Just an Old Ponytale...

by EternalShadow54

Rating: teen
Tags: Cutie Mark Crusaders, Pinkie Pie, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Zecora, Sad, Main 6
Length: 27062

Twilight's project she's working on for Zecora turns for the worst...

Twilight is helping Zecora with a project that could determine the whole fate of Equestria when things go horribly wrong. The project is strangely intertwined with with an old legend and... zombies? Let's just say that things might not turn out for the best in this crazy story...

Published 2012-05-17 11:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-05 20:10:25 UTC

Chapter 1

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 1-

'The candle light was swiftly fading as crashing noises could be heard coming from the door. Suddenly, a hoof broke through. Twilight looked to the ground and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry everypony..." she said as the darkness around her slowly engulfed the candle. "I'm... sorry..."

It was a wind-raged, stormy day in the small town of Ponyville. The pegasi (mainly Rainbow Dash) had once again forgotten to keep up with the years normal weather schedule. This, of course, meant that there would have to be a doozy of a downpour to make up for lost rain and everypony was outside preparing the town for the incoming storm. Twilight was just finishing up on bundling a large pile of branches when Applejack walked up beside her. "Hey there sugarcube! How ya comin' along there?" the farm pony asked in a sort of enthusiastic voice.

"Pretty good." Twilight responded. "Just finishing up on my part of the preparations. How about you? How are you coming along Applejack?"

"Just finished my part as a matter of fact." Applejack proudly proclaimed. "Just seein' if anypony needed a hand er somethin'."

"Actually..." Twilight's voice perked, "I'm working on a project with Zecora and need help with a potion for something-" Applejack sharply cut her off.

"Now, hold on there sugarcube. Don't you tell me that ya done got yerself all involved with Zecora's... oh, whatcha call it... whatever it is that she does." Applejack asked with a concerned tone. The winds started to pick up around the two ponies as everypony else was moving on into their houses for the weather.

"No, no. It's nothing like that at all. You see, I was just curious about her culture and how she does things." Twilight calmly answered. Too calmly to fool Applejack. The rain was setting in as it started to drizzle.

"Don't lie to meh Twi. You and meh both know there's somethin' more to it." The drizzle quickly turned into a downpour in just a few seconds. The two ponies were soaked almost instantly. The wind bellowed as it beat the droplets of rain on the two friends.

"Come with me to the library. We can talk more later once we clear out of this storm." The two started making their way to Twilight's. It didn't take too long for Applejack and Twilight to reach the library although their advance was greatly hindered by the strong wind currents of the storm. After fighting against the gusts of wind for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was no longer than a few minutes, the two finally crashed through Twilights door into the library. Twilight lit her horn and began to search around for another source of light.

"So....." Applejack said as to indicate that she still wanted to know, but didn't want to ask again. Twilight got the hint.

"The potion that I'm working on for Zecora will have the ability to turn ponies into undead zombies." Twilight bluntly stated. Applejack's jaw nearly hit the floor as the words passed through her ears.

"Wait a minute. Yer tellin' me that yer workin' on a potion to bring back the dead?" she asked in shock.

"Ah, you mis-judge me." Twilight smugly remarked as she found a candle stick and lit the end. She then proceeded to pull a book from one of her shelves. "Let's see, what page was it again?" she asked herself as she flipped through the book. She finally came across the page she was looking for. "See, Zecora comes from a exotic and distant land, and from where she comes there are many types of dark and mysterious magic." Twilight said as she pointed to the page in the book. "She is the only zebra left that knows how to make a cure if an outbreak were to ever to happen again."

"What do ya mean by happen again?" Applejack asked as she took the book from Twilight and started reading the pages.

"Well, legend has it that every five-thousand years there is a great shift in the planetary structure and causes a strange happening that triggers-" Applejack held up a hoof to signify for her to stop.

"Ya don't have to go much into detail Twi. If Ah don't believe ya ah can read it fer myself, right?" Twilight grunted.

"Well... To put it bluntly. Zecora needs me to make a potion that can raise and turn the living into undead so that she can study its attributes and counter-act the problem by making a cure." Applejack glanced at Twilight with great opposition.

"Then why couldn't she do it herself?" Applejack asked rather annoyed. "And more importantly, why are ya doing it? Dontcha think that this seems a bit... dangerous?"

"Zecora has gone back to her home to take care of her parents. They seem to have come down with something... well, bad." Twilight responded. "And yes, it is quite risky... but Zecora needs somepony she can trust with such a task and well... nopony else would do. Trust me, I wasn't too fond of the idea myself either. She basically begged me to help her." Applejack still wasn't having any of it.

"So let me get this straight. What yer tellin' me is that ya need mah help to make some fancy smancy potion that can turn others into mindless zombies so that Zecora can save us from some crazy epidemic?" Twilight nodded. Applejack looked at her with a very skeptical look. "How does this cure findin' process work exactly?" Twilight looked to the ground and kicked her front hoof around on the floor a bit.

"Well..." she started. "That's the thing. When we create this potion, Zecora will have to have some sort of test dummy to study for its effects." Applejack raised a brow at this. "I'm not saying you or anypony else! She will probably just go and find a graveyard somewhere to do the test on some already deceased ponies." Applejack still was very doubtful.

"Ah thought that zombies was just an old ponytale ta scare tha little 'uns into not goin' out at night." Applejack stated.

"That's exactly what I thought too." Twilight said. "But you can never be too careful with these type of things. Besides, Zecora wouldn't lie to me about something like this, would she?"

"Ah guess not, but ah'm still don't know about this Twi. Your messing with something your not familiar with." She looked at her friend in defeat. "What do ya need me ta do?"

Twilight's face lit up at the hearing of this. "Wait... so you'll help me?"

"If it's ta save Equestria from some crazy legend about undead ponies then sure, why not?" Applejack still greatly disliked the idea all in general.

"Yay!" Twilight squealed as she clapped her hooves together. "Alright, let's get started. The materials are upstairs. Follow me." Twilight led Applejack upstairs where a table was partially set-up with a few beakers and some random ingredients right below a glass window. "O.K. Applejack, your part's easy. All you have to do is hand me the ingredients as I call them out to you." she said as she was finishing up on fixing the table for the experiment they were about to conduct.

"Hey, where's Spike?" Applejack asked as she waited for Twilight to hurry up and finish with the table.

"Spike's with the princess on a very important mission deep in the north." Twilight answered.

"What kind of mission?" Applejack inquired.

"Dragon diplomacy."

"Oh." Twilight finished setting up when another question popped into Applejack's mind. "So... when is this here ummm... zombie, magic, shift thing gonna happen anyway?" Applejack asked as Twilight set a note of materials needed for the potion on the table and began to work.

"From our calculations, it should happen within a few weeks actually." Twilight stated quite composed. "Ground pepper please." Twilight held out a hoof.

"WHAT! A few weeks!" Applejack gasped as she handed Twilight the bag of pepper. "Why haven't you told any of us about this?"

"Because of that reason right there." Twilight answered. "I don't want everypony freaking out over something that we can easily prevent. Palm leaf." she said mixing in a few more ingredients before holding out her hoof again.

"But what if yer wrong and we can't prevent it?" Applejack theorized.

"I thought you didn't believe in that kind of stuff Applejack." Twilight joked. "Anyway, we only need one more ingredient. Potato." Twilight held out her hoof once more.

"Potato?" Applejack asked as though the thought of a potato being a component confused her.

"Come on Applejack, we have to finish this potion quickly or it won't work properly, then we would have to start over from scratch. I don't have enough Blue Grass to have something like that happen. It's the last ingredient and then we are done. Potato."

Applejack swiftly was able to locate a potato and handed it over to Twilight who ground it in with the rest of the materials. Twilight then took what she had created and poured the contents into the beaker. The liquid inside bubbled as it changed from crystal clear to muddy brown. "Perfect!" Twilight said as she looked at the potion with pride. "My first potion, and it's to save Equestria. Sounds like a accomplishment if you ask me."

"Yea, some accomplishment." Applejack stated under her breath. Twilight heard her, but pretended not to.

"If from what Zecora tells me is correct, this potion has the ability to turn any living or dead creature into a bonified zombie with one drop to the tongue." Twilight then turned to Applejack. "I will deliver it when she comes back from taking care of her parents. Thank you for helping me. Would you like to stay the night Applejack? The weather only seems to be getting worse." The rain was absolutely flowing outside and the winds were in a frenzy.

"Ah'm glad ah could help save Equestria and all, but Ah think ah should be on mah-"

CRASH

A tree busted through the wall right on top of the table the potion was laying on, knocking Twilight and Applejack to the ground. The potion was air born from the crash. Twilight quickly looked up and saw to her horror that the potion landed right into Applejack's mouth. Applejack involuntarily gulped...

Chapter 2

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 2-

'Scootaloo quickly dashed to the left, then to the right. The shadows of the figures were everywhere as she ran through the town. The doors were nailed shut and the windows barred at every house. She came up to Sugarcube Corner and banged her hoof against the door. "LET ME IN!" she screamed. "Please let me in!" There was no answer. The rain had not lightened up since it had started two days ago. "Please..." she said as she slowly sulked to the ground. The dark figures were closing in ever so slowly. "Let me in..." There was a scream.'

Applejack quickly flung her head to the side and spit out the beaker, shattering it into pieces. She jumped up and looked to her stunned friend and asked with a very worried tone, "Twi, what's gonna happen?" Twilight's mouth remained agape as she stood there in silence. Applejack raised her voice. "Twilight! What's gonna happen to me!?" she lashed with a hint of anger in her voice. Twilight shook her head as she tried to comprehend, much less act upon, the given situation. To make the matter worse, the wind and the initial crash had knocked nearly all the books in the library on the ground for the rain to burrow right through.

"Ummm..." There was a sense of fear and nervousness in the unicorn's voice. "Just... hold on and let me see if I can find a book on this." She started her search through the messy, wet pile of books. Applejack started to have a weird feeling come over her.

"Twi." Applejack raised a air of concern as she looked at her front hooves. They had started to turn to a puke green. "Hurry up, sugarcube." Twilight was searching through the books as fast as she could.

"I'm searching as fast as possible Applejack, just hang in there." Twilight uneasily reassured. After about a minute of frantic searching, she finally came across the book she was looking for. "FOUND IT!" Applejack caught a quick peek at the books title. It read "Equestria's Greatest Collection of Old Ponytales."

Applejack looked at Twilight with the most confusing and puzzled look she could give. The look caught Twilight off guard. "Now how the hay is that supposed ta help meh?" Applejack's front and back hooves were of the ugly green by now and her legs gave out from right under her. Applejack looked at Twilight who seemed to have a very disheartening and sad look upon her face.

"It... wont..." Twilight gave a heavy sigh. "There is no books in here about how to reverse the effects and if there were, the rain has probably destroyed it by now."

"So..... yer tellin' me ya can't....." Twilight nodded. There was a rather long silence between the two ponies as the wind continued to roar and the storm continued to flow rain. By the time Applejack said something, half her body was taken over by the "infection", as the book would call it. "Ya better leave before mah whole body turns..." Twilight looked at her friend with great disapproval.

"But I can't just-" Applejack cut her off.

"Yes ya can. Ah know you can find a cure for this here thing that ah got and ah don't know what will happen once ah completely turn." Applejack tried to pull off a smile. "Just remember that whatever happens, it's not yer fault." Twilight suddenly felt a sense of guilt wash over her as the words left Applejack's mouth. She acknowledged that she understood with a nod of the head and turned from her "infected" friend to set out Rarity's, the closest living friend she had other than Pinkie Pie. 'Going through town in a storm like this would be suicide.' Twilight thought to herself. As Twilight stepped outside the front of the library, she was nearly knocked to the ground by the full sheer force of the wind.

After she was able to retain her balance a little bit better, she started making her way to Rarity's Boutique. The trip was a long and strenuous one as she had to fight against the winds current and see through the heavy thicket of rain. By the time she reached Rarity's she was almost literally soaked through to the bone, least to say what the condition of the book was. The battle with mother nature had nearly worn Twilight out entirely as she stepped up to the door and knocked. There was a long pause as she was waiting, hoping that somepony had heard her knock. After a while, she decided to just turn and try for Pinkie Pie's when she heard a faint sound coming from inside. It was difficult to hear considering the volume of the heavy rain. The door opened, but it was not Rarity at the door. Instead, it was her sister Sweetie Belle.

"Twilight?" Sweetie Belle asked. She had obviously been asleep when she had knocked. "What are you doing out there in the rain? You're getting wet." the young filly asked.

"Never mind that. Where's Rarity? I have a very important matter to discuss with her." Twilight said as she pushed past Sweetie Belle, basically letting herself in. Sweetie Bell didn't take notice.

"She's up in her room taking her, what she calls, beauty nap." Sweetie Belle answered in a rather sarcastic tone. "Why? Has something bad happened?" Twilight winced at the words.

"Well... something... not so good has happened to Applejack." Sweetie Bell's eyes widened at hearing this. She was suddenly full of energy.

"What! Is she alright!? What happened!?" Sweetie Belle asked frantically. Twilight held up a hoof to the filly to indicate to settle down.

"Go get your sister. I will explain everything to the both of you so I don't have to repeat myself. I'm afraid we might not have much time, so please hurry." Sweetie Bell quickly nodded and shot up to her sister's room while Twilight stayed and dried herself off a bit. It took a while before Twilight finally saw a sleepy, grouchy Rarity making her way down the stairs with a ecstatic Sweetie Belle right behind her. Rarity didn't at all look to happy to see Twilight.

"Twilight, my dear. Do you mind explaining to me why in Equestria you're here and why Sweetie Belle's so frantic?" Rarity said rather annoyed.

"It's kind of a long story. You may want to take a seat." Twilight told her with a shaky calmness. Rarity took notice of this and suddenly became serious as she felt that something quite awful must have happened to have made Twilight run through that horrible weather to get here. She sat beside her little sister who was already leaning towards Twilight in pure worried anticipation as to what had happened to the farm pony. Twilight grabbed the book and sat in front of the two ponies with the most earnest face she could make. "O.K." she began "This is going to sound crazy, but here's what happened..."

Applejack looked at her limp, lifeless green body that was completely unresponsive. The "infection" was now about halfway up her neck and was working its way at a rather alarming pace. Applejack's initial response was fear when she had drank the potion and realized that the more she struggled, the faster it spread. "Heh, so this is how ah'm repaid for helping mah friend save Equestria from some stupid ponytale." Applejack jested to herself. "A little ironic if ya ask me." The "infection" spread to her jaw. She was now unable to speak. 'Ah wonder if this is contagious?' she thought to herself. 'The old tales said it was spread mainly from the bites of the accursed creatures.' The "infection" was at her nose now. 'I wonder if the transformation will hurt?' she asked herself. 'The rest of the process has been rather painless.' The "infection" hit her brain. Applejack jerked and twisted as her mind was losing control. 'Please hurry Twilight' she thought before losing total control. 'Please hurry...'

"And that's what happened." Twilight finished up. The two ponies listening were absolutely flabbergasted at what they had just heard. This concerned Twilight as she couldn't tell how the ponies would react. Rarity was the first to speak.

"So let me get this straight. You are telling us that you and Applejack were working on a potion that can turn all types of creatures into undead, brainless zombies and a tree crashed into your home and sent the potion flying in A.J.'s mouth?" Rarity asked in a flat tone. Twilight nodded. "That has to be the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard, my dear." Rarity said as she got up from the floor. "Twilight, feel free to stay until the storm passes over but please leave me alone about this nonsense. I've had a hard day being outside picking up branches and rocks." Twilight was appalled at what she heard.

