Lost Pegasus

== Prologue: Outbreak ==

    *Two weeks before the outbreak*

    "I love you so much..."

    "I love you too. You make me feel so fortunate..."

    "It is I who is the fortunate one. It's my special talent, right?"

    "If you insist..."

    *a few minutes pass*

    *sigh* "This town is so stressful... Do you think we could go somewhere some time? Get our minds off everything and relax? Be with each other for a few days and nights~?"

    "Where did you have in mind?"

    "Hmm... Maybe Las Pegasus?"

    "I don't know... You have a bit of a gambling problem. Is that exactly a good idea?"

    "It's not a problem if you're winning."

    "You have me there... Fine, but try not to get too into it, alright?"

    "You have my word."

    "That sums it up then. We'll go to Las Pegasus in about a week. Sound good?"

    "Sounds perfect. Now how about round two~?"

    "Just as long as you don't beg me to go for three like last time, you crazy mare~. I need my rest..."

    *Three days before outbreak*

    I got off the train into the somewhat dim lighting of a subway station, stretching my forelegs before stretching my hind legs. "Some trip, eh Fortune?"

    Fortune was the love of my life, the center of my universe. She was a pale yellow pegasus with a long, straight sky blue mane and tail. Her beautiful light green eyes always seemed to see right through me, whenever I was hurt or whenever I was being untruthful (always for the better, of course). Her cutie mark was a shooting star. She yawned and answered "I didn't expect it to take so long. But now we're here, and we can enjoy ourselves. I know you are~."

    She always had to be like that! I blushed a tad and levitated my luggage before me, also accepting hers. Surprisingly, very few ponies actually took the train to Las Pegasus. Maybe seven ponies in total. I watched as they all went from the subway tunnels and up the stairs, their things in tow. the train behind me whistled and slowly began to leave the underground station. "Well, I suppose we had better find us somewhere to stay. C'mon, let's go find a hotel or something..."

    She simply nodded and smiled, walking next to me as we ascended... Into what was surprisingly a cool night air. "Huh... I thought it was mid-afternoon."

    "Me too," I responded. It didn't take us long to find a nice place to sleep. Turns out, building a thirty story hotel a few blocks away from a subway tunnel that led to other parts of Equestria was profitable.

    "Ooh, Grey, let's sleep there! I want a room way high up so I can look out upon the city!"

    "Anything for you, dear." I gave her a small peck on the cheek and walked to a fancy set of double doors, holding one to let her in before continuing myself. The lobby was nice, but the receptionist looked bored out of her mind. I guess I would be too. "Hey, we need a room on a high floor."

"Not like you have much of a choice if you want to sleep here," she said rather dully. "All the rooms floor fifteen and below are taken. How high up you willing to go?"

    "How does floor twenty sound?" I asked Fortune. She nodded and we were given key to our room - room 1337. That's a lot of rooms! I paid enough to stay for four nights before getting into an elevator at the end of a hall. Going up, we reached floor twenty and walked to our room. There was a small sink to my left upon walking in, and a door that led to a bathroom to my right. Walk forward a bit and there was our main room. A large bed to our right and a desk to our left with a television set in the middle. There were potted plants in the corners of the room and paintings of the sun rising over mountains, or luscious forests. At the far side of the room was a glass door, and outside, a balcony. Lights spread as far as the eye could see, ponies milling about here and there. The major casinos were a bit farther away, and had much more traffic.

    Fortune locked the door behind us and moved towards the bed in the room. I set our stuff to the side by the sink and followed her lead. She looked back at me and smiled seductively. "Oh, come on! What does it take to satisfy you!? I'm tired! Can't we just do this tomorrow? Please?" I pleaded. She wouldn't take no for an answer. I swear, her talent was getting lucky, not being lucky...

*Two days before the outbreak*

    I woke up, yawned, rolled out of bed, and stretched. A glance at the nearest clock told me the time: 10:13 am. I glanced towards the bed; Fortune hadn't heard me get up. I tip-toed out the door and trotted to the elevator at the end of the hall. Going down to the lobby, I looked outside. Next door to the hotel was a cafe. What luck! I went in and got a muffin. I had a strange feeling that somepony that was cross-eyed would like these especially...

