The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Kyle sat down with Sunset and the others, laying out his map for them to see. The previously-crossed-out supermarket was now highlighted and circled.

“This is a bad idea...” Fluttershy said.

“Look, it’s perfect! The old market in my town hasn’t been touched since the zombies came along. I only passed the place once, and it was crawling!” Kyle said.

Rainbow scoffed.

“Yeah, so you think we should storm into a zombie hive for a couple of leftover cans?”

“Think about it—if that market was filled with zombies from day one, it could mean that we could clear them out, and take what’s left inside.”

“It could also mean that they chowed down on everythin’ inside... this ain’t exactly a guarantee.” Applejack weighed in.

“Besides, how do you expect to be able to clear an entire building out?” Rarity asked.

“That’s where I was hoping you all would come in. You have... abilities. I’m thinking we use them to make this a whole lot easier.

Rainbow snickered.

“I see—so you expect us to pitch in with your little suicide mission?”

“It’s an idea! We can work on it, sketch out ideas, but I think this is the best option we have to gather supplies...”

“Supplies to split with traffickers?”

“Would you rather have to watch them take another girl away?”

That made her fall silent.

Sunset leaned in, observing the map.

“It could work... with more workshopping, but it’s very possible. But we’re going to need a way to get what we find out of there... I can’t imagine Applejack’s truck is gonna be enough...”

Kyle gave it some thought for a moment.

“What if we drove separately? Maybe three vehicles? Not too much if the zombies ate everything- which I don’t think they did- but enough to carry a fair amount back.”

The girls each looked to each other and nodded.

“Yeah, Fluttershy and I have our licenses, and Rainbow has her permit... We should be able to make do from there. Does Celestia know about this?” Sunset asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah, I was gonna show her the plan once we had it down.”

“I can do that. When we’re done here...” She insisted.

“Sure... so let’s talk about how we can do this thing...”

A day later, the team observed the market, with Kyle looking through a pair of binoculars. They were close, above an incline that led right into the parking lot, with all three vehicles parked behind them.

He saw that the outside was busy with zombies either hunched up in a sort of sleep or patrolling about.

“What’re those ones doing?” Fluttershy asked, noticing the hunched-up ones.

“They’re hibernating, kind of... some of them realize there’s no prey for them so they just bundle up and wait. They shouldn’t be a problem as long as we’re quiet...”

Fluttershy nodded as Sunset set her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Are your friends ready?”

She nodded and looked up to the trees, where a pack of squirrels revealed themselves.

“Okay, little buddies... you got this!” She assured them.

With scattering leaves and rustling branches, the pack took off, jumping down the trees and running towards the parking lot.

“Are you sure they can outrun them?” Kyle asked her.

“It’s not about outrunning... it’s more about staying out of their reach.”

Proving her point, her squirrels started running between the infected, waking them one by one. In minutes, they all lunged and chased their presumed prey, but the small critters quickly climbed up the rafters of the market’s roof, staying out of their reach.

They made their way around and down again, allowing the zombies to chase them into the woods, where they were surely not to come back out.

“Wow... how about that?” Kyle asked.

“Alright, the outside’s clear... let’s move in.” Sunset instructed.

They each hopped into their cars and carefully cruised their way down the hill and towards the parking lot. Kyle noticed that they had a straggler who was sprinting towards them.

“Rarity is there a chance you could...?”

“Yep, sure thing...” She hesitated, but formed a spike from diamond and launched it into the zombie, impaling it through the heart.

Rarity gagged at the sight and quickly looked away, dispersing the spike.

“Okay, you all know the plan... Rainbow, wanna make some noise?”

She nodded and covered her mouth and eyes with a bandanna and a pair of goggles. Once her face was completely covered, she charged up, allowing time around her to slow to a stop.

She casually walked to the door, carefully opening it and making her way inside.

The smell hit her first, rotten food and horrific odor almost winded her, but she pressed through it and walked further inside, seeing countless zombies all in hibernation.

“Wow... he wasn’t kidding. This place is packed!” She said to herself, noticing the countless bashed-open cans all over the floor.

