Welcome To Dead Island

Twilight was in the bathroom of the bungalow, washing off the blood that had caked onto her fur. As the last of it runs down the drain she begins drying herself off with a towel. Slowly, she looks up and sees herself in the mirror. There she was, just staring at herself. Slowly, she begins to look down at her injured fore-legged, all wrapped up in gauze. She slowly began to unwrap it, she needed to see the bite. She gets the gauze off and... there it was. A distinct bite on her leg. It looked relatively healthy though, no infection has settled into it. She then slightly taps it with her other hoof, causing herself to wince.

She felt it, pain. So this really isn't a dream. This, all this was real. Twilight feels like she is in shock, she should be an emotional mess. Dead ponies are coming back and killing and eating the living. She feels the pit in her gut and the panic setting in. But overall, she feels composed. She sighs heavily and finally steps out to where the others are. Spike and the mare survivor were sitting on the couch, Rainbow was leaning against the front doors of the bungalow, and the Stallion survivor was pacing back and forth. All eyes shifted to Twilight as she exited the bathroom. Twilight looked to Rainbow, it was about time she got some answers.

"Ok... I think I'm ready to talk now." Twilight announced, causing Dash to stand up straight. Rainbow begins to approach Twilight, and that's when she notices them. "Rainbow! You're bit!"

"I'm covered in bites Twilight," Dash said calmly. "Many of which are older than 5 hours."

"Older? Then does that mean...?" Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Rainbow interrupted her.

"That means what is happening to other ponies can't happen to me, and by the looks of it, it can't happen to you either," Dash said as she sat in front of Twilight. Twilight felt relieved hearing that. Hearing how both she and her friend were immune was convenient. Or was it? Twilight already began thinking up a hypothesis on why that is, but she needed more evidence to support her idea.

"Well then Rainbow, I guess my first question is when did all of this start happening?" Twilight asked, seeing Rainbow Dash begin to slump her shoulder. She lets out a long sigh before answering.

"I started noticing it at the party last night. I was uh... Leaving the bathroom when I noticed a fight breaking out near one of the bars. I... I watched this stallion jump on the back of another stallion. I thought the two were really hoofing it out when the stallion on the bottom started yelling that the other was biting him. I went to help break it up, pulling the stallion on top of the other one and... then he jumped on me!" Dash said quite loudly. "He bit me right on the shoulder and so I punched him to get him off. Twilight... the look on his face... Never in my life have I looked at a face more covered in blood then that guy."

Twilight listens to her friend's story closely. it appears whatever happened last night happened after she turned in for the night, as she remembers seeing Dash go to the restroom with another mare by her side. She ignores her question on why they went in together and instead wants to know what happened after Dash was bit.

Flashback

Dash was yelling loudly as she clutched her shoulder which was now seeping blood. She looks up at this crazy Stallion that just bit her. She scowls at him till she notices the features on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and glossy, and they were darting all around him like he was crazed. Slowly her eyes begin to soften as he looks back down at her, growling like a beast. the stallion was then suddenly shoved in the side by what looked to be one of the resort's security guards.

"Hey, buddy! You lost your bucking Mind!" Yelled the security guard as he shoved the crazed stallion. Shifting his attention to the security guard, the stallion quickly tries to lunge at him. The guard was trying to push the stallion back as it appeared the stallion was trying to bite him too. Dash watches as a second security guard offers his hoof to her.

"Come along with me Ma'am, we'll help get that wound taken care of." Said the second security guard. Rainbow looks up at him, still holding her shoulder, and takes his hoof with her other hoof. He helps her up and leads her, and the stallion who was first attacked towards the nearest infirmary at the resort. They are led inside the hotel and go straight to a very small infirmary where Rainbow and the other Stallion had to sit together. The walk takes about 15 minutes, and since it was so late at night, it took around 30 minutes for them to be seen. Rainbow insisted the stallion be taken care of first, as he seemed to be in the worst shape. By the time the doctor dresses both Rainbow Dash and the other stallion, about an hour and a half had passed since they were both first bit.

"Well, that should just about do it for you two." Said the Doctor looking them both over one more time. "Let me get a statement from the security officer who escorted you both here and I can dismiss both of you."

"Doc... I don't feel so good..." Said the Stallion who looked to be sweating.

"It's just a bite from another pony. It's not like you contracted rabies from a wild animal or something. I'm sure you're fine." the doctor reassured.

"You weren't there... the bucker sure did act like a wild animal with rabies." Said the stallion as he rubbed his leg where the bite was.

"And what of you miss? You were bitten by the same pony, how do you feel?" The doctor asked as he looked at Rainbow Dash.

"I feel fine. But I agree, that guy was seriously acting strange. I didn't even do anything and he bit me." Dash Interjected.

"If you're feeling fine, then I'm sure the sicky feeling you are feeling sir is unrelated. Perhaps you should halt your drinking for the night." The doctor stood up and readjusted his glasses. "Let me speak with the security guard and I'll dismiss you both."

It was then the Doctor stood up and exited. Dash sighed and slumped in the seat she was sitting in as the stallion next to her kept to himself, his sweating only increasing. Soon an hour passes and the doctor hasn't returned yet. Dash was getting impatient and began to fidget by herself. When roughly 3 hours after the bite happens, Dash has had enough.

"Guhhhh!!! When is he coming back!? It's approaching 2 hours since he left!? Where the buck is he!?" Rainbow yelled She looks over at the stallion with her and her eyes widened at him. His face was pale, and he was covered in sweat. He was panting hard and his eyes were beginning to look bloodshot. And his bandages, were already filthy as blood was already bleeding through it, while her own bandages were still clean. "Whoa... dude... you really do look sick."

"...Bucket... get me a bucket..." he says softly. Rainbow, stands up and grabs the trashcan near the door. She picks it up and carries it to him and sets it in front of him. The stallion leans over and vomits. Rainbow looks away, sticking her tongue out from the noise of hearing him throw up. When he was done she looked back at him. He was staring into the trashcan like he was looking at a car accident. Rainbow looks down and gasps, the stallion just threw up a whole bunch of blood. "Oh, Celestia... Water... I need... some water...."

"Geez... okay dude. Just sit right there, I'll be back." Rainbow Dash stood up, approached the door, opened it, and peeks out. There was no one in sight, causing her to step out into the hall and close the door. She walks down the hall, finding this part of the hotel to be eerily quiet. "Hey, Doc! Where you at!?"

With no response, she decides to exit to get the injured stallion a drink. Down the hall was the hotel lobby where there was a water fountain with small paper cups. She grabs a cup with her wing and fills it up. As the water hit the empty cup, something occurred to Dash, it was too quiet. She turns and looks to see the lobby completely empty, not a single soul in sight. The party should still be going on, why was everything just so... quiet? her thoughts were interrupted by hearing the water overflow and hit the metal of the fountain. She pulls the cup back and looks back one more time before going back towards the infirmary. She opened the door and stepped in, the Stallion was now slumped forward in his chair like he was asleep. She approaches him and tries shaking him.

"Hey, hey buddy. I got you a drink of water as you asked." Rainbow said loudly as she shook him. There was no response, but the shaking caused him to dead weight forward. Dash quickly backs up as he falls forward out of his chair, laying on the ground stomach down. "What the heck!? Dude!? you okay!?"

Rainbow Dash set the cup down and knelt down on all four knees to check on him. His eyes were closed and his mouth was bloody from him throwing up blood. Dash continued to shake him, but he was completely immobile. Rainbow stands up to her full height and was now freaking out a little.

"What the hay is going on here!?" Rainbow shouted to herself, things were getting awfully strange. First, some maniac bites her and another pony, the other pony is getting extremely sick, there is no one else around, and the doctor has been gone for well over two hours by now. She approaches the door again and sticks her head out, looking both ways to see if the doctor was anywhere close. As she does, she begins to hear moaning behind her. She looks back and sees the Stallion slowly rising to his hooves again. Dash, narrows her eyes at him, seeing him get up.

"What the buck is your problem!? Why did you just fall over like that!?" Rainbow demanded as the stallion raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot and glossy as he looked right at her. He grits his teeth and begins to growl at her, causing Dash to flinch her head back. "Did you just growl at me?"

The stallion begins to look crazed the more he stares at Rainbow Dash. He continued to huff and growl like a deranged animal as Dash took one brave step toward him. She holds up her hoof to him, trying to reason with him, but that is all it takes to set him off. He quickly lunges at her, causing Dash to quickly pull back. He turns in the direction she flinched towards and again lunges at her.

