The Cursed Apocalypse

by Pony_Craze

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Sex, Profanity, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Human, Narcotics, Main 6, Drama, Gore, Original Character, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Queen Chrysalis
Length: 6018

A human slave and his pony friends face a challenging zombie pony apocalypse

D'mitry, a teenage human slave teleported across universes to work at Sweet Apple Acres, encounters a sudden zombie pony apocalypse that sweeps through Equestria. The first few weeks are challenging, claiming the lives of some and half of the mane six as everypony quickly, mysteriously loses their magic and flight. Although everything starts to look grim, Princess Celestia does manage to use her dwindling magic to gift D'mitry a chainsaw from his world. With his trusty chainsaw, D'mitry stands beside his friends and owners in the hopes of one day defeating the apocalypse and returning to his normal, relaxing slave life.

Published 2024-06-17 07:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-17 07:50:00 UTC

Prologue: The C̸̞̙̭̽̌̀̈́̽̕̕ȗ̵̧̨̢̻̩̞̘͙̉̋̊͂͘ŕ̷͖̦̍͝s̵̫̪̋̍͂̆̆͆̄é̶̡̧̺͖d̸͎͒̒̿̈̀ Continuation

Ten months can feel like a long time. However, so can ten days.

For ten long months, an 18-year-old D'mitry spent most of his time slaving away at Sweet Apple Acres. On his 18th birthday, he'd been pulled from the confines of Earth and dragged across universes to appear in the mysterious land of Equestria, four curious alicorn princesses surrounding him. They sat him down and slapped a lengthy paper contract in front of his face, explaining how they were running a trial to see if a human could live amongst them. He didn't feel like reading the 77 pages in their entirety, so he ended up unknowingly signing away the next three years of his life to work for his new master, Applejack, on Sweet Apple Acres. Since the boy was an orphan who didn't care for Earth, he didn't mind.

That was until a sudden zombie pony apocalypse began spreading throughout Equestria on a random day in Autumn, about ten days ago. In the first few days of the newfound apocalypse, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Half of the mane 6 (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity) had fallen victim to it, as well as a sizable chunk of Ponyville. D'mitry believed he'd fallen victim to it as well on day one, after Pinkie bit him, until realizing days later that he is supposedly immune to the virus. This is probably the only thing going right for him and his group.

On top of the sudden zombies threatening their survival, they also started encountering other, rogue human boys hastily brought in by the royal sisters in an attempt to help stop the apocalypse from worsening. The group fought against these boys as they made their way to the royal castle, just to find the sisters being held captive by some of them. They learned the two main brothers in charge, Pete and Peter, took over after getting mad about the sisters not retaining enough magic to send them back to Earth. Although the sisters tried to tell them that 'dying' was a means to go back, the brothers did not believe them.

Therefore, Twilight and her group ended up killing the boys with the help of a surprise attack by Discord and Trixie. Although Discord had lost his powers as well, Trixie somehow retained her magic ability. This, combined with Celestia using some of her last magic to travel to Earth and grab D'mitry a highly requested chainsaw, allowed the group to escape a sudden mob. This mob ran them out of Canterlot for good, forcing them back to Ponyville. Along for the ride were the only two human girls the sisters had brought in, Jen and Abby, as the brothers had turned on them during the castle confrontation. Although D'mitry had trouble accepting them, they eventually proved themselves to be a worthy addition to the group.

Once the group made it back to Ponyville, they were attacked by a random group of boys likely responsible for attacking the hospital while they were gone. D'mitry ended up losing his mind and murdering all of them, even sawing a boy's head clean off and cutting one open from the torso. Afterward, they continued on, just to get jumped by a large zombie mob. Spike was unfortunately lost to this mob, and one of the royal guards protecting them ended up paralyzed from the waist down after fumbling a grenade. Nonetheless, they made it back and holed up in the less-scathed parts of the partially burnt, abandoned Ponyville Hospital. This is where they are now.

Everybody except D'mitry.

After finding a secret stash of Nurse Snowheart's LSD, D'mitry made the unwise decision to pop a pill and take a trip. And taking a trip, he did. The boy ended up chasing a hallucination deep into the woods, getting himself lost. All alone in these woods, he is approached by the Author—a very mysterious being tantamount to God. This Author had arrived when the apocalypse started, only adding to the confusion. The Author explained to D'mitry how he'd unlawfully altered the timeline to save him, causing the universe to banish the mysterious being. Although he is gone from their world now, his actions allow the story to continue.

