In the House, In a Heartbeat

Chapters

Happy Anniversary
First Steps
The Liar

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

Cadence was having a fairly average day. She woke up, cooked breakfast for her and her husband, let said breakfast grow cold before he woke up, and then dumped it all over him when he refused to wake up after another hour. Shining Armour jerked awake as the cold, runny, and messy eggs followed by pancakes, drenched his upper body entirely.

He shouted a military cry as he attempted to jump into position, only to get entangled in their bed sheets and fell hard onto the wooden floor below. Shining Armour slowly disentangled himself and groggily stood to his hooves as he saw a neutral expression on her face. His anger flared up as he yelled at her. “CADENCE, WHAT THE HAY?!” He shouted, shaking the cold food off his coat.

The neutral expression melted into an angry scowl. “WHAT?! YOU DON’T KNOW?” Cadence shouted back, the rage and anger clear on her face.

Shining Armour’s ears flopped onto his head, a worried look smoothing out his initial anger.

“W-what's wrong baby?” He shrunk back the tiniest bit.

Cadence looked at him in disbelief, eye twitching madly. “You don’t know?” she whispered, the hurt clear in her voice. “You don’t know?!” his wife yelled as her anger escalated with a vengeance. “Did you suddenly forget what day it is today?!” She screamed, pointing an accusing hoof at her husband.

“I-I..... “ His eyes went wide as dinner plates when he realized the severity of his error, “It’s our anniversary...”

Throwing her hooves up into the air in frustration she screamed, “AND THE LAST PONY FINALLY CROSSES THE FINISH LINE!”

Shining Armour covered the short distance between them, “C-Cadence, I’m really, really sorry!” He begged for her forgiveness on his knees. “Please, let me make it up to you!” He scanned the room, looking for a way to salvage the wrecked situation.

Seeing none, he promptly did what most men did when in trouble. He lied.

“I got a present for you!” He spat out hastily, “O-one you’d really, really love.”

Cadence looked unamused. “Oh YEAH?! What is this mysterious present you got me?!” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him, closing the distance between their faces.

“I-It’s.... its uhhhhh.... “He scanned the room again, “It’s a surprise! I wasn’t going to give it to you until the special dinner I had planned!” He smiled, knowing that the situation had been fixed to some extent.

Cadence faltered a bit. “Y-you planned a special dinner?”

“Of course!” He lied through gritted teeth, “I would never forget our special day! I just slept in!” A half lie of course.

“Oh.” Cadence responded softly, “W-well I’m really sorry for yelling then. I honestly thought you forgot.” She said sheepishly, looking down and rubbing her hoof into the floor.

Shining Armour lifted her head up and kissed her softly on the lips. “It’s okay baby, we all make mistakes sometimes.” He cooed softly, rubbing her back gently.

“Well..... Thanks. Thanks for not forgetting, you’re the best husband a mare could ask for.” Shining did a sharp inhale and let out a small smile.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Well, I guess I’m off.” She shrugged out of her husband’s grip and started to trot away.

“Wait! Where are you going?” He asked confused.

“I’m going to take a shower, you rubbed those nasty eggs all over me when you hugged me.” Shining’s ears lowered back and he held his head down in shame.

“Y-yea,” he said with a chuckle. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh it’s okay sweetie. I shouldn’t have judged you so fast.” She said lovingly causing Shining winced.

“Yea, it’s okay I guess.” Cadence chuckled a bit and trotted out of the room, leaving a guilty husband in her wake.

“Look, I don’t care if you don’t have any open spots for tonight! I need a reservation now!” Shining shouted at the hostess in distress. He had dug a hole for himself, and he was having a bit of trouble getting out.

“Sir, if you are going to shout, I am going to have ask you to leave.”

“BUT IT’S MY ANNIVERSARY AND I NEED A TABLE!” Shining yelled as he slammed his hoof on the podium.

“Oh sir, I didn’t know that was the case! Let me show you a special table we have for ponies in your predicament.” The mare stood and led Shining through the restaurant.

Shining Armour breathed a sigh of relief as he followed. “It’s about time.” He mumbled under his breath. After they walked through the back kitchens, Shining was beginning to question whether or not this mare had any actual tables for him.

“AND STAY OUT!” Shouted the manager of the restaurant as she threw Shining out into the back alleyway.

For the second time in the day, Shining’s face was met with a cold, hard surface.

“GAH! MY NOSE!” He shouted, nose breaking with a clean snap as blood gushed out of his nose and pooling around his hooves. No attempt to cover it or at least stopped it seemed to work as his anger and frustration began to rise. Not seeing any stop in sight, he got up and walked around to the front of the restaurant and waited for the bleeding to stop. He gritted his teeth angrily as he shoved his way into the restaurant.

“BITCH!” He shouted at the hostess, who groaned in distress.

“Sir, didn’t you take the bucking hint?” She pinched her nose in frustration.

“Do you know who I AM?!”

“No, I don’t. SECURITY!” She shouted to the back of the restaurant, a burly looking pony lumbering out of an office door.

“I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AND I WANT A TABLE, NOW!” He shouted.

The hostess’ eyes widened as big as Celestia’s sun.

“O-oh, s-sir. I’m so, s-sorry.” She said with a quick bow, “I d-didn’t kn—”

“That’s right, you didn’t. Though obviously, you should know that.” He said menacingly. “All I wanted was a bucking TABLE! A TABLE FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA!” Shining yelled down at the mare, who was cowering on the ground.

“S-sorry sir, I’ll g-give you t-the best one w-we h-have!” She said nervously, bowing low to the ground, head pressed submissively on the ground.

“I never wanted the best one.” He pinched his broken nose, pushing it back into a place with a painful grunt “I just wanted one, freaking, table!!.” He growled out, sighing frustratingly as he brushed a hoof through his mane.

“Y-yes sir. R-right this way.” She got up and began to speed walk to the closest table in the restaurant, which happened to be towards the back, where there fancier tables were placed.

“Not right now. I wanted one for dinner, my wife is going to kill me if I don’t get a reservation.” He said in exasperation.

“So you didn’t get us reservations. I should have known.” Came an angry voice from behind him, and he froze. Slowly turning around, as if doing it fast would provoke the wrath of the voice, he was soon face to face with Cadence.

“Uuuhh, hey honey. What’re you doing here?” He stared blankly at her.

“I was going to the restaurant you that you said we had reservations to at five o'clock. It’s five ‘o seven.”

“W-well I got us a table!” He said nervously, eyes darting from side to side.

“Yes,” Cadence replied dryly. “I saw.” Shining chuckled nervously.

“W-well yea.... So you want to go in?”

“You forgot about our anniversary.” She deadpanned.

“N-no I didn—”

“YES YOU DID!” She yelled at him. “I SAW EVERYTHING, YOU LYING BASTARD!”

“B-but honey I—” He shrunk back slightly, ears pressed against his head, trying to avoid his wife's wrath.

“NO! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!”

“But look at all the trouble I went through!” He complained, waving a hoof to the cowering hostess and glowering manager.

Cadence shook her head. “That’s not why I’m mad.” She replied sadly

“Then what did I do wrong?!”

“I’m mad because you lied to me! If you had just said you forgot, it couldn’t have possibly been as bad as this!”

“WHAT?! Now I’m the bad guy?!? All I was trying to do was make our anniversary as good as I could make it! Look at the trouble I went through, for an ungrateful BITCH, like YOU!” Cadence took a step back in shock.

“S-Shiny, w-wh-”

“NO! JUST SHUT UP! JUST, SHUT! UP!” He screamed, and took several deep breaths, his temper raging. After a few moments, Cadence was slowly backing away. “Just..... Just go.” He waved a hoof off. “Go home, I have to think this through.” and he trotted off, leaving a bewildered, lonely, and sobbing Cadence on the street.

Cadence had wandered through the streets of Canterlot, avoiding anypony who approached her, and eventually broke down in an alleyway by a loud nightclub. Her loud sobs were drowned out by the immense ground-shaking bass coming from the inside. Several ponies passed her, but they made no move to approach her, and she was fine with that. After about an hour of lying on a pile of trash and crying, she had no more tears to cry. The sun was already down, and she had no idea what time it was. Even the moon was of no indication, as it wasn’t visible anywhere in the clouded sky.

Slowly, and shakily rising to her hooves, she tried to trot out of the alley but collapsed from a sudden bout of exhaustion. Without warning, she curled into ball and began to shiver furiously. It was a cold night, colder than most. Then, a crack of lightning struck the air, and Cadence jumped slightly. It began to rain, slowly at first, until it was pouring. Her mane clung to her body, and she began to slowly make her way back into the alley to find refuge from the rain, when a strange pony appeared at the edge of the alleyway.

This strange pony was a mare. Purple coat, and cotton candy looking hair that was also purple, with a large stripe of white through it. The strange mare had a screw next to a baseball as her cutie mark, and she slowly approached Cadence.

“Are you okay there?” Asked the purple mare cheerfully, not even acknowledging the rain.

“L-leave me a-alone.” Cadence’s shivering made her stutter.

“You look wet! Let me help you with that.” The mare reached into a pair of saddlebags that Cadence hadn’t seen before a second ago, and pulled out a large bright green umbrella that couldn’t have logically fit in the small bag. Opening the umbrella, she quickly shielded the poor princess and sat down next to her.

“So, do you want to be my friend?” The purple pony asked, oblivious to the glare Cadence was giving her.

“Just leave me alone.”

“Awww you seem sad, what’s wrong?”

“My husband hates me that’s what. Can you leav—” She was interrupted with a large gasp of horror that would have made Pinkie jealous.

“THAT MEANIE! What did he do to you?!”

“You don’t even know me, what do you care?” Asked Cadence resentfully.

“Well I’m not going to let my new friend sit in the rain all alone. Friends need to talk to friends.” She said with a serious expression before breaking out into a small, friendly smile.

Cadence sighed tiredly. “Listen, I really appreciate what you’re trying to do, but can you please leave me alone?”

“Nope!” Said the mare with a large smile, “So, I bet you feel really sad huh?”

“Not helping.”

“I bet you feel so sad you don’t want to live anymore.”

“Are you even trying to cheer me up?”

“So, why don’t you let me help you want to live and send you somewhere else; a happier place?”

“Leave me alon— Say what?” Cadence rubbed her ear with a hoof, “Did you say send me somewhere else?”

“Yeah!” Replied the purple pony, unfazed by Cadences reaction, “So, whaddya think?”

Cadence sniffled, wiping away the last of her tears. “I just don’t want to be sad anymore..... “

Her new “friend” smiled and patted her shoulder supportively, “I can send you to a place where you won’t be sad!”

Cadence perked up a bit, “R-really?” She replied hesitantly. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch! Well except for one teensy, tiny thing, but it doesn’t matter!” The odd pony said nonchalantly.

The princess thought her options over before nodding to herself, “Well, as long as I won’t be sad.... Okay then. Do it.” The eccentric purple mare smiled in a very creepy way.

“You got it!” Without skipping a beat, she began to rub her hooves together furiously, and they began to spark wildly.

