Diamond's Evil Journey 2: Outbreak

Diamond and Leon made it down to the streets. Leon scanned the nearby area to see no infected “Where were those hotels you saw?” he asked.

“Not far. It looked like a few blocks that way.” she said while pointing down a street. They walked down the street while keeping an eye out. After a few quiet moments, they heard a masculine scream coming from an alley “Somepony's in trouble!” Diamond said before running into the alley with Leon behind her.

They stopped when they saw three infected earth ponies feasting on a floored pony. The infected heard them approaching and turned to show off their blood stained mandibles. They screeched in unison before charging the duo. Two of them attacked Diamond at the same time while the last ran behind her towards leon.

Leon gave it a roundhouse kick to the face before it could reach him. While it was disoriented Leon stuck the barrel of his handgun into it's mouth and fired.

The other two tried to bring their mandibles down on her from two different angles. She ducked under them and took her knife in hoof to jam it into one's throat. The other attempted another bite but a revolver round to the head finished it.

With the infected dead, Leon and Diamond walked up to the dead pony. Leon sighed “Too late.” he said. Before they could say anything else, Leon was hit in the back by something that felt like fire and electricity at the same time. He was send a couple feet forward.

Diamond gasped in shock “Leon!” she was about to run up to him but a red beam of magic flew by her head. She turned to see a unicorn blocking the exit of the alley. The unicorn's horn was longer than normal and was splintering and branching out like a tree branch. The horn lit up as it prepared another spell.

Diamond ran behind a trash can for cover “That thing can still use magic?” she questioned in disbelief.

Leon got back to his feet ducked behind another trash can “Magic? That complicates things.” he said.

Diamond took her handgun in her mouth and leaned out of cover. She instantly had to get back in cover as a beam of magic almost took her head off “Damn.” she reached in her saddlebag and pulled out a flash grenade “Let's see how you like this.” she said as she pulled the pin and tossed it toward the infected pony.

It screeched as the flash blinded it. Leon quickly grabbed the lid off of the trash can and threw it like a frisbee toward the unicorn. The lid smacked hard into it's horn, breaking it in half. Diamond the leaned out of cover with her rifle and took it's head off with a single bullet. Once it fell limply to the ground, Diamond turned to Leon in concern “Are you alright?” she asked.

Leon turned to show her his back. His shirt was burnt through and the skin under it was covered in second degree burns “I'll live. Whatever spell that was, it's nothing to sneeze at.” he said.

“Give me your first aid spray, I'll take care of it. You do have some on you right?” she asked.

Leon nodded and pulled out a can of first aid spray to hand to her. She took it and he knelt down with his back to her. She sprayed an even coat over the burn causing him to wince slightly from the sting. Once she was done, she held the can back out to him.

“Thanks. Those unicorns are dangerous.” he said.

“Luckily, not a lot of unicorns live in Manehattan. Mostly earth ponies live here.” she said.

Leon raised in eyebrow in interest “I guess that's good news. Come on, let's continue to those hotels you saw.” he said. Diamond nodded in agreement and they ran toward their goal.

After a uneventful run, they arrived at the street with a few hotels nearby. Suddenly they saw an orange glow coming from one of the buildings. They turned to see fire in the windows of the hotel. Leon raised an eyebrow “What could have caused that?” he wondered.

Suddenly they heard screaming unmistakably coming from the burning building. Diamond frowned “There are ponies in there. We have to go in and help them.” she said.

“Right, we'll have to be fast through. That building is weakening as we speak. It will be coming down shortly.” he said. With that, the two ran into the building.

Once inside, their eyes started to sting and their lungs began to hurt from the smoke. Leon thought quickly about a plan “With all this smoke, we don't have time to check every floor. I'll take the second floor while you take the third floor. We won't be able to go any higher.” he said.

Diamond didn't like the idea of ignoring the higher floors but she knew Leon was right so she agreed. They spotted the staircase quickly and ran to their respective floors.

