''How did it come to this...?'' Swift Blade lay on the ground, blood flowing from his left front leg onto the floor, pooling around him, his side was on fire, as pain shot through him, his wounds not healed, and now worse off.

His longsword lay on the ground a few hoof steps away from him, he coughed, spitting blood in front of him. He thought to himself again, ''How did it come to this?''

A figure stood over him, but his vision was so hazy in his pained state, he couldn't make the being out, the being was his attacker, that was all he knew at this moment. Was this how it ended, before it started? The figure raised something over its head, something, sharp looking... and the last few hours flashed through the wounded swordstallion's mind.

Swift Blade trotted next to Vinyl and Big Macintosh, keeping an eye out for any threats, their hooves kicking up slight dust as they walked, There hadn't been any rain in a while, but by the look of the clouds, a rainstorm should hit in a few hours.

The three ponies had just entered Ponyville, their supply run had just begun.

They had expected a whole shitload of zombies to greet them as soon as they entered town, or on the way, but strangely enough, Ponyville seemed even more empty then it should have been. this made them uneasy.

Vinyl broke the tense silence first, ''This is way to weird, where the hell did they all go?''

''Don't know, but we should take advantage of it'' Big Mac said with a slight smile. The big red stallion had pushed his woodcutters axe through the loop of his saddlebag so it didn't muffle his voice when he spoke.

Swift nodded slowly, ''Definitely, but we should remain cautious, just because the area looks clear doesn't mean that its safe.''

Vinyl looked at Swift with slight awe, and respect, ''Whoa, that's smart, but where the buck did you learn that? It sounds like something a Royal Guard might say.''

Swift shook his head, ''Not now, lets focus on this for now.''

Vinyl shrugged, and continued on, the trio approaching the first place on the list, the ponyville market, the market probably had nothing left that was still edible, but it was worth a shot.

Big Mac gazed at several of the stalls in disgust, there was some old candy's in baskets, blood covered the candy and splattered the stall. A single pony leg sat next to the stall, the bone sticking out through the top. It was a sickening sight.
''I don't think anything worth grabbing is here.'' Big Mac said gruffly. Vinyl nodded in agreement.

Swift sighed, ''Your right, lets go.''
A groan interrupted the pony's, and they whirled around, two undead pony's, a Pegasus and a unicorn stood there. The moaning coming from their open gaping mouths.

Swift's eyes widened slightly, ''Oh buck.''

Vinyl's horn flared and a beam of colorful energy shot forward from it, the beam slicing through the Pegasus's head before it had the chance to lunge. A smoking stump was what remained of the undead monsters head now, as the rest of her body crumpled to the ground.

Big Mac and Swift Blade quickly drew their weapons, but Swift was much faster, and lunged, blade pointed forward at the unicorn.

''Eat blade buckhead!'' he swung the longsword diagonal, slicing through the unicorns neck. The severed head hit the ground with a light thunk, as the body took a step forward, trying to reach its goal, before crumpling to the ground, motionless.

Swift took a few steps back, watching the unicorns snapping head as it tried to attack, unaware of its inability to move, he shook his head, and leapt forward swinging the blade in an arc downwards, cleaving through the pony's scull. Blood sprayed up, and some pieces of brain stuck to the sharp blade as Swift yanked the blade free of the now motionless head.

The unicorns eyes were now dull, they had little life in them, but now the split pieces eyes had no life at all.

Swift turned around, panting slightly as he flicked his longsword, flinging some blood and brain chunks off the blade. ''Alright, that's that...'' his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped in horror.

More than ten zombies stood behind Vinyl and Big Mac, groaning and snarling, approaching slowly. Most of the small horde consisted of earth ponies and unicorns, but also a few Pegasus with busted, torn off, or partially consumed wings.

Big Mac and Vinyl had turned to face the horde, ready for the big fight, but it was clear they couldn't take on this many, even with Vinyl's magic.

Big Mac's axe sliced through a nearby earth pony's head, getting caught halfway through, he wrenched at the handle, pulling the axe free, sending scull pieces and brain into the air, his eyes narrowed, as he prepared for the next attacker.

