As Sinistra Soprano exited her classroom after the ringing of the bell, she sighed. Everypony has been jumpy since the outbreak of this weird disease began during the weekend. Including her. The town was taking extra precautions to keep everypony safe. The morning before instead of sitting under her favorite tree with her friends before class, she was forced to stay put in the building. Her friends weren’t in the same class as she was this year and their hangouts outside of class were the only parts of the school day that she liked.
But today, she wasn’t even able to leave her classroom. The only way and reason anypony could leave the class is when they needed to use the restroom. Whenever someone needed to use the restroom, the teacher told them that they only had five minutes. And that if they aren’t back in the designated amount of time, they would have a gaggle of older ponies checking on them to make sure they’re okay.
The reason why the city of Seasaddle—scratch that—all of Equestria became paranoid for each other’s safety is because this isn’t an ordinary disease. And nopony knows where it has come from and exactly who first caught it.
One thing for sure, according to the news, it is spread by internal fluids, such as blood. How was it being spread? Infected ponies were biting and sometimes devouring the living. Even if a bitten pony was saved from being eaten alive, they weren’t still out of the water. In fact, it’s much worse. It first begins with fatigue and a fever. After that, the pony grows extremely weak and dies. However, it doesn’t end there.
The first reported incident involved a young colt dying from this mysterious fever followed by him sitting back up about an hour later. The doctor was astonished and thought that had come back to life, but when he tried to examine the child, he ended up getting bit in one of his forelegs. The cycle began to form after that. More ponies were getting infected and bitten. Some of them seem to be coming out of nowhere. That’s the very reason why everypony is paranoid.
Ever since Sinstra’s parents had to go to their jobs at the hospital that morning, she’s been afraid of them catching the disease.
“Don’t worry about us, dear,” her mother, Medica, reassured her before dropping her off at school. “We’re prepared for this. I’ll be here later to pick you up at school today. I’ll make that a promise.”
“See you later, Soapy.” her father, Herb, added.
Sinistra hasn’t had the feeling of separation anxiety ever since she was a filly. That was when she was just beginning school for the very first time and she wasn’t away from her parents as much. But with what’s going on now in the present, Sinistra couldn’t help herself.
“Come on Sinistra, you’re thirteen. Not four. Your parents will be fine.” she reminded herself as her parents departed and went off to work.
Now that the day was finally over, she’ll get to feel the relief of seeing her parents again. She felt a big smile form on her face she eyed the exit to the building.
“Sinistra Soprano!” She heard a voice coming from her left. Surprised, she turned her head to see the school’s secretary standing in the doorway of the front office. “Come in for a second.”
Confused, Sinistra turned and made her way to the office. The secretary moved to allow entry for the young filly.
“Your parents sent us a message today while you were in class.” She stated. Sinistra hear leapt. “They are stuck at work today and are forced to spend overtime at the hospital.”
Sinistra turned her head to take a look out the window. The other exiting school children were greeted by their parents. Police ponies were surrounding the place, making sure everypony was making it home safe. You were only allowed to exit if you had a parent or guardian to take you home.
“Since you aren’t the only one who doesn’t have a ride home,” the secretary spoke up, giving Sinistra a piece of paper. “All of the other ponies without or waiting for a parent or guardian to pick them up are waiting in the cafeteria. Give this to one of the adults when you enter.” The paper read Awaiting escort, parents expected to be late by a few hours. Sinistra nodded and followed the directions.
She entered the cafeteria, greeted by a large stallion. Behind him was the crowd of other fillies and colts. She gave him the note and he pointed his hoof towards a mare and a cart at the other end of the room. Sinistra recognized the mare as the school’s lunch lady, Honey Dew.
“Help yourself to some snacks,” he said, his voice like sandpaper. “And find a seat.”
She walked past the stallion and took in a full view of the room. Some of the other school children seemed to be crying, even some of the 14 year olds yelping for their mommies and daddies. Some of them appeared worried and seemed jumpy at everything. Some of them were calmly eating their snacks and talking with their friends.
“Well, hi there, dumpling!” Honey Dew greeted optimistically. “Apples, carrots, daisy sandwiches, anything off the cart. What will it be?”
There was much more than that. Pints of milk. Potato chips. Celery. Glasses of water. Apple juice. Soda. Watermelon. Small blocks of gelatin. Oranges. Oatburgers.
“Uh…” Sinistra paused, still deciding. “I’ll have potato chips and a daisy sandwich… and a soda.”
“Sure thing, kiddo!” Honey Dew said, placing all of the requested items on a tray. “If there’s need anything or have any questions to ask that we can answer then let an older pony know.”
“What if…” Sinistra looked down at her hooves. “My parents don’t come to pick me up tonight?” She was hoping that it wouldn’t happen, but there’s a high chance of something bad happening.
“Oh, we’re expecting at least a few children not being able to get any rides home by tonight. And unfortunately since this outbreak isn’t dying down but growing… the school has arranged some places for students to stay the night. Or at least until they get somepony to pick them up. I have a feeling that since it’s getting worse rapidly they might cancel school tomorrow.”
