They come at night... Mostly

by The Grimm Reaper

Chapters

2. Scavenging
3. Schooling
4. Numbers
5. Sanity
6. Zombie
7. Chances
8. Venture
9. Hunter
10. Venture
12. The Fall
13. Being Alive
14. Left Oustide
15. Screaming
1. Survival
11. Ruin

2. Scavenging

Downe in yonder greene field,

There lies a Knight slain under his shield,

His hounds they lie downe at his feete,

So well they can their Master keepe,

~The Three Ravens - Thomas Ravenscroft~

There I stood before a living legend. Twilight Sparkle. Renowned throughout Equestria as it's saviour thrice over. A heroine to all ponykind, including myself. It was saddening to see what the incursion did to her. Along with her dishevelled appearance, her clothes, which consisted of torn black skin tight jeans, a tattered white dress shirt and (from what I could see) worn black panties.

"Friend or foe?" she demanded. Her voice betrayed her bravado. She was terrified. Almost as if I was the first pony she'd seen since it all began. Despite her question, she didn't seem to be prepared for either answer. Were I to answer foe, she would probably faint. Regardless, I humoured her and raised my hands.

"Technically, neither. But compared to what's out there, I'm a friend." I replied.

~Twilight~

I looked upon the strange intruder with a mixture of awe and confusion. I knew nothing of what happened after the first attack. Perhaps he could enlighten me? I thought.

"Friend or Foe?" I demanded, knowing that my voice had failed me. I needed to be assertive if I was to get anything out of this pony. I could feel his presence. I was pushing my luck just with that question. It took me by surprise when he raised his hands, as if humouring me.

"Technically, neither. But compared to what's out there, I'm a friend." he said. Despite his gruff appearance, his voice was pleasant to hear. Perhaps it was the solitude getting to me. I'd heard nothing but my own voice and Spike's for the last two months. I took the time to examine my intruder. He obviously hadn't been to Rarity's yet if those were the clothes he was wearing. He was young, perhaps my age, if a little older. His dark grey coat blended in with the hooded jacket underneath his Duster. Were he to wear the hood up, I'd only be able to see his smile (were he to actually smile) and those fiery orange eyes. Then there was his mane. Blacker than Nightmare Moon's coat, it was cut short and seemed to be pushed forward.

Having read books on how to read the psychological state of a pony, he was surprisingly calm, almost normal, as if the incursion had never happened. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Jaeger." he replied.

"Jaeger? You're from Germane?"

"Born there, but raised in Equestria. Tall Tale to be exact." Tall Tale. That was the second closest settlement to the archaeological sight.

"How badly was Tall Tale hit?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"It doesn't exist any more." was his reply. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt for bringing the subject up, followed by sadness as his indifference to the town's loss rattled me.

"Well Jaeger, my name is-"

"Twilight Sparkle; Student of Princess Celestia and world renowned heroine of Equestria. First Unicorn under Princess Celestia's tutelage to ever become an Alicorn. I knew about you, Miss Sparkle. I strove to be just like you before the incident occurred." he interrupted. I couldn't hide my surprise. I knew I was well known in Canterlot and Ponyville, maybe even the Crystal Empire, but other places too? I felt my cheeks flush for a moment and I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere. Now, tell me about what's happened since the attack on Ponyville?" I asked. I saw his expression change from dead to curious.

"You don't know?" he asked. I simply shook my head. "Do you have a map of Equestria somewhere?" I looked around for the map, trying to remember where I'd put it. Spotting it under a pile of books, I used my magic to clear everything off of it before lifting it up to give to him. He took it in his hand and moved towards me. I stepped to the side and he just kept going towards the wall.

I watched as he placed the map flat against the surface of the wall, using his own magic to hold it there. His aura was a light orange, much like his eyes. "Do you have a pen or marker or something to write with?" he asked. My eyes widened.

"You're going to deface my map?" I cried.

"I'm going to update it. Equestria doesn't look like this anymore." he replied. With a nervous groan, I floated a red marker over to him. he took it and uncapped the lid. The first thing he did was to place an 'X' over Apple Loosa. Then Tall Tale. Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Los Pegasus, Dodge City, Baltimare, Hollow Shades, Vanhoover. Even Cloudsdale was crossed out. He then drew a circle around Canterlot Castle, but crossed out the surrounding city. He put a line through the Crystal Empire and crossed out the left half.

"What is this?!" I asked, unable to believe my eyes.

"It's all that remains of Equestria. Canterlot is gone, but the Castle still stands strong with the Princesses trapped like rats. Prince Shining Armour has managed to direct the defences of the Crystal Empire so at least half of it is still safe, but that's a fast failing shield. No offence to your brother." he said. I placed my hand over the map brushing my fingers over Canterlot Castle.

"I had no idea. I've been hiding in my basement for the past two months. There was enough food to last Spike and me another four." I felt tears welling up in my eyes. It felt weird to cry in front of a complete stranger, but I knew it didn't matter.

~Jaeger~

I listened and watched as Twilight cried. I began to wonder what she was thinking. Having saved Equestria many times before, did she feel as though her fear had caused her to fail us? Even if other ponies may have thought so, I didn't. Her fear was understandable. Nightmare Moon, Discord, even Chrysalis were pushovers compared to what emerged from underground.

"What did this?" I heard her plead. Her defences were broken, her bravado completely gone. I saw a girl, no older than myself, uncomprehending of the way things were now. I couldn't leave her with questions like that.

"I call them Shades; the creatures that emerged from the underground. They come out at night, but there is the occasional day walker. They're strong, smart and slightly resistant to magic, making them incredibly difficult to kill. What's worse is that they learn from their failures like we do." I explained. Twilight watched me as I explained to her the basics of the monsters that wiped out her homeland.

"How so?" she asked.

"I remember when I escaped the attack on Tall Tale. I ran to Vanhoover. The Royal Guard had stationed a defensive task force of nearly a hundred soldiers. I watched as the Shades went for a frontal assault. They failed quite spectacularly. We thought they'd gone to regroup, but almost instantly, a smaller number of them tried for another frontal assault. The guards stood no chance. That small group was just the distraction. The true onslaught came from the sides. Vanhoover's defences were crushed in a vice movement."

I saw this information register with Twilight as her face grew horrified. "And the worst part is that they brought a plague with them." If her eyes could have widened any more, they would have. "The plague is a virus that slowly kills any living thing infected with it. After you're dead, the virus takes control of your body and turns you into a zombie. And that's what happened to most of Equestria. The Shades either took us, killed us or left us battered and bruised only to die a slow and painful death and come back as a flesh eating corpse." I couldn't help but feel I could have said that better as Twilight covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head.

"This is too much. I can't handle this!" she began to grow hysterical. I made no move to comfort her. We were still strangers after all.

"So what are you going to do, Twilight Sparkle? Will you shut yourself away in your basement until you run out of food and you have no choice but to come out and face the harsh realities of the world, or will you venture out now and take things one step at a time?" I asked. She looked at me, probably hoping to find an answer in me.

~Twilight~

His question boggled my mind. What could I do with the information given to me? It seemed so unreal, like a fantasy; a story for only the strongest of heart to read. Despite my exploits, I was not strong of heart. I knew that I was weak. I was only ever strong when I knew my friends had my back, but two months was a long time. And they could be anywhere by now, if they were still alive. I remembered that night. Everything was turned upside down. Tall silhouettes that stood on two legs, with arms so long their claws nearly scraped the ground. Their eyes were white orbs, glistening in the moonlight. There was nothing behind those eyes, just whiteness, surrounded by darkness. Those monsters, those... 'Shades' were blacker than the night sky, in both body and soul. I'd cowered upon seeing them. A living nightmare the likes of which I couldn't hope to stand up to. I took Spike and hid in the basement. I didn't even bother to check up on my friends. That was the power they held over me. To terrify me so much that all I could think about was my own survival. I'd only helped Spike because he was within sight and in my way.

I searched for an answer in Jaeger's eyes. What could I do, what should I do? My options were to cower in the basement again until forced to emerge, for fear of starvation. Or to leave now and be like him, a drifter, seeking to just survive.

"Twilight?" I heard a voice say from behind me. I'd unknowingly backed away towards the entrance to the basement. Realising this made me pause, as did Spike. Under the light of the sun, he looked so... weak, tired.

"Which is the easier option? And am I allowed to take it?" I asked, turning to Jaeger.

"It's easier to choose to leave, than it is to be forced to. I know that better than anypony." he replied. I could see the truth in what he said. He did know. Which made my subconscious act of retreating to the basement upset me even more. I hated this feeling. Being helpless. I used to always rise to a challenge, if only after some slight hesitation. But what he was saying, was more like a death sentence than anything else.

I looked to Spike once more before turning my attention back fully to Jaeger. "Will you help us?" I asked him. I could see the pause he gave as the question surprised him. "Help us learn to defend ourselves against what we may face?" I fell to my knees and pleaded to him. I grabbed his shirt tight and looked up at him, showing my desperation. I could see the hesitation in his eyes, but it only lasted for a moment.

Jaeger knelt down before me and placed his hands on my shoulders. The touch was unfamiliar, but strangely soothing. His grip was firm, but gentle. And with that kind and soothing voice, he gave me hope. "I'll do you one better," he said. "I'll join you."

3. Schooling

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?'

~Alice in Wonderland - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson~

It was obvious to me that Twilight's hiding place for the past two months used to be her private chemistry lab, or at least a subset of one. Glass beakers lined the shelves, now containing what I hoped was water. I dared not try to select them myself for fear of colourless chemical compounds being mixed in with the water beakers. And I didn't even want to know about the yellow liquids in other glass containers. We three sat at a round table, Twilight and I having tea of all things. Spike was reading a book he obviously found comfort in, and the dog sat beside me, looking between me and Twilight.

"I have to ask, what are you doing with Winona?" she enquired as she sipped from her 'cup'. I looked down to the Border Collie next to me, who returned my look with a wag of her tail.

"So that's your name, is it? Winona? I'll call you Winny for short." I said, reaching down to pat my now named dog. She gave a happy bark of approval, making me chuckle. "I discovered her in the house up on the hill North of here. You know, the Apple Orchard? She was hiding under the kitchen sink. As you can see, she's fairly malnourished. I gave her what I could in the way of dog food and water. It's the whole reason I even came through here, to find more supplies for her. I tend to avoid towns for as long as possible." I explained.

"Why's that?" she asked.

I took a moment to see if I could explain it more delicately. "The zombies tend to congregate in open areas. Because of their terrible eyesight, they can't even discern their own kind from us unless they're about twenty feet away from each other."

The unholy sound of the Shades reached our ears, only slightly muffled by the locked door above us. "They on the other hand, are not so blind. If their eyesight were any better, they'd be able to see through walls. They can alter their tactics, but not their biology, thank Celestia." I rested my elbow on the table and my head on my hand.

"Do you... think that the Shades can direct the zombies? I mean after all, they did spread the infection. It only makes sense that they can control it." Twilight's suggestion both intrigued and frightened me.

"If they can, then even they haven't learned how to yet. Or perhaps they feel they don't need to. Personally I like to believe that the virus originating from them is purely circumstantial. The Shades were just carriers, nothing more." I replied.

"If that's the case, then the virus had to have come from somewhere." she retorted.

"It's probably just a naturally occurring phenomenon, like the Everfree Forest. Much as we'd like to believe it, not everything in the world is within our control. The Shades are living proof of that fact."

Twilight looked at the tea in her hand with a look of melancholy. "I still can't believe all this is happening. It just seems so unreal." she said. I took a sip from my own drink.

"Welcome to the new age, dear Twilight. The world as we knew it is gone."

~Twilight~

The evening went by quite well considering the information presented to me. Although, for the first time, I truly heard the wailing screams of the 'Shades' as Jaeger called them. Given what I once saw and his description of them, the name fit them perfectly. Strangely enough, every time I heard them, they would wake me up, but Jaeger slept through them as if they weren't even there. I almost envied him.

I used my sleepless hours thinking of what to do next. Jaeger had agreed to teach me what he knew in order to survive, but I doubted remaining in Ponyville would have been part of the lesson. That brought my mind towards my friends. Were they still alive? Had they been taken, killed or even turned? None of the last three options sat well with me. Although I knew better, I couldn't help but feel as though their deaths would be on my hands. After all, I'd failed to help them.

The following morning, Jaeger was eating the breakfast Spike had been gracious enough to prepare for him, eliciting a surprised look from the Unicorn in turn (clearly, he'd not been served breakfast in a long time). I approached him with a question; more of a request.

"Jaeger," I began, causing him to pause with a spoonful of cereal half way between the bowl and his mouth. He looked kind of silly actually. "Would it be at all possible for you to teach me how to survive as we go around Ponyville?" I asked. I had to admit, I was surprised when he guessed my intentions almost immediately.

"You want to search for your friends as we go?" he asked. I nodded, unsure whether to be embarrassed or ashamed of myself for putting him out like that. Once again, in the last five seconds, he surprised me. "I was actually going to suggest that myself. Having the hosts to the Elements of Harmony available might be the key to ending this apocalypse once and for all." he said. I resisted the urge to hug him as he agreed to my request.

"Thank you, Jaeger. I've been worrying myself to death over their well-being since I hid away in my basement." I said, guiltily. Jaeger put his bowl down, resting the spoon on top of the slowly softening cereal.

"Fear not, I already have a lead. I happen to remember that Applejack was one of your friends. I found a note in the barn the day before yesterday. It mentioned that she was going to Fluttershy's place first. Something about her probably having a heart attack over the situation." he said. Those words (minus the bit about the heart attack) filled me with joy. This time, I couldn't hold back my joy. I reached forward and scooped him up in a big hug. Or I tried to. He was heavier than he looked and I wound up knocking us both over his chair. I landed on top of him, hugging him for dear life. Unsurprisingly, he was doing the same.

"Sorry. I meant to thank you and I just got so excited." I apologised, not moving from the awkward position. He made no move to do so either.

"I understand." he replied. To my surprise, he actually held me tighter and rested his head into the side of my neck. A shiver ran down my spine at the contact, but I found myself reciprocating.

I closed my eyes and rested my chin over his head. "What are we doing?" I asked.

He responded with a calm chuckle. "Sorry. It's just been so long since I've hugged anypony. It feels nice, is all." he said, shuffling slightly to get more comfortable.

"You're right. It is nice, and you're so warm." I replied, feeling the warmth radiating off of him. I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, but we were interrupted by a light clearing of the throat. I opened my eyes and looked towards the source of the sound. It took me a second to register Spike staring at us with a slight grin on his face. "SPIKE!" I cried in surprise. Jaeger reacted immediately. I felt his muscles tighten as he grabbed me around the abdomen and threw me off. I went a few feet into the air. I threw my legs forward and found all my weight falling onto them. Jaeger had rolled over onto his belly and moved up into a crouching position. As I found my balance, he stood up and straightened himself out.

"Hey, no need to stop on my account. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation regarding finding the girls. I was wondering, since Rarity's is on the way to Fluttershy's, we could stop there on the way?" he asked. Jaeger looked to me to make the final decision. Clearly, he wasn't fussed where we went first.

I looked to Spike who had a glimmer of hope in his tired eyes. "Oh, Spike. I know you're worried about Rarity, but I doubt she'd be there. She's probably gone with Sweetie Belle back to Manehattan." I replied.

"I know that, but I just want to check it out. At least to make sure she made it out alright." Spike pleaded. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He'd keep coming up with excuses until I saw the logic in them and agreed.

"It might do to get a change of clothes if nothing else. It is Rarity that designed clothes, isn't it?" Jaeger added. I nodded in confirmation and gave the matter some thought. If Jaeger saw no problem in going, and even more so saw a reason to go, then I guessed it was good enough for me. And it would be good to know if Rarity made it out alright.

I smiled at Spike and nodded to him as well. That was all that needed to be done. He knew I'd consented.

It was midday before I felt ready to leave the safety of my home. I began to hate myself for that. I was never one to cower away from what needed to be done, but these monsters had turned me into Fluttershy. I was thankful however, for Jaeger's patience throughout my struggles to leave. He'd waited by the door for me, ready to leave whenever I was. It was his confident stare that made me finally leave the library. I felt nothing could go wrong if I was around him. Spike seemed indifferent towards him, but eager to reach Rarity's as quickly as possible.

It was five minutes out that I spied a pony. I recognised her immediately. It was Cheerilee, the local school teacher. We didn't talk as often as we should have. Being a scholar, it surprised me that Cheerilee wasn't my best Friend in Ponyville. Still, I was relieved to see she was out and about.

"Hey, Cheerilee! It's me, Twilight!" I said. As I aproached the slow moving mare, I began to notice something odd. Her colour was off, slightly pale compared to usual. And she was limping, not to mention her left hoof was extremely out of place. It wasn't until I saw her face that I began to freeze up. How could I have been so stupid? Jaeger had told me about this sort of thing. If ponies weren't killed upon being attacked, they became what I saw in front of me.

A low gurgle escaped Cheerilee's lips as she reached out towards me. That gurgle became a groan, which quickly escalated into a growl. With her left leg in the state it was in, she could only move so fast. Nevertheless, it gave me plenty of time to absorb the horrific scene before me. The mare once known as Cheerilee was dead. What remained were a pair of glazed over grey eyes on a slightly mangled face. Her left side was missing flesh, revealing the muscle tissue and teeth, as well as some of the jaw bone. There was a fleshy hole in her right cheek. I hadn't noticed from so far away, but part of her left ear was missing. Her clothes were in tatters, revealing one of her breasts which sagged due to internal cellular necrosis. There was no blood in her system, evident by the lack of wetness around her wounds. Over her groaning, I could hear her entire body creaking, screaming for the brain to work again and direct blood flow from the Heart once more.

As I observed, Cheerilee's corpse had limped ever closer. My heart skipped a beat as I felt her cold hands grab me. Her nails were not sharp enough to dig into my flesh, but she tried none the less. I felt her body touch mine, and her teeth come to contact with my neck. I wanted to run. I wanted to push this rotting corpse off of me and run back home screaming, but the fear that made me want these things wasn't reaching my limbs. I was frozen in place. And I knew that once those teeth even so much as pierced my skin, even if I did somehow survive the encounter, I would eventually become what Cheerilee now was; dead. Violated by a virus that used what remained of me as a tool to spread itself throughout my race.

As I felt the teeth begin to press harder against the nape of my neck, time slowed down for me. The sensation was slow in my mind, like a vice slowly winding, ever so slowly crushing my larynx. I knew I was going to die. I could feel my heart failing out of the sheer stress of it all. The mixture of fear and the adrenaline, combined with the knowledge that I was about to die at the hands of what was once somepony I knew. I wondered: 'Was this what a heart attack felt like?'

The next thing I saw was a flash of glowing red, followed by a dark shade of scarlet splashing in front of me. The teeth round my neck were gone, and Cheerilee's hands were sliding down my body towards the ground. All I could see was the sky. I was too scared to look forward.

What felt like hours passed before I felt something else touch me. It was warm this time, and familiar. It was a hand. It turned my head to one side, and for a moment, Ponyville looked like something Discord would have moulded it into. I then heard muffled sounds, but I didn't think to answer or look at whomever was speaking. I then felt my shirt being lifted up and over my body. I even saw it. What was happening? I thought, but my body simply wouldn't move. My mind worked overtime. Somepony had lifted my shirt off. Books I'd read on the subject suggested I was about to be assaulted. But the hands that felt so familiar didn't go near the traditional places. I felt them examine my shoulders and my back, everywhere Cheerilee's hands had been before.

Somehow, that thought brought time back to normal, and I could move again. I looked forward to see Jaeger examining me for something. My mind immediately shot to scratch marks or bite marks, any open wound. I then looked down to see Cheerilee's body, the head completely gone. There was smoke rising from the top of her neck.

"I think she's come to." I heard Spike say. I flashed my eyes over to him and he was looking worriedly at me. I then saw Jaeger who had a relieved expression on his face.

"Are you alright, Twilight? Did she hurt you?" he asked. Still a little dazed, I simply shook my head, not taking my eyes off of him. It quickly registered in my head what had happened; Jaeger had saved my life.

Without another thought, I threw myself at him. I didn't care about the awkwardness of it all, I just wanted to show him how grateful I was. So I kissed him.

~Jaeger~

It didn't surprise me when she kissed me. And I knew there wasn't any real emotion behind it aside from gratitude. Surviving harrowing experiences made ponies do crazy things. Kissing your saviour was obviously one of them. I think it was called the 'damsel complex', or the 'damsel-in-distress complex' or something. I found it hard to think with her putting such passion into her kiss. I had no idea what to do in situations like this, so I returned the kiss, but not with as much vigour as what she was offering. The knowledge that Spike was watching made it all the more awkward, not to mention that I'd only known both of them for less than a day.

I let her have a moment. Or perhaps I simply stole a moment, I wasn't sure. Either way, I felt I had to end her display of gratitude pretty soon. Twilight's attention to detail was quite well renowned, and once she had a moment to process what had happened when I'd killed the zombie, she'd have questions for me.

I grabbed her shoulders softly, but firmly and gently began to push her away. The smacking of lips signified that I'd been detached from the beautiful Alicorn. "Twilight. I know you're thankful to be alive, and that I saved you, but we have more pressing matters to attend to. Like finding your friends."

Twilight's eyes lit up with realisation and she began to return to normal. "You're right. We have to find out what happened to them." she replied, looking away from me in embarrassment. I gave her another moment to sort things out before I gently shook her shoulder and began to walk ahead. Spike lead the way to what I would soon come to know as the Carousel Boutique. "And um... thank you. Not just for saving me there, but for being so patient and understanding with me." she said.

"I've been alone since the Incursion started. To be honest, it's kind of nice to wait for somepony else, to be patient with you. I don't feel so alone now." I said, smiling at her. I could see her eyes looking at me, and I saw her smile. I didn't recall ever seeing her smile before. It was beautiful.

We stopped out the front of Carousel Boutique. The windows were boarded up and unbroken. That was a good sign. Yet it made me wonder why the Shades hadn't even bothered to go near it. "Smell anything, Winny?" I asked. Winona responded with a simple whine. 'No'. That was good enough for me.

I approached the door to the Boutique and turned the handle. I went to push forward, but found myself stopped by something. I pushed a little harder, hearing something shuffle behind the door. "Barricaded." I said to the others. Looking around, I checked for any signs of zombies before I threw myself at the door. It took three tries before the door and the barricade behind gave way. I stepped inside and remained very still. There were no signs of life, or death.

"It's clear." I called back. I held the door open for Twilight and Spike, Winona slipping in behind the latter. I closed the door afterwards. Spike was the first to climb the stairs while Twilight went into the lobby. "Winny, stay with Twilight. I'm going up with Spike to search for Rarity. Bark if anything happens." I said. Winona gave an affirmative huff before scuttling after Twilight. I hurried up the stairs to follow Spike. I saw him exit Rarity's room with a searching gaze. He then made his way into the bathroom across from her room. I noticed he'd overlooked another room entirely and went in to investigate. Upon entering, I noticed it was a foal's room. A certificate of achievement hung on the wall. The name of the achiever read; Sweetie Belle. Rarity's younger sister.