So... the story goes on.

Welcome Back

"Twilight."

Twilight awoke to somebody shaking her. She squirmed in her hospital bed for a moment before blinking her groggy eyes open to the brightening room. It looked to be early in the morning, another apocalyptic day quickly arriving. She shook her head and looked up to see the human girl, Jen, standing beside her bed.

“What?” she hissed, annoyed.

“Twilight. I need your help. It’s D’mitry,” the girl explained.

“What’s the idiot up to now?”

“It’s serious this time. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he’s tripping out bad right now.”

Her tiredness dissipated as she threw off her covers and sat up in bed, rubbing her tired eyes as she hoped D'mitry hadn't done something too stupid. The boy just could not stop getting himself into trouble, it seemed.

“Where is he?”

“He’s outside. Come.”

Great.

She jumped out of bed and followed the girl through the downstairs hallway of the partially burnt hospital, to one of the side door exits. Once outside, they rounded the back corner before Jen stopped abruptly. Twilight eased her way around the girl's intriguing backside, just to see an empty backside of the hospital.

Well, mostly. A single bag of chips sat alone on the grass. She noticed spilled chips laid out all around it.

“Well?” she asked the girl.

“Shit. Maybe he went back inside. I left him out here just a minute ago.”

“You left him? What was wrong with him?”

Jen looked down at her nervously. “He was tripping out on something. I'm pretty sure he’s on drugs.”

That fucker. Twilight was gonna slam him into a wall once they found him. It wasn’t totally out of the blue, but she hadn’t expected the idiot to get high now, just a day after they’d returned from Canterlot. If he did, she would have thought he’d just coop up inside his room and jack off or something. She pondered the thought of him maybe coming outside briefly before going back in.... the hospital.

“Okay. Let’s find this stoner asshole,” she remarked.

She and Jen went back inside and got to searching. However, after a good twenty minutes, involving more and more ponies, they still hadn’t found him. He wasn't in his room, he wasn't in the cafeteria, he wasn't in the lobby, he wasn't anywhere. The search party continued as everybody woke up and tried to settle into what would probably be another hectic ass day.

Throughout the search, she was growing nervous. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Guard Drift were carefully scanning the perimeter of the hospital as well, so if he was anywhere nearby, somepony would spot him. Discord also climbed onto the roof and used a set of binoculars to scope out their surroundings, but he hadn’t seen him either.

Twilight hastily made her way down the upstairs hallway of the lesser-burnt half of the hospital where they were currently residing, glancing through all the already wide-open doors of the second floor. She had a bit of adrenaline going now, nervously wondering where this drugged-up asshole ended up. As she made her way to the staircase to check the first floor again, she was met by Nurse Snowheart outside the doorway.

“Princess, may I speak with you for a moment?” the nurse asked.

“Can you make it quick?”

“I can, but it pertains to the current situation.”

She dropped her haste as she stopped to listen to Snow.

“What is it?”

“Princess… I hate to rat myself out like this… but, I’ve been keeping a supply of LSD on me. You can hound me about legality later, I understand, but… I’m only telling you this, because…”

She paused briefly, clearly nervous.

“... two of them are missing…”

Of course.

“Are you serious? Do you think he stole them?” Twilight pressed.

Snow nodded defeatedly. “Had to be him. If Jen said he’s tripping out, it’s likely due to that. He’s been hounding me and Redheart about getting painkillers for a while now, so I guess he found where I was hiding them. He didn’t touch any of those, though.”

Twilight was starting to get light-headed. She almost wanted to copy Princess Celestia's signature method of punishment, the notorious Celestia Spanking. She thought about spanking him herself when they found him, but this image was quickly wiped out of her mind. When they found the idiot, she'd just let Celestia do what she does best.

“Thank you for the information, Snow. Have you told Celestia or Luna yet?”

“I have. They’re in the cafeteria if you want to see them.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Twilight left Snow to join Celestia and Luna in the cafeteria. A few others occupied nearby tables, quickly scoffing down food while they had the chance. She noticed both of the princesses consulting with Jen at a table of their own. She joined them.

“Celestia. Luna. What do you guys think?”

