The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. My legs, curled up in the cart, were sound asleep with the numbing sensations tickling throughout them. My arms felt a similar sensation, and even my abdomen felt stricken from its usual blood flow. My neck slowly oozed blood, despite Twilight and Trixie wrapping the wound very tightly with gauze. An uncomfortable pain continued pulsing through it.

The cart shook me as it moved, offering a much rougher ride than the similar rail cart ride I took with Spark and Candy. In between the handles now was a frenzied Twilight, standing where I once had when I brought her here. She had attached herself with a makeshift rope she built using magic with pieces of scrap at the train station. Ahead of her was Trixie, who used her magic to clear the path of straggler zombies throughout the town as they rushed me to the hospital.

Despite the bumpy ride, my tiredness was overcoming me. I was slowly drifting in and out, with my eyes blurring and my head throbbing. I blinked my eyes shut, and instead of opening them, I drifted into a temporary rest.

The cold ground awoke me. I opened my eyes. The previous pain throbbing in my neck was gone. My legs were awake again, with the rest of my body.

Celestia’s sun was up, and its rays poked a comforting heat through the treetops lingering above, fighting to cover up where I was laying. I slowly turned my head against the dirt and saw the familiar thick, dark looming trees and shrubbery of the Everfree Forest. This caused my eyes to widen, and I sat up quickly to confirm that I was on the path to Zecora’s hut. I heard hoofsteps skipping behind me, and as I swung my head around, a flash of Pink passed me. I swung my head back to track it, and was startled by what I saw.

Pinkie Pie passed right next to me, trotting along the edge of the path. She was humming along as she skipped, turning to circle in front of me. While she passed, only a few pony-lengths away, she turned her head when she noticed me.

“La-la-la- oh! Devan! You’re awake! Bout time, sleepyhead!”

I adjusted my eyes, which still suffered the groggy feeling of waking up too early. It was Pinkie, and she looked completely normal. I shook my head, trying to understand what I was seeing, but she stood in front of me, unchanged.

“Pinkie?”

“Yep! That’s me, silly, and you’re Devan! Just in case you forgot!”

She chuckled gleefully, skipping up to stand beside my laid out legs.

“P- pinkie … where am I?”

“Oh come on, you silly filly, look around! What other place in Equestria is as dark and daunting and dreadfully mysterious as the good ‘ol Everfree forest?! Surely you remember that, right?”

“I- I do … but-”

“Well that’s groovy! Now get up already! Let’s keep walking!”

Before I could protest or interrogate farther, she hopped up and down, grabbing my arms and snapping me to a stand. My body protested the quick movement for a moment before settling, causing me to wonder what the hell was going on. I remembered everything that just happened—with Twilight, Trixie, Spark, and Derpy, but what was this? A hallucination? Some dream? It felt so real.

Despite my curiosity exploding, I followed Pinkie for a few steps as she hopped along the path, unbothered.

“Pinkie- what is this?”

“It’s a walk, doofus, never been on one? Haha, just messing.”

I started feeling a bit dizzy as we continued walking. Looking around only worsened this, as my anxiety was growing at the uncertainty of what I was experiencing. Suddenly, the trees were growing darker, and the forest seemed to be brewing with a strange purple glow beside us. A cloud covered the sun, darkening the path as well. I grew nervous and started getting scared as my heartbeat quickened. Next to me, Pinkie noticed this and hopped a few steps forward.

“Hey, cheer up Devan! Don’t be scared. You remember the song, dontcha?”

“W- what?”

“Maybe it’ll ring a bell for you! It kinda starts like this …”

She took a quick breath.

“♫ When I was a little filly and the sun was going d-o-o-o-own- ♫”

My ears perked up. The happy jingle of her song was growing in our surroundings, and I could hear the instruments playing all around us. She continued to sing her song, hopping along as the trees swayed with darkness. That’s when I noticed glazed white eyes staring back at us.