    Grabbing another and a bit of butter, I paid for my food and went back to my room. I opened the door and... Correction, I turned the handle and learned I was locked out. Knocking lightly, I waited until a sleepy Fortune opened the door. I smiled sheepishly and hovered the breakfast before me. She smiled and let me in, closing the door behind me. "Looks like breakfast in bed was ruined. My bad..." She simply kissed me and buttered her muffin, taking a joyful bite out of it.

    "Thanks, Grey. After last night, I really could use something to refuel~"

    Ack! "You torture me and you know it!" My cheeks burned as I looked away and buttered my breakfast. Taking a bite, I learned that the cooks at the cafe knew what they were doing.

    "We've been together for three years! How are you still blushing when I say things like that?" She playfully asked.

    "I-I don't know... I just do..."

    "And that's just another thing I like about you. It's so gosh darn cute!"

    "C-cut it out! I'm not cute! I'm a monster! Rawwwr!" I stood on my hind legs and lifted my forelegs above me, attempting to seem intimidating. Instead, Fortune jumped at me and knocked me onto my back in a hug.

    After we cleaned up and did a bit of walking, we arrived at the closest casino, 'Stable Slots.' It was a bright place with a large neon sign over the entrance. It depicted a buck winning a go at a slot machine and bits raining over him. Knowing Fortune, we'd be loaded before we left.

    --Two hours later...--

    "Come on, can't we go? You can win any time you want!" I tried to pry her from her machine but she swatted me away.

    "We can go as soon as I lose my first time." She pulled the one armed bandit (more like bit dispenser) and, yet again, won.

    "You said we would go if I asked. You said I had your word. Please, can we just go? Everypony's looking at us..." I whispered. While some eyes were sad or full of contempt, others were shining with greed, and I knew that bad things were going to happen on our walk out of here.

    "Just a minute, I'm on a streak..." she said as she won yet again.

    "You're always on a streak! Please, do it for me?" She didn't budge. "If you don't get off that machine and go back to the hotel with me, I'm not getting into bed with you."

    I saw her ears perk up at that. "Well, I suppose I've earned enough tonight... Sure, let's go." Our saddlebags were nearly overflowing with our winnings as we walked out of the casino.

    On our way out, I noticed a few ponies loitering by the door, three of them. I could tell that they had been waiting for us. I kept my eye on them as we walked away, and sure enough, they started to follow. There was heavy hoof traffic, and we had to push through the crowd to leave. After about five minutes, I couldn't stand being surrounded by so many ponies. Looking to my right, I saw an alley. Forgetting all about the ponies after us, I said "Let's cut through here to get out of this crowd."

    The ground was littered with trash, the cans meant to contain it all overflowing. Some stone steps led to a back door which appeared to lead to a soup shop. Then I remembered to look back. The ponies that had been following us turned the corner. That's when I got a better look at them.

    First of all, they were all male. On the left was an earth pony with a tan coat and a black mane. His eyes were a natural red as he looked at me with a smirk. The pony on the right was a light blue pegasus with a light green mane and gold eyes. His facial expression was rather bored looking. And in the middle was a white unicorn with a red mane. His blue eyes grinned wickedly as his face was falsely congenial.

    I turned to Fortune and whispered "Speed up, a few ponies noticed our winnings and are following us." She tensed up before nodding. We started to trot down the alley before the pegasus buck flew over us and landed a few feet away.

    "Where do you think you're going?" He asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice. He slowly advanced upon us as we backed up. When he stopped, we did too, and I turned around. There, the earth pony and unicorn stood waiting. We were surrounded almost perfectly in the center of the alley.

    "I couldn't help but notice all the bits that recently came into your possession," the unicorn stated formally. "I was wondering if you might like to pass them up?"

    "They're ours. I think we'll keep 'em," I said evenly. I knew a fight was coming and I made a quick scan of our area. I saw a brick and a trash can near enough for me to grab with my telekinesis spell.

    "Yeah, well, we think not," the earth pony said snobbishly. "You'd better do what we say, or something bad might happen to your mare there." I slowly took off my saddlebags and set them on the ground. The earth pony just smirked and said "That's what I thought, ya pussy."

    Nobody threatens my Fortune.