They all turned their heads to her. Ever since the group had saved the royal sisters from Canterlot a few days ago, the three of them had continued their reign of power as a council. They all shared the responsibility of leading the group, taking votes whenever an indecision was faced. This had been working... to an extent.

Celestia sighed. “Well… he’s an idiot. That’s for sure.”

Twilight sighed, struggling to hide her nervousness as she briefly looked away. Celestia noticed this and set a hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight. Don’t worry so much. We all know D’mitry is a tough little bastard. He should be alright, regardless of what the drugged-up idiot may be up to right now.”

Luna joined, “She’s right, Twilight. For all we know, he could just be going on another little rampage. He did take his chainsaw with him.”

The two princesses set her mind at ease, somewhat. If he was on some kind of rampage, she hoped he would win it. He had a tendency to downplay the severity of the situation they were in and just how powerful these newfound zombie ponies could get. Having dealt with the Canterlot mob now, and the mob who attacked them near the train station yesterday, she and the others were quickly realizing how dangerous these zombies actually were.

Regardless, D'mitry would probably be alright. She was still pretty annoyed at the twerp for putting them in this predicament to begin with. He was definitely getting punished when he showed up again.

She and the other princesses consulted with Jen for a couple more minutes, learning the whole story from before she’d left him. Apparently, he was tripping his balls off the LSD and trying to smack her for stealing his chips. She described it as less than assault, moreso him just annoyingly batting at her and saying stupid shit like he was the captain of this ship.

Strange. Definitely a D’mitry thing to do, though.

After the princesses finished pestering her, they set up a more elaborate game plan. She bickered with Celestia and Luna once more about how much to widen the search effort, as Celestia wasn’t as convinced that he was in danger. Celestia suggested a more focused approach of carefully searching the woods behind the hospital, whereas she and Luna wanted to create a full circle around it and sweep it layer by layer.

They did another vote, which she and Luna won again. Celestia grew mad at this, but she didn’t have the power to do anything about it. She did propose sending out groups of 3 instead of 2, which was voted in favor of. The first group, comprised of Dash, Trixie, and Nurse Snow, would scan the nearby forest. They’d already left.

Twilight was part of the other group, which was her, Jen, and Guard Drift. Thankfully, Drift was almost fully recovered from his gunshot wound now, so he’d be a vital asset. While she didn’t care for Jen a whole lot, she knew she'd be a big help, too.

Despite wanting to leave now, she opted to eat a quick breakfast with the other princesses first. They talked about trading places with her, but she liked the idea of them staying back and keeping the hospital secure for now. Even though she would likely only be out for half an hour to an hour at most, it was probably best to keep a strong group at the hospital, just in case.

As Twilight finished her meal, Applejack came galloping into the cafeteria, crying out to them.

“PRINCESSES!!! We need you! It's urgent! That boy from before, Pete, he’s here!!”

“Pete?!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Yes!”

PETE?! What?? How?!?

Pete was one of the two human brothers who'd led a 'revolution' against the royal sisters back at Canterlot upon finding out they couldn't muster up enough magic to send them back to Earth. Celestia and Luna had accidentally crashed their house party, opting to hastily grab them and thirty other party-goers in a likely failed bid to avoid suspicion. Since none of the humans wanted to help them fight the growing horde of zombie ponies in Canterlot, the brothers led their 'revolution' and took them captive.

Upon their arrival at the royal castle, Twilight's group ended up killing his brother, Peter, and the few boys with him in a last-second surprise attack. Out of the other rebels, they'd killed most of them before and after this point, too. Despite not finding Pete on their way out of Canterlot, she'd assumed him to be dead somewhere in the overrun royal city. So, hearing he was outside was one of the last things she'd expected.

She shot up from her seat in a frenzy.

“Hold on!” Celestia called.

AJ rushed up to their table as the three princesses bickered yet again. She more thoroughly described what was happening, explaining that it really was Pete outside of the hospital. Evidently, the boy had Cloudchaser with him, and it appeared to be a hostage situation.

Twilight wondered how the hell any of this was even remotely possible. The last time they’d seen Pete was at Canterlot’s front gates, after D'mitry shot him. Although he'd escaped behind the walls, his brother Peter said they couldn’t find him… so… how the fuck did he end up here? It would take him days to walk from Canterlot to Ponyville, especially wounded. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to debate this.

