In The End

Chapters

Prologue
Torn from reality
The road to ponyville
Into the nest
The escape
Sweet Apple Acres
Diagnosis

Prologue

Author's Note

HEY GUYS! DJ PON 5 HERE! I know that you've been waiting for an update on Buttons Secret Admirer but I'm sorry to say I've discontinued It because I had a realization.....FOALCON IS WRONG! BUT I SWEAR I WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU.....IN THE FORM OF A HOLIDAY SPECIAL! This will be a great story and I will keep updating it as long as you keep shooting me likes and favorites. Don't forget to leave your comments too cause I always appreciate new story ideas from my fans. Anyway here It is guys, My Halloween special! I hope you enjoy!
If I get five likes within the first five days I will continue this series so be sure to pound that like button and be sure to favorite this story. This is a zombie story but I will not use the term zombie in this story at all.

Prologue

Shadow Bolt lay soundly asleep in his bed in his house which lay on the outskirts of Manhattan. The house wasn't very big but it provided all he and his family needed. Shadow had just recently celebrated his twelfth birthday and things were beginning to look up for his family. His dad had finally sobered up and taken a job at the Manehattan power plant. The only disadvantage about this was that he worked late into the night at the plant and woke early to work every morning so Shadow and his Little sister Rose Bud rarely saw him. Shadows mother was however a typical stay at home mom. The kind of mother who would go to his football game and tell every other mother in the stands." The Quarterback is my son you know. He gets his athleticism from his father and his looks from me." She would tell them though she knew my dad had no athletic ability whatsoever. Shadow slept soundly in his bed snoring softly. The clock on his nightstand changed from 2:59 to 3:00 am making his alarm sound. Shadow rubs his eyes and sits up. He hops out of bed and walks out of his room takes a right to the end of the hall. He comes to a staircase and makes a left. He tip toes downstairs so he doesn't wake his sister. The living room is still and quiet the only sound comes from the constant ticking of the wall mounted clock. He looked at the clock and wondered where his dad could be. Just then the door in the kitchen flew open and shadows father appeared. As soon as he entered the house he pushed the door shut with so much force that a marble mortar and pestle fell off the shelf and shattered on the tiled floor.

"Daddy what's wrong?" Shadow asks walking into the kitchen.

"E-everything is fine buddy." He stutters. He kneels down and puts his hand on shadows shoulder." I need you to go wake your sister buddy. Can you do that?" he asks with a shaky smile.

"Yes daddy." shadow says turning and running up the stairs. He creaks open the door to his mothers room where his sister and mother slept." Mommy daddy wants to talk to you and Rosy." Shadow says shaking his mother awake.

"what? oh my?! Shadow what's on you pajamas?!" she asks seeing the red handprint on his shoulder.

"Daddy is covered in it." Shadow says grabbing her hand as she gets out of bed. She walks to rose buds bed and shakes her awake. She yawns and sits up rubbing her eyes.

"Lets go Rosy." Shadows mother says leading her downstairs. As they enter the living room Shadows father could be seen boarding up the front door with spare 2 by 4s from the basement." Honey what in the name of Equestria are you doing?!" Shadows mother asks letting go of Shadow's and Rose Bud's hands and walking over to him.

"Something is happening out there! I was at the power plant and one of the reactors exploded! when the maintenance crew went to see what happened the crews who were supposed to be monitoring the reactor attacked them!" He says as he closes the blinds on the windows.

"What do you mean? if the reactor exploded how did they survive?" She asks confused as he walks to a drawer and begins searching through it.

"They didn't...." He says pulling of a 45. caliber handgun.

"What are you talking about?!" She says looking at him like he was crazy which seemed like a strong possibility at this point.

"They should have been dead but they were still walking when maintenance got there....but there was something wrong with them they were all hurt one way or another throats torn out or missing limbs but they were still moving around. As soon as they saw maintenance they went after them and killed eight of the twelve men that went in!" He says checking the gun to make sure it was loaded.

"That's awful but.....what did they kill them with and why?" She asks seeing the hole in the story.

"That's where things get really weird....They bit them and used their hands!" He says peeking out the window.

"What?!" She says peeking out the window too.

"Turn on the TV so we can get some idea about what is happening." He says

"Did the do a story on the power plant?" She asks.

"I don't know..." He says turning on the TV and changing it to channel 3.

"Good evening everyone, this is Casey Sunrise coming to you live from the center of Manehattan where an incredibly infectious disease has broken out. Reports from the CDC say that everyone should avoid contact with all infected individuals." The reporter says as someone with blond hair and orange skin stumbles into the background of the shot. "The disease is thought to spread through bodily fluids but we are now getting reports that it is spread through saliva and blood. Symptoms of the disease is a high fever, loss of eyesight, and rapid infection of the exposed tissue." She says before noticing the woman stumbling up to her." Are you alright maaaaaaaAHHHHHH!" She screams as the woman grabs her arm and bites down tearing off a chunk of flesh. The camera man backs off as another woman and a man stumble to the reporter and start biting any exposed flesh on her body. People could be seen running through the streets as more people stumble around grabbing and biting anything that moves.

"Oh my....how could this be happening?" Shadows mother asks his father who by now was sitting on the couch.

"I don't know but we have to get out of here soon or..." He is cut off by a thud at the door. Everyone looks at the front door as another, more powerful thud is heard. Shadows father peeks through the curtained window and flinches from it." They're out there lets go! Go! Go! Go!" He says ushering them to the back door.

"How many?" Shadows mother asks.

"Three or four now go!" He says as the banging and thuds intensifies.

The four open the back door to reveal two women standing there. As soon as the door opened they began growling and they threw themselves at Shadows dad. He trips the first one but the second one grabs his arm. He puts the gun to its head and pulls the trigger. The woman goes limp and falls to the ground with a thud. Shadows father does the same to the first woman who by now had gotten to her knees. Shadows family ran to the door to the basement and threw it open. Shadows mother ran down the stairs with Rose followed by Shadow just as the front door broke down and five more infected stumbled into the house. Shadows father fired of one more shot, which went through a green woman's chest and into a blue skinned man's shoulder, before slamming the door shut. Shadows father ran down the stairs and straight to the small shutter window at the base of the house. Shadows father opened the window and handed the gun to Shadows mother.

"Honey I want you to take Rose and Shadow and get somewhere safe, okay?" He says.

"What do you mean?! Aren't you coming with us?!" she asks as Shadow hugged his father.

"Don't go daddy you promised tonight would be the last night you wouldn't be here." Shadow says crying into his fathers bloody shirt.

"I'm sorry buddy but sometimes promises just can't be kept." He says hugging him." I want you to protect your mom and your sister can you do that for me?" He says standing up. Shadow nods as his father walks to the basement door and starts pounding on it." Go Lily take the kids and get somewhere safe!" He yells as the infected start piling onto the door.

" Lets go kids." she says helping Rose and Shadow out the small window. She follows after them gun in hand as the door in the basement door is heard breaking open followed by the screams of Shadow's father." Don't look back Shadow.......Don't ever look back." She says as they run through the small neighborhood and into the dark night.

Torn from reality

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

The road to ponyville

Author's Note

I know there may be a lot of errors but I will be getting Microsoft word soon so I will be able to use spell check. I'd also like to thank my good friend MC-T for allowing me to use his OC Quantum Citrine.

The road to ponyville

Pain

That was all Shadow could feel as his mind was torn from the reality of what was happening. He could feel the infection eating away at him from the inside out but he couldn't scream in pain. Shadow stood overlooking Sunset Shimmer in an empty abyss. He watched as more people appeared out of the darkness to stand by her. His mother, his sister, Close Cut, Red June, and his father. They all raised their hands and pointed at him while whispering.

"Guilty!" They all whispered. Shadows father disappears." Guilty!" His mother disappears." Guilty!" His sister and Close Cut disappear." Guilty." Red June disappears. Shadow watches as Sunset Shimmers walks over to him. She leans in and whispers in his ear." GUILTY!" She disappears and Shadow feels whatever force keeping him from falling into the never-ending abyss disappear. Shadow yells as he tumbles through nothingness and back to earth where he falls back into his body with a sickening crack.

Shadow opens his eyes. He can see the ceiling of the hangar. He can smell the smoke from whichever building went up in flames during the panic. He can hear gunshots coming from outside the hangar doors. Shadow sits up and looks to the double doors that were now halfway closed. He sees someone's hand on the side getting ready to open it. Shadow falls back to the ground faking death. His hand finds his mothers knife on the ground and his hand closes around it. He hears the hangar door open and footsteps walking towards him. Shadow clenches his jaw as he hears movement next to him. Whoever this was, was looting the bodies! Shadow could hear him moving around him until he pauses and moves to him. He feels him take his 45. out of its holster.

"Nice!" A deep distorted voice says." Sorry friend, but you aren't going to be needing this anymore." Shadow feels a rough hand pat his cheek before going through his pockets. He pulls out his wallet and begins going through it. Shadow only kept a wallet because it made things feel normal, Like the end of the world never happened and he was on some kind of vacation. The only thing in the wallet was his picture of his family and more importantly his only picture of Sunset Shimmer." Dang dude!" He hears the man talking to what he thought was a dead body." Wish I could've met this chick before shit hit the fan." He chuckles. Shadow snaps and slams his fist into the mans face. Shadow feels his fist impact something rubbery and glass. Shadow throws himself over and jumps on top of the man. He brings his knife up to his throat. Now Shadow can see him clearly. The man is wearing a gas mask which explains the distorted voice. He is wearing what looks like scraps of metal and leather sewn together and there are bite marks, dents, and scratches along the arms and torso.

"You don't talk about her!" Shadow says in a raspy voice. He can clearly see how horrific he must look. His arms were covered in bite marks and scratches that had begun healing slightly.

"Oh my god!" The man yells before he feels the knife against his throat." oh thank god! I thought you might have turned!" He sighs.

"You should be worried that I haven't." Shadow says.

"Listen man how about I do you a favor and kill you now so you don't turn? does that sound good?" He says.

Shadow tears his mask off. He has light blue skin and hair that reminded Shadow of the setting sun. "how many are with you?!" Shadow growls a him.