Leon got off on the second floor and scanned the flame filled hallways lined with doors. He started running around the fire while shouting “If anyone's alive here, shout out to me! I'm trying to help!” he yelled.

After a second he heard another voice come from a room up ahead “Over here! Room 213!” shouted the voice. Leon could tell that the pony was young and female from the voice. Before he reached to right room, an infected earth pony charged him with it's mandibles open wide. He caught the pony by the mandibles and threw it into some nearby flames before continuing on.

He located room 213 and entered. The room was burning like the rest of the place and in the middle of the room was a light brown filly who stared back in fear “What the hay are you?” she questioned.

Leon tried his best to look nonthreatening “I'm a human and I'm with the royal guard. What's your name?” he asked.

The filly calmed down a bit “Babs Seed's the name.” she said.

“Do you know of anyone else on this floor who's alive?” he questioned.

She shook her head “No, I came here to hide when those monsters started appearin'. When I noticed that they were here too, I hid in this room until this fire started.” she said before coughing a few times into her hoof.

Leon knew that she wouldn't last much longer in this heavy smoke. He knelt down and held his arms out “Come here, I'll take you out of here.” he said.

Babs seemed uneasy with the idea of going with the unfamiliar creature but changed her mind when she started to feel faint “F-fine but you'd better not try anything shady if ya know what's good for ya.” she said before allowing Leon to scoop her up.

He coughed and wheezed from the smoke inhalation as he ran out of the door. As he headed back towards the stairs, two infected earth ponies blocked his path and charged them. Babs Seed's eyes widened “Don't you see those things in front of us? Go back the other way!” she said.

Leon shook his head and narrowed his eyes in focus “No time.” he said. He kicked one in the temple to knock it on it's side before stomping hard on it's throat. The other came in and attempted to bite the filly in his arms. Leon spun around to protect her and shoulder checked the infected into the flames.

Babs' jaw hung in shock “No way.” she said. Leon noticed that it was getting even more difficult to breath, he knew he had to get out now.

Diamond arrived at the third floor and looked around to see nothing but a burning hallway. She was wonder how she was gonna find anyone until she heard a voice “Please help! I'm trapped! Somepony!” cried a familiar female voice.

Diamond gasped when she remembered who's voice that was. She ran to where she thought the voice came from. She came to a door that wouldn't budge when she tried to open it “W-who's out there?” the voice spoke up again.

“Jewel Platter? Is that you? It's Diamond Tiara!” she shouted through the door.

Jewel gasped from the other side “Diamond? What are you doing here sweetheart?” she asked.

“I'm here on a mission. Is Silver Spoon and your husband in there too?” she asked.

“No. Wooden Spoon and Silver went to see a show earlier. Wooden wanted some father-daughter time, so I stayed behind.” Jewel explained.

Diamond growled since it was now confirmed, her best friend was here. She shook off the thought for now “Is there something blocking the door?” she asked.

“Yes, the next floor up fell in front of the door. It's engulfed in flames so I can't escape.” she explained.

Diamond knew she would have to come up with some way to get the door open. She then gained a risky idea. She had no time to wonder if it was a good idea or not so she went with it “Quickly get as far away from the door as you can!” she shouted.

“O-okay?” she said.

Diamond pulled out a frag grenade and pulled the pin. She tossed it right in front of the door and got some distance from it. The door was blown off it's hinges and the debris behind it was cleared. An older green coated mare with a dark blue and silver mane stumbled out of the doorway. She seemed to be trying to slow her rapidly beating heart “O-oh d-dear.” she said.

Diamond got her attention “We have to go now!” she commanded. Jewel nodded and they both made their way towards the exit.

Leon and Diamond met up at the entrance. Leon still held Babs Seed and Jewel Platter was right behind Diamond. They ran across the street and started gratefully breathing in the fresh air. Babs got out of Leon's arms and raised an eyebrow at Diamond “D-diamond Tiara? What are you doing here?” she saw her vest and weapons and realized something “Don't tell me that my cuz wasn't joking about all that royal guard stuff.” she said.

