Equestria: The Trotting Dead

As dawn broke the next morning, I checked the ammo in Celestia’s rifle. Only one shot was fired, my first shot on that one trotter. Celestia had fallen asleep as I took watch. I suddenly heard a loud curse.

“DAMN IT!!!” a female voice yelled. Celestia woke up with a jolt, and I gave her the rifle. I pulled out The Liberator as I jumped off the RV, and I ran off toward the sound of the yell. Vinyl and Pinkamena followed me, shotguns at the ready. At a section of trail, we found a dead trotter next to an animal corpse. A mare in a cloak was pounding its face in. I put The Liberator away as Vinyl and Pinkamena lowered their shotguns.

“Fuck you, you son of a bitch!” the mare cursed. “Don’t ever touch my kill again!”

“You OK, Rainbow?” Pinkamena asked.

“No, I’m not fucking OK!” Rainbow Dash shouted, removing her hood. “I found this damn trotter feasting on my kill. I was gonna bring it back to camp, get a fire started, and have some meat for a change.” Rainbow turned her head, and her furious expression faded as she saw me.

“Braveheart?” she gasped. “Is…is that actually you?”

“He walked into Fillydelphia yesterday,” Vinyl said. “I had to save his ass after he got trapped in a tank. We all escaped and he came back to camp with us.” Rainbow Dash dropped her crossbow and tackled me. She squeezed the air out of me in a tight hug, and I returned the embrace. Rainbow Dash was crying, much to the surprise of Vinyl and Pinkamena. When Rainbow Dash finally let go, I stood up and patted her shoulder.

“Good to see you too, Rainbow,” I said with a smile. Rainbow smiled back and picked up her crossbow.

“How’d you survive?” Rainbow Dash asked as we walked back to camp.

“Apparently, Luna put me on life support,” I said. “She wanted me to live until I woke up.”

“Well, I’m very happy that she did that,” Rainbow sighed. As we walked into the camp, Celestia and the others waved. Rainbow’s smile faded.

“Where’s Lightning Dust?” she asked. “Where is she!?”

“Darling, please don’t freak out,” Rarity pleaded. “But we lost her.”

“What do you mean, lost her?!” Rainbow Dash raged.

“Back in Fillydelphia, she was causing problems,” Vinyl said. “Braveheart had to cuff her to the roof.”

“You cuffed my friend to a damn roof?!” Rainbow Dash cried, advancing on me.

“I went back for her,” I stopped. “But all I found was a bloody hacksaw and her severed hoof. She branded the wound with an iron to stop the bleeding, and I lost her from there. I’m sorry, Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash was pissed, but she lowered her knife. I gave her a hard glare as she walked back to her tent. I sighed and shook my head. Remedy walked up to me.

“She’s always had an explosive temper,” she said. “Ever since you were hospitalized, she hasn’t been the same.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” I quietly said. I flew back up to Celestia and sat down.

“Has Rainbow done anything else that was rash?” I asked.

“She lashed out at Scootaloo a couple times, threatening to kill her,” Celestia said. “Called her handicapped and stupid.”

“She wasn’t drinking, was she?” I asked.

“Actually, she was,” Celestia said. “She was very drunk. We got rid of the alcohol after that.”

“Figures,” I muttered. I heard a knock on the RV. I looked down to see Vinyl and Pinkamena.

“Ready for that run?” Vinyl asked.

“Yeah,” I said. I hopped down off the RV and walked over to Remedy and Midnight.

“I’ll be back,” I assured.

“Be careful,” Remedy begged.

“I will,” I said. We kissed, and I got into the back of the delivery truck with Pinkamena. A hole had been made in the divider between the cab and the storage space, so the driver could see what was going on. Vinyl started up the engine, and we were on our way.

“You brought the shotguns, right?” Vinyl asked Pinkamena.

“They’re in the back,” Pinkamena said. I checked beside me, and sure enough, there were two shotguns on the floor with an ammo bag next to each one.

“So Vinyl,” I asked. “What were you doing when the outbreak hit?”

“Tavi and I were at home,” Vinyl said, a sad tone in her voice. “I was asleep on the couch when Tavi heard a pounding on the door, and she thought it was somepony knocking. She opened the door…” Vinyl paused. “…and the trotter attacked her. She screamed and I woke up. I turned to see the trotter tearing out flesh from her throat. I grabbed the knife I kept on hoof and stabbed that fucker in the face. I stabbed it so many times, when I was too tired to throw another swing, I lost track.” Vinyl sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye.

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Tavi woke up again a few hours later, but she tried to attack me,” Vinyl continued. “I had no choice but to kill her.”

“All right, enough grim talk,” Pinkamena said. “We’re here.” I opened up the back of the truck and looked at where we were. In front of the truck was an abandoned supermarket.

“Grab whatever food, ammo, and medical supplies you can find,” Pinkamena said. “It goes in the bags. Anything personal stays with you. We meet back at the truck when your bags are full or you’ve checked every isle and there’s nothing left. If you see a trotter, don’t bother with your gun unless there’s a lot of them. If a gun is fired, run to the shot.” We split up and began searching the market. I stepped down the frozen food isle, hoping to find something. All the freezer doors were ajar, with little in them. I suddenly felt that frozen food would be useless. I walked into the next isle, and felt a muzzle put to my head.

