Dead Rising: Case Equestria

"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Rainbow Dash cried out, panting from exhaustion, "how many of these zomponies are there?" She said as she used her recently acquired MMA Hoof gloves to beat another zompony down.

"Well," Spike responded as he swung his baseball bat at the nearest zompony, knocking it away, "since there was bound to be a lot of people in the Pegasium at the time I'd say-"

"It was rhetorical Spike!" Rainbow said, growling in frustration.

"Sorry," he responded dejectedly. Rainbow shook her head at this, not meaning to hurt her friend in such a way. Suddenly Rainbow's ears perked up as Spike suddenly chimed in. "Hey look! I think think that's it!" He said pointing to a store in front of them called "Pony Mart Rx: Pharmacy and Groceries."

"Finally!" Rainbow cheered as she fell on the ground happily in front of their destination, "I thought we'd never get here!"

"Well come on!" Spike chuckled at his friend's antics, "we still have to get the Ponybrex from inside, we have about..." he paused as he checked his watch, "an hour and fifteen minutes! Hey that's time to spare!" He said cheerfully.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow said as she hopped back to her hooves. "Let's go!" With that, they opened the door's and went inside. As they glanced around the interior of the small store, they noticed it was dimly lit and most of the food and medical supplies had been strewn across the ground.

"Most likely from the intial panic..." Spike thought as he continued looking around. All of a sudden, the both of them stopped as they heard voices coming from the back of the store.

"Other survivors?" Rainbow asked her companion as he simply shrugged in response. They then crouched down, intending to listen in on what was going on.

"Hehehe!" One voice let out a deep, gravelly laugh as if having accomplished something. "Small pony doctor trapped now!"

"I'm telling you," came a terrified voice, though much higher pitched and without a gravelly tone this time, "I don't know where they keep any gems or bits they get from here!"

"Little pony is lying!" Another gruff voice said, "I saw other guard ponies take shinies in here!"

"Well then," Yet another voice continued, still just as rough and deep as the other two, "if silly pony won't tell us now, we beat silly pony until she gives us what we want!" He said. A whimper soon followed this as the other two voices chuckled menacingly in their rough voices. However, having heard enough of this, Spike and Rainbow Dash chose this time to walk out from the shelves they were hidden behind. As Spike and Rainbow rounded the corner, they saw that three diamond dogs had a white pony with a Red Cross cutie mark with hearts at the corners of the cross, and a matching nurse hat to boot.

"Isn't that Nurse Redheart?" Spike whispered to his pegasus friend as she nodded, confirming his question. It was then that Spike and Rainbow decided to reveal their presence, but not before Spike grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the shelves.

"Hey Diamond Dorks!" Rainbow yelled out, instantly garnering the attention of the dogs from the trembling nurse pony. "Why don't you big jerks pick on somebody else!" The dogs simply snickered at her statement.

"Oh!" The biggest dog, who was obviously the leader of the group, said in mock surprise, "and who will stop us, silly blue flying pony and small purple lizard?" He said making Spike and Rainbow glare at his insults.

"Hah," Spike scoffed as he replied "and here I thought you neanderthals didn't even have enough brains to even form complete sentences, but I guess you guys proved me wrong!" This retort in turn made the diamond dogs glare this time while they simply smirked back at their adversaries.

"Big talk for such small prey!" The smallest diamond dog growled at them, about ready to charge at them, "You two are very scared if you make silly talk when outnumbered."

"Numbers don't win a battle Fido!" Rainbow said grinning as the dog growled louder.

(Dead Rising 2: Off the Record: Looter's theme starts to play)

"Argh! I will crush stupid pony and lizard!!!" He shouted angrily as he ran towards his foes.Spike had a plan however, as he had already undone the cap to the shampoo bottle and poured it's contents in front of him. The foolish diamond dog had no chance to avoid the slippery substance as he felt inertia carry him towards his smirking opponents.

"Wait for it!" Rainbow said getting into bucking position as the dog drew nearer.