"could be just me, or there could be twenty more outside." He chuckles." you'll find out soon enough." He says

Shadow looks up at the door way. Bright light could be seen through it meaning it was late in the morning. Shadow stands up, leaving the man on the ground, He picks up the picture the man had taken and walks to the hangar door. He looks at the sun which was barley crested over the mountains. That's when the realization hit him. He was bitten at least twenty times yet he wasn't dead or turned yet. He wondered how in Equestria that was possible when the realization hit him again but a lot harder giving him a migraine. He was immune! He couldn't believe it but it was the only logical explanation at this point." I'm coming for you Shimmer......and nobody in this god forsaken land is going to stop me!" He whispers before he feels someone hit him in the back of the head. Shadow stumbles forward and hits the ground hard. He feels another hit this one knocking him out.

Shadow wakes a short time later. He can't see anything but he can feel the heat of what sounds like a fire. Shadow tries to move but finds his hands and feet bound with some sort of cord.

"So you awake finally?" A voice asks. Shadow feels a pair of hands fiddling with the piece of cloth tied around his head . It lifts and Shadow is momentarily blinded by the fire light." What's your name?" It was the man from the hangar who was speaking. He had some kind of cloak on covering his leather barding. Shadow continues to struggle to get out of the bindings.

"I'm assuming this is yours." He holds up a backpack with a crosshair insignia on it." since it has the same insignia as your shirt on it." He says.

"Why did you tie me up?!" Shadow growls at him.

"I didn't want to risk you turning but it seems like that isn't going to happen......are you immune?" He asks raising an eyebrow.

"Was it also necessary to knock me out?!" Shadow asks feeling the throbbing pain on the back of his head.

"That wasn't me." He says.

"Then who was it?" Shadow raises an eyebrow.

The man points behind him .

"Cause I can see behind me!" Shadow rolls his eyes.

The man takes out Shadows knife and walks over to him." I'm going to cut you out, but if you try anything....." He shows him the knife." I will gut you with your own blade!" He hisses before slicing the cords on shadows hands and feet.

Shadow sits up and rubs his wrists.

"I'm Quantum by the way, Quantum Citrine." Quantum holds out his hand. Shadow raises an eyebrow and shakes his hand.

"Who's was that knocked me out again?" Shadow asks standing up and moving to sit next to Quantum.

Quantum points past him at another man......or what Shadow thought was another man. They were wearing a read face wrap with a pair of dark goggles over where the persons eyes should be showing. They were wearing what looked like a dirty shredded cloak over their shoulders that went down to the persons waist. Under that they were wearing what looked like a black padded armor of some kind.

"And you are?" Shadow asks. The person makes no sign they even heard Shadow. Propped up next to them on the log they were sitting on was a crossbow." Hello?" He waves a hand in front of their face. The person grabs his hand in a strong grip. Quantum chuckles as Shadow struggles to get out the persons grip.

"Cut your crap Sonata you're scaring the kid!" He says throwing a rock at the person.

"You know me Quantum this is the only entertainment I can get these days!" The person says through the wrap. The person lets go of Shadows hand and takes off their goggles revealing shinning violet eyes. As Shadow sits back down they unwrap the red bandanna from around their head. When they are finished Shadow can now see it is a girl with light blue hair with darker highlights here and there. Her skin is an even lighter blue. She leans over and holds out a petite hand to Shadow.

"I'm Sonata Dusk." She says as Shadow shakes her hand." And you are?"

"Shadow Bolt." He says looking at the fire. Shadow hears a growl from behind him and turns to see and infected woman stumbling around. He stands up and starts backing away while getting into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry about her man..." Quantum says as he fiddles with Shadows gun.

"What do you....." Shadow is cut off by Quantum.

"They aren't going to try and eat another infected dude." He says reloading the gun.

"Whaa?" Shadow says but Sonata cuts him off.

"You were bitten so many times they just consider you to be another one of them Shadow. In other words you are invisible to them until you clean off all the saliva and blood." She says cleaning off one of her crossbow bolts.

Shadow sits back down as the infected woman begins stumbling off in the opposite direction. "If they cant see me.....why aren't they attacking you?" Shadow asks.

"Well I'll put it this way. You are kind of a gurdian angel to us. When we are near you they can't see us either. And no we don't know why so dont ask." Qauntum says as he adjusts a log in the fire with a stick.

"Is that my gun?!" Shadow asks seeing it in Quantums holster.

"Oh yeah here." Quantum takes it out and holds it out to him. Shadow Takes it and slides it into his holster.

"And i'd like my knife back." Shadow says seeing it clipped to his shoulder.

"I dont know what you mean." Quantum says grinning.

Shadow moves towards quantum but before he gets to him he hears a click and feels the cold barrel of Sonatas gun presses against his head. Shadow stops and holds up his hands.

"You'll get your knife in the morning." Sonata whispers. Shadow feels her grab his gun from its holster.

"Let me go!" Shadow says turning.

"Not while we are surrounded by infected." Quantum says sliding his sawed off shotgun from its holster.

"Fine......." Shadow says sitting on the ground and leaning back against the stump he was sitting on." I'll see you both in the morning.....if we survive the night." He says falling asleep.

Shadow is standing in emtyness again. Everyone is standing in front of him smiling. Sunset shimmer steps towards him but a dark figure looms up behind her. Shadow watches helplessly as Sunset Shimmer is torn in half. The figure moves by each of them doing the same until only Shadow is left standing rigid in front of the creature. He can feel its breath on his face. The creature moves to his ear and whispers to him.

"YOU DID THIS TO THEM.....NOW LIVE WITH IT!" It says.

Shadow jerks awake. His heart is racing as the images fade away. Shadow takes in his surroundings. The sun hasn't crested over the mountains but there is enough light to see his surroundings. The herd of infected had wandered away by now and Shadow could now see the compound clearly. The cafeteria had burned down but the fire had already extiguished itself. One whole section of the cinder block and sand bag wall had fallen and the entire perimeter gate was down. Shadow stood up and checked to make sure Sonata and Quantum were soundly alseep before sliping away. Shadow walked quietly towards the barracks. He slowly pushes open the door and walks in. There is one infected boy inside and he turns and grabs at Shadow but Shadow doges it. He grabs the boy by the throat and starts slamming his head into the wall. He takes out all of his anger and rage on the boy until his head resembles a pile of gelatin that his mother used to make for desert before the fall of equestria. He lets the dead boy falls to the floor with a thud splattering brain matter around his room. Shadow walks to his bed and looks under it. He pulls out two backpacks. The first he dumps onto the bed. Bullets scatter over the sheets and a 44. revolver with an ivory handle and three apples engraved on it falls out. Shadow picks it up before tossing it over his should against the wall on the opposite side of the room. No need for weapons he had no ammo for. He goes through the bullets and packs all those that fit his 45 caliber. Shadow finds one bullet for the 44 magnum. He turns to retrieve it and finds Sonata leaning against the wall with her crossbow slung over her shoulder and the revolver in hand.

"Rough night?" She asks handing him the revolver.

"yeah....." he says putting up his hand." just keep that. Here." He tosses he the bullet.

"thanks." she says loading it.

Shadow turns back to the bed and slings his backpack with the ammunition over his shoulder. He reaches for the second bag but hesitates. He turns it so the front is facing him. There is a picture of a red and yellow sun sewn into the front. He picks it up and slings it over his other shoulder. He turns and walks out of the room with Sonata right on his tail.

"So....." She says.

"so what?" Shadow asks without turning around.

"Where are you going now?" She asks.

" I dont know.......to find my friends.....if they survived." He says as they arrive back at the camp outside of the fence of the compound on the edge of the woods.

"Well you are welcome to tag along with us if you want." She says happily.

"Sorry but I need to know if shes dead...." Shadow says setting down the back packs and transfering the ammo to the sun insignia one.

"who?" Sonata asks as Shadow takes out a picture from the backpack of him and Sunset Shimmer." oh.....her." She says.

"yeah." He says as Quantum sits up.

" listen man we could use someone like you besides even if you are immune you wont last a minute out there without some kind of armor." Quantum says throwing Shadow his knife, gun, and backpack.

"Did you see which way the bus was headed?" Shadow asks quantum.

"It was headed north east when i saw it.....but you really should stick with us man!" He says.

"yeah we can help you! we have horses to carry our stuff and everything." Sonata says picking up her head wrap. She starts tieing it around her face.

"You have horses?! how many?" Shadow asks.

"Three why?" Quantum asks.

"Can I.....borrow one?" Shadow asks.

"Dude just listen to my offer!" Quantum says grabbing Shadows arm.

"Okay what?!" Shadow snaps.

"How about we all head norht east until we hit ponyville? If they kept heading in that direction thats the likliest place they would've stopped to rest. If we find them great! If we dont.......we have to assume they are long gone." He says putting his cloaks hood on since his gas mask was broken." Deal?" He holds his hand out to Shadow.

Shadow thinks for a moment before shaking his hand.

"Great now we need to get you some kind of armor." He says circling Shadow like a shark." what do you think Sonata?"

"He's gotta have a hood thats a neccesity." She says.

"Since when did surviving turn into a fashion show?" Shadow asks raising his eyebrow as sonata starts going through a bag of clothing.

"You'd be surprised Shadow......When you are dressed right people will think twice before trying to kill or rob you out here." Quantum says." you just need minimal coverage so if you get shotit wont kill you....we dont really need anything bite proof." He says as sonata throws him a bag of what looks like scrap leather.

"we need to show off his arms at least i mean..." she tears off his shirt sleeve." Look at those bite scars! Aint noone gonnna mess with someone who was bitten."

"I wonder if he can turn someone if he bites them?" Quantum says as he opens Shadows back pack and pulls out a hoodie with a crosshair on the back.

"we'll see about that later." She says taking the hoodie and drawing a machete strapped to her belt. She slices off the sleeves and hands it to shadow.

"uhhh?" Shadow says looking at it.

"Don't put it on yet we still need to put some armor undernieth." Quantum says taking out leather scraps from the bag. He hand them to Sonata who begins stitching them together. An hour later Quantum had Shadow wear thick leather padding along his torso and shoulders. Over the armor Shadow wore his sleevless hoodie. Quantum tied a strip of leather around his upper left arm and strapped Shadows knife to it. Sonata had made Shadow a holster that strapped around his sholder for easier access.

"You look good......lets get going." Quantum says.

"The horses are just past the woods in a clearing." Sonata says as they begin gathering thier equipment and walking towards the woods.

