The C̸̞̙̭̽̌̀̈́̽̕̕ȗ̵̧̨̢̻̩̞̘͙̉̋̊͂͘ŕ̷͖̦̍͝s̵̫̪̋̍͂̆̆͆̄é̶̡̧̺͖d̸͎͒̒̿̈̀ Apocalypse

We moved on slowly. Celestia wasn't in good shape from our long walk, but she managed with some help from Twi and Abby. Jen walked on the other side of Luna from me. We could see the gate up ahead. The boys I had shot there before were removed. Their bloodstains remained.

When we got to the drawbridge, we noticed the train at the train station outside Canterlot's walls. It was up a hill not to far away.

"Oh my god ... does it work?" Dash asked.

"I don't know. I guess the boys used it to get Trixie here."

"Let's check it out," Twi suggested.

"Aren't we waiting for Trixie?" Snow asked.

"Yeah ... so, alright. New plan. Snow, you stay here with Devan while we check it out. If it works, we can bolt back to the hospital."

I caught Jen and Abby exchange nervous looks.

"What?" I asked. They turned to me. "Huh?"

"What were those stares about?"

"Stares? I don't know what you're talking about ..." Abby played it off.

"What are you trying to hide?"

They looked at each other again. "Okay ... well, you see ..." Jen said, "We ... got word from Devin that he'd sent a dozen boys to raid the hospital. And ... well ... they were successful. They killed a lot of ponies before leaving early."

Even the birds stopped chirping for a deadly silence.

"No!" Dash yelled, "Scootaloo!"

"Oh no ..." Twi said.

"We're still going. Right, Twi?" I asked.

"Yes. We have to."

"Okay."

Twi turned to me. "If the train's working, we'll start it up. We won't leave you."

They ran for the train. Snow and I stayed under the gate's arc and watched them.There was no sign of any boys as they entered the train cars. I turned around to watch for Trixie.

"Should we go on top to get a better view?"

Snow shrugged. "We're leaving the moment she gets here."

"I guess you're right." I put my Beretta in my belt loop and put my hands in my pockets. "How's Celestia doing?"

"Meh ... not too good. But I took care of her and covered her wounds more clearly."

"That's good."

We waited until we heard the train's engine turning on. We watched as the train shook to life.

"Hey! Now it'll take just a few hours to get back to the hospital. This is great!"

Snow replied, "Yeah ... don't get your hopes up."

"Right. God ... I hope they only kidnapped the crusaders. They're monsters if they killed them too."

She sighed. It was difficult to just think about it.

"Is that her?" She pointed out a moving figure a ways away.

"I guess s-" Now we saw another figure running beside her. It looked like they were carrying another pony on their backs. Then there were a lot more figures chasing them.

"Is that the swarm?!" I exclaimed.

"Sure looks like it!" she replied.

"But she was supposed to lock them up!"

"I know ... she might've possibly gotten too weak to keep it going."

We heard the train engine turn off behind us.

"What are they doing?!" I yelled.

"I don't know! Stay here. I'm going to see what's wrong."

"Tell them to hurry up and get it going!"

"Okay!" She sprinted faster than ever towards the train.

I could see Trixie now. And ... Blaze?? Drift was blacked out on their backs. They ran the little distance to meet me.

"Where's the others?" Trixie asked.

"Why is the herd still here?!"

"I got too weak to keep up the force field spell. Now where are the others?!"

"In the train. Come on."

I led them to the train station without further questioning. The swarm behind us was fast on our tails. How were they moving so quickly? You'd expect zombies to be slow movers, but these must have been anxious for brains.

"Where were you, Blaze?" I asked while running, "I thought they'd killed you."

"Long story. We can talk on the train."

"Alright ..."

We ran up the stairs and across the platform to the first open door. The car was very full of seats and empty suitcases.

"We're sorry!" We overheard Dash yell from the train car ahead of us.

"You guys stay here. I'll be back."

I shut the door to the train car and went through the inside doors that connected the cars. The next car was more roomy, with couches and beds on both sides, as well as a few seats in columns in front. Twi sat by Celestia, who was on one of the beds.

"Why'd you turn the train off?" I asked. I noticed the open door and shut it quickly.

"Dash did. She thought it was making too much noise. Why?"

"Because the swarm outside!"

She moved back. "I'm sorry, Devan. We didn't know. Wasn't Trixie supposed to lock them all up?"

