Apocalyptic Equestria

Chapter One

I woke up, and looked around me.

“Still night time. I would’ve figured that I slept through the whole day, but that’s impossible.” I looked below, no zombies. That was good. It was dangerous to be out at night especially with Snowball lurking about. When he mutated, he became a tank-like creature. I lost all but three of my survivor group to him. The other three were bitten later the next day.

I hadn’t seen Snowball since that one night, but I knew he could be anywhere. And he came only at night. Which I figured was odd, but I didn’t question it. Too odd of a question. Trixie turned too. She became a witch-like creature along with the rest of the unicorns. It was not safe at all. And she, along with other witches, could be anywhere.

Luckily, they only attacked when provoked. I saw that with my own eyes. A pony walked up to one, Celestia bless his soul, aggravated it, and was blown to smithereens in an instant. I feared for my safety with them around. I have very little of what one would call a ’weapon’. I had a rusty pipe that was on the verge of breaking. There were rumors that the scientist ponies were making something called a “gun”, but that rumor was disproved when a team of refugees went into their lab and found nothing but dead ponies and a few zombies. Bless their souls. They were brave enough to go and look for this “gun”.

I looked off into the horizon and saw a pony gallop past the moon. I almost fell out of my tree at the sight.

“Another pony! Oh my gosh! I thought I was the last one left... must’ve been wrong!” Just then, I heard the distinctive roar of Snowball. The pony that ran by flew through the air, its body flailing about with blood streaming out of its head.

“Damn it... looks like another dead.” I drooped my head down and lay my ears back.

“May as well try to get some more sleep. Got a long day tomorrow. Need to cover as much ground as possible if I’m going to get to the Frozen North anytime soon.” I dropped my head on the branch and started to dose off when I heard, almost silently, a small foal walking below me. I looked below and saw that he was living.

“Psst. Hey you, down there, yeah you.” He looked my way and almost yelled when he saw me.

“Shh! We have to be quiet. You understand?” He nodded and looked around then asked, “Mind if I come up?”

“Not at all. Well, as long as you are bite free.” He paused and looked himself over.

“Yes sir, I am.”

“Brilliant. Now, what’s your name little foal?” He climbed up to the branch above me and lay down then piped, “My name is Officer Cornelius. But call me OC. I was the leader of a few young foals and fillies that were my age. We were great at hiding from the zombies. Acted as if it was a game of hide-and-seek. But, sadly, most of my group went missing a few days ago. It’s just been me.”

“Officer Cornelius eh? Well, my name is Peanut Butter. Nice to meet you.”

“Well, my name is actually Oreo Cookie, but I like Officer Cornelius better. Sounds a whole lot more sophisticated don’t you think?”

“Yes, it does. But I like Oreo Cookie. You sure you’re bite free kid?” He carefully got down to my branch and let me look him over. He was bite and scratch free.

“Impressive, Oreo. Very impressive.” I also noticed his cutie mark was an Oreo. It was pretty cute if I did say so myself. He climbed back up to his branch and lay down his little head.

“You said your name was Peanut Butter?”

“That it is my name little friend.”

“That’s a funny name. I like it.”

Within a few minutes, he was snoring soundly. I smiled and lay back. I was asleep in no time. When I woke up, I looked above me at Oreo’s branch. He was there, looking at me.

“Morning sleepy head!” I blinked a few times then said, “Remember that we need to be quiet. But hi.”

“Sorry Peanut Butter. Sleep well?” I nodded and looked below us. Still no zombies.

“Yeah, its weird they came by a few minutes ago, but ignored us. They just kept walking that way.” He pointed towards where I saw the pony die last night. Then he said, “I don’t know why, but they just did.”

I got up and wobbled a bit upon standing. I smiled nervously and said, “Never stood on a tree limb before.” He smiled and laughed lightly. I looked around and to my surprise, the Ever Free Forest was quiet for once. Birds were chirping, squirrels ran across the trail.

“This sight can almost make you forget that we are in an apocalypse. It’s peaceful here for an odd reason Oreo.” He was looking into the horizon with his eyes closed and was smiling. He seemed to enjoy the still air. I grabbed a few things and looked at him and asked, “Ready to go?” He looked my way and said, “Where are we going?” I looked into the distance and asked him, “Ever heard of the Frozen North?”

He shook his head and I laughed.

“That’s where we are going. But, we have to make haste. Now, do you want to travel by the road or the trees?” He sat there thinking for a second then responded, “Trees. They were my main mode of moving about when I was with my group.” I nodded and said, “Alright, here we go.” I jumped from my branch to the other tree. I looked at him and he spread his wings. ’I didn’t realize that he had wings’, I thought. He leaped from his branch and floated to the one next to me.

“Impressive.” He smiled and nodded firmly. We kept moving through the trees, hoping not to run into any trouble along the way. I looked back and asked him if he had a weapon.

“No sir. I don’t. Never thought I would need one at the time.” I paused and gave him my pipe.

“This helped me. It is a little worn out, but we can find new ones everywhere.” He beamed when I gave it to him and exclaimed, “Thanks Peanut Butter!” I nodded in acknowledgement and hopped to the next tree. I missed it by just a few inches and fell to the ground. I winced and looked ahead of me. There was nothing there... or so I thought. A zombie came stumbling around the other side of a tree and looked my way.

It sped up, and I tried moving, but my body hurt too much. It was closing in fast, and I looked up at Oreo.

“Sorry”, I mouthed. That was when the zombie closed its jaws around my neck. I screamed in pain, but then, its grip loosened and it collapsed to the ground. Oreo was standing there with the pipe in his mouth, beating the zombie’s head into a pulp. When he was done, he looked at me and said faintly, “Looks like this is the end. Do you want me to do it?” He meant finishing me so I wouldn’t turn.

I shook my head and said, “Stay in that tree over there.” I pointed and said, “I’ll stay in that one. If I turn, do it. If I don’t then we continue.” He nodded and climbed up his tree. I made my way up mine and bandaged up my neck, hoping to stop the bleeding. I passed out moments later.

I awoke in the tree, Oreo across from me.

“How long was I out?” He looked at me and grabbed the pipe. He came over to my tree and stood a good distance away from me. My body lunged towards him and I yelled, “Whoa! Whoa! What’s happening?” He jumped to the side and struck my head. I felt nothing, though I heard the skull crack.

“Oh dear Celestia no. No.. why me?” I lunged towards him again, but this time he struck me clean in the head. The brain was penetrated and I collapsed to the floor of the forest. I had turned and attacked the little guy.