Vacation

ooo000---000ooo

BOOM CRASH

Dee’s eyes shot open and he saw the ceiling of a room. His heart rate spiked, panic, fear, he sat up, only to instantly regret it as he was reminded of his injuries and exhaustion from the previous time. He groaned and looked at the door—which, to his relief, was still barricaded off. Though he wondered what the noise was… a quick glance behind him at the window and he heard it again, thunder and lightning, along with the pitter patter of rainfall against the still-intact glass.

A sigh of relief followed as he realized they were still alive and okay, at least for now…

Though ‘okay’ was a relative term as his body decided to throw in its own two cents on the matter. Aches and pains spread throughout his body—mostly focused in his head, his arms and especially his legs, all of which burned like they were on fire. Groaning, he slowly laid back down on the bed, huffing and resting up just a bit more, quickly finding that movement only exacerbated matters and instead opting to think about things.

Fucking hell… we barely made it out of that mess alive! he thought, recalling how close they’d gotten to biting the dust after the car crash and entering the hotel. Jeez… what did happen? Dee scoured his memories, thinking back just to before the crash. He vaguely recalled the truck smashing into something, followed by screeches, the screams of his comrades and than silence up until the point Lyra and him made it inside the resort building.

And now? Lyra and him were alone, and no one else was inside, he just now realized.

Worry began to trickle into his mind like the leaky faucet of his childhood home.

“Christ… they better have made it out alright.” The worry continued to spread regardless of his attempts to stopper the leak up. But how could he know if they were? They could have been seriously injured from the crash, or worse… killed and turned into one of the infected.

He wasn’t sure he could handle killing any of them if that was the case.

Killing the other infected was tough on its own. But killing a pony, specifically ones he loved and that he had for so long dreamed of becoming friends with? That was an issue that tore into his very being and made him terrified…

Could he even do it if it came down to it? Shooting one of the mares, or worse, using the axe on them; killing them up close and perseonal?

Worse, what if Lyra just suddenly died and he had to use it on her?

He looked over to where Lyra was next to him, laying on her back and her shirt lifted up slightly, its raised lower edge exposing more of her midsection and a deepening tear, a growing area showing her bust to him. Though the sight of her and rather surprising thoughts they provoked gave him some pause, the pain he felt quickly reasserted itself. Suddenly not just his limbs but his very hands ached, causing him to glance down and see the blood still covering them. A shiver ran across his form—his entire body stewed with an empty ache, and his bones had a hollow feeling—they felt fragile like glass and the dry sting of thirst bit at his throat.

Was this was shock felt like? PTSD? He wasn’t sure. But at a minimum, he needed water badly.

A very difficult swallow of his pasty mouth later, he swung his legs to the side of the bed, and, trying not to disturb Lyra, he clambered onto his shaky feet. The burning pains and aches persisted, but he was a stubborn young man and didn’t let it deter him in the slightest from achieving his goals. Steadying himself against the wall and furniture, Dee made his way over to the door to the bathroom. On his way there, a weight made itself known in his hands, making him glance down.

It was only then he realized he was still holding the handgun, not recalling having picked it up.

He had little time to consider the question before a fresh feeling of nausea bubbled up in his stomach upon going over and opening up the bathroom door. His chest stung from his rapid and paranoid heartbeat, fearing whatever may have been behind it, remembering the most recent battle he’d had with the infected, trying to hold them off and kill them behind another door. . He forced his fears back to bay, knowing that there couldn’t be anyone there or else they’d already come out and killed them while they slept, but also realized what it said about his mental state. Everything was a trap, and everything was dangerous; he had to be cautious about his moves from now on if both he and Lyra were to survive the coming days.

Thus, it still paid to be very careful. Brandishing the gun, he aimed inside the bathroom as the door swung open and hit the wall with a soft thud, the bathroom light illuminating a tropically decorated interior with a clean toilet, shower and a sink with generous counter space on it that appealed to his luxurious tastes.