"You think that I would lie to you about something like this?" Twilight asked offended. "That I would run through this weather to get here and just flat out lie? I ruined a book for Celestia's sake to get here!" Rarity paid this information no mind.

"I'm going back to sleep. When you're ready to tell me the real reason you're here, you know where to find me." and with that, Rarity went back to her room grouching under her breath. Sweetie Belle was still sitting down with her mouth wide open. She turned to Twilight and asked, "You're not lying... are you?" Twilight hung her head down.

"No Sweetie Bell, I'm not. Rarity obviously doesn't want to do anything to do with the matter. I was really hoping for some support." Twilight sat back down and gave a sigh. "I can only imagine what Applejack is going through right now." Sweetie Belle looked at the disheartened purple unicorn and put on a sweet smile.

"I believe you." Sweetie Bell said. Twilight raised her head, she apparently had cried a bit while her head was down.

"You... you do...?" Twilight asked as though the answer surprised her.

"You bet! What can I do to help?" Sweetie Belle happily asked. Twilight looked at her with a kind face.

"Well... there's nothing much we CAN do at the moment anyway except study up on the matter. That's why I brought this book." Twilight said as she pushed the book towards Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle gave a puzzled look.

"Is this really the best source of information Twilight?" she asked.

"Sadly Sweetie Belle, it's the only source..." and with that being said, the two stayed up all through the night reading every ponytale about zombies in the book that was still somewhat legabal. They were up until the sun's rising before Twilight finally passed out from exhaustion...

Chapter 3

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 3-

'Day five of this accursed "infection" and I still haven't been able to get word from Zacora on how to fix all of this. This stupid storm has yet to show any signs of lifting and to make matters worse, I haven't heard any word on where Rainbow Dash is. Everypony that I have sent to find supplies hasn't come back and the others are getting worried. I fear the worst may have happened. I can only hope to Celestia that I can find a cure before the inevitable happens. Without me, we would all certainly be doomed...'

Journal Entry #3

-Twilight Sparkle

Twilight quickly rose from the floor to the hearing of a seemingly distant scream. She turned to look at where Sweetie Bell should be, but she was gone. Twilight took notice at the window and walked over to it. The weather was worse if not just as bad as it was yesterday and the room was extreamly dim due to the lack of light. The only light visible was that of the sun's rays trying to pierce the dark, gloomy clouds. "This is not right." Twilight told herself. "The storm should have ended by now."

Another much louder scream was heard. Twilight turned around to see Sweetie Belle slamming the front door and jumping behind a piece of funiture, cowering. This bewildered Twilight. "Sweetie Belle, what happened? Are you O.K.?" Sweetie Belle poked her head from behind the funiture with a face so terrified that it even scared Twilight herself.

"Tha- I- wha- and- then-" the little filly was stuttering. Twilight had to stop her.

"Slow down Sweetie Belle, just calmly tell me what happened." Twilight said as she made her way towards the frantic little filly. Sweetie Belle began to cry as she drew closer.

"Wha- Wha- Well..." Sweetie Belle sniffled. She was still trying to speak too fast. "I- I- I d- decided to g- g- go outside a- and get s- some fresh air wh- when a p- pony of th- the ugliest o- o- of green c- came up t- to me f- from th- the side a- and b- bit me." Sweetie Bell then turned to look at the horrified face of Twilight, who obviously knew exactly what had happened. Sweetie Bell became worried. "Wh- what's gonna h- happen to m- me?" Twilight was at a loss of words, for lack of a better phrase. Twilight's body didn't know how to process how she felt at this moment. A feeling of complicity along with grief and pity all washed over her at once.

"I... uhhhh..." Twilight was still in the process of collecting herself. "O.K. Sweetie Belle, I need you to stay calm." Twilight's voice was very shaky. "First off, do you know where Rarity is?" Sweetie Bell looked up at the ceiling with a quizzical look bofore answering.

"She l- left about an h- hour ago to go and g- get some supplies until t- the storm cleared up." Sweetie Belle was settling down which made Twilight's position a little bit better. "W- why...?" Twilight was caught off guard by the question, but ignored it. She turned her head to the side and spoke to herself.

"This is not good." Suddenly, another thought hit Twilight. A thought that she now wished she had a few minutes ago. "Sweetie Belle, was it you that I heard screaming a minute ago?" Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight, obviously perplexed at the question.

"Y- yea... Why?" Twilight's blood ran stiff as there was a loud bang at the door. Sweetie Belle started taking heavier breaths.

"Oh no." Twilight gulped. She looked at the small filly with a most concerning look. "Sweetie Belle," Her voice was even more nervous than before, with a hint of fear. "I... I'm afraid that you've been... infected." Sweetie Bell's eyes expanded to their limit.

"Y... you mean..." Sweetie Belle started on the verge of tears again. Twilight nodded. The bangs at the door became louder as Sweetie Belle looked at where the pony from earlier had bitten her. The area was slowly decaying away. Sweetie Bell cried again. "W... what's going t... to happen to me... now?" She was speaking in burst as her breathing became even harder. Twilight knew exactly what would happen, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Sweetie Belle that she would eventually have to actually "die" before becoming part of the "living dead".

"Y... your going to be fine... trust me..." Her lie wasn't very convincing. Sweetie Belle chuckled a bit as she looked Twilight dead in the eyes.

"The back exit... is through the... kitchen to the... left." Sweetie Belle wouldn't be long before she would convert. "And... you didn't... have to... lie... I was... up all... last night... with you studying... remember...?" Her words hurt Twilight to the very pit of her heart.

"I... I'm sorry Sweetie Belle, I promise to never do it again." Her words were void. Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight with a grin.

"Yea... I know... you won't... heh, you can't..." Sweetie Belle's mood finally changed back to the more appropriate one of fear. "Hey Twilight..." Sweetie Belle called as Twilight was just about to leave. The hinges of the door wouldn't hold for much longer.

"Yes Sweetie Belle...?" Twilight was fighting back her emotions as well.

"How come... you didn't... seem to care... that much when... when you told... us about... Applejack...?" Twilight almost didn't have time to answer before the door finally gave way.

"Because Sweetie Belle, I... I thought that I could fix it before anypony noticed... and I didn't think that it would be that big of a deal." The answer left Sweetie Bell abashed.

"Heh, it's zombies... what did... you expect...?" Twilight was just about to respond when the door came crashing down. Twilight turned and ran for the back exit. Just before she was able to make it out, she heard the filly yell one last scream as she stepped out into the all too familiar wet and windy weather. 'This whole thing is my fault.' she thought to herself as she let a tear mix with the rain. 'I have to make this right.'

And with that, she started to make her way into town through the raging storm towards the only place she could possibly reach at this time. Sugarcube Corner. "Maybe the "infection" hasn't spread that far yet." she said to herself. "I can only hope..."

As Twilight started her way towards the center of town, she noticed a few houses with boards up on the doors and bars on the windows. "Oh no, this can only mean..." Twilight was cut short by a low growl from behind her. She turned, only mere hooves away from one of the infected themselves. The infected pony was of the same puke green Applejack was turning when she had left her, only that this one seemed to have parts of its fleash gone and rib bone sticking from its side. Twilight was frozen in fear as the "infected" pony slowly made its way towards her.

She turned to run but was cut off by another one with similar looks, but with a broken hoof and half a jaw. "Oh Celestia, what have I done!?" Twilight yelled as she was slowly being cornered by the two "infected" ponies. Twilight continued backing up to the side before she was stopped by a wall of brick. 'This is not good.' Twilight thought to herself. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she felt her hooves leave the ground. "What the?" Twilight looked up to see Fluttershy grabbing her from the waist. "FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight yelled. "Am I glad to see you!"

Fluttershy brought twilight up to the top of the building Twilight was cornered at before the wind finally knocked both of the ponies onto the roof with a crash. Twilight picked herself up and went to check on the fragile pegasis that had risked her life to save her. "Oh Fluttershy, you don't know..." Twilight noticed her friends slow and straining breaths. "...no..." Twilight thought as she came up to the pegasis and held her up. Fluttershy let out a cough and looked up at her friend.

"Oh, hey there Twilight... how are you...?" Fluttershy choked out before letting out another cough. Twilight looked at her freind with great worry.

"Fluttershy... how long has everypony been avoiding these... these monsters?" Twilight asked. The kind-hearted pony looked at Twilight with great astonishment.

"You mean... you don't know...? We... have been surviving for... two days now..."

'TWO DAYS!' Twilight thought to herself. 'I was alseep for two whole days!' Fluttershy's breathing started becoming slower. "No, no Fluttershy. You can't do this to me." Fluttershy looked sweetly at the scared unicorn.

"It's O.K. Twilight... it's not your fault..." she said as she held up her wing to she the spot that she had been bitten. Tears was the only thing coming from Twilight's eyes now as she looked at her slowly dying friend. Fluttershy didn't notice the crying on account of the rain. "I... was bitten just a few minutes... before I came across... you... so... I figured... I could help my... friend... one last time..." That was the last straw for Twilight. She bust out right there in front of Fluttershy, now making her feeling obvious. "Oh... don't cry please... there... was nothing you could do..." The words kept wrenching at Twilight's heart. Twilight suddenly felt Fluttershy's body give way as the sudden full weight of her body caused Twilight to drop her to the ground.

"NOOOO!!!" Twilight screamed as the strom continued to rage on. Twilight sat there and started sobbing. "It was all my fault." she told herself. "Every little bit of it is my fault..." Twilight looked up as she heard a odd sound come from the pegasus. Fluttershy's body jerked in several bone-breaking ways and let out a loud screech as it changed to that horrible green. Twilight watched in dread as her most delicate friend slowly turned into one of those wretched monsters.

"So... that's how it's going to be..." Twilight shook herself off as she squared her body just right with the new "infected" pony and reared her legs back. "I'm sorry... Fluttershy." She bucked as hard as she could, making sure to avoid the mouth, and knocked her once fragile and quiet friend off the roof and into the street below. "It's a good thing zombies can't fly..." Twilight said as she looked for a way to get to her original destination. Sugarcube Corner was only a few blocks away. "I think it's about time to tell everypony what has happened. I... just hope that they can forgive me."

Twilight jumped from roof to roof to avoid attracting any attention to herself from below. "I wouldn't want to bring a whole mob right at there doorstep." she whispered to herself. When Sugarcube Corner came into sight through the fog of heavy rain, what she saw nearly ripped her heart out.

Scootaloo quickly dashed to the left, then to the right. The shadows of the figures were everywhere as she ran through the town. The doors were nailed shut and the windows barred at every house. She came up to Sugarcube Corner and banged her hoof against the door. "LET ME IN!" she screamed. "Please let me in!" There was no answer. The rain had not lightened up since it had started two days ago. "Please..." she said as she slowly sulked to the ground. The dark figures were closing in ever so slowly. "Let me in..." There was a scream.

Twilight turned her head as she heard Scootaloo scream. The dark, hazy figures of the "infected" swarmed around the small filly. "So much for that idea." Twilight thought as she started making out where to go next. "I guess my best bet would have to be... Sweet Apple Acres..." Twilight sighed at the thought as she looked at her surroundings. "I guess I better get moving..."

Chapter 4

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 4-

'Her blood ran cold as the growls grew louder from all directions. "Is... anypony there?" Apple Bloom asked. The growls became more menicing as the stench of death filled the air. "Twilight... where are you?" There ws no response. Apple Bloom turned to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. As she turned, she heard a voice in the distance call out to her...

"RUN!" the voice screamed, "RUN!!!" Twilight came crashing through the bushes with a terrified look. "Didn't you hear me Apple Bloom? Run!"

Twilight pondered on what would be the best couse of action given her current situation. She decided that staying and jumping from rooftop to rooftop might prove the most effective. She, of course, didn't want to attract any unwanted attention to herself from below. "I just wish that this storm would just let up." she complaied to herself as the rain pelted her relentlessly. She turned and tried to make out an accurate assumption of the direction Sweet Apple Acres was. It was difficult task with the consideration that she could hardly make out what was more than fifteen hooves in front of her, much less what would be a mile or two away.

Twilight was about to head out with her most logical guess in direction when she heard a faint calling in the distance. "Twilight!" the voice called. Twilight turned her head and commenced to figuring out the source of the voice. This was no easy feat as the rain simply refused to let up and the wind just continued to howl around her. Twilight strained her eyes to see the direction of the call, but to no avail. The loud splashing of the rain hitting buildings and ground were too distracting. She was just about to give up when she saw the figure that had shouted.

Twilight looked to the roof of Sugarcube Corner and saw the faint figure of a pink pony through the haze. "Pinkie!?" Twilight gasped to herself. The pony called out again.

"Twilight! Hey, over here!" the figure jumped in excitement. The rain let up just enough for Twilight to distinctly tell that it was, in fact, Pinkie Pie. Her mane was flat and, from the looks of it, was either the rain that pushed her mane down, or what had happened to poor Scootaloo. 'Probably both' Twilight thought to herself. She percived real hard at Pinkie from across the street as to make absolutely sure it was her and shouted back. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing out here?" The question itself seemed to benumb the party pony, as far as Twilight could tell from this span.

"What do you mean, 'What am I doing out here?' I'm trying to save you, silly." Pinkie Pie answered. "Now why don't you teleport from across the street over here so you can get out of this weather before you catch something." Twilight, as much as she wanted to be, was not thrilled to see her pink, energetic friend.

"Why didn't you help Scootaloo, Pinkie?" Pinkie froze at the question and stopped jumping. Pinkie didn't think she heard her unicorn friend correctly.

"What did you say Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked in a much lower register. Twilight was only barely able to hear what she had said.

"You heard me Pinkie. Why didn't you open the door for Scootaloo before those... those monsters got her?" The wind had a momentary cease as though it had stopped just for Pinkie to answer without being misunderstood, although the rain continued. Pinkie, however, remained voiceless as though she didn't hear the question. Twilight had enough.

The purple unicorn set her focus for the roof of Sugarcube Corner and started to use her magic. She teleported herself right beside Pinkie Pie and became aggresive. Pinkie's head was bowed and she was sobbing, but this didn't stop Twilight from getting right in her face. "ANSWER ME!" Twilight yelled in anger at Pinkie. "Why didn't you save her! She would have at least tried if it was you out there!" The mob of "infected" below were strangely mellow as the storm was calm for another moment before picking back up. Pinkie suddenly burst into tears.

"I was scared, alright!" Pinkie's eyes were fixated right to those of Twilight's and she stared with such a loss of all emotion, except for fear, that Twilight nearly cried by the mere sight. Pinkie seemed to be looking right into Twilight's soul. "Ever since what happened to... to..." Pinkie hung her head again. She looked as though she hasn't slept in days.

"Pinkie... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to-" Pinkie cut her sentence short.

"It's alright. It's just that... ever since what happened to the Cakes I haven't-" This time Twilight cut her off.

"Even the Cakes?" Twilight asked. Pinkie simply sighed. The storm was picking back up.

"Heh, where do I begin? It was yesterday and we were all just about to go to bed when we heard screaming coming from outside. Normally we wouldn't pay this any mind. We had gotten used to it, but... there was a loud banging on the door. It was Lyra. She was being chased by the meanie monsters and was exhausted. So... we let her in before they cught up to her, but we didn't know that she had been bitten." Pinkie gave an conotation to go in. "Come on, I will tell you the rest once inside." The two went to a hatch that led to the store's interior and made a descent down into the attic of Sugarcube Corner.

"I didn't know you had an attic?" Twilight said.

