Welcome To Dead Island

9:30 AM

Twilight groans hard as she slowly opens her eyes. The light from the window stung her eyes hard and her back ached from lying on the floor. As she slowly gets to her hooves, she feels the pounding in her head. It makes her nauseous and she quickly stumbles into the bathroom of her hotel. She feels her stomach clench hard and she throws up what little she has in her stomach. She groans hard as she looks into the porcelain bowl. Steadying her hoofing, she flushes the toilet and steps back into her hotel room. She approaches the sink and pours herself a cup of water and drinks it. Licking her lips to the satisfying flavor, she pours a second one. She can't believe she missed the bed and passed out on the floor from partying last night. She looks over at the second bed, and to her surprise, Spike is missing. Raising an eyebrow she then looks towards her hotel door and finds it barricaded with chairs and the room TV.

"What in Equestria?..." Twilight says to herself as she approaches the barricade. She knows she didn't do this, that means... She hears a small noise beside her and looks towards the closet. It sounds like soft sobbing, so Twilight slowly approaches it. She uses her magic to grip the nob, and she slowly turns it. She opens the door and... SMACK

Twilight yelps as her muzzle is smacked hard with a mane brush. After rubbing her now sore muzzle, she looks in and sees Spike holding the manebrush tightly in his claw, looking at Twilight as if he were looking at the devil himself.

"Spike!" She scolded, to which she quickly began shushing her.

"I'm sorry Twilight!" He spoke barely above a whisper. "I didn't know if it was really you!"

"Why wouldn't it be me!?" She narrows her eyes at the little dragon.

"Last night..." Tears formed in Spike's eyes. "Not long after we got in bed, I heard screaming. then I heard a lot of screaming.... then I could hear hoof steps out in the hall and... so I peaked."

"...And?" Twilight was beginning to look concerned for Spike as he looked absolutely traumatized.

"...I poked my head out into the hallway and I heard the sound of wet mud being stepped in. I looked down the hall and saw a bunch of ponies knelt over something... like they were eating something. I called out to them and... and..." Spike couldn't finish as he began sobbing again. Twilight softened her eyes and looked back towards the barricade. Whatever Spike saw, it must have been so horrible that he built this. She slowly walked over to it and began using her magic to remove some of the chairs.

"Twilight! No!" Spike called out to her in a panic.

"I just want to see what is going on Spike, I'm not leaving the room yet," Twilight reassured. She pulled away the last chair and very slowly began to open the door. She stuck her head out and the hallway had no lights on, making it hard to see. However, there was this very intense stench. It smelled awful like something had just died in the hallway. She uses her horn to illuminate her surroundings, and what she saw, she will never forget. Blood.

Blood was everywhere. It coated the walls and stained the carpet. There was too much blood here for it to have come from one pony. Twilight feels her stomach clench a second time and she quickly pulls her head back in. She closes the door and attempts to vomit, but she only dry heaves as there is nothing left in her stomach to throw up. What in the absolute hell happened!? She needed to find out, somepony could be hurt real bad.

"W-what is it?" Spike shook like a filly in the middle of winter.

"Sweet Celestia..." She turns her head towards the baby dragon with her eyes wide as dinner plates. "Spike... stay here, and do not come out for any reason."

Spike looked like he wanted to protest, but Twilight gave him a reassuring look to calm him down. Spike sat back down inside the closet and hugged his knees. Twilight closed the closet door and looked back towards her room door. She takes in a large breath and then exhales. She pushes the door open once again and takes her first step out. She could feel the moist carpet under her hooves squish. She cringes hard and fights back the churning in her stomach. She steps out fully and closes the door behind her.

She looks around as her horn illuminates again. Once again she sees the blood caking the walls and the carpet of the hallway soaked heavily. Twilight gulps hard, and takes a few steps towards the door across from her. This was Starlight's and Trixie's room, hoping they would answer, she knocked. To her surprise, the door opens on its own with the first knock, opening halfway. Not taking that as a good sign, she opens it the rest of the way. She steps inside, and the two are nowhere to be seen. The room, however, looks as if a tornado ran through it. Twilight feels a pit in her gut, not taking in the sight very well.

"Starlight!?... Trixie!?" She steps inside more and starts searching the room. She looks inside the closet and even in the bathroom, the pair are nowhere to be seen. In a panic, she runs out and checks the room next to her, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's room. It's identical, it's cluttered but they are nowhere in sight. In each room she checks to look for her friends, it ends the same way. The room is abandoned and it's trashed heavily. Twilight begins to panic, praying to Celestia that Luna will show up to end this nightmare.

