That week flew by like no other. In that time, everyone kept themselves well-fed, rations no longer being as much of a concern as before.

Celestia glanced at her watch, knowing that the Caribou should be arriving any minute. She reached into her desk and held the red-filled syringe in her hands...

She carefully put the syringe into her suit jacket sleeve, inside a pocket she requested Rarity to sew in, and opened her office door, seeing students scurry to arm themselves and find secure positions.

"You all know the drill, students... today, not one person will be given to those animals." She instructed.

Stationed students nodded as two soldiers approached Celestia.

"We found them—they're about two minutes out."

Celestia nodded.

"Good-- gather whatever remaining weapons from their previous attacks we have left."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two made their way into the armory.

Kyle loaded his M16 rifle in his dorm room as Scootaloo readied a sniper rifle.

"Can't believe we're actually doing this..." She said.

"I can't believe she didn't do this sooner." Kyle said, latching the magazine into the weapon.

Outside, the armory was utterly emptied, with the two soldiers bringing out a cart filled with all-white rifles with no visible ammunition...

Kyle looked out of his window and saw a familiar van honk its horn at the gates...

"Knock, knock, Canterloters!" The same ringleader from last week chuckled.

Celestia approached the gates, unarmed save for the syringe in her sleeve.

"Hello, Rowland."

Rowland tilted his head.

"Okay, what's goin' on? You... finally volunteerin' yourself, Celly...?" He said with sleazy eagerness.

Celestia swallowed nervously.

"No. We have a counter-offer for you, this time."

Rowland laughed.

"Counter-offer? Okay, Celly—let's hear this 'counter-offer'."

Celestia nodded, and Kyle came out with three crates of canned food. Rowland's eyes went as wide as saucers as his henchmen felt their stomachs begin to rumble...

"Alright! Guess y'all finally hit the jackpot! So, who do we have with this, huh?" He asked, rubbing his hands together.

"No one."

Rowland turned towards the boy who dared to open his mouth to him.

"Really? And who do you think you are to give orders? To us?"

Kyle took a step closer to the taller man.

"You tell me."

Rowland struggled for a moment, chuckling nervously.

"Okay, and how the hell am I supposed to know that--?"

"How about where we got this food? Can you at least share that?"

Silence. Kyle faintly smiled.

"You see, I had a feeling that the whole 'eyes-everywhere' skit was bullshit the minute I heard it... because if you were that powerful, then why not just take this place?"

Inside, the students watched. They watched as he stepped closer and closer to Rowland, until he was right in his face.

"I think you were losing."

Rowland slipped a nervous chuckle.

“We-we were not losing--”

"You were losing and decided to play dirty. You snuck inside in the dead of night thanks to a mole giving you intel. That's how you were able to sneak in and how you knew who to take. And in exchange for them helping you, you promised to get them out of here..."

Rowland remained silent.

"You took away the strongest fighter this place had, and you made them think you had them beat—you... you puffed out your chests, tried to make them think you were much bigger than you are. And it worked..."

Rowland stepped back slightly.

“...But that’s done, now. So, here's what's going to happen: You're gonna take these supplies, return everyone that you took away, and never show your faces near this place, again. If you do, then we'll finish what we started."

Rowland remained silent, glancing over to Celestia. She stood her ground, holding the syringe-sleeve...

"...You have no idea how badly you just screwed up, kid..."

In a moment, a small laser sight landed right on Celestia's head. Kyle's eyes widened before he looked into the distance, searching for any sign of a scope's glint in the sun.

Kyle then stood his ground.

"Nice try, but you forgot an important detail..."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Celestia glanced at Kyle, somewhat worried about what he was planning next.

"... There's no scope. The sun's out, so there'd be a glint from the scope of a sniper, but... not seeing any."

Celestia's eyes widened as Rowland scoffed, but Kyle saw that he was sweating bullets.

"N-nice try, kid—don't think we won't pull that trigger!"

The laser disappeared from her head and moved over to Kyle's chest. In response, he spread out his arms, his heart racing a million miles a minute...

"Go ahead, then... try me."

The two stood silent, neither daring to make a move. Kyle expected any moment to be his last, and Rowland was waiting for the boy to break. But in each second, neither got what they imagined...

