Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I'm sorry that I haven't written to you in a while. But... *things** have been happening over here. Bad, bad things...*
A few weeks ago, a cannibal was found chewing someone's leg off. This was big news since things like that really don't happen here. The news quickly spread through MyStable.com, to the news, to people's in-person conversations.
They sent the man whose leg was getting eaten to the hospital. Something happened to him, though...
He had apparently bitten into Nurse Redheart, which turned *her** into a cannibal, too. Then Nurse Redheart bit someone, so on and so forth.*
And now...
I think you can guess what happened.
Almost everyone is like that, now...
I don't know if it's some kind of disease, or infection, or plague, or if it's got something to do with magic! Our Twilight has been trying to figure it out, but she's afraid to get close to them. I can't really blame her... they're horrifying. A new friend of ours is trying to help her get past that fear, though. Thank Celestia for him!
We have to rely on each other now. We all need to work together. Not just me and the girls, but anyone left. That means that we even have to cooperate with the Dazzlings if we ever end up seeing them!
Most importantly, though, we need to stay away from those monsters...
I probably won't be able to write to you very often from here on out, if at all. I wish I could, but I most likely won't find a lot of time to do so.
As far as I know, this might actually be the last time we communicate. I might have to leave this book behind for the greater good one day, worst case scenario.
So thank you, Twilight. Thank you for everything you taught me. Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed your help. Thank you for showing me the true value of friendship. Thank you for all the wonderful conversations we've had, via this book, and in person. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being my friend.
We all love you, Twilight. We wouldn't have had such good times without you.
But Twilight... please don't come through the portal. I don't want these monsters to get to you. I can't bear the thought of them hurting you...
With eternal love and friendship,
Sunset Shimmer
"So... just like this?" Applejack asked, aiming a silenced gun at a brick on top of a tree stump just outside of her camp. She was being taught how to use a simple handgun by Sharp Eyes, a man that Applejack and the other girls had rescued from a few walkers that were getting ready to devour him. He felt as though he owed those girls his life after that, so he offered to do something in return. Sharp had agreed to teach the girls what he knew about surviving and that he'd never stop doing his best to protect them until he finally bit the bullet.
Sharp had easily controllable brown hair, and blue skin, which was almost violet.
"Your shoulders are squared?" Sharp asked.
"Eeyup." Applejack answered.
"Your elbows aren't locked?
"Nnope."
"Alright. Line up the shot with the little notches on top of the gun, and take a deep breath before you fire. Not too deep, though." Sharp said.
Applejack did so, lining up the notches with the brick she was aiming for. She made sure that her elbows weren't locked and that her shoulders were squared once more before taking a quick, deep breath. She slowly pushed her index finger against the trigger, bracing herself for the recoil.
Pew.
She missed.
"Darn..." Applejack said, a little disappointed in herself.
"Hey, it's alright. You'll get a lot better soon. I promise." Sharp said with a reassuring smile. Applejack smiled back, then looked over to the brick.
"Well, at least I hit close to it." Applejack said, looking over to the new bullet hole in the tree stump. It was fairly close to the brick; about a few inches away from it.
"See? The first time you shot, you didn't even hit the stump." Sharp said.
"Yeah... I guess I am gettin' a little better. And I know who to thank!" Applejack said, looking back at Sharp.
"Hey, now. I owe y'all my life. I'd be dead if you and your friends hadn't've gone and distracted those walkers." Sharp said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We couldn't've just left you to die, though. It'd be awfully sick of us to've just left you to get eaten by those couple o' roamers." Applejack said.
"But you could've left me there. You and your buddies chose to save me."
"Hopefully, anyone would've saved ya." Applejack said. "We can't all be turnin' against each other now that we're all pretty much living with these monsters."
"I can't argue with that. The living need to work like a team from here on out. No prissy shit, and n-"
"What was that?" Applejack asked.
"Er... prissy stuff. Sorry." Sharp said.
"That's better." Applejack said. "You might be the oldest in this group, but we still have three kids with us. Let's try not to rub off all o' that cussin' onto them."
"Yeah... sorry about that, AJ." Sharp said. "I'll try and filter that sh-tuff!" Sharp corrected himself before he let another profane word slip. "Anyway, you're right. If the living wanna survive from now on, we're gonna have to work together, and not stop working together, even if we have our little differences."
"Darn right." Applejack said.
There was an awkward moment of silence.
