Fading Light

Chapters

1: Scarcely Incandescent
2: The Way It Works
3: Picking the Bones
4: Tainted
5: Cold
6: A Band of Misfits

1: Scarcely Incandescent

In normal circumstances, the day would be considered beautiful to the average person who can enjoy scenery. The sun shined overhead like a bright, warm blanket, reflecting off softly from everything it touched. The breeze whispered over the delicate grass that painted the area with a calm green. Tiny clouds dotted the bright ocean of a sky in various places. To the imaginative observer, it would be a normal day that would be compared to the most peaceful places to be at.

But this is not normal circumstances.

Out in these once beautiful to notice fields stood an abandoned house. It was decent, with a few exterior paint chippings that had aged in time. The house was a perfect place to scavenge for supplies. It was essentially a lucky break for anyone who decided to venture out in the field. One lone man was lucky enough to find it. He was hooded and masked to conceal his identity and to keep some extra warmth from the brisk winter breezes that violently smashed against his face. He paced himself towards the house. He didn’t want to waste his energy by running with a rucksack full of heavy equipment. He lifted his sidearm carefully from the holster as he approach the wooden door. He walked up the steps to the porch very cautiously. He wasn’t exactly in the quietest state. The metal silverware and tools smashed against the plastic first aid kit boxes inside of his rucksack. The two rifles strapped on his back bounced at every step he took, no matter how small they were. The brass spikes of ammunition rattled in the boxes that were stuffed his pockets. He reached the knob with his left hand, squeezing the handle of his silver revolver. He gently pushed open the door. It opened with a moderate scraping as the wood from the door slid on the floor.

The interior of the house was dusty to say the least. The sunlight pierced through intact windows, revealing the usually invisible shroud of dust particles in the air. He thanked himself for wearing a mask, otherwise he would’ve have been coughing violently. The first thing he did was make sure the house was empty. He checked every room (He thanked God that it was a one story house). After searching at every place that could be possibly used by a human being, he made his way to the kitchen. He placed his eyes on the fridge, swiftly approaching it with hunger. He was disappointed when he saw no contents in it.

“Damn," he muttered to no one in particular. He slammed the door in disappointment as he raided the rest of the kitchen. He considered himself lucky that there were not one, but two large tins of beans. They both were labelled: family sized. He took them both out and placed them on a counter table. He carefully placed his rucksack and took a tin opener along with a fork. After opening with tremendous speed, he immediately stuffed the cold, flavourless beans down his throat. He left half of the tin empty, and placed the other one down his bag for later use. His senses kicked in once he heard the door creak open in the first room. Instinctively, he gripped the handle of his revolver with a twitching finger next to the trigger. He quietly took cover beside the doorway that led to the main hallway. Whoever was in the house must have been in the hallway by then. He took a silent breath, and turned around the doorway, placing the sights on his target. He withdrew once he recognized his presumed assailant.

“God, Cody, you scared the hell out of me!” he yelled with both relief and anger. The one he knew as Cody unmasked himself, revealing his rough, dirty blonde hair and dirt patched face.

“Heh, sorry, man," he said nonchalantly. He clicked his tongue. “Come here, Anya," he spoke sweetly to someone behind him. He knelt down as a German Sheppard came up to him. He laughed playfully as he pet the dog.

“I thought I told you to watch the tree line.”

“I was.” He smiled. “I guess my stomach dictated my actions this time around.” He scratched the back of his head. “Did you find anything, John?” He asked as he continued to pet Anya, who in return, licked him forcefully. John handed him the opened tin of beans.

“Dig in," he said gruffly, partially spitting the miniscule amount of dust that entered his mouth. “There is another tin in the bag,” he sighed “which means we’re still low on food," he said as Cody was busy stuffing himself. Cody seem like he finished. He dumped the rest of the contents on the floor, allowing Anya to have a meal as well.

“There you go, girl.” He scratched behind her ear. It folded a little in response. “So… what are we going to do now?” He hooded himself once more, pulling the cloth facemask over his mouth. John sighed deeply.

“I guess we have to go into town and find a convenience store.” He slid down the wall next to his friend, petting the dog while she continued eating.

“But the town is full of those… things. There is a reason why no one has looted the damn place," Cody argued.

“Better to die quickly from those things than to die from starvation," John muttered darkly. “If we’re lucky, we’ll probably find a petrol station” He got up to get his gear from the kitchen.

“Are you done, Anya? We got to get ready to go.” Anya barked in response, almost intelligently. Cody stood up to check on John. John finished strapping the bag on top of his back.

“Right… are we ready?”

“All set.” Cody smiled with one thumb up for emphasis. John nodded and they all walked out of the empty home.

“You would think the family that left this place would take everything would you?” John mused.

“What makes you think the family took stuff in the first place?” Cody asked, with Anya right by his side.

“There aren’t any sentimental decorations. No family pictures, no trophies that their kids earned, there isn’t even any knickers. Yet they conveniently left two tins of beans.”

“You were looking for knickers?”

“No… I uh… just noticed that there wasn’t any when I raided the dressers” John corrected. His face flared red a bit. Cody laughed.

“Oh, good-ol’ John, my friend who raids houses for female undergarments!” Cody said, laughing even harder.

“Oh, shut up," John said with defeat, blood warming up his face. “Where did you park the car?” He asked cautiously.

“It should be in the forest. I’ll know exactly where when we get in it," Cody assured.

“It better be," John deadpanned. They trekked into the trees. It took them a while before they found the battered coup.

“Ah, see? I told you. I never lose place of my parking!" After a silent chuckle, Cody opened the back door for Anya to get in. “Good girl," Cody praised sweetly before closing the door. John placed his bag in the opened trunk along with Cody’s. He entered the passenger seat and unfolded a map he received from the glove box. Cody soon entered and placed the keys in the ignition. “So… where to?” John placed a finger to somewhere in the Netherlands.

“We’re here, so our next stop is… here.” He traced his finger to his intended destination. “Essen. After we resupply, we’ll continue to travel to Berlin.” He folded the map with care and returned it to the glove box.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Cody started up the engine. He carefully navigated the forest, avoiding the trees all around him. John stroked the happily panting dog behind him while removing his face wear, letting his unkempt, spiky hair roam free. They soon made it to the motorway into Germany’s borders.

After about an hour on the road, the only things they came across were abandoned vehicles.

“How long till we get there?” Cody asked almost impatiently. John sighed since he was interrupted from his nap.

“It would take a couple of hours at least," John replied tiredly.

“Hey, wake up. If I can’t sleep you can’t either.” Cody shook John with his free hand.

“Ugh, fine. I’m up, are you happy now?”

“Perfectly content," Cody replied smugly. He eyes took a notice of something in the distance. “Well, just our luck. There’s a station right there, with a shop!”

“Really?” John rubbed the tiredness. “Well how convenient," John said sarcastically. “You do realize that with our luck, something bad is going to happen, right?”

“We won’t know unless we try, won’t we?” Cody smiled.

“Fine… let’s do it.” He readied his revolver. “But if there are any ghouls, it’s your fault.” The car turned towards the parking lot and halted next to a pump. The two left the car, immediately checking their surroundings to make sure they were safe. Cody checked the pump next to the car before letting Anya out.

“Damn. This one is empty” Cody remarked. He checked the other one while John continued to scan the area. “This one is empty too. Well, bollocks!” He cursed in frustration. Something out of the corner of John’s eye seemed to stand out. Next to the shop building, stood a whole gasoline tank carried by semi-trucks.

“Cody, check the tank.” Cody turned around to where John was tilting his head at. He took a Jerrycan from the back of the car and jogged towards the tank. Anya followed her owner with a wagging tail. He smiled once he pulled the plug.

“We have fuel!” He shouted excitedly. “I told you we would be lucky this time!”

“Yeah yeah, just fill up the tank.” He took a look at the store. All the windows were boarded up, concealing what was inside. “I’m going to take a look in the shop.”

“Yep, you go ahead," Cody replied, not paying attention to John as he approached the door. Anya started the growl lowly. He ears folded back and she showed her teeth. Cody noticed her. “What’s wrong, girl?” He plugged the tank, and placed the now full Jerrycan down. He grabbed his silenced pistol and scanned the area for Anya’s suspicion.

A tired Rainbow Dash woke up from what seemed like a very long sleep. Before becoming fully conscious, her head already started throbbing with pain.
Ugh. What happened last night? She thought as she rubbed her head with a hoof. It took her a while to notice her surroundings. It was very dark, albeit the tiny streams of sunlight that penetrated the boarded windows.

Wait a minute… why are they boarded up? She was still tired, but she managed to stand on her hooves. She noticed the floors weren’t familiar either. They were made out of some type of smooth stone, kind of how some of the uncarpeted floors in Canterlot were made. From the tiny specks of light she received, she managed to make out that she was surrounded by boxes from three sides. It was still roomy enough, however.

Okay, where am I, and why is it so dark? She moaned in pain as she rubbed her throbbing head again. "Ugh… hangovers suck." There was a low menacing growl somewhere far too close to her. She jumped in fear. It wasn’t a manticore’s growl, or an ursa majors’s, or even a dragon’s. It was something much worse. Rainbow Dash was definitely not a pony who could be scared easily, but this creature’s sound chilled her to the bone.
“W-who’s there?” She asked, meaning to sound tougher than how it came out. It growled again, but this time closer. Dash almost started shaking with absolute terror. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see more than ten centimetres in front of her. Then, out of the darkness, she heard it.

SLLLLIIiiiiide…

THUMP!!

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

The steps were heavy, and it wasn’t any hoof or paw. She was terrified. She couldn’t even think. After a few painfully slow seconds, she saw it. It was a bipedal… thing. Its back was arched, and it was very skinny. She could barely make out any features of it.

Then it stepped into the light.

Its face was just rotten meat. There was little to no flesh around its mouth, revealing yellow stained teeth, including canines. Its arms were nothing but bones, with only exposed tendons and muscles keeping it together. Maggots made themselves at home in various places around its body, squirming to stay attached while it moved. It wore dirty and torn clothing around the torso and waist. Lastly, it was vacant to where its eyes should be, and were replaced with soulless, yellow orbs.

Oh Celestia… She subconsciously backed up. She struggled to keep the contents of her stomach inside. It approached her, with the same heavy steps it made before. It clacked its teeth as it looked at her with its empty eye sockets.

“No… stay away," she whispered. It moved closer. She stopped backing up once she felt the boxes. “Please leave me alone.” It hit her now. She was going to die by this creature. She started to cry.

“Go… away," she said weakly. It moved closer.

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

She thought of her friends and how she would never see them again.

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

She thought of her parents, and how they took care of her and had her back at every challenge in her life.

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

She loved them. All of her friends and family. All of the adventures they have had. She treasured every moment.

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

And this is how it ends. She didn’t even say goodbye.

SLLLLIIiiiide…

THUMP!!

“I’m sorry…” She was practically sobbing now. Out of nowhere, came a booming voice.

“GET THIS DAMN THING OFF ME!” It shouted. It caught the creature’s attention. It walked at a much faster pace out of the room. Dash stopped her crying, and took a short breath of relief. She needed to find a way out. Short staccato explosions rang through the air in a short moment. Acting fast, she did the next best thing. She moved the boxes, hid behind them, and hoped for the best.

Before John could open the door, a figure burst out from the inside to assault him.
He was brought down to his back. The grotesque figure tried to get him while he was down. John stopped it with his forearm, but it scratched his face violently with its bony fingers. Flesh was peeling from the figure’s face, and bloody chunks of the last person it ate sat in his teeth. Some chunks landed on John’s face.

“Cody! GET THIS DAMN THING OFF ME!” He shouted from the furious swipes to his face.

“Working on it!” Cody lined up the shot as best as he could from the scrambling figures.

He aimed for the ghoul’s head.

As its mouth was getting closer to John.

And pulled the trigger.

The bullet travelled straight through its head, splattering blood and brain matter next to the victim.

“Gah, bloody hell!” John shouted, struggling to maintain his breath. Low growls emitted from the darkened store. “Shit, there’s more inside!” Cody and Anya quickly responded, and sprinted to protect their downed friend. Once John was vertical, he took the M4 from his back to shoot at the foul abominations. Cody opened fire first into the darkness. His shot proved to be fruitful from the loud thuds that followed each shot.

John backed him up as they entered the store. He shot and killed two more with his trusty rifle. Anya pounced on one, mauling it so that it wouldn’t get up again.

“Christ, how many of them are in here?” John shouted over the gunshots.
“Two more," Cody noted. They both took them down easily. John sighed in relief. He dismantled the boards that covered up the windows to let the light in. Cody clicked his tongue for Anya to return to him. “This must have been a nest. Damn, we wasted a good amount of ammo too.”

“I told you something bad was going to happen," John complained. Cody just chuckled.

“If we find the person who decided to board up this place during the day, I want a nice long chat with him," Cody said as he removed more of the boards. As sunlight filled the room, the dead bodies of the ghouls already started to turn into ash.

“Well, at least it wasn’t looted," John said optimistically. He reloaded his rifle, and strapped it on his back again.

“I’ll say. Look! Crisps!” Cody shook a bag of snacks excitedly. “And the best before date is for next month!” He opened the bag, and started eating them.

“Well, let’s stash them up then! This could last us a month!” John smiled as he went to the isle where his friend was. Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash from the back room. They both looked at each other.

“You go check it out, Cody; I’ll get your back," John said as he grabbed his revolver. Cody nodded as they both walked slowly into the back room. Cody turned on the light switch as he entered the room, and John soon followed. It was mostly empty, aside from the boxes. They found the cause of the noise. A box full of tinned goods crashed and scattered its contents all around the floor. John had a suspicion.

“Cody, check behind those boxes," he whispered as quietly as he could. They calmed down just a little, since Anya wasn’t growling at anything. Cody slowly approached the stack of boxes.

“Something is definitely behind there," Cody whispered back. He reached to remove one of the boxes. He pushed it, and vaguely saw something behind it. It burst out and hit Cody’s nose with force.

“Go away!” A feminine voice shouted in fear. John was confused when he saw that the voice did not come from a human. Hovering there was a small, multicoloured, winged horse.

What the hell is that? John thought. He didn’t holster his weapon, but didn’t point it at the creature either. Cody looked at his assailant with a new bloody nose. He was just as confused as John. Once it saw what it did to Cody, it made an apologetic expression. It was almost human-like.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry! I thought you were one of those… things.” She landed on her… hooves, and looked up towards Cody. “You’re not going to hurt me are you?” She asked fearfully. She flew up again, eye level with Cody, raising her forehooves as if she was ready to fight. He backed up a bit. “Cuz you’re messin’ with Rainbow Dash!” She warned with bravado to hide her fear. John just became more confused.

“Calm down! We’re not ‘ere to ‘urt you!” Cody said, as he tended to his nose. She seemed to calm down again.

“Oh.” She chuckled nervously, still hovering in the air. “What are you? I never have seen anything like you two before.” She scanned Cody with curiosity.

“You don’t say…” John finally said. She sounded American due to her accent, and she spoke perfect English. This is really weird. he concluded.

“We are… uh, human beings. What are you?” Cody asked with a friendly tone. Given his past experience as a veterinarian, he always had a thing for animals. But this is the first one that talked back to him.

“I’m a pony.” She placed a hoof under her chin. “I never heard of a human before…” She realized something. “That means…” She stopped flying. “… I’m not in Equestria anymore…” She started to freak out. Cody immediately tried to diffuse the situation.

“It’s okay, calm down. We’ll help you…”

“Cody… what are you doing?” John didn’t like where this was going.

“We can’t just leave her here. Wherever this ‘Equestria’ is, it’s obviously her home, and she’s lost," Cody explained.

John contemplated for a moment. There was enough food to last them for a while, even if they did have another member tag along. He sighed. “Fine, we’ll take her. But she is not going to be dead weight," he said plainly.

“So… you guys are going to help me?” Dash asked with slight excitement.

“Sure, we are… right?” Cody glared at John.

“Yes, fine, we will help you," John said in defeat.

“Wow. Thank you. Oh and uh… sorry about the nose thing," Dash apologized towards Cody. He chuckled.

“Don’t worry about that. Besides, women have hit me in places much more sensitive than the nose," he said, giving too much information for everyone.

John shook his head. “Let’s finish packing up the food, and get out of here.” He turned around to finish what he and Cody have started. Cody joined up with him. Dash flew up above them as they stashed the non-perishable goods. She tilted her head in a confused expression.

“Isn’t this stealing?”

“It’s not when there is no government," Cody replied.

