Light Up the Darkness

          Dr. Shannon was sitting at a computer, in the lab, when Fluttershy entered the room. He was wearing a clean, white lab coat. The lab had a few microscopes, several computers, and many other things that Fluttershy didn’t know how to use. It was obviously an EDC standard lab.

     The moment Fluttershy entered the room Dr. Shannon heard the door and looked over to her. “Ah, Dr. Fluttershy, it’s good to see you again,” he said with a slightly happy tone in his voice. “So what’s this about?” asked Fluttershy. “Well I have just gotten the results back for the gene sequence of the virus, and just thought you’d like to see them as well,” he said with a smile.  It was clear he was eager to know the results himself. So Fluttershy returned the smile and walked over to him. “Please pull up a chair,” he said as he gestured to a silver, cushion-less seat, similar to the one in which he sat. Fluttershy did as she was asked and pulled the chair up next to his, and sat down.

     Dr. Shannon looked over to Fluttershy and said “Now, let’s see what we have here.” The tan furred pony then looked back to the computer monitor and started clicking away. He looked as if he were a child opening his Christmas gifts, when he pulled up a chart. “Ah, here we go,” he eagerly remarked. Fluttershy looked over at the chart and saw that it looked like several tiny, spaced out, rectangles. There were several more just like the first one, but each had a different assortment of the tiny grey boxes. Each of these rectangles had a letter next to it, which read any letter between A and H. As Dr. Shannon studied the markings and letters his happy expression quickly faded. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed as his eyes continued to scan over the chart. It was clear that he was afraid. “What is it?” asked a fearful Fluttershy. He pointed a hoof to the chart and replied “Look here, at the gene labeled C.” Fluttershy did so, but didn’t know what it was she was supposed to be seeing. Dr. Shannon looked over to her and said “This gene here is what makes influenza airborne; it’s adapted to the alpha six receptors in our lung cells. Somehow a flu gene bonded with rabies.” He then pointed his hoof to the genes labeled F through D and added “These genes here are all from the retrovirus that causes AIDS. They cause the virus to stay in the body indefinitely and mutate rapidly.” Fluttershy was now beginning to grasp the true scope of what Dr. Shannon was saying. “So this isn’t just rabies?” Dr. Shannon just shook his head side to side to answer and replied “This virus is composed primarily of rabies genes and a few other common viruses. It’s like all of the worst genes from several viruses were just thrown into this bug. But I just don’t understand how this could possibly happen, these viruses shouldn’t be able to bond like this, unless…” Dr. Shannon stopped there, unable to believe what he was thinking. Fluttershy didn’t need to hear his words to know his thoughts. The look on his face and the information before her made it clear what this was. “It’s a biological weapon,” she concluded with fear easily noticeable in her voice. Dr. Shannon just looked over to her and nodded.

     Then suddenly a phone next to the computer began to ring. Dr. Shannon quickly reached out a hoof and answered it, “Dr. Shannon’s lab… Yes… Yes… What? Oh my god… Yes of course, thank you.” It was clear to Fluttershy that whatever he’d just heard sent a chill shooting down his spine.

     Dr. Shannon just laid the phone down and stared at it. Without looking at Fluttershy he said “That was the EDC in Canterlot... There have been several suspected outbreaks of this virus… All in major cities… It’s Global.” Fluttershy covered her mouth and just stared at him, unable to believe what she’d just heard. “Looks like the dog was the first trial and this is the real deal.”

Four Years Later

     Fluttershy awoke gasping for air. As she gathered her bearings she realized that she was laying against the driver’s side door of her now over turned SUV. The windows were all shattered and bits of glass lay around her. Some of it had cut her face; thankfully it was nothing too bad. She then looked down at her hooves and saw a few cuts there as well. It was nothing too serious. It’d probably take her about two weeks to heal up though, which is actually pretty good considering the condition of her vehicle. As she looked around the wreck she noticed that the light appeared dimmer then before. She immediately cast her gaze out of the, shattered, windshield and saw that the sun was much closer to the horizon; it was at least 5:00 P.M. by now.

     Fluttershy wasted no time and quickly began to move about the wreckage. Suddenly she let out a loud yelp in pain, there was a large shard of glass just above her rear hoof and when she’d tried to move it the glass would cut into her leg. As she looked back at her hoof she could see the shard had a little of her blood on it. She knew that if she attempted to remove her leg the glass would surly filet it, so she attempted a second idea to free herself.

     Her other hoof was just fine and she could move it easily, so the yellow Pegasus lifted it up and began to kick the section of windshield. It began to shatter on the first kick, but still wasn’t enough to break free. She then lifted her hoof once more and kicked the glass with every last ounce of her strength. When she did this just enough of the windshield shattered to free her hoof. A few of the pieces that fell grazed her leg, but only scraped it at the most.

     Fluttershy pulled her leg into the SUV and looked up to the passenger door, above her. She knew she had to escape; she knew it was her only way out. So, quickly, she looked around for the pistol she was searching for earlier. As she did this, something caught her eye. It was the bag she had stored the can goods in. it must have fallen off during the crash. So, the yellow Pegasus lifted the heavy, leather bag and placed it around her neck. As she did this she felt something inside of the bag jabbing at her side. She then decided to reach her hoof inside it and found that the source of her discomfort was the pistol she had been searching for prior. It had been in the bag the whole time.

