Rot While You Trot

by Professor_Mercury

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Sad, Dark
Length: 3611

When the dead walk Equestria what do you do? Where do you hide?

A dark tale of how Ponyville was stooped in an unnatural disaster caused by a long forgotten organization, the dead now walk the streets, meadows and forests with an ever-lasting hunger for flesh and the living fear for their lives. Follow the mane 6 and Professor Klem on their quest to heal the broken land. A quest to find a cure for the plague that is showered over their once beautiful home. But does such a cure exist? Can they find it? And how many sacrifices have to be made? The gang will have to use their brains and brawn to survive the disaster that has befallen the land, Its only a matter of time before the entirety of Equestria falls to the plague.

This is the first story I have ever written, I hope you all enjoy!w

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-12 14:04:01 UTC

Chapter 1: Unexpected Results

All was quiet in the Everfree Forest but, underneath the green and thriving land was the facility of the long forgotten science organization Unicorp, Still conducting the experiments they were forbidden from performing years ago by Princess Celestia herself.

Deep within the facility, somepony was arguing.

Unicorp main headquarters (Underneath The Everfree Forest),

Serum Development Lab A-3,

Professor Lucias Klem,

Junior Assistant Keeley.

"Sir It's too soon to start tests on live subjects!" Exclaimed Professor Klem, a tallish, smart looking white colt with long brown hair.

"Do not defy me Klem! *cough cough* You can see that my condition is worsening... I need that serum complete as soon as possible!" An ill looking but well dressed pony said in an anxious tone.

"I understand that Sir but..."

The well dressed pony interrupted with a swift reply "No buts! I want results not *cough* excuses!"

"Yes Mr.Mercury sir..." Klem said with a sigh.

"Good I expect to be cured the next time *cough* I return to this lab! Do not fail me Klem or your life will be on a much thinner thread than that of mine." The well dressed pony shuffled out of the lab with his weary legs.

"What do we do professor?" Said Klem's junior assistant and student Keeley Bright, a young looking small female pegasus with a long golden mane.

"We do as he says... We don't have a choice... Hook the lab rat up to the heart monitor, I'll prep the serum for injection into the subjects bloodstream."

Keeley replied with a quick "Yes professor!"

She lifted a large white rat out of a metal cage and into a cushioned clamp, sticking all sorts of wires to its body in various spots.

"We'll start with a small 10 milligram dosage and see where that takes us, probably nowhere considering the size of the subject"

A small syringe on a robotic arm reached out and pierced the rat's skin injecting a small amount of the serum into its body, Klem and his assistant watched carefully for results.

"Cell regeneration rate increased slightly... Keeley... I think it may be working!"

Suddenly the long bleep of the heart monitor echoed through the lab and its surrounding corridors, the rat was dead.

"Fuck! I thought we had it! I really thought we did! How or where could we have gone wrong!... turn off that racket..."

Keeley switched the heart monitor off and took a seat next to Klem

"What is it that's wrong with the serum? It's cells... they regenerated... what could it be?"

Keeley shrugged with a confused look on her face.

"Thank you Keeley you're a great help..." Klem let out a huge sigh and tapped his chin with his hoof. "Well! Better get back to work and find out what it was then! No use just sitting around complaining about my failures is there?"

"Would you like a coffee professor?" Keeley asked.

"Oh yes please... I could use it..."

As Keeley stood up she caught a glimpse of movement over near where the rat was still clamped, she froze and watched carefully.

"Keeley are you OK?" Klem asked as he stood up

"Shhhh! just watch...."

He shifted his eyes over to the rat, a few seconds passed and then a single twitch from the rats front right leg indicated possible life!

"Turn the machine back on!"

Keeley flicked the switch on the machine but it was still the long bleep of the heart monitor flatlining.

"What in equestria is going on...?"

Suddenly, The rat was flailing about trying to wiggle free of the clamp that held it in place! The heart monitor still letting out the long bleep, Keeley jumped at the rat in an attempt to get it safely into the cage of which it was previously held!

"Keeley be careful! It might....!" and at that moment the rat bit her on the arm! The chunk of flesh it took was considerably big given the size of the rat, despite that she got the rat back into the cage and proceeded to the first aid cabinet.

"Keeley! Fuck! Are you OK?!" Klem stuttered in a panicked tone,

"I'm fine... professor... I'm fiiiii...." Keeley collapsed just short of the first aid cabinet!

Klem rushed over to help "Keeley?! Keeley!"

He checked for a pulse but there was nothing... Keeley was gone...

