The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Vinyl —

Her heart beat fast, pulsing with the immensely satisfying feeling of her bass cannon blasting everything it had. She had worked very long nights on tuning this powerful machine, and while she did not anticipate it being used in this fashion, she was thrilled that the day of its arrival was here. Her chest thumped as even her hearing protection struggled to keep the insane noise out. After observing her dials to make sure it was tuned right, she looked across the top at Split. His enormous smile beamed across, causing her to.

It was almost time for them to run. The horde of movement below was coming their way, and soon, the horde they had run from all day would be here. She checked her machine’s feedback one last time, struggling not to vibe to the booms of the bass erupting out of the front of it. She then gestured to Split, and the two met behind the box briefly. There was no talking at this point, so she wrapped one of her forearms around him and used the other to draw a path that they would run.

They knew roughly where they were planning to go. Past the fields they already crossed to get here was a forest, which turned into the Everfree forest. The end goal, which was looking very hopeful now, was to make it to the edge of Ponyville they had come from. When they were there, they would find a house to barricade in temporarily for the night. By then, the horde would be moseying through the Everfree forest, hopefully getting lost in the wilderness for a long time to come. The next day, they would return to the barn and hopefully be greeted by an ecstatic Applejack and her friends. They were heroes in the making, and Vinyl was gleaming at the opportunity. After she mapped out the path they would take, Split nodded in agreement.

They had one last thing to do before taking off. Affixed to the three free sides of the cannon were rope handles which allowed them to pull it whenever pushing was inconvenient. While the cannon was built on wheels, the terrain they had crossed called for it occasionally. The hill they climbed to get up here was brutal, so it only made sense to use the handles to pull the heavy bass cannon back down. This would lure the horde even farther away from the barn, and even if her cannon got busted in the process, it was 100% worth it.

The two turned back to the bass cannon to follow through with their plan. However, despite the bass vibrating the ground so hard that their eyes were shaking, Vinyl noticed it had moved. As she watched for a few seconds, she realized it still was. The cannon was rolling down the other side of the hill, headed straight for the barn.

She broke into a sprint and passed the cannon, sinking her back hooves into the ground and throwing up her front ones to hold it back. The immense bass erupting from it shook her body to the point where she could feel the organs inside of her moving around. A second later, Split rushed up to the back side of it, sinking his teeth into the rope handle and digging his hooves into the ground. Vinyl used all the strength she had left to push back as the heavy cannon rolled against her, causing her back hooves to slowly grind against the grass of the hill. The heavy cannon continued to roll faster until she could not stop it.

When she realized it was hopeless, it was too late. The cannon was moving too fast now. She attempted to jump out of its way, but her hind legs lost their grip on the grass below. She tumbled in front of the cannon, her body slowly veering away from it. However, as both she and the cannon gained speed, the heavy cannon ran over her hind leg. Pain erupted near her hoof as it rolled over her bone, only to be followed by more pain as she tumbled down the rest of the hill beside it.

As she rolled over and over, the cannon’s vibrations still pulsed through her body. Eventually, her fall came to an end. Even though she was in a huge amount of pain, she knew she had to get up and go. Through the darkness, the sea of movement from the horde was closer to her now. Thankfully, she had not rolled straight into them, but they were still very close now. She stood up quickly, wondering if it was worth it to slam the power switch on the bass cannon off. The cannon was too close to the barn now, and its usefulness had diminished greatly. If anything, it was now causing them more problems. She ditched the idea quickly when she realized there was no time for her to follow through.

She turned back. The hill rose ominously above her. Her hoof ached severely, causing her to keep it off the ground as she started trotting back up. As she did, the pain caused her to buckle, slipping down slightly. Her hoof throbbed violently in protest, but there was no time to do anything about it. She ignored it as she pushed herself up again.

Rushing down the hill above her was Split, who had to sink his hooves into the ground to stop before he passed her. He realized her situation quickly and got behind her, using his head to shove her up. While this worked briefly, he ended up pushing her too quickly, causing her to stumble again. Her heart beat faster as panic set in, only accentuated by the horde closing in on them. Instinctively, she and Split started trotting along the base of the hill. If they continued to round the base, they would start to veer to the left, away from the mob to their right.

When they started rounding it, they realized there was still a hill to rise. Vinyl also realized she would not be able to run as far as she thought with her hoof the way it was. Ahead of them to the right, Carrot Top’s house stood on a similarly tall hill. She pondered very briefly but ended up nudging Split. They had made some distance from the cannon, so she threw off his headphones as they trotted.

