Pure Rage

The cliff face city of Canterlot was rumbling. Flashing lights and colors shot throughout the sky. It was like a vibrant light show, and seemed as if somepony was setting off fireworks. There wasn't a single trace of the smell of gunpowder, however. This is what unsettled the ponies that were frozen in place, staring in the direction of the commotion. If there was a celebration, then there would have been a city wide notification. If it were fire-works, the smell of fires and gunpowder would be noticeable, but there was none of that. The ponies of Canterlot had only experienced such events during the Changeling invasion, and the memories were making every single pony nervous. It didn't help to see squads of fully armed guards moving through, and small v-forms of pegasi flying in the direction of it all. This unsettled some, seeing so many guards deployed to one area, and made others feel safe, seeing as though the city learned from it's last mistake. Even with such a sense of danger, it was overwritten by curiosity, and they didn't move.

At least, they didn't movie until a large pegasi unit began to direct them in direction that led to the main entrance. The ponies knew they were being evacuated. It once happened when there were small scale earth quakes, and the city was in danger of becoming a massive rock-slide. They still wondered what the reason was. Were they being invaded? It seemed like the most likely assumption they could make. The ponies in the area began moving. They were too slow for the guard's comfort, and they tried to make them go faster.

The guards fighting off the infected were losing ground faster and faster, and distance between the line, and the evacuating populace was shrinking drastically. It seemed everything the guards tried was used against them, apart from magic and flight. Weapons were taken from guards, and used to beat them to death by the infected. The amount of infected was staying at a relatively stagnant number, while the number of guards were decreasing.

Suddenly, in the large group of evacuating citizens, the sounds from earlier were getting a lot louder than what they were previously. It was right behind them. They all turned around to witness pure carnage. The royal guards were being slaughtered, and screams of agony could be heard. The guard guiding them began to shout.

"Go! Go now! Follow the guide and don't stray!"

The entire crowd fell into mass panic. Ponies were galloping as fast as they could go. Screams and cries erupted through the streets as the crowd ran for their lives.

An infected managed to get through the guards, and began sprinting towards the crowd of ponies, closing the distance rapidly, and grabbing onto an unsuspecting individual. Screams of terror quickly turned to screams of agony, as the outbreak started spreading like wildfire. The guards were almost completely overwhelmed. The only thing they could do now is hope the ponies were fast runners, and try to get ahead of the stampede, getting ponies out of their houses to get out while they had a chance. Soon enough, it wasn't just the infected to worry about anymore. Ponies were so desperate to escape, they began trampling over each other, abandoning everything. Once the drawbridge shut, it was going to stay that way for a very long time.

An unsuspecting Cheerilee was leading her class through the Canterlot Museum. They had visited many times before, but each visit was for a different purpose. They were researching their favorite technological discoveries to do research projects on. Technology was expected to increase in the coming years, seeing as everything else was catching up with medical breakthroughs gradually. The little fillies and colts were looking at all the different exhibits, topic related, or not. Many of them found it to be boring, and wished they were home.

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were looking at an exhibit of a cannon. It was a small scale model.

"I'm getting inspiration from this." Scootaloo remarked about the cannon. "Maybe we could build a cannon for the project! We'd get our cutie marks for sure!" She shouted with excitement.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. Remember what happened last time we tried to do something cannon-related?" Sweetie Belle mentioned, which made Scootaloo's smile fade.

"What about this contraption?" Applebloom brought their attention to a small model rocket, which a full scale version was being developed to see if it was possible to send objects to space via magic propulsion through raw gems.

"It could work" Scootaloo thought it would be a great idea. She inspected it, to see if it was awesome enough. She tapped the nosecone, and in fell over, managing to activate itself. It crashed out the window, to an unseen destination. They didn't hear it land anywhere.

"Oops".

Suddenly, a violent vibration could be felt, along with the sound of a soft boom. Heads turned to the window, as some ponies trotted up to see what was happening.

"Heh, double oops."

"I don't think that was the rocket." Applebloom stated, wondering what the real cause of the rumble was.

Suddenly, the city's emergency sirens began to blare loudly, and everyone in the exhibit room who hadn't been concerned over the rumble was now staring out the window. They sat, still-motioned. Were they under attack? The sirens never went off unless a major emergency was taking place. They all gazed out of the window, school foals and workers, and common goers alike. They noticed smoke starting to rise from behind a building. They hadn't noticed the large numbers of pegasi flying here and there, and more and more magic bolts could be seen entering view of the window. It was as if a war was taking place right outside. They heard the rumbling of what sounded like a mob, and screaming could be heard on the streets below. The visitors began to make their way downstairs, Cheerilee making sure her class was right on her tail, literally. She made every one of her ponies grab the end of each others tails, so they wouldn't get separated. Just as they were about to exit, a knock was made on the door.