I wondered if the others had sisters as well. I left the room untouched and wandered into Rarity's room. The first thing I noticed was the mess left behind. Drawers and cupboards were stripped clean of clothes, even the mannequins were bare, except one where a navy blue Winter scarf rested. It was rather plain compared to what was advertised on the pallets in the main hallway, but something about it suggested it was both stylish and useful.

I walked over to it and took it from the mannequin. I then proceeded to wrap it around my neck. It looked hideous with my overcoat, but then again, so did everything else I was wearing. I removed it from around my neck, immediately feeling the dead air brush past my skin. I drew my hood over my head as a result. Perhaps Twilight would like it. It would go well with her violet fur.

As I turned to leave, I noticed something on the bedside table. A picture of six mares, one of which was Twilight.

I remembered seeing pictures of Applejack and her family back in her house. So I knew at least two ponies in this picture. Rarity was a fashionista, therefore stylish. She could only be the off-white one with the primped mane. Fluttershy must have been the yellow Pegasus shying away off to the right. A very cute mare, I could not deny. That left two mares unknown to me. A Rainbow maned Pegasus, and a pink Earth Pony who seemed overly excited in the picture.

I picked the picture frame up and turned it over, undoing the back. I carefully took the picture out and pocketed it. "This should help me identify her friends." I said aloud.

"Good idea." Twilight's voice said from the doorway. I snapped my head over to her in surprise. Had I been so drawn in by the picture that I'd failed to hear her approach? That could be trouble.

"Hey. Find anything?" I asked, offering her the scarf in my other hand. She took it with a smile before wrapping it around her neck, snuggling her face into the soft fabric. She then pulled something out of her own pocket.

"This was on the kitchen bench." she replied. I took the item in her hand. It was a note. I unfolded it and read it aloud, just as Spike was entering the room.

"Dear Twilight and/or Rainbow Dash/Pinkie Pie,

If you've found this letter, then you know we're alive, at least for now. I tried going over to Fluttershy's but those monsters were swarming the place. I couldn't risk putting Applebloom in harm's way in the off chance I might be able to save Fluttershy. It broke my heart to leave her there. Fortunately, it turns out she was here, with Rarity and Sweetie Belle. We've barricaded the boutique as best we can, but those things seem to be strong enough to uproot the orchard.

If any of you girls are reading this and you're looking for us, We're headed over to Twilight's next. She's the only one who might know what these things are, and how to stop them. We'll leave another note in the bedroom if we can't find her. I hope you girls are safe.

Find us,

Applejack."

As I finished the letter, I saw Twilight practically deflate. "They were right above us and I didn't even know." she whimpered. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing her.

"It's alright. They obviously had a contingency plan, as was evidenced by Applejack mentioning leaving another note back at the Library." I said. "Come on. Let's go back and find that note." I added, earning a smile from both parties. Winona entered a second later, wagging her tail happily.

~Twilight~

As we walked back to the Library, we were half way there when the question that had been nagging at me since he'd saved me burst from my mouth. "What kind of magic did you use to kill Cheerilee's zombie?" I asked, mentally smacking myself. Jaeger didn't turn to look at me, but kept walking ahead.

"So that was her name, was it?" he asked in return. Nothing was said for a whole minute before I felt the need to bring up the subject again.

"It's just that that kind of magic isn't normal. Ponies don't create magic designed to make heads explode. Undead or not." I urged. For a moment, all I thought I'd get from him was the exasperated sigh that followed my statement.

It was a further ten seconds before he replied. "I call it Shadow Slayer magic." he said. I mulled the name around in my head.

"Shadow Slayer? Does that mean you can kill Shades with it?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's a modified version of Red Magic." he replied.

I nearly tripped over my legs. "WHAT?!" I screamed, earning shushing noises from the entire party, save Winona. I understood their trepidation towards loud noises, so I complied with them. But I didn't let Jaeger off the hook. "You gained access to Red Magic and modified it?" I whispered loudly.

"It was necessary." he replied. Had I not been fuming at him for using Red Magic, I might have noticed the warning tone he'd placed upon his voice.

"That's a load of Bull! Red Magic is a forbidden art, said to be more destructive than Black Magic. Starswirl himself designed it and declared it as such. To learn it is a capital offence. On top of that, you modified a forbidden art. If Celestia were to find out, you'd be public enemy number one. What possible reason could you have to do not one, but two illegal things?!" I growled at him.

"That's as privileged as information gets, Twilight! All you need to know is that I use whatever tools are at my disposal to survive." It was as he spoke that he turned to me and I could see the emotional barrier in his eyes. He was on the verge of exploding on me. I could see the anger in him just waiting to get out.

His gaze made me shrink back from him. I didn't want to shrink back, lest he think that the knowledge that he'd Red Magic available to him made him as frightening as anything else out here to me. "Besides," he continued. "I highly doubt that given the current situation, Celestia would even care if a drifter had access to Red Magic." I looked down in shame. He was right. After everything that's happened, law and order were dead beyond Canterlot Castle. Red Magic would be the least of Celestia's problems.

"I don't believe in the concept of light or dark magic anyway. There's no such thing. What colours ponies opinions of a certain type of magic is how it's used. Magic is an immoral thing. It is neither good, nor evil. It's like a sword. The sword is merely a tool. It's the pony who wields it that is the real embodiment of good or evil. I'd have thought being the Element of Magic, you'd understand that better than anypony, Twilight." his last words hurt me. I did believe that, but I never took into account the magic that had already been labelled as forbidden and evil.

"I'm sorry." I replied, taking his arm in my hand. He looked down at it and placed his own hand over mine.

"I promised to teach you how to survive out here. Red Magic isn't compulsory, but it is recommended. But the question I pose to you is this. Now that you know how I survive, do you still want to learn from me?" he asked.

It surprised me how difficult that question was. Why wouldn't I want to learn from him? He'd already pointed out my own belief about magic, eliminating the worry about using Red Magic in this world. He'd been nothing but nice to me since we'd met, so why was I hesitating? His eyes. A voice in my head told me. It was the anger in his eyes. There was something about what I'd said that angered him. Was it the fact about Red Magic, or could it possibly be...

It didn't matter. Jaeger was my only hope of surviving out here long enough to find my friends; dead or alive. I had to take it. "Stay with us." I said, placing my other hand over his own. I gave him a bright smile. I watched as the anger in his eyes faded away like smoke back into the recesses of his mind.

"Okay." he replied.

It was only another five minutes before we reached the Library. I smiled as the prospect of finding another note filled me with hope and excitement. As I hurried over to the door, Jaeger grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "What is it?" I asked, seeing the uncertain look in his eyes.

"Something's wrong." he replied. I looked at the Library again, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn't until he'd pointed it out that I nearly wet myself. "I was the last one out of the Library. And I remember that I forgot to close the front door behind me." he concluded. I looked at the door with a mixture of fear and trepidation. Somepony had gone into the Library since we'd left. Somepony... or something.

Author's Note

CLIFF-HANGER, BITCHES!!!!!

Okay, so I feel as though Twilight's clothes need to be seen. So here it is.

Shirt:

Pants:

Put together, she'd look like this:

4. Numbers

Confronted, accosted in criminal stare
Where the innocents in danger, generally meet

~ For Survival or Greed - Carolyn Devonshire~

~Jaeger~

Having warned Twilight of the danger her home now possessed, I took the lead. I turned the doorknob, keeping sure to do it slowly so as not to make any sound. The door however, creaked as I opened it. If a Shade resided within, it would no doubt have been made aware of our presence. I prepared my magic for the worst, forgetting silence. I threw the door open and searched the main room. There was nothing. Four rooms it could have hidden in came to mind; the kitchen, the basement, Twilight's bedroom and the guest bedroom.

"Lounge is clear. But be on your guard. I'll check upstairs, you get the kitchen. If you see a Shade, put up a shield and call for me. If you see a zombie, try to contain it. Better yet, kill it. Removing the head from the body will work." I said to Twilight. She nodded with uncertainty.

"Okay. But Jaeger, have Shades or Zombies been known to close doors behind them?" she asked. A good question to be sure. I'd have liked nothing more than to have been made a fool of.

"Sadly, yes. Shades quickly discovered that ponies would stay away from houses with open doors. As a result, they close the doors as a tactic. Zombies have been known to bump into doors, closing them as a result." I replied, making my way upstairs. It seemed that I'd just been adding to Twilight's stockpile of fears, only rarely feeding her slivers of hope and happiness. Fortunately, Applejack's note would turn out to be one of the latter.

As I opened the door to Twilight's room, I was immediately assaulted by a deep sky blue. A shrill voice screamed at me as it's owner threw itself on me. I fell backwards, over the railing, taking my attacker with me. We fell down and landed on the wood floor. The adrenaline caused me to ignore the majority of my pain and ready myself for another attack. The blue onslaught landed a few feet away from me and seemed to do the same.

Getting a moment to look at her, I could see she was a unicorn like myself with a light grey, almost silver mane, the kind you could only get with age, yet her features remained splendidly young (she couldn't have been much older than Twilight). Her clothes were dishevelled violet robes with stars stitched into the fabric. She reminded me of a female version of Starswirl the Bearded, if the scriptures were to be believed.

I could see in her eyes that the mare was bordering on hysterics. She'd obviously been a drifter like myself. Our sudden presence in the tree must have shot her nerves. At least she wasn't a Zombie or a Shade. "So what are you, a raider?" I asked.

"I'm a survivor. I used to know the pony who lived here." she replied.

"Twilight Sparkle?" I asked. The blue unicorn nodded. "Strange. You're not one of the friends in the picture." I said, taking the picture from Rarity's and showing it to her.

"We weren't exactly friends. She was my rival. When she defeated me last, I left on somewhat neutral terms with her."

I pocketed the picture once more and lowered my guard just as Twilight left the kitchen to investigate. I saw her eyes widen in shock at the sight.

"Trixie?!" she called, naming my attacker. Trixie dropped her fighting stance to turn to the voice.

"Twilight Sparkle!" she cried as if finding a long lost friend. Clearly she would have been relieved to find anypony who knew her. I watched as our guest ran crying with relief into Twilight's arms.

"It's okay Trixie. You're safe here." Twilight said as she consoled the hysterical unicorn. "Jaeger, this is Trixie Lulamoon. She became one of my friends shortly before the incursion." she verified.

I nodded to Trixie who took my greeting with a nod of her own. "You didn't happen to find a note addressed to Twilight from Applejack while you were up in her room by chance, did you?" I asked, skipping the pleasantries.

"I didn't. I only arrived about a minute before you both showed up. I hid in Twilight's room and stayed by the door, ready to pounce upon whoever tried to come in." she replied.

"I noticed." I commented, cracking my neck before turning around to head back upstairs.

"He's a nice guy once you get to know him. We're looking for my friends. Hopefully, the Elements of Harmony will be able to do something about this whole apocalypse." I heard Twilight say.

~Trixie~

If hearing my former enemy call me friend in this version of Tartarus wasn't enough of a godsend, then her plan regarding the Elements of Harmony tipped the balance. Before the 'incursion' as they called it occurred, I might have been envious of Twilight's quick thinking, but now, all I could think of was: 'Thank Celestia for Twilight and her quick thinking.'

"May I come with you? I know it's an extra mouth to feed, but I'll do what I can to help you and in a world like this, there's strength in numbers, right?" I asked. Even I knew that I sounded so pitiful the chances of her taking up my request would only amount to how much she pitied me.

"You needn't ask, Trixie. I was actually going to ask you to come with us. An extra set of eyes would be more than useful in these dark times. Frankly, I'm just glad to have one friend from before with me." she replied. I wondered after what I'd done to her and her friends, 'how in Equestria did I deserve her kindness?' I was a con artist, a talent-less hack, everything a pony should never be, yet I survived while many innocent lives died. This massive impact on Equestria had done much to change my views on life.

"I'd be glad to help in any way I can, Twilight... And thank you. I had no idea you thought of me as a friend, especially after what I'd done." I said, doing nothing to hide the guilt I felt over the events.

It was then that Twilight surprised me. Her next words were something I never thought I'd hear. "To be honest, Trixie; I don't think I can really call myself a friend." she said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"When the Shades reached Ponyville, I didn't bother to look for my friends, I just took Spike and hid in the basement. We've been living there until yesterday. It's how I met Jaeger. I decided to sneak a peek and found him going over my friendship journal. He's agreed to teach me what he knows about surviving in this world. He's also the one who came up with the idea of using the Elements to quell the Shades and the Zombie virus." she replied. 'Thank Celestia for Jaeger and his quick thinking.' I amended my previous thought regarding the plan. It was then that Twilight began to cry. Being new to friendship, I didn't know what to do. I just wrapped my arms around her as comfortingly as I could and let her cry. The aftermath of the Ursa Minor incident was less awkward than this. Fortunately, it didn't remain as such for long. The unicorn known as Jaeger descended the stairs holding a note.

"Looks like Applejack and Rarity took their sisters and Fluttershy to 'Sugarcube Corner' next. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that it's the building that looks like the candy house in that old pony's tale." he said, completely ignoring Twilight's cries.

"I believe so, if memory serves. It's about two blocks West of here." I said, patting Twilight's back lightly.

"The letter was addressed to Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Seems that they didn't find the others on the way here." he said after acknowledging my input.

Twilight wiped away her tears before contributing to the conversation herself. "It worries me that Rainbow Dash still wasn't found. Knowing her, she'd have searched Ponyville from above. It's almost impossible for her to not have spotted Applejack and the others from the air." she said.

"Perhaps she went to Cloudsdale. Pegasi have a natural instinct to return there whenever there's an attack. That instinct may have overcome her loyalty to you and the others." I said.

"Cloudsdale no longer exists now. Do either of you know where Rainbow Dash would have gone, assuming she survived its destruction?" Jaeger asked.

"She would have either returned here or gone to Canterlot to assist in protecting the Princesses." Twilight replied.

"The answer to which one may be revealed in Applejack's next note. Shall we away for Sugarcube Corner?" I asked. The two nodded just as Twilight's little Dragon friend, Spike exited the kitchen with a pack full of items. I assumed it was food and water, perhaps cooking utensils as well.

~Twilight~

It really was nice to see Trixie join our little band. I hated myself for wishing it was one of my other friends, but she was still a welcome addition. Jaeger had neglected to express any concerns regarding her accompanying us, so I figured he didn't care either way. We were half way to Sugarcube Corner when Jaeger stopped us and drew our attention to a pony. A dead one.

"Twilight. Kill that one over there. You need to get used to seeing them. It'll help in case we come across one of your friends in that state." Jaeger said. The thought of seeing one of my friends as a zombie made me flinch. This caused a reaction in Trixie.

"You could at least be more tactful when saying that kind of stuff, Jaeger." she scolded him.

"We can't afford such luxuries out here, Trixie. You know as well as I do that your mind and body need to be like steel if you want to survive. She will not obtain that kind of mental discipline if we tip-toe around the difficult subjects." he retorted. As they argued, the zombie overheard them. I watched as another familiar face entered my view. Lyra. That aqua body now a shade of grey combined with it. The bronze patches that symbolised dried blood around her mouth, chest and arm. She was faster than Cheerilee, but still couldn't go faster than an average walk.

It seemed that Jaeger and Trixie had failed to notice Lyra's advances. The left me to deal with her as Jaeger had instructed. Like Cheerilee, I only knew Lyra as an acquaintance. I remembered that she was actually good friends with Pinkie Pie, much like Ditzy Doo was with Rainbow Dash. I recalled the events that transpired with Cheerilee. The cold hands, those teeth around my neck. The feeling that I was going to die. That sensation of what I believed was a heart attack. I didn't want that again. I never wanted that again.

All thought left my mind as I narrowed my eyes at the body of Lyra. It was a monster, a demon which was an enemy to me and my friends, an enemy to Equestria, to the Princesses. It had to be destroyed.

I saw red as I charged my horn and screamed at the thing. I threw pure magic at the zombie, knocking it over. On it's back, I made my magic take on the form of a large hammer. And with all my stress flooding out of me, I threw the magic-hammer down onto Lyra's head. I did it again, and again, and again until there was nothing above her body but a pile of crimson mush.

I stood there, breathing heavily. The thought of feeling like I did with Cheerilee being my fuel for the onslaught on Lyra gone, my vision slowly returned to normal. I no longer heard Jaeger and Trixie arguing, and Spike and Winona were as quiet as the dead should have been.

"Well done, Twilight. Whatever you thought when you killed it, remember it the next time you see one. That thought will help you to survive another day, and another. Until you find your friends." Jaeger's voice reached me. Water filled my vision and I fell to the ground, crying. Trixie was holding me within a second. I could feel Jaeger's presence beside me and he placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently. I looked up at him and he had a knowing smile on his face. My eyes widened as another zombie had crept up from behind him. It was reaching down to him, growling ever so gently. I was about to warn him when his eyes flashed bright red and his horn glowed the same colour for just a second. It all vanished when the zombie's head exploded in a blast of scarlet. None of which got on him or us. The body fell down, never to move again.

It was like second nature to him, killing these things. Behind that facade of a kind face, there was a cold and calculating killer. I could see it in his eyes. He took pleasure in killing those monsters. The kind of pleasure those out for revenge expect when they exact it. Only this time, his desire for revenge got him exactly what he wanted. "Let's move on, shall we?" he asked, breaking my gaze as he stood up. He hoisted me to my hooves and led the way to Sugarcube Corner.

~Jaeger~

Seeing Sugarcube Corner up close made me so hungry. I felt I could eat a whole pumpkin. Though, given the average lifespan of pastries, the food that remained would likely do more harm than good to my system.

"Fuck, I hope they have Twinkies." I commented as I stepped forward. I reached for the door and tried to open it. Like at Carousel Boutique, it was barricaded from within. A good sign to be sure. There were even signs of attempted entry, but they all pointed to failure. The place seemed safe to me, safer than Rarity's place.

I forced open the door like before and checked the immediate area. "Clear." I called., stepping further inside, the others following behind. Trixie was the last to enter and upon my gesture, she closed the door behind her.

"Hello?" Twilight called out. To all of our surprises, there was a rustle from upstairs. Just the one, then everything fell silent.

"We're not alone in here." I said, making sure that everypony understood that. Twilight and Trixie both moved slowly towards the door again while I moved towards the staircase. I took the picture of the six ponies out and examined the other five faces to refresh my memory before replacing it.

Climbing the steps slowly, I made my presence known to whomever was above. "I'm coming up the stairs. I mean you no harm." I called out. The only response was the sound of scrambling, as though somepony was looking for the most advantageous corner to both hide and see me when I came into view. The shuffling also unnerved me. There was no response. That could have also indicated a Shade. "Are you a pony? I know you're alive, you're too quick to be a zombie. And you know I'm not one either, because they can't talk." I tried to console the unknown entity. There was a pained whine from the end of the upstairs hallway. I knew that kind of whine all too well. Many a pony I'd come across in the early days of the incursion made those noises when they refused to believe their eyes and ears. foals, mainly, but adults were not beyond the action.

Fortunately, that whine allowed me to zero in on the pony's location. It also eliminated the possibility of it being a Shade. Shades tended to make more... monstrous noises.

I approached the end of the hallway. The pony was hidden within the shadows, behind a makeshift cubicle made out of a wooden crate spray-painted black and a black curtain. It was difficult to see within the shadows, but I saw it. A good idea when dealing with zombies, but Shades would be able to see it as if it were all white against a blue background in the middle of the day.

I gently knelt down in front of the cubicle and quickly parted the curtains. My ears were assaulted with screams of sheer terror. Fists made contact with my face and I heard the light flapping of wings as the mare tried to fend me off.

"Girls! Get up here and help me deal with this Pegasus!" I called to Twilight and the others. Their hoofsteps could be heard coming up the stairs followed by both running across the hallway to my side. I pulled the Pegasus out of the cubicle. Once she got a glimpse of Twilight she completely ignored me and lunged at the lavender mare, crushing her in a desperate hug before breaking into hysterical waterworks.

"Twilight!" she cried, sobbing as though she'd just lost all her family. For all I knew, she had during the events of the Incursion. I took the chance to examine the Pegasus. I recognised her immediately. The cyan coat and the chromatic mane and tail.

Twilight rubbed the Pegasus' back in a gentle and soothing manner. "It's okay. I'm here. I've got you. You'll be fine from now on... Rainbow Dash."

5. Sanity

Up and down my sanity goes I wish they all knew
But nobody knows

~Sanity - Hazel Hira Ozbek~

~Jaeger~

It's an interesting thing, seeing the after effects of the initial incursion inflicted upon another. Their minds, vastly different to your own, yet at the same time, so similar. I wonder; 'How do they lose their mind when I retain my sanity?' Such a question raises others. 'Am I really still sane, or is it all a trick of the mind?'. Rainbow Dash was one such pony that made those questions come to the forefront of my mind. Having heard about her, she was once the bravest and most loyal of ponies ever heard of. She'd put most of the Royal Guard to shame she was so loyal. Now, she'd become this stranger before me. She barely resembled the mare in the picture. Where once there was a fire in her magenta eyes, now there was a hollow emptiness.

But not all was lost regarding her. She recognised Twilight, for starters. She was smart enough to hide herself. From what I could tell, she'd lost who she was, but none of her memory. She was more like me than I cared to admit, even to myself.

"Twilight!" the chromatic mare whimpered in her friend's arms, sobbing afterwards. Twilight held Rainbow Dash tightly, refusing to let her go. I could see tears forming in Twilight's eyes again. A part of me was getting tired of their constant crying while the rest of me understood why they were doing so in the first place. I caught myself before I could say anything and considered investigating such thoughts in the future.

"It's okay, Rainbow. I'm here. And I will not leave you again." Twilight declared. Rainbow just curled up closer to Twilight, pulling at her clothes like a foal did their parents when they were scared.

"When you feel she's ready, ask her about the others." I said, getting Twilight's attention. The lavender Alicorn nodded understandingly and tried to get Rainbow Dash's attention.

"Dash, look at me. I need to ask you something." she said with a gently, but serious tone. Very much Celestia's Student. I thought to myself as I turned to examine the other rooms for any enemies. "Did you see Applejack or any of the others during the attack on Ponyville?" I heard her ask from across the hallway.

"N-no. When the attack started... I flew to Cloudsdale to help defend it. I... I didn't think, Twilight... The need to defend... Cloudsdale took over my mind." she said between sobs.

I found the room that no doubt once belonged to the famous Pinkie Pie. It was strange though. I was led to believe that she was a jolly and excitable pony. The drawings on the wall suggested that might have been a cover. At the very least, it symbolised that she adapted to the mood around her. Something told me that encountering her would be... scary, to say the least.

I hoped to Celestia that the blood didn't belong to anypony alive at the time. As I left the room be, closing the door to rid myself of the eerie feeling it gave me, I heard Twilight talking to Rainbow Dash.

