The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Spark —

There it was. Her house. She had finally made it. She passed her neighbor’s house, scanning carefully for any zombie ponies in the area. She was alone now, as the group decided to split up once they reached the edge of Ponyville. Vinyl’s house was closer to the edge of town that they entered, but Spark’s house was a bit farther East, on the outskirts of town.

They had all struggled to keep their pace while they galloped toward Ponyville, worn out from a sleepless night before the train incident. They had been forced to take a more direct path through the forest, which proved to slow them down as well. The horde was right on their tail throughout their pursuit, and Spark knew there was almost no time before they would finally arrive. The majority of the horde seemed to be focused around the railroad tracks on the opposite side of town, so she hoped she would be granted a few minutes at least to get her distraction ready.

She entered her house, feeling a wave of comfort rush over her as it appeared unbothered by the apocalypse. Everything was still in the same place she left it when she abandoned it that haunting first day. The comforting feeling slowly morphed into a disturbing, surreal one as she reminded herself of the imminent danger that she, and everypony else in Ponyville, was in. She sped up her pace to a trot as she rushed to her kitchen. Inside one of the shelves by the stove was the key to her backyard shed. She pulled out this key and ran back outside, shutting the door one last time.

She swung the gate to her backyard open and hurried across the lawn to get to her shed. The beige-painted, wooden shed stood not very tall, but it spanned a wide five to six pony-lengths. In front was a wide double door that took up half of the wall, along with a small window on the other half to let in some sunlight. With the key, she unlocked and unlatched the door before backing up as she swung them open. Celestia’s setting sun made its way indoors as it lit up the packed shed, as well as her distraction.

Sparkling in the new sunlight was her invention. What she deemed a ‘motor-bike’ stood tough, facing her menacingly. Built from scratch using a bicycle, metal pipes, two motors from her new lawnmowers, and other various materials, the beauty looked very futuristic. The handlebars, which she welded to be stronger than the bicycle they had originated from, rose above the mainframe before turning outwards. Attached below, in the middle of them, was a shrunken spotlight. Below that was the front wheel, which she had custom-made with deep-threaded rubber. She believed this would help her, as she intended the bike for offroading when she had built it.

While bicycles like the one she made this bike from weren’t that popular in Equestria, she had joy as a filly when her grandfather bought her one for her birthday long ago. This spark stayed with her, which eventually led to her calling, as well as her cutie mark. She was destined to make cool machines like this, and right now, it might have been the best thing she ever did. However, her motorbike was not proven to work yet. She had let it sit for the past month while life distracted her. But she was ready now.

She entered the shed, kicked the kickstand up, and rolled the bike out in the open. She then kicked the kickstand back down and observed the bike for any issues. She inspected the engine, which she had assembled by rebuilding two separate lawn mower engines into one. Not much was known about engines like this in Equestria, as the only engines they really had before Celestia's big Earth reveal were steam-powered. This meant she did not have much knowledge to build off of. That was fine by her. She loved the thrill of putting stuff together and seeing if it worked; this was no exception.

She observed the muffler hanging beside the rear wheel. She had used logic from the lawnmowers she pulled the motors from, realizing that some sort of muffler seemed to be a good idea, seeing as though she had no idea how loud this thing was going to be. She could only guess as to what kind of sound it would produce, predicting it would sound like the two lawnmowers rolling in parallel. While the noise probably wouldn't bother her, she was being courteous to her few neighbors at the time. She realized that was not even remotely a concern now. Now, more noise was a good thing.

Passing her bike and entering the other half of the shed, she grabbed her trusty saw and safety covers for her forelegs. She then sat next to the bike and envisioned a line running down the start of the muffler. Careful not to cut the tire it sat near, she set the saw on the metal tube and eased it back and forth. It took longer than she would have liked, but eventually, the muffler fell to the ground below. Her carefulness was rewarded by a straight cut on the straight pipe, making it almost look natural.

Now it was ready. She set her tools and covers back and instead grabbed her helmet, fit with a transparent visor she made herself. She also slipped on a pair of ankle-high work boots on her hind legs. Lastly, she grabbed a pair of earbuds she used to use when she mowed the lawn, and stuck them in her ears. Now she was ready. She grabbed the bike’s key off the rack of the shed and swung her hind leg over the stationary bike. While she found the custom-made cushion was not very comfortable, that was a luxury she hoped she would be able to fix one day, if she made it out of this alive.

The rushing, joyful feeling of her bicycle rides as a filly entered her mind as she took a deep breath on the bike. She hoped this would work, but she was starting to get anxious that it would not. Her past attempts to start this thing before the apocalypse had not worked, but she felt that she had been getting really close before letting it sit. She set the key in the ignition and, while holding her breath, she turned it.