“You could help, you know. Take anything tinned or vacuumed sealed," John said, not taking his eyes off of his task. Rainbow Dash glared at him. She landed next to Cody, since she found him friendlier.

“What’s his deal?” She asked loud enough for John to hear her. Cody just shook his head and smiled.

“He’s just a pessimist. Don’t worry; he’ll warm up to you, in time.” He stopped what he was doing to look at her. “We haven’t formally met yet, have we?” He extended his hand. “My name is Cody Chester.” He shook his head towards John. “He is John Emrie.” Dash looked at his hand. She recognized the gesture, and placed her hoof in his palm. He clasped his hand around her hoof and shook it firmly.

“Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Ponyville! Or… at least I was.” Her mood changed. “Are you sure you can help me get back?”

“Of course. Think of it this way: John is the leader and he will do anything to get rid of you!” He said in a happy tone.

“That’s… good to know.” She looked over towards John. His face was expressionless. Fresh cuts on his face started to drip with blood as he worked. He zipped up the rucksack and wiped the drops of blood on his face.

“Are you almost done?” Cody placed two final tins of clam chowder in the bag. He zipped it up.

“Just about.”

“Here. You look peckish.” Dash took it with her mouth.

“Mmanksh.” She mumbled. After suffering a near fatal heart attack, Cody nodded.

“Let’s go.” Cody grabbed his bag, and held it in one hand. Dash followed him closely. Cody placed his bag next to John’s. He opened the back door for Anya. Dash was hesitant to approach the door. “You’re sitting next to Anya, Rainbow. Don’t worry, she won’t bite.” He put on a fake evil smile. “Unless I tell her to.” Dash flew into the vehicle. She placed her haunches on the comfy seats. She saw John in the front seat behind what looked like a wheel made from rubber.
The door next to her slammed shut. Anya curled up and quickly took the opportunity to take a nap. Cody entered and sat next to John on the other seat.

“You’re driving this time?” He asked.

“Yes.” He gazed at the rear view mirror above the dashboard to look at his new passenger. “Alright, listen up. I’m going to lay down some ground rules.” Dash gave him her full attention. “First off, we are going to Berlin to complete my task before we help you. Until then, don’t bother me about taking you home, since I already said I would. Do not eat any rations unless we give them to you. Do not tap on the windows for any reason. Do not touch the air conditioning, window controls, or the radio. When we are outside, stick together unless I tell you otherwise. Don’t make annoying sounds. Lastly, we will not stop for any reason, so if you got to piss, do it now.”

There were a few moments of silence. “You’ve got all that?”

“Yeah, yeah I got it," she replied with annoyance.

“Alright then.” John started the car. Dash jumped at first, but remained calm seeing how nothing was supposedly wrong. Once they started moving, she opened the sweet using her mouth and hooves. She took a bite out of it. The flavour wasn’t great, but it at least tasted vaguely of chocolate. She grabbed the bar by wrapping a hoof around it. Cody looked at the mirror and saw her eating the sweet.

God, she is adorable.

Author's Note

Constructive critism is appreciated! (Don't be afraid to be brutal. Don't worry, I can take it.)

2: The Way It Works

It was silent. About an hour has gone by, every moment miniscule and uneventful. The whole trip was tedious, with only an occasional bump to break the silence every now and then. However, no one seemed to mind the silence. John enjoyed the quiet. It was only because he was driving, that he couldn’t lose himself in a trance of tranquillity.

Cody, on the other hand, decided to kill time with his favourite past time: Pokémon. Ever since he was a child, he has always been part of the pocket monster fandom. Though usually, he kept to himself with it. He was especially proud of himself when he found a DS car charger that he bought before the apocalypse.

Rainbow Dash, though easily bored, was lost in thought. She gazed out of the window where there was a beautiful countryside view. The sun was just about to set, placing itself on top of the grassy hills. The winter wind played with the grass, creating the illusion of the hills moving with the sunlight. Beyond the hills, there was an entrance to a forest. Trees lined up perfectly across the meadow, setting up a natural border between the areas. It reminded her of Equestria.

She thought of what her friends are doing right now. Most likely, by now they would’ve realized that she is missing. It would probably start off with a search party, and would probably gradually grow to the whole town of Ponyille looking for her. Eventually, events will end up with Twilight sending a letter to her beloved mentor, Princess Celestia. Then they will begin to search all of Equestria for her.

Only, I’m not in Equestria. She thought dreadfully. She broke her gaze from the window. Sadness overcame her, followed by guilt. Even though she disappeared on a completely coincidental accident, she couldn’t help but feel like she was abandoning them. She would be stuck here on her own when they may need her most. Who would be there when Twilight gets way over her head? Who would be there to help Rarity when she needs gems for her dresses? Who would be there to comfort Fluttershy when she is scared? Who would be there to pull off the most glorious prank with Pinkie Pie? Who would be there to hoof-wrestle with Applejack?

“Daw, fuck!” Cody cursed, snapping Dash from her thoughts.

“What the hell happened?” John asked with caution.

“This bastard just made my Charizard faint with his stupid Todile! Stupid wanker... “ He continued to throw curses at the computerized opponent before promptly rage quitting. John sighed.

“You get way too attached to those damn games.” He took a short glimpse outside. He grimaced slightly at the setting sun. “We are going to have to stop soon.” Cody took a look outside. He smiled at the setting sun even though he dreaded what followed after it. He shifted his eyes on their new companion, who also decided to enjoy the scenery.

“So, how did you get here in the first place?” He asked, wanting to feed his starving curiosity. Dash took her gaze from the window to the back of Cody’s seat.

“I... I don’t remember.” She replied with confusion. “One minute I was at home, and then I wake up here...” She trailed off, trying to remember what may have happened to the best of her ability. Cody turned to look out the front window. He squinted when he noticed something in the distance.

“John, I think those are-“

“I see them.” John interrupted. The car seemed to pick up speed. Rainbow Dash decided to see what they were talking about. Off in the distance, she could make out a couple of humans standing next to a similar car. The larger human, presumably male, clutched his hair tightly, as if he was worried about something.

“Are we going to pass them?” Cody asked with a notable sentiment in his voice.

“At a time like this, we have to.” He replied with no emotion. Dash didn’t like where this was going.

“We’re just going to leave them there? But they look like they need help!” She said angrily. Cody looked back at her with a frown.

“There’s nothing we can do for them, Dash. It’s getting dark, and we they will just waist our time.” He almost whispered.

“How can you say that?! We can’t just leave them here!”

“We can and we will. This is a cruel world, and only the fittest will survive.” John replied heartlessly.

Dash was about to say something, but Cody interrupted her with a hand. “He’s right, Dash. I know that it doesn’t seem fair, but that’s how the world works.”

She stayed silent. The car approached the survivors. For what was really a minute felt like an hour for her. They were now close enough to see their faces. She saw the expressions of hope and relief wash over their faces. The male waved his arms to catch the attention of the passengers in the car. She saw the smile on his face when they approached closer and closer to him.

Then she saw the immediate change from relief to anxiety when he knew they weren’t slowing down.

She closed her eyes and tried her best to ignore them. She still heard his desperate cries for help.

“HEY! STOP! HEEEEEYY!!”

She folded her ears in an attempt to block him out. It only lasted a couple of short seconds, but it was enough to affect her. She opened her eyes, and looked at the back of the car. She saw the male on his knees, being comforted by another human who was female.

“We could’ve helped them...” She whispered to herself. “We could’ve...”

Cody looked back at her. He felt sorry for her. It almost reminded him of when he had to first witness all the death and hopelessness around him. Wherever this “Equestria” was, it was obviously peaceful. Too peaceful in fact, since she voluntarily wanted to help complete strangers in the first place.

John continued to drive down the road with an uninterrupted gaze, following the twists and turns that showed up.

It was silent once again.

“Let’s stop here.” John said as he pulled up in the middle of scattered trees next to the road. It’s been a long hour for Dash. All she could think about was those two survivors who her companions easily abandoned.

“Right. Hey, Dash...” Cody snapped her from her thoughts. She noticed that John was nailing down a thick wooden board on the window beside him. She turned her head towards Cody, who held a hammer and some large nails. “Can you scoot over?”

She nodded, and shifted more towards the door, giving room for Cody the crawl in. He squeezed in, consequently waking Anya up. He patted her head as he worked. He lifted up a wooded board from the back of the seats and covered the back window. He placed the nails haphazardly along the top of the board.

“What are you guys doing?” Dash nearly yelled over the noise. Cody finished with the last nail before answering her.

“Remember those ghouls at the shop?” She winced at the mention of those horrific abominations. “I bet that’s a yes. Well, they hate sunlight, which we are about to lose. And they get very hungry during the day...” He trailed off, grabbing another board and some nails from his seat.

“So those... monsters are going to come here at night?” She asked fearfully. She did not want another encounter with one of those things ever again.

“Unfortunately, yes.” John replied while nailing down his final board. “We are going to sleep in here tonight, so listen carefully...” He sighed. “No matter what happens, you must stay absolutely quiet. Do not make a single sound whatsoever. Got it?” There was fear in his voice, which didn’t help to ease her.

“Yeah... yeah, I got it.” She replied.

“Excuse me, miss.” Cody said as he reached over Dash to place the final board. The lighting in the car was reduced drastically. She heard Cody shift back into his seat. There was a rustling, followed by clanging metal. John stroked a match and lit the lantern, allowing the car to light up dimly. She was about to say something, but John beat her to it.

“Don’t worry. The light is too dim to be seen through the boards.” He reassured. He placed the lantern on top of the dashboard. He tilted the seat to a comfortable position. “Alright. Everyone stay quiet.” He ordered before he went into a deep sleep.

Cody fumbled around with the glove box. Miscellaneous items scattered on the floor as he continued searching for his prize. It took him awhile to find a pair of black earmuffs. He quietly handed them to Rainbow Dash.

“Here.” Dash took the muffs with slight confusion at first. “I used them on my first night.” He smiled. “As long as we be quiet, we’ll be fine.” He assured. Dash wrapped the muffs over ears. Cody smiled with one thumb up. He adjusted his chair to his liking before drifting off to sleep.

Dash curled up next to Anya. It took her a while for her to get settled into a mood for sleep. She did not want to think about the events of that day. For a moment, images of the ghoul flashed in her mind. She shook them off, using all of her willpower to focus on the warm thoughts of Equestria. These optimistic thoughts eventually made her sleep peacefully.

Sirens sped downs the streets of the rural town, waking up anyone who wasn’t already packing to leave. A family was already heading out of the door. A man and his two children walked quickly down the stairs, where another man was waiting next to his silver coup.

“Where the hell were you, John? I tried calling you.” He said anxiously.

“All of the telephone lines are out. The power too.” John replied. He opened the back door, where he placed travelling bags on the floor. “Come on kids. We’re leaving with Uncle Cody.” He ordered his children as calmly as he could.”

“Hi, Anya!” The boy said happily as the German Sheppard licked him forcefully.

“I wanna pet her too, Alex!” The girl whined as she climbed in the car.

“Let’s go. I’m driving.” Cody said as he started the engine. John soon entered the passenger seat.

“Where are we going?”

“Anywhere that’s not England. They’re about to lockdown the island.” Cody replied as he backed out from the driveway.

“The whole island?!” John’s calmness was sinking exponentially. “Is it that bad?”

“Daddy, where are we going?” His daughter asked. “Are we going to see Mommy?”

“No, Mabel, no. We’re not going to see Mommy.” He answered. “Where are we going, Cody?” He asked with the hope of an actual answer.

“I don’t know. Some guy from America called you-“

“What guy?”

“He said... He said his name was Donald Gonzalez.” John knew exactly who the name belonged to.

“I know him. We went to the same med school.” Police cars sped past them on the opposite side of the road. “Why does he want me to go to America?”

“He said something about a cure, but there is no chance we can get there. The airports are closed, and they’re only sending ferries into Europe.” Cody replied, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Then we’ll find an airport in Europe.” John said, making up his mind to go to America.

They drove for a while, the children giggled as they took turns to stroke the dog. Other than that, the silence was antagonizing. Soon enough, they were caught in traffic.

“Shit.” Cody muttered under his breath.

“Jesus, how many of them are there.” John gazed at the numerous rows of lights the lit up the night. It was almost as if the stars fell from the sky, and landed in the middle of the motorway.

“Everyone and their mums, apparently.”

“Is there a shorter way to get there?” John asked cautiously.

“Yeah, there is. But it is also most likely crowded.”

“Just get there.” The car backed up from the line of cars and left them.

“Daddy? Can we listen to some music?” Alex asked his father.

“Yeah, sure thing.” He flipped the switch to turn on the radio. Instead of music, there was an emergency broadcasting, including the terrifying drone noises before the message.

“Evacuations are to be ended promptly at twelve thirty on June twenty-third, two thousand sixteen. All citizens are to be asked to take only what is necessary for survival. This is a nation-wide alert-“ John abruptly cut the radio off.

“Just how bad is this?” John whispered.

“Very bad. They said that more than a hundred people were eaten ali-“

“Cody...” John reminded him of the young ears in the back of the vehicle.

“Right... sorry.” They stopped at a red light in the middle of an intersection.

“We need to get out of here right no-“ John was interrupted by what seemed like a crazed madman bashing his passenger window. The children were screaming as it pounded the window with sheer force. Anya barked and snarled, ready to protect her companions by any means necessary.

“CODY! DRIVE DAMN IT!!” John yelled over his kid’s terrified shrieks. Cody stomped on the gas, and the tires squealed in response. They sped away as more than one creature chased them on foot.

John woke up suddenly in a flash sweat. He examined his surroundings and took a sighed as he realized he was still in the car. Everyone was still asleep, included their new four-legged companion they found. His watch beeped repeatedly, indicating that it was seven in the morning. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and proceeded to shake Cody awake. He woke up quickly.

“Good morning...” He said groggily. He opened the door to let sunlight inside. He slowly got outside and stretched. “Ah... warm sunlight.”

“You seem happy today...” John mused as he opened the trunk and exited the car.

“Yeah. I met a new friend yesterday. No offence, but talking to you can be boring after a while.” Cody cracked his neck and knuckles. “Speaking of which, you want me to wake her up?

John took his rifle and his rucksack from the trunk. He moved towards the front of the car and stared at Dash sleeping through the opened door. He saw her rising and falling with each silent breath she took.

“No. Let her sleep.” He took out a saw and some duct tape from his bag. He started sawing the metal stock off the rifle. “Besides, she needs to be focused when I teach her how to shoot.”

“You’re going to do what?” The stock popped off with an audible snap.

“I’m going to teach her how to shoot a sniper rifle. I told you, she’s not going to be dead weight. She can also be a good spotter with those wings of hers...” He trailed off, continuing to modify the rifle. Cody kicked a rock into the street.

“So what am I going to do until she wakes up?” Cody asked, almost irritated.

“You can take the boards down.” John said plainly as he removed the trigger guard.

“Aye aye, skipper.” Cody gave him a sarcastic salute as he entered the vehicle. Anya woke up from their conversation and left the car from the opened door. She stretched and seemingly smiled when she saw her owner. Cod gave her a pat on the head. “Good morning, girl.”

She wagged her tail at the greeting he gave her every morning. She walked over to John, who was taping a curved piece of metal on to the trigger. She licked his side to catch his attention.

“How are you, Anya?” John greeted as he worked. He took a second to stroke her ear with a free hand. He smiled. “Are you ready to go to the city today?” She didn’t respond, but kept panting. “I’m busy right now, girl.” He strapped a thick cloth at the end of the broken stock.

Anya seemed to get the message, and walked away. She hopped back in the car, where Cody was busy taking the boards down. She glanced at the sleeping pony in the back of the car. Since she was a new member of the group, it was up to Anya to protect her. She needed her scent to do that.

She moved towards the back seat. There was a loud snap when Cody ripped a nail from the board. Anya started sniffing Dash violently, pressing her nose against her face and in her mane. She mumbles something in her sleep. Eventually, Anya removed the muffs that covered her ears.

“Anya! That’s rude! Let the girl sleep.” Cody snapped. Anya obeyed, and approached her owner, still panting. His shouting was enough to wake up Dash completely.

“Huh... what?” She asked as her senses were returning to her. She rubbed her eyes. In her sleep, she wanted all those events to be merely a dream. Unfortunately, she awoke in the same car from the night before.

“You’re awake now... Good morning.” Cody removed the last nail from the board, which then fell on in between the seat and the door.

“Yeah... good morning.” Dash rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. Cody chuckled.