Relief flooded through his system when he confirmed there was nothing inside… nothing deadly, that was and he lowered his weapon. He moved inside and set the gun down on the counter before testing the water flow, a turn of the handle and clear water rushed through into the sink basin below.

He was quick to strip off his backpack, jacket, and his shirt, tossing them aside before cleaning his hands and arms of the blood stains from the previous encounters with the infected--who knew what would happen if the blood stayed on him for very long? Could be infected that way? He didn’t quite remember what the rules of it were from the game, but better safe the sorry, he quickly decided, grabbing some nearby soap and furiously scrubbed away, giving the water a pinkish sort of hue that swirled down the drain.

Gah… this is a lotta blood, and I still don’t know how fucked up I am. At least the water still works… More blood ran off into the sink and his thoughts wandered to Lyra, who was probably still passed out on the bed. I need to get her some help, she’s more f- He was cut off as eyes grew blurry and he wobbled, a sudden dizzy spell came over him and he nearly lost his balance.

His hands swiftly grabbed onto the counter to steady himself, that terrible ache grew worse throughout his body. Nausea bubbled up inside him, churning around and fizzing up through his stomach like a shaken soda ready to burst.

He didn’t even so much as attempt to stop the hot putrid bile from coming. He lost his footing for a moment and his strength was suddenly sapped from his body, causing him to fall once his body expelled the last bits of vomit from his mouth—though the faint taste of iron lingered afterwards, blood?

“Damn it,” he hissed out as he wiped the remnants of the gunk from his mouth as he sat on the edge of the tub, trying to regather his strength. . It was another minute before he could stand again, grabbing the cheap plastic cup and throwing back several gulps of water, the first few to rinse out his mouth and the remainder to put some badly needed liquid in his system, wondering how much of his pain and lightheadedness was in fact due to dehydration. Having drank his fill, he leaned back up against the counter and looked down at his hands, still breathing heavily. Clean-ish as they were now, it still felt as if they were dirty. They were just monsters… not people. He went to great strides to remind himself of that one simple fact.

They. Were. Monsters. Not people.

They had no memories and no dreams—only the desire to consume the flesh of anyone and anything they came across and grow the horde. Killing zombies had always been academic in the game; you just did it. And yet, when he was placed in the game and then faced with them…

Fuck, stop being stupid, you dumbass! We’ve had this conversation before dozens if not thousands of times! You have to be smart! Dee bapped himself in the head before getting up and grabbing his gun, tucking it away into his pants. A sigh left him once he opened up his backpack on the floor, producing a clean white tee-shirt and slipping it on alongside his jacket. He stuffed the dirty shirt into his pack and made his way out of the room.

Walking into the bedroom proper, he glanced over to Lyra and saw her on the bed still sound asleep, her chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. She looked so peaceful laying on the plush covers of the queen sized bed, arms resting on her stomach and snoozing softly.

He took the time to look her over, his curious nature overriding anything else.

The mare was clad in a pair of form fitting jeans with specks of blood near the legs. A pair of white sneakers with stains on them were her footwear, also confirming that the ponies were not of the unguligrade type, in which their feet were hooves. She also wore a black hoodie that was unzipped halfway and bunched up along with her shirt just above her navel, showing a shirt with a logo for a band of sorts he couldn’t see properly--well, not unless he opened up her hoodie some more.

Which he wasn’t going to do, he doubted she would appreciate him stripping her just to see a pony band name.

Lyra’s mane was also unlike the one in the show. Instead of being trimmed short, it was actually quite long and reached well past her shoulder, and was really silky looking—obviously well taken care off and very attractive looking. Her coat also looked rather strange up close, so short it was barely visible and almost looked like skin. Her horn as well was like what he imagined it being, the line that ran down from the tip of the horn was deep and was a lighter color from the rest. Her tail was similar to her mane, in that it was soft and silky, but much longer. He had to get very close to see the texture and individual strands of her fur and found himself doing so without thinking, trying to get a sense of it. .

During his admiration of her body, a voice spoke up, “Enjoying the v-view?”

A sudden blush appeared on his face once he realized she was actually awake and watching him. He glanced up and saw her pretty golden orbs look up at him from where her head was laying on the pillow, an amused smirk was plastered on her face prompting him to stammer.

