Infection

The soft summer wind breezes through overgrown apple trees as the white-blue sun beams over the mountains of Canterlot, casting a dark shadow upon the old rotten town of Ponyville. Once a vibrant, friendly town, only now held hostage to the jaws of the outbreak. The once glorious sign to start the day, had turned into a signal of a long struggle ahead.

As a unicorn scavenger bashes through an old cottage at the outskirts of town. Trying her best to avoid the hoard chasing after them. Her blood soaked, dark scarlet coat and golden mane doing little to hide them out in the open. She slammed the door behind her, her croptop black jacket swaying out from the hurried speed. As she looked at the back of the door, seeing that she had only broken 1 out of an exuberant number of locks.

“You lucky mare, Rainy.” She smiles to herself as she quickly uses her magic to lock the door. Peering through a window next to the door with her Aqua eyes, and pulls out her pistol, with her magic. It was a customised crystal infused 10mm FF classic. She held it close, as she saw the hoard in the far distance, much bigger than she expected, as they ran with the sun rising.

“Shit.” She cursed to herself, looking around to see some dusty furniture, good enough for a makeshift barricade. She put her pistol back into her jacket, as she hurriedly assembled the furniture against the door. Ending up with a haphazard mess at the door.

Panting from all the magic she had just used, she takes a step back to appreciate her work. She hates it. But she doesn’t have time to reorganise the mess as the sound of creaking footsteps echo from behind her. A stairway into the second story she missed, now housed a yellow pegasi staring back at Rainy. Its stomach leaking old bile down the stairs, with its pink mane obscuring most of its face.

She knows what she needs to do, she knows she needs to go for her gun. But, her body refuses to move, shocked as her mind can’t accept the view in front of her. It can’t be her, but it’s too dark to be sure.

The carcass jumps down from the stairs, its wings singing a cascade of bones and joints snapping into and out of place. Landing low and unsteady, as the gut retching sound of bone slamming against wood sounds off behind her, splattering the floor with its retched bile. It looked up at her, its mane moving to the side. Providing a view of the hideous gash along the mare’s right cheek which exposed the mouth.

There was no more doubt left, this was Fluttershy, the element of kindness. And she was posed to pounce! She hurriedly tries to grab her gun with her magic, but she’s too emotional. Too panicked.

The gun launches up too fast from her holster pocket, slamming the butt of it against her chin. Pain quickly rocks her system, as her magic dissipates and sends the gun into a freefall. She tries her best to grab it out of the air, she refuses to be like the others.

But she doesn’t get a grip, sending it sliding across the ground under the trotter.

Hope leaves her, as she collapses. She is too emotional and adrenaline filled to use her magic. Tears fill her eyes as she smiles at the irony.

She flinches and closes her eyes tight as the trotter pounces on top of her. Pulling her into an embrace that she doesn’t have the strength to pull out of. And she waits, hoping, wishing that it will end quickly. The pause ripping a deep hole in her chest as her body turns cold.

But nothing happens.

Eventually, a soft putrid whisper breaks the silence. “A-Are you feeling better?” It asks, shoving confusion into Rainy’s system as she opens her eyes. Giving way to the spectacle that is Fluttershy hugging her.

“W-Wha? What?” Rainy asks, confused, only for Fluttershy to pull back, letting go of the hug.

“S-Sorry, Pinkie is normally better at it.” Fluttershy apologises to the now thoroughly confused Mare.

“What’s going on?” Rainy exasperatedly asks, to a shrug.

“I don’t know, you bursted into my home and made a loud mess at my front door.” Fluttershy calmly explains as Rainy takes a moment to try and compose herself. “You also dropped this.” Fluttershy says picking up the pistol and offering it to Rainy.

“Thanks…” Rainy says picking it up with her magic and putting it in her pocket, wiping away the stains on her cheeks. Before panic quickly shoots into her system. “Oh fuck! The hoard!” She exclaims, checking the window.

Hooves burst forth from the windows, shoving Rainy back. As the symphony of undead groans and moans echoes inside the house, combing with the fearful shriek from Fluttershy. Rainy grits her teeth as she pulls out her gun again, checking her magazine.

“Luna’s Light, they keep getting faster each day.” Rainy grumbles as she checks if there is a bullet already in the chamber before sliding the magazine in.

“W-What’s happening!? They never come here!” Fluttershy asks cowering behind Rainy as the barricade starts to fail. A skeletal corpse bursts from the small opening, rotten flesh hanging on by pieces. A single bloodshot eye, hungrily staring at its food.

“They were chasing after me!” Rainy shouts over the cacophony as she fires two shots into the intruder's head. The bullets leave uneven craters inside the skull as it falls apart, the bones unceremoniously disconnecting. “Also! How the fuck are you still alive!?” She shouts at the hiding corpse behind her.

“I don’t know! The last thing I remember is getting thrown out of Canterlot!” Fluttershy shouts back as a skeletal Pegasi jumps through a window, its wings in pieces with bones chewed through. Its wings open and posture low, but Rainy doubts that it's going in for a hug.

“Luna’s Light, I’m going to have to take you to the Queen!” Rainy curses as the corpse pounces at her, maw agape with hunger. She fires two shots, the first boring through its chest and the other splintering its lower jaw. It lands short with a wet splatter on the ground as Rainy shoots two more clean shots into its skull before it can get up. Her gun racking and locking up signalling an end to her magazine. “Fucking Tartarus!” She exclaims in frustration as the barcade crumbles leaving them exposed to the hoard.

“The Queen? What happened to Luna and Celes-?!” Fluttershy tries to exclaim only to be cut off as Rainy bites the scruff of her neck, picking her up as her horn lights up charging magic.

“Sleeping under a fucking rock!” She muffles through Fluttershy’s undead fur. Magic surrounds the two of them in a fireball, scorching the approaching hoard. In a flash the ball of fire is gone leaving the area they stood scorched in its wake.