"Neither did I until a few days ago. Come, follow me." Pinkie Pie was leading Twilight down a dark corridor ragarding there wasn't much light to begin with. The pink pony was speaking as they walked. "Lyra turned on us while we were asleep and things... well, didn't turn out very well." Pinkie looked to the side. "Mrs. Cake was the first to be bitten. She didn't go down easy though" Pinkie chuckled as she led on. "She was able to force Lyra out of the shop and lock her out... but she knew what had happened had happened." She stopped as they approached the stairs that would lead them down to the base floor of the building. "Mr. Cake refused to let her be taken by this horrible plague... so he..." Pinkie choked. "He put her out of her misery." She started down the stairs, Twilight close behind and hanging on every word.

"I won't go into detail on the matter but to put a long story short, it didn't stop the "infection" process. In fact, I think it actually made the process faster." Pinkie looked to her friend and gave a signification that she was almost done. "When Mr. Cake turned from... what he had to do... Mrs. Cake instantly became one of those monsters and bit Mr. Cake on the hind hutch. He was so taken by surprize that he actually bucked Mrs. Cake right through the front door, leaving us exposed to the outside." They had reached the main room. "He quickly gathered some boards together and started nailing up another blockade at the front. He... told me not to let anypony in under any circumstances and then... then he left." Twilight could hardly believe what she was hearing. She had put her best friend through so much. A un-nerving thought came to Twilight.

"And... the babies...?" Pinkie winced. "Oh..." Twilight said with understanding in her voice. The action was word enough. Twilight had never felt so bad in her life than she did right then. She whispered to herself, "Oh Celestia, how I wish you were here to tell me what to do..." She looked back at her pink friend who was drying herself off with a towel.

Twilight actually had a moment to observe her surroundings. As she peered through the darkness, she noticed a few very distinct things. Broken glass, blood, even some floorboards were missing. The place was a train wreck. 'I would hate to see this in the light' Twilight thought to herself. Pinkie looked back at her purple friend and tried to fake a smile.

"Home sweet home." she said with sadness in her eyes. "Make yourself comfortable while I go fix you something to eat. You look like you haven't had a morsel in days." Twilight then realized how hungry she really was. Her stomach instantaneously hurt as it growled for food.

"Yea, I actually haven't. What do you have to eat?" the damp purple pony inquired.

"Just make yourself at home, I will be right back." Pinkie then left the room. Twilight searched for a nice, comfy spot to rest her head. She was exhausted and her body was drenched from the rain. She found a nice spot in the corner and started to lie down. Just before she could, however, she noticed something that caught her attention. She walked over to look at what seemed to be a small book of some sort. Pinkie came back into the room with a small bowl in her hoof.

"Hey Pinkie, what's this?" Twilight questioned as she held the book up. Pinkie took a glance before answering.

"Oh, that old thing? It's the Cake's record book. They kept all their business transactions in it." The unicorn flipped through some of the pages.

"Most of the pages are blank though." Twilight said. Pinkie sat the bowl at her friend's side.

"It's fairly new." Pinkie replied. A concept struck Twilight.

"Can I keep it? You know, to use like a journal of some sort." Pinkie looked as though she was thinking real hard about the question before she turned and nodded.

"If you need some charcoal there's some behind the counter." Pinkie informed. Twilight then turned her attention at the bowl.

"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what's in this soup?" she asked.

"Vegetables. It's the last bit of food I have left. I... I figured you should have it." Twilight suddenly felt a warm feeling inside. The feeling of happiness had seemed so distant from the purple unicorn since the incident that she almost couldn't tell what she was feeling. She didn't know how to process this simple yet very kind act that her friend had just performed for her. She suddenly threw her hooves around Pinkie's neck and hugged tightly. This caught Pinkie a little off guard.

"Thank you, Pinkie..." Twilight said with a tear running down her cheek. "Thank you..."

Chapter 6

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 6-

'Rarity looked to the nusre. "How is she? Is she going to be alright?" The nurse glanced back at her.

"It's a good thing you got here here when you did. She is truely lucky to be alive and much more to be untouched by those monsters." Nurse Redheart put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "If you had not found her when you did, she might not would've made it." Rarity turned her head and looked at the bruised and battered unicorn...'

Twilight gasped and bit her tounge as to not scream. She could only watch in horror as her friend was being sought by a sightless "infected" only mere hooves away from her. Twilight didn't know what to do. 'If I use my magic, he might sense the aura and attack. If I move any closer it might hear my movements. Oh Celestia, what do I do?' Twilight was thinking faster than her brain could process. All the things that could go wrong were playing through her mind as she could do nothing but behold Pinkie trying her very best not to move one single muscle. Pinkie was only just short of complete and utter halt of breathing.

She could see the fear in Pinkie's eyes. How Twilight wanted so bad to tell her friend to run, to get away from the horrid creature, but knew that she couldn't. The wrong move could cost her best friend's her life. 'Think Twilight,think!' she kept telling herself. The "infected" was slowly picking up Pinkie's faint scent as it started to edge closer and closer to the fear-frozen party pony. 'Oh no, it's only a matter of time before it finds her.' Twilight was running out of options. The monstrosity was literally at the heel of Pinkie's back hoof. Twilight couldn't stand it anymore. She screamed.

"Run Pinkie Pie, run!" Twilight yelled at the fear stuck pony. The yell itself nearly made Pinkie jump right out of her skin, but she remained unmoved. The zombie instantaneously directed its full attention towards the purple unicorn with a raucous snarl. Twilight recoiled. The fiendish beast took a few paces in her direction as Pinkie remained completely stationary. "Pinkie, RUN!" The vexatious scurge launched itself at the screaming unicorn. Twilight threw a hoof in front of her eyes. A moment passed, but nothing happened. What she saw when she put her hoof down left her shellshocked.

"Pinkie, what are you doing!?" Twilight asked in bewilderment as she watched the pink pony wrestle on the "infected" pony's back.

"Go Twilight! I'll hold 'em back!" Pinkie screamed as she was avoiding the zombie's constant bite attempts. Twilight was the one frozen at this point. "GO! I will catch up, pinkie promise." That was all Twilight required to get her moving. She turned from her friend and dashed back up the flight of stairs. There was a loud screech from behind. Twilight wanted to turn around, to see if what she feared had happened, but couldn't bring herself to. When she reached the top of the cellar, she turned and called for her brave friend. "Come on Pinkie! I'm safe! You can let it go now!"

The ever heart stopping silence of anticipation set over Twilight. There was no answer. "Pinkie!" she screamed into the dark abyss. There was still no response. Twilight bowed her head in sorrow. "Pinkie..." she softly said. Twilight shut her eyes tightly as she let a single tear fall from her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a commotion coming from inside basement. She looked up to see her pink friend darting up the stairs with a most terrified facial expression.

"We have to keep moving!" Pinkie said as she reached the top of the stairs where Twilight was standing. When she did, she slammed the cellar door behind her and locked it from the outside. Twilight was baffled.

"Wait. Pinkie, what happened?" the unicorn asked in astonishment.

"It called for its friends to come help him." Pinkie told Twilight, who was still in utter disbelief. "We have to move before they get here." Pinkie started for the front door.

"Wait, I still don't understand." There was a loud slamming at the door Pinkie was running to. The party pony gave a very timid look to her friend.

"Oh no, this isn't good. Quickly, let's see if there's any around back." Pinkie rushed off to the window they had entered through only to find a mob of at least five trying to climb up from below. "Shoot." Pinkie said under her breath. The front door was giving in and fast. Twilight was finally able to grasp the situation at hand and hastefully started to inspect the surrounding rooms.

"Twilight!" Pinkie called from down a hall waving a hoof in the air. "Over here! There are some stairs!" Twilight reached into her saddle bag and pulled out her frying pan. The door crashed and in flowed a great multitude of "infected" ponies. Twilight raced down the hallway to the origin of Pinkie's call. When she had reached the stairs, her pink friend was already at top bidding her to hurry up. Twilight was basically flying up the stairs she was so scared. nearly missing every stair step she took.

Pinkie was waiting at the top, her own pan in her hoof, when she quickly realized that the only room was Lyra's bedroom. The room was small with only one window and a small closet. It was just big enough to hold a bed, deask, and lamp table along with the two ponies. Twilight managed to make it to Pinkie with only a minute to spare before the zombies would be right behind them again and locked the door behind her. She too quickly realized the predicament that they were in as soon as she reached the bedroom. "Oh great, now what do we do?" It only took Pinkie a second of thought before she formulated an idea.

"Say Twilight, let's just say that you were hidden in a pretty good, well secluded area and didn't move at all. Would the creatures still be able to find you?" Twilight thought real hard for a moment.

"I would guess not, why?" Pinkie looked at her friend and faked a smile.

"Take the bedsheets and wrap yourself up as much as you can. Then, hide in the closet until you absolutely know they're all gone." Twilight peered at Pinkie with a perplexed look.

"Wait a minute, what about you?" Twilight asked with great concern for her friend. Pinkie Pie set her hoof to Twilight's shoulder.

"I'll be fine, pinkie promise." The pink party pony then proceeded to take the sheets off Lyra's bed. The magic unicorn shook her head in disapproval.

"I can't let you do this." she pleaded with Pinkie as she grabbed Pinkie by her shoulder. The pink pony turned to Twilight and smiled.

"I know you can't silly. I didn't expect you to."

"Huh?" Twilight said with even greater confusion. Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door. The unicorn turned her head towards the door.

BANG

Twilight's eyes grew wide. She felt a very sharp pain in the back of her head. She fell to her knees as sheets of a bed wrapped around her. Twilight heard the door slowly breaking under the constant bangs. She tried to speak, but quickly lost all feeling. She blacked out.

Pinkie quickly cloaked the purple unicorn with the sheets and carefully stuck her unconscience body in the closet. It pained her to do what she did, but she knew it was for the best. "I hope the hit from the pan didn't hurt her too much" Pinkie said to heslef. A hoof broke through the door. Pinkie turned to the window and grinned. "I know how to handle myself Twilight. Don't worry, I pinkie promised that I would be fine... and I plan not to break that promise." The door gave way...

Chapter 7

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 7-

'She was enraged. "So it was all your fault, wasn't it?!"

Twilight flinched. "Y... yes..."

A deathly stillness filled the air of Lyra's house as Twilight regained her consciouness. "Owww..." She said rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. When her eyes opened, she only saw nothing but darkness. This sent Twilight into a panic as she quickly remembered the previous events that had taken place. "Pinkie!" she screamed, tossing her hooves like a frantic maniac. After knocking and banging around in what felt like a small encasement, she finally came crashing thorugh the closet door. The distraught pony swiftfully battled her way through the tightly weaved bedsheets that overlayed her. She leaped in anxiety, briefly surveying the bedroom with horrible apprehension. The room was unchanged with the exception of a puddle cosisting of red liquid mixed in with the downpour coming from the shattered window. A feeling compelled her to move closer to the broken pane, a feeling of hope and optimism.

"Oh Pinkie... Please be alright." she murmured to herself while the observing the smashed opening. The sight of the crimson essence and the thoughts that followed sent a bone chilling shiver down her spine.

After satisfying her need to investigate the scene and contiplating an idea of what had happened, she made her way down the stairs back down into the hallyway of the building. The eery silence still lingered about in the atmosphere of the dissipated home. Twilight slowly crept through the seemingly long corridor as every step now seemed to amplify while she moved. Louder and louder the steps grew as she continually edged towards the end of the passageway.

CRASH

Twilight's hoof tore through one of the water rotted wooden planks in the floorboad. This nearly caused Twilight have have a heart attack as she impusively drew her leg back. "Oh Celestia that scared me." she shakefully muttered to herself while she held a hoof to where her heart should be.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

"O.K." she sighed to herself putting her hoof down. Twilight caught her breath a bit before she decided to take another step. The plank that was now under her hoof made a loud creeking noise, but supported her weight. "O.K. Twilight, you can do this." she softly whispered to encourage herself. "Just take it one... step... at... a... time..."

BOOM

A part of the roof behind her collasped, causing her to let out an intense shriek. She whisped herself around. The rain had bore through the shilings and weakened the upper floors. "This house is literally flaaing apart around me." The on edged pony cautiously backed away from the pile of dibris after once again having the daylights scared out of her and lightly pressed onward into the room at the end of the hall. The kitchen. She slowly lingered into the rooms interior. Noticable water damage could be seen on the ceiling above her as she entered the room. Twilight gazed at the half-opened fridge and percieved the barren insides, stripped of the slightest morsel of substanence. The sheer sight made the unicorn's stomach give a low rumble. "That's exactly how I fell." Twilight softly moaned a ill, disgruntled snarl whilst clasping her gut with her front hoof.

After thinking about how wonderful it would be to have some food and making herself all the more hungry, she fianlly decided that it was about time for her to start making her way towards the front door. "I probably should get out of here before the whole house falls in on top of me." she explained to herself as to find a reason to leave. As she walked back through the halls to find the living room, she started taking notice of the pictures hanging from the walls. All the happy faces of Lyra's friends and the framed photos of her family in Canterlot. "I'll never understand why she moved here." she said to herself. Twilight even found herself saw "Awww..." to a small picture of Lyra as a filly stuck in the corner of the family portrait in the center of the hall.

Over the course of what seemed like forever, Twilight was able to locate the living room of the hazardous abode. She looked around, only now realizing the extent of damage done to the home. To her left was the window that her and Pinkie had climbed through and to her left was the totally destroyed funiture that laid soaked and ripped in all sorts of ways. In front was a table that had been knocked over in what appeared to be the area of a struggle of some sort.

A sense of shame fell over Twilight as she looked at the horrible scene before her. "This is all my fault." she serenefully scowled to herself. The feeling was old and not one that if she wasn't accustomed to anytime before, she was now. The unicorn just shook the emotion off. "I have to keep focused. Not all is lost Twilight, you know that. All you have to do is wait for Zecora to return and she will fix everything." She dusted off the the pain and headed for where the front door would be if it had not been destroyed by the "infected". Just before she left however, Twilight peeked back at the room. She tightened her fist. "Don't worry everypony. I'm going to fix this." she said, looking over her shoulder. "I promise..."

She walked outside, the rain once again pelting her with unforgiving consistancy. Twilight felt alone for nopony could comprehend what she was going through. "Oh Applejack, if only I hadn't have made you help me..." She said with a glimmer in her eye. 'Now is not the time to cry, Twilight.' she thought. 'Now is the time to take action!' Feeling around in her saddle bag, she found that she still had her frying pan. "I guess Pinkie thought that I would still need it." She chuckled. "Oh Pinkie..." The rain felt a bit lighter than normal. "Heh, it's a wonder I haven't gotten sick yet." she joked.

The winds had seemed to pass which posed a serious problem for the town entirely. Without the winds current to constantly blow the rain away, there would eventually be a flood of backed up water. Twilight obseved the streets that were covered with half an inch of the clear liquid and took this into serious consideration. "I need to get to higher gro-" She froze. She felt a warm breath run down the back of her neck.

Twilight's muscles stiffened as she tried to process what was happening. 'Was I so caught up with the weather that I simply didn't notice him coming up?' The breathing turned into a low growl. Twilight's eyes were streached to their limit.

'RUN!' was the only thought that came to mind. 'Run you fool before you're bitten!' Her mind was screaming at her, but her body wouldn't move. The growls became louder. 'What are you waiting for!? RUN!'

Twilight took off. While she was in the heat of pursuit, she was splashing water everywhere causing every other zombie within a small radius to take notice. Soon she was being trailed by a whole group of the revolting monsters behind her. "This isn't good." she told herself as she ran. Her stamina was giving in. "I don't have the energy to teleport to safety." Twilight stopped for a moment and face-hoofed. "Duh, why didn't I do that BEFORE!" The crowd was gaining on her. Twilight ran even faster than before, but was almost give out.