"Did you find a note addressed to us at all?" she asked. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"No. Although I never went into the Basement. If it's here, then it'll be there." she replied. I guess her sanity's more intact than I thought. I pondered, going down the stairs to search for the note in the basement. Using a basic illumination spell, I searched the room below. From the state of Pinkie's bedroom, I half assumed the basement would contain several mutilated corpses. But it was surprisingly clean, if not a bit dusty. It was a storage facility for baking ingredients. No fucking Twinkies! I mentally shouted to the store owner.

With a sigh, I continued my search for the note. It was laying on a bench, practically the only thing there. When I picked it up, I saw it had been tampered with. My first guess was that Pinkie Pie had found it. The word 'Pie' in her name had been crossed out; rather savagely in red ink. She'd even gone so far as to scratch a hole in the paper. But the word 'Pinkie' remained untouched. The slight hardening of certain areas on the note indicated that somepony had been crying over it. I got the feeling that Pinkie was more far gone than even I could imagine.

~Twilight~

Rainbow Dash had finally stopped crying and had settled with shaking in my arms. Trixie took the opportunity to get some supplies out of Spike's bag, namely food. She offered Rainbow and I some. I turned my share down for the time being, but Rainbow grabbed at it hungrily. She must have used up all her resources shortly before we arrived. She ate her sandwich whole, barely letting a crumb hit the floor. When she was done, she snuggled back into my embrace.

"I'm beginning to worry about Jaeger. He should be back by now." Trixie commented, breaking the silence. As if summoned, we all heard his hoofsteps ascend the stairs. His face peeking from around the corner a moment later.

"How is she?" he asked. I smiled at him. It was kind of him to ask.

"She's stopped crying, and she just had something to eat. Reminds me of the old Rainbow Dash already." I mused, earning a bemused chuckle from the stallion. "Did you find the note?" I asked.

"Yes. They didn't find Pinkie Pie. Our next destination is Rainbow's cloud-home." he said, sitting down in the hallway across from Rainbow and myself. There was maybe a foot of distance between us.

I smiled at this new information. "Then let's get Rainbow ready to go and-"

"No." he interrupted. Confusion was all I felt as I looked at him for an answer. "The sun's set. They'll be out any minute now. We're stuck here for the night. I suggest you get as much sleep as you can." he clarified, before falling to his side. He rested his head on his arm and closed his eyes.

"The Shades are coming?" Trixie asked, horror filling her voice. As if the question were a trigger, Rainbow Dash began to fidget and cry.

"N-no! The voices! The sounds! The Screams! I don't wanna hear them any more! Don't make me hear them, Twilight! Please, help me!" she cried out. I looked to Jaeger for instructions, but he just remained as he was, eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the event that was transpiring not a meter from him. "Twilight, I don't want to hear those sounds any more... please don't make me hear them?" my friend begged. The fright and sorrow in her eyes and voice broke my heart as she spoke.

"Rainbow, listen to me." I said, gently lifting her face to look at mine. She did so with little resistance. "I can't stop the noises from coming. You're going to hear them again. But you're not going to be afraid. Do you know why?" I asked. The Pegasus shook her head in wonder at my words. "Because unlike the other times, you won't be alone. You'll have me with you. And Trixie, and Spike, Winona and Jaeger." I said, brushing her mane back.

"Y-you'll stay with me?" she asked.

I cupped her face in my hands. "I told you that I would never let you go again. And I meant it. Tonight, we stay with you. Tomorrow, you come with us. Am I clear?" I asked in a slightly commanding tone. She nodded with a dazed expression on her face. "Look at Jaeger, Dash." I told her. The Pegasus did as she was told and she looked at the now open-eyed Unicorn. "He's our friend. You can trust him. He has the power to kill the monsters that make those sounds at night. He'll protect us from the monsters." I assured her.

~Jaeger~

"He'll protect us from the monsters." Twilight said. I looked at the hopeful eyes of the broken Pegasus as she looked upon me like I was a godsend. She truly was like a foal.

Yes. I will protect them. I thought to myself as I closed my eyes again. I will never again let those monsters take what's mine. I heard a slight rustling in front of me before feeling a warm body snuggle up next to me. The surprise made me tense up as my eyes snapped open. Those magenta eyes, only a moment ago a few feet way from me were now almost all I could see. Rainbow Dash's nose was almost pressed against mine. I held my breath, unsure of what she planned to do.

In a blur, her head was tucked into my collarbone, and I was constricted by a pair of arms. Surprise was not the feeling I had. Discomfort better described it, but it still wasn't the right word. Dangerous. That was it. Given her mental state, she could be dangerous. Perhaps not to Twilight, but certainly to the others and/or myself. "Will you protect us?" she asked. I hesitated to answer, looking to Twilight. She smiled at me and nodded, motioning for me to give her the answer she wanted.

"Yes. I'll protect you. All of you." I replied. Rainbow Dash sighed in content before snuggling up further to make herself comfortable. I awkwardly placed my own arms around her and tried to make myself more comfortable without discomforting her in the process. She seemed ultimately happy in the end. Great, another overreaction in the gratitude department. Twilight's kissing me was enough. Now I have a cuddle-buddy for the night. With a quick glance at Twilight, I closed my eyes again and drifted off to sleep.

~Rainbow Dash~

It was difficult to understand what they were saying. I knew that I used to be able to understand them perfectly, but something was blocking my comprehension. Was that what it was called? 'Comprehension'? But what remained of my mind did it's best to make thing's simple for me. In short, what Twilight was telling me was that 'Jaeger=SAFE!'

I looked at the complete stranger. He had a look of a pony that had been through worse than I had, but still maintained his sanity. Lucky Bastard. I thought before seeing his eyes close. Curiosity got the better of me and I crept closer to him, bringing my face up to his. My mind told me there was something awkward about the whole thing, but it didn't say what was awkward about it.

"Will you protect us?" I asked. His hesitation to answer unnerved me, but I tried my best to hide that. I didn't need to add to Twilight's worries. But he gave me the answer I was hoping for.

"Yes. I'll protect you. All of you." he said. I decided to abandon all caution with him and just went to hug him. Upon contact with his body, I felt a warmth the likes of which I imagined Celestia to radiate. Immediately, my mind associated Jaeger with the Sun. A beacon of light and goodness. If Celestia was dead, he was her reincarnation. My lifeline. My Monster!!! repellent.

Jaeger was Kindness, Jaeger was love, Jaeger was hope. And he was mine.

The night brought me the first good dream I'd had since before the Monsters!!! showed up. They were back. I could hear them. The screams, the howls, the roars, all blended into one. A waking nightmare that had made me what I was today. I hated it, but I was too frightened by them to do anything about it. Give me Discord, give me a Dragon, anything to fight against but them. I then remembered what Twilight had told me. Jaeger=SAFE! I looked up to see the grey Unicorn still sleeping soundly. Completely unaffected by the sounds. Each one made me shiver though. They were right outside the house.

"How does he sleep through that?!" I heard Trixie whisper to one of us.

"I think he got used to them. As I understand it. He only wakes up if they're inside the house. Kind of like a Proximity alarm." Twilight replied. It was sad that her response was crazy enough for me to understand fully. It was like when Pinkie Pie would actually form a coherent sentence every once in a while.

I turned in the 'Proximity Alarm's' arms and joined the conversation. "He'll still protect us, right?" I asked.

"Yep. As soon as a Shade gets close enough to him, it's dead." she replied.

Trixie brought up a good question. "How close is close enough though?" she asked. There was a moments pause between us before another loud roar pierced our ears. The girls scuttled closer, encasing me in a sort of sandwich, only Twilight and I were both patties while Jaeger and Trixie were the buns. I backed further into Jaeger and pulled Twilight closer. Trixie followed suit. I smiled as I felt Jaeger's hand rest over me. He made a content sigh before returning to his silent slumber.

"By the way, Twilight." I whispered to her, getting her attention. "Dibs on Jaeger." I said. Her eyes widened with shock.

"Dash, you can't call dibs on a stallion. Besides, I met him first." she blushed.

"Ah, relax. We'll all get a turn. We need to repopulate the species, anyway." I said.

Twilight gave me a look as if to say I was an idiot. She even said as much. "You lunatic, we're nowhere near the brink of extinction!" she replied. I ignored that lunatic part.

"Oh, well in that case; double dibs." I teased. Twilight was beginning to go red with anger. A part of me said that the old me would have enjoyed this too.

"Oh yeah, well I triple dibs him." Twilight retorted.

"Quadruple dibs." I replied.

"Quintuple dibs." she shot back.

"Six-"

"Either of you say dibs again, I'm throwing you both to the Shades and taking Jaeger for myself!" Trixie snapped from behind her.

"If you don't all shut up, you won't have to; the Shades will come to us." Jaeger said, startling us all. It was like a Mexicolt wave of flinches. Twilight pouted before apologising for us. "It's fine." he said. "Besides, it's illegal for teachers to date their students, Trixie threw me over a railing and Rainbow Dash socked me in the face. The only one who has a good chance with me is Spike and I don't even swing that way." he added. I turned to look at him with a smile on my face.

"Come on, what's a little playful punch between potential romantic partners?" I asked as coyly as possible.

"You're incredibly lonely, aren't you?" he asked. I sighed and nodded in shame. Just then, a loud thump came from the roof. Jaeger gave a quick shush, telling us to remain quiet.

A series of deep growls and various noises came from whatever was above. It didn't sound like any Shade I'd ever heard of. Then again, they'd never been so close before. I looked to Jaeger for any sign of hope. What I saw instead frightened me almost as much as the noises before tonight. His eyes were glowing bright red and he held a look of pure rage. Assuming it wasn't a shade, he knew what was up there. And whatever it was, he despised it more than anything this world had thrown at him yet. I could see in the way he stared at the roof, as though looking through it. A low hate filled growl came from his lips and that was all he did. He just remained as he was staring at it, long after I'd fallen asleep.

6. Zombie

Since the epidemic began he had felt numb.
His heart began to beat. This was not the end... it had only just begun.

~Infectious - Scarylover1998~

~Jaeger~

Morning came and my heart skipped a beat. Another night survived, this time with others. The monster that loomed overhead the previous night had left as the sun broke out. I recognised the sounds it made. That one was special to me. If anypony was to kill that one, it would be me, no questions asked.

We were all hungry, and the food Spike had packed would only go so far. "Where's Rainbow's cloud-home supposed to be?" I asked to nopony in particular. Naturally, Twilight was the one to reply.

"It's a little West between here and the Apple Orchard." she replied, her stomach growling afterwards. We had to eat something, but this bakery was dryer than the bread that used to flow through the ovens.

"We'll head to the Orchard and look for more food, then we'll double back to Rainbow's. Conserve your magic until the Zombies actually pose a threat. If we can outrun them, then we will. Spike, remain close to us and keep an eye on Rainbow Dash. We don't want her wandering off." I ordered. There were distracted confirmations from each member of the party as they gathered their things. "Rainbow, do you need to take anything with you?" I asked. The Pegasus in question stared at me for a moment before shaking her head.

"No, I'm good. Might look around at my place when we get there though." she replied, turning to stare at a wall.

I followed her gaze to see if there was anything interesting about the wall, but aside from the paint scraping away. It was rather dull. "Okay then. I'll be waiting by the door when you're all ready." I said, turning to descend the stairs. As I waited, I decided to listen in on their conversation, which had just begun.

~Twilight~

I felt safe with Jaeger around. Including Trixie he had the most experience out of all of us. His Shadow Slayer magic was what made me feel safest. He wouldn't have called it that if he hadn't tested it first. It could only mean that it worked.

As far as my teachings went, he wasn't really teaching me in the traditional sense. I found myself learning through observation and my own personal experiences. Cheerilee and Lyra were an example. It seemed as though Jaeger was trying to teach me to ignore the faces of my friends and focus on the intentions of those around me. Those with clear eyes were less likely to hurt me than those with cloudy eyes. Though he'd mentioned a few terms like 'bandits' and 'raiders', even 'marauders'. Evidently, Equestria did not unite under the Princesses' banner, but chose to go their own separate ways. It saddened me to think that there were fewer ponies protecting the Princesses. I'd have to ask Jaeger exactly how much he knew regarding them. Even if it wasn't much, it would still be something.

My train of thought was broken by Rainbow Dash who had been staring at a wall for the past three minutes. She had a look of absolute melancholy on her features. "I wonder if Scootaloo's alright?" she said. The query made us all stop what we were doing to look at her with sympathy.

Scootaloo; the flight-challenged Pegasus pony who looked up to Rainbow Dash the way I looked up to Princess Celestia, perhaps even more-so. I always loved how Rainbow Dash would play the big sister for her. In a way, it mightn't have been playing. A relationship like their s urged one to ask what the limits of family really were. Was it blood? Was it legal documentation, or was it the heart? The feeling of love you had for another that rivalled the love you had for your own family. Did that kind of love for somepony make them family to you?

"She must've been so scared!" I saw Rainbow begin to break down and I dropped my things to comfort her. She sobbed into my collarbone as we descended into a crouch. "I should have been there for her! I went to find you guys. I should have looked for her too! Why didn't I think to look for her too?" she sobbed. I held her tighter and tried to calm her down.

"It's okay, Rainbow. The situation messed with all our minds. I... I didn't even bother to look for you guys, I just ran to the Library Basement." I confessed to her. She gripped me tighter.

"S-so... I'm not a bad friend? I...I'm not the only one who couldn't handle the...the..."

"Situation? Yeah, you're not the only one. You're not a bad friend, Rainbow." I replied, slightly gladdened that she didn't resent me for my own lack of loyalty.

It was a full minute before Rainbow looked up at me with serious and desperate eyes. "Twilight... what are the chances of her surviving out there? Answer honestly." she pleaded. I was hesitant to give her an answer at all. How do you tell somepony that the chances of a grounded Pegasus surviving in the equivalent of Tartarus are slim to none?

"If she's with others, then her chances are good...ish. But alone...I honestly don't see a chance. Unless she somehow made it to your Cloud-home and has been living off of whatever food and water you have there." It was an unlikely scenario, but I figured she could do with something.

"It is possible. I read once that grounded Pegasi, are able to fly for a short time while running on adrenaline. Natural instincts take over and even if you didn't know how to fly before, the instincts do it for you." Trixie added. Rainbow looked to Trixie with a hopeful smile on her face. Thinking back, I'd read that book too. How stupid of me to forget it. "Only, if she managed to get onto a cloud, she'd be stuck there. Once the adrenaline leaves your body, you go back to being grounded." she added. Despite that last bit of unneeded information, it did nothing to deter Rainbow's Spirits.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rainbow said, a sudden spring in her step. She reminded me of the old Rainbow Dash.

~Jaeger~

I stepped out of the way just in time to avoid getting knocked over by an overexcited Rainbow Dash. Having heard the conversation, I understood why she was so giddy. While I didn't know Scootaloo, Rainbow did. And if she was certain that she'd find Scootaloo, then the grounded Pegasus must have been alive. I hadn't known these ponies long enough to feel so confident in their 'feelings', but something about them all just made me trust their instincts, such as they were.

It was a good hour before we made it to the Orchard. For such a small town, it sure took a while to get around. Though Rainbow seemed excited to be flying again. The town was virtually empty, devoid of any life, and death. The Shade from last night must have recalled everything, even the zombies. Twilight's theory was correct, then. The Shades, or at least that one could control the virus. I decided to refrain from telling the others about this discovery. They had enough on their plates. I was too nice for my own good.

Upon reaching the Apple's household, we repeated the entry procedure, sans barricade. Winona and I searched upstairs while the others raided the kitchen. I was looking for something in particular. I managed to find Applebloom's room. Going in, I saw the place completely trashed. Whoever, or whatever did this didn't matter.

I went to the bed and searched around on the floor before finding what I wanted on the bedside table. Face down was a picture. Three little fillies, one with a bow on her head. Each wore little red capes round their necks.

I never thought I'd live to see anything cute in this world. Yet I was proven wrong. Then again, there was Twilight so I was proven wrong alrea-

"Find anything, Jaeger?" Twilight's voice said from behind me. I jumped in the air, and I think I screamed. Turns out I did scream. Twilight's attempt to hide a snigger attested to that. With a deep sigh, knowing I wouldn't live this down, I handed Twilight the picture in my hand. She took it with a smile on her face and examined it.

"Just like before. Scootaloo's the Pegasus, obviously. She kind of looks like Rainbow Dash, the way she styles her mane, and that fearless confidence in her eyes... I miss them all so much." she began.

I placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder and gently squeezed it. "We'll find them. All of them." I said, walking past her.

"You're a good guy, Jaeger. I just want you to know that." she said.

"Thanks, you too." I replied, leaving her in Applebloom's room. I noticed Winona seemed especially sad to be back here. She just sat in the doorway to Applejack's room, her ears folded back. I'd never seen a dog so sad. I approached her and knelt down beside her, patting her head in sympathy. "It's alright, Winny. You'll see them again. I promise you that." I said. Winny rested her head against my leg for a moment before returning downstairs. I decided to follow, catching Twilight along the way.

Trixie, Spike and Rainbow decided to stop and have breakfast before heading off to Rainbow's home. I saw no problem with that.

It was strange; seeing everypony sitting down to a meal and chatting as if there weren't a care in the world. It was like they'd taken the opportunity to forget about their worries and recapture the glory days. They chatted about nothing in particular. The weather, the possibility of establishing a home front somewhere. Not a bad idea. I suggested a mountain. The scene would allow sounds to travel, and while it would make it easier for the Shades and zombies to find us, it would also make it easier for us to tell when they were coming. They agreed that it was a good idea, but the debate over whether an open area or a closed in area would be better.

In one hand, closed in area meant greater defences, but also limited our escape routes, whereas open areas would leave us defenceless, but provide us with a better chance of escape. I suggested somewhere near a waterfall. Shades tended to avoid running water, and a waterfall would provide the perfect escape. Twilight then added to my idea by suggesting we established the fort behind the waterfall. It would do to disguise our sounds as well as make us hard to detect. Trixie then suggested an alarm system of sorts to place around the entrance to the waterfall, should the water itself fail to protect us. Trixie was good at illusions, so should the alarm go off, she could disguise the fort in a sort of fake wall.

All were excellent ideas. Twilight even wrote them down. But as Breakfast was finished, and the day was moving on without us, We decided to take whatever was left over and continue to Rainbow's cloud-home.

Once again, the journey went by unimpeded. A bad sign in my experience. Despite her keen eye, Twilight seemed not to notice, or at the very least didn't seem to want to voice her opinion on the matter.

The cloud house rested around one-hundred-and-forty above us, still in good condition. Given that Cloudsdale was gone and ponies were fighting for their lives, there were no Pegasi to regulate the wind. Everything was stagnant.

"How long does that cloud-walking spell last for again, Twilight?" I asked.

"Three days. Don't worry, you're not gonna fall through the clouds." she said, reassuring me. I groaned inwardly as I stared at the cloud.

"Alright, fine. Let's get this over with." I said. Twilight nodded and activated her magic. All but her and Rainbow Dash were encased in her aura for a few moments before being released. She gave me the thumbs-up, indicating that it had worked. Rainbow took to the air and headed straight for her home, followed by Twilight. I activated my own magic and teleported everypony else, including Spike and Winona to the cloud-home. Rainbow was waiting there for us. As she opened the door, she zoomed inside and began searching the place. Each of us casually walked in and began looking for either Scootaloo or Applejack's note. I found the note almost immediately, on the kitchen table left of the front door.

Dear Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie,

Fluttershy will have placed this letter here for us. We've yet to find anypony else. Fortunately, none of us have been bitten. We tried searching for Scootaloo, but she was nowhere to be seen. We can only assume the worst. Seems that's all we can think about now. All the hapiness, the magic in the world... It's all gone. I wish Twilight were here. I wish everypony were here.

We're headed for Apple Loosa. Rarity agrees that we should try to rescue as many of our families as we can. Apple Loosa was closer to Ponyville, so we're looking for Cousin Braeburn. Once we're done there, we'll go to Manehattan to find Rarity and Sweetie's parents. I hope for all our sakes that they're still alive.

Hope you find this letter, and eventually us;

Applejack, Rarity, Sweetie Belle,Applebloom and Fluttershy.

"I can't find her." Rainbow said, looking worried.

"Neither could the others. Applejack and Rarity have assumed the worst for her." I replied. Rainbow slumped down on the cloud and sighed.

"I should have known it was too good to be true." she said. I didn't know what to do. My eyes darted in every direction aside from hers.

It was then that I spotted another note, under the one Fluttershy left us. "Looks like somepony else left a message." I said, getting Rainbow's attention. The ink was still wet, meaning it was written recently. I read this one out for her to hear.

"Dear Rainbow Dash,

I don't know if you'll ever get this. I looked for you around Ponyville, but I couldn't find you. I knew if you came looking for me, you'd at least try here. It wasn't easy getting up here, especially with a broken wing, but I did it. Got Pinkie Pie's Party Cannon to thank for that. Found it just left there in the middle of the street.

I survived for as long as I could on the food that was here. I was surprised to find out that you were well stocked up. I always thought you were the kind to eat take out every night, or just buy enough to get you through the day or something. Makes me wonder what the pay for Weather Patrol leader was like after all.

Still, I've run out of food and I can't get down from here. I'd hoped that the wind would blow some clouds my way to use for stepping stones, but there hasn't been a breeze since just after this all started. I realized quickly that I was going to starve to death up here. I didn't want that. I don't know when you'll get this or even if you'll get it. All I know is that I held out as long as I could.

I've decided not to wait for hunger to take my life. I'd rather take it myself. I waited as long as I could for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at you for not finding me in time. I understand that a lot of things could have prevented you from getting to me. I know you're the best, Rainbow Dash. I always have. But these things are unlike anything you've told me about before. I saw what they did to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I'd be laughing now if it weren't so sickening. I never liked them. But it made me think.

I could take the plunge and fall off the edge. Maybe I'd get lucky and survive. Ponies tend to survive falling into trees and stuff, right? But then I thought, if I did survive, I could wind up dying the same way Diamond and Silver did. I'd rather not suffer like that.

You'll find me in the attic.

Goodbye, Rainbow Dash.

I love you;

Scootaloo."

It took a second for the letter to hit us. I had no idea what Rainbow Dash was thinking, but I just concentrated on the ink. It was still wet, which meant that it was written very shortly before we arrived. It would take a while for her to set up-.

We heard something above us. Rainbow and I looked at each other for a second before running as quickly as we could to the attic. The speed at which Rainbow moved surprised me. She was faster than the Shades. She took flight up the stairs, distorting them which made it difficult for me to get a good hoofhold. Nevertheless, I kept up with her, adrenaline forcing me past my physical limits.

I followed Rainbow to the Attic entrance. It was locked. I pulled her out of the way and charged my magic. A wide beam shot through the doorway, blasting the cloud away. I even made a little sun roof. Rainbow wasted no time afterwards. She dove up through the hole and began screaming frantically. I jumped through and followed the source of the scream. Rainbow was on the ground, crouched in front of a still swinging Scootaloo.

Author's Note

Hey guys, what's the worst question ever after reading a chapter like this? THIS IS!

7. Chances

Can we
both have
another chance?

