My Little Zombie: Fearful Filliesby Bronies Zack and NicosChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 1My Little Zombie: Fearful Fillies Chapter 1 "Careful!" "Look out!" "This way!" Three fillies ran desperately through the streets of Ponyville, their footsteps being carried on in the wind of the night, their silhouettes flashing against the walls in the light of the full moon. Their faces were covered in perspiration and their legs ached, but the panic inside of them kept pushing them forward. "We need a safe place to hide!" One of them said, her Western accent easily recognizable. They turned round a corner and spotted a ladder lying on the ground, laying against a two-storey house that looked dark green in the restricted light of the night. The other house next to them was the same height, but colored dark blue and the windows had been shattered. "A ladder!" Exclaimed the second filly, her curly purple and pink mane filled with so much sweat that it hung over her unicorn horn, pointing towards the ladder. "Quick!" The third one shouted, flapping her underdeveloped pegasus wings nervously. She pointed down the alleyway they had come from, where shadows were slowly approaching them, their sources masked by the darkness of the night. The three young ponies quickly brought up the ladder and laid it against the nearest house, before scrambling up the ladder as fast as they could. Only when they reached the top and retracted the ladder did they stop to catch their breath, barely keeping their balance on the steeply slanted roof. "What are we going to do, Applebloom?" The unicorn filly asked nervously, panting heavily. Applebloom swallowed, also breathing hard. The bow in her mane was covered in mud, just like her hooves. "I don't know, Sweetie Belle. Those things just came up to me while I was picking an apple from the barn, and before I knew it, they started chasing me!" She said, trying not to shake with fear. "Scootaloo! Can you see 'em?" The pegasus filly, whose usually spiky purple mane was now plastered to her orange hide, peered off the rooftop, scanning for any attacker. "I don't see anything." She reported. "Are you sure?" Sweetie Belle asked. A loud crash from down below shook the three fillies in their places. The three of them craned the heads over the edge of the roof and peered down below. A slow-moving figure, with the vague outline of a horse, was shambling forward. Sweetie Belle gagged. "Ugh...where's that stench coming from?" She whispered, clasping her nose. Applebloom and Scootaloo sniffed as well, convulsing as the smell reached their nostrils. The smell was of decaying flesh and burned meat, and it was wafting from whatever was shambling towards them. The three of them once again looked over the side of the roof, and Sweetie Belle gasped. Not one, but two earth pony-esque figures staggered below them, deep, incoherent moaning emanating from their mouths. Both were sickly pale, with flesh that seemed to disintegrate actively, one of them, a stallion with a dull grey hide, had his hind legs badly twisted, the useless legs dragging on the ground behind him. Their eyes were blank, not focusing in any direction or showing any sign of life. "What are those things?" Scootaloo whispered, her voice never sounding so quiet and small. "I haven't the faintest idea." Applebloom whispered back in a similar fashion. "But they ain't alive, that I know." The trio watched the shambling, broken ponies stumble past the house they were perched on, letting out deep sighs of relief once they were out of sight. "We need to tell everypony." Scootaloo said as they gently set they ladder back down on the ground, trying their best to not make noise. The three fillies grouped together and set off, running in the opposite direction of the shambling ponies. "We need to warn everypony else, pronto!" Scootaloo whispered as they ran out of the alleyways. The three of them suddenly stopped in their tracks, sudden realization striking them. "Wait, where is everypony?" Applebloom asked. Even though it was night, it still was unnaturally quiet. No lights shone through the windows of the houses, no faint sounds of snoring could be heard creeping from the walls and nothing, absolutely nothing, moved or made a sound in the dead of the night. The fillies started to get nervous. Everything seemed deathly quiet, like the calm before the storm. Something terrible was going to happen, they realized. "Are...are we alone?" Said a scared Sweeite Belle. Applebloom gulped. "I think so." " We need to find out what's going on." Scootallo said, trying hard to be brave for the sake of her friends. The three of them were scared, but they didn't argue. "Whatever's going on, we'll find out." Sootaloo said firmly. "We'll find out." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom repeated. The three of them nodded at each other. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, go!" They whispered, bumping hooves. They then set off along the main streets of Ponyville, none of them knowing that there were several hungry and rotten eyes watching them as they ran, before slowly giving chase. A meal was going to be served. Chapter 2Chapter 2 Nothing seemed to be following the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they sought shelter in their school, right on the outskirts of Ponyville. The three fillies ran inside their classroom and shut the door, making sure that the door and windows were locked. "Okay, we need a plan." Sweetie Belle piped up. "Yeah, that would be nice." Scootaloo agreed. "But we need to know what we might be up against first." Applebloom added. The other two fillies dropped their heads. "Oh yeah." Sweetie Belle sighed. Scootaloo quickly grabbed a stray sheet of paper and a pencil from the nearby tables and quickly drew a sketch of a regular pony. Then she added the details she had seen on the two shambling ponies, including the twisted legs, empty, glassy eyes and the deep moan that came out of their gaping mouths. Scootaloo couldn't place a name to it, but she knew she had heard of something like that before. "Do you guys have any idea what this could be?" She said, holding up her sketch. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle carefully examined their friend's sketch, but both shook their heads. "No, but it does seem familiar." Sweetie Belle said. She sighed and started tapping her head. "Ugh, I should know what it is!" "Are we getting amnesia now?" Applebloom asked rather loudly. "Because ain't nothing making sense anymore!" Before any of them could say anything, a loud crash was heard from underneath them, shaking the classroom in it's place. Stray stationery rattled and vibrated, the classroom itself shuddering violently, threatening to collapse on itself. "Earthquake!" Sweetie Belle screamed. Just as suddenly, everything died back down. "What was that?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes crossed from being shaken. "I don't know." Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. "But whatever it was, it was coming from the basement." The three fillies stared at the floor as if it would crack below them. "Sh...should we go down and look?" Sweetie Belle stammered with fear. "I don't know." Scootaloo said. "The only way down is through the cellar door outside, and I'm not sure it's safe." The Cutie Mark Crusaders thought that over, then thought for an alternative plan. "Wait, there's a second door to get down!" Applebloom remembered. "It's down the hall!" Her two friends perked up at the idea. "Alright, but let's stay quiet." Sweetie Belle whispered. "I have a weird feeling that somepony or something is watching us." The three nodded in agreement, then set out down the hall. The second door to get to the basement was much smaller that the main cellar door on the outside. If anything, the door seemed like more of a chute, as it was barely wide enough for the fillies. "On three, we'll all go down." Applebloom said. "One...two..." A loud smash was followed by frantic footsteps and a bloodcurling scream. It was coming from the basement. Instinctively, Applebloom opened the chute's wooden door and dove inside. "Applebloom!" Scootaloo called. The pale yellow earth filly barely heard her friend's shout as she crashed, mercifully, into a stack of tied hay below her. She shook herself and gasped at what was happening in front of her. There were four figures, two Pegasus fillies and an earth colt, panting heavily with a horrified look in their eyes, staring down at an unmoving body of a red unicorn mare, her head caved in near the back of her head, her eyes open and dead, the flesh around her hooves and mouth decaying rapidly. The entire room smelling like rotten meat, and it was covered in wreckage of printing presses, a wooden table split in half, strewn hay everywhere, and most disturbingly, smears of blood on the soft ground beneath their hooves. "What have we done?" gasped one of the Pegasus fillies, who had a pale yellow coat, a light violet mane and cobalt blue eyes that were welling up with tears. The colt next to her, who was light, grayish-blue with a dark blue mane put a hoof on her shoulder and tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Alula." He said, trying to keep his own voice from trembling with shock. "You didn't mean for it to happen." His blue eyes were reflecting his sadness and shock. "Don't worry, no one else will know." Said the other Pegasus, who had a light, sapphire, bluish-gray coat and a light, graying indigo mane. Applebloom's nose itched, and before she knew it, she let out a sneeze which echoed around the basement. The three young ponies turned around in surprised fear, but relaxed when they saw Applebloom. "Alula? Shady Daze? Tornado Bolt?" Applebloom asked, astonished. "What are you three doing here?" She then saw the unmoving corpse, and regretted asking. Alula whimpered. "We're sorry." She whispered softly, filled with regret and grief. "We came down here because Shady Daze knows how to use use the printing press, and we wanted to copy some family photos." She coughed, tears dripping from her eyes. "But then that unicorn crashed through the door and the room started to shake. We tried to hide, we tried to get her to stop, but she kept walking towards us, snapping her teeth. We were so scared..." Her voice cracked, and she collapsed, burying her face in her hooves. The other Pegasus, Tornado Bolt, gave Alula a hug and tried to soothe her. "The Unicorn grabbed her and made her scream." The earth colt, Shady Daze, continued. "She was about to bite her when me and Tornado broke the printing press and kicked loose pieces at her. We only wanted her to let go of Alula, but one of my pieces hit her in the back of the head and broke her skull, and she collapsed." "We're really sorry." Tornado Bolt said. "It's alright." Applebloom promised, smiling kindly. "I won't tell nopony, promise." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo appeared by her side. They saw the corpse and gasped, Sweetie Belle covering her mouth. "It's another one." Scootaloo breathed. "What do you mean 'it'?" Tornado Bolt asked, astounded. Applebloom quickly relayed the story to her friends, who listened carefully with fear etched into their expressions. Scootaloo cleared her throat. "I mean, the pony wasn't alive when it attacked you." She explained. "We can't explain why, but it's like she's dead, yet alive." "Like a zombie?" Shady Daze asked, disbelief written across his face. A light went on inside the head of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the sudden realization hitting them like a train. "That's it!" Applebloom said. "Zombies! That's what that is? I can't believe we didn't think about it!" She pointed to the dead body. Everyone else was astounded. "But aren't zombies just make believe?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yeah, just pony tales made to frighten everypony?" Scootaloo added. Applebloom shook her head. She looked at the unmoving unicorn, a shiver going down her spine. "Apparently," She swallowed, then stared outside through the broken cellar door. "...it's more real than we think." Chapter 3Chapter 3 Six small ponies peeked out from the door of the school's basement, scanning the immediate area for any oncoming pursuers. The fields and trees between them and central Ponyville looked safe enough, but the darkness of the night shrouded plenty of areas. "We've gotta get back to Ponyville and warn everypony." Applebloom whispered. "How can we warn everypony when nopony's there?" Scootaloo whispered back. Shady Daze, Tornado Bolt and Alula gasped. "What do you mean there's no one there?" Tornado Bolt whispered, voice quavering. Applebloom sighed. 'Oh shoot, how did I forget to tell 'em that?' She thought angrily. "When we were there earlier, there was no sign of anypony whatsoever. Everypony just seemed to have vanished." She explained. "Vanished?!" Alula said in surprise. "How?" Tornado Bolt hushed her. "We need to stay quiet." Alula nodded guiltily. "We don't know." Sweetie Belle admitted sadly. "But we'll show you. There really isn't anyone in town." "How is that even possible?" Shady Daze asked. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were thinking of the same question. Where did everypony go? How had they somehow vanished just like that without a trace? Why hadn't the six of them been taken as well? And what were zombie ponies even doing in Equestria, and how had they come to be? Weren't the zombies just stories told by ponies to scare each other? The flurry of questions that swam through all of their minds seemed to mock them, as if they knew none of them had answers to their predicament. For a moment, no one moved. The situation seemed bleak. We can't give up just yet." Applebloom said, trying to lift everyone's spirits. "There could still be survivors, if not in Ponyville than maybe in the surrounding area." "But what about the zombies?" Shady Daze asked. A loud snap in the forest caused the six heads to turn rapidly. It could have easily just been a loose branch falling on it's own, or something was converging on their location. "Let's head back. We'll worry 'bout them zombies later." Applebloom whispered in a serious, urgent tone. "We need to be as fast and as quiet as possible, and we gotta be alert." The six young ponies leapt into action, running as fast as they could while trying to keep silent, senses paramount for the world around them. Mercifully, nothing attacked them as they made their way back to Ponyville, which was still as desolate as it had been before. Apart from the six young ponies, no a single breath or hearbeat could be detected. Everything was so quiet, it created the most eeriest atmosphere any of them had ever felt. "This feels so weird." Scootaloo noted. "It's creepy." Sweetie Belle added. Their footsteps echoed through the silence, the sounds amplified in the cool, night air. The very silence was making the youngsters anxious and paranoid, as if something would appear from nowhere and ambush them. "Does somepony smell anything?" Shady Daze asked. Everyone stopped and sniffed. A waft of something foul drifted through their nostrils. It smelled a little like a mix of rotting garbage and burnt meat, but the smell was so far away it had become diluted in the night's air. Sweetie Belle fought down the urge to panic. To her, it was exactly how she remembered the zombie's smell. "Guys," She whispered, fear seeping into her voice. "I think that smell might becoming from a zombie." Instinctively, all six foals backed up and stepped closer to each other. "Safety in numbers." Tornado Bolt muttered. "Agreed." Applebloom gulped. In unison, the six foals walked down the streets, keeping their senses keen for an incoming zombie. "What do we even do when we see a zombie?" Alula piped up after a short while. No one had an answer for that question. "How do we fight somethin' that we thought never existed?" Applebloom asked back. They all stopped at the sound of shuffling footsteps. Applebloom put her arms out. "Stop." She whispered to her friends. "We don't know what's comin'." A Pegasus mare, with a dark brown coat and black mane shambled into view from the shadows of an alleyway. Her wings were crippled and useless, dragging across the ground and kicking up dust. Her eyes seemed decadent, unfocused and lifeless. A barely audible moan was carried on by the wind, as well as the stench of rotting flesh. The six young ponies instantly backed up and tried to stay quiet, not wanting to alert her in any way. "Another zombie." Scootaloo whispered, tone serious. Applebloom turned to her friend and signalled her to stay quiet. She watched as the zombie shambled away, not realizing the position of the six foals as they continued to back away. 'Please don't notice us.' Alula hoped, her wings flapping silently with tension. A shiver ran up her body, soon followed by an irritation in her nose. 'Oh no! Not now! Not a sneeze!' But she could do nothing as a high-pitched outburst of a sneeze shot from her mouth, echoing through the streets of Ponyville. Her friends turned at her with shock and annoyance. So did the zombie, who stopped in her tracks, turned her neck around in an impossible twist, locked her eyes on them, dropped her jaw, and unleashed a moan from deep within her lungs. The six ponies trembled with terror, as the zombie started to lumber towards them. "Run!" Applebloom yelled. Chapter 4None of the six stopped for even a millisecond as they sought refuge among the houses, desperately banging and rattling locked doors as they tried to break into houses. Moaning intensified behind them, alerting them to a somehow growing mob of zombies, but none of them dare glanced back. "Come on!" Shady Daze grunted as he shook a doorknob in it's place, the heavy wood refusing to budge. "There's no time! We have to keep moving!" Tornado Bolt urged. The persistent moaning grew louder. Shady Daze let out a frustrated growl and gave up, following his friends as they sprinted out of sight. Unknown to the six, on the far side of Ponyville, something else was rapidly converging on their location, moving much faster than a zombie could ever try to move. Back in the group, an idea quickly formed inside Sweetie Belle's head, as quickly as her sprinting legs. "The library!" She shouted. Her friends turned their heads at her, not even slowing down from their continuous run. They all nodded and quickly ground to a halt, spraying dust and gravel into the air. They turned right and applied a burst of speed, doing their best to extend the gap between them and their undead pursuers. Within minutes, the six of them were standing right in front of the library, it's towering tree shape casting ghastly shadows across the ground, at least a mile long in some places. The library was derelict, with no lights and no sounds from the inside. "What now, Sweetie Belle?" Tornado Bolt panted. All of them were exhausted, their manes and foreheads wet with perspiration and their chests heaving as they tried to control their rapid heartbeats. Alula and Applebloom's legs were shaking, completely drained of all energy. Sweetie Belle shook her sweat off her head and started digging around in one of the shrubs lining the library. "I know it's here somewhere..." She muttered, rustling through tangled shrubbery. "Hurry!" Scootaloo urged. "I don't know how long it will take before the zombies will find us." "What makes you think we haven't lost them?" Shady Daze asked with some suspicion. "I don't know for sure, but something tells me they won't stop at anything until they get us." Scootaloo said, her wings fluttering rapidly. "Got it!' Sweetie Belle exclaimed, proudly holding up a silver key. She ran to the front door of the library and jammed the key into the lock, the door unlocking with a loud click and swinging open. The six ponies ran inside and shut the door behind them, locking it and then hastily stacking up various books, furniture and other objects in front of the door and the windows, constructing a makeshift barricade. Tornado Bolt sighed with relief, a sound that was soon copied by her friends. All was silent until Shady Daze spoke up. "Uh, guys? Should we turn on some lights?" The six ponies then realized they were shrouded in darkness, the only visible objects were the outlines of bookshelves and tables. "Good idea." Applebloom said, slightly embarrassed at herself, a feeling mutually shared with the others. Luckily, a box of wax candles were on hand, tucked safely into a bookcase along with a box of matches. Once they were lit , the main room was reflecting a dim yet warm orange glow, while ghastly shadows danced along the walls. The six ponies quickly moved from shelf to shelf, pulling out books at random and hoping for any kind of book that could help them for their situation. "How to we find information on something that nopony believed to have ever existed?" Alula thought out loud as she searched the higher bookcases,her small wings working hard to keep her afloat. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were darting from book to book, skimming every piece of inked paper they could get their hooves on. "How did you know the key would be in the bushes? Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle smirked. "Rarity takes me here sometimes to find books or talk to Twilight, and we found out that Twilight keeps a spare key hidden in the bushes." At the memory of her older sister and her friends, hundreds of memories surged through her mind, the most happiest ones at that. She could feel her eyes fill with tears and feel her lips quivering. "Where are they now? And why are we stuck here alone?" She whimpered. Scootaloo put a hoof on her tearful friend. She tried to meet Sweetie Belle's eyes, putting on a comforting smile. "Don't worry, it'll be okay." She said. It wasn't much for comfort, but it seemed to help. Sweetie Belle brushed the tears from her eyes and sniffled. "Okay." Meanwhile, Shady Daze had gone upstairs into Twilight's former bedroom. Everything was neatly arranged, from the books to the bed sheets. The room was sparsely decorated, the only sign of any personification was the star-dotted curtains and the brush that lay on the bare dresser. Shady Daze went up to the window and propped himself on his hind legs, taking a view out of the outside world. Beyond him was the empty and uncluttered lanes of cobbled and grassy streets, the traditional wooden houses in which ponies once resided, and the empty night sky that was only punctuated by the twinkling stars and the glorious haf-moon that had slowly risen into it's zenith. The streets were bare, something that puzzled the young colt. Where were the zombies that had chased them here? Had something, or somepony, have led them astray with a diversion? How? Why? Shady Daze just stared blankly at the full moon, wishing for the answers for the questions that pestered his mind. The moon bathed the streets in a mild glow, portraying long and narrow shadows across the earth while neutralizing the vibrant colors that were prominent in the daylight. A quick flash of a moving shadow caught the colt's eye. He blinked twice to make sure it wasn't an illusion, but the moving shadow reappeared, looming closer and closer to the library. Shady Daze squinted as he tried to get a better image, when a figure skidded into view from behind a row of houses. The figure, clearly a young mare, carried the same shadow Shady Daze had noticed earlier. Behind her, just appearing over the top of the horizon, was a pack of slowly moving figurines, their shambling movements instantly indicating who they were. Zombies. "Hey! Is that you, Shady Daze?" The mare cried. Shady Daze took another look at the young filly, ready to help, when his jaw dropped open as shock and disbelief registered. The faded and pale violet coat, the unicorn horn, the gamboge eyes that radiated inner terror, confusion and a sliver of frustration, and the disheveled gold mane and tail. 'Di-D-Dinky?!' Chapter 5Chapter 5 After recovering from his initial shock, Shady Daze instinctively sprang to help. He quickly snatched a bedsheet, a blanket and tore the curtains from their hinges, furiously knotting it together as tightly as could be, then threw an end of the now rope-esque sheets out the window,letting it dangle a mere foot from the ground. "Grab on, Dinky!" He called. The young unicorn filly understood and leapt forward, grasping the end of the sheet with her teeth. Shady Daze strained as he slowly but surely hauled his friend up. Only once he and the unicorn were safely hauled inside did he let go. "Where have you been?" Shady Daze questioned once Dinky was safe. The little Unicorn was panting heavily, trying to control her breathing and profuse perspiration. Her mane was also badly dishevelled, her hooves and legs scratched and bruised and her only sounds were her uncontrolled breathings, which matched her slightly scared eyes. "What...are those...those...things?" She asked in a confused and exhausted stammer. Shady Daze put a hoof over his scared friend. "It's okay, you're safe now." He said, trying to calm Dinky. "As for those things, well...they're zombies." Even through her tense expression, Dinky managed a look of puzzlement. "The scary stories they would tell kids like us?" She asked. Shady Daze nodded. "Except they're not stories anymore, apparently." He went to the window and peered into the distance. Several shambling shapes were moving even closer, converging on the library, their moans and smell carried on by the wind. "But how do we stop them?" Dinky asked. Shady Daze sighed in frustration. "I have no idea." Moans we slowly growing louder as zombies continued to proceed closer to them. "We should probably go and tell everyone else about you, huh?" He said to Dinky. The Unicorn nodded, her breath slowly returning to normal levels. "Okay." Applebloom's ears perked up as she heard hoofsteps clatter down the steps. "Wait, eight hoofs?" She said as the rhythm of hooves became unorganized and distorted. She looked up and saw two ponies patter down the steps. "Dinky Hooves?!" She exclaimed in surprise. The little Unicorn turned her way, smiling sheepishly. "How'd you get in?" Applebloom asked. She looked expectantly at Shady Daze, who sighed and took a breath. "She found, or was found by, a group of zombies." He explained. Dinky nodded, confirming the truth. "I thought they were normal ponies, until I caught the smell." She added. "My mom always said that there were creepy stories people made up, and I can remember she said there were undead ponies. I don't want to believe it, but I think they might be it. I was going to run away, but then I accidentally hit a trash can, and the noise I made caused the zombies to come after me." She looked down, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, because now they're coming here." The message relayed the heads of the young fillies, more slowly in the case of Sweetie Belle, who started to wonder. "Your mom is Derpy, right?" She asked Dinky, who nodded enthusiastically. "Yes." "Is she here?" The realization struck the little Unicorn like an avalanche. "N...no." She stammered worriedly. Applebloom tried to backpedal on her friend's question. "It's alright." She said. "None of us could find our families either." "They all disappeared?!" Dinky asked in shock. Applebloom wanted badly to say no, but there was no other way to answer. She nodded. Dinky bit her lower lip, trying not to scream. "Look, somehow everypony disappeared from Ponyville, but we're still here, and at least we're all here together." Tornado Bolt butted in, breaking any building tension. "We'll find a way out, I'm sure, if we stay together and don't freak out." "Exactly." Shady Daze agreed hastily, hoping for everypony to jump on board. "Tornado Bolt has a point. We've got each other, and ponies can do great things when they're together, like us!" Slowly, everypony else warmed up to the idea. "Y'all are right!" Applebloom agreed. "I'm sure we can get through this!" She thrust a hoof forward. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put their own hooves on top of hers. The others followed suit and did likewise. "I think we should bail before the zombies get here." Scootaloo said. A slam on the door violently echoed through the library, scaring the young ponies and effectively diminished all their premature confidence. More pounds started to hammer against the exterior of the library, accompanied by the relentless and horrible moans that only a zombie can make. "Too late." Alula whimpered. The young ponies backed up closer to each other, some shuddering with fear. "What do we do now?" Sweetie Belle squeaked. Their makeshift barricade had started to rattle. If the zombie broke through the heavy exterior of the library and it's door, they would quickly overpower the terrified ponies. Dinky, who was quaking in her own terror, started humming to herself, remembering some nursery hymns her caring mother had told her. She remembered silly bedtime stories about travelling ponies, or ones about ponies and the fun they had with muffins, the way her mother would sometimes go off track and go wall-eyed when she tried to recall what she had last said. When the stories were over, Derpy would tuck Dinky into her bed, cover her with a blanket, dim the lights and whisper "Sweet Dreams" to her drowsy child. In one of those stories, Dinky remembered how her mother had once said "Time spent thinking clearly is never time wasted." and would always remind her to never panic. "But ma," Dinky would reply. "What if you were to never come home?" Her mother would giggle softly and look kindly at her daughter, keeping her eyes parallel to each other without much effort. "Then you should never worry. I'll