“W-what? Pfft, naw,” He shook his head, quickly drawing back. Fuck, that’s what I get for staring like a retard.

A lighthearted giggle was swiftly followed by a pained grunt, “Unf-hehe, j-just messing with ya.” She chuckled gently.

“Gee, thanks…” Dee rolled his eyes at her. Well, at least she’s not doing as bad as I thought? He was actually about to ask if she was alright, get some clarification on how she was feeling after everything. After all, she had probably hurt herself bad dragging his deadweight ass up to the hotel and inside.

She beat him to the punch and asked him instead. “Dee, are y-you okay?” She moved her body into a sitting position, scooching up against the headboard as she questioned him. “The crash was p-pretty bad and I know you t-took some l-licks.”

Dee scoffed inwardly, was she serious about that question? She was way more hurt than he was, he could tell without having to examine her. “Pfft, I should be asking you that,” His tone grew more concerned and soft. “You dragged my ass all the way up to the hotel with two fractured bones,” A shake of his head and he added, “I’m fine, Lyra. Alive and kicking. But are you?”

She responded with the tiniest of smiles and nodded her head, though he noticed the way her muscles seemed taut, and the smile on her face forced. She wasn’t okay, “I’m f-fi-” A violent cough interrupted her. She clutched her stomach and chest, wheezing and coughing hard.

He recognized that kind of cough, deep in the body... she needed actual medical help.

Damn it, I need to get her help, but I don’t know how to fix a fractured bone myself… He rubbed his face and continued thinking about what to do. He needed to do something, that much was obvious to the eye. But what could he do? “Lyra, you’re not okay,” Dee told her bluntly after her coughing fit was over, “Rainbow told me you had fractured bones, and I don’t know how you got me up here without dying, but I’m pretty sure you exhausted yourself beyond the limits your body can handle.”

“D-Dee… I’m f-fine, don’t worry about i-it.” She waved him off.

He grumbled and leaned his elbows on his knees, staring into the floor in thought. I remember from the game there’s a medical station in this hotel somewhere. So maybe I could find some painkillers or something to help deal with the pain… or help her heal up faster? It was worth a shot, but he didn’t recall the layout of the hotel… nor did he know if painkillers or anything else there would actually aid in fixing her body; in the game, you just found a medkit and your body was magically healed. Despite the uncanny similarities to the game now, surely that wouldn’t work the same way here…?

He had no idea, but either way, if he did want to aid Lyra and help her heal, he would have to brave the building’s many areas by himself to find the medical station and then find his way back, all the while fighting off infected and not getting bitten…

And hoping she wouldn’t be found in the meantime.

Looking back over to Lyra, he saw her face. She was smiling a little towards him, as if to assure him that she was indeed alright. But he didn’t believe her. She was hurting but putting on a brave face, and that hurt him more than it should have.

Lyra, after all, was one of the background characters of the show that he first loved and adored so much; seeing that she was in such pain caused a pang of hurt to drift into his chest.

And thus, with a sigh...

For her, he realized he was going to have to do it.

Looking down at the floor once more, he said, “Get some rest, yeah?” He patted the bed and felt the weight of the gun still tucked into his pants, and the fire axe was nearby as well, which he would need to get used to using in lieu of the handgun.

Bullets were a finite resource he didn’t have the current luxury to afford replacing.

Licking her soft looking lips, the mare gave him a look. “You… you gonna be okay?”

This mare is stubborn, he thought with a soft smile and nodded, “Yeah, get some rest. You’re gonna need it, eh?”

“Yeah, y-you’re right,” She rubbed her forehead and scooted down, getting into a better sleeping position with Dee’s assistance. He helped her lay down better, fluffing up her pillow and making sure she was comfortable. She giggled and took his hand gently, “You’re a sweet stallion, you know that?”

“Heh… I’m no stallion but I’ve been told I can be sweet,” he said softly, patting her hand and standing up. “Rest, okay? I’m right here.”