    I grabbed the brick with my magic and smashed it across the earth pony's face, staggering him to the left. I brought it up and then down over his head, hearing a loud 'thunk' and his body collapsed. This all happened in three seconds. The unicorn then frowned and nodded. The pegasus grabbed me from behind, startling me enough to drop my brick, and pulled us both onto our hindlegs. As I struggled, the other unicorn held Fortune in his magic, and grabbed my brick. "You really shouldn't have done that. We warned you," he said icily. He brought the brick down - hard - on her left wing. I heard a sickening snap, followed by a scream of pain.

    My world went red. I pushed backwards onto the pegasus holding me, pressing him to the ground. Rolling over, I stood up, kicked the pegasi in the face to stun him, and charged the unicorn that had harmed Fortune. I could only hear a ringing in my ears, but I was pretty sure I was screaming something along the lines of "YOU SON OF A BITCH I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!!" Never before had I seen such terror etched onto somepony's face. He brought his hooves up to cover his face as I jumped, twisted around, and kicked my rear hooves into it so hard I launched him several feet. Turned around, I saw the pegasus hurtling towards me. That trash can smashed into his side so fast I think I broke a rib, because he didn't get back up, and a blow like that wouldn't knock a pony out.

     Turning to Fortune, I examined her wing. I was pretty sure they weren't supposed to bend like that. The ringing in my ears had faded, and I could hear her say between sobs of pain "P-please, I-I'm fine..." I took off her saddlebags and levitated them with mine. Then I lifted her onto my back and ran towards the other side of the alley.

    --3 hours later...--

    I sat outside the operating room as the surgery to fix Fortune's wing was underway. I felt terrible about what had happened. I should've just stayed in the crowd, or I should've let them take our bits, or I shouldn't have let him hit her... She had gotten hurt so badly... And it was all my fault. I was helpless to save the mare I loved. What if she needed me again? She would get killed! I don't know how I could live without her...

    The door bumped open and a pleased looking green stallion walked out. "Sir, your wife's wing is going to be fine. She'll need some rest and a healthy diet."

    "She's not my wife. I mean, yeah, we're close, but... I haven't really proposed yet..."

    "With all the money you walked in with, you could pay for that operation and still have bits to buy a fancy ring."

    "I guess I have some shopping to do. Can I see her?" I asked with a hopeful smile on my face.

    "Sure, come on in." With that, he turned around and walked in. I followed. There was a small bed in the center of the room, Fortune sleeping happily on it. She looked so peaceful and cute, I couldn't stop myself from smiling. The wing that had been damaged was wrapped in bandages. The thingy that tells you the heart rate was droning next to her. The lights had been dimmed, from what I could tell, now that the surgery was over.

    "How long will she be out, doc?" I whispered.

    "Oh, I'd say another hour or so. When she wakes up she'll still be under the influence of the sedatives we used, so keep an eye on her until you know she's safe. We'll pack her up and make sure she's ready to go." He whispered back.

    --45 minutes later...--

    I lifted Fortune off of her wheelchair and onto the bed, making sure to tuck her in. Then I glanced on the clock. It was 5:03. I don't think we'd eaten since breakfast, and a rumble from my stomach agreed. I took one last look at the peaceful form of Fortune before grabbing the key (I remembered this time!) and quietly walking out the door.

    I went back to the cafe that was next door and bought a couple salads for us to enjoy. I went back to the room we were staying at, but paused before I opened the door. I heard noise coming from inside. I had only been gone for ten minutes. Then panic hit and I realized that Fortune could be in trouble! I quickly turned the key in the lock and jumped into the room. Fortune was on the ground thrashing, entangled by the sheets and blankets. "Git offah me! Geeet off!" I chuckled a bit as I used my magic to take off the blankets and neatly fold them back onto the bed. "Oh, there you are Grey! I was wonderin' w'ere you went..."

    She attempted to get up and failed before rolling onto her back and smiling at me. "Are those salads? I really could go for some salad 'bout now..." I had completely forgotten I had them. I brought them forward and set them down on the desk the tv was on. Then I lifted Fortune back into the bed and brought the salad close to her. Levitating the fork that came with it out, I fed Fortune the entire thing before I went, got mine, and ate it myself. Fortune was content to just sit where she was and watch me.

    "Fortune?"

    "Yes, my love?" She replied happily.

    "I'm going to go out and get some things, alright? I need you to stay here and get some rest." I smiled at her, giving her a kiss on the nose.