always be there for you, my little muffin, even when I'm not with you." "But how?" Derpy would touch her daughter just above her stomach. "Always within your heart. As long as you remember that, you'll never have anything to fear." Remarkably, all this circulated in Dinky's subconscious with milliseconds. She stopped shivering. She stopped fearing. A plan came to her mind. An old game her mother had taught her buzzed in her head. "Guys!" She shouted, her voice rising above the pounding of rotten hooves. "I know what to do!" All of her friends turned to her. "What to you guys know about zombies?" Dinky asked. "What?!" Sweetie Belle asked in astonishment. "Just go along with me." Dinky said. "We might find some answers to our questions!" The rest of the young ponies were either too worried or too unbelieving to say anything in reply. "Uh, zombies can't run?" Applebloom suggested. "Yes...?" "Zombies want to eat ponies who are alive?" Scootaloo offered. "Yes. Anypony else?" Alula hesitantly spoke up, remembering when she, Shady Daze and Tornado Bolt encountered a zombie within the school basement. "They can't feel any pain." "Yes...?" "Oh!"Shady Daze excitedly piped up. "Zombies can only be stopped when we destroy their brains!" "Say what?!" Applebloom gawked. "I remember now!" The colt said, eyes bright. "When me and Tornado Bolt were trying to stop the zombie, none of our hits did anything until I threw a heavy projectile at it's head!" Dinky beamed. "That's it!" She announced. "We know how to stop them!" "That's good, but we need something to hit them with, preferably something heavy." Tornado Bolt hinted. The group quickly dispersed, covering every corner of the library amid the growing sound and smell of the zombies. "I found a fire extinguisher!" Applebloom called. "This pedestal seems strong enough!" Torando Bolt called, pointing to a carving of a horse's head in the middle of the library. "How about this toolbox?" Shady Daze asked, hauling out a heavy and bulky hunk of a metal box from underneath a bookshelf. The sound of wood splintering caused the ponies to swiftly turned to the front of the library. A rotting hoof was stuck through a jagged hole in the front door, cut but strangely bloodless. Three more hooves crunched through the door, before it collapsed from it's hinges. Zombies trampled over it, slowly streaming in. The young ponies were scared, but were now also armed and determined, each with an item to wield, no matter how conventional. They stood their ground, poised and angry. "Come and get it!" Applebloom hollered fiercely. End of Chapter 5. Author's Note Sorry everypony, but school starts again for the two of us next week, so chapters will only be updated sparingly. Sorry, but you know how it is. -Zack and Nicos Chapter 6Chapter 6 As the undead streamed in, the armed fillies began their attack, poised and waiting for the right moment. Applebloom tensed as a pale grey stallion lumbered towards her, moaning louder and more intensely. "I'm right here." She growled, before swinging the extinguisher at her attacker, the glossy crimson canister connecting to the side of the stallion's head, the hit area caving in, the zombie crumpling to the ground in a lifeless heap. Without wasting any time, the pale yellow filly backed up, leapt onto the library's central table and swung her weapon in a vicious downwards arc, nearly splitting the head of a blue mare in half. She ducked as a tool box whizzed above her head, colliding violently with an oncoming zombie, who joined a quickly populating list of unmoving corpses. "Have at it, Shady Daze!" Applebloom cheered. What happened next was blurry to the little ponies. Projectiles were launched at the undead marauders, and one by one, they met their ends, each shot scoring a direct hit, as if by magic. Not that the ponies minded,since they were desperate to stay alive. A flying encyclopedia, nearly two feet thick, brought down the final zombie, both ghoul and projectile dropping like a stone. The fillies and the sole colt tried to catch their breaths. Zombies, objects, trash and shattered materials littered the floor, and the horrible reek of rotten flesh only intensified, causing the weak-stomached to gag, the only sounds audible in the silence of the night. After a few minutes of the unnatural silence, Dinky finally spoke. "What do we do now?" A gust of wind swept through the door and circulated the room, gently whipping the manes of the young ponies. "I guess we go forwards." Applebloom answered. "What should we do with these bodies?" Tornado Bolt asked, pointing towards the mass of dead ponies. Applebloom pondered the options, but none of them seemed any good. "I guess we just leave 'em here." She said. "They're dead now, and I think that they ain't coming back to life again." Nopony voiced complaints, and in single file, the young ponies crept around the corpses, trying with all their power to not touch the undead. Once outside, the seven of them grouped up again. "Where should we go?" Tornado Bolt asked. The question floated through the air and expanded into the desolate town. Applebloom looked down and sighed. "Look y'all, I don't like it, but I think we best leave Ponyville." Nervous chatter aroused from her friends. "I know it sounds bad," She agreed, cutting off the murmurs. "but it's the only thing left to do. We've seen what's left of Ponyville. There's nopony here anymore. What we need to do is get out, now." "Do you have a destination in mind?" Scootaloo asked. Applebloom nodded, a smile returning. "We should get to Canterlot. I'm sure everypony fled there. After all, the royal place is there, and the whole town can be guarded by a force field." "Which could work against zombies." Shady Daze speculated. Applebloom beamed. "Exactly! And maybe the train is still waiting here for us!" "But none of us know how to drive a train!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. Her pale yellow friend just shrugged. "How hard can it be?" Astounded looks were drawn from he friends. The western filly sighed. "Look, I know it's far fetched. But we have to try. I miss my family too. It hurts when they're not here. And everypony is most likely to be in Canterlot, so I think we should go." Sweetie Belle whimpered. "I miss my sister, too." Everypony felt gripped by self-pity and the longing of not having their families. They knew they were only kids, and no kid should have to fight zombies, to go through what they had to go through. Applebloom looked upwards, her eyes taking up a new steely determination to her already present one. She had been raised in a family that had lived in the countryside, growing up in traditional ways. In their past, times had been tough, and there hadn't always been enough to sustain the whole family. But there was one part of the Apple Family that was hard-wired and tamper-proof, something that had been etched into Apple Family genes since Granny Smith was a young one. That was the one bit of willpower that kept them going, the inability to give up. Some ponies think of it as pride or close-mindedness, but in reality, it was a blessing that kept the family going through thick and thin, and held the family ways together. "I'm gonna keep going." She said. "If anypony wants to stay behind, you're welcome, but I'm movin' on. I'm gonna get on that train and make my way to Canterlot." She started walking away, but it wasn't long before the others followed, their faces also plastered with new energy to keep going. "Where do you think you're going?" Scootaloo asked. "You're not going anywhere without us." Sweetie Belle said. "We're in this together." Dinky confirmed. Before the western filly could express her thanks, moans emerged from a side street, and a group of zombies, about five mares and stallions sauntered towards them, homing in on them like guided missiles, their stench, sounds and desire for devouring all too prominent. Unarmed, the fillies knew better than to try and fight. But what left a sour taste in Applebloom's mouth was that the zombies had cut off their route to the train station. But, powered by only a vague plan and an even more obscure prediction over where everypony had disappeared to, as well as keeping all her friends together and alive, Applebloom was still more determined than ever. "If the zombies wanna do it the hard way, I'll do it the hard way. It's all worth it for getting back to family." Author's Note This may/may have look rushed and not that good. But I poured everything I could into it, I swear. It's just that school makes it hard to come up with new ideas. Plus, Zack caught an infection and it left me on my own for a week, and I SUCK on my own. But I'm still going forward, and I won't stop. Pinkie Pie Promise! Chapter 7Chapter 7 The seven ponies slammed the door shut behind them, bolting the locks in place and trying to once again slow down their rapid breaths. "I'm really starting to hate these zombies." Scootaloo murmured. "Tell me about it." Applebloom agreed, panting heavily. She craned her neck and took in her surroundings. Her and her friends had taken refuge inside Ponyville's most renowned bakery. "Remember when Pinkie Pie used to work here?" Applebloom asked, then wished she hadn't. Pinkie was among the ponies who had just vanished without a trace. "Yeah." Sweetie Belle answered, but her voice showed what they all felt; loss. "Sugarcube Corner." Everywhere they looked. Counters and glass displays were empty of confectionery and the shelves were piled high with raw materials, perhaps for further uses. The seven ponies looked at each other for comfort, realizing that everyone they looked at was scared for their lives, but tried to hide it for the sake of their friends. "Do any of you know how a zombie is made?" Dinky asked suddenly. Completely off-guard, no one answered, and started looking at each other for answers. "I don't think their made, per say." Tornado Bolt piped up. "I mean, they