The C̸̞̙̭̽̌̀̈́̽̕̕ȗ̵̧̨̢̻̩̞̘͙̉̋̊͂͘ŕ̷͖̦̍͝s̵̫̪̋̍͂̆̆͆̄é̶̡̧̺͖d̸͎͒̒̿̈̀ Apocalypse

I gazed down the track, noticing the fast approaching light of a train in the distance.

“D’mitry!” Twi exclaimed, “Wave the flashlight at them or something!”

“Bruh, how would that do-”

“DO IT MOTHERFUCKER!”

I raised my flashlight and started waving it at the train, but I waved it too hard and dropped it, temporarily causing the tunnel to darken. It took me a few seconds to pick it back up and get back to waving. As I did, the guards started shoving the cart backward down the track.

“Leave the cart!” Redheart shouted, clumsily hopping off of it.

We started rushing back the way we came for a moment, but it was clear we wouldn't outpace the train.

“Everybody up against the wall!!” Twi ordered.

There were none of those cubby holes they have in tunnels sometimes, so we were left with just walls and one straight railroad track. There was a measly 2-3 feet of space or so between the wall and rails, but it was all we had. We all pressed ourselves against the wall, hoping that the train would just pass us.

I pressed my back against the wall, turning to see the train’s light growing. The others pressed their sides against the wall as well. We could feel the vibrations of the train now, which was menacing as fuck. The train whistle blew again, echoing loudly throughout the tunnel. Any closer and my damn ears would probably burst open. Quit blowing the FUCKING horn!!!

I glanced over at Redheart, who was pressed against the wall right beside me. She had her flank to me, and her tail unintentionally brushed my leg and waist. It's subtle touch, along with her tempting backside, caused my blood to travel down. I felt my man-stick start to awaken.

No no no nonnononoo NONONONONONNO!!! WAIT WAIT WAITWAITAWIAITAIIWAIAIWA!!!

"REDHEART! Face me! Please!"

She glanced back for a second before turning around, looking up at me confusingly. This wasn't much better, but it helped. Her tail wasn't brushing against me anymore. My man-stick slowly settled. I sighed deeply with relief.

"Thank you."

Her confused look turned to fear as she looked up at me. I reached out my arm and pushed against her side to press her farther against the wall.

“D’mitry, stop,” she said, raising a hoof to remove my arm.

“I’m pressing you farther against the wall!”

“No, let go! You’re just risking losing your damn arm!” she argued.

I fought with her as she tried to push away my arm, but I eventually won the fight. I used the strength I had left to shove my arm against her side, pushing her closer to the wall.

“D’mitry!”

“Everybody inhale!” Dash exclaimed.

I inhaled as the train whistle blew again, damn near blowing my ears off as the train’s headlight cast light on the tunnel in front of us. We all squeezed against the wall, willing to turn into pancakes to avoid getting sliced by the train. I closed my eyes as the rumble of the engine quickly rose.

The deafening whistle blew again as the train started blowing past us. I felt a cold burst of wind buffet my side as the fast-moving train blew by, just feet in front of us.

To my left, I heart AJ scream out just a second before pieces of something skimmed across my shins. I pushed Redheart in, but felt one of the train cars slice the skin right off my arm. I gasped, trying to stay still through the immense pain. It turned out to be the caboose that ripped off my skin, so once it whooshed past, I fell to my knees, dropping the flashlight on the track.

“AJ!” I heard Dash exclaim. I grasped my wounded arm, holding it tight across my chest. It seared with an intense pain comparable to when I got my eye sliced at Twi’s castle.

“Damn it, D’mitry!” Redheart yelled. I felt her hoof touch my shoulder as she leaned her head over me in an attempt to see what happened. “I told you to let go!”

“HNNGGNNNNG!” I groaned, “Just- just go see AJ. It sounds like she needs help.”

“Are you sure you’re alrig-”

“Go!”

Redheart stayed a few more seconds before grabbing the flashlight and leaving my side to go work on AJ. I watched her leave, only because I happened to, and saw AJ collapsed on the tracks to my left. Her chest was moving up and down dramatically, and I noticed a foot-long piece of wood impaled into her leg. I cringed at the sight, and couldn’t imagine the pain she was experiencing.

