Chapter 1 - The Other Gang
"Are you sure it's safe to be here, Cap'n? This place don't look so good."
Light danced across the walls of the inside of the shop. An old oil lantern swung haphazardly from a strange half helmet contraption, causing deep shadows to dance wildly across the room.
"We don't have a choice, Pip, I don't want to live off apples for the rest of my life. Besides, we still have a month or so until the next harvest. We need to find some food. Now please, hold the light still. The shadows are freaking me out."
"Aye aye, Cap'n." Pip went instantly still, holding his head up high to carefully spread the light as far as possible.
The second pony, the Captain as Pip called them, flitted in an out of the light. They were a orange whirlwind of action, overturning boxes and throwing objects over their shoulder left right and center.
The orange foal let out a angry hiss, "How in Celestia are there no supplies? This is the first day we've ever been picking and as far as I know, we're the only group. Where the hell are the supplies?" They walked over to a pile of crates, knocking them over in a fit of rage. The crates fell over, their noise muffled by carpet lining the floor.
Suddenly there was a loud crash from above them.
"Cap'n, did one of the crates hit the ceiling?"
"Did you hear it hitting the floor afterwards?"
"No..."
"Then no crate hit the ceiling."
"Aye, Cap'n. But then that means..."
"What, Pips?"
"Then there must be somepony or a grown-up upstairs."
"Cud! This is just great, the first scout we do since holing up and not only do we find no supplies but we might of found a grown-up!"
"Well, it might be a young'n like us. In that case, makes sense there's no supplies here if you think about it."
"True, but what should we do?"
"I dunno, the commander would be mad if we got into any trouble and we don't have the meds to deal with any infections. Maybe we should move on to the next place?"
The captain went and sat down hard on a crate, the bang was responded with another crash from upstairs.
"Alright, I definitely think we should get going, Cap'n. No way a survivor would respond like that."
"I agree, Pips."
"Alright then." Pips turned and began moving through the gloom towards the light lit entrance way before turning back to face the Captain who was in the middle of drawing a sword with their mouth.
"Uhm, Captain, the leaving?" He pointed towards the door.
"We ain't leaving Pips." The Captain responded, holding the sword with a hoof. "I didn't agree that we should leave, I agreed that a survivor wouldn't of responded like that. Means that only an Adult could be upstairs. I think it's time for some fun."
"Cap'n, I don't think we should do this. We don't know what it's like up there, or how many there are."
"Pips, you're not afraid are you?"
"Of course I'm bloody afraid. You remember what it was like a year ago. It's a miracle we survived then, especially when we had to struggle through that winter. Now you want to seek them out, are you crazy?!"
"No, Pips, I am not crazy. For a whole year we've been hiding and living off what we could scrounge off the orchard. It's been miserable and I'm as a sure as my inability to fly that I'm not hiding any more. What good is in having these make do weapons if we never make do with them. Besides, there might be some supplies up there."
With that, the Captain turned tail and ran to the stairs before stopping to ascend them as quietly as possible. Pips just stood there stunned before slowly covering his face with his hooves. He waited until they were well out of earshot before whispering.
"Some days, I wish you weren't so damn cute Cap'n."
The midday sun shone down onto Ponyville, it's scorching rays causing two young fillies to sweat heavily as they carefully picked their way through the ruins of the town.
"Dee Tee, you reckon we will find anything today?"
"I dunno, Ess Ess, but could you keep it down. I don't want to disturb any parents."
"What are you worried about? Not as if there's that many in town anyway, and those that are left stay inside during the day."
"Exactly, and where do we have to go if we want some new supplies?" The pony known as SS looked down at the ground dejected.
"Inside."
"Right, so shut your yap. I'm starving and I don't want any complications today."
The two of them continued in silence as they walked towards the town center, making sure to keep to the middle of the roads and make as little noise as possible.
"Hey, Dee Tee."
"What?"
"Is the baker's door meant to be open?"
"Hmm, I don't think it was open last week. Interesting."
"Interesting? You remember the stories about her. I hope she hasn't left."
"Relax, Ess Ess, its daytime. Besides, she probably died ages ago. Most likely the lock finally failed and the wind blew it open."
"From the inside?"
"Well, maybe another survivor went inside."
"Another survivor? You really think there might be more out here?"
"I dunno, we ain't seen the Cutie Mark Crusaders since the outbreak. It's possible they survived."
"If it is a survivor I hope they're alright? I mean just in case the baker is alive." DT nodded in quiet contemplation before looking like a light bulb had gone on above her head.
"This is perfect, if it is a survivor then we can add them to our crew."
"And if the baker's alive?"
"Then the survivor will distract them while we get any supplies that are left. Come on." With that DT tore across the center towards the bakery, SS looking around nervously before timidly following behind.
For five minutes Pips had stood diligently at the bottom of the stairs. Part of him wanted to go upstairs, but he knew from experience that the Captain could take care of herself. Besides, he had to make sure that no adults came in from outside or from the basement and flanked them.