“♫ -the darkness and the shadows, they would always make me fr-o-o-o-own- ♫”

“P- Pinkie!” I shouted.

She continued singing. As she did, pale ponies hopped out of the shadows and made their way onto the path with us. Zombie ponies. Their familiar trot and growls and groans and moans filled the air, haunting me with the recent terror of the once magical world. I ran beside Pinkie, ready to hop into defensive mode, but she continued to sing.

“♫ -sooooo! Giggle at the ghostly! Guffaw at the grossly!- ♫”

As she sang, the zombies rushing out in front of us were blasted out of nowhere with blue orbs. The orbs dissipated on them, sending waves of blue rushing down their bodies. Then, they morphed from their paleness and became normal ponies again. As Pinkie and I approached, they smiled back and started to hop along with us.

Now it was becoming pretty evident I was in a dream … or hallucination … I don’t know. I was still in denial, and my brain could not wrap around it all. Regardless, I was happy to see Pinkie Pie again, and I struggled with sadness as we trotted along the path with more and more transformed ponies. The purple haze of the forest was clearing, and by the end of her song, the sun was shining down on the path again. When it ended, all the ponies quickly galloped off to either side of the path, disappearing back into the forest.

Pinkie Pie continued to hop along, but looked over her shoulder at me. She then stopped, turning around and stepping in front of me. She smiled, extending her hoof out in the air between us.

"Come on, Devan, hoofbump! Or ... hoofistbump! Hahaha!"

Through my confusion and sadness, she still managed to make me smile as I raised my right hand and hoof-n'-fist bumped with her. A tear fell from my eye as we set our arms back down.

“Keep on smilin' Devan!" she exclaimed.

She started turning around, but stopped herself.

"Oh! And thanks for coming with me!”

An overwhelming wave of tiredness flooded over me as my eyes quickly shut again, causing me to drift back into nothing.

My nothingness was interrupted when I felt something bounce off my head. I blinked my eyes open again, noticing another bright blue sky. I was in the fruit cart again, but I still did not feel pain throughout any of my body … besides the tiny throbbing in my head. I was curled up in the cart, but I could see part of an apple tree’s top branches hovering above me. I heard the sound of birds, as well as a subtle breeze rolling through and making the branches above me dance lightly.

“Ya’ see, sugarcube, that’s why you don’t nap in the cart.”

My eyes widened again as I sat up in the cart and swung my head to see if I heard who I thought I heard. On the left side of the cart, Applejack was slowly walking up. She wiped her lips and tossed an apple core in an empty basket beside the tree. Leaned up against the tree was Rainbow Dash, who was munching on an apple herself. Both of them, like Pinkie, were unscathed. Dash swallowed her bite and smiled.

“Yeah, ya dingus. What, were you raised in a barn?”

Applejack threw her a half-angry glare before smiling as she looked back at me. I don’t know why, but as she raised her forelegs to lean on the side of the cart, I shifted my body back in fear. I was still unsure of what was happening, and my mind continued to struggle with the logic behind any of this. Again, everything felt real.

“What’s the matter, Devan? Are you alright?” she asked, still resting her forelegs over the cart’s side panel.

“I- I … what is this??”

“What’s it look like, sugarcube?”

“I have no idea …”

“Damn,” Dash spoke up, tossing her apple core in the bucket too. “That apple must have hit him hard.”

The two mares laughed softly as she walked up to the front of the cart and made her way in between the handles to stand next to me. Both of them stood in silence for a second as we stared at each other. AJ smiled.

“Well, I reckon you know we’re at Sweet Apple Acres at least.”

I took a second to look around, admiring the scenery of apple trees lined as far as my eyes could see. When I looked toward the right side of the cart, I noticed an empty hill behind the line of trees. There was a white picket fence out front, as well as chicken coops, but the space sat eerily empty where I remembered the barn to be. I was sucked back into reality, remembering when Derpy shared the horrible news with me.

“The- the barn …”

“Ah, yeah. That glorious barn,” AJ commented.