She continued on, finding her way towards the center of the store. Once she figured she was in it, she deactivated her power.

“Hey, numbnuts! Want some fresh meat?! Come get it!” She hollered, grabbing two frying pans from the shelf and banging them together.

That woke quite a lot of them as they snarled and chased down the source of the new sounds. As soon as she came, Rainbow sped out, making sure to grab an unopened package of moldy cupcakes.

“Alright, they’re up and hangry, Pinkie, it’s all yours!” She said, setting the package down by the door.

As Pinkie held out her glowing hand, Sunset leaned in.

“You’re sure this won’t wake the whole neighborhood, right?”

“I have no idea!” Pinkie cheered.

“Even is she did, I cleared a lot of it, already... there might be a few stragglers here and there, but worst case, we can take them.” Kyle weighed in.

The rotten sweets began to contort and swell as pink energy flowed through them, and...

BOOM!

The set all went off at once, resulting in the sound of a hand grenade detonating.

“Uh, oh... guess there’s your answer.” Pinkie shrugged.

Growls from inside and around the market told the group that the nearby zeds have heard and are now pursuing the source of the sudden noise...

“Okay, Rarity, you know what you have to do, the rest of us clear out whatever’s coming, guns out!”

Rainbow quickly sped to Applejack’s pickup and carried out a duffel bag filled with various weapons. The group all armed themselves and took point.

“Everyone here knows how to shoot, right?!” Kyle asked.

Applejack answered his question by nailing an incoming straggler in the head with a rifle shot.

“Nice!” Rainbow complimented.

She, Kyle, and Rainbow continued taking point while Fluttershy and Pinkie stayed with Rarity, armed with handguns.

As the zombies inside the market began spilling outside, Rarity formed a field around the entrance, trapping them inside as they tried to lunge at the girls just out of their reach.

“You’re sure this’ll work, right?!” Applejack asked, watching Rarity begin to struggle.

“Oh, I’m sure... it’s just that I’m a bit queasy, that’s all...” She said, knowing and dreading what she was about to do...

One last zombie remained, with Kyle taking it down with a single shot from his revolver.

“There... I think that was the last of them...”

The sound of distant growling proved him wrong.

“Oh, shit...” He cursed to himself.

“Uh... what’s that mean?” Rainbow asked.

“It means that we probably should hurry... Rarity, how’re we looking?!”

Rarity strained as the last of those inside spilled into the almost-full ball of diamond magic. Fluttershy knew what was about to happen and quickly looked away, covering her ears.

“We’re good... Oh, dear...” She took a breath and quickly brought her hands together, causing the ball to squish together.

A sickening crunch rang out as the zed inside were reduced to a mess of gore and blood...

“Oh, shit! That was totally awesome!” Rainbow cackled.

“I’m going to be sick...” Rarity gagged as she shot the dispersing ball into the horizon and promptly vomited into the closest garbage can.

Applejack pulled out a rag and gave it to her.

“Thanks, darling...” She said, wiping her mouth.

Rarity noticed Fluttershy was still covering her ears and tapped on her shoulder.

“It’s over, now, dear... you can come up, now.”

The girl nodded and stood up, only facing the front of the market, not turning to see the corpses littering the lot...

“Okay, let’s go!” Kyle said, the snarling of the horde coming closer.

Once everyone was inside, Applejack yanked a steel pipe off of the wall and bent it into the door handles.

“There, that should hold ‘em for a while...”

Kyle peeked out the window to see that dozens of zombies have started entering the parking lot...

“Where did all of those come from?” Rainbow whispered.

“It was a horde up the street... I thought they would’ve cleared out, by now...”

Sunset turned over.

“What, you didn’t think to tell us that?!” She whisper-shouted.

“I scoped for them every day before you found me, I thought they moved on!” Kyle whisper-shouted back.

“Enough!” Fluttershy spoke.

The two turned to face her, Kyle surprised to hear her voice.

“It’s done... what matters is that we’re inside. Let’s make sure this place is secure and wait those freaks out...” She spoke.

