The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Twilight —

Luna’s moon illuminated the path ahead of them, where the horde was miraculously thinning. Twilight and her group were spread in an arrow formation, with her as the spearhead, as they continued through, bucking and downing any zombie ponies who got too close. To her left, Ty raced along, and to her right, Dash did the same. As they neared the end of the long path to AJ’s farm, she glanced back at Fluttershy. She was running with them, but Twilight could still make out the bite mark on her hind leg, despite the darkness. They had to do something about it, very soon.

She then noticed Derpy flying above the treetops, slowly descending to meet them. The pegasus flew down to her side and coasted above the ground next to her as she ran.

"Twilight! Where are you guys headed?" she asked.

"Town Hall!" Twilight answered, "Could you scout ahead of us to make sure there's no big groups?!"

"Gotcha!" Derpy said, saluting before she took off ahead of them.

It took them another minute of running to approach the end of the path, leading them into Ponyville. Ahead of them, across the river, stood Town Hall. She had vaguely discussed through shouts with the others right as they left the barn, but she made sure everypony knew by shouting it again as she veered to gallop alongside the river. While she paralleled the river to get to the bridge leading to Town Hall, she noticed a light in the corner of her eyes.

She slowed her pace a tad and looked over to see a light flying over the buildings past Town Hall. It flew from right to left before disappearing over the rooftops. Shortly after, another white light followed a similar path. Fireworks. Somepony was launching fireworks towards the edge of the city where the train station sat. Smart.

The fireworks sparked her curiosity. Then Derpy set herself down next to her.

“Derpy,” Twilight called between breaths as they made their way over the bridge. “Can you see who is lighting those fireworks? Bring them to Town Hall, only if it is clear.”

“On it!”

The mare took off for the skies again. In Ponyville, the horde had cleared partially, leaving remnants scattered about the streets around Town Hall. She continued to the front doors after bucking one last pony in their way. To their benefit, and surprise, the front doors were unlocked. She opened it up and waited for everypony to get inside, nervously exchanging a glance with Fluttershy as she ran past.

Once inside, she and the others barricaded the door with a nearby ladder. They had grown some followers in their run, and the stragglers who were outside Town Hall wanted a piece of them as well. However, she was starting to realize the building wasn't the best place to bunker down. The tall windows surrounding them offered a less-than-ideal looking shelter, as the glass was probably not strong enough to protect them fully. For now, they would have to make due.

“Come on," Cheerilee said, "let’s bunk upstairs. It’s safer up there."

Twilight liked this idea. The group followed her and made their way to the second story, which only consisted of a walkway around the edge of the building, as well as a few balconies. Cloud and Dash led Fluttershy to one of the balconies as the rest of the group stood on the walkway nearby. After laying her down and observing the bite she had gotten on her hind leg, the two mares turned back to look at Twilight.

“Twilight, we might still have time …” Cloud said.

“Time … for …?”

She saw Cloud glance between her and the hatchet strapped to her foreleg.

“Are … you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Look at me, Twilight,” Cloud said, gesturing to her missing foreleg, “she could survive. We have to take that chance. We have supplies to stop the blood after. There's no telling if she'll make it as a zombie pony.”

Twilight thought for a moment. She wasn't sure how fast this virus spread, as she hadn't been able to study damn near anything about it the past few days. She pondered the thought that it may have spread through her friend's body already, but what if it hadn't? She glanced at Cheerilee, who was taking off her saddlebags and setting them against the wall behind them. Inside of one of them, she had mentioned, was the cure. Twilight was extraordinarily grateful that she had managed to save it from the barn collapse, but she was pissed off at the thought of not being able to do anything with it yet.

"Now hold on," Cheerilee joined, stepping up to where the balcony met the walkway. "What you're suggesting is very risky. Is there anything else we can do? We could tie her up like you did with Daisy."

"Ah ..." Twilight said, "we don't have anything to tie her with."

For a brief moment, the group looked down and observed the barebones Town Hall. The front doors were shaking now as the group of zombie ponies outside tried to make their way inside. Twilight cursed them, as well as the lack of anything useful in this stupid building. She regretted making the call to come here. As they observed their surroundings, Dash walked up to her side.

"Twilight ... we may have to go for it. If it can save her, we gotta try."

Ty stepped on the balcony with them. “Now wait a minute, what does she want? Shouldn’t we ask her first?”

Everypony looked at Fluttershy, who curled up in a shy ball. She too looked down at her hind leg, which was slowly bleeding from the teeth marks that had penetrated deep enough to do so. She quivered from the sight, along with the thought of getting her leg chopped off. She stared back up at Twilight.

"Twilight ..."

Twilight stepped closer and stood by her side. "Yes?"

"i ... i don't want to be a zombie pony ..."