“Okay…” She gave him a grateful smile as he took a seat in a chair nearby and let out a breath as Lyra drifted off to sleep.

He stared at her for a few minutes more, trying to gather her nerve. Hopefully she’d be feeling better when she woke up.

Assuming he made it back alive that was…

Eyes drifting towards the axe, his hand drifted behind him to grip his handgun and pull it out. Dee gave it a swift lookover, finding six rounds left out of the full fifteen he had.

Damn, fired nine shots? He bet they didn’t even kill that many to begin with while using it, and that was bad. He wouldn’t get the accuracy bonus in the game with a score like that.

Writing a note for her explaining what he was doing--he didn’t want her coming after him if she woke up to find him not there--he pulled himself together and took stock of his weaponry. , When he left the room, he decided he’d have to rely on the fire axe for safety and offense, with the handgun being primarily on backup as a last resort. At least until he found more ammunition, which, if that worked at all similar to the game, he figured would be in the security room of the hotel or on the bodies of slain security guards he found.

A sad hope to have, but one nonetheless he clung to.

Sitting back in the chair, he waited and waited until he was certain Lyra was down and out… then he made his move.

ooo000---000ooo

Moving everything out from in front of the door proved to be a difficult task on his own.

He was still achy and tired, and he had to be quiet about it so he wouldn’t wake Lyra from her slumber, but he was able to do it successfully after an hour of careful movements and quietly uttered curses to the gods above and below that he didn’t fuck this up. Afterwards, he opened the door, checked either side of the hall and exited it once he found it empty.

Fire Axe tight in hand, his gun tucked away in his waistband behind him, and his wounds bandaged up with ripped-up shirts he found in someone’s suitcase inside the room, he was set to move. He had tied a makeshift bandana around his head as tight as he could get it, mostly to keep his bangs out of his face, deciding it was time for a change of hairstyle if he ever made it home. Then he began moving out.

Of course, he had no idea where he was heading or where to go, but he hammered the room number they were hiding out in inside his mind so he’d remember where to run back to…

Assuming he wasn’t cornered by infected, that is.

Creeping along the hall he kept his axe lowered to his side, eyes peeled wide open for any sign of trouble. He felt a sense of tunnel vision on his walk; staring down the long curved hallway, his heartbeat in his ears. His hands felt clammy around the axe handle, shaking, even. His life was just getting harder and harder the more he moved on.

Life was not being easy on him, it seemed.

Regardless of the actions he chose, there was a very high chance of him dying and he had to do his best to be as careful as he could be.

Trapped in here is going to be an issue for both Lyra and I. She’s injured and I’m not sure any of the cars outside work or not. Hell, even if they do, I’m not confident I can get any of them running anyway, he thought, passing by the dozens of locked doors into different rooms, strewn about baggage and overturned baggage trolleys. I’ll have to be careful on my way to the medical station; I know there’s got to be a lot of undead in this place.

Speeding up his pace, he jogged down the hall with his mission set into his mind.

And yet, for all his worry about himself Lyra, he couldn’t help but wonder about Rainbow and the others. Were they okay? Were they safe?.

Unable to do anything but tend to himself and Lyra, he could only hope and prey.

ooo000---000ooo

Rainbow wasn’t sure what she was expecting when they had hunkered down for the night in one of the bungalows, but she wasn’t expecting all of the insanity that happened to them.

They had lost the human Dee, and their friends Lyra and Vinyl in the confusion and she wasn’t sure where in the heck they were, but needless to say, she was worried about if they survived or not.

She sighed and peeked out through the door and into the storm currently rampaging across the island and saw to her relief that the area around their current hideout seemed to be devoid of the undead monsters. She gripped a lead pipe Limestone had given her, her only means of defense on the ground alongside her own martial arts. She could fly, yes, but the others couldn’t and she didn’t plan on leaving them behind.

For what kind of Element of Loyalty would she be if she did?

“This is insane… zombies?” Limestone asked herself for the umpteenth time and Rainbow had to agree.

Zombies, living dead, swarming the island all around and munching on the living like they were their own personal snackfood, and everyone, pony and human, were trapped with no way off.