“What are you doi—” Asked Cadence, before she was interrupted when the purple mare flung both of her hooves up dramatically and a bolt of lightning came down and struck the mare. Cadence shouted and jumped back in shock.

“ARE YOU OKAY?!” She shouted and jumped up and away from the mare who, once Cadence’s eyes returned to normal from the flash of light, was completely unharmed. Wild sparks of every color of the rainbow sparked off of her body, and everything around her was disappearing in flashes light, the same color as the spark that hit them.

“Are you sure about this?” Asked the mare seriously, looking at her in concern. Cadence hesitated, troubled by the purple ones concern, but nodded her head.

“Okay!” Right away, the strange mare was back to normal.

“Wait, what did you say the catch w—” She never got to finish her sentence, as the purple pony gripped her in a tight hug and she vanished in a flash of light that sent a giant rainbow colored beam, crashing through the clouds. Ponies all over town smiled, oohed and ahhed at the beautiful phenomenon and after it was over, nopony noticed that a small little obscure alleyway next to a nightclub was completely devoid of life.

A giant spear composed of rainbow spectrum thundered from the heavens, slamming onto the streets and into the ground below. The dirt did nothing to derail it as it penetrated deep enough into the transportation tunnel system. It lit the dark subway tunnels for miles in either direction, causing the infected to stop what they were doing and pay attention. Several stood idly for moments before they all began to towards the source of light, the only goal in mind being the spreading of the virus unwillingly controlling them.

Cadence crashed onto the concrete ground, a gasp escaping her lungs as the impact left her breathless. Grunting in pain, she tried to move onto her hooves, but only managed to fall onto her side, muscles twitching in pain. It was when she heard ghastly screaming coming from all around her and the ground shaking from thundering from a massive amount of hoofsteps.

Trying to get onto her hooves, she looked down and gasped. Her whole body had changed in many different ways. Her fur, wings, and horn were gone. Her hooves had been replaced with some sort of odd claw-like appendages, that eerily reminded her of Diamond Dogs. Her hind legs had been replaced with long slender appendages not unlike a monkey. After failing to walk, Cadence looked up and noticed that she was in some sort of underground system with dim, barely operable lights hanging overhead; casting deep shadows all around her.

She looked up as the screaming came ever so closer, a large creature that was wearing a long green coat and black pants ran in her direction, holding some sort of metal device in its hand as he approached her and a large metal flashlight. His fur was a tan colored and his mane was deep curly dark brown. The thing was flanked by two smaller creatures that looked the same as it, in general appearance, probably children. Right next to the taller one, was another one that was about the same size, but was slightly taller, and had a paler fur composition. This one was slightly muscular, but it looked a bit overweight in her opinion. It’s mane was a dark brown and curled on top of its head.

The first one took a look at her and shouted something unintelligible, but as the group slowly got closer its words began to make sense.

“RUN! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! THEY’RE COMING, RUN!” Cadence was stunned by its words. Before she could ask what it meant when a large mob of the creatures that varied largely, but most, if not all of them, were covered in blood, sprinted at incredible speeds towards the smaller group. She froze in fear as the group thundered past her and the blood covered ones got closer.

The creature that yelled at her before he turned around slowly and ran back to her, bending down with a grunt of pain and scooped her naked form without question into his arms.Turning around, it sprinted back towards the group, limping weakly every couple of steps. Cadence bounced in his arms and looked at it in fear, chest rising and lowering rapidly, though he paid her reaction no mind.

“Guys, they’re gaining on us!” Shouted one of the children, who was probably a girl if her voice was anything to judge by.

“Keep running!” The tallest one yelled to the others.

“We’re gonna die guys...” Said the other kid in a gloomy, yet loud voice, somehow penetrating the din of the screaming things behind them.

“No we aren’t, now run!” He shouted at her, but she felt her rescuer slowly dropping behind the group.

“Guys! I can’t carry her, she’s too heavy!” He said loudly, gasping for breath as his injury was taking its toll on him.

“Damnit!” The tallest of the group ran over and took her in his arms. Without second hesitation, he began to speed up again, once again gaining distance from the mob that was steadily inching closer towards them.

“We can’t outrun them!” Shouted the girl as she ran holding the younger boy’s hand.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Yelled the one carrying Cadence

“What’re we going to do?!” Asked the boy, taking an interest in their survival.

“DROP HER!” Shouted the young mare.

“Are you fucking crazy?! How would you feel if I dropped your sorry ass?!” The man in the green coat replied snidely as Cadence hugged his coat for protection, shivering at the cold draft.

“We don’t even know her! Would you be willing to risk your life for somebody you don’t even know, much less appeared in a FUCKING RAINBOW?!” She shouted.

“YES! She’s as much as a human as the rest of us, and I will not leave a single person behind for those FREAKS to tear apart!” Throughout all of this, Cadence was simply locked up, with only one thought going on in her mind. ‘What the buck is going on?!’

First Steps

The one carrying Cadence grunted as he hefted her on his shoulders, her curly mane flopping all about. “Everyone shut the fucking hell up!” he yelled as he tried to get his compatriots attention. “There’s a service elevator nearby! We it can take and get the hell out of this joint!”

“I hope you’re right!” Screamed the filly as they ran onwards, turning corners and dodging around small pieces of debris to the best of their ability.

The group ran off of the tracks and followed hot on the heels of Cadence’s carrier as he smashed an obstructing door open with his boot.. The creature noticed a panel and pressed a button, a large pair of doors sliding open to reveal the inside of a red room with enough space to store a generous amount of supplies in it.

“Get in!” He waved his arm, the gesture somehow speeding things up in his mind. Everyone hustled in without complaint and waited patiently as he pressed a button, Cadence letting out a surprised yelp as they began to rise.

“It’s just an... ” wheezed the darker skinned adult sighed and took several deep breaths, keeling over and holding his knees. “Elevator...” Cadence watched as he kneeled in front of the small child. “Are you alright, Andy?” He asked, clearly concerned. The colt merely nodded his head affirmatively, causing the stallion to sigh in relief.

The man looked at whom she presumed to be the colt’s older sister, “You holding up, Tammy?”

Tammy merely crossed her arms indignantly, letting loose a brief glare directed at Cadence, “Yeah...I’m doing fine...”

Standing up to his feet, he pulled out a metal device and pulled a long slice of identical material from the bottom, checking it for something before sliding it back with a click, “I got a full clip and some extra mags in my coat. How about you, Colton?”

Colton, the man who currently held her looked back at him, “I got about half a clip, Aramis. Other than that, I have three more mags before I’m out.”

“Shit... ” The darker man muttered to himself, “We need to get to cover the moment we get out of this elevator, or we’re gonna get boned.”

“DROP THE FUCKING GIRL COLTON! DROP HER OR WE’RE ALL DEAD!” Screamed the filly as they ran onwards. Their small party had been immediately ambushed the moment the elevator had ascended into a worker lobby room, dozens upon dozens of the same creatures that attacked them earlier lazily walking around. Cadence’s eyes widened as all of the creatures instantly took notice of them.

“FUCK THAT!” Screamed the one who was called Colton, and who was generally slowing down along with the rest of the group.

“WE’RE GOING TO DIE, AND IT’LL BE YOUR FAULT! DO YOU REALLY WANT US TO DIE BECAUSE YOU WOULDN’T DROP A FUCKING STRANGER!?”

“WE’LL BE FINE, JUST SHUT UP AND RUN!” Aramis had reacted to the situation immediately and hefted the small metal device in his hands and pulled a small lever on it. The thing emitted a loud *BANG* and spat some sort of small projectile out, and in response one of the creatures heads exploded. Not skipping a beat, he pulled the lever several more times, and several more of the creatures dropped to the ground, minus their heads.

“NO WE WON’T! DROP HER NOW!” The mob was gaining on them; only a few feet separating them.

“AND HAVE ONE MORE INFECTED CHASING US?!” The small colt, who was named Andy, had reacted quickly as well. When Aramis had begun to attack the infected with his weapon, the filly had ran forward, grabbed a flat, metal screen that had several cords trailing from it and threw it through a nearby window.

“WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?! YOU’RE NOT HELPING THIS BY ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER FOR FUCKS SAKE!” Shouted Aramis. Andy yelled at the group to come follow him, and they quickly sprinted through the hole. After a short drop onto pavement, they were once again sprinting from a large group of the strange creatures.

“Guys, we can’t keep this up!” Yelled the Andy, who was somehow still sprinting at the same speed at everyone else. Cadence took this moment to speak up for a moment.

“H-hello?” She finally squeaked out after working up the courage.

“Look who decided to join us!” Shouted Tammy sarcastically. “I hope you’re happy! We’re all going to die because of you!”

“Why don’t you shut your mouth! I’d discipline your ass if we weren’t in danger of fucking dying, Tammy!” Shouted Aramis again.

“SHE HAS PINK HAIR! WHO THE FUCK APPEARS IN A RAINBOW, WITH PINK HAIR, COMPLETELY NAKED?! SHE OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON!” Tammy screamed back, waving her arms about.

“It’s more a blend of pink, with dark purple, light pink, dark pi—”

“WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT PINK IT IS?! RUN!” Colton shouted in frustration as they sprinted in silence for a few more yards before Andy was grabbed by one of the mob and tackled to the ground. He began to scream as they all swarmed over him and he actually began to fight back. He tried as hard as he could to punch, kick, and even bite his attackers as they swarmed around him.

Aramis stopped running and made a move to save the child when several of the small projectiles whizzed by him from behind, knocking down several of the attackers and allowing the colt to break free and run over to the group. Without second warning, another volley of the small projectiles sped past the group and several of the attackers heads exploded as they came they came into contact with the small things. Cadence winced at the shower of blood and gore before the whole group turned away from the bloodly mist.

“RUN YOU DUMBASSES!” Came a voice from a far ways over. Looking around, she located the source of it to a relatively large building where she could barely make out another one of the creatures holding a small metal device, not unlike that of the one her rescuer carried. The thing in his hand jerked several times and only about two seconds later, more of the small projectiles whizzed past them and cut down even more of the attackers.

Without having to be told twice, the group began to once again sprint away, while the blood cover attackers were being cut down in showers of gore.

They ran for a even longer, and by the time they reached the other creature, almost all of the infected were dead. Only a few more remained and their rescuer took aim with his weapon and the thing let out a click.

“FUCK!” He shouted and looked around on the ground. Quickly scooping up a large piece of wood he took a defensive stance and when the first one reached him, swinging at its head powerfully, letting out a powerful crack and lopping its head off cleanly.

Not waiting for the others to reach him, it took a few steps forward and met them halfway before taking the next ones head off as well. He did this to the next two before the piece of wood shattered with one more remaining.

“DAMNIT!” It shouted as it began to sprint away from the sole survivor and shouting at the group that it had rescued only seconds earlier. “HELP ME!” It waved its front legs towards the one chasing it, running the whole time.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, another one of the things appeared on top of the building and brandished another one of the metal objects, and promptly shot their attacker in its head, which exploded in a shower of gore.

Cadence shivered at both the violence and the increasingly colder draft, cursing her lack of fur. The building that their two rescuers had taken refuge in was a fairly large metal building, about two stories tall. Probably a warehouse.