    "I wanna come! Pleeease?" She looked so put out and sad that I almost said 'ok, you can come...' But I knew that what I was about to do meant that she couldn't follow. And geez, was she loopy!

    "I'm sorry, but no. You need your rest. Get some sleep and I'll be back in a couple hours."

    "Fiiine... But I expect you to do some special late night work when you get back~!" She giggled as I blushed a bit.

    "With the state you're in, I don't think I should. We'll see when I get back though..." With that, I kissed Fortune and tucked her in. Then I took the key, and locked the door behind me on my way out.

    --One hour and thirty minutes later...--

    I walked out of the jewelry store with the small amount of bits left from Fortune's winning streak and a ring. Not just any ring though; this was the ring I was going to propose with. It was a gold ring with a medium sized ruby on it in the shape of a heart. Diamonds encircled the ring so that it shined when light hit it. It was beautiful, and would be more so with my Fortune. I pocketed it within my saddlebags and set off for the general direction of the hotel. It was easy to see. While most of the buildings were tall, the hotel we were staying at was a good fifteen floors taller than nearly everything else. Pretty convenient, I thought.

    A few blocks away from the hotel I passed a nice looking restaurant. Inside were a few ponies eating their dinners. They all looked quite satisfied with the food before them. "Location spotted," I thought out loud. This seemed as good a place as any other. The excitement was really building up inside me, coupled with a vast amount of nervousness. Which was ridiculous, seeing as we had been together for ages. Of course she'd say yes...

    I walked right on through the front doors, went up the elevator, and fished out my keys to open the door. I locked the door behind me and looked about the room. The cutest thing I had ever seen was sitting in the bed. Fortune was sleeping peacefully, smile etched on her face as she snored softly. I've seen some cute things in my day, but this broke the chart and bordered on something that would melt your heart into a delighted mush. I set my saddlebags down (and made sure the ring was thoroughly hidden) before crawling into bed with her.

    A glance at the clock told me it was 6:55. From start to finish, Fortune won way too much money at the casino, then I got her hurt really badly, and then I got her patched up and to bed, while I went and got a ring to propose with. Doubts flashed across my mind at the idea of proposing sunk in. I was asking her to marry me. To spend her life and afterlife with me. Forever. ... Somehow that doesn't sound right... Forrreeeverrr!!! ... Yeah, that's better. Not only was that a long time to be with somepony (not that I was complaining, I loved her so much) but I figured that in that time, I would have to protect her again. I wouldn't be able to do it. I wouldn't be able to save her. She would get-

    Fortune interrupted my thought process by turning over and  wrapping her hooves around me in her sleep. She nuzzled my neck and sighed as she slept. "Grey..." She mumbled in her sleep. I could see her blush slightly as she continued to dream whatever dream it was she was having. That's my Fortune.

    I wrapped my hooves around her and closed my eyes, hearing her heart beat and her quiet snoring. Before long, our hearts synchronized, beating in unison. I fell asleep quietly and happily...

    ...

    ...

    ... We were out being happy on a hilltop, a picnic laid out before us. I was content to watch the sunset. But then, a small dragon swooped in and grabbed Fortune with it's left claw. It ran down the hill, and I gave chase. At the foot of the hill, it turned and swung it's tail low. I lept over it and kicked the dragon in the face. Unfazed, it swatted me back with it's spare claw. Then it grinned wickedly as it pinned Fortune down with it's tail and rose it's right claw. "Fortune! FORTUNE! NOOOO!!!!" I ran to stop the dragon...

    "Grey! Grey, help me! GR-" the claw came down and Fortune's body went limp.

    I burst awake panting, Fortune looking down at me worriedly. "Are you ok? You were mumbling my name over and over, and unlike usual, it wasn't something you were happy about..." I couldn't help it, I blushed. Like seriously, is now the time to be so... Gah!

    I refocused and told her the truth. "I had a nightmare. You were in danger, and I couldn't help you this time. You were..." I choked a bit and tears formed in the corner of my eyes. I might as well have been a picture book, because she knew exactly what I was feeling.

    "Grey, it's not your fault I got hurt-" She began before I cut her off.