No way off that they could find, that is.

“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded, looking back at her little group. She had to explain what she had learned from Dee to them all. Limestone, Marble and Dinky were inside, with Limestone right behind her wielding the bloodied hatchet. Marble was next to Dinky, who was just as scared as Marble looked. “Zombies.”

“That explains the fucking smell,” Limestone grumbled, looking down at her hatchet.

“Hey,” Rainbow started quietly, leaning over to Limestone, “You and Marble haven’t been bitten, have you?” What Dee told her came to mind, about how it could be spread through bites and she clarified upon seeing Limestone’s look, “This is some kind of virus, and this stallion we met told us you can only get it through like... bites and stuff.”

That was a scary thought. One single bite and that was it?

Rainbow watched as Limestone turned to Marble, glaring straight at her. The two seemed to have some silent conversation with nothing but their eyes and it lasted all but a few seconds. Limestone turned back, “No.”

“Whew,” Rainbow sighed and turned back to the door, peeking out into the pool area. They had run pretty far, but they didn't make it to their destination. She wished Dee had been with them, he seemed to know where to go to get to the Lifeguard Tower.

She had no idea where to head to to get away from these nightmarish creatures.

“So what the Tartarus is our move here?” Limestone growled out from behind Rainbow.

The pegasus saw a couple of branching paths leading off into different areas, with no doubt one heading back towards the beach. Dee had said something about a Lifeguard Tower being near the beach and that it was their best bet, not the hotel they crashed near--she learned that the hard way. If Dee was going to stick to the plan, then maybe he had led the others there after the crash?

It was worth a shot to check out the tower and see if they had somehow made it there first.

“There’s a lifeguard tower nearby, I think,” Rainbow informed Limestone, gripping her lead pipe a bit tighter. “I’m hoping Lyra and the others made it there.” It was a long shot, but one worth exploring.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” A hiss left Limestone as thunder rolled outside, “Probably a lot safer there then in this stupid craphole.”

Rainbow looked back at Limestone, then at Marble and Dinky, the latter of which was trembling in the other’s arms. Marble had said nothing during their stay inside the small mini-bar rotunda, instead she just sat huddled up next to Dinky who was silently praying to Celestia to come and whisk them away to safety. Limestone, meanwhile, had barely managed to sleep, taking turns with Rainbow to keep watch and make sure nothing got to them.

Sleeping had ended up proving to be hard to do ever since they arrived on the island--the constant threat of an attack made sure of that.

“We gotta move fast. I dunno how many of those things there are around here, and I really don’t want to end up attracting a bunch of those running ones.” Rainbow pushed the door open with a creak, stepping out just after and looking all around through the heavy rainfall. She didn’t pick up any noises save for the crashing waves, a distant screech, and the rain itself.

Looking behind her, Limestone was rousing Marble and Dinky to their feet. “Come on, let’s go.”

A groan brought back Rainbow’s thoughts to the front; she spotted an undead in the waist deep water of the pool and sloshing his way over to them, the storm doing nothing to impair his progress or sight. The stairs were nearby, but he didn’t seem to notice it and instead tried to climb out from the chest high obstacle in his way.

This is horrible. So many of these strange ‘human’ creatures had been turned into monsters because of a virus? Where did it even come from?

Limestone broke her out of her thoughts with a question, “Which way?”

“Down by the beach,” Rainbow turned and pointed towards the shoreline, prompting Limestone to look towards it.

“Marble and I came from the beach,” Limestone twirled her hatchet, “Washed up on shore after falling off the damn airship… urg,” She didn’t look all too happy about that, a hand drifting to her shoulder and rolling it.

Falling was almost an alien concept to a pegasus, but Rainbow could only imagine how horrifying that had to have been for someone who didn’t have wings.

