Rotting Away

Twilight shut the book, just after the last group returned. It was by far the largest. It started with Applejack and Rarity, leading in a large group, including Bon-Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Colgate, Time Turner, Dinky Hooves, Derpy Hooves, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and the nurses and doctors from the hospital.

The Crusaders all joined one another, among their classmates, who’d all come in at one time or another with their parents. Cheerilee was playing her role as mediator nicely, keeping the peace among the children. The way things looked now, reminded Twilight of her first night in Ponyville, when the whole town had gathered for her party. It tied a knot in her throat, thinking that such a wonderful memory was linked to this event. Twilight stepped up the stairs, to the loft overlooking the center of the library. Looking over Ponyville, her home for so many years, Twilight drew in a small breath.

“As some of you know, I left recently to help Princess Celestia uncover the secrets of a shroud that fell over one of our towns.” Twilight started strong, but her eyes fell to Applejack. Performing a quick breathing exercise, she relaxed herself and braced for the next words. “The town of Appleloosa fell silent recently. Princess Celestia and I went to investigate.” Applejack’s eyes widened, terrified. The other Apples looked no less miserable at the uttering of those words.

“When we arrived, we found the entire settlement abandoned. There were signs of a large scale fight, spanning the entire town. Upon searching further, Princess Celestia and I discovered a pack of monsters responsible for the attack. We don’t know how many, if any, survived…” And there was the point that stopped her. Twilight’s voice caught and she choked a bit, trying to hold back her tears. She could see Applejack clearly, her and her family crumbling under the news. “But… I have hope that the resourceful ponies of Appleloosa are okay. They were a smart bunch and wouldn’t easily fall…

“The creatures will head this way next. I was ordered to return to Canterlot, but my magic would only take me to the Everfree Forest before I needed to rest. This meant I was free to stop and gather all of you. We will be taking the Friendship Express to Canterlot, where it’s safer.” She shook away all uncertainty, adopting the royal stature she’d spent years building up. “I will personally escort you all.” The crowd was muttering, worried and anxious, but they trusted the Princess’ decision.

Twilight nodded off the balcony to her friends, acquaintances and neighbors, turning to her assistant who rested beside her bed. Spike was still fast asleep, as hard to wake up as ever. Walking over, Twilight nudged him up.

“Spike. Spike, get up.” Twilight spoke softly, nudging Spike with her hoof. The baby dragon rolled in his small bed, but looked up to Twilight. He hadn’t grown much in the past two years, but the signs of draconic aging were clear. He was taller, less rounded and was growing into his body. He’d become greedier in the past year, but nothing Twilight couldn’t manage.

“Morning already?” He rubbed his eyes, stretching as he pulled himself up. After a brief pause, he looked out the window. “It’s way too dark to be morning. When did you get back, Twilight?” After another short pause, Spike noticed Twilight’s bandaged wing. “What happened? Are you okay?!” He hopped up, flaring with concern. Twilight couldn’t help but reflexively smile at his worry; her number one assistant, worried about her well being.

“Don’t worry about it, Spike. It’s not important right now. Get up and gather your things. We need to go.” Twilight turned, but smiled back at the dragon. “Everything will be fine. Everypony is coming with us.” She knew Spike would be fine; Twilight had only truly said that to calm herself. Spike was confused, but jumped up to start packing. Twilight trotted down the steps, and waded into the crowd of ponies, ponies who she’d come to know and love. “All right everypony; the train will wait, but don’t take too long. Be sure you have everything you need before you go. Worry about things that are urgently important and, above all, what you need to survive. Everypony should pack food and supplies for the trip.” She started out the door, waiting just outside. “Does everypony understand?”

A long silence lingered over the group as they crossed the deserted city. Pinkie Pie bounced alongside Fluttershy, trying to keep smiling as she peered over her friend’s mane at Sugarcube Corner. Applejack walked side by side with her family, huddled close to fight off worry about one another. They knew this storm would be a hard one to face, but they’d survive, like they always did.

Rarity looked over her shop, her life’s work, frowning slightly. She hoped it would be there, after all was said and done. Rainbow gazed over the whole town, her home away from home where she’d enjoyed her work and company. Cloudsdale was so very far away now, but Ponyville always held more tightly than there. Besides, Twilight had assured her, from the beginning, that Cloudsdale was safe, if only for now. Fluttershy turned her eyes to the forest. She was watching for the animals, stricken with worry and regret. She hadn’t gotten to say goodbye to all of them, after all. All the others gazed at their homes and places they held dear, wondering if they’d ever see it all again.

Twilight, leading the procession, stopped and looked back over the residents of Ponyville. And in them all, she saw a job well done. They had moved quickly, stocked themselves up and gotten to the train quicker than she’d planned. While this wasn’t the best situation, the ponies she loved had their health. That was what mattered, in the end.