It hit Diamond that she hadn't seen Babs in the three years after her visit to the human world “Yeah, that's all true.” she said.

Jewel interrupted their conversation by pulling Diamond into a hug “I'm glad to see you sweetheart. I can't thank you enough for saving me.” she said.

Diamond chuckled a bit before gently pushing the mare off of her “How about you help me out with some information in return? You said Silvy and Wooden Spoon went to see a show, do you know where they went exactly?” she asked.

The mare thought for a second “I think he was taking her the bridleway theater, it should only be a short walk east from here.” she said.

Leon rubbed his chin as he tried to remember something “Silvy, that's your nickname for your friend Silver Spoon right?” he asked.

Diamond nodded “She's here visiting family, some timing.” she said with a shake of her head. She resisted the urge to dash off to the theater “Alright, we should get you two to safety.” she said.

Then suddenly they heard rapid hoof steps coming from behind them. They turned to see two earth ponies and two pegasi, all infected. Leon threw a protective arm in front of Babs and Jewel “Stay behind us!” he commanded. The two civilians nodded and shied away from the action.

A pegasus dove down at Leon but he grabbed one of it's bladed legs to throw it to the ground. He then stepped on it's neck to stop it from moving and blasted it's head apart with his shotgun. A earth pony came from behind him and attempted to close it's mandibles around his neck. Before it could, a knife flew into it's head. It fell to the floor but was still twitching. Diamond jumped and landed on the handle of the knife to drive it deeper into it's skull.

Leon and Diamond both prepared at the remaining two infected charged them. Suddenly two arrows fell from the sky and embedded them into their skulls, killing them instantly. Leon was shocked but Diamond already knew who was responsible. Starshot landed in front of them and gave them a wide smile “Diamond! Nice to see ya. I just came after seeing that burning building.” she said.

Leon turned to Diamond “Who is this?” he asked.

“She's part of my team. Her name is Starshot. Starshot, this is Leon.” she introduced.

Starshot looked the human up and down “You never mentioned how handsome Leon was.” she said.

Diamond gave her a shove “Stop being weird!” she scolded.

Starshot gave a hearty laugh “Alright, I'm sorry. Just trying to have some fun.” she then noticed the mare and filly with them “Oh, you found some survivors! Great job!” she complemented.

Diamond then gained an idea “Starshot, would you mind bringing them somewhere safe. Me and Leon might have an idea of where more survivors might be.” she said.

She gave a salute “You can count on me ma'am. I'll bring them to Fillydelphia, they'll be safer than a crazy pony in a padded cell.” she said.

Leon reached in his pocket and pulled out another earpiece “If you're gonna be helping us out, we should be in touch. This is an earpiece. Put it in your ear and press it to be able to talk to us.” he offered.

She grabbed the device in excitement “So I can talk to Diamond whenever I want? Awesome.” she said and quickly placed it in her ear. She turned back to Leon and winked “After this, how about dinner? My treat.” she said with a sultry smile.

Diamond glared at her “Stop flirting with him!” she warned.

Starshot giggled “It's just a joke, calm down.” she said.

She then started walking over to the civilians. Diamond stopped her quickly “Wait! Are you feeling okay after...earlier?” she asked.

The mare's smile slightly faltered before recovering “Being sad and frowning doesn't help anypony. Razor would want me to continue being myself.” she said with a forced smile.

Diamond could tell that she was still hurting and was trying to hide it. She wanted to comfort her friend but she knew they didn't have that kind of time “Alright, get moving then.” she commanded.

Starshot nodded and turned to Jewel and Babs. Leon walked up to Diamond's side “So what's our next move?” he asked.

“The bridleway theater. I have to know whether Silvy's alive or not.” she said with a grim tone.