I turned back to her.

“I’m … I’m so sorry, AJ.”

“Ah, don’t be. It’ll be alright. That barn was a glorious piece of my family’s history, but I’m sure Applebloom will lead the rest of the family to build an even better one.”

My mouth unintentionally opened with shock. This had to be a dream, but they were aware of the events? This only confused me more, so I took a second to breathe before responding.

“So … so you know??” I asked.

“Of course we know,” Dash answered, “we’re haunting you right now. Ooooohohooohoooohooo.”

The mare playfully raised her forelegs and jiggled them around as she imitated a ghost. She was then smacked in the back of the head by AJ.

“Cut it out. He’s already scared.”

Dash warily chuckled. “My bad. There’s nothing to be scared of, Devan. It's alright. The universe carries on.”

I felt a tinge of sadness washing over me as I heard her speak. My mind was struggling to set aside the images of her body in the attic. As I opened my mouth to continue questioning them, I saw a pony out of the corner of my eye. Trotting between two apple trees between us and where the barn used to stand was a pale zombie pony. A few trees down the row, another one appeared and joined her as they both trotted toward us. I was less intimidated this time, as my reasoning of being in some sort of dream was growing. I was still worried as the two continued to trot in our direction.

“Dash, look!” I shouted, pointing at the ponies. She looked back at them and huffed.

AJ spoke from over my shoulder. “I reckon we oughta take care of that.”

Dash turned back to face me. “Yeah. Don’t worry, Devan. We’re here for you.”

She winked, playfully punching my shoulder. She smiled before hopping over the cart handle and rushing toward the zombies. AJ rounded the cart to follow, but she stopped for a moment at the corner and turned to me.

“Oh- one last thing …” she said.

“W- what?”

She smiled as she stood up on her hind legs beside the cart. With her front hoof, she brushed my hair.

“Thanks for everything, sugarcube.”

As she turned to follow Dash, the overwhelming tiredness rushed over me as I passed out again.

I felt a weird sensation wave through my body. Once again, I felt the cold wood of the cart underneath me. Except, this time, the pain in my neck returned. I gulped for air as I once again felt the blood gurgling through it. The numbness in my legs tingled its way back into my consciousness and I blinked my eyes open. I raised my head slowly, waiting for them to adjust.

We were stopped now. Trixie stood a bit ahead and left of the cart, and Twilight was still in between the handles. I could hear them bickering with one another, but their voices were muffled in my ears. Occasionally, they would both glance to the left side of the cart before bickering some more. Trixie then turned her side to us, facing the way they kept glancing, and lit up her horn. I slowly turned my head to look where they were looking, and through blurred vision, I noticed a zombie mare trotting toward us.

I vaguely noticed the shape of a horn on the mare's head, as well as her bright pinkish fur. I could not make her out though, as my vision was somehow blurred. I looked back at Twilight, who glanced over her shoulder at me. She returned a worried expression when she noticed my weakened stare back.

"Just hang on, Devan. We won't be long."

A blue flash lit up our surroundings, causing me to pivot my head back to see. The mare had just fallen to the ground, presumably struck by one of Trixie's magic orbs. For a few seconds, I tried to focus my vision, but it was not unblurring. Twilight eased the cart forward a few paces as Trixie moved closer to the downed mare. I noticed the pink unicorn moving slightly, and soon after, Trixie rushed up to her side to help her to a stand.

She had done it again. A wave of happiness flooded over me, realizing that Trixie finally knew the spell to end this nightmare. Soon, this apocalypse would be over. The happiness was overcome by worry as pain continued to stab my neck.

Trixie and the mare then rushed up to the cart. As they closed in, I noticed the mare was missing part of her ear, and had blood splattered all over her pink coat of fur. My vision fought, but when the mare approached the side of the cart, I finally realized who it was.

"C- c- Candy??"

"Devan!" she exclaimed, stopping by the side of the cart. She observed me for a quick moment before grabbing my free hand with her hoof. "I'm so sorry, dear!"