“You still sound tired.” He mused. He moved to the back seat to take down the net board. “John is waiting for you outside. He wants to... teach you something.” He said as he worked. Dash just scoffed. Cody turned around to look at her. “You know, he’s a good man once you get to know him. Smart too.”

“Yeah... right.” Dash said sarcastically as she exited the car.

The morning was more or less beautiful. The sunlight pierced through the branches of the trees, offering little warmth against the cold winter air. There was an empty field on the other side of the road, glistening with dew. It was a good sight to wake up to.

John held an item awkwardly in his arms. He stared into the telescope attached to the top of it. There was a single explosion followed by shattered glass. Dash turned to find the source of the glass. There was an abandoned car in the middle of the road, now with one less window.

“Good, you’re awake.” John said, almost cheery. “Come here. You’re going to learn how to shoot this.” He held out the object. Dash approached him. He positioned himself on his stomach and held the rifle to his eye again.

“Um... what are you doing?” She asked, almost snickering at how awkward held the gun while prone.

“Get in this position.”

“Wha-“

“Just do it.” She obeyed him, and positioned herself next to him. He handed her the rifle.

“Put the padded end at your shoulder, and make sure you can see through the scope clearly.” She took the rifle from him. It felt natural when she held it. John pointed at a tiny button next to the curved lever. “This is your safety. Right now, your safety is on. Keep it that way unless you want to shoot something, got it?”

“Yeah... I think so.”

“Good. Now press it.” She reached out and pushed the button, which was followed by a small click. Another button popped from the opposite side of the gun. It was painted red. “Alright, now it’s armed. Now, you see that red dot in the scope?”

She nodded. It was really essentially a small telescope attached to it. Inside there was a crosshair with the said red dot at the centre. “Point the red dot on the car window.” She did so, manipulating the position of the rifle on her target. “Good. Now pull the trigger to shoot the window. Oh, and keep in mind, we don’t have all the bullets in the world, so... try not to miss.”

She placed the dot on the fragile car window. She assumed the lever on the bottom of the gun was the “trigger”. She took a deep breath. Once she pulled the trigger, the gun jumped back and pushed against her shoulder.

“Good shot. Now shoot that one.” He pointed to her next target. There was another abandoned car, a little further away than the first car. “Try to get the front windshield. This one is farther, so gravity and wind will affect where the bullet goes.” He explained.

She did the same procedure as before, but this time aimed just above it, adding gravity to the equation. Just as before, the gun pushed her shoulder when she shot.

“Nice! You’re a natural at this.” Dash smiled with pride. “Now press this small button here.” He pointed to a near invisible button in the middle of the gun. Once she pressed it, the box attached to the bottom of the gun fell off, revealing the brass spikes within. John took a cardboard box and opened it. The same brass spikes were in the box.

“This is the only magazine I have for the gun, so you have to load it manually.” He took the metal box and a single brass spike. “All you have to do is slide it in here like this...” It almost took no effort for him to load it. “Here... you have ten shots in total, so load two more."

She took one spike with her hoof, and attempted to slide it in the magazine like John. It was easy without the dexterity of fingers, but she managed to do it. “Last thing... Put the mag in the gun, then pull this thing until it clicks, then let go.” He tapped a round piece of metal that protruded from the gun.

Once again, she followed his instructions. Once she heard the click, she released it. It slid to its original position with another click. “And that’s it. Put the safety on, and get ready to go.” He stood up. Dash stood up after him.

“Where are we going?” She asked as she struggled to strap the rifle on her.

“We’re going to a city called Essen to scavenge supplies...” He noticed her struggle with the strap. “Need help with that?” He sat on his knees, and took the strap. He tightened it just a little. “Can you lift your uh... wing please?” She blushed slightly.

“Um... why? What are you going to do?” She asked with embarrassment.

“I’m going to place the gun under it... what’s wrong with that?” He lifted his eyebrow in confusion.

“Um... nothing...” She lifted her wing. He slid the gun under her opened wing and tightened the strap some more. The gun drooped, but it never touched the ground. “Thanks.” She stared into his eyes. They were like sparkling emeralds in the sunlight.

“Don’t mention it.” He approached the car, where Cody had just finished taking down the boards. He was panting from the work.

“So... you guys are... done.” He wiped the top of his head instinctively, but the cold didn’t allow him to sweat.

“Yeah, all we need now is a ghillie suit to cover her up. Unless she can hide in a cloud.” He joked to himself.

“I can do that.” Dash said, trying to get use to the gun’s weight.

“No shit, really?”She nodded. “Then disregard what I said.” He took his rucksack from the hood of the car.

“Hah, if you think standing on a cloud is cool, just wait till I show all the other awesome things I can do.” She smiled proudly, flapping her wings for emphasis.

“Yeah, sure. Everyone just get in the car.” He ordered as he closed the trunk. Dash, Cody, and Anya sat in the same places as last time, patiently waiting for John to order them with another trivial task. He entered the car and started the engine.

“Our next stop is Essen. It’s a pretty decent sized city, so stay close together, and don’t go into any buildings without sunlight touching the inside. Got it?”

“Aye aye, skipper.” Cody saluted.

“Yeah, I got it.” Dash replied, struggling to push the sniffing dog away from her face.

“Let’s go” He whispered.

In a few moments, the car left the forest. They sped into the outskirts of the city, where tall, broken buildings stood. Dash thought that they would look amazing when they were repaired, and if the excess foliage that covered them was removed. Cody received a CD from a sleeved from the sunshield attached to the roof of the car. He turned on the radio, inserted the disk, and switched it to his favourite song.

“Seriously, Cody?” John deadpanned.

“It’s a classic.”

Dash ignored there argument to listen to the weird guitar noises along with lyrics. Ironically, it was the perfect song for the world she was now in.

3: Picking the Bones

“There.” Cody pointed at an abandoned alley between two broken buildings. The foundations of them were home to extensive vines. John clicked the button to silence the radio as he carefully backed up into the alley. The shadows grew more intense when they moved deeper in between the buildings. The car came to a sudden halt. John flipped the key and the engine stopped abruptly. Dash was still getting use to how the car worked, and was slightly on edge.

“Let’s get ready to go.” John opened the trunk and left the car. He opened the back door for Anya and Dash to leave the vehicle. Cody stretched as he shut his door. There was an audible crack when he shifted his neck from side to side. Dash never touched the ground when she left the car. The weight of the gun didn’t give her much trouble as she hovered around the car. Anya leapt and ran around the car to be at her master’s side. Cody knelt down to pet her.

“What’s on the agenda, John?” Cody looked towards the back of the car. John placed Cody’s rucksack on the ground. He pulled a large black tarp from the trunk.

“Help me with this.” He told Cody. They both took the opposite sides of the tarp, and in one swift movement, they covered the car. Dash simply observed them. John flipped his hood over his head, and pulled the facemask over his mouth and nose, leaving his eyes exposed.

“We’re looking for a motor oil for this piece of shit.” He nudged the hood of the car with his foot. “Stick close together unless I tell you otherwise, and don’t go into really dark places.” He said as he strapped the bag on his back. He looked at Dash. “And you might not want to fly.” He warned.

“What? Why not?” Dash said with an irritated expression. John sighed. He stepped out from the ally and pointed to hills which were covered in trees.

“Imagine about nine to ten people with the same gun you have on those hills, itching to kill something. They’ll have no problem picking you off from the sky.” He stepped back in the ally. “So if you want to survive, stick to the walls and don’t fly.”

Dash scoffed, but ceased her hovering. Cody leaned against the front of the car, munching on a cream filled sponge cake.

“I thought I told you not to eat the rations.” John muttered.

“Oh, this isn’t part of the rations.” He took another bite. “I took this for myself. It was about to expire in two days, so I couldn’t just ignore it.” He smiled.

John groaned with both embarrassment and anger. “Let’s just go.” He took his rifle and armed it.

Dash chuckled at Cody as he finished his snack. In a way, he was sort of like Pinkie Pie. He stayed optimistic and cheery even though the world was dangerous. It was comforting.

“Are you guys coming or what?” John yelled. He was across the street from them, waving his hand to grab their attention.

“Come on. Let’s go.” He clicked his tongue, telling Anya to follow him. Dash nodded.

“Yeah, right behind ya.”

It was odd to see a city as massive as Manehatten empty for Dash. All the complexes, businesses, and shopping malls were abandoned. Humans of all ages should be littering the sidewalks, and there should be traffic jams. Something had transformed this once cramped city into a ghost town. She had some idea of what was the cause of the silence. She could see it when she closed her eyes. A hideous abomination, moving its jaw as it hungered for flesh. Her flesh.

“You alright?” Cody snapped her from her nightmarish thoughts. She shook her head, hoping to forget the image. She looked back at Cody, whose concern for her mental stability was evident by his expression. Dash nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just fine.” She said in her normal spunky voice. Cody continued to follow John, with Dash close by him.

“That looks like a good place to search.” John pointed towards an abandoned body shop. There was a garage for cars to enter the relatively small building.

“Wait a minute, why are we looking for oil in there? Can’t we just take one from the other car things?” Dash pointed to an abandoned vehicle that was about the same size as Cody’s coup. John scoffed.

“That is a good idea, but unfortunately, we don’t have the tools to siphon their tanks. Besides, the oil has probably been there for at least six months without the owners cleaning it.” John said as he walked across the broken asphalt that was a road.

“Six months? That’s when all this started?” Dash was ignored as John discovered that the door was locked.

“Shit.” He cursed as he kicked the door in frustration.

“I got this.” Cody unstrapped his bag and placed it on the ground.

“What are you-“ Dash was cut off from Cody’s battle cry as he charged at the door. In a moment, he leapt into the air, extending both of his legs mid-air. There was a loud bang when his heels connected with the metal frame. He landed on his back with a thud, and cried out in pain. John placed his palm over his masked face.

“What the hell was that?” It came out as an insult rather than a question. Cody was still on the ground, groaning.

“I thought it... Ugh... would be like in the movies... shit...”

John sighed with both confusion and embarrassment. He took the butt of his rifle and smashed a nearby window. With caution, he managed to squeeze through the window and unlock the door from the inside. Once the door was opened, he looked down at his injured companion. Dash stifled a chuckle. John pulled Cody up, who attempted the rub his aching back.

Cautiously, the team entered the building, the most experienced ones checking the dark corners of the establishment. There was a door behind the register that would lead to the garage. John sat down in front of the desk and removed his facial attire, revealing his scarred, scruffy face. Cody entered the garage with his loyal canine to search the garage. Dash sat down next to John as he started to finish his explanation of the events that caused this.

“Technically, this started nine months ago, in a country called France. It was six months ago when it was declared a pandemic.” Dash ruffled her feathers get used to the awkward position the gun was placed against her side due to sitting down. Crashes could be heard in the garage.

“It is a bacterium that only infects certain blood types. Some believe it to be a mutation of rabies or other related diseases.”

“Wait a minute. Are you saying not everypony can be infected? How?” Dash wasn’t always the pony who wanted to learn about something, especially when it came to science. It was probably the fact that it acted like a legitimate zombie virus she read in comics.

“Medical Science 101: There are four types of blood, A, B, AB, and O. Each blood type is classified by the antigens within them, A and B. Now for some reason that has yet to be explained, the cells of the disease mutate the A antigens only, creating a whole new antigen that the locals call Z.” He sighed at that pun. Being a medical professional, he hated the fact that people related these things to “zombies”, but essentially, that’s what they are. He continued.

“Those infected have similar symptoms to rabies; they can’t reason, have uncontrollable rage, that sort of thing. Though, those were only victims with the A blood type. Those infected with AB...” He shuddered. Dash caught on to his fear and became more morbidly curious.

“What are they like?” She asked cautiously. John looked at her for a moment, seeming to recall the monstrosity. He returned his gaze towards the broken window.

“They are much more intelligent. They are capable of speech, aware of what they are doing, and patient.” He closed his eyes. “I... I remember watching the news when it was still contained in France. They were doing a special on the disease. They had one victim with AB blood quarantined, and decided to do an interview on him. He didn’t answer their questions, but he tried to... persuade them into letting him kill them with this... smile.”

There was a loud crash. Immediately, Dash and John got up to their feet (and hooves) to check on Cody, who was probably the cause of the accident. Inside the garage, they found Cody lying on his back with hubcaps on his torso. To make the scene even more humorous (at least for Dash), Anya decide to lick his face ferociously.

“What happened this time?” John flipped his hood over his head once more. Cody simply pointed to a shelf with motor oil. Next to it was a rusty step ladder, now with one less step.

“Today is not my day.” He groaned. He hoisted himself up. John approached the shelf, and was just tall enough to grab a container. He tossed it over to Cody, who caught it on instinct.

“That’s all you had to do, man.” John scoffed.

“Well, I apologize for not being as tall as you...” They continued to argue. Dash watched them with amusement as they went at each other like an old married couple. This led her to thinking...

“So, what are you guys anyway?” They both ceased their bickering to process her question.

“What?” They both said almost in unison.

“Are you guys like special someponies or...” John was completely confused. It took him a minute, but Cody snapped his fingers as he figured out what she was referring to.

“I think she’s asking if were in a “relationship”.” He made quotes using his fingers. John’s face changed colours.

“W-what? No, we’re not a couple! I mean, I don’t have anything against that, but with him? Never.”

“Well that’s nice...” Cody said sarcastically. Dash laughed at John’s obvious embarrassment.

“I didn’t know your voice could crack like that, dude.” She said after her snickering. Cody joined in with her. John scoffed.

“He’s my younger brother. My younger adopted brother, I should say. I’ve known him since he was a baby.” He explained, trying to shrug off the embarrassment. “We got what we need, so let’s get out of here.” He tossed more containers of oil to Cody, who placed them in his bag.

“We should explore first. I mean, what if there’s something awesome lying around and we miss it? Besides, isn’t that what they do in a zombie apocalypse anyway?” Dash suggested.

“They aren’t zombies. Only live patients can be infected and they don’t eat flesh. They just kill. Plus, UV radiation kills them almost instantly.” John explained with annoyance.

“She does have a point though. It seems empty enough to explore a little. It never hurts to have a little extra ammo or bandages.” Cody sided with Dash.

“Do you have a map?” John asked, almost rhetorically.

Cody smirked, and reached into a pocket in his coat. He held a slip of paper in his hand. “I found one at that shop. Who knew that playing detective games could heighten your perception?”

John thought for a moment. He shrugged once he came to a conclusion. “Eh, what the hell? Let’s do it.” Cody complied, and grabbed his gear. “Along the way, we could get some clothes for you as well.” He extended a finger towards Dash, who was slightly confused at that statement.

“Clothes? I don’t know what you think about me, but I’m not at all fancy like you guys.” She said. John chuckled.

“Yeah, because we have attire that is fit for the Queen. Look, it’s not like we’re getting you a wedding dress, just something to hide your... obviousness. Those bright colours are like a big sign that says, “Shoot me”.” John emphasized with his hands, painting an imaginary billboard. Dash winced a little at the insult about her colours. She always had pride in her “Awesome look”.

“Are we going or what? I already found where I wanted to go first.” John eyed Cody suspiciously.

“And where do you want to go first?”

“Pfft, I don’t know how to pronounce it. It says it’s a music store. They also have songs in English!” Cody said almost excitedly.

“Let’s get the necessities first.” John said flatly.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Cody said in a childlike voice. John opened the garage door, letting the sunlight banish any form of darkness that was left in the room. Cold winter air rushed through the opening, creating a short brisk breeze for the lot.

“Let’s get you outfitted.” John said as he walked outside. Dash was followed by Cody and Anya when she left the garage.

“Christ. Talk about snazzy.” Cody commented to no one in particular about a suit he picked up from one of the racks of clothing. They were located in what seemed to be a thrift shop. Numerous amounts of unrelated clothing were hung in semi-neat rows all along the small shop, making it seem more cramped than it already was. John was browsing the isles, looking for something that consisted of many pockets within earshot of Cody. Dash sat on her haunches behind Cody, staring at him as he made diverse expressions at different articles of clothing.

“What do you think? Good enough to drink wine with?” Cody turned around to get Dash’s opinion about the suit. It was a generic piece; a black suit jacket with an equally black neck tie, topped off with a white undershirt. She shrugged

“How should I know? I don’t know anything about clothes.” She answered. Cody placed the hanger at his chest, and turned to Anya, who was at his heel.

“What do you think, Anya?” Anya tilted her head in response, unsure of what her owner was asking. “No opinion either? I thought women were supposed to be experts on these things.” He muttered as he returned the suit to where he found it.