Shadow picks up his and Sunset Shimmers bag and follows them into the woods. They walk for five minutes until they arrive in clearing where three horses stood tied to trees. Quantum walks over to a large brown horse and pats its side. Sonata does the same with a white stallion. Shadow walks slowly to a rugged looking black mustang.

"Thats the one you can use." Quantum says ." You do know how to ride right?" Quantum asks raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah i took lessons when i was 9." Shadow says tieing his equipment to the horses saddle.

"Lets move out." Sonata says climbing onto her white stallions back.

"Make sure you put that hood up Shadow." Quantum says as he does the same.

"Alright....so is there anything to the north east of here?" Shadow asks pulling himself on top of the horses back.

"Well theres ponyville....but that place has been abandoned for years. I suppose we can make a stop in New ponyville....." Quantum says as they start moving into the woods at a steady gallop.

"I'm not sure thats a good idea Quantum....I mean all the slavers hang out around New ponyville....and i heard that a big group of them moved into the ponyville ruins." Sonata says ushering her stallion to keep up with Quantums.

"Uh can i interupt? What do you mean by slavers?" Shadow asks ushering his mustang to catch up with them.

"They are how they sound they catch people and sell them as slaves." Quantum says as they exit the forest and entering the plains.

"You don't think that......They got to her do you?" Shadow asks galloping beside him.

"We can ask around the tavern in New ponyville ok? just try not to be noticed." Sonata says.

"Why?" Shadow asks as they ride past an old water tower.

"Because the slavers are always on the look out for something......exotic." She says turning a bit red. Quantum raises an eyebrow.

"Exotic?" Quantum asks." There is nothing exotic about him!" He says looking at shadow.

"Well you dont see someone in good of shape as him these days, and his color isnt faded at all, hes well fed, And he has some.....muscles." She sighs staring at Shadow.

"Uhhh thanks....i guess." Shadow says feeling uncomfortable as she stares.

"I have muscles too." Quantum mutters as he picks up the pace.

They come to the top of a hill overlooking a large valley. Below them they can see what looks like the ruins of what seemed like a once bustling town and closer to them perched into the side of a hill was several structures that looked like they were made of rusty sheet metal and cinder blocks.

"Is that New ponyville?" Shadow asks watching a pair of large gates open in front of the structures near them.

"Yep.....remember don't let it slip you're from that military base or they will have you in a collar faster than you can say wonderbolts." Sonata says as they begin riding towards the small town.

"Whatever....."Shadow says ushering on his mustang.

"And don't talk to anyone. I mean it don't say a word." Quantum says as they get closer to the town.

"Alright i get it!" Shadow says putting his hood up as they come to the front gate.

"State your buisness!" A gruff voice yells from a tower at the top of the wall.

"It's just us Ripper!" Quantum calls up to the man in the tower.

"Who's the new guy?" Ripper asks pulling the lever opening the gate.

"Just uhhhhh...." Quantum tries to think.

"He's a slave! We picked him up from a couple of slavers out near that old military base!" Sonata says with smile.

"You'd better watch out Quantum looks like Sonatas getting ready to replace ya." Ripper says with a chuckle as they pass through the gate.

"Yeah I'm starting to think so!" Quantum growls at Sonata who giggles.

"Ok lets go to the tavern and ask around." Sonata says climbing off her stallion.

"Whatever...." Quantum mumbles.

"What am i supposed to do?" Shadow asks getting off of his mustang and following Quantum and Sonata to a large building made mainly from old sheet metal.

"Sit at the bar and don't talk to anyone!" Quantum says as they walk into the building. The inside seemed to have the same effect as the outside. People were crowded around old wooden tables sitting on anything they could from buckets to office chairs. Everything looked very out of place. The trio walks up to the bar but only Shadow sits down. The bartender walks over to serve them.

"What'll you two be havin?" The gruff man asks as he cleans a glass with a filthy rag.

"Nothing for us Dusty." Quantum says." Just give this guy wild pegasus till he passes out and put it on my tab." Quantum says. Quantum and Sonata walk away into the bar leaving Shadow alone. Accross the bar two girls sat watching Shadow.

"What do you think?" The girl with light green skin and red hair says to the other girl.

"I don't know.....are those bite scars?!" The girl with light blue skin and violet hair says seeing Shadows uncovered arms.

"You dont think he's......immune?" The green girl asks.

"Why don't you talk to him if you wanna know so badly strawberry?" The violet haired girl says.

"No! you do it Night Shade you are better at talking than me!" Strawberry says.

"Fine!" Night Shade stands up and walks towards Shadow cautiously. She sits down on the stool next to him." Hey." she says with a smile.

Shadow hears someone sit down next to him but he doesn't look to see who. He hears someone say hey but he ignores them.

"I'm Night Shade and you are......." She says. Shadow simply ignores her and downs his drink.

"Alright then....... Hey dusty buy this guy as many drinks as he want on me!" She yells at the bartender.

"Don't......" Shadow says. He mentally slaps himself.

"So you do speak!" She says settling in.

"Just leave me alone." He mutters.

"Why would I do that?" She asks pulling his hood back to reveal his strikingly bright orage hair. It stood out liike a beacon in the dingy, dull and simply colorless bar. Shadow throws his hood back up but the damage is done. Everyone in the bar has gone quiet and he can feel them staring at him." Wow! How on earth did you manage to maintain that?!" She asks. Shadow grabs her by the front of her leather barding and pulls her in close.

"You are never to tell anyone who I am!" Shadow growls.

"What are you gonna do if i decide to let it slip?" She grins.

"I'm going to turn you!" Shadow says with a grin.

Night Shade feels a bolt of fear run up her spine adn she gulps as Dusty the bartender slams a gun down on the table.

"Is there a problem here?" He asks.

"Yeah is there?!" A heavy voice says from behind Shadow. Shadow turns to see a large man with blonde hair and white skin walking towards him." You threatening my girl?!"

Shadow stands up." I don't want any trouble...." He says but the man grabs him by his hoodie lifts him up and slams him into the bar. Shadow spits out blood and grins at him.

"What the hell are you grinning at?!" He asks as the girl grabs his arm and trys to pull him away.

"Let it go Bulk!" She says. He pushes her away.

Shadow looks at Bulks arm that is holding him down. He slams his palm into it breaking his grip. Shadow grabs his arm ann bites down on it tearing out a chunk of flesh.

"AHHH YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Bulk howls as he stumbles away.

Shadow stands up and walks furiously towards him. He swipes his feet out from under him, grabs him by the neck and slams him down to the ground. Bulk lies on the ground groaning. Shadow hears a click behind him. He turns to see Dusty pointing a gun at him.....A small 32. caliber pistol. Shadow rushes him and slams him against the back wall smashing bottles and glasses.

"Where did you get this?!" Shadow growls as he holds up the gun.

"I don't know! I swear!" He whimpers.

Shadow bares his teeth and growls. He moves to his throat but Dusty yells.

"Okay okay I'll tell you!" He whimpers." They passed through here a few days ago! They were really taken care of and their color was almost as bright as yours! That red chick was a hard ass but that guy kept him under control. And just about every scum in this place was hitting on bacon hair!" He says. Shadow takes out his picturs of Sunset Shimmer leaving bloody finger prints on it.

"Is this her?!" Shadow growls.

"Yeah she's the one they were tryin ta take home!" He whimpers seeing Shadows expression.

"Where did they go?!" Shadow yells slaming him against the wall again.

"a-a-a couple of slavers offered to resupply them in the ponyville ruins!" He says.

"What-are-they-gonna-do-to-them?!" Shadow asks his every word shaking with anger.

"What do you think? they're slavers!" He says as Shadow lets him fall to the ground.

Shadow turns and takes off his hood as he walks out of the bar. Shadow hears footsteps behind him and turns to see the Night Shade walking towards him.

"Listen! I can help you!" She says trying to catch up.

"No." Shadow says.

"I can help you infiltrate the slavers!" She says making Shadow stop. Quantum and Sonata run past Night Shade start yelling at Shadow but he quiets them with a hand.

"How?" He asks Night Shade.

She chuckles." I'll explain when we get to old ponyville." She says with a grin.

Into the nest

Insane

That is what this plan is, Shadow thinks to himself, Insane. Night Shade had led the trio to the old ponyville ruins where they worked out this plan. Night Shade told Shadow the only way he could get into the slaver nest would be if he were a slave. It was risky since only Shadow could go in leaving the rest of the group blind to whether or not Shadow survived and could get out. They agreed that if Shadow did survive getting in they would meet him on the east side of the slaver nest and if he didn't arrive there within two days they would assume he was out of action and they woule send in somone after him. Night Shade rode atop Shadows Mustang holding a chain connected to a collar around Shadows neck. Quantum and Sonata also held chains connected to the collar and in addition to that Shadows hands and feet were chained together. They decided Shadow would just wear his hoodie but without his shoulder holster and arm band where he clips his knife to. They lead Shadow to the front of the nest where three people stood watch over the rest of the camp.

"Looks like we got some fresh meat boys!" A girls with black hair and grey skin says as the four approach." ohhhhh looky here! We got another bright one fellas!" She calls back as Sonata pulls back Shadows hood showing his bright orange hair.

"We want at least one hundred bits for this one!" Quantum says as if he did this all the time.

"Deal." The grey girl walks up to Quantum allowing Shadow to get a better look at her. She has dark circles under her eyes and a long scar across her face. She looked to around her late twenties. Two men come out from behind her as she hands Quantum the money. They take the chains and lead Shadow through the gates.

"Lets go!" One with dark green skin says yanking the chain.

"Hey you don't touch that one till im done with him!" The grey girl yells after the green one.

"He'll be in the lockup till you're finished." The green skinned man says as he leads Shadow deeper into the nest. They arrive at a door marked holding. The man opens the door and throws Shadow inside then slams the door behind him leaving Shadow in almost complete darkness.

Outside the grey girl is questioning Quantum about the "Slave" he sold them.

"Is this guy going to be any trouble?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"No didn't you see him?" Quantum asks.

"I saw you leading him in with a steel collar around his neck and his hands and feet cuffed." She growls.

"As long as you keep him on maud he'll be fine!" Sonata pipes up. Quantum glares at her." What? did i say something?"

"Alright then thank you for you buisness." The grey girl says turning and walking back into the camp.