Oh wait. I was experiencing some damn good pain too. I took a second to ungrasp my other hand and look at my skin. Redheart had the flashlight over by AJ, but I could still vaguely see the extent of my injury. A sizable, hand-sized chunk of the skin on my forearm hung loosely over the side, leaving a large red swath that bled everywhere.

Rarity came to my side, attempting to see what happened. I grasped my arm again from the pain.

“Darling, let me see. How bad is it?”

“No, it hurts too much. Can we just- ah … I wanna get out of this fucking tunnel.”

“Yes, Twilight agrees.”

Twi had joined Dash and Redheart in assisting AJ. One of the guards stood by, with the other one standing beside me. Spike came walking up behind Rarity. Of course, his dumb little dragon lips started parting to pollute the air again.

“Geez bro. Your dumbass just can’t stop getting hurt, huh?”

“I’m gonna HURT you in a minute.”

SMACK!

The element of Generosity smacked me across the face.

“I told you to quit talking to him like that. I know that he can be rude, but it’s only because you both won’t knock it off.”

“Ahhhh whatever. How is AJ?”

“I don’t know, darling. Why don’t we go over and see?”

She and the guard helped me to a stand so I could hobble over to them. I held my arm the whole time, feeling the warm blood seep out of it. I think it was even dripping now. When we got to AJ, Redheart was actively working on wrapping a tourniquet around her leg.

“Oh my god,” I commented, “Are you gonna cut her fucking leg off?”

“I’m not. I’m just-” she started, struggling with the tourniquet. “-just stopping blood flow.”

Twi glanced up at me from AJ’s side.

“D’mitry. Can you take the others outside?”

“Others? Shouldn’t we take AJ out too?”

“We will, we will. But we gotta get her ready to go.”

“Well, we can wait then-”

“No, D’mitry. Dash, Snow, and I will take her out. I need you all out.”

“Wh-”

"NOW!"

She glared at me, causing me to shut my mouth. If I didn’t quit annoying her pretty soon, I was afraid she might beat me to death. We had a pretty odd relationship, honestly.

Wait, why’d she say Snow? Maybe she just mixed up the two. It was a bit weird that both of their names did end in heart, but that was pretty typical of this world. I dropped it and walked with Rarity, Spike, and one of the guards. The one I'd talked to earlier stayed back with them so he could help carry AJ out when they were ready.

It took a few minutes of walking, but we eventually made it to the other end of the tunnel. Fucking finally. It was still pretty dark out, and I noticed clouds scattered above us. I hoped it wouldn’t rain while we slept, cause I don’t think any of us really wanted to sleep in the damn tunnel anymore. In Luna’s moonlight, I could see my arm better.

Rarity wanted to see as well, so I got on my knees. Ungrasping it showed a large red pool of blood, with the foot-long piece of skin hanging off.

“Sweet Celestia,” Rarity commented, holding the bottom of my arm as she observed it. “How did this happen?”

“Train sliced it.”

“How?” she asked.

“He was an idiot,” the guard answered, “He tried shoving nurse Snow farther up against the wall, even though she had enough clearance.”

“Really, D’mitry?”

“I was shoving her against the wall! And it’s REDheart, thank you very much. Sheesh. I’d expect you morons to remember.”

The three exchanged confused glances with one another before Rarity gazed back at me.

“It’s Snowheart, darling. Nurse Snow.”

“No it is not. Damn. Y’all are fucking delusional.”

Spike chuckled. “Sounds like you’re delusional, retard.”

“Whatever. Can y’all help me with this?” I asked, gesturing to my arm.

Rarity took off her saddlebags and pulled out a washcloth. She patted my arm dry from the blood, but it was unclear what we’d do about the skin hanging off. It was honestly disgusting me now. After a few minutes of her tending to my wound, the others came out of the tunnel entrance. Dash and the guard were carrying AJ on her back with Twi and Nurse-

Wait, what?

Nurse… Snow… and...

The fuck? Author, is there a mistake?

No.

Then wha-

Lightning Bolt.

OW! Am I not struggling enough?! Damn!

No questions right now. Keep it movin’.

I gritted my teeth through the pain searing through my arm as I observed Nurse Snow. Not Redheart. It was Snow. Where the hell did she come from? After the others dropped AJ on the grass beside the tracks next to us, Snow immediately got back to caring for AJ. She was still alive, but breathing profusely. I saw her clenching her teeth in pain. The piece of wood was still impaled in her leg.