Dash hovered over the isles to catch a glimpse of John as he search each individual article. “Did you find anything yet?”

“No, not yet. Just be patient... there’s bound to be something here.” John said, pushing aside another set of useless clothing. She returned to her spot behind Cody. It was boring, and no other word could describe it. She decided to create some small talk to kill the time.

“So, what did you do before this, Cody?” Cody continued to browse nonchalantly along the isle.

“You mean before the world ended?” He chuckled. “I was nothing important, just an unknown veterinarian who lived in an unknown town.” He explained. He picked up another suit, this one being red, making it a little too tacky for his liking. “Let’s see... I’m twenty-one, married, and have no kids.” He finished.

“You’re married?” Dash was a little surprised by that.

“Yeah, almost a year now. Jenny is safe in Berlin where the other refugees are.” He sighed. “Now, what about you?”

Dash stuttered for a moment, trying to remember anything before the event that caused her to just appear there for no reason. “Well, I know I was the head weatherpony in Ponyville... Oh yeah, and I’m the element of Loyalty!” She puffed out her chest with pride.

“Element of Loyalty? What title is that?” Cody asked, turning around to see the prideful smile on Dash’s face.

“It’s one of the six Elements of Harmony. My friends are the other ones; Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic. When anypony decides to mess with Equestria... BOOM!! We zap ‘em with the Elements.” She flew into the air, punching the air to “demonstrate” the power of the elements.

“So basically... these “Elements of Harmony” are a super weapon.” John mused.

“What did you do, John?” Dash asked, finally killing some boredom. He continued to search, holding a black children’s hooded jacket in one hand.

“I was a medical scientist.” He said as he grabbed a small hunting vest.

“No, he was the medical scientist. He has his own book and everything.” Cody corrected. John chuckled modestly.

“I wouldn't say that I was the best.” He examined the clothing. “Can you come here for a second, Dash?” She flew over to him in a second.

“What is it?”

“I just need you to hold still while I measure you.” He said calmly. She nodded and held her ground as he put cuts on the fabric with a pocket knife.

“So... what else? Are you married too?” She asked innocently. John took a second to look at her, as if offended somehow.

“No. Not anymore at least.”

“Not anymore?”

John sighed. She realised that it was a touchy subject. “I left her right before this started. She was an alcoholic, and she couldn’t get any better. She would even steal money from my bank account just to afford one more drink at the pub.” He sliced off the sleeves of the jacket to compliment her size. He continued. “We... no, I tried to get her help, but no matter what treatment she got, she wouldn’t change. It wasn’t like she couldn’t change; it was because she didn’t even put an effort in it. Not for herself, not for me, hell, not even for her own children.”

Dash’s ear flicked at this new information. “And before you ask: yes, I do have children. One son and daughter. They are in Berlin, with Cody’s wife, Jenny.” He gave her the makeshift clothing he made for her. “Put on the jacket first, then the vest. There’s a dressing room in the back.” He said normally. She took the pile of clothing, and flew almost instantaneously to the rear of the shop.

Cody gave John and odd look. “What?”

“How do you expect her to put on clothes without fingers?” Cody asked. John shrugged.

“She knows what clothes are. I’m sure her... species have a special way of doing so.”

“Oh yeah? What do suppose their “special way” is?”

“Magic.” John replied sarcastically. Cody’s mood suddenly shifted.

“Are you alright? I know you don’t like talking about Samantha...” He said cautiously, almost as a whisper.

“You’re right, Cody, I don’t. So how about we drop it. Now.” John snarled.

“Don’t get aggressive on me! You’re the one who brought it up anyway.” Cody replied with an attitude he rarely uses.

John was silent. Cody was right. He told someone who he barely knew a subject that he hated speaking about. She wasn’t even a human. Why?

He was interrupted by the sound of a dressing room door. Almost instantaneously, Dash appeared with her new attire. The jacket was loose around her forelegs, making it almost nonexistent for her as she moved. The vest was a bit bulky, but her wings could move freely, thanks to handy slits that john created for her. The makeshift rifle fit snugly along her back instead of drooping from her side. Overall, the clothing was crude, but effective.

“Oh my God... you look adorable!” Cody cooed in a playful tone. Dash glared at him.

“Here.” John took the hood and flipped it over her head. Only her muzzle was not covered by the flap of fabric. “Now, if only there was a way to cover your tail...” He looked around once more at the abundant racks of clothing. “... That will just have to do for now.” He took a box of ammunition and inserted them into pockets she had access. He chuckled. “Now all we need to do is find you a small knapsack to put food in.” Dash sighed.

“And how long is that going to take?” She said with boredom.

“Relax, I was just kidding... though it would be helpful if you did have a bag of sorts.” He checked his watch. “Let’s get going the the music store. We have an hour until noon.” John said. He slowly left the store and Dash followed closely.

Before Cody left the store, he stared at Anya, who was panting rhythmically. “How the hell did she put those on?”

The supposed music store held its promised digital cassettes in dusty shelves. When the group entered, a small bell acknowledged their presence on top of the door. Cody nearly sprinted towards the shelves, looking for anything in English.

“Jesus, Cody, its just music.” John said as he entered. Cody ignored him and admired the English choices.

“Oh my God, look at the selection! Three Days Grace, The Offspring... wow, Hollywood Undead! This is my kind of store. If the manger where alive, I’d kiss him or her.” He said as he took the albums from the shelves.

“What’s up with him?” Dash asked as she entered the store with Anya. John shrugged.

“I honestly have no idea. I guess he’s addicted to music... if that’s even possible.” John knew him almost all of his life, but never quite understood his fetish for rock and roll, jazz, or generally every music genre. Cody gasped. Spontaneously, he hopped over the the register desk and looked for something.

“He’s almost as crazy as Pinkie...” Dash mused.

“What the hell are you doing?” John asked. Cody placed a wireless radio on top of the table with a gleeful smile.

“Come on...” He switched on the radio, and it came to life with the static that used to be a radio station. “Yes! Thank God for batteries.” He cheered.

“Seriously, Cody, What’s got you so excited?” John asked, almost irritated.

“You’ll see.” Cody smirked as he inserted the CD into the radio. In a second, drums became audible, followed by a familiar reggae tune. As soon as John recognized the song he smiled. Cody patted his chest, telling Anya to jump on him. He started to dance with her, singing along with the chorus. Dash chuckled at the scene.

“Come on, John, you know the words!” Cody persuaded in between the chorus. With a smile, John approached the duo, holding Anya’s back and dancing along with them. He too, sang along with the chorus in a decent baritone voice.

Dash watched the m with an inner happiness. It was amazing to her. They have lived in this hellhole for half a year, and haven’t seen their loved ones in who knows how long, but aside all that, they dance and sing a song that most people will forget in their situation. Perhaps the song was true: every little thing was going be alright. She will make it home, alive and well, and see her friends again. She had hope.

BANG!

A loud crash startled all of them. The sound originated from a room behind the register. John and Cody unsheathed their sidearms. Since Cody was closer, he moved to open the door. The music seemed to fade away the closer he moved towards the door. As soon as he touched the knob, the door burst opened, unleashing a horde of murderous ghouls.

Cody was grabbed by the arm, and could feel human nails dig in his skin. Instinctively, Dash flew in, and kicked the culprit. Hard. There was a loud, sickening crack when its head connected with the wall. It slid down the wall, motionless. She killed it.

Unable to react to it, a disfigured hand clasped against her back hoof with an iron grip. The scent of death pierced through her nostrils violently as she looked at the unrecognizable face. A large blade slid into its head with the sound of ripping flesh. Blood spewed onto John’s body as he pulled his blade from the creature.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here!” John yelled over the hideous snarls. He slammed the door at the sea of rotten flesh to buy them a literal second. They all left the store with adrenaline surging through them. Pain was nonexistent to Dash, whose hind leg was burning furiously.

To make matters worse, the whole street was covered with the taller buildings shadows, forcing them to run towards sunlight. Dash was flying side by side with the group. She could easily fly faster than them, and get herself to safety. Being true to her Element, she would not abandon them, no matter what.

It all lasted about a minute until they reached the safety of the sun. They breathed heavily as the horde diminished. Cody’s heavy breathing turned into chuckles of relief.

“Are we all alright?” He asked between breaths.

“I’m good.” John answered. Cody turned towards Dash. His relieved smile shifted into a frown of fear.

“Oh shit...” He muttered. Dash turned to see what he was so afraid of.

Her heart started beating faster when she saw it.

Her fur was soaked with blood on her hind leg. Three open gashes caused blood to flow like a river, making it drip onto the asphalt road. The burning sensation finally affected her.

“What is your blood type?” John asked as an eerie whisper, grazing the grip of his revolver. Dash put her gaze on him. He wore a poker face, but his eyes were full of fear at her.

Of what she’ll become.

“What is it?” John unsheathed his silver sidearm, ready to shoot her.

“It’s...” She hesitated. She remembered the doctor say her blood type when she was in the hospital with a broken wing. It would’ve been something she would normally forget, but it repeated itself in her head over and over. She gulped.

“It’s... A positive...”

4: Tainted

There was a long pause between them. John held Dash at gunpoint, mentally debating with himself whether or not to just put her out of her misery.

Cody was processing on what just happened, or more specifically, why it happened. They had just met her a day before. He himself promised her to return her home. Why did it come to this?

“You didn’t you say anything,” John’s finger twitched on the trigger, ready to shoot her without the intent of missing. "why?"

“I... I don’t know! It just.... I... I just forgot!” Dash stuttered. Trembling, she wanted to back up away from them. She took one fearful step backwards towards the shadows.

“Don’t you dare fucking move! You stay right here in the sunlight.” John snapped out of pure fear.

“Shit, I can’t take this.” Cody grabbed his hair out of sadness. He turned away, unable to look at her final moments.

A tear left from Dash’s now closed eyes. All hope of her getting home where destroyed. She was coming to terms with the fact that she was dead. That very moment when she was scratched by the creature, she was dead.

She blamed herself.

If only she had told them, they would have taken extra precautions. If only she hadn’t been so ignorant to forget an important detail of herself. Now, because of her mistake, her friends will search all of Equestria with false hope.

It was all her fault.

“Just... just end it already...” She said, almost as a whisper. “I don’t want to turn into one of those things...” She couldn’t open her eyes as she started to sob. John’s hand was trembling. He wanted to end her suffering, but his instinct told him to save the bullet. As heartless as it was, he needed to conserve ammo for his sidearm. The sun would kill her just as quickly as a bullet when she turns.

“John?” Cody snapped John from his thoughts, but he still held Dash at gunpoint.

“What?” he asked with annoyance. It was the wrong time to say anything.

“It’s been five minutes... She’s not showing symptoms.” Cody said with a dim hope in his voice. “Maybe, just maybe, she is...” He said optimistically.

“Bullshit. Nothing is immune to this, you know that. Dogs, rats, hell, even deer become bloodthirsty savages.” John explained to Cody, who already knew that information.

“In five minutes, hair and fur should start falling off from the victim’s body. In six minutes, cells will start to mutate and skin should start to peel. In seven minutes, the victim completely turns, and UV radiation will harm them.” He stopped for a breath, and checked his watch again. “Six minutes now, and she still looks fine.”

Dash’s ear twitched. She kept her eyes shut and hoped what Cody said was true. Now that she thought about it, she felt perfectly normal, albeit the burning sensation of cuts on her leg.

There was another good minute of silence, which seemed to seal the deal for John. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He relaxed his arm, but didn’t holster his weapon. “I need to check on something. Let’s head back to the car.”

Cody approached Dash with sturdy rags, presumably homemade bandages. Cleaning up her tears, she let him examine her wounds. He sucked in air through his teeth. “The motherfucker really dug into you. We might need to stitch you up when we get back.” He wrapped it tightly around her leg in an effort to stop the bleeding. She winced a little in pain. “Sorry. Hurts that bad, huh?”

“It’s nothing,” she said, still holding on to a little bit of pride. “I’ve had worse.”

“I bet.” He chuckled. “Come on. We better get going before he yells at us.” Dash nodded, and hovered eye level with Cody at his full height. He clicked his tongue, a habit that Dash seemed used to hearing now. Anya happily joined her master’s side, as his hand stroked a spot behind her ear. They all followed John’s footsteps.

“So... let me get this straight. A long time ago, two princesses rule your land and they each controlled the sun and the moon. Moon Princess gets jealous and turns into an evil, night loving asshole, and then Sun Princess banishes her to the moon.”

“Right.”

“So, a thousand years later, Moon Princess comes back as Evil, Night Loving Asshole, and threatens your whole country.”

“Yep.”

“Then, you and your friends defeat Evil, Night Loving Asshole and Sun Princess comes in and... let me emphasize this... forgives Moon Princess for becoming evil. Right on the spot?”

“Exactly.”

“I call bullshit. I mean, why would Sun Princess forgive Moon Princess? I mean, Moon Princess became Evil, Night Loving Asshole! That at least earns some time in prison.” Cody emphasized with his hands. Dash shrugged.

“I don’t know, but the story is true. I was there and so were my friends.”

“What do you think, John?” Cody asked, thinking that John would back up his side. John simply sighed.

“I called bullshit when she said that there were princesses who can manipulate celestial bodies.” He ended up being a killjoy instead of backing up Cody.

“You’re no fun.” Cody said, disappointed in his brother.

“Sorry, but it sounded like a children’s fairytale more than anything else.” John deadpanned. “Do you still have that microscope, Cody?” he asked, completely changing the subject.

“Do you mean the one that you said was completely useless and would be nothing more than dead weight?” Cody smirked. John sighed.

“Yes, Cody, that one.”

“Yeah, I still have it. Aren’t you glad that I didn’t listen to what you said and didn’t throw it away?” His smirk grew wider. John didn’t say anything, but lifted a single finger without looking behind him. Cody chuckled victoriously. Dash was just confused at the gesture, but was amused of the small arguments the two had.

The streets were becoming familiar to the lot. The buildings that they first marvelled at became visible once again as they were closing in on their destination. A flock of birds flew across the sky as they manoeuvred around the abandoned vehicles.

Eventually, their backtracking led them to the alley where the car was parked. John was the first one to turn towards the shadows. He stopped abruptly as the others followed closely behind.

“Fuck!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. He unmasked himself and grabbed his forehead, as if he had a headache.

“What’s wrong this time?” Cody walked at a faster pace to look down the alley. It was the same broken road between the same foliage covered buildings. There was only one thing out of place.

The car was missing.

Cody pulled out his keys from his pocket. There was only one explanation: someone broke into the car via picking the lock, or smashing a window, and hotwired the car. They must’ve been professionals as well, giving the fact that the alarm never went off.

“You have got to be shitting me.” Cody threw his keys on the ground. “Of all the professional car thieves in the world, one had to be in this city and steal our car.”

“Are we going to walk to Berlin now?” Dash was not looking forward to hours of walking and doing nothing.

“We can’t. There isn’t another town for miles. There is no way we can make it to a town between sunrise and sunset on foot.” John kicked a small rock with sheer force. "Fuck!”

“We are stuck here?” She started getting worried.

“Until we can find another vehicle, which is a miracle itself, yeah. We are stuck here.” Cody said without his usual optimism.

“So... what are we going to do now?”

John took a second to calm down. He grabbed his hair and snapped his fingers repetitively to think of a quick plan. “Okay, the safest place we went to today was the body shop. We should stay there for tonight and... we... we should find something to get us out of here.” he slowed his hectic breathing to calm himself. “I’ll come up with a better plan once we get to the garage.”

“You alright, John?” Cody asked. John looked at him, but didn’t answer. He shifted the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

“Let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.” He started walking down the street.

Cody and Dash looked at each other for a quick second. There was a slight frown on Cody’s face. “He’s not alright, is he?” She said rhetorically. Cody nearly sprinted to get to John.

“Look, we need to keep our heads. We will get out of this, trust me.” Cody smiled reassuringly while placing a hand on his shoulder. John shot back a grim look, forcing Cody's hand off. His smile disappeared.

John continued walking, leaving behind the rest of his group. Cody threw up his arms. "You're not going to talk to me?" he nearly shouted to get John to hear him. He was ignored.

Dash slowly approached Cody, who was waiting for an answer he would never receive. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's just stressed. We've had bad times before, but this is the worst it has been." he sighed. "Let's just go. I'll talk to him later." He started walking ahead. Dash shook her head and followed closely to Cody and his dog.

The sun left its high peak in the sky, indicating that the evening was swiftly approaching. The group traced their former path to the garage with an eerie silence. That was, until there was a low grumbling noise.