Shadow sits on a dirty matress in a shadowy corner of the room waiting. The front door creaks open and the grey girl walks in with a wicked smile on her face. She hasn't seen Shadow yet so Shadow attempts to sneak up on her by staying close to the wall and edging towards her slowly. Shadow sneaks up until he is right behind her but before Shadow even takes a breath she spins around and jabs Shadow in the neck with a syringe. Shadow stumbles back into the wall holding his neck. She walks slowly towards him with an evil smile on her face and a malicious look in her eyes.

"Well, well, well." She says kneeling down. Shadow tries to move but a wave of dizziness overtakes him and he falls flat on the ground. She yanks his hood down and pushes him against the wall." trying to sneak up on me eh? Bad boy!" She says slapping Shadow. Shadow tries to swing at her but only succeeds in falling forward and slamming his face into the ground." Now I bet you are wondering what I just injected you with, right?" She says flipping him over and smiling at him as his eyes go out of focus." It's a little drug thrown together by some genius a couple years ago. Its called maud after the inventor maud pie. She believed the key to surviving was to die so she made a drug that would basically render the user helpless. It throws off you vision, sense of balance, and in some cases it causes you to pass out. She went on a killing spree once she perfected it. But now everyone around equestria just uses it to apprehend and control slaves. The only problem about it is that it becomes extremly addictive after the first use." She grins as Shadow tries to crawl away. She walks over to Shadow and flips him over." You are going to be mine for the next three hours buddy! so I suggest you get comfy!" She whispers as Shadow loses conciousness.

Outside Quantum, Night Shade, and Sonata gather on the east side of the slavers nest.

"Do you think he's alright?" Night Shade asks as she hops off of Shadows mustang.

"He survived being bitten over twenty times by an entire horde of ravenous, vicious, blood thirsty infected phsycopaths. I think he's fine." Sonata says with a smile as she sits down on a rock.

"Yeah...."Quantum says sitting next to Sonata.

Back inside the nest Shadow is carried out of the holding cell and tossed into the slave yard. Shadow groans as he wakes up. He sits up and looks around the large fenced in area where several other men and women sat around in chains with blank looks in thier eyes. Shadow stands up and stumbles over to a pile of broken stone steps where a statue once stood. Shadow climbs to the top and begins yelling.

"SUNSET! SUNSET SHIMMER!" He does this for twenty minutes but recieves no answer. Shadow collapses and tumbles down the steps to the ground. Shadow can feel the withdrawls begining. Shadow doesn't know how long he lays there but he hears someone walking towards him. Shadow looks up to see an all to familiar face." You.....SON OF A BITCH!" Shadow stands up and drags him to the ground and begins slamming his fist into his face." YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF HER! YOU BASTARD!" He yells as he continues to punch him." YOU WERE MY FRIEND AND YOU MADE THE WRONG CHOICE YOU BASTARD!" Shadow is thrown off of him and held down to the ground." Let me go!" Shadow yells.

"Shadow calm down!" Red June yells.

Shadow stops struggling and looks at her. She has only been out here for two days and she already looks like shes been out in the world for years. Her red skin has become dark and dirty and her hair has all but lost its bright cheerful green color.

"Red?" Shadow asks.

June smiles and gets off of him. She stands up and holds out her hand. Shadow takes her hand and stands up. He walks over and glares down into the face of Close Cut. He looks back up at Shadow expecting him to kick him. Shadow holds out his hand and helps Close cut to his feet. His tan skin is a darker light brown now and his once blonde hair is now full of grease and grime. All three of them walk to a corner of the fenced area where they all sit down around a barrel with a fire inside of it. The sun has begun setting throwing long shadows over the slave pen. The temperature gradually dropped making the three hudle close to the fire. Shadow still had his hoodie but he didn't seem to need it as he wasn't feeling cold.

"Its really good to see you Shadow." June says as Shadow hands her his hoodie.

"Well I'm glad to see a familiar face in this godess forsaken wasteland." Shadow says.

"How did you get out of there we saw you get swarmed before we left!" Close says.

"Well the thing is....I'm immune." Shadow says showing them he bite scars on his arms and neck.

"Wow!" June says taking his arm and looking closely at his scars.

"Yeah wow...." Close says.

"Now....I want to know where Sunset Shimmer is." Shadow asks.

"We tried to save her Shadow we really did but....." June puts her head down.

"A day or two ago a couple of merchants came by looking for something....exotic to bring to someone in manehattan....when he saw Sunset Shimmer.......we tried to fight but we were having withdrawls Shadow! We could barely stand! At least none of the slavers got to her.....They did a number on June and that grey bitch wouldn't leave me alone." Close says. June stares at the ground letting tears fall freely from her eyes.

Shadow puts a hand on her shoulder." I'm sorry Red." He says. She nods and wipes away the tears." where is everyone else?" Shadow asks looking around for any familiar face from The Compound.

"They were all hauled off to the fight pits." Close says.

"Fight pits?" Shadow asks.

"Thats where everyone who isnt being sold is sent. They send two into an arena and they fight to the death. Its horrible.....and most don't come back....in one peice at least." Close says shaking his head.

"What do they fight with?" Shadow asks as a plan begins forming in his mind.

"machetes, knives, sticks. Whatever the spectators throw into the ring really." Close says

"I know how we can get out of here!" Shadow says grinning.

"How?" June asks.

"Ok so am I right to assume the arenas are to the east of this camp?" Shadow asks.

"Yeah I guess it kind of is....why?" Close asks leaning forward.

"I have three people on the outside waiting for me. They could to break in here guns blazing and give us a distraction so we can all slip away!" Shadow says." We just have to get into that fight arena and get a message out to them!" He says.

"I get you are excited but i dont see how this is going to work." June says.

"are there any slavers who patrol inside here?" Shadow asks looking around.

"Just one. He comes in to hand out food in the afternoons." Junen says.

"Where does he get in?" Shadow asks.

"Well SHE comes in through that door." June points to a large metal door which replaced what must have once been a wooden door on what was once was a shop called carousel boutique.

"Alright we have two days before they leave. Lets hope this works." Shadow says with a grimace as the light from the fire flickers across his face.

The escape

Quiet

That is all Shadow Heard as he leaned against the wall. It pressed in on him from all sides threatening to overtake him. The sun was barely crested over the macintosh hills throwing shadows across the ground of the slave pens. Shadow looked over to where Red June and Close Cut were sleeping. He could see thier rising breath as mist in the cold air. They were huddled against eachother shivering under the ragged blankets the slavers gave them. Shadow exhales deeply not noticing his breath didn't come out as a mist. Shadow hears voices on the other side of the door followed by the grinding of the lock. He shrinks back into the shadows waiting for the slaver to bring food into the pen. The door swings open to reveal a girl with mint green skin and dark green hair holding a tray of old fruit and what looks like tan rocks which might have been old bread.

"Hey you!" Shadow calls before he rushes her. She drops the food and draws a 9 mm. handgun which Shadow kicks out of her hand. He tackles her to the ground and punches her once knocking her out. Shadow drags her into one of the slave shacks and sits her on a chair to which he ties her to. Shadow pulls up a small stool and placesn it in front of her. He sits down and waits for her to wake up. A short while later she stirs and apon seeing Shadow she tries to break the rope keeping her hands tied down.

"Let me go!" She whines as Shadow stands up and moves the stool closer.

"No." Shadow says simply now looking at her curiously.

She stops struggling and stares at his curious expression." What do you want?" She asks trying to sound strong.

Shadow smiles." I want you to deliver a message to someone on the outside." He says taking his hood off.

She looks curiously at his brightly colored hair." Where and why." She says." And whats to stop me from telling my friends about you? I could have you hauled off to the arena!" She spits.

"Oh I'm counting on you hauling me to the arena." Shadow whispers with a smile.

"W-what?" She says with wide eyes.

"What is going to take to deliver the message huh?" Shadow asks." Money, guns, food,?" Shadow says.

She puases and thinks for a moment then a small smile forms on her face." I'll do it and i wont have you hauled off to the pits." She says

" I need to get into the pits!" Shadow starts. She cuts him off.

"I will have you taken there at the right time but you have to give me something." She says with a wider grin.

"What?" Shadow asks.

"I think you have an idea." She says.

Shadow sighs." May I ask your name?"

"Wintergreen." She says.

"Wintergreen I'm infected." Shadow says.

"I don't care." She says quickly

"I just want you to know the risk." Shadow says standing up and walking behind her where he begins cutting her bindings with a sharp rock he found. When the rope falls away she turns and tackles Shadow to the ground where she draws a pocket knife and puts it to his throat.

"Alright.....kill me." Shadow says.

"Whats to stop me from doing it?!" She asks panting and digging the knife deeper into Shadows neck.

"Nothing....." Shadow says he says keeping a stoaic expression.

"You are too trusting! Trust will get you killed out here! It's everyone for themselves now!" She growls as the knife shakes in her hand.

"Everyone has good in them......Its finding it that is the problem for most people." Shadow says gently putting his hand on the knife and gently taking it from her shaking hand and throwing it to the other side of the room.

Wintergreen begins shaking and tears begin to fall from her eyes." How is it you are so nice? why hasn't this god forsaken land taken your conscience yet?" She asks getting off of him and sitting against the wall. Shadow sits next to her.

"Because I wont let it.....There's someone on the outside....She's relying on me to keep her safe but......." Shadow stops." I have to stay strong.....for her sake."He finishes. He stands up and holds out a hand.

"Ill deliver the message and get you to the pits." She says taking his hand

"Thank you Wintergreen." Shadow says with a smile.

"If I do bring the message I want one thing in return...." She says as Shadow pulls out a worn down pencil and picks up a peice of scrap paper from the ground.

"And what is that?" He asks writing down a few lines.

"I want you to take me with you." She says nervously.

Shadow pauses and looks back at her." What can you offer the group?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Im could train you in hand to hand combat." She says." And I am good at recognizing edible plants and I can even make some herbal medicine if you get me the right ones." She says.

"Are you looking to go anywhere in particular?" He asks folding up the message and drawing a crosshair on the front.

"Where are you headed?" She asks picking up her knife from the other side of the room.

"At this point I'm headed to Manehattan."He says tossing her the note.

"Why?" She asks putting the note in her pocket.

"I'm trying to find.....someone." He finishes unsurly.

"Just someone?" She raises an eyebrow." Is this someone the person you made that promise to? The one you need to stay strong for?" She asks.