"Almost..." Spike said in turn as he prepared his bat to swing.

"NOW!" They both yelled in unison as they simultaneously bucked and hit the poor diamond dog, who had been scrambling to avoid his fate, but to no avail. The force of the impact sent him sailing right into the shelves of the headache remedy section, the sign of which said "oh, that's gotta hurt!" After that was over, Spike and Rainbow turned towards the other two diamond dogs, who were obviously shocked that their comrade had gotten disposed of so quickly.

"Well now that the odds are evened out..." Spike said with a grin.

"...Let's have a little fun!" Rainbow said smirking as she flapped her wings in preparation for the fight. "I get the big one alright?" She said as she eyed her target.

"You sure you can handle it?" Spike asked jokingly.

"Psh!" Rainbow said waving him off with her hoof, "Please! This'll hardly be a warm-up!" She said as she sped off hooves-first at the group leader, who was unable to follow Rainbow's flight speed and got carried into the wall with a crash that sent boxes flying and bottles rolling.

"Well then," Spike said regaining his focus on the last remaining diamond dog. "I guess it's just you and me then?" He asked the dog, who simply gulped in response. Spike charged with a war cry as the dog yelped and ran from him. On Rainbow's side however, her opponent was putting much more effort into the fight than his lackey was currently.

"Hmph, you're stronger than I thought big guy!" Rainbow said grunting as she dodged a clumsy swing from the canine as she countered with a kick of her own, only to have it blocked.

"Heh heh heh, silly pony and lizard may have beaten other dummy dogs, but they can't beat me!" The dog said simply laughing confidently at her statement. As the battle wore on Rainbow managed to get a few good hits in on the lead dog but even with all her stamina training for the Wonderbolts, her body just couldn't match up to the energy output like the more massive diamond dogs's could. After she tried for one last aerial dive, the dog caught her and pinned her to the ground, making Rainbow cry out in pain as she felt herself slowly getting crushed by him.

"Urgh... where the heck is Spike when you need him?" She thought furiously trying to look for her companion, who seemed to have disappeared.

"Ha ha ha! Tonight I dine on winged pony soup!" The brute-ish canine crowed as he drew an arm back to deliver the final blow. Suddenly however, he heard a shaking of what sounded like a spray paint can, and afterwards felt a force drop onto his head. He then made the mistake of looking straight up, only to find a familiar purple dragon pointing the nozzle of a can straight at him.

"Yo what's up?" Spike asked him, casually waving as he then sprayed the contents of the can into the dogs eyes, which unfortunately for him widened in surprise.

"ARGH! Eyes BURN!" The dog yelped in pain, stumbling around as he furiously rubbed his eyelids in a futile attempt to remove the offending substance which plagued him.

"Hey Rainbow what say we finish this?" He said smiling as he helped his companion up.

"Took you long enough!" She said rolling her eyes, but returning the smile in question. Then they both ran at the diamond dog leader as Spike tripped him by swinging his bat at the dog's feet, while Rainbow swooped quickly under him and delivered a hard uppercut to their foe's jaw, instantly knocking him out. Satisfied, the duo grinned and gave each other a celebratory bro-hoof to one another. Then they turned to make sure Nurse Redheart was ok.

(Music Stops)

"Oh thank goodness you came!" She said in relief while returning to a calm attitude, "I don't know what I would've done if you two hadn't come along! Is there anything I can do to repay you?" She asked, eyes brimming with gratitude for her heroes.

"Well I mean I wouldn't mind a thank you ki- Ouch!" Spike yelped as Rainbow elbowed him in the side.

"What my friend here means is to ask if there's any Ponybrex here." She said as she gave a glare to her ally, who simply gave a sheepish grin in response.

"Hm..." Nurse Redheart replied thoughtfully, "Well I think I do remember there being one in the back...now give me a minute to unlock this door here." She said as she took a key off the counter and unlocked the door. "Ah yes there it is!" She said happily from the back as she shortly came out with a bright blue box labeled "Ponybrex: One a day keeps the Zompony away!"

