In the shadows

by MoonStarMLP

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Tragedy, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 3268

Shay is a pony born in the middle of a zombie apocaplypse, living in an old underground war stable called ''Stable 8'' .The old dead ponies were brought to life from the war, and have taken over Equestria. But then, the stable door breaks.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-05 04:52:10 UTC

CHAPTER 2

     Shay looked for the pony who said that. She found that she was walking through the crowd. She was a white pegasus pony, with a DJ pon3-like mane, but not quite, and the mane was teal blue with a pink stripe in it. Her cutie mark was a pencil drawing a music note with 3 lines through it. She had something odd on her forehoof- something that looked like a metal bracelet with a greenish screen. She was wearing a jacket that the ponies who used to live in the stable, a long time ago, when the war was going on, used to wear- and Shay was surprised to see she had a wing missle contraption- two guns that fold into bags under the wings with a mouthpiece to fire, the bags also doubling as saddlebags. She actually looked kinda cool.

     ''Who are you?'' Shay asked. The white pegasus walked up to her and told her ''There is no time for questions now.'' The white pegasus ran out, Shay soon following her. Shay wanted answers.

     The white pegasus ran for the first building in sight. Zombies lurked in her path, and out of fear, she sprung up in the air. She was flying!!! Shay saw her wobble, aaaaaaaand..... crash. She had crashed into a tree!!! Shay had ran to that tree, and very slowly flapped her wings- and very slowly arose into the air. She finaly got to the branch the white pegasus was on- and then  realized that the white pegasus was not alone- there was a blue pegasus, wearing the same odd old style clothing and bracelet as the white pegasus. The blue one was definetely not from a stable, or at least not from stable 8. The white one finally spoke to Shay. ''Hey, I'm Pastel, and my friend here is Night Storm.''  Shay looked at Night Storm. She had the same mane style as Pastel, but it was dark blue with black on the outside, and it was a bit longer. She was also a pegasus, and had a bad scar on her eye. She had the most golden eyes, and in comparison to Pastel's, her pupils were slightly darker.

    Pastel spoke again. ''Yeah, i see you looking at our eyes. I'm near-sighted, but thats nothing to worry about. I  can see fine...''  Shay kinda felt bad now. She didn't mean to be rude. ''My names' Shay.'' she said, a bit shyly. But she couldn't bear it any longer. She had to ask. ''Why are you wearing old jackets? And what are those metal bracelets?'' she said. Night Storm spoke for the first time. '' We are wearing these because when we were together, in one stable, stable 10, they still wore these. When the stable was shut down, we were seperated as fillies. We kept contact with these.'' she was waving her hoof with the odd bracelet. Pastel spoke once more, continuing Storm's explination.''These are pipbucks, they were all destroyed exept for these two. We can't upgrade to newer technology because we would lose contact. We think they are better than any product of today though. They have many special features.''

Storm took the need again. '' I left my stable when i was 13. I've been out here for 2 years. The only reason that Pastel came out was to see me in person.'' Pastel gave a nod. Shay was silent, thinking. How did Storm survive out here for 2 years?

CHAPTER 3

     Shay wondered where they would sleep tonight. It was getting late, and the zombies were crowding under the tree they had been sitting in for hours. Would they sleep there? ''Ok, well, time to go home. Do you guys know how to fly? I didn't even know how to flap my wings when I left the stable. I have a house about a mile from here, and I don't want to have a problem with zombies eating our faces off.'' Storm said, like she was reading Shay's mind.

  ''I'm a little wobbly, but I should be fine now- but my friend Shay here.... she has never flown in her life. '' Pastel streched her wings and turned to Shay. '' The trick is, to jump off a high place, such as this tree, and out of fear and instinct you will fly.'' she told her. You better be right Pastel, Shay thought to herself, I am trusting you!

   Storm was already in the air, and Pastel wasn't far behind her. They turned around. ''You can do it!!!'' they yelled.