~Chances - Vivienne Luong~

~Twilight~

It broke my heart to see what I saw. The look of utter defeat on Rainbow's face as she held the lifeless body of her most treasured friend. We were all special to Rainbow in some way, But Scootaloo was extra special. I still can't decide whether it was Really Rainbow whom had adopted Scootaloo as a sister figure, or the other way around. When you think about it, it was always Scootaloo who wanted Rainbow Dash to be her sister. It wasn't until quite recently that Rainbow accepted the way she felt. Now there was nothing. The goodbyes had been said in the letter that had floated to me in the wake of their running to the attic. Though Rainbow never got the chance to say her goodbyes. Nor would she have needed to had we not decided to fill our bellies first. That thought alone made me feel sick.

I felt like a monster. We all knew that she could have been up here, however unlikely. But instead of checking to be certain, we stuffed our faces. Now the price for our gluttony had been paid in the form of a life, just having slipped from our fingers. Rainbow's screams hurt our ears, but I don't believe we minded, given what she was screaming over. Personally, I wouldn't have even minded if a Shade had heard us. Trixie shared in our pain. Though she'd never really developed any sort of bond with Scootaloo, good or bad, the sight alone was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She couldn't stand the sight and turned away. I wanted to do the same, but my eyes were glued to the expressionless face that was Jaeger's. I wondered what he was thinking; was he even thinking at all? Had something about this scene taken him back to a time in his own life? If so, what must his life have been like?

"Twilight!" Rainbow's voice snapped me out of my reverie. "Is there anything we can do? Can we still save her?!" the desperation in her voice forced my mind into overdrive. I tried my best to recall every medical book I'd read to the syllable. There was a solution. Given how she'd hung herself moments after we'd entered the house, there was still time.

Before I could respond, Jaeger cut in. "I can save her." he replied, his expression turning grim. All faces looked to him. Trixie's with a new-found admiration, Rainbow's with a shimmer of hope, Spike's with wonder, and mine with reservation. I could tell by the look on his face that this would come at a cost.

"Yet you don't look too pleased with the method you're contemplating." I addressed to him. He turned to look at me and nodded.

"It's because I'm not. There's a limit to how much Red Magic I can use at a time. It works like a rechargeable battery." he explained. I nodded, understanding where he was going with this.

"Saving Scootaloo will put you out of business, potentially endangering all of us until you're recharged." I said. He nodded to me again.

"We'll be defenceless against Shades for a week. I'll be essentially useless to you until then. That said, do we still want me to save Scootaloo?" he asked.

Rainbow looked as if she wanted to protest against even contemplating not saving her, but something in her brain must have told her that what Jaeger said was worth thinking about. And it was right. With Shades being the most dangerous thing in Equestria, possibly the world, abandoning our one defence against them to save one filly, even if that filly was Scootaloo, it seemed almost reckless.

"I say yes." Trixie replied, surprising me. It never occurred to me that Trixie of all ponies would abandon self preservation for the sake of a filly she barely knew. Perhaps there was more to her than we first thought.

"Scootaloo's one of us. If one of us dies, then we should all die. Did that sound right?" Spike asked, looking uncertainly at me.

"To paraphrase Spike; she is one of us. All for one and one for all. Save her, Jaeger. Please." I said. Rainbow looked to Jaeger with a thankful smile on her face. She was going to get her little sister-figure back.

~Jaeger~

With the decision made about what to do, there was nothing left but to psych myself up and just do it. So, taking a deep breath, I let it all out. "Man, this is gonna suck!" I groaned, kneeling down before the dying filly. I knocked Rainbow Dash away from her so only I was making physical contact with Scootaloo. I cracked my neck both ways before taking in another breath and letting it out in a slower fashion. I placed one hand over her forehead and the other over her chest.

There was a special trigger required to activate the spell, and I had it. I reached down into the deepest recesses of my mind and pulled out the most painful memory I had.

((Memory))

"JAEGER!"

I felt the energy surge through my very being as that sliver of memory burst forth to the forefront of my mind. Followed by the thought that invaded my every waking moment. 'I won't let anypony I care about die like that again!'

~Twilight~

His power was almost frightening. The preparations he'd performed, taking deep breaths before activating the spell suggested it would hurt. It looked like it did. Jaeger's eyes glowed crimson for an instant before his entire body was engulfed in red crackling magic. It was like scarlet lightning surging through his body. It wasn't until it went into Scootaloo that I noticed something truly amazing.

Jaeger had converted his magic into a defibrilator. Scootaloo's body had begun to quiver as though hit with some thousand volts. At the same time, over the electrical sound, I could hear her bones popping, as though relieving themselves of all stress. Her muscles rippled as they shifted slightly, coming to relax as they were before.

All the while, the lightning seemed to do different things, all therapeutic as it left Jaeger's body and entered Scootaloo. It was like a magical regeneration spell. And the way it moved astounded me. The lightning was all connected, and as it entered Scootaloo's body, I saw parts of Jaeger's body no longer had the lightning arcing around him any more. First, the lightning freed his hooves, then his legs, then all of his lower body, followed by his torso, head and finally his arms.

As the last of the magic left his hands, Jaeger fell to the ground in a heap beside Scootaloo, completely unconscious. Both looked so relaxed and peaceful. There was a pregnant pause in the air as neither Jaeger nor Scootaloo moved. We began to wonder if something had gone wrong. What was the success rate of the spell Jaeger had used? There was still time to use CPR.

I decided to go for it. CPR was Scootaloo's best bet now. But just as I began to move, Scootaloo sucked in air through a loud and deep gasp. We all jumped in surprise at her sudden rise. The filly sat up and looked at her hands. She then felt around her neck for the rope, first looking up, then around. It was then that she laid eyes upon Rainbow Dash.

The sight before me brought tears of joy to my eyes. No words were exchanged between Scootaloo or Rainbow. They just stared at each other for a good long moment before scurrying to close the distance between them in a great big hug. Tears and light sobs were all that escaped them as they clung to each other for dear life. It was after that moment that Spike and Winona decided to turn it into a group hug, one which was welcomed by both parties.

My mind wandered over to Jaeger, as did my body. I looked at the Stallion before me and knelt down to lift him up. He was heavy. I settled for resting his head on my thigh.

"Thank you Jaeger. You're a wonderful pony. I'm so glad to have met you." I whispered to him. All eyes turned to us. There was no uncertainty in Scootaloo's eyes. She approached Jaeger as if she knew what he had done for her. She then bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Jaeger. You've given me a second chance with Rainbow Dash. I owe you everything." she said. I smiled at the filly's words and looked down to the Unicorn for whom my fondness continued to grow. 'I wonder what you'd say to that?' I thought as I watched him sleep.

~Jaeger~

I awoke to pain. My head felt like it had been through a vice, my back felt like it had fallen just short of a workplace-related injury. My eyes burned like there was smoke in them and my throat was sore. I wanted to sleep more, but the pain in my head and back prevented that from happening. I couldn't help but groan.

My outburst of pain was met by a familiar violet mare who smiled at me in a gentle manner. Something I'd long forgotten. It was nice to see after all this time. "I'd make a Sleeping Beauty reference, but there's nothing beautiful about the way you sleep." she teased. I gave her a light chuckle for her efforts at humour. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Like a piano fell on me." I replied.

"Been there." she said, making me pause and think about what she meant by that.

I laid back to relax my body, only to find a pillow under my head. I took a moment to look around. I was in a bed. Rainbow Dash's bed no doubt. "What about the others?" I asked.

Twilight smiled sweetly at me. "They're all fine. That spell you used on Scootaloo worked. She's as fit as a fiddle. I think she wants to thank you in person when you're well enough to see her. Rainbow Dash hasn't let her out of her sights though. That may get old fast. Spike's cooking up what he took with him from Applejack's, and Trixie's trying her best to form a more solid friendship with everypony. She wasn't exactly the most popular pony before the Incursion, so she's trying to make a fresh start."

"And what about you?" I asked.

"Me?"

I placed a hand over hers. "You're still new to all of this. How are you coping?" I asked. I saw a flash of realisation hit her, but I couldn't tell what it was. She tried to cover it up.

"Well, I'm coping. It isn't always easy. I've had to kill ponies I knew from this town... well, their bodies anyway. I've found one of my five friends, who's lost a bit of her sanity, but seems to have retained most of it. To top it all off, a filly I've grown fond of over the years tried to hang herself and succeeded for the most part. I spend every waking moment wondering whether or not my other friends are still alive, and if they're alright. Not to mention my family. Then there's the Princesses. It's all so much that my mind can't take it and I find myself becoming a mixture of confused and pissed off! I then ask myself; are they alive, are they dead, are they healthy, are they hurt, are they fighting for their lives, are they safe somewhere, are they-."

I grabbed Twilight by the arm and shook her slightly. She stopped her rant with a crazy look in her eyes. "Twilight. Take a deep breath." I instructed. She did as I said and sucked in air. "Pretend that all your worries are in that breath and just let it out." I concluded. She complied and let the air in her lungs out. She smiled at me again.

"And then there's you." she began again, this time with a gentler tone to her voice. "The mysterious stallion who held all the answers, helped me find that one friend and searched throughout Ponyville with me. You appeared in my Library like a hero out of a story. I'd write you off as a figment of my imagination if the others didn't see you too. You're like the Unicorn of my dreams. Smart, sensitive, strong willed and kind. On the surface you display a hardness that can only be cracked by those you trust. And once you decide to help somepony, you'll put everything you have into it, literally. You're my dream stallion." she said.

I could see the tiredness in her eyes. The past few days had been stressful on all of us. "You're too kind, Twilight. But I'm far from perfect." I said. Twilight said nothing. She just stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed. She then sat down and angled herself to lay down beside me.

"You're still a good guy." she said, snuggling into me. I turned around and placed one arm under her and the other over her. I pulled her closer to me, receiving no protest from the mare. She angled herself so that her horn wasn't sticking into me at all. It was only a matter of seconds before she was asleep.

'Is this what friends do when the world isn't safe enough to sleep alone in?' I thought to myself as I snuggled with the mare. 'She really is beautiful. The incursion really did nothing to affect that.'

8. Venture

I think I'll journey out some day to wondrous lands afar, Or even chart a journey to a distant blazing star. But rest assured that when my journey begs to take its cue, Always know that when I go, this journey takes you too.

~Journey to Be - Mark R Slaughter~

~Scootaloo~

After scaring everypony, we stayed at Rainbow Dash's home for a further three days. The food they'd brought up with them was enough to keep us fed for that long. The main reason we stayed was because it was the safest place to wait until Jaeger got his magic back. I didn't know what was so special about the magic he used, but I did know that I owed my life to it and him. I wasn't in any hurry to leave, though the memory of this place and what I'd attempted to do was weighing on my heart. The walls reminded me of the fact that I'd chosen the easy way out and left Rainbow Dash alone in this scary world. She was awesome, but not enough for this. Leaving her in this world without me felt like a sin, and it hurt.

But distractions, I learned came in many shapes and sizes. My new hero, whenever I would look at him, brought about some sort of emotion I'd only ever felt when around Rainbow Dash. I asked Twilight bout it and she called it 'infatuation'. From what I could understand of her explanation, I was infatuated with Jaeger because of some sort of heroine complex. He was for all intents and purposes, a knight in shining armour through my eyes. It made sense to me that because he saved me, I'd be grateful, but this was something more. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt as though I wanted him to be around me. Like I needed him to be there with me.

Trixie told me it was a little crush, but I knew it wasn't. I wasn't in love with him, but I did love him. It was the same feeling I got around Rainbow Dash. To my surprise, Spike had the answer. He'd felt it around Twilight many times. It was the desire to be a part of their family. Of course Spike would understand. He was like a little brother to Twilight, but ultimately wasn't. Like him, I wanted Rainbow Dash to be my big sister, but it was only in spirit. Now I wanted Jaeger as my Big Brother. I couldn't help but wonder to myself: 'Could things get any more complicated?'

~Rainbow Dash~

So the squirt wanted Jaeger to be her big bro. I could understand that. I told Winona I wanted him to be my 'Daddy', if she knew what I meant... Why I thought she would actually talk back, I don't know, but at least she could keep a secret. That stallion was a miracle worker. Like a Male Twilight, only cooler. What I wouldn't give to have him spank me repeatedly, asking me over and over again: 'Who's your Daddy?!' And I wouldn't answer, just to be naughty and get more spankings-.

"Ready to go, Rainbow Dash?" a voice brought me out of my fantasy. Twilight had peeked her head into the bedroom doorway where I'd been resting for the past few hours in preparation for the long trip ahead of us.

'I was, then you killed the mood for me!!!' I thought to myself. "Sure thing, Twi!" I said, hopping up off of the bed. As I followed her into the main room, I spotted Scootaloo sitting next to Spike, both of whom were keeping very close to Jaeger. Even though it would be another four days before he got his magic back, he radiated an aura of safety that just couldn't be suppressed after his death-defying feat earlier that week. If anypony could protect Scootaloo, it'd be him.

~Trixie~

It all seemed like a dream when I found Twilight at the Library. Since then, the greatest things had happened, veiled in some of the worst things. My past sins towards this town were forgiven and forgotten. I'd helped in my own small way to find Rainbow Dash, and again with Scootaloo. I discovered, along with Twilight and Rainbow Dash that there was at least more than one type of Shade.

I had friends now, and was a part of the team. Spike had woken me up much the same way he would Twilight. Were I not his friend, I doubt he would have bothered. But he did, all the same. Not only that, but both Twilight and Rainbow Dash greeted me warmly. It was as though I'd awoken from a three month long nightmare, and into a paradise the likes of which overshadowed my life before. I belonged, I was loved and I loved back.

Of course the veil returned as I realised that despite my new life with others, we were under a constant threat of danger. Shades and Zombies were simply the immediate threat. The secondary threats were hunger and thirst. With Equestria in a panic, the production of foods would have been put to a halt. The Apple Orchard in Ponyville was such an example. The trees were wilted and the apples rotten with time. With production halted, food would become scarcer and scarcer as time went on, and no doubt we were not the only survivors.

Jaeger had mentioned that Canterlot and the Crystal Empire were still going strong in a constant power struggle against the Shades. Some local factories may still be running, but distribution would have been limited to mere food scraps in order to feed everypony.

Then there was the issue regarding water. With the Pegasi out of commission, the lakes would no doubt dry up within the year. Ocean water would not quench our thirst, but make us even thirstier. Time was not on our side. My new life with my new friends would be very short-lived.

~Twilight~

I knew there were concerns to be addressed. Trixie had made our food and water situation aware to us the previous night. I hadn't even thought about that. Every apocalyptic book I'd read suggested that food would be hard to find, but not depleted entirely over the course of time. We could of course resort to eating the grass on the ground, however, the possibility of infection would be raised substantially.

My concerns did not lie in that subject however. Having labelled Jaeger as the Pony with all the answers, I felt I may have placed too much pressure on him. Given how thin he was when I first met him, it must have been difficult enough for him to fend for himself. Though there were more of us around to help him out, that also meant we needed to gather six times as much as he used to if we were all to make it.

'If we were all to make it'. Make it where? Jaeger himself claimed to be a wanderer, meaning he had no specific destination. I couldn't help but wonder if there was a place we could go that was truly safe. Were the Gryphons suffering the same fate as us? What about the Dragons, or our Saddle Arabian brothers and sisters. Was anyone still safe? Was there anywhere the Shades wouldn't go?

I didn't have the stomach to ask Jaeger these questions, for I feared what the answer might be. After all, what sense would there be in a seemingly unbiased predatory race only targeting a single race? Short of mind control, it made no sense that the Shades wouldn't be viral world-wide. Besides, the zombies showed no signs of being directed, by the Shades or any other external influence. It was all just so wrong. The entire world was wrong.

~Jaeger~

They all seemed so frail. Aside from the viral outbreak of bed-head, they seemed normal, as though they'd grown up with it their whole lives, or rather as though it hadn't really happened. The last three months were torture for me. I'd lost so much to the Shades, and these ponies were taking every day as it came. I envied them their charisma. I'd been broken by the events, but I managed to put myself back together, but there were gaps; gaps I found were being filled by the love surrounding these girls and Spike. Even Winny was becoming a stabilising element for me.

I never would have thought that they could be of so much help to me in the long run. It was only days ago when I first met them, but something about them all just resonated the old life. The life before everything died and burned. I loved the feeling I got from being around them all. And if their remaining friends could bring this kind of feeling to me, then I would scour the seven seas to find them. Twilight and her friends were my chance at redemption.

"Applejack's letter mentioned that they were going to Apple Loosa next to see if they could save any more of the Apple Family. After that's Manehattan, where Rarity's family is." Twilight stated as everypony sat down for the morning report.

"Applejack said that some of her relatives live in Manehattan. Apparently she got her Cutie Mark while she stayed with them. I remember that story because all of them seemed to revolve around Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom." Scootaloo chimed in.

"Ah yes, I remember it well." Dash added, looking back on fond memories. Depending on how she was feeling, she might have been reliving the memory in her head at that moment.

I sighed and went over my mental map of Equestria. "That's two days away without access to a train. With my magic out of action for twice as long, we'll be in that much danger. Not only are Shades and Zombies between here and there, but the Everfree Forest is as well, and that place was dangerous before the Incursion." I said, addressing another issue.

"Be that as it may, we've got little choice. Ponyville has been picked clean of food and water. One way or another, we have to leave. We might as well leave in the direction our friends went." Twilight retorted.

"If we're going through the Everfree Forest, we can get food at Zecora's hut. Nopony besides us went there before, and the wildlife doesn't go near the hut. If anywhere's safe for us to wait for Jaeger's magic to return, it'd be there." Scootaloo offered.

Twilight seemed to pause for consideration. "Nice work, Squirt! Way to use the noggin." praised Dash. Scootaloo let a blush form on her cheeks.

"Is Zecora somepony I should know about?" I asked.

"She's a Zebra Shaman who lives in the middle of the Everfree. She's as kind as Fluttershy, and as talented in potions as Twilight is in magic. She even speaks in rhymes which is pretty cool, though hard to do. I tried it once, hoping to get a Cutie Mark in that area, but it was just too stressful." said Scootaloo.

With this new information, I considered the overall threat to our lives. If this Zecora was able to fend off even the Shades, then her home would surely be the safest place to be until I got my magic back. "What do you think, Twilight?" I asked. Judging by the look on her face, I could tell she wasn't expecting to make the final decision for me. Nevertheless, she rose to the challenge.

"Zecora is a good friend of ours. She's helped us on a number of occasions. If anywhere in the Everfree is safe, it's at her hut." she replied. With my decision to trust her judgement, I steeled myself to venture essentially unarmed into the Tartarus Equestria had become.

"Lead the way, Twilight." I said.

It was a short trip from Rainbow's home to the borders of the Everfree Forest. Just another one of the benefits of a small town like Ponyville. Even though it was early morning, no light made it past the first few meters within the treeline. I instructed Twilight and Trixie to ignite their horns to light the way. An obvious idea to be sure, but better to address any ideas rather than expect others to come up with the same conclusion. I felt Scootaloo hugging me tightly as she stared into the forest. She too could feel the increase in the air the forest gave off. It was as though the forest itself was warning us not to venture in. But we had no choice. The trail to Twilight's friends lay beyond there, and the only chance of survival we had was through the forest, even if a slim chance it was.

"The forest seems more menacing than before, like its infected with the same virus that reanimates the dead." Twilight commented. Winona whimpered in agreement, her tail hanging between her hind legs.

"Like it has a cold or something?" asked Scootaloo.

"Simply put." Twilight confirmed.

"No." I retorted, looking at the trees more closely. "It's more like it's realized something has happened and it's on the defensive. It's warning us not to come in. Threatening us. It's quarantined itself and we're walking into a hazardous zone. It doesn't want any more intruders." I explained, reaching forward to touch one of the trees. As if in response, the wind sounded from within, sounding like a low and menacing growl.

"We can't go back. Our friends might still be in Apple Loosa. I won't cut corners with this." Twilight declared. I looked around to the others and their expressions were each ones of determination. Twilight's dedication to her friends gave them all the will to move forward, to follow her. Twilight was a Natural leader, yet for some reason, she was following my guidance as if I were some sort of messiah in this never-ending desert of pain and suffering.

I found myself not wanting to disappoint. I hadn't done so yet. I'd just brought a foal back from the clutches of death, potentially endangering us all in the process, yet they felt safe around me. If only I could feel safe around them. If only my friends were here with me. If only.

9. Hunter

I hunted, hunted and hunted,
I hunted for it in the forests.
I hunted, hunted and hunted,
I hunted for it in the rivers.

~The Hunted - Nitheesh Annadanam~

~Jaeger~

We could feel it, all of us; that aura from the forest screaming at us to get out. We were not wanted here. Despite the will of our surroundings, we ventured on. It was eerily quiet within the Everfree, as though all the life it once held was gone. Playing dead were the creatures within. A natural defence mechanism for any living being when a superior predator comes along. But not us. We were determined to push through the forest to Zecora's hut.

"Ugh! Darn it, the Everfree's changed itself around, nothing looks familiar. It could be leading us back out for all we know." Twilight growled in frustration, bringing our little caravan to a halt.

"So, are we lost then?" Trixie asked, looking around for any timberwolves that may take advantage of the sudden disorienting state we'd found ourselves in.

Pretty soon, everypony was becoming stressed and confused in equal parts. amidst the confusion, I closed my eyes and calmed my mind as best I could.

"We've been in here for three hours! We should have made it to Zecora's by now!" Rainbow Dash argued.

"Haven't you been listening? The Everfree's changed! The roads, the paths, the placement of the trees, they're all different! We're lost in a place that may as well be new to us." Trixie retorted.

"Are we gonna be okay?" Scootaloo asked nopony in particular.

"We'll all be fine." I said in a calm manner. All heads turned to me as I sat in place with my eyes closed. I took a deep breath and let it out to calm my nerves. Listening for any sound, I placed my ear to the ground. At first there was nothing, just the calmness of the earth beneath. I could feel the nervous shifting of my friends as they watched me. Ultimately, the Everfree was no different to the rest of the forests, at least on principle. The trees could be manipulated, but not the ground.

I listened further, trying to expand my range as best I could. I'd done this a number of times, and I knew what to listen for. And I discovered a noise I dreaded hearing. A dragging sound, faint but unmistakable, the sloshing of liquid within the body. It was in the Everfree Forest. And it wasn't far away.

My eyes snapped open and I rose to my full height. I looked at the group with a mixture of worry and anger. "We have to move, right now!" I ordered, heading away from the source of the noise. The others followed closely.

"What did you hear?!" Twilight called next to me.

"Was it Timberwolves? Shades?" Trixie asked.

"Neither. We're being hunted by something much worse than Shades." I replied, ducking under a stray tree branch. I looked behind to see that everypony was still close by. Spike was on Twilight's back, Scootaloo on Rainbow's.

"What could possibly be worse than a Shade?!" Dash demanded, taking flight to hover over us. I said nothing as I pushed my body to run faster. The others managed to keep up, especially Winny. However, they were growing tired very fast.

"Twilight, can't you teleport us to Zecora's hut? All you'd need to do is picture the interior, right?" I called over to her.