    "Yes it is! I could've easily done something to prevent you from entering harm's way. I could've... Could've given them the bits! Or I could've beaten down the unicorn with that brick! I could've not gotten grabbed and gotten in the way of the blow! Anything! But instead, you got hurt. And it's my fault for not doing something to prevent that from happening. Look at you. Your wing is broken and you can't fly for a full week. It's my fault you got hurt," I finished softly. "So don't deny it." Tears were actively flowing from my eyes as I finished. I sniffed and wiped away some of them. "I love you, Fortune." I looked at her with a pained expression. "I don't want to lose you... But I don't want you to get hurt because of me..."

    She wrapped her hooves around me and held me close. "Grey. You won't ever lose me, and you know it. You know you will always keep me safe. Sure, I might get hurt. But you know that I will be ok, because you'll be there to make sure I am. We all make mistakes, too. I don't think there was a thing you could've done to protect me - one of those stallions would've hurt me, maybe worse. So please, don't beat yourself up, my love. There's nothing to gain from it."

    I let go of the rest of my tears as I contemplated what she had said. She was a smart mare, that was for sure. Another thing to love. "Fortune, I really am lucky to have you. You know that?" I sniffed one last time and wiped the rest of the tears off of my face.

    "No, I am the lucky one. I don't think anypony could possibly care for me as much as you do." She kissed me and smiled.

    "Either way, I love you. Remember that, ok?"

    "Not a day goes by that I don't~" she said happily. I hugged her and let her lie down next to me, content to hold her in my hooves as we snoozed off, this time my dreaming peaceful.

*One day before the outbreak*

    A quick glance at the nearest clock told me that it was nearly 6:00. As much as I wanted to leave Fortune to be happy at her slot machine, I really wanted to get her to that dinner, and hopefully make her happier in the process. The ring was safely tucked away in my saddlebags, and I couldn't wait to see her face when I proposed.

    "C'mon Fortune, let's go get dinner." Stable Slots was conveniently the closest casino, and I was surprised we hadn't been kicked out after last time's non-stop winning. Fortune hadn't lost a single spin, which didn't surprise me in the least. However, not nearly as many ponies looked at us with greed as last time. If one listened closely enough, they could hear the wild rumors:

    "I heard he got jumped with his mare there and mopped the floor with the ponies that tried it."

    "See that stallion? He single-hoofedly beat down an entire mob of ponies. I wouldn't mess with him."

    "Hey, what are you thinking!? Did you HEAR about the ponies that last messed with him!? No? That's because they're all DEAD! Seriously, are you completely together up there!?"

    I chuckled at the inflated rumors as Fortune responded. "Please Grey, just five more minutes..." Bits showered her. I was wondering how it didn't get old to her.

    "Fortune, now isn't the time to argue. Let's go," I stated firmly.

    "It's only six! I don't need food again until eight!"

    "Fortune, I swear, you might be lucky with everything else, but you will not be getting lucky with me any time soon if you don't get off that machine!" I attempted to say it menacingly, but I just didn't have it in me.

    "So I guess I'm really hungry and I think we should go get dinner. Where sounds nice?" She asked as she let me levitate our saddlebags on, once again loaded with bits.

    "There's this nice place a few blocks away from the hotel..."

    --30 minutes later...--

    We had just been given our food as we sat on what was quite possibly the damned comfiest pillows in all of Equestria. The inside of the restaurant had a few ponies here and there, mostly couples, but was overall low on activity for such a time like this. It made the room quiet. There were candles out on our table, which was made of some fine wood from what I could tell. Maybe not as tough as the fabled Mourning Wood, but pretty. The lights had been dimmed, making the faint glow of the candles on the table more noticeable. A rose sat in a small vase to the side.

    "I hope you enjoy your meal. Just pipe up if there's a problem," our serving mare said before walking back towards the kitchen.

    My plate consisted of a small pile of spaghetti, whilst Fortune ate a tasty looking bowl of vegetable soup. She saw me eyeing it, and took a spoonful of the stuff to me. I sipped it happily. In response, I took a forkful of spaghetti and poked it into her mouth. She ate it, and then slowly sucked the rest of a longer noodle into her mouth. When the end disappeared, she let out a satisfied sigh. I turned a lighter shade of red as she slowly walked back to her seat to continue eating the soup. I think she enjoyed it. I know she did... Torturing me like that...