A sound similar to her lawnmower cranking up rose and fell in a second. She huffed, turning the key again and getting the same result. After sitting in silence for a moment, listening to birds in the trees behind her backyard seemingly mocking her, she swung her hind leg out and kicked the machine. Filling with a new wave of anger she had not expected, she turned the key again.

The engine started.

After it clicked a few times, a loud, powerful growl emitted as the bike shook to life beneath her. Spark dropped her mouth in shock as she listened to the most beautiful sound she ever heard in her life. She shook herself back to reality after a minute of listening to the astonishing roar of the bike and cautiously tested the gas pedal, keeping her hind legs out to the side. The bike jolted at first, but slowly moved forward through her backyard.

She tested the brake, which stopped her perfectly as she leaned on her hind leg. She listened as the sound of the loud engine bounced off the back of her house, as well as the neighbors and forest behind her. This would work perfectly.

Lowering her visor, she slowly rolled out of her backyard and into the more accommodating street. She passed a lonely zombie pony that was drawn by the noise and accelerated down the street. The roar grew louder as did, and the wind started blowing against her body. No amount of bike rides she had taken in the past could amount to how she felt now. She shifted to a higher gear and continued accelerating toward the barn, overjoyed at her amazing machine as she rode toward Sweet Apple Acres. She just hoped she would make it in time to warn AJ, and whoever else was there with her.

— Vinyl —

Vinyl busted the door of her and Octavia’s house open and rushed inside, followed closely by Split. Once they were in, Split slammed it shut and leaned against it, preparing for their pursuer’s attack. While he did, Vinyl grabbed their loveseat and pushed it out of their living room. Split helped her set it up against the door before they both collapsed on it from exhaustion. The door started banging a few seconds later, but it remained shut. They both caught their breaths as sweat drenched from them.

Vinyl regretted losing the train, as the trek back to Ponyville deemed very exhausting, especially when they knew a horde was not far behind. She looked over at her new interest, whose eyes were closed, but his mouth wide in a smile. She smiled too as he opened them and looked back at her.

“Well, we’re still alive,” he said.

“That we are,” she replied.

He continued gazing into her eyes for a few seconds longer until they drifted together in a kiss. They both ignored the banging behind them, choosing to take in the moment they had together. Disconnecting slowly, Vinyl opened her eyes again and stared back into his. There was a mutual feeling associated with them that made it hard for her to look away.

She struggled to come to terms with what might happen, worried about their potential demise. What started as her looking for temporary stress relief became an attachment that she feared to lose. She cursed herself for putting herself in this situation, at a time like this, but she also felt it was worth it. She thought about how these may be her last days anyway, so why not fall in love? Regardless, she would be able to die happy now. So she smiled back and kissed him again before they stood up from the loveseat.

“Well, are you ready?” he asked her.

“Yes, follow me.”

She knew that her beloved friend Octavia would not be home. Octavia, like her, had been travelling to other cities when the apocalypse struck. Vinyl was busy with her DJ gigs in Manehatten while Octavia was performing in her ensembles in The Crystal Empire. She hoped her friend was okay, but she couldn't do anything about it. She tried to ignore the treble clef signifying Octavia's bedroom as she made her way to hers. Slightly messy and covered in art and music posters, she made her way to the walk-in closet. Split walked in the doorway and observed the room.

“So, you into music?” he asked.

Vinyl rolled her eyes before grinning as the idiot cackled at his own joke. During their stay at the Manehatten apartment, they had both gotten to know each other rather well. He was also into music, albeit less than her. Regardless, they shared a lot of similar interests that Vinyl had not expected. That alone helped them grow attached, even with the world falling apart around them.

She opened the closet, which held a few clothes and some of her oddities, as well as her distraction. The box-shaped secret was currently covered by a black sheet, preventing it from dusting up when she took time away from working on it. But it was ready now, after a few adjustments. On top of the flat, clothed surface was a pair of high-grade hearing protection headphones.

She could sense Split behind her, eagerly peaking into the closet to see what she was hiding. She grabbed the headphones and turned back to him, extending them out in her hoof.

“Here. You’re gonna need them.”

“Oh shit,” he replied, grabbing them off of her and hanging them around his neck. “This is gonna be sweet, I just know it.”

Smiling at the thought, Vinyl reached up and grabbed another set of headphones from one of the closet’s shelves. She then stood aside and bit the cloth, throwing her head aside to pull it off and reveal her machine. She spat it out and turned back to Split, who stood wide-eyed with his mouth open in a surprised smile. He looked back at her with an excited gleam in his eyes.

“Is that a …”

“Hell yeah it is!”