Zombie Chronicles: Dawn of the Zombie War

My eyes opened oh-so-slowly as I rose up off the bed. I remembered that this wasn't the bunk bed I've gotten so used to at Sweet Apple.

This was a queen-sized bed at the Rich Mansion.

I sighed gently and noticed that some clothes were left for me with a note.

Meet us in the kitchen.

We need to talk.

Rich.

Filthy Rich, an old friend of my mom. At first I didn't know their connection until Mom explained it to me a day ago that he saved her back when she was exiled from this "Magix". He was more of a father to me than Gaverial ever was...

I decided to put the clothes on and navigate the Rich labyrinth. I saw over 5 separate hallways, one leading upstairs, one leading downstairs. I knew I was on the second floor and the kitchen was on the bottom floor, so I went down the stairs. Sure enough, the kitchen--or what seemed to be the kitchen-- was on my right.

Mom was there along with Rich and those two blonde kids from earlier. I smelled... something from the other room, steam following it.

"Hey, bud." Mom said.

"Hey." I said, taking my seat by Mom in the hilariously large table.

So, it was about a week after Rich tried--and failed-- to buy Camp Everfree. We still have no other idea on what to do about the whole thing except pray that we won't get hit.

"Please, do me a favor and keep an open mind about this whole thing. The thought of lying to the public to protect my family..." FIlthy started.

"It's fine. I'm sure Applejack understood. I know I did." I said.

We were silent for a moment, but then Mom tapped my shoulder.

"There's something I need to tell you..." She said.

"Oh, come on, here?" Rich asked.

"Good a place as any."

I did a side-by-side of Mom and those two kids. They looked exactly alike, mostly Mom and the girl.

"Mom, what aren't you telling me now?" I asked.

"I... there was a time between me having you and meeting Gaverial. When I had you, I was exiled. I was on the move with you for 2 years, until I knew it was too much. I found out that Filt-- Rich had bared his family's mansion, got a girlfriend, and had a child together. I had no-one else to turn to, I... He let me in almost instantly, seeing my state at that time, you in my arms. Spoiled was confused, disgusted, demanded me out of the house. Rich told her about my friendship with him, and she sucked it up."

"Friends since high school, me and your mom. That was around the time she went to Red Fountain." Rich said.

"He let us clean up, gave us clothes, and offered us a place here. Spoiled didn't like that, so I offered to be a servant. Then she smirked... came closer, and whispered: I know a better job for you, whore. I damn near cracked her across the face, but I was trained to control my anger. She had no damn idea how hard that phrase hit me, Jason... if it weren't for Rich hearing that, I would've..." She started.

Filthy placed a hand on Mom's shoulder, calming her down.

"Anyway, it was a year since that day when Rich and Spoiled started fighting. I watched over Diamond during shouting matches that went on for hours. When Spoiled was on a business trip, I was with Rich, you and Diamond were with a servant. He just... unloaded his clip on the ceiling, he blew up on her before she left. I decided to do my best to help, being his friend. But..."

Mom's phone went off, interrupting whatever she was going to say.

"Hello? What happened? Where is he now?!" Mom asked suddenly as she sprung up and put her coat on.

"What do you mean he's still there?! You're the cop, Beth. Show her a damn warrant!"

"What happened?" Rich asked.

Mom hung up and turned to us, her face mixed with anger, confusion, and fear.

"Kyle tried to kill himself..."

We arrived at Crystal Prep to see Kyle. I couldn't help but notice the truck parked up by the hill, just standing there, waiting to make a move.

"Jason, you coming?" Mom asked me.

"Yeah." I said as I followed my mom into the academy.

"...No, I know the severity of the situation, why else would I be speaking to my lawyer?!" A tall, slender woman shouted into a phone.

"Are you Abacus Cinch?" Rich asked.

"One moment, please." The woman said.

We waited a moment, her taking the phone chat to another room. We decided to take a seat in the office.

"I don't understand... how could this have happened?" I asked Mom.

"We don't know yet. Aunt Beth's looking into it, but..."

The door opened and the woman from earlier was now phone-less.

"Are you Abacus Cinch?" Mom asked.

"Yes, that's me. And you are...?"

"I'm Jessica Williams. This is Filthy Rich, and my son Jason Adams. We heard that my nephew tried to commit suicide." Mom said.

"Yes, I am deeply sorry about this tragedy, if I knew what happened, I'd..." Cinch started.

We were then interrupted by a student entering the room, blue, large pigtails, large glasses, and what seemed to be the school's uniform. She didn't seem happy, marching over to Cinch.

"Where is he?" She asked Cinch.

"I don't know."

"How do you not know? You're the principal here, right? Isn't it your job to contain situations like this?" Rich asked.

"I... I--"

The girl turned to us.

"You guys family of his?"

"Yes, I'm his aunt, this is his cousin." Mom introduced us.

She came closer.

"I know where he is. Come on, we don't have much time."

We followed her around the school, where we saw students going on about their business, a few cops around asking some students questions. We kept following this girl until we made it to the nurse's office.