Hours later, the market was secured, with bent pipes holding the doors shut, not that any of the infected outside were aware... they were beginning to hibernate inside the parking lot...

“Do all of them do that?” Rainbow asked Kyle.

“Not all of them... it’s hard to explain, but each zombie's different... it isn’t a universal thing if that makes sense.”

Rainbow smiled.

“Yeah-- Twilight thought something similar.”

He turned towards her after hearing that. He paused for a moment and asked the question that was plaguing him ever since he arrived at CHS.

“What was she like?”

Rainbow paused.

“I’m not really the gal to ask that to... I didn’t really know her that much, but... I know that she was headstrong, always put her friends before all else, and would stop at nothing to keep the people around her safe... no matter the cost.”

Rainbow nodded to herself, knowing that she wasn’t talking about their world’s Twilight... Kyle, however, was clueless about this.

“Yep... that sounds like her.”

Rainbow felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Sunset.

“I guess that’s my cue.” She got up, stretching and yawning as Sunset took a seat next to Kyle.

“Hey.” She said.

“Hey.” Kyle said back.

The two stayed silent for a moment, watching the zombies outside.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier... I just—”

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t think to tell you because I thought they’d be gone... I decided that the risk was gone.”

Sunset nodded.

“Yeah... but it’s never gone, is it?”

Kyle sighed.

“Nope. That’s what I was afraid of forgetting.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching to make sure no one tried to get inside. Kyle took a deep breath and shared the idea that was eating away at him.

“I think I’m gonna head on my way soon...”

Sunset turned to him, completely shocked.

“What? Why?”

Kyle sighed.

“It's just... I never worked well with other people. I have my own way of doing things, and... well, I guess I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life cooped up in that school, eating peanut butter crackers every day...”

Sunset set her gloved hand on his shoulder.

“Hey... It’s going to get better. Not even just with what’s in this market. We’re gonna beat this thing. We have to. Besides... there are always alternatives.”

Kyle glanced at her at that.

“What do you mean by that?”

Sunset sighed and leaned toward Kyle.

“So, you know about our powers... what do you know about where they come from?”

Kyle hesitated but shrugged, his curiosity beginning to grow.

“Nothing...”

Sunset smiled.

“Well, it’s a long story, so let me just give you the basics...”

Kyle leaned in a bit, eager to learn more about the source of their power.

“...They come from a land called Equestria. It’s... I think in another universe. That horse statue back home? It has a portal that opens there every two and a half years. I know because... because I went through it during what would’ve been my freshman year. On paper, I ‘transferred’ to Canterlot High and stayed until two and a half years later. Equestria’s version of Twilight came through and helped me learn the error of my ways. A lot of shenanigans later, zombies arose and... here we are.”

Kyle kept quiet, taking in everything Sunset was telling him...

And began to chuckle.

The chuckling quickly turned into stifled laughter.

“Hey, come on!” Sunset sighed.

Kyle struggled to speak in between his laughs.

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry! That’s... just the craziest story I’ve ever heard! I mean—other universes? Come on!”

“I mean, zombies running around? ‘Come on'!” Sunset said, mocking Kyle.

Kyle hesitated.

"Did you tell Jason this whole story?"

Sunset chuckled.

"Well, he kinda has his own story..."

"Yeah? With Uncle Gavriel, and all that?'

Sunset shrugged.

"That's... part of it."

Kyle paused but nodded.

“Okay, fair point... so this ‘Equestria’... how come you all don’t just go there? I mean, how long has it been since it opened last?”

Sunset smiled.

“Equestria’s Twilight made the portal manually openable. We’ve been trying to talk something out... that and, well, it’ll just be a hard adjustment period for everyone. Y’know... turning into ponies, and all.”

If Kyle was drinking something, he would’ve spit it out at that moment.

“Ponies? As in, horses?”

Sunset nodded.

“I know how insane it sounds... but ask Celestia when we get back... I think she still has confiscated video of me turning into that demon.”

Kyle hummed.