Shaking her head and focusing on the area around them, Rainbow changed the subject, “The lifeguard tower should be somewhere near the beach. If we’re lucky we can hole up there and I can send a letter to Twilight,” The candle came to mind, and she was happy to still have it in her backpack. She needed to send a letter as soon as possible. “Maybe get help to get off this stupid rock”

With no threats in sight, Rainbow ushered Limestone, Marble and Dinky out of the rotunda and down the path leading towards what was hopefully the lifeguard tower... and their salvation.

Hopefully the lifeguard they had met back at the gas station wasn’t there… she didn’t feel up for dealing with that rat bastard of a stallion for what he did to them. Not only leaving them to die, but also attacking Dee and the others.

The group of four made their way southward, moving down the path past turned over chairs and pools of blood staining the ground that was being washed around by the rain, turning it into a pinkish hue. The area around them had the appearance of a party that had been ruined, something that would no doubt make Pinkie Pie’s usual cheerful attitude sour. Spilled drinks and half eaten food beginning to rot, broken bottles of booze and discarded clothing.

Rainbow had been to dozens of Vinyl’s special ‘after-parties’ and this was usually how most of them ended up, just change the pools of blood to booze and the stench of death to raunchy sex.

The path leading through the hedges and a wooden built walkway was a nice relief from the tropical downpour overhead, they were still wet of course but still. And the path itself led further towards an overlook, which afforded them all an incredible view of the island and surrounding areas.

“Whoa.” Dinky muttered as they walked down the steps to the balcony, all of them taking in the view.

The island was incredibly large from what Rainbow could see, that much was obvious just from looking at the other parts. In the distance they saw a large structure on an island of sorts, it was far, but Rainbow was able to make out its shape and how grim it looked even in the storm. Off to the far right on a distant shore were buildings lining a roadway that led to a small port city of sorts sitting at the base of jungle covered mountains, it was far away and looked rather large.

The beach down below looked fairly normal, but there were clusters of undead moving along the sandy shores towards the huts around the area, growling and snarling. Blood marred the once pristine beachfront, ruining what must have been a once nice looking place.

“Place is a fucking nightmare.” Limestone broke the silence with her trademark annoyed remark, looking peeved when Rainbow glanced back at her. “Where the fuck is the lifeguard tower?”

Rainbow looked around the area, but she didn’t see any sign of it around. “I don’t know, but they’re supposed to be near the beach.”

“Didn’t that stallion tell you where it was?” Limestone questioned, sounding more and more angry by the second.

Now that Rainbow thought about it, no… he didn’t give an exact location of where it was, he only said that it was a better option then the hotel.

“No, he didn’t,” Rainbow rubbed her face, she figured she should have asked for its exact location, but it slipped her mind in favor of actually enjoying the fact that they had escaped the confines of the station. “Crap.”

This was a problem...

“Guys!” Dinky’s voice shouted from behind them.

Rainbow whirled around at the cry and she saw Dinky at the top of the stairs pointing to the far right, a bright smile on her face.

“The lifeguard tower is that way! There’s a sign here saying where it is!” Dinky told them, gesturing wildly to the right.

Rainbow kicked off of the ground and zipped up into the air to try and get a look-lo and behold when she flew up high enough to see over the small mountainside blocking their view, she saw a sort of compound looking building situated in a position to overlook a decent portion of the beach, as well as the bungalows down below sitting on the water. She saw a sturdy looking gate blocking off the roadway, and the building itself had a tarp hanging from the front of her that read ‘HELP’ in bold.

They found it!

Rainbow cackling and yelled, “Good job kid! We’re almost there!”

Looking down at Dinky, she saw her pump a fist into the air in victory…

… mere seconds before she was pulled away by something and shrieking in fear, “Ahhh!”

“No!” Rainbow suddenly blasted off from where she was, kicking off with her magic and zipping downward with as much speed as she could. “Dinky!” She flipped and landed on the ground as the thunder and lightning rolled, lighting up the area briefly just as she landed.

Lightning struck nearby and lit up the area like a flashlight, and she saw the darkness of the shaded walkway disappear briefly just in time to see Dinky being pulled back by one of the undead…

Everything moved in a blur for her as she rushed inside after the young filly; from Dinky’s struggle to get free and her panicked expression, the mutilated face of the undead as he opened his mouth wide… the spray of blood as he sunk his teeth into Dinky’s shoulder.

