Equestria Girls: The Collapse of Society

"Ashana!" Sunrise shouted, running to Ashana and immediately hugged her friend.

Ashana returned the favor by wrapping her own arms around Sunrise, but let go after a few seconds as it wasn't entirely the eight time or place for pleasantries. The undead had grouped up in the street in front of the apartment complex, with there now being more than they had originally seen prior. If they tried to combat that many, they would surely be killed.

"I'm glad to see you've made it this far, but we can enjoy the reunion later. We need to get what supplies we can and get out of the city. That big one shows that they're already beginning to mutate, so it's only gonna get worse," Ashana remarked, gripping her saber.

"I'll try to get a view of the back door to this apartment complex. That may be our only way out of the building," Sunset commented as she ran to the other end of the building.

"Sorry I didn't try to help with the big guy," Sunrise said. "I don't have much ammo for my dad's pistol. Only has two full clips."

Ashana gave Sunrise one of the glock pistols she had acquired as well as a few of the mags for it.

"Thanks," Sunrise commented. "Sunset. Is the back door clear?"

"Looks like it. We need to move," Sunset replied.

The survivors busted down the roof access door and immediately ran down the stairs. They had a few floors to go down before they got to the back door so they had to move fast. It'd only be a matter of time before the undead found their way around. They heard sounds coming from the various apartments but they didn't dare try to check any of them as it could be a potential hazard. Within about a minute, they reached the back door.

"Hang on. Let me check again to make sure the coast is clear," Sunset spoke, cracking the door open enough for her to look out into the back alley. "Okay. We're clear. Let's go."

Opening the door, they all piled out and ran down to the opposite end of the alley and back out onto another part of the street. So far none of the undead had followed, and they exploited this as they ran as fast as they could to the supermarket which was now only a few blocks away. Once they had arrived, they saw even more cars in disarray, some were burned to the point they were unsalvageable. Going down to a jogging pace so as to simultaneously speed and catch their breath, the five survivors decided to first go to the part of the store where storage bins were kept as that would aid in carrying supplies until they got back to Sunset's car.

The store's power at this point had gone out and some of the emergency lights were on, barely lighting the establishment, prompting them to ignite their sabers so as to have a better source of light.

"The storage bin aisle isn't much further," Sunset spoke, loud enough that the group could hear her and quiet enough that she didn't attract any unwanted attention.

"I'll be surprised if there's any food left in this place," Ashana thought to herself.

After a minute of walking, they reached the storage bins.

"Okay. Who's gonna carry the supplies we find?" Sunset asked as she grabbed two large plastic storage bins and also two lids to seal them.

"I will," Luna replied.

"Me too," Celestia also replied.

While they made their way towards the food section of the store, the group took into account how unnaturally quiet it was in there. In a post apocalyptic world, silence can be dangerous.

"I don't like how quiet it is," Luna commented.

"It won't take them long to pick up our scent. They may be mindless corpses, but their main purpose is to feed on living flesh," Ashana added.

Finally arriving at the food section, quite a bit of all the fruits and vegetables were scattered about, some even squished from being stepped on and most had begun to rot from being on the floor. Wanting to prioritize non-perishable foods, the survivors headed towards the canned food aisle and upon reaching it, they ran along the shelves and grabbed what they could find, which of course wasn't much but they were gonna take all they could get. Canned pasta, canned fruit, the whole nine yards. As they continued to grab what canned food they could get, something that had to be made of glass was knocked onto the floor somewhere else in the store, causing it to shatter and the noise of it echoed through the seemingly empty establishment, prompting the survivors to halt for a moment.

“We’re not alone. We have to hurry and get the hell out of here. I'd rather not find out whatever that was," Sunset exclaimed. In a hurry, they grabbed several more cans while moving over to the next few aisles to grab chips, crackers, and water. Once they felt they had enough, they closed the bins and made a run back to the main entrance to go back to Sunset and Ashana's house, where the former's car was residing at.

But little did they know that a zombie feasting upon a former survivor had taken notice of them making a run for it, dropping the flesh from its mouth to follow its new prey.

Some time later, the five survivors were running as fast as they could towards Sunset's car, although with the supplies they gathered, it wasn't like they were running too fast, but they were making good time. Due to how heavy the water bottles were, Ashana agreed to carry the bin to allow Celestia to have a break.

"How much further?" Sunrise asked from the rear of the group.

"Only a few more blocks," Sunset replied, leading the group.

As they kept running though, Ashana briefly halted as something alerted her senses. Sunrise took note of her friend stopping in her tracks and stayed with her.

"What is it?" Sunrise inquired, feeling worried about her friend.

"I.. don't know," Ashana replied, as Sunset, Luna, and Celestia took notice of the two young women having halted.

"Come on, girls, let's go," Celestia announced. "What's wrong, Ashana?"

"We're being followed, but what I sensed feels… strange. It doesn't feel entirely like a living being, but it can't be one of the zombies, either. They're dead, so they don't have any functionality. But let's get to the car. I'd like to not be the next item on the menu," Ashana continued as they got back to running. And just a moment later, Sunset spotted her car in her driveway.

"There she is!" Sunset exclaimed. Passing once more by the decaying remains of Fudge and his mother, one of the zombies jumped in front of them out of nowhere, and this who this zombie was had caught them off guard.

"Twilight?" Luna spoke, recognizing the former protegée of both Crystal Prep and Canterlot High. What was the young woman was now just another undead corpse with the insatiable hunger for flesh, and if that wasn't alarming already, her glowing purple eyes signified her as different from the rest.

"Y-you w-will all f-feeed maany…," zombie Twilight croaked.

"She can still speak? I thought she was dead?!" Celestia shouted, alarmed that her zombified student had been able to speak even after death.

"She's just another zombie. Let's put an end to her like one," Sunrise exclaimed, pulling out her dad's 1911 pistol and fired a shot at Twilight who skillfully dodged the bullet as it just narrowly missed Sunset's car. Little did Sunrise know, she had made a grave mistake as Twilight let out a very loud, ear-piercing shriek, prompting the survivors to cover their ears and wince in pain

Never had they heard a noise so unbearable. Tornado sirens were annoying, but they were music to the ears compared to what they were subjected to. Only just barely able to focus from the pain, Ashana clumsily activated her lightsaber with one hand and swung at Twilight, who ducked away but not entirely as the twi'lek grazed the zombie's leg, causing it to stop the screaming. All Twilight did in return was smirk and run away, unphased by the burning gash on her left thigh.

"Fuck, that was the most annoying sound I've ever heard," Sunset spoke, gently hitting her head. "I can still hear it in my head. Ugh."

Before any of the others could speak, a collective howl echoed through the streets as a horde of the undead was making its way towards them from the street in front of them, no doubt having been alerted by Twilight's loud shriek.

"Get in the car. NOW!" Sunset shouted as she pressed the unlock button on her car key, and the survivors gathered the supplies and made their way towards the vehicle, but something grabbed Sunrise from behind, skillfully preventing her from using her arms properly and proceeded to bite into the right side of her neck, causing the young woman to scream in immense pain.

"Sunrise!" Ashana shrieked, seeing her friend getting bitten and went to help but halted when Sunrise managed to speak.

"Just go!" Sunrise croaked before Twilight bit down even harder and ripped a huge chunk of flesh from Sunrise's neck, tearing her vital veins in the process as she darted from view yet again. Ashana wanted to be with her friend but with the incoming horde, it would be a tremendous risk. So with immense guilt settling in, the twi'lek turned and ran towards Sunset's car, getting inside and shutting the door behind her as she looked out the window to her friend who had now fallen to the ground as she began bleeding to death, coughing up blood in the process. Ashana's eyes began filling with tears as Sunset turned the car on, put it in drive and stepped on the gas pedal, zooming out of the driveway as the horde was about to close in.

Doing her best to not lose control, Sunset drove like a maniac through the littered streets, trying to get out of the city as quickly as possible while also being careful not to hit anything. Meanwhile, Ashana was feeling even more guilty about leaving Sunrise to die than having taken Cocoa's life not too long ago. When she couldn't hold it back any longer, Celestia pulled the young twi'lek into a hug as Ashana began to cry.

"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay," Celestia said in a calming tone while gently stroking Ashana's right lekku.

"W-We l-left Sunrise t-to die," Ashana croaked as the tears streamed down her blue cheeks like a river. Celestia couldn't think of any proper words so she continued to comfort her grieving girlfriend.

Sunset was now on the main road that led out of town, so she was going that route. She didn't want to try the highway 'cause it'd most likely be littered with cars, and to a zombie that'd be an all you can eat buffet. So she made her way south the long way, and the horde of zombies at this point were pretty far behind them.

"Looks like we outran them," Luna commented as she looked to the rear of the car. "So what's the plan, Sunset? Where are we going? We probably should have talked about that before we left the city."

"We should stay clear of cities for the most part. Prioritize settling down in campgrounds and quiet places like that. I'd say going to Camp Everfree, but that may be risky," Sunset replied, driving past the "Thank you for visiting Canterlot" sign as they left city limits. Keeping her eye on the road signs as she was driving, Sunset eventually saw one that said "Cityville Campground. 5 miles" and turned left onto the road that led to it. Luna kept her eyes on the rear of the car, watching out the back windshield to ensure they weren't being followed. After another half hour of driving, they arrived at the campground.

Upon first glance, it looked abandoned, but looks can be deceiving. Once again there cars strewn about, most had doors left open and the decayed bodies of the drivers still in the driver's seat. A few moments later, they came across the main cottage where one would check in to rent space at the camp and decided to settle down there for the time being.

"Okay. We'll settle down here for a bit and decide on where we want to go," Sunset commented as she put her car in park and turned it off. Unbuckling herself, she opened her door and stepped out as the others followed suit.