The group manage to make it to the other creature who descended the building and met them outside.

“Dude, is that chick naked?” Asked the first one, pointing to Cadence who looked down at her body and modestly covered herself, blushing deeply. He was a tall figure, with a wiry frame, a lot less burly than her two rescuers. He had a gaunt face, and deep, dark brown eyes. They were so dark, they were like dark black orbs, threatening to pull her soul away.

“Think they’ll share?”

Her rescuer looked at the second creature gruffly, “The fuck’s wrong with you, man? She was left out there all by her lonesome and your first comment is if we’ll share her like she’s some piece of meat?” The annoyance was clear on his face as he took off his coat and placed it around her body, scooping her out of Colton’s arms.

“Woah mate, just kidding.” It held up his hands in a defensive posture.

“Yea, well that’s a horrible joke.” Colton added, sizing up their rescuers.

“Hey, I make do with what I have, alright?”

“Who is she anyways? And why is she naked, I mean, how do you survive here being naked?” Asked the first one, shrugging his shoulders.

The second one openly ogled her, “No idea, but she sure looks rich. Did you see her hair? It looks natural!”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” She said suddenly, her head shooting up.

“Sorry there miss!” The second one said quickly, backing away from her, head bent low in shame. “I meant no disrespect, it’s just easy to forget that we are not alone here. Others are hard to come by.”

“Well then stop talking about her like she’s a thing.” Added Colton, who was busy glaring at the newcomers.

Her rescuer took a look at her, blushing softly as he took in the subtle features of her face. Coughing into his sleeve he spoke, “I’m Aramis and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” he said somewhat cheerfully, shifting her position so he could offer her a hand.

Cadence looked at his hand and wearily extended her own before she tentatively grasped it and shook.

‘I’m Cadence... Thanks for saving me.” She replied weakly, “If I might ask, what were those things?” The creature who protected them from a distance was busy taking a long drink from a canteen when he suddenly began to choke and sputter on his water, which he dropped and began to cough furiously. When he finally stopped choking, he looked up at her, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” She looked at him with a blank expression. He weaved a hand through his light brown mane, “Dear god, of all the people we could rescue, it had to be the ones with issues.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cadence asked, pulling back away from him, offended, unintentionally snuggling into Aramis’ chest.

“You seriously don’t know what these things are?” She shook her head, “The things that wiped out all of England. The things that took over all of France and possibly more?Possibly the whole continent?”

She tentatively shook her head again.

“Jesus Christ.”

Cadence hid against Aramis who gently set her down on her feet, “Can you walk, Cadence?”

“I-I think so.” She said as Aramis gently set her down and let go of her. Almost immediately, she collapsed, her legs not unable to hold her weight.

“And she’s a cripple. Jesus, we’re going to die here.” Said their first rescuer.

Aramis weakly walked towards him, gripping him by his shirt, “Alright, before I even begin to speak, tell me your name.” he said flatly.

“I’m Tyler, nice to meet you asshole.” Tyler glared at him, “Let me go.” He swatted Aramis’ hands away from him.

The darker man stood his ground, and tightly wrapped his fist around Tyler’s shirt, “Listen here, asswipe. You don't talk shit about anyone here. I don’t care if anyone here is crippled, retarded, asshole, or even a douchebag, but I will NOT stand for ANY discrimination, do you understand me?” Aramis said, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Listen, I didn’t have to rescue you. In fact, I was against it, you know how much ammo I wasted saving your ass?”

Aramis scoffed indignantly, throwing Tyler to the ground with one hand, “Do you think I give a rat’s ass? You didn’t have any right talking down to a young woman like that. For all anyone knows, she’s still in shock and might be suffering memory impairment. Ever thought about that?” he asked, brown eyes looking at him annoyed.

Tyler grunted as he leaned his back against the railing he had used to steady his aim, “Yes, I consider everything, and I don’t help people who can’t pull their own weight. It was like that before the apocalypse, and it’s like that now.”

“Thank you!” Came the voice of the first girl, Tammy if Cadence remembered correctly. “Finally, somebody who gets it!”

“Don’t start with me, Tammy. We’re on very thin ice!” Aramis reprimanded, unholstering his sword and laying it down by Cadence.

“Okay, if you’re going to insist on her coming with us, you’re gonna have to pull her weight. We aren’t slowing down for her.” Tyler commented, getting up again. “Meet Philip,” He pointed at the other one. Philip did a small wave.

“Hiya guys!” Philip said,

“So, how long have you guys been here?” Tyler asked as he looked out the window of the warehouse, looking at the metro in the distance. They had entered a quite large building and were currently sitting on the top floor, in a large conference room. “We got here right when they started popping up around the city.”

“I was already here when they appeared. I was hiding out in the subway till these three found me.” Colton pointed to Aramis and two children.

Aramis put a hand against his back, which came back covered with blood before grunting out, “I was...travelling with some buddies when...those fuckers...caught us in the tunnels.” he panted, trying to catch his breath, “I’m the only one... Made it alive... Found Tammy and Andy.” Pointing his thumb at them, coughing hard, blood splattering the ground just in front of him, “Then... Fucker’s trap got me...” The young man hobbled over to a wall and slid against it, resting between the floor and wall before coughing up more blood.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you didn't read the damn sign.”

“It said, ‘Stay Out’ and it’s a fucking zombie apocalypse. Did you really expect me to listen to it?”

Aramis twitched before falling onto his butt, repeatedly coughing up blood, groaning in agony, “H-help...” he whimpered quietly.

“Philip, get the medkit.”

Philip nodded quickly and jogged off before coming back in a few seconds with a small white box that had a large red “+” on it. Acting quickly, he opened the box and pulled out some bandages along with a large needle and thread.

‘So where’s the problem?”

Aramis’ eyes began to dilate, his jerky movements slowly to a shake as he laid on his back on the tiled floor.

“Oh shit, anybody here a doctor?” Asked Tyler, glancing at the group. They all shook their heads, save for Cadence, who nodded in consent.

“Really?” He asked in disbelief, “You’re a doctor?” She gave “More or less” shake with her hand.

“Well I guess we don’t really have much choice. Philip, do we have any more medical supplies?”

“I’m not really that kind of doctor.” She replied sheepishly.

“WHAT?!” Tyler shouted, causing her to cower as she pulled back again, “Why would you say you’re a doctor and then tell me you can’t help him?!”

Cadence sighed in frustration, “I can help him! It’s just not... What you’d expect...” she said nervously, looking away from Tyler’s angry dark brown eyes.

“Then what do you mean?” He looked like he was about to lose it.

“Um guys? We should help him, fast.” Said Colton, who was busy holding down Aramis as he jerked around erratically.

“Fine, do whatever it is that you meant you do, and save him.” Tyler said exasperatedly.

“Can I help?” Asked Philip, holding the medkit suggestively.

“I don’t think you could, Philip.” Said Cadence in a caring tone, “My magic doesn’t need an outside source to power it.”

“Aww...” He said, downcast.

“Magic? What the fuck are you talking about?” Asked Tyler, looking at her as if she was insane.

Cadence looked at him worriedly, “Does it not exist in this world?” she asked curiously, awkwardly crawling on her hands knees as if she was an equine towards Aramis.

“Okay forget what I said earlier. You’re fucking crazy. Sorry Artie, but you’re going to die.” Tyler said bluntly.

Tears rolled down Aramis’ face as his breathing began to slow to a crawl, choked out gasps filling the room as he tried to breath.

“Would you all just shut the fuck up and help him already?!” Asked Colton.

Cadence crawled forward to the now prone form of Aramis, his body lying perfectly still and leaned in, kissing him deep on the lips.

“Du—” Tyler said in near disgust.

The pair was slowly engulfed in a pink glow that spread out from Cadence’s mouth. The glow became a blinding light that forced everyone to look away.

When the glow finally died down, Aramis was holding Cadence and many were shocked to see her straddling him, slowly pulling out of the kiss.

Aramis breathed in a deep lungful of air, “Gods...” he spoke quietly, eyes adjusting as he noticed her naked form straddling him, a deep blush forming on his cheeks, “W-what happened?” he asked nervously.

“She kissed you, and you started glowing pink. Looks like it worked though.” Tyler explained.

“And you got a faceful of titties!” Philip exclaimed happily.

“That too.” Tyler added.

The darker man blushed even harder, fumbling his hand around to feel his back. Not a single scratch, scar, or bruise blemished his skin, “Thanks a lot, Cadence. It worked really good though... Some scars I’ve had for a while are gone too.”

“Sad that you lost some battle momentos?” Tyler grinned snarkily, “Was it worth it?”

Aramis looked away with a neutral look, “I’d rather they be gone than be a reminder of what I’ve gone through...so I suppose it was worth it.”

“Uhhh, I’m really sorry if I cause any discomfort.” Cadence said, climbing off him and sitting down on her haunches next to him.

Tyler looked Aramis over, “So what did you do to him?”

“I healed him with the power of magic and love.” She explained.

He looked at her in disbelief, “No seriously, what did you do to him?”

“I am being serious.” Cadence cocked her head at him, “What’s so hard to believe about that?”

“Oh, nothing... Nothing at all.” He waved his hand, “Just you know, magic not existing and shit like that. Nothing big at all.”

Aramis slowly moved himself to recline against the wall next to Cadence, “Tyler... Will you cut her some fucking slack?! She just saved me... I could have fucking died here just like that.”

“Yeah, I got that, and I’m grateful... But you know... Breaking the laws of physics and all known logic kinda makes me a teensy bit, you know, curious? So, how was your day?” He said, voice reeking with sarcasm.

“You really don’t have magic here?” Cadence asked, looking quizzically at Tyler; finding it hard to believe the fact.

“You don’t say?! I’ve only been dropping hints for the past 3 minutes!

“You don’t have to be rude about it.” She said, looking down sadly, only to perk up slightly when Aramis placed a supportive hand on her coat covered shoulder.

“Okay, let me interject myself here. Will somebody tell me what the fuck is going on?” Interjected Tammy.

“There was a giant rainbow in the sky, and I walked outside after a bit to investigate and saw you guys running like hell from the infected carrying a naked girl who can’t walk.”

Cadence blushed.

“And she has magic!” Philip exclaimed in an overly dramatic way, arms splayed out in the air.

“Alright everyone! Can we stop treating her like she’s somehow not human?!” Aramis cried out in frustration.

“What’s a human?”

“I give up. I... I just give up.” Tyler said, running his fingers through his hair, getting up, and walking away.

“What’s wrong with him?” Asked Colton, jerking a thumb at Tyler who was now busy screaming into a pillow nearby.

“No idea, but I think you just broke him.” Philip walked to Tyler and shaking his arm a few times to get him to get up. “You okay?”

“No, I am not fucking okay. I came to France to fucking relax. Instead, we get mobbed by zombies from Hell. Now, theres a naked chick who can’t walk, doesn’t know what or where she is, and can do magic. My life is officially over. I’m probably infected right now, and this is the way infected people see things.”

“You’re not infected! You aren’t, are you? Right?” Philip asked, taking a step back cautiously.