Vinyl's horn glowed again, and the knife in her pack flew out, wrapped in her aura, it flew forward at high speed, embedding itself into the scull's of another zombie pony. The knife withdrew swiftly from the undead mares head, leaving a small slit wound. Vinyl's bloodied knife flew towards another undead, when Swifts voice interrupted her telekinetic action.

''WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!''

Big Mac turned around, a wingless Pegasus falling headless to the ground behind him. ''What the hay are ya'll talking about!?'' A look of confusion on his face.

Swift's sword buried itself in a undead earth pony's face, and he cried out again '' There's way to many to fight, they'll overwhelm us, we need to get out of here before we're cut off!'' he withdrew the blade, letting the body hit the ground beside him.

Vinyl turned from the horde and began to gallop towards Swift Blade, ''He's right Mac, lets get the hell out of here!''

The large red stallion glanced at the horde again, before nodding with an ''Eeyup'' and began following as fast as he could.

Behind the fleeing pony's, the horde followed its prey, their moaning ringing out over the silence of Equestria.

''Shit, their spreading out, now its going to be harder to avoid them.'' Swift muttered.

Vinyl frowned from under her big purple shades, sweat was dripping off her electric blue mane as she spoke, ''We can still do this, those buckers cant be in every corner of Ponyville.''

Swift turned to look at her, his cheeks reddening slightly at their being so close to one another.

The trio had hidden inside a two story building, on like many other houses in ponyville, and were now upstairs, keeping track of the hordes movements.

Big Macintosh was downstairs, keeping an eye on the door, while Vinyl and Swift were upstairs, watching the horde through a large window.

The room was a bedroom, a very basic one too. With not much to decorate it other than a few posters of the Wonderbolts and the Canterlot orchestra hanging up on the walls, and a big plush chair in the corner next to a small fireplace. Swift and Vinyl sat on a little sitting shelf in front of the window, the pillows they sat on were slightly worn, but very comfortable.

Swift forced himself to tear his gaze away from the attractive unicorn, and let out a little sigh.

Vinyl stared at him, slightly puzzled, before touching his shoulder, ''You okay Swift, your acting weird, you catching a cold or something?''

The swordstallion shook his head, and turned back to Vinyl, ''Its... Its just that...I...'' he paused for a second, choosing his words carefully before continuing, ''Vinyl, have you ever been in love with somepony, or had a special somepony?''

Vinyl thought for a minute, looking slightly embarrassed to be asked such a thing, before giving him his answer. ''I've had a few special somepony's in the past, but none of them and me really clicked, and as for love, well...'' she looked down for a second.

Swift mentally facehooved, ''Great, way to make things awkward.'' he smiled at Vinyl, ignoring his burning cheeks, ''Vinyl, look, I really want to tell you something, so will you hear me out?''

Vinyl looked back up, a small grin appearing on her lips, ''Sure''

''Vinyl, I-''

Swift Blade was cut off when Big Mac burst into the room, ''Hey, we need to git out of dodge, a few noticed me looking out a window downstairs and are knocking on the door.''

Swift sighed with slight annoyance at the undead pony's ability to find their prey no matter where they were, and hopped off the shelf, ''Alright, lets go.''

Vinyl followed suit, and trotted after the two stallions.

Rain poured down, obscuring the three pony's view of anything within twenty feet of them, it was a rainstorm Ponyville hadn't seen in years, and with no live Pegasus to control the weather, it was an unavoidable one.

Big Mac grunted, and Swift tried to squint to see farther ahead of them, but to no avail.

Vinyl didn't know any spells that would shield them from the rain, so she hovered a few garbage can lids over herself and her two companions like umbrella's.

Swift may not have been able to see far in this storm, but he knew where he was going. His destination was Twilight Sparkle's Castle, the large glowing castle wasn't hard to miss, but with Twilight being dead now, it wasn't as easy to see in the dark. It was likely empty, and well stocked.

Swift was really hoping that was the case, maybe they could even hole up there, it was a castle after all.

Vinyl nudged Swifts uninjured side, snapping him out of his thoughts, ''Up ahead.''

''What?'' Swift's question was answered by a snarl as a earth pony stallion stumbled towards them, slipping in some muddy parts of the wet ground.
His soggy matted coat was a gold orange color, and his brown mane and tail had once been neatly combed back to make him look like the perfect gentlecolt, now hung around his face like vines, aiding the rain in dripping down him. Three horseshoes sat on his flank, marking the now rotted monster to be Caramel, one of Swift's good friends and a face you would often see around town.