Shay looked down on the crowd of zombies beneath her. This 'friendship' is strange. she thought. I barely even know them. Maybe they are just trying to get rid of me. Looking at their confident faces, she hoped she as wrong. She finally gathered all of her will and.........

     She expected to fall. But if she was falling, she would have hit the ground by now. She opened her eyes.

Holy Crap! I'm flying!!! she thought, looking at all of the scenery around her. She actually couldn't see much, for it was barely light outside, but for her, this was amazing. She turned back to go to Pastel and Storm. Coming into earshot, she heard their loud cheering. She smiled as she came to a halt.

     ''Did you like it?!'' Pastel asked her. '' It's nice to stretch your wings, isn't it?''

Shay was trying to process what she just did, so she just simply nodded. It was amazing! She was flying!

     ''Well, now that we all know how to take our hooves off the ground, lets go. Everyone got a gun?'' Storm said. Shay felt embarrassed. She could have taken a gun, but she took a dagger instead. ''No,'' she sighed. Pastel looked at her. ''Here, I've got an extra. I don't need it, I have these.'' She looked through her wing bags. She pulled out a small gun, with a mouth hold and a tooth trigger. She gave it to Shay. ''Thanks.'' Shay said.

     ''Alright then. Lets go.'' Storm told them, and they flew off to Storm's house.

CHAPTER 4

     They landed. It was a short flight, with minor falls- Shay got a painful scrape to the flank. Luckily, Storm had a bandage and stuck it on. ''We're here.'' Storm said. Shay looked around. All she could see was an old barn that was full of zombies. Were they crazy? '' Um.... where?'' she asked. ''Here.'' Storm went to the wooden platform they were standing on, and Shay realized there was a handle. Storm pulled it open, with help from Pastel, and it revealed an underground room with 2 beds, a couch, and lots of food. There were posters all over the walls. Storm looked at Pastel and Shay. '' Don't worry, I didn't put these posters in here. They were here when I found this cellar. I just am too lazy to take them down yet.'' Storm blushed.

     They went down the stairs inside. Storm pulled the door shut. They all sat in the middle of the room, which was artificially lit by what seemed to be a stable light. ''So, Shay, I hear you are also from stable 8.'' says Storm. ''When we were separated at stable 10, I was moved to stable 24.'' she continued. ''It was very different than stable 10, to the point that I felt unconfortable. We worshiped stallions like they were Gods, and they treated us fillies and mares like dirt. In fact, there was only 3 stallions in the whole stable: The OverStallion, The Principal of the schoolroom, and, if I dare speak his name, King Amastro. He wasn't a king. He was some random dude who was born a stallion so we had to worship him, or we would get locked into hanging room. The hanging room is where they lock you in a room with nothing but a rope and hanging pony corpses above you for a month with no food or water and they play nonstop soundtracks of forks scratching plates, chalk on a chalkboard, and the occasional scream of a pony going mad to scare you. I was the only mare who has ever survived the hanging room, all others hung themselves. Lost my scent in that room. The scent of the rotting corpses were so bad they ruined my nose. Now I can't smell the walking corpses, thankfully.'' Sadness washed over Storm's face as she remembered the hanging room. Shay looked sadly at the floor.

     Then Pastel broke the silence. She had been looking at the posters on the wall, and now she has found something- something big.

CHAPTER 5

     Pastel found bumps on the wall. She had decided to pull off the posters covering it to see what was bumpy on the wall. And what it was, it was something that would bring back history, memories, and new information.

    A door to another stable.

But not just any stable.

Stable 2.

     She ripped open the posters to see what it was. And she saw the familiar gear-shaped door of a stable. And she saw the number 2 in the center.

     She opened the door, with help from Shay and Storm. They eventually had to use Shays dagger to pry it open. And when they did, what did they find?

     Pony inhabitants.

Two stallion guards were looking at them with guns in their mouth. They froze, and told the guards they will not harm the stable. The guards took all three of them to the OverMare room for questioning.