Twilight panted through her response. "But... I've never... teleported... this many... ponies before! I don't know if... I can!" she replied.

"Our survival depends on you doing it right now!" I yelled at her. I could tell by the look on her face that she was beginning to panic. "I know you can do it, Twilight! Trust in yourself!" I assured her. Looking ahead, I could see a dead end coming up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the familiar violet glow of Twilight's magic as she began to charge her teleportation spell.

From behind, a sickening roar sounded just as Twilight fired her spell, and for an instant, everything went black.

~Trixie~

We all heard that roar. I'd go so far as to say Canterlot heard that roar. Having Jaeger tell us of something worse than a shade was easily the most frightening thing I'd ever heard. Had I been in charge of teleporting everypony, assuming I had the ability to do so, that roar would have caused me to screw it up.

Twilight Sparkle never ceased to amaze me. As the darkness faded away to reveal a small hut that I'd recognised as a classic zebra dwelling, I found myself both envious of my former rival, and loving her at the same time. The fact that we'd teleported outside meant that she'd been startled by the roar as we all were, but to appear just outside was a feat few could achieve when startled.

"We're here." I said, hoping that I hadn't made a fool of myself by assuming there were no other zebras residing in the Everfree. A chorus of relieved sighs were my response. I'd never met Zecora, but I had been to her homeland. I found the rhyming to be a rather cute quirk. Zebras were kind and generous to a fault. Among all my audiences, they were the only ones that didn't chase me out of town for lying about my exploits. They actually shrugged them off as mere stories, mare's tales that would do well to inspire the younger generation. Why I left remains a mystery to me.

However, I found a similar response in the mare I now called friend. Truly an inspiration to all Unicorns. How I wished we'd met under better circumstances.

"Somepony call out to her. I doubt an unfamiliar voice will get her attention." Jaeger said, pulling me from my thoughts. It came to my attention that nopony had moved from the spot we'd rematerialised from. It took me a few seconds to realise why this was; if the thing that was worse than a shade lived in the Everfree, chances were Zecora might have been...

I looked to Twilight who appeared to have reached the same conclusion as me. "Zecora?" the young Scootaloo's voice called out. "Zecora, are you there? It's Scootaloo... We're not dead!" she said. I'd have thought that the ability to speak would be proof of that last remark. I'd yet to hear one of the dead utter a word beyond 'Urgh!'.

~Zecora~

As I heard the familiar voice of my friend, I peeked my head through the window. True to her word, Scootaloo was not dead, nor were the six others with her. I recognised Twilight immediately. Rainbow Dash had seen better days and the dragon, Spike looked to be in a daze. The dog seemed familiar, and it brought Apple Bloom to mind. The sky blue unicorn with the strange hat seemed familiar also. Ah, t'was the possessed mare Trixie that brought Twilight to me.

But the one that caught my attention most was the grey one at the front of the group. A dark presence surrounded him, one I was familiar with. Many a zebra had fallen to darkness in the past, but none like this Unicorn. Even from here, I could tell his magic was weak, but somehow, he showed an air of strength. His mere presence was enough to almost make me pass out. The air felt thick around him. How the others hadn't noticed was beyond even me.

Feeling I'd spent enough time examining my guests, I opened the door and ran to them. As expected, they were slightly apprehensive, but that grey one didn't even flinch. I knew then and there that he was a bad omen.

"Zecora?" Twilight asked. I looked at her with a gentle smile. Hoping to disarm her of her fears.

"Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see you. As it is to see you, Scootaloo." I said. Immediately, I saw that my rhyme had placed all but the grey one in a calmer state.

"Thank goodness you're okay. We were worried that the Shades had gotten to you, or worse, the zombies." said Twilight. I knew what they meant. I'd ventured beyond my hut from time to time as usual, only to find the townsfolk wandering around aimlessly. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that they were dead, yet still walking.

"I assure you my friend, I am alive. I too am glad to see that you all did survive." I replied, turning to the grey one. "But forgive me for being rude. Might I ask; 'who are you'?" all the while, this grey stallion had been giving me a calculating glare, but as soon as I addressed him, his entire demeanour seemed to change like the wind and he seemed almost like an new pony.

"My name is Jaeger, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard things." he said, being so kind as to bow. It occurred to me that my initial impression of the one called Jaeger may have been misplaced. Yet that air of evil surrounding him kept me wary. "We were on our way to Appleloosa when the girls insisted we check up on you. We're all glad that you're still amongst the living." he added, offering his hand to me.

I decided that I would take my cautions and his kindness both with a grain of salt. After all, nopony knew better than I how deceiving appearances can be. As I took his hand in my own, I felt the cause of the darkness surrounding him. It was like a static shock as we connected. I instinctively drew back and glared at him.

"I thought you were hiding a trick! You use the forbidden art of Red Magic!" I growled at him. I'd expected a few gasps of realisation, mainly from Twilight, Spike and Trixie, yet nopony even flinched at the term. This either meant that they weren't aware of such a magic, or they already knew he used it. Given Twilight's background, it had to be the latter.

"It is necessary." was all Jaeger said.

"It's true, Zecora," Twilight began. "Red magic is the only thing that the Shades can't defend against." she said. Though I was not aware of the magic's ability to defeat the ones known as Shades, I was struggling with which was the greater evil.

"If you must label it as evil, then it is a necessary evil. I cannot do the things I do with regular magic." he declared. As before, his demeanour had changed back to calculating, as though he were wondering what to do with me. I'd never seen such intense eyes before. They almost seemed to glow a bright orange.

"Your true intentions, I will find out. But for now, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. For these are my friends, so I will travel with you to the end."I said, staring Jaeger down. It wasn't the fact that he said nothing in response to my declaration that scared me, but the fact that he just stared right back. He showed no weakness or hesitation. It was like staring into the eyes of a reptile. Like he didn't care either way.

Thankfully, Twilight had the presence of mind to break the lock Jaeger and I had onto each others' eyes. "Why don't we all just go inside and work out where to go from here. Our destination hasn't changed, but the path seems to have. I'd feel better if we had a plan to go with." she offered.

"Right you are my friend. A plan of action we will need, to reach journey's end." I said, leading the group back into my hut.

~Scootaloo~

How to describe the situation before us... Jaeger being Jaeger and Zecora being... not Zecora. It was a painful thing, seeing my friend treating my new hero like he were as bad as the Shades that had put us all in danger in the first place. During the time we spent up in Rainbow Dash's home, I learned from Twilight about red magic and how it was an illegal kind of magic due to it's more aggressive nature, whatever that meant. Twilight went on to tell about how Jaeger saw no evil nature in the magic itself, but rather the evil nature of the ponies who practiced it. It didn't make much sense to me. All I knew was that Jaeger was using a type of magic that looked evil but wasn't and he wasn't evil himself.

To me, that was a double positive, which meant Zecora had no reason to be wary of him. It was almost hypocrisy given how everypony treated her with caution and kept her at a distance when she first arrived. I thought she'd have known better. Thank Celestia for Twilight's intervention.

But now we had to deal with Five ponies, a Zebra, a baby dragon and a dog squashed into one little hut. The term cozy came to mind. At least I was between Rainbow and Jaeger as we all sat down.

"First thing's first," Trixie began. "What exactly was that thing we were running from before Twilight teleported us all here? It didn't sound like any shade." she said. I knew the awkwardness of the situation had doubled as I felt Jaeger tense up. Whatever that thing was, he didn't want us knowing about it. Whether or not that was because he wanted to spare us any more fear was up for debate.

"Yeah, come to think of it; it sounded like whatever was outside Rarity's boutique that night." Rainbow said. I took her word for it, though I kind of half-wished I knew what they were talking about. The way Jaeger answered with a sigh made me wonder if I should even bother listening.

"I call it the 'Braken'. Braken meaning 'vomit' in my native tongue. I chose that name because it is a zombie that has reached a state of decay in which all it's internal organs have liquified and become acidic. With the belly still intact, the Braken carries this acidic mass within itself, adding to it with every pony it kills or whatever it can feed off of. These things are far more dangerous than your average zombie because they can project their vomit roughly five meters from themselves, making them hard to reach and dispose of."

Everypony, even Zecora had placed a hand on their stomachs either to sympathise with carrying that much weight around, or to try and will themselves not to be sick. I was among the latter.

"The worst part is that they don't even need to be fast." he continued, making me shake with fear at what he was going to say next. Rainbow wrapped a wing around me and pulled me closer to try and comfort me. "I don't know if it's some sort of means of communication or basic instinct, but they have some sort of symbiosis with another class of zombie called 'Sprinters'. The name alone can give you a clue as to what they can do. Basically, they run after the Braken's prey and catch it, dragging it back kicking and screaming to their master, where he proceeds to..." I noticed him stop and looked up to see him looking at me. I knew he'd stopped short of the really bad stuff to spare me the details.

"How fast are these Sprinters?" Trixie asked.

"No faster than your average pony. All they can really do is tail you until you tire out. Unlike us, they don't have the disadvantage of fatigue. But there is good news regarding them." he said, looking back to me. "They're as blind as newborn puppies. So the key to escaping them is to get out of sight of the Braken, and out of sound from the Sprinters. When they lose track of your sound, they just tend to run straight. It's kind of funny really, I saw one of them run right into a lamp post." he said with a chuckle.

"Why were you apprehensive about telling us this?" Twilight asked. Jaeger dropped his smile and went back to sad.

"Because the pony it used to be was a friend of mine before the Shades emerged." he replied, earning silence from everypony. "Gallant was among the first to be killed when the Shades rose. He was an Earth Pony, hence the strong stomach to carry all the acid...

"He wanted to be a Royal Guard." The girls and I looked up at Jaeger with sadness in our eyes. This was the first time he'd ever talked about his past, let alone his friends. "Said he wanted to become one of Twilight's guards, so he would always be close to home. He was so eager to apply for the academy when he turned eighteen... would have been last week actually." I saw Twilight was on the verge of crying. I didn't want to know how she was feeling. I didn't even want to wonder how she was feeling. How could anypony not cry over a story like that, especially when the pony dying wanted to be your guard?

I hated this plague. I hated the Shades. I hated what they'd done to Twilight, Rainbow, me and Jaeger. But without it, we might never have met him. I leaned towards Jaeger, making sure Rainbow's wing was still around me, and rubbed my head against his side as mushilly as I could. Not a fan of mushiness, I figured Jaeger deserved it.

"We should head out in the morning. The Shades will be coming out soon, and we don't want to be stuck in the forest when they do." Jaeger interrupted. Nopony complained, though we all insisted that Zecora take her own bed while the rest of us found somewhere to lay down. Zecora in turn insisted that somepony share with her, after all, there was plenty of room. In the end, Spike was the lucky one. Aside from Jaeger, his relationship with Zecora wasn't as solid as the rest of ours. Sharing her bed could only bring them closer.

Naturally, I found a comfortable spot on the couch; nestled between Rainbow's arms and her bosom, blanketed by her wings. Trixie seemed to take a liking to the highest crook of the hut that used to act as a shelf for various ingredients (which seemed to have run out some time ago). Twilight and Jaeger snuggled up together near the middle of the room, the fire beneath where the cauldron usually was keeping everything nice and toasty. Winona resting at the foot of their spot. I wedged my face into the crook of Rainbow's neck and closed my eyes, hoping for as light a nightmare as possible, or perhaps a message from Princess Luna stating that she and Princess Celestia were still going strong against the Shades.

Author's Note

It's been a while, but I managed to Braken out another chapter. lol

10. Venture

Let me first venture into the sea

To be just washed ashore later

And I will feel you breathing life unto me

After you have come in search for me.

~Let me venture into the sea - M.D Dinesh Nair~

Rainbow Dash

Ah, the fresh air. The wind blowing on your face, making your mane flick around as if you were flying. There was nothing quite like it... Sadly, this forest had none of that. I was so BORED!!! Time got away from me, but somehow we'd wound up traveling after Zecora packed some things (probably anti-demon stuff for Jaeger, lol). Now we were on the road, so to speak. I just looked down, figuring that a little more boredom couldn't do much worse. I was on the dirt path, then a vine, then the path again, then another vine, then a twig.

"You okay, Dash?" I heard a voice. Twilight's voice. Bitch stole my boy-toy.

"Fine! I'm fine... REALLY bored, but fine! Hey, sexy!" I said, turning to Jaeger who just chuckled.

"Apparently, she's fine." Twilight said to Jaeger.

"I do not remember Rainbow Dash being this strange. What is that's caused her to change?" Zecora asked. I decided to answer for myself... starting with a manic giggle, because they were always fun.

"You'd be a little CRAZY!! Too if you listened to the sounds of SHADES and ZOMBIES outside Rarity's BOUTIQUE every night for a MONTH." I said, foaming at the mouth.

I watched Zecora's reaction... it was, simply put; BOOOORING!!! "This does not seem right. She seemed perfectly normal last night."

Last night? "Dear Celestia! Tell me we did nothing last night! TELL ME YOU DIDN'T TOUCH ME" I said, putting on a show of horror.

"She has episodes. Nothing like that happened last night, Rainbow!" Twilight replied.

"Aww." I said, suddenly deciding that was a bad thing. As we walked on, Zecora came up beside me and whispered into my ear.

"For the record, you could do a lot worse than me. If given the chance, I could drive you a different kind of crazy." she said.

I shuddered at the prospect, a pleased grin on my face. "How 'bout tonight when we reach Appleloosa? We'll find a room and go at it like Fluttershy's bunnies." I offered.

Jaeger

Despite the fact that Zecora was whispering to Dash, our beloved crazy did not think to whisper herself. It didn't take a genius to put what Zecora had said into context. "Chrome and monochrome. Wonder how the kid would turn out?" I said to Twilight, who just giggled.

"I don't get it, what are they talking about?" Scootaloo asked.

"Before the Shades emerged, did your teacher explain to you the method of how foals are made?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well they're going to perform the same act together, while expecting different results." I replied, earning bemused giggles from Twilight and Trixie both.

"I still don't get it."

"Well I'm not gonna tell you."

Scootaloo whined. "Why not?"

"Because even though we're amidst an apocalypse, there are still some things a foal your age shouldn't know just yet." I replied.

Scootaloo pouted as we walked on in silence for a further ten seconds. "Tell you what, Scoots. What are bunnies best known for?" Twilight challenged.

"Being cute?" Scootaloo tried.

I tried to imagine Zecora as cute, but found myself laughing instead. "HAH! Try again." I wound up saying, earning a growl from said zebra. I daren not look as I pursed my lips together to try and stop myself from laughing further at her. But I could feel my back burning as she glared at me. I looked to Twilight. "Is she giving me the death stare?" I asked. Twilight turned back to look at Zecora before answering.

"That's the understatement of the year." she replied. I laughed again, looking ahead.

"Is it the ears?" Scootaloo asked. I smiled down at her.

"I think somepony should have 'the talk' with you when we reach Appleloosa." I said, patting her head. Scootaloo sighed as she still didn't understand what was going on.

"Only if you have 'the talk' with Spike. Guys should talk with guys, and girls should talk with girls." Twilight offered.

"Fair enough." I replied, winking at Spike who seemed just as confused. "Spike, we're going to have a little talk later about the benefits of special someponies."

Twilight

Appleloosa... it's seen better days. Our little party had stopped at the edge of the forest which happened to be a cliff face. We'd decided to settle there for the time being. Despite the open space, what I remembered about the town suggested that there were a few hiding places for ambushes. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to pack some binoculars. I looked towards the town to find absolutely nothing out of the ordinary short of some burned down buildings. The lack of ponies was expected, but something seemed off. I gave the binoculars to Jaeger to see if he could figure it out.

"No zombies. That's a first." he said, confirming my suspicions.

"Maybe they melted in the heat?" Rainbow suggested, her episode over with.

"There'd still be skeletons or some sign that they were there. No, somepony is down there, and they've been cleaning house." he replied, handing the binoculars back to me.

"Could it be one of the girls?" I asked him.

"Anything's possible." he said.

Trixie came up beside me and looked between Jaeger and me. "What are our options?" she ashed. I considered them myself, but Jaeger had the answers, it seemed.

"My red magic will return within a matter of hours. We could wait until then but we'd be cutting it close to sundown. Alternatively we could go now, but I won't be able to protect you from Shades, while it's unlikely we'll come across one at this time of day, experience has taught me not to take chances. I'll let our resident Princess decide what to do though." he said, once again leaving the decisions up to me. Easily my least favourite thing about him.

I thought about the options at hand and considered a third one that made more sense. "Trixie and I will go while the rest of you wait here until Jaeger's magic is charged. When it is, he'll join us and get us out of any trouble me wight have found ourselves in while looking for Applejack or her note. Jaeger, if we're not back by the time you're restored, seek us out. You can't leave the others here without a magic user to protect them, so they'll come with you, but find a hiding place in town. Got it?" she said.

"Wait until I'm charged, come looking for you if you haven't returned, and stuff the others in a good hiding spot. Got it." he replied, making me smile.

"Good. Wish us luck?" I asked. To my surprise, Jaeger leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"The words are bad luck. The gestures, not so much." he said. I blushed, but ultimately left for town feeling happy and hopeful.

Trixie was mostly silent during the trip into town. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but now was hardly the time. "Where should we start looking?" she asked.

"Applejack would have gone to her cousin Braeburn's farm, which is at the end of town, beside the Sheriff's station." I replied.

"And it's a note that we're looking for if not Applejack herself?" she asked.

I nodded an affirmative and pointed out the farm to her. Together we went, into the household. As like most places, it was quickly stripped of all but a few amenities. But unlike other places, it was tidy, functional. "Somepony still lives here." I whispered aloud. Trixie had gone to the kitchen, no doubt hungry. I could have gone for something to eat myself.

"Found the note!" I heard her say. I abandoned my search and caught up with her. She handed me the note and I read it.

Dear Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie,

If you're reading this then you've found my other notes, which makes me so happy. I have some bad news regarding Braeburn. He was turned into one of these zombie things. I found him trying to eat Little Strongheart, who I later found out was dating him. So I managed to save a member of the family yet, if not an official member.

Some good news is that we haven't lost anypony. Rarity, Fluttershy, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are still with me. The girls miss Scootaloo and I can only give them hope that she's with you.

We're headed to Trottingham to get Rarity's parents as I mentioned in the plan, then to Manehattan to see if we can bunk with some of my relatives, the Oranges. I just hope everypony's okay. I'll give you the addresses for Trottingham and Manehattan, so you'll know where to find my other notes to let you know we made it that far. I hope to see you there.

Love,

Applejack.

I sighed as I flipped the note around, reading the addresses of Rarity's parents' home and the Oranges'. With relief coating my heart, I turned to Trixie.

"Well at least we know they're alive. But Pinkie's name has been crossed out again like last time." I said.

"Do you think that means she's... you know." Trixie asked. I could tell she didn't want to offend or upset me, and I was secretly thankful for her tact in the matter.

"No, I don't think so. If Applejack crossed her name out last time, she wouldn't have bothered putting it in this note, and she would have mentioned Pinkie's death in this note if she knew."

"Do you think Pinkie's crossing her own name out to let you know she was here before and is following the trail too?" she asked.

"That's my hope," I replied, sighing again. "Come on, let's get back to the oth-." I was cut off by a large wave of dark pink hair flooding my vision. I felt something bit me square below the base of my horn and I knew darkness almost immediately.

Jaeger

I could feel my magic coming back to me. I was so close. Just a few more minutes and I would be good to go. But it was a small consolation. Twilight and Trixie were nowhere to be seen and I couldn't see them returning from below the cliff.

"Something's wrong. They should have been back by now." Spike said, beginning to pace worriedly. I wanted to join him, but I knew he needed a strong voice to keep him grounded.

"Twilight cares a great deal about the girls. I'm sure she's just rising us worrying so she can continue to look for Applejack and the others, or the note they left behind." I tried to assure him. I looked to the others and each had a knowing look on their faces.

"Of your red magic, I am no fan. But I urge you to return to full power as fast as you can." Zecora said. I simply nodded to her in agreement. I looked down to the town and an idea came to mind.

"I could probably go now. The magic should be restored by the time I reach the town." I said, standing up. The others sighed with relief as they realised it was time to go looking for their friends. "Rainbow, you'll have to carry each of us down the cliff." I said, and she nodded.

Twilight

My head swam in pain as I found myself returning to consciousness. My eyes felt heavy. Despite the pain, that had been the most well rested sleep I'd had since the Shades emerged. I groaned, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes when I realised something was stopping my hands. I opened my eyes and looked around. Darkness surrounded me, save for the spotlight overhead that illuminated the cause of my restrained hands. I was laying flat on some sort of metal table, my body strapped down. Thankfully, I still had my clothes, but that was of little comfort.

"Ah, you're awake. Good. I hate it when you fakes sleep through the process. It takes the fun out of it." said an oddly familiar voice. I couldn't place who it belonged to but it was very, very familiar. I looked around, hoping to discern something through the darkness. What I saw made me wish I was blissfully ignorant. A pair of glowing red dots met my gaze, followed by a sly grin.

"Who's there?!" I asked, trying to use magic to illuminate the room around me. I soon found out that a magic suppression ring had been placed around my horn, preventing me from using any kind of magic.

"Don't bother playing these games with me. I've figured out every tactic, every move you fakes make. You can't trick me. I'm not as gullible as ponies think I am." the voice replied. It was so familiar, it was on the tip of my tongue.

"Can I at least see your face?" I asked, hoping to shed some light on this mysterious pony.

"Alright, I guess I'll humor you." the voice replied as its owner stepped forward. I gasped in shock as I recognised the voice, and the pony it belonged to.

"P-pinkie Pie..." I said. The mare before me was Pinkie Pie, this much I knew, but she didn't look like Pinkie Pie. Her eyes were bloodshot, turning them red, with a darkness underneath them and a grin that could scare Nightmare Moon made her look like some manic serial killer.

Pinkie's face dropped the smile and she grew angry. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!!! I'M SICK OF TELLING YOU FAKES NOT TO CALL ME BY THAT NAME!" she screamed. I was stunned by her sudden outburst. She didn't look like Pinkie, she didn't act like Pinkie, but it still was her. Her mane hung straight downward, much lie Maud's, but unlike what had happened when the girls and I had tried to surprise her with a birthday party, her features had taken on a reddish hue. And her mane seemed to have split ends.

"I don't know what else to call you. And what do you mean by fakes?" I asked, using my words carefully.

"Dont give me that! I've had this conversation with all of you at one time or another. You can't trick me. You're no more the real Twilight than the other thirty that tried to convince me... just so they could cut me down and turn me into one of them. One of you." she replied. A terrible feeling hit me.

"You think we're zombies... and that you're hallucinating Twilight and Trixie?" I asked. Pinkie laughed and clapped her hands.

"Very good. None of the others have actually managed to spell it out for themselves, they just ask the same dull questions over and over AGAIN! Though I'll admit, this is the first time Trixie's ever been here." she said, turning her gaze upon my unconscious friend.

"Why do you think this is a hallucination?" I asked. Pinkie sighed, as if having heard it before. She even recited the answer as if she'd said it dozens of times before.