“Get that out of her already! Damn.”

“Shut up!” Twi hissed, “Snow is trying to prevent her dying from blood loss. Leave it to the professionals.”

“D’mitry,” Snow called suddenly.

“What?”

“I need your help,” she answered, taking a second to glance at my arm. “Is your arm okay enough to help me for a moment?”

“No. I’m not a professional anyway,” I scoffed, raising my head in major offense.

“D’mitry, please.”

“What can I do?”

“You have hands, which I need right now. I’m going to pull the wood out of her, but someone needs to apply pressure where and when I say.”

Twi huffed. “What’s wrong with hooves? I can-”

“No, Twilight,” she interrupted, “I'm sorry, but this is a serious wound. Hooves are okay, but hands would be better here. His fingers can wrap around her leg more precisely than we can. Please.”

“Gah- fine.”

Rarity let me keep the cloth on my arm as I scooted over to help Red- I mean- Snow. AJ’s wound looked nasty, but thankfully, while the wood was a foot long, it was only a couple inches wide. I placed my hands where Snow wanted me too. My arm continued bleeding, so I tilted it back to not get my blood and hers mixed. Last thing we needed was infection by blood. I think the zombies had that under control.

“Keep it steady. 1 … 2 …”

“Wait, what are you counting to?”

She huffed. “What other number does anybody count to? Three, stupid. Hold still. 1 … 2 … 3!”

She pulled the wood out, and I hadn’t expected AJ’s skin to pull up as much as it did. I pushed down on it as she ripped the piece out. Blood immediately followed, oozing out menacingly. Snow rapidly threw the wood aside and wrapped the wound. AJ groaned as she did, gazing up at me with fear.

“Just hold on, AJ. It’ll be alright.”

Snow sighed as she worked. “Damn it. We should have pulled the cart behind us. What were we thinking?”

“We weren’t. We don’t do that a whole lot,” I replied.

“True.”

“So... is she gonna be alright?”

“Mmmm. I don’t know. The tourniquet is working, but we’ll need to remove it in about an hour. Hopefully her blood loss will settle by then.”

“Okay, good.”

The nurse glanced between AJ and me.

“I thought she was your owner? I know you aren’t exactly evil, but... shouldn’t you be a bit…” she started, averting her eyes to look for the word.

“A bit what?”

“Uh… less supportive?”

“I don’t want Ms. Applejack to die. I don’t care if I’m her slave.”

“Interesting.”

AJ groaned. “Thanks, sugarcube.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.”

“Anyway,” Snow continued, “She won’t be able to move very much, and we lost the cart. We’re going to need to think about camping out here. Can you talk to Twilight and see what she thinks?”

“Sure,” I said, turning my head to face Twi, who was still standing by AJ’s other side. “Hey, Twi. I thin-”

“I know," she replied, shaking her head. "Okay. We’ll set up camp in that forest.” She pointed her hoof at the tree line not far behind us. “We’ll move a bit farther in, in case anything comes to get us. I don’t know who was running that train, but I know damn well I don’t want us to find out. And if those fuckers that ambushed us come through, we don’t want to be seen.”

I nodded. “Hopefully they won’t. I did shoot one of them dead, but I don’t know about the other one.”

Twi observed me for a few long seconds. “Okay. Let’s set up camp. After that, you-” She pointed a hoof at me. “You have got a lot of fucking explaining to do. Understand?”

“Ugh. Whatever.”

“Understand?” she spoke through gritted teeth.

“Yes, Twi. I do.”

“K.”

Luna’s moon was now plop overhead. Summertime wasn’t quite over yet, so the night felt nice. And with us being near Ponyville, it wasn’t too cold. Tonight, a breeze continued rolling through, shaking the leaves above our heads.

The others set up camp while Snow finished up with AJ. After we moved her over and settled down, Twi pulled me aside with Snow to talk while she worked on my wound. I sat against a tree, sucking in the pain from her slow procedure. She numbed the area before ripping off the hanging skin, after which Twi started her interrogation.

“So what the hell was that you were talking at?” she asked.

“It was a cellphone. You can talk to other peo- other … other people from a distance.”