"Thank you so much!" Rainbow cried out in triumph as she grabbed the box from the mare's hooves. "Now back to the safe room!" She said, about to blast off before the Nurse asked Spike a question.

"Um..." She said shyly, "Do you think...it's alright if I...you know...accompany you two back there?" Asking with a cringe.

"Well sure, you didn't even have to ask!" Spike responded nobly, "Anypony is welcome there, and we'd be glad to have a nurse around to help with any injured survivors we might have!"

"Then it's settled!" Rainbow said agreeing, "now let's hurry! We've only got like thirty minutes to get back!" She said dragging the two others behind her.

"Rainbow slow down!" Spike yelped, fearing for his life as he almost saw himself crash into a shelve on the way out. After that obstacle, the rest of the way back for them was uneventful, as the zomponies didn't give them too much trouble as they had cleared a path before. They all eventually made it back to the safe room vent with fifteen minutes to spare as Spike and Rainbow ushered Redheart into the the vent door. Rainbow made a beeline for the room where she found her friends and Scootaloo, the latter of whom was looking very pale as she slowly turned her head and gave a slight smile at her older sister.

"Rainbow Dash!" She said weakly as she gave a slight cough, "You're back!"

"Of course I am kiddo!" Rainbow said warmly as she gave a soft nuzzle to her. "Now let's hurry and give you this alright?" She said as Scootaloo nodded. Rainbow then opened the box as she eyed the small syringe inside, filled with a blue liquid. "Ready?" She asked her sister tentatively as her sister nodded in response. Rainbow then gently lowered the syringe and injected the dosage of the drug as Nurse Redheart made her way over and gave a quick look over the small Pegasus filly.

"Well," Nurse Redheart said, "the drug is working, and her fever seems to be going down, so I believe she'll be just fine, now just give me a minute so I can bandage up her leg properly!" She said as all the other ponies, and dragon, gave a sigh of relief at the news.

"Thanks a lot Nurse!" Rainbow said cheerfully, already noticing her sister beginning to gain back her vibrant orange hue.

"It's no problem at all Ms. Dash!" The medical pony said cheerfully, "It's all a part of my job!"

"Well now that that's over," AppleJack said gaining the focus of everypony else, "what should we do now?"

"Well I figure our best bet is to wait here until the Princess's guard arrives." Twilight reasoned as Spike and Rainbow shook their heads in disagreement.

"Do what you guys want," Spike said, "but I need to figure out what's going on here, and why this all started." he continued as he walked towards the vent entrance.

"Seriously Spike?" Twilight said groaning in frustration. "Is this about getting your story back, getting your big chance at fame again?" She said as Spike clenched his fists but said nothing and simply exited the room.

"Don't worry Twilight I'll go after him and make sure he's alright!" Rainbow said reassuring her book-ish friend as she began to trot towards the direction Spike went in.

"Wait Rainbow!" Twilight yelled out, making the pegasus turn. "Just...please tell him I'm sorry..." She whispered with a forlorn look on her face as a tear rolled down her face.

"Hey come on sugarcube!" AppleJack said, trotting up to Twilight and giving her a reassuring pat, "Ah'm sure he'll just need a moment ta clear his head and then he'll come back and you can apologize to him then!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie continued, "If there's one thing I know about us and our friends is that even though we get mad at each other when we say mean stuff, we'll never ever ever leave each other for good!"

"Pinkie's right!" Fluttershy said softly, but agreeing with the bubbly pink ponies statement, "Spike would never make the mistake of leaving you again, I'm sure of it!"

"Of course dear!" Rarity chimed in, "If there's one thing our little Spike-Wikey is and as always been it is loyal, and a real gentledrake." Twilight gave her friends a grateful smile as they all went into a group hug. As the hug eventually dissipated, Twilight gave a look of realization.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She said pulling out a key and dropping it into Rainbow's hoof. "I found that key in the room we were just in, it seemed to come from the maintenance section!" She informed the cyan mare.