"Dude!? get the buck away!" She yelled getting angrily at him. He tries lunging again, and Dash punches him hard in the cheek. He shrugged it off like it didn't even hurt him and lunged again. Dash flinches backward, causing her flank to be pinned against the back wall. The Stallion presses in and begins to try and bite her. Rainbow widens her eyes and punches him again, when she does, he bites her hoof hard. Rainbow yells out in pain as her blood seeps into his mouth. She holds her hoof there, looking all over to find something to defend herself with. She sees the large medical cabinet next to her. With her good hoof, She reaches over and opens it with enough force that a few jars of cotton balls fall out and break. She grabs a scalpel and plunges it into the neck of the stallion.

The stallion acts like it didn't even hurt him. He sinks his teeth into her hoof deeper and yanks back hard. Rainbow lets out another pained shriek as she could feel the blood run down her foreleg. She reaches and grabs another jar of cotton swabs and bashes him over the face with it. The jar shattering on impact is enough for the stallion to lose his grip. Rainbow, seeing an opportunity to get away, quickly runs for the door. The Stallion eventually focuses on her again and lets out a guttural bark. Rainbow Runs out and quickly slams the door behind her. She could feel the Stallion slam against the door behind her, beating on it as he was desperately trying to get to her. She sits on her flank and presses her back against the door.

"What the buck is happening?" Cried Rainbow as she looked down at her hoof. Blood oozing and dripping onto the floor. The pain causing her eyes to go moist. She just sat there holding her hoof in pain while the stallion kept trying to bust his way through the door, having no luck.

Present

Twilight looks at Rainbow in bewilderment, she had described her first encounter with the infected. Dash was holding her hoof in her other hoof where some bandages were. Presumably, where she was bit, Rainbow lets out another sigh as she wraps up her encounter.

"I went back out to where the party was, but... all there was... just bodies and more trotters. It looked like a total massacre, I wanted to check to see if any of our friends were there. But when I got too close, a couple of gallopers noticed me and chased me off." Rainbow Dash said while looking to Twilight.

"Gallopers?" Twilight asked with her head cocked to the side.

"They are like trotters, but they can still run," Dash explained. "And they can run fast. I had to fly just to get away from them, but I couldn't fly for long."

"How come?" Twilight asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Some pegasi trotters can fly, you become a big target for them. I can outfly them, but when you have about 10 on them on your tail, it's hard to fly and avoid them at the same time... I've seen others try to fly only to get grabbed in mid-air..." Rainbow then shudders at her own memory. Twilight was having a hard time taking all of this in. Did all of this really just happen in the span of hours while she was passed out? That was when a new more important question popped into her head.

"And what about the others? Where are our friends?" Twilight asked with genuine worry. Rainbow's eyes went soft and distant.

"...I found Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie....I'm still looking for the others." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Some of them are still missing!?" Twilight exclaimed loudly to which Rainbow and the other survivors quickly shushed her.

"You can't be too loud Princess. The Trotters will hear you." Said the Stallion that almost put a wrench through her face earlier. Twilight looked at him, curious as to who he was.

"And who are you?" Twilight asked

"My name is Trackhoof." He responded before then pointing to the mare survivor. "And this is my wife Aqua. Ms Rainbow Rescued us from our bungalow last night and brought us to her hideout at the Lifeguard Station. When she said she was going to look for more survivors, we volunteered to go with her."

Twilight was a bit surprised by that statement. She looks back at Rainbow, this whole time she had been going out and rescuing survivors. She was impressed by her bravery and heroism to help and rescue others. Then again, Rainbow was always like that. She would always help others that were in need. Staying true to her element. Twilight couldn't help but smile.

"While you have been out looking for our friends, you have been helping other survivors?" Twilight asked her rainbow-maned friend.

"Yeah... I have. We have a hideout in the lifeguard station." Dash admitted before also adding. "Fluttershy and Pinkie are there now."

"Alright." Twilight nodded. "I'm guessing you were looking for me then when you found me and Spike in the hotel?"

"Yeah, that's correct." Responded Dash. "I found you knocked out in the stairwell. Spike Protected you by burning any trotters to a crisp when they got close to you." That statement caused Twilight to widen her eyes. She then looks down at the baby dragon who refuses to even look her in the face. Rainbow Dash sighs before standing up.

"We need to get moving again. Staying in a spot like this unprotected isn't wise. Trotters will swarm back in outta nowhere. They're like cockroaches." Said Rainbow Dash as she picked up her canoe paddle again. Twilight looks at her and also stands up.

"Lead the way." Twilight picks her wrench back up with her magic.