"So... how do you feel about that gun? Wanna practice a little more before sundown, or do you wanna head inside with the others now?" Sharp asked.
"Well, I feel like I could use a few more practice shots. Dependin' on how many blank bullets we have left, that is." Applejack said.
"We have a whole box of blanks. I'm sure we'll be able to find plenty more, too." Sharp said. "That doesn't mean that we can just go and waste blanks, though."
"'Course not! We need to save any bullets we can!" Applejack said.
'Well then, let's going! We don't have all night to practice your aim!" Sharp said.
"So..." Applejack said, wanting to run through what to do again.
"Square the shoulders, make sure the elbows aren't locked, line up the target with the notches, and take a deep breath before you pull that trigger."
"Got it."
Applejack did so, lining up the notches with the brick she was aiming for. She made sure that her elbows weren't locked and that her shoulders were squared once more before taking a quick, deep breath. She slowly pushed her index finger against the trigger, then...
Pew.
She hit the brick.
Applejack looked back at Sharp and smiled. "I did it!"
"Great job, AJ. You're getting the hang of this faster than I did." Sharp said, smiling back.
"Ugh... I'm starving..." Rainbow Dash said, laying uncomfortably on a couch inside of a large cabin at Camp Everfree. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess, just like everyone else's.
"Rainbow Dash, you just ate! Stop complainin'!" Applejack said from a sleeping bag on the floor.
"Yeah, I just ate, but it wasn't a whole lot of food. It was like... a pack of crackers that you'd be able to get at a restaurant or something. They weren't even good crackers!" Rainbow said, turning her head to look at Applejack.
"Rainbow, we all got just as much food as you did, and you don't see us complaining! Deal with it!" Applejack argued.
"I need more food, though! I can't deal with this world of the living dead when I'm running on an empty stomach!"
"What's the difference, here, Rainbow?! We all get the same amount of food, and we still deal with this big ol' mess!"
"Stop arguing, both of you! There are far more important matters than whether or not Rainbow is happy bout her portion of rations." Rarity said from a cheap fold-up bed.
"Pssht! Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"Like my hair!"
"Rarity, you've got to be kiddin' me!" Applejack said, shifting her look to Rarity.
"Oh, come on, now! There's dirt all over and inside it! Tell me that wouldn't disgust you, apocalypse or no apocalypse!" Rarity said.
"Oh, no! Your hair's gettin' dirty? May you have mercy from everything! There's definitely nothin' worse than a little dirt in the hair!
"Hey, AJ! Give Rarity a break!" Rainbow said.
Rarity smiled at Rainbow. "At least someone understands the prob-"
"She just wants to look good for the walkers! She's totally into rotten skin, and missing limbs, and stuff! That's her style!" Rainbow said, getting a little bit of a chuckle out of Applejack.
Rarity glared at Rainbow. "Well I never! It's one thing to not care about my problem if that isn't already bad enough, but it's a whole different story when you have the audacity to say that I'm actually attracted to those beasts!
"Relax, Rarity! It was a joke!" Rainbow said.
"AND?!"
"And so you shouldn't get so worked up about it!" Rainbow said, smirking.
"Hmmph!"
"Alright, why don't we all get to sleep before we get into another argument for the rest of the night? We need to go huntin' for food early in the mornin'."
"Wait, like... real hunting? With guns, and stuff?" Rainbow asked.
"Eeyup. I know it's not what we usually do, but... things are different, now." Applejack said.
"I guess... this is kind of sudden, though. Did Sharp say something about it when I wasn't listening, or..."
"He said that he'd tell y'all tomorrow."
"Oh. Cool."
"Welp, good night, you two." Applejack said.
"Night."
"Good ni-"
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
All three of the girls sprang up and bolted outside to see who had screamed, and why. Someone could be seriously injured, or worse, bitten! Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all hoped that no one would be turning tonight.
When they got outside, they saw Fluttershy standing out in the open, with a walker just meters away from her.
The walker had his large intestine hanging out of his stomach, and a vein dangling by a thread out of his wrist. It had bites in its neck, arms, legs, and chest, even. Its skin was gray, and its teeth were stained red, along with his hands and face, which were currently soaked with blood.
The walker's arms were outstretched towards Fluttershy, who was now slowly stepping backward, stiffened by fear. Its groaning was ravenous, just making the sight worse.
