To Cure a Broken Heart

“What was that thing?” Twilight asked while she cleaned Sunset’s wound. She winced, causing Twilight to wince as well. “Sorry.”

Sunset leaned her head back on the wall, looking back at the claw marks on the metal gate before sighing. “An old friend from Equestria…”

“Equestria? That… monster came from Equestria?”

“Hey!” she scolded, “He’s not a monster, alright? His name was Discord. He was my friend and—” Sunset paused, looking back at the claw marks before at her own wounds. “He’s just confused… If I can just find a cure, maybe I can save him.”

“That thing—” Twilight paused before correcting herself, “He seems beyond saving.”

“If I can get him back to the portal, Twilight— well… the other… version of yourself can maybe save him. If magic still works there, that is.”

“Right… uhm… so h-how do you think we’ll get out of here?”

“I don’t know…” Sunset mumbled as Twilight bandaged the wound completely. “But I know where to head next.”

“The hospital?” When Sunset met her gaze, Twilight understood. “Sunset… that’s a death mission.”

Sunset raised her voice, “If I can just find Principal Celestia—” A loud bang hit the metal gate, causing Sunset to quiet down. “If I can just find Celesta… I swear I’ll be able to do this.”

“You don’t even know what you’re looking for.”

Sunset paused. Twilight was right. She didn’t. But that wasn’t going to keep her from trying.

“Sunset… this is crazy–! I know you want to be this hero but maybe… maybe our world really is just ending.”

“I refuse to believe that.” Sunset crossed her arms, albeit pouting as she looked away.

“I don’t think you have a choice. If a whole mall was overrun by the infection in less than an hour, even with military help—”

“I’m sorry, did we see the same shit out there? I don’t think I saw a single soldier shooting at the infected.” With Twilight’s nervous eyes meeting her own, Sunset sighed. “Listen… it’s not too late to try to find a cure. If I can’t find anything, then I’ll give it up. Okay? I promise.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses before speaking, “You’re not looking for a cure, Sunset. You’re looking for Celestia.” Sunset looked away, her irritation spiking.

“Just let me do this. If you don’t want to help, fine, but I’m leaving.” Sunset stood up, ignoring how Twilight followed. She peeked through the sliced metal, examining whether or not the hallway was clear. It was completely dark. Not only was it nighttime, but power was non-existent in the whole building. So it wasn’t exactly an easy task.

“This is insane…” Twilight mumbled as she looked as well.

“Just follow my lead.” Sunset paused for a moment before moving to unlock the gate, pulling it just up above her knees. “It’s clear. Hold this, I’ll go first.” Sunset then crawled under the gate before motioning for Twilight to come through as well, holding it up for her before slowly putting it down to keep the noise from attracting the infected.

Sunset grabbed Twilight’s hand, gently pulling her along as they quietly walked through the halls. The closer they got to the skylight, the more bodies they encountered.

“Maybe we should go the other way…” Twilight whispered. “How do you know they won't see us?”

“Their eyes are clouded. Which makes me think their vision is blurred. If we play our cards right, then maybe we can sneak past without drawing attention to ourselves.”

“Do you know if that’ll work?”

“No.”

The blunt reply made Twilight cringe, especially when Sunset continued to lead Twilight ahead. Sunset crouched down, motioning for Twilight to do the same, before moving forward. The infected didn’t seem to move at all. They were dormant, almost.

Sunset moved to open the door, trying to avoid creaking it too much. “Go ahead.” Sunset mumbled. After Twilight entered the strip before the exit, Sunset moved inside as well, slowly closing the door behind her. Twilight was about to exit the next door when Sunset pulled her down to the ground, covering her mouth as Discord walked past.

He had been moving on all fours since the first encounter, appearing genuinely animal-like aside from his obvious animal traits. In Equestria, Discord’s mannerisms always seemed to match those in the human realm, but here: Discord was feral. Drool and blood dripping from his mouth, his eyes clouded over like the others, and the noises he made sounded exactly like someone clicking their tongue repeatedly.

The other zombies did that as well, but it wasn’t exactly noticeable till now—or Sunset didn’t exactly care to notice. Maybe they used echolocation in some form of way. Or maybe it was just a result of their vocal cords being used excessively, resulting in breaks in their voice box. Sunset had no clue—she wasn’t a scientist, she was a student… and even then she hadn’t paid attention to biology or anatomy. The likelihood of it being wrong was… a hundred to one… but it was an easy excuse.

After finally walking past, Sunset slowly stepped ahead to push the door open, allowing herself out first before helping Twilight through. Upon spotting a glass bottle, Sunset picked it up before throwing it ahead of Discord—distracting him and allowing the two of them to move swiftly through the parking lot.

Sunset hopped into a nearby vehicle, checking the backseat before the car alarm startled both her and Twilight.

“Fuck!” Sunset cursed, immediately exiting the vehicle and running to grab Twilight.

“What are you—”

“Just run!”

The screams and howls of the horde only made their adrenaline meet at its peak, their hearts thumping as they ran as fast as they could down the parking lot, past buildings and bodies, and through alleyways full of debris and garbage. The pain in their legs was nothing compared to the fear driving them ahead. The noises of the infected crawling and moving past the obstacles quicker than the two of them was enough to make Twilight whimper and whine.

Sunset pulled Twilight through the alley and out into Mainstreet, and upon seeing the red flickering lights of the Emergency Room ahead, Sunset bolted that way, practically dragging Twilight along. The doors dinged, sliding open and allowing them to jump inside. They were quick to pull the chairs and benches towards the door—but that didn’t stop the infected from slamming their entire bodies against the glass.

“They’re gonna break in!” Twilight yelled, leading Sunset to pull her into the elevator, praying to Celestia it would actually work. She pressed the top floor button repeatedly, ignoring how the glass began to shatter. Before they could charge into the opening, the elevator doors shut on one of their arms—cutting it clean off.