longer ponies” echoed. She had to face the facts sooner or later, and she decided now was the best time to reinforce it. They were killing corpses that fed upon ponies. Spirit swung her stick and bashed in another corpse’s head, getting covered in blood that was no longer fresh and stunk of rot. She bashed and crushed until they accumulated around her in greater numbers, and still she fought. Suddenly a hoof latched onto her shoulder and pulled her backwards into the shop. The doors slammed shut in front of her.
"You can stop now. We're here," Flash said, not letting go of Spirit, even though they were in a safe location at the moment. Spirit’s mouth hung agape and she let her stick roll out of her grasp. Even at the beginning when she attacked the dead to get survivors, it was hard for her. She wasn't the violent type, but she didn't have much of a choice now. She knew that she had to suck it up or die.
"I'm okay now. I need a shower," Spirit said and pulled away from Flash's hold. She went to the store’s office and found a bathroom with shower facilities. She went into the shower and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature to a comfortable degree before stepping in. She closed her eyes as she let the water pound the top of her head. The water ran down her fur and muzzle, washing away the filth and ickor that covered her. She didn't move an inch as she let the soothing, hot liquid cleanse her body of gore and grim. She finally turned off the water and started to dry herself off. She was only half-dry when she walked out, finding that Flash couldn't stop looking at her.
"What?" Spirit asked him with a brow raised. Flash looked away quickly.
"N-nothing," Flash replied with a blush that he attempted to hide. Spirit merely shrugged and began her search for a suitable weapon. She walked into the antiques section and saw something that caught her eye. It was a sheath for a long, slender sword. Taking it up, she bit down on the handle of the blade and unsheathed it. She eyed the elegant blade and swung it around a few times to get a feel for it. She recognized what kind it was. Daring had brought back a number of them from her expeditions to eastern ruins, before. A katana.
"Nice! This'll do perfect!" Spirit said and strapped the katana on her back. She rejoined with the others, each having found their own individual weapons. Spirit was the only one with a katana, but not the only one with a bladed weapon. Flash and Shining both had broadswords, Cherilee and Vinyl both had autographed baseball bats, Noteworthy held a shovel, Discord and Trixie both had wood splitting axes, and Daring had a spear that she made with duct tape, a machete and a bow staff.
"Food?" Spirit asked.
"We didn't even check yet," Daring said. Spirit walked into the back of the cafe. Flash ran in after her, helping her look around for signs of the dead.
"It looks clear," Flash said before opening up the freezer door and being tackled by a corpse. Flash struggled to get the frozen corpse off him when a blade stabbed the corrode through what was left of its eye.
"You okay?" Spirit asked, putting the katana away.
"Yeah, thanks," Flash said, offering a warm smile to her. As they continued searching the place, she found herself pondering her role once more. She would have to be tough for not only the other ponies, but for herself as well.
Author's Note
In the next episode...
Their journey to the safe house in starts. They travel through a university, but all becomes hard when zombies swarm on campus. Somepony will die, but who exactly will it be?