Swift sighed, his voice filled with regret and sorrow, before drawing his blade, and trotting carefully over to Caramel, and switching the longsword over to his hooves and staring at Caramel for a few seconds, long enough for the zombie stallion to get closer.

''Goodbye Caramel, maybe I'll see you again someday.'' With those words, Swift reared up on his hind legs, and brought his sword down on Caramel's scull, slicing through it and stopping halfway through.

Swift yanked the sword up fast, so it wouldn't get stuck in the dead pony's scull, brain chunks flying up around him, as Caramels body fell to the muddy ground, and lay still.

Swift looked down at the body of his dead friend for a while, before Vinyl tapped him on the shoulder, giving him a soft smile. ''Come on, lets go.''

Swift nodded, ''Yeah.'' before looking back at Caramel one last time, and giving the body a sad smile.

The ponies then turned back and continued their journey to the castle.

Swift had seen the inside of the great castle before, but no matter how many times he saw it, he was always filled with a sense of wonder and adventure whenever he saw it.

Twilight and him had been good friends before the beginning of the end after all, so she sometimes brought him here to help her with experiments or to show him new books.

Now however, the castle felt wrong. It still had the same effect on him, but now it felt devoid of happiness, the complete opposite of what it normally felt like.

Vinyl's mouth was slightly ajar, her expression one of amazement and bewilderment, as she swung her from side to side, trying to absorb as much of the castles interior as the ponies trotted through the large crystal hallways.

Swift found this to be quite cute, but figured not to say anything that would wreak the mood.

Big Mac trotted on Swift's other side, his eyes scanning for any possible threats, even though Swift had told him that nopony was in here,

After all, the only one's allowed inside were the Elements of Harmony, Spike the dragon, Swift, Discord, and Starlight Glimmer.
The elements were either dead, undead and roaming around outside, or back at Sweet Apple Acres, Discord was in Canterlot last anypony heard, and Starlight had gone with him to meet with an old friend, but Spike hadn't been seen since the outbreak began.

Swift Blade was only slightly worried by this, but figured if Spike wasn't here, he would have gone to look for his friends, and maybe was still alive, but Swift highly doubted this, there wasn't exactly a lot of ponies or any other species left.

Swift Blade finally stopped in front of one of the many large doors, which looked like any other to Vinyl and Big Mac, and pushed it open with a hoof.

The room was a large pantry, filled with all sorts of great food and other goodies, which made Swift salivate at the sight.
Slowly entering the pantry, the three pony's began to grab as many cans, and other non perishable goods as they could, shoving said items into their bags.

''There's more food here then we can carry!'' Vinyl's happy voice rings out through the silence of the room, and Swift grinned, as he continued to snatch cans and dump them into his saddlebags, spotting some hay fries and a couple boxes of other good food, he shoved them into his bags as well, filling them up.

Big Mac's gruff voice rang out in the silence of the room, ''What the hay are we gonna do now that our bags are full?''

Swift trotted out from behind one of the shelves, ''Lets try and find some medical supplies and better weapons before we leave. Mac, as the strongest your going to have to carry most of it, but me and Vinyl will protect you on the way back.''

Macintosh grunted with an ''Eeyup'' before turning and heading out of the room, his pack quite full looking.

Swift turned around, as Vinyl trotted over to him, ''Lead the way.'' she grinned.

It took a while, but they finally found the armory, it was locked however, it was always locked Twilight had once told Swift, as weapons were not something she was fond of, not to mention friendship was the main point of the castle, so anything in the armory was meant as a last resort.

''Damn it.'' Vinyl groaned, ''Now we have to find a bucking key!?''

''Eeyup'' Big Mac nodded.

Swift sighed, ''I should have remembered, oh well, lets go find that damn key.''

With that, the trio turned and began down the hallway once more.
Their hoofsteps were the only sounds in the empty castle, devoid of any other noises. at this point, Swift would have given anything to even hear the noise of a zombie groan, but there was no other sounds.

Suddenly, Swift's eye caught something in one of the rooms, its doors wide open, and he halted.