SLIP

Twilight had done the same thing Pinkie did and slipped in the water. She came tumbling down and rolled a good few hooves, just on the edge of one of Ponyville's few dangerous cliffs within the city. Twilight immediately tried to get back up. "GHAAA!!!" she screamed and she fell back down, holding her left hoof. The bone was broken. It didn't take long for the "infected" to quickly catch up with the now incompacitated Twilight and rapidly started to circle her. Twilight looked at the mob around her and the cliff behind. She crawled to the cliffs edge with her good hoof as the zombies were only mere hooves away. She peered down the small cliffside to the seemingly unforgiving ground below. "If only there was... another way..." she thought as she pushed, sending herself over the edge and down the cliffs side...

Chapter 8

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 8-

'There was a large amount of commotion as she stood up on the soap box with her three good legs. "Alright everypony, listen up." The room fell silent. "What do you all think that we shou-" she was interupted by Derpy, who flew to her side and whispered something in her ear. Twilight bit her lip...'

It all seemed to be a blur to her. "Twilight!" was all she could hear through the thundering rain as she laied there, broken. The voice was a familiar one as it became more destinguishable while it drew closer. It was difficult for her to see through the mud and muck that blocked her vision. She blinked, hoping to clear her vision to see who had come to help her. Her body was in pain, great pain for she could barely breath from the devistating impact that she had endured. With vision fading, the last thing she remembered before she passed out was the hazy white blurb of a pony calling her name as the sky rolled thunder for the first time since the storm. Everything went black.

Twilight opened her eyes only to behold more darkness. Fear came across as she stood up and glanced about her, looking in every direction. Nothing. There was nothing. Complete and utter emptiness. "Wh... where am I? she said as though expecting an answer. "A... am I... dead?" A grim tone came from behind.

"Nooo..." the voice hoarsely answered with a lengthy draw. "Death... is far too good for you... my dear..." Twilight whisped around to see the shadowed figure of a shady cloaked pony carrying a sinister scythe at his backside. The dark figure had an evil aura about him as the sight made Twilight freeze in absolute terror.

"Tell me... do you know... who I am..." the vauge form asked with a low chuckle. Twilight remained un-nerved and held her tounge. She simply shook her head. "Well my dear... I go by many names... I am known by the harvester of souls... the master of the dead... king of the-" Twilight interrupted.

"King of the graves." she grimly stated with a hint of horror in her voice. The shadowed pony snikered.

"My dear... you may call me... Death..." Twilight's heart skipped a beat. Twilight knew who this pony was from the beginning. Death drew his scythe from his back, putting it upon his shoulder. "That was quite a risky move... jumping from that cliff..." He pulled his curved blade and started swinging it about him like a batton. "Tell me Twilight... do you believe... that you deserve to live..."

Twilight couldn't tell if he was serious or if the question was a rhetorical one. She thought it best not to take any chances. "Y... yes, why?" Death set his scythe to the side.

"Yes? You know Twilight... my hands have been quite full lately..." he said with grimace. "Do you know... how bad it looks on my part... when the "dead" are living... and walking about... taking my job..." Twilight gulped. "Not very good my dear..." Death waved his hoof over at Twilight. "Come... let me show you something..." It took every ounce of courage that twilight could muster, but she did as she was told and beckoned to Death's side. He took his scythe in his hoof and slashed to his side, only just missing Twilight's body and sending her into a panic. "Calm down my dear... if I was going to take you... I would have done so earlier..." A rift formed in the area that his blade had slashed. Twilight looked at him with frightened eyes. "Go on... take a look inside..." She peered into the rift.

She gasped. "But... that's-" Death cut her off.

"Yes... it is your friend... Fluttershy..." Twiilght continued to peer into the rift and beheld her fragile friends life right before her own eyes. She watched the delicate mare grow as a filly, watched her discover her purpose in life, watched her take care of her animals and love her friends with her every being. Twilight almost couldn't bear the sight. Death spoke up.

"Fluttershy was a kind and gentle pony... loved anything that ever drew a breath... never hurt a living thing... truely the essence of the perfect pony... did she deserve death..." A sharp, cold pain fell upon the unicorn's heart.

"N...no..." she said with heavy gloom, hanging her head down. Death waved his scythe once more.

"Look back... into the rift... my dear..." Twilight didn't want to, her heart wrenching at the thought of what she could see next, but she did with curiosity getting the best of her. It was the memories of Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell. "It always pains me... to see youth... cut down in its prime... so full of life... so innocent... did they deserve death..." Twilight gritted her teeth and tightly closed her eyes. Her body tensed. Death once more drew his scythe and waved it around the rift. Twilight turned her head for she could bear the pain no more. Death didn't mind.

"Honesty... is alway the best policy... if you ask me..." The unicorns muscles solidified. Death was mocking her as only one pony could have came to mind. That was the last straw. Twilight broke down, in front of Death himself, and bawled, bawled like a filly when it was first born. Death took no pitty on her as he edged closer to the broken unicorn. "Twilight... don't fret... your time has not come... yet... you still have work to do..." Twilight dried her tears away.

"Wh... what do you mean?" she asked with a sniffle. Death only laughed as the shadows enveloped him and he disappeared right before her, vanished into thin air. Twilight was left clueless. She had been just within Death's clutches, yet he didn't take her. She kind of wished he had, now that she thought about it. She was left all alone with nothing but her thoughts to keep her down. "I'm a horrible pony..." she told herself. "I... I don't deserve to live..." She laid her head into her hooves and drifted to sleep with tears in her eyes.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Twilight could only open her eyes just enough to see the two ponies beside her. She couldn't move and her whole body felt like lead. She tried to speak, but no words came out. She listened to the rythmic beating of a heart monitor and absorbed the two ponies conversation.

Rarity looked to the nusre. "How is she? Is she going to be alright?" The nurse glanced back at her.

"It's a good thing you got here here when you did. She is truely lucky to be alive and much more to be untouched by those monsters." Nurse Redheart put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "If you had not found her when you did, she might not would've made it." Rarity turned her head and looked at the bruised and battered unicorn.

"So, you're saying that she will be alright, right?" The nurse looked back at Twilight.

"Like I said, she's lucky to be alive. She does, however, have a broken hoof and a fractured rib, it will be hard for he to walk when she does wake up. We are lucky ourselves to even have power, thank Celestia for those generators." She looked back into Rarity's eyes. "I'm sorry. Go. Get some rest. I'm sure you must be exhausted from carrying her here." Rarity looked once more to her shattered friend. She went over to Twilight and held her hoof.

"Twilight, I don't know if you can hear me but, I want to say that... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you tried to warn me and..." Rarity choked up. "Well, when you tried to warn us. I hope you can forgive me." Twilight wanted to cry, but the tears pained her throbbing head as it ached. 'I should be the one asking for forgivness...' Twilight thought as Rarity released her grasp on Twilight's hoof and headed for the door.

Twilight couldn't stand it. Her friend knew exactly what had happened and she still asked HER for forgivness. There were no words to describe the voidness Twilight felt, how horrible that she thought she was. She blamed herself and herself only. To have one of her closest friends to still know and still ask nearly made her heart shatter. The nurse noticed Twilight came over to her side.

"There, there Twilight. You're going to be fine." Twilight didn't realize that the tears had slipped through her lids. She didn't care anymore. It was the only thing that she could do to help cope with her body's pain for now. "Hey, cheer up. You'll be out of that bed in no time. Why, I'll even bet you'll be walking by tomorrow morning." Twilight managed a sigh before she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep, waiting on the next day to slowly come by...

Chapter 9

Just an old Ponytale...
Chapter 9-

"What are you waiting for? Keep throwing!" Twilight yelled.

"We can't!" her pink friend stated. "We're out of ammo!" Twilight looked among the ponies that had bravely fought aside her.

"Fall back to the barn..."

"So, you're saying that she is the cause for all of this?" Twilight opened her eyes, her body having almost fully recovered from her daring and risky attempt. She listened intently as she heard the same two ponies from yesterday argue. "Why the hay are we taking care of her then? If it were up to me, I would throw her out to those monstrosities!" Rarity looked at the nurse with an angry scowl.

"Now you listen here you brute, she's my friend and I will not tolerate you talking about her in such a manner. She's also the only one who may know a cure for this whole thing and you want to just throw her out!" The nurse just glared at Rarity.

"So what do you suppose we do, we have other more deserving patients that actually need a bed. I suppose you want me to just sit here and wait for her to wake up?" Rarity glanced at her friend.

"You wouldn't have to wait long." she said, pointing to where a disheartened Twilight laid in sorrow. Rarity took notice of this and walked over to her friends side, grabbing her hoof as she looked into her eyes with care. The nurse simply grunted. Rarity was the first to speak. "Twilight..." she softly said as a mother would to help calm a filly. "How much did you hear?" Twilight turned her head.

"Enough..." she said with hoaresness in her voice. Rarity put a hoof to Twilight's head and turned it around so she would be facing back into her eyes.

"Twilight, you're my friend. As such, I want you to know that I am always here for you whenever you need me. If there's anything you need to talk about, ANYTHING, please don't hesitate to come find me." Rarity was about to release her grip when Twilight suddenly tightened hers, clearing her throat.

"Rarity..." she started, her voice now luminous and normal. "About you sister..." Rarity abruptly jumped with excitement.

"Oh sweet Celestia, you found her!" She said as she landed from her jump. "Tell me Twilight, is she alright? Where can I find her?" Rarity's high hopes only dimished Twilight's, causing her a great weight to fall upon her chest.

"Well... you see Rarity... I..." She paused, the words lost in her throat. How she wished that she hadn't have started. A moment passed where she was completely silent. 'I can't just say she's one of those horrible creatures.' she thought to herself. 'It would tear her up inside.' Twilight turned her head to Nurse Redheart, who was also listening with anticipation of what she was going to say. "I..." She just couldn't find the words. Rarity's facial expression drastically changed from one of wonderful optimism to one of concern and confusion.

"Twilight... where's Sweetie Bell..." Rarity asked, looking deep into Twilight's eyes as though to try and read the answer from them. Twilight almost couldn't breath.

'What do I do? I can't tell her that that I just let her sister be taken by those... those monsters without even trying to help. Maybe she will understand that it was too late anyway, the she was bitten before I could do anything. I can't lie. That would just hurt us both. Oh Celestia, what do I do?' All this thinking was making Twilight get a headache as she also had serveral hundred more thoughts running through her mind a second.

"Twilight..." Rarity said once more, this time with a worried tone. Twilight's eyes burned, burned with the intensity of staring at the sun. Her throat dried like the barren desert. She coughed and choked before she was able to speak again.

"Rarity..." she said, her friend now staring into the very pit of her soul. "Sweetie Bell... she didn't... didn't..." Twilight couldn't do it, couldn't bring herself to say it, but it was word enough. Rarity's lower lip quivered and her front hooves began to shake.

"So... my sister... is..." Twilight's shoulder flinched as she bowed her head in sorrow.

"I'm... sorry..." It was too much for the now single sibling. She jerked her head away to the side and dashed out of the room, leaving a small trail of tears behind. Twilight felt a tiny bit of relief accompanied by a whole wave of greif. The nurse looked at her with a scornful scowl.

"You could have just not told her, you know." Nurse Redheart said. "She's been searching for her sister day in and day out, risking her life to those monsters that you created in hopes of finding her. You're lucky to have friends like her. She brought you in while she was out on one of her searches." Twilight started to climb out of the bed. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to Rarity." she responded. "I thought you wanted me out of this bed anyway."

"Yes, but..." Twilight ignored her.

"Where would I most likely find her? Would you know?" Twilight asked as she set her three good hooves on the ground, taking care not to apply much pressure to the forth.

"Your best bet would be the roof. She goes up there when she usually returns from one of her searches." Nurse redheart replied.

"Thank you." Twilight said as she slowly hobbled out the door. "By the way, you can send me the bill." she said, closing the door behind her.

Twilihgt stepped out into the hallway. There was the all terrible feeling of guilt, waiting right out the door for its favourite victim. She looked down the corridor, noticing the faint, flickering lights that were running of a weakening generator. She started down the long streach towords the winding stairs that awaited her slow, paceful appraoch. She peeked into a few rooms on her way, observing all the sick mares and stallions that were completely life dependant on the slowly dying power. "I've never seen the hospital in such condition." she said to herself as she was walking. A nearby janitor that was mopping had heard her.

"It's this accursed "infection". Ever since that awful day, about five days ago, we've had our hooves filled to the limit with sick and injured. Most of them are already turned by the time we get them here. We've lost too many good nurses and doctors that way. Even Doctor Hooves." The pony continued to swab the floor with his mop. Twilight was still curious.

"And the people who aren't infected?" she asked. The janitor stopped.

"Most... most don't survive their injuries. Hay, we had one pony with half a hoof come in a day or two ago and we couldn't find a empty room for him. He... didn't make it through the hour. They... they wasn't even able to find a room for my daughter..." Twilight looked at him with compasion and sympathy.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." The janitor gave a smug grin.

"Don't be, it's not like it was your fault." Twilight bit her lip as the janitor picked up his mop and continued down the hall. Climbing the stairs proved to be quite a difficult task with only three hooves. As Twilight transversed the spiral stairwell, her thoughts of what to say to Rarity raced through her mind. She had accended only one level and found herself peering into a dark, empty hallway with no light at all.

"I guess the generator could only power the bottom half." Twilight guessed as she used her horn to emminate a light to guide her steps as she continued up the stairs. She accended a few more levels before she came to the emergency exit that led to the roof atop of the building. Twilight put a hoof to the door, breathed in slowly, and gently pushed to see Rarity sitting on the roofs edge with head in hooves, sobbing. Twilight came close to the depressed unicorn and sat beside her, putting hoof on shoulder to indicate that she was there for her. Rarity looked up, tears mixed with rain as Twilight drew another long breath before thinking of the right words to say.

"Rarity..." she began. Rarity threw her hooves around Twilight's neck and sobbed even harder into her friends shoulders.

"Oh Twilight..." she choked. "What am I going to do..." Twilight's mind was blank.

"I... don't know Rarity... I don't know..."

Chapter 10

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 10-

'Apple Bloom looked at Twilight with her big puppy eyes. "You can save everypony that has been bitten, can't you Twilight?"

Twilight grabbed the journal from her saddle bag. Amazingly, the book had not one drop of water touch it even though her bag was completely soaked through. As much as this perplexed the lavender unicorn, she paid it no mind. The constant exposure to the weather had finally taken its toll on the pony as she sneezed a few times, indicating that she had come down with something. She opened the book, searching for the charcoal as she did so, when she noticed something rather odd. There were a few pages written on with a strange, familiar style of writing on them. She closely studied the writting as she read.

'Dear Twilight,

Hey! It's your good friend Pinkie Pie here. Yea, there's a few zombies trying to get in here, but that's no excuse to at least leave a written apology. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about knocking you upside the head with the frying pan. I knew you weren't going to let me do what I was about to so I had to take action. I hope that you can forgive me. Looks like those meanies outside are about to break in. Don't worry Twilight, I'm positive that they won't be able to find you. Being an expert at wrapping presents has always proven a useful talent. :) One last thing before I leave though. I hope you know that I have never broken a pinkie promise and never plan to. We will meet again. Well, looks like I have to go now. Bye!

