By the Blood

Ponyville was in slightly better shape than Canterlot, but that wasn't saying much. There was a bridge over a small creek leading into town that was still intact, but there were still several buildings that suffered from various states of disrepair. And that's not mentioning the plentiful stacks of bodies in the streets.

As soon as you set foot within the town proper, a group of ponies came to greet you, but it was easy to see that they were already too far gone to the plague. When you didn't slow in your approach, they let out war cries and hisses before charging you, but they were little match for your own skills and weaponry.

During the fight, a few fully transformed pony beasts also arrived, and while you were forced to retreat from the brawl a few times, you were still able to dispatch them with not much issue. Before you knew it, all the gathered foes were slain, and you were completely covered in their blood.

Just another day as a Hunter, you suppose.

After taking whatever you thought would be useful from their corpses, you move on, eyes scanning the surroundings for anything resembling a castle. You didn't see any earlier, but it's possible that the castle is simply a pile of rubble, now.

Speaking of rubble, it appears that you've reached what was once the market district. Crushed stalls lined the road on both sides, most of which still showing off their now rotting goods. Curiously, it looks like someone lit some incense on a few of the stands. While it was true the smell kept beasts away, there would have to be a lot to actually work. This was only an isolated instance of it every ten feet or so.

In fact, it was like a marked path, now that you think about it.

Your curiosity piqued, you move down the road, following the trail left behind. You manage to get through half the town before the road becomes impassible, and with no other route marked by the incense, you pick a direction and explore that part of the town, instead.

Beasts were in ample supply, of course, but they were little problem to you. You did notice that some of them were slightly bigger than the others, though, but you're unsure if that was a sign of increasing mutation, or if the pony was simply larger while they were normal.

As you're looking through the streets, one particular building catches your eyes. It was somewhat in shambles, just like the ones around it, but unlike the others, it was apparently designed to look like it was made out of pastries and other desserts, though the illusion is broken due to the superficial damage to the outside.

Not only that, but you could still see lights on inside.

After dispatching a couple more beasts that were in the way, you cautiously approached the front door of the establishment, and after giving it some thought, you decide to knock.

The result is immediate. You hear shuffling coming from inside, but it was too evenly timed to be a beast. Soon, the door was opened, and a very pink mare was standing there. "Hiya!"

Thrown off by her cheerful attitude, you can't think of anything to really say.

Thankfully, she's evidently perfectly fine with carrying a conversation by herself. "Oh! You're new to Ponyville, aren't ya?" she asks, hopping around excitedly. You reluctantly agree, before she squeals in delight. "Oh, this is perfect! I haven't thrown a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party in ages! By the way, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

She practically pulls you inside, and while you immediately ready your spear, she's gone before you can get a bead on her, and the door swings shut behind you.

The inside was apparently a store, and it was in slightly better shape than the outside of the building, but that wasn't saying much. Several tables were overturned, and it looked like the front counter was partially smashed in some time ago. Still, that mare seemed to be living in it just fine, though you don't really trust how happy she is despite the world around her.

She returns quickly, beaming at you. "Alright, the cake should be ready soon!"

Set on getting some answers, you ask why she's so cheerful, even though the town around her is in a less than ideal state.

Her smile falters slightly. "Well, I know this big bad plague is no good, and a lot of ponies are getting hurt..." She comes close to breaking her cheerfulness, but shakes her head and snaps back to smiling widely. "But I can't let it get me down! As long as I can, I'll be sure to keep sharing smiles!"

While your own cynical mind thought it was a useless outlook on life for the times, you couldn't help but give a small smile of your own, her positivity being very infectious.

Part of your mind is still wary, though, and it pushes you to ask some more questions, specifically about whether or not she's alone.

Her ears droop slightly again. "Yeah, just lil ol' me, here. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were away with the kids on vacation when everything went bad, and I haven't seen them since..."

Suddenly, she springs back up. "Oh, wait! I'm not alone! I still have Gummy!"

Gummy?

As if in answer to your unspoken question, she turns to a set of stairs behind her and whistles. "Come here, Gummy, we have a new friend for you to meet!"

There was some shuffling upstairs, before a lumbering abomination started slowly descending the stairs. It looked vaguely like it used to be an alligator, but it had clearly been affected by the plague, as there were several points on its body where its scales burst to give way for bulging flesh. Its claws left deep gouges in the wooden steps, even at its slow pace, and it had multiple eyes on top of its head, each one blinking slowly and independently.

Curiously, instead of teeth, its mouth was filled with a writhing mass of tentacles, though you could see several sharp points on the ends of them.

By the time it reached the bottom of the stairs, you're already in a battle stance, and it appears to be doing the same.

But then, suddenly, Pinkie laughs loudly, causing you both to stop. "Oh, silly, don't worry! I know Gummy has... 'grown up' a bit, but he wouldn't hurt a fly!" To prove her point, she hopped over to the beast's side and scratched under its chin, an action that caused no discernible reaction from it, but all the same it wasn't trying to devour the mare's flesh. "See? Perfectly harmless!"

Still not entirely convinced, you remain where you are.

There's a bell ringing from the other room, and Pinkie jumps up. "Ooh, cake's done!"

She goes off to fetch it, and you can't help but follow after her a bit, if for no other reason than to not be alone with the beast, no matter how friendly it appeared.

You stop in the doorway to what was most likely the kitchen, though, as the inside was exactly what you were afraid of.

Blood was splattered on the floor and walls, and there were several bloody cooking implements scattered around, most of them bladed in some fashion. There was a large burlap sack in one corner of the room, and it was open just enough for you to get a glimpse at the corpses inside.

Pinkie herself was at the heart of it all, happily humming as she starting taking a cake out from the oven, which was a faint red in color. Still not noticing you, she merrily brought the cake over to another counter, where she took a bowl filled... something and started frosting the cake, turning it a slightly more solid red.

You had seen enough, and you began to walk out to leave.

Before you made it to the door, though, Gummy, let out a brief wail, and quickly jumped in front of you, baring its tentacle-mouth at you.

You jump back in surprise, spear at the ready, as you hear Pinkie reenter the room behind you. "Aw, leaving so soon? That's no good, we haven't even started the party yet!"

You turn to face her, noting that her expression was still cheerfully smiling, though you now knew it to be a smile of madness.

You don't say anything, simply holding your weapons at the ready, prepared for combat.

Pinkie never stops smiling. "Well, I know what will cheer you up! How about you and Gummy play together?"

You turn back to the beast just in time to roll out of the way of its lunge, and you get back up just in time to see it whirl back around to face you and let out another wail.

Likewise, you flip open your spear and tighten your grip on your pistol.

After a moment of deadlock, you both charged each other.