still look like ponies, just like you and me, no matter what state their in." Several of the others nodded, accepting the idea. "Say, wasn't their that old mare's tale that said zombies rose from the dead?" Scootaloo said. Dinky gasped. "Of course! That explains -" The filly were cut short by a deafening boom and a flash of white light that shone from behind the windows, only to be replaced by a faint red flicker once it had died down. The ponies ran to the window, jaws dropping in horror. Converging on their locations were more zombies, about twenty in all, their bodies engulfed in flames. Streaks of fire ran across the street, flowing in random, angular lines of pure flame. "Celestia's beard, this ain't good." Applebloom muttered. Having been to Market with Applejack more than once - provided she didn't try any methods to get customers - as well as a day trip to Ghastly Gorge, Applebloom had a basic understanding of the fuel lines that pumped in from the San Palomino desert. Fuels were hardly used in most parts of Equestria, apart from use in cooking or lighting, but a fair amount was still circulated into Ponyville, provided the pipelines were ultra-secure and flame resistant. If the zombies had managed to, Faust Forbid, sever a pipeline, then without constant supervision, gas would continue to flood into Ponyville, where building material still consisted of wood and straw. Applebloom couldn't bear to imagine the when the two were put together. "We gotta get outta here!" She shouted. "Understood." Scootaloo said. "But how?" Applebloom brain went into panic mode. She quickly took in every detail in the room and started formulating an escape route. "Grab some knives, flashlights and food and get upstairs!" She shouted. "What?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, taken completely by surprise. "Trust me!" The other ponies exchanged glances, followed the orders then hurriedly scrambled up the staircase. Applebloom grabbed her own supplies and followed, assured by some memory she once deemed insignificant. "What now?" Shady daze demanded once they were all upstairs. They were now in the upstairs bedroom, the one that the Cake family leased to Pinkie Pie. Colorful wall paint and various party supplies were masked by the dim light of the outside moon and the flames that were rapidly zipping through the streets. Applebloom, like her friends, was armed with a hastily packed knapsack, with a nasty-looking butcher knife tucked in the fold of the strap, dashed towards the closet and swung open the doors, pulling out several lengths of rope. "Tornado. Alula. How are your wings?" She asked, handing them each lengths of rope and a stake. Tornado test-flapped her appendages. "They can manage. Why?" Applebloom pointed towards the nearest rooftop. "That's side on the opposite side of the bakery. The front door's barricaded, so the zombies are gonna have to break in the hard way. Goin' down is out, 'cause there's a gas pipe directly underneath the surface. We need to get onto that rooftop, because there's still a ladder left on it. We can climb down and get a clear run to the train station. We'll use the rope to shimmy across." Tornado Bolt nodded in understanding. "Got it." She said firmly. "Uh, Appplebloom. I..." Alula stammered. Applebloom could see just how scared the pegasus looked. She clasped her friend's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Alula, please, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too." She said with utmost sincerity. "But I need you to be brave. Not just for you, or for us. We'll find everypony. Pinkie promise." The pegasus nodded, trying to mask her fear. "Hurry," She urged. 'cause if this town takes up anymore gas, we're all gonna end up barbecued." Alula and Tornado Bolt pried open the window, forcing it to open. Smoke filled the room, the clogging the lungs of the young ponies. The pegasi shot over to the rooftop, driving the stakes easily into the straw rooftop. "Quickly!" Tornado bolt yelled, her voice turning raspy. "It's getting hard to breathe!" Scootaloo took to the rope first, shimmying across the gap, and ignoring the ground fifteen feet below. In no time flat, she had made it across the gap. Shady Daze gulped and went next. He was slower, but managed to get across. Dinky Hooves took off the moment Shady Daze was across. "Faster! The fire's coming this way!" Tornado Bolt yelled. Applebloom looked down and cringed. Fire was starting to consume nearby houses - easy victims to the rampant flames - and had started edging even closer to their current location. "Sweetie Belle, go!" Applebloom ordered. Sweetie Belle, perhaps caught by surprise, jumped and caught the rope before Dinky had made it across. The rope strained, and both fillies yelped as the rope started to dip under the weight. Miraculously, it help, and Dinky jumped over to the next rooftop. But just when it looked like the group was going to get across safely, Applebloom's ears picked up a sound she'd been dreading. A low hiss. One that signified a small break in a pipe. And it was in the street right below them. Time seemed to slow down. The earth pony was vaguely aware of a lightning-fast streak of flame moving impossibly fast in the corner of her eye, surging it's way effortlessly towards the sound of the broken pipe. The flames touched the leaking area, causing the pipe to catch fire, with explosive results. A column of white hot flames erupted, bursting straight up, and the filly watched in abject horror as it claimed it's first victim. Sweetie Belle. End of Chapter 7.
Chapter 1My Little Zombie: Fearful Fillies Chapter 1 "Careful!" "Look out!" "This way!" Three fillies ran desperately through the streets of Ponyville, their footsteps being carried on in the wind of the night, their silhouettes flashing against the walls in the light of the full moon. Their faces were covered in perspiration and their legs ached, but the panic inside of them kept pushing them forward. "We need a safe place to hide!" One of them said, her Western accent easily recognizable. They turned round a corner and spotted a ladder lying on the ground, laying against a two-storey house that looked dark green in the restricted light of the night. The other house next to them was the same height, but colored dark blue and the windows had been shattered. "A ladder!" Exclaimed the second filly, her curly purple and pink mane filled with so much sweat that it hung over her unicorn horn, pointing towards the ladder. "Quick!" The third one shouted, flapping her underdeveloped pegasus wings nervously. She pointed down the alleyway they had come from, where shadows were slowly approaching them, their sources masked by the darkness of the night. The three young ponies quickly brought up the ladder and laid it against the nearest house, before scrambling up the ladder as fast as they could. Only when they reached the top and retracted the ladder did they stop to catch their breath, barely keeping their balance on the steeply slanted roof. "What are we going to do, Applebloom?" The unicorn filly asked nervously, panting heavily. Applebloom swallowed, also breathing hard. The bow in her mane was covered in mud, just like her hooves. "I don't know, Sweetie Belle. Those things just came up to me while I was picking an apple from the barn, and before I knew it, they started chasing me!" She said, trying not to shake with fear. "Scootaloo! Can you see 'em?" The pegasus filly, whose usually spiky purple mane was now plastered to her orange hide, peered off the rooftop, scanning for any attacker. "I don't see anything." She reported. "Are you sure?" Sweetie Belle asked. A loud crash from down below shook the three fillies in their places. The three of them craned the heads over the edge of the roof and peered down below. A slow-moving figure, with the vague outline of a horse, was shambling forward. Sweetie Belle gagged. "Ugh...where's that stench coming from?" She whispered, clasping her nose. Applebloom and Scootaloo sniffed as well, convulsing as the smell reached their nostrils. The smell was of decaying flesh and burned meat, and it was wafting from whatever was shambling towards them. The three of them once again looked over the side of the roof, and Sweetie Belle gasped. Not one, but two earth pony-esque figures staggered below them, deep, incoherent moaning emanating from their mouths. Both were sickly pale, with flesh that seemed to disintegrate actively, one of them, a stallion with a dull grey hide, had his hind legs badly twisted, the useless legs dragging on the ground behind him. Their eyes were blank, not focusing in any direction or showing any sign of life. "What are those things?" Scootaloo whispered, her voice never sounding so quiet and small. "I haven't the faintest idea." Applebloom whispered back in a similar fashion. "But they ain't alive, that I know." The trio watched the shambling, broken ponies stumble past the house they were perched on, letting out deep sighs of relief once they were out of sight. "We need to tell everypony." Scootaloo said as they gently set they ladder back down on the ground, trying their best to not make noise. The three fillies grouped together and set off, running in the opposite direction of the shambling ponies. "We need to warn everypony else, pronto!" Scootaloo whispered as they ran out of the alleyways. The three of them suddenly stopped in their tracks, sudden realization striking them. "Wait, where is everypony?" Applebloom asked. Even though it was night, it still was unnaturally quiet. No lights shone through the windows of the houses, no faint sounds of snoring could be heard creeping from the walls and nothing, absolutely nothing, moved or made a sound in the dead of the night. The fillies started to get nervous. Everything seemed deathly quiet, like the calm before the storm. Something terrible was going to happen, they realized. "Are...are we alone?" Said a scared Sweeite Belle. Applebloom gulped. "I think so." " We need to find out what's going on." Scootallo said, trying hard to be brave for the sake of her friends. The three of them were scared, but they didn't argue. "Whatever's going on, we'll find out." Sootaloo said firmly. "We'll find out." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom repeated. The three of them nodded at each other. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, go!" They whispered, bumping hooves. They then set off along the main streets of Ponyville, none of them knowing that there were several hungry and rotten eyes watching them as they ran, before slowly giving chase. A meal was going to be served.