He ran into the room, it was a library, which didn't completely surprise him as the former owner loved books.

A small crumpled form lay against the far wall, its purple scales covered in blood. A combat knife stuck out of the crumpled purple form's head, like a sore thumb, signaling the little creature was dead.
Swift poked at the body, it didn't move. Swift's gaze moved over the blood covered body, sadness in his gaze.

Spike.

The poor little baby dragon lay on the ground, covered in his own blood, with the knife embedded in his head, his eyes faded and dark, as if the light from his eyes had been extinguished. It was obvious that when the knife entered his brain it took a few seconds before all functions ceased.

Big Mac and Vinyl's steps entered the room, and Swift heard Vinyl let out a little gasp, ''Oh damn, is that Spike? Oh Faust...'' Vinyl had seen the baby dragon around Ponyville many times, not to mention he was kind of famous, so it wasn't hard to recognize him.

''Yeah...its Spike...''Swift let out another sigh, and something caught his eye. ''What the...''

A piece of papyrus lay clutched in one of the dead dragons claws, Swift couldn't tell, but it seemed to have writing on it.

''What's he holding?'' Vinyl asked, noticing Swift's gaze.

Swift reached out, taking the paper, but Spike's claws remained grasping it tightly, ''Damn it, rigor mortis.'' Swift grumbled, using one hoof to try and pry the baby dragons cold dead claws up while using the other front hoof to grab the note. After a few seconds of struggling, Swift pulled the note free from Spike's grasp and held it up to his eye level.

''Should I read it out loud?'' Swift asked his companions, moving his gaze to them for a second.

''Eeyup''

''go for it''

Swift nodded, and began to read:

''I'm so sorry, forgive me Twilight, and please forgive me Rarity, I couldn't protect you, or anypony, I've failed. I always believed in zombies, but never thought of what could really happen if they did appear in Equestria, I regret that now. Twilight, if there's a cure, I hope somepony can find it and use it on you, you never deserved this. Rarity, I tried so hard to protect you, and I wish I had tried harder, maybe I could have prevented you from being bitten, I had no choice, I had to kill you, just so you wouldn't have to become one of them. It was the only thing I could do...forgive me.''

Vinyl lowered her head, ''That explains what bashed her head in when we saw her corpse. Dear Celestia, that's...sad.''

Big Mac simply sighed.

Swift had his suspicions when he saw the blade in Spikes head, after all, the first place Spike would have gone was to find and protect Rarity, after all, it was obvious he was in love with her.

Pushing the thoughts away, he continued to read:

''If there's anypony left out there, please find a cure, or something, and save my friends. Please. I've been bitten now too, I can feel the virus or whatever it is in me now, I started coughing, and soon I was spitting up blood, my eyes have become bloodshot, I wont last much longer, I have the key to the armory, do what I couldn't, save Equestria, or at the very least, live. Goodbye, may Celestia forgi...''

Blood covered the rest of the note, rendering it unreadable, but enough had been read.

Swift lowered the note and let it drop lazily to the floor. he lowered his head, in respect for the dead dragon, ''Rest in peace Spike, may you meet up with your friends again someday.''

Big Mac slowly trotted over to the dead dragon and looked him over, before spotting the key, shaped like a shield, laying a few hoofsteps away from Spike. He reached out, and picked the key up in a hoof, while also pulling the combat dagger out of Spikes scull with a squelch, ''Well, lets go, we cant stay here forever'' He said.

Lifting their heads, Vinyl and Swift nodded their heads, and followed the red stallion out of the room.

There was enough weapons to arm a small army, but what else did they expect? Vinyl held another magic spear in hoof, it had Pinkies name inscribed on the handle. ''Wow, Pinkie sure has a lot of magic spears''

Swift nodded from the other side of the room, as he stared at a couple swords, and a few longswords.
Big Mac had a one sided war axe in one hoof, ''These will really cut through the undead bastards ranks'' He let a small grin crawl over his face.
All the swords and longswords were very plain, and not as sharp as Swifts, so he ignored them, he had to find some good weapons for Pinkie and Apple Jack.