“Like I said, I’m probably infected, and this is my eternal punishment. Seeing things like magic and shit, while in reality, I’m busy killing everybody in sight. Best thing ever right?”

Philip scratched his chin curiously, “But if you really were infected, wouldn't it be you getting a faceful of titties instead of Aramis?”

“Like I said, it’s my punishment. The virus is probably fucking with my brain, and torturing me on purpose.”

“Oh come on! Don’t be so sad! At least you still have me, right? Want some canned beans?” He said, reaching to a pack and taking out an unlabeled can of something.

“I DON’T WANT ANY FUCKING CANNED SHIT!” Tyler yelled and swatted the can away, “I JUST WANT THIS SHIT TO BE OVER!” He said loudly in near hysteria.

“You didn’t have to be so rude about that...” Philip lost his smile and went to pick the can up and put it back in the pack.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” He screamed and threw the pillow at his friend, before getting up and storming off.

“Someone’s having a wonderful day, huh?” Aramis asked sarcastically before addressing Cadence, “You got some explaining to do, Cadence, but we can go over that after I give you a crash course.”

“Okay, I guess that would be okay.” Cadence said passively.

Aramis stood up and helped cadence to her feet, “Do you guys have an open floor? I’m gonna help her out with her current uh...immobility.”

“There is a lot of open space on the ground floor.”

“Alright.” he said, wrapping an arm below her armpit and across her chest, “Your training starts now. Can you try to copy me and walk? Don’t be afraid to balance against me.” Aramis pointed out.

“Can you guys try to keep it down? There are some infected left on the streets.” Said a voice behind Aramis and Cadence, seeing Tyler looking out a window, apparently recovered from his emotional breakdown.

“Sorry,” Cadence squeaked and backed a bit away from Tyler, nearing tripping over her hooves if it weren’t for Aramis; fearful of another outburst from the unruly human.

Tyler waved his hand dismissively, breathing quietly, “Relax, I’m fine now... Just try to be quiet, I don’t feel like having another run-in with them for a while.”

“You keep calling them the ‘Infected’, what does that mean?” Cadence asked curiously.

“It means that they got this virus in them that makes them all angry and trying to rip your throat out!” Philip suddenly piped up from her side, scaring her further.

Tyler rolled his eyes a bit, “Yeah, something like that. All you need to know for now is that you avoid them at all cost.” His face became completely serious, so stoic it seemed like a mask over his usual expression.

“Do you understand? These things are not to be trifled with.” He warned.

Cadence hesitated for a moment before nodding in understanding.

Tyler sighed, wiping his forehead, “Good.” There was a brief pause, “Can we get some clothes for Cadence? Not that I don’t mind the view.”

Aramis facepalmed, “Can we stop treating her like a sex object for God’s sake?!”

“Yes, but it’s less fun that way.” Tyler remarked.

“Can I seriously backhand your face?” Asked Aramis, glaring at him.

“You’d probably get off from that. Besides, I was the one that suggested we get her clothes.”

Cadence looked between the two curiously, “Why do I have to wear clothes?”

Aramis blushed, “I’ll answer all your questions as soon as we get you walking again. I guess that concussion must have really left you out of it.” he said in a hurry as he picked her up bridal style and began to head for the stairs before being stopped by Tyler.

“You’re still sticking with the memory loss story? She straddled you and made you glow pink, and you’re saying it was memory loss?” Tyler asked skeptically.

“Concussions leave gaps in your memory. It’s different than short or long term memory.” Aramis said defensively.

“I didn’t say she didn’t lose her memory. I said she made you glow pink.” He retort.

“What does that have to do with anything?!” Asked the tan man, “Por el amor de dios, déjame en paz!” He said in spanish.

“I’m saying she’s probably not telling us everything, You don’t have to jump down my throat.” He glanced out the window again, “Just keep it down alright?”

“Yeah.” Aramis grunted as he marched out the door with Cadence in his arms.

He carried her down the stairs and navigated through a small makeshift barricade of boxes to a large open area. There was really nothing special about it, just a large open space that had been cleared away.

Aramis set her feet down and wrapped his arm below her armpit and across her chest, “Alright, before I teach you to walk, you need to learn to balance without any help.” he explained.

“Okay then... “ She said nervously. Taking a tentative step forward, she placed her bare foot onto the ground and tried to put some pressure on the leg, only to lurch forward and almost collapse before Aramis caught her.

He laughed heartily, “Okay, easy there tiger. You gotta stand before you can walk. Just repeat after me.” he shifted his stance around and held her protectively by her shoulders, feet standing next to each other with his back straightened out.

“You try.”

Cadence obediently straightened her back and planted her feet too close together, almost falling yet again being caught by Aramis; groaning in frustration.

“UGH! I’m never going to get this!” She gently slammed her fist into Aramis’ shoulder.

“It’s alright, Cadence. I know how it feels to try to learn and something new.”

He leaned her against a crate and took off his shoes and socks, shivering a bit at the cold concrete floor. Picking her back up, he resumed the same stance, “Try again.”

Cadence gave Aramis a hard cold look. But he was right, she couldn’t be carried around like a saddlebag. She tried it again, this time her knees buckling forth, not used to putting so much weight on two legs. She fell on the crate back first, hurting her rump.

“Damn... that hurt.” She could feel tears come up to her eyes. They were going to leave her here.

Aramis crouched down and brushed a tear away from her eye, “You don’t have to cry. I know it’s frustrating, but you gotta stay strong. I know most of the group isn’t very trusting, but we all need someone we can depend on, ya know?” he finished with a supportive smile.

She couldn’t help but smile through the tears. Shining would have never... She brushed Shining aside. More important things on her mind.

“Okay. I’ll...I’ll try.” she stood up, looking down at her strange body. She needed to see her... hooves? but these... lumps were in the way.

“Are you okay, Cadence? Something confusing you?” Aramis asked as he looked at her in the midst of her confusion.

“What do I do with these?” She put her hands under the lumps and pushed them out of the way to see her feet.

Aramis blushed a scarlet red, taking a seat on the floor across from her, legs crossed as he thought of a way to explain it, “Uh...U-um...” he took a deep breath, “Those are your breasts, kinda like... like teats on a pony.” he pointed out. Even he thought it was strange but it was the first thing he thought of.

“Oh... that makes much more sense.” Then she realized what she was doing, and blushed a beat red. “WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU LOOKING AT?” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Listen, I’m just saying, she’s not telling us everything.” Tyler said, leaning on the wall and gesturing towards the stairs. “

“Does it really matter?” Asked Colton, raising an eyebrow.

“No, but you have to say, it’s all a bit odd.”

Colton sighed, scratching the back of his head, “I agree, it is strange. Like I said though, as long as she isn’t too detrimental, we’ll keep her around. Need to save as many as we can.”

“What does detrimental mean?” Philip asked, cocking his head to the side.

Colton’s hand smacked his face as he groaned. “Your brains obviously aren’t your strength.”

“You just figured that out?” Tyler shrugged his shoulders suggestively, and gave a “You don’t say” look.

“Well excuse me for not knowing perfect english mate! Hmph!”

“Sorry, sorry. Just a little stressed right now so forgive me if I come off as a bit of an asshole.”

“It’s alright!”

“Don’t encourage him.” Tyler groaned out and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“At least someone is keeping up high spirits through all this. That’s not easy to do.” Colton stated.

“No, I guess it isn’t. So, changing topics, where were you when the infection started?”

“Just in the street somewhere around here. People started screaming and running, utter chaos. I was lucky I didn’t get trampled. Instead of trying to evacuate, I stocked up on supplies and hid out in the subway tunnels. What about you?”

“I was visiting Philip in Poland from the States. We came here for vacation and we spent a few days browsing the sights, and when the riots started happening I guessed what was going on. I remembered the outbreaks in England, so me and him grabbed some weapons and supplies and holed up here. Been a few weeks. What’s the story with the kids?”

“That’s something you would have to ask Aramis. I joined up and he already had them with him.”

“Alrighty then, let us go see how ‘Cadence’s’ walking lessons are going.” He said, putting air quotes around her name.

The man blushed even deeper and looked away embarrassingly, “I-its not my f-fault you chose to grope your tits in front of me.” he said with a nervous stutter, trying not to look at her in general.

“I...” she tried to think of a way to defend her side, but he was right. Her blushing grew in intensity.

“Well... then get me some... fur coverings.” She covered her breasts with her arms like a scared schoolgirl. She still sat on the crate, realizing just how exposed she was. She looked everywhere but where Aramis was.

Aramis coughed awkwardly, “They’re called clothes...Are you sure you didn’t actually get a concussion and we didn’t notice?”

“No! I know what happened... and it wasn’t a concussion.” She said in a matter of fact.

There was a slow clap from behind Cadence. “This is just beautifully awkward.” Tyler said, grinning at them, “So Cadence, how are things going?”

Aramis looked up at Tyler from his sitting position, “Something up?” he asked curiously, picking up the clear distrust dripping from his tone.

“Yeah, is something happening Tyler?” Philip popped from behind him.

“Cadence is having fun flashing her tits to Aramis.” He remarked back, trying to not laugh, and failed miserably.

Aramis blushed deeply, “S-shut the fuck up...I am doing no such thing, asswipe.”

“I didn’t say you were doing anything. Looks like Cadence is doing all the work!” Tyler said through large bouts of laughter.

She felt so ashamed. How could this happen? Aramis was being so nice, was he the only one. “I... I didn't know... I... didn’t...” She wanted to cry. Why were they so mean?

Tyler saw her reaction and his giggles died down and he coughed into his hand. “Uhhmmm, hey Cadence?” He asked, scuffing the ground with his foot. She sniffed a little bit.

Her pain turned to anger. “What do you want, Stallion cock hopper?” Tyler recoiled a little bit.

“I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He took a step forward and tried to place a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched and slapped it away with a swipe of her hand.“Get away from me, no one touch me...Please.”

“Why are you guys fighting?” Philip asked, confused.

“Because captain dickwad Tyler decided to start shit with Cadence for no reason.” He growled, angrily standing to his feet; blush wiped clean off his face.

“Hey, I was joking around. Besides, she doesn’t look like she has memory loss, or a concussion. I don’t see any signs of one, and you haven’t even asked her about her life before we found her! I call bullshit on that theory.” Tyler remarked angrily, thrusting an accusing finger at her.

“So? Maybe she doesn’t wants us to know something.” Philip said,

“ENOUGH! Instead of harassing each other like fucking retards, let the woman speak for herself, goddamnit!” Aramis yelled, his patience seconds away from running out.

She sighed. They would never believe her. but she needed to try. “Can I get clothes after this?”

“Fuck that, get clothes now.” Tyler said angrily, “This bullshit has gone on far enough. Philip, do we have any women’s clothing?”

“I think we have a spare coat or something, let me check.” He headed for the stairs. “Oh, and she’ll need some shoes, right? I don’t think we have any.” And with that he disappeared upstairs.

“Dude, what the fuck? We need more than a coat, she’s completely nude!” He shouted after his friend.

“We don’t have any spare underwear mate!” Philip’s voice shouted from the second floor.