Celestia suggested she go out there with Guard Drift to talk with the boy. Twilight and Luna weren’t fans of this idea, as it wasn't clear what he was after right now. If he hadn’t been somehow stalking them, it was likely he did not know the sisters were even here right now. Celestia argued that it didn’t matter and strongly suggested letting her deal with him personally, since she was one of the ones most directly responsible for Pete acting like he was.

Twilight and Luna did not care. They all voted, to which Twilight going outside shockingly won the vote. Celestia angrily smacked her hoof on the table a couple of times before eventually accepted it. After this, Twilight and Jen followed AJ to the side door of the hospital while the other princesses got everypony else up to speed.

Unfortunately, they did not have Trixie right now, as she was still out on the first 'look for D'mitry's dumbass' patrol. This was unfortunate, because Trixie was somehow the only pony they knew about who still retained her ability to do magic. Although Twilight was eager to run experiments on the mysterious mare, they hadn't found the time yet. Despite the princesses pestering her, nopony was sure why she still had it.

Although they didn't have Trixie, they did have Discord still. Luna was heading up to his room to let him know what was happening. They wanted him set up in one of the second-floor windows with one of the scoped rifles they had, in case he found an opportunity to snipe Pete in the head while the others distracted him.

Twilight took a few deep breaths at the door, hoping this was not related to D’mitry’s disappearance. Guard Drift joined them, but she told him and AJ to stand guard by the doors for now. She’d agreed to walk out with just Jen until the other human girl, Abby, asked to come with. This girl was known to have a short temper, so she was hesitant about letting her do so. However, the stubborn girl persisted until she caved. It wasn’t clear if having the girls would be a good idea or not, but she hoped their presence might throw Pete off, as they had once been a part of his and his brother's little ‘revolution’.

All three of them walked out to see Pete within shouting distance on the side of the hospital, not far from the nearby tree line. He stood next to Cloudchaser with a pistol in his hand, its barrel resting against the back of her head. Cloud shook with fear, a single piece of duct tape covering her mouth shut. This wasn't the first time she'd been taken hostage, so Twilight hoped that this encounter would go the same as the last, with them nabbing her back.

Despite encountering a hoofful of these annoying ass boys since the start of the apocalypse, it was always weird to Twilight. Her brain almost always assumed it to be D’mitry before quickly understanding otherwise. Having D'mitry as the sole human in Equestria for nearly a year likely caused this to be.

Like D’mitry, Pete was a tall guy. If memory served her, he was likely a bit taller. He had a lighter complexion than him, though, and he was visibly skinnier too. They didn’t dress all that differently, either. Pete was wearing similar shoes, a jacket not far off from the one D'mitry had been wearing, and a similar set of work pants. For some reason, he still had on that silly bandana he and his boys had been wearing, hanging loosely around his neck.

At first, Pete held his glare as they walked out. He looked pissed. However, his expression softened to surprise after he noticed the girls behind her. His eyes danced back and forth between her and them. He eventually returned to his glare as they stepped up within throwing distance of him.

“Well then,” he said, “Aren’t you just a doll, Twilight? Bringing the girls in with you? I gotta say, I didn’t expect this. Let me guess… my brother tried to carry out his dumbass plan right in front of you, didn’t he?”

Twilight remembered the events that unfolded at the royal castle with Peter. She remembered his weird ‘Operation Pussy’ that led them to eventually bringing the girls in with them in the first place. That was a strange encounter. Despite happening only a few days ago, it seemed like ages had passed. She nervously cleared her throat.

“Yes… he did. If you mean his plan to take these girls in as sex slaves.”

“Yeah, that one. What a fucking dumbass. That plan was ridiculous,” he said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Anyway, I’m guessing y'all would like to know why I’m here.”

“I’d like to know how you’re even here…” she replied.

He smiled. “There’s more than one train, genius. I’d figure a smartypants pony like yourself would figure that out. You guys musta forgot to check the train station inside Canterlot before getting the hell out of dodge, huh?”

Twilight sighed, remembering the severity of the mob chasing them out of Canterlot.

“No… we weren’t able to.”

“Womp womp.”

Pete’s sudden mockery angered her.

“What are you even doing here? What is this?! I can’t imagine you have anything smart planned, walking right up to our doors with a hostage. What are you trying to get out of this?”