"No... No! No! No!" Klem sat curled up next to her lifeless body, the sudden loss of his student hit him like a ton of horseshoes.

But she wasn't dead just yet...

Her body twitched itself to life! Klem, still in shock didn't notice anything until the shadow of Keeley''s body appeared before him.

"Keeley...? You're... alive? But... But you had no pulse!"

Looking up, he realised that his wasn't the Keeley he knew... Her eyes were hollow and lifeless, her stare intimidating, She lunged herself at him in an attempt to bite him, Klem backed off and stumbled up onto his hooves, grabbing a scalpel off of a surgery tray. He extended it towards her threatening her.

"Stay back Keeley! I don't want to hurt you! What's wrong with you?! I can try to help!"

It was useless... Keeley continued lumbering towards Klem with a hunger in her eyes.

"I said get back!"

Klem lunged at Keeley with the scalpel, stabbing her straight in the neck with its short but sharp blade, he definitely hit a main artery, there was blood gushing out of her neck like a crimson waterfall, But, Keeley didnt seem phased by Klem's attack at all and continued to lurch towards him.

He looked around for a clear escape route but he was cornered with no way out.

"What do you want?! Stay away from me!!!"

He turned and bucked his hind legs, hitting the former pony on the muzzle and forcing her limp body to stumble back, suddenly, an opening appeared! A clear run to the door, so he made for it! He reached the door and looked back at his former assistant, still stumbling to regain balance.

"I'm so so sorry Keeley... I truly am.. " With a single tear rolling down his face he locked the door and ran, heading for his boss' office, he had to warn him of the dangers of the serum.

"Mr. Mercury, Professor Klem is here to see you."

"Ah yes! Excellent! Bring him in!"

Klem rushed through the door "Sir! The serum!" he stuttered

"Yes Klem? *cough* Spit it out!"

Mercury coughed and spluttered for a short while before regaining his breath,

Klem continued on "We tested it on a live subject as you asked and the results were... somewhat intriguing. Its cells, they started a slight regeneration process but then strangely the subject died."

"You walked all the way here to tell me of your failures! *cough cough*" Mercury shouted in an angered tone.

"No sir... Me and... Keeley... sat down to figure out what could be going wrong, she stood up to get us both coffees and something caught her eye. The rat, was moving again, it was alive or at least we thought it was."

Mercury looked at Klem in a puzzled way "What do you mean 'You thought'?"

Klem continued on "Well i asked Keeley to turn on the heart monitor again but still nothing, no heartbeat just a flatine as if it was dead... It tried to struggle to get free of its bonds so Keeley dived at it to get it back into its cage and it bit her..."

"Yes and...?" Mercury asked curiously,

"Well she headed for the first aid cabinet, I asked her if she was OK and she said she was fine but... she collapsed.... I ran over to her worried... checked her pulse and there was nothing... she was dead..."

Klem hung his head before lifting it slightly to continue

"But like the rat... she wasn't dead... she stood up and when i looked at her... her eyes were... were dead... like i was looking into an endless void... She tried to bite me.... So I stabbed her in the neck with a scalpel... She just kept coming... She's not Keeley any more..."

"This is excellent news!" Mercury shouted with joy

"You've achieved more than I expected! A serum that brings ponies back to life! *cough cough* I was expecting a 'heal all cure all' serum but what you have created is another chance at life!"

Klem raised his voice in anger "Don't you get it?! It doesn't bring ponies back to life it turns them into monsters! and It wasn't even the serum injected straight into Keeley, it was a simple bite! It's not the serum is a mutaed gene!"

Klem hung his head once more and said in a deep tone "This isn't a second chance... It's a ticket straight to limbo... not dead... not living..."

"Get him out of my sight... In fact, get him out of my facility, I never want to see this piece of trash again!"

Mercury shook his hoof gesturing to a couple of guards.

As Klem was being dragged away he shouted warnings at Mercury "Sir you can't use the serum It's dangerous! I'm saying this for your own good! Don't use it!!!"

The guards dragged Klem for a while, down the long and winding corridors of the facility, he squirmed to get free but they were too strong, he could not break free of their grasp...

With his head low and his hooves dragging, he let out a sigh of regret, for what he had created and for what happened to Keeley...

He thought for a moment and smiled, maybe it wasn't so bad that this was happening... He'd been cooped up in this facility for years, feeling like a prisoner for so long.

He lifted his head with the grin still spread across his face to see a big metal door with 'EXIT' printed upon it.

One of the guards punched a code into the console next to the door and with a loud 'CLANG!' the door began to open and the light of day poured through the small gap in the door...

The outside world that Klem had not seen in years was open... He was free...