"Come on!" Twilight exclaimed, "We have to hurry!"

Candy let go, and the three mares started galloping again. She ran alongside the cart as Trixie galloped ahead of Twilight again. She glanced over at me worryingly.

"Just hang in there, sweetie!"

The pain from my bites radiated through my body as I continued watching her. But it did not last for long. The overwhelming tiredness washed over me as I struggled to keep my eyes open, and again, I drifted to sleep.

“hey … devan … wake up. please?”

My sleepy state was interrupted. The pain was gone. I was back in another dream, supposedly. I felt the cool, softness of grass underneath me. I opened my eyes and exhaled, seeing a bright blue sky above me. Next to it was a flowing pink mane, and bright blue eyes. Fluttershy. She stood above me, staring back down worryingly. Her expression changed to happiness when she saw me open my eyes.

“oh, thank goodness. i was worried we might not see you.”

“S … see me?”

A mare’s voice spoke from behind my head.

“Yes, dear.”

I saw white and blue as Rarity walked up beside me. I sat up. Just a few pony-lengths away was a railroad track, leading off into the distance. We were in the clearing between them and a forest. I breathed deeply, watching as a crow flew above the tracks. I turned to face the mares on either side of me, once again taking in the realness of how this ‘dream’ felt. Both of them looked normal as well.

“I-“ I started.

All of my emotions were weighing down on me as I drifted from dream to dream. While the logic was still a blur, I started to guess that I only had a few minutes, at most, to speak with them. But as I went to do so, my tears got the best of me. The longing for my friends was increasing, and I didn’t want to feel like I was saying my last goodbyes. Without speaking, Fluttershy reached forward and hugged me. Rarity also scooted closer and rubbed my back.

“Oh, darling, don’t be sad. Everything is quite alright.”

“H- how?”

Fluttershy disconnected and set her hooves on my thigh as she sat beside my legs. She smiled, her bright blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight. I felt a calming aura flow through me as I gazed into them, comforted by the gentle mare’s sweetness.

“we’re at peace now, devan,” she replied, “and our world is going to continue.”

My tears continued as Rarity kept slowly rubbing my back. The warmth felt nice, and it almost felt like I was in heaven already. The peace was interrupted as I heard groans behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed those damned pale zombie ponies appearing from the forest on either side of the tracks. I looked back at Fluttershy, annoyed at the thought that this was probably the end of my dream.

“I’m … sorry … for what happened to you two …”

“Don’t be,” Rarity spoke in my ear, “The world is saved now, dear.”

I watched her stand up and rush behind me to go fight the zombie ponies making their way toward us. I turned back just to see Flutters stand up as well, smiling softly back at me. She noticed my eyes watering and slowly moved her head forward, nuzzling up against mine. Her soft touch felt heavenly.

“be good, devan. thank you for being you.”

My heartbeat continued. I felt wind blowing against my face as I awoke in the cart again. The pain in my neck was fading now, but not in a good way. I could feel my body shutting down. My breaths were very slow now, and it felt as though I wasn’t getting much air with each one. My neck also felt strange more than anything. I shivered, as my body was cooling. My legs continued to tingle with numbness, and my vision blurred and unblurred. I was growing even more drowsy now, and my brain was tingling, causing me a small bout of anxiety.

In the dark of night, I saw a building growing in front of us. We rushed closer, and passed what looked like the hospital sign. As we closed in on the building, I could see a light appear in the doorway. My eyes then blurred quickly, and I drifted into black yet again.

I did not open my eyes this time. Similar to my dream with Luna, I simply appeared, sucked out of my unconsciousness. I was standing in a hallway, but my vision was still blurry. My eyes slowly adjusted to sunlight illuminating the room through tall, color-stained glass windows. A long red rug laid out in front of me, leading to steps beneath …

Princess Celestia.