“Don’t try anything,” a feminine voice threatened. “Just put your bag down and walk away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said firmly, not moving. Since my magic was already engulfed around the bag, I quietly took hold of The Liberator.

“Put the bag down now,” the mare hissed. I stayed still. I suddenly felt the muzzle press against my head again, and I heard the cock of the hammer. My eyes widened.

“OK, OK,” I agreed. I slowly put down the bag. Without warning, I whipped around and pulled out The Liberator while knocking the other gun away. I pointed the gun at the mare, and was shocked to find out who it was.

“Twilight?!” I cried.

“Braveheart?” Twilight gasped. “Is that you?”

“What the hell are you doing putting a gun to my head?!” I scolded.

“Sorry,” Twilight sheepishly said. “I’ve been pretty edgy since this all happened.” She picked up her pistol and put it back in her holster. Twilight looked quite different, but she still had the same eyes and mane, so I knew it was her. Twilight’s mane was spiked up, she wore a white bandage on her head, as well as an eyepatch on her left eye. Her back left hoof was mechanical, as was her horn. She wore a skintight black suit. I looked her over with worry.

“What the hell happened to you, Twilight?” I asked. “You look pretty messed up.”

“Magical mishaps,” Twilight simply said.

“Yeah, go figure,” I mumbled. “So, have you just been living here, in the supermarket?”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “It’s been really easy, what with all the food and supplies here.”

“And nopony’s noticed you until now?” I asked, shocked.

“No,” Twilight responded. “I’ve managed to stay pretty well hidden with some invisibility spells and whatnot.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re alive,” I said. “You should come back to camp with us.”

“What do you mean us?” Twilight wondered. We suddenly heard cocks of a shotgun. We whipped around to see Vinyl and Pinkamena pointing their shotguns at us.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I cried, standing up. “What are you doing?!”

“Did I not specifically tell you not to converge with other ponies?” Pinkamena demanded.

“No!” I said. “You said nothing of the sort. It’s Twilight Sparkle, for Celestia’s sake! Can’t you recognize a pony?” Pinkamena took a closer look, then lowered her weapon. Twilight stood up, a bit shaken.

“Sorry about that,” Vinyl said. “Pinkamena hasn’t been the same since the outbreak.” Pinkamena rolled her eyes and turned around.

“Come on, Braveheart,” she said. “We need to get back to camp. Bring Twilight if you want.” I silently growled at Pinkamena. I picked up my empty bag and walked back to the truck. Twilight and I hopped in the back, and Pinkamena took the wheel. Vinyl pulled a pair of expensive headphones from her personal bag.

“Damn, Vinyl,” I said. “Where’d you find those?”

“Near the back,” Vinyl said. “I lost my other headphones in my hurry to get out of Canterlot, so I decided to look for another pair.”

“Hope that decision didn’t interfere with your search for food and supplies,” Pinkamena grumbled. Vinyl shot Pinkamena a dirty look as I shut the cargo door. Pinkamena started up the truck and drove off to the camp.

“I never heard back from Princess Celestia after the outbreak,” Twilight said. “Is she OK?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “She’s fine. She’s at the camp as our watchpony. But she said when the outbreak hit, she lost her royal status. So she’s not a princess anymore.”

“But she’s OK?” Twilight asked again, excited.

“Yes,” I said. “Celestia’s fine.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Twilight sighed.

“You two lovebirds getting it on back there?” Pinkamena joked.

“You know what? Fuck you, Pinkamena,” I said. “Just because you quit partying doesn’t mean you can be an asshole. Geez.” Pinkamena slammed on the brakes, jolting Vinyl, Twilight and I forward.

“Who are you calling an asshole?” Pinkamena stormed.

“You,” I retorted. “There’s no need to be that way just because there’s nopony else to party with.” At that Pinkamena threw open her door and stomped to the back. She flung open the cargo door and threw me out of the truck. I hit the hard dirt road as Pinkamena got back into the truck and drove off.

“GET BACK HERE, BITCH!!!” I yelled after her. The truck didn’t stop. I swore at Pinkamena under my breath and took flight back to camp.

When I reached camp, Remedy was worried. I landed in a fury and stomped to my tent, not bothering to stop for Remedy or Midnight. I forcefully zipped the tent shut and flopped down, furious.

“Braveheart?” Remedy called.

“Go away,” I huffed.

“Are you OK?”

“I said to go away. Leave me alone.”

“Braveheart, please,” Remedy pleaded. “Let me talk to you.” I angrily unzipped the tent, and Remedy walked in. She zipped up the tent behind her, and sat down next to me.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Pinkamena’s being a little bitch,” I cursed.

“OK, for one, there’s no need to swear,” Remedy said. “Pinkamena’s just mad, that’s all.”

“Oh, mad enough to throw me out the back of the truck and leave me for the trotters?” I raged. “That’s what she did, Remedy!”

“Calm down, Braveheart,” Remedy soothed. “Just give Pinkamena her space.” Remedy left the tent as I rolled onto my side. I closed my eyes to try and get some rest.