"Ugh! Because this is just like the fifty other times I've come across zombies inside Applejack's cousin's house." she replied.

"Then why are you still here?" I asked, hoping she hadn't heard that one.

She seemed to pause for a second. "I'm waiting for the real Twilight to come. The real Rainbow Dash too. I know they're still alive out there. And I know they're coming for me. They'll come for me, and Twilight will fix everything and make it right, because that's what she does." she replied, curling in on herself as she backed into the shadows.

"But if you can't tell that I'm the real Twilight, how are you going to know it's me?"

"Because I know her. I know my friends. They won't leave me behind." she said.

I sighed as I looked around for her in the darkness. "But this apocalypse has changed you, Pinkie. What makes you think it won't change us too? Rainbow Dash has psychotic episodes, Scootaloo tried to commit suicide... And when this all started, I grabbed Spike and hid in the Library's basement. I've only been out here for a little over a week. Pinkie, I'm finally here! But I can't fix anything without my friends there by my side."

"How would you know if they've changed?" she asked, emerging once again right next to me, looking me in the eye.

"Because I'm the real Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are waiting outside the town for me. For us! Zecora too, and Spike. Even little Winona's waiting. What if I'm telling the truth? How would you know? Or did you not think it through?" Pinkie drew back into the darkness, seeming confused as she did so.

"If you were in my position, how would you know?" she asked me. I smiled gently at her.

"Because hallucinations wouldn't be able to make me doubt like I seem to be doing to you. I'd be looking for the slightest differences too. Take Trixie for instance. You said yourself that this was the first time you'd seen her. You and her aren't friends, so why would you hallucinate her?"

"I... I-I can't... If you're the real Twilight... would you understand what I've done? I've been over this dozens of times. Dozens of zombies. I've killed them over and over again because I was convinced that they were a figment of my imagination, because they would take on your form, or Rainbow's, or AJ's. Would you understand?" I could hear her beginning to cry. Hearing this made me begin to tear up as well.

"Pinkie... why did you cross your name out on the notes Applejack left?" I asked, my voice breaking. I heard a sniffle and heavy breathing.

"I can't smile anymore... not like I used to. You're right, this whole apocalypse has changed me. I'm not...I-I don't." I heard her break down in sobs. In a panic to get to her, I threw my head around, hoping to shake the magic suppressor off of my horn. It took a while, but I managed. In a rush, I teleported out of my restraints and made my way to where I heard Pinkie.

"I'm here, Pinkie. I'm here, and so is Rainbow, and Spike, and Zecora. Scootaloo and Winona too. They're all waiting for you, waiting for us." I said, finding Pinkie knelt down. I joined her and pulled her in for a hug. She tensed up, but didn't fight it. "You know, there's an easier way to tell if I'm real or not. Zombies can't use magic." I said, causing her to stop crying for a moment.

"SERIOUSLY?!!!" she cried in disbelief. I couldn't help but smile at her incredulity and chuckle. This was more like the Pinkie I knew.

"I'm so sorry it took so long for me to find you, Pinkie Pie. But I'm here, really. I Pinkie Promise." I said. Finally, I felt a head rest itself on my bosom, and I knew I'd gotten to her. She believed me. I held her tighter and rested my head on hers. I began to gently rock her from side to side as she began to cry again. It was a painful sound that broke my heart to hear, but I owed it to her to take all her sorrow.

Jaeger

I'd left my party in the Sheriff's station, so that should any zombies turn up, they could hide themselves in one of the jail cells safe from harm. Or better yet, trap the zombies in there. I'd gone next door into the house Twilight had said was Braeburn's.

I'd seen the entire debacle played out before me in the basement of Braeburn's farm. The one known as Pinkie Pie had strapped Twilight and Trixie down and had gone on a rant over all the fakes. Thanks to the red magic, Pinkie couldn't tell I was there with her, hiding among the shadows, but I could see everything, the blood and corpses that lined the back of the room. Piles of them.

I didn't wait for them to have their moment afterward. I just stepped into the light and unfastened Trixie's straps. "Jaeger?" I heard Twilight call out.

"While you two were busy arguing amongst yourselves, you lost track of time. It's nearly sundown. Get Pinkie, and let's head next door to board up the station." I said.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Since you woke up. I wanted to give you the chance to convince Pinkie you were you. If you failed, I'd have stepped in." I replied, taking Trixie and lifting her over my shoulder.

"Twilight, who's that?" Pinkie asked.

"That's Jaeger. He's a friend. He helped us get this far to find you." I walked past them and carried Trixie up the stairs.

"Come on, they'll emerge again soon." I urged, leaving them behind.

Pinkie?

"He's not very nice." I said, earning a bemused chuckle from Twilight.

"He's just stressing because the Shades are coming." she said.

"Shades?" I asked, unfamiliar with the word.

"What we call those things that caused all this." she replied.

It made sense. I'd just called them 'big black things'. But 'shades' worked. I let Twilight help me up and we went together up the stairs. Jaeger was waiting at the front door for us, looking out towards the setting sun.

"I didn't realise it was so late." I said, looking outside for the first time in over a month.

"You said something about the station?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, I left them in the Sheriff's station so they could lock either themselves up or zombies." the one called Jaeger replied. He was clever.

"Let's go then." I said, and the three of us, plus the unconscious Trixie made our way next door to the Sheriff's station.

Author's Note

Here's another chapter. I'd had the Pinkie one rolling around in my mind or a while, but I wasn't sure how Twilight or anypony would actually convince her that they were the real deal. The scenario also leaves the possibility that zombies weren't the only ones Pinkie had captured. Basically, she was acting as a trapdoor spider.

For all we know, she could have taken live prey. I also noticed we hadn't had much of Rainbow's perspective so I wanted to do a little of that too, since some of you mentioned you liked the whole craziness I'd written into it.

Happy Easter everypony!

12. The Fall

Author's Note

This Chapter was written by Zephyr, edited by myself. Give him some love when you get the chance.

Enjoy!

12. The Fall

This is a story of the day of the dead
The day they rose from their boxed-up beds
There was fire and smoke
And blood and corpses

~Melissa Cantrell~

~Zephyr Verve~

~two months ago~

I woke up to the sound of sirens blaring on several different places around my flat.
Honestly, it was everything but unexpected. I had read the news, I had seen the photos, I had seen the zombies they captured.

After a quick train of thoughts departing from my brain station, with a tired sigh, I sat up and slid out of my bed, shakily standing on my legs. “What am I going to do now?” I asked myself pointlessly, knowing the answer.

My idle thoughts were broken away from me when I heard an agonizing scream. The thing that scared me was that it originated from a stallion. He screamed in pain, very close to my house! Shaking myself out of a stupor, I ran to the closest window and saw what I hoped I could’ve avoided seeing.

Outside in the street was the very same stallion lying on the ground, a pale and withered bloodied pony munching on his innards. They’d reached us; they’d reached Trottingham. Other ponies were running around in panic, trying to get home or get away: into safety, that was the only thing they wanted. Oh, if they knew how much they attracted the zombies…

“To the braided beard of Celestia… no…” I whispered, images of my comrades flashed up before my eyes as they were lying on the ground, dead, in a puddle of their own blood....
I froze for a solid minute.

A mare’s scream snapped me out of my PTSD induced pause. I blinked and saw how she was bitten in the lower arm by one of these countless rotting corpses. To my relief she had enough instinct in herself to use her magic - she was a small framed unicorn mare - and fired a bolt of magical electricity into the zombie, effectively frying its brain and every organ still within it.

Releasing the mare, it fell on the ground, dead once more. I could only hope that she would be alright. But who knew what a bite like that could cause?... I certainly didn’t.

I had to hurry. I was retired, sure. But I had been allowed to keep my military equipment. I’d been honorably discharged, allowed to keep my rank. Nevertheless, I quickly got my old armor and clothes out of the drawers and threw them on.

Ever since I moved to Trottingham, into this one-story flat with a small rose garden I took care of with passion, I knew I could use some muscles. Not like I was a bodybuilder at any point in time, no… but the everyday work in the Weather Control Office just made me want to keep myself in shape.

Lucky me.

Belt fastened, straps locked, shoelaces on my boots tied, I took a look at myself in the mirror. Staring into it I saw a semi tall pegasus stallion of a sandy brown colored coat of fur, royal blue mane and light green eyes staring back at me. The old, camouflaged, light scout armor I had the luck to keep was a perfect fit for me, it would hide me in the late summer bushery very nicely. Right now I had other things to worry about however, namely what to bring with me and what to do once I was out of my home.

I will miss my roses…

My wings opened up to their full width, reaching both ends of my bedroom. I stretched them, making sure to not get a cramp once I had to use them. One last look around the room and I was in the hallway, quickly opening a wardrobe. There I kept my real equipment. The good old magic operated Electric Shock Blade for offense, and a Personal Shield Generator for defense… I hoped they were still charged.

Grabbing everything I needed, I scavenged through the kitchen for a few cans of food and a bottle of water, then I was out.

I was so engrossed with getting ready that I didn’t realize that the sirens went silent - but the screams did not, coming from every way around the house. “Shit!” I cussed, hearing one from the house next to mine. I knew that guy.

“Celestia bless his soul…” I muttered as I opened the window of the living room and hopped outside into my rose garden. “Better close this…” I said and did so. Getting the attention of a specific dead pony.

It growled at me, announcing its presence. A poor girl. Not older than twenty. Her once purple mane now bloodied and ruffled, her foggy yellow eyes staring at me as she fell through the short fence that surrounded my garden.

“N-no…” I whispered. A flashback. A dead figure lying on the ground. Her purple mane is bloodied and ruffled. Her foggy yellow eyes stare into the starry night sky, forever blinded.
“Hn-hhhgaaah!” I cried up, grabbing at my sword, shaking my head violently.

The zombie managed to crawl right to my hooves, I snapped out of my shock in the last second. But it only took me that long to stab her in the head. The sickening crunch of her skull being pierced by the tempered steel blade, followed by the electric buzz of the electromagic capacitor giving off one charge, it shook my body and mind.

This was the end of the world and I had to survive.

“I have to… I have to save them… I have to save them!” I yelled, withdrawing my blade before flying up, leaving my home behind.

Immediately I was met with the scene of dozens of ponies ripped apart and eaten alive by the hordes of the undead, some were still trying to hide in their homes, on the roofs. The pegasi who could actually fly away were already either high up, hiding in fear, or flying anywhere away from Trottingham.

In the distance I saw fighting. Closer to the city center, where the skyscrapers were, the local Guards fought back… which made me realize that I lived in the suburbs.
My eyes met with a stallion’s who was cowering atop his house, next to the chimney. His expression that of pure fear, the tears rolling down his cheeks. It made me cringe.

So many innocent ponies, so many of them....
“Stay calm!” I shouted and flew towards him. He frantically nodded and stood up.
The last mistake he ever made. His right hoof slipped on the tile roof, he fell back and rolled down, onto the grassy ground next to his house, right next to one of those rotters.

“NOOOO!!!” I cried, seeing the first of many I could have saved.
“No… no-no-no-no-no-no-no! NOOO!” But it was futile. He was gone. Grabbing at my head, I paused for a moment. If I hadn’t been flying, I would have frozen completely, again. My PTSD was returning.

“H-help! Please help us!” I heard a yell from behind. On the roof of an other house I saw an earth pony mare, holding onto her bitten and bleeding out husband, she was the textbook definition of desperate. I steeled myself and flew for her.

Just as I was about to land on the edge of the roof, her husband, an otherwise friendly looking unicorn stallion, spit out a mouthful of blood and let out an animalistic growl.
“The fuck?...” I asked out loud as I took a step closer. The mare’s expression mirrored her confusion. Right until her husband lunged himself at her, biting into her throat.

He turned into one of them right before my eyes and…
She couldn’t even scream as a large chunk of her throat was bitten out, she could only make a sickening gargle of agony....
Her blood painted both her torso and her now undead husband red.

“N-no…” I whispered, staring at the zombie gnawing at her throat. “Oh Celestia, WHY?!” I yelled, swinging my sword at the zombie, chopping his head off with one clean cut.
“Too late… too fucking late…” I said, witnessing the life from the mare’s eyes slipping away.
The first tear I shed in months, it left my right eye.

With shaking hands, I placed the tip of my sword at her forehead and pushed the blade forward. “Must… kill them… must save the people… must… must…” My eyes went wide as I felt reality slipping away from me. I cried out once more, a cry of a hurt animal, a predator, a howl calling for vengeance.

Wings flared, I flew up. A bird of prey I became.
I felt something crawling inside my head. I remembered the doctors talking to me about my condition. I remembered how they explained the effects of PTSD. I remembered my comrades, my friends lying dead on the cold ground.

Everything went red, then.
All I saw was only targets to be eliminated.
All I heard was the last breaths of my closest friend dying as she was stabbed from behind by that coward.
All I knew was pain.

It didn’t end. They were there. Swarming. And I couldn’t stop.

13. Being Alive

The feast has begun!
They begin their foul ways,
Minutes turn to hours,
And hours to days,

~George A. Romero~

~Black Olive~

First I thought it was just a hoax. Something to scare and confuse the ponies. Naturally, when I heard the sirens, I couldn’t believe it. My pizzeria was a popular place since day one - ponies came here and returned because of the quality I gave - and I always heard the rumors.

Somewhere in the wastelands? Next to a town? Who knows. I caught quite a few hushed conversations about zombies and other beings much worse than them. But I didn’t believe. Right until I saw one of them dragging itself through the street right in front of my pizzeria.

My guests immediately panicked and fled, involuntarily saving my sorry flank. Only a short but bulky stallion remained, keeping calm, closing and locking the doors and windows of the place.

“Miss Olive!” He called out, quickly making his way towards the kitchen where I was hiding.

“Y-yeah, I’m here!” I answered his call, standing up and leaving the impromptu hiding place made of empty cardboard boxes.

“Miss Olive, we have ta lock all the doors or they’ll get inside!” He reached the kitchen, looking for the keys. His accent made me remember who he was: ‘Short Box’, some sort of undersized strongstallion, otherwise a longshorestallion. He arrived here two months ago and had been eating here every Tuesday and Friday ever since.

“The doors, right!” I replied, grabbing the keys from under the counter. Standing next to Short Box - this wasn’t his real name I think - I realized how much taller I was compared to him. He could at least have the privilege of staring at my boobs without excuse. Lucky bastard.

“Ah’ll fix the blinds, ya get the back door, sweetheart!” He told me and ran back into the ‘mess hall’. What a mess it was after the guests running away…

“Right, on it!” I replied and hurried back into the kitchen, through the goods receiver room, reaching the opened door right as one of the walkers were about to bite into a guy’s neck. He was holding stuff from my kitchen.

For a moment I hesitated. I could have just yelled and saved him. But then again, he stole from me. Then I remembered who he was. I felt no guilt.

I closed and locked the door, barricading it away.

His screams of pain and agony just couldn’t reach my ears.

...flashback...

“Nice scarf you got there!” A stallion’s voice suddenly sounded up behind me. I turned around and saw this guy, the typical douche bag, with two of his friends lagging behind.

“Thank you, how kind.” I replied, turning back, already knowing where this is going.

I heard a small whistle and realized that these stallions were up for no good.

“So Miss, don’t you want to check-” He began again but I already had enough. With pepper spray in my right, ready to make them cry, I spun around.

“Shut up and fuck off!” I yelled at them.

Why did I have to miss the last bus?...

They actually stopped… only for the main douche bag snatching the spray out of my hand with his magic, shortly followed by his fellow douche bags grabbing my shoulders, turning me around and pushing me onto the brick wall next to me.

“So you want to do this on the hard way, huh?” He asked and I felt his alcohol smelling breath on my neck. “Since you are so eager… I will return the favour!”

“Don’t you da-mmmhmhm!” I tried to speak but my mouth was held closed by him.

Then he lifted my dress’ skirt, feeling up my behinds.

“Ahh, soft and round, hmmm, you have been waiting for me to make this offer, no?” He asked, I tried to reply, futile. His hands ran up to my breasts and he squeezed them. “Seems good… wonder what you have…” He tried to say but saw red and blue lights.

“This is the TCPD! Stand back and put your hands in the air!” A policeman’s magically enhanced voice filled the night air.

“Shit!” The douche bag yelled and ran, his buddies following.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” A… unicorn stallion with a casual outfit appeared, his voice matching the officer’s.

“Yes.. thank you… but how?” I asked, confused. He pointed at his horn.

“Call it magic. I call it true.” He answered, smirking.

I reached home safely, then.

...end flashback...

Locking all of the small windows turning off the lights, I returned to the kitchen. I felt an otherworldly calmness in myself, I felt in control. The scared face of short Box popping up from the lobby made me snap out of the feeling quite soon, but he have seen my expression.

“Miss Olive? What was that screaming, ya didn’t get hurt, right?” he asked worriedly.

“N-no… it… it was somepony else, right outside. Couldn’t save him. I’m alright.” I told him, shuddering as I suddenly realized what I had just done. I murdered somepony…

“Albatros’ luck, Miss Olive… I fixed up the blinds and blocked up the doors as much as I could. Hope it’ll hold.” Box responded, wiping his forehead. “Guess we should jus’ sit back in the kitchen…” he said, walking past me as he did so. I could see in his eyes how scared he actually was.

~Short Box~

Scared out of my pants, least I could say. Bloody zombies were roaming around, eating people alive… I mean, I have seen a horror movie or two, but nothin’ like this, I swear.

I always fancied this place. Good food, good company, and then there she was, what an eye candy! Hoo boy! Black Olive, the pizza pony; making the best pizza of this part of Trottingham.

When the guests of the pizzeria began to flee, I froze. Not because I was a coward… no… because I knew that they were making a good distraction! And that I could survive indefinitely in a pizzeria, ah yes.

Course I made sure to lock everything and block all the ways to even look in.

Ahh, there she was, what a view. If not for the situation, I would’ve asked her out for a date! But of course, we had the actual zombie apocalypse happening around us! Bloody hell.

I quickly found a good place to sit in the kitchen as I walked past Miss Olive, then crossed my arms before my chest and waited.

She arrived a few seconds later.

“Well uh, Miss, what are we s’pposed ta do now?” I asked her. First time I could actually stare at her without being creepy or whatnot.

She had this olive colored fiiine coat of fur, looking soft and all, then her mane was of some kind of combination of dark green and dark grey. But those golden eyes, I felt my heart going out for her. Well, maybe it was her big ol’ titties. She wore a black apron and white chef’s outfit, but still, she was just gorgeous.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked back, sitting down on a box in front of me. “I… I don’t know. I think we should stay for a while… until most of them wanders away. We can survive here. We can escape. We just have to… wait?” she explained and honestly, I had no better plan either.

~Black Olive~

Short Box was trying to show himself the manly stallion; not scared, keeping the situation in control. But I could see the fear in his eyes. And that he was checking me out, quite openly at that. Once I was able to sit down and take a breather, I realized how screwed we were.

So stupid, so idiotic, a moron, the moron of the book, I was. I knew they were coming. Everypony knew it. But nopony actually went as far as checking the vicinity of the city, to simply see if there were actually humungous hordes of zombies heading to this direction!

“I could be in Ponyville now. My cousin lives there, working in a candy shop. Gosh darn it.” I said aloud, hiding my face behind my palm.

“Aww Miss Olive, don’t be upset… even I got stuck here and where did I spend the better part of my life? In a dock, loadin’ up ships that could sail to Zebrica if need be!” Box tried to reassure me. Strangely enough, it worked, thinking about how he was here for just two months, right when the world’s end began.

“Zebrica… I wonder what is it like down there.” I said, trying to derail my thoughts from the topic of the world’s ending. While at that, I took a better look at Short Box, finding him not too capable of surviving in a continent like that, based on how short he was.

Short, his coat of fur was colored in a pale shade of light blue, his mane a striped blue and white, with grey eyes looking at… my bosoms. Seriously, what’s wrong with this guy all of a sudden? If not for the baggy dock worker trousers he wore, I swear I could see something in his pants.

Nevertheless, his outfit was a simple, manual labourer’s clothes, worn and old as expected. But not smelly at least.

“I’ve been there before. The Zebra folks are kind, but their continuous rhyming, gah, worse than drinking Snake Slime Brandy… seriously hon’, don’t do that.” he warned me, making me chuckle.

“Heh, if we survive this all, I expect you to invite me to one.” I told him, making him smile.

Hours passed since we barricaded ourselves in my pizzeria. Box turned out to be a good story teller: the years he spent in the docks of Manehattan let him hear all the tales the drunken captains and their crew could tell in the taverns. At least we could think of the world before.

But our attention was taken away from the stories when both of us heard something in the distance.

“What was that?” Box asked, his ears perking up in either curiosity or fear.

“I... don’t know. Sounded like someone going berserk?” I replied. The death cries of the ponies the zombies caught began to die down a while ago. Most of them must have been caught.

There it was again. This cry of war.

“To the braided beard of Celestia, what’s going on? Who or what is making that noise?” Box asked, standing up. “We should check outside...” He suggested, heading to the lobby.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked him but he was already at the counter, going to a window.

The enraged roar sounded up again, this time much closer. I ran to the window Box was standing at. “Can you see it”? I asked him excitedly.

“I… I think I can… there, up above! Look!” He pointed outside, the half-covered window let both of us see something swooping up and down from the sky.

“Sweet baby Celestia… this is an Exterior Guard, I have seen them before… but… why is he all red?” I asked, feeling my heart skipping a beat as i recognized the shape of a pegasus soldier going down for a kill, then back up so he is not exposed and can see far.

“The Exterior Guard’s armor is usually some sort of camouflage, mixed shades of green or so.” I continued, trying to take a better look at the pegasus as he only stopped for the short moments when he picked a new target - zombies below - before making a Meteorite Maneuver to kill them. Yepp, I read a thing or two about pegasi fighting styles. He cried out again, but this time I heard the slashing and electric buzz of his sword as well.

“That’s not red… that’s blood, all over him… he is in a battle trance! He will kill himself!” Box responded, eyes wide.

“What do we do? Should we save him from… uh, himself?” I asked him, starting to panic. A lone soldier against the endless hordes of undead, that just couldn’t end well.

For a few seconds Box didn’t respond, but then he gulped, speaking up. “I will go out and bring him in.” I saw him steeling himself, gathering all the courage he could muster up.

“Oh gosh, please don’t get yourself killed… wait, I will give you a knife at least!” I told him and ran back into the kitchen, grabbing the biggest knife I have. When I returned he was already at the front door, taking down the barricade and unlocking it.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He said and opened the door as he took the knife from me. “Wish me luck…” And with that, he was outside.

~Short Box~

I couldn’t believe what I was doing. I was actually going out… risking my life… and not being a coward for once! I quickly ducked and ran to the closest hiding place I could find: a couple of trash cans. From there I could see the stallion flying up and assaulting downwards, hearing the death of one of the zombies right afterward. He was close.

Looking back for a moment I was able to see Miss Olive standing behind the closed door - atta girl, she locked it - watching both the soldier and I.