Celestia made sure to grab one of their tubs of supplies that they had managed to grab while Ashana grabbed the other. Once the car was locked, they all made their way to the front door of the main cottage. Sunset took out and ignited Fudge's saber and turned the knob to see if it was unlocked and to her amazement, it was. Opening it slowly, she kept the pink glowing blade up, ready to swing at whatever may lunge at them.

"Okay. Easy now," Sunset whispered, ushering her companions to follow.

Slowly, the four survivors made their way inside the cottage. Once inside, Ashana closed the door behind them, set the bin with the water bottles down and began moving one of the desks in front of the door so as to barricade it should anything be outside and attempt to get inside. Sunset and Luna moved to grab another of the desks and carried it over to barricade the back door.

"Let's check all the rooms to make sure we're alone in here," Sunset whispered once more. Sunset went with Luna into one room, and Celestia and Ashana took the other. Illuminating the room with her fire orange hued lightsaber, the two women discovered it to be a bedroom and so far it appeared to be empty.

While Ashana checked under the modest sized bed, Celestia looked in the closet and found it to be empty as well.

"All clear," Ashana commented.

"Check the drawers in the nightstands. Let's see if we can find anything of use," Celestia responded.

Opening the top drawer in the left nightstand, Ashana was surprised when she found something she wouldn't have expected: a string of unopened condoms.

"Heh. Seems like someone was gunning for some action," Ashana quipped, placing the condoms back in the drawer before closing it.

"We don't need those silly things to get frisky. I always like it raw 'cause then you give me a big, sticky creampie," Celestia chimed in, the older woman wearing a smug smirk on her face.

"I'd bend you over this bed and give you one right now, if it were under better circumstances," Ashana replied, the twi'lek rubbing her neck, remembering again that they were on the run from the ever growing zombie population that wouldn't stop until every living person was either eaten, or one of them.

Confirming once more that the bedroom was clear, the two girlfriends walked back out into the main area of the cottage, which itself was quite modest, housing two bedrooms, a full bathroom, an open kitchen, and a small area where people would check in and out of the campground.

"Second bedroom is clear," Luna said as she and Sunset stepped out.

"Looks like we're all clear. Now we need to make a plan of where we wanna go from here. If Twilight's mutation means anything, then we need to keep moving so we can stay ahead of her," Sunset spoke. "Since we posed a threat to her, she'll stop at nothing until she's killed us herself."

"I'm still trying to figure out why Twilight alone was able to mutate so that she retained her speech and consciousness after death," Luna grumbled.

"I'm thinking it's due to when she was consumed by magic back at the Friendship Games. It may not seem like a likely theory, but it's the best I got," Ashana added.

Using the force, Ashana closed the curtains over every window as Celestia skimmed for a light switch to see if there was still power. Silently cheering that there was indeed power, the survivors grouped together in the center of the cottage, grabbed some chairs, and began opening their bins of supplies to have a makeshift feast. Not a big one, but it was better than none at all. Luckily they had also remembered to grab handheld can openers and utensils or else the canned food would be stuck inside the cans.

Digging into a can of ravioli, Ashana moaned in delight as she began chewing the meat filled pasta covered in sauce, some of it smearing on her blue lips. And for that moment, they got to experience peace and quiet, but they knew it wouldn't last.

As they finished eating though and disposed of their empty cans, the peace was cut short when the earth beneath them began to shake out of nowhere. This wasn't like a regular quake as the shaking wasn't as intense nor as long, with it only lasting half a minute and the only damage caused was a few portraits hanging on the various walls falling to the floor and shattering.

"That was weird. We aren't anywhere near a fault line. Not that I know of, anyway," Sunset commented once the shaking stopped. Looking out the window, she sighed in relief to see that the alarm for her car wasn't triggered.

"I believe I may know what caused that shaking, and it isn't an earthquake," Ashana said.

"What are you suggesting?" Luna asked.

"There's gonna be something worse than a growing population of the undead. Since I was wanting to eventually become a volcanologist before shit the fan, I did quite a lot of research. So given the ferocity and duration of that shaking, that can only mean that a volcano is waking up," Ashana replied.

"First zombies and now we could potentially deal with a volcano? Well that's great," Luna grumbled.

"Since the internet isn't functional right now, I can't look up a geological map, but if I had to guess, there should be a supposedly dormant volcano somewhere near here. Specifically within this camp. So we need to decide where we wanna go from here and leave immediately at first light," Ashana said.

"Obviously we'll need to keep hitting stores for supplies as well as gas, but how about…. Silver Shoals? It's a populated coastal town but not overly populated. They got pretty decent houses and the town itself is far enough away from the big cities so we'd have perfect seclusion," Sunset spoke up.

"Sounds good to me. Girls?" Celestia chimed in.

"Let's do it," Luna agreed.

"I'm in," Ashana agreed in unison.

At the moment, the survivors were happy they now had a plan of how they intended to survive this apocalypse and prepared to get some sleep, for they knew it was about to get a lot harder.

They just didn't know yet how much harder it was about to get….