Scootaloo did her best to follow the laser sight on her roommate's chest and found its source:

A nervous younger man was hiding in the bushes, indeed holding a laser pointer.

She immediately opened her window and shouted out.

"Tell the kid in the east bushes to put the laser away before I show him what a real sniper can do!"

Rowland nervously gulped as Kyle smiled, happy to see his inquiry was accurate. The man held a hand and performed a signal. Like that, the laser was gone.

"...Congrats, kid... you got a deal."

"Kyle. My name's Kyle Williams..."

Rowland's eyes widened for a brief moment, but hid his shock.

"Okay, Kyle Williams. You got a deal."

As Rowland's men went to grab the boxes, they were cut off by a rainbow blur.

"Ah-ah!" Rainbow said.

Rowland glanced at Rainbow, checking her out briefly as Kyle returned his attention.

"You bring our people back, first... all of them."

Rowland sighed.

"Fine-- but you might not like how a few of them wound up..."

In moments, the Caribou soldiers were out of the gates and driving off. From the roof, Sunset looked through a scope and saw a mark on the van...

"...State Penitentiary Prisoner Transport."

"How did you know?" She asked Kyle.

He barely heard her, legs almost giving way as they turned to jelly.

"I didn't..." He chuckled to himself.

One-by-one, students began exiting the building, rifles slung or set aside.

"What now?" One of them asked him.

They all looked at him. Every last one of them... all of the attention started becoming too much for Kyle, and he turned to Celestia.

"Ms. Celestia?"

She nodded and took the lead.

"We wait. Keep your weapons on you and keep loading supplies... we won today, but they could come back with backup. They certainly aren't going to like hearing that Rowland got scared away..."

With that, students went back to their business. Then, Kyle started making his way back in.

"You did good... never forget that."

Kyle stopped, smiling to himself.

"Thanks, Ms. Celestia."

Kyle went back inside, where Scootaloo and the other girls were waiting.

"Dude, that was totally awesome! You had that creep scared shitless!" She gave him a sudden bear hug.

He exhaled in surprise and smiled, hugging her back.

"Oh, trust me, I wasn't too far behind."

"Well, you could've fooled me! Good call on that sniper-- I would never have thought of that!" Rarity said.

Kyle shrugged.

“I played a lot of FPS’s...” He laughed.

"Well, guess we gotta start gaming more! I mean, damn!" Scootaloo laughed.

"Language, squirt!" Rainbow called out.

"We're really going to see Twilight again..." Fluttershy added.

"Yeah, we better! My sister, too!" Applejack said.

Kyle's smile faded for a moment, his suspicion quickly returning...

"Yeah... all of them. Including the mole..." He added.

The girls each stopped celebrating as that reality set in on them...

"Yeah, which might be just what they want." Sunset pondered.

"So, it sounds like we have to find who that mole may be before they all get here." Rarity said.

Kyle stayed silent, wanting to say his suspect but knowing it wouldn't go over well. So he decided to keep it subtle.

"Do we know who was on watch that night? Maybe whoever it was, let them in?"

Everyone shrugged, save for Applejack.

"Yeah... it was my sister."

No one dared utter a word, some of them now sharing Kyle's suspicion.

"Applejack... do you know if she ever--"

She quickly turned towards him, unwilling to hear another word.

"Now, hold on just a minute! Apple Bloom may have had a rough year, but she would never sell us out to anyone!"

Sunset's eyes widened.

"Applejack... that van was from the state prison... the same prison that-- 'you-know-who' was locked up."

Applejack turned to her comrade, trying to form a rebuttal, any form of defense for her little sister, but each one failed... and she was left with the bare truth.

"Oh, my God..." She covered her mouth as her eyes quickly began to water.

She fell to her knees as Sunset quickly wrapped her arms around her.

Kyle stood there, feeling immense guilt until Scootaloo placed her arm on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing..." She whispered in his ear, her voice beginning to crack, as well.

Kyle sighed.

"Doesn't feel like it..."

Applejack's tears slowly subsided, and they both got to their feet.

"We'll go to Celestia and tell her about this... the rest of you should help get ready for when they come back."

With that, the group dispersed. Kyle made his way to his dorm, where he continued packing the essentials.

Night had arrived, and yet, no Caribou.

