The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Twilight —

“Dash! No!”

Twilight gripped the pole sticking out of her friend with her hooves. There was a solid head-length section of it sticking out of her shoulder, slowly moving around as Dash squirmed. She picked up the flashlight beside her and cautiously looked down both ends of the alley before turning it on to see better. In the light, there was blood creeping out from where the thin metal pole punctured her, as well as blood painting the pole red. She raised the flashlight to the wall of the bakery, noticing more of the thin metal rods leaning against it. They were all skinny yet lengthy, and all of them had roughly the same thickness all the way down them. She cursed their existence, regardless of whatever they were doing there.

She used her forelegs to gently lift Dash a hair so she could see below her. The rod had impaled through Dash, entering through the side of her chest and exiting through the back of her shoulder. The rod extended through the mattress below, where blood stained the navy blue sheets. When Twi had shined the light on it before to see if it was safe, she had completely missed the rod as its dark color must have blended in with the sheets. She cursed herself for missing this, even though it was reasonable that she had.

Dash groaned before speaking through gritted teeth.

“Twilight … what do we do??”

Twilight took a moment to think. As she did, she heard zombie groans from down the alley. These weren’t as faint as the ones outside the front of the bakery, so she turned her head to see. She flipped off the light quickly and watched a shadowy figure stop at the end of the alley, towards the front of the shop. It had approached from the left side, meaning it was likely headed for where the others were entering out front. However, it seems as though this one noticed them. After holding her breath and sitting perfectly still for a few very long seconds, the figure continued past. She let out a sigh of relief, but realized it was far too risky to stay here much longer.

She shushed Dash as she grabbed the rod and tugged it slightly to test its resistance. She felt a lot more than she expected, meaning it was likely buried deep in the mattress below Dash. While Dash held in a scream, she still groaned in pain as Twilight tugged at it.

Twilight took another second to think before she got an idea. Using her hatchet, she cut through the bedsheets underneath her, cutting out two rectangles that were half the size of her. When they came loose, she folded one of them together before stretching it out. Dash side-eyed her as she breathed heavy through her pain, trying to figure out what she was about to do. Twilight then took the sheets and quickly threw her forelegs over Dash’s head before she could retaliate. She pulled both ends of the sheet back as it found its way through Dash’s lips. She continued to pull until Dash was effectively gagged by them, then crossed the ends and quickly tied the sheets behind Dash’s head. Her friend’s muffled cries mentally hurt her, but she did not trust any mare to be quiet enough for what she was about to attempt.

“I’m sorry, Dash.”

She avoided the mare’s nervous eyes as she shoved her forelegs underneath Dash and forcefully pushed her body upwards. Dash’s body rose slowly through the pole, and her muffled cries grew into muffled screams of pain. Twilight tried very hard to ignore this until she finally pushed Dash fully off of the pole, unable to avoid a rush of blood squirting out on her face and legs.

Dash squirmed after she dropped her on the other end of the mattress. Twilight quickly grabbed the balled-up sheet she had left and wrapped it around the mare’s shoulder in an attempt to stop the puncture holes from bleeding. She looked the rest of her friend over as she waited for the mare to recover from the shock, because they would soon need to get out of here.

Their time to escape shortened quickly when she heard another groan from the end of the alley. Another figure stood where the previous one had, but this time, the figure continued into the alley. Twilight readied her hatchet, hoping others would not follow, but expecting them to. She nudged Dash, urging her to stand up so they could go when another figure stopped at the end of the alley. The first one became clearer as he closed in on Twilight, revealing his pale orange body. With one swing of the hatchet, Twilight dropped the pony as it connected with his head.

She turned around after yanking it out, noticing Dash struggling to get up. The second figure was making their way down the alley now, so Twilight helped her up and off the mattress, allowing the mare to go slow through her pain. She listened for the zombie behind her, and timed a 180 degree swing perfectly as the zombie leapt forward. The hatchet connected with the side of the zombie mare’s face, dropping her just as quick as the first. She looked down the alley again, hearing groans approaching the end of it.

