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: