Hope
Written by Xfiles90210
(Day 13 – day 38)
Prologue
Day 13
Carousel Boutique
The boutique’s door frantically opened, giving way to a moody unicorn. She was still upset about her recent conversation, along with her friends, with Peter. Her sister, a filly unicorn with white coat and violet mane named Sweetie Belle, went down the stairs quickly to see what was happening.
“Ugh, I still cannot quite believe he lied to us all this time”, Rarity mumbled, “Just when I was thinking about making him a wonderful vest. I just hope I do not face one of those nasty creatures he told us about.”
“Rarity?” her sister asked, cutting her line of thought and making her to look at her, “is there something wrong?”
“Indeed there is, my dear” she tried to calm herself down “pack up your stuff, we are moving to Canterlot.”
“Now? But why? What about our friends?” the little filly asked in a rapid tone.
“No time to explain. Now move on, we got to be there in no time”, the unicorn said as she used her magic to levitate her dresses and started to pack them in some small suitcases.
“Can I at least...?” she tried to ask, but she stopped when her sister looked at her serious. She lifted her head down and walked slowly to her room.
“Now, where did I put my VIP card Fancy Pants gave me?” Rarity thought as she was looking for it through her magic, “this is not quite what I expected. Now I will have to ask him for another one.”
When the fancy unicorn finished with her packing, she looked at the stairs. She began to get impatient because her sister didn’t finish yet.
“Sweetie Belle!” she yelled, “could you please hurry up? You know I am in a hurry”. She didn’t wait more than three seconds for a response and said: “Darling, do you need help or something?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming! Sheez, you know I take much longer to do something ‘cause I don’t control magic”, she said as she was going down the stairs with a huge suitcase. Rarity looked at it and she put her hoof on her face.
“Sweetie, darling”, she said as she tried to calm herself down, “please tell me what did you just packed”
“Well, I just packed all my stuff” she said as she smiled and knocked the suitcase.
“Sister... just...” she sighed, “oh well, I will not be the one who will carry it anyway”, she turned around and said: “Did I mention we will travel on hoof?”
“On hoof? What about the train?”
“Well, let’s just say it will be too crowded. You wouldn’t want me to mess my mane, do you?”
“I wouldn’t mind”
“Oh, but I do”, Rarity trotted to the door. Sweetie Belle followed her as they were still talking each other. “Besides, nopony will be here by tomorrow. We cannot waste any more seconds staying here.”
The filly tilted her head confused. She still didn’t understand anything her sister was saying.
“Sis, you either designed some awful clothes or something wrong is happening. You wouldn’t leave just like that. Why don’t you tell me now?”
“Darling, a lady should not express herself like that. I just tell you it is something really disgusting and I don’t want to see it when it comes here.”
“You mean a creature from the Everfree Forest?” she raised her eyebrow.
“Close, darling. For now, I do not want you to know it.”
“But sister...”
“Enough questioning; I do not like when you keep asking the same thing all over again.”
Sweetie Belle saw her sister sadly. She didn’t even have the chance to say good bye to her fellow friends: Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, whom were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She kept following her sister until they arrived to Ponyville’s limits.
They could see Canterlot from there. The majestic city shined with its entire splendor as the sun rose behind it. Rarity smiled as she forgot for a moment her task she promised to her best friend. Her sister tried to do the same, but she was still confused.
“Well sister. It seems like we are going to travel a long distance”, she turned to the filly and saw her sad face. She smiled and said: “oh poor darling. Do not worry; we will have quality time while we arrive there”, she cuddled her mane and chuckled, “sounds like a wonderful idea, don’t you think?”
“I guess so. I’m sad because we suddenly left without telling anypony. I wanted to say good bye to my friends.”
“Is that so?” Rarity laughed delightfully, “Oh sister, after we arrive to Canterlot, we all will meet there.”
“Really!?” she asked as she smiled again, “so will it be like a party?”
“Well”, she paused for a moment, “yes.”
“Then we must hurry if we want to arrive first, sis” she stomped to the ground excited.
“Then let’s go, sister”, the white unicorn said as she continued to walk through the dirt road leading to Canterlot. “Phew, good thing I did not have to tell her the truth”, she thought as she was still smiling at her little sister.
The Story
2 hours later.
“Sweetie”, the white fancy unicorn said exhausted, “I think this was not a very good idea. A lady is not used to travel on hoof for long.”
Her sister raised her eyebrow and looked back to Ponyville. They traveled no more than a thousand yards during all this time. She looked back to her sister; she was breathing heavily and sweating.
“Sis”, she said, “we could go faster if we didn’t rest ten minutes every five minutes of walking”, she then pointed at her sister’s boots and said: “maybe those are not very fitting for this.”
“But darling, those are my lucky boots”, she said as she lifted her right front hoof to take a closer look to them, “they are a very special gift from my last visit to Canterlot. I promised to wear them on my next travel.”
“Really?” her sister asked sarcastically “at least it wasn’t a pair of socks or a sweater.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind” she sighed “it would be much better and faster to use Ponyville’s train.”
“Your words hurt me. You make me feel useless” Rarity said as she made a puppy face.
“All right, all right! Let’s pretend I didn’t say that”, she sighed and took her big suitcase again.
“Now those are the words I wanted to hear”, she said as she lifted again her packages and kept walking to Canterlot. Her sister rolled her eyes as she sighed.
Hours passed quickly as both Unicorns were following the dirt road leading to Equestria’s capital city. The sun set, letting the moon rise and shine. Rarity could barely walk further. Her sister was trying to help her by pushing her with her hooves and carrying one of her small suitcases.
“I cannot walk... anymore” Rarity barely said, she was too tired and was trying to take a break, “those shoes are too uncomfortable”
“And you realized that until now?” her sister replied, “Just take them off and keep going! Or do you want to sleep in the outside?”
“Of course not”, she smiled, “a lady deserves the best treatment. We need to find a hotel or at least an inn.”
“Maybe there’s one in that place”, she stopped helping her sister and pointed at a small town at a distance.
“Looks like a beautiful place”, Rarity smiled, “the sooner we arrive, the sooner we will rest, right Sweetie?”
“Ugh fine. I get it”, she said as she continued to help her sister to keep walking.
Moments later, they arrived at the town. It was quiet and nopony was outside. The stores were closed and the houses had their lights off.
“It is too quiet in here”, Rarity said, “Something is not right.”
“Come on, Rarity. What’s the worst thing that could happen?” the filly replied as she smiled confidently. She walked to the closest house and knocked the door. “hello! Anypony in there?” the only answer was complete silence, “hello?”
She then turned back to her sister and said: “I guess nopony’s inside. Maybe if I knock on that door I could have some luck”, she said as she went towards a closed bakery store. She tried to look through the windows first, but the darkness was too dense to see anything. She shrugged and knocked the door.
“Hello! I just want to ask where my sister and I could rest during the night”, then again, there was only silence. “Aw, why don’t they answer?”
The noise of her yells and the door knocks were enough to attract a swarm of small insects to the town: Parasprites. However, they were different from normal ones; their eyes had a faint yellow glow, their mouths had sharpened teeth and their wings were bigger and enhanced, allowing them to fly faster.
“Rarity, why is nopony here?” Sweetie Belle said to her sister as she trotted back, “I don’t get it.”
“Do not worry darling. No need to feel...” the fancy unicorn couldn’t finish her sentence as she saw the swarm approaching to them fast. She gasped as she remembered what Peter said before:
“They’ll release the infection through infected parasprites”, she remembered “infected parasprites.”
“Darling”, Rarity said in fear, “we need to hide now.”
“Why? Can’t we just...?”
“Now!” she yelled as she took her sister and ran towards the closest house she spotted. She tripped over her boots, falling to the ground. She stood up and saw the swarm getting too close.
“Rarity, what’s happening?” she saw her sister frightened at the parasprites “now are you scared of some little insects?”
Her sister didn’t answer; she was trying to find a way to fend them off as she has holding her sister’s hoof tightly.
“Rarity?” the filly started to be worried about her sister’s unexpected behavior.
The swarm was getting too close to them. The white unicorn was shocked as she was still trying to think how to get rid of them as her little sister was getting more and more confused. When the swarm got at around ten yards away from the unicorns, Rarity took her sister and covered her with her own body; she closed her eyes, knowing what would happen when she gets infected.
“Sis, what are you doing?”
“Saving you.”
“Wha...?” her sister held her tighter.
Meanwhile, another unicorn was looking at the scene from the top of a store. Her horn glowed in a bright blue shine and teleported between the unicorns and the swarm. She then quickly casted a repellent spell, making the parasprites to cough continuously and go away. She looked at the sisters, which were still holding each other.
“For how long will you make such drama?” She said as she raised an eyebrow and showing overconfidence.
Rarity opened her eyes slowly and saw the parasprites were gone and another pony was looking at her. She felt relieved, stopped holding her sister and cuddled her mane.
“Thank you so much for helping us, miss...” she looked at her and remembered who she was. She remembered she visited Ponyville a while ago and caused nothing but trouble during her stay. Her smile faded and she said with a serious tone: “Trixie.”
The unicorn, with light azure coat, purple eyes and light grayish cyan with light bluish gray mane, lifted her head up and put her hoof on her chest before saying overconfident: “once again the great and powerful Trixie showed her powers to mere common ponies”, she looked at them again and kept talking: “but there’s still a question Trixie hasn’t solved yet. Maybe you could help back.”
“Anything you want, Trixie”, Sweetie Belle said.
“Do you know the reason of why is this almost a ghost town? Some crazy ponies were running and yelling something about zombies coming here, but that’s just absurd. Worst thing is, they didn’t see the overwhelming performance Trixie offered them during the evening.”
“Zombies?” the filly asked confused, “you mean as corpses that come out from the graves and want to eat your brain?”
“Possibly, but then again it’s absurd to think about a sudden outbreak. And even if some mere undead were attacking, then Princess Celestia could warn us all and send the royal guards to eliminate them”. Trixie then noticed how Rarity was glaring at her and said serious: “you seemed too frightened about those Parasprites. Not that Trixie cares, but why were you frightened?”
Rarity took a deep breath and hesitated if she should tell them the truth or keep fooling her sister around. Meanwhile, the filly heard faint sounds coming from inside a house; without saying a word, she trotted to it with curiosity.
“Sweetie Belle, where are you going?” she yelled as she followed her sister, trying to not to step on her boots again.
“Hey, Trixie asked you a question!” the azure unicorn sentenced as she saw them going away. “Do not dare to leave Trixie like that”, she teleported in front of Rarity and said loudly: “answer now!”
The purple mane Unicorn evaded Trixie and kept going after her sister. The azure Unicorn got upset at her and teleported again near the filly.
“I heard somepony’s in there” the filly said as she reached the door and noticed it wasn’t locked. “And door’s open! Finally!”
She turned the knob and slightly opened the door. The darkness inside the house didn’t let her to see beyond her own hooves.
“Hello?” she heard slow steps coming from the second floor, “somepony in here?” the steps became faster as if the pony was trying to run clumsily. “Hellooo!” the filly said louder. The step sounds were getting closer; the pony was going down the stairs and then it fell. His fall made a loud noise, scaring the filly. “Are you okay, mister? Maybe if I turn on the lights it would be easier for us to see”. She tempted the wall looking for a light switch; she found it and tried to turn on the light. “Weird, it isn’t working”.
Rarity was close to her sister; paying attention at what was she doing. When she heard she needed some light, she smiled and stood in front of her.
“Oh Sweetie, if you wanted light, you could have just asked me”, she said as she laughed delightfully and her horn glowed, lighting the room. She turned back at the pony and her smile faded away instantly. She took her sister outside the house as quick as she could.
“Will you make drama again?” Trixie asked as she looked at Rarity. “Let me guess, more parasprites inside the house?”
Rarity was breathing heavily as she was looking at the house’s door. She got more frightened when she heard the steps coming from it again.
“That’s a....” she was trying to talk as she was frightened, “a wal... a walker.”
“Walker?” Trixie laughed, “Sounds like a science fiction creature from outer space”. She then completely opened the door with her magic as Rarity took her sister behind her. “Whatever it is, Trixie shall...” she opened her eyes widely as she saw the undead moaning and running to her. As she overcame her fear quickly, she teleported behind it and casted a rope, tying its hooves and making it fall.
“What the hay is that?” the filly asked before screaming; Rarity tried to run away from it while carrying her sister with her magic. The walker didn’t take long to break the rope and stand up again. It growled and ran to Rarity with bloodlust on its eyes.
“Use your magic to teleport to a safe spot!” the azure unicorn yelled at the sisters. The walker stopped going after them and ran towards the azure unicorn again. Trixie smiled, showing overconfidence, and casted a freezing spell as she said: “that will teach you, misera...” She gasped as she saw her spell barely affected the walker, “how could it?”
Then, she teleported to its right, getting more time to think. She turned to the sisters and yelled “what are you waiting for? Teleport to a house’s roof!” she turned back to the walker and barely evaded its bite; her horn glowed as bright as the sun itself in an attempt to blind the walker.
Meanwhile, the purple mane unicorn was still shocked as she saw how Trixie was fighting the undead predator. Sweetie Belle was also frightened, but she was shaking her sister.
“Sis, snap out of it!” the filly yelled, “please take us away from that zombie.”
Rarity closed her eyes, tried to calm herself down and her horn glowed. She tried to focus enough magic to cast it; she didn’t have any experience on casting that kind of spell.
Meanwhile, Trixie was trying all kind of spells to stop the undead pony. She started to feel tired as she saw Rarity glowing her horn and thought: “Mmph, what could Trixie expect from such a weak unicorn?” She then looked around in search for something useful, but she found nothing. “Darn, there’s nothing potentially dangerous in sight.”
The walker, as it was going after Trixie, was getting faster and more agile. Its eyes were focused on her no matter where she went and its moans were getting louder; like if it was getting desperate to get its prey.
Meanwhile, Rarity was still focusing more magic on her horn as she was trying to ignore the walker’s moans and screams. Her little sister was holding tightly on her while she kept her eyes closed and was singing, trying to not to panic.
Trixie teleported near a house’s wall and waited for the walker to get close to her. When it was at a distance of five feet away, she teleported behind it and watched it crash on the wall and a bucket fall on its head.
“Told you to not to mess with Trixie, mindless monster”. The walker stood up quickly and was shaking its head to take the bucket off it. She chuckled, her horn glowed once again and said: “you will never ever touch Trixie, you nasty corpse”. Then, a black cloud spawned above the walker and hit it with a thunderbolt. The walker shook violently while it was screaming in pain until it collapsed on the grass, dead. The azure unicorn got close to it and smiled.
“Once again, the great and powerful Trixie proved she’s better than anypony”, she kicked the body and turned to the sister unicorns. The filly, after noticing the undead was no longer moaning, opened her eyes and saw Trixie looking at them.
She couldn’t help but to smile; she poked Rarity and said: “sister, it’s over!” Rarity’s horn stopped glowing and saw the corpse lying on the grass, “our friend helped us, Rarity.”
“Friend?” Trixie interrupted, “you weaklings would never be worthy for being Trixie’s friends”. She lifted her head up and then said petulantly: “it was just a small favor. Consider yourself lucky the most magical unicorn killed that undead”. She turned around and started to walk away as Rarity was looking at her upset, but then she stopped and remained thoughtful; she looked back and Rarity and walked back to her.
“What do you want now?” Rarity said sarcastically “sign us an autograph?”
“Watch your manners, mare. Now answer Trixie this:” she glared at Rarity, “you called it “Walker”. It may be just a hunch, but Trixie suspects you know something”, she got closer to her, “or maybe you had something to do with it.”
Rarity pushed her away with her hoof and said: “of course not”, then she looked at her sister and sighed, “not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are travelling to Canterlot to...” she took a deep breath and finally said: “to warn Princess Celestia about this.”
“Rarity?” the filly asked, “you knew there were zombies and you didn’t tell me anything?” her face saddened. “Why?”
“I didn’t want to scare you”, she said as she evaded her sight, “I didn’t want to scare you like I was scared when Peter told us about this.”
The filly hugged her sister and said: “I would never be scared as long as I’m with you, sis.”
Trixie was looking at the scene while she was thinking: “so the Princess doesn’t know about this”, she grinned, “it’s a perfect chance for Trixie to finally get royal appreciation”. She looked at the corpse, smiled and kept thinking: “they’re weak against lightning; those unicorns are so weak they couldn’t cast a simple teleportation; it’s just a matter of time before they get caught while Trixie survives, warn the princesses and become a hero. This chance is just too good to let it go.”
“Now we need to find a safe place to sleep during the night”, the purple mane unicorn said to her sister, “and this town is no longer safe. Maybe there are more of them lurking in the darkness inside the houses and stores.”
“Ehem”, Trixie pretended to cough, “Trixie can offer her mobile home to you. At least for tonight.”
“Really?” the filly answered excited.
“What do you want in exchange?” Rarity asked suspiciously, “you just said you would never be a friend of us.”
“Don’t misunderstand Trixie”, she replied indignantly, “consider it as a favor from the most magical unicorn. Besides, you don’t really have a choice, don’t you?”
The fancy unicorn stared at her upset. She was getting tired of her arrogance and her boast. She sighed and said “I just could go look for another place to sleep in, but just because my sister is with me, then I will accept your offer.”
“Says the unicorn who can’t cast even a simple teleport spell”, Trixie replied sarcastically as she shrugged.
“Don’t you dare to treat me like that”, Rarity sentenced as her horn glowed.
“Go on, dare to challenge Trixie and see what happens”, her horn also glowed “you could end up like that corpse, or even worse.”
Both unicorns were staring at each other as their horns were glowing, ready to cast a spell. The azure unicorn was smiling and showing overconfidence as the white unicorn had a face of anger. The filly looked at them and, afraid that something bad could happen, stood between the unicorns.
“Stop!” she yelled as she tried to separate them “please don’t fight; we need to stick together”, she looked at her sister, “please, Rarity” and then she looked at the azure unicorn “please, Trixie.”
“Mmph, be thankful your sister stopped this nonsense”, Trixie said as and turned around and kept walking to her mobile home, “the offer still stands, Rarity. It’s up to you to risk yourself in one of these dark, spooky houses or come with me and stay safe.”
The purple mane unicorn sat down the grass, still upset at Trixie’s teasing. She took a deep breath, evaded her sight and said: “if we follow you, it’s because we don’t have any other choice. My sister’s safety is more important than my feelings now”. Then, the sisters followed Trixie as she was snickering.
Moments later, the trio arrived at the outskirts of the village. Rarity saw Trixie’s home and remembered how an ursa minor destroyed her previous one, she then thought: “my my, it’s certainly bigger and better decorated. At least she doesn’t have a bad taste on decoration.”
“We have arrived. Feel free to choose a spot where to sleep”, she said as she opened the door and turned on the lights with her magic.
“Wow, it’s bigger than the one that Ursa destroyed back in Ponyville”, the white unicorn said with a smile.
“How did you...?” Trixie was briefly surprised, but then she sighed. “That doesn’t matter now, because Trixie has improved much more since then.”
The filly was looking around amazed. The inside of the house was decorated like if it was a stage: there were stage lights on the roof, a rack with colorful robes and pointed hats, a chest that surely contained objects a magician use for the tricks. More than a simple mobile home, it was a mobile show stage.
“I like this place!” Sweetie Belle said happily.
“Well well well, it seems like somepony at least is grateful”, Trixie said and smiled. She opened the closet with her magic and took out a pair of blankets. “Here, use them to keep yourselves warm. Trixie will sleep in her own room.”
“Thank you for helping us Trixie”, the filly replied, “and thank you for defeating that zombie. I don’t know what would become of us without you.”
“No need to say thanks, child. Helping the weak is just another task the great and powerful Trixie does”, she looked at Rarity and grinned, “Isn’t it?”
“Just...” the fancy unicorn sighed, “just do not be so boastful, okay? I cannot quite stand boasting ponies.”
“Or maybe you can’t stand to be close to more magical unicorns”, she laughed and said: “good night you two. Now Trixie will take a sleep”, she walked out the room and closed the door.
The filly looked around again, still amazed at the particular objects around her. She then looked at her sister, put her hoof on her shoulder and said with a smile “Cheer up, Rarity. There’s no need to be upset.”
The white unicorn looked back at Sweetie Belle and tried to smile. She was confused and was trying to understand what just happened. The fancy unicorn didn’t know if she should feel happy because she and her sister survived today or should feel upset because their savior was a boasting unicorn whose arrogance is beyond her tolerance.
Finally, she cuddled her sister’s mane, took one of the blankets with her magic and tucked her up with the care and love only a sister has to offer. The filly, without saying a word, smiled and kissed her sister’s cheek.
“Good night, darling”, the fancy unicorn said with tenderness as she turned off the lights with her magic.
“Good night, sis. Sleep well. Tomorrow will be surely better than today; you’ll see that.”
“I hope so, Sweetie”, Rarity replied as she took her blanket and tucked up next to the filly, “I hope so.”
Day 14
4 am, Trixie’s mobile home
“Wake up!” the azure unicorn yelled as she frantically opened the door. The sisters, who were sleeping peacefully, woke up and stood up quickly as they were shocked. Rarity was about to ask the reason of her action when she heard moans and screams coming from outside. “Those pestilences have surrounded us”, she said as she got closer to them.
“But how?” Rarity replied terrified. “I am not going put my sister in danger”, she grabbed the filly’s hoof.
Trixie sighed as she glared at the unicorn. “Very well, fancy unicorn. Listen to me and listen to me well: Trixie will teleport you all as far away as possible from here. Then, you will do as Trixie says if you want to stay alive.”
“Sis?” the filly mumbled, “I’m scared.”
“Calm down, Sweetie”, she said as she tried to keep herself calmed and then she turned back to the azure unicorn. “Are you sure this is the best choice?”
“Do you have something better?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I...” a loud sound was heard and they turned around. One of the walkers managed to start breaking through the window. “No, I do not. Please hurry and take us out of here.”
The azure unicorn smiled and she turned around. “Stay close to Trixie”, she said her horn and her eyes glowed. The white unicorns stood silent as they stood as close as possible. When the spell was casted, they teleported away and spawned a hundred yards away from the house.
“Very well, what now?” the white unicorn asked.
“Run.”
“What? Why don’t you just use your magic to...?” the azure unicorn seemed not to care about her words and started to run at the opposite direction of the walkers. Losing no time, she took her sister with her magic, put her on her back and followed Trixie as fast as she could.
“Sis?” she asked with a tone that shows worry and terror.
“Hold on tight, Sweetie. Hold on tight and don’t look back.”
Meanwhile, the walkers noticed their dams were no longer inside. They all turned to the sisters and begun to chase them as they were moaning and screaming. There were at least twenty of them going after the three unicorns.
Trixie, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were running with no certain direction. The azure unicorn started to feel tired as sweat began to drop from her forehead. She shook her head to clean it up and looked around for a safe place.
“Trixie really hates this inhospitable land,” she mumbled, “now what will she do to get out of this trouble?” she looked away briefly and saw the walkers getting closer. “If only Trixie could run as fast as lightning”, she suddenly stopped and turned around, “that’s it, lightning!”
The white unicorn reached her and, as she was panting, looked at her and asked: “Why... why did we stop?”
The unicorn didn’t answer; she was just smiling and looking at the walkers. “No need to fear”, she said as her horn glowed, “as Trixie knows their weakness.”
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked confused.
The azure unicorn’s eyes glowed. “Stay back”, she said with seriousness. The white unicorn turned to the walkers, saw them getting too close and then she stood behind Trixie.
As the undead ponies were getting closer, they moaned as if they were excited or starving; their mouths were open and ready to bite. When they were ten yards away from the azure unicorn, she pointed her horn at the closest walker and shot a yellow lightning beam right to its face.
Rarity gasped in surprise when she saw what happened: the first undead frantically shook as it was screaming in pain; the beam, after hitting the first walker, went through the others with the same intensity. Suddenly, all the walkers were frantically shaking, collapsing on the grass one by one. Their eyes no longer had the faint yellow glow and they were not moving or even moaning anymore.
“What just happened?” the fancy unicorn asked surprised as she looked at the corpses “how did you...?”
“It’s simple”, the azure unicorn interrupted, “this is how Trixie defeated the first ine. Trixie just used lightning intense enough to travel through their empty heads,” she smiled.
“What?” she looked around “so, what now?” she turned to her back and couldn’t help but to smile when she saw her little sister covering her eyes with her hooves while she was mumbling a song.
“You said you are travelling to Canterlot,” Trixie tilted her head, “and Trixie got her home destroyed... again. So, she might as well go with you.”
“Yeah, but”, she looked around, “where are we?” the azure unicorn also looked around as she kept talking. “For how long did we run?”
“Good question,” she replied, “erm, guess that we could just go straight to the castle, we can still see it on the horizon.”
The fancy unicorn nodded her head and turned back to the filly. “Sweetie, let’s go. We must arrive as soon as we can.”
The filly slowly put her hooves away from her eyes, looked at her sister and then she looked at Trixie. “Are we...?” her words were trembling “are we safe now?”
“Yes, we are”, she smiled, trying to give confidence to the filly, “Trixie will go with us, she will protect us.”
“Ehem”, the azure unicorn interrupted, “it’s the great and powerful Trixie for you. Doesn’t matter if it takes longer to say”; she lifted her head up and kept talking: “and what makes you think she will protect you all along? Trixie is doing you a favor.”
“You said you’d come with us.”
“So? Only if you stay close to Trixie; she will not help you if you go away from her”, she cuddled her own mane, “or if you get lost.” She turned around and finally said: “now, don’t waste time and keep going. Canterlot is still far from here.”
Rarity took a deep breath as she tried to not to get upset again. “I really cannot stand her boasting and arrogance” she thought. She then started to follow the azure unicorn. “Come on, Sweetie Belle.”
“Right away, sis”, the filly stood next to her and whispered at her ear, “When will we arrive?”
“I do not know”, she looked back at Trixie, “but I really want it to be soon.”
“Why?”
“You would not understand, darling.”
The trio continued with their journey. They walked towards the main city without rushing. After all, they were still recovering from the chase they just were involved. Hours passed as they kept travelling; at first, they avoided the towns and roads in an attempt to avoid more encounters, even if that meant to take longer to arrive.
Day 18
11 AM, Fillydelphia
The three unicorns arrived at the outskirts of Fillydelphia after travelling on hoof. Their attempt to avoid large population centers was futile; they were walking in circles and with no direction through the open fields while they were trying in vain to find an alternate way. Besides, their supplies were running low and there were no farms nearby for food.
The once magnificent city of Fillidelphia was now forsaken. The scenario was dismal: the city’s buildings and streets had blood stains all over it. The doors and windows on most of the buildings were nothing more than scraps of what they used to be. The undead were roaming around the city in great quantities, looking for a prey to feed on. Pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies; their race was not a problem for the walkers to attack.
As Rarity and Sweetie Belle had a face with a scared glimpse, Trixie was looking at the city with a slight smile. Their coat was dusty, their mane was in bad shape and their hooves showed signs of wear. Before the azure unicorn proceeded to dare to enter the forsaken city, she turned to the sister unicorns.
“This is the only way to go to Canterlot, Rarity”, she said, “and even if there was another way, we need to find food or we will starve.” She turned back and looked at the city again. After a moment, she said: “stay close, you two. For goodness’ sake, stay close to Trixie. We could get swarmed at any moment.”
“I...” Rarity hesitated, “I do not know if I can do this. I mean, my Sweetie is too scared now.”
“You want to save Equestria or not?” Trixie said with a louder tone. “Trixie knows it’s too dangerous, but it’s the only chance we have.” She then changed her voice tone to a confident one. “Besides, Trixie knows how to get rid of them.”
Rarity thought for a moment about the azure’s unicorn words and then she turned back to Sweetie Belle. She noticed she was trembling and was trying to hide on her older sister’s tail. She cuddled her mane with tenderness and then used her magic to lift her up and put her sister on her back.
“Sweetie,” she said while trying to hide her fear in an attempt to give the little unicorn some confidence, “we will be okay; there is no need to be afraid of them.”
The white unicorn nodded her head as she held a tear of fright and then she covered her face with her front hooves. Her sister couldn’t help but to smile with sadness.
Meanwhile, Trixie sighed after she rolled her eyes while watching the scene and then said: “let’s make it quick; Trixie doesn’t want to spend the night there.” Then, she proceeded to walk as Rarity followed her.
After just a single minute of walking, the unicorns spotted some walkers getting close to them; although they were not running, their speed was not slow enough to evade them. Trixies’ horn glowed as she counted how many undead ponies were in sight; after a moment, she smiled and let a bolt of lightning hit the closest one.
As the undead were shaking violently while their heads were being electrocuted, the unicorns didn’t lose time and kept trotting through the city. As if the walkers knew there were new “guests” in the city, they all started to run towards the azure unicorn and the white unicorn.
“There is too many of them,” Rarity said worried.
“It would be easier if you do something other than running away,” she replied slightly upset.
Both unicorns couldn’t keep their conversation as they found themselves surrounded. Then, Trixie seemed to have an idea and ran towards the closest building: it was a store with two floors. Like other buildings, its door and windows were broken.
Rarity followed her and both entered the building. Trixie looked around with her eyes quickly until she saw the stairs. Losing no time, she ran upstairs as her horn was glowing just in case, ready for a quick strike, and waited until her companion was also upstairs.
“Trixie, why did you do that? We are trapped...”
“Shut up and watch my back”, the azure unicorn interrupted and then used her magic to set the wooden stairs on fire. While she was casting a magic shield to control the fire, the white unicorn was looking around the upper floor, fearing that there could be another undead lurking on the upper floor.
Seconds later, the stairs were burned down and the walkers were gathered around on the lower floor looking at Trixie with bloodlust in their eyes. The azure unicorn mockingly smiled at them and then she turned back to Rarity.
“That’ll give us some time”, she said, “Trixie never thought the whole city was dead”.
“Great, but we are trapped now”, Rarity replied with sarcasm, “What is the next step of your marvelous plan? Stay here until it all ends?”
“Keep your useless mouth shut, mare. Trixie has done the entire job during these days.”
“You agreed to help us.”
“Trixie never agreed that, she’s just doing her duty as the most magical unicorn.”
As both unicorns were arguing each other, Sweetie Belle was mute and was now covering her ears in an attempt to not to listen. The constant conflicts between both mares has been stressing her and she wanted to stop it, but she didn’t know how. She decided to simply stay quiet and say nothing as long as she could.
Suddenly, both mares stopped when they heard a faint, female voice near them.
“Heeelp meee.”
“What the?” the azure unicorn said as her ears lifted up, “did you hear that?”
“I certainly did”, Rarity replied and then she turned to her sister. “Sweetie, did you say something?”
“N... No”, she replied with hesitation, “I didn’t say anything.”
“Heeelp meee”, the faint voice was heard again. Both unicorns looked each other as the filly was confused. They stood silent to see if their minds weren’t tricking them.
“Heeelp meee”, it was heard again. The fancy unicorn pointed at a door in front of her and said: “I think it comes from there.”
“There must be somepony else alive”, Trixie said, “how come she survived?”
“It does not matter now how,” the white mare said as she was walking to the door, “she must have found a way just like we did.”
“First time you got some reason in your words”, Trixie replied as she also walked to the door. “Maybe she knows how to get out of this place.”
Then, Rarity proceeded to open the door with her magic. The room was big and spacious: it was a storeroom. Like the rest of the building, it was almost completely dark. The white mare squinted and looked around.
On the right corner there was a faint glow; she looked at it and noticed a horn was glowing faintly. It was a crimson red glow and it was standing still. As Rarity was walking slowly towards it, Trixie was close to her as well as Sweetie Belle.
When Rarity got closer to her, she heard the pony was sobbing quietly. Although she couldn’t still see her, she felt a chill on her spine. The sobbing was not a sad one, its tone was different: it was louder and had no stops, not even for taking a breath.
She hesitated and gulped before she gathered enough courage to talk. Then, she asked: “hello there, are you okay?” she tried to smile, but her lips were trembling.
Suddenly, the sob stopped. As both unicorns noticed the strange pony started to move they unconsciously started to step back. The unicorn stood up slowly and turned its head to them.
With horror on her eyes, Rarity noticed the glowing eyes of the unicorn; they were not faint yellow, but bright red. She tried to scream in pain, but she contained herself just for not scaring her sister.
While the white unicorn was attempting to mute herself, Trixie noticed its shape and form: The unicorn’s muscles were severely swollen and they were throbbing violently. Even its face’s muscles were swollen. Its horn was still glowing as the undead started to walk slowly towards her. Then, she noticed something that scared her.
“Heeelp meee”, it said while its lips were not moving.
“What the?” The azure unicorn thought, “how can she do that if she...” she suddenly opened her eyes widely and couldn’t help but to say loudly: “This thing uses telepathy!?”
Trixie tried to snap out of her surprise, but she was still thinking how was possible for a “stupid walker” to use magic. Then, she noticed the walker’s muscles were throbbing more violently while it was getting closer to the fancy unicorn.
Before she could order Rarity to stay away, the walker moaned and its red, slim coat started to rip. As she knew there was no time to warn her, she casted a magic shield around her and pushed Rarity as far away as possible from the undead.
“Rarity, get out...” she couldn’t finish her sentence as the mutation exploded. The explosion was strong enough to break her shield and throw her to the wall. After she crashed on it and fell to the floor, she tried to recover from her shock and stand up.
“Trixie!” Rarity yelled and she stood next to her. “Oh my gosh, this is not happening”, she said worried.
“Calm down,” Trixie interrupted her as she was still trying to stand up, “Trixie is going to be okay.” She was breathing heavily and looked at herself. She noticed her left hoof had a red patch, but she said nothing.
“This is my entire fault. If only I knew those zombies could do that”, the white mare said with wet eyes.
“No, it’s not”, the azure unicorn replied while pretending to be confident, “Trixie also never expected a zombie with magic.” Once again, she tried to stand up; she accidentally stepped on her wounded hoof and let a sound of pain come out.
“Are you okay, Trixie?”
“Just a light wound, nothing important,” she looked at the sister unicorns and then said: “Trixie’s not infected, at least not yet.”
“What should we do now? We cannot keep going and I will not leave you alone.”
The white unicorn, after seeing Trixie pointing behind her, saw the contents of the shelves. She smiled when she noticed there were medical supplies on one of them.
“You thought Trixie ran into a random building?” the azure mare smiled “welcome to the department store building; at least we will not have to worry about food and supplies here.”
“And what about dresses?” Rarity asked impulsively, she then blushed and said: “Oh, sorry.”
Trixie giggled at the fancy unicorn’s concern and sarcastically said: “those are downstairs. Trixie’s sure you won’t risk your life for a pair of fancy clothes.”
Rarity smiled awkwardly and then said: “yeah, you are right.”
“Now, stop wasting time and pass me the bottle of disinfectant”, she smiled, “You don’t want Trixie to become a magical zombie, don’t you?”
To Be Continued
