Inside the boutique, they had been talking in hushed tones and glances, but stopped when the two boys returned. Twilight turned around to face them, and cleared her throat. "So, what next? We've been abused, hungry, exhausted, nearly killed and now I just want to lie down and die. So, answer me."

"Canterlot. It's either that or we try and find more ammunition and food. But there will be traps in the city, if my suspicions are correct, and we should stay alert at all times. Gather the bags and things, we need to leave within the hour."

"Why is that, mister Planner?"

Dusk sighed. "Miss Twilight, your stubbornness and need for organization will just have to comply for now, we're running out of time. The longer we stay still, the longer more people die or become enslaved. I know you haven't fought for that, whether you may be for standard shoot protocol or not. Now let's go."

He led them to the vehicles, and Fluttershy insisted on riding with Dusk, to which they accepted. Screw got in his car, and they drove off towards Canterlot. The wind had picked up, and the cold air came through the spaces of the car as Applejack drove down the road. Twilight and Rainbow were busy discussing Fluttershy's recent behavior towards Dusk, and Pinkie and Rarity were playing cards.

"Ooh, I got goldfish!"

"No dear, it's go fish."

"No, I mean I found goldfish crackers in my bra!" Pinkie then munched happily away, oblivious to the stares from Rarity or Applejack.

"I do quite frankly think I've been beaten at this little game, but mark my words, I shall return later." Rarity put her cards away for a bit as Pinkie munched, and Twilight thought back to earlier days of sitting in Ponyville, just visiting with friends and not caring. But it was all in faded days, and she noticed they were just outside Canterlot. They pulled into the city, and the destruction was unbelievable; not a single building was untouched by time or the explosions, and the streets were completely unsafe for car travel. The destroyed capitol sat dead and abandoned, debris and dead carcasses scattered everywhere in the ruins as they stepped out of the cars. Dusk and Screw looked around for anything to use, and Twilight and the other girls went to search the houses. The smell was unbearable, the rotted and burned flesh of the dead sitting still for years. They finally came up to a large, brick house, and peered inside.

The entire building was empty. Not a single object remained, save for the odd paper or graffiti marking. They stepped inside and searched around, the wind howling through cracks and broken glass, their feet echoing off the floor as they looked in the rooms. It was still unclear as to what his building was, and they entered the first room they found. Nothing was inside but the stray paper or dead brush, and they entered the next room, and the next, and the next, finding little to no useful items. But then, the final room they had to enter, looked closed. The door was shut and locked from the outside, sealing whatever lay in there in a tomb, for the windows were thick. Twilight stepped back a bit, took a breath, and rammed the door, but it wouldn't budge. She, Rainbow and Applejack then rammed it all together, and the door collapsed. As they looked around, they noticed everything was still in its place. The desk was rotting and splintered, as if smashed for the sake of it, and there was a metal closet in the corner of the room, along with a few lockers, all closed. The floor was falling away, down into a black, dirty pit as they walked along the floorboards.

"Is this a school? A gym? What the hell is this place?" Rarity looked at the room in confusion and paranoia.

"It looks to be either or both," said Twilight. "I just don't know, I don't remember this building before the fallout."

They moved to the lockers, aiming their weapons, and opened them to find nothing. They moved through each one, finding nothing but dead rodents, moldy food and other disgusting and foul things not to be mentioned. They searched the desk and found it had been picked clean, not a single object remaining, and moved to the closet. A stench most foul came from there, and they smelled rotting flesh and death, along with decay and fecal matter. But the most curious detail, was the whimpering coming from the closet. It sounded like a mix of crying, giggling and moaning, and they could hear the breathing in between the unearthly sounds. Twilight stood in front of the group, and she reached for the handle, turning it slowly, and pulling it open fast. And inside, on the floor, curled in a heap of writhing madness, was the decomposing yet living body of Apple Bloom, shaking and grinning madly. They could only stare and bow their heads as Applejack made her way to the front, saw the scene, and broke down sobbing and shaking. The others gave her room as she reached for the body, but couldn't bring herself to touch her deranged sister. With a bow of her head, a whispered "I'm sorry," and a sob, she aimed her gun and fired. The whining stopped, and all they could hear was Applejack sobbing as Dash tried to comfort her. There were other objects in the closet covering mounds on the floor, and Twilight once again reached into the closet, and uncovered the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, eaten and rotted.

"Sweetie? I...." Rarity joined Applejack in the noise of a thousand tears, and Dash looked away from the body of her number one fan. They left the room in a mess of emotion, and left the abandoned building in which their siblings and students lay.