Chapter 2Chapter 2 Nothing seemed to be following the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they sought shelter in their school, right on the outskirts of Ponyville. The three fillies ran inside their classroom and shut the door, making sure that the door and windows were locked. "Okay, we need a plan." Sweetie Belle piped up. "Yeah, that would be nice." Scootaloo agreed. "But we need to know what we might be up against first." Applebloom added. The other two fillies dropped their heads. "Oh yeah." Sweetie Belle sighed. Scootaloo quickly grabbed a stray sheet of paper and a pencil from the nearby tables and quickly drew a sketch of a regular pony. Then she added the details she had seen on the two shambling ponies, including the twisted legs, empty, glassy eyes and the deep moan that came out of their gaping mouths. Scootaloo couldn't place a name to it, but she knew she had heard of something like that before. "Do you guys have any idea what this could be?" She said, holding up her sketch. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle carefully examined their friend's sketch, but both shook their heads. "No, but it does seem familiar." Sweetie Belle said. She sighed and started tapping her head. "Ugh, I should know what it is!" "Are we getting amnesia now?" Applebloom asked rather loudly. "Because ain't nothing making sense anymore!" Before any of them could say anything, a loud crash was heard from underneath them, shaking the classroom in it's place. Stray stationery rattled and vibrated, the classroom itself shuddering violently, threatening to collapse on itself. "Earthquake!" Sweetie Belle screamed. Just as suddenly, everything died back down. "What was that?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes crossed from being shaken. "I don't know." Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. "But whatever it was, it was coming from the basement." The three fillies stared at the floor as if it would crack below them. "Sh...should we go down and look?" Sweetie Belle stammered with fear. "I don't know." Scootaloo said. "The only way down is through the cellar door outside, and I'm not sure it's safe." The Cutie Mark Crusaders thought that over, then thought for an alternative plan. "Wait, there's a second door to get down!" Applebloom remembered. "It's down the hall!" Her two friends perked up at the idea. "Alright, but let's stay quiet." Sweetie Belle whispered. "I have a weird feeling that somepony or something is watching us." The three nodded in agreement, then set out down the hall. The second door to get to the basement was much smaller that the main cellar door on the outside. If anything, the door seemed like more of a chute, as it was barely wide enough for the fillies. "On three, we'll all go down." Applebloom said. "One...two..." A loud smash was followed by frantic footsteps and a bloodcurling scream. It was coming from the basement. Instinctively, Applebloom opened the chute's wooden door and dove inside. "Applebloom!" Scootaloo called. The pale yellow earth filly barely heard her friend's shout as she crashed, mercifully, into a stack of tied hay below her. She shook herself and gasped at what was happening in front of her. There were four figures, two Pegasus fillies and an earth colt, panting heavily with a horrified look in their eyes, staring down at an unmoving body of a red unicorn mare, her head caved in near the back of her head, her eyes open and dead, the flesh around her hooves and mouth decaying rapidly. The entire room smelling like rotten meat, and it was covered in wreckage of printing presses, a wooden table split in half, strewn hay everywhere, and most disturbingly, smears of blood on the soft ground beneath their hooves. "What have we done?" gasped one of the Pegasus fillies, who had a pale yellow coat, a light violet mane and cobalt blue eyes that were welling up with tears. The colt next to her, who was light, grayish-blue with a dark blue mane put a hoof on her shoulder and tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Alula." He said, trying to keep his own voice from trembling with shock. "You didn't mean for it to happen." His blue eyes were reflecting his sadness and shock. "Don't worry, no one else will know." Said the other Pegasus, who had a light, sapphire, bluish-gray coat and a light, graying indigo mane. Applebloom's nose itched, and before she knew it, she let out a sneeze which echoed around the basement. The three young ponies turned around in surprised fear, but relaxed when they saw Applebloom. "Alula? Shady Daze? Tornado Bolt?" Applebloom asked, astonished. "What are you three doing here?" She then saw the unmoving corpse, and regretted asking. Alula whimpered. "We're sorry." She whispered softly, filled with regret and grief. "We came down here because Shady Daze knows how to use use the printing press, and we wanted to copy some family photos." She coughed, tears dripping from her eyes. "But then that unicorn crashed through the door and the room started to shake. We tried to hide, we tried to get her to stop, but she kept walking towards us, snapping her teeth. We were so scared..." Her voice cracked, and she collapsed, burying her face in her hooves. The other Pegasus, Tornado Bolt, gave Alula a hug and tried to soothe her. "The Unicorn grabbed her and made her scream." The earth colt, Shady Daze, continued. "She was about to bite her when me and Tornado broke the printing press and kicked loose pieces at her. We only wanted her to let go of Alula, but one of my pieces hit her in the back of the head and broke her skull, and she collapsed." "We're really sorry." Tornado Bolt said. "It's alright." Applebloom promised, smiling kindly. "I won't tell nopony, promise." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo appeared by her side. They saw the corpse and gasped, Sweetie Belle covering her mouth. "It's another one." Scootaloo breathed. "What do you mean 'it'?" Tornado Bolt asked, astounded. Applebloom quickly relayed the story to her friends, who listened carefully with fear etched into their expressions. Scootaloo cleared her throat. "I mean, the pony wasn't alive when it attacked you." She explained. "We can't explain why, but it's like she's dead, yet alive." "Like a zombie?" Shady Daze asked, disbelief written across his face. A light went on inside the head of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the sudden realization hitting them like a train. "That's it!" Applebloom said. "Zombies! That's what that is? I can't believe we didn't think about it!" She pointed to the dead body. Everyone else was astounded. "But aren't zombies just make believe?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yeah, just pony tales made to frighten everypony?" Scootaloo added. Applebloom shook her head. She looked at the unmoving unicorn, a shiver going down her spine. "Apparently," She swallowed, then stared outside through the broken cellar door. "...it's more real than we think."
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Six small ponies peeked out from the door of the school's basement, scanning the immediate area for any oncoming pursuers. The fields and trees between them and central Ponyville looked safe enough, but the darkness of the night shrouded plenty of areas. "We've gotta get back to Ponyville and warn everypony." Applebloom whispered. "How can we warn everypony when nopony's there?" Scootaloo whispered back. Shady Daze, Tornado Bolt and Alula gasped. "What do you mean there's no one there?" Tornado Bolt whispered, voice quavering. Applebloom sighed. 'Oh shoot, how did I forget to tell 'em that?' She thought angrily. "When we were there earlier, there was no sign of anypony whatsoever. Everypony just seemed to have vanished." She explained. "Vanished?!" Alula said in surprise. "How?" Tornado Bolt hushed her. "We need to stay quiet." Alula nodded guiltily. "We don't know." Sweetie Belle admitted sadly. "But we'll show you. There really isn't anyone in town." "How is that even possible?" Shady Daze asked. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were thinking of the same question. Where did everypony go? How had they somehow vanished just like that without a trace? Why hadn't the six of them been taken as well? And what were zombie ponies even doing in Equestria, and how had they come to be? Weren't the zombies just stories told by ponies to scare each other? The flurry of questions that swam through all of their minds seemed to mock them, as if they knew none of them had answers to their predicament. For a moment, no one moved. The situation seemed bleak. We can't give up just yet." Applebloom said, trying to lift everyone's spirits. "There could still be survivors, if not in Ponyville than maybe in the surrounding area." "But what about the zombies?" Shady Daze asked. A loud snap in the forest caused the six heads to turn rapidly. It could have easily just been a loose branch falling on it's own, or something was converging on their location. "Let's head back. We'll worry 'bout them zombies later." Applebloom whispered in a serious, urgent tone. "We need to be as fast and as quiet as possible, and we gotta be alert." The six young ponies leapt into action, running as fast as they could while trying to keep silent, senses paramount for the world around them. Mercifully, nothing attacked them as they made their way back to Ponyville, which was still as desolate as it had been before. Apart from the six young ponies, no a single breath or hearbeat could be detected. Everything was so quiet, it created the most eeriest atmosphere any of them had ever felt. "This feels so weird." Scootaloo noted. "It's creepy." Sweetie Belle added. Their footsteps echoed through the silence, the sounds amplified in the cool, night air. The very silence was making the youngsters anxious and paranoid, as if something would appear from nowhere and ambush them. "Does somepony smell anything?" Shady Daze asked. Everyone stopped and sniffed. A waft of something foul drifted through their nostrils. It smelled a little like a mix of rotting garbage and burnt meat, but the smell was so far away it had become diluted in the night's air. Sweetie Belle fought down the urge to panic. To her, it was exactly how she remembered the zombie's smell. "Guys," She whispered, fear seeping into her voice. "I think that smell might becoming from a zombie." Instinctively, all six foals backed up and stepped closer to each other. "Safety in numbers." Tornado Bolt muttered. "Agreed." Applebloom gulped. In unison, the six foals walked down the streets, keeping their senses keen for an incoming zombie. "What do we even do when we see a zombie?" Alula piped up after a short while. No one had an answer for that question. "How do we fight somethin' that we thought never existed?" Applebloom asked back. They all stopped at the sound of shuffling footsteps. Applebloom put her arms out. "Stop." She whispered to her friends. "We don't know what's comin'." A Pegasus mare, with a dark brown coat and black mane shambled into view from the shadows of an alleyway. Her wings were crippled and useless, dragging across the ground and kicking up dust. Her eyes seemed decadent, unfocused and lifeless. A barely audible moan was carried on by the wind, as well as the stench of rotting flesh. The six young ponies instantly backed up and tried to stay quiet, not wanting to alert her in any way. "Another zombie." Scootaloo whispered, tone serious. Applebloom turned to her friend and signalled her to stay quiet. She watched as the zombie shambled away, not realizing the position of the six foals as they continued to back away. 'Please don't notice us.' Alula hoped, her wings flapping silently with tension. A shiver ran up her body, soon followed by an irritation in her nose. 'Oh no! Not now! Not a sneeze!' But she could do nothing as a high-pitched outburst of a sneeze shot from her mouth, echoing through the streets of Ponyville. Her friends turned at her with shock and annoyance. So did the zombie, who stopped in her tracks, turned her neck around in an impossible twist, locked her eyes on them, dropped her jaw, and unleashed a moan from deep within her lungs. The six ponies trembled with terror, as the zombie started to lumber towards them. "Run!" Applebloom yelled.
Chapter 4None of the six stopped for even a millisecond as they sought refuge among the houses, desperately banging and rattling locked doors as they tried to break into houses. Moaning intensified behind them, alerting them to a somehow growing mob of zombies, but none of them dare glanced back. "Come on!" Shady Daze grunted as he shook a doorknob in it's place, the heavy wood refusing to budge. "There's no time! We have to keep moving!" Tornado Bolt urged. The persistent moaning grew louder. Shady Daze let out a frustrated growl and gave up, following his friends as they sprinted out of sight. Unknown to the six, on the far side of Ponyville, something else was rapidly converging on their location, moving much faster than a zombie could ever try to move. Back in the group, an idea quickly formed inside Sweetie Belle's head, as quickly as her sprinting legs. "The library!" She shouted. Her friends turned their heads at her, not even slowing down from their continuous run. They all nodded and quickly ground to a halt, spraying dust and gravel into the air. They turned right and applied a burst of speed, doing their best to extend the gap between them and their undead pursuers. Within minutes, the six of them were standing right in front of the library, it's towering tree shape casting ghastly shadows across the ground, at least a mile long in some places. The library was derelict, with no lights and no sounds from the inside. "What now, Sweetie Belle?" Tornado Bolt panted. All of them were exhausted, their manes and foreheads wet with perspiration and their chests heaving as they tried to control their rapid heartbeats. Alula and Applebloom's legs were shaking, completely drained of all energy. Sweetie Belle shook her sweat off her head and started digging around in one of the shrubs lining the library. "I know it's here somewhere..." She muttered, rustling through tangled shrubbery. "Hurry!" Scootaloo urged. "I don't know how long it will take before the zombies will find us." "What makes you think we haven't lost them?" Shady Daze asked with some suspicion. "I don't know for sure, but something tells me they won't stop at anything until they get us." Scootaloo said, her wings fluttering rapidly. "Got it!' Sweetie Belle exclaimed, proudly holding up a silver key. She ran to the front door of the library and jammed the key into the lock, the door unlocking with a loud click and swinging open. The six ponies ran inside and shut the door behind them, locking it and then hastily stacking up various books, furniture and other objects in front of the door and the windows, constructing a makeshift barricade. Tornado Bolt sighed with relief, a sound that was soon copied by her friends. All was silent until Shady Daze spoke up. "Uh, guys? Should we turn on some lights?" The six ponies then realized they were shrouded in darkness, the only visible objects were the outlines of bookshelves and tables. "Good idea." Applebloom said, slightly embarrassed at herself, a feeling mutually shared with the others. Luckily, a box of wax candles were on hand, tucked safely into a bookcase along with a box of matches. Once they were lit , the main room was reflecting a dim yet warm orange glow, while ghastly shadows danced along the walls. The six ponies quickly moved from shelf to shelf, pulling out books at random and hoping for any kind of book that could help them for their situation. "How to we find information on something that nopony believed to have ever existed?" Alula thought out loud as she searched the higher bookcases,her small wings working hard to keep her afloat. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were darting from book to book, skimming every piece of inked paper they could get their hooves on. "How did you know the key would be in the bushes? Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle smirked. "Rarity takes me here sometimes to find books or talk to Twilight, and we found out that Twilight keeps a spare key hidden in the bushes." At the memory of her older sister and her friends, hundreds of memories surged through her mind, the most happiest ones at that. She could feel her eyes fill with tears and feel her lips quivering. "Where are they now? And why are we stuck here alone?" She whimpered. Scootaloo put a hoof on her tearful friend. She tried to meet Sweetie Belle's eyes, putting on a comforting smile. "Don't worry, it'll be okay." She said. It wasn't much for comfort, but it seemed to help. Sweetie Belle brushed the tears from her eyes and sniffled. "Okay." Meanwhile, Shady Daze had gone upstairs into Twilight's former bedroom. Everything was neatly arranged, from the books to the bed sheets. The room was sparsely decorated, the only sign of any personification was the star-dotted curtains and the brush that lay on the bare dresser. Shady Daze went up to the window and propped himself on his hind legs, taking a view out of the outside world. Beyond him was the empty and uncluttered lanes of cobbled and grassy streets, the traditional wooden houses in which ponies once resided, and the empty night sky that was only punctuated by the twinkling stars and the glorious haf-moon that had slowly risen into it's zenith. The streets were bare, something that puzzled the young colt. Where were the zombies that had chased them here? Had something, or somepony, have led them astray with a diversion? How? Why? Shady Daze just stared blankly at the full moon, wishing for the answers for the questions that pestered his mind. The moon bathed the streets in a mild glow, portraying long and narrow shadows across the earth while neutralizing the vibrant colors that were prominent in the daylight. A quick flash of a moving shadow caught the colt's eye. He blinked twice to make sure it wasn't an illusion, but the moving shadow reappeared, looming closer and closer to the library. Shady Daze squinted as he tried to get a better image, when a figure skidded into view from behind a row of houses. The figure, clearly a young mare, carried the same shadow Shady Daze had noticed earlier. Behind her, just appearing over the top of the horizon, was a pack of slowly moving figurines, their shambling movements instantly indicating who they were. Zombies. "Hey! Is that you, Shady Daze?" The mare cried. Shady Daze took another look at the young filly, ready to help, when his jaw dropped open as shock and disbelief registered. The faded and pale violet coat, the unicorn horn, the gamboge eyes that radiated inner terror, confusion and a sliver of frustration, and the disheveled gold mane and tail. 'Di-D-Dinky?!'
