Silence

Equestria had always been a land of peace and harmony. The sun shone brightly over the rolling hills and lush meadows, and the air was filled with the sounds of laughter and joy. The ponies of Equestria lived in a world where friendship was magic, and every problem could be solved with a little kindness and understanding. But that was before the outbreak. Before the world fell apart...

Scootaloo was in Ponyville when the first signs of trouble began. It was just another ordinary day, with her zipping around town on her scooter, trying out new tricks and dreaming of the day she would finally fly like Rainbow Dash. The air was warm, and the streets were bustling with the usual activity. Ponies went about their business, chatting and laughing as they moved from shop to shop. But something was off, a tension in the air that she couldn’t quite place.

She noticed it first at Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake had come down with something, and Mr. Cake was working the counter alone. He was sweating, his movements hurried and shaky, as he served customers. He kept glancing toward the kitchen with a worried expression.

But it wasn’t just Mrs. Cake. As the day went on, Scootaloo noticed more and more ponies with similar symptoms. A cough here, a sneeze there, but it was the way they moved that was most unsettling. Some seemed disoriented, their steps faltering as if they were trying to find their way through a fog. The Ponyville General Hospital started seeing more patients than usual, and by the evening, there were rumours of a strange illness spreading through the town.

Scootaloo tried to shrug it off. She met up with her friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, at their clubhouse in Sweet Apple Acres. They had planned on spending the day brainstorming new ideas for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but the atmosphere was subdued. Apple Bloom’s sister, Applejack, had been called away to Canterlot to help with an emergency, and Sweetie Belle’s parents had taken Rarity to the hospital for a checkup.

I heard somepony say it might be contagious,” Apple Bloom said, her voice tinged with concern. “Applejack didn’t look so good when she left.”

“My sister’s been really tired lately,” Sweetie Belle added, her usually cheerful voice quiet. “She says she’s fine, but I’m worried.”

“Maybe it’s just a flu or something,” Scootaloo offered, trying to keep the mood light. “I’m sure they’ll be okay.”

***

But as the days passed, the situation only grew worse. More ponies fell ill, and the symptoms became more severe. The fever was followed by intense shaking and violent coughing fits that left the patients gasping for breath. Worst of all, many of the sick ponies began to lose their sight, their eyes clouding over as if a dark veil had descended upon them.

The hospitals in Ponyville and surrounding areas were quickly overwhelmed. Doctors and nurses worked around the clock, but nothing they did seemed to make a difference. The illness spread like wildfire, jumping from one town to the next. Soon, it wasn’t just Ponyville that was affected—reports came in from all over Equestria. Canterlot, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, no place was safe.

Panic began to set in. The streets of Ponyville, once filled with laughter and the sounds of everyday life, grew quieter as ponies stayed indoors, fearful of catching the mysterious illness. Shops closed their doors, and schools were shut down. The once-bustling market square was now eerily deserted, with only a few brave souls venturing out to gather supplies.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna addressed the nation, urging calm and assuring everypony that they were doing everything in their power to find a solution. But their words did little to ease the growing fear. Many ponies started rioting and looting as a wave of mass hysteria flowed across the country, forcing Celestia to declare martial law. The Royal Guard was deployed to maintain order, but even they seemed powerless against the invisible enemy that was ravaging the land.

***

Scootaloo watched as her world began to crumble around her. Sweetie Belle’s parents fell ill, and Rarity disappeared from the hospital under mysterious circumstances. Apple Bloom’s entire family had taken refuge in the farmhouse, but Granny Smith had taken a turn for the worse. The Crusaders tried to keep each other’s spirits up, but the uncertainty and fear were overwhelming.

Then came the reports of strange behaviour among the infected. Ponies who had lost their sight were becoming more aggressive, their behaviour erratic and violent. They would lash out at anyone who came near, their once-friendly faces twisted into expressions of rage and hunger. Worse still, they began to communicate in strange ways, using clicking sounds that echoed through the air like some terrible, unnatural language.

The first attack in Ponyville happened at night. Scootaloo was in her room, trying to sleep despite the gnawing fear in her stomach, when she heard the screams. She bolted upright in bed, her heart pounding. The sound was unlike anything she had ever heard, raw, primal, and filled with terror. She rushed to the window and peered out into the dark streets.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

A group of ponies, neighbours she recognized, were stumbling through the street, their movements jerky and uncoordinated. Their eyes were clouded, and they seemed to be searching for something, their heads snapping from side to side as if listening for some unseen cue. As Scootaloo watched, one of them let out a chilling screech, and the others followed suit, the air filling with the sound of their eerie clicking.

And then they attacked.

The infected ponies lunged at a small group of bystanders who had come out to investigate the noise. It was a horrifying sight—ponies biting and clawing, tearing into flesh with a ferocity that didn’t seem possible. The screams were quickly drowned out by the sounds of ripping and tearing, and then... silence.

Scootaloo stumbled back from the window, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. She had to do something, had to find her friends, had to—

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash from downstairs. Fear shot through her, and she raced out of her room and down the hall to the stairs. The front door had been thrown open, and in the dim light, she could see the silhouette of her mother standing in the doorway.

“M-Mom?” Scootaloo’s voice trembled as she approached. But as she got closer, she saw the blood, streaks of it on her mother’s coat, splattered across the floor. Her mother turned slowly, her eyes clouded, her mouth hanging open in a twisted grimace.

“Mom, no!” Scootaloo screamed, backing away in terror.

But it was too late. Her mother lunged at her with a feral snarl, and Scootaloo barely had time to dodge out of the way. She stumbled backwards, falling onto the floor, her heart hammering in her chest.

She couldn’t stay there. She had to get out, had to run. But as she scrambled to her hooves, she heard the sound of more ponies outside more of those awful clicks, growing closer and closer.

With no other options, Scootaloo bolted for the back door, tears streaming down her face as she left her home and her mother behind. She had to find help, had to warn the others.

But when she reached Sweet Apple Acres, the scene that greeted her was even worse. The farmhouse was surrounded by infected, their clicking echoing through the night as they closed in on the Apple family. Scootaloo watched in horror as Apple Bloom’s brother, Big Mac, fought to keep them at bay, his strength waning as more and more of the creatures descended upon them.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom’s voice rang out from the farmhouse window, filled with fear and desperation. “Help us!”

But there was nothing Scootaloo could do. The infected were everywhere, and she was just one small pony. She wanted to run to them, to help, but her legs wouldn’t move. She was frozen in place, paralyzed by fear.

A scream pierced the night. Sweetie Belle’s voice came from somewhere in the orchard. Scootaloo snapped out of her paralysis and took off toward the sound, her heart pounding in her chest. She had to find her, had to save her—

But when she reached the source of the scream, she found only silence. Sweetie Belle was gone, and all that remained were the trampled remains of the orchard, the trees broken and twisted, as if something had torn through them with unimaginable force.

Scootaloo was alone, surrounded by darkness and the distant sounds of the infected. Her friends were gone, her family was gone, and the world she had known was gone.

She fell to the ground, her body shaking with sobs, her mind unable to process the horror she had witnessed. The world had become a nightmare, and she didn’t know how to survive in it.

But she had to. She had to find a way to survive. And she had to protect her brothers.

Stormy and Void Streak, they were all she had left...