Still, despite her skill, the Captain had been upstairs for far too long. If there was such a large amount of supplies, surely she would of come and got him so he could carry his load. Should he check on her? His hooves would already itching to start the climb, but he held back. He could never forgive himself if it turned out to be alright and they ambushed by some adult from downstairs.
As the seconds ticked by, Pip got more and more nervous until there came the sound of a muffled scream from upstairs followed by a crash of what could have been a door closing or something falling over. That was it, he couldn't hesitate any longer.
Taking one last look at the door and the room leading to the basement, he turned and climbed up the stairs slowly, ensuring to make no noise. He was no use to the Captain if he got ambushed now. The hallway at the top of the stairs was dark and smelt heavily of mold. The air was stale and breathing made Pip thirsty. Still he didn't have time to do deal with that now.
He looked for possible signs to where the Captain could have gone and noticed fresh hoof prints in the dust that lay on the floor. They led to a door that was ajar at the other end of the corridor, a small trickle of light leaking through the gap between the door and the frame. Either there was a light on in there, or the windows in that room weren't as covered in much as the rest of the building.
Slowly he edged his way towards the door, drawing his own makeshift weapon, a gardening prong. As he edged closer to the door, he had to turn off his head light. He didn't want to give up his element of surprise and it didn't look like he would need it anyway.
He reached the door and slowly opening it, before lying prone and sneaking into the room. The sight that me him was strange beyond belief.
A mare, one he recognized from around town, stood scratching her hoof at a cupboard door. It's wood was giving way and probably wouldn't stand up for much longer. He could guess why she was doing it, the Captain had to be hiding inside.
He knew he would have to help, and soon, but he didn't know how capable the mare could be. She looked quite feeble, her pink mane and tail were matted with dirt, blood and who knows what else. But he new looks could be deceiving.
From inside the cupboard came another squeak and the mare redoubled her efforts to get inside, the wood was crumbling fast.
Pips couldn't wait any more and charged at the mare. She either didn't hear him, or was too distracted by his friend hiding in the cupboard as she didn't react until his prongs impaled her and scraped down her flank, tearing the flesh open. He pulled his weapon free in a spray of blood and quickly ducked aside as she gave a great grunt of pain and turned around to face her attacker. Any normal pony would have been felled by such a wound, but this was no ordinary pony. This was an adult, one of the infected and they fought with no sense of pain until either they, or their prey were dead.
Pips dived in for another attack, however he vastly misjudged the mares abilities and was nearly slipped over as she dodged his clumsy attack. He didn't get any time to recover however before a powerful hoof sent him flying across the room and he landed roughly against the wall and slid to the floor.
The light in the room danced in front of his eyes, and as he tried to stand he fell back as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him. As he was forced back to the ground, he looked helplessly on as the mare hobbled step by step closer to him. A crazed look in her eyes.
He scrambled around for a weapon, anything to defend himself with, but all he found was papers and books. He grabbed one and threw it at the advancing mare, followed by another and another. They did little to stop her progress, merely bouncing off her face and chest. He did note, however, with some strange fascination that each book had variations of the same title. 'How to make Cupcakes'. He knew it was a bakery, but it seemed strange for the owners to posses so many books on one subject.
The mare was almost upon him when he noticed the cupboard behind her open and his Captain come out, she raced to get her sword drawn and come to his aid but he knew they would be too late to stop her killing him. She loomed over him, and he had to gag as her putrid breath hit him. Opening her mouth, spittle and phlem dripped onto him as she plunged towards him, wild hunger spurring her on despite a trail of blood she left behind.
Pip closed his eyes, not wanting to see it as he end came upon him. Her mouth was just millimeters away from him, he could feel the warmth of her breath against, when she gave a loud grunt and her weight fell on top of him. He tried to flail around in a panic but she was to heavy and pinned him down. He cried out as he expected his death to come any second.
But it didn't come.
The mare was still.
Pipsqueak lay there as his heart rate began to slow down, wondering what had happened. Slowly, a warm liquid dripped it's way onto his coat and he had to open his eyes to see what had happened.
The mare lay dead on top of him, her unseeing eyes staring at him, he mouth pulled back in a permanent grin of the feast that awaited and would never come. The cause of her death was apparent but confusing, a bolt, embedded up to the fletching in her skull. From this wound, blood was trickling down
While he was relieved to be alive, he couldn't help but wonder who it was that saved him, neither he or the Captain had any weapon like that. Nor did anyone back at base. A click from the door way grabbed his attention and he struggled to see what had caused it, the movement of his neck limited by the weight pressing down on him.
He turned as much as he could to face the door, but all he could manage was to glimpse a shadowy figure of a pony standing with what looked like a crossbow.
"Are you alright?" The figure called, it was a filly, the voice gave that much away. "I said are you alright, and is the baker dead?"
Pip opened his mouth to speak, but found himself coughing as he found himself breathing the vile stench of the "Baker" as the filly called her. The coughing seemed to relieve the filly and she entered the room.