“NO!”

Rainbow’s fist flew forward with such force past Dinky neck, hitting the undead straight on with a disgusting crunch. The undead let go of of her shoulder-but not without taking a chunk out of her shoulder and flying back a few feet.

Dinky’s weak cry of pain filled Rainbow’s ears; the filly collapsed forward onto her knees. Rainbow grabbed onto her, eyes wide in shock.

“No no no no, fuck!” Rainbow picked up Dinky and rushed back out just as Limestone made it up, “Shit! We need to go now!”

“What the fuck!?” Limestone saw Dinky’s shoulder, a decent amount of meat missing in action and blood rushing out onto the ground and onto Dinky and Rainbow’s clothing.

“Go! Now!” The pegasus screamed and rushed down the pathway headed towards the lifeguard tower.

And all the while, she could only hope that whatever Dee said about the bite was wrong...

ooo000---000ooo

An undead passed by and thankfully for our heroine, it was missing both eyes.

Vinyl sighed and licked her lips nervously, glancing around the inside of the place she found herself in.

She had managed to get away from the crash in one piece, but only just barely. Somehow she got split off from the others and had to fight her way to the hotel nearby, where she figured the others would be. But she was forced down a road away from Lyra who she saw was dragging Dee up towards the front entrance of the hotel, a group of monsters had chased the both of them away from one another.

Now she was underground in some kind of parking lot for those weird human vehicles-there were a lot of them, big ones, small ones, there was even a big boxy looking one that said ‘bank’ on the side of it. She wasn’t sure how to work any of them; if she did she would probably try and use one of them to get her friends and get out of there.

For now though, she was hiding from the monsters… or at least she was trying to hide. The infected were underground as well, though there were not as many as up top. They were sparse in number and dressed very differently, some wore suits and others security guard outfits, bellhop uniforms…

The hotel workers, she figured, crouched down low and moving throughout the hotel she had managed to sneak into.

After leaving the parking garage, she crept her way back to the ground level through a hall to see if she couldn’t find Lyra and Dee somewhere inside. She had been hopeful that the hotel would be devoid of the monsters, but sadly for her that was not the case. It seemed the hotel wasn’t as safe as she hoped it’d be, as the infected were all inside and creeping around nearly every corner.

Another thing that made this worse?

She was deaf for one thing, so she couldn’t hear a damn thing around her. So why bother with something so pointless? And it didn’t help her nerves any in the slightest that she was almost caught three times since she snuck her way inside. She only got lucky cause all three of them had been missing most of their faces and their eyes were gone…

Morbid, but… at least she didn’t get spotted and bit.

In short, she was trapped inside the dark, with barely any light and no sound to go off of, and barely any magic.

This doesn’t make sense, she thought as she snuck forward, eyes wide as could be and glancing left and right. Vinyl was doing her best to be on the lookout, glancing to the left, right, in front and behind her for any sign of the monsters. Pausing for a moment once she crept into a nearby room, she glanced down at her hands, My magic usually replenishes itself, so why the fuck isn’t it? In fairness, she could feel the trickles of some form of strange magic starting to fill up her near-empty reserves, but it felt off… it wasn’t Equestrian magic, that was for sure, and even when she got more of it, she wasn’t sure she could use it.

If that wasn’t enough to worry her, most of the spells she usually used to help her with day to day life were acting strange. Her light spell had been one she tried earlier to help her see through the darkened halls, but it wouldn’t stop fluctuating and sending sparks flying when she kept it active. So she had to deal without a light, at least for now until her magic decided to work like it was supposed to.

What even is up with this… all of my magic feels weird! Vinyl could feel it running along her spine, this foreign magical presence. It felt old to her; raw and… untapped, and yet her body so easily absorbed it; the trickle he had sensed was beginning to speed up as more of her native magic left her, leaving the new form of it to fill up her reserves without hesitation. It feels so old…

She shook her head, deciding she could worry about stuff like that later. Right now, she knew, she needed to find Lyra and the others.