    "Grey, despite what's happened here, I really am happy we came. I just needed to get out, you know?" She smiled and took another sip of her soup.

    "I'm glad you can look past the bad to see the good. And hopefully, this will help you." I got up and slowly walked up to her.

    "Grey, what're you doing?" She asked, confused. I knelt down on my forelegs and levitated the ring out of my saddlebags.

    "Fortune, The sun in my sky, will you be my wife?" I looked up to her, ring in front of my face, my horn glowing softly. She really didn't know what to say. Her face displayed such expressions of happiness and shock that she just sat there for a moment. Then she snapped back to reality.

    "Yes, Grey! Yes, I will! You've made me the happiest mare in the world!" She threw her hooves around me with a kiss that told me that I'd done good. I'd made her happy, and that was the most important thing of all to me. When she ended the kiss, she was positively beaming. If you could concentrate her smiles into light, they would be filling the room with a fierce glare.

    We finished our dinner and paid for our meal before departing, Fortune resting a wing over my back as she leaned her head against mine. We walked like this all the way to our room, where Fortune put the ring gently on the table next to the tv and climbed onto our bed. She gave me a look that conveyed she wanted to repay me for my gift, and I was happy to receive such repayment.

     *Day of the outbreak*

    It was 9:07. The tv in our room was mysteriously on and being very loud. I looked at it blearily until I found the off button, and proceeded to push it with my magic. It went off, and I attempted to fall back asleep, but the tv turned itself on again. This time I looked at the damn thing.

    'EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM' the screen read. This worried me enough to wake me up. I read on: 'There are unidentified threats attacking Las Pegasus. It is wise that you lock your doors and do not come out, no matter what. Do not let anypony in and do not talk to them at all.' This scared me. If Las Pegasus was under attack, we needed to get out of here immediately! Fortune, who was satisfied enough by last night, was still sleeping.

    "Psst, Fortune, wake up... We gots a problem..." I shook her a bit as I attempted to wake her up. After a few tries, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me, a smile on her face. "Fortune, something's wrong... Look at the tv."

    While she went about reading the emergency that bothered me more by the second, I trotted over to our window and opened the blinds with my magic.

    What I saw was pure chaos.

    Now, we were pretty high up, so the ponies down below us were small and impossible to recognize. But when I looked down, I saw ponies getting killed by others, some shooting, doing something that looked like biting. There were chariots turned over on the ground here and there, and fires had broken out on multiple buildings. I watched as one pony got killed by what appeared to be being bitten on the neck. I went to look at something else... But then he got back up! I rushed back in and re-read the emergency broadcast.

    "Grey, what's going on outside?" Gunshots could be heard in the distance.

    "I don't know, Fortune, but I don't want you getting hurt. Stay here, don't let anyone in. I'm going to go find out what's going on." She started to protest but I interrupted her. "I can take care of myself, and this looks serious. I don't want you getting hurt. I'm going to go check out the problem and then I'll be right back. Ok?" She hesitated before nodding, kissing me softly.

    "Don't get hurt," she asked me simply.

    "I'll be fine, I promise." With that, I threw on my saddlebags and walked out, keys thrown in so I didn't have to worry about them. I walked to the elevator and pressed 'down.' I waited for a few moments before noticing the 'out of order' symbol above the doors. Figures. So I went down the steps and entered the lobby. The lobby was empty, aside from the large red stain on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it was still wet. It was blood.

    ... Dear Luna, something happened in here. Why weren't there any bodies!? Then I heard a faint growling from behind. I turned to see the bored receptionist. But something was off. As in, her face was missing a chunk out of the left side. She continued to growl and step towards me, slowly but persistently.

    "Are you ok, ma'am?" She just growled and stepped closer. I stepped back. Something was off. "Ma'am?" I asked again. The response was more growling followed by another step closer. Instead of stepping back, I held out my hooves to push her back. She instantly went to bite them, and I pulled away before she could get ahold of them. She just looked at me with that half-dead stare and took another step. That's when I figured out that maybe she wasn't alive at all. The chunk missing from her face, upon inspection, looked to have been bitten off. And now she was trying to bite me. I was quick to deduce that getting bitten would be quite fatal.