“I came here because I was told I would never be sad here. I can’t believe... that I fell for such a silly trick. I lived in a place named Canterlot. My house was wonderful and my...” she hadn’t thought of her husband... he may not even know she was gone.

Aramis looked at her sympathetically, “Where exactly is Canterlot, Cadence?”

“It’s not a place. I keep telling you, she has a few screws loose.” Tyler said, making another face that just screamed, “Why the fuck don’t you listen to me?”

Aramis glared at Tyler, “And you’re definitely helping things get any better, aren’t you?” He asked sarcastically.

“It’s a huge city on top of the mountain. It’s hard not to miss...” She paused. “What is this place called?” she asked curiously, gesturing to her surroundings.

“I’m leaving.” Tyler remarked and walked off, climbing the stairs, a blank expression completely masking his emotions.

“Why does he hate me?” she asked sadly. He was acting a lot like Shining yesterday.

Aramis sighed as he looked at her, “I don’t know, Cadence. He’s just an arse in general from what I can tell.” He muttered quietly.

“Tyler is a great friend to have! Well, he is mean sometimes... Oh, and we have no free clothing, sorry. I know a place we can raid though! It’s not far from here!” Philip remarked, passing Tyler on his way down the stairs.

“What store would that be? Gallery Lafayette?” Asked Aramis, crossing his arms and giving a skeptical look to Philip.

“Actually, yup! There is a ton of clothing shops in it!” He remarked happily.

Aramis thought about before making an obvious concern vocal, “It sounds like a good idea on paper, but just how far are we from Lafayette?”

“Only a few blocks!” Came Philip’s perky reply.

“Excuse me, but what about those... things?” Cadence shivered involuntarily, remembering the blood covered things chasing them and mauling the little boy. She gasped suddenly. “THE COLT! THE LITTLE COLT!” She squealed and jumped towards the small kid, who she noticed was standing just behind Aramis. Before she could do anything, he merely walked away.

Colton approached the group, “Those things are simply called “Infected”. Nothing more, nothing less.” He looked in the direction of Andy and waved his hand dismissively, “The boy is fine, just leave him alone. ”

“Yeah! He is fine, I mean, if he hasn’t been infected yet, he’ll be fine! Right?” Philip replied, his usual happy demeanor suddenly changing to a nervous one.

“He seems to be... immune to them.” Aramis pointed out, “They’ve bitten, scratched, and covered him in their blood in the time we’ve spent travelling and even before I met them two, and he’s been perfectly fine.”

“He hasn’t told you why?” Asked Colton, who was still lost on the whole issue. “I just figured that he didn’t want to talk.”

“I don’t think even he knows why. He just is.” Aramis said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“He doesn’t talk that much.” Came the voice of the girl Tammy. “Don’t bother him about it, he lost his father and mother in the same day to the virus. So did I, so just drop it around him.”

“Excuse me, but what the buck is going on here!?” Asked Cadence. “What’s this about a “virus” and “immunity?”

“A zombie apocalypse... I think... point is people try to eat other people and all hell has broken loose!” Philips hands were waving in the air again.

“Give or take, but they don’t really try to eat others. Their only desire is to kill those who aren’t infected. Rage. It was a virus called Rage. It turned them into mindless freaks. Mindless, rabid, freaks that have only one desire. To spread the virus. One drop of blood... That is all it takes. One single speck, and you’ve got about thirty seconds to enjoy your fleeting sanity.” Colton described it with a cold voice, completely devoid of emotion.

“That was deep mate! You should write that down!” Philip chirped.

“This isn’t something you joke about man.” Colton shot a glare at him. “How are you so happy?”

“You got to be happy or else it all gets hard to take in! Right?” He smiled.

Colton sighed, “Yeah... Sure.”

Cadence was looking at the small exchange with confused eyes. “So you mean to tell us, that one drop of blood is all it takes?”

“The virus is transmitted through their blood or other main bodily fluids. It only takes a few seconds to turn you into one of them.” Tammy added, still wearing a permanent scowl on her face.

“What do you mean, “into them?” I still don’t get it.” She stomped her hoof in frustration.

“You turn into one of the bloodthirsty monsters, that is!” Philip exclaimed, popping up right next to her.

“Well can’t you reason with them?” Asked the confused pony-turned-human. “I mean, they used to be like you!”

“How can you reason with something that doesn’t even think, Caddie? They just try to eat you, no warning, no talking, nothing!” Philip said, his cheery demeanor dropped for a moment.

“W-wait... Caddie?” Cadence asked, shaking her head as if to clear it.

“Sure! Nicknames make for faster bonding!” Philip was standing there with a large dopey smile on his face.

“Y-you want to bond with me?” She blushed immensely and covered herself up again, realizing she was still naked.

“Sure! Having Friends means easier survival!”

“O-oh... You meant like that.”

“Well duh! How else would you mean it?”

Aramis sighed, “Well speaking about bonding, I think you and I have been doing plenty of that, Cadence.”

“Oh-ho, getting funky!” Philip wagged his eyebrows.

“Shut up Philip, they aren’t going to do anything. She’s obviously not interested in him like that.” Colton countered.

“Y-yea, I have a husband!” Cadence said quickly.

“We can worry about backgrounds after we get you some clothes. Is that alright with you, Cadence?” The dark skinned man asked her curiously.

“Yes, I guess. So how do you plan on getting me clothes with those things out there?

“Infected!” Philip corrected happily. “And they die easily! We’ll get there no problem if we are careful!”

Aramis spoke up, “My M9 is still in working order and I got about a third of a clip left and seven mags to spare. Sword is still holding up fine.”

“You guys aren’t seriously going through with this are you?” Asked Tyler from the top of the stairs, who had been looking over the exchange for the past minute.

“Why not? It’s going to be awkward for Caddie here to walk around naked everywhere, no? And we need to get her some shoes anyway.” Philip responded.

“Yeah, but that means you have to go outside. If you go out there, I’m not going with you.”

“Can we not be so selfish and deny a woman her basic rights?” Aramis said irritatedly before addressing her, “What’s your shoe size, Cadence?”

“I don’t know.” Cadence shrugged and Tyler let out another long drawn sigh.

“I’d say thirty-seven!” Philip chimed in, taking a shot in the dark.

“Philip, can I talk to you up here for a second?” Tyler motioned with his hand towards him.

Philip jogged upstairs until he reached his friend, “Sure! What do you need?”

“You’re seriously going to go with them?” He whispered furiously into his friend's ear.

“Why not? I can be their guide or something. And more people means more firepower, no?” He said, twirling his revolver on his finger.

He looked down at the waiting group who was chatting among themselves, and he jogged further away. “It also means more wasted ammo on crazy people! What the hell are you thinking!?”

“Why are you such a selfish bastard? Sure, they might be more mouths to feed now, there is safety in numbers. We could survive for longer with them.”

Tyler took a deep breath, “Okay man. Go screw off in the mall, shopping for clothes and shit. Bring back more food, or I’ll have to kick them out. They pull their own weight, got it?” He emphasized the last words by poking Philip’s chest.

“Geez, you are so dense sometimes. I’ll get you some more canned beans, don’t worry.”

“FUCK THE CANNED BEANS!” Tyler screamed, “I DON’T WANT ANYMORE SHITTY CANNED BEANS!” He stopped and realized everybody was staring at him, while he was holding his arms high in the air. He shot down a glare in their direction and they all looked away and started whistling. “Get some more food, guns, ammo, and supplies. Like I said, they pull their own weight.” He finished before storming towards the conference room, slamming the door angrily behind him.

Aramis stopped whistling, “He’s in a mighty fine mood, huh!” he called out sarcastically, making sure Tyler heard him.

“He sure is!” Philip responded, again in a cheery mood.

“You better get some more fucking guns!” Tyler called out from behind the door. “Get me a sniper or at least a rifle.”

“Where would I find you guns in a shopping mall? In the pink aisle?” Philip asked sarcastically.

“I don’t fucking know, but you’re going shopping for her,” Tyer emerged from the room briefly and pointed at Cadence. “Get me something at least.”

“I’ll get you a pair of warm gloves then! You need some anyway. Can’t go around looting corpses without gloves!” Philip smiled again.

“Just get some guns. Cadence, if you’re staying here while they go, we’re staying upstairs. No one is downstairs alone. That’s the rule.” Cadence blushed and got up from the crate she was standing on and tried to walk forward, only to remember that she still couldn’t walk at the last second. Diving forward, Aramis wrapped his around her and slammed back first onto the concrete, grunting as she drove the air out of his lungs. Tyler rolled his eyes and muttered “Still can’t walk,” under his breath and gave a half-hearted wave before disappearing into the room again.

“Come upstairs when you’re ready to leave and warn me. I’ll cover you from the window.”

Aramis sighed, “That was a close one.... You ready to start walking?” he asked as he slowly lifted her up to her feet, ignoring the sensation of her naked chest against his clothed one.

“Well I have to start somewhere.” She flashed him an innocent smile that made Aramis blush.

“Oh! That reminds me, I still have to prepare for the trip. Be right back!” With that Philip disappeared into the room with Tyler. “And no funny business while I’m gone!” He popped out of the doorway and quickly disappeared back again.

“Okay, Cadence. Try balancing again for me please?” Aramis asked her.

“Alright then.” She straightened her back again, and once again placed her feet too close together.

“Pull your feet apart a bit, keeping them close together won’t help you balance.” He pointed out.

Cadence compiled and awkwardly shuffled her feet apart.

“Okay, now, I’m going to let you go. Try to balance, and if you’re going to fall, don’t be afraid to fall on me.” She nodded and Aramis took a step back, removing his arms from her shoulders.

After teetering for a moment, Cadence stabilized herself enough that she didn’t fall.

Aramis smiled, “Good job! Alright, now, try walking towards me.” he took a couple of steps back and held his arms wide.

Cadence hesitantly nodded and moved her leg forward and placed it successfully on the ground. She smiled briefly and moved her other leg forward and stumbled down again before Aramis caught her.

“Okay, you’re off to a good start!” He encouraged cheerfully.

She pouted before backing up with his help and attempting to walk towards him once again. Her left foot connected with the cement heel first before her toes bent as she pushed her right leg in front of her. Cadence kept it up, concentrating on the feeling of the ground and her feet before she bumped into Aramis. Backing up, Cadence spread her legs apart slightly and noticed she hadn’t even wobbled. The pony turned human squealed excitedly before wrapping the darker skinned man in a tight hug, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Aramis laughed and patted her back, “Not a problem, Cadence! Glad to be of help.” he merely said before standing next to her, “Let’s walk and talk while I go leave you at conference room.” he looked at the kids, “Come on Andy, Tammy, lets go!” he called to them as they regrouped with him.

The four of them leisurely walked towards the stairs, “Don’t be afraid of holding onto the rail if you need to balance yourself.” he pointed out as she approached the stairs first, “If you fall, I’m right behind you; ready to catch you.”

She slowly walked up the stairs, hips shaking from side to side. A small blush appeared on his face as he tried not to openly oogle her supple body.