"I'll tell you the story after we get out of here." Shadow says." Now I need this delivered to the eastern side of this camp. You should find three people with horses there. Give the note to them. Stay with them, the note explains all about you so they shouldn't attack if you show up unarmed." Shadow says before smiling and holding out his wrists.

"Uhhh what are you doing?" She asks.

"Well I need to be taken to the pits so I'm assuming you need to cuff me." Shadow says.

"We don't use cuffs around here." She says with a slight smirk.

"Then what....."Shadow is cut off as she punches him in the face with an incredible amount of force. Shadow stumbles back against the wall and when he looks back up Wintergreen was already slamming his head into the wall knocking him out. Shadow blacks out but the last thing he sees is two big slaver men breaking the door open and Wintergreen giving him one last smile before turning to look at them with a surprised expression.

Wintergreens POV

Wintergreen watched as Shadow fell to the floor unconcious. Behind her she heard a crash and turned to see Shredder and Bear breaking down the wooden door.

"What the hell is going on?!"Bear asks before seeing Shadow passed out on the floor." What happened?!" He says again this time directing the question at Wintergreen.

"He dragged me In here while I was bringing the food into the slave pens." She says.

"What did he do to you?" Shredder asks crossing his arms.

"He tried torture me into helping him escape." She says.

They both watch her skeptically for a moment before walking to Shadow and grabbing his feet."Lets see howthis mother fucker likes the pits." Shredder says with a malicious smile.

"No!" Wintergreen says before she can stop herself.

They both look at her curiously before dropping Shadows legs and walking towards her.

"I mean....I want to see him get beaten myself.....could we hold off taking him until tomorrow?" She asks with a sweet tone.

They look at eachother for a moment before nodding and turning back to Shadow and dragging him out the door. Wintergreen walks out of the small slave shack and into the pens. She stands there for a moment before pulling out the peice of paper and looking at it. She puts it back and walks to the gate. She knocks in morse code and the door opens a moment later. She pushes past the gate keeper and into the center of the slaver camp. Wintergreens stomach rumbles as she walks past the large oak tree library that served as the head slavers quarters. She walks past there and down a couple blocks until she arrives at the mess hall. The building must have once had vibrant colors on it but it was now crumbling andthe paint was slowly peeling from years of neglect and low mantinence. The sign over the door read Sugar Cube Corner. Wintergreen loved to imagine this place back before the plauge. It must have been filled with happy faces and friendly chatter. She wished she could experience that but now there was no chance of her ever having an even semi-normal life....or was there? There was something about that guy that gave her something she never thought she could feel. Hope. Hope that somehow he could give her a normal life and stop the infection from killing every last equestrian on the planet. She couldn't shake the feeling as she ate the few rations the slavers ussually gave the teens and under aged.

Quantums POV

Quantum sat in an old ruined chair he had found in a pile of trash. Sonata and Night Shade sat across from him chatting as they ate what little food they had. Qantum was taking ammunition inventory but it didn't look very good. They had a handfull of 9 mm. ammo and only 7 extra rounds for Shadows 45. He had around 47 shells for his shotgun but he went through them as fast as him and Sonata went through food.

"We need to stop somewhere to restock on ammo." He says bitterly throwing the ammuntion back into the duffle bag they kept thier extra weapons in.

"How bad are we?" Sonata asks worriedly.

"We wouldn't get through a firefight without having to use melee weapons." He sighs picking up a pouch of which contained the dried meat from the deer they killed a week before." What weapons do you use Night Shade?" He asks through a mouthfull of jerky noticing the lack of guns on her person.

"I don't like guns. They're to slow for me." She says unclipping the ragged cloak from around her neck and letting it slide off behind her. She reaches over her shoulder and unsheathes what looks like a single katana until she pullls it apart and the katana separates into two seperate swords.

"Dang I'd hate to see what you could do with those." Quantum jokes picking up a log from beside him and putting it on the fire. They continue joking and laughing for ten more minutes until they hear rustling in the bushes."SHHH." Quantum says drawing his 9 mm. handgun and standing up. He slowly walks into the brush only making a smalll amount of noise. Sonata and Night Shade both stand by with thier weapons drawn. A short while later they both hear alloud thump from inside the brush and a hurrryed movement. Just as they are about to go in after Quantum he reapears dragging someone out of the brush by their hair.

"Who is that?" Night Shade asks as she watches the girl struggle.

"I don't know but she had a gun." He says showing a handgun similar to his. He throws her near the fire and stands over her with his gun pointed at her head." Start talking!" He growls.

"What is your problem!?" She asks trying to crawl away but finding her path blocked by the two girls." Okay okay! Im from the slaver camp but...." She doesn't finish because Quantum grabs her by the throat and lifts her into the air, his gun still pointed at her head.

"Give me a reason not to kill you!" He growls.

"I-I-If you kill me! You'll never break your friend out!" She says gasping for breath.

Quantum stops and puts her down." You know where Shadow is?" Sonata asks.

"Yes! And he has a plan to get out..." She says panting for breath.

"Ok what is it?" Quantum asks keeping his finger on the trigger.

"I dont know. He told me to give you this." She says taking out a piece of paper and handing it to Quantum who snatches it out of her hand. He unfolds it and reads it. After five minutes of reading he sighs and hands it to Sonata. She reads it and then looks worriedly at Quantum.

"We can't can we? I mean, we are really low on ammo." She says.

"We have to....."He says putting his gun away and handing the girl her gun.

She takes it and stands up." So whats the plan?" She asks.

"We take down the fence near the fight pits and ring the dinner bell." Quantum says with only a slight grin.

"And how do we do that?" Night Shade asks.

"I'll show you." Quantum says with a wide smile.

Shadows POV

Shadow stands in a doorway looking at two paths made of grey stone. He takes a step forward and hears the door slam behind him. He turns to open it but only comes face to face with a stone wall. He hears a giggle behind him and turns to see a flash of red and gold streak around the corner of the path leading off to the right.

"Shimmer?" He moves forward and peeks around the corner to see her run down another path leading off to the left."Hey Shimmer wait!" He sprints after her. Shadow runs for what feels like hours but every time he gets close she runs down a series of confusing paths. He finally comes to a clearing where Sunset shimmer was standing with her back to him.

"Shimmer?" Shadow reaches forwards and as she turns, gunfire rings out in the enclosed space and she jerks back against the wall, a gaping wound inher chest. Shadow jumps up and shields her as she slides down the wall. Shadow is thrown forewards by some unseen force and he lands with a painful crack against the opposite wall. He looks up to see four figures towering over Sunset Shimmer. They began coming into focus until Shadow saw clearly who they were. He jumps up and charges them drawing his knife as he runs. He grabs ones head and slits his throat before stabbing him twice more in the chest. He kicks one of the girls into the wall and elbows her in the throat. Her neck breaks and she topples over with blood running out of her mouth. Out of the corner of Shadows eye he sees a flash of silver and he moves just in time to avoid the other girls sword. She jabs at him buthe grabs the blade and punches her in the throat making her lose her grasp on the sword. Shadow pushes her back and drives the sword through her chest. He yanks it out and slices her chest. He drives the sword into her back finishing her as two arrows fly past him. He turns on the final adverseary. She fires another arrow from her crossbow. Shadow catches one ofthe arrows and, using his precision aim, throws it back at her, pinning her against the wall. Shadow walks up to her as she struggles to get away. He grabs her throat and slams her head back. He stares Sonata deadin the eyes as he slowly drives his knife into her neck.

"Shadow!"

Shadow sits bolt upright. He feels a cold sweat on his brow and his heart is beating a mile a second. He looks around for who said his name. He turns to see his sister Rose kneelingdown next to him.

"Rose?" He pulls his hood off and trys to take in her appearance. Her cloths are ragged and she looks like she hasn't slept in days and she has partially healed cuts and bruises on her face."What happened to you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She says sitting him up.

"I came here looking for Sunset Shimmer." He says wincing at the pain in his head.

"She isn't here." Rose says sadly.

"I know I'm headed to Manehattan to get her back." He says now taking in his surroundings. They were in some sort of enclosed cage. Small amounts of light found its way in the barred windows on the walls. He could hear cheering coming from outside.

"How do you plan on doing that? No one leaves here in one peice." She says sitting next to him.

"I have people coming to bust us outta this shit hole." He grins as a loud bout of cheering erupts."where are we?" He asks standing up. He winces as pain shoots from something on his neck. He picks up a broken shard of glass from the ground and looks at his neck. There seemed to be a number 7 branded into his neck.

"Welcome to the fight pits bro." She says looking through the bars at two people fighting eachother in the center of a large arena surrounded by cheering crowds of slavers and even what looked like a few people from New Ponyville.

"Whats this number for?" He asks rubbing his neck.

"The number tells who you'll be fighting from the opposite side of the pit." She says. She trns her head and shows a number 14 on her neck." What number do you have?" She asks looking at his neck. She gasps and backs up.

"What?" He asks as the crowd cheers again.

"Thats Noi's number!" She gasps.

"Who?" He asks curiously.

"She's a Zebra soldier who was caught in the Macintosh Mountains two years ago. Noone has ever beaten her before." She says.

"Zebra eh.....well her win streak is about to be broken." He smiles.

"If no ones beaten her what makes you think you can?" She asks.

"I've studied imperial Zebra fighting styles." He says stretching his legs and arms.

"Well you'd better be ready." She says looking out the window.

"Why is that?" He asks pulling his hood up.

"You're up next." She says as the door opens and a black and red slaver walks in with an AK-47. He gestures for Shadow to follow him.

Shadow hugs Rose and whispers in her ear." I'll get you out of here." Before he is dragged away.