A museum worker opened the door, and a guard was on the other side. It was a pegasus fast mover, but he looked shaken, and beat. He began to speak in a worried, urgent tone.

"It is of the utmost importance that every citizen that currently resides in this city is to follow the evacuation plan at once. They must move fast, and be alert and aware, and we require one hundred percent co-operation with the city guard. Please go!"

Visitors and workers began to scramble out, worrying for their own self preservation. They didn't know what was going on, but it didn't sound good. As the ponies left the building, each one leaving was more and more paced. One of the ponies leaving the building looked to her right, down the road. Her facial expression quickly converted to show obvious horror, as she fell to the ground from being startled, quickly flinging her limbs to get a grip, braking out into full on gallop in the direction that the mob could be seen running on the streets.

"C'mon! We have to leave now!" The guard shouted at the remaining ponies. Another pony was about to exit when the guard glanced over. The residents inside saw a blur hit the guard, pinning him to the ground. The blur was now identifiable as an infected mare. The guard was trying to push her off, but it wasn't working. She flailed her limbs wildly, smacking the guard in the head repeatedly, until he was starting to get dizzy. His grip faulted, and she grabbed his shoulders. She began to lift and slam the guard into the concrete, crushing his wings under his own weight. The cracking of bones could be heard, along with screams of agony, but the site was quickly cut off as the pony originally exiting slammed the door shut, putting the closing security lock bolts on.

Almost every student began to cry. A lot of the ponies began to tear up, simply out of shock or horror. They could hear screaming outside, and sounds of the ongoing chaos. Everyone in the room was panicking. Chatter and crying could be heard.

"What are we going to do?!" A mare's voice shouted up.

One of the security workers spoke up. "We can't just stay cooped up in here. C'mon, we can get out through the back doors. We can cut through the alleys and get with the rest of the citizens. It'll work," he said, looking brave.

Cheerilee spoke to her class. "Okay, listen to me. I know what you all just saw wasn't a very nice thing to witness, but you need to stay calm and collected. Don't let go of each other. Move fast." None of the children spoke, as they were all too afraid to let go of whoever's tail the held.

Cheerilee was telling them to be brave, and calm, even though she herself wasn't. It was obvious on her face. She was completely overwhelmed by stress, seeing what just happened to that guard. She almost wished she had a tail to hold on to. The thought of the guard couldn't escape her memory. She couldn't imagine if that would happen to any of her students. The thought made her feel sick. She could only hope they could escape safely.

The security guard reached for the handle, and opened the door. They all followed closely behind, shifting through the curves and corners of the alleys. Screams and thumping could sometimes be heard in the buildings above them, and from the streets beyond, but none tried to think about what may be happening behind the walls. They quickened the pace, hoping to beat the rest of the traffic to the exit. The expression of each pony's face was starting to gain hope at the site of the city square, knowing that the exit was close by.

That hope faded as an infected pony blundered around the corner. The crowd scrambled back, pushing and shoving to get to the back of the crowd. The security pony took out a nightstick, walking up in front of the crowd, ready to do his job. The infected ran up to him, trying to tackle him, but he was lucky enough to whack the infected with the baton making a hollow thud. The infected went off balance, before righting itself again. It once again charged towards the security pony. The security pony dodged the charge as the infected ran into a wall, scraping it's face pretty badly. In a fit of pure fury, it turned, and lunged for the security pony, grabbing the baton in it's mouth. It pulled it away, and took it in it's hoof. It chased after the security pony with a animalistic scream. The security pony turned and fled around the corner out of the alley. The majority of the group were relieved that the way out was now open. They all rushed towards the exit.

As the majority of the group blended into the crowds to escape, Cheerilee stopped to say something to her students.

"Listen, I know this is scary, but all of you need to hold on as hard as you possibly can. Don't let go for anything. Understand?" The class nodded, each one having either wet cheeks, or shaking. Cheerilee was extremely nervous, getting ready to delve into the chaos. She had no idea if they would end up getting through or not. She took a deep breath, and walked out into the town square. She wished she could close her eyes, but she had to guide the children to safety.

Cheerilee trotted at a fast pace, feeling a resistance on her tail. She went slow so her students could keep up, but not slow to the point of which they would get ran over. The majority of the class tried to close their eyes to shield themselves from the ongoing chaos, but a few held them open, unable to look away from what was happening around them.