“Kyaaaahh!” the pegasus cried out, a zombie replied with a growl before losing its head.

I advanced forward, reaching the corner of the street, achieving the position from where I could see the scene perfectly. He was fighting at least a dozen of them, striking down every tenth second, killing one each time. Damn, he was quicker than a seagull snatching the carrot-dog out of your hands when you aren’t paying attention!

“Uh… you, soldier!” I yelled, realizing how big of a mistake I made with that just a second later. “Shhhiiit!” Half of the zombies looked at me, seeing the walking food served.

The soldier heard my yell and saw the walkers switch their attention from him to me. So he swooped above me and landed.

“What the actual fuck are you doing, shorty?!” he yelled at me, only to spin around, knock a zombie on the ground with his wings, then behead the next one with his sword. Daaamn.

“I, uh, hide, pizzeria, there, come with us!” I tried to explain. I Failed.

“Get back in there!” he yelled at me again and stabbed the closest of these bloodied rotters in the chest: the husk was electrified and died again.

“No need ta tell me twice!” I exclaimed and ran back to Miss Olive: she quickly opened the door and let me in. “Now he’ll finish there and join us…” I told her, wiping the sweat from my brows.

“Sweet Celestia…” she responded, hugging me tightly. Ahh, those soft pillows of love.

~Zephyr Verve~

Fly. Acquire target. Strike.

The redness wouldn’t leave me and I didn’t want it to leave.

Fly. Acquire target. Strike.

I didn’t feel tiredness. But why would I?

Fly. Acquire target. Strike.

I destroyed them. But they were many.

Fly. Acquire target. Strike.

One by one. They shall return to the ground.

Fly. Acquire target. Strike.

Someone is yelling to me at that corner.

“Huh?” I gasped, falling out of my trance. A pony? A living one, yelling to me?

I quickly saved him. A short stallion. What an excuse of a man.

So helpless. With a kitchen knife.

I saw a mare in a pizzeria, he pointed it out.

Maybe I could save them from these horrors? Possibly.

Swipe. Spin. Strike. Jump back. Stab.

I ended them all.

The stallion was back in the pizzeria.

The mare was familiar. Did I see her before?

I holstered my sword and stood there, staring at them.

I heard nothing but the blow of the wind in my ears.

I was red. Blood and guts all over me. I smelled like death.

“I have to shower down. I need to wash my armor.” I told myself and went to the pizzeria.

For once more, I looked around and caught a glimpse of the setting sun. This much time passed?... I hoped the zombies would go to sleep at night.

~Black Olive~

“He is coming this way… oh thank goodness, he is out of his trance!” I exclaimed happily, glad that we were able to save that guy from his own enraged state.

“Yeah… and he’ll need a bath. Or three.” Box told me, shaking his head.

“I have a bathroom back there, don’t worry.” I reassured him, opening the door for the Guard.

“Uh… hello?” I tried to greet him. He stopped in the doorway, staring into my eyes. He was a bit taller than me.

“I know you.” He told me and walked right past me. The smell of blood and guts spilled all over him reached my nose, making me almost puke right there.

“The bathroom is that way, follow me…” I replied, quickly running ahead just so I wouldn’t need to smell him. I led him into another part of the building where the changing room and the bathroom was. “Just undress, I will wash your clothes nice and clean, alright? Shower is right there.” I explained it to him, he simply nodded.

Something was wrong with him and I was afraid that I knew exactly what it was.

14. Left Oustide

Outside, warm breeze

Birds fly, thick as thieves

Sun shines through the leaves

I want to go outside.

~Outside - Marisa Lu Makil~

~Short Box~

They had been in the backrooms for at least an hour. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, this guy was bloody from the top of his head to the tip of his hooves, but still… something was reeaaaally off with him. Killing those rotting, walking things like that, I only heard of stories from thestrals... uh, bat-ponies falling into a battle-trance like he was in. But… that ain’t right.

Getting hungry, I decided to look into the fridge in the kitchen. Of course I found ingredients for pizza and no pizza done. So I just sat down on a crate, waiting for something to happen.

The night eventually fell, and it became really dark outside.

~Black Olive~

Scrubbing down the grime and blood from Zephyr’s armor was more difficult than expected. Upon learning his name, I realised that I did know him. He’d ordered pizza from me a few times before… before all this.

His clothes were already washed and hung up, drying nicely. But him… he kept washing himself. If he was doing what I thought he was doing, then I would have to yell at him, or slap him to make him snap out of his state.

It nearly escaped my notice that it was dark outside. I considered telling Zephyr to hurry up.

~Zephyr Verve~

Red. Dirty with red. My mane. Red. No, it can’t be. My mane isn’t red. Must get it… out of it!

Red no more…

“O-Olive… do you have more soap?” I asked her. I needed it. I was still dirty with red.

“Zephyr…” se answered, coming up to me. “You… you are completely clean… you are just… just…” she stared at my mane, then her expression changed into an angry one.

“Snap out of it!” she yelled at me.

Blue.

“W-what… what happened?” I asked her. My mane returned to its original, royal blue color. My coat of fur was sandy brown again. Though wet. How long had I been showering? “Olive?” I asked again, looking in her eyes.

“Something is wrong with your head, Zephyr. You are… or were a soldier. Can you remember… weren’t you diagnosed with… PTSD?” she asked me.

Then it all came together, I realized what happened to me, I remembered killing over a hundred zombies, I felt tired and hungry, very-very hungry. “Y-yes… it… it returned. The screams… the blood…” I muttered and closed the water. “It took away my… mind…” I looked at her and tried to smile. “Thank you, Olive.”

She smiled back, I could see that she was calming down from her previous upset state probably made by me. “Aw, come on. You have nothing to thank me for. Well, maybe the shower.” she said and chuckled. “I’ll get you a towel.” she told me and left me there momentarily.

This left me to wonder: How will I control this… this madness in me?

I felt like a whole new pony. Well, as much as I could, with the given circumstances. After getting dry and my clothes back… I had to realize that all of them were still wet.

Just my luck. Olive was prepping the ovens to make us some pizzas, so she put my clothes in them while preheating, effectively drying every piece.

Spotless and warm, I was glad I could get back in them. Clothed and hungry, I went in the kitchen, seeing this pale blue and rather short stallion sitting on a crate.

“Evening. I see you’re feelin’ better now.” he greeted me, standing up to shake hands with me.

“Yeah… thanks to you, guys.” I replied, trying to put my thoughts together about the last minutes I spent outside. It was still a bit of a blur.

“Will you look at that! You look good, Zephyr, free of all that… blood!” Olive exclaimed as she appeared from another part of the building. “Are you guys hungry?” she asked then. I just noticed that she was bringing a cardboard box with her, there was probably food ingredients in it?

“Yeh, I would love me some pizza, if you don’t mind, Miss.” this shorty was quicker than me to answer. “Guess ya have the same idea… Zephyr? Was it?” he asked me then.

“Yes, I do.” I replied shortly, then began to think. “Where are you from, Shorty?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled in response, shaking his head. “Haven’t hear anyone callin’ me ‘shorty’ for a long while. Just call me Box, a’right?” he asked back before answering my question. “I’m from Manehattan, I worked in her docks for a couple of decades. Then I just had to come to here two months ago. I could be on a ship by now, sailing to Zebrica…” He explained, sadly shaking his head.

~Black Olive~

Listening the boys talking about their backstories was quite interesting and took my mind off the horrors that were around us. Putting together a good, spiced up margherita pizza helped too. I created these cheesy circular disks of love with passion, this was what I lived for.

“Shit happens, pal.” Zephyr commented on Box’s story, patting his shoulder, then just like his short companion did, he found himself a couple of crates to sit on.

“How about you, Guard friend?” Box asked him, scratching the top of his head. “What were you doing till the apocalypse hit?”

“I was… I was working in the Trottingham Weather Control Office. I was the supervisor of weekly weather projects. Just paperwork. Mind numbing, if you ask me. But it paid well and kept my mind off of my past.” he explained. “Which found its way back to me, as you saw.”

“I’m sure you can keep it under control, Zephyr.” I told him, trying to reassure him. It didn’t really work.

“Wish that would be true. At one point I started taking meds to help it but even those didn’t do much.” he said, slowly shaking his head.

We continued to quietly chat about life and how this whole zombie apocalypse destroyed normality for us. We finished off our dinner and went on to chat before a noise caught our attention.

It was like a strange growl… a low screech? A howl? I couldn’t really place it.

“What was that?” Box asked worriedly, a terrified expression appearing on his face, even his ears drooped down in fear.

“Could be a zombie.” Zephyr answered his question, looking around, trying to locate the origin of the sound.

“We have been sitting in here for more than half a day, save for you, Zephyr. That didn’t sound like a zombie… they just growl.” I told him, frowning deeply.

“B-but what else could it be then?!” Box asked again, starting to panic.

“I don’t want to upset you even further, but I did hear of rumors about some kind of… things that came along with the zombies. Though they only moved at night. Which is even more upsetting, given that it’s night right now.” I explained, making my way to a small window above the ovens, climbing up on them to peek out.

“She’s right, I read about those… things too. Nopony seems to know what they are.” Zephyr supported me, standing up. He quickly grabbed his sword and put it on. “But I don’t want to get surprised by them.” he said as he armed himself.

“Oh, we are fucked, we are fucked!” Box began to panic, jumping up from where he was, pacing around like a trapped animal. Which he was, as it seemed. “I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die!” he half-yelled, losing control.

“You! Shut up!” Zeph yelled at him, making him stop for a few seconds.

But the thing that followed turned everything to the worse.

I saw something approaching the pizzeria. Then we heard it growl. It was a blood-curdling sound, and in fact, I was so frightened, I fell back, off the ovens…

Lucky for me, Zephyr had the reflexes to catch me.

“Gotcha. What did you see… Olive?” he asked me as he helped me on my hooves. Though I couldn’t help but notice a faint blush on his face.

“It was something black, it is very close, but whatever it is, it’s not a zombie!” I hurriedly explained. He could probably read my expression because even Zephyr began to slightly panic.

“O-okay, it can’t get in here, so we are safe. As long as we keep it quiet and… wait… where is Shorty?” we both began to panic as we realised that Short Box had become very quiet all of a sudden.

“Uhm…” I looked around, not really finding his pale blue hide anywhere.

Then we heard the tables and chairs that made up the barricade of the front door being moved, along with the noise of crying.

“Mother of Celestia, tell me he is not trying to escape!” Zephyr whispered wide-eyed, running to the lobby a moment later. But it was all too late.

“I don’t wanna- *sniff* -die, I don’t wanna!” Box cried as he unlocked the door and ran outside.

“Come back you fool!” Zephyr shouted after him, I was able to catch up with him, just to see… that… happening.

~Short Box~

I heard of those things, too. I read a newspaper with a photo of one of those things in it. they named it a ‘Shade’ for whatever reason. I knew what was coming for us! I had to escape!

They were busy talking, in each other's arms… pfah, and I thought I wanted to date this mare… but this was my window of escape! Unnoticed by them, I slipped out of the kitchen and made my way to the front door of the pizzeria.

“I won’t die here, nah, nope, I will live, I won’t die, I don’t wanna die!” I said to myself as I undid the barricade. The world became a bit blurry as I did it, I was really sweating, too.

The keys of the door, in my hand. I unlocked it and stepped outside just to hear this soldier guy yelling at me. But… something else was also there, making a noise.

I turned my head and saw a tall, black figure with disproportioned sized limbs. It saw me too.

I wanted to scream, but it jumped at me and-

~Black Olive~

IT RIPPED HIS HEAD OFF!

It ripped his head off, blood was all over everything! Zephyr… Zephyr locked the door and rebuilt the barricade as fast as he could…

I couldn’t do anything… I was just…. kneeling on the floor, unable to look away…

~Zephyr Verve~

I was too late. I couldn’t do anything. He doomed himself. But he bought me precious time to barricade away the entrance. That thing… whatever it was, it was doing something with the corpse of this coward for just long enough for me to finish my work.

I heard Olive scream when the shorty died. It took me some time to get used to see ponies die in such a manner. She was on the floor by the time I finished the barricade, just staring outside, her otherwise beautiful face now wet with her tears.

I quickly grabbed her and brought her in the back, closing, locking and blocking away all doors behind us. That thing seemed to follow us - or at least try - based on the sound of the front door being crashed and the barricade creaking under the big force the assaults of that thing made.

It lasted for about two minutes for it to break through. Then I heard it trash around the lobby. It probably wrecked everything there, trying to find us. Around five minutes passed until it lost interest… and just simply left from where it entered. I was able to tell because there was a peephole on the door to the kitchen.

All the while, I held Olive close to me. At one point she switched to tightly hug me. I didn’t blame her. Seeing someone being killed in such brutal way, it is traumatizing. When that thing left, I turned my head to look at her. She was still keeping her head on my chest, quietly sobbing.

“H-hey.. Olive? It’s gone. We’re safe.” I told her. “Y-you don’t have to… uh.. cry.” I said. Yes, I’m quite bad with comforting others. Nonetheless, it worked.

“You saved me.” she whispered, slowly moving her head to look up into my eyes. Oh, those heartbreakingly sad eyes.

“I did. But I couldn’t save… him.” I replied, sadly shaking my head.

“You did your best.” she whispered, hugging me tighter. We remained in each other's embrace for a while.

~Black Olive~

It was six hours since the death of Box. In this time, we were just… sitting around in the kitchen. Zephyr decided to clean and fix his equipment. He was working on some small device. When I asked him he told me that it can help us survive. I didn’t want to bother him anymore, so I just sat down next to him, trying to not think about how Box was beheaded.

Soon I found myself dozing off. It was late at night and I hadn’t slept since before the zombies came. But we heard the weird sounds of… more of those things roaming around the pizzeria. We heard some zombies too. But based on the lack of fighting noises, Zeph theorized that the zombies and the things ignored each other.

“Hey… Olive?” I heard him and felt him lightly shake me. Apparently I fell asleep on his shoulder.

“Hmm? Yeah?” was all I could say, rubbing my eyes from the sleepiness.

“The sun is coming up. You were asleep for a few hours.” he told me, running his fingers through my mane. “Those things went quiet since a while. Guess they don’t like the sun. It’s a good thing, I think.” he said, putting away his sword which was on his lap all along. He probably finished sharpening it a while ago.

“Oh. That’s… good for us. What should we do?” I asked him, standing up from our makeshift chairs, stretching my limbs. As I heard the satisfying little pops, Zephyr answered.

“I say we gather anything useful, then leave. I can cut through large amounts of zombies and even lift you up and away if need be.” he explained, standing up too. “This place isn’t safe anymore.”

So we moved.

15. Screaming

I came upon a sacred view along my way;

While walking through the woods one day,

Such calm & beauty gave me pause when it appeared like a dream;

While I beheld this enchanted woodland scene,

~A Woodland’s Charm - Jean Dament~

~Rainbow Dash~

So we got ourselves a new guy who was doubling as a bodyguard. Kinda pointless with Jaeger around if you ask me, but then again, we can’t leave a pony hanging. Then again… nah! Anyway-

“Where are we now?” I asked aloud. Trixie sighed in annoyance at my question. I had no clue why. I’d only asked like… seven times in the last minute.

“We’re still leaving the city. We’ve only passed an apartment building since you asked last time.” she replied. Why she pointed the building out, I didn’t know, but it certainly sounded interesting. I looked up at the building that she’d mentioned. It growled.

I found myself bumping into Jaeger. Ooh, that sturdy frame. It was like an earth pony with a horn.

“What the heck was that?” Twilight asked. I paid it little attention as I wrapped my arms around my roadblock.

“That’s a new sound to me.” Jaeger said, causing everypony to shiver. I got the feeling that maybe I should have been paying attention.

“I know what it is… everypony, run!” Zephyr replied.

Every pony kicked up their hooves and ran. I always did love a race.

~Jaeger~

I wasn't this guy's biggest fan at the time, but if he knew about this new kind of enemy, then I had little choice but to follow him. Having not tested my red magic against this new threat, there was always the possibility that it was immune, or at least resistant. That was not a chance I was willing to take with the others.

As we followed our newest addition to safety, a sickening howl filled our ears. The sound was disorientating and I was having difficulty getting my bearings. I looked behind me to find Scootaloo in worse shape than I was. She was clutching her ears and stumbling around like a blinded lamb. Steeling what little sense of direction remained in me, I turned back to help her. Luckily, she wasn't far. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in what I assumed was the opposite direction; toward the others.

As the howl died down and we began to get our bearings again, what I thought were the rest of the group were actually a small herd of zombies. Scootaloo and I both skidded to a halt and took a sharp left. Just as we picked up the pace, one of the storm drains burst open, the lid flying high into the air. Several Shades climbed out at once and immediately chased after us.

"Shit!!!" Scootaloo screamed. A responsible adult would have told her to watch her language. A responsible adult would be dead. Besides, I nearly said the same thing.

"Don't look back, just run!" I told her. Scootaloo bolted like a squirrel on speed. Her wings buzzing to give her that little bit of extra velocity.

~Twilight~

I saw Jaeger turn back for Scootaloo. I thought his red magic might give him some sort of resistance to the new zombie's howl. I didn't think to wait for him. As Zephyr led us to what we assumed was safety, I figured Jaeger was right behind, with Scootaloo in tow.

We ran and we ran, trying to escape the creature that posed the biggest threat so far.

It felt like hours, but was in fact only minutes before we reached a safe distance and our sense returned to normal. Zephyr led us into an abandoned apartment building and slammed the door behind us.

"Is every pony okay?" Zephyr asked. It was nice to have somepony who was experienced in battle and warfare on our side. Such experience could prove useful to our cause.

"I think so!" said Trixie. Every pony began sounding off, when we all realised something at once. Two were missing. Rainbow Dash was the first to address it.

"Where's Scootaloo? And Jaeger?" There was a pause for a long moment before Dash decided on a correct response to the situation.

"FFFUUUUUU-"

~Scootaloo~

I didn’t have to be asked twice to run. I’d seen first hand what those Shades were capable of. Stuck in Rainbow Dash’s cloud home, I had no choice but to look down on Ponyville and watch as the ponies I’d come to know and love were torn apart, devoured or carried away by these very monsters.

I was not about to become like them. I wanted to live; I wanted to see Sweetie Belle and Applebloom again. I wanted to live with Rainbow Dash and be awesome with her. And to do that, I had to follow Jaeger’s orders.

The Shades were on our tails, snarling and grunting all the while they were chasing us. I heard Jaeger’s hoof steps among those of the Shades. It gave me some relief to know that he was still with me. I knew that without him, My chances of surviving this were severely… non-existent.

I felt strong, warm arms wrap around me and immediately knew they were Jaeger’s. He lifted me up and picked up the pace. As he carried me, I looked up at his face. I’d hoped to see a confident smirk, like the stories tell you about. I’d hoped he wouldn’t show fear. As the leader of our group, he had to show confidence… right?

Jaeger showed neither of those options. amidst the panting and the growling that was often involved with carrying a filly while at the same time running away from a horde of zombies and monsters, he seemed calm. Emotionally, he seemed as though he were in the zone; like he was used to this.

I wondered to myself; ‘Who was this guy?’ Who was this pony we’d all placed our trust in? Sure, he was the one who’d saved my life, but he was so much more. He spoke of his friend, the guy who wanted to be a royal guard. But anything about him personally, only Twilight would know. Assuming he trusted her enough to tell her.

I looked behind us as he ran, trying to get a good look at what was following us. There were a few fast zombies. Not terribly fast, but fast enough to keep up with a jogger. Two Shades seemed to lead the charge, but that was only because they were faster than the main horde. But the one that caught my eye was a zombie like I’d never seen before.

Unlike the others, it kept up with us, running on its hands and legs. It’s mouth hung open as though it had a broken jaw, and it groaned a long, menacing groan. The voice was the same as the one that had caused us to go all dizzy. As I heard it suck in air, a thought occurred to me. If it let out that howl again, Jaeger would have no choice but to stop and get his bearings.

I reacted quickly, covering Jaeger’s ears. I was just in time. The howl sounded and I found myself unable to tell which way was up. I couldn’t even tell if I still had a hold on Jaeger’s ears. With no other options, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on something, anything.

After the howl had stopped, my ears were still ringing. I opened my eyes and took a moment for them to adjust. I immediately wished that I hadn’t opened my eyes. The howl of that one zombie had somehow rallied the rest, causing them to go from jogging speed to matching our own.

“They’re gaining on us!” I called out to Jaeger. If he’d replied, I couldn’t hear him. I grabbed his jacket and pulled myself closer to him, burying my head in his chest.

Author's Note

Here we go, everyone. A bit of a New Years Teaser. You can expect some major updates this year, not just to this story.

1. Survival

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

~The Raven - Edgar Alan Poe~

It's a wicked game, survival. You start out none the wiser, then everything turns upside down within an instant. The rules of the game that is life changes. Where you once fought to protect each other, now you fight to protect yourself, sometimes from those closest to you.

My world turned upside down two months ago, when an Archaeological team discovered an underground cavern. The cavern itself was not something to be feared. What lay waiting inside however, was. Monsters, the likes of which had never been recorded in the Equestrian Archives emerged. They took some, and they ate others. Those that were privy to neither fate like myself ran, hid and escaped.

I'll never forget the look on my friend's face as one of the monsters dragged him away. He broke his fingers trying to claw at the ground, desperate for escape.

Here I sat, in an old barn, its finish decayed due to lack of upkeep. The chipped paint still held a semblance of bright red. Overall, the barn, like the rest of the world, looked so sad. A barrel of rotting apples was my place of choice to rest. My back against the barrel, I sprawled my legs out to the side and leaned my head back, touching the metal frame that kept the wood together. I closed my eyes, for a few moments, letting the silence seep in. I didn't know where I'd found myself. Drifters didn't tend to check maps.

Amidst the breeze, there was a light whistling from the wind as it blew through the second floor window. Overall, rather peaceful for such a desolate place. But the feeling of danger never truly escaped my thoughts. The wind blew something into my face. I knew it was a piece of parchment before I even went to open my eyes. The sound was unmistakable. It was a note.

To anypony who reads this letter,

Something came up from underground just north of my home. My brother and Grandmother are gone. I don't know what's happened to them. It's just me and my sister now. I can hear screams from beyond the farm, and terrifying sounds the likes of which I'v never heard before. I don't think we're going to make it unless I can keep my sister quiet.

We have to get the hay out of Ponyville. I'm gonna take my sister and look for my friends as best I can. I can't take the sounds anymore, Oh Celestia, the sounds! I'm gonna look for Fluttershy first, if she hasn't already been taken, she's probably having a heart attack.

My name is Applejack. If you're reading this; get the buck out of Ponyville!

As I read the note, I heard a familiar groaning sound from outside. I knew exactly what it was. With a light sigh, I stood up and hurried over to the ladder, I climbed with haste and went to the nearest barrel I could find, hiding behind it. A few seconds later, the sound entered the barn. I just remained quiet and resumed my light slumber. The groaning sound did little to disturb me. I knew that they couldn't climb. They weren't smart enough. Nevertheless, I felt I should have taken the precaution regardless and hoisted the ladder up with me, out of reach of the creature below. I didn't dwell on the thought too much. Even now, there was such a thing as too much paranoia. I looked out the barn window and noticed that the sun was setting. They would emerge soon.