Shadow is led down a hallway and to the door leading into the arena. The slaver pushes him through the metal door and locks it behind him. He steps into the arena and the crowd starts cheeringand yelling. Shadow can now see the building he came out of was a large hollow oak tree with a balcony where a large man with a green spiked mohawk watched him closely. Out of the opposite building a girl with striped black and white hair and pale skin walked out clamly to thunderous applause. She walks towards the center of the arena. Shadow walks at the same pace as her and they meet dead in the center of the arena. The girl observes Shadow curiously and she bows to him. When she looks back at him she is surprised to see him bowing as well. She smiles slightly and nods to him but not being able to see into his hood she couldn't see anyone smiling back. She moves back a few feet and moves into her fighting stance."Good luck." She says in her native language. Before the bell sounds and the fight begins. She immedietly starts circling Shadow and is surprised to see him tottaly relaxed. She charges him and trys to deliever four quick jabs to the pressure points located on his neck and chest but she only strikes at the air and almost topples over from the momentum of moving so quickly. She looks around for Shadow and finds him standing behind her. She gets back into her stance and trys to deliever a fake leg sweep but she is surpised when and takes a quick step back and when she spins to elbow him he leans back allowing her elbow to miss his face by 12 inches. He stills stays completly relaxed and the crowd is going wild about his none offensive fighting style. She starts becoming angry and she charges with the intentto tackle him but when she comes within 2 feet of him he steps to the side and sticks out his leg tripping her. She falls but recovers by rolling and coming out on her feet. She takes a breath before turning and readying herself. When she turns Shadow is nowhere to be seen. She turns around just in time to see Shadows fist as it makes contact with her face. She stumbles back and trips over a peice of rebar sticking out of the ground. Shadow takes his chance and jumps on top of her, pinning down her legs and holding her arms down. Shadow raises his fist and is about to bring it down on her face when he hears a far off explosion. He pins her arm down with his arm again and leans down and whispers in her ear.

"Listen closely to what I'm about to say Noi." He says as rapid gunfire is heard this time closer drawing the attention of some of the slaver guards around the arena."I have someone coming to break me outta this shit hole and I can get you out too.....But you need to trust me.....do you trust me?" He raises an eyebrow and stares into her violet eyes. She nods slowly as an explosion is heard going off from inside the oak tree bulding. Shadow turns his head in tim to see the door swing open and a slaver guard shot off of his feet by Quantum who was holding some type of semi automatic shotgun with a drum magazine.

"MOVE YOUR ASSES!" He yells as a barage of automatic gunfire peppers the doorway forcing Quantum to retreat back into the saftey of the building. Shadow stands and grabs Nio's hand. She looks at him with apprehension before pulling herself up. Shadow pulls her towards the doorway as Quantum leans out and fires two shots. The first shreds the leg of the slaver in the balcony above the door. The second strikes a slaver, who was running across the arena towards them, directly in the chest. The buckshot tears open his torso and throws him back five feet where he lands in a heap and moves no more. As Nio runs past Quantum, He pulls a round disk out of a duffle bag, Shadow had never seen before, presses a button making a red light flicker to life, And he drops it right in the middle of the doorway.

"Go!Go!" Quantum yells handing shadow his handgun, along with four extra magazines, and his knife which he straps to his belt. Shadow walks into the room he was previously in where Sonata and Night Shade were both with duffle bags similar to Quantums.

"Lets get outta here." He says as Wintergreen comes out of a room to the left with a duffle. When she sees Shadow she runs into his arms and hugs him.

"Thank god you made it!" She says happily.

"I hate to break up the reunion but we gotta go before they gather and break down the doors!" Quantum says as an explosion from the entrance of the building shakes the ground." And that our signal to get out of here." He says walking to the back door and throwing it open. Bullets rain down on the doorway leaving deep holes in the wall. Sonata pulls Quantum back just in time to avoid serious injury. Just then the door upstairs flys open and bullets scatter Shadows group breaking Shadow and Wintergreen away from Sonata, Quantum, Nio, Night Shade, and Rose Bud."Dammit!" Quantum leans around the wall and fires randomly."Is there any other way out over there?!" He asks.

"We'll get out you guys just get out of here!" Shadow yells across the barage of bullets. Shadow draws his handgun and leans around the wall and fires four rounds.

"We'll wait for you two miles east of town!" Quantum yells as Everyone retreats back into a hallway leading out the front of the building.

Shadow turns to Wintergreen and hands her his gun." Keep them back while I find something nwe can use!" He says over the gunfire. She nods and starts firing blindly around the corner. Shadow runs over to a corner of the room where there were several green ammunition boxes and what looked like a large safe which was slightly propped open. He searches through the boxes and finds a small amount of bullets for his handgun and tons of clips for a larger caliber weapon. He gathered everything into a small backpack and he went on to the safe. He opens it to see what the large caliber bullets were for. There sat an Ak-47 aussualt rifle but it seemed different from the Equestrian made model he had seen guards in The Compound use. He grabs it and loads a magazine into it before pulling back the lever loading a round into the chamber. As he turns to walk away the butt of the gun topples over some seemingly empty wooden crates and three baseball sized spheres roll out. He takes two and puts them in his bag while keeping one on hand. He uns back to the wall and signals for Winter to stop firing. He moves her back a few feet and he pulls the pin on the grenade. He quickly leans around the edge of the wall and with three seconds left he tosses it to the top of the stairs where it explodes in an unsuspectiting slavers face. He sighs in relief and he he is about to run out the exit when two grenade roll through the door Quantum and his other friends left through. They land a foot from him and his imediate reaction was to kick one back through the door. He grabs Wintergreens hand and drags her up the stairs as the grenade exploded and bullets fly through the door. He pushes Wintergreen through the door and he slams it shut behind him. He backs away and looks around before pushing a dresser in front of the door. He turns and starts searching the room. He finds a door leading out to the balcony and a locked door that lead to another room. He kicks the door in causing more noise than he meant to. He walks in with his handgun drawn and looks inside carefully. In the center of the room was some type of shrine with pictures of a lavender girl with a young green haired boy all over it. There were candles lit and there was a large lavender gem at the top of the shrine and below it was a ring with a strange smokey white stone laid into the center. He walks over and grabs the lavender gem and the ring. He could trade these for bits in New Ponyville. A quick search of the rest of the room reveal nothing but some 44. magnum rounds and a couple of 45. rounds. He walks back out of the room while reloading his handgun.

"There wasn't really anything in there lets just focus on...." Shadow is cut short by her.

"Shadow!" She says. Shadow looks up to see a man with purple skin and a green mohawk presse a 357. magnum pistol to Wintergreens back.

"Don't!" The man yells as Shaow tries drawing his handgun. He pulls back the hammer on the gun and digs it deeper into her back.

Shadow raises his hands in defeat." What do you want?" He asks.

"Let me think...." He walks to he walks to the wall and pulls a lever. A hidden door opens and the lavender girl from the picture walks out. As soon as she sees Shadow she lunges. Shadow simply grabs her by the neck and puts her in a headlock. He draws his knife and is about to stab her when the man yells."WAIT!" He yells. Shadow pauses for a second and then thrusts the blade throught the back of her head. He yells and the the mans gun goes off and blood blossoms from Wintergreens side. Shadow drops the girls body and watches as he throws Wintergreen to the side. Shadows vision blurs and reddens on the outside. He roars and charges him. He pulls back the hammer and fires a round at Shadow hitting him in the center of the chest but he doesnt budge. He swipes the gun out of his hand and starts punching him in the stomach. He keeps punching until the get to the balcony door which was open. He keeps punching him until the reach the balcony railing. He is still punching him and by now blood is pouring out of his mouth from the internal bleeding. Shadow punches him twice more before uppercutting him making him lean back against the railing. His eyes go blank as the railing gives way and he falls out of site landing with a sickening crack on the edge of the arena. Shadows vision slowly returns to normal and he can feel a throbbing pain in his chest which he ignores. He runs to Wintergreens side.

"Crap!" He says tearing away her shirt. He flips her over and checks for an exit wound. His hand is covered in blood."Theres a little bit of good news." He says. Shadow quickly checks around the balcony area and finds a very simple medical kit outside." This'll have to do." He mutters as the pain in his chest gets worse. He opens the box and a piece of paper taped to the top side falls out. He folds it and puts it in his pocket. A quick search of the supplies inside the box revealed some bandages, dissinfectant, a small bottle of antibiotics, and several syringes filled with clear liquid. He ignores the syringes and starts bandaging the wounds on her stomach and back. As much as he tried though he couldn't stop the bleeding so he stopped wasting bandages and put pressure on the wound while trying to think of a solution. Now Shadow wasn't some medical prodigy and he didn't pretend to be, but he did have a very basic knowledge of medical care and treating wounds in the field. He knew that if the bleeding wasn' stopping there had to be some major internal bleeding. He knew he could fix that but he didn't have any of the tools neccisary to stop it. All he could do now was apply pressure and hope it stopped. After fifteen long minutes he removes his hand from the wound. The bleeding has stopped but Wintergreen has lost to much blood for her to walk. He patches up the wound with the last of the bandages tries waking her up.

"Winter?" He shakes her. She stirs and Shadow sighs in relief. The blocked doorway leading downstairs suddenly lurches. Someone on the other side is trying to break it down. Shadow lifts Wintergreen and puts his arm around her. He draws his handgun and makes his way to the room the lavender skinned girl was released from. He looks down a long staircase that seemed to lead underground. He carefully proceeds forward keeping Wintergreen close as they decend. They come to a thick metal door with a round wheel on it. Shadow turns it a few times and the door swings open. Inside was some kind of garage setting. In front of the large garage door was a red four door Sedan. Shadow opens the back door and lays Wintergreen down in the back seat. She groans in pain as he sets her down and her hands clench the seat tearing the leather. Shadow fishes out one of the three syringes he found in the medic kit out of his duffle bag. He turns it over weighing the chances of it doing more harm to her. As he turns it he discovers a label on the side that reads Maud. Shadows mind flashes back to the grey girl when he first got into the camp. He takes the cap off the syringe and carefully injects the fluid into Wintergreens arm. The drug takes effect almost immedietly, making Wintergreen relax her grip on the seat. Shadow sighs in relief and gets into the drivers seat. After a quick seach he find a spare set of keys in the glove compartment. Attatched to the keys was a small remote that seemed to open the large metal garage door. Shadow puts the keys into the ignition and turning them. The car sputters to life and the headlights flare on. Shadow presses the door control and it slowly opens to reveal 15 slavers lined up all holding assualt rifles all trained on him. Shadow freezes in his seat as they all aim directly at him. They all fire at once and the bullets fly through the windshield striking Shadow. After he feels three more bullet tear into him Shadow ducks down and lets them waste thier ammo. The gunfire suddenly stops and Shadow hears footsteps approaching the car. He reacts by slamming his foot down on the pedal while staying ducked down. Shadow feels the car hit several slavers and even bounce as one goes under the car. Shadow sits up and floors it down the road, bullets burying themselves into the trunk as he drives away. He looks at the compass on the dashboard and keeps driving east. He counts the distance and arrives at the spot indicated by Qunantum. The car lurches to a halt and Shadow leans back in his seat and sighs. He looks down at himself to discover where the three other bullets hit him. He was hit once more in the chest, in the stomach and his shoulder. Blood was quickly draining from his wounds. He turns back in his seat and checks on Wintergreen. She was breathing fine and the bandages wasn't covered in blood so that was an encouraging sign. He turns back in his seat and breaths a sigh of relief and closes his eyes. He was going to need a lot of rest after this, in fact.....now seemed like as good a time as any for a nap. Shadow feels as his heart seems to slow down and he takes one more long breath before passing out.