She was not going to risk it any longer. Dash was staggering, but as long as she was moving, Twilight was happy. She assisted her through the alley, careful not to put much pressure on her bleeding wounds. At the end of the alley, she glanced left to right, but there were no zombies left on the path behind the shops. With growing optimism, she lead Dash past the path and made their way to the treeline to escape.

This optimism was quickly cut short when she noticed zombie ponies around the corner of the alley from before, who caught sight of them as they entered the open patch of grass between the backs of the shops and the treeline. Twilight realized they would not make it in the forest, so she started to veer right toward the other shops. However, figures started creeping out from behind the shops ahead of them. She cursed to herself, turning Dash around and making a break for the houses past the shops. This put them dangerously within reach of the ponies in the alley, but it was their only safe bet.

Even though Twilight had to down two of the pursuers, she was able to guide Dash all the way to the second house. The side-door was locked, and there was no time to rush around the house, so Twilight busted the doorknob off with her hatchet and cracked it open. She then busted the door down with a roundhouse buck and followed Dash inside. She then slammed it shut despite how useless it was now and scanned desperately for a safe room.

To her dismay, the house had a very open layout, with the first-story sporting a combined living and dining room, as well as a kitchen through an open archway. The only space they could bunker in would be the bathroom, but as she shone her flashlight on it, it looked tiny through the open door. So instead, she helped Dash trot to the stairs and started slowly climbing them as their pursuers broke the side-door open. She backtracked toward the front of the house, grabbing the console table next to the front door and following Dash up the few steps she managed to climb.

As they continued climbing, the zombies inevitably caught up with them. They were about halfway up when their pursuers reached the base of the stairs, so as the ponies started climbing, Twilight hucked the table hard down the stairs. The table fully impacted the first pony, who tumbled back, wiping out the second pony in the process. The other attackers struggled to push through as the table blocked their way momentarily. This offered them extra time to climb the rest of the stairs.

Twilight pushed Dash through the narrow upstairs hallway. She did not notice it at first, but when she started searching for a room they could bunker in, she realized the few upstairs doors were closed. When she turned the knob on the first one, she found it was locked. The next one was also locked, and so was the one she tried after that. She pulled out her hatchet and repeated the process of trying to break the doorknob on the last one, but when she did, the door would not budge. She shoved with all her might, but someone had barricaded the room.

She was starting to run out of ideas now. Ahead of her was a window at the end of the hallway that let Luna’s moonlight inside. She took a moment to adjust her eyes and look around it. It was then that she noticed a string dangling in front of it, moving back and forth ever so slightly. With a new burst of energy, she ran forwards and yanked on the string hard, sending a ladder flying down from the ceiling.

“Up!” she yelled at Dash before pushing her friend up the steep stairs to the attic.

It was then that she noticed their chasers were caught up again. As she pushed on Dash’s rump, a zombie came rushing down the hallway to get them. She heard and felt the zombie catch up when she was near the top of the stairs, giving Dash one last shove to push her in, unintentionally tossing up her hatchet as well. As she did, she felt a hoof wrap around hers. The hoof tugged at her hind leg, holding on tight despite her frantic kicking.

Dash leaned down, unable to speak with the sheets still in her mouth. She reached down her forelegs and grabbed on tightly to Twilight’s, who forcefully kicked the zombie with her other hind leg to prevent them from moving up the ladder. She did this for a few more seconds as the two played a messed-up version of tug-of-war. Eventually, she felt the zombie’s grip loosen, and she took her chance by kicking back hard with her other hind leg. This freed her, and with Dash’s help, she practically jumped up into the attic.

This caused Dash to tumble backwards as Twilight also fell forward onto the attic’s wooden floor. Before she could get a chance to breathe, she heard the zombie loudly climbing the steps behind her. She quickly felt around in the darkness with her hooves to find the hatchet, but the attic was very dark. As she pulled the flashlight out of her mouth and turned it on again, the zombie dove for her, causing her to drop it on the ground.