"She tried. She got too weak is what I heard."

"She's here, right?"

"Yes. In the car behind us."

The train engine rumbled to life again. I opened the door and got a glimpse to see that everypony was in the train before shutting and locking it.

"We'll be okay if they get this thing running soon. The herd is still by the gate."

"That's good."

Snow came through the door in front. She turned attention to me. "Did you get Trixie?"

"Yes."

"Dash and the girls are getting the train started. We should be gone from here soon."

"Do they need any help?"

"I don't think s-"

The train stopped suddenly, throwing all of us forwards an inch.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, running to the side doors.

"Devan?" Twi called.

"I'll be right back." I sprinted out of the car, and ran to the front. I stopped at the engine to see Dash leaning out the conductor's window. She looked to me and pointed in front of the train. "I think we hit something!"

"Don't worry. I'll check it out!" I jumped off the train platform's ledge to see something gruesome.

In front of the train's wheels were two entangled zombie ponies. They prevented the train from even moving. I checked to see if they were alive, which they weren't.

The moans getting closer, I carefully grabbed one of the pony's legs. She was jammed in place, and I only got her to budge a few inches. I tried again and the same thing happened. The moans grew louder.

Sweat formed through my nervousness. One more yank and nothing. I heard gunfire from the front, open car behind the engine. That was bound to save me some time.

While I yanked again with the same result, Jen ran up next to me. She jumped in front of the train when she noticed the zombie ponies, and started pulling the other pony out. She came easily. I noticed that one of the pony's legs was squished underneath the train's front wheel.

"Jen! Do you have a knife?"

"Yes." She scurried through her bag. The moans were getting even louder now. I looked over the station platform to see the first zombie ponies climbing up the other side. A few of them were shot down by the others.

"Here." She tossed me a knife that I wasn't ready for. It cut my wrist before dropping. "Ow!" I yelled before picking it up.

"Sorry!"

I took out the knife and cut at the pony's leg. It was easy at first, but then I got to her bone. As I cut, I was attacked from behind. Jen shot him before he got to me.

"Thanks!"

I continued cutting through her bone when a few more attacked from the platform. Jen took position behind me, gunning down the ones that were close.

"There's hundreds!" she yelled over her fire.

One snuck past her guard and tore up the back of my shirt. He was pulled off by Jen and shot. Now she couldn't hold the swarm any longer. I finished cutting, and pulled the zombie pony out quickly, throwing her at the nearest attackers. There were some behind me as I stumbled away from the platform. That's when I saw the sheer number of them invading like a group of hungry ants finding food. Jen was getting bit by them as well, but that wouldn't matter in the long run. The only thing that mattered was getting out of there without too much blood loss.

The train started accelerating slowly. I witnessed Jen get pulled down by a few attackers, pulling her right on the tracks in front of the train.

"Jen!"

She struggled as the train sped up. I jumped out, grabbed the edge of one of the secondary train lights, and swung around the front of the train. I ran forwards with a knife, slicing the ponies off of her until she could get up. The train pushed me hard, causing me to run into her and push her off the tracks. I jumped off and rejoined her.

Behind us was the swarm, just feet away. We sprinted the instant we were side by side. Now we ran alongside the train that shoved away the ponies on the track.

"Devan!"

I looked up to see Dash in the conductor's window. She reached out her hoof, offering to pull us up.

"There's no way you can carry us! We'll hop on the open car!"

She frowned and pulled her hoof in. I looked behind to see that some of the zombie ponies were actually galloping after us. They were going just as fast as we were, but they weren't fast enough to catch up to the open car. We slowed our pace to fall back next to the open car.

The train's speed now was as fast as our run - and we were running fast. We waited as Dash kicked open the two large gates that flanked the seats in the car. I hopped on, throwing myself on board, and grabbed Jen's arm to assist her.

She got ready to jump on at first, before slipping over a rock on the ground. I held on to her hands tightly as she squeezed, throwing me forwards against the car's corner. Her weight shocked my muscles, but not enough to get me to let go. Dash hugged my waist, tugging me back enough so Jen could throw her body on board. With one more burst of energy, we pulled all but her feet on. She wiggled herself in as Dash shut the gates to the car closed.

"Thanks," Jen said.

The moans quieted as Dash went in the engine and sped up. We were safe again.

But how safe?