“Oh, I’ve got a long-term plan in mind, don’t you worry. Before we get to that, though, I’ve got one question…” he stated, a smirk reaching his lips. “Where. is. D’mitry?”

Fuck…

A chill ran down her spine. She remembered how badly Pete and the other boys seemed to wanna kill D’mitry. She remembered Peter nearly killing him back at the castle. However… this was also relieving, because it meant that his showing up was not related to D’mitry’s sudden disappearance.

“We… we don’t know…” she stammered.

“Bullshit. Don’t try and hide him from me now. You’re only going to make matters worse. Bring him to me. Now,” he demanded.

“WE DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS!!”

Her sudden passion threw him off. He raised an eyebrow curiously, judging her truthfulness. Despite this, he eventually shook his head.

“Do not make this harder than it needs to be, Twilight. I know he’s still with you. He has to be. I want him out here NOW!”

“Pete…” Jen started, stepping up beside her.

“Ah Ah! I don’t wanna hear a word out of you, bitch.”

“Fuck you!” Abby cried, quickly stepping up to her other side.

“Hey!” Pete called, “That goes double for you. Annoying, squeaky-ass bitch. Shut that screeching fucking mouth of yours up.”

“FUCK YOU, PETE!! We don’t wanna hear a word from your BITCH ASS either! You and your brother are nothing but worthless sacks of SHIT polluting this world! You should put that gun to your head and BLOW IT THE FUCK OFF!! FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!”

Oh boy. Twilight started to regret letting Abby come out as well. She reached up and grabbed her arm in case she planned on rushing Pete in this little rage of hers. Jen backtracked and slipped behind her to grab hold of the girl’s other arm. Thankfully, despite her rage, she remained still.

“Damn, bitch,” Pete harassed her, “They really got you worked up. If it makes you feel any better, I was strongly against that stupid operation of his. While I was in favor of taking over, rape just ain’t my thing. He was kind of a pervert anyway.”

Twilight squinted her eyes confusingly.

“Was? So… you know that we… killed him?”

His face dropped. His eyebrows furrowed with anger, but she also noticed the bottoms of his eyes swell up. He spent the next few minutes emotionally explaining his adventures in Canterlot. After getting shot by D’mitry, he’d rushed back to the boys defending the gate with him. There had been three boys, one of whom grabbed him and started escorting him to their makeshift clinic.

However, the clinic had been overrun by zombie ponies. They were forced to backtrack into a random shop after getting jumped by too many zombie ponies than they could deal with. Fortunately for Pete, the boy who was escorting him was in school to become a doctor. He was able to patch Pete’s gunshot wounds well enough for him to survive. Apparently, he'd gotten as lucky as D'mitry had, not needing surgery for them, either.

But, this boy later died in their quest to make it back to the others at the castle. They were jumped by a part of likely the same Canterlot mob that attacked the castle on their way there. Pete flat-out admitted to shooting the boy’s kneecap and leaving him for dead so he could get away himself. After that, he'd made his way to the castle and found the remains of the boys they’d slaughtered. He described in detail their gruesome bodies left over from the zombie mob that had rushed through.

He was very angry at bringing all of this up.

“You FUCKERS!! I oughta kill all you stupid fucking ponies myself for what you did to him! He was my one and only brother, and now he’s gone forever!”

She groaned. When the brothers had first taken the royal sisters hostage, they'd tried talking with them. The sisters tried to convince Pete and his brother that 'dying' was more than likely a way that he and his boys could return to Earth. However, they both violently shot down this ‘assumption’, and Peter again shot down the idea when D'mitry reuttered it upon her group's arrival at the castle.

“He’s not, though. Celestia already told you—he probably got sent back,” she voiced.

“Don’t start that crap again. Y’all are so full of shit you could make an industrial septic tank erupt.”

“We aren’t! I wish you would just listen. D’mitry himself got sent back to Earth when he fell unconscious, so that proves it!”

“Oh, sure. Not even the same fucking state. So now y’all are saying it doesn’t matter if I fall unconscious or die, either way I’ll just wake up and everything will be sunshine and rainbows again? Pssssht.”

“Yes! D’mitry said he was sent back to Atlanta himself.”

“He’s a fucking liar then.”

“No he’s not! He doesn’t lie about stuff like that. He’s not a good liar to begin with—we would know if he did. He’s mentioned in detail about what happened when he passed out and returned that day.”

