Light Up the Darkness

Four Years Earlier

     Three days had passed since that horrible night. Time was a blur to Fluttershy. She was too lost in her thoughts, her feelings, and herself. All she was sure of was that she had buried Rainbow Dash the day after she had to kill her. She wanted the body out of her sight; every time she saw it, she’d think of killing herself, she felt as if she didn’t deserve to live.

      Fluttershy also knew that she wouldn’t have to do it herself. She knew there was an 87% chance that she’d die from the infection, but, oddly, the death she so longed for never came. This made no sense; the incubation period was six to twenty four hours, so why wasn’t she showing symptoms? She’d even take her temperature from time to time, but it always read 98.6 degrees. This was truly baffling to the yellow Pegasus. It was as if the virus wasn’t even inside of her. Could it be that she had cleaned out her wound well enough that she wasn’t infected? Could it be something in the sleeping pills? Or maybe, just maybe, she was in fact immune.

     It would be truly incredible if she was, but the odds were staggering. It was simply impossible. She’d never heard of one single immune case. However the yellow Pegasus wanted to be sure of this, before she started running around like she was invincible. So she decided to go to Dr. Shannon’s office.

     The Pegasus opened the wooden door, of her home, and instantly the foul smell of smoke and blood met her nose. She coughed a little and looked around to see that the source of the horrid smell was an overturned car. The bottom of the vehicle was on fire and several dead ponies laid around it. Their blood covered the pavement; they looked as if they’d been ripped apart by something, other than the accident. Fluttershy covered her mouth and hid her eyes from the site. She’d already seen enough spilt blood.

      Fluttershy walked over to her car and jumped into the driver’s seat. It was a red 08 mustang. She quickly started the engine and put it in reverse. She tried her best not to hit one of the deceased ponies on the road, as she backed out. Then she put it in drive and flew down the street.

     As she sped down her road, she looked over at the houses around hers. One was burning down, another had several broken windows and a ripped off door or two, and three were completely burned down. However this wasn’t what frightened her the most; around each of the houses was at least some dead ponies. Some had bullet holes in them; some had foam in their mouths, most had both.

     Fluttershy simply looked away and tried to concentrate on driving. She couldn’t handle seeing anymore dead; she was already in tears. It’s impossible to think that somepony who’s the element of kindness could be in the middle of this.

      As Fluttershy turned a corner, on her way to the center of town, she saw something she’ll never forget. There were hundreds of dead ponies lying in the streets and front yards. Some were wearing camouflage and gas masks. Fluttershy assumed these ones were the military. Others were ponies she knew; ponies she loved.

     She slowed the car and came to a complete stop. Fluttershy stepped out of the vehicle and looked around, with tearful eyes and her hooves at her mouth. Everypony was dead. She scanned the lifeless faces, looking for Twilight’s or Spike’s, but it wasn’t there. Then a bright red bow caught her eye. “Oh my god no!” she screamed, as tears began to run down her face. It was Applebloom. Her eyes were open and her mouth was agape, with a stream of dried, white foam around it.

     Fluttershy quickly turned away from the site and ran back to her car, sobbing. She slid into the driver’s seat and laid her head on the steering wheel. Tears quickly soaked the leather wheel. She just couldn’t believe this was happening. Rainbow Dash was right; this is it.

     After several minutes Fluttershy realized what she had to do. With tears still streaming down her face, she looked up, at the road ahead, and put the vehicle into drive. This was the only way through Ponyville, and she wasn’t about to move a thousand dead bodies. She put her hoof down on the accelerator.

     She hit one pony, then another, and another. Fluttershy then put her hoof down a little more and started to hit pony after pony, every second. She hated what she had to do, but she didn’t have a choice. She needed to get to Canterlot. The blood of her friends and strangers splattered onto her car as she drove over the bodies. Tears still poured down her face as she did this. She hated herself and prayed she wasn’t going to hell for her actions. The bumps seemed to last forever. One after another, she crushed the bones and guts of her friends.

     After what felt like hours the bumps finally stopped, and the splashing of the thick red liquid finally stopped. Fluttershy looked forward and pressed down on the accelerator a bit more. Tears were still falling from her eyes as she drove.

     Fluttershy looked over at the houses around her and saw that a few of them were covered in plastic. It had a bright orange biohazard symbol pasted onto it several times. As she looked over the houses she caught sight of the library. It looked just as it did the day they had to leave. Fluttershy thought for a moment and stopped the car. She had to be sure.

     The yellow Pegasus stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to the door of Twilight’s home. She didn’t want to see what lay inside, but she needed to know. Fluttershy pressed against the wooden door; it easily opened. The stench of death was immediately apparent as she looked into the room. Through the dim light Fluttershy could see something; something she wished she hadn’t. In the corner of the library was Rarity, who was slouched over to one side. Dried blood was splattered across the wall. Fluttershy continued to look around the room, to see Pinkie with a single shot through her chest. Then she saw her. Applejack was off to the side of the room with a pistol by her side. She looked as if she died standing, due to the uncomfortable position she laid in.