She steps back out into the hallway. Her breathing was shaky as she felt the cold dampness of the carpet. As she looked back to all the carnage in the hallway, one thought began to enter her mind. Why is there so much blood, yet, there is not a single body in sight? That caused her to stop in her tracks. She looked all around her again, there had to be gallons of blood in this hallway, but not a single body in sight.

She looked farther down the hall, seeing there was more blood that way. With her curiosity growing, she builds up her bravery and begins trudging her way down the hall, she reaches an open part of the hotel that opens into a small lounge. When she turns towards the hallway, is when she finally sees one. A body lying near the back wall of the lounge. Twilight recoils hard and her stomach again begins to clench. Slowly she approaches the body, taking each step with caution. It had an orange coat, she needed to identify the body, to make sure it was not one of her friends. She gets right on it and uses her magic to roll the body over.

The sight of the lifeless body just slumping over was gut-wrenching. The body appeared to be a mare with an orange coat. But her cutie mark did not show apples, but instead a few palm trees. Relieved that it was not her Friend Applejack, she gets a closer look at the body. The body already seemed to be decaying, as Twilight could see muscle tissue. But that was odd, The body looked like it had been dead for a few days if it was decayed this bad. Twilight could also see some bite marks taken out of the mare. Was she attacked by a wild animal? The resort was quite a few ways from the jungle, but this was the only logical reason for all the blood and the dead body.

She stands up straight and turns back to go get Spike, and hopefully find somepony to report this to. However, right when she was about to turn towards the hallway leading to her room. She could hear breaths behind her. She stops and looks towards the body again, and now the body seems to be twitching. Twilight held her breath and rushed back over to the mare, she was still alive and she needed help.

"Miss! Miss are you ok! Stay still, you are hurt badly. I will go get you some help." Twilight reassured. The mare's eyes shifted to look at her, they were bloodshot and crazed. Her lips curl revealing her teeth. Thick saliva and blood ooze from her mouth. Her breaths begin to sound like growls which causes Twilight's eyes to widen. With motion as fast as a bullet, the mare lunges and takes a firm bite on Twilight's foreleg. Twilight lets out an ear-piercing shriek and punches the mare hard with her other hoof. The mare lets go and Twilight falls backward, landing on her back. tears of pain leak from her eyes as she looks at the nasty bite on her leg.

Her blood oozes down her leg as she then looks up at the mare who bit her. Twilight watches as the mare rises to her hooves slowly. Now standing at full height, Twilight watches as some of her intestines fall out of the mare's gut. Her eyes widen in fear as she then looks the mare in the face. The mare looks at Twilight with blind, animalistic rage. She lets out a loud predatory growl which causes Twilight to yell out in a blood-curdling scream. The mare stumbles towards Twilight, shifting under her hooves like it was hard to walk.

Twilight begins to scoot back on her flank in a desperate attempt to get away. The mare stumbles closer and closer till she is over the top of Twilight. The mare pounces and gets on top of Twilight, getting her and her swimsuit covered in blood as she attempts to bite her in the face. Twilight screams as she pushes on the mare's throat to keep her snapping jaws away from her face. The mare's hooves begin to scratch at Twilight's sides as it desperately tries to bite her again. Tears of fear stream down Twilight's face as she screams and fights for her life. She desperately looks for something to defend herself. She looks over at the wall and sees a fire extinguisher. In blind desperation. She uses her magic to pull it off the wall and smacks the mare hard in the head with it. The mare rolls off Twilight, allowing her to quickly get up.

She looked back down at the mare who was groaning and attempting to get back up. Twilight brings the extinguisher back down even harder onto the mare's head. She hears a sickening crack as the mare's body twitches. Her bloody gurgles could still be heard, causing Twilight to bring it down a third time. She begins huffing as the mare finally grows quiet again, and stops moving. Twilight Slowly backs herself against the wall and looks down. She cannot believe what she has just done. Her breathing was short and choppy as her throat tightened.

It was self-defense, she kept trying to tell herself. But the fact she may have just killed her causes Twilight to begin sobbing again. She looks down the hallway she came from, wiping away most of her tears, she sprints back down the hall. She gets back to her room and tries to enter. The door wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she pushed against it.

"Spike..." Her voice croaks. "Spike it's me... Open the bucking door... please."

After a few seconds, she hears shifting behind the door, like Spike removing the barricades he put back against the door. Slowly, Spike opens the door and looks up at Twilight. She was covered head to toe in blood, and Spike looked at her in horror.

"T-Twilight?..." Spike Whispered.

"Come on Spike... SNIFF... We need to go..." She replied, holding back most of her emotions in front of the baby Dragon.

"G-go?... go where?" He asks before Twilight's magic then surrounds his arm.

