The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

“DASH!” I shouted, “HURRY!”

Two pale zombie unicorn mares had come around a corner not far down the path and were now trotting to meet me. I frantically tugged at my leg again, but the gate on top of it was far too heavy. My baseball bat had somehow slipped out of its mesh and rolled to my right side. I extended my arm out to grab it, but it was just out of my reach. I hesitantly pulled out my pistol for the first time and aimed down the street.

The two mares were much closer than I had expected and, by my rough estimate, only a few seconds away from getting to me and chewing my face off. Even if Dash and the others got to me in time, the mares would still need to be handled. I aimed the Beretta at the closer unicorn with shaky hands, struggling to get a good aim as they hobbled left-to-right slightly in that strange, zombie trot. Aiming as best I could, I fired it. The gun kicked back harder than I thought, throwing me off for a split second.

I looked back and saw both of the mares still coming for me. The one I shot at was slightly farther back, with a new hint of red coming from underneath her ear. I had grazed her. Still unsteady, I aimed at her again and fired twice. I kept the recoil under control this time as I watched the mare's head jolt back before she fell forwards. The other pale white unicorn was only a few pony-lengths away now as I switched my aim to her and fired again.

My inexperience was showing in full effect as the shot grazed her neck. One more shot flew past her as I waved the gun up in a desperate attempt to hit something but failed to do so. With her head just a pony-length away now, I finally lined up what looked like the perfect shot and pulled the trigger one last time.

Click

No bullet came out. Either the gun was already out of ammo somehow, or it jammed. Either way, it was too late to take another shot. The mare jumped on top of me, and as she did, I saw her blood start to trickle from her neck. I extended both of my arms out again, locking them against her chest to hold her back. Her force caused the gun to slip from my hands and fall behind me. I felt the full force of the mare’s strength as she bore down on me, snapping her teeth just a foot away from my face. I kept my arms locked and my hands pushing against her chest as we fought.-

With a bout of strength, I was able to push her off of me, causing her to fall to my left side. I frantically sat up and pivoted to my right as my leg held me in place. As I did, I caught a glimpse of a unicorn mare against the glass of the windowed building behind the gate. I thought it was another zombie pony at first, but a quick observation revealed it was a living pony. She watched on nervously as the zombie unicorn stood up and turned to attack me once more. I threw one desperate look at the mare through the window before quickly losing sight as the zombie mare jumped on me again.

The back of my head was shoved against the grass as I pushed against the unicorn’s chest. Her teeth were even closer now, and her saliva was dripping down on my cheek. My arms began shaking while my muscles slowly drained of their energy. I could tell this was a losing battle, and soon, the zombie unicorn would be munching on my face. I looked behind the zombie mare, able to see the top section of the stairs I had come down. Unfortunately, Dash and the others were still not there yet.

My mind started debating whether or not I should offer my forearm to the zombie so I could reach back with my other and feel for my pistol. But suddenly, the mare stopped fighting back. Blood dribbled from behind her ears and down onto me as her body froze. Her head was then jolted back briefly before slumping back down. With the strength I had left, I pushed her off to my left side again, unintentionally on top of my left arm.

Behind where the zombie mare had just been, on top of the fallen gate door, stood the unicorn I had seen in the window. She had a light pink coat stained with red blotches, a purple mane and tail, and bright blue eyes. She also held a colorful, two-sided axe in her hoof. The vibrant, rainbow axe's blade was head-sized and dripped blood below her.

Without speaking, she helped me shove the dead unicorn off of my left arm. She then jumped off the door and stood on my left side, observing my leg close up.

“Please help me!” I urged.

“Shush!” she hissed, still looking at my leg. “Okay, try to pull your leg out on 3 …” She dropped her axe beside us and grabbed hold of the door beside where my leg was crushed with her forelegs.

“1 … 2 … 3!”

I pulled with all my might, but the door’s weight had not loosened nearly enough for me to free it.

“Fucking hell," I spat, "What is this damn gate made out of?!”

“A special wood ...” she replied, looking down at me with nervous blue eyes.

“My friends are on the other side ... they can help you lift it!” I said.

“They need to hurry.”

“W- why?”

“The noise probably drew more of them!” she hissed.

Just then, I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. Down the path, another zombie mare and a zombie stallion turned the same corner the other two had. A third one accompanied them from the opposite side of the path.

“What the hell is this?!” I shouted.

She was about to shush me again before she turned and saw what I saw.

“Fuck!” she cursed.