“We need to get inside!” she yelled.

Split did not reply, instead following beside her as she veered right toward the house. To their right, she could see most of the horde chasing after the bass cannon behind them. The darkness was actually helpful to them right now, but only partly. Her bright white body was still visible to some of them, who eagerly pushed through the other distracted ponies to get to her.

As they got to the base of the hill to Carrot’s house, Vinyl struggled to climb as her hoof’s pain radiated through her. She stopped, but Split got behind her again and fought with her to push her up. Again, she stumbled. She could start to hear the horde over the bass now as the stragglers closed in on them. She tried again to fight her way up the hill, but her hoof would not cooperate. Again, she stumbled. There was no time left. The stragglers were just seconds away from reaching them. She turned to Split.

“Leave me. Please,” she requested.

“NOT A CHANCE!” he hollered, “Keep Going!”

He moved between her and the zombies, glancing over his shoulder to aim his buck right. Vinyl struggled to look away so she could rush up, looking back over her shoulder occasionally to check on him. After he struck the first pony, she stopped momentarily as the pain became unbearable. It was becoming evident that she had broken a bone as she struggled to fend off the pain. As she continued, the sounds of bass started to lessen and the sounds of the horde were growing. She looked back at Split again.

The stragglers were too close together for him to down them. As he bucked the first attacker, the second leaped on his back. There was a third not far behind, and as he fought off the second, the third rammed into his side, pummeling him to the ground. Even more of the stragglers approached. She watched in horror as the first attackers found their chance and sunk their teeth in his side and hind leg. Her heart stopped along with the rest of her body, freezing on the side of the hill as the zombies overcame him. The grueling sight was quickly hidden from her view as the rest of the zombies covered him.

Still taken aback by her love falling to the horde right in front of her, she stared blankly at a straggler on the base of the hill climbing after her. Did it matter now? As scared as she was, she was too shocked to even want to move. She watched the zombie approach. Her vision focused on him, effectively tunnel-visioning her from anything else happening nearby. As he approached, she exhaled, feeling a moment of relief at the thought of giving up.

Then the zombie was ripped from her vision. She shook her head, clearing the tunnel vision to see AJ standing with her hind legs beside the fallen pony. Carrot ran up from behind her and met with Vinyl.

“Come on! Let’s go!” she called.

The two mares must have been watching them, because Carrot took caution in not touching her hoof as she got on her right side and started helping her up the hill. Behind them, only a few stragglers were following. Most of them were distracted by either the bass cannon back by the other hill or … her love.

AJ bucked two more ponies before turning back to face them.

“You help her! I’m going to the barn!”

“AJ!” Carrot shouted back, “No! It’s gonna collapse!”

“I KNOW! I gotta save the others!!”

"AJ! Please!" Carrot protested.

AJ eyed the barn quickly before looking back at them. She lowered her tone so they could just hear her over the bass and horde nearby.

"It's alright. I have to try."

As Carrot started to protest again, AJ took off for the barn. Vinyl continued climbing the hill with her help, able to make it all the way to the front door. She turned to look back at the scene as they were offered the time to do so with all the new distractions the horde had. Below them, there was a concentration of the ponies where the bass cannon was, and one where Split went down. The few stragglers left had gained interest in AJ, who ran toward the barn. Vinyl watched as she swung around and busted a boarded-up window open with her powerful hind legs. The mare disappeared as she leaped in the window.

Vinyl scanned the whole farm, taking in the chaotic, apocalyptic scene erupting in the dark. This new world was terrifying, and very, very unrelenting. Carrot set a hoof on her shoulder, and the mare guided her to the safety of her home. Only a few stragglers followed them all the way up the front porch, so they barricaded the door with just a chair in case AJ came back with others. For the next minute, they made sure the house was secure.

When given the opportunity, Vinyl gazed out of the front window. It raised above the ground below, offering her a clear view of the outside. She glanced at the zombie ponies out front and right underneath her. As she was observing the ones climbing up to the front porch, a loud rumbling noise erupted over the booming bass outside. She looked back at the barn, and she watched as the top of it fell in on itself. First, the second story collapsed, sending dust billowing out of the windows. Then, the first story caved in from the second story crashing down on it. An enormous dust cloud shot out from every direction as the cracking sound of the wooden structure falling slowly came to a stop.

"Vinyl?" Carrot called from inside.

Time froze as Vinyl fixed her eyes on the cloud. She had not managed to save the day. It was over.

It was all over.