Cadence giggled, “This is pretty ea—” she suddenly slipped, screaming in surprise before being caught by a pair of strong arms. Looking up she blushed slightly at how close her face was to Aramis’.

“Like I said.” he started with a grin, “If you fall, I’m right here behind ya.”

She nodded as she righted herself without help, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Aramis said as they finished climbing the long set of stairs without further incident.

They walked to the end of the hallway before Aramis opened the door to the conference room for everyone, allowing them in ahead himself. Just as he stepped in, Philip stepped out a side room with two brightly colored sports bags and a small pink backpack with some weird cat on it, a serious expression on his face.

“I’m ready.” Was all he said, dropping the bags on the ground.

The Liar

“This is so fucking stupid.” Colton said as he adjusted the bright pink bag on his back.

“Keep your fucking voice down, the infected are everywhere.” Aramis whispered furiously as their group of three skulked down the street.

“It’s not my fault we only had two normal bags!” Philip complained.

“Why did I have to have the pink one though? It fits you better.”

“Because I have mine and Aramis called dibs on the other! Just deal with it, alright? We’ll find you a new one... Maybe.”

Colton mumbled something under his breath, but stopped complaining. They walked down the street in complete silence, stopping every few moments to avoid a passing infected or two.

“What’s in these bags anyways?” Asked Colton, shrugging his shoulders.

“They are empty silly! How else would we carry the stuff we find back? In our hands?” Philip said merrily, chuckling to himself.

“True. So we’re looking for clothes and guns at a mall?”

“Um, there weren’t any gun shops in that mall the last time I checked. But clothes have a one hundred fifteen percent chance of being found though! So many clothing shops!”

“Tyler’s gonna be pissed.” Colton warned, “What about the security office? Think they’ll have anything?” He hefted his weapon as the mall came into sight.

“Is security detail even allowed to carry weapons when on duty?” Philip wondered out loud.

“No idea, but it can’t hurt to look.”

“We’re here! Gallery Lafayette, in all it’s looted glory!”

“Are you saying it’s empty?” Asked Aramis, skeptically looking at the mostly intact store.

“Oh no! Just the actual stores. The warehouse in the back is still full though... I think.”

“Let’s just get going.” Colton walked ahead of the group, his M1911 gripped firmly in his hand. Their group had approached near the back of the mall, hoping to sneak their way in. Colton took point, walked forward and grabbed the door handle. He looked towards Aramis, who nodded in response. Quickly yanking the door open, Aramis whipped his M9 Beretta out, prepared to unleash a wave of lead on whatever hellish nightmare was going to rush out of that open door.

Cadence sat on the large table in the conference room, upstairs in the warehouse, swinging her legs and twiddling her thumbs in boredom.

Tyler was standing by the window, leaning on the wall and occasionally glancing out the window through the blinds. He said nothing, and he wasn’t even looking at Cadence. Occasionally, he glanced at the kids, but didn’t so much as turn in her direction.

She spent most of her time looking at him, and looking down at her thumbs. “So... What’s your story... How did you get here with Phillip?” Cadence asked rather unsure of herself.

“I don’t really feel like talking.” He responded, still not looking at her.

“And why not? You made me talk while I’m fully naked, why?”

“Because this is my warehouse, and my hideout. I don’t have to talk if I don’t want to.” He replied stoically. He spared a small glance at her, but it was a more of a glare than anything else.

She was getting frustrated. At least she was trying to mend things for calling him a Stallion Cock Hopper. She just would have to try harder.

“So are you and Philip partners?” she asked out of total innocence.

For once, his expression turned to one that wasn't anger. More like disgust. “What?” He asked with an upraised eyebrow, “That guy? No fucking way man!”

“So, you like stallions still though, right?” Cadence asked with a small smile, eyes glinting mischievously.

“Where the fuck are you getting these ideas? And why the fuck are you calling men ‘stallions’?”

“Why do you hate me?” She asked, getting straight to the point.

“I never said I hated you.” He had gone back to looking out the window, with his usual stoic face.

“It didn’t need to be said! Why do you hate me?!” She complained, and dropped onto the ground.

“I don’t hate you. I just mistrust you. A lot.” He was back to glaring at her again.

“Well why do you mistrust me? Everypony else loves me, and I have given no grounds for mistrust!” She hit the table with a fist.

“Shut up for a second.”

“No!” She said rebelliously, “I will not shut up! Not until we clear the air.”

“I said shut up!” He hissed and looked out the window.

Cadence walked forward and grabbed his arm and he twirled to meet her.

“I said SHUT UP!” Tyler screamed, face flushed red with anger as a sudden scream echoed from outside. Cadence shivered. “Listen very carefully. When I say shut up, it means shut up.” The screaming continued, and was followed by a large banging noise.

“Alright, there are some infected outside and they heard us, now, will you please shut up.” He whispered through clenched teeth. “Keep quiet and they’ll eventually go away.” Tyler finished with a huff, walking back to the window and looking out at the commotion.

“I-I... I’m sorry.” She whispered with a nervous stutter and walked back to her spot on the table. She hung her head low and listened to the infernal screaming and banging coming from outside. Her head jerked up when there was a small tap on her leg, and she looked over to see Andy looking up at her.

“I’m Andy.” He said, holding out his claws. She tentatively reached forward and grasped it back, moving her arm up and down.

“I’m Cadence. Nice to meet you.” She let out a small smile.

“I saw what happened out there. With the infected, I mean. Are you okay?” He asked with concern, despite his body and face being covered with numerous cuts and scratches.

“W-well yes, but what about you? Are you okay?” Cadence reached a hoof out to touch his face and but before she did, a powerful grip grabbed her wrist and yanked it away. She looked up to see Tyler looking at the kid.

“Tyler, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how the infection works on those who are immune, but you don’t want to come into contact with it. You can get it on your skin, but that’s still a no-no.” He shook his head sadly, and gave the kid a look of sadness, “Sorry kid.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” Andy gave a smile, “I know how it works.” Tyler walked back over to the window, still keeping an eye on the commotion.

“Is he right Andy?” She looked at him with glistening eyes.

“Yeah, it’s fine. He’s right you know, my dad got infected from my mom. I know how it is.”

She looked at the colt. She could feel how much love he had to give. But in the moment of things, she had, had to let this feeling to love and cherish go. For the first time in her life, she rejected her true feelings and let logic go forth.

“I’m sorry.” Was all she could bring herself to say. He smiled again.

“It’s okay.” Cadence was so confused. How could this poor little colt be so happy? With everything that was going on, he was just so... content.

“Are you sure?” She asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, it’s okay.” He smiled again and walked over to his sister. Cadence looked worriedly at him.

The door swung open and out rushed... nothing. The inside hallway was empty and devoid of life.

Aramis breathed a sigh of relief, “Well better empty than trying to fight those fuckers.”

Colton resumed point. “Damn right. Doesn’t mean the place will be empty though. Move quickly and quietly.”

“Um, I think I forgot to load my gun guys. Wait a moment.” Philip said as he stopped and started fumbling with his pockets taking bullets out.

“Damnit Philip hurry it up.” Colton stated angrily.

“Sorry! Sorry!” He fumbled a bit more with the gun and closed the chamber. “There! All set.”

“Come on then.” Colton moved quickly into the building, scanning his surroundings quickly. “It’s clear. Let’s move.”

He took point, with Aramis guarding the rear. They quickly cleared the long dark hallway and reached the door at the end.

Aramis tried to open the door and noticed it was locked. Pulling on it with more force did nothing either so he pulled out his M9 and shot the lock, blasting the door open from the force.

“Are you fucking stupid?!” Colton loudly whispered at him.

“What?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“Are you trying to draw all the infected here?!”

Aramis rolled his eyes, “Did you have any better ideas to open the door?”

“Not now I don’t.” He rolled his eyes.

“Um, we could have always just break the lock with something that doesn’t make so much noise? Right?” Philip asked.

“That would have been better than shooting it. You’re lucky none of them heard that.” Colton shot a glare at Aramis.

“Oh relax, will ya? We’re inside a fucking warehouse, noise ain’t gonna leave this place that hard.”

“It’s still not a good idea to take any risks.”

“Hey, I think there was an electronics shop in the mall. Maybe we will find something useful like a GPS or something! I think...” Philip said, looking around.

“We’ll see. Let’s focus on what we came here for first.” Colton slowly opened the door, his pistol drawn in front of him. The room was dark, and he took a tentative step inside, his eyes flicking back and forth as he scanned as best he could. “Okay, I think it’s safe.” He made a motion with his hand and stepped further into the room, the others following closely behind.

“You’d think that it would be all lighted up and stuff, right? Well, I have a flashlight here! Check it out! It even has a magnet in it!”

“Uh, Phillip?” Colton asked curiously.

“Yeah?”

The lights of the warehouse slowly flickered to life as Colton stood next to a switch on the wall.

“Oh... okay then.” He sighed and tucked the flashlight bag in one of his pockets.

“That flashlight might still be useful though. If we find some batteries, make sure you keep some on you.”

“But I got a spare few! Look!” Philip took out a bunch of batteries out of another pocket. “I think most of them are spent thought...”

“Still, keep that handy. Now let’s get what we need and get out of here.”

“How many of these boxes are labeled?” Asked Philip glancing around.

“I don’t think any of them are.” Responded Colton.

“Oh... okay.”

Cadence was sitting on the table again, observing the foals as they sat on the floor together. Tammy was reading a book to Andy, but he showed no signs of even hearing her. He just looked at the opposite wall with a blank stare. Tammy eventually noticed what he was doing and simply closed the book, got up and walked over to Tyler.

“So, what do you feel about Cadence?” She asked him, whispering to assure that Cadence didn’t hear.

“Don’t trust her. She’s not telling us everything, and she doesn’t know the severity of the situation she’s in.” Tyler responded, leaning in.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that she doesn’t have memory loss. She’s obviously faking it, or at the very least she’s lying to us.”

“Hey, what’re you guys talking about?” Asked Cadence with a curious tone, cocking her head at them.

“Nothing that concerns you. Just wait until Philip get’s back with some clothes.”

“Is this how you spend your time?” She asked with a deadpan tone that was obviously meant to be sarcastic. “You just talk and look out the window at the infected?”

“Yes.” He deadpanned back, “Yes it is. If you don’t like it you can leave.” He gestured towards the door.

She looked at him once more, that pain of rejection closing in on her throat. “Look! Tell me why you can’t just show some friendship! Are you the only one that wants to die alone in this world! I never hated you and I never will why can’t you just show that you care about somepony other than yourself!” She wanted to hit him, hurt him in some way as she shook with visible anger. Never before had she ever considered hurting anypony.

“You want to know why I don’t trust you?”

“Why?!” She asked waving her hands in the air.

“It’s because I don’t trust those who blatantly lie to take advantage of people.” He glared at her.

“Wha... what? How could... How... Could...” She stood up and walking over Tyler. She did the only thing she knew how. She kissed him.

Tyler recoiled briefly in shock before he roughly grasped her face and shoved her off, watching her slam into the table before falling to the floor in a heap. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Slowly, she weakly rose onto her knees before crumpling once again onto her face, tasting blood on her lips. She weakly looked at him with glossy eyes, struggling to pay attention to what he said as her vision was surrounded by thick black rings.