Your friend, Pinkie Pie- Journal Entry #2'

A heavy weight seemed to lift from upon Twilight's shoulders. She had always knew that Pinkie was resourceful and could handle herself, but never had it felt so great to get a letter from somepony. Even the letter about the Grand Galloping Gala couldn't compare to how she was feeling now. She marked the entry as her second and set the book to her side, reeling thoughts of where Pinkie could be or what she could be doing at this moment. Rarity entered the dim lobby and sat beside her wondering friend with a grim look on her face. She had been crying from the earlier news about her sister for about an hour now, giving an occasional heave to catch her breath from her sobs of grief. She managed to look at her lavender friend with a sigh before speaking.

"The generators are about to give out any minute now." she started. "We expect the power to die within the hour at most." Twilight glanced at Rarity, who was only looking at the ground with sorrow.

"How many casualties are expected?" Twilight asked. Rarity only took another deep breath before answering.

"Over half the hospital as soon as soon as it happens." She was still a bit choked up from earlier. Twilight noticed, and put a hoof on her friends shoulder.

"It's going to be alright Rarity, we'll find a way through this." Rarity looked at Twilight with a fake smile. It wasn't very convincing.

"I know we will, but I still can't help but feel bad for the ponies that won't make it. I wish we could do something for them." Suddenly, an idea struck her as she gained a boost of energy from nowhere. "Hey! Maybe we can." there was a slight bit of optimism in Rarity's voice, and Twilight wasn't to thrilled to hear it.

Twilight didn't want to ask, but technically didn't have a choice. "What do you mean?"

"Can't you see? All we have to do is go down to the generator and you can use your magic to help support its electric supply." Twilight wasn't to fond of the idea about going outside into the rain anymore considering she noticed her body's health wasn't exactly at peak performance. She was coming down with something as it was, and the possibility of being surrounded by those creatures again didn't exactly appease her intrest in the idea either.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea." Twilight said.

"Why in Equestria not? Sure, we could run into a mob of those horrible monsters, but we wouldn't be no further than a two minute sprint from the hospital doors." Twilight sensed that she probably wasn't going to win this argument, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"But what if something were to happen to either of us. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for leaving you behind or letting everypony down, or both."

"Twilight my darling, you need not fret over such things. We will be fine." Twilight was rather taken aback by Rarity's sudden need to do such a dangerous and couragous act.

"Why are you doing this? You know better than anypony else that anything could happen out there." Rarity jerked to the side. Twilight felt that she had accidentally struck a nerve. "I'm sorry Rarity, I didn't mean to-" She was cut off.

"No, it's alright. I just... felt like I needed to do something. I wasn't able to save Sweetie Bell, I didn't have the chance. But I can help these ponies Twilight. I have a chance to help those that still have a chance, that truly need it. I just..." She stopped, her sobbing starting back up. "Forgive me, I just feel so useless sitting here and not doing something to help." Twilight couldn't help but feel bad now.

"Listen Rarity, if it means that much to you..." Twilight couldn't believe what she was about to agree to. "I'll go." Rarity perked up.

"Really? You mean it?" Twilight nodded. Rarity threw her hooves around Twilight's neck for the second time today. "Oh thank you! I wouldn't be able to do it without your assistance." Twilight returned the embrace for only a short time before pulling Rarity from her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"You do know the risk that we will be taking, right? We could be bitten if we leave and thus endangering all of Equestria's hope for a cure."

"I won't let those monsters get you Twilight. I promise."

"I'm not worried about me Rarity, I'm worried about you. I don't think I can handle losing another friend." Rarity peered back into Twilight's eyes with compassion for her friend.

"Twilight, you've got to put the past behind you. You can't change what has already happened." Twilight wanted so bad to say 'You don't understand.' but knew that Rarity was probably be the ONLY pony that she could relate to at this point.

"So... when do we leave out?" Twilight asked with uncertainty. Rarity looked up at the cieling for a moment before answering.

"I'll go pack us a few supplies then we can leave. We do want to get there before the generator dies, but we still better go prepared."

"I will be here Rarity, waiting for you to return." Rarity let go of Twilight and ran off to pack the supplies. Twilight grabbed her journal from her bag and ripped a piece of paper out, scribbling furiously. After she finished writing moments later, she placed the paper where she was just sitting and stepped out of the hospitals two front glass doors. The rain became a second nature to Twilight. In fact, she felt awkward when she was dry now. She turned to the buildings front doors and bowed her head. Her horn glowed as she cast a spell, and turned to head for the generator.

Rarity returned, carrying two saddle bags on her back. "Sorry I took so long, I figured we would need some snacks in case-" She gasped as she looked to where Twilight should be, but she was gone. Rarity took notice of the paper where she was sitting, and opened it up, reading the messy message inside. It said the following:

'Rarity. I know you want to try and help fix things, I understand. But trust me when I say that this is too dangerous and I don't want you, possibly the only friend I have left, to get hurt. That's why I have left to go and power the generator by myself and cast a binding spell on the front doors to keep you from following. This is all my fault anyway, not yours. If anypony should feel guilty and should help out, it should be me and me alone.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.'

Rarity's jaw dropped as she stared at the paper, her mind now blank from shear astonishment. She ran to the door and pulled with all her might, but it was no use. What Twilight had written was true. The doors were bound together with a powerful sealing spell that only Twilight would be able to dispell. Rarity looked out the glass doors to the city she could once call home, and placed her hoof on the door. She lowered her head, and cried for her crazy friend who had certainly sent herself to her grave...

Chapter 11

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 11-

"Why can't you just accept the fact the you CAN'T do anything about it!?" she screamed at Twilight.

"The generator is just around this building." Twilight said as she rounded the corner. She stopped, frozen in either fear or shock, by the sight of the numbers around the generator. She almost tripped as she scrambled back behind the building, holding her chest as she breathed heavy breaths. "Oh dear Celestia, that was a close one." she whispered under her breath. As she was still recovering from the fright, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Twilight about went into a complete frantic as she almost jumped from her skin, and let out a small shriek of terror. "Oh silly, it's only me." She turned, in complete dismay, when she saw the giggling face of her pink party friend, Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie?!" Twilight gasped in both joy and confusion of seeing her happy-go-lucky friend standing there, laughing at the episode just had. Twilight's brain couldn't concept what she was seeing. There stood her friend, the very one who had knocked her out with a frying pan, who was laughing at her like she had no care in the world about the zombies that lurked just around the corner. She had known that she would be alright, but to actually witness it was something else. "Is... it really you?" she asked as to make sure that her mind was not plaing tricks on her. Pinkie had a slightly perplexed look across her face.

"Why of course it is, you silly filly. Who else would I be? Oh, I know, I could be Rarity!" Pinkie proceeded to act out her overly-dramatic friend, mocking her voice and playing her role of the "woe is me" that she performed on a constant basis. If it was on better circumstances, Twilight would have laughed and giggled, maybe even played along, but there was no time.

"Pinkie!" she said in a soft whisper, refraining from a chuckle as Pinkie held a hoof on her forhead and said Rarity's famous 'Worst thing ever!' bit. "What are you doing here?" The party pony seemed confused.

"Pinkie? Pinkie's not here. I'm Rarity." she mocked, keeping in character. Twilight was getting rather agrivated now.

"PINKIE!" the party pony set her hoof back to the ground and gave a slightly concerned look to Twilight.

"Aw, what's wrong Twilight?" the lavender unicorn was still shocked to see her friend, even more to see her so happy, but the question struck her with so much astonishment that she was lost in thought, more so in words.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG!? What do you mean 'what's wrong'? Pinkie, have you forgotten where we are and what's going on? We are in the middle of a zombie infested city and you're just as happy as can be, treating the situation with absolutely no regard, and you're asking me 'what's wrong'?" Twilight wasn't angry. She was more along the lines of so distraught that she has to point out the obvious just to make sure that what was happening was actually happening. Pinkie gave a huge simle and laughed at Twilight's dumbstruck face.

"Oh, oh my! You- you should see your face!" she laughed, rolling on the ground in front of her even more confused friend. Pinkie sat up after a minute or two of continuous laughing and brushed herself off. "Oh Twilight, you're such a card. Don't worry silly, you know about my pinkie senses, right? Well, strangest thing. I know that I have a sense for everything, except for things that have never happened to me before. Well, after being out here for five days, my body has developed a whole new sense if zombies are coming." Pinkie held up a hoof. "Allow me to demonstrate." She held the hoof to her mouth and began to whistle loudly. Twilight's eyes shot wide and as tackled her friend to the ground.

"PINKIE! What are you doing!?"

"Whistling silly. How else am I going to attract the meanies?"

"WE DON'T WANT TO ATTRACT THEM!" Twilight shouted into Pinkie's face. Pinkie started to tear up.

"Twilight... why are you treating me like this?" Twilight stared at Pinkie, her mind now wiped of all rationalism by how Pinkie was so... Pinkie.

"This- you- I-" Twilight couldn't think of the words to say. She got up from Pinkie and set a hoof to the side of her head, as to think of what was going on. She calmed herself, composing her thoughts. "Pinkie... just tell me why you're here. That's all I want to know now."

"Oh, is that all? I was just wandering through the streets when I saw you and decided that I would see you before those meanie monsters got either of us before we had another chance to meet." Twilight could comprehend this.

'I mean, it's Pinkie.' Twilight thought to herself. 'Why would I expect anything less?' She turned around and placed her body against the buildings edge, looking back down the the path she had almost blatenly ran down without checking. Pinkie was right behind her, looking right across her shoulders.

"What are we doing here Twilight?" the still ecstatic Pinkie Pie asked, nudging Twilight's side. "Are we going to that big metal thing that all those meanies are gnawing at?" Twilight almost wanted to laugh at the fact that they were, and that they were getting shocked as a result.

"No. WE are not going. You're going to stay here and keep look out for Rarity. If I know her, she'll probably try to climb down from the roof to get here." Pinkie glanced at Twilight.

"Rarity will do what now?" Twilight quickly realized what she had said.

"Nothing. Just keep a look out for anypony or "infected" that may try to sneak up on us." Twilight then looked to the roof of a structure across the street and focused her magic to teleport.

FLASH

Twilight looked below to see Pinkie Pie keeping guard just like a soldier protecting a escorted VIP, pacing back and forth with the most concentrated facial expression she could pull. "Oh Pinkie..." Twilight said. She turned to look at the generator and all the zombies who were attracted to it by its soft, luminescent glow, quickly but carefully planning her course of action, when she saw Pinkie giving off some strnge body motion from the corner of her eye. She turned and saw her friends legs and left eye twitching while her tail poofed in the rain while her mane remained flat. After convulsing for a few moments, Pinkie looked at Twilight and waved a hoof to signal that THAT was her sense.

Twilight didn't know what to tell or signal back. She looked inside the building Pinkie was beside through a window and saw an "infected" scapping at the other side of wall her friend was beside. Twilight threw her hooves in the air and tried to signal her friend to move, to get away. Pinkie peered through the rain and tried to make out what she was trying to tell her. She stepped from behind the corner, exposing herself to the mob at the generator only thirty hooves away. Twilight screamed through the rain. "Pinkie! Look out!" Her friend was late to respond though as the zombie broke through the wall just behind her friend.

Pinkie turned and saw the monster. She jumped maybe ten hooves in the air and took off in the direction of the generator without looking. She ran only a second before she realized what she had done. The mob stopped biteing the generator and turned their attention to the pink party mare that stood there in fear. Twilight had twenty thoughts running in her mind at the same time, causing a great headache from all the thinking she has been doing regardless.

"PINKIE! RUN!" Twilight yelled. Her friend took the hint and dashed back, careful to dodge the zombie that was right behind her. She yelled back to Twilight as she disappeared into the distance.

"I'll distract them Twilight! Go do what you need to do! We shall meet once more! Pinkie promise!" She vanished into the haze of rain as the group followed close behind.

Twilight seemed comforted by her words. "I know we will Pinkie." she said with a soft tone. "I know we will..."

Chapter 12

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 12-

"Is she going to make it?" Twilight asked, looking at her bed bound friend. Big Mac glanced at her, and shook his head.'

Traversing back down to the generator proved easy since Pinkie had distracted the hoard of "infected" that had once swarmed the area. After checking her surroundings to make sure there were no lingering zombie ponies that may have been left behind, she focused all her attention and energy in casting a shock spell to kickstart the generator once more. She strained as her energy reserves were slowly being spent on the casting of the spell, leaving her in complete exposure.

Suddenly, a hoof sprung from the ground under her, causing her to almost lose control of the spell. "Oh no! My calculations must have been wrong. The shift must be happening now!" The hoof quickly became two as the undead monster slowly raised from its grave. "Almost... got it..." Twilight muttered, trying to finish the spell before she was bitten. The creature was only a mere hoof away when Twilight finished. There was a flash of light as the current of electricity rocoiled back on the lavender mare, flinging her a great deal of distance.

She landed on her back with a loud thud, suddenly surrounded by a rough circle of raising dead still half buried. All her energy had been spent on casting the spell, in hopes of saving the infirmed from an untimely demise, and had caused her fatigue of a large magnitude. Her vision was blurry as the rain continued to drench her coat and the "infected" gathered around, staining the air with the stench of death. "It was worth it..." she said with a low whisper. "At least I could help... before they eventually... got me..."

"Twilight!" a voice called through the drizzle. She perked, but only a bit, looking in the direction of the call. She knew who it was, but she had wished she didn't. It was Rarity, galloping trough a small hole in the growing circle and then, holding her purple friends head in her hooves. "Twilight, my dear, We have to go! These monsters are popping out everywhere left and right!" Twilight looked at her friend with a exhausted sigh.

"Rarity... I'm too tired... go on without me... I powered the generator..." A sharp pain hit Twilight as Rarity's hoof struck her cheek, sending a dose of adrinaline through her bloodstream, and knocking some sense into her. She rose quickly, turning head in all direction to see only a closing group of "infected" ponies encasing hopes of escape, and her terrified friend, only just realizing the predicament she had just gotten herself into.

"Quickly, grab hold of me!" Twilight yelled to Rarity, who hastefully wrapped her hooves around her friends midsection, clinging for life and nearly choking her. She focused her thoughts on her library, lowering her horn and with a flash, teleporting both her and Rarity to her once wonderful home just before the group lunged at them.

Water soaked books shot in all directions as the two mares flashed into the room, shining a blinding light into the lifeless eyes of another small group of wretched "infected". Twilight's legs wabbled as she stood with her tightly clung friend, looking into the eyes of a mutilated puke green pony, which was strangely wearing a dirt brown cowboy hat. Rarity gasped as she also gazed into what was once her best friend's eyes, nearly drawing a tear from her eye.

"A... Applejack?" Rarity whispered. The "infected" mare gnarled its teeth as it realized what was in front of her. Food. It lashed, throwing its body into the two and bringing its teeth down towards the flesh of the drama mare, only just missing as she jerked her body from benieth, tripping the zombie, causing it to slam into the ground.

Rarity stood up and grabbed the exhausted Twilight, who could barely move now on account of all her energy being spent, and threw her upon her back, now dashing out the hole within Twilight's house and making way towards the outskirts of town. It was pretty much a maze as she ran throughout town, dodging hooves as they sprouted from the ground, and evading the alreadt resurrected zombies that unfortunately stood in her path.

She was weakening, energy being used faster than normal because of the dead weight lavender mare on her back. Rarity reached the very edge of town, nearly out of reach of most of the "infeted", when a hoof sprouted from beneath her and tripped her up, throwing Twilight a few hooves in front of her and sending her to the earth with a crash. There was a tugging at her leg as she tried to stand back up, only to be caught by the steel grasp of a horrid "infected" holding her leg. "Twilight!" she screamed, trying to wake the mare from her tired drowsyness.

Twilight opened her eyes, seeing her friend struggling with a monster at her back. "Rarity!?" she yelled, jumping to her feet. Her friend waved her hoof at her magical friend.

