The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Spark —

Spark followed Vinyl and Split through the woods. The group was mostly silent as they partially backtracked in the hopes of running across Trixie and Devan. They edged along the forest, moving away from the Canterlot mountain now, as they looked for the river they crossed earlier. The rain had settled not long ago, so Celestia’s early morning sun beamed down through the gaps in the clouds and lit up the forest from time to time.

They knew they were risking their lives here, but all of them understood Trixie’s importance. There was a chance she made it out, especially since Candy and Vinyl had seen the faint blue glow of what they hoped was another wind spell, so they went for it. In an effort to promote their safety, they chose this path specifically, hoping they would pass the train mob that was once chasing them.

Even though the three of them were lucky to make it out of that disaster, losing Candy dealt a sizable blow to their morale. Regardless, they were happy to be alive. They just hoped the same could be said for Trixie and Devan. As they made their way along, Vinyl could not help but notice her troubled expression. She slowed, allowing Split to take the lead, so she could walk beside her.

“Hey, girl, you alright?”

“I am. I’m just sad about Candy.”

“So you two were close?”

She sighed. “Close enough ...”

The Canterlot roofs glistened in the afternoon sunlight. Below, scattered, eager ponies roamed the desolate streets. Some of them had caught sight of her and Candy, following them in hopes of a free meal once they fell. It wasn’t happening though. The two agile mares navigated through the slanted, pointy, or downright flat roofs. They carefully leaped over the alleys they could comfortably cross, and took caution in avoiding the wider ones.

They were almost there. Ahead, the princess’s castle spires rose tall above the nearby buildings of Canterlot. She gazed up at them, wondering just how a city as majestic looking as this could fall so quickly.

Her pops had moved here years ago to pursue work, leaving younger her with her mama until she was old enough to live on her own. As much as she loved her pops, she never had the desire to move to royal Canterlot. She was country by heart, and she found herself unable to leave the outskirts of Ponyville until … this happened. She sighed, hoping her pops was at least boarded up in his townhouse with his neighbors.

She glanced at Candy ahead of her. The candy-colored mare had mentioned over and over as they traversed the rooftops about how dangerous this pursuit was. However, when Spark asked if they should go back, Candy told her to brush the thought aside. She knew how much her pops meant to her, so she was determined to lead her there.

Funny enough, her pops apparently visited Candy’s shop from time to time, buying the same damn peppermints she recalled as a filly. She happily accepted some of them from Candy before they left the shop, hoping to find her pops to make his day. But as they made their way closer to the castle, she grew more and more worried. Distant sounds of groans filled the city, and every time she gazed over the edge of the rooftops, there was always one of those damned ponies walking about.

After jumping across another small alley, they were finally there. She could see the rooftop of his building now, but it looked the same. To their right side, down the street from his townhouse, was the towering front of Celestia and Luna’s castle. The two of them crouched down as they approached the edge of the rooftop.

On the street below them, there were dozens of ponies meandering around. It only took a second of observation to realize they were all undead, gently moaning and groaning as they sniffed around for a meal. Spark took a minute to observe them, watching some of them walk down the sidewalk as if they were normal. A few of them swiveled their heads around from time to time before dropping them and sniffing the ground.

One mare, who was gazing left and right in the middle of the street, caught sight of her and suddenly looked up with those glazed-over eyes. Spark gazed back down at her, watching the mare gently raise her bloody jaw. For a few uncomfortable seconds, the mare watched her, before dropping her jaw again and making her way to the sidewalk right underneath them. Spark shivered as she backed up a step, hoping to stay out of her vision.

“Yeah, pretty scary stuff,” Candy commented.

“Tell me about it.”

The two of them looked across the street at her pop’s townhouse. The first thing that caught her attention was the few boarded-up windows on the third floor across from them. However, as her gaze shifted downward, the building looked worse. Two of the second-floor windows were busted open, and she could see blood reflecting off the shards of glass left behind. She shifted her eyes to the front doors of the homes. There were five of them in total, with small stairs leading up to them. Three of the five were wide open, and one of them … was her pops home. On top of this, she noticed red stains leading out of it.

For a moment, she stood still, trying to figure out whether reality was real or not. As her mind slowly connected the dots, she backed away fearfully, tears forming under her eyes. She was never one to cry, but her emotions overwhelmed her in the moment. As she backed up, Candy turned back to her.

“Spark, hey …”

Tears gushed out of her face as she laid down on the roof, her forelegs starting to shake. Candy rushed up to her, setting a hoof on her back.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, rubbing her back as she sat down beside her. “Just let it out, darling.”

She did. Her eyes were drained of tears as she mourned for her pops. Whether or not he was dead or undead didn’t matter, as she saw both as a loss. It was even worse not knowing. She struggled to fight back thoughts of what might have happened. Visions of him getting attacked at his home flooded in before she could stop them, extending her grief.

The only thing comforting her was Candy, who continued gently rubbing her back as she shushed in her ear. Despite her breaking down, she still felt like she was being a big ‘ol baby. She took a few deep breaths to relax and sat back up beside Candy. Before she could do anything, the mare wiped her eyes for her.

