The Infection Journals

Unknown

Unknown

I woke up to find myself looking at trees. The Sun's rays were barely squeezing through the tiniest gaps in the leaves and shining on my face. I tried to sit up, only to have a sharp pain strike my stomach and my wing. My stomach was bloodied and was wrapped in a white bandage. I looked behind me. My wing was all ruffled up, broken, and bloody. The wing guard that was made to protect our wings during combat was gone. It must of been blown off or something. I then began to smell burning flesh, fur, and metal. It was disgusting. I turned and saw a huge ball of fire in the field. It was a blimp crash. It was the blimp we were riding in before. What happened? How did I sleep through all that? Where was Applebloom? At least, I found the answer to the last question. She was finding plants in the forest. As soon as she saw me, she dove on me and almost knocked me off the crude bed.

"Ah'm so glad yer ok!"

"I'm fine! What happened?"

"Those dad gum things bit one 'o the pilots. The pilot attacked us, includin' the other pilot. The blimp crashed into that field just outside of th' forest. Have no idea how in tarnation ya stayed asleep."

I rubbed my head and looked around. It looked so normal, other than the flaming blimp. It was as if the infection didn't reach here yet. Later, Applebloom placed a bowl in my lap. It was filled with what looked like mashed up leaves with some sort of liquid in it. As soon as I ate it, my body instantly wanted to spit it back out. If I had to eat this everyday to live, I'd rather be dead.

"Please tell me we aren't staying here."

"Don't worry. I got a route mapped out fer us."

She then pulled out a map. There were two circles. One was circled over a forest where I supposed we were. The other was circling Fort Armor. Fort Armor was a huge fortress named after Captain Armor of the Royal Guard. It was a abandoned SE fort during the early years of the civil war. It was a ideal place to survive. From the outside, it was impenetrable. From the inside, however, anypony inside was a sitting duck. Applebloom continued to talk.

"If we find that th' locals 'er th' walkin' dead, we could head back to Zavrios. But we gotta watch out fer th' earthquakes. It's Ground Shakin' season over there."

Zavrios is famous for their earthquakes. There's a approximate of 25-30 earthquakes in the country alone every 5 months. But because of the constant earthquake threat, they city is also the safest from natural disasters. The Sun was setting over the horizon, making the Sun much brighter and more beautiful.

"Reckon we made camp here fer th' night?"

"That'll probably be best, yeah."

As we set up camp, I felt a chill go down my spine, like we were being watched.

The Fringe, Eastern Zavrios

2000 hours

We set a little fire to warm ourselves up. Throughout the night, we told each other stories about our foalhood. Appleblooms's was a lot more interesting. She says she was the little sister of the element of honesty. Now that's a relative! Applejack, I think her name was. She says that she died while bucking for apples in a storm. She was too stubbron to go inside, and she continued to buck the apple trees in the intense rain and wind. A lightning bolt struck a nearby tree, which crushed her. Applebloom's voice became more quiet as she continued with the story. I held her hoof. She looked at me with sad eyes. She scooted away, blushing.

"I'm sorry..."

"No, no... Ya shouldn't be..."

"Out of curiosity, do you have a crush on anypony?"

Applebloom looked back and her face got even redder.

"Well, I did."

"Who?"

"Spike."

Huh? Who was this Spike?

"Who's Spike?"

"A dragon."

A dragon? I've heard of interspiecies relationships, but a pony and a dragon? That's unheard of.

"A dragon? Those things are huge!"

"Nah. He was a baby dragon. He was th' assistant of Twilight Sparkle, th' element of magic."

I remembered reading about her before.

"Did?"

"Well, he grew up so fast, 'n ah never got to show mah feelin's fer him."

"I'm sure he would of liked you too."

Applebloom's eyes lit up after that comment. Her smile grew from ear to ear.

"Do you like anyone now?"

"Yeah. One."

"Who?"

Applebloom hugged me tightly.

"You."

Sgt. Mist

5th Battalion

9th day of the 10th month, Dawn of the Seed