     They tied them up, and asked them the first questions.

''Who are you and where are you from?''

''We come from the outside, we are Shay, Storm, and me, Pastel.''

''How have you found the stable and why have you entered it?''

''My house is on the other side of your stable door, sir, and it was covered by posters. We just found it, and decided to see what was inside.We do no harm. We didn't know anypony was in here, sir.''

The guards looked at each other. They decided to let them go.

     They decided to ask the OverMare if they knew the war has ended. They headed straight from the OverMare office.

They opened the door to her office.

''What can I help you with?'' she asked.

''We wanted to tell you important news.'' Pastel said.

''What..........who are you? You are not part of this stable!''

''No, we come from the outside."

''The outside!!!! Then why on earth are you wearing stablewear?''

''We come from a different stable. We have came to tell you that the war has ended, actually like 40 years ago, and now the world is being overrun by zombies.''

''Silly fillies, zombies don't exist. You don't fool the OverMare!''

"No! We are not kidding, we have to tell you to never let anypony out of this stable. They will die instantly!''

''No pranks allowed, especially to prank the OverMare!''

Oh. My. God. Is she stupid? If the world were being overrun by zombies and I were OverMare, I would be conserned. But not her! She doesn't give two plots about what is happening outside the door and she doesn't want to protect her stable!!!Pastel was raging red. Shay and Storm decided to get out of the stable before Pastel blew her fuse!

CHAPTER 6

     They got odd looks from ponies when they were walking from the OverMare's office to the exit door. The stable ponies just kinda backed up as they walked past. Pastel was mumbling, then she turned around and said, "Ponies of Stable 2! I and my friends are from the outside!'' Shay and Storm looked at each other, then looked at Pastel like she was crazy, as they heard gasps from the crowd. Pastel thought for awhile, looking at the crowd of amazed ponies. Even though I'm not OverMare, I can't have any ponies come out of the stable thinking it will just be deserted land with no inhabitants. I'm never coming back in here, so I'll make a scene. I don't care. I have to save these clueless ponies! She spoke. " Do not by any means step out that door! Even though the war has ended, undead, rotting warponies are roaming. They are everywhere! You will die instantly!"

     Ponies gasped. Mothers held their children close. Pastel heard a yell from the crowd. It was a female voice. It said, "Do you want to stay with us? You can't possibly like it out there!" Pastel looked back at the completely yellow mare. ''No, I just came to warn you. Do not step out that door!''

     Pastel nodded as a farewell, and walked with her friends out the door. They heard commotion from the stable as the door was being shut, making an extremely loud creaking noise. It slammed shut, hopefully for good.

     ''What was that?!'' Storm said. ''You were so embarrassing!''

''I don't care. We will never see those ponies again, so it's fine. I didn't want them thinking the war may be over and coming out to investigate, and being killed by zombies. I had to do it!'' Pastel replied.

Storm and Shay nodded in agreement. They re-wallpapered Storm's walls and sat down on Storm's old,creaky green couch. It had holes in it. They grabbed a bite to eat. Storm had plenty of miplets. Those were small round balls made of flour and water, baked over a fire. They were bland and tasteless, but still better than those unripe pale apples in the stable. They sat and chatted, Shay asking questions. She found out that Pastel had a sister in a conversation, and immediately asked about her.

''Wait, you have a sister? Where is she?'' Shay asked. She was for some reason eager to know.

''She was seperated from me, she was in Storm's stable. When Storm left, my sister, Electric Heart, snuck out with her. She was only 7 years old, and it was very scary for me. Storm found out that Electric had followed her, and gave her shelter here. When Storm sent me that message, I snuck out of stable 8. Our guards caught me, and I was in alot of trouble. I was sent to jail for a day, and the next morning, I got a message from Storm saying that she was missing. I cried for 2 days straight, my eyes dried out completely, and the nurse ponies had to give my eye drops to hydrate them. That is partially why I'm near sided. Those drops had a chemical in them. They made my eyes even worse than they already were. Electric Heart could still be out there....... somewhere....." Pastel had tears in her eyes. She snuffled then walked over to the other side of the room and lied down on the bed, facing the other direction. She snuffled and said, ''Goodnight guys."