Celestia began gathering students in the cafeteria, violating her curfew rules and keeping the power on. While students rotated, keeping watch throughout multiple windows on each floor of the school, Kyle helped Sunset with securing multiple school buses for the worst-case scenario.

"So, let's say things go south. Where do we go?" Kyle asked.

Sunset chipped in.

"We have rendezvous spots picked out. We stay close, follow the route, and if we get broken off, we head there."

Kyle nodded.

"Sounds like you all have this planned out..."

Sunset shrugged.

"Can't really afford not to."

The two made small talk for a bit longer, managing to secure and load each bus before a loud whistle was blown...

"Oh, shit..." Sunset said, both of them making their way up to the gates through the school.

Loud horns honking in the distance brought everyone's attention back toward the front gate, where they saw a large truck approaching it at ramming speed...

"Everyone, get down!" Celestia called out.

The gates were knocked wide open, and as the truck screeched to a stop, those inside aimed every weapon in the school at the vehicle.

"Step out of the truck, now! "Rainbow shouted, holding a rifle into the windshield.

The truck doors swung open, and a slender, leaner man exited, donning a strange sort of mask with antlers extending from the top...

"People of Canterlot High!" A distorted voice echoed throughout the school.

Everyone kept their weapons drawn, each of them at unease...

"I... am Dainn! I represent the organization you call the Caribou. Your desecration upon us... will not go unpunished."

Kyle and Sunset hid by the front door, doing their best to stay out of sight.

"Who's this guy?" Kyle asked.

Sunset peeked out and shrugged.

"No idea... come on, let's get everyone on those buses..."

He nodded, and the two quietly made their way upstairs, where multiple students pointed the mysterious rifles out the window.

"Hope you know how to use those..." Sunset instructed, starting to pull people up and point them to the buses out back.

Outside, Celestia stood her ground against the masked maniac.

"You and your people have desecrated this school! That, will not stand.”

Dainn glared at her for a moment, chuckling.

"That's good..." Then, with a flick of a finger, shots rang out...

Inside, Sunset and Kyle turned to see the remaining snipers were shot dead, all clean through their heads.

"Oh, God..." Kyle mumbled as he hurried to grab one of their rifles while staying out of sight.

Celestia turned and saw the windows emptied and gasped.

"There's no winning here, Celly. So stand down, now, or there will be hell to pay!"

Celestia grasped the syringe in her sleeve, knowing she needed to wait for her moment...

"Everyone, stand down!" She shouted inside.

Kyle's eyes widened as he decided to speak up.

"Not happening, Ms. Celestia!"

Dainn perked his head at the boy's voice.

“Kyle Williams, is that you?!”

Kyle hesitated, hearing his full name...

"Do I know you?!" He asked.

Dainn chuckled, fiddling with the straps of his mask...

"Come on down, and find out!"

Kyle considered taking the opportunity to get a shot in, but Sunset stepped back and tapped Kyle's shoulder.

"Come on. We can still make the bus if Celestia keeps stalling--"

THWACK!

The end of a rifle stock met her forehead as Kyle turned to see several Caribou soldiers grabbing her and him, dragging them outside.

In moments, they and the other remaining students were rounded up and brought to their knees before Dainn.

He chuckled at the sight of Applejack, whose rage began to overwhelm her...

"You sick, child-groomin' son of a bitch!" She screamed, lunging at him and tossing one of the men trying to restrain her across the lot.

"Enough..." Dainn instructed, pulling out a revolver and pointing it right at Celestia.

Applejack immediately froze and deactivated her Geode, allowing the remaining soldiers to pull her back into the line-up.

Minutes passed in absolute silence, each member glancing at each other for guidance, but no one having any...

Rainbow was shaking with anger, trying her best not to speed off and fight, but she knew that the slightest mistake would result in her friends getting killed, or worse...

Applejack was in the same boat. The only thing keeping her from beating Dainn to a bloodied ragdoll was the fact that at least thirty soldiers were holding guns to her friends.

Rarity was beginning to plot an escape in her mind but knew she didn't have the stomach to use her power for that scope of brutality... but she was starting to reconsider that.

Fluttershy was a mess, silently sobbing in terror, with Sunset holding her to try to comfort her in any way.

Pinkie was simply silent, observing her friends' terror and remaining silent, almost like she was shutting down...

"Well, shit—if it were this easy to bring this place down, I would've done this weeks ago!"