The conductor had, naturally, already been warned of the situation and knew what needed to be done. While he didn’t know the whole story, he knew Ponyville needed to be evacuated to Canterlot, now. The train already had passengers on it, ponies who were simply trying to travel. Loading the town on only crowded the train further, packing it to uncomfortable levels as the locomotive started up, getting ready to head on its way.

The ride to Canterlot would be long, arduous and boring, but Twilight was just glad it was safe. She sighed as she walked to the caboose, wanting to be with her friends. They had been granted some extra space in the back cart, at Twilight's request. It made things more uncomfortable up front, but Twilight needed to bring them to speed on what was happening. They deserved to know. The car door opened and Twilight walked in, looking to her friends with a mixture of sadness and worry.

“Twilight!” Applejack’s voice made Twilight twitch. She rarely used that tone, unless she was being very serious or was seriously angry. And her posture made it impossible to tell which she was, right now. “Why didn’t you tell me about Appleloosa!? Why’d you keep that from me?” She was crying, only making Twilight's guilt worse. Applejack had been strong for her family, but now she had caved in, under the care of her friends.

“I didn’t want to worry you before everypony was there. It was better that you gathered everypony with a level head and not be stressed needlessly.” Twilight walked in, offering a hug for her friend. “I’m really sorry. I kept an eye out for Braeburn, but I didn’t see him anywhere…”
She sighed. Now was a good a time as any. “Which, considering what we’re up against, is a good thing.” Applejack leaned back from the hug, planting her hooves down properly.

“What do you mean by that, Twi? How is not seein’ somepony in the middle of a monster attack a good thing?” The others all stared at Twilight, sharing the confusion. Twilight glanced around, wanting to make sure Spike wasn’t in the room. She wasn’t in the mood for antics.

“When Celestia and I arrived at Appleloosa, the town was empty, yes. But the orchard had been overrun by…” She trails off, knowing the next part would sound crazy. “… Something close to zombies. The walking dead, certainly. It was a terrible thing to see.” The other girls draw back, gasping at the news. Applejack paled, looking as though she’d be sick. “This is why I’ve been keeping it a secret. Panic will spread like wildfire if ponies knew what we were up against. And I don’t even know that much about them, aside from the fact that they act loosely like zombies.” She frowned, shifting in place.

“Their bite is infectious, I bet, and we can assume it is always lethal. They can only be destroyed by complete annihilation, head trauma or…” Twilight trailed off. Equestria, for the most part, was a place of peace. Violence here was kept to a minimum and rarely ever was spoken of. And here she was, about to utter the word ‘decapitation’ to a room full of her friends. Silently, she shook her head, deciding to leave that bit out. “Anyway… If my memory serves, each story about zombies is different. Sometimes the cause of the disease is airborne. Sometimes it’s magical. Other times it’s only from being bitten. They seemed to be driven by some kind of dark magic, but I don’t know how the disease or spell is spread.

“And even worse, we don’t know how they work. There were many kinds of zombies in fictional media. Spike would say things about ‘Sprinters’ and ‘Screechers’ and other one-word names ending in ‘ers’. He’d even separate zombies that rely on sound from ones that smell blood. We don’t even know what this will do to Pegasi or Unicorns; only Earth Ponies… We have no idea what we’re up against here.” Twilight felt her gut twist, her nerves getting to her. “What I’m saying is, this is a worst case scenario. I feel like I'm flailing at air here, guessing at these monsters and what they can do.”

A pause lingered over the room. Applejack was looking just as pale as ever when she spoke. “T-Twi, you came back alone. What… h-happened to Princess Celestia?” Her fear was mirrored by the others, as they grasped the implication. Rarity looked like she was on the brink of fainting.

“We were separated. She said she would head to Canterlot after I ran away. I don’t know what happened to her…” Looking down, Twilight let her strong demeanor crumble. She was worried sick about Celestia and had been burying herself in planning and work to make herself forget. But now she couldn’t anymore. It was all there, out in the open and she couldn’t turn a blind eye from it now. “The Everfree Forest should slow them down. We can make it to Canterlot before the swarm and brace a defense. Perhaps send out rescue parties to the cities and build up a barrier to hold them off. Then we can-” Twilight blinked, feeling forelegs wrapped around her. All five had moved to hold her, and each other, for comfort.

“It's okay, Twilight.” Pinkie’s voice was easy to hear, even if she was blocked out by other ponies.

"Yeah, you'll figure this all out." Rainbow put in. She sounded confident and proud, as always. It was a bolstering thing, to hear her so strong.

“Thanks everypony.” Twilight leaned back from the group, smiling. She looked back to the door, letting out a little sigh. “I should get back to them. When I’m around, they feel safer. Calm, even.” The princess smiled back to her friends, who looked nervous, but confident at the same time; a contradiction if Twilight ever saw one. But she wasn’t upset with it at all. It was refreshing, as it had always been. She knew her friends well and, once things calmed down, they would become their avant-garde selves again.