"Good, it seems you're alive at least, now lets get her off of you and check you over."
The filly entered into his line of sight, her mane, tail and coat all a shade of grey. She placed her crossbow carefully by the door and started pressing against the body of the baker. It was no good, a year of the infection and feasting on whatever she could get her hoof on had left her body bloated and heavy.
"It's no good, I can't shift it on my own." She turned to call outside when another pair of hooves started to press against the body, startling her. She turned to see who it was had joined her, and her eyes quickly narrowed in what looked like pure loathing. "You!"
"Shut your yap, Silver Spoon. We need to get this off him before he suffocates. Don't worry Pips, we'll have you free in a moment."
Both of them began pressing against the body and slowly it began to move. As they worked, the new comer, Silver something, kept looking over at the Captain wanting to speak. It looked like she was nervous though. Eventually, she managed to build up the courage.
"Look, I'm sorry about before. And I'm sorry about all the bullying in school. It wasn't right of us, I was only trying to fit in, but that doesn't excuse my actions."
Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon as if she was crazy before responding through gritted teeth.
"Now's probably not the best time. Lets get Pip free and worry about that later." Silver Spoon nodded her agreement.
The next ten minutes were filled with huffing and puffin and when the two of them finally managed to free Pip they were drenched in sweat. Pip himself, was not only drenched with sweat from being trapped by the corpse, he was covered with blood and a mixture of filth that had covered the baker.
The two fillies helped Pip to his hooves before looking at each other.
"Now, about apology?"
"It doesn't matter, Silver Spoon, that was a world ago. Besides, I need to thank you for saving Pip here."
"Aye, thanks Miss Spoon." Said Pip wearily, he seemed on the verge of collapse again, so the Captain moved to support him. "Thanks."
"So, Silver Spoon, how have you been surviving? Solo, or...?"
As if on queue, there was the sound of loud hoof steps outside in the corridor. Each of them looked outside worried, the event with the baker reminding them of how dangerous it was, but they were relieved when they saw that whoever it was was carrying a torch.
"Silver Spoon?" the voice called. Something about the voice annoyed the Captain, she recognized that voice. Someone she didn't want to meet.
"In here."
"Thank goodness Silver Spoon, I was getting so worried and I..." she paused as she entered the room and surveyed the room. "By Celestia, what happened here? Silver, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry. It was Pip and Scootaloo here that needed help. Lucky we were here."
"Aye, thanks again."
The newcomer looked at all three of the ponies in turn, quickly skipping over Scootaloo in favor of looking at Pip. Scootaloo for her part fixed the new filly with a death gaze.
"Silver, why on Equestria did you help them? I thought I told you to get supplies while the baker was distracted if she was up here."
"Diamond..."
"Typical behavior, Diamond Tiara, you would have thought your father being caught commiting fraud would have hammered you down a peg or two, but no it didn't. And here you are, a year after the sky has fallen around our heads and what do you do? Act like a bitch." Scootaloo, her face red with rage stormed over to a corner of the room where her saddle bag rested before picking up and storming past them into the corridor. "Come on, Pip, I think we should be getting back." Pip looked around at them nervously before picking up his makeshift weapon and following after her.
"Aye aye, Captain." He paused quickly at the door to turn around and issue one last thanks to Silver Spoon and ran after his friend.
Pip and Scootaloo walked silently side by side until they reached the edge of town. The sheer rage radiating from her worried Scootaloo, she was never normally like this, not even towards adults. Eventually, they paused behind a hedge passed the last of the main group of houses to drink some water, Pip used this opportunity to confront her about what had happened.
"Captain, are you alright?"
Scootaloo didn't respond, instead she just continued to drink before hurling the empty bottle away back into town. Pip placed a hoof on her shoulder, between them, the actions seem to abate some of her rage. They stood like that for a few minutes before eventually she sighed and sat down.
"No, Pip, I'm not." Pip waited patiently for Scootaloo to continue, but the only sound was that of a nearby babbling brook.
"Captain?"
"I'm scared, Pip, really scared. I thought we would be ready, but I couldn't even take out one adult. Even the two of us couldn't. And then we finally meet new survivors, even if they were Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, and while Silver Spoon had come to her senses Diamond Tiara hasn't. She can't even be civil when we're all that's left. All we have is each other and still she wants to fight. That scares me more than any adult, Pip, the fact that ponies out there like Diamond Tiara act like this."
"I know what you mean, Captain, Silver Spoon was nice and all, but Diamond Tiara was as you said, a bitch. Still, it's a good thing they showed up when they did, or neither of us might be here."
"Yeh, I guess you're right Pip. Thanks by the way, you know, for the hoof on the shoulder. I appreciate it." She smiled weakly before continuing. "Now, I expect the rest of the gang will be waiting for us."
"Aye, Captain. Shame we didn't find any supplies today though." The smile of Scootaloo's face became wider and far more genuine and she patted her saddle bag.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that."
