The Trotting Dead

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

"EVERYPONY BACK!" I galloped as the horde got close.

I fired a shot, but that didn't matter now. The pegasi were trying to use thunder clouds to draw them away, but all that did was draw more in. They flew lower to try that way. But they were pulled down and torn apart before they could fly up.

I saw Rainbow kick a Trotter off of her and fly up. She saw me and flew my way.

"Did you see Spike?!" I asked her as we flew for the castle.

"No. The last time I saw him, he was with Rarity yesterday." Rainbow said.

I didn't even answer back. I took turn towards the Boutique. We swung the doors open and I saw that Red was already there. We quickly grabbed a mannequin and placed it in front of the door with a spell. We saw the door slam open as soon as we put the barricade up.

DEWY'S P.O.V

"Now, you wanna look at the dirt. See how the it's all messed up?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, I see it. There's a trail in it." I said.

"Good. Follow it, and soon enough, ya find what you're lookin' for." Daryl said.

I followed the trail and in time, I found something.

Adagio's people.

"Crap! Get back!" I whispered sharply.

Daryl and I hid behind a big thicket of bushes.

"That's them?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah." I said.

We listened to their conversation.

"...I'm just sayin'. We looked this far for what? A boy?! We have bigger things to worry about. How about Atlanta? We saw the Eaters in there! Too many, and food's gonna run out in there." A guard said.

"Yeah, I overheard her talk about that. She said we should try for D.C, maybe that factory nearby. I have no idea, I just heard from my cousin who's one of her Toys." The other said.

"Toys?" Daryl whispered.

"Shh! I'll tell you back at Camp. We let them pass, then we go." I said.

"Wait, did you hear that?" A guard asked.

"Crap..." I whispered as I grabbed my handbow.

"Hey, hey! What're ya doin?!" Daryl whispered.

"Killing them before they kill us." I said as I took my aim.

I pulled the trigger and the guard fell to the ground. I grabbed my machete, rushed out, and decapitated the other. I turned around and saw that they had a truck.

"I got their weapons. You get the truck." I said.

Reluctantly, Daryl got out and checked the truck. He revved the engine and it started.

"Good. Get that thing back to camp, I'll be there soon." I said.

Daryl drove off faster than I can say "Adagio".

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We were locked inside the Boutique with the Trotters trying to get in. I was watching the doors and reinforcing them with either my magic, or more mannequins to brace the door.

"Mostly everypony got inside their houses, there is that, Twilight." Rarity said.

"...I know. It's just... I saw pegasi get pulled down and..." I started.

We were silent as I kept making the door hold. It was getting harder to control. I then felt some of the struggle ease. I looked up and saw Rarity apply her magic to it. Red came up and did the same.

"I told Spike to start finding loud objects and set them off. Once they're all here, the others will come out and take care of them." Red said.

We were silent until I turned to Rarity.

"Where was Spike last night?" I asked her.

DEWY'S P.O.V

I was grabbing the rifle I was given, readying up for the run. I saw Glenn come by with an axe.

"You ready?" I asked him.

"Are you?" Glenn asked.

"I was ready since the sun came up. I've been in Atlanta dozens of times. Never for supplies, but a way to get Adagio off of me." I said.

"Yeah, who is this Adagio? Was she your neighbor or something?" Glenn asked.

"No. She went to my friend's school." I said.

"What was their name?" Glenn asked.

"Does it matter? She's probably dead." I said.

"You should still talk about it, man." Glenn said.

"...Alright. Her name was Sunset Shimmer. I met her a few months before the world went to hell. She was one of the nicest people I've ever met." I said.

"What happened?" Glenn asked me.

"Well, I was home alone when it happened. Someone went up to our door, a neighbor. I opened the door and he said that his wife was attacked. I went to see and... well... she was bitten. None of us knew what it meant until she came back and tore her husband's throat out. That was my first confrontation with an Eater. When I learned that no-one was coming home, I headed out to find help. That was when Adagio came in. I was searching a building with another friend of mine, his name was Dwight. Adagio rolled up with her sisters in the back, and the rest was history. He handed me this and headed off with them. I followed them for scouting, and I saw what I know now..." I said.

"Jesus..." Glenn started as he placed a bag on his back.

"Can we go now?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sure..." Glenn said.

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

We were still holed up inside the Boutique. Spike was able to set noises up and it was working.

Unfortunately for us, we were holding them back.

"There's just too many of them!" Red said.

The Trotters started breaking through the windows.

"Twilight, if we don't get through this, I want you to know that you're a good pony." Red said.

"Red, we WILL get through this!" I said.

The door gave in and we ran upstairs. I grabbed a couch and lodged it between the stairs.

"We have to get out of here." I said.

"Wait! I have an idea. You get the one on the left, I get the right one. We'll need at least two..." Red said as he disbatched a Trotter and pulled in into the safe-zone.

I did the same and we dragged the bodies upstairs.

"You might want to put Spike in another room..." Red said as he grabbed an axe.

"Red, what are you doing?!" I asked.

"Think about it, Twi! They don't attack each other, why? Easy: The smell. They smell dead and we don't. But if we do smell like them..." Red said.

I took a minute to consider this. There are more Trotters inside the house and more are coming.

"Rarity, take Spike into another room. Grab us some bedsheets while you're at it..." I said.

"Um... okay." Rarity said as she took Spike's claw and brought him into another room.

"You have an idea on where he was last night?" Red asked me.

"...Yeah. He was here with Rarity, most likely..." I said.

"That's it? That's all you think?" Red asked.

"No. It's not..." I said as Rarity came back in with bedsheets.

"I also have Spike's pocket knife to cut holes for our heads..." Rarity said.

"Well, get to it." Red said as he swung the axe into a Trotter's stomach.

DEWY'S P.O.V

"You sure about it?" Glenn asked.

"Trust me, I've been on this exact street before. There's a gun store nearby, and it's loaded." I said.

"I hope you're right..." Glenn said.

"Trust me, I am." I said as I loaded my rifle and looked down the street.

"It's clear." I said.

We hopped down and we paced into the store.

I was right, it was loaded...

Of Walkers.

"Damn it! Adagio got to it first!" I said as I slammed the door shut.

The door slam attracted the city on to us, as about 50 Walkers were around us.

"GO!" I said as I went to the roof.

Glenn went to the roof from where we came. The Walkers were pushing on the roof door. I grabbed a board on the door and I shoved it between the hinges. I looked back and saw that Glenn was gone.

He didn't see me go to the roof, and I was hard to see, he must've thought that I was surrounded.

"Damn it..." I cursed as I looked down on the streets and saw that it was infested.

Wait... I have an idea...

TWILIGHT'S P.O.V

Our makeshift ponchos were done. Red was smearing the guts on the ponchos and I only had one thought.

I really had to scratch my nose...

We made our way down the stairs, with Spike at my side.

"Now, when we get out there, no-pony say a word. They might hear us." Red said as he pushed the couch down gently.

We walked out and saw that about the entire herd was inside the Boutique.

We went outside and I stayed while the others went on ahead. I was readying up a spell to start to break down the Boutique. After about a minute, I brought down the Boutique, and most of the herd went with it.

I turned around and saw Rarity glare furiously at me.

"Rarity, it was the only way to stop them. We have other things to worry about now..." I said, pointing at the other houses, with other ponies now walking out.