I awoke to the first sound. A terrifying cry of pain and malice. One of them was nearby. From the sound of things, it was at the house, across from the barn. It no doubt expected somepony to be resting there instead of here. Needless to say it would check the barn afterwards.

Using what time I had, I snuck a glance at the floor beneath me. The creature I'd climbed up the ladder to get away from had moved on. Fortune smiled upon me. I jumped down from the second floor and landed as quietly as possible. Sneaking out of the barn, I flashed a glance over at the house. I couldn't see it, but I heard it. It was inside. I understood how they worked. This one was a straggler, having stayed behind to examine what was here. The others would be in the town South of here. I crept as quietly as possible to the house and chose a spot beneath one of the windows to sit and wait. I heard it searching the place for somepony, like a bear searching for honey. I tucked myself into a ball and waited for it to be finished. Naturally, it would depart out the nearest window to the barn to save itself time.

It took only a few minutes before the sound of a window broke on the opposite side of the house. It was time for me to make my move. I rose from beneath my window and tested it. It was unlocked. Gently, I slid it open and hopped through, closing it afterward. I crept upstairs. The house seemed barely touched, even after it had been here. I picked a room to enter and found myself in a rather snug little bedroom. Everything was relatively tidy, there were no clothes hanging from objects, or on the floor. The bed was made. It looked like somepony still lived here, but I knew better than that. I walked over to the bed and sat down on it. I then leaned to the side and kicked up my legs, turning to lay flat on my back. My bones crackled, grateful for the release of stress. I stayed like that for a moment before turning to my side and curling up. I needed all the sleep I could get. Remaining awake through the screams of those things would serve me no purpose. And I'd recently gotten used to the sound, so it only woke me when it was within close proximity such as inside the house.

The sun shone through my face, waking me up. I used to hate the morning sun, but now it was a relief to wake up to. It meant that they were mostly gone and the danger had been divided considerably. I sat up on the bed and stretched myself, hearing nearly every bone in my upper body crackle with joy. A yawn escaped my maw and I was grateful for it. I heard nothing within the area, which was excellent news for me. Leaving the bedroom, I descended the stairs and made my way straight to the kitchen. I didn't expect to find much, but something was better than nothing.

Being an apple farm, the kitchen was expected to contain mostly apples. Fortunately, there were other things that often went with apple based foodstuffs. There must have been a foal living here as there were some long lasting sweets in storage. They were the first thing I saw. My teeth might not thank me, but my brain and taste buds certainly would.

It was as I sat down to eat that I heard something underneath the sink. I stopped what I was doing and looked cautiously over to it. The door rattled slightly as whatever was behind it pushed weakly against it. 'A rat maybe?' I thought, standing up to investigate. As I approached, a gentle whine reached my ears. It wasn't like the familiar groaning sound I'd grown accustomed to. Whatever was behind that door was still alive, if barely.

Steeling my resolve, I gripped the door with my hand and prepared my horn for attack. Throwing the door open, I spotted a disturbing sight. A brown and white Border Collie was laying on her side, her ribs sticking through her barely intact flesh. She was struggling to breathe. I knew instantly that she was close to her last legs. There was something about seeing animals like this that infuriated me. Ponies I was used to, but animals?

I removed my overcoat and wrapped it around the poor animal and pulled her out as gently as possible. Holding her in my arms, I remembered seeing some dog food in one of the pantry doors. Remaining gentle, I placed her down on the kitchen table and hurried over to the pantry. I spotted the dog food and used my magic to get it down from the top shelf. I grabbed the nearest bowl I could and filled it to the brim with the stuff. I took the bowl and its contents over to the dog and placed it next to her. She gave the bowl a light sniff, weakly lifting her head up to do so. She moved closer to take some, but her muscles failed her. I lifted her head for her and grabbed a piece of the food. I held it to her mouth, which she opened. It fell to the back of her throat. She didn't bother chewing it, she just swallowed.

That one bit of dog food was enough to give her survival instincts a kick start. I tilted the bowl towards her, proceeding to let some of it fall onto the table. She went for those first, each bit giving her just a little bit more strength. As I left her to her devices, I went to grab another bowl and took it to the sink. Turning the tap, it let out maybe a cup full of water before it stopped. That had to do. I brought the bowl of water over to the dog and placed it next to the food bowl.

It was a slow process, watching the dog eat and helping her to drink. But in the end, she was feeling a little better. It would take a few hours before she was up to scratch, but at least she was out of the red. This meant that my stay in this town was extended slightly.

"Why don't you come with me? I always wanted a dog." I suggested. The dog responded with an affectionate lick against the back of my hand. "Attagirl."

It was several hours before my new travelling companion was well enough to walk. But even with what I fed her, she wouldn't be able to walk far. That left us with one option. To explore the town downhill and find a safe place to sleep. We had about five good hours of daylight left.

The walk into town went by fairly well. There were loud groans in the distance, but we went by virtually unnoticed. It wasn't until the dog barked at a tree that I turned to look at it.

"Golden Oaks Library? You know this place?" I asked. The dog simply responded with a bark and proceeded towards the front door. With a shrug, I followed her, opening the door with caution. Taking a few quiet steps inside, I was reassured that the place was empty. Even if it wasn't anything inside wouldn't be able to catch up to us. I closed the door behind me and looked around. The place was a mess. Books were missing from their shelves, some of which could be found on the ground. I noticed a particularly clean book on a nearby table and went to examine it.

Picking the book up, I examined the cover. It held the seal of Princess Celestia herself. Curiosity got to me and I opened it up. Inside were numerous entries written to Celestia like a diary. All had something in common besides to whom the entries were for and the handwriting. The one who wrote them was none other than...

"Twilight Sparkle?" I said aloud, after which I heard something shuffle from behind me. I turned around and caught the sight of a pony. She was easy on the eyes, despite her state. Her deep purple mane was messier than an unsorted bale of hay. Her violet coat was ruffled, her clothes were torn in various places, some slightly revealing. And she had the most paranoid look in her bloodshot eyes. The dog just stood beside me and wagged her tail happily at the mare.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my Friendship Journal?!" the mare demanded.

Author's Note

So this is the first chapter. Here's what he's wearing.

Pants:

Shirt:

Jacket:

Overcoat:

11. Ruin

Like rising mist the night increases soon
Round shattered palaces, ere yet the moon

~A Dead City - Clark Ashton Smith~

~Zephyr~

I looked down from one of the taller buildings at the streets below. Thank Celestia that the dead couldn't fly. My trusty binoculars were a great help in situations such as these. The concentration of dead was unusually high today, almost as if they could sense something was on the way. But I knew better. Zombies were mindless creatures, save for some of the big ones, and those speedy little shits.

It didn't seem like anypony still alive was in danger today so I leaned back from the edge of the building and sat down by my equipment, checking over my inventory:

1X Electrified Short Sword (ESS)... Check!

1X Personal Shield Generator (PSG)... Check!

1X Basic Survival Kit... Check!

1X Binoculars... Check!

X Food... Check!

1X Canteen... Check!

With the Camouflaged Scout Armor equipped to my body, I was literally prepared for the Apocalypse. Good thing too, given what was happening below.

As I began to relax, a banging from nearby caught my attention. I was on the roof of the building, and somepony, or rather something was trying to get me. With a sigh, I gathered my things and prepared to take flight to the next vacant building. I walked past the roof access building, smiling as their next meal was just out of reach.

The next thing, I knew, the door burst open behind me and a couple of fast ones began running after me. The adrenaline flowing through me sent me bolting for the building's edge. I could outrun these ones easily, but I chose to keep them close enough to keep running after me. As I spread my wings and leapt off the building, a few of them fell over the edge to their permanent deaths, as was my intention. I circled the building a couple of times, confused by the sheer amount of zombies filing through the one little doorway to the roof.

"How do you bastards keep sneaking in?" I ask them, not expecting any form of answer. I'd checked the building earlier for any undead. It contained the odd zombie here and there, but not a horde. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. I was meticulous about making sure no others could even get into the building, but somehow, they managed. I'd been searching around the buildings with my binoculars for any entrances I'd overlooked. Nothing.

I was nearing the edge of the city when I spotted something very interesting.

~Pinkie?~

Trottingham, the second biggest city in Equestria, short of Manehattan. I still wonder how I got here. I was still cautious around the others, believing them to be figments of my imagination. I wish I could believe them completely, but the only way for me to know for sure was for somepony to die. I'd always see the truth then, but I restrained myself. From what Twilight had told me, they'd nearly dealt with the death of Scootaloo were it not for Jaeger.

If anything, Jaeger was proof towards them being the real deal. After all, why would I imagine somepony I'd never met before? Then there was Trixie. I just didn't know anymore. All I could do was keep my guard up.

"Why are we even here? I've read enough zombie books to know that cities are like nesting grounds for these things. They'll be everywhere." I asked, staring out at the city below.

"Because Applejack said she'd be looking for Rarity's parents here, and that she had family here herself." Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, and then they were headed to Manehattan after that. If we're going to go into a large city, why not just skip to the biggest one?"

Jaeger was the one to answer this time. Even though I didn't believe he was real, there was something else about him that unnerved me. He spoke and acted like he didn't care about much, but the words suggested the exact opposite. "Because what if they didn't make it to Manehattan? What if they were still alive, but unable to escape the city because of the sheer numbers?" he asked me. I couldn't argue with that logic. "We'd wind up having to go through two cities anyway." he added.

I sighed and shrugged my approval. As we went on, I spotted something in the sky. "Looks like somepony's alive in there." I said, earning their attention once again. As I was about to point the pony out to them, they disappeared behind the buildings. "Pegasus... flying around over there." I pointed to where I saw the pony disappear.

"I'll fly over and check it out." Twilight said, spreading her wings.

"Take Rainbow with you. If they're hostile, you'll want speed on your side." Jaeger replied. And with that, both Twilight and Rainbow took to the skies, matching each others' speed.

~Zephyr~

Other ponies. There were other ponies! And they were coming here? How stupid could you get?! I landed on a building that could serve to hide me well from them. Taking out my binoculars, I scanned the area for them and found four ponies, a baby dragon, a dog and a zebra. They seemed ill equipped to handle anything, let alone a zombie infested city.

"Those fools are going to get themselves killed if they come here!" I growled to myself.

"Then perhaps it would best suit us to have a guide." a voice said from behind. In a flash, I'd reached for my bag and drawn my ESS, pointing it at my potential enemies. However, upon seeing who they were, I faltered. How could she be here?

"P-Princess... Twilight? H-how..."

Princess Twilight raised her hand to silence me and stepped forward. "I've been absent from this chaos for a while. What's your name?" she asked. My military training kicked in as I stood at attention and saluted at the Princess.

"Sgt. Zephyr Verve, Princess. Honorably discharged with rank intact. It's an honour to meet you, Princess. But I thought all the Princesses were defending Canterlot and the Crystal Empire." I said.

"As I said, Sargeant; I've been absent over the period of this chaos. My friend here is Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. We're on a mission to find the remaining Element bearers; Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. We know they're together, but they may be here in the city. Report." Twilight said, using her rank as Princess to siphon as much information out of me as possible. I was happy to tell her, of course.

"Princess, the city is lost. None but myself still live within the city. If the Element bearers are still in the city, it's highly likely that they are... no longer alive." I said, treading lightly with that last part. I could tell by her face that she didn't want to hear that. Princess Twilight was still new, and as such did not possess the poker face, Princess Celestia did.

"Rainbow, tell the others to wait outside the city while Zephyr and I go to the addresses AJ left us." the Princess commanded.

"Jaeger won't like that, Twi. I'll bet you anything he'll bring up what happened in Apple Loosa." Rainbow Dash said.

The Princess just chuckled. "Tell him to wait an hour, then come looking for me. We should be back before then."

"I'm sorry. We?" I asked.

"Of course. I'm hardly going to leave a pony behind in a city of zombies."

~Jaeger~

"Tell me about this Zephyr guy." I said, uncomfortable with the situation we'd found ourselves in.

"Pegasus, blue mane, tan coat, retired Royal guard... kinda dreamy. I don't know, he was alive. What do you want from me?" Rainbow asked, walking away. I gave her a deadpan look as I turned back towards the city, looking for any sign of Twilight or the other guy.

"Sounds like somepony's jealous." Rainbow teased, earning a giggle from Pinkie before she clamped up. I fought the urge to just up and leave them there. The fact was, I was worried, not jealous. What if this Zephyr was lying? It'd be fairly easy to steal military equipment from a dead guard.

"They've got forty-five minutes. It shouldn't take them more than a few minutes to fly between addresses." I said.

"Twilight said to wait for an hour." Rainbow said.

"And I'm saying no. If you want to wait longer, then stay here."

Rainbow came up beside me and bumped my arm. "You just don't want them being friendly with each other." she teased again. I turned to her and looked her in the eye. I said nothing and just stared at her. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see her ears splaying back and noticed her cringe away at my gaze. "Uh... I'm just gonna sit over there with Scootaloo." she said, escaping the stare as she scurried away. I looked back to the city, silently warning this Zephyr that if he did anything that did not seem right to him, he would pay.

~Zephyr~

I shivered as a feeling crept up on me. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like I was in danger. Princess Twilight noticed this and addressed the issue.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm fine, your highness. Just got a chill, is all." I said, hoping to reassure her. "If you're sure... Ah, there's the address." she said, pointing to a building. A very familiar building.

"Crap!" I said as I flew upward to the roof of the building. Sure enough, it was the same one I'd come from earlier. I returned to Princess Twilight who was flying just above anypony's ability to reach her from the ground. "The building's swarming with zombies, Princess. There's no way we can get in there." I said.

"Let's try the windows, then." she said, flying ahead. I sighed as I steeled myself and followed behind. The Princess somehow had found the window she was looking for and had opened it with ease, hovering through and landing gently on the ground. I followed suit, but despite my armour being light, I made a small sound. Whether it was enough to alert the zombies, I didn't know.

"We should keep the window open in case we need to make a quick escape." I whispered, to which she simply nodded. As the Princess began her search for her friends, which I highly doubted were in here, I snuck a peek through the door's peephole. A single zombie was drudging by. It stopped and turned towards me, staring through the peephole as well. I knew it wouldn't be able to see anything, but it was still unnerving.

As if that wasn't enough, the bastard started groaning and a second zombie appeared out of nowhere as the first one moved back. A third was waddling into view, each one stopping in front of the door. I'd have thought they knew we were in here, if it weren't for the fact that only the first one was looking towards me.

"Found it." Princess Twilight whispered. I nearly turned around, but experience had taught me not to turn my back on a zombie, even if it was behind a door. I didn't notice any difference in its behaviour, and I gently began to retreat. I turned around, almost knocking into the Princess. She didn't seem to notice and showed me the note.

Dear Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie,

If you're reading this then you've made it this far. A part of me hopes that you've given up on us, just so you won't try and come here. Zombies are everywhere, and what's worse, the monsters that caused all this don't even wait until night time here. The buildings shield them from the sun well enough that they don't mind anything short of noon. Luckily, Rarity's parents had come here to meet up with us. They say they figured we'd be coming to get family members, so they kept together. We're going to make our way to Manehattan next. At this rate, I can only hope that you've either given up, or that you actually make it out of here alive.

The stress is getting to us. Fluttershy won't stop crying and Rarity tries to stop her, but is just adding fuel to the fire. Little Strongheart is still mourning Braeburn's death, as are Applebloom and me. We're at our rope's end, girls. We might snap by the time we reach Manehattan. I hope to see you all again.

Love,

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Little Strongheart and family.

I noticed the tear stains around the note. I felt for them, I really did. "We should get back." I said, earning a nod from Princess Twilight.

All of a sudden, the door to the hallway caved in and a swarm of zombies came in, all scrambling to get to us. Princess Twilight screamed and ran for the window. I was tempted to follow her, but I saw an opportunity. I drew my ESS and smiled, stabbing a zombie through the head. The electricity arced out and sent all the others into spasmodic fits. This would buy me enough time to fly out.

I'd spoken too soon. I'd overlooked one of the more important parts of Applejack's note. One of the nocturnal monsters stood behind the mass of flinching zombies and kicked them out of the way. The spray of growling and twitching corpses knocked me over and I scurried to run away. I dove through the window, but felt claws clip one of my wings. A surge of pain went through my body stemming from my ripped wing. I fell towards the ground, believing this to be my end.

But the end didn't come. I could still feel pain. I could still breathe. I could still feel wind through my mane and arms around my torso. I opened my eyes and looked up at my saviour.

"Princess Twilight?!" I gasped, stupefied. She'd caught me just in the nick of time.

"I've got you, Zephyr. Don't worry. We're going to be fine." she said, reassuring me. I'd heard that from a lot of ponies since the attack. I'd been in groups of survivors from the initial attack on the city, and the leaders had said the exact same thing. That we'd be alright. But Princess Twilight was the first one I believed.

"Thank you, Princess. I owe you my life." I said.

"In that case, how would you like to return to active duty? My friends and I could use somepony to protect us. In turn, we'll protect you too." she offered. I smiled and closed my eyes as I let her take me to what I assumed was the rest of her group.

"I'd like that very much." I said, smiling.

~Twilight~

"Well at least we know he's not a bandit pretending to be a guard." Jaeger said as I explained the situation to the others.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

Jaeger held a much colder look than usual. I knew he wouldn't like me going off alone, especially after what had happened in Apple Loosa, but I wasn't expecting this. "I told you when we met, Twilight. The world you knew doesn't exist anymore. Love and tolerance have gone out the window and have been replaced by war and deceit. You can't be so trusting. There will come a time when we run across another pony and he'll spin a similar story, and it'll turn out to be a lie."

"That doesn't mean I should abandon somepony when they need me. If the world truly has been changed, then it's up to me to preserve what I can of it; through me, if need be." I said, defending myself.

"It serves no purpose. Suppose we actually manage to defeat the Shades. Even if you try to restore things to the way they were before, things will never be the same, because we've tempted fate and it's finally snapped us in the ass." he scolded.

"Don't speak to the Princess like that!" Zephyr came to my defence.

"You, shut up and sit down. You're not going to get any better if Zecora can't help you." Jaeger commanded. Despite him being the superior officer, or an officer in general, Zephyr obeyed. Zecora had gathered a few nearby herbs and mashed them together to form some sort of paste which she was rubbing onto the open wounds the Shade had left on Zephyr.

"Look, I'm sorry for making you worry. I didn't know about the Shades being awake during the day here. But I figured that it'd be better than all of us going and getting ourselves killed. If we'd all gone, not all of us would have made it out of that apartment alive." I said, trying to defuse the situation. Jaeger just sighed and pinched the bridge between his eyes.

"You're right, I know. It's just that... You're not used to this stuff yet. I am. It'd be a lot better for us if I went as well. I'd have been able to handle the Shade that clipped Zephyr's wing. I just worry about you." he said. I smiled at him and chuckled. Taking his hand, I pulled him closer to me and wrapped my arms around him.

"You're just a big softy, aren't you?" I asked.

He just chuckled and leaned down to kiss me. I accepted it with gratitude. "Is that such a bad thing?" he asked.

~Trixie~

As I watched a heated argument turn into foreplay, I groaned inwardly and drew my attention to our new traveling partner. I sat down beside him as Zecora worked on his wing.

"So then, what's your story?" I asked. The one called Zephyr looked at me with interest painted on his face.

"What do you wanna know?" he asked in turn.

I thought about the question. "Why'd you stay in the city for so long? With zombies and Shades roaming the streets, it's not exactly paradise." I asked.

"The city's a big place. At first, I stayed to help others escape the death and destruction. Afterwards, I remained to help any stragglers that may have hidden, waiting for the heat to die down. Lately, I just remained behind out of sheer curiosity." he said.

That last part caught my attention most, as well as the attention of the others. "What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, the last two weeks, I've been camping out on building rooftops. After sealing off all entrances into the building, I killed off what was inside. But somehow, without even opening the doors, every building I've gone into has erupted with swarms of zombies coming seemingly from out of nowhere. I didn't know about the monsters, or Shades as you call them. I've only ever seen them at night. Applejack's message was news to me. It didn't even register to me until I saw the one that did this by the door. But that'd explain how the zombies are getting in." he replied.

"So would subterranean aqueduct entrances in the basements of every building in Trottingham." Jaeger replied. Zephyr stared at him for a moment, seemingly thinking that one over.

"Crap!" he said, realising that if that were the case, it wouldn't be such a mystery as to how the zombies got inside. "Well, there's two weeks well wasted." he sighed in resignation.

"I'm curious about your weapons. They're not standard issue equipment for the Royal Guard." Twilight said.

Zephyr drew his short sword and presented it to Twilight. The blade crackled with magical electricity. "The Royal Guard is divided into two factions. The interior guard and the Exterior." he began.

"The Interior guard span the major towns and cities of Equestria, while the Exterior handle the bordering towns and beyond. They're about as different as security guards and hardened military soldiers." Jaeger said. Zephyr nodded in confirmation.

"Right. The interior are the guards you're used to seeing. They usually roam the castle or the streets of Canterlot. Their real goal is to protect Princess Celestia as well as preserve the peace. The Exterior guard are more aggressive in nature. We represent the true might of the Equestrian people. You could say that the Interior act as a shield, while we of the exterior are the sword."

"Is this a PSG Mk. I?" Jaeger asked, holding a strange looking device out to Zephyr.

"Yes. When I was honorably discharged from service due to my PTSD, I was allowed to keep both my rank and my equipment from my last mission. Can I ask how you know as much as you do about the Exterior guard?" he replied.

"A friend of mine from before the fall of Equestria was an enthusiast. His dream was to be a Royal Guard. Some of his ravings stuck." Jaeger replied, pointing to his head. It wasn't like last time. Jaeger didn't speak with emotion. He was as cold and calculating as ever. I knew he was simply showing no weakness in front of our new friend. It seemed that to Jaeger, trust must be earned. He didn't even fully trust Zecora and it had been the better part of a week since she'd joined.

"Tell me more of this PTSD." Jaeger pressed. Zephyr froze, but took a moment to compose himself.

"My last mission had me and my team going after a rogue group of bandits. We had them cornered, but there were more than our intel had suggested. It was a battle of skill versus numbers. Neither side truly won. Only the bandit leader and myself survived. I'd lost my entire team that day, as well as my best friend. As a result, I began to freeze up during recovery training. To say my superiors noticed was an understatement; I was sent to a psychologist who diagnosed me with PTSD. I can overcome it, but I require somepony to give me a good slap. But the Superiors didn't want to take the chance with me, so I was honorably discharged, as I said before." he replied.

There was silence all around for a few moments before Jaeger spoke up again. "Well we won't hold your condition against you. I'll gladly give you a slap if needed." he said, grinning as he rose to his hooves, handing Zephyr the PSG.

"No doubt." Zephyr replied.

Author's Note

Big thanks to Zephyr who allowed me to use his OC.