“Are you alright now?”

She sighed. “I am. I’m sorry.”

“Nonsense, dear. I’d be pretty upset too. Damn near cried for you.”

Spark gazed back at her bright blue eyes.

“What about your family? Shouldn’t you be upset too?”

“I mean, I could be. I’m worried about them, sure, but my parents live in the Crystal Empire. Not much I can do about it. I just hope the Empire is doing better than we are.”

“I hope so too.”

The mares sat in silence for a minute, listening to the breeze and distant zombie groans of the city.

“You good to head back, or do you need some more time?” Candy asked.

“Yeah … yeah, we can head back now.”

“Okay, just let me know if you need to stop,” Candy replied, standing up and briefly rubbing Spark’s mane.

“Thank you.”

A morning breeze rustled the leaves above them.

“I’m sorry she turned,” Vinyl said, “Hopefully Trix can turn her back eventually.”

“I hope so.”

The group continued, scanning the trees around them for a flash of blue or a large, lengthy figure walking around. Whether or not they found them, the group had settled on a plan for after.

Applejack’s farm.

Spark discussed with the others the farm’s potential. She and Applejack happened to be friends from long ago when they used to be neighbors. She was invited to parties and gatherings with the Apple family many times in the past, so she knew her well. She knew her well enough to know that AJ was probably holed up with her family, turning the farm into some kind of fortress. That’s what she predicted anyway. Regardless of how AJ was running it, the farm provided safety away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Ponyville. It was worth a shot. Needless to say, none of them wanted to climb up to Canterlot, whether or not Trixie wanted them to.

As Celestia’s morning sunlight emerged from the clouds, Spark could make out the shapes of zombie ponies to their distant left. They must have been part of the train mob, so she kept a sharp eye on the shadows to assess how many she encountered. There were only about ten of them from her count, as opposed to the dozens they had fought at the train. This amount was small enough to justify continuing.

So they did, climbing a slight incline on the forest floor. Ahead of them, the forest stopped and transitioned into an empty, grassy hill. Spark followed Split to the edge of the hill, which offered a surprisingly beautiful view. She was taken aback by the sight of Foal Mountain, rising high over the distant tree line and sweeping plains. They had run across some of these plains with Candy earlier, when it was dark, but seeing it now showed the distance they had traveled. Closer to the left of the plains, near the bottom of Canterlot Mountain, showed an unexpected, daunting view. Spark gazed upon it.

“Sweet. Baby. Jesus.”

Right below them, covering the sweeping plains leading to Canterlot, all the way to the distant train tracks, was a sea of movement. While they could not make out the faces yet, they knew the movement had to be ponies. Undead ponies. Not the mobs they had encountered previously, or small gatherings like they were used to. There were ... hundreds ... of zombie ponies. The leading portions of the horde were passing in front of Canterlot Mountain now. Soon, they would be back on the railroad tracks, which would lead them …

Straight into Ponyville.

“Holy fucking shit,” Split commented.

“I- There- There’s too many to count!” Vinyl added.

"Where did they even come from?!" Spark cried.

Vinyl widened her eyes as a thought entered her mind. "Manehatten! THE TRAIN!! It must have lured them here!"

“Well shit," Split replied, "What do we do?”

“We need to draw them away! They will destroy Ponyville!” Spark exclaimed.

“DRAW THEM AWAY?!” Split exclaimed.

“YES!” Vinyl agreed, “We have to try!”

“Okay, maybe I’m batshit insane or something, but DO YOU TWO NOT SEE WHAT I SEE?!”

"THAT'S OUR HOME!" Vinyl argued, pointing in the direction of Ponyville.

"I-" Split started, taken aback by her passionate reply.

"She's right," Spark said, "We can't just let 'em mow through our home! That's where the others are headed. Maybe Trixie and Devan too! There is still life in Ponyville. We gotta do something!"

Split glanced between the two mares, slowly understanding their thought processes. While he was not as passionate as them, having visited Ponyville just once in his lifetime as a Manehatten resident, he still cared about others, especially Vinyl. He looked back at the immense horde moving just in front of them, seeing vague clouds of dust being kicked up from their trot. He was taken aback by the view again, trying to realize just how deadly this absurdly sized swarm was.

"Look," he responded, "I'm with you two. I don't want Ponyville to fall either, but can we really prevent that? How?"

"I have an idea," Vinyl stated.

"I do too," Spark added.

"You two realize the severity of this, right? We can try, but there is a huge chance we'll all die doing so. I'm willing to make that sacrifice, for you two, but are you?"

"We are," Vinyl declared, standing tall beside Spark.

"Come on!" Spark yelled, turning around and galloping away from the ridge. The horde was closing in on them, as well as Ponyville, so they had no choice but to race it back. Split and Vinyl quickly joined her as they knew this too. They eyed each other anxiously as they raced back for Ponyville. Spark had an idea of how to draw the mob away, and so did Vinyl, but they had to get there first. She wondered if they would make it there in time.