"Christ! If you were that hungry, you should have said something." Cody chuckled, taking a quick glance at Dash. She blushed with embarrassment.

"When can we eat something? I haven't eaten anything all day!" she complained as her stomach started to consume itself.

"We'll eat when we get to the garage. It won't be long now." As if on cue, the garage was in sight. "See?"

Dash sighed in relief, eager to eat almost anything handed to her. The group approached the building in a seemingly rapid manner. John was the one to lift up the heavy garage door and motion everyone to go inside. Once everyone was settled, he slammed the door shut. The room immediately became less bright due to the lack of sunlight.

John threw his bag down, allowing Cody to grab a couple of tins from it along with the tin opener. Swiftly, he opened the tins full of baked beans, and handed one to Dash, who proceeded to consume them without the need for a fork. Cody did a similar process, tilting the can as if were a bottle of water instead of food. John sighed at the savage-like display.

"You two acted like you've never seen food in your life." He scoffed, but couldn't help but smirk a little. He grabbed a first-aid kit from the bag he placed on the ground. Cody noticed his actions as he poured the half eaten beans on the floor for Anya. John received a barrel from a syringe from the kit. Finally, Dash noticed him after her rather quick meal.

"What are you doing?" She tilted her head out of curiosity.

"Remember when I said that I needed to check something?" it wasn't really a question, but Dash nodded anyway. "I need a blood sample." He twisted a hypodermic needle onto the barrel with an antibacterial cloth. "You aren't afraid of needles, are you?"

"I'm not afraid! What made you say that?" She said defensively. It was partly true, anyway. She wasn't a big fan of having her blood siphoned or having chemicals injected into her, but she didn't let anyone know it.

"Relax, I was just asking." he handed the syringe to Cody. "Would you do the honours?"

"Why me?"

"Because I am no good on non-human patients." John answered, moving his hand for him to take the syringe. Cody snatched it from his palm. He approached Dash while mocking John's statement quietly. He sat down in front of Dash, tapping the needle instinctively to make sure that there wasn't any excess air.

"So, uh... hand me one of your hooves." he ordered. Dash placed her left hoof in his opened palm. He stroked it gently, tracing a vein with the tips of his fingers. Satisfied, he placed the sharp tip of the needle against her coat. "Hold your breath." he warned.

She felt a sting as the needle pierced through her skin. The sensation lasted until Cody drew a decent amount of blood and withdrew the needle. He took the disinfecting towelette John used to clean the syringe to wipe down the tiny wound. He reached over towards the first-aid kit to grab a small bandage.

Cody handed the partially filled syringe to John, who took it carefully. Cody turned to take a look at Dash. "Does it hurt?" He asked spontaneously.

She looked at the bandage on her arm. "It still stings a bit, but I had shots lots of-"

"Not that," Cody pointed to her back leg, where a larger bloodied bandage was located. "that. Does it still hurt?"

She looked at her wound. Images of the monster that had caused it flashed through her mind. She quickly shook them off. "Kinda." She admitted.

"Let me see." Cody said softly as he moved closer towards the wound. Cautiously, he removed the bloodstained rags and examined the wound. Much to his surprise, it was already scarring over. "Amazing." he whispered. He cleared his throat, and scooted over to his bag. "Those scratches healed up nicely. Just don't do anything to reopen them." he said as he searched for something in the sack.

Anya's ears perked up as Cody found what he was looking for. In his palm, he held a grimy tennis ball. He shook it to grab Anya's attention and the dog wagged her tail in anticipation. Finally, he tossed the ball towards the metal garage, and she eagerly chased after it. Cody chuckled as she brought the ball back to him. "Good girl!" He took the ball from her, stroking her head as he did, and tossed it again.

Dash just watched them as they continued their pastime. "How long have you had her?"

Cody threw the ball again at a slightly different location. "Uh, about five years now." he said, collecting his memories. "She was kind of a "get out of my house" gift from my mum." He stroked the dog's ear when she brought back the tennis ball.

There was a noticeable gasp from one side of the room. "That's impossible." John said audibly.

"Did you find something?" Cody stood up and walked towards John, whose eye was still glued to the microscope.

"Take a look." He slid the tool carefully along the table for Cody to see. Once he placed his eye against the glass, he examined the blood sample. At first, everything seemed normal. He located red blood cells along with white blood cells. It didn't take long for long for him to notice an abnormal looking cell. It was about the same size as a white blood cell, but was a completely different colour. Instead of the normal bluish hue of a white blood cell, they radiated a bright green.

"Okay... so, what am I looking at?"

"That is an "extra" white blood cell. Look closely at it." he said with excitement. Cody focused on the said cell. At first, it looked like cilia, or hairlike organelles on a cell. On a closer inspection however, they were individual Y-shaped proteins that sat on the membrane of the cell.

"Those are-"

"Antibodies." John smiled. "Those are extra antibodies that can kill the pathogen!" His smile grew wider, something that only happened when he discovered something new. "That's why she is immune."

"That's impressive, but what do you want to do with it?" He slid back the microscope for John to marvel the new cell.

"I want to see if I can use those antibodies to make a cure for this." He placed his face down through the scope, smiling at the cell.

Cody sighed, trying to view this at a rational point. "As great as that may be, how do you know that it wouldn't just be another poison to us. How would you even know what type of blood would accept it?"

Dash kicked Anya's toy, and the dog chased it. She tried to snoop in on their conversation, but decided not to listen after the word, "cell". Biology wasn't one of her strengths in education.

"We'll never know unless we try." He stood up from the table. "We need to get to America." He took the sample, and stored it within a compartment on the microscope.

"You're going to become obsessed with this project, aren't you?"

John chuckled as he started cleaning up his mess. "I might."

There was a barely noticeable beeping originating from John's wrist. Cody was quick to respond, clicking his tongue to end playtime for Anya and Dash. "I'm going to go see if we can board up those windows out front." he said, telling his overprotective brother where he would disappear to. John proceeded to carefully return the microscope to Cody's bag.

"So, what you dudes talk about?" Dash watched with boredom as John handled the device with care. "And say it in a way so I can understand it." A whiff of nostalgia came over her as she remembered saying that to Twilight.

"Well," John started, attempting to find the right words. "your blood can possibly be used as a cure against this plague. So, potentially, you are the last hope for humanity." he said, imitating a dramatic movie announcer.

"Really? That is awesome! I mean, I know I'm already awesome, but that brings it up to a whole new level!" She cheered, flying up to the roof with excitement.

"I said potentially." John whispered to himself, trying not to kill her spirit. Cody returned from his job, wiping dust off his hands.

"You are not going to believe what I saw." he said, grabbing everyone's attention.

John sighed in annoyance as he left off with silence. "Don't leave us with a cliff-hanger, spit it out!"

"Christ, all you had to say was "what did you see, Cody?"." John made a motion with his hand, telling him to get to the point. "There are other survivors out there!"

John immediately became concerned. "How many?"

"There were only three of them, somewhere down the street. They looked armed, but we don't need to worry about them, at least not tonight." he said with a smile.

"Well, as long as we don't do anything stupid tomorrow, we should be fine, right?" Dash said tiredly, ready to get some sleep.

"Yeah, let's just get some sleep... I'll make a plan tomorrow morning." John yawned. "Let's get some sleep while we can. I want to wake up early tomorrow."

"You got it, boss." Cody gestured with his sarcastic salute as John rested his head uncomfortably on top of his rucksack. Cody placed his "pillow" on a random place on the floor and rested his head on it. Anya took her place right next to him, curling up in a ball against his chest.

Dash decided to sleep on the cold floor without a pillow. It wouldn't be any worse than resting on top of a bag full of disorganized items anyway. She copied her method of getting sleep the night before. Closing her eyes, she thought long and hard about her friends and family and how she would see them again. After a minute or too, she slipped away into unconsciousness.

It was dark. A void filled with a blackness that seemed to stretch on forever and then some. Dash couldn't hear or see anything around herself, and started slowly becoming full of absolute terror. In a flash, she found herself in the familiar streets of Ponyville. Off in the distance, she noticed the stone bridge at the entrance of the small village, and caught a glimpse of the bakery she knew as Sugar Cube Corner. Though it was all too familiar to her, something seemed amiss in her once friendly home.

It was empty, for starters. A vile smell flowed in the air, gently grazing her nostrils as she breathed. Something, a tiny voice in the back of her head, barked at her to go see Twilight for an unknown reason. She started trotting towards the allies that led to library near the centre of the town, blindly obeying the beckoning whisper in her mind. She followed the dirt roads, turning sharply at one last corner.

She nearly vomited on the spot.

Mangled corpses of ponies she knew covered the street to the Golden Oak Library. All of them were ripped to shreds, making them unidentifiable. The warm, heavy stench of blood interrupted her steady breaths for a second. The voice, now turning into multiple and audible whispers, demanded her to get to the library.

She trotted on, carefully avoiding the misplaced insides of the destroyed bodies. The closer she was to the entrance of the library, the louder the voices became. The scent of death seemed almost unbearable at the point.

After what seemed like hours, she finally made it to the door. Attached to it, where five photographs. Five photos of five familiar ponies she knew all too well. They were covered with a black ink that displayed the same message over and over.

YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN

A low, horrific growl emitted from behind her. Slowly, she turned around to see the culprit. It was one of the creatures, muscles exposed, and maggots eating whatever was left of its flesh. Suddenly in pounced at her, and proceeded to rip out her throat.

Dash woke up with a sudden gasp for breath, as if she was drowning. She took a second to calm herself, since it was only a dream. Her breathing became less hectic, and she slowly started to become aware of her surroundings.

"Bad dreams?" Cody's voice almost startled her.

"...Yeah..." she admitted in defeat. It wasn't any use to lie to him, she figured. He was probably awake to witness whatever her body did during her nightmare.

"You'll get used to it." He started to fondle with a piece of jewellery Dash hadn't seen before. It was shaped as a small heart, the same necklace that couples would give to each other as a gift.

"Is that yours?" she asked, approaching him to get a better look at it. Cody snapped it open, revealing two black and white pictures, one of whom was a slightly younger, slightly cleaner Cody. The other photo had a smiling female human with long hair that seemed to be the same about of blonde that cleaner Cody had. Although it was used to show their love for each other, the necklace was obviously cheap and really cliché. It did fit someone like Cody, she thought.

"No, it's not mine. It's her's." he explained, pointing to the woman for emphasis. "I'm borrowing it."

It was a rather vague explanation, but Dash left it at that. They could be separated, or worse, she could be dead. She didn't want to get in a sensitive situation.

She looked around the room, only to find that Anya was sleeping on the other side of Cody's lap. "Where's John?"

"He went out on patrol, looking out for those survivors I saw last night. He'll be back in a minute." Cody continued to stare at the necklace, recollecting better memories.

Dash wondered about how they spoke about the survivors, like if they were afraid of them. Isn't finding other people and make friends a good thing? Especially in this situation?

It didn't take long for John to return to the garage. He unmasked himself as he felt comfortable, showing a relieved, dirt covered face. "Did you find anybody?" Cody stood up, waking up his canine companion in the process.

"Thankfully not, but we still need to be extremely cautious today. They could still be out there." he warned. "Pack your shite, you two, and let's get going!" He stomped outside, presumably to wait not so patiently on them.

"Jeez, he doesn't have to rush us." Dash said with annoyance.

"Well, when you think about it, fourteen hours to do whatever it is we need to do is not a lot of time." Cody replied while moving towards the door. "Grab your gun and let's get out of here."

Dash nodded, and swiftly wrapped the strap of her rifle around her. She took one last breath of calmness before following the humans to the hellhole outside.

"What's the plan for today, John?" Cody struggled adjusted his bag to his liking while waiting to be briefed.

"Yeah! Are we gonna go find a working car-thing?" Dash looked around the city, or more specifically, the abandoned vehicles around the city. She was also intrigued by the words: "GOD HAS ABANDONED US" that were spray-painted on a brick wall. It was the only legible writing she could read among the numerous graffiti messages.

"Not exactly." John began his briefing with a sigh. "We need to find a good car battery to use one of them. Our best bet is to search the impound lot near the police station. If that turns out to be a dead end, then we can search the salvage yard. It all depends on our luck to find one."

Dashed winced. Considering the amount of luck that the group already had, it was most likely going to be a waste of energy.

A group of crows had a meal a few ways in front of them. John was the first one to notice, and picked up his pace. Dash wanted to fly past him to go investigate, but decided not to once she got a glimpse of what the birds' meal was.

Once John got close enough, the crows dispersed in the air, cawing in frustration of their unfinished snack. Their said meal happened to be a shredded human corpse. Its skin was completely torn off, exposing the red and white muscles, along with the blue veins that ran across the body. Its head was completely unrecognizable and had one bulging eyeball due to the lack of eyelids. Needless to say, Dash lost the contents of her stomach.

John crouched down next to body, examining it thoroughly. He traced a finger along a certain spot on the corpse's cranium. This action, along with the disturbing squelching noises that followed it, forced Dash to empty herself once more.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Cody shouted with disgust.

John shushed him and raised his left arm to completely silence him. "He was shot." he explained, pointing at a nearby car. "There's a hole in his head and a blood splatter on the car window." He sighed. "How many survivors did you say there were, Cody?"

"About three or four of them." Cody responded, still cringing about John touching the body.

John sighed as he stood up. "We need to be careful." he said, putting emphasis behind his words. "Let's go."

Cody checked up on Dash, who was still trembling with absolute disgust. "Are you alright?" It was a stupid question, since she obviously wasn't.

Dash nodded her head slowly. "I'm fine." she whispered.

"Come on then, we need to move." Cody warned as he started to follow John. She soon followed him, making sure not to glance at the desecrated body along the way.

It didn't take them long to reach the police station. They started looting the place, since they figured it was a good place to stock up on ammo. It wasn't a very large station, but it was large enough to house a few patrol vehicles, which were missing for obvious reasons.

Cody searched under the reception desk, and was satisfied that he found the same exact pistol he used, only less modified. He took the extra magazine and stored it in an empty pocket. Perhaps their luck was turning around for the better. "Did anyone else find anything useful!?"

"I found some bandages! Or, at least I think it's bandages." Dash shouted from a separate room.

"I didn't find anything yet! We should wrap this up soon though!" John shouted. He tried to break a locked desk by smashing into it, but was getting nowhere with it. He was probably working too hard under all of his clothing. At one point, he could have sworn that he heard unfamiliar foreign voices in the room where Cody was. He continued to pound the lock with the butt of his rifle.

CLICK

Something hollow and metallic was pressed against John's head. In an instant, he knew exactly what it was.

"Put that piece down, or you will die right here, right now." John's attacker pressed his gun harder against his head. John wanted to turn around and apprehend him, but his equipment made him too bulky to even attempt it. He dropped his rifle in defeat, and stood up slowly.

"Get to the lobby. Make any sudden movements, and I will kill you." The voice was definitely a male, and had a foreign accent, presumably German. He forced John towards the lobby, where he could hear others handling Cody. There were three of them in total, not including the man holding John at gunpoint. They were all masked and nameless, and only spoke to each other in German, a language John could partially understand.

"Take off that bag, stand on your knees, and put your hands behind your head next to your friend."

John obeyed him, placing himself next to Cody. Anya laid on her stomach next to Cody as well, growling softly. John shifted closer to Cody. "Where is Dash?" he whispered.

As if on cue, a larger man held a squirming Rainbow Dash. He covered her muzzle to prevent her from screaming or biting. He threw her next to Cody. This man stood out from the others from both his size and the gas mask that covered the front of his face.

"Stay there and shat ahp." he said, both muffled and butchered. He gave Dash's rifle to one of the men as the leader finally showed himself. He wore what looked like a tinted paintball mask along with a hood to shield his identity. He started arguing with the large man in German, pointing at Rainbow Dash.

"You alright?" Cody whispered to Dash.

"Oh yeah. Just fine." Dash said sarcastically.

The bandits argued for a while. John picked up fragments of it, and concluded that they where figuring out what to do with Dash. The leader decided to kill them all after he looted there items. The big man had other plans, however.

"What are they saying, John?" Cody whispered frantically.

"They're going to kill us, except for Dash."

Dash's ears fell to the side of her head. "What do they want with me?"

John sighed, unsure of how to tell her. "The one with the gas mask wants to... get to know you better."

It didn't take long for Dash to understand what he meant, and her heart started to pound in her chest faster. Not only were they about to kill her friends, the most unattractive one wanted to take away her innocence. She closed her eyes and prayed to anything she knew to make this whole thing a dream. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare, and find herself on her bed. Some part of her thought that she was already dead, and this is her Tartarus. What did I do wrong?

