Resurrection

An abrupt stop shook Scootaloo awake,

"I wasn't sleeping Miss Cheerilee! Honest!" Scootaloo yelped. She rubbed her eyes and realized that she wasn't in school. It was Saturday after all. She remembered that she was with Rainbow Dash but the dangers of the situation hadn't dawned on her due to her being half asleep.

"C'mon Scoots, wake up! I need you to focus." Rainbow Dash

Scootaloo yawned, "R-Rainbow Dash? Where are we?"

"We're at Twilight's place. If anypony in Equestria would know what's going on, it'd be her."

"Twilight's?" Scootaloo rubbed her eyes, "Why are we here? What do we need to know?"

"Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash flung the filly off of her back and onto the ground. The shock sent a wave of alertness through her body, "Ponies are dying and we need to know why. If anypony could help us solve this mystery, it'd be Twilight."

Scootaloo recalled the horrors that took place just hours ago. Once she finished processing the situation, her eyes lit up with hope and agreement, "Yea! She's smart! She'll know what to do!" Scootaloo said, stepping off Rainbow Dash's back.

Rainbow Dash glared at Scootaloo, "Are you saying I'm not smart?"

Her eyes widened, "No! It's just... I... uh..."

Rainbow Dash smiled and placed a hoof on the filly's head, rustling her purple mane, "It's okay, Scootaloo, I'm just messing with ya."

Scootaloo giggled. That's the Rainbow Dash she loves and looks up to. A pony that's loyal, fun, and caring.

Rainbow Dash knocked on the door to the library, "Twilight! It's me, Rainbow Dash..."

"... and Scootaloo!" Scootaloo chimed in.

"Let us in! We need to talk to you!" Rainbow Dash waited a few moments, hoping for a reply. The two waited for about a minute and still no answer from inside the tree.

"Maybe she's sleeping?" Scootaloo suggested.

Rainbow Dash shuddered, "I hope not." She put her ear up against the wooden door and closed her eyes. She then heard a small crash from inside.

"Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash screamed. Realizing this, she instantly put her hooves over her mouth.

The two pegasi turned around to see four plagued ponies heading their way. Scootaloo recognized one of them.

"H-hey, isn't that the pony we crashed into? Scootaloo stuttered nervously.

"No way..." Rainbow Dash grit her teeth. In one fluid motion, she bucked open the door to the library, "Get in!"

The filly didn't hesitate to run into safety of the library.

Rainbow Dash slammed the door shut and knocked a bookcase over in front of it. They both breathed a sigh of relief. Moments later, the sounds of hooves striking wood could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Twilight? Where are-" Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped when her eyes caught the attention of the lavender mare suspended by a rope from the banister, "TWILIGHT!"

Tears instantly began pouring from Scootaloo's eyes. She fell to the floor and curled up into a ball.

The rainbow pegasus fell to her knees and began to sob, "Why? Why would you do this? I thought you always knew what to do."

*Gurkhahk*

Rainbow Dash looked up to see Twilight's hooves flailing. She was still alive. It was not too late to save her.

Rainbow Dash flew up to Twilight and wrapped her arms around her. With a few strong beats of her wings, the rope around Twilight's neck gained slack. She flew up to the upper floor of the library and set Twilight down.

"R-Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, swallowing air. Her voice was hoarse from the rope, "You should have just left me. Why did you save me? *hack!*"

"Why?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "Tell me why you wanted to hang yourself? I saved you because you're my friend but why did you want to die?!"

Twilight massaged her neck with her hoof, "There's no hope for us."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I've run countless tests and come up with hundreds of theories. Nothing can explain why the dead are rising up and eating... p-ponies."

Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat, "Wait, Twilight, did you say they are rising up?"

"Haven't you seen it?" Twilight shakily stood herself up, "You know what happens when broken skin comes into contact with those creatures, right? Well, turning into one of them isn't the only scary thing."

Rainbow Dash held her breath, bracing herself for the horrible truth.

"You can't be stopped once you do."

"T-that's impossible." Rainbow Dash stammered, "there must be a way to stop them."

"Follow me, I'll show you." Twilight began walking down the steps, "I've got one of them tied up in the lab."

"You what?!"

"Trust me, I've made sure it can't move."

Rainbow Dash reluctantly followed Twilight down into her lab. She could hear the tiny hoofsteps of Scootaloo closely behind her.

To Rainbow Dash's amazement, the lab was littered with papers and almost every machine was running at full speed. She looked at the ground to see blood sprayed all over the floor and her eyes followed it to the source.

"What the hell!" Rainbow Dash's eyes met with a pony whose appearance was a bit worse for wear.

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I've got her shackled to the wall by that collar around her neck." Twilight cautiously approached the pony as it glared at her and snarled, snapping its jaws, "this is what I meant by it being unstoppable. Look at it! I cut off all of her legs and she's still trying to get me!"

"Why would you do that Twilight?! How could you cut off another pony's legs? Y-you monster!"

"I'm the monster?!" Twilight barked, "I'm not running around eating ponies, I'm not the one spreading a disease, I'm trying to save everyone! Once a pony turns, they lose the ability to reason. You can't ask them to allow you to experiment on them. I did what I could and what I had to!" Twilight tearfully slammed her hoof on the floor.

Rainbow Dash just glared at Twilight, unsure of what to say next.

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed heavily, "Look, these things are not ponies anymore. Whatever caused this probably did some major re-configuring of the brain and created a machine that constantly needs to feed. They have enhanced hearing and motor skills, allowing them to hear their prey and efficiently chase it. They are fast, strong, and will stop at nothing to spread the infection. They will literally destroy themselves trying to get to you. They don't think about survival. As far as I can tell, they don't think at all. Now do you see why we're all going to die?"

Rainbow Dash lowered her head, "Yea, things are looking pretty grim. If what you've said is true, then ponies all over Equestria will be killed." She lifted her head and stared into Twilight's eyes, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to just give up. I'm going to make sure that me and everypony I care about lives as long as possible!"

Twilight looked away, ashamed that she had given up so easily. During the initial outbreak, Spike was killed. She tried to put his death aside to focus on finding the cause of the infection but she had lost so much in only a matter of seconds. Twilight instantly lost hope and tried to hang herself.

"Twilight, come with us." Scootaloo put her hoof on the lavender unicorn's leg.

"Yea, it isn't safe here. We could always use another pony to keep us company." Rainbow dash said, hoping to give her friend some hope.

Twilight Sparkle lifted her head and wiped her eyes, "Okay, let's go."

The two pegasi smiled and exited the lab to the main floor of the library. Twilight felt a sense of confidence and hope that she thought she had given up on hours ago. Even with her highly capable mind, it sometimes takes two ponies to help another see that life is worth living as long as you have each other.