Kyle was increasingly livid as the masked man spoke—every word brought more emotion out of the boy.

"You took Twilight and all those other girls just to gloat?!"

Dainn laughed and knelt down to his level...

"Chin up, boy... you'll see her again soon enough. Hell, keep out of trouble, follow orders... and I just might give her to you--"

Kyle spit right on his mask, a gesture that silenced Dainn...

"Fuck you..."

That triggered a dark chuckle from the older man...

"Fine, then... worker, it is."

A firm backhand brought Kyle to the ground, wincing and his ears ringing.

"Stop!" Celestia shouted.

Dainn chuckled, clutching his slightly stinging hand...

"Yeah? And what if I don't?" He made his way to her, crudely holding her chin.

Celestia grunted at the sudden grip and grasped her syringe...

“This is my school... and these are my students...” She fiddled with the sleeve, having difficulty with her free hand.

Dainn smirked under his mask and brought her closer to him.

"Well, now they're mine. Don't worry, though... I'll put them all to good use..."

Dainn peeked down and saw her messing with her sleeve.

"Hey... got a present for me?"

Celestia flinched but quickly began forming a plan...

"Maybe I do..." She finally got a grip on the syringe as she leaned toward him.

"...Well, you better hand it over before someone gets hurt."

Celestia smirked.

"With pleasure."

She pulled out the syringe and drove it into his neck, drawing a scream from him as she injected its contents into him.

"Open fire!" Dainn gargled, pulling the needle out and holding his bleeding neck...

But it wasn't his blood.

"Rainbow! Run!"

Rainbow charged her Geode, time slowing to a stop right as bullets began to fly...

"Okay... I can do this!" She told herself as she started by pulling Celestia inside behind the front door.

Her next priority was the rest of her friends, all of whom were right in the line of fire. She made sure to carefully grab each of them so as not to risk breaking them with the sudden whiplash. It took a few minutes relative to her, and the bullets were about halfway towards them, traveling at a snail's pace.

Once her friends were safe, she turned toward their assailants, making her way to each one of them, taking their guns and tossing them up over the walls. Once they were all disarmed, she stepped towards Dainn, considering killing him at that moment, but noticed that his eyes were already beginning to go bloodshot...

"Celestia, you dirty dog..." She chuckled.

With that taken care of, she ran towards the rest of her friends and deactivated her Geode.

Time sped right back up as the bullets meant for her friends hit the dirt, kicking up dust.

The other Caribou noticed their guns were gone, and some went to retrieve them while the others checked on their leader.

"Sir Dainn, are you--"

Dainn shoved the soldier away as he began heaving and twitching...

"Get them! Get them all!" He snarled, his sense of awareness fading away as he desperately ripped off his mask to get some air...

In moments, Dainn was gone, and a snarling, raging zombie lunged at the fresh prey, sinking his teeth into the compassionate soldier's throat...

Back in the school, Celestia took a rifle off the ground.

"Celestia, we gotta go!" Kyle said, gesturing for the others to make a break for it.

"No, the rest of you go! I'll buy you all the time I can!" She said, firing a blast at the Caribou entering the gates.

A bright beam of light shot through the barrel and landed right into one of the soldiers, turning his body into a bloody paste.

"Go!" She shouted.

Gunfire and blasts from the laser rifle began to erupt, and as the chaos only escalated, the buses were loaded with students and other supplies, and each of them began taking off, one by one, out of the back gate.

Sunset took the wheel as Kyle kept his mom's revolver trained out of the window. The others sat throughout the seats, surrounded by other students.

"Our home's gone... where do we go now?"

"Did anyone see Octavia?!"

"I was right there... I could've done something!"

"Are they following us?! I think they're following us!"

Chatter filled the tiny bus to the point where Kyle turned from the window.

"Everyone? Everything will be okay! We'll figure it out... but we can't do that if we panic. So let's just get to the rendezvous, and we'll make a plan from there..."

The cluster of students seemed to listen as panicked chatter began to die out.

Sunset looked through the rearview mirror and faintly sighed, turning her attention back to the long road before them...

Author's Note

And like that, what only took two chapters is done in five! I'd consider this the end of the first "arc", so to speak. Thank you to everyone who has been reading or is reading this right now, and I can't wait to show you what comes next in the story of The Zombie Chronicles.