Walking into the next cart over, Twilight nodded her head to those who bowed to her. As she moved through the cart, sounds assailed her from all sides. She heard well-wishes, thanks, a pony in the back of the cart coughing, fillies and colts running about, playing with one another. It was all so relaxing.

Turning her head, Twilight looked back over the cart, noticing a pony who hadn't been in Ponyville. She was a unicorn with a pale olive coat, a pale blue mane with silver streaks and persian blue eyes. Her cutie mark, three blue dollar signs, was mostly hidden by her torn outfit, which was clearly once of Canterlot design. Twilight had seen her before, but she couldn’t quite place where. She stared for a moment longer, lingering over her face.

She was covered in sweat and looked like she hadn’t slept in days. It made Twilight nervous, but she accepted it as a sick pony in dirty clothes. It’d be dealt with later. She turned, resting a hoof on the door to the next car, when a particularly violent coughing fit overtakes the unicorn. With her hacking and wheezing, Twilight couldn’t help but look back, just as another pony screamed.

Blood had splattered on the floor in front of the olive colored pony, her eyes faintly glassed over and her body lifting and falling in very shallow, weakened breaths. A wound was visible now on her upper flank, a large bite. Twilight’s heart sank.

“By Celestia, no…”

Decisive action was taken. Twilight rushed over, pushing the mare towards the cart with her friends, screaming for the others to clear a path. Once they reached the door, Twilight wasted no time pushing the other pony through, rushing through after her. “Girls! Get into the other cart! Now!”

Rarity gasped. “U-Upper Crust?” It flashed back to Twilight. She was a mare from Canterlot, who often had her nose in the clouds. She wasn’t a very kind pony, but still, this was nothing to wish on her.

“Rarity, Everypony, go! She’s been bitten! She must have been on the train before we got on.” The pause was lengthy, before it settled in. The other five made for the door, on Twilight’s orders, shutting the door and watched through the glass. They weren’t about to leave her all alone. Twilight charged her magic, placing her horn on the wound resting on Upper Crust’s flank. She tried her hardest to heal her, though healing magic wasn’t at all her specialty. It was so rarely needed in Equestria, after all.

Closing her eyes, she focused on Upper Crust’s heartbeat. She tried to help it along, but it was slowing. She strained and groaned and struggled with all her magical might; which made the moment Upper Crust’s heart stopped all the more painful. Twilight gasped, stepping back. She’d never seen a pony die before, nor had she ever hoped to see one remedy its position of lifelessness in a way like this.

Upper Crust pushed herself back up, her body shaking a bit at first before recovering itself. Her eyes glowed with the telltale colors of dark magic and she let out a low, irritable hiss. Her olive coat had adopted an oak green tint to it, the light from the caboose seeming to dim and fade into an eerie black. Twilight’s hind legs buckled. She fell into a sitting position, trembling all over as the reanimated unicorn finally reached its full height, horn glowing faintly with a black magical aura.

There was a brief moment of clarity. A point where Twilight could see her own demise; the creature sinking it’s teeth into her and her falling ill just like Upper Crust had been. She saw herself dying on the floor of a train. She saw herself rising up and attacking her friends; killing her friends. Her body tensed, everything happening faster than she could think. Her friends saw her freeze up as what was once Upper Crust started to move.

Before a hoof could be properly lifted, there was a flash of white light, radiating from Twilight’s eyes. Her friends stared in awed shock as Twilight levitated off the ground, eyes wide and mouth open, magic streaming over her body in a violent fit. All at once, the power burst forward, a torrent of magical energy directed at the creature that had been moving across the floor. For an instant, everypony saw the faint outline of what was once Upper Crust, wrapped in the glorious white light. When the light died down, Twilight was unconscious on the floor and the caboose had been neatly cut in half.

“W-What just happened?” Rainbow Dash pulled the door open as she spoke, darting in to put a hoof on her unconscious friend. “She’s alright.” With a sharp breath of her own, she turned and looked to the wreckage behind them. The train car had been seared clean off; a straight, sharp cut. It wasn’t destroyed; it was unmade, or perhaps disintegrated. Either way, there were no remains to speak of. Applejack leaned in beside Twilight, nudging her.

“Hey, Sugarcube. Rise n’ shine.” Applejack muttered, smiling a little as she did. Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes, her whole body aching. Her head felt like a wave, crashing against rocks. She could barely see, as Applejack and Rarity helped her up, supporting her as they lead her from the cart. All she could see was the tracks behind them, stretching on forever. She felt her stomach sink as she realized what happened; it had happened before, when Chrysalis had captured her friends. Only this time, she'd hit somepony.

Celestia had once said, she was a river of untapped magical power. As she gazed down the room, the door about to close, Twilight could visualize how it had looked before; Upper Crust, only moments away from tearing her limb from limb. She felt terrified. She felt miserable. And she also felt alive.