Twilight instead focused on dodging the mare, gaining just a second of time to throw her hind legs back in a half-charged buck. This move allotted her an extra few seconds as the mare was sent staggering back a few paces. In the darkness, the flashlight shined toward the attic’s entryway, where a sparkling light revealed her hatchet beside it.

She ran forwards, quickly grabbing the hatchet. From her perspective, another zombie had started climbing the stairs. When he was close enough to the top, she swung the blunt end of her hatchet in an underhand swing, causing him to fall back down the stairs. This created the same effect as before, as he wiped out another pony who had started climbing behind him. Once they were down, Twilight forcefully grabbed the top rung of the wooden ladder and yanked it up violently, causing it to slam shut. One more to go.

She felt the zombie mare who was already in the attic grab her left thigh from behind, so she instinctively kicked back as she used her forelegs to move forward. Even though this didn’t release her from the mare’s grip, it gave her enough leverage to swing around. With one foreleg holding the hatchet, she swung it hard at the pony. The blade connected with the mare’s forehead, instantly dropping her. Her grip loosened as a result, allowing Twilight to turn around fully.

There was anger flowing through her now. An anger she had never felt before. She felt close to madness now, and all her emotions were seething as blood rushed through her. She yanked the hatchet out of the pony’s head, allowing little droplets of blood to splatter her. The pony was down now, but her anger was not. She swung the hatchet again, again connecting with the mare’s head.

WACK

Her blood was boiling now as she ripped it out again.

“FUCK. YOU.”

WACK

“PIECE.”

WACK

“OF.”

WACK

“SHIT!”

WACK

As she pulled out the hatchet again, she took a second to catch her rapid breaths. The flashlight illuminated the room a dim glow, allowing her to see what she had done. She dropped the bloody hatchet on the ground, staring down at the mare’s bloody, chopped up face. She looked back where Dash was laying on the attic floor, and gazed into her scared purple eyes. Her anger faded as she slowly looked back at the mare. She sat in front of her, taking a minute to come to grips with everything. She then set a hoof on the mare’s cold shoulder.

“I’m sorry …”

Another few seconds passed until she accepted it and trotted back over to Dash, picking up the flashlight on the way.

“Dash! Are you doing okay?”

She turned Dash’s head sideways and used her hooves to untie the sheets from her mouth. When they dropped, Dash let in a big gulp of air. Twilight worried as the mare set her head down on the floor, still yet to answer her.

“Dash … are you okay?”

As she asked this, she shone the flashlight on her blue body. The makeshift sheet bandage was still in place, but there was blood seeping through.

A lot of blood.

Panicked, Twilight reached down and grabbed the sheets that were just in Dash’s mouth. She held them in her hoof for a moment, wondering if they were sanitary enough to use. While she debated, she looked back to see blood oozing out and flowing down Dash’s chest. This was enough for her to drop the sanitary debate and push down hard with them in an attempt to stop the blood. But the longer she laid there, the more Twilight realized how much she was bleeding.

No, no, no.

“Come on, Dash, please, please, don’t die on me.”

“Twilight-”

She was happy at the sound of Dash’s voice, but it carried a weak tone to it. Twilight took the sheets she was holding and wrapped them around Dash as well, creating a double layer over the wounds. She held the wound with her hoof a bit longer until Dash called out again.

“Twilight-”

“Yes? Are you okay?” Twilight asked, repositioning herself over Dash so she could look into her eyes. Dash’s slitted, magenta gaze back worried her.

“I’m sorry, Twilight …”

“No. No Dash don’t be sorry, please. Just hang in there.”

“Twilight … I’m seeing doubles here. Even I know what this all means …”

“NO. STOP TALKING LIKE THAT, PLEASE.”

“Please, Twi. Just listen. I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

Twilight started to argue back, but tears overcame her as she did. Nothing came out of her quivering lips as her hooves started shaking from an uncontrollable sadness washing over her. Dash noticed this and reached up her hoof. Twilight grabbed it and they both squeezed hard.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. Please don’t be sad for me. You need to be strong for the others.”

