Author's Note

"Doctor, we're losing him!!"

Stitch Stitch Stitch!

"Wow, you did that pretty quick. Shouldn't we have-"

"NEXT!"

The Hospital

I awoke when somebody shook me. I cringed my eyes before opening them. Jen was the first somebody I saw. "See? We're fine."

I felt pain in my shoulder, but my chest wasn't throbbing anymore. "Did Snow put on my stitches?"

"I did," Snow responded.

"Hey Devan." Twi walked up to my left side.

"How long have I been out?"

Jen checked her watch. "Eh ... half an hour maybe. Pretty impressive."

"Guh."

The sky above had been dominated completely by white and light grey clouds, and the chill of fall washed over me.

"We're going to the hospital as soon as you get up. Do you want to ride with Trixie and Blaze in the cart?"

"There's not enough room for me."

"We could try."

"No. I'm fine. I just need somebody to walk with me."

"I will," Jen replied in an instant.

"Okay."

Twi, Dash, and Jen helped me up, which strained my chest. I glanced at the others, who were waiting on me. I couldn't see Spike anywhere though.

"Where's Spike?" I asked.

Twi turned from me. Dash drooped. Everybody else frowned.

"Uhm ..." Celestia said, "He's not with us anymore."

"Oh ..."

The others were silent for a little bit. I saw Trixie and Blaze sitting in the cart. Trixie smiled mildly. I smiled back. Blaze, now conscious, also smiled. His side had been completely re-bandaged.

"How am I impressive? They woke up before me and look great."

Trixie lost her smile again and sighed. "I can't walk."

Oh crap.

"Oh no ... I'm so sorry."

"That's okay."

I noticed her front hooves were limp, hanging in front of her body.

"I can though," Blaze said. "I can walk if you want to sit down."

"No ... I'm fine."

"Suit yourself."

"Alright," Twi addressed, "Everybody ready? Dash and Abby, you got the cart?" They nodded. "Alright. Let's move."

For the next ten minutes, Celestia and Jen assisted my walking. The hospital was more visible now, surely less than half a mile away. I could see two blown out windows from this distance.

Please be intact.

It was a quiet travel. Another few minutes of walking discouraged me more. All but two of the windows were blown out, from this side. Blood was smeared on broken glass from one of them. The front doors were gone and bits of glass were scattered about the lawn.

"Be alert," Twi reminded. She drew her m4 as we got closer. Dash was visibly trembling in front of me. This must have been emotionally destroying her.

We passed the sign in front, which had numerous bullet holes in it. We were just yards away now. The bricks were dark black, and the remnants of a fire were clear. On the left side, next to a few trees, one of the guards laid motionless. His body was too gruesome for me to explain. At the same time, a few boys were laid out on the opposite side of the hospital.

Twi stopped, causing us to. "Okay," she whispered.

"Jen, Celestia, and Luna. You'll come in with me to scout out the hospital. Everybody else, keep watch out here. If you hear anything, come inside."

"What about me?" I asked. "I thought I was gonna come with."

"But your chest ..."

"I'm fine. I can walk now. Let me come."

Twi, knowing me well, didn't argue. She just said, "Fine." and we were on our way.

Since I was able to walk by myself now, I followed Luna and Twi inside. The rooms were burnt up, and ashes scattered the floor. The lobby was black, and complete walls had crumbled in a pile of debris.

There was no hope of any survivors as we traveled through the rooms. Almost nothing remained. The fire completely scorched the first floor, and it was weird seeing the ceiling intact.

"What if the roof collapses?" I asked.

Twi was quiet for a second. "It'll hurt ..."

We continued through, checking the first floor rooms. Nothing but ashes and black walls. It was a truly depressing sight, and I could barely withstand it gruesomeness. The boys had entirely destroyed the place. Well ... practically. Had they extinguished the fire? Surely a fire would eventually burn down bricks, wouldn't it? Maybe not. The whole building looked like an atrocity still.

"Alright everybody. Celestia and Devan, come with me upstairs. Luna and Jen, just ... let the others inside. Do not let them upstairs, okay?"

"Alright," Luna replied. Jen nodded along. "Be careful."

"We will." Twi led Celestia and I upstairs. The metal staircase remained, but the doors were burnt beyond recognition. We walked up carefully, the stairs creaking metallically below us.

We stopped at the top stair.

"What if the floor breaks?"