Author's Note

This will be the first story in an extremely long series

Sweet Apple Acres

Sore

That's how shadow felt as he slowly woke up. His eyes opened slightly to stare at the wooden ceiling above him. He could hear a faint beeping nearby. Shadow suddenly sits up and frantically looks around the room. It seems to be some sort of basement with a single light in the center of the room lighting everything. There are all types of machines for medical use such as heart monitors and even what looked like an x-ray machine in the corner of the room. Shadow looked around the bed he was now sitting up in. There was an IV leading from his arm to what looked like a blood bag which was half empty. He looked at the other beds around him to find them all empty. He takes the IV out of his arm and stands up. Shadow groans as pain shoots out of his chest. He looks down to find his entire torso bandaged heavily. As Shadow checks the bandages he hears a creak from above him. He crouches down and begins searching frantically around the room. Shadow finds a scalpel on a table near a metal gurney with dried blood on it. He slowly creeps up the stairs quietly until he reaches the top. He slowly cracks open the door and peeks out into the room beyond. At first he doesn't see anyone but some movement in a chair by the fireplace catches his attention. He opens the door and walks out into the room silently, his hand clenching the scalpel. He stands straight up when he reaches the chair. Shadow raises his hand to strike but he freezes when he hears the click of a revolver behind him.

"Drop it before this get ugly partner." He hears the girl say with a southern accent.

Shadow drops the scalpel and raises his hands in defeat as a the man in the chair stands straight up. He has tanned skin and orange hair. he is dressed in a pair of work boots, jeans, and a red checkered shirt. Shadow growls as he turns to him in surprise making the man back up into he wall.

"Slowly turn around or I'll put some lead in you." The voice orders.

Shadow does as she says and turns to face a girl with a brown cowboy hat, work boots like the man behind him, a leather vest with some type of padding on the shoulders and stomach, and jeans. He growls angrily at her but she simply cocks the weapon in her hand. He felt his courage waver and she pointed the gun at his head.

"Where is she?" Shadow asks.

"Who?" She asks not lowering the gun.

"I was with a girl before I came here! Where is she?!" He yells

"She's fine." She says lowering the gun.

"Show me. Now!" He says angrily

"Fine....but listen here. Your not our prisoner. You're our guest, and if you don't behave I won't hesitate to put you down....got it?" She scans his movements

He nods and she lowers the gun and holsters it. She walks to the wall and picks something up. She hands him a crutch." Use that for now." She says.

He nods and try's to take some of his weight off of his injuries, which by now he was becoming aware of as the morphine was wearing off. The girl tunes and walks out of the front door, through which he follows after her. He covers his eyes as he steps outside. The sun shone brightly over fields of trees and several other structures nearby including a barn and a chicken coop. Cows happily grazed in the fields while chickens pecked away at the ground searching for edibles like grass seeds. Off in the distance Shadow thought he saw fields of grain and bales of hay stacked high in the air ready to be taken into the barn. He smiled widely at how beautiful this place was and how untouched from the world outside it seemed. The girl spotted his smile out of the corner of her eyes and chuckled.

"Am I still in equestria?" He turns and looks at her.

"Yeah...unfortunately, but things aren't as bad here. We have a lot more fences and people guarding the place. Nobody wants this place to go down because of how big of a resource it is. We provide fresh crops, apples, and a lot of clothing which we sell to the passing caravans for a tidy profit. Everyone gets their fair share around this place as long as they can pull their own weight." She says smiling

"Well its a nice place you have here.....I wish I could stay." He says suddenly remembering why he was out here in the first place.

"What's stopping you? We have plenty of room and we can give you a tent to sleep in with the rest of the workers." She says looking at him as they continue walking further into the orchard.

"It's a long story....but the short version is I'm trying to track down.....someone." He says

"Someone? Is this someone important to you?" She asks.

"Yeah...." He frowns as they walks by a large group of tents with campfires lit outside of them.

"Family?" She asks resting her hand on her knife.

"No....." He frowns.

"Well if you ain't ready to tell I won't push you."she says smiling at him.

They continue walks until they come to a clearing. Nearby was a small tool shed and outside of the shed was several small tents and a crackling campfire. A single person say outside of the tents tending to the campfire. As they walks closer to the camp, Shadow recognizes Quantun as he placed a log on the fire and pushed it around allowing it to catch, raising the flames to cook whatever was in the pot above the fire. He notices him limping on his crutch and sits down.

"Still walking huh?" He smiles slightly as the sun rises higher throwing morning shadows across the swaying grass around them. He pats a log next to him."take a seat I guess.....the girls will be up in a few minutes....let's relax until they start talking your ear off." He smiles at the three tents.

Both the girl and Shadow sit on cut stumps of what must have once been apple trees. The girl turns to Shadow." Your friends and I are already all acquainted." She holds out her hand." I'm Applejack." She smiles. Shadow shakes her hand and sighs.

"You alright?" Quantun asks as he stirs the pot."you look tired. Didn't you sleep?"

"I thought i did but....I don't know.....I feel drained." He leans forward." And hungry."

"Well I'm almost done cooking so you won't be fore long." He says putting another log on the fire.

A rooster crows in the distance and following the call, the farm became full of noise from the animals spread across the land. The tents next to them rustle and Sonata and Night Shade crawl out with their hair disheveled. Shadow looks at the third tent expectantly but it stays still.

"Where's Wintergreen?" He asks looking at quantum.

"She sleeping off the fact that she was shot by a large caliber weapon at point blank range......oh and she thinks your dead so that's two reasons why she should be allowed to sleep in." Quantun squints at Shadow.

He sighs." Yeah I guess so." He sits down

"Why don't you out these on an get outta that funny looking dress?" Applejack holds out a bundle of clothes."they're some of my brothers older clothes." She smiles and he nods and takes it.

"Need help?" Night Shade asks yawning and smiling at him.

"I think I can still get dressed by myself Night, I'm wounded not paralyzed." He stands and limps farther from camp and starts changing. In the bundle was a red plaid T-shirt, blue jeans and some boots.

"She really expects me to wear this?!" He looks down at himself." Might as well make the best of it." He rolls the sleeves of the shirt up to his elbows and let's the jeans hide most of the boots. He sighs and is headed back for camp when her hears a scream from not that far off.

"What the hell?" He turns and starts to limp in the direction of the scream. After winding his way through a particularly thick patch of apple trees and bushes he comes to a clearing. He could clearly see an apple tree with a tree house in it. The windows were boarded up tight and there were six infected trying to slam their way into it. He hears the scream again. It sounded like it was coming from a young woman and it emanated from within the tree house.

"Hold on! I'm coming to help!" Shadow searches the ground and finds a large dead branch.he lifts it up easily and slowly limps toward the tree house. He slams the branch into a tree as he passes getting the attention of three of the six. The slowly walked down the ramp toward the noise completely ignoring shadow. He stepped forward and swung the branch striking on in the head, denting its skull. It stumbled back before falling to the ground dead. The other two had walked past him and he limped forward, lifting the branch over his head, he brought it down hard on a females head splattering her Brains all over his new clothes. The last one turned to him and shambled forward, it's arms outstretched. Shadow responded and tripping it and standing over it. He dropped the branch and reaches above its head for a large Rock which he used to bash its face in peppering his face with brain matter and blood. He stood and picked up the branch. He walked up the ramp and used the end of the branch he was holding to impale one of the infected men against the wall. He could hear the girl whimper as he was sure she saw the bloody end of the branch come through the wall and start dropping blood through the hole. Shadow ran forward and pushed another over the railing of the balcony. It flailed before slamming into the ground and spurting dark blood from its mouth. He turned as the lasts infected man grabbed him and bit down on his shoulder, tearing his shirt. Shadow pushes him back and grabs his head. He repeatedly slams his face into the wall until nothing was left of his face but the mangled mess of bone and flesh. He slamed it one more Time into the wall and let it slowly slide down leaving a bloody streak. Shadow pants and holds his wounds in pain.

"Hey it's okay. I killed them all. Open the door." He says standing up and limping to the door. He hears a lock click and the door slowly opens to reveal and young girl with cream colored skin. She wore jeans, a yellow T-shirt, and she had a large pink bow in her hair. She looks at him with terrified eyes, from the gore on his face to the blood soaked shirt he was wearing.. She aprehensivly walks out.

"You okay?" He asks stepping aside and facing her.

"Yes."she says in a small, terrified voice.

"Let's get you back to camp.." He pats her shoulder and she follows him down the platform. As they reach the bottom the infected woman shadow threw off the edge of the tree house lunges forward with a fierce growl aiming to take flesh from the girl. She screams but shadow throws his arms forward and allows it to bite down hard on his arm. He winces before yanking his arm away and grabbing the woman head. He drags her to a nearby tree. He then slams her face into the bark splattering her head all over. He growls and kicks her body over. He turns to walk back to the girl but finds her pointing a small handgun at him. Her arms were quivering but it would be a challenge to miss him from this far away.

"Whoa whoa! Take it easy girl!" He raises his hands." Put the gun down." He says taking a slow step forward.

"Don't move!" She screams pulling back the hammer.

Her scream attracts Applejack along with quantum, sonata, night shade, Noi, rose bud, close cut, and red June.

"Applebloom! What do ha think your doin?!" Applejack says looking from the girl to shadow in his bloody state.

"Leave my brother alone!" Rose steps forward but red June grabs her.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Noi asks in her zebra accent.

"Shut up!" Applebloom yells." He's bitten!"