“How worse has it gotten?” Sinistra asked. That morning there were only a hoofful of infected ponies. It couldn’t have possibly risen that quickly during the day. Then again, the reason why her parents had to work overtime was most likely because of this epidemic.
“Quite a lot.” Honey Dew replied. “Hopefully they will come up with a treatment or a cure of some sort.”
“My parents are doctors,” Sinistra said. “And they’re stuck at the hospital. I hope that that’s what they’re doing.”
“Well, I hope so too. It is only 2 PM after all, so they might be here this evening at least.” Honey Dew smiled. “Now go and enjoy your food. You could be here a while.”
Quite a lot. This outbreak isn’t dying down but growing. It’s getting worse rapidly. Honey Dew’s words rang in Sinistra’s head. If everything could get worse within a day, Sinistra couldn’t imagine how bad it would be by morning. The thought of not knowing the state of her own parents made her sick to her stomach. She stared at the food that Honey Dew gave her and sighed.
“There you are Sinistra! Finally something good happens.” Sinistra turned to where the voice was coming from. She smiled at the sight of her friend, Candy Floss. One of her two friends that she could only see outside of the classroom.
“Candy Floss!” The two hugged. “I missed you today!”
“Me too! I know that it’s not too safe to go outside the building but not outside the classroom? These rules are rigged.”
“Yeah, it’s scaring everypony too.” Sinistra picked up her bag of chips and opened them. “Want one?” Candy Floss reached into the bag and pulled out a chip.
“So, your folks are still working or something?” Candy Floss popped the chip into her mouth and munched on it.
“Pretty much. Who knows when they will be able to get out? Where’s your brother?”
“I don’t know.” Candy Floss says, looking down. “He isn’t a doctor so there’s no reason for him to be trapped at work. I’m just hoping that the worst hasn’t happened.”
“The lunch mare told me that the whole thing has gotten worse. That explains why my parents are still working. Maybe something happened at the paper mill?”
“Maybe.” Candy Floss sighed. “Shredder is a strong dude, though. He is across town and could just be stuck or something. He’ll probably be here to pick me up soon.”
Sinistra glanced over at Honey Dew. The lunch mare was putting away all of the excess food. She was probably going home.
Oh, please be doing the same, Mom. Dad. Please be packing up to come home. She thought about all the times with her parents. When her mother used to sing filly Sinstra her favorite lullaby to her whenever she had a nightmare. When her father would take her stargazing far from town every summer. When her mother would rub her belly whenever she got a tummy ache. When her father would hold her whenever she cried whether the subject of matter was big or small. Whenever her parents applauded her the loudest after every singing recital. When her father called her ‘Soapy’, her least favorite nickname that’s been with her since childhood, that very morning.
“Hey, Sinistra, you okay?” Candy Floss asked. “I’m sure your parents will be just fine.”
Sinistra shook her head. “Y-yeah, I’m f-fine. Just… nervous. What if… w-what if they aren’t okay?”
Candy Floss sighed. “Like what my brother said, we should always hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Trust me, I’ve been there.” Candy Floss has been an orphan for quite a while. A few years back, her parents were fire fighters and they died on the job. Her older brother, Shredder, had been taking care of her ever since.
Glancing back at the corner of the room again, Sinistra realized that Honey Dew had finally left.
“I know. I’ll try.” Sinistra said, praying to Celestia that her parents will come by to pick her up later.
“This will be the classroom that you will all be sleeping in.” The stallion said to the group of children. “We don’t have much of anything to sleep on, except for mats from the gym.” He pointed to a pile of mats a few feet away.
The fact that the classroom wasn’t even Sinistra’s made her feel uneasy. She felt that she should at least sleep in the classroom that she was familiar with.
“Looks like we’ll be having a bit of a sleepover, Sinny.” Candy Floss said, elbowing her friend.
“I suppose, but I think I’m just going to go to sleep. It’s been a long day.” She said, grabbing a mat from the pile. “So, where should be sleep?” Candy Floss pondered and scanned for an untaken spot in the room. She pointed nearby a bookshelf. “There. I’d like to see if they have the latest Daring Do book.” Sinistra walked over to the spot and placed down the mat. She plopped down onto it and watched the other kids place down their own mats.
“Found it!” Candy Floss shouted from behind. “Ooh boy this is going to be great!”
All that Sinistra could remember after that was the droopy feeling in her eyes and Candy Floss’s excited squeals slowly fading to silence before drifting off to sleep.
Sitting up, Sinistra’s heartbeat sped up as she sat up. She rubbed her eyes and jumped as another sound of a distant explosion sounded. Other students that were asleep or at least trying to sleep have noticed and had been woken up by the noise. Murmurs of fear came from them. They poked the supervisor awake and frantically told him about what they had heard.
“Explosions? Are you sure that’s what you heard?” he said. Some of the kids kept on asserting that they did in fact heard explosions. Sinistra took a glance at the clock. 2 AM. Another ‘boom’ sounded in the distance, growing slightly closer. The stallion was even scared now.