I turned to look at the stairs again, but there was still no pony there.

“DASH!” I yelled, “HELP!”

“I’m sorry,” the unicorn said.

I turned back to see her picking up her axe.

“What?”

She raised it above her head, and I realized what she was about to do.

“NO!”

Her axe fell quickly, the air from the swing hitting my body as it cut through my pants. The blade sliced through the skin underneath, a hand-length above my left knee. Almost instantly, pain seared through my leg as the axe penetrated cleanly through it. The painful, crushing feeling evaporated as it was replaced with searing pain in my thigh. I tried to cry out, but the shock sucked the air from my body.

I looked over to see Dash on the top of the stairs, horrified, followed by Cloud. The unicorn hooked her bloody axe back on the strap over her back and bit her teeth into my shirt above my right shoulder. She started slowly dragging me away from the gate and turned to pull me toward the windowed building. I was basically dead weight as I writhed around in pain, fighting to hold on as stars crossed my eyesight.

She struggled to move me, huffing air through her snout and onto my shoulder blade. I held onto my severed thigh with both hands, struggling to watch as blood oozed out, leaving a trail as she slowly dragged me away from the gate. The rest of my leg sat under it, and seeing it almost caused me to puke. In front of the stairs, Dash and Cloud were now rushing up to us.

Without saying anything, Dash flew by us. Cloud, although appearing shocked, got beside the unicorn and bit into my shirt above my other shoulder. Both of them together were able to pull me away faster. Flutters and Spark came rushing out of the tower's door with equally terrified faces. After rushing down the stairs as well, Flutters ran over to grab my baseball bat, and Spark galloped to my front. She used her teeth to bite into my right leg’s ankle and picked it off the ground, relieving its extra weight and allowing the three of them to quickly rush me into the building.

In the corner of my eye, I could see the zombie ponies closing in. Dash gripped her knife in her teeth and jabbed one of the first zombie mares through the cheek, dropping her. She struggled to pull it out as Flutters passed her, briefly standing up and whacking the baseball bat. Farther down the path, even more of them were appearing from the corners, likely drawn by the noise the unicorn had mentioned.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as the sun got blocked out by an awning and then a doorway. Spark dropped my leg once we were inside and turned to run back outside. Cloud and the unicorn set me down as well. My head rested on the building’s white marble floor as my eyes adjusted to the room’s slightly less blinding light. Celestia's sun still beamed through the front windows, illuminating the room brightly and revealing tall, royal purple-colored walls with a few banners hanging down on either side. Stars continued dancing in my vision as Cloud and the unicorn entered it. Cloud's worried expression shifted from my leg to the unicorn.

“What the fuck did you do?!” she shouted.

“Hey! Don’t get mad at me! It HAD to be done!”

“We were almost here!” Cloud protested.

“SO WERE THEY!”

I raised my head slightly to see the others rushing through the door. Spark came in last and slammed it shut, hesitantly holding my pistol in her hoof. “There’s too many!” she shouted.

“Great,” the unicorn said.

“What in Equestria is this?!” Dash asked, galloping up to us. The others circled around, tensely observing my severed leg.

“You!” the unicorn shouted, pointing at Dash, “I have gauze in my bag upstairs. Get it quickly!”

Dash took no time to question her and rushed for the stairs. Spark set my gun down and followed her, and Flutters sat by my severed thigh. I was still too choked for air to speak as shock and adrenaline controlled my body.

“let me work on him,” Flutters said.

My head dropped back uncontrollably, and my eyeballs started shaking from side to side. I felt her pick up my leg as the unicorn said something to her. An uncomfortable ringing started in my ears, making it difficult to hear what was being said. The room’s ceiling was now spinning as Cloud’s head looked down at me.

“Devan,” she said, getting close. I felt her hoof sit on my shoulder. “Devan, stay with us.”

I blinked uncontrollably, struggling to stay awake through the pain. I was clenching my teeth hard, preventing me from even wanting to speak. I just looked into her purple eyes, struggling to hide the fear in my own.

“Keep them open," she said, "Just look at me.”

I felt my thigh moving and a new tightness forming right under where it met my hip. The added pain caused me to shut my eyes.

“Devan,” Cloud said.

I slowly opened them again, but my vision was quickly blurring. Cloud’s head was turning into two, then three, then four. I tried to blink them away with no luck. Slowly, my eyelids won the fight.

“Devan …”

Blackness engulfed me as sound stopped, and I finally passed out for good.