"Devan ... don't worry so much," Celestia replied. "Did you ever read about Emerald Hospital's great blaze?"

I shook my head no.

"It happened around six hundred years ago. Before Ponyville's hospital was Emerald Hospital, which stood right below us. It was burned down to rubble in just a few minutes, killing almost thirty ponies. Afterwards, the local citizens and their mayor attended a meeting to discuss the causes and what could be done to prevent it from happening again. Eventually, they decided to build a more stable hospital. Introducing ... Ponyville's hospital. Considering most of the walls are still standing, we should be alright. Just watch your step."

"If you insist."

I followed Celestia and Twi through the doorway. They slowly moved through the hallway. The floor didn't creak at all, and it was, surprisingly, not charcoal black like downstairs. In fact, the upstairs looked rather normal, despite a few crumbled walls and dark spots on the floor.

"Looks much better than the first floor," Twi said.

"Yeah," I replied. "The floor looks sturd-"

I took a step that sunk my foot through the wood. My leg submerged through as the wood floor cracked open. Before I knew it, my whole body collapsed through, and I hit the ground on the first floor on my back with a thud.

"Ow!" My chest throbbed again. My back ached. I looked up through the crack to see Twi and Celestia.

"Are you okay?!" Twi called.

"I'm fine," I huffed.

Jen ran up next to me. "Oh my god. Are you alright?"

"Yes."

Dash ran up to me as well. "How'd you fall?"

"Floor gave way."

"Damn ..."

They helped me to my feet. We looked up at the hole in the ceiling. I had fallen right next to the lobby, where the others were coming in. Twi and Celestia scurried through the stair's doorway.

"Devan." Twi ran up to me. "That was a nasty fall. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. My back aches though."

She observed the now unstable looking ceiling. I shook off the dust and wood chips on my clothes.

"We should stay off the second floor," Twi stressed.

"But we haven't checked whats up there."

"Yeah ... yeah. Fair point."

She thought for a moment. The hole was tempting us from going up there again.

"I probably just stepped on a dark spot without knowing."

I hadn't. I'd been watching the floor up until I fell through it. It looked like a stable spot until my foot sank through it.

"Alright then. You still want to come?"

"Yeah. I'll be careful."

"Alright."

"Do you still want us down here?" Dash asked her.

"Yes. You guys can rest for now."

I headed upstairs with Celestia and Twi again. The hole was just a few steps ahead of the doorway, on the right side of the hall. It was nerve racking to look at.

"Just be careful," Twi reminded.

We walked through even slower now. Most of the doorways in the hall were open or burnt down, so lots of light from the outside was coming in.

We looked through the first door to the left. Surprisingly, much of the furniture remained.

"Wow."

"Do you think they extinguished the fire?" Twi asked.

"The boys? Probably not. The guards might have on a last attempt to save the hospital."

"Well ... they did a damn good job."

"I know."

We checked the first door on the right, after the hole. The wall to it had crumbled entirely, which worried me. Less furniture remained, but a cabinet stood next to a ripped up bed. The window was shattered, leaving bits of glass all over the room.

"Ripped? Can fire rip furniture?" I asked.

Twi shrugged. We moved on to the next room on the right. As we approached, we heard a grumble before a zombie pony crashed through the door to our left and lunged at us. Her jump scare had shocked me momentarily as she shoved me to the ground. As I fell, I cringed, thinking about how the floor would split and how I would plummet down again.

But as I slammed into the floor, it surprisingly held. I wrestled her and pushed her back when she strained for my neck. Beyond her zombie appearance, a chill ran through my spine when I realized who it was.

The shock of realizing who it was spazzed my muscles, almost causing me to get my neck bit.

It was Flutters.

Her beautifully long pink hair gave her away. She was a zombie pony now. Even with whiter eyes and a paler body color, she was still the cute Fluttershy I knew. This made it difficult to figure out what to do next.

Celestia and Twi also knew she was Flutters by her tail. They both lowered their guns and stood oblivious to knowing what to do.

"What do I do?" I yelled.

Twi ran up beside her.

"Don't," I urged, "You'll get bit."

Flutters then bit my hand I was using to hold her off.

"Ow!"

Twi pulled Flutters by her hair until she quit biting.

"Trixie!" she shouted.

"What do we do?" I begged.

"I ... I don't know." She exchanged a glance with Celestia. She didn't know either.

"Flutters ..." I whispered, "I can't believe I let this happen to you ... I'm ... sorry."