"Kyle's here?" I asked.

"Yeah..." She said as we went inside to an empty office.

"Where is he?" Mom asked.

The girl pulled a key out of her shirt pocket and went over to a locked door. She pulled it open and we walked into some form of cell.

I saw a figure in there.

"K... Ky--"

"He's asleep. I was on my way here, when..."

There was a silence.

"I don't think I got your name." Mom finally said.

"I'm Sugarcoat."

"You a friend of his?" I asked.

"...No. No, no-one was. Except for a student who left a while back."

Wait, Twilight?

"Sci-Twi" came to Canterlot a short while ago, we never talked, but I heard a lot about her.

At least her Equestrian counterpart.

"She's not here?" I asked.

"They're on the camping trip, she has no idea yet." Sugarcoat sighed.

We were then interrupted by someone behind us.

"Oh! Um... I didn't expect there to be visitors." A female teacher said.

"Sorry, neither did we. I'm Jess, Kyle's aunt. You?"

"C- Chrysalis. Please, try to understand that he wasn't exactly the most popular student here..." Chrysalis started.

"Yeah, I'm aware. A hellhole like this... I still can't believe Beth enrolled him here..."

"She graduated here from what I heard. Sorry, I'm new here, I've only been here for a few years." She started rubbing her neck.

"We'll, um... come back later." Sugarcoat said.

"Yeah..." I said.

We all left the room so Chrysalis can enter. I heard slight crying moments later.

"How does she know him?" I asked.

"Best not to look into it. We have bigger problems right now." Mom said as we decided to find Aunt Beth.

We didn't have to travel far to find her asking another student some questions.

"He was never bullied, beaten?"

"Um... look, I want you to be prepared, alright." A male student warned.

"What did they do to my son?" She asked, her Taurus Judge showing through her holster.

"Beth?" Mom called.

"One moment, please." She said.

"He, um... After the Friendship Games, the Shadowbolts lost it, okay, they became bloodthirsty. Kyle was an open target from the start. Twilight kept the wolves away, but once she was gone... Christ..."

We were all silent, understanding what this was pointing towards. Beth seemed more angry than shocked.

"Get out."

The student jogged off, leaving us together.

"Beth? I'm so sorry about this." Mom said, stepping closer.

"I... I thought it would've been better. I've been in touch with Chrysalis, she said she formed a bond with Kyle. Sounded like he was safe to me, I..." Beth started.

"Want my advice?" I asked her.

"Please, anything would do right now."

"Take him to Canterlot, Twilight's there, my friends are there. It's the simplest call to me." I said.

"That... might work. But he needs help first, both of us do."

After the day was over, Aunt Beth headed home early to prep a few things while we stayed and chatted with Cinch.

Mom was not happy.

"I hoped it got better here, but I guess some people never change." Mom said to Cinch.

Cinch was bound to be arrested for several charges of Corruption of Minors, Blackmail, and several more.

"If my son wasn't in the same room..." Mom said, banging the desk after her sentence.

"Come on, Jason. Let's go home."

All chat was silenced by a scream and a gunshot.

We ran out to see the truck from earlier, with what seemed to be a student on top with a handgun, a warm body seizing on the ground. We heard him talk, but we bee-lined to our ride, Rich waiting for us.

"It's happening, isn't it?" I asked him.

"...Yeah, several roads are blocked, all roads to Canterlot are guarded with a shoot-on-sight order... barely made it alive. Applejack's not there, I'm sorry."

I was stunned. It's happening...

And Applejack isn't here.

"We have to get back, now!"

We drove out as we saw buses being moved into place around the bar fences of Crystal Prep. I looked back and saw someone in the trunk.

"Chrysalis?" Rich called.

"Don't worry about it, just drive." Mom said.

We had to ram through the city in order to make it home. In there, we saw riots, looting, and even some shootings. Not all of the zombies...

"We made it..." Rich said.

We looked up and saw that the mansion was still intact. We made it to the gates, Rich knowing the passcode. Mom turned to Chrysalis, who we allowed to stay with us.

"You alright? Have any family you want us to find?" Mom asked.

"No, it's just me. I'm fine, thank you." Chrysalis said, catching her breath.

We opened the gate and headed toward the mansion.

"What about Kyle? Shouldn't we get him?" I asked.

"He's with his mom, she already has a plan. They don't need us." Mom said.

I decided to go shut the gate. When I almost shut it, I was caught off-guard by a zombie, pinning me to the ground.

It was rabid, snarling, biting ferociously as it tried to get a bite of me. I managed to keep it at bay, but I couldn't kill it. The zombie was an inch from my neck before it was pulled off me. I looked up and saw Mom, slamming the zombie's face into the gate. It was dead, it's brains redecorating the field and Mom's shirt.

"You okay?" She asked me in fear and shock.

"I'm fine. Just jumped me, that's all." I said as I helped her shut the door.

"Come on, Rich's waiting." Mom said.

We headed inside and prepared for the apocalypse...