“O … kay? So, it’s an invention from Earth then?”

“Yes. It’s whole purpose is communication. There was a guy on the other line talking to me.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, he told us to surrender, and threatened setting off that little trap they set up.”

“Fuck,” she muttered, rubbing her head frustratingly. “So it was the boys, then?”

“Well, duh-”

“Do not 'well duh' me right now, D’mitry,” she scoffed, “I am not in the mood right now for your smart-ass comments, do you understand me?”

“Jesus, Twi. Relax. It’s okay,” I replied. She was sat not far from me, so I reached my unaffected left arm out and rubbed her shoulder. She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

“I'm sorry," she apologized, "So, okay… it was the boys. Did they say anything else to you?”

“Nah. They just kept warning me about hanging up on them and shit.”

“Hanging up?”

“Uh, yes. That’s what we call it. The phone isn't communicating all the time. We have to ‘call’ each other on it. So when I picked it up, he ‘called’ it, and I answered. Hanging up is what happens when one of us turns off the communication.”

“Why the hell is it called ‘hanging up’?”

“Funny enough, it’s because of how phones used to be on Earth. Earlier, when phones first came out, you had to actually ‘hang’ them up. Humans used to put them on the wall.”

“Uh… okay. That is an interesting invention, I must say.”

“It is. Would have been nice if you fuckers let me have one before all this. Damn.”

“Wait a minute, is it related to that … uhm … social media? that you kept pestering Celestia about?”

“Yes. The phone has social media on it. How the hell it would work here, I don’t know. That phone had the date all wrong anyway. I honestly don’t know how the hell the guy on the other side even called me.”

“Yeah, that is strange. This can be a strange world, though.”

“Tell me about it.”

I chuckled, glancing at Snow.

“Speaking of strange, where the fuck did you come from?”

Snow paused wrapping up my arm and looked back at me with those stoner eyes of her.

“Huh?”

“Where’d you come from? Where did Redheart go? I know I’m not fucking crazy-” I started. My eyes widened and I pushed back up against the tree, shooting a glance at Twi. “Wait! SHE’S A CHANGELING!”

“D’mitry, shush!” Twi scoffed, glancing back to see if I’d woken the others.

“I’m not a changeling,” Snow replied, “What’s wrong with you, D’mitry?”

“You were Redheart! You were Nurse Redheart before we exited the tunnel!”

“No I wasn’t.”

“Twi? Was she not Redheart? Are y’all fucking delusional or something?”

My heart started accelerating as my mind tried to grasp what was going on.

“No... she wasn’t,” Twi answered, “I don’t know why you think she was.”

“Wait,” Snow said, “I think I know what happened.”

Twi and I turned our attention to her as she continued.

“Doc put you on Ambevexion, right? That’s what he told me at least, for your procedure.”

“Yeah… yeah, he put me on Ambidextrious.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Well, a notable side-effect of Ambevexion is hallucination. It doesn’t happen often, but it sounds like it happened to you. If you did really see me as Redheart, it was probably due to that. I thought you had just mistaken my name at first, but it’s clear now that that’s not the case.”

“W- wha…” I started, rubbing my head. “Really?”

“Yes. I am not Redheart. I am Snowheart.”

I shook my head. “Lord. Okay…”

She continued, “It’ll be alright, hun. It’s probably wearing off now, seeing as though you see me normally again.”

“Okay, good. It’s just… fuck, that was some strong hallucination. Like, shrooms level hallucination.”

“Yeah, some of our drugs can have some wicked side-effects.”

“Tell me about it. You were her. Like, not even blurry or anything. Your fur was white, your tail was pink. Hell, everything was her, from your face down to the curves of your fla-” I stopped myself, glancing at Twi’s growing glare for a quick second before looking away. “Uh- so, yeah. You were her, at least back there.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, hun. I wished I’d known sooner, but I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Where is Redheart? Is she okay?”

“She is. She’s back at the hospital.”

“Okay,” I replied, looking up at Twi. “Are you done with your questions?”

She glanced back disapprovingly. “Yes, I suppose. Why?”

“Can I talk with Snow for a second?”

She eyed me confusingly for a few seconds before slowly turning and walking away. Snow glanced back at me, also confused.

“What is it, hun?”

“I need those herbs of yours. Bad.”