“Children, everything will be okay.” The older stallion said. He levitated a walkie talkie up to his ear. “What is going on? Should we evacuate?” A mix of muffled speech and white noise came from the other end of the walkie talkie.
“Woah, what’s going on?” Sinistra heard her friend yawning from behind. “Morning already?”
Another explosion went off. This time, it was a lot closer than before. Candy Floss wrapped her hooves around her friend in fear. The scared murmurs turned into screams.
“Get the kids out of the building.” Sinistra heard the voice as clear as day from the walkie. “Get them as far from the city as possible. There is a large herd of infected ponies that’s growing by the second.”
“So they’re now bombing the city? What have they gone mad!?” The stallion shouted in the walkie. Sinistra’s heart sunk while imagining the hospital being bombed with her parents still inside.
The stallion opened the classroom door with his magic. “Come on, children! We gotta hurry! Go! Go! Go!” He shouted as the group of students rushed out of the classroom. “Go out the back door, I’ll meet you kids out there soon!”
“Oh Celestia!” Candy Floss said under her breath as she trotted next to Sinistra. “Oh buck oh buck. I swear to Celestia if I end up losing Shredder—“ Candy Floss tripped on her hooves. The rest of the children finally reached and opened the back double doors. Sinistra made it onto the porch when she realized that Candy Floss hasn’t exited yet. Candy managed to get back onto her hooves to hurry out of the building.
“Hurry up Ca--.”
BOOM! Sinistra found herself flying backward off of the porch and landed on the ground hard. Everything seemed to have blacked out for at least a second. She struggled, but she was able to stand again. She was also able to feel the heat of the fire that was burning her school.
Moans and screams of pain were coming from all of the children around her. Debris was crushing some of the students while the others struggled to help their friends out of it. Sinistra frantically searched for Candy Floss. She felt a boulder drop in her stomach as she saw a badly burnt earth pony lying on the steps. Candy Floss.
Sinistra trotted over to her friend and dragged her away from the flames. Crying, she laid her friend onto her back and cupped Candy’s cheek.
“Candy Floss… please wake up!” She sobbed. “I need you! Don’t leave me here by myself.”
Sinistra continued to sob. She looked up and took a look at the rest of the city. Some of the buildings were on fire, some of them looked like they have been visited by a wrecking ball, and some of them were reduced to nearly nothing. At this rate, nobody was safe.
Sinistra gasped as she heard a noise coming from Candy Floss. It didn’t sound like a moan of pain or anything ordinary. In fact, it sounded more like a growl. She noticed that Candy’s eyes were now a sickly yellow and red. Her irises had also disappeared.
“C… Candy Floss?” Sinistra whispered under her breath. Her friend raised her neck slowly, opening her mouth in the process, still growling softly. The realization finally hit Sinistra, her friend had been infected. But… how?
She released Candy Floss and backed up. A scream rang nearby, one of the other students was getting bit by a zombie. The other remaining children fled in different directions, including Sinistra. She remembered what the stallion said. Get out of town.
The suburbs are nearby, she thought to herself as she trotted. Followed by the forest. There must be more ponies up there, right? We can’t be the only ones alive.
She halted as she reached the corner of the suburb streets. A large herd of zombies were wandering the area ahead. Trotting past them could prompt them to come after her. In fact, they could see her any second and come after her. She had to think of something quick.
There was a ditch to Sinistra’s left that had a tunnel leading to the other ditch that was far from the herd. She slowly stepped into the ditch, trying to not make any noise. She carefully took each step in the water and made her way into the small tunnel, practically crawling. Slowly, she maneuvered through the tube.
Don’t make any noise…don’t let them know you’re here. She instructed to herself. After every step she took she could hear the growls and moans of the zombies above the ground. It’s okay… you’ll make it through… just be quiet. She continued to slowly make her way through the tunnel.
Suddenly, a loud yelp rang from behind above ground and sound of the zombies moved towards the noise behind Sinistra. She quickly crawled towards the end of the tunnel and scrambled out of the tunnel.
Not even daring to turn around, Sinistra darted past the houses to the end of the suburb and into the forest. Dodging and jumping over branches like hurdles, she made sure that there were no sounds or sights of zombie ponies up ahead or behind her until she finally reached a clearing.
Now what? She thought, catching her breath. I got away from town, and looks like nopony else is here.
A heavy force pushed her onto the ground. She turned onto her back to find a zombie pony on top her. Screaming, she struggled to keep its mouth away from her flesh. The zombie wasn’t giving up without a fight though. It continued to try and get a bite of the young earth pony. Sinistra felt her energy rapidly running low with each second.
BLAM! Blood came out from the side of the zombie’s head as it stopped struggling. Sinistra pushed the zombie off of her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar figure standing by, holding a gun with her magic. Honey Dew. She trotted over to Sinistra and held out a hoof to her.
“Come with me kid! You’ll be safe with me I’m promise!” Honey Dew shouted. “But we’ve got to go now.”
Author's Note
I hope that this was alright for a first chapter. :3