Leon nodded “Sounds like a plan. She said it was east right?” he asked. She gave a nod and started walking.

On their way to bridleway theater, they saw a group of infected cornering a pegasus stallion. He was coated red dark enough to look black with a brownish orange mane and tail that were very messy. He also seemed to be wearing glasses and a lab coat.

Leon and Diamond immediately jumped into action. There were three earth ponies, two pegasi, and a unicorn. Diamond fired a few shots from her handgun into the crowd to get their attention. The three earth ponies and one of the pegasi charged her.

She shot a earth pony with her revolver before it could reach her and quickly dodged a slash from the pegasus with a somersault. She then jumped onto the pegasi's back causing it to fly around wildly in an attempt to throw her off. She was able to hold on and slit the pony's throat. She jumped off before the corpse fell from the sky.

She then took her rifle out and fired a bullet into one of the remaining earth ponies to kill it. The last one charged her and tried to take a bite out of her. She jumped back to dodge before slamming the butt of her rifle into it's head and shooting it in the head.

The pony's head exploded but it's body refused to fall over. After a few seconds, a fleshy mass emerged from where it's head should be. It had three heads which all ended in bug-like mandibles.

Diamond growled “Just like before, they don't know when to give up.” she said. Two of the heads reached out to her trying to bite her. She ducked under the first one and sidestepped the next before firing at it with her revolver. The parasite hissed in pain but stayed alive. All three of the heads attacked at once. She slid under them and sliced through them with her knife. The heads fell to the floor as well as the pony's body.

While that was happening, Leon faced the pegasus and unicorn. He fired his handgun at the pegasus but it nimbly dodged in air. He then leaned back to dodge a beam of magic from the unicorn. The pegasus then dove down at him. Leon saw another magical beam heading towards him from the unicorn. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the pegasi's mane and held it out like a shield.

The beam struck the pegasus in the face causing it to go limp in Leon's hands. He threw the useless body to the side and took his handgun back out. He fired at the unicorn but a magical shield appeared to block the bullets. He gave an exasperated sigh “You've got to be kidding me.” he said. He took his shotgun out and charged the unicorn. He sidestepped two beams and rolled under another to end up right in front of it.

He fired at it point blank but it was still able to put it's shield up. The shield was able to block the blast but the unicorn winced as if in pain. Leon was about to follow up but a magical aura enveloped him. He was thrown to the side telekinetically but recovered quickly. He looked up to see the unicorn recovering from the blast to it's shield. He took the opportunity to throw a frag grenade at it.

The unicorn noticed it and quickly tried to shield itself but the blast shattered the shield and threw it against a nearby wall. It started slowly getting back to it's hooves but Leon quickly fired a shot from his rifle to finish it.

Diamond and Leon glanced around to make sure there were no more infected around. Once they were done, they walked up to the stallion they just saved. He greeted them with a wide smile “Impressive you two, very impressive! What are your names?” he asked in excitement.

“Diamond Tiara, second-in-command of the night guard. This is Leon Kennedy, he's a human who's assisting us.” she introduced.

The stallion gave a bow of respect “Very nice to meet the both of you. You can call me Dr. Halogen.” he said.

Leon eyed the lab coat he was wearing “You're a scientist? Do you know anything about this situation?” he questioned.

Dr. Halogen frowned and shook his head “Unfortunately I don't know a thing about it. Do you know anything?” he asked.

Leon decided not to share the information that the did have “We don't have a clue, sorry.” he said.

Diamond got Leon's attention and they turned away from the scientist “We have to get him out of here.” she said.

“What about the theater?” he asked.

Diamond seemed torn on what to focus on “We'll take him with us to the theater and tell Starshot to meet us there. From there she can take him to Fillydelpia.” she said.

Leon nodded and raised a hand to his earpiece “I'll contact her right awa-” he was interrupted when he felt something hit the back of his head and the world went dark.