I couldn't hold in a few tears. I heard Trixie sprint in through the staircase behind me. She ran up to Twi's side. She recognized the situation quickly.

"Can you do anything?" Twi asked.

"What should I try?" Trixie replied.

"Try a shove spell. Are there any spells you can use to lock her in position?"

Trixie though a minute. Something snapped in her mind.

"I know of a temporary freeze spell."

"Use it."

“Right.”

Trixie lit her horn a bright blue and moved behind me. I pushed Flutters further up so she had a clear shot. I closed my eyes to prevent me from seeing Flutters get frozen.

I heard the spell hum louder until Trixie suddenly shrieked. I heard a loud plunk downstairs, shooting my eyes open. She had fallen through the hole. I mistakenly lost hold of Flutters, and she sunk her teeth in my neck. I pushed her away as much as I could.

"Trixie!" Twi ran after her. Celestia kneeled by my side.

"Devan! Are you alright?"

"Yes." I didn't sound convincing. It came out squeaky and under pressure. Sweat was dripping down my forehead. Celestia went to pull her off, but Flutters turned to her when she got too close. Flutters was extraordinarily stronger than she was as a normal pegasus. My arms were shaking from her suppressed weight. I couldn't wait for somebody else to help me.

I became dizzy and lightheaded. Everything started turning. I developed nausea. My strength was beginning to sap. She was getting closer. My arms vibrated before I couldn’t handle her weight anymore. They broke down, and she dove forwards, sinking her teeth in my shoulder.

“Ah!”

Everything spun around faster. Everything blurred. My head throbbed. I swung my numb arms around and tried to shove her off again, but failed. My eyes crossed unintentionally. I felt light.

Unexpectedly, she stopped. She let go of my neck and looked down at me. Everything around her blurred, but her face was clear.

“Flutters?”

She blinked. Her regular eyes replaced the white zombie ones. “Devan?”

“Flutters?” The reality of seeing her turn confused me, but still made my eyes water with relief of some sort. “Is that you?”

Before she could respond, I threw my arms over her wings and hugged her.

“Devan?” she called.

“What?” I disconnected.

“Devan?” she repeated.

“What is it?”

“Devan … are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Are you?”

“Devan?”

I grew concerned. She was acting funny. Her face blurred with the rest of the hall.

“Flutters? My eyes …”

“Devan?”

I blacked out, but my hearing was intact.

“Devan?” Celestia called, “Devan, wake up. Please. You’re starting to worry us.”

“Twi is coming with Snow,” Trixie said.

“Wha-” I slowly woke again. Everything was clearer than before. Both Celestia and Trixie were hanging over me on either side. Celestia was holding a towel to my neck.

“Devan?” Trixie asked, “Are you okay?”

I blinked. “Where’s Flutters?”

“She’s taken care of. You’re fine.”

“Is she alright?”

Both of them exchanged confused glances.

“What?” Trixie asked.

“Is she okay?”

“Devan … I used a spell to knock her out. She’s not getting better anytime soon.”

“What? But she was fine! Didn’t you see her?”

“Devan …” Celestia said, “I think you were hallucinating.”

This made me tear up again, but not from relief. I took a few slow breaths. They were right. I knew it was probably just a hallucination. I heard footsteps running up the stairs.

“They’re here,” Celestia said.

The footsteps ran up behind me. Twi and Snow came into view, as well as Dash.

“Are you alright?” Twi asked. Trixie moved out of the way for Snow to sit and shuffle through her bag.

“I don’t know now.”

It was a little while before we headed downstairs. Snow had given me antibiotics and cleaned the wound thoroughly. Snow, Twi, and I were the last ones downstairs. The others that had been up here carried Flutters downstairs to … finish … her. They said they’d lay her next to Cheerilee. A silent waterfall of tears rained down my cheeks when I heard the shot.

When we got downstairs, Dash hugged me tight. I hugged her back.

“Be gentle. I just stitched his wounds.”

“Okay.”

We disconnected. She formed some tears too, as well as the others. Even Jen and Abby, who never knew Flutters, were trying to hold back their sadness.

“Well,” I said, “What now?”

Everybody looked at each other until Twi stepped in. “We still haven’t gone through the entire second floor. Until we get that done, we’re settling here. Any objections?”

Everybody stayed nervously quiet.