"Maintenance huh?" Rainbow whispered thinking back to the door with the blue sign that she and Spike had passed previously. She then shook her head to regain focus, and headed out towards the vents, but not before telling the others to take care of Scootaloo for her, to which her friends heartily agreed. As she made her way out of the vents she found that Spike hadn't gone too far and was sitting on the staircase leading out of the mall's maintenance area. He looked quite glum and barely noticed as Rainbow went and sat by him.

"Hey Spike," Rainbow said hesitantly, "are you alright there kiddo?" It took a while for Spike to respond, but he finally gave a sigh and spoke.

"Yeah I guess so," he said gloomily, "it's just that what Twilight said makes me look like I'm some kind of fame-hungry paparazzi photographer, and I'm not!"

"Hey it's alright!" Rainbow said trying to cheer him up. "I think she was just worried about you going back out here mostly, I mean, she was pretty sad while you were gone."

"You really think so?" He asked with a hopeful smile.

"Of course!" She said, happy to get some joy out of him, "And besides," she said jokingly as she gave a cocky grin, "if you were a fame-hungry member of the press, a couple shots of me is all it would take to rocket you to stardom!"

"Oh really?" Spike said with a smirk, "I guess that would certainly make the paper's headlines '20% cooler' huh?"

"Oh quiet you!" She said playfully punching him as they both laughed together.

"So wait what is that for?" Spike asked curiously as he eyed the key that Twilight had given Rainbow.

"Hm..." Rainbow replied in thought, hoof scratching her head, "I think it's for that door over there," she said gesturing towards the door behind them.

"Huh, well let's check it out then!" Spike said leading Rainbow over to the door. The pegasus then unlocked the door as they stepped inside the room, finding it to have multiple tools of sorts and a couple of items on the shelves.

"Wow!" Rainbow said in amazement, "You'd have to be really good with tools to work with all of these!"

"Hiya guys!" Applebloom said from behind them, startling them into giving screams of surprise. This display made the little filly giggle at what she had done.

"Applebloom what are you doing here?" Spike inquired as the initial shock wore off.

"Well Twahlight and mah sister figured that I could be of some help here after they saw what these rooms were for!" She said beaming at the two.

"Well what are they for?" Rainbow said as she shrugged at the red-maned filly.

"Well lemme show ya!" She said, grabbing the items from the shelves while grabbing some other tools off the racks they were on.

(Chuck's Workbench theme plays)

Applebloom quickly got to work as Rainbow Dash and Spike simply gawked in awe at the speed and precision that the filly was working with. The filly in question soon became a blur as she used duct tape, nails, hammers, and saws like a professional while all the while humming a rock tune (the tune mentioned above) that she knew quite well. By the end of it she had a few pieces of tape stuck on her coat, and a few nails were lying idly about, but she had done it, and didn't even have a scratch on her!

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed as she handed her older friends their new, and improved, weaponry.

"Aw yeah! I like this one!" Spike said smirking as he swung his bat, which now had nails hammered point-out sticking from the head of the bat.

"This is awesome Applebloom! Thanks!" Rainbow said with glee as she tried on her MMA hoof gloves, with now had nails poking out similar to Spike's bat.

"No problem guys!" The filly said proudly, "Though ah was kinda limited on what we had ta work with here, but if you fahnd more stuff in this place, just come on over her and ah'll have Twahlight teleport me here ta see what ah kin make outta it!"

"Will do!" The recipient's of the weaponry nodded happily as they waved to their friend, who walked back towards the vent room since the maintenance room had been close by.

(Music Stops)

"Man that Applebloom sure is handy!" Spike said looking at the departing member of the Apple family.

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "She's always been pretty handy with tools and such!"

"Hey you don't think her cutie mark could be-" Spike was suddenly broken out of his train of thought as they heard Twilight's voice their ears.

"Spike! Rainbow Dash! Come quickly, we just found out something!" Twilight said, a worried tone evident in her voice.

"Alright we'll be there in a second!" Spike replied as he and Rainbow Dash sped back towards the safe room, wondering what would happen next.