She sat on her throne, staring down at me. Luna's throne sat empty beside her. I was in their castle. Once my vision was clear, and I knew where I was, Celestia smiled and waved her hoof for me to come closer. Hesitantly, I walked up in front of the steps. She rolled her eyes and waved her hoof again, continuing a rolling motion with it as I climbed the steps, until I was right in front of her.

Before I could speak, she leaned forward and wrapped her long forelegs around me in a tight hug that practically lifted me off the ground. I squeezed back, holding back my tears. This hug continued for a long minute as I soaked in the comfort of it. I took a step back after we disconnected, standing face-to-face with her as she sat back on her throne.

“Hello again, Devan.”

“Hello ..." I stammered, "Princess Celestia.”

She took a deep breath, staring back and forth between my eyes. I continued staring into hers, unbothered by our unbroken eye contact. She smiled before continuing.

“When I first brought you here, I didn’t expect much. Your world was very interesting to explore throughout the past couple of decades, but as you are aware, I was pretty hesitant to bring even just you in. Part of me thought you would be trouble, even. But I held onto hope … and in the end, it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made.”

She paused for a moment before continuing.

“As my sister has told you, you have done so much for all of us, despite not owing us a thing. From day one, you proved yourself to be a selfless, upstanding creature that earned his place in our magical world.”

She paused again, giving me enough time to cut in.

“B- but … I thought you were getting ready to send me back??” I asked.

“I was at first,” she responded, “but when you asked me for an extended stay, that is when I realized what this place meant to you. As you know, we were set to talk soon, until … you know … things happened. What I was planning was to offer you some time to visit your world if you so wished. But in my eyes, you were welcome to stay in our magical world. I'm sorry if that does not come to pass now, but nevertheless, I am happy that you found a home with us.”

I tried again to hang on to my emotions, but a tear found its way rolling down my cheek. I sniffed to prevent more from falling, finally breaking eye contact with Celestia to look out the stained window beside us. That is when I noticed it had changed, and the previously yellow-tinted window was broken open. Yellow glass shards laid out underneath it, and her sun beamed its way into the floor right below it. I then heard the distant sounds of groaning, and turned to Celestia nervously.

“Yeah,” she said, “we aren’t offered much time, are we? Not here, nor in the real world. Time really passes by without us noticing.”

The groaning was getting louder, and I could pinpoint where along the wall the zombie ponies were. They were moving from right to left, closing in on the open window. I turned to face it, anxiously awaiting what was going to happen next.

“Devan, look at me.”

I turned to face her again.

“Thank you, Devan. For everything. Thank you for saving our beautiful world.”

She leaned forwards and kissed my forehead as more tears made their way down my cheeks. She detached and smiled.

“Have a good rest of your life, dear.”

The vision faded and once again, I appeared somewhere else. Reality was quickly losing its meaning to me as my brain struggled to connect what was real and what wasn’t. However, there was no pain still. This was a dream. It was another dream.

I was sitting down now. There was a soft surface underneath, and my body felt comfortable. I could feel the warm sun beaming down on my face and chest, and a soft breeze cooled off the extra warmth.

My vision unblurred, and in front of me, Celestia’s sun was setting over the horizon. The sky just above it glowed a light red as it slowly dropped over the rolling fields and forests. The mountain peaks in the distance shimmered under its light. Nature sparkled under the glow of the sunset as far as my eyes could see. I was taken aback by the beauty for a minute, stuck in a trance as I gazed at the horizon.

After my mind escaped its trance, I looked down at my feet. I was sitting on top of a picnic blanket, and a daisy laid by my legs. I looked over, and beside me, Twilight was sitting and watching the sunset as well. She saw me in her peripheral and turned her head, smiling as her eyes met with mine.

I was too emotional to speak, and she saw this. Instead, she set her front hoof hovering down between us. I was using all of my strength to hold my hand still as I reached down and grabbed it. We both squeezed tightly, and my lips quivered as I looked back at the sunset. She sat in silence for a minute before her calming voice spoke.

“Thank you, Devan.”