“I know times are tough. Believe me. For now, the only suggestion I have is to make refuge in here until we figure out a plan. But we need to make sure the building is safe. It’s only …” She looked at her wrist watch. “Stupid thing isn’t ticking.” She tapped it.

“Is yours right?” she asked me.

I checked. “Yeah. Mine says 2:20.”

“Alright. Good. It’s only half past two. We need to get this place secure by nighttime.

“We’re going to sleep in a burnt building?” Trixie asked.

“Yes. Unless you have other suggestions.”

She thought before shrugging warily.

“I know it sounds stupid, but you can clean up very well with your magic.”

“Right,” she commented.

“Okay. Devan … do you want to rest?”

“I’m good.”

“Thought so. You can join Dash and I upstairs. Snow, can you look in the cleaning cabinet and see if anything is there?”

Snow nodded.

“Alright. Everybody else clean up in anyway you can. Keep watch on the windows and doors. Okay? Let’s do this.”

Upstairs, we walked through carefully. We double checked the rooms we already monitored. The unchecked rooms after the hole were very plain. An abundance of furniture was burnt and many windows were blown out. The rooms were ashy and dark, but the floor was surprisingly sturdy.

At the end of the hall, the rooms looked cleaner and less burnt. The fire had raged through one side, but seemed to weaken halfway. The signs of a fire were less obvious. At one of the last rooms down the hall, there was actually an entire dresser/closet remaining that looked to be about the height of the room itself. Even though it had fallen face-first on the ground, it looked to be unburnt. There was an unscathed bed beside it, but the fallen dresser was propping the door halfway shut.

“Should we lift the dresser so we can use that bed tonight?” I asked.

“That’d be best,” Twi said. “Trixie!”

We waited a minute for Trixie to run up. The dresser looked far too big to lift on our own. Not all of us could fit through the blocked doorway also.

“What is it?” she shouted as she ran through the hall. She stopped beside us. “Somebody hurt?”

“No,” Twi said. “There’s a fallen dresser in there. Do you think you can lift it with your magic?”

“Sure.” She leaned in to inspect the room. “Looks heavy, but I’ll try.”

She lit her horn the bright blue we had seen before. A beam of light spiraled around the door and attached to the dresser. The room grew a light blue. I peered over Trixie’s shoulder to see it lift slightly.
As it lifted, a feminine voice yelled from inside it. Trixie dropped the whole dresser, causing it to slam the door shut. It shoved her back, and I grabbed her shoulders to prevent her fall.

“What was that?” Twi asked.

“I don’t know,” Trixie replied.

She pushed the door, but it was jammed shut. I joined her, but we only managed to open it a sliver. “Ah … screw it.” She lit her horn and threw a beam of light at it, causing the door to explode entirely. The chips flew inward, and littered the room. The dresser still laid on the floor beside the bed. Another scream came from the dresser, followed by a deeper voice shushing her.

“What do we do?” I whispered.

Twi shrugged. She gestured Trixie to lift it again. “Just be ready.”

“Okay …”

We readied our guns as Trixie rose it. It locked in the upright position moments later, and we all waited quietly.

Twi gestured me to open it. I hesitantly nodded. Slowly, I grabbed on the right handle and pulled it open an inch. We all tensed further until I opened it another inch. Before I could continue, the door slammed open, and bulldozed me to the floor. A few shots rang out until abruptly stopping. I looked up again to see one of the royal guards and Nurse Redheart.

“Hell! Are you alright?!” Twi shouted. She ran up to not me, but the dresser. “Did I hit you?”

Trixie came and helped me up off the floor.

“No … no,” Redheart spoke. Her voice was wary, and she was visibly shaking.

“You nearly blew out my ear,” the guard added.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were more of those boys.”

Redheart took a few quick breaths. “No … that’s alright. We thought you were as well.”

The guard sighed with relief. “I’m so glad you weren’t.”

“Us too,” Twi replied.

The guard turned to me. “Sorry about that.”

“That’s fine.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah … I think you gave me a bruise though.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright.”

“How long have you been in there?” Twi asked.

“Well,” the guard said. “We got in here when the fire started. We thought it would keep us safe, since there was no alternative, but it ended up falling. We’ve been stuck in there for a few days now.”

“A few days?” Twi exclaimed. “You must be starving.”

“We are. I can’t feel my hunger anymore,” Redheart said.

“Ooh. It’s that bad? We’ll get you set up downstairs.”

“Thanks, Twi.”