Everyone freezes. Applejack spots the bite on his arm. It was currently gushing blood and shadows face was becoming pale. Applejack steps forward and reaches for her revolver. After that slight movement the clearing was in chaos, all of shadows friends drew their weapons and pointed them at applejack, Applebloom, Noi and rose bud who were at first aiming at him but now turned their guns on the others. Shadow winced at the volume they were speaking. With his hands still raised his voice boomed over thier's

"EVEYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He yells. They all stop." Put your fucking guns away! All of you!" He puts his hands down and takes a step forward. Apple looms gun goes off and a bullet tears through shadows chest right where his heart was. He watches as everyone turns to him expecting him to drop. He quickly walks forward and swipes applebloom's gun away. She backs away and Shadow looks over at applejack as he falls to the ground wheezing. He coughs up a large amount of dark blood before passing out.

Author's Note

I realize that I haven't updated in a while but I'm trying hard to get some stories finished. I'll update in a few days.

Diagnosis

Shadow stared straight ahead at the room before him. It was like looking through a window. Everyone he knew stood In a line waiting. For what he could not say, but there they stood, night shade, quantum, Noi, applejack, applebloom, rose bud, sonata, and wintergreen. He watched curiously. Then suddenly applejack's eyes widened and her chest was ripped open by some unseen force. She reached out with a hand and staggered forward before falling and splatter blood across the floor. Noi looked curiously at her and her neck suddenly twisted and with a sickening snap she fell limp and sprawled out of the ground dead as well. Sonata grunted as an arrow pierced her chest and she fell over." NO!" Shadow slams his fist against the glass in front of him but it doesn't give. After sonata fell quantum state head exploded as if hit by a shotgun at point blank range. Applebloom's throat was torn out and she gasped for breath as she choked on her own blood. Night shade turned as if to combat something but her head was suddenly decapitated from her shoulders. Her body spammed and fell with a thud and twitched uncontrollably. Rose Bud looked sadly at shadow and reached out before she began coughing up blood. Bruises blossomed across her body as if she was being beaten. She fell over on the ground and a pool of blood formed around her head. Wintergreen looked at shadow with a sad expression before blood blossomed in the center of her chest and a large bullet wound appears. She sheds a tear before falling over with a thud. Shadow slides down the glass and puts his face in his hands. Out of the darkness he heard footsteps and looks up to see Sunset Shimmer kneeling in front of him. He shakes his head.

"This isn't real!" He mutters angrily.

She smiles." This is as real as you want it to be." She
Takes his hand and holds it. She sighs." You can't hide this from them forever shadow......" She looks at him sadly.

"W-what? What are you talking....." She cuts him off.

"Shadow we both know what's happened to you.......if you don't tell them now they will not trust you in the future...." She lets go of his hand and stands." But if you do tell them, you may yet preserve the friends you've made." She smiles." Now wake up shadow......." She holds it her hand." You have to get back to the real world."

He slowly takes her hand and stands. He is suddenly not gripping her hand anymore. He stares around the room as it darkens, and he feels a terrifying presence with him. He hears a laugh before he tumbles into nothingness. Shadow awakens with a jerk. He finds himself in the Apple family's basement again this time a woman stood nearby monitoring him as he sat up. She began scribbling on a notepad as shadow stares at her. She stood and walked carefully over to him before waving a hand near his face.

"What are you doing?" He asks making her jump as if she didn't expect him to speak.

"Incredible! It can speak!" She says turning to a figure in the dark.

"I am not an it." Shadow says glaring at her.

She smiles ." Of course."

"What are you?" A familiar voice asks. Applejack steps forward from the darkened corner of the room:

"It was failed to mention huh? I'm immune." He says standing up.

"No you aren't. You are far from it." Applejack says nodding to the woman.

"I'm nurse redheart. I was a physician in ponyville before. I've been studying this virus for 6 years and I've never seen anything like you before. The virus is inside of you there is no doubt about that but it isn't reacting normally to your cells. When someone is infected the virus feeds on your living cells, using the existing DNA to replicate itself. The reason the infected seek out flesh is because at a certain point, your body no longer has the cells to sustain the virus. When they consume flesh the virus uses the DNA to continue the replication process. In you however, the virus is only using blood cells to replicate itself. Your heart itself has been completely destroyed by the infection but this virus seems to have found a way to keep your blood circulating. The only problem is that your body can't reproduce blood cells fast enough without your heart. If the strain of virus in you doesn't have enough new cells to sustain itself it will spread to your brain and you'll end up as just another mindless corpse. In other words you have to give the virus new cells." She finishes and points to a blood bag hooked up to his arm." As you can see the virus replicates itself so fast your healing rate has doubled. You have recovered in a matter of days what many people take months to recover from. Don't be fooled this virus is not helping you. The healing is a by product of the replication process. Your immune system is somehow still intact and it's working in overdrive and it's working with the virus instead of fighting it." She finishes.

"And how did this happen?" He raise an eyebrow and looks at the blood bag.

"We dont know exactly." The nurse says shaking her head.

"We should kill you right here.....but you can be of use." Applejack says handing another stack of clothes." Try not to ruin these too."

"I have to leave." He says taking the clothes." I'm wasting time being here." He says standing up."

"You need to recover, you lost a lot of blood." The nurse says trying to step in his way. Shadow pushed past her and reaches the stairs just as he hear a gun cock behind him. He stops dead and turns to find Applejack pointing his gun at him.

"You are not leaving, not yet." She says.

He sighs." What do you want from me?!" He asks.

"I want you to stay here so we can figure out how you work." She says taking a step closer.

"I have to go Applejack, there's someone out there that needs me. And if I don't find her soon......" He stops not wanting to think about it.

"I honestly don't care." She says chuckling.

"Do you really want me to take that gun from you? I don't want to hurt anybody but I will if you make me." He says also taking a step. Applejack backs away.

"Stop! Take one more step and I swear!" She says leveling the gun.

"I don't think you will." He says moving closer. Applejack backs against the wall and her hands begin shaking.

Applejack closes her eyes and pulls the trigger sending a round through Shadow's chest. Shadow takes the opportunity to grab the gun from her and take out the magazine. He pops the bullet in the chamber and hands it back to a dumbfounded applejack who takes it and shakes her head.

"Why do you need my help?" Shadow asks stepping back and leaning against the cold metal operation table behind him.

"The truth is." She sighs and rubs her temples.

"We don't need you anymore.......those dead folk by that tree house had broken in three days ago and we needed to find em before someone got hurt. You and your friends can leave whenever you feel like it. My brother will give you a car and all your weapons back." She says walking out of the room and leaving him with the nurse.

"There is something you'll have to do." The nurse says stepping forward.

"What do you mean?" He asks walking to the bed he was laying on and picking up the clothing applejack had left for him.

"That hunger your feeling needs to be sated or else you could end up hurting someone." She says walking to a large refrigerator in the corner of the basement next to a Counter and a sink." I reccommend that at least every week you replenish the amount of cells the virus needs to consume so you don't end up decomposing." She looks at shadow who looks back with a confused look on his face. She sighs and takes out a box with a cross on it." You need to give the virus something to eat so you don't fall apart." She pops open the case and shows him bags of blood." What you need to do is go somewhere away from your freinds, at least a mile away and slit your wrists to let the used blood drain out. Then either consume this or take it by injection." She says closing the box and handing it to him.

"This isn't going to fun. What happens when I run out?" He asks. She looks away.

"You'll have to find a "donor"." She says walking back to the fridge and closing it. Shadow sighs and walks up the stairs and out of the basement. After quickly changing into the clothes, he makes his way back to where his friends were camped out and walked over to them. He leaned down and looked at the other 8 people sitting around the campfire.

"What's the plan?" Rose Bud asks trying to catch a glance from him.

"The plan is I'm going to find her while you, Noi, and you two stay here." Shadow says.

"And us?" Night shade asks as she sheaths her swords which she had been sharpening.

"What about you? Thanks for your help but I can't ask you to risk your life for someone you don't know chasing after a girl who may or may not be already dead." He says looking at them.

They grow silent and shadow stands." I'm moving out, every second I waste here is another second sunset shimmer could be being beaten or worse." He grabs the bag with his personal belongings in it and steps into a nearby tool shed to change into his apparel. After strapping the leather armor and slipping on his now blood stained hoodie, shadow reaches I tot he bag and clips his knife and holsters his gun. He steps outside to find the zebra girl standing ther with the assault rifle he used in the slaver camp.

"This is an imperial zebra Assault rifle. The best you can get around here. I suggest you take it and use it in your travels." She says holding it out to him

"You should take it I already have a gun." He says trying to step around her but he finds his path blocked as she steps in front of him and places a hand on his chest.

"A handgun can only get you so far. If you find the right components you can create a scope and have a ranged automatic weapon. Take it." She press the rifle to his chest and he takes it.

"Thank you." He says strapping the rifle to his back. She smiles and steps back.

"Maybe we'll meet again someday?" She says walking with him as he sets off towards the farmhouse.

"I doubt it but you can dream I guess." He says walking into the house." Applejack?" He calls out.

"Right here." She says walking down the stairs." Your car is ready and we gave you some water and food for your journey." She says reaching up to her neck and unclipping a necklace with a white stone laid into it. She tosses it at shadow who catches it and raises his eyebrow at her." Something to remember me by." She smiles at him and leads him out of the house and to the front gayer where a van was waiting.

"Why a van?" He asks opening the back and setting his pack down in it.

"You all aren't going to fit in a car." Applejack says simply.

"What do you mean all of us?" He walks to the front of the van and opens the door to find quantum sitting in the drivers seat.

"I already called it. I'm driving." He says with a smile.

" I told you......" He is cut off.

"Blah blah blah I have to find my girlfriend alone blah blah blah I don't need help blah responsibility." He mocks." We get it your some lone wolf hero type asshole. But shit if I let you go alone I wouldn't get to put some shells inside some slavers, now would I?" He smiles." Besides even if you are some superhuman you can still die from head trauma, and these slaver caravans are loaded to the teeth with high powered weapons and explosives, and your gonna need someone to pick you up off your ass when you get blown up."

Shadow smiles at quantum Ans the rest of the girls in the back." As long as your offering." He opens the back door and sits down next to Wintergreen.

"So where are we headed? Quantum asks looking in the rear view mirror.

"Fillydelphia." Shadow says grimacing from the bullet wound which had left him sore.

"Slaver central it is then." Quantum says as they take off down the road and speed toward fillydelphia