''Hey, I think AJ will like this'' Big Mac called out, Swift turned to look at the farm stallion, who was holding a Warhammer, made for crushing and bashing. Swift nodded and went back to searching, he spotted a few more combat knives and stuffed two in his pack. Vinyl suddenly tapped Swift Blade's shoulder, causing the stallion to jolt.

''Heh, sorry, um, I found this, you want some?'' She smiled at him, holding a bottle of water in her magic.

Swift smiled, ''Yeah, I could use a drink, thanks.'' he started to reach out to take the bottle, but Vinyl moved the bottle towards his mouth, unscrewing the cap and letting it drop to the ground.

Swift's eyes widened, as she levitated the bottle into his mouth, and tilted it, letting the water flow into his mouth. He relaxed, and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks.

Vinyl lifted the bottle after a few seconds and capped it, grinning at Swifts embarrassment.

Swift smiled, and pointed at the exit, ''Come on, we got enough, lets go, come on Mac! Lets hit the road!''

The three ponies walked out of the room, and began to walk back the way they had come down the hall, but slowly, drowsiness began to infect the trio.

''Crap, are you guys beginning to feel tired?'' Vinyl asked, her voice seemly more lazy.

''Yeah, we should find a place to sleep, we haven't slept in a while.'' Swift responded.

It was true, the survivors hadn't slept in quite some time, and they were beginning to feel the effects.

''I think one of the bedrooms is behind this door'' Swift said, before stopping in front of one of the large doors. ''Vinyl, you can sleep in here, me and Mac will find another room.''

''Aw, thanks Swift, that's really nice of you. Goodnight you two, or whatever you would call it now'' Vinyl said with a grin, and suddenly was in the open doorway, using her magic to close it behind her.

Swift smiled, and turned to Big Mac, ''Lets go.''

''Eeyup'' Big Mac replied, turning to a door across the room, ''Is this a bedroom?''

Swift trotted over to the door and pushed it open, ''No, its a living room, but the couches should do.''

Closing the door behind them, Swift and Big Mac set down their heavy packs, and headed over to separate couches.

Swift's was a pink fluffy looking one, with a few comfy looking pillows on it, while Mac's was a green one, with one big pillow on the edge.

Settling down on his, pulling all his legs up onto it, and laying his head against the pillows, he felt himself slowly drifting off, making him realize just how long it had been since he had had a good sleep. his eyes closed fully, and his mind began to fade out to black, Swift Blade smiled, before he lost conscious.

Groggily opening his eyes, Swift slowly woke from his sleep, blinking a few times until his eyes adjusted, and raised his head up to look around. ''Big Mac...?''

The red farm stallion was nowhere to be seen. All the gear was still lying on the ground near the couch, meaning that they hadn't abandoned Swift, which meant Big Mac might have left to find a washroom, or go back to the pantry and grab a bite to eat as not to use up any of the food they had grabbed.

Swift Blade slowly lifted himself to his feet, rubbing his eyes with a yawn, and hopped down from the couch, his hoofs crushing a few pillows that had fallen from the couch while he had been resting.

''I better go check on Vinyl, see if she's okay.'' The swordstallion said to nopony in particular, before trotting out of the room, quietly pushing the large door open, and stepping into the hall.

He stood in front of Vinyl's room, perking his ears to see if he could hear anything, but to no avail, he took a few steps forward, and reached for the door when a thought hit him, ''You cant just walk in unannounced into a mare's room! That's like being a pervert or something!''

Catching himself, Swift knocked on the door with his hoof a few times, before taking a step back and listening again.
No grunts of being jolted awake, nor hoofsteps walking over to the door greeted him, so he knocked again.

Silence...

Swift pressed an ear up close to the door, listening for any snores or breathing, but was once again, greeted with nothing.

Fear creeping into his mind, Swift burst through the doors, and was shocked to find an empty room, he ran over to the bed, and found her bag next to a large rainbow colored bed, signs of Vinyl having slept here recently were obvious due to the rumpled sheets and the lump in the pillow.

Swift started calming himself down, trying to think of logical reasons of why both his friends were missing, maybe they had both gotten hungry and went to grab some food, or maybe they had decided to explore and find some medical supplies.

