No one ever saw this end coming...it came as quickly as freak storm, but it has been long lasting. No one knows if we will survive...so many have given up hope, and even more have fallen into the grasp of the virus that now infects our once thriving society. We are powerless against it, so we are traveling the land and sea to try and find an end to all of it. We all know the journey will be long, dangerous, and full of pain and loss, but we have to find a way to end this suffering...even if it means our lives...
Run. The solitary thought running through Rarity's mind. She had to get back to the camp, it was either that or become a monster like everyone else. They were in too great numbers for her to try and fight alone, and she couldn't let them hurt Sweetie Belle, who was running right next to her.
"R-rarity...I'm getting tired...I can't keep running..."
Rarity turned her head to see her sister slowly falling behind, gasping for breath and her eyes drooping. Rarity tried to tell Sweetie to keep going, that they were almost at the camp, but her throat was raw and she couldn't make a sound. She tried to keep her eyes focused on her sister as she slowed down a bit, but as soon as Rarity was almost next to her, Sweetie Belle tripped. Rarity's legs kept pounding into the ground, pushing her forward until she forced her brain to stop her legs from carrying her farther from her sister. Turning, she gasped, both from the loss of breath, and from seeing the monsters closing in on her poor sister. She tried to move towards Sweetie, but her entire body collapsed in exhaustion. The hideous beasts staggered towards her sister, and there was nothing Rarity could do to stop them. One of them drew close and sunk its cracked, sharp teeth into the young unicorn's flank, and Sweetie cried out in pure agony, blood running down her hind leg in a quick flow. The other sickly creatures moved in closer to her, their mouths salivating, and all Rarity could do was watch as they looked at her defenseless sister with those frightening and dead eyes, devoid of any sign of life except for hunger and destruction. Her eyes shifted to Sweetie Belle, and the two unicorns met each other's eyes, and Rarity wished she never did. Staring at her beloved younger sister, she saw her eyes go from once bright and full of happiness and light, to dead and cold like all the other monster's eyes were. Sweetie's body began to take on a sickly pale color, and Rarity let out a heart-wrenching scream of anguish at losing her younger sister whom she loved so much to the virus that had overtaken Equestria.
Just as the zombies turned to her, Rarity could her a voice calling to her quietly, but getting progressively louder.
"Rarity! Come on Rarity, get up!"
The next thing the white unicorn mare knew, she was jolted awake from Sweetie Belle pushing her and yelling in her ear. She quickly sat up in her sleeping bag, looking around to see that she was inside the tent that had been her home for multiple weeks now. She turned to her younger sister and looked at her, tears running down her face.
"S-sweetie Belle?! Oh my goodness you're okay!" She exclaimed.
"Well of course I'm okay, I was sleeping until I heard you scream and whimper in your sleep. Did you have another bad dream?"
"Who isn't having bad dreams right now, darling? They are as common as black flies."
"Ugh don't even get me started on those black flies," Sweetie moaned in exasperation. "They are more annoying than anything!" She exclaimed, flopping down onto her sleeping bag. "You can't go two steps without running into a whole swarm of them."
Rarity smiled wryly. What her sister said had been partially true, the black flies that had come with the virus had been exceptionally bad because of their desire to feast on the rotted flesh of the zombies that now plagued the once beautiful land. But more than anything, the varying temperatures were what could be the worst. Some days were incredibly overbearing with how scorching they were, and then the next day it would be frigidly cold, almost freezing everyone to an icicle. Princess Celestia and Luna's powers had been severely decreased after the virus had struck the land. The magic that was once located in the air was almost depleted, and once it was the magic inside the four pony races would also fade into nothing. A unicorn's ability to use even simple spells would be almost gone, depending on how magically talented he or she was in the first place, a pegasi's power to soar high into the sky would fade, and an earth pony's strength would become weakened.
Rarity shook these worries from her mind, focusing on her sister who was staring at the top of their tent.
"Well, shall we go outside to see what has been prepared for breakfast?" Rarity suggested.
"I guess," Sweetie responded, sighing a bit. "There hasn't been much to eat lately."
"I know, darling, but we can at least go see."
The mare and filly stood up and made their way out of the tent, welcomed by the more moderately cool temperatures. Rarity looked around, seeing quite a few ponies already up and moving. Rainbow Dash, of course, was not present, most likely still sleeping, and Scootaloo was probably with her, but her other friends, including Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Derpy Hooves, Dinky Doo, and a few others were going about daily tasks. Apple Bloom was assisting Applejack with making what appeared to be some type of stew, Twilight and Pinkie were looking at a map that had been created, and Derpy, Dinky, and Fluttershy were passing out bowls to the ponies waiting for breakfast to be finished.
"Good morning, Applejack, what's on the menu for breakfast today?" Rarity said, trotting over to AJ and Apple Bloom.
"Nothin' much, really. We've got a stew goin' made of some boiled water, dried grass, tree bark, some leftover dried fruit, and some leaves from a tree that RD collected for us," Applejack replied.
"Well, that certainly sounds like an interesting mix. Did you make sure to clean everything this time?" Rarity said, arching her eyes.
AJ gave her a slight glare, saying with a bit of a defensive tone, "that was a one time thing. We have cleaned all items we use for food ever since that lil'...incident."
Rarity stared back at her, remembering that the "incident" was not little at all. After forgetting to wash the materials used for making and cooking the food, and even the food itself, many of the ponies had come down with a rather bad case of projectile vomiting every few minutes because of bugs that had invaded their supplies. Not the most pleasant thing to be around. Rarity was still happy that she had skipped that meal.
"As long as everything is as cleaned as it can be then I will gladly have some of your homemade stew," Rarity responded.
Applejack shook her head a bit, giving off a bit of a chuckle at how picky Rarity still could be, even in the midst of a worldwide apocalypse.
"Go grab yerself a bowl then, fussy pants," AJ said, giving her a bit of a smug look.
"Hmph!" Rarity exclaimed, turning her nose up a bit and walking away with her legs held high. "You cannot blame lady for wanting to at least be able to eat without losing her breakfast."
The orange farm pony stared at Rarity prancing away, still chuckling at her attitude that she was able to maintain through all of this devastation.