“Dash pl-”

She burst into tears again. Her crying was getting the best of her, and she wasn’t able to talk through her words. During her fit, she heard an explosion sound off in the distance. This briefly took her mind away from Dash, as she listened to two more follow. A few seconds passed, but the explosions stopped. She returned her attention to Dash, who was struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Dash, I’m so sorry. This is my fault. Please, I am so sorry.”

“It’s not. … goofball … listen …”

The mare took a second, breathing deep through her pain.

“... I’m glad I got to be your friend …”

“No …”

Tears continued to flow down Twilight’s cheeks. She looked back at Dash’s wounds, but it was hopeless. Blood kept flowing down, and the red puddle beneath her was growing with her friend’s blood. She could practically see the energy and life being sucked out of her friend’s face. There was not much time left.

“I - I … I’m … I’m glad … I got to be yours …”

Her words drifted into mumbled gibberish.

“too …”

Dash smiled up at her, but her grip loosened as her eyes blinked shut. There was nothing more Twilight could do. She watched helplessly as the mare’s body slowly stopped rising and falling with her breaths. Her grip tightened as her friend’s hoof sunk into dead weight. It was over. She rested her head on Dash’s shoulder, sobbing greatly as she mourned.

For the next few minutes, she let her tears run onto her friend. Just when she thought they would cease, she would burst out into more, again and again. It was only when there was a gasp of air that was not hers that she stopped. With her head resting on Dash’s shoulder still, she shot her eyes open. Another breath was heard, and then, her head rose as Dash’s chest did. She perked her head up, unsure if her friend was just drifting in and out of death or what, but this seemed unusual.

As she observed her friend’s face, the mare slowly blinked her magenta eyes open. However, they did not look the same. The all-to-familiar glazed-over look washed over them, and through her cloudy irises, Dash met eyes with her. A sudden burst of energy took over her friend’s body, and before Twilight knew it, the mare was lunging for her.

Filled with a new smacking confusion, she fell backward. Dash hadn't even been bitten, so the last thing she expected was for her to turn. For a quick moment, she wondered whether or not Dash had gotten the zombie illness, and if that was somehow overcoming her once unconscious body. As much as she wanted to consider more possibilities, she had no time to do so.

As she fell backward, she failed to dodge Dash’s attack. She used her forelegs to push up on Dash’s chin, barely managing to avoid getting bitten. As the mare stood over her, she felt blood trickle down to her chest from the puncture wounds. She raised her head, noticing her hatchet laying on the floor beside her.

Dash stared into her soul as she ferociously tried to get to her. Twilight was already overwhelmed with emotions, and she knew that this could be her breaking point. She had to do it. She had to survive, as much as it didn't seem to matter anymore. So, she disconnected one of her forelegs from Dash and reached out for it.

However, it was just out of her reach. Dash weighed down on her, slowly getting closer as she desperately reached out for the hatchet. She used all the strength she could muster to hold her back, but as she shimmied on her back to be able to reach out farther, Dash grew closer. She was finally able to grip its handle, but her other foreleg could not hold Dash back. Her friend overpowered her resistance and sunk her teeth into her neck.

Pain emanated through it as she could feel her friend’s cold teeth rip into her. She finally raised the hatchet from the floor, curling it over her and sending the blade through Dash’s head. The blow caused her friend to stop instantly. Shortly after, her dead body dropped onto Twilight before slowly rolling off to her right side.

Twilight, still distressed, rose to sit next to her. Again, her tears flooded as she felt her neck wet with blood. The warmth was enough for her to realize it was over for good now. She sobbed, wondering how long she had left. Her tears ran cold and her head throbbed. Sound muffled as she slowly tunnel-visioned in a bout of anxiety. Through her panic, she had not heard the rustling and noises happening beneath her. She hadn't even noticed the door to the attic had been pulled down again.

She was suddenly pulled from her daze as she heard steps up the attic stairs behind her. She then heard a very familiar masculine voice speak out.

“ … Twilight??”