Chapter 2: And So It Begins... Or Ends...

"Oof!" Klem suddenly hit the soft grassy floor of the everfree forest... Thrown into a world he has not seen in years...

"I can walk you know..." When he turned the door was gone, not a pony in sight.

"Using our outdated stealth technology perhaps? Hmm no time to ponder, I need to find a place to stay."

He looked around but all he could see were trees in every direction.

"Well it's safe to say I havn't a clue where I am... Which way do I go...? Hmm, left? Right? Left? Right? Yes right seems like a good choice!"

Trotting off to his right Klem began his search of civilization.

"Maybe if I follow the classic principal of find a stream and follow it till I find a village or perhaps wait till night and let the stars be my guide? Its extremely quiet so I'm sure to hear any noi-AHHHHH!"

Not looking where he was going, Klem fell into a deep ditch and with a loud *CRACK* hit his head on a sharp rock, blood was seeping out of the wound on his head, the impact leaving him unconscious, alone in the everfree forest...

"Urgh..." Klem groaned as he awoke from his concussion and to his surprise found himself in a bed, he shot upright and had a quick scan of his surroundings, the walls looked like wood or at least what you could see of them, the walls seemed to be littered with books all in order of their respective categories.

"I wouldn't be so quick to sit up." said a voice from the corner of the room.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!"

"Hush hush, I'm not going to hurt you." Out from the shadows stepped a purple unicorn with a dark indigo mane with two streaks of colour in it, one pink and one a deep purple.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle and you're in Ponyville."

"Pleased to meet you miss Sparkle I'm..." Before Klem could finish Twilight interrupted

"Professor Lucias Klem, Head of the Biological wing for Unicorp correct?"

"Y-y-yes how did you know that?!"

Twilight held up Klem's identification badge that was attached to his lab coat.

"Oooh... How long have I been out?"

"Well it must have been a heavy concussion, you've been out for a whole week."

"A week?! Wow,,, Hold on, how'd you find me?"

"Well I was out in the forest at a friend's house picking up supplies."

"Supplies? Out in a forest? What kind of supplies?"

"Is that really important? But if you must know, supplies for alchemy, chemistry and so on."

"So a science nut yourself huh?"

Twilight let out a giggle "You could say that, but anyway as I was saying, I was on my way back when I heard somepony scream in distress, I rushed over in the direction I heard the scream and found you lying in a pool of blood."

"Well, I thank you for my rescue miss Sparkle but I wouldn't want to burden you any longer."

"Hold up mister! I have questions for you."

"What kind of questions, may I ask?" Klem said with a curious look on his face.

"Unicorp, the organization that disappeared years ago due to inhumane experimentation on ponies and animals alike and I want to know why I found one of their employees out in the everfree forest."

Klem started to sweat, with an apprehensive look on his face. "Well... You see... We..." He proceeded to tell Twilght the whole story of his expulsion from the facility.

"I'm sorry about your assistant... She sounded wonderful."

"She was... So young and intelligent... It all seems like a waste..."

"I have an assistant to... His name is Spike, you'll meet him eventually but right now he's on an errand for me. But a facility underneath the everfree forest this whole time and no pony noticed..."

"Well I think their using our old stealth tech to hide the entrance"

"Hmm interesting... I know I've asked you a lot of questions and I can understand if you don't want any more thrown at you, but when you speak of your 'boss', by any chance do you mean Solus Mercury? The world class genius?"

"Umm yes why do you ask?"

"I have ALL of his books, from 'Advanced Chemistry:The Easy Way' to 'Biological Genius', I'm a huge fan of his works but the way you describe him kinda makes him seem like..."

"An asshole?"

"Not really how I would have put it myself but yes."

A sudden knock at the door alerted the two of them.

"Ah, It looks as if the girls are here to see how you are."

"Wait what girls?"

Before Klem could get an answer Twilight was already down the stairs answering the door to whoever these guests were, Klem pulled the sheets up to his muzzle and laid back.

He could hear several sets of hooves trotting up the wooden stairs and the flapping of wings.

"Lucias I'd like you to meet my friends!"

Looking round Klem spotted another unicorn as well as two earth ponies like himself and two pegasi hovering over him.

"Meet Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and..." Before Twilight could finish the cyan pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane zoomed in close to Klem, Eyeing up the wound on his head, He pulled his head back as far as he could but she just got closer.

"Whoa! Thats gonna leave one hell of a scar!"

Letting out a sigh Twilight finished her sentence. "...And Rainbow Dash"

"My name is Lucias Klem, its a pleasure to meet you all."