"GO!" she screamed, the monster behind sinking its teeth into her hind leg, and causing her to let out a shriek of pain. Twilight stood there, her mind shooting thoughts. Rarity turned around and kicked back the zombie that had bit her, and set herself ready to hold back any that should follow. "What are you waiting for? GO!"

Twilight turned, sprinting along the path while her mind raced once more, causing her to loose all feeling of fatigue as she ran. After a while though, even her thoughts could not hide her fatigue. Twilight was nearly give out, her body a burden because of the rain and the casting of the spells. She took a moment to catch her breath, taking a break before dashing off again to stay ahead to the mob following close behind, hearing her friends cries. "It couldn't be too much further to where ever I'm going." Twilight said to herself just as she saw it. Sweet Apple Acres. "Finally!" Twilight yelled as she had a sudden burst of energy, sprinting through the gates towards the farm. She ran up to the old building and started banging mercilessly on the boarders nailed on the door. "Open up! I'm not infected!" She screamed. The mob was closing in behind her.

A voice came from inside. "Who's there!" Twilight instantly distinguished the voice. A small, red maned pony peeked through the cracks in the barrier. "Twilight?" Apple Bloom gasped. The small filly quickly undid the borders and hastefully let the heavily saturated unicorn in. Apple Bloom instantly started back on the boarders as soon as Twilight was inside the venerable building. "You got here all by yourself?" Apple Bloom as she finished putting the barrier back up. Twilight flinched.

"Not... exactly..." Twilight said with a sigh.

"Well... then how'd ya get here? Other than runnin' that is."

"It's a long story." Twilight soulfully answered, shaking off the rain while she took notice of her surroundings. It was to her surprise to see Derpy, Big Mac, Colgate, and a few other ponies that she recongnized, but couldn't name off the bat, all standing around a small lantern, glaring at her with a look of suspicion. She shied back, turning to Apple Bloom. "What's all these ponies doing here?" she asked. Apple Bloom looked at her, seemingly perplexed by the question.

"They are stayin' here cuz of them creatures outside. We've been skeptical of takin' in other ponies." Apple Bloom grabbed Twilight's shoulder and started to spin her around, observing her coat as she did so. "Don't fret, just checkin' if ya really ain't been bit is all." There was a loud, booming voice in the distance while she was being investigated.

"TWILIGHT!" the happy voice of a dear friend called. Twilight turned, knowing who it could only be, with smile plastered on her face as Pinkie Pie crashed into her, knocking her on top of poor Apple Bloom and giving Twilight a huge hug. "I'm so glad you made it! Are you OK?" Twilight returned the embrace to her pink friend.

"Yes, I'm fine Pinkie..."

"WELL I'M NOT!" Apple Bloom said as she was scrambling from under the two mares bodies. Twilight and Pinkie stood up and allowed the small filly to regain her breath before they continued talking.

"I thought for sure I would see you again, just not so soon." the purple unicorn said. Pinkie giggled.

"Really? I was wondering why you didn't get here sooner." The two laughed as Apple Bloom finished looking at Twilight while they were in conversation.

"You look fine ta me. Now, how'd ya get here again?" Twilight stopped her laughter, and looked grimly at the ground.

"Oh... yea... Well, you see, it's like this..."

Chapter 13

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 13-

Twilight opened her eyes, head turning in every direction. "Where am I?" she called out as a low chuckle drew behind her.

"Welcome back... My dear..."

'Day five of this accursed "infection" and I still haven't been able to get word from Zacora on how to fix all of this. This stupid storm has yet to show any signs of lifting and to make matters worse, I haven't heard any word on where Rainbow Dash is. Everypony that I have sent to find supplies hasn't come back and the others are getting worried. I fear the worst may have happened. I can only hope to Celestia that I can find a cure before the inevitable happens. Without me, we would all certainly be doomed...

Journal Entry #3

-Twilight Sparkle'

The group stared at Twilight, their thoughts on why they elected her leader turning sour. She was obviouisly the right choice for the job, selecting the perfect ponies to set out for food and supplies, but after hours of no contact from the groups, they began to question her judgement. They started to ramble among themselves, making a loud, unnecessary uproar.

There was a large amount of commotion as she stood up on the soap box with her three good legs. "Alright everypony, listen up." The room fell silent. "What do you all think that we shou-" she was interupted by Derpy, who flew to her side and whispered something in her ear. Twilight bit her lip. She jumped off the box and dashed to the next room, her fears correct as she saw Big Mac in a corner, shivering and aching. "Big Mac! Where are the others!?" He slowly lifted his head while he spoke, turning to the mare at his side.

"Is she going to make it?" Twilight asked, looking at her bed bound friend to his side. Big Mac glanced at her, and shook his head.

"The rest... didn't make it..." he answered, coughing blood and letting out a loud grunt. Pinkie Pie walked over to Twilight, head down as she spoke.

"He's bitten on his left flank... I don't think he will last the hour..." Apple Bloom was just within earshot. Twilight turned to the little filly, her eyes welling at the edge of tears.

Apple Bloom looked at Twilight with her big puppy eyes. "You can save everypony that has been bitten, can't you Twilight?" Twilight bit her lip once more, her heart hurt by the question. Pinkie took notice, and started nudging the filly back into the other room. The lavender mare bowed her head to the ground, hearing the stallion's coughs as she knew he was slowly turning, giving in to the disease. Pinkie returned, a gloom look in her eyes as she spoke.

"What do we do?" Twilight was just as clueless as her.

"I don't know. Everypony doesn't know that I was the one who caused-" she stopped herself. She had forgotten that she had told Rarity, but NOT Pinkie Pie. Her pink friend furrowed a brow at her.

"That you were the one who caused what?" she asked, looking very quizically at her. Twilight wasn't a good liar, and she knew this. 'Oh great. See what you've done got yourself into.' she scolded to herself, thinking of the right way to tell the curious party pony.

"Well... you see... I was the reason that the undead zombie ponies came to life. Me and Applejack were making a special potion so Zecora could counter the actual disease, which happened ahead of time. Oh please forgive me Pinkie. I was meaning to tell you long ago... but I couldn't bring myself to let you down..." She turned in shame, ready for whatever her friend had to throw at her. It nearly made Twilight jump right out of her coat when Pinkie threw her hooves around her.

"Oh Twilight, of course I forgive you. Why in Equestria would you think that I wouldn't?" Twilight stared back at Pinkie, lost of words as she threw her hooves around her friend.

"Thanks Pinkie..." The embrace was cut short by a small bump at the door. The two turned, looking a a dismayed Apple Bloom, at the verge of tears. Her tears quickly turned to those of anger.

She was enraged. "So it was all your fault, wasn't it?!"

Twilight flinched. "Y... yes..." Apple Bloom threw her body at Twilight, swinging hooves in a fit of rage.

"You monster! You did this to all of us! Big Mac, Applejack, even Granny Smith was bitten!" The group just outside the door gathered around, evesdropping on the events taking place within. Apple Bloom slumped to the ground. "It's all your fault... Now I don't have any family OR friends..." Pinkie patted the filly's head, speaking softly.

"We're your friends Apple Bloom." The filly sniffled. "And I'm sure Twilight can fix all of this, right Twilight?" The mare was put on the spot. She had no way of knowing for sure if she could, and even so, she would need Zecora's help. She looked to the side, answering in a hesitant manner.

"Y... yea, sure." Apple Bloom pushed Pinkie to the side, going into another fit of rage.

"Why can't you just accept the fact the you CAN'T do anything about it!?" she screamed at Twilight. "You talk to me like I ain't heard the stories! There ain't no way to bring ponies back from the dead! You can only bring them back as mindless monstrosities that just destroy everything!" She settled, a tear falling from her eyes. "My family and friends are gone... and there ain't nothing you can do... and you know it..." Twilight stepped back, gritting her teeth as the guilt struck her once more.

Big Mac let out another loud grunt before he collapsed on the ground, grasping his flank as the pigmint of his skin slowly changed. "Quickly!" a pony shouted. "Get him out of here before he turns on all of us!" The group rushed in, taking the stallion by his hooves and throwing him out into the rain, the "infected" swarming him almost instantly. Apple Bloom jerked her head at his cries, each one harder to take than the last. Twilight laid a hoof upon Apple Bloom's shoulder.

"As Celestia as my witness, I will find a way to fix this. Trust me." The filly let out a heavy sigh.

"I know you will... sorry for losing my cool back there... just alot to take in at once." Twilight gave the filly a hug.

"I know how you feel..."

Chapter 14

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 14-

"I... I failed..."

A day has passed since the death of Big Mac and his team, and the rest of the surviving group knew who was responsible for the destruction of their wonderful town, amazing friends, and close family. Tensions grew between Twilight and the rest of the ponies, names coughed from under their breaths and insults whispered from behind her back. The only two that was true was Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom, taking up for her and getting in heated arguments time and time again to defend their lavender friend. The day passed slowly, supplies running low as everypony agreed to ration what was left, settleing on a apple a day each.

The barriers were holding good, a board falling here and there, but nothing too concerning or hard to fix. The guilty unicorn lay in her corner of the room, thinking upon blank thoughts. A nudge of her side caught her attention, destracting her from the dangers of daydreaming in a bad situation. Apple Bloom gave a grim glare as Twilight sat up and looked at her, raising a brow of wonder to the unnerving face the filly produced.

"Apple Bloom, what's wrong? What do you need?" the purple mare asked, curiostiy bugging at her brain.

"I'm... not sure how to tell you... but..." She paused, looking at the floor and closing her eyes like she was searching for the right words to say. "But... the rest of the group have decided... to kick you out..." Twilight stood up, full attention upon the small filly that was basically telling her to leave the safety of the farm and face the mob that awaited outside.

"The rest of the group?" Twilight asked with uncertainty.

"Well..." Apple Bloom started hesitantly. "Pinkie Pie and me were against the idea the whole time, but everypony else has voted to send you away and-" Pinkie jumped in the conversation, more frantic than usual as she interrupted the two.

"Guys, come quick! We have a situation!" They both scrunched their faces, confused by her sudden appearence. Following the pink pony, a loud shriek was heard by the lavender mare, thoughts now in complete disarray. The group approached a small window at the end of the hallway, Pinkie throwing it open and pointing to the ravenous mob below them, breaking and chipping away at their defenses with newfound strength. "For every board we put back up, three fall back down in place. At this rate, we might be overtaken within about an hour. Twilight, what do we do?"

"Why are you asking me? How am I supposed to know how to stop them?" Twilight asked, sounding a bit ticked.

"Because you're the only pony who has read and studied everything about about those meanie monsters out there, and nopony is as smart or organized like you Twilight. You have to help us." Pinkie was on the ground groveling, staring at Twilight with those wide, puppy eyes of hers. "Pleaaaaaaaasee..." Twilight put a hoof to her chin, giving much consideration to the requeat her friend had just asked.

"So, now let me get this straight, you want me, the pony who caused all of this, to put myself in harms way, risking everypony's chance of finding a cure, to help the very ponies who were going to send me away, destroying their chance of survival in the first place?" Pinkie might not have been as smart as Twilight, but she knew sarcasm when she heard it.

"What are you trying to say Twilight? That you're just going to leave these innocent souls to die just because they were a bit angry with you?"

"Maybe if they wasn't trying to send me to my grave, I would be a bit more compasionate!" Twilight retorted, raising voice at her pink friend and getting in Pinkie's face.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't-"

"STOP!" Apple Bloom interrupted, pushing back the two mares who were at each others throats. "This silly arguing ain't gonna get us nowhere!" The two both looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry Pinkie, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Yea... me either. Sorry." They both exchanged their apologies, forgiving the other as they continued to apologize, leading to the strangest set of confessions for the most irrelavent of things. "And I'm sorry for the time I-" Pinkie started.

"Sweet Celestia, we don't have time for this! Twilight, are you gonna help or not!?" Apple Bloom screamed, stopping the nonsense before it carried on any further. Twilight shook her head, coming back around to her senses.

"Oh yes... that. Give me a second." Twilight paced back and forth through the hall, thinking really hard about what she was to do. "Hmmm... Apple Bloom, how far is your barn from here?"

"The barn is about a hundred hooves or so. Why?" Twilight glanced back out the window, witnessing the "infected" below slowly breaking the barrier of the farmhouse.

"Go gather everypony at the back. Tell them to grab the nearest weapon they can find." Pinkie Pie was about to open her mouth, to ask the silly question of 'What are we going to do?' Twilight heard her lips part, inhaling a breath to ask. She cut her friends breath short. "Don't... question me."

Pinkie held her tounge, nodding her head as she ran with Apple Bloom to gather everypony that would be willing to listen to her, listen to her plan to fight their way to the barn. "We could have a better defensive post their. Besides, I'm sure that the Apple family had a escape plan for things... well, not exactly like this, but similar situations never-the-less." she said to herself, going over her plan in her mind as the small filly raced into the room, breathing heavily.

"Some ponies are refusing to go!" Apple Bloom said through her heaves. "What should we do?"

"There's no time. Everypony that's going with us ready?" Apple Bloom finally caught her breath.

"Yep. They're waiting for you at the back door."

"Alright. You have a weapon?" Twilight asked Apple Bloom, seeing the defenseless filly with empty hooves.

"N... no. I couldn't find one." Twilight turned to her side, peering into the bedroom to her left. She dashed into the room, breaking two ends off the post of the bed. Apple Bloom gripped the staff sized object in her hooves, suddenly fear stricken as Twilight was leaving the room. The lavender mare stopped, noticing the filly wasn't following, and ran back into the room where Apple Bloom stood, frozen.

"Come on Apple Bloom, we don't have time for this!" Apple Bloom jumped when a loud crash was heard from downstairs.

"What was that!?"

"I don't know Apple Bloom, but we have to go. NOW!" The filly finally snapped from her trance and followed Twilight down the stairway to the back, avoiding the front door at all cost. A loud scream pierced their ears as they dashed through the hall, reaching the back door, looking at the small group before them. "Only Derpy and Colgate decided to join us? What about the others?" Another yell hung in the air.

"That..." Colgate answered, holding a floor lamp pole to her side. "So what's the plan?" A low grumble came from behind them as the mob slowly flooded the house. Twilight looked at the terrorized group, their bodies shaking with fear as the listened for her orders.

"On the count of three, break down the back door and fight your way to the barn."

"What!? Are you crazy?" Derpy questioned, kitchen knife in her hoof.

"One..." Twilight started.

"Twilight, there must be another way!" Pinkie asked, an old BB gun on her back.

"Two..." she continued.

"But-" Colgate started.

"Three!" Apple Bloom screamed, bashing through the door as the mob behind started to enter the room and leaving the rest in confusion as they followed...

Chapter 15

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 15-

'Death drew its cold grasp around the barn, the air stale with the hint of decay as the banging at the door became louder...'

"Ahhhhhh!" Apple Bloom roared, taking the broken bed post in her hoof and brought it around her, connecting with a horrid monstrosity's face as she madly dashed towards the barn. The rest of the group would have froze in shock had a mob or ravenous undead not been right behind them. They followed the little filly, swinging her weapon furiously as she ran on three legs with her eyes closed, making contact with one more zombie before the post broke, leaving her completely defenseless. Apple Bloom halted, gazing at the small wooden piece in her hooves before she was jumped by an "infected" from the side, completely catching her off guard.