Swift exited the empty bedroom, and trotted back into the living room. He strapped his longsword onto his back, just as a precaution, and headed down the hallway, eyeing a door that hadn't been open before, he poked his head inside. It was a small infirmary room, filled with IV's, a few folding beds, and some selves and cabinets.

A healing potion sitting on one of the shelves caught his eye and he grabbed it in his hooves, ''Maybe this can heal my side completely'' he wondered aloud, before shaking his head, ''Focus, you have to find Vinyl and Big Macintosh!'' His mind shouted at him. He began to leave the room, since nopony was there, but stopped abruptly.

The door hadn't been open before, so why was it now? Swift looked back, and noticed a lack of medical tools. ''That cant be good.'' He thought, and exited the room.

Upon his exit, he spotted something down the hall, he quickly made his way over to it, and felt his jaw, drop slightly, and a great fear began to rise inside of the stallion.

Lying shattered upon the ground, were Vinyl's purple shades, shards lying scattered around it.

Swift spotted another object lying a little farther down the hallway, and he sprinted towards it, hoping that what he was thinking wasn't true.
he skidded to a halt, and his fearful thoughts, suddenly became a reality.

Big Mac's war axe lay there, staring up at Swift.

Mac wouldn't have just left it there, nor would he have dropped it and not have noticed. Something, or somepony, must have jumped him, and Swift had to assume the latter. There was no blood, and that meant whatever had jumped the two ponies wanted them alive for the time being.

Swift began to sprint, in the direction the items had pointed him, and soon found himself in front of one large door. Swift had never been through this door, but had a hunch of what would be behind it, when he had toured the castle, Twilight had told him it led to the basement, and since no sounds reached up here, the basement was the perfect place to hold prisoners.

Swift slowly pushed open the door, trying to make as little noise as possible, wincing as a loud creak echoed out as the door swung open.
It was very dark, but a lit lantern hung on a hook next to the door, proving that somepony was down there.

Swift unhooked the lantern and clenched it in his mouth, and slowly began making his way down the stairs, leading him deeper into the darkness.

The lantern's light shined around Swift, illuminating everything within about eight hoofsteps in front of him, he felt a chill run up his back, but continued, determined to find his friends, no matter how creepy the basement seemed.

His hoofsteps clacking against the stone stairs were the only thing he could hear in the silence of the castle, next to the loud pounding in his chest.

After what felt like hours of climbing down that long flight of stairs, Swift Blade finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and found himself in a better lit area, with torches that had been lit recently flickering on the walls around him. He lowered the lantern to the floor, its purpose complete, and started trotting into the next room, wary, as he slowly unsheathed his sword and held it in front of him.

Using the blade, he pushed open the door leading to the next room, and stepped inside, checking both sides of the doorway, the room seemed clear, so he took a few steps inside.

WHACK!

Swift let out a cry of agony as something wacked him in the side. He stumbled forward, almost dropping his sword, and whirled around to face his attacker.

The figure was standing in the darkness, so Swift couldn't make out any details, only that it was a pony.

The figure moved quickly, taking Swift off guard, and swung a hoof at Swifts face, connecting with a SMACK!

Swift fell back, letting out another cry, before turning and running towards the next room, he could hear his attacker galloping after him.

Swift's plan worked, and he suddenly turned back and took a swing at the pony, the pony jumped back to avoid the blade, and Swift dashed forward and bashed the pony over the head with the hilt of his sword, then turned, switching the sword to his mouth, he galloped into the next room.

His sword dropped to the ground, and he let out a gasp of horror and relief, quickly realizing why there had been no shouts for help.

Vinyl was strapped to one of the stone walls, her legs splayed in a star shape, revealing her nether regions. Her mouth gagged by a big gray piece of sticky tape. Several large cuts and bruises were scattered around her body, blood running down the mare. Her red eyes were filled with tears, as she silently sobbed to herself.

''Vinyl!'' Swift cried out, and ran towards her, his weapon forgotten.

She looked up, her eyes filling with joy, and she struggled against her bonds.

''Hold on, I'll get you down!'' Swift turned around to retrieve his weapon, and caught a glimpse of the pony who attacked him, before something hit the side of his head and he collapsed.

Author's Note

Alright, I bet most of the readers can guess who attacked Swift, but you'll just have to find out in the next chapter.

Please keep hitting the like button.

ENJOY!