Twilight clapped her hooves together, "Now that introductions are over and done with would you mind explaining to the girls everything you explained to me Lucias?"

"If I must miss Sparkle..." Klem started his explanation of the events for the second time.

However back at the facility things had took a turn for the worst...

All was quiet in the facility except for the occasional groan every now and again... Blood now covered the once grey walls of the corridors and the half eaten corpses of the former guards and scientists littered the floors, the less fortunate ponies lumbered about mindlessly in search of new flesh to feast upon.

Mercury however was safe and sound sat in his office with everything on lock down, he fiddled with a syringe full of the serum that he had so appropriately named 'Ressurection'.

He laughed maniacally to himself "With this serum, I can give equestria immortality... Like that *cough cough* meddling bitch Celestia... Everypony will bow before me and recognize me as their glorious saviour..."

Getting up from his chair, he hobbled over to a metal case on the wall, lifting it to expose a button. "I release you my children... I release you into the world to spread my gift!!!" Hitting the button released the locks of every exit from the facility, the plagued former ponies poured through the doors into the open world their master had presented them with...

"It is time *cough cough* for my ascension..." Mercury pierced his arm with the syringe injecting its entire contents into his body, writhing in agony and screaming he had done the very thing Klem had warned him not to do... Falling to the floor and closing his eyes, his heart stopped, but he had not drawn his last breath...

Back at Twilight's house Klem had just finished his explanation.

Applejack was the first to speak. "So let me get this straight, you were producin' some kinda special brew that would make your sick boss all fine and dandy again, but something went wrong with this concoction and instead of makin' folks better it turns them into some kinda monster?"

"That pretty much sums it up yes..."

Rarity put her hoof to Klem's and said sympathetically "Well I think I speak for us all when I say sorry for the loss of your assistant... She sounded lovely..."

"Heh.. She certainly was..."

The front door suddenly swung open.

Spike had returned home from his errands, "Phew! I'm glad that's over it took me all day to find these supplies... Hey Twilight? Is our guest awake yet?"

Twilight stuck her head over the banister of the stairs. "Spike, where have you been? It's almost nine o'clock! But to answer your question, yes he is awake, everypony is here, come on up!".

Putting down the boxes of items he had acquired for Twilight throughout the day, Spike made his way up the creaky wooden stairs to greet their peculiar guest.

To Klem's surprise Spike was a dragon which he had not expected.

"Hmm, interesting a dragon fitting into a pony culture... This was unheard of when I was last in the open world."

"I'm Spike pleased to meet ya!"

"Hello Spike, my name is Lucias Klem."

"Odd name for a pony..."

Twilight nudged Spike "Spike don't be so rude!"

"Ow! I was just saying!"

Klem let out a small snigger "It's OK Twilight he's just stating his opinion."

"Sometimes opinions hurt pony's feelings so I try to make him keep his opinions to himself."

Fluttershy shuffled closer to the bed. "Umm... Mister Klem... Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead Fluttershy and please call me Lucias"

"Okay... Lucias, Can this umm... Infection get out of the facility by any chance...?"

"I can't say for sure, but with how tightly that place is locked down I doubt that anypony is getting in or out without Mercury's say so."

Pinkie Pie gasped as if she had just got an idea "We should throw a party!!!"

Everypony stared at her with a vexed look on their faces.

Applejack was quick to question her  "Sugarcube, If ya don't mind ma askin', how is this the time to throw a party?"

"Well! Lucias here is getting better! So it could be a get well soon party!!!"

Twilight put her face in her hooves and sighed "Sometimes Pinkie I think yo..."

A sudden bang at the door interrupted her sentence, another bang followed, and another and another.

"That doesn't sound like your average knock, Rainbow Dash can you check out of the window please?"

"Fine, fine..." Dash flew to the window and looked down at the front door.

"It's too dark outside I can't see a thing!"

"Fine, ill go and take a look over the balcony" Twilight trotted to the balcony doors, opened them and stepped outside, looking over the banister she shouted "Is anypony there?" the only reply she got was a low groaning noise.

She lit up the area below with a light spell and the pony below looked up at her, It's mouth covered with blood and its pupils as white as snow...

She backed off into the house with a look of terror on her face and fell to the floor, Everypony rushed to her to check if she was OK.

Rarity held Twilight's hooves in comfort "Twilight dear speak to me! what did you see?! Who is out there?!"

Twilight slowly turned her head to Klem.

"You... You said their eyes were... Lifeless right...?"

Klem looked at the balcony doors still wide open with the wind gushing through. "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about then yes... and if one of them is out there... It's the end...."