Twilight sighed softly, struggling to keep her emotions in check while she listened to the nervousness in her friend's voice. She glanced at her hatchet and pulled it out, holding it in front of her.

"So you want us to try?" she asked.

“y ... y- ... yes ...”

“Are you sure?” Ty asked thoughtfully.

"i am ..."

“We have to do it quickly," Dash mentioned, "We're running out of time. Do it, Twilight."

Both Dash and Cloud grabbed hold of Fluttershy’s forelegs, squeezing tight as they restrained her. Cheerilee and Ty were fumbling through the saddlebags against the wall, pulling out an array of medical supplies they would use. Twilight struggled to focus, as the task in front of her was difficult to execute. It felt unreal to have to hurt your friend to this extent just for the chance of them surviving. What if she did it wrong? What if it was already too late? From behind, somepony shook her out of her hypnosis. She heard Ty’s voice.

“Twilight, do you want me to-”

“No! Just give me a second.”

“Twilight!” Dash yelled, “we don’t have a second! Do it!”

Twilight held her breath as she raised the hatchet above her, and carefully swung it down above Fluttershy’s bite. Her friend's cry of pain broke her mental state as the hatchet buried itself in her leg, unable to chop fully through the bone. After one unsuccessful tug, Twilight then yanked the hatchet out. Drops of blood flew out in all directions as she raised the hatchet again and swung. This time, the hatchet carved through the rest of her leg, chopping it clean off.

Fluttershy’s screams echoed in Twilight’s head as she backed off, disturbed by the amount of blood rushing out. The others were a blur as they quickly pulled her infected leg back and worked together to stop the blood flow. She questioned whether or not she was hallucinating any of this nightmare, as she had yet to grasp the terrible things she was experiencing. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with it all. She thought about AJ ... Rarity ... Celestia.

One by one her friends were being ripped from her by this forsaken new shithole of a world. Ponies were falling left and right, and even Princess Celestia was gone now. Was this the end? Was she witnessing an end to her once beautiful world? There had been close calls in the past, but the end? It all happened so quickly too.

She turned away from the others, just to see Spike hanging back with the fillies. He was turned away from her, making movements with his arms as if he was telling them a story. As she watched, Ty stopped beside her and tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?” she asked.

“I … I am …”

“Okay. The others are working on stopping her blood, but we may have an issue ...”

Twilight eyed her worryingly. “What … what is it?”

“They're running out of gauze. They thought there was more in Cheerilee's saddlebag, but we can't find any. We need it, or something similar to stop the bleeding.”

Twilight turned to her before looking back at Fluttershy. The two trotted back to the balcony, where the other three mares were carefully assisting Fluttershy as blood below her crept to the edge. She had stopped screaming now, but she looked very delirious. Her eyes were thin and her face drooped slightly as she fought tiredness. Beside her, Cheerilee looked up at them.

“We might need to get her blood as well. She's losing a lot of it.”

“Where in Equestria are we going to get blood?” Dash asked, “do you even know how to give blood?”

“I do. I used to take nursing classes back in school. I’m probably rusty, but it’s better than nothing. As for blood, the only place I know of would be the hospital.”

“The hospital is on the other side of town! Do we even have enough time to get it?”

“Maybe we could-” Cloud started, “wait, where did you send Derpy?”

Fucking shit.

Everything was crumbling around her. She was regretting every decision they had made since she stepped out of that damn barn with Ty, Carrot Top, and Fluttershy.

“Ah ... toward the fireworks,” she answered, “I don’t know how long until she’ll be back. She’s going to see who is shooting them off.”

“Crap.”

Twilight then thought of something. “Wait, what about the new clinic? It shouldn't be but a couple blocks from here, if I remember right.”

“Oh yeah!” Cloud replied, “The one on Rosemary Ave. I know what you’re talking about. One of my friends used to live in the houses that used to be there before the storm. Do you think they would have blood so soon though? It’s only been up for a month or two.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Cheerilee mentioned.

Twi took another deep breath. “Dash. Do you know the clinic we're talking about?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Okay. Here’s what I am thinking. You can come with me and help me check out the clinic. Hopefully there will be blood there. A positive, right?” she asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy warily nodded.

“Okay. So we grab the blood and gauze she needs and hurry back. The rest of you can stay here. Derpy may get back before we do. If she does, send her to the hospital quickly. Hopefully she can swoop in and out. Sound good?”

“You sure you don’t want one of us to come with? I can help too,” Ty mentioned.

“No, I need you here. Actually, you can help distract the stragglers outside so Dash and I can get away. Afterwards, the others may need you to help protect Fluttershy."

“Gotcha.”

With that, the three mares rushed downstairs and set up to get past the stragglers. Twilight hoped they would be able to get back on time.