"For Celestia's sake just come on Spike!" Twilight says as she forcefully pulls Spike out of the room. The two make their way back down the hall Twilight just came through. She passes the body of the mare she just bludgeoned with the Fire extinguisher, trying to keep Spike from looking at it. But her efforts were for not.

"T...T... T-Twilight?" Spike squeaks as he tightens his grip on Twilight's tail.

"Don't look at it, Spike!" She tells him before dragging him past the body. They round the corner near the lounge to where the elevator was. She presses the button frantically, hoping in vain that the elevator still works. No matter how many times she presses the button, the elevator doesn't respond.

"Buck me! The power must be out!" Twilight exclaims loudly as her anxiety begins to rise again.

"Twilight! Your leg!" Spike yelled while looking at the Bite on Twilight's leg. She looks down to see it, her blood now oozing down her leg and onto the carpet as well. She pulls Spike's arm with her magic again and goes back into the lounge, forcing herself to ignore the pain.

"I'm fine! We gotta find the stairwell!" Twilight said as Spike tried to keep up with her.

"Where are we going!?" Spike asked, not fully understanding Twilight's panic.

"We need to get down to the lobby and find the others!" Twilight explained as they finally stepped out of the lounge. To her surprise, there appeared to be a hotel bellboy standing in the middle of the hall. Twilight feels a wave of relief and approaches him. "Thank Celestia. Sir! We need help, there's been an accident!"

The bellboy's head shoots upward like he is startled. He turns around, and the sight of him makes Twilight's blood run cold again. His uniform and mouth are covered in blood as meaty chunks hang from his mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and glossy as they seemed to stare into Twilight's soul. He was nowhere near as decayed as the mare she fought, but his face was the same as he looked at her like she was prey.

"Spike..." Twilight whispered. "Climb onto my back... do not make any sudden moves."

Spike was shaking with fear as he looked at the bloodied bellboy. Without hesitation, he slowly does what he is told. He climbs on top of Twilight and sits on her back. The bellboy was growling at the two like an animal, getting more and more agitated by the minute. With only moving her eyes, she looks down the hall where the stairs are located. She takes in a deep breath to calm her nerves. The first mare could only shuffle, perhaps whatever is happening to this bellboy, is the same thing that happened to that mare.

"Hold onto me tight Spike," Twilight warns before lowering herself down and charging forward. The bellboy lets out a hellish yell and lunges at Twilight. She sidesteps him, just barely missing his hoof that reached out for her. She begins to sprint down the hallway as fast as she can. That's when she hears Spike's panicked yell.

"Twilight! He's chasing you!" Spike yelled out. Twilight turns her head and gasps, the Bellboy is sprinting after her, barking like a demon. He was easily gaining on her, which caused Twilight to lower her head and begin sprinting as fast as she could. The yells and screams from the bellboy didn't even sound like they were coming from a pony, but a monster. The sounds he was making were still getting louder, even though she was giving it her all. She looks up and sees the door to the stairwell, She charges through the door and skids to a stop. She turns around and tries to close the door, but the bellboy is too close. As she tried to shut the door, He charged through, swinging the door back open and hitting Twilight hard in the muzzle.

The impact was so hard that it caused Twilight to fling backward hard and land on her back, cracking the back of her skull against the concrete floor. Spike was flung from her back as Twilight began to black out from the blow to the head. She could still hear the demonic barks from the bellboy as Spike screamed her name. Her vision darkens and the last thing she sees before her vision fades completely is a quick flash of green light.

5 hours later

Twilight begins to stir at the sounds of many voices that seem to be shouting in a panic. she tries opening her eyes, but the sudden light stings. Eventually, she can begin to pick out the words being said.

"...Answer me!..."

"...Put that down!..."

"...She could be infected!..."

"...It's been hours! Put that down right now!..."

Twilight could recognize one of the voices yelling. She squeezed her eyes tighter as the yelling was making her headache worse. Eventually, she groans and slowly opens her eyes, only seeing moving blurs.

"...Spike?" She softly groans out.

"See! She is not one of them!" Came the desperate voice of Spike.

"I need to make sure!" Came a second voice. As Twilight's vision clears up, she sees a stallion holding a wrench in his hoof. he holds it above his head like he is going to hit her with it. "Can you understand me!? I'll cave in your bloody face if you don't answer me!"

Twilight's eyes widen as she slowly gets a grip on what is going on around her. She looks at the stallion with a frightened but serious look on his face. He seemed moments away from hitting her with the wrench, causing her to hold up her hooves.

"...Don't hit me..." She managed to speak out, causing the stallion to soften his expression and lower the wrench.

"Oh thank Celestia..." He steps away from her as Twilight slowly pulls her hooves away from her face. "I damn near killed the Princess of Bloody Friendship..."

