Chapters It was a pleasant day, warm and sunny, and it seemed just natural to go for a short walk. Rarity had been sewing for hours and she couldn’t resist smiling as last rays of sunlight touched her face. She closed the door and suddenly heard loud scratches.
Rarity couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and most of the other ponies seemed to have the same problem. All she could do was look – look at one of her acquaintances being eaten alive. Bon Bon stopped screaming, now she was just moaning and staring at Lyra with fear and pain in her eyes. No one did anything. No one rushed to help, everypony just froze, in some way hypnotized by such violence, seen by most of them for the first time in their lives.
With those words, Zecora turned back and started walking away, slowly: in the direction of the Everfree Forest, as Rarity noticed. Shall we? – said her facial expression as she gazed at Rainbow Dash. However, it suddenly changed.
Loud knocking on her door woke Twilight up. She had fallen asleep while studying again and now she had to wipe her eyes before standing up.
She wasn’t the kind of pony to believe in everything she was told without looking it up in a book and even though she had seen the mysterious diseases’ victim with her own eyes, she wasn’t quite sure if all this issue wasn’t some stupid joke. Or maybe a test, a test from princess Celestia? Should she expect Pinkie Pie appearing out of nowhere and bursting with laughter, Applejack wiping the tears and smiling widely, Fluttershy getting ashamed of what she took part in? Or was it all serious? Was Apple Bloom really sick, was she about to change into a mere ruin of the foal she used to be?
And then Twilight Sparkle realized she hasn’t seen Spike since she woke up to find the world gone mad.
‘Hey, Pinkie, would you already tell me where we’re going?’ Spike asked. What he had thought to be fun has already started to annoy him. Pinkie dropped in a moment after Twilight had fallen asleep and promised him she’d take him to see the best party he has ever seen, her masterpiece she’s been preparing for weeks. Some of her assistants were supposed to be there, taking care of all the equipment, making sure the party cannon would not break down in the key moment. The whole thing has been designed as a surprise for all of Pinkie’s friends but first, she wanted Spike to check if everything was as perfect as it could be. However, the “surprise” part demanded on Spike not to see where the party was held, so he had some piece of cloth tied on his eyes. And it was starting to irritate him.
The pony didn’t reply. She kept pushing forward, looking at Pinkie with no expression at all. Spike could hear some moaning from the house in which the party was to take place. He saw Lily and Rose follow their friend, locking at the pink pony the same empty gaze Daisy was using. Pinkie was just about to laugh when suddenly, her whole body moved in a convulsion. Insecurity appeared in her eyes followed by an expression full of dread.
Spike was all for it. Pinkie started running in town center’s direction and so did he, every few seconds looking back at the scary ponies getting left further and further away. They were trying to chase them but surprisingly, they didn’t run, they didn’t rush; just walked, keeping pretty quick, steady tempo, as if assured there was no need to hurry. They’d reach their victims sooner or later with their never-ending effort.
A smile appeared on Spike’s lips as he made out the well-known buildings on the suburbs. “Where was this party supposed to take place?!” he thought, approving Pinkie’s responsibility. Party thrown in a place no pony ever heard of would be an amazing surprise, if only there weren’t any crazed folks trying to eat the organizer. It wasn’t going to be a trouble though, not in a minute or two. They were getting closer and closer to the town where the weird event would quickly get explained and pony and dragon would be safe at last. Spike began panting, not used to running such long distances. When they were a few meters from the first building in sight, Pinkie Pie stopped.
Minutes were passing and nopony dared to speak. It’s been some time since the trio reached Zecora’s house. Rarity didn’t know if she should feel safer now; she has always felt awkward around the zebra. Her company was better than that of ponies eating each other though – at least for now. Seconds after the thought had left Rarity’s mind Rainbow finally managed to start talking, still having terrible images stuck in her head, but desperate to find answers.
Zecora put the book on a table and opened it. She was searching for the right page as the two concerned ponies approached, unsure of what they would discover. They leaned over zebra’s shoulders, trying to make out shady letters on paper yellow because of its age.
The zebra left Rainbow Dash and Rarity and began taking care of herself again; the two ponies looked at each other, feeling scared and insecure.
Rainbow just sighed and started reading the book. It’s never been her thing, she couldn’t understand how sitting still and looking at letters could be fun for ponies. She loved moving, flying, being in a rush, taking advance of possibilities her wings gave her. She kind of yearned for all her poor, poor friends who were unable to fly; Fluttershy also counted with her fear of everything including taking to the air. Rainbow thought of her as a little bit ungrateful to the most amazing gift anypony could ever receive from fate, fortune, princess Celestia or whoever was responsible for this.
This time, however, for the first time Rainbow didn’t get bored with reading. Making out shady letters that held secret of the mysterious events that had happened right in front of her eyes seemed exciting; with every paragraph she was getting more and more scared, but at the same time every word she read, everything she learnt made her more likely to survive. She was eager to read as fast as she could and every time she had to blow dust of the book’s old pages, every time she finally had to blink, every time something distracted her – she felt as she always did when she was forced to leave the sky and stick to the ground. She had no time to carefully think of the information the book was giving to her, it just kept flowing through her mind. Rainbow wasn’t sure if she was too absorbed by reading or just didn’t want to understand how the stuff she was reading about would affect her future life.