The mare crept forward and kept her head and body ducked down in a crouch. She had moved until she was in some kind of underground area, lots of piping letting out steam and narrow hallways that made everything feel so claustrophobic. It didn’t help that everywhere she looked, she could almost feel the walls closing in on her.

The mare continued further and further inside before coming across some doors. She moved up to them, body loosened and ready for anything as she peeked in through the glass.

Flickering lights hung on the other side from the ceiling; briefly illuminating the layout of what appeared to be a kitchen-pots, pans, rising steam from something she could smell was still cooking… perhaps overcooking if the putrid burning smell gave her any idea. Blood stained the floor once she pushed the door open a bit and the smells of burning food, blood, rot, and smoke filled her nose.

Jeez. Vinyl covered her snout and moved inside, eyes wide and quickly glancing around.

She could see a cluster of white uniformed humans off to the side, hunched over something on the floor. Lumbering throughout the large kitchen, she could see a couple of infected, wandering aimlessly. A dozen stove burners were lit up; bright blue flames burning pots and pans alike, food boiled and burned, producing this obtrusive smell that made Vinyl’s nose crinkle up in disgust.

She had been in kitchens like this before, having gone to check out the hotels in a greater capacity as a famous DJ to meet with the ponies who cooked her meals and kept her hotel rooms clean. It felt right and she loved seeing the smiles on some of their faces when she strolled in and complimented them on how much work they put into making sure her stay was the best it could be.

It made her feel like less of a celebrity that was worshipped and more like a pony others could get to know. Sure she couldn’t speak or… hear, for that matter, but she still managed to bring smiles onto all of their faces. It helped she knew a few party tricks that usually made ponies happy, course… it also helped she liked to invite some staff to the after-parties for a drink or two.

Gah, gotta stay focused. Vinyl told herself, rubbing her face. Once more, she was reminded that her glasses were missing in action, no doubt shattered and broken during the crash. She made a mental note to find some more somewhere, even if they weren’t her trademark magenta color.

Vinyl stayed down low and moved forward, pausing next to stoves and preparation tables for food. The smell was horrible, a nauseating mixture of death, rot, burned food and smoke; it was disgusting and she did her best to get through the room as fast and quietly as she could.

The infected were everywhere in the kitchen from what she could see, and the fact she couldn’t hear anything only made the paranoia and fear welling up in her gut all that worse. Front and back, she had to keep an eye out and make sure she wasn’t being stalked by any of the infected.

Shit shit shit, I hate this! Vinyl eventually reached one of the double doors that might have led out, she wasn’t sure. She pushed on it, opening it up and slipping into the next room.

Stacked up chairs, some covered up tables, and a body greeted her; the latter of which she focused on a bit more than anything else. From the clothing the body wore, and the distinct shape of it, it was a male security guard. The clothing was torn and stained with blood, the head, blackened and rotting.

The most noticeable feature?

The long metal pole sticking out of his chest, right through where his heart would be.

Oh, Celestia! . She gulped and found her eyes glancing over to him and his belt, and at a black holster that held one of those weird looking flintlocks that she saw before.

Another glance up at the security guard; he didn’t move, breath, didn’t make any sort of movements that would indicate that he might still be alive.

Vinyl knew about how firearms worked, of course. A bout of curiosity led to her trying one out at one of Canterlot’s blacksmiths, and man did she have fun with that. The recoil was a bit strong, but firing it had been a trip.

Did this one act the same?

She swallowed her nerves and reached out for it; hand grazing the bloodied shirt and grasping onto the holster, she unclasped it and pulled it free before backing up. The body made no movements… he was dead.

Whew… Vinyl’s eyes glanced down at the firearm; from what she could tell, it was the same kind Dee had grabbed and kept with him when they escaped the station. It was shaped so weirdly, made of different material, and most of the weight was in the handle. I need to find someone who knows how these things work; maybe they ca-

She was cut off when the building shook slightly, and a surge of something rushed through her body…

She didn’t know if it was good or bad that there was suddenly a great deal of magic in the air...