There was a loud click of a gun to make her snap back to reality. The leader held a pistol in his hand and approached John first. He placed the barrel of the gun against John's head. She closed her eyes, unable to make herself see what was about to transpire.

BANG!

The bandits shouted in their language as they were being shot at. Dash opened her eyes to see that the bandits positioned themselves in cover behind the entrance windows. They fired at an opposition she could not see, shouting at each other frantically. One of them was on the ground, squirming as blood shot out from his neck like a morbid water blaster. They started moving to the back entrance, leaving their former hostages.

John picked up the dying man's rifle and shot at fleeing bandits. He missed them as he wasn't in a good firing position. The leader noticed him and aimed his pistol at him. John shot first, hitting the leader's firing shoulder as soon as his gun discharged. Knowing that this was a losing battle, the leader retreated while applying pressure to his shoulder.

A heavy, ragged breathing soon caught John's attention. Turning around, his worst fears became too true. Cody grasped his chest, struggling to breath. "Oh shit."

Cody fell on his back as blood started to drip from his mouth. Dash became paralyzed with both fear and sudden shock. John was quick to respond, grabbing the knife strapped on his belt to slice Cody's shirt off. It was a brutal wound. The entrance was the size of a small golf ball, and it was covered with foamy blood.

"Dash, apply pressure to that wound. Quickly!" Dash shook her head, and immediately joined Cody's side, pressing hard on the bloody mess. To her disgust, she could feel his lung flop around inside his bones from every short breath he took.

John had seen that wound before. He hoped he would survive this, but deep down, he knew that it would take a miracle to save him. Frantically, he searched his bag that the bandits left in search for a first-aid kit. "Keep applying pressure to that wound! He needs to breath!" He ordered in a choked up voice.

Cody moved his hand slowly towards his neck. Anya caught sight of this, and moved up towards his face. He used his other hand to stroke his companion's face. "J- John." he emitted between his ragged breaths. John finally found a kit, and sat by his side.

"Don't speak, save your energy for breathing." John said calmly. Cody ignored him and reached out with his hand. John touched his hand as he dropped something in John's palm.

"Tell her..." His breathing became shorter and slower. "... I- I'm sorry." John opened his palm. It was the necklace Cody always would look at before he fell asleep. The necklace that he promised to return it to its original owner.

Cody's hand fell to his side as his breathing became slower before suddenly stopping. "No... no! NO NO NO NO NO!" John shook Cody in defeat. He wanted to attempt CPR, but he knew that his lung would just drown his throat with more blood if he did. It was over. John grabbed Cody's head to place it on his lips. Defeated, he cried in his hair audibly.

Dash felt his wound stop bleeding. She saw Anya licking her master's palms, as if he was just sleeping. She glanced down on her hooves, which were covered in blood. She contemplated on why it happened. Why did he have to die? He was the one that willingly accept her into their group. Without him, where would she be? She started to sob as a single thought entered her mind

I'm in hell.

Author's Note

Sorry I took a long time to update this. I suffered some minor writer's block and school didn't help either. Please try your best not to put spoilers in the comments. Thanks. Also, have some music.

5: Cold

The sun was starting to set as a sea of helpless people pushed and shoved each other to get to one destination. John clung to his children tightly, since they can easily be lost in a crowd of fearful souls. Cody was forced to carry Anya with her head over his shoulder, as he swivelled his head in every imaginable direction, frantically searching for one person in particular.

There was a group of armed soldiers a few meters in front of them, examining citizens before either sending them to buses in a convoy formation or forcefully escorting them to a quarantined zone.

“Daddy? Where are we going?” John’s daughter tugged on his jeans to get his attention. He could barely hear her among the anxious cries of the individuals around him.

“S-somewhere safe, Mabel. Somewhere safe...” He pulled them closer to his legs, practically restraining them from going anywhere else. Silently, he vowed to himself that he would never let them go.

“CODY!” a young voice among the crowd shouted. Cody’s turning became more frantic at the mention of his name. A smile formed on his face with a sigh of relief once he found what he was looking for.

A young woman with blonde hair pushed through people rather forcefully to get to Cody. She managed to hug both Cody and Anya before giving Cody a wet kiss. John’s children looked away in disgust.

“Thank God you’re alright!” Cody said with relief after breaking the kiss.

“I’m thankful you’re alright too. He wouldn’t shut up about you," John joked. The woman approached him to give hive a warm, friendly hug. “It’s good to see you, Johnathan.”

“It’s good to see you too, Jen," he replied.

“And how are my little trouble makers?” Jen knelt down to give her nephews some love. They wrapped their arms around her with expressive smiles on their faces. “You guys are getting so big!”

The children giggled as the hug was broken. Jen stood up to face a more serious looking John. “Do you know what is going on?”

“A little. Some anti-terrorist group is sending people to a safe zone in Berlin, but only during the day," she explained.

“What anti-terrorist group?” Cody asked as he led the group through the crowd.

“GSG 9, I think," She stroked Anya’s head as Cody continued to push through the crowd. John clung to his children as tight as he could, struggling to get through the wall of people. After a while, he saw a group of heavily armed soldiers guarding large buses. The crowd was too thick to pass at this point.

After around ten minutes of waiting in line, they finally reached the entrance of one of the buses. It was heavily guarded; soldiers with full riot gear guarded the entrance while taking ID’s and blood samples.

“We’re almost there," Cody reassured. As soon as he stepped forward, a guard pushed him back. “Hey! What the hell, mate?” The guard took a defensive stance, but didn’t hold his gun up. Anya growled, sensing the hostility the soldier showed.

“The transport is getting too packed. We are taking women and children only until the it has reached its capacity," the soldier stated in a harsh, muffled voice.

“Are you kidding me? You can't fit in a few more-“ Cody was cut off by an assault rifle pointed at his head.

“Back off, sir.” The soldier nearly clicked off his safety before Jen stood in between them. The soldier slowly put the weapon down as Jen faced Cody.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine," he said, rubbing his chest while still holding Anya. Jen reached for the back of her neck. In a swift movement, she removed a necklace from around her neck. It was a cheap, bronze heart.

“Here, take this.”

“But it’s not mine.” Jen simply laughed at that statement. Cody was always too corny for his own good. She forcefully stuffed it in his palm.

“I’ll let you borrow it until you see me again. Ok? Promise you’ll bring it back to me.” Cody closed his palm before kissing his wife intimately.

“I promise," He said.

“Jen, take them with you," John interrupted. He kneeled to face his children. “I want you two to go with Aunt Jen, alright?”

“Daddy?”

“Be good for her.” Jen took their hands and took them away. As they were processed, they continued to look at him.

“Daddy!? I don’t want leave you! DADDY!” Mabel shouted as they were escorted in the bus. Cody approached John, who looked like he was on the point of sobbing then and there.

“We’ll see them again. Trust me," Cody said in his usual light-hearted tone.

“Yeah," he replied.

“Attention all refugees: evacuations have been concluded for today, and will resume tomorrow. You will be escorted to barracks, where you will sleep for the night. Curfew will be active, and anyone who breaks curfew will be arrested on site.” The announcement could be heard across the small camp. John took one last glimpse down the road where the bus was taking.

I will see them again.

Dash watched as John kissed Cody on this forehead for the last time. She heard him whispering something in his ear, presumably more apologies towards his demise. John had cleaned his body beforehand, and moved his body in a dark empty room. He also stitched up his wound to give him an “open-casket funeral look”.

Even Anya looked miserable, aware that her master was dead. She no longer had the “smile” when she panted, and her tail wasn’t moving. She sat next to Dash, watching as John said his goodbyes.

Dash looked down at her hooves, which were still stained with his blood. She could still feel the horrific sensation of his breath slipping away. The whole event haunted her, especially the fact the she couldn’t stop it. She never felt so powerless before.

Suddenly, John stood up and poured the full Jerrycan that the bandits forgot over Cody’s body. The smell of gasoline filled the room in an instant. “What are you doing?” Dash asked, being the first one to say anything n a while. John didn’t answer until he threw the empty can off to the side.

“I want him cremated. I’m not going to allow those ghouls or scavengers violate his body," he said. His voice was notably shakier than usual. Dash emitted a quiet “Oh” as John frantically searched his pockets for something to start the fire. He pulled a box of matches out of his pocket, retrieved one match.

The match sparked, but didn’t go alight, causing John to mutter profanities at it. He discarded the dead match, and retrieved a new one. The small flame came to life as he struck the match against the box.

As he dropped the match, the body bursts into flames, surprising both Dash and Anya. “Come on, you two, let’s get out of here," he ordered, regaining a steady voice again. He clicked his tongue to catch Anya’s attention.

Dash quickly trotted to John, avoiding the rampaging flames along the way. She nearly gagged when the scent of burning meat flowed through the air. Anya followed her closely, continually staring at the burning body along the way.

John made his way back to the lobby, and searched the dead bandit’s body. As he figured, that particular bandit didn’t carry important supplies, so he only managed to scavenge a half-empty pistol and some extra ammunition for it.

John and the others made their way outside as John sat down near the entrance. Dash sat next to him, and Anya decided to lie in front of them.

“Are we safe here?” Dash asked cautiously.

“If you are referring to the fire, yeah, we’re fine," John replied. There were a few moments of a sombre silence between them. Off in the distance, a murder of crows could be heard, shouting at each other.

“I’m... I’m sorry about Cody," she said quietly. John didn’t answer, but continued to stare off in the distance. “I know you two were close.”

John scoffed. “Don’t apologize. There was nothing we could do for him.” John took his rifle and detached the magazine. “It was a sucking chest wound. I wouldn’t even have a big chance to save him even if I had the right tools at my disposal," he explained, as he loaded some bullets into the magazine.

Dash looked down on her hooves, still horrified at the fact that they were still stained with Cody’s blood. “Those bastards stole our food and water," John muttered. Dash took her gaze off of her hooves to look at John, who was seemingly talking to himself.

“So... what are we going to do now?” she asked hesitantly.

“What do you think?” The rifle clicked as John slid the magazine back in place. “We’re going to get our supplies back," he replied coldly.

“And how are we going to get them back? Walk up to them and ask them for it?” she said sarcastically. John just stared at her with an empty expression.

“Haven’t you figured out how this place works yet? I’m going to kill them.” Suddenly, John stood up and began walking down the street, ordering Anya to follow by clicking his tongue.

“Woah, woah, woah, are you serious? You can’t kill them!” Dash flew up in front of his face, which still held a heartless expression.

“And why not?”

“Because it’s wrong!”

John snickered sarcastically. “You should’ve said that before they murdered Cody. In fact, they should’ve found you first so that you can tell them that before they murdered other people for their personal gain! Then the whole fucking world would be perfect!” he yelled, grabbing his hair as if he solved a really complicated question. “Wow, your philosophy is absolutely flawless!” he yelled once again in sarcasm.

“Jeez, what the hell is wrong with you?!” she asked, pissed off from be ridiculed.

“What’s wrong with me? Well, I don’t know if you have noticed, but my brother, who I knew since he was a baby, was murdered in cold blood, and you want the culprits to get away with it!” He pointed his index finger at her as pure anger filled in his eyes.

“I never said that! I just said that we can’t kill them!”

“Oh, right, because it’s wrong. Then tell me, what should we do to them?”

A few moments of silence fell between them. Anya lowered her ears to the side of her head in an attempt to ignore the yelling. “That’s what I thought.” He continued to walk along the road, leaving Dash behind.

Dash pondered on their argument, and wondered if he was serious about taking away another person’s life. In the back of her mind, she wanted to leave him and fend for herself, but another part of her wanted to stay with him. No matter what, he was still a friend, and he was only acting this way because it was him form of coping with Cody’s death.

Shaking her head, she decided to catch up with them. She knew that she’d probably have a better chance of survival with a group. Still, she was worried about John’s mental status. Cody’s death hit her hard, and she only knew him for a couple of days, but John knew him for his whole life.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” she asked, trying to forget the negative thoughts her mind was pushing on her.

“Somewhat," he said, pointing to a small piece of burned brass on the ground. “We’re following those bullet cases. Like Hansel and Gretel," he explained.

“Hand-sell and who now?” Dash asked, once again confused at a reference to human culture.

John sighed, obviously annoyed. “It’s a human fairy-tail. It’s about a couple of kids who left breads crumbs on the ground to create a path home, then they found a house made of sweets.”

“That sounds like a boring story," she replied, attempting to bring them in a lighter mood.

“It gets better," he deadpanned.

Dash was wary about him now. His anger was still in his eyes, but there was an eerie calmness to his voice. In her whole life, she has never seen anything so full with hatred as John was. She barely knew what exactly what he was capable of, except that he was clever, strong, and survived off of this wasteland exceptionally well. She has seen him kill those monsters, and noticed at how experienced he looked when he did.

But he couldn’t kill another human, right?

“Another one," John muttered. After for what seemed like an hour of aimlessly walking, the trio came across another lifeless body. “They looted him too.”

Dash watched John examined the cause of death by poking, prodding, and manipulating specific parts of the body. She decided to look away after seeing a brutal slash on the man’s neck. She heard John mutter to himself, presumably concluding the time and weapons used to cause the wounds on the body.

Quietly, she kicked a rock to distract herself from another disgusting scene. Anya placed her haunches next to her equine companion, waiting for John to give an order or for someone play with her. Dash lost the stone by kicking it too hard, sending it a few steps away. Sighing, she traced its trajectory, avoiding a glimpse at John fondling a corpse.

Something from the building she mistakenly noticed caught her eye. On a cracked window, she could make out a silhouette of a live human being slamming on something. She was about to warn her “partner”, until a large creaking noise startled him.

“Shit.” He slid behind a car as quickly as possible, avoiding broken glass shards from the shattered windshield. “Get the fuck over here!” He ordered in a frantic whisper. Dash complied, zipping next to him while keeping her head down. Anya followed, and John clasped her muzzle shut to keep her from growling or barking.

Slowly, John peeked over his shoulder to get a peek at the guard who left. Dash waited for him to set himself down to give a status report, but instead he came back with an eerie smile on his face. He even chuckled silently. Dash didn’t know whether to feel relieved or scared.

“This is perfect," John muttered as he pulled his face mask over his face.

“Who is it? Are we safe?” Dash whispered. John replied with a “shhh” and a finger over his mouth as he gently placed his rifle on the ground. He ordered Anya to stay, which of course, she obeyed.

Without warning, John stood up with both hands raised in the air. She heard a gruff voice shout at him in an oddly familiar language. John replied back, but much slower, as if he was choosing his words carefully. Dash decided to peek from the side of the car.

She gasped.

It was one of the bandits. One of the same bandits who killed Cody. She would never forget their faces, albeit the ones who concealed their identities. Her heart started racing at this point.

Despite all the dirt and grime, the bandit looked quite young, perhaps in his early twenties. Strands of brownish hair poke out from his hood, and patches of an unshaven beard dotted his face. He pointed a large gun at John, but she could tell it wasn’t a rifle. It had no magazine, and it looked like it had a pump of some kind under the barrel of the weapon.

John slowly reached into his jacket, and received a flat tin of food from his pocket, his voice gentle and reassuring. Dash felt sick to her stomach when she noticed a shard of glass in the back of John’s jeans.

In reality, what transpired happened in a minute or so. However, Das was in such a state of disbelief that it felt like hours. She stood there, dumbfounded as John covered his victim’s mouth to prevent him from screaming. In another swift movement, he shoved the shard into his abdomen, forcing his opponent on his back. John kept his mouth covered as he kept slicing through him over and over and over again. Blood spewed as he ripped through soft tissue, severing arteries and organs alike.

The bandit, still clinging to life, attempted to reach for his weapon, but to no avail. Eventually, the muffled screams and struggling turned into a faint sound of meat being chopped, and bones breaking. Blood started to paint the road, and stained John’s clothing with each jab.

It was over after a long, brutal minute. John dropped the weapon from his blood-soaked palm, breathing heavily as he slowly stood to his feet. Dash saw the anger in his eyes, along with what she feared as satisfaction. He snatched his victim’s weapon, and returned to retrieve his own weapon and canine. He payed no attention to Dash or how she was now fearful of him.

Dash usually wasn’t scared of anything, and if she was, she would never show it. She held her own against many situations from the emotion-consuming changelings, to the malevolent Nightmare Moon, and even fire-breathing dragons. But this human, who could kill another sentient being with no emotion, legitimately scared her, not from what he could do to her, but what he was going to do to others.