"FLUTTERSHY!!!!" Rainbow screamed as she sprinted towards the walker, hoping to be able to save her childhood friend. As she approached the walking corpse, she kicked it from the side, knocking it to the rough, dirty ground. As soon as the walker landed, Sharp and the other girls each came out of their cabins.
"What the hell?!" Sharp shouted, hatchet in hand. He looked over to Fluttershy and Rainbow and saw the walker laying on the ground, reaching for Rainbow as it slowly got back up. Rainbow was shouting numerous insults at the walker, despite the fact that it had no idea what she was saying.
Sharp wasted no time running to the action and readying his hatchet. Once he got over to the walker, he swung his hatchet into its head, splitting the skull open, and the brain in half, killing the roamer.
"Alright..." Sharp started, taking a deep breath. "What the hell happened out here?!"
"I-I... I'm sorry..." Fluttershy said as she held her hands over her mouth, and her eyes teared up.
"Aww, hey. There's nothing to be sorry about, Flutters." Sharp said, feeling bad about what happened to Fluttershy.
"That bloodsack didn't hurt you, did it, Fluttershy?!" Rainbow said, getting in Fluttershy's face, a worried look on her face.
"NO! I-I swear! It just got c-close..." Fluttershy said.
"What happened, Fluttershy? Can you tell us?" Sharp asked. "And what were you doing out here this late?"
"I was... um... relieving myself..." Fluttershy said. "And... w-well... oh, the poor doe..."
"A doe?" Sharp asked.
"Y-yes... I saw the... um... walker... oh, dear..." Fluttershy began to hyperventilate. "That doe could've had family... and it just got torn to bits by the walker..." Fluttershy said, her voice trembling.
"Ooh, must not have been a pretty sight. Already, it looks pretty gross from here." Sunset Shimmer said, approaching with the rest of the girls, minus Pinkie Pie, and looking at something nearby the entrance to the forest itself.
"Damn. Is that the doe?" Sharp asked.
"Yes..." Fluttershy said.
"Alright, then... what happened after the roamer ate it?" Rainbow asked.
"I screamed... really loud..."
"Oh shit." Sharp said.
"Watch that language." Applejack responded.
"What?" Rainbow asked. "Did something happen?"
"That scream was pretty loud. I mean... it woke me up! And y'all know that I'm a pretty heavy sleeper a lot of the time." Sharp said.
"Yeah... so then... couldn't have any walkers nearby have heard?" Twilight Sparkle asked, her eyes widening.
"That's what I was thinking. Yeah." Sharp said.
"Uh... how many do y'all think were around?" Applejack asked.
"Can't be too many. We'd already hear them coming, since the walkers been dead for a few minutes or so." Sharp said.
"Maybe there aren't any at all?" Rarity said.
"Could be. Let's make sure, though. Some of us stay out here, and some of us go in. Whoever's out here wakes everyone up if walkers start comin' our way, 'cept for Pinkie. She watches the kids." Sharp said.
The girls agreed, and Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Sunset went inside to sleep while Sharp, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash stayed outside to watch.
Applejack had the silenced handgun that Sharp had given to her, Rainbow had a dense metal pipe, and Sharp had his hatchet.
Ten minutes had passed, and nothing had happened. No walkers were in sight, and the trio outside had been sitting there, doing nothing.
"We should build a fence, shouldn't we?" Sharp asked.
"Eeyup."
"Totally."
...
"I mean... we're pretty much in the middle of the forest. There's nothing keeping those bloodsacks away from us."
"Eeyup."
"For sure."
...
"I'm surprised none of us thought of that before we decided to stay here."
"Eeyup."
"Deinitely."
...
Crunch... crunch... crunch...
The sound of leaves crunching beneath feet was heard coming from the forest.
"Y'all hear that, right?" Sharp asked.
"Eeyup!"
"Sounds like trouble."
They each started to head over to the area of the trees that the crunching was coming from.
Crunch...crunch...crunch...
They each got ready to attack the walker.
Crunch... crunch... crunch...
A body stepped out of the forest. It had a leather jacket, a black tee, and jeans. It was covered in blood, guts, and other things that you'd be able to find in the human body.
"There it is! Get it!" Rainbow said.
Applejack aimed her gun at the walker, took a breath, then pulled the t-
"WAIT!" Sharp said, putting his hand in front of Applejack, signaling her to not shoot.
The walker took a few steps forward, then looked at Sharp.
"That's no walker..." Sharp said, lowering his hatchet. "That's one of the living!"
The man fell over.