“Oh shit.” He said in a disgusted tone. “Tammy, get the fucking medkit. It’s downstairs.” The girl nodded and took a step forwards before she was interrupted.

“Theres no need to grab anything...Tammy...” Said an eerily calm voice.

“Why, look who’s back.” Tyler said indignantly, a sneer on his face.

“What did you do Tyler!?” Philip shouted, his usual happy demeanor gone, a scowl clear on his face.

“Artie’s girlfriend tried to make out with me.” He said with a glare directed squarely at Aramis.

‘I will be fine... I will be fine...’Cadence thought as she tried to fight the feeling of closing her eyes and letting the world fade.

Aramis looked at Cadence worriedly before fixing Tyler with an equal glare, “Says the hypocrite who goes on talking about trust...”

“She kissed me. I pushed her off, not my fault she can’t help not being friends.” Tyler was still glaring at him.

Philip kneeled down by Cadence’s side. “I think we need the medkit. Um... Tammy, was it? Go get it.”

“That wasn’t a shove.” He began evenly, “You fucking hit her so damn hard she’s bleeding, dumbass!” Aramis growled near animalistically.

“I shoved her, I never hit her. She’s bleeding cause she hit the table. I don’t trust her around me. She’s been blatantly lying to you this whole time, and yet-"

“And whose fault is that, asswipe?!”

Cadence groaned, ‘I’m not lying... I’m not lying...’ the rings around her sight seemed to fade a little.

“Where is that damn medkit Tammy!?” Philip shouted downstairs.

Tammy leisurely walked around, “I’m trying to find it!”

“It’s downstairs.” Tyler motioned out. “Take Philip with you, no one goes downstairs alone.”

Aramis walked up to Tyler and looked him dead in the eye. “Apologize.”

“Fine. I’ll apologize once she stops lying.”

Cadence groaned loudly before speaking, “No... he... has no need to... say sorry...” She had started to understand most of what they were saying now.

Aramis’ eyes burned angrily, “He does. Regardless of what happened, he pushed the line too damn far.” he said before looking at him again, “I'm not going to ask you to a second time.”

“It’s okay... When I kissed him I found out why he refuses to trust me... or any older woman for that matter.” She grabbed the table and let it help her stand up.

“Oh great, she’s a fucking mind-reader now. Tell me, what the fuck did you manage to get out of my head from kissing me?”

“I’ve had enough of your fucking attitude!” Aramis yelled, grabbing Tyler’s shirt before slamming him into the wall, fist held at an angle. “If you don’t apologize right the fuck now, I’m going to beat you so fucking hard, I’ll leave you in a coma.” he threatened with a snarl.

“DO IT! It would be better than spending another day in this fucking hell.” He spat at Aramis’ face and laughed.

“Aramis! Tyler! Stop it now!” Cadence felt like she was going to faint but it had to be done. “I’m going to tell about that woman if you don’t stop!”

Tyler froze. “You wouldn’t dare.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

“I got it! I got the medkit guys!” Philip and Tammy stopped as soon as they breached the door to the room. “Uh...” Philip coughed into his hoof.

Aramis still glared at him before he felt a soft hand wrap around his fist. Turning around, he was surprised to be face to face with Cadence.

“Please? It’s important to Tyler that you stop.” She looked at Aramis, then at Tyler.

He let go of Tyler’s shirt and allowed him to drop to the floor.

“You tell anybody, and I mean anybody... and I will kill you.” He threatened, glaring at her with his dark brown eyes. “I’m not fucking kidding.”

Aramis spat on Tyler’s face, “And if you so as much touch a pretty hair on her head, I will fucking murder you!” he yelled in the other man’s face.

“Fine you do that.” He briefly turned his face to Aramis for a brief second before looking at Cadence again. “Don’t tell anyone.”

She looked away. She hated the thought of blackmailing somepony to be friends, but it had to be done. “I won’t, your secret is safe with me.”

“Good. Now, would you please get this bitch some clothes?” He waved his hand at her and stormed out of the room.

Aramis growled. “Cunt.” he muttered as Tyler left.

Cadence looked at Aramis. “What does that mean? Cunt?”

He gulped nervously, pulling at the neck of his shirt as he thought about it. “Well um...” he began as he fumbled for words, “Its the word for uh...female genetilia...but is used more as an insult in today’s society...or during sexual activity...” Aramis explained, his face increasingly becoming a darker shade of red.

“O-oh...” She blushed as well.

“Can I come in now?” Asked Philip nervously, waving his hand through the doorway.

“Yes,” Groaned Aramis, smacking his face. “You can come in.”

“Alright!” He said, moving in and dropping the bags on the floor. “We got plenty of stuff! Shirts, socks, panties, skirts, pants, so many things!”

“What are panties?” Asked Cadence which made Aramis blushed even harder.

“Their undergarments to keep you clothed and warm.” he explained, as he began to rift through the pile of clothes they got for her.

“Oh... Could you leave while I get dressed?” She looked away from Aramis, covering herself up again.

“Sure thing.” Aramis said as he and Philip stepped out of the room, waiting patiently as he heard her try to get dressed. Suddenly there was a loud thump and the sound of groaning.

“Uhhh, Aramis?” She called out.

“Yeah?”

“Could you help me get dressed?”

He sighed quietly as Philip gave him a supportive look, patting his back.

“Sure.” Aramis said as he tried not to blush when he stepped in, not prepared for the sight in front of him.

Cadence was sitting on the floor, a bra strapped to her chest lopsidedly, while a short sleeve blouse was halfway on her arm.

Aramis shut the door behind him and laughed loudly, holding his sides painfully.

“What?” She made a frown, it turned into a smile... he was almost as good looking as... ‘What am I thinking?’ Cadence shook her head, and mentally kicked herself.

"I’m s-sorry, it’s too funny!” Aramis responded, laughing and weakly pounding the wall.

“Are you being a ‘cunt’ now?” She asked with a cute smile.

Aramis immediately collapsed on the ground again, laughing even harder.

“Are you okay?” She reached forward and poked him.

He kept on it for a minute before he calmed his laughter and took a shaky breath, “Y-yes... Just hearing you use a swear word with that smile and how goofy you look right now was... Too much.”

“Well, at least somepony here knows what happiness is.” She couldn’t help but think of how sweet he had been to him.

Aramis sat across from her and looked at her curiously, “Somepony? Why do you keep using words like “Stallion” and “Somepony” instead of “Men” and”Someone”?”

“I uh...” She looked around the room. “Can I get dressed first?”

“When are you gonna explain yourself, Cadence? I’m not going to get up in your case, but they're things about you that are making me really curious about who you really are.” He said as he stood up and offered her a hand.

Tyler stormed downstairs after he had left the room. He didn't care if he was breaking his own rules, it didn't matter right then. He leaned against a large box and let out a deep, aggravated sigh. He pinched his nose and took a deep breath to try and calm down.

It didn’t work. Without warning, he slammed his fist into the crate, breaking the weakened wood, and the splintered wood cut into his hands.

"Christ dude, calm down." Tyler spun around and looked at Colton with an angry glare. Colton simply threw his bright pink bag on the ground, metal clunking coming from inside. "The security office at the mall was generous."

Tyler opened the bag with his good hand, a small grin playing across his lips. "Guess you guys aren't completely useless after all. You’re my new favorite person.”

"Whatever. I needed to prove we can pull our own weight, so I did.”

“You rock man. Did you get me a rifle?" He opened the bag and began to root through the guns.

"There were none, sorry. It was a security office, not a military outpost."

“Ah it’s cool man. You got some new guns, so that makes you okay in my book.”

Colton simply shrugged and crossed his arms.

“Well Tylie, sorry to disappoint, but mostly there were empty shells and stuff. Took it all. But hey! I got a cool new holster!” Philip turned to the side, showing off his new black holster on his hip.

“Don’t call me that. Screw you.” Tyler remarked.

"You count up what we gathered yet Philip?" Colton asked.

“Not yet, I’ll get on it!” He walked away, almost bouncing.

Colton shook his head and turned back to Tyler. "So, anything happen while we were gone?”

“No, not much. Artie’s girlfriend tried to make out with me, attracted some infected. Yeah, stuff like that." He waved his hand around.

"We should get that hand fixed up before you get your ass infected somehow. Where's the Medkit at?"

“Aramis has it upstairs tending to the bitch.”

“Why do you hate her so much anyways?”

“I never said I hate her, I just don’t trust people who lie/blackmail others.” He opened and closed his hand several times, making sure it wasn’t broken.

“Whatever. I'll be back in a minute." Colton made his way upstairs and quickly opened the door to the conference room.

“Okay, the bra goes on this way.”

“Wait, what? I don’t understand.” Cadence furrowed her brow in frustration.

He sighed. “Just look at the mirror as I put it on, okay?” Aramis aligned the cups with her breasts and slowly pulled back on the straps, latching all three on before patting her shoulder.

It was at this moment that the door opened and Colton walked in. Aramis and Cadence stared awkwardly at him as he glanced at them, picked up the Medkit and left the room. Cadence coughed into her claws.

“Sooo..."

Aramis blushed as he picked up the underwear and held it up to her, “This is very easy. Have you ever worn a bikini?”

“W-well yes I have but...”

“What is it?” He took a step back.

Cadence lifted her claws and wriggled the ones on the end. “I’ve never had these before. How do you use them?”

“Those are called “hands”, Cadence. Do you want some help?”

“Well.... Yes.” She blushed even harder.

Aramis walked behind her and wrapped his hands in hers, “Bend over and lift one of your legs.”

“Fine...” She began to bend over. Then stopped. “Well don’t look cunt-er.”

He sputtered and blushed deeply as he felt her crotch press against his jeans and prayed to whatever gods were out there that he didn’t get a boner. Aramis slipped Cadence’s panties on quickly, dropped her leg and backed away, the blush still bright on his face.

“What’s wrong? Am I doing it wrong?” Cadence asked, turning around as she played with her panties, her thumbs hooked around the band as she stretched it while trying to find out what was making Aramis so flustered.

Aramis pulled his shirt neck, “Um...I...uh...” he felt short of breath as he tried not to openly gaze at her lower abdomen, despite the fact she had been naked for hours. Taking a breath he coughed, “It’s just a bit uncomfortable watching you play with your underwear when you were naked for hours, alright?” he said as he grabbed a pair of jeans and a skirt, “Which one do you want to wear?”

“The skirt looks easier to wear.” She motioned towards the article of clothing.

Aramis nodded and held out the black skirt to her. She tentatively grasped it with one of her hands, her fingers taking in the feeling of the fine silk. "Think you can try and get it on yourself?" He asked her. She nodded and slowly began to put on the skirt.

After a short while and some minor struggles, she had managed to finally get the skirt on properly. "I did it!" She shouted with glee at her accomplishment. It was then that Tyler walked in, hefting a new pistol in addition to his glock. His one hand was wrapped heavily in bandages. He didn’t spare Cadence and Aramis a glance as he looked out the window. Assessing whatever was going on outside in just a moment, he left as quickly as he came.