John slung the rifle over his back, keeping the shotgun in his hands. As he started to approach the door, Dash flew in front of him, purposely in his way. His facemask hid the scowl on his face.

“Get out of my way," he said calmly.

“No. I-I can’t let you do this.” Her voice stuttered, but she held her position.

John scoffed. “Why? Because it’s wrong?” His tone slightly shifted from calm to anger, but he kept his cool. “Think about it this way: if they are kept alive, then they will kill and rob every unfortunate bastard who just want to stay alive, and no one is going to stop them. Getting rid of them could potentially save a lot of people.”

His tone made Dash flinch. He talked about them as if they didn’t have lives. He talked about them as if they were pest, the same way somepony would talk about a parasprite, or a cockroach.

“Now. Move. Out. Of. My. Way," he ordered sternly. Without warning he walked forward, forcing Dash to dodge him. Once again, she tried to stop him, but it was too late.

He entered the building, taking cover under the staircase, and silently commanded Anya to stay put and be quiet. He stayed still, attempting to decipher every sound within the building.

Dash turned to stare down the open road behind her. She could just abandon John; leave him there to commit murder while she could leave to find her own path home. But, it was out of her character to do so. Even with all the bullshit John gave her, he still cared for her safety, even if it wasn't immediately noticeable. That made him a friend. Obnoxious, ignorant, and sometimes a plain asshole, but a friend nonetheless.

She does not abandon friends.

She flew in the house, ready to back-up John if he needed it. John acknowledge her with a quick glimpse, his expression hidden under his face mask.

Two of the five bandits had already lost their lives, so it was technically an even match, as far as bodies were concerned. Plus, they had the element of surprise, so they were at an advantage.

Am I really thinking about killing somepony? she thought fearfully. Loud footsteps trampled the stairs above them. Dash took a deep, silent breathe, readying herself for the oncoming events. No. I don't have to kill them. All I need to do is keep John alive. I'll come up with something.

The footsteps approached closer down the stairs. John moved closer to the end of the stairs, taking cover behind a large wardrobe which allowed him to stand at his full height.

The bandit finally reached the bottom of the steps, unbeknownst of the intruders inside the building. He wore a tinted paintball helmet, with a dirty, green, overcoat that was torn and shredded around the arms.

John couldn't peek without the certainty of being noticed, so he signaled Dash with a thumbs up and a questioning look in his eyes. Dash caught on, and decided to take a peek. She flipped the hood of her jacket over her head to minimize the chances of being spotted due to her colors.

Slowly, she dipped her head to the side. She saw the bandit with his front facing toward her and instinctively pulled back. She waited for a few moments before checking the corner again. She dipped her head, this time seeing the bandit's back facing toward her. She looked back at John and gave a nod.

John nodded back, and gave a swift turn, aiming his shotgun at his target.

CRACK!

CHIK-CHAK

The explosion of the gun destroyed every bit of silence in the area. The bandit was knock down on the ground, lifeless, as meat from his torso splattered on the walls in multiple directions. The flesh around the exit wound was flayed open, exposing bones from the lower rib cage and broken, leathery parts of the digestive system. The stomach took the most damage; the contents that were within it spilled and dripped from the busted sac.

The sheer brutality of the weapon was enough to make Dash flinch. Somewhere in her mind, she hoped that the victim had a quick and painless death. She was also curious on what humans used the for before the apocalypse.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a volley of gunfire from across the room, all of them aimed towards John. At this point, Anya started barking against the noise, giving away Dash's hiding place beneath the stairs. John returned fire blindly, shooting his weapon without peeking from his cover.

CLICK

John cursed silently as he realized that may have been the sound of an imminent death.

Before he could even make a slight movement towards his assault rifle, an unnaturally large hand clasped at the breast of his coat, dragging him from his cover. The bandit - this one being the largest one from the group - actually had the strength to pick him up from his feet, and toss onto the ground next to his fallen comrade. John's breath was knocked out of him, and a numbing sensation passed through his legs. He concluded that his chances were slim when the steroid junkie approached him with a lead pipe in hand.

Dash flew in with enough speed to match an insect's wing beat, and kicked the bandit's shoulder, ultimately dislocating it. Instead of the cries of pain she expected, there was little to no reaction. He slowly turned around and forced his shoulder back in place. Anya simply barked at him and did nothing else, since she wasn't taught to kill nor has tasted raw blood. The bandit kicked Dash from the air, making her crash into the wardrobe behind her. Anya quickly came to her rescue.

Assuming that he was done with the pegasus, the bandit decided to finish what he started. Slowly, he approached John as he was still regaining feeling in his legs, dragging the slab of metal across the wooden floor.

Dash got up almost immediately, surrounded by various weapons that were stored inside the wardrobe. One in particular caught her eye. It was a rifle that was missing a trigger guard, and the stock was jury-rigged in a position that would best suit her. Acting out of instinct, she grabbed the weapon with her hoofs, and held it against her shoulder. She pointed at her target, making sure to control her breathing. The bandit raised him arm up high, ready to give the killing blow.

Another loud crack echoed around the brick walls followed the the popping sound of the bandit’s kneecap exploding. Without the joint to support his weight, the bandit collapsed on his back, screaming in pain. He was permanently crippled, thanks to Rainbow Dash.

John soon brought himself back up to his feet, snatching the pipe from the ground as he regained his footing. He kicked the gas mask off from his opponent’s face. He wanted to know his face before he ended him. With one heavy swing, he brought down the pipe to the scarred, unappealing face.

A sickening crunch, almost akin to a shoe crushing a scorpion, emitted from the attack. As John pulled back, Dash noticed the what used to be the bandit’s face was replaced with a dented, gooey mess. John wiped off the blood from around his eyes. One more left. he thought, as he climbed up the stairs.

Dash followed him closely, ignoring the fact that she assisted in murdering someone, or at least, pretending to ignore it. Once upstairs, John positioned himself outside of a door, determined to break it down. He motioned his head for Dash to move to the other side of him as he armed himself with his assault rifle. She could hear someone in there, fumbling around with small miscellaneous trinkets.

John held Anya behind him, and whispered for her to stay. He turn back to Dash, for was preparing herself for what might happen. With his fingers, he slowly counted down from three to one.

The broke open the door with a loud crash. Both John and Dash pointed their weapons at a surprised bandit leader. “Hands on your head!” John shouted. The bandit obeyed, seemingly defeated, and placed his hands on top of the mask that concealed his face. “Where are the items you stole from me?” John kept an eye on him as he pointed to a closet.

Dash eyed the bandit as John moved to investigate the said closet. Something about him just seemed off. He definitely heard the gunshots and the struggling on the first floor, yet he gave himself up too easily, not to mention that he was completely unarmed. It didn’t help that she couldn’t read his expression due to the mask the hid his entire face. John eventually left the closet, causing Dash to glance at him for a brief moment.

In a second, Dash was grabbed from her neck without her weapon and a gun at her head. She tried to struggle, but her attacker just squeezed her neck tighter. She would’ve been impressed by the speed of the bandit, if she wasn’t being used as a meat shield. To make the situation even worse, the bandit walked behind the desk, effectively shielding his legs.

“Make one step towards me, Brit, and I’ll kill this bitch," he warned John, who was now aiming his rifle at him. “Where’s the blonde idiot? There were suppose to be three of you and that dog.” John eye’s dilated into a form of anger at the mention of the “blonde idiot”. The bandit chuckled. “Oh, I see. Come for a little revenge have we?”

“Just let her go, and no one else gets hurt," John said calmly.

“Can’t do that, Brit. Now, if you leave here empty handed, I might consider that request.” The bandit squeezed her neck tighter and she struggled to breath.

“You don’t understand how important she is. She can cure this plague! She-”

“You expect me to give a shit? I’ll kill her like the animal she is if you don’t cooperate with me.”

A spark of anger overcame Dash. Who was he to call her an animal when he killed many innocent people instead of asking for supplies? With the rest of her strength, she shifted her head low enough to taste one of his bare fingers. She bit down on his index finger, and didn’t stop until she tasted blood.

The bandit dropped his revolver, and let her go to tend to his broken finger. “You bitch!” he shouted in pain. John charged at his with his knife, but the bandit wouldn’t go down without a fight. Even with a shattered finger, he managed to hold off John’s attack. forcing John to pin him on top of the desk.

Without thinking, Dash grabbed her gun as the two tried to kill each other. She aimed it at the bandit, who now had the advantage of pinning John down on the desk with the knife turned on him. With a deep breath, she pulled the trigger.

When gun fired, the world for Dash seemed to slow down. She could see the bullet pierce the bandit’s tinted visor, shattering it like a hammer smashing a window. She could see how the shard of lead stab his eye, rendering it nothing more than useless pieces of flesh. Blood splattered in the parts of the visor that weren’t broken and on John’s face. His body was now a useless composition of carbon, nothing more than a sack of meat full of bags of flesh.

She killed him.

In Equestria, war was only found in stories, and the very thought of killing another living sentient being was beyond taboo. Even during the Changeling Invasion, nopony killed anyone of those bugs, and even did everything in their power to spare them. Love and friendship would always win the day; she and her friends proved that.

On here, however, love and friendship was scarce. killing was a thing of life even before the plague. It was evident wherever she went. The pictures of armies on the billboards, the amount of firepower the police stored in their stations, hell, weapons and ammo were sold to the general public. The hellish nature of this place was starting to sink into her. It changed her in a way that no infection could, and it could never be cured.

I killed kim. How could I kill him?! John grabbed his gear and started to loot the place, leaving Dash to her own thoughts.

She thought about her friends (Could she even call them that anymore?), and what they would think of her. She went against everything they stood for by a small pull of a trigger.

“Come on, Dash. Let’s get out of here," John said, snapping Dash out of her thoughts for a moment.

“Yeah," she whispered. She followed John and Anya down the stairs. She glanced at the two lifeless bodies, particularly at the one she help kill. I’m a monster. she thought. She repeated it in her head when they left the building. She longed to find a way home as soon as possible when she first arrived in the wasteland. Now, she thought that she couldn't return. I’m a monster.

Author's Note

Thank you for your patience, everyone. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism if you so desire. Also, I hope you enjoyed your slaughtered turkeys as much as I did!

6: A Band of Misfits

The trip back to their safe zone was long and tedious. The sun had already left it’s peak in the sky, and started to find a place on the horizon. This made John highly cautious, and they occasionally stopped so he could avoid the shadows.

Dash was still deep in thought. The image of her ending a life replayed in her mind over and over, with every minute detail. She could recall how a small bit of metal destroyed the plexiglass covering on the helmet’s visor without any effort, and how it ripped through his cornea, tearing it apart like as if it were a weak piece of cloth. She could remember the brutality of the bullet, with enough force to crack open his skull almost akin to breaking an egg improperly, causing a sticky and sickening mess of blood and cerebral fluid. And she remembered that all of this carnage was made with no more effort than a push of a button.

She thought about the why of it. The reason behind her actions. At first, she told herself that she did it to save a friend’s life. She remembered how her victim pinned John down on the desk, inches of taking his life away with the blade of his own knife.

But is he really a friend?

The dark thought echoed in her mind as she gazed at John, whose emotions were hidden by the facemask he wore. Was he really worth killing someone over? John glanced back at her for a quick moment, but his eyes quickly turned back onto the road, cautiously scanning the shadows of the buildings for hazards. After all, what has he ever done for you? She thought about her chances of survival if she was ever alone. She had an advantages than made her potentially strong enough to not only survive, but thrive. Not only did she have wings, she was very physically stronger and faster than some humans, but most importantly, she was immune to this thing. All she had to do was fly off to the other city John mentioned, find a map, and she would be home free.

“Shit.”

John’s outburst snapped her from her thoughts. Now aware of her situation, she noticed what John was wary of. Up ahead of them, she saw a small group of ghouls wandering around, protected by the shadows of the building. She felt more anger than fear, since they were the absolute last thing she wanted to see that day. “Great. Now what?” she whispered.

John pointed to the small section of the road. “We have to stick to the sunlight,” he said as he started walking. “Come on. We don’t have much time left.”

Carefully, they navigated on the narrow path of light, though not without bringing attention to themselves. John’s rucksack created a noise that couldn’t be silenced, but he didn’t seem to care. They continued to traverse the narrowing path of sun, but, once again, the scarcity of their luck was evident once more by a minivan blocking their path. Of course, Dash could fly over it, but John and Anya could only climb on top of it to get pass. With John’s bag weighing him down already, that was easier said than done.

John hoisted Anya up first before hastily struggling to climb it himself. The path of sun still declined at a rapid rate caused him to panic slightly; ultimately causing him to slip from the back of the vehicle face first onto the asphalt.

“Fuck!” he shouted in pain. Dash and Anya immediately came to his assistance. Dash lifted his face to see a bloody nose bent in a wrong position, obviously broken. Regaining some of his consciousness, he managed to unstrap the bag around his shoulders and handed it to her before he could stand up.

She took the bag from his arms and used her wing to strap it to her side in an awkward, but useable position at her side. John immediately stood up in a panicked state, spitting out the blood from his dripping nose and flesh he bit off from his bottom lip. He grabbed Anya and held her with her head looking over his shoulder, desperate to find a patch of sunlight as quickly as possible.

The monsters inched closer and closer as seconds went on, eager to tear them all to shreds. Dash caught something in front of them as they picked up their pace, and saw it as a miracle granted my Celestia herself. A good chunk of sunlight covered the entire way back to their safe point, and all they had to do was get there in one piece.

John picked up his pace to catch up with Dash, nearly against the wall of the building. It was only a matter of time before before he and Anya would be rendered into nothing more than scraps of flesh.

As if on cue, a hand with old and broken skin clung on to his sleeve in an attempt to drag him into the shadows where he would be slaughtered like a cow. He struggled to set himself free from the monster’s grip, fearing the failure of his goal to reunite with his children.

CRACK!

With another familiar explosion, John was free. Blood that didn’t belong to him stained his sleeve as he sprinted away to reach the safety of the sunlight. As he basked in the warm sun, he dropped Anya and took deep breaths of relief.

“Nice shot,” he said whilst gasping for air. Dash didn’t respond, but she looked at the weapon in her hooves. The same weapon she used to end the life of another being with sentience just hours before. Her mind tormented her with images of her friends asking a simple, yet horrific question.

“How could you do something like that?!”

“Come on, we have to get the fuck out of here. Now.”

John snapped her away from her trance and back into reality. She dropped the bag strapped to her side for John to pick it up and wrap it around his shoulder where it belonged. After making sure that everything was in order, they continued to trek to their sanctuary, hopefully, without anymore conflicts.

After slamming the garage door shut, John immediately checked to see if the windows and doors were secured tightly. Dash fell on the ground, exhausted from all the events that happened that day. She lost a friend, and a damn good one too. If it were under different circumstances, she would've loved to get to know him better. She wanted to meet his wife that he always bragged about, and wanted to see where he worked and lived. She wanted to remember him for his quirky smile and happy-go-lucky attitude, but all she could remember was his bloody face wearing a painful expression, and how his breath slipped away right under her hooves.

It was his murder that caused John to kill without remorse. And that eventually forced Dash to do the unthinkable: killing a man. Her victim may have not been innocent, but that didn't justify her actions. He was just trying to survive like everyone else. And she was responsible for his death.

A loud crashed interrupted her musings and gave her a small sense of panic. Almost instinctively, she grabbed her gun and searched for the source, ready to defend herself.

A wave of anxiety overcame her when she saw John pushing a large and heavy toolbox against the barred door. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked frantically.

“Securing our safety,” he grunted as he continued to push the box in front of the door. He stifled the pain from his misshapen nose as he attempted to block the door. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and help me with this, dammit!”

With an unpleasant sigh, she flew in to assist him with the box. It was much heavier than she expected, but they managed to move the box much much further than John would’ve moved it by himself. After they sealed the door for good, John walked back to the garage, still breathing heavily from his efforts.

Dash decided to rest for a while before following him. She really wanted this day to be over for good. She just wanted to go back home again, without the fear of possible death by a bullet if she flew too high. She wanted to show off her awesome skills with her friends again.

She was starting to realize that she may have taken those liberties for granted. Never in her life did she think a world like the one she was in existed. Where friendships were broken because there isn’t enough food. A world where kill or be killed was the main rule. Part of her accepted it. She already took a life without second guessing herself beforehand, so why should she care about his death? After all, her “victim” took away lives himself, possibly from other poor souls who had to take lives for their benefit as well. It started to become clear to her; if she wanted to see her friends again, she has to play this world’s sick and twisted game. She still felt guilt for killing, but she was only obeying the one main rule in this wasteland.