Because “the stuff she was reading about” was nothing but horrible. At first, she hadn’t wanted to believe in such nonsense – undead ponies, dying and then awaking to bring chaos and confusion to the world, making it a never-ending calamity. However, after a minute or two she understood that it was the only logical explanation – one she would never believe if she didn’t see the evidence with her own eyes. And she did. The undead were supposed to turn after getting bitten; it was the thing that could infect them. Afterwards, they wouldn’t think nor feel anything – no love, no fear, no insecurity. No pain. No memories. Perfect machines designed to spread the infection as fast as possible, as effectively as possible.
Rarity had already opened her mouth to try to dissuade Rainbow from saying such things when she understood it actually wasn’t that bad. The most loyal of all ponies has always wanted to defend ones she loved at all costs. Now her characteristic trait she had lost after encountering the undead was back and Rainbow Dash has become Rainbow Dash again, getting out from marasmus she had been stuck in. Having thought of it, Rarity closed her mouth; a small smile formed on her lips. Suddenly, she felt more secure and confident, more like herself. Her friend was right, if what they had read was true, there was no point in plunging into despair. The world has changed and they couldn’t have done anything; now they couldn’t be this helpless. They had to take the law into their hooves and undo every harm that could be undone, understand everything that could be understood, help everypony that hasn’t ran into safety yet. It was high time they took care of themselves
Rainbow Dash simply couldn’t manage to lie still. She has been listening to Zecora’s snoring and Rarity’s slow breathing for what seemed to be ages and she just couldn’t take it anymore. The floor she was lying on was uncomfortable even though she had put some blankets on it. There was too little space; she was sure she’d break something if she moved an inch. Furniture was everywhere around her. One of her wings had gotten stuck between chair legs and Rainbow was afraid she’d wake everypony up if she tried to set herself free. Apart from feeling physically awkward in this strange, foreign house, she knew she shouldn’t just lie here waiting for a miracle to happen. Book she had read made her feel more secure – the danger was there, indeed, but at least she knew how to deal with it now – but it wasn’t enough. It was time to find out more about the enemy, to check if her friends were alright, finally, to kick some ass!
She began moving slowly, gently, trying to free herself as quietly as possible. After a few minutes she managed to do it and grinned with joy; it was time for Rainbow Dash to do something cool. Something like…
Rainbow put her hoof on the doorknob and slowly pushed. Everfree Forest’s silence welcomed here, as spooky as it’s always been, not impressing the bravest of ponies though. However, that night something was off. She looked around her; everything seemed to be alright. She couldn’t hear anything except of her own heart beating. She wanted to do something to add herself some courage, she wanted to spit on the ground or taunt an invisible foe, but she didn’t feel secure enough to violate forest’s sanctity. Smile disappeared from her lips as she carefully closed the door behind her and stretched out her wings. She felt her muscles tighten and bones crack; it felt really good to be able to move again. Rainbow Dash took off into the air, slowly, watching everything around her. She didn’t feel like doing tricks, she just wanted to leave the forest as soon as possible, something prevented her from doing so though. She couldn’t understand all the contrary feelings. The forest didn’t let her speed up, she kept flying higher and higher at slow pace, trying to reach trees’ tops and finally find herself in the place she was meant to be in – the sky.
Having left the forest, Rainbow Dash finally started feeling better. All the open space around her almost made her forget what had happened; ponies may have changed, the whole world may have done so too, but the feeling she always experienced when she flew has stayed the same. The forest below her was less dense now; she must have been reaching its borders. Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow felt alarmed; up till now, she hadn’t really thought about her best friends, she just took for granted that they’d be alright. It was easy to be so sure when all the other ponies were far away. Now, however, as she was landing on the field next to Applejack’s stable, she got pretty scared. There was no noise coming from any building; no light, either. Nopony in sight. Rainbow Dash assured herself there was no need to worry and started walking towards the stable’s door.
‘Nothing to worry about…’ she murmured and pushed the door open. Moonlight from behind her seeped into the room, making Rainbow Dash able to make out dark shapes inside. A big barrel was there, moving; something trapped under it kept moaning and growling, apparently trying to set free.
Silence counted as another eeeyup, Rainbow Dash guessed. She wasn’t sure if it was that bad; in the book Zecora had given them, it was written that earth ponies were the most resistant pony species; the strong, healthy ones could heal minor wounds and not turn, while for unicorn ponies any contact with a zombie could end tragically, even if it only scratched them, not even using their teeth. Pegasi were situated somewhere in the middle and Rainbow thought it was simply perfect; not too easy to survive, but also not making her unable to fight. A challenge.
He gave out a small smile and nodded. Having him cooperate, Rainbow looked at the barrel, still moving and shaking in every possible direction. Big Macintosh stiffened, seeing what his savior had in mind.
She kicked the barrel, releasing the raging colt; it rushed in her direction, and she was just about to attack, when the foal stretched out his wings and leaped into the air, flying.