Guard units were moving left and right, trying to combat infected with all they had. Ponies were being slaughtered, blood being strewn about. Buildings were ablaze, and sizzling bolts of magic flew in nearly every direction, impacting infected, impacting innocent ponies, and sometimes guards fired and stabbed their fallen comrades. Fights could be seen in buildings. Some ponies jumping... or being thrown out of windows, not surviving the fall. A horrid smell hit them like a brick when flaming ponies began fleeing out of a burning building, screeching as they roasted alive. It was sickening, in which some ponies were passing out. Healthy ponies were in such a hurry to escape the carnage, they were trampling each other. They were kicking and fighting to get out.

Cheerilee pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, hoping that they wouldn't be an obvious target. She saw something that horrified her. A small filly, bloodied, and very much alive, had a pony stuck on top of a counter. She was infected. The pony on the counter grabbed a broom and started beating it until it stopped moving. She got off the counter and galloped out of the window, only to smack into an infected. They fell to the ground, struggling against each other.

Sweetie Belle could feel Applebloom's tail slipping from her teeth. She tried to clamp harder, but the grip was fading. She opened her eyes to see where they were. She could barely see over the mob of ponies, but she could see under their legs. It was hard, what she saw made her turn her gaze forward. She could see the wall. It was right there.

Something jumped out over the crowd. And infected pegasus had leaped over, making her scream as it landed merely a meter away. It was about to lunge onto a pony before it was shot repeatedly by the unicorns up on the wall, searing the whole left side of the pony. It fell to the ground, dead.

Applebloom could feel the absence of a resistance on her movement, and a stronger pull. It took her a while to realize that her friends had lost grip. As much as she wanted to, she didn't open her mouth to say anything. She didn't want to see what had assaulted her other senses. She could only hope they wouldn't be harmed, and that they would be rescued.

Cheerilee felt it too, and was instantly heart broken. She wouldn't give up on what she had left, however. Not while they were this close to escaping. After managing to scramble through ponies to get over the drawbridge, Cheerilee finally stopped to catch her breath. She was far away from the bridge, and had... most of her class beside her.

"It's okay, we're safe now." Cheerilee convinced her class to let go, yet they still huddled around her and hugged close to her.

"Where's the r-rest of the class?" One of the students asked with a choked sob. Cheerilee knew where they were. She would try to go back to get them.

"Don't worry. Stay here with the guard ponies. They'll keep you safe." Cheerilee informed a guard to watch over them, and he trotted over to keep an eye out.

Cheerilee made her way back to the draw bridge, trying to get through the ponies that were shoving her in the opposite direction. She almost set foot on it when a guard pony stopped her.

"Halt, once through, nopony is allowed back into the city limits. This is a maximum tier evacuation. You will not go back!" The guard was strict. It reminded her of herself when addressing misbehaving students. Even though the guard seemed like he couldn't be convinced, she tried anyway.

"I have to get through, I still have kids in there!"

"Sorry, ma'am, but we can't allow it. We will try to get as many ponies as possible out."

Suddenly, another guard shouted from the wall. "We won't be able to keep the bridge open much longer. They're advancing too quickly!"

"Look, please let me through! It's half a class, and they're still in there!" Cheerilee wasn't gonna give up.

"No, this is my final answer. Further attempts will be reacted with force." The guard flared his wings to try and scare her off, but it didn't work. Cheerilee tried shoving past him, but he held her back. He found himself losing ground against her as she tried to get him out of her way. Applebloom saw her teacher trying to get past. She wouldn't have imagined her being brave enough to go back into something like that. The guard she was pushing strained to yell out something.

"Detain her!" Soon, other guards came and pulled Cheerilee away.

"They're too close! We have to close the bridge now!" The guard shouted.

"Then do it!"

The drawbridge began to raise as ponies became more urgent to crawl up the rising bridge. They were trying so desperately. Guards on the upper wall changed their firing rate from slow and selective to fast, and random. They were shooting everything else beyond the gate, to prevent the outbreak from escaping the city. The drawbridge began to close, and unlucky ponies were being crushed by the door. Eventually, the door shut completely, blood dripping out from the edges. The water in the moat beneath the bridge was slowly turning red.

Applebloom felt dead on the inside. She just escaped the most terrible thing she's ever had to deal with, still not being able to grasp the true horror of the situation, and her friends hadn't made it through the door with her. Cheerilee sulked back to the group with a saddened face, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Looking around, she noticed that she wasn't the only one like this. A lot of ponies were crying their eyes out, and weeping. Some were smiling and hugging, happy they survived, and others still had their mouth agape. She, like everypony else, could only catch their breath, and sob.