She has to survive. At any cost.

Gaining a bit of energy from her short rest, she returned to the garage to prepare for the sleep that she felt entitled to. John sat against the garage door, busy fixing his nose by wrapping it with medical gauze and tape from one of his first aid kits while Anya was sleeping on his lap. “Don’t you think you should be saving those supplies for something more serious?” she asked. A memory of a scene in a shitty zombie comic flashed in her mind. It had some rulebook in it about saving medkits for surgery such as amputation for when you got bit in the hoof. It was probably the only thing she liked from it.

“This is serious. The last place I want to get an infection in is the breathing part near my eyes,” he said while carefully applying the tape to his face. Dash could tell it was still sore due his cringing. “Besides, There is plenty more bandages in that kit, and Cody has... “ he trailed off for a painful second. “... had another unused one.” A somber expression washed over his face. For Dash, it was amazing that something so ape-like could show that much emotion.

“So, uh… what’s up with you wanting to “secure our safety” all of a sudden?” she asked, quickly trying to change the subject. She didn’t want to break out in tears again. John sighed.

“Those freaks aren’t suppose to be out that early,” he said dryly.

“Okay, and?”

“That means that either they wanted to witness the beautiful setting sun, or they have a controller with them,” he explained.

“A controller?” She sat down and yawned audibly, almost too tired to be intrigued by the new information.

“Those who have AB blood. They can influence a whole horde, and if one of them finds us, we’re fucked.” His voice cracked partly out of fear. He has encountered a controller before, and he wishes he would never have to again.

“And so your plan is to block them off with toolbox.”

“Well, that, and let’s just say that I won’t get a lot of sleep tonight.” He slid up against the garage door with his gun at his side. Anya shifted to sleep in a new position on his legs.

“Yeah, whatever,” she replied tiredly. Fatigue work wonders on her, as she easily drifted into a peaceful state of sleep once she laid down.

John kept staring behind him as if he could see through the metal door he rested on, stroking Anya’s head in one hand, and gripping his rifle tightly on the other. “We have to get out of here,” he whispered to no one in particular.

John stared blankly into his television with his children, letting his mind wander. Since his last, and maybe final fight with his wife, he has been in a less than somber mood. Even his children weren’t as lively as they should’ve been. The past few days of his life have been an absolute hell. Not only did his wife still have an addiction even after months in rehab, he was going to get a divorce, and he said so right in front of his kids. Since he was one of the top surgeons, and mom was out of the picture, he needed to find someone to take care of his children while he was at work. It was truly the definition of a chaotic week.

A familiar ring snapped him out of his thoughts. Sighing, he stood up to answer the door while the kids’ eyes were paying attention to the multicolored characters on the screen. He opened his door to meet his grinning brother on the other side.

“Sup?” he said nonchalantly.

“Hey, Cody. How are you?”

“Good. But I think I’ll be better if you let me in…”

John rolled his eyes before giving Cody some room to get inside the house. He strolled in confidently, as if he owned the place. He placed himself on John’s sofa and started to watch the tele with the kids. “Hey, guys!” he said happily. The children merely turned back their heads in acknowledgement, then back to their show. He was going to say something smart, but due to the recent events, he decided against it.

John sat back down next to Cody, whose usual gleefulness seemed to fade away. “So… What show is this?” he asked awkwardly.

“It’s one of their favorites. “My Little Ducky” or something like that.”

Cody chuckled. “Does it give you headaches?”

“No, actually, it’s quite enjoyable. Even with all the stupid duck puns.” There was an awkward silence for a small moment.

“Look. I know about you and well… you know.” He place his hand on John’s shoulder. “And I just wanted to say that I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, but-”

“I’m serious. If you need me or Jen to take care of the kids for a while, just call us.” He patted his shoulder. “I’ll let nothing bad happen to you, and-”

“-I’ll let nothing bad happen to you.” A nostalgic smile washed over his face as he remembered the “code” they had when they were kids. “Thanks Cody.”

“No problem. After all, what are brothers for?”

John snapped awake, almost in a sudden panic. His hectic breathing slowed down a bit once he realized there wasn’t any immediate threat around him. Slowly and quietly, he moved towards the receptionist room took peek out the barred windows. His skill at stealth was proven by the still sleeping dog and pegasus.

As quietly as possible, he shifted one of the boards blocking the window just enough to see what was behind him. A faint smile of relief grew on his face as he saw the early morning sun in the sky.

As he returned to the garage, his mind started to run into “planning mode” for the day ahead of them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any sophisticated plans in a short time span, and time was now worth more than just money. With a deep sigh, a light bulb flashed in his mind. “Fuck it.”

He grabbed his rucksack from the ground along with his rifle and shotgun. His new 12 gauge didn’t have a strap, so he just held it in his arms. After regathering his supplies, he gently nudged Anya awake. She quickly bursted with energy once she gained consciousness with her tail wagging side to side, and her tongue lolling on the side of her face. After one partner was awake, it was time to wake the other.

He turned around to see the winged pony in her slumber. Even though he counted her as a person, he still found her adorable in a cuddly stuffed animal sort of way. In fact, he almost didn’t want to wake her up, since it would disturb her peaceful and, admittedly, cute sleep.

Almost.

Casually, he strode over to her and attempted to resurrect her as gently as possible. After what she has been through, he didn’t want her to have a panic attack by abruptly disturbing her sleep cycle. At first he gently nudged the back of her her torso, cautious on how hard he shook her. It amazed him at how soft her feathers were, even with all the dirt they must’ve picked up.

Musings aside, he still didn’t manage to wake her up. A little frustrated, he shook her a little harder. “Come on. Wake the hell up,” he whispered. Dash groaned, but not in the way someone would out of annoyance. It almost sounded like it was from… pleasure?

Confused, John just shook her harder. “Just wake up already!" he nearly shouted. Dash woke up slowly, but as soon as she knew what was going on, she zipped away with an embarrassed yelp.

“What are you doing?!” she yelled with anger and embarrassment.

“Uh, waking you up?” John said stupidly. “What else could I be doing?”

“By touching my wings?!”

“So… what? Are they injured? You seem to be flying just fine to me,” he said, as if nothing was wrong.

Dash nearly facehoofed, but forgot that John knew next to nothing about her culture let alone a pegasi's “special spots”. “They're… sensitive,”she said with a flared face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you-”

“No! Not that type of “sensitive”...” Her cheeks became bright red, even showing through her coat.

It didn’t take long for John to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Oh… oh shit.” Blood also rushed in his cheeks. “I am really, really, sorry! I didn’t know!” His voiced cracked from the embarrassment. In his mind, he told himself that he just basically unintentionally molested her.

If John was a pony, he would've faced the full wrath of Rainbow Dash, but since he seemed truly oblivious of his actions, she couldn’t be all that mad with him. “Let’s just… forget this ever happened. And don’t do that again. Ever.”

“Agreed.”

Trying to avoid a painfully awkward moment, John grabbed a couple of tins from his bag, and opened them as quickly as he could. He scooped half of the contents from one of them on the floor, giving Anya her startup meal for the day. He handed the other full on to Dash before clearing his throat. “Eat up,” he said with his normal rough voice. “and make it quick. The less time is wasted the better.”

“What’s your plan for today?” Dash asked as she wiped away the tiredness of her eyes. Since she couldn’t use those clumsy human eating utensils, she decided to “drink” the can much like she did the last time.

“We’re gonna walk,” he answered simply.

“Really? We’re going to walk all the way to the next city?”

“Yes, we are. Is there a problem?” He was answered only by a short silence.

“But you said the next town is miles away.”

“Yes, I did.”

“But I thought you said we couldn’t ma-”

“I know what I said!” he snarled. He sighed, apologetically. Dash stared at him, both with concern and anger. “Look… we need to get out of here as soon as possible. If a controller is really here, then spending another night here can easily get us killed,” he explained calmly “So we need to move.”

Dash didn’t question him, being the big boss of the group, but instead quickly finished her bland and tasteless breakfast. Swallowing what was left of it, she grabbed her rifle, and pulled her hood over her head. “Ready when you are.”

“Good.” He clicked his tongue, grabbing Anya’s attention. With Dash at his back, and Anya by his heel, he opened the garage door, letting the sunlight banish the black shadows of the room. He took a deep breath of the brisk, cool winter air, mentally readying himself for the trek ahead. “Are you ready?” he asked Dash.

She nodded. “Better than staying here right?” she said rhetorically. She also prepared herself, which included fighting off the urge to zip on a cloud and nap when they traveled.

“Let’s march.”

The crisp wind played with the grass next to the road that they travelled in, creating a scene that can be painted. The sun didn’t radiate much heat, but it was at least a little warmer than the past few days, making it a little easier to move around.

Dash stopped hovering completely by this pointed. She may have been the fastest flyer in Equestria, but even she couldn’t withstand flapping her wings for about four consecutive hours. She also didn't complain at all at this point; an impressive feat for her, but, all good things must come to an end.

“Jeez, how long do we have to walk for?”

“As long as we have to,” John replied with an irritated tone. “We can at least find a petrol station eventually.”

“Yeah, and we’ve been walking for how long? And we still didn’t find any station. Ugh.” She could already feel a cramp building up in her legs. It baffled her that John could withstand that much punishment on just two legs. Since he started limping, however, she figured that he couldn’t take much more. “Come on, we're both tired so, can't we take a break?” She noticed that Anya wasn’t keeping a steady pace either. “Even Anya is working too hard.”

“No! We've come too far to stop now! There has to be a fucking rest stop nearby, there has to be!” It wasn’t long until his legs couldn’t take it anymore. He collapsed on his knees, pounding the asphalt out of frustration. “Shit…”

Dash caught up with him and sat on her haunches, giving her body the rest it needs. Anya laid on her stomach, and placed her head on John’s lap in an attempted to comfort him. He gently stroke her head once or twice.

“We’re going to die here,” John whispered morbidly. His voice was breaking into sorrow. “It’s over. This is how it fucking ends. On a roadway in the middle of nowhere.” He held the brass necklace around his neck, fondling it with his fingers. “It’s all my fault.”

Dash’s ear twitched. “What do you mean it’s all your fault? How did you cause this?”

John emitted a dead, quiet chuckle, one out of anger, mixed with sadness. “I should’ve made sure that the damn car was hidden efficiently. You know what, no, I never should’ve given Cody the order to stop at the city. I never should’ve FUCKING DONE IT!” He grabbed a nearby patch of grass, all the way to it’s roots, and thew it as hard as he could, scaring Anya in the process.

Dash simply watched him sit on his rear with his head between his legs. Clearly, the exhaustion of their trek was getting into his head. She had to snap him out of it. “I don’t know what the heck has gotten into you, but you need to stop! Seriously! You and I both know this isn’t your fault. Stop being so overdramatic!”

John slowly lifted his head to look at Dash. “Why can’t you see? I failed. I promised Cody to keep you safe. I failed. His dying wish was for me send his last words to his widow. I failed. I promised my own damn children that I would see them again. And. I. Failed. I have no one to blame but myself. Why can’t you get that through your head? Anything I say to you goes through one ear, and out the fucking other!” he snarled.

“Ugh, you are such an…” She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but it had trouble coming out of her mouth. “... an asshole.” She emphasised the word, so that she knew he heard it. “Jeez, you are more stubborn than Applejack! How do you know that you “failed” your promises yet? We’re still breathing aren’t we?” she sighed heavily. She had enough of him. “Is this what Cody would want? For you to just give up?”

John gave Dash a cold, but attentive look at the mention of his deceased brother’s name. He wanted to say something back at her, but nothing came to his mind. She was right. Plus he only now started to notice how ignorant he was with his attitude towards her. He also noticed all the times she could’ve left, but didn’t. And now she was his motivational speaker.

He took a deep breath, and look straight into Dash’s rose colored eyes. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

His response was not what Dash was expecting. “What?”

“You heard me. I’m sorry for being such an asshole, and I’m sorry for putting you through needless shit. Your right. Cody would bitch about me sitting here and giving up.” He sighed apologetically.

Dash wasn't one for touchy-feely conversations, and this was a really touchy-feely conversation. “It’s a’ight. I forgive you, dude.”

A look of astonishment washed over his face. “Just like that?”

“Yep. Just like that. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t forgive you.”

John stayed in a calm silence for a while. It amazed him at how sincere she was about her statement. Especially after how he treated her. He was hopefully going treat her with the respect she deserved from now on. “Thanks. That means a lot.” For the first time in what seemed like forever, he had a friendly smile on his face, even if it was bittersweet. He stood up on his feet. “Come on. We have to find shelter as soon as possible,” he said in his normal, bossy voice.

“Right behind you.” Dash responded. She was finally getting used to John’s orders, now that they didn’t seem like commands to a dog. Maybe things would be different from now on.

Another hour or two passed, and they still didn’t find anything that could be considered shelter. John stifled a groan, evidence that his patience was wearing thin. Dash was also in this same situation. She wanted, so desperately, to fly and see if they are anywhere close, just as an excuse to use her wings properly. However, after she knew what a sniper bullet could do to someone, she was afraid to. She was afraid to fly.

“Damn it!” John kicked a small rock into the field of grass. “How far can a Volkswagon go without refueling?!”

“Can’t we just go back to the city?” Dash complained.

“No, we can’t. We don’t have enough time to return to Essen before nightfall.” He growled once again. “I should’ve took the time to look for a damn map!”

A cold, biting wind blew over them, piercing through John’s heavy clothing and made him shiver violently. Dash felt it as well, but thanks to her coat and medium jacket, didn’t feel the need to shiver. Still, she felt the goosebumps form on her skin. It sort of reminded her of winter back at Ponyville. She remembered how she was responsible for making it sure it would snow every year, albeit not always right on time. Her boss would give her hell for that every year. Being a weatherpony was tedious at times, but just the very act of soaring through the air made up for it. She missed it.

“Stop.” John said suddenly. Dash shook of those thoughts of homesickness. She started to notice that they weren’t having such a big effect on her before, when she first arrived here. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Her ears erected, answering her own question. Of in the distance behind them was a low, growling noise; one made by a machine.

A smile, one of relief, grew on John’s face. “I hope that is what I think it is,” he mumbled excitedly. Sure enough a large RV approached them from behind.

“Are they going to stop for us?”

“They will if we stand in the middle of the road”

John and Anya stood on one side of the yellow line that separated the lanes on the road. Dash stood on the other side, silently hoping that the driver would see her especially, giving how large the vehicle was compared to her size.

The RV approached closer towards the trio. John flailed his arms in the air, shouting “hey”. It was kind of a redundant action, Dash thought. They couldn’t hear him.

The large automobile was notably going slower. John’s waved his hands even more, laughing with relief. “Yes. Yes!”A smile grew on Dash’s face as well, a genuine smile that she felt like she didn’t wear in a long time. John gave room for the vehicle to halt, which it did.

The door slammed open, revealing a kid, not older than sixteen from the likes, walked out with a strange gun strapped on his back. His face was dirty, but his skin was notably more tan than John. He also wasn’t wearing anything significantly heavy, such as John’s rucksack. Even though he was shorter that John, Dash was still small in comparison. She could go up to his chest at her full height.

John was taken aback at that. Clearly that couldn’t be the one driving could it? “Yo, wassup?” His voice was scratchy, clearly young. John also noticed that his accent was definitely American, which was odd.

John cleared his throat. “Um, we need transport,” he said awkwardly.

“Okay, okay… what else?” He was very suspicious, at least from Dash’s perspective.

“That’s it... “

“So you need transport.” He smiled. “Yea, I can hook you up. Maybe.”

Dash grew tired of him almost instantaneously. “Look bub, we went through a lot of crap to get here, so how ‘bout you stop screwing with us, and let us in?!”

“What the fuck?! A talking horse?!”

“I’m a pony!”

“Dash, quiet!” John ended the argument before it got too heated. “If we have to pay, we have food, water, meds...” he trailed off.

“I want it all.” he said threateningly. He aimed his gun at John. “Bag off. Now.”

John took out his gun and aimed back. “Over my dead body,” he replied. Dash was nearly horrified again. Killing bandits was somewhat reasonable, but this was a standoff between John and a kid.

The kid smiled. “I need some backup, guys!” Suddenly, four more kids, some off them very young, sprouted from the windows of the RV, rifles and pistols in hand. The all wore chopper helmets with the letters “CR” painted on them in red. They were a gang.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” John whispered.