On the other side of the street, Dusk and Screw were just finishing a house search, finding nothing of use. Screw threw his jacket off in heat and frustration, sighing. "We've found nothing at all to use, and the longer this infection lasts the more who'll die, and deaths on my conscience doesn't sit well with me."

Dusk looked at him. "While taking a life is a sacrilegious act, to me at least, if it is in defense there are exceptions. Just don't ever take the life of an innocent child, no matter how they were found, unless infected or suffering."

Screw nodded, and they saw the girls exit the building, and immediately the first thing they noticed were the crying trio of Dash, Applejack and Rarity. They rushed over, trying to find out what happened and were met with a jumble of noises. Dusk and Screw finally got them to settle down and heard the story, pulling them all into an embrace before drying their tears. "We need to get to the Royal Palace then, I feel that any enemy of Equestria would make it theirs as a sign of victory."

They nodded and headed towards the deeper city, looking around for signs of danger. As they walked the broken, dusty street, the wind blew an unpleasant scent to them, and they noticed even more bodies scattered around in heaps. Continuing, Screw ventured slightly from the group, and his leg tugged at a wire in a door, and he dodged just in time to avoid a shotgun to the head. He got up and dusted himself off, looking at the crude trap and nodding. "You know what we call that? Getting a 'head' in life. Aha!"

Dusk chuckled and Spike burst out laughing as they continued to go deeper into the broken city. A small group of vultures sat on a broken stone wall, pecking at a small carcass, as they walked to a car. Nothing and nobody was inside the shell, so they moved on and tried to joke to keep each other entertained as they traveled to the high, broken palace, the towers looking over their city like dark sultans, the windows like blank eyes as they stared at the group of travelers, sending chills down their spines. Spike remembered the palace fondly, and to see it in such a state destroyed his childhood in pieces. The very thought of the Royal Palace in such disrepair and abandonment made tears well in his eyes, his shoulders tensing.

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As the group walked along, a dark figure sat atop the tallest tower, looking down on them with hate and mockery, smiling and licking her dirty teeth. Today, oh yes today, you all shall fall, and my defeat so long ago will be avenged, but not just me, nor every one of my hive, but I'll also destroy your family. Twilight Sparkle, your will is mine."

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The group of survivors continued, unaware of the eyes that peered at them from windows and towers, and stopped at the gates to the palace. Not a single tower wasn't destroyed, broken or misplaced in the remnants of the building, and the once white walls stood cracked and dirty and bloodied. Dead bodies lay by the walls in a row, most likely the result of a death squad, and they searched for any items. All they found was a small pistol, an energy bar and juice, but it would help nonetheless.

They took deep breaths, preparing for the events ahead, and stepped forth into the grounds, not knowing what traps may befall them, but knowing it was much too late to turn back now. But as they took their first steps forward, Twilight heard a beeping sound, and threw herself at her friends just as a small explosion broke the ground where they had stood. Their ears rang, and Applejack noticed a sign on the wall beside the area.

"there was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile, he found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse, and they all lived together in a little crooked house."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "What the flying blue fuck does that mean? Crooked guys with crooked things?"

"No, I think it's a path y'all, look at the ground. There's patches. But there's deeper green right there, but it looks like a path, a crooked path. A crooked mile. I think that this here sign is a clue, so let's just throw it to the wind and run. Ready, on three."

And so they ran, faster than ever before in their lives as the bombs went off around them, setting off a chain reaction as they raced to avoid death. Dash nearly got killed, but Pinkie picked her up and set her back on her feet, the chunks of earth hitting them at higher speeds than bearable as they neared the door, and finally jumped into cover as the last of the mines detonated.

"Well, we're lucky that the bombs were smaller than I'd assumed, other wise my plan wouldn't have worked. Hell I didn't think it'd work anyway, tell you the truth, I just hoped and ran."

Twilight was livid. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

She an Applejack bickered while the others looked at the door, and Fluttershy noticed a small hole, similarly shaped to a sword strike, and she looked around for what could have caused it. The others were finally getting over their dispute and coming over, and they tried to door to have the surprise of the door swinging open, despite appearing locked. They peered inside and found it empty, the once grand halls in disrepair and misuse, footprints and ammunition lying around in the place. Then they saw it, right at the top of the stairs, the caged bodies of Princesses Luna and Cadance.

Author's Note

Name of chapter inspired by Akira Yamaoka - Not Tomorrow

I'm liking doing this, but I'm running out of crap for them to do. So in a few chapters our little survival will be done, and I CAN FINALLY WORK ON OTHER CRAP BECAUSE I GOT RID OF MY WRITER'S BLOCK! By the way,