    So that's when I jumped back and turned around. I looked for anything I could use to push her back, or kill her (if she wasn't dead already). I found my friend in a large lamp sitting in the corner of the room. Using my magic, I levitated it up and brought the bulb side down on the receptionist's head as hard as I could. I pretty much broke the lamp in that impact, but from what I could tell, I broke my target as well, so I counted that as a win. Her body hit the floor and a bit of blood flowed from the body. I decided that sitting here and watching the corpse wouldn't get me anywhere. So I moved for the doors that led outside.

    The sun was bright, and it shone down on something so sickening I couldn't stop myself from looking away. There were more walking, half-eaten bodies milling about. They all had similar eyes - they all looked lifeless. A few ponies were gathered in a circle, eating a body on the ground. That went far beyond what I was ready for. I turned away and made a plan. 'First priority: get supplies. I need to get Fortune out of here and we'll need some food and water.' A gunshot pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked to see a light blue unicorn stallion with a red mane aiming at some of the ponies just milling about. He fired, and one of them fell over, writhing for a moment before stilling. The unicorn noticed me, and I waved. He seemed relieved to see me.

    "Finally, someone who's alive..." He said as he walked closer. Already, the ponies nearby were beginning to shamble to us, all of them growling menacingly. "Look, it's not safe here. There's a supermarket just down the road, we can talk in peace there."

    "There are a lot of these things just walking about... Seems to me that it would make it difficult to get to wherever it is we're headed. Also, that's perfect. I need supplies."

    "Just don't stop running. Hard to get grabbed if you keep moving. Don't let them bite you. Follow me, and don't wait up!" He began to gallop down the street, and I had no choice but to follow. As we ran, the bodies snarled and lunged at me, attempting to sink their teeth into my neck or body, but I wasn't having any of it. I jumped over backs and ran around the infected ponies, making sure to avoid any injury. Whenever I looked up, it seemed that the unicorn was looking back, waiting for me to catch up. We ran tirelessly for three blocks before finally coming to the building that he had spoken of. "Quick, in here!" he yelled.

    I dived in and he shut the door behind him, locking it. He must've owned the place before... This happened. "Thanks for the tips. What exactly happened here? I woke up this morning and just... This." I waved my right hoof in the general direction of the door. The unicorn looked at me with shock.

    "You mean you have no idea what's going on? From what I can tell, some sort of virus got out and it's turning ponies into these things. When somepony gets bitten, if they don't die from blood loss... They eventually turn into one of them. Trust me, if you see somepony that's been bitten, kill 'em or ditch 'em, because there isn't any way to save them, and killing them will be a mercy. I lost the couple of guys I had with me on my way here to that. One was bitten, it was quite visible. He just waved it off as a flesh wound. Then, he stopped moving, clutched his head, and began screaming. We tried to protect him, but after a few minutes, the pain didn't go away. After a few more minutes, he just stopped... But then he got up. I almost thought he was ok, and ready to go again. One look in his eyes was enough to tell. That's another tip, the eyes tell all. If they look dead, don't get close. It's because they are." He didn't seem quite shaken from the loss.

    "I'm guessing that they weren't close friends? And speaking of which, what happened to the other guy?"

    "He went to help the guy that turned. Got bitten. I shot the first infected, then the bitten one. No choice," he said simply. "Either spare him the agony or let him stew in it. I picked mercy." I made sure to let everything he said fully set in before continuing to look around. There were shelves full of food, some of it on the floor or just missing.

    "Mind if I have some of the food you have here? I can pay you if you want." I shook my bags a bit, letting all the money I had jingle. His eyes widened for a moment. Then he shook himself.

    "Go ahead. We had best be well stocked before continuing. We need to get out of here."

    "Wait, you're leaving town? I'm not ready, I left a friend behind at the hotel you found me at. We have to go back for her."

    "Are you crazy!?" He yelled. "Every pony for himself! You left a friend, then it's too bad she didn't follow. Going back could easily mean death!" He seemed shocked that I wanted to go back through the crowd.

    "I'm not leaving her. I have to go back if we're going to leave."

    He sighed before saying "Fine. Gather some food. I'll be ready to guide you back." I turned and started packing some of the food in my saddlebags, spilling bits here and there.

    "Hey, look at this," the unicorn said.

    I turned just in time to see the butt of his gun collide with my face. The last thing that went through my mind before I was knocked out was Fortune.