     Fluttershy gagged at the site and emptied her stomach onto the floor. This was partially due to the smell emanating from the house as well. Tears were streaming as heavily as they did when she had killed Rainbow Dash. She continued to cry, but still looked back over to Applejack. She looked at the pistol and then trotted over to it. She knew she may need it, after all this world had changed. Fluttershy knelt down beside her friend and took the gun. “I’ll be back for you,” she said with tears soaking her fur.

     Fluttershy walked out of the library and quickly trotted back to her car. She jumped back into the driver’s seat, threw the gun next to her, and gassed it. Tears were still pouring down her cheeks as she sped down the streets of Ponyville. Her vision was blurred, but she could still see where she was going.

     Fluttershy drove for what must have been an hour. As the city came into view, something else did as well. There was a large fence stretched across the highway, with several concrete barricades. She stopped the car and looked at them. Then two ponies, who were wearing gas masks and NBC suits walked out onto the road. They both pointed a gun at Fluttershy as they approached the car. Quickly, but casually, she hid the pistol. One of the ponies walked up to the window and said “This city is under military quarantine. Leave now.” “No, you don’t understand. I work for the EDC,” replied Fluttershy. “You’re still not allowed in ma’am. Now turn around.” “Listen I may know how-“ Just as Fluttershy said that, two military jets flew overhead. The roar of the engines startled Fluttershy, but not as much as what happened next. As Fluttershy watched them, the two jets dropped two missiles, which shot straight for the city. There were two bright flashes. Fluttershy covered her eyes then, after a moment, she put down her hoof and saw two massive mushroom clouds forming over, what was once, Canterlot.

Four Years Later

     “Uh, are you ok?” asked Spike, who was leaning over Fluttershy. “Fluttershy was just staring off into nowhere as she let her thoughts run wild. “Huh?” said a confused Fluttershy, “Oh, sorry Spike, I was just thinking.” “Oh, ok, well Twilight made dinner if you want any.” Fluttershy smiled and replied “I’d like that. Thank you.”

     Fluttershy then arose and trotted into the kitchen, with Spike alongside her. As the pair entered the room, they saw Twilight setting down some plates of daisy sandwiches. “Sorry Spike,” began Twilight, “I don’t exactly have any jewels at the moment.” Spike smiled and walked over to Twilight. “It’s ok honey. Anything you make is wonderful.” Spike then leaned in and kissed her. Twilight blushed slightly and sat down; Spike did the same.

     Fluttershy was just in a daze as she watched the couple. It was going to take her some time to get used to that. “Well, come on Fluttershy. Sit,” offered Twilight. “Oh, of course,” replied Fluttershy, as she made her way over to a chair. The moment that she sat down, they all began to eat; even Spike, who was much more in the mood for sapphire instead.

“So,” began Twilight, “When was the last time you’ve seen anypony?” Fluttershy swallowed a bite of her food and answered “About four years ago. I was trying to get to the EDC in Canterlot, when two ponies stopped me. Then a few seconds later it was bombed… After that I did some home improvements.” “Were they military?” asked Spike. “Yeah,” replied Fluttershy. “Well what about you?” she asked. “Oh, about three months ago. There were two of them. They helped us get out of Fillydelphia, and then we went our separate ways.” “They said there was a safe zone,” Spike said rather bluntly. “A safe zone?” asked Fluttershy, “there is no safe zone. Nothing worked the way it was supposed to... The whole thing just fell apart. Besides what makes you believe them anyways?”

“Faith,” replied Spike.

“Faith? Faith in what? There’s nothing left to have faith in.”

“Faith in god.”

     Fluttershy laughed a little when she heard this. Her actions surprised both Spike and Twilight.

“There is no god. Not after this.”

“No, I think this was just part of god’s plan.”

“This wasn’t part of god’s plan Spike. This was some crazy doctor’s plan.”

“It could be a cleansing.”

“Cleansing? Look around Spike! There is nothing left, but evil! So if this is a cleansing he sure is doing a wonderful job at it!”

“Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “I agree with Spike. I think that this is just a new beginning. And the safe zone is Noah’s ark.”

“There is no safe zone Twilight! You want to know how I know? When RV16 hit there were seven billion ponies in the world! The virus killed 87% of them! Bled out on the floor dead! Then the ones who lived turned into those things! And the immunes, that’s us, were exterminated by those things! We are all that’s left!”

“You don’t know that,” replied Twilight.

“Yes I do! And what kind of god would let this happen!? There isn’t-”

     Suddenly there were several loud howls; it sounded like it was nearby. They were the howls of the infected. Instantly everypony shot out of their seats. “That sounded really close,” said Spike. Fluttershy slowly walked over to a nearby window and peered through the tiny slit. “Oh my god!”