     Needless to say Fluttershy was angered by this discovery. She’d just wrecked her vehicle over something she had the whole time. However, despite being mad over the crash, she was quite relieved she had found the pistol; fore she assumed that she’d soon need it.

     Fluttershy stood on two hooves, despite the pain in one leg, and opened the door. The sky above was a light shade of blue with a few clouds blowing in the wind, high overhead. For a moment Fluttershy took the time to look at this world in a different light; something she hadn’t done in a long time. But her moment of bliss soon came to an end, fore she snapped back into reality, back to the world she was forced into.

     Fluttershy then looked around the wreck and found a place she could use as a foothold. She placed her good hoof onto the side of a seat cushion and began to climb. Next she placed her front hooves onto the outside of the door and began to pull herself out. Within a few seconds her head was out, soon followed by her torso, and lastly she lifted her rear hooves from the vehicle.

     Once she was atop the wreckage she began to realize that she was a whole six feet, or more, off of the ground. She didn’t want to risk injuring her leg any further, so she positioned her hooves as close as possible to the surface, and jumped. She fell from only three or four feet, but her hooves gave out when they touched the ground, not from pain, but from exhaustion. Thankfully when the vehicle crashed it stirred up a fair amount of dirt, which softened the blow to her legs. Still she would have preferred a bit more cushioning for that.

     Fluttershy simply laid there on her stomach, not wanting to move, but she knew she needed to. As she laid in the cool dirt she noticed the sun had gotten even lower than before, it appeared that her escape took longer than expected. She knew that soon after sundown, the infected would come out of their darkened hideaways, in search of food. And a little yellow Pegasus would make for a rare and delicious delicacy.

     Fluttershy’s break in the dirt was over quickly. She had to move, and had no choice. So the pony quickly stood and began to walk towards her home. Then it occurred to her; she could just fly home, she was a Pegasus after all. Besides it would be much faster than walking. So, Fluttershy began to open her wings, but quickly clinched them shut, and gritted her teeth in pain. She must have banged them up pretty good in the crash. However they didn’t appear to be broken, she just needed to stay off of them. It now became apparent that there was no longer a quick escape; she was walking the distance.

     Her hooves ached with each step, but it still wasn’t too painful. As Fluttershy walked she had a slight limp, but considering the wreck she’d just been in her light injuries were a miracle.

     After a few minutes of walking down the empty streets of Ponyville, she saw Sugar Cube Corner, and instantly she thought of Pinkie and that horrible night. Tears began to well up in Fluttershy’s eyes as she remembered the screams, the fear, and, most of all, the blood. There was just so much blood.

     Fluttershy quickly snapped herself out of her daydream; fore she couldn’t bear the thought of it anymore. She then continued her long trek home. The yellow Pegasus walked faster and faster, but no matter what she did she knew it wouldn’t be enough. So, she took the gun out of her leather bag and slid out the clip. She wanted to count the bullets to be sure that she’d have just one left, if it came down to it. There were just fifteen shots in the pistol, including the one that she wished to save.

     When she looked to the sky this time, she could see it growing dimmer and dimmer with each passing second. She guessed that she had about forty five minutes of daylight left, or, in other words, forty five minutes left to live. She also guessed that it would take her an hour or two to get home.

     Fluttershy knew that the second she shot one of the infected, the shot would attract more; many many more. There would be a lot more than fifteen to deal with. Fluttershy knew that if she didn’t get home, she’d surly die. She knew that this wasn’t an option though. For several moments Fluttershy found herself coming to terms with suicide, but she promised herself that she’d kill as many of those things as she could before she would go down. Or in Apple Jack’s words “I’ll take out as many of those basterds as I can before they’ll take me out.”

      Suddenly, Fluttershy noticed something; something she couldn’t believe. There, off in the distance, was a light, and it appeared to be moving. Moving down the road Fluttershy was walking on.

     A million things shot through her head at that moment. She thought maybe it was a reflection, or an infected carrying something. Though the last one was the least likely, it was the most horrifying. As she stared at it she suddenly realized what it was. It was a pair of headlights. She just couldn’t believe it. There were actually other survivors like her.

     Instantly she bolted into the middle of the street and started waving her hooves frantically. “Stop!” she screamed, even though it was likely impossible for the driver to hear her. She knew that this was her last possible chance for survival, and she’d do everything she could to ensure that fate.

     By now she could see two distinguishable headlights approaching her. Then she had a sudden realization; in the last days of Equestria ponies did some incredibly evil things, in order to survive the chaos. So what makes her think that the pony in the vehicle, approaching her, would be any different?

     As the car neared her Fluttershy slid her hoof into the leather sack and reached for the gun. As she grasped it she flicked the safety off, and was ready to kill anypony in one seconds notice. She prayed it wouldn’t come to that though. If they were anything like her they’d probably be happy to see anypony at this point.

     The car was beginning to slow about two hundred feet away from her. She waved her hooves to show them that she wasn’t infected and seconds after that they came to a complete stop, just fifty feet away from her. The headlights were blindingly bright in the, now dim sunlight, so she couldn’t possibly see the driver. Then after what seemed like forever, the driver’s side door slowly opened. Almost instantly after that a hoof stepped out and onto the black pavement.