The boy again took a moment to think before shaking his head.

“I don’t care. I’m not doing anything until I see D’mitry.”

“We already told you!” Jen hollered, “He’s not here! I was the last one to see him!”

Pete squinted his eyes in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jen sighed and turned to her. “Can I tell him? Please?”

She took a moment to think to herself, but honestly, Pete knowing the truth was probably for the best right now. She wasn’t sure what he’d do after, but there was only one way to find out. She nodded.

Jen sighed and turned back to Pete.

“He’s drugged out. I followed him out here not even an hour ago, but he was too high to talk to me. When I went inside to get the others, we came out and he was gone. We don’t know where he is. We’re actively looking for him.”

It looked like this finally convinced Pete. He rolled his eyes slowly, glancing up at the clouds as he sighed to himself.

“That fucking idiot,” he muttered.

“Yeah…” Twilight replied, “So, this whole little hostage situation of yours was for nothing. However… we can still talk about this all, Pete…”

He met eyes with her again, visibly curious.

“And what do you mean by that?”

She wasn’t entirely sure how this would go, but she wanted to try something. If she could just get him to drop his defenses, maybe Discord was in the window already. She took a deep breath, ready to commit to her act. If she could just lure him in, maybe even one of them could kill him. She let go of Abby, allowing Jen to pull her back as she stepped forward.

“It’s not too late, Pete. This world of ours is known for forgiveness. Just look at the girls,” she said, pointing a hoof toward them. “We brought them in, even though we could have easily killed them at the castle. They’re on our side now, because we gave them a chance. I don’t know why you think taking over this world is the right move… I don’t know if it’s because you’re scared, unsure, or confused, but whatever the case… we can give you a second chance…”

Pete gazed at her for a solid few seconds, looking like he was weighing his options. It didn’t take him long before he broke out into laughter. She huffed as he took a few seconds to overcome this, shaking his head disapprovingly.

“You’re funny, Twilight. A real funny, nerdy pony. That’s not going to happen. I know if I were to fall for this stupid little trap of yours, one of you would either shoot me dead now, or Abby would murder me in the middle of the night. I've done far too much by this point for you to ever accept me as one of you. There is no ‘us’, there is only ‘me’.”

She rubbed her forehead frustratingly. Pete was really getting on her nerves now. She wished Discord would just snipe his stupid ass so they wouldn’t have to deal with him again.

He continued, “So, I guess that puts us both in a predicament. That’s fine by me. How about this, Twilight? I will return here in one week—same time, same situation. By then, you should have found the stupid bastard.”

“We’re not just gonna let you leave. What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh, but you are. Let me explain why. You see, not only did I snag your little friend here… Cloud, right?”

He leaned down and teasingly met eyes with Cloudchaser, who glared up at him with the duct tape still covering her mouth.

“Oh… my bad. Anyway, I didn’t find Cloud all by herself, no…”

He smirked.

Oh fuck…

She remembered what Nurse Redheart had told them on their rearrival, about who she’d left with Cloudchaser the night some of the boys attacked the hospital...

“... You see, I found her with some other ponies. Some children ponies.”

“Applebloom.”

“Scootaloo.”

“Sweetie Belle.”

“Those little children so badly wanted Cloud to fight back, but unlike them, Cloud here has a fully developed brain. She still has this brain of hers, because she knows I can blow it out.”

His words were dripping with evil intentions as he nudged Cloud with the barrel of his pistol. Twilight was mortified, immediately scared for the fillies. She was about to ask him what he did with them, but he interrupted her before she could.

“You wanna know the best part? They aren’t the only ones!”

He paused and smiled, allowing a menacing quiet to fill the air for a few seconds. She nervously glanced back at the hospital, noticing AJ hovering in the open doorway with Drift. The mare was as nervous as Twilight had ever seen her, a look of fear painted on her face from learning he had Applebloom.

She turned back to Pete. “W- what do you mean?”

“I’ve also got one by the name of ‘Lyra Heartstrings’. Oh… and from what I’ve gathered… y’all are gonna love this last one I have…”

He paused again to riddle the air with suspense. It was only when she opened her mouth to ask who when he intentionally interrupted her again.

“A big fella by the name of Big Mac.”

…

Fuck!!

