Of Pandemics And Ponies

Chapter 1: Hotel Hell

Twilight opened her eyes and stared at the blue sky. There were some gray clouds off to her right. Wait...those aren't clouds, that's smoke! She sat up and looked around. Her friends were lying on the roof of a building of sorts. It was definitely not a pony building. Twilight got up and went to her friends and woke them up.

"Hubba wuh?" said a groggy Rainbow Dash, "Where are we?"

Twilight looked around. They were on the roof of a tall building. The edges were surrounded by barbed wire fences. There was smoke coming from the side of the building. There was also smoke in the distance. "I don't know Rainbow. Let's just get out of here."

Twilight saw there was a door that led to a stair well. She entered and went down the stairs. Rarity followed her. There was random junk closing up the other stairs, it looked like someone put it there. Fortunately there was another door to the side. She opened the door and paused in shock.

On the other side of the door were...things. They walked on two legs and had long gangly arms with fingers. Some of them turned their heads to look at Twilight. Most of them had blood stained on their clothes or dripping from their faces. Some of them began charging at the door. Twilight slammed the door, but one of them made it in and ran after Rarity. She shrieked and ran towards the roof but the thing tackled her to the floor. It raised it's hand to strike Rarity, but was interrupted by a powerful buck from Applejack. The force of the kick sent the creature sailing over the barbed wire fence. It smashed into the ground and slipped over the edge of the building.

"What in tarnation was that?" said Applejack

Everypony, especially Rarity, was stunned. There was still pounding on the door from the other things.

"That was a human." said Twilight, "I've read about them. They are creatures that exist in a society much like ours. However they are unaware of our knowledge of them."

"That's really interesting in all Twilight, but what was that thing that attacked Rarity!" said Rainbow Dash impatiently.

"That was a human, but it looked...odd. Like it was sick. There are more in the hallway."

"That's our only way outta here." said Applejack sadly.

"I guess that means we'll just have to beat 'em to the ground!" said Rainbow.

"I guess." said Twilight.

She looked over and saw a table with various objects on it. There were...guns, some metal rod things, some axes, and several red rectangles.

Rainbow Dash walked over and asked, "What are those?" pointing at the red rectangles.

Fluttershy jumped up and said, "Those are health kits!"

Rainbow Dash had lost interest and was looking at a sniper rifle, "Oh man, this is going to be awesome!"

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After dispersing the gear through the six of them, with the help of Twilight, they were ready to brave the hordes of the infected humans. Rainbow Dash had taken the sniper rifle and decided to fly around in the open areas and snipe. Fluttershy was given the health kits to hold and use when needed. Twilight and Rarity were using their magic to hold onto two other guns. Pinkie Pie was looking at the pipe bombs she had been given to hold, "Oh...fireworks!" Applejack was holding onto the crowbars and had the axes slung onto her back.

"Alright, are y'all ready?" she asked standing by the door.

They all nodded and prepared their weapons. Applejack stood back and then bucked the door off it's hinges.

There were a bunch of Infected scattered around the hall. When they heard the noise of the crashing door, they began to swarm the six ponies. Applejack began swinging the crowbars at the hordes while Rarity and Twilight blasted the others. Rainbow Dash was shooting over Rarity's shoulder, hitting the far away ones. Still they continued to swarm, an unthinkable amount of the infec-ah what the hay-zombies were on the floor. Pinkie noticed the chance and hurled a pipe bomb down the hall towards the rushing horde. Not only did the pipe bomb stop them, but also others were attracted to it. The beeping of the bomb increased as more zombies swarmed it. Then, in a giant boom, the zombies exploded, random body parts flying around in arches of red color. Fluttershy closed her eyes and covered her ears. Pinkie let out an entertained "Ooh".

"Looks like the cost is clear y'all." said Applejack

They continued down the hall. Aside from a few stragglers, they were met with no opposition.

Twilight noticed some metal doors and said, "Those are elevators, but it looks like they're broken, so we'll have to find another way down."

There was another hallway perpendicular to the first. They were heading towards the door at the other end when suddenly a bunch of burning ceiling came crashing to the floor. There was a storage area that led to a ledge outside that could take them to the other side. There were some Infected on the ledge, but Applejack pummeled them with her crowbar. She was surprised about how easily their appendages gave way when struck. They where about to continue when the six heard muffled but close laughter, more maniacal than jolly.

Before Applejack could ask, "What was that?" something jumped onto her back. It was laughing crazily as it began leaning the orange workhorse towards the ledge. She lost her footing and only managed to grasp the edge of the walkway. The thing slid off her back and laughed as it fell and hit the roof below.

Applejack was about to slip off the ledge but was grabbed by her friends and hauled back up onto the ledge.

"Thanks a bunch guys." said the mare, tipping her hat before resetting it and bringing up her guard again. They continued down numerous hallways and another balcony, when they reached a working elevator.

"Awesome!" said the gutsy pegasus.

They all climbed into the cube and Twilight hit the floor button. The doors slid shut and the elevator began it's decent to the ground floor. The six stood and said nothing. Each of them had at least two blood spatters on their bodies. The elevator began filling with smoke. Fluttershy began coughing. The elevator stopped moving and a bell rang from above them.

"I guess we have to pry the doors open." said Twilight.

She used her magic to make the metal doors slide open. The room was a giant inferno. There was a intimidating roar from the distance. On the ground was a jar filled with a green sludgy liquid. Pinkie quickly grabbed it as the first Infected started to swarm the ponies.

Most of them stupidly caught on fire. The few that actually made it through the blaze unscathed were blown to bits from the blasts of the ponies' guns.

Applejack led her friends through the building, only staying on a path that had no fire. It was an odd feeling but Applejack thought that it seemed like the place had been designed for someone to run through. She vowed that if this hunch was true, that she'd kick the teeth out of the twisted person that did this to them.

At the end of the fire maze, a lobby sat. There was a red metal door at the end of the room.

The ponies trotted towards the door, but were interrupted by some soft growling. They passed it off and continued to the door. There was a side hall that was blocked with rubble. There was a loud shriek and a dark blur sailed through the air, towards the group. The blur hit Twilight and caused Rarity and Pinkie to fall over because of their proximity with Twilight and the blur. Applejack could now clearly see what the blur was.

The infected person had a dark hoodie on. The clothing around the hands and feet had been ripped and were covered in blood spattered tape. It pinned Twilight to the ground, using it's body weight to hold her down while keeping it's arms free. Then it started slashing Twilight.

She screamed. Probably from the pain. Maybe from the surprise. She flailed her forelegs to try to block the slashes, but to little avail.

Then suddenly the zombie was rolling on the ground next to Twilight, dead. Applejack let out a snort as she set the blood spattered crowbar on the ground.

"Y'all right sugarcube?" she offered a hoof to her friend.

"Yeah, just a little stunned is all."

They nodded and then continued towards the room. They all entered and Fluttershy swung the door shut. Then they began to pile furniture to block the way they came in. The lack of furniture on the other wall revealed another red door with a bar holding it tight that led to the next area.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" said Rainbow Dash.