"Does nobody knock anymore?" Aramis pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and went over to his bag of clothes. Fishing around, he found a black long sleeve shirt with orange accents on the shoulder blades and sleeves, “I think this would match with these long black socks.”

“Oh yes! I love to match.” she cooed excitedly.

“Here you go then,” he said as he handed it to her.

“Thank you, Aramis...” She felt herself blush. ‘Where did that come from?’

“Phillip! I need your help.” Aramis called.

“Yeah mate?” Said Philip popped out of the door, without knocking of course.

“We gotta fit her with a pair of shoes." He gestured to Cadences sock covered.

“Sure thing!” He chirped and disappeared before bringing back about fifty pairs of shoes. He dumped them unceremoniously on the ground.He then promptly left them alone.

“Really man?” Called out Aramis, sending out a glare.

“Yup! She’s probably thirty seven. Have fun!” He called out merrily as he made his way for the door.

Aramis grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him back, “Oh no you don’t! You’re going to help me find her pairs of shoes.”

“Fine...” After he was let go by Aramis he plopped on the floor and started going through the pile of shoes. He sifted through the pile, sorting out the shoes that were obviously too large and throwing them in the corner where they would gather dust and never be used again.

Aramis took a seat next to Cadence on the table, “So, you liking your new clothes?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty warm. I still don’t see how you haven’t developed fur coats yet.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Cadence?” He asked with a puzzled expression.

“Silly Caddie! That’s not how evolution works! We lost fur a long time ago! Like a really really long time ago!” Philip exclaimed, throwing a rather oddly shaped shoe into the corner with the rest.

“What do you mean? Why would you give up fur coats, they’re so practical. And what’s evo-loo-shun?” She tried to pronounce the last word, struggling on it.

“Because when we got clothes, we didn’t need fur anymore! Simple! And it’s pronounced ev-uh-loo-shuhn!” A pair of shoes found its way to a small pile with usable footwear.

Aramis took a look at them as he picked out a pair of dark purple sneakers with black skulls on them, “These look pretty sick, huh?” he asked, holding them up to Cadence to see.

“Why would they look ill? Does that mean they look bad?” She cocked her head at him.

“Silly Caddie! That means they look good!” Another weird shoe went into the corner. Seemed like a match for the previous one.

“Do they look nice in your opinion?” Aramis asked her.

She did like the purple, though the skulls were odd. Why would a pony put that on anything? ‘Not pony... why would we put those on anything?’ “I do like the Purple...” She made herself stop after that.

He set the pair of shoes down next to her. “Well, then that’s settled for now. We’ll pick out more shoes later on after we go scavenge for some food. We all need to keep in tip top shape if we’re gonna be any good at surviving out there.” Aramis said as he brushed forward his short dark hair.

“Alright.” Cadence agreed. “Say, is there a restroom somewhere?

“Sure is! There is one by social room in the back of the warehouse! First floor, that is. There is a toilet there. No idea how the plumbing still works though.”

“Oh okay... I think I need to... you know.” She blushed once again.

“You should probably put those shoes on before you go.” Aramis suggested, wagging the shoes in his hands.

“Okay.” She kneeled down and put them on, looking confusedly at them.

He smirked, leaning down as he tied her right shoe, “Look closely and try to copy after me.” Aramis said as he tied it.

She cocked her head a little and brought her other foot forward, and tried what he did, but her inexperience with her new dexterous fingers wasn’t quite one-hundred percent yet and all she ended up doing was tangling the laces together.

“Uhhh, Aramis? How did you do that?” Cadence blushed once again. She was being such a burden.

He chuckled, “I’ll show you using your hands.” Aramis said as he gently grasped her hands in his, slowly tying her shoe by guiding her fingers and hands.

“How do you use your fingers so easily? Why don’t you just use magic instead?” She looked confusedly at Aramis again.

Aramis chuckled, “Well, we humans aren’t adept at magic. We just simply don’t possess such a trait or skill.” he explained frankly.

“Well then how do you build things? You couldn’t possibly have made this whole place with just your hands.”

“We have big cranes!” Philip butted in from the floor.

“You’ve tamed giant birds?” She lifted an eyebrow in skepticism.

Aramis laughed, “Cranes are machines that can lift several tons of weight and carry a lot of the materials one would use to build a building. Their design is modeled after the crane bird though.”

“Oh.” Cadence blushed for what must’ve been the thousandth time in an hour. She just kept embarrassing herself. She coughed into her hand. “So do you have any idea why Tyler pushed me off of him?” Cadence asked, trying to change the subject.

“Philip and I weren’t really there to see it, but from what I could hear, the prick was just agitated. I feel bad I left you here alone with him though...” he admitted, looking away from her with a neutral expression.

“What happened anyways?” Asked Philip,

“Well, I was asking why he hated me, and he said that he didn’t... That he only didn’t trust me because I was “blatantly lying.”

“And were you?” Aramis asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.

“No I wasn’t! I just... May have... You know... Not told the truth.” She replied sheepishly, nearly whispering the last part in the midst of her embarrassment. .

He took a deep breath and looked her dead in the eye. “Cadence.”

“W-what?”

“You need to everyone here the truth. I’m a very easy going person, but if there’s one thing I can’t stand for, it’s gotta be dishonesty. Right now where in a situation where loyalty, honesty, and brotherhood are the only things anyone can count on. Without one, you can’t have the other two.”

“The t-truth?” She asked nervously.

“Yes, the truth.” Aramis said.

“W-well... It sta—”

“Not until everyone is in this room.” he said before turning to Philip, “Get the kids and the asswipe.”

Philip spoke, “What about Colton?”

“Him too.”

He nodded and ran off to get them promptly before returning with them.

“Can I go to the bathroom before I explain everything?” Cadence chuckled. “I uh... Yeah...” She trailed off, letting the context of her words explain themselves.

Aramis nodded, “Take your time, Cadence. Just take a breather if you need to. If you don’t keep a cool head, I can guarantee you this will be nerve wracking.” he warned as she walked past the group, looking at the ground as she hurried past Tyler.

He didn’t spare a glance at her.

Cadence hurried into the bathroom, which she had little trouble locating, leaning down over the sink as she splashed cold water on her face, trying her hardest to steady her breathing. As she stood back up and looked at her reflection, she nearly jumped when it gave her a sarcastic sneer.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” Her reflection spoke back to her with a jeer.

“W-what?” Was all she could stutter out. “H-how... w-what?!” To say Cadence was completely shocked would be an understatement.

Her reflection laughed at her, “You should have see the look on your face!” she teased before gasping and placing a hand in front of her mouth, “Oh wait! I can!” The reflection said before copying her expression with the same enthusiasm and mannerism.

“W-who are you?” Cadence gasped in shock and brought her new hand to her mouth, “Are you me?”

She giggled like a schoolgirl, “Did you already forget me, Caddie?” Her reflection said with a sad pout, silver-purple eyes tearing up with rejection.

Cadence froze when she heard her own reflection call her “Caddie”. Only Philip calls me that. Then it all clicked in her head, “You.” she said with a venomous edge. “TAKE ME BACK!” She demanded, pointing a threatening finger at her reflection.

“Oh, you want back so soon?” She said in surprise. “I thought you loved it here on Earth.”

“NO! It’s dreadful here! I almost died the first few seconds I was here. You promised me a place where I wouldn't be sad anymore!”

She looked at her sad and whined. “But you aren’t sad! You’re terrified for your life, scared of everything around you, completely clueless about the world around you, and you’ve already garnered the interest of one of those humans!” she pointed out joyously.

Cadence blushed momentarily before her anger returned in full force. “I don’t care! I just want to go back to Shining! I am the Princess of Love, and I order you to take me back, this, instant.”

“For the Princess of Love, you’re not very loving at all ya’ know.” Her reflection pointed out honestly, nearly laughing at the infuriating look Cadence flashed her.

“Stop playing games with me!” She slammed her palm onto the counter, producing a sharp smack which startled her reflection. “I want to go back, right, now.”

“Well, well, well. I see that this could be a problem later on.” Her reflection lost its cheery demeanor, “But first off, no. I will not send you home. I am rather enjoying the amount of chaos bleeding out of this situation. I’ve never felt so alive.” Cadence narrowed her eyes.

“Chaos?” Cadence leaned closer to the mirror. “What does that mean?”

Her reflection smirked as she leaned forward herself, “I love chaos, just as much as my daddy. Gods! The way it seems to roll of you and those pesky humans is simply to die for!”

“D-Discord? He’s your father?” Cadences eyes widened a bit. “He had a daughter?!” She stepped back in revulsion. “With a pony?! That’s disgusting! Discord must have been a horrible dad.” Her reflection laughed.

“Well I don’t see what’s wrong with that.” Her reflection drew back as if struck. “At least my father and mother were kind and loving unlike yours.” Sneered her reflection.

“D-don’t talk about my father like that. He loves me very much!” She was beginning to tear up. “M-my dad loves me, probably more than yours.”

“Is that true Cadence? Are you really, really, sure that he loved you? Because, oftentimes the ones we lie to most, are ourselves.” Her reflection grinned sadistically. “Don’t you remember the days you would wake up, to find your father waiting outside your room, holding his belt just waiti—”

“STOP!” Cadence screamed at the mirror and slumped down across the wall, close to breaking down. “P-please s-stop.” Her breathing was heavy and erratic.

“You call your father a saint, and say that he loves you, but he doesn’t.” she said snidely. “All he ever did was just abuse you, and you still loved him, but he didn’t love you. The only activity he ever looked forward to that concerned you was beating you until you cried, until you begged for it to stop.”

“N-no.” Cadence was about to break down. “S-shut up!”

“Why? Your father was just a dirty low-life who—”

“I SAID SHUT UP!” Cadence screamed at the mirror.

Her reflection jumped back in surprise, not expecting her to openly rebel her as she had done. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Cadence, you okay in there?” Came Philip’s voice, laced with concern. “I heard yelling.”

Tears ran down her face, but she dare not make a noise about it. She sucked up her chest and tried to sound happy and chipper. “I’m fine... Perfect actually. Just need a bit... a bit...” She tried not to sob. “Longer.” She finally managed to spit out before feeling her body shake. She looked back at the mirror.

“Awww look who’s “okay”. Why do you care about those humans, all of them hate you.”

“That’s not true!” She felt her body shake in rage and sadness. “You’re a liar!”

“Caddie? Who are you talking to?” Philip knocked on the door again.

“I just want to go home.... I just want to go home.... I just want to go home...” She cried, falling to the floor. She felt her mind wanting to fall away.

“Caddie, what’s going on in there?” Philip asked.

“Just... want... to.. go...” Sleep seemed to call to her.

“Caddie, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I promise I won’t make any noise, daddy... I promise...” She curled up into a small ball and fell away from the world

“Cadence?” Philip asked quietly. “What’s wrong?”

Silence.

“P-please, I said I would be quiet!” Cadence whimpered under her breath and scuttled away from the door. “Please... daddy I just want to go home...”

Cadence’s mirror image watched the pitiful heap on the floor. “Well... That’s new.”