BAM

Apple Bloom turned around, eyes fixed upon Colgate fending off the monster by the mouth with her lamp pole. "GO!" the blue mare screamed, turning her head and beaming her eyes at the small filly who stared with her mouth agape. "I'll hold this one off! Now go!" Apple Bloom scurried off, Colgate now left fighting off one of the freaks of nature, looking deep into the eyes of an undead creature of the damned. She jerked her pole to the side, twisting the creatures neck a full, neck-breaking 90 degrees. Its neck dropped to the side, its growl still heard by her ears. "It's... not dead..." Colgate stated in shock, eyes widening with fear. The monster lunged, throwing itself at the stunned mare as she stood in complete disarray.

BASH

The monster's body was met with that of Derpy's, the pegasis thowing herself into harms way to help her paralyzed friend. The two were scambling on the ground, the "infected" thrashing his head in all directions as it tried to bite the brave mare who was only just dodging every attempt. They struggled for only a moment before the creature's face was met with that of Pinkie's BB gun stock. The monstrosity released grip upon the blonde mare, jumping back and letting out a loud shriek. Derpy drew her weapon from her side, aiming right between the eyes before she released her grasp upon the knife, flinging the sharp kitchen tool into the skull of one less undead.

"Nice shot Derpy!" Pinkie shouted, pounding the blonde mare's hoof.

"Thanks!" Derpy replied, turning to continue their way to the destination, snapping Colgate from her trance of terror.

Apple Bloom sprinted full speed towards the old barn, far ahead of the group that had just saved her life, before she was cut off by another one of the "infected". She turned, ready to quickly dash back to the party of fighters battling their way towards her direction, only to find three more of them surrounding her, each giving a low growl as they closed her in, severing her chances of escaping the deadly encasement. They grew mere hooves away as Apple Bloom covered her eyes, holding her foreleg in front to shield her face from the inevitable as she yelled.

Twilight ran past another zombie, avoiding combat as much as possible as she headed for the barn. Suddenly, she turned to her left, hearing a loud yell calling from a small group of the monsters gathered around something... or somepony. "Apple Bloom!?" She yelled back, rushing over to the origin of the cry and jumping right into the middle of the group. She quickly wrapped her hooves around the small filly as she focused all her attention on the barn, the pack around her about to pounce while they sat there in total helplessness. They jumped.

FLASH

Apple Bloom suddenly became calm, the rain no longer hitting her coat as she felt the warm body of a pony with its hooves around her. She slowly allowed her eyes to open, her attention peering through the darkness to make out the lavender color around her as it started to lose its hold on the filly. She gasped as the body of Twilight crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

Twilight crashed onto the floor, exhausted from the adrenaline of the dash leaving her as she lay there, giving a few heavy heaves of breath in the barn before her wind caught back up with her. She looked into the darkness, eyes adjusting to make out the wooden roof pattern. The peaceful patter of the rain hitting on the barn sides softly cooed to the purple unicorn, her dreams taking over her thoughts while she lay there, slowly slipping from reality, and into that of her mind.

The filly heard a loud crash from behind, nearly jumping out of her coat and letting another loud scream escape her lips before she noticed the three ponies bashing back the flood of green at the entranceway. Derpy was the first in, scooping rocks and dirt into her hooves and throwing them at the creatures clawing and biting at the other two ponies,weapons nearly spent as they reached their hoofs at the ends of the doors, trying to close the barn before they were swarmed by the mob or worse... bitten. After a short struggle however, they finally were able to fend off the hoard, slamming the doors shut and barring themselves inside with a wooden beam. Colgate caught her breath, panting and tired from the conflict she just endured. She came to Apple Bloom's side, sitting beside the purple mare who lay unconscious as she spoke to the filly.

"Are you OK?" she asked, being quite blunt and to the point, her tone with that of an annoied pony. Apple Bloom nodded her head, Colgate almost unable to see what she was doing because of the lack of light. She figured it a nod, and turned to the other two. "Nopony was bitten, were they?" Pinkie and Derpy replied with a no as they came over to join the others, Pinkie setting her gun to the side as Derpy found a seat beside Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom, do you have a lantern in here?" The filly looked to the ground for a second, thinking real hard before she answered the slightly angry mare in front of her.

"I believe so, but it's got no fluid to make a fire." she replied, a little scared about what Colgate was about to say.

"Dang. Well, no matter. Do you have some hay around?" Apple Bloom kind of chuckled.

"Do we have hay? What kind of question is that? We are in a barn, aren't we?" she answed, being rather sarcastic in her answer and trying to lighten the mood.

"Cute..." Colgate coldly stated. Apple Bloom's mood returned to the normal gloomy state it was in, her attempts in vain. "Could you fetch us some..."

"Sure..." Apple Bloom replied with a grunt, looking at the sleeping unicorn on the ground in envy, able to escape this harsh reality, even if for only a moment. "I'm sure what ever your dreaming of can't be as bad as what we're going through Twilight." she whispered to herself...

Chapter 16

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 16-

The hut came into view, the woods behind starting to fade into darkness as growls roared through the bowels of the void...

~Day six. Things only grow worse for us, the tensions so high that you can alomost feel it emit from the others. I guess I can't blame anypony, the loss of Derpy in our first escape attempt was almost too much to handle. I can still hear her screams as we shut the door... Anyway, I'm only able to write this thanks to an old encryption spell I learned long ago, though I'm not exactly sure why I even write in this anymore. It's not like anypony is going to read this other than me, but I guess it's the only way for me to vent without somepony getting hurt, including myself. Ever since the incident, which was my idea as well, Colgate hasn't exactly been herself lately.

Her constant murmurs and cold glares really make my heart sink, and Pinkie Pie has kind of just fallen into a state of depression. I assume she finally realized what's going on, and she has my condolences and sympathy. I think I can understand where she comes from on the matter. Stranger than that however, Apple Bloom seems the least affected by the whole matter, myself included for the loss had its impact upon me as well. We can't stay in here, the risk is too great! Eventually, we will run low on food and Celestia knows what would become of us then, but I won't let it come to that. I have devised an even greater plan to free ourselves from this horrible situation we have found ourselves in, or would they say the situation I placed us in... If anypony finds this journal, know that I am sorry in my failed attempt to free Equestria of this curse, and that I can't express how sorry I am for the world you must currently live in...~

Journal Entry #4

-Twilight Sparkle

Twilight closed the book, the words within now magically imprinted upon the paper as her body grew slightly weaker as a result. She lay in her hay made bed as she stared vacantly towards the cieling above her, the patter of rain becoming one accord. Wonder about her rainbow maned friend become small, the evidence before her pointing towards the worst. The lavender mare notice Colgate as she took a seat beside Twilight, staring at the cieling with the same void in her eyes. There was silence between the two, Pinkie asleep on her own bed in a corner and Apple Bloom sitting alone, kicking softly at some hay while the rain continued.The memory of earlier, their first escape attempt came back to mind as Twilight lie there, tightly shutting her eyes as the memory ran through her mind, fresh and clear.

"What are you waiting for? Keep throwing!" Twilight yelled.

"We can't!" her pink friend stated. "We're out of ammo!" Twilight looked among the ponies that had bravely fought aside her.

"Fall back to the barn!"

"We should have packed more stones to throw!" Derpy stated as they ran back.

"I thought we had enough!" Twilight retorted. They reached the door, but Derpy tripped over a small rock an lay on the ground, leg possibly broken from the strange angle she landed on it only ten hooves away. "Derpy!" Twilight yelled back.

"Go on!" the grey pegasis shooed. "They'll only get us both if you don't!" Twilight watched in agony as Derpy was almost ripped to pieces by the horrible creatures outside, more violent and ravenous than ever.

A tear fell from her lids, the grief still holding its sting upon her. What she heard from Colgate didn't make matters any better.

"You know it's ALL your fault right..." Twilight glanced at the former dentist as she took a breath before continuing. "The infection, the deaths, the pain and suffering, it's all your fault... and you have the gall to sit there and cry about it... Crying won't fix this, bring everypony back... If you want to see change, you have to take action, take things into your own hooves... but know the fight your fighting... You were careless, and that's... that's why we lost Derpy..." Colgate's words were cutting deep into her heart, slicing through her emotional barriers with ease. "Take responsibilities for your mistakes... and learn from them..."

Twilight stared at the unicorn before her with her mouth agape, tears swelling even more than before, but she withdrew her sorrow and tried to suck it up, so to say. It WAS all her fault, and sitting here and shedding tears over it wouldn't fix anything. She stood up, hoof firm in the ground as she quickly observed her surroundings, and called the group together. Pinkie Pie drudged over and Apple Bloom took her time, but with no unusual mood showing.

"Alright, I'd like to start off with an apology for getting you all in this mess in the first place.." She took a momentary pause, Colgate just turning her head to the side and her pink friend staring at the ground with a sad gloom. "But, I'm ready to fix what I've messed up! There's only one problem, and that's that I can't do it on my own. I need everyponies help..." Twilight took another breath, Apple Bloom appearing to hang on every word as the other two paid hardly any attention. "That's why I've prepared another escape plan to try an make it to Zecora's." Everyponies ears perked as she continued. "I'm ready to put my life on the line once more to try and correct my wrongs, and I'm not asking any of you to do what I'm not willing to do myself. If I can just reach her hut, maybe she has a note or book on how to make the antidote! Maybe-" Colgate cut here off, trying to be the voice of reason.

"And if she don't..." Twilight was slightly stunned by the sudden question.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but do you have a better idea?" The dentist turned and glared towards the lavender mare.

"Surviving and living isn't good enough for you? Think what you're asking us to do, and look at the results of the last few times we did what you asked."

"If you hadn't have left the house when I said-"

"Is our situation here any better!? At least if I had have got bitten, I would have went down fighting... poor Derpy had no chance to go down a worriors way..." Twilight froze, unable to concieve words to counteract her argument.

"You and your pride will be your downfall one day Colgate." She answered finally. "If you want to stay, be my guest. As for you other two, make your decision by nights end, for tomorrow I leave for Zecora's hut in hopes to purge this land we once called home from these beast I created..."

Chapter 17

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 17-

Death drew its cold grasp around the barn, the air stale with the hint of decay as the banging at the door became louder, the two ponies left within tense with every incidental or accidental bump that passed through their ears. Dawn, or what they belived was dawn, had finally broke, the small filly and lavender mare setting out through the back of the barn, cautious to avoid any unwanted attention from any creatures that may have strayed from the the mob that lurked nearby, thier senses ever vigilant in their perception of the area. The only reason that the two made it out of the run down building from behind might be for the fact that there were still remains of their blonde maned friend around front, tempting the ravenous monsters that now lust for the taste of pony flesh. It pained to think about it, but she knew that if Derpy had not perished the way she did, they might not have ever been able to safely escape that wretched place they were holding in, the constant on edge tension of random bumps at the front by their feasting being the only downside she could formulate, other than the fact that she had just lost yet another one of her friends to her own creations. Twilight had grown numb to the feeling, the relentless reminder of how she was responsible for all this becoming almost complete second nature.

The two carefully tred their way towards the woodland edge, Apple Bloom reassuring that she knew the way to Zecora's from here because she had used this route many a times before. As far as Twilight could tell, she didn't really have much choice than to believe anything this young filly told her for the time being, her total trust placed upon this child and her knowledge of the land. This didn't seem like too much of a problem with the mare, her reasoning logical with placing all her trust into the only pony that WOULD know the landscape. When they reached the forrest and were completely hidden within some bushes, because one can never be too careful in times like these, Twilight then turned to the red maned filly and prosed her with a simple question, one that was sure to be asked.

"So Apple Bloom, which way do we go from here?" The filly observed her surrounding, as though to place their pin-point location. After a good while, where in which Twilight started to question her decision to place her faith within the small pony, Apple Bloom finally pointed to a direction.

"We head this way." Apple Bloom stepped with confidence, the feeling somewhat lifting Twilight's spirits while the two started off in the direction she had pointed out. Twilight looked up into the sky, the dark, bellowing clouds of grey still pouring their clear, natural liquid with certain ease. Not a single inch was uncovered, the notion of wheather it really was dawn left entirely up to the pony and their perception and ability to keep track of time. Darkness was something that both Apple Bloom and the purple unicorn had grown accustomed to, the light, or what little light they had, growing ever dimmer with each step deeper into the seemingly empty forrest before them. It wasn't very long before there was nothing but total black, the sense of sight leaving the two as Twilight felt they were only just blindly leading themselves to their doom. When Twilight turned to her side to speak with the filly, she somehow could just tell that she wasn't there, that the filly, or herself, had unknowingly strayed away from the other.

Apple Bloom turned to tell her follower that it wouldn't be long now, to not worry about the darkness because of how close they actually was, but she, as like Twilight, noticed that the other had fallen away without her knowing. Suddenly, she heard a low grumble in the distance, the faintness becoming less with every second. Her blood froze as the growls grew louder from all directions. "Is... anypony there?" Apple Bloom asked. The growls became more menicing as the stench of death filled the air. "Twilight... where are you?" There ws no response. Apple Bloom turned to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. As she turned, she heard a voice in the distance call out to her...

"RUN!" the voice screamed, "RUN!!!" Twilight came crashing through the bushes with a terrified look. "Didn't you hear me Apple Bloom? Run!"

The filly nearly jumped from her coat as the lavender mare crashed through the bushes, screaming orders for her to take off. She did as told, and started to gallop, the only problem for Twilight being that she was galloping back towards the barn! The unicorn lifted a hoof as she was about to yell out for her, but she was too late. A loud, heart wrentching scream could be barely audible in the origin of her sprint. The feelings Twilight had grown used to became renewed, her hoof trembling, and her lip quivering.

The growls around started to become harder to believe that they weren't there, Twilight holding herself still and determined to not move as she tried to process all her feelings at once, but she still could hear, could think, and eventually she persuaded herself to move, to keep her faith in the filly and keep in the direction the filly originally intended. She started off slow, her guilt laying heavily upon her shoulder, and seemingly slowing her down, but after the growls became too close for comfort, she took off in a mad dash for Zecora's.

It wasn't long before the trees parted ways, the light now slightly beaming through to give some visual. The hut came into view, the woods behind starting to fade into darkness as growls roared through the bowels of the void. As she darted past a few more stumps, she finally reached the front door. Knocking was not an option, Twilight taking her back hooves and bucking the door open with all her might, but as she peered into the black void of the darkness, her heart sank to the deepest of pits. A faint glow from a candle lit the room, and the interior was completely empty. Twilight quickly turned back around and barred herself from within, the roars outside unsettleing every nerve within her body. She walked over to the candle, and undernieth was a note. What she read almost made Twilight have her heart explode with surprize as she dropped the letter to the ground that read as followed:

~Twilight, if you are reading this, then well done. My plan has been put to action to rid this place of you accursed ponies that plauge this land with all your "Happiness and Friendship". As you can tell, I've packed up and left. Permanently. And will not be returning to help you, for you see, this was MY plan all along. The having you make the potion, well, let's just say that was a bonus. I am the only one who knows a cure, and if need be, I will use it, but not on the likes of you and all your stupid little friends! I know you must probably feel horrible, the feeling of guilt now overwhelming, but hey, nopony's perfect, right? Also, before I forget, I bet you've been wondering about your good, loyal friend rainbow Dash right? Well see, after the storm had started, I decided to "ask for her help" woth a project I was working on. She, like you, was eager to do anything I would tell her, so when I asked for some deathly poisonous to the touch herbs, without her knowing they were deadly, for the project, she gladly "tried" to bring them to me.

-Sincerely, Zecora~

P.S.- Just for you, seeing as I didn't even try to rhyme, I'll end with this note. Looks like your out of time...

The Final Chapter

Just an Old Ponytale...
The Final Chapter-

Twilight stood, dumbstruck by what she had read. Only one thought allowed itself to pass through her mind, only one question, only one word.

"Why..."