Twilight frantically tried to come to terms with just how much he had them wrapped around his little, human finger. At first, she thought he was an idiot out for revenge, bringing a single hostage and hoping for the best. But this boy came prepared. She worried about all the ponies he mentioned, and what he might do with them.

She looked over her shoulder to see AJ again, who was still in a state of shock at the doorway. Guard Drift immediately grabbed hold of her frozen body and pulled her inside, allowing the doors to shut. When Twilight turned her attention back to Pete, he continued.

“Before y’all grow emotional and try to snipe me or something, you should know… only I know where they’re at.”

He used his free hand to pull a blindfold from his back pocket and dangled it in front of him.

“I blindfolded Cloud before we got there, so she doesn’t have a clue. They could be anywhere in this cute ‘little’ town…”

She thought about how big Ponyville had gotten in recent years. She didn’t even have a rough estimate of the population anymore, but she knew there were hundreds of houses scattered around her previously welcoming home now.

“... so, you know, if you wanna widen your little search effort, go ahead. However, they are chained up, and thirsty. I’d say you’d have maybe two days max to find them before they perish.”

Abby’s screeching voice erupted again.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING MONSTER!!”

Pete glared back at her. “No, I'm not. I’m just a guy trying to stay alive in this fucked up situation. Now, as I said, I’ll be leaving now. If I catch any of you trying to follow me, I will blow Cloud’s head off and leave the rest to die. Then everybody loses. I hope you all find that idea as dumb as I do. That being said…”

He glanced at her one last time.

“Until next week, Twilight.”

Pete began nudging Cloud to turn around. Abby was not having it.

"Twilight! We can't just let him walk off!"

"W- w... we..." she started.

She tried to respond, but she was too stunned to explain right now. Before she could, Abby started walking after Pete.

"Abby, no!"

"STOP!" she yelled, "DON'T FUCKING LEAVE-"

BANG!!

Abby tensed up right in front of her, slightly curling her chest forward before losing her balance and falling to the ground. Pete quickly lowered his pistol and set it against Cloud's head again.

"ABBY!" Jen cried.

"And get that bitch under control!!" Pete shouted.

He then nudged a shaken Cloud back to the tree line and disappeared as Jen kneeled down by Abby's side. Twilight, still suffering from shock, tried to shake it off and join her. Pete had shot Abby in the chest, right below her right breast. She was still conscious and breathing, but she was breathing fast now. She fearfully stared up at them.

"Abby, baby, please… please hold on," Jen pleaded, meeting eyes with Twilight. "We need to get the nurses!!"

"Okay okay!"

She looked back to see Drift in the open doorway again. She called for him to grab Redheart and bring her to them. While he rushed back inside, AJ came galloping out to see if she could help. She was followed by Celestia, who’d been eavesdropping from a window in a room next to the exit. After asking them if they were alright, she went back inside to try and restore order.

While she did, Abby passed out.

Thankfully, not long after, Redheart came rushing out with her medical saddlebags. AJ helped Twilight hold back a crying Jen as the nurse worked to stop her bleeding. Eventually, she gave them the go-ahead to pull the girl inside with a stretcher Drift had brought out. Once they got her into a room, they quickly moved her to the hospital bed. Redheart hastily began connecting her to an oxygen tank behind it, strapping an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. The others had to pull an emotional Jen out of the room as Redheart finished setting this up and quickly started an IV line.

While Twilight assisted her in any way she could, she realized how lucky they were to have Redheart still. They were lucky to have Snow, too, but Redheart had grown really good at dealing with humans due to her being D'mitry's assigned nurse upon his arrival. It hadn't even been ten minutes yet, but Abby was already set up. Despite not having a doctor, Abby might just make it through this, thanks to her.

Celestia had also come in to help Twilight assist her, helping by running out to grab what she needed. Redheart would be performing an emergency surgery on her very soon, as the bullet had actually done some substantive damage inside her chest. Celestia went to grab Luna so they could quickly sterilize the operating room and set it up for Redheart.

Not long after, the group they’d sent to look for D’mitry returned. They’d heard the gunshot and rushed back, allowing Snowheart and a magic-wielding Trixie to join Redheart right as they started rolling the girl in for surgery. In the meantime, Celestia and Luna rejoined Twilight in the cafeteria to have an in-depth princess discussion to figure out what to do about all the crap they’d just been dealt in this sudden shitshow of a morning.