“I already knew about that... I’m just having a hard time believing the whole story. But, hey, you and my childhood best friend turned into demons, and, as you said, zombies are a thing now... so, I guess anything’s possible.”

They both shared a laugh.

“Y’know, I’m sure the whole Jason thing’s becoming annoying, but... I think he would’ve loved to have you going to school with him.”

Kyle chuckled.

“’Becoming’?”

They both laughed again, this time a bit louder than normal.

They both bit their tongues and looked to see that no zombie heard them.

“Yeah... but thank you. I never really knew much about him, but I heard things... some good, a lot of bad. But that was years ago...”

Sunset nodded.

“We all have a past... but it’s not today.”

Kyle fell silent, taking in what she said.

“Yeah... ‘our past is not today', right?”

Sunset jumped.

“Wait... you watched my streams?”

Kyle began to blush.

“Yeah... usually when I had nothing else to do, y’know?”

Sunset smiled ear-to-ear.

“No way! W-which channel?”

Kyle smiled back.

“ShimmerCode.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a distant explosion that woke the zombies in the lot...

“Guys...?” Kyle called out.

The girls each slowly rose up and looked outside the window as the zombies began sprinting towards the distant sound...

“Okay, everyone, the mission is on!” Sunset instructed.

One-by-one, everyone grabbed shopping carts and madly went through aisle after aisle, grabbing canned foods, utilities, toiletries, and anything else they could all carry.

Less than an hour later, all seven of their carts were overflowing, with a few isles still filled with goods.

“This stuff should last us months!” Fluttershy cheered.

“Well, we have to consider those brutes we have to give this to...” Rarity added.

“Even then, there’s plenty for everyone. Come on, let’s load this up!” Sunset said.

By sunrise, the group arrived back at the gates. They were each let in and sent to the back of the lot.

Big Mac came down to help with unloading, but a group of students quickly began to form...

“Fifteen carts... we filled fifteen carts!” Sunset shouted.

“There’s food for everyone!” Rainbow added.

“No more peanut butter crackers!” Pinkie cheered.

The commotion brought Celestia out of her office, seeing the crowd forming. From inside the school, she smiled to herself, glancing toward Sunset...

Thanks to the additional help, unloading took only an hour, and by the next, the cafeteria was brimming with life as a feast was held... Celestia joined in, as well, admiring the happiness and joy brought back into the school, something that was missing for the last few months...

Kyle sat with the girls and Scootaloo, who smiled picking through her corned beef hash.

“Not bad for an overnight run...”

Rainbow laughed.

“Scoots, you should’ve seen it! Rarity here made a ball of zombie and smushed it to bits!” She said, clasping her hands to demonstrate.

Rarity almost dropped her fork after being reminded of the memory.

“Yes, darling, now please never bring it up, again... especially when we’re eating?”

They all shared a laugh and Sunset slowly stood up from her seat.

“Everyone!”

The chatter in the cafeteria stopped as everyone turned to face Sunset.

“Let’s give it up for Kyle Williams!”

Claps began resounding the room as Kyle sheepishly smiled. Sunset smiled at him as she took a seat and went back to her food.

After the feast, Sunset made her way to Celestia’s office, holding her bag close.

She knocked on her door and in moments, Celestia opened it.

“I assume you have it?”

Sunset nodded, reaching into her bag and pulling out a syringe filled with red fluid...

“I'm gonna guess there is no talking you out of this?”

Celestia sighed.

“The Caribou won’t stop... especially once they learn of what you all have gathered... this has to end.” She said, putting the syringe into her desk for safekeeping.

Sunset nodded.

“So... Kyle, huh?”

Celestia happily hummed.

“His work was impressive. I find it hard to believe he didn’t thrive more at Crystal Prep.”

Sunset shrugged.

“Well, you know how they are. Were.”

Celestia nodded.

“I won’t hold you up any longer, Sunset... you should get going.”

Sunset nodded, slowly leaving Celestia’s office.

Once the door was shut, Celestia rested her head on her desk, allowing the tears she had been holding to flow freely, stifled sobs and all...