Slowly, Twilight sits up and looks behind her. She was lying on a bed, inside one of the beach bungalows. But how? Her last memory was that she was in a hotel running from a deranged bellboy. She then feels arms wrap around her and she looks back to see Spike hugging her tightly. She could see tears rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed into her coat.

"Twilight! I was so scared you were going to wake up and be one of those things!" Spike wailed loudly.

"Those... things?" She questioned as she hugged him back.

"We're calling them Trotters." Came a voice next to Twilight, She looks up to see the stallion who had just moments ago threatened to kill her.

"Trotters? What... I don't understand..." Twilight whimpered.

"No pony does! They just started showing up last night, ponies that eat other ponies. And the ponies that are bitten die, and then come back to life, but as a trotter themselves." Said the stallion, giving Twilight a serious look. She could not believe what she was hearing. "I've seen bodies suddenly reanimate and begin feasting on the living. It's a total nightmare!"

"If you're bitten... you turn into one?" Asked Twilight as she looked down at her leg. The same spot that was bitten by a supposed trotter earlier. It was wrapped up in gauze and seemed to be dressed up. "If a bite turns you... then how come I haven't turned?"

"We don't know! that's why I almost smashed in your head! We were all expecting you to turn!" Said the stallion. Soon, another survivor, this time a mare, enters the bedroom of the bungalow in a panic.

"She went out there! She bucking went outside to fight them!" Screamed the mare.

"She did!? What the buck is wrong with her!?" The stallion yelled back.

"Who!? Who went outside!?" Twilight exclaimed as the mare survivor looked at her.

"The pony who has been keeping us safe, Rainbow Dash!" She yelled. Twilight's eyes widen and she quickly pushes Spike away and stands up.

"Where!?" Twilight demanded. The mare points behind her and Twilight doesn't hesitate to walk past her.

"Whoa whoa!? Are you bucking crazy!? You want to get eaten alive!?" The stallion survivor tried to stop her.

"Rainbow Dash is one of my friends! I'm not leaving her out there on her own." Twilight narrows her eyes at the stallion. He sees how she has made up her mind and relents.

"Your funeral Princess." He backs away. Twilight turns back towards the doors of the bungalow and is about to open them when she is stopped one more time.

"Wait, Princess! Take this!" The mare survivor calls out to her. Twilight turns and sees the mare handing Twilight the wrench the stallion survivor had. She uses her magic to envelop it and take it. She looks at it before looking back at the front doors of the bungalow. She takes in a deep breath before bursting through and charging out. The beach in front of her was littered with blood and a few bodies. She could see Dash with a canoe paddle, fending off a small horde of 4 trotters. She had a determined look on her face as they all surrounded her.

"Rainbow!" Twilight called out, Which broke Dash's concentration as she looked over at Twilight. Her eyes widened with both shock and relief to see her friend was ok.

"Twilight! You're ok!" Dash yelled out. But that small distraction was just enough for one of the trotters to pounce. It latches onto Dash as she lets out a pained grunt.

"Rainbow!" Twilight narrows her eyes in anger and quickly lunges forward. One of the trotters turns and sees Twilight. Blood drips from its mouth as it begins to bark demonically at her. He stumbles towards her as Twilight approaches, swinging the wrench that connects with the trotter's jaw, it stumbles back but isn't fully knocked down. She swings again, hitting it in the temple, which finally causes it to crumple to the ground. She looks at the trotter on Dash and swings the wrench to hit it in the back of the head.

The trotter loses some of its strength from the hit, allowing Dash to finally push it off with an exhausted grunt. She then swings the paddle and hits it across the face. A loud crack is heard as it falls to the ground. With two more left, Dash and Twilight finish them off. Twilight brings the wrench down hard, smashing into the skull, and into the brain. Dash knocks the last trotter to the ground, before stabbing the trotter in the eye with the opposite end of the paddle, breaking all the way through its head. They are both soon covered in blood. Twilight pants hard as she looks down at the bodies of the 4 trotters. She still partially could not believe what she was seeing.

"What in Celestia's name is happening?" She whispered to herself. It was then she felt hooves wrap around her, it was Rainbow Dash hugging her tightly.

"Twilight! I can't believe you are ok!" Dash holds her possessively.

"I'm fine Dash, what's been going on?" Twilight begins to hug her back.

"We found you and Spike in the hotel's stairwell. You were bit and I was terrified you were going to turn into these... these..." Dash turns away and looks down at the bodies, a scowl forming on her face. "These monsters!"

"What's even happening Dash, where are the Trotters coming from?" Twilight asked as her gaze followed Dash's

"I'll tell you when we get back inside." Both mares then turn and enter the bungalow, safe for now.