Time passed by slowly, the grumbling and roaring of the ravinous beast outside just now at the doorstep. The mare stood, her mouth agape and her mind perplexed. She was left alone, left with nothing, left with no hope of ever fixing this disaster she caused. Guilt, anger, sorrow. All these emotions enveloped her at once, her body unsure how to react. The first emotion to take control was anger, the lavender mare thrashing her head in denial, the constant 'no' that escaped her lips having no meaning as they grew from whispers into screams. Her hooves we laid upon her head as she withdrew into a corner and started to think about all that has happened, but the thoughts drove her from anger to sorrow. Twilight began to cry as she thought back to Applejack, thought back to Fluttershy, back to Rarity... Her sorrow only grew with the sudden realization that this wwas IN FACT her fault, regardless of what the note said, and that's when the worst of feelings set in. Guilt.

How bad can one pony feel? How horrible can somepony feel before it's too much to handle? Twilight's very being was slipping away, her very self disappearing, eaten up by the guilt that gnawed at her. She had always coped with the thought of being the one who cause all this with the hope of being able to correct it, to be able to save everypony, but with Zecora's betrayal...

Twilight refused to believe it. "How could Zecora do such a thing!? This just can't be right... There has to be something more behind this... It just can't be true... Maybe Discord's back... Maybe she was put under a spell while she was with her parents... Maybe... maybe..." Twilight felt empty inside, felt like there was nothing of her left. There was a loud bang at the front door, the mob outside becoming unsettled. The candle light was swiftly fading as crashing noises could be heard coming from the door. Suddenly, a hoof broke through. Twilight looked to the ground and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry everypony..." she said as the darkness around her slowly engulfed the candle. "I'm... sorry..."

The mob smashed thorugh, the light from the candle completely vanishing as the group of beast charged towards the direction of the despaired pony. Twilight just kept her head down, hiding the tears she was shedding in response to her thoughts. The first bite wasn't so bad, her body numb to pain by guilt as the teeth of one of those beast tore into her shoulder, her body now pinned against the wall. The zombies ripped at her viciously, each bite tearing more and more of her away as she just sat there and watched helplessly. After what felt like hours, but in reality was only mere moments, Twilight felt her body growing cold. Her eyes grew heavy, her heart thumping slower as the breaths became shorter. Her life passed through her eyes, all the memories of her friends flashing before her in a single instant. As she closed her eyes for what she believe to be the final time, only one thought crossed her mind, the same thought that she had throughout this whole ordeal. Her final breath consisted of these final words.

"I'm........ sorry......." With those last words, she released her grasp upon life... and let the darkness take her...

Twilight opened her eyes, head turning in every direction. "Where am I?" she called out as a low chuckle drew behind her.

"Welcome back... My dear..." Twilight's eyes grew to the size of sause pans, a cold chill running up her spine as she knew exactly where she was, and knew the dark pony behind her and his reason for appearing. The mare gulped. "Twilight... You know why... I'm here..." She turned with slight hesitation to face the shrouded pony who had scyth in hoof.

"Yes Death, I know why you're here." Twilight stated rather calmly. "I'm ready..." The master of souls stood right before the small unicorn with his weapon of choice in air, aimed right for her heart. He thought for a second, and then set his scyth to the side, his shadows holding the weapon in place as he placed his cold hooves upon Twilight's chin, pulling her head up to his eye level and gazing deep into her sight.

"Before I carry on... and do what... I was meant to do... I extend to you... the answer to one... and only one... question..." The lavender mare's ears perked when she heard this. "Understand... this is your only... question... When you ask... it shall be reveled... in your own eyes as though... you yourself was there..."

Several thoughts ran through, the oppritunity to have ANY question answered. Her first thought was to know why Zecora had done what she did, but another question was to know if somepony would find a cure eventually. She wondered if Pinkie had survived, and, of course, wanted to know about Spike and Princess Celestia, if they were alright or not. So many questions, but only one to be answered, but she figured that no matter what question she asked, she wouldn't like the answer. She thought really hard for what seemed like forever. Finally, she thought of her question. The perfect question to know, if not all, most of what she wondered.

"What was and is the fate of everypony I knew as result of this, Zecora included?"

Death chuckled. "Prepare yourself... Twilight Sparkle... for the truth... hurts worse than most lies..." There was a bright flash as Twilight found herself surrounded by nothingness. She looked around, but everything was complete darkness. She wanted to call out, but her voice had disappeared. Around her, the world started to take color, the scenes of every one of her friends appearing before her. To her left was Celestia in Canterlot, vainly casting her magic as the hoard drew a circle around her beloved teacher. Her right contained all the scenes of her and her already deceased friends, the memories now fresh in mind. Above contained each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, their screams even worse than that of her friends, for they were only just fillies. Looking down was an even bigger mistake, the sight of Pinkie and Colgate in the barn, a hoof breaking through the doors as they prepared theselves and said their good-byes to each other. She tried to escape as she turned around, but behind her was the worst of all. She was staring at three scenes. One contained her brother, Shining Armor.

She watched in horror, her brother fighting along side what appeared to be his friends in the guard. He constantly was bucking them away as his friends were trying to plea with survivors within a stronghold, but were denied entry. After a while, he grew reckless from fatigue, and as result, missed one of his bucks. She turned away with the knowledge of what happened as his screams peirced her heart, but that was nothing compared to watching her own parents and their demise...

After all this, there was still one she hadn't seen, one that she still wanted to know, though she feared the result. She turned back to her original position, and faced straight ahead of her. A faint haze formed as the scene of Zecora's hut came into view. She peered into the window, the zebra within working on a strange potion as normal, but as Twilight took a closer look, the recipe had inscibed on top "Zombie Cure". The lavender mare was more confused than ever now.

There was a bang at Zecora's door, and she knew exactly what it was. The tribal zebra took paper in hoof and started to write the note that Twilight had found, gathering all her posesions into a pile and setting them into a controlled blaze. When the items were finished burning, and the ashes swept away, Zecora grabbed her spear from home and prepared herself to fight. Zecora took one final look at the note, and spoke to herself. "Twilight, though you might be confused, I hope when you read this, anger and sorrow are infused. This is not your fault, and these monsters are not fun, but I hope that when this is read, that you will run. I will return... I promise..." As she finished talking to herself, she opened the door and started fighting her way out, fighting her way towards home, towards someplace this hasn't reached yet. The scene started to phase as everything around her grew back into darkness.

Twilight let out a loud gasp for air, Death releasing his grip upon the pony as she was heaving. "You have... your answer..." Twilight was trying to process everything she had just witnessed.

"So it wasn't betrayal, she was just trying to keep me away until she returned, probably because I wouldn't have understood!" Sudden realization hit her. "But... I didn't..." She started thinking back to the other scenes. "My brother... my teacher... my friends... I don't even know what happened because of my turning away, but I guess that's for the better..." Death grabbed his scyth floating at his side.

"Are you ready... my dear..." Twilight suddenly became scared, fear taking over as her mind told her to run, but her body wouldn't move. "Ah, ah, ah... We wouldn't want you... to make this harder... on either of us... now would we..." Death drew his scyth in his hoof and aimed it like before. Twilight glared at the weapon, all her thoughts of what she should have, could have done to prevent all this now in her mind. She drew her breath, as ready as she would ever be as Death slashed his blade into her, and the world around went black, never to be seen by the light again as she was left with nothing but her thoughts for all eternity...

The End...?

Chapter 5

Just an Old Ponytale...
Chapter 5-

'A voice came from inside. "Who's there!" Twilight instantly distinguished the voice. A small, red maned pony peeked through the cracks in the barrier. "Twilight?" Apple Bloom gasped. The small filly quickly undid the borders and hastefully let the heavily saturated unicorn in. Apple Bloom instantly started back on the boarders as soon as Twilight was inside the venerable building. "You got here all by yourself?" Apple Bloom as she finished putting the barrier back up. Twilight flinched.

"Not... exactly..." Twilight said with a sigh.'

~Wow, my very own journal. I mean, I have one at home already but to have one to record all my thoughts during this horrible ordeal is just something else. For starters, I can't begin to express how glad I am to have someone to talk to as well. Pinkie has been a great friend to me while I'm here. I guess she's glad to have someone too. This whole thing has been very hard for us both. Pinkie's had the harder time of it, losing both the Cakes AND Gummy. I haven't told her how everything started yet, but I plan to. I have to keep the sentences short because of the lack of charcoal. There wasn't but maybe a stick or two behind the counter. I just don't know what I'm going to do. The storm won't move on so I can only assume Rainbow Dash is "infected", though I really hope not. We are also out of food. Pinkie wasn't kidding when she said that soup was the last of it. Wish I had savoured it a bit more now. The only option that I see to do would be to go to Zecora's and see if I can find out anything about how to fix all this. Maybe Celestia will come back and fix this. I can only imagine how spike would be. "Zombies! Ahhhh!" he would say. Heh, but for now, me and Pinkie are going to search for some food. We will leave through the back and search the three nearest houses. Charcoal running low. I just hope everything turns out O.K...~

Journal Entry #1

-Twilight Sparkle

"Well, are you ready Twilight?" the pink party pony impatiently asked. Twilight closed her new journal and set it in her new saddle bag that Pinkie had given her.

"As I'll ever be, I guess." she said with a cheerful mood. The journal had given her a way to vent and to think about what she's going to do, a way to plan things out one might say. The two made their way to the back of the store and prepared their course of action.

"Alrighty then, where should we go first?" Pinkie asked.

"We don't want to venture off too far... so let's keep it close. How about the first three neighboring houses?" Twilight suggested. Pinkie meditated for a second.

"Okie Dokie. Before we go though, what should we do if we happen to run into one of those meanie monsters?" Even Pinkie Pie's mood seemed to pick up. The unicorn pondered for a moment.

"Hmmmm... I'm not sure..." She thought it over for minute before answering. "We should take weapons." Twilight bluntly stated. Before Pinkie could say anything she ran into the kitchen. When she ruturned, she was levitating two frying pans with her horn. "If we run into anything, use these when they get close." The pink pony took one of the pans then looked at Twilight with a sad, sorrowful face.

"I... can't hurt them... they were once all my friends..." Twilight sighed.

"Look, you won't have to if you don't let them get close. Besides, do you have a better alternative?" Twilight asked with sarcasm. Pinkie looked to the ground.

"Couldn't we just run?" she asked.

"Pinkie, if we get cornered inside a building, where are we going to run?" Pinkie Pie thought this over for a moment.

"I... guess you're right."

"Alright then, now let's go." the magic unicorn persisted. The two then proceeded to remove the planks of wood nailed to the back door and slowly stepped outside into the storm. "Which way should we go from here?" Twilight asked. The pink pony put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, I think we should go-" She was cut short by Twilight's hoof in her mouth.

"Shhh..." Twilight said. They listened, but Pinkie didn't hear anything except for the rain splattering on the ground.

"I don't hear any-" Twilight shoved her hoof in her mouth once more.

"Shhh!" Twilight held her hoof to her friends mouth with more force this time. Pinkie listened again, but this time noticed an extreamly low growl coming from the house next door.

"Aw, shoot." Pinkie loudly whispered. "Now what do we do?" Twilight considered her options. They could go back into Sugarcube Corner, but there still wasn't any food. They had only one other option.

"Let's try across the street."

"But... won't it be dangerous?" Pinkie asked.

"Very." replied Twilight. "But we need to find some food or we'll eventually starve to death, or worse."

"Worse?" Pinkie raise a brow at this.

"Uhhh... nevermind. Forget I said that." Twilight turned and faced her once again flat maned friend. "Shall we?" The two went around the other side of Sugarcube Corner. 'All of this constant rain and we haven't flooded yet. Things couldn't be stranger, now could they?' Twilight thought to herself. The two reached the stores front corner. Twilight peeked around the edge of the store and looked for any sign of the "infected". "The coast looks clear, let's go." The two made a mad dash across the street.

TRIP

Pinkie slipped in a small pool of water and fell face first into a mud puddle. The landing made a loud splash, but nothing that could be heard too far on account of the heavy rain. "Pinkie!" Twilight whispered as loud as she could. "Hurry up and get over here!" Pinkie quickly picked herself back up and caught up with her angry friend who was waiting for her at the front door of the intended building.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I wasn't paying attention and-" Again, Twilight shoved her hoof in Pinkie's mouth.

"You talk too much." Twilight tried to turn the knob on the door. "Drat!" she said with frustration. "Locked. Looks like we're going to need to find another way in."

"How about we try a different house?" Pinkie asked. The purple unicorn turned to her friend with lethargy as though it was a stupid question.

"Because Pinkie... don't you think that most ALL the doors are locked?" Pinkie was puzzled by the statement.

"Then why did you try the front door silly?" Twilight let out a sigh.

"Pinkie..." The two started to go around back, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious or odd. When they reached the back however, there was no door. "Looks like we got to do this the hard way. Pinkie, give me a boost." Pinkie stood next to the wall of the building and let the magic purple pony climb on her back and break through a window.

""Hey! Don't do that!" Pinkie said with disapproval. "How would you like it if someone did that to your window?" Twilight started to wonder why she even brought Pinkie.

"Look, you want food right?" Twilight asked as she climbed into the window and held a hoof to pull Pinkie in. Pinkie gave a muddle look as she grasped the extended hoof.

"What a silly question to ask."

'At least she's back to her old mood again. That's good... I guess.' Twilihgt grunted to herself as she pulled Pinkie Pie up into the building. The house was trashed just like Sugarcube Corner. Broken glass, blood, even some floor planks were gone from here too. "I wonder what heppened to whoever lived here?" Twilight asked herself. Pinkie heard this and took it as a question towards her.

"You don't know who lives... well, used to live here? This is Lyra's house." Twilight looked to her left and saw a broken picture frame of Lyra Heartstrings, who was holding her lyre while playing in front of a crowd at a music recital.

"Oh..." Twilight felt again the all too familiar feeling of guilt hit her. She was used to it by now. She shook the feeling off at looked back at Pinkie. "Alright Pinkie, what I need you to do is to look around and see if you can't find a cellar of some sort. I'm going to go look in the kitchen." The pink pony nodded and went to searching while Twilight herself began to search. It wasn't too hard for the purple unicorn to find the kitchen. As soon as she came across it she started to raid the fridge and every drawer and cabinet she could find. Sadly, there was nothing. "Oh, come on. There's got to be something to eat in here." She searched for a while longer before she finally pitched a small fit and gave up. She turned around and called out for Pinkie. "Pinkie, did you find anything?" There was silence. "Pinkie?" she called again. No answer.

Twilight was scared now. The adrenaline rushed through her as she darted through the hallways yelling for her friend. "Pinkie, where are you!" Twilight tripped over a small hatch on the floor. "What the-" Twilight said as she stood herself back up. It was a trap door. Twilight opened the door and peered into the pitch black abyss. "She wouldn't have went down there without some type of light, would she?" Twilight pondered to herself. "Pinkie?" she softly called into the dark hole in the floor. There was no response. 'Looks like I have to go down there and get her.' she grudged with a sigh.

Twilight lit her horn and started her decent down the small flight of stairs. It was a cellar alright. Twilight could smell the half rotted fruit as she decended even futher down into the darkness. 'She couldn't have come down here. It's way to dark.' Just then, she saw a small glimmer in the distance. "The basement couldn't be that big." Twilight said under her breath. She proceeded towards the light. As she began to come closer, she saw the frozen figure of Pinkie Pie holding a small lamp standing absolutely still with something right beside her. "What in Equestria is that?" Twilight asked herself. When she came closer, what she saw chilled her to the bone. She saw Pinkie Pie with eyes wide open as she was completely tensed up with one of those horrid "infected", without any eyes, sniffing every where around her...