INTRODUCTION

     Sunshine. It's something Shay has never felt on her coat before. She has never experienced rain, wind, or snow. She has wanted to feel these things before, but she could never ever actually feel it. All she could do is go into the shower and try to imagine what rain felt like, and she always pictured it to be beautiful, and feel somewhat like a shower. Or she'll stand in front of the ventalation shaft and outstretch her wings, to pretend she was flying. She was a pegasus, but she never felt like one. She has never experienced flying, and she wasn't athletic, and to her and all of the books on pony anatomy said that the traits that classify you as a pegasus are having wings, being able to fly, and being at least somewhat athletic. Shay  didn't have any of these traits exept for having useless wings on her back.

    Shay was a gray pony, with an Applejack-style mane, which was pink with stripes of grey and black. She had multiple metal ear piercings, golden eyes, and a short tail, colors matching those of her mane. She has no cutie mark, let alone being 15. A voice that strongly represents Rainbow Dash- just a bit deeper.

     She lived in a old underground war stable- one from the war that has ended. Shortly after, an evil mare spirit that led the losing side of the war, awoke her warriors and others. This did not go the way she had planned, for all of the ponies she revived- mostly all of them- had turned into zombies. But Shay thought that was an old pony's tale.

     But then the door to Stable 8, shaped like a gear,once shut tight, fell off it's hinges, letting zombies in.

CHAPTER 1

     Shay must act fast. She then realized that the apocaliptic world outside wasn't just an old pony's tale. The rusty gear door came crashing down making a loud low ring, and in the distance you can see walking corpses looking dumbly for the source of the loud sound. Some were very disturbing- with eyes falling out of their heads and very bony bodies,or legs only attached by a nerve. You can tell that they have been decaying for a long time- and the stench. It is not pleasant. Shay was pushed out of the way by stallion guards to fix the door before it's too late. They failed, as the whole lot of zombies come towards the stable 8 door. Shay decided to get her friend Petal, a kind earth pony with long, braided yellow hair and a pale lavender coat, and white freckles. Soon she realized that was going to be harder than it  sounded. The whole stable was gathered around to help pull the door back. Shay finally spotted Petal getting all of the fillies and colts out of the school room. She rushed to her.

''Is it going to be ok?'' asked a frightened yellow filly. You could see the outright terror in her eyes. Unsure, Petal replied ''Yes, just stay calm, and get into the emergency room. We have rehearsed this many times, you should know what to do." Petal was a teacher at the stables. Shay watched as all the foals lined up and marched even farther underground, into the emergency lockdown room, with dry food, plenty of water, and toys and books. Shay walked up to her. '' I'm going to....... going to go......um...'' It was hard to speak with her best friend about how she is going to abandon the stable and leave in a nice way. ''I'm going outside.'' Petal looked at her, her pupils so small they were hardly visible. ''WHAT??!'' She said, almost shoving Shay into the safety room too.''You are NOT going out there, it is too dangerous!!!'' Shay looked at her sadly.''Then I guess this is goodbye.'' Tears in her eyes, Shay ran away from Petal, unable to have an emotional meltdown over leaving her best friend. She went straight down to the back of the stable to the armor and weaponry room. She got herself a dagger, which she liked because it couldn't run out of ammo. There was no more armor left. She ran toward the door, seeing that they got it upright and were shutting it permanately. ''WAIT!!!'' she yelled, at a full speed gallop. She stopped, and looked at the confused stares. One of the stallions said ''And anyone else, this huge thing is heavy!''

''Wait,'' said an unfamiliar girl voice, ''I'm coming too.''