Chapter 5Chapter 5 After recovering from his initial shock, Shady Daze instinctively sprang to help. He quickly snatched a bedsheet, a blanket and tore the curtains from their hinges, furiously knotting it together as tightly as could be, then threw an end of the now rope-esque sheets out the window,letting it dangle a mere foot from the ground. "Grab on, Dinky!" He called. The young unicorn filly understood and leapt forward, grasping the end of the sheet with her teeth. Shady Daze strained as he slowly but surely hauled his friend up. Only once he and the unicorn were safely hauled inside did he let go. "Where have you been?" Shady Daze questioned once Dinky was safe. The little Unicorn was panting heavily, trying to control her breathing and profuse perspiration. Her mane was also badly dishevelled, her hooves and legs scratched and bruised and her only sounds were her uncontrolled breathings, which matched her slightly scared eyes. "What...are those...those...things?" She asked in a confused and exhausted stammer. Shady Daze put a hoof over his scared friend. "It's okay, you're safe now." He said, trying to calm Dinky. "As for those things, well...they're zombies." Even through her tense expression, Dinky managed a look of puzzlement. "The scary stories they would tell kids like us?" She asked. Shady Daze nodded. "Except they're not stories anymore, apparently." He went to the window and peered into the distance. Several shambling shapes were moving even closer, converging on the library, their moans and smell carried on by the wind. "But how do we stop them?" Dinky asked. Shady Daze sighed in frustration. "I have no idea." Moans we slowly growing louder as zombies continued to proceed closer to them. "We should probably go and tell everyone else about you, huh?" He said to Dinky. The Unicorn nodded, her breath slowly returning to normal levels. "Okay." Applebloom's ears perked up as she heard hoofsteps clatter down the steps. "Wait, eight hoofs?" She said as the rhythm of hooves became unorganized and distorted. She looked up and saw two ponies patter down the steps. "Dinky Hooves?!" She exclaimed in surprise. The little Unicorn turned her way, smiling sheepishly. "How'd you get in?" Applebloom asked. She looked expectantly at Shady Daze, who sighed and took a breath. "She found, or was found by, a group of zombies." He explained. Dinky nodded, confirming the truth. "I thought they were normal ponies, until I caught the smell." She added. "My mom always said that there were creepy stories people made up, and I can remember she said there were undead ponies. I don't want to believe it, but I think they might be it. I was going to run away, but then I accidentally hit a trash can, and the noise I made caused the zombies to come after me." She looked down, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, because now they're coming here." The message relayed the heads of the young fillies, more slowly in the case of Sweetie Belle, who started to wonder. "Your mom is Derpy, right?" She asked Dinky, who nodded enthusiastically. "Yes." "Is she here?" The realization struck the little Unicorn like an avalanche. "N...no." She stammered worriedly. Applebloom tried to backpedal on her friend's question. "It's alright." She said. "None of us could find our families either." "They all disappeared?!" Dinky asked in shock. Applebloom wanted badly to say no, but there was no other way to answer. She nodded. Dinky bit her lower lip, trying not to scream. "Look, somehow everypony disappeared from Ponyville, but we're still here, and at least we're all here together." Tornado Bolt butted in, breaking any building tension. "We'll find a way out, I'm sure, if we stay together and don't freak out." "Exactly." Shady Daze agreed hastily, hoping for everypony to jump on board. "Tornado Bolt has a point. We've got each other, and ponies can do great things when they're together, like us!" Slowly, everypony else warmed up to the idea. "Y'all are right!" Applebloom agreed. "I'm sure we can get through this!" She thrust a hoof forward. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put their own hooves on top of hers. The others followed suit and did likewise. "I think we should bail before the zombies get here." Scootaloo said. A slam on the door violently echoed through the library, scaring the young ponies and effectively diminished all their premature confidence. More pounds started to hammer against the exterior of the library, accompanied by the relentless and horrible moans that only a zombie can make. "Too late." Alula whimpered. The young ponies backed up closer to each other, some shuddering with fear. "What do we do now?" Sweetie Belle squeaked. Their makeshift barricade had started to rattle. If the zombie broke through the heavy exterior of the library and it's door, they would quickly overpower the terrified ponies. Dinky, who was quaking in her own terror, started humming to herself, remembering some nursery hymns her caring mother had told her. She remembered silly bedtime stories about travelling ponies, or ones about ponies and the fun they had with muffins, the way her mother would sometimes go off track and go wall-eyed when she tried to recall what she had last said. When the stories were over, Derpy would tuck Dinky into her bed, cover her with a blanket, dim the lights and whisper "Sweet Dreams" to her drowsy child. In one of those stories, Dinky remembered how her mother had once said "Time spent thinking clearly is never time wasted." and would always remind her to never panic. "But ma," Dinky would reply. "What if you were to never come home?" Her mother would giggle softly and look kindly at her daughter, keeping her eyes parallel to each other without much effort. "Then you should never worry. I'll always be there for you, my little muffin, even when I'm not with you." "But how?" Derpy would touch her daughter just above her stomach. "Always within your heart. As long as you remember that, you'll never have anything to fear." Remarkably, all this circulated in Dinky's subconscious with milliseconds. She stopped shivering. She stopped fearing. A plan came to her mind. An old game her mother had taught her buzzed in her head. "Guys!" She shouted, her voice rising above the pounding of rotten hooves. "I know what to do!" All of her friends turned to her. "What to you guys know about zombies?" Dinky asked. "What?!" Sweetie Belle asked in astonishment. "Just go along with me." Dinky said. "We might find some answers to our questions!" The rest of the young ponies were either too worried or too unbelieving to say anything in reply. "Uh, zombies can't run?" Applebloom suggested. "Yes...?" "Zombies want to eat ponies who are alive?" Scootaloo offered. "Yes. Anypony else?" Alula hesitantly spoke up, remembering when she, Shady Daze and Tornado Bolt encountered a zombie within the school basement. "They can't feel any pain." "Yes...?" "Oh!"Shady Daze excitedly piped up. "Zombies can only be stopped when we destroy their brains!" "Say what?!" Applebloom gawked. "I remember now!" The colt said, eyes bright. "When me and Tornado Bolt were trying to stop the zombie, none of our hits did anything until I threw a heavy projectile at it's head!" Dinky beamed. "That's it!" She announced. "We know how to stop them!" "That's good, but we need something to hit them with, preferably something heavy." Tornado Bolt hinted. The group quickly dispersed, covering every corner of the library amid the growing sound and smell of the zombies. "I found a fire extinguisher!" Applebloom called. "This pedestal seems strong enough!" Torando Bolt called, pointing to a carving of a horse's head in the middle of the library. "How about this toolbox?" Shady Daze asked, hauling out a heavy and bulky hunk of a metal box from underneath a bookshelf. The sound of wood splintering caused the ponies to swiftly turned to the front of the library. A rotting hoof was stuck through a jagged hole in the front door, cut but strangely bloodless. Three more hooves crunched through the door, before it collapsed from it's hinges. Zombies trampled over it, slowly streaming in. The young ponies were scared, but were now also armed and determined, each with an item to wield, no matter how conventional. They stood their ground, poised and angry. "Come and get it!" Applebloom hollered fiercely. End of Chapter 5. Author's Note Sorry everypony, but school starts again for the two of us next week, so chapters will only be updated sparingly. Sorry, but you know how it is. -Zack and Nicos
Chapter 6Chapter 6 As the undead streamed in, the armed fillies began their attack, poised and waiting for the right moment. Applebloom tensed as a pale grey stallion lumbered towards her, moaning louder and more intensely. "I'm right here." She growled, before swinging the extinguisher at her attacker, the glossy crimson canister connecting to the side of the stallion's head, the hit area caving in, the zombie crumpling to the ground in a lifeless heap. Without wasting any time, the pale yellow filly backed up, leapt onto the library's central table and swung her weapon in a vicious downwards arc, nearly splitting the head of a blue mare in half. She ducked as a tool box whizzed above her head, colliding violently with an oncoming zombie, who joined a quickly populating list of unmoving corpses. "Have at it, Shady Daze!" Applebloom cheered. What happened next was blurry to the little ponies. Projectiles were launched at the undead marauders, and one by one, they met their ends, each shot scoring a direct hit, as if by magic. Not that the ponies minded,since they were desperate to stay alive. A flying encyclopedia, nearly two feet thick, brought down the final zombie, both ghoul and projectile dropping like a stone. The fillies and the sole colt tried to catch their breaths. Zombies, objects, trash and shattered materials littered the floor, and the horrible reek of rotten flesh only intensified, causing the weak-stomached to gag, the only sounds audible in the silence of the night. After a few minutes of the unnatural silence, Dinky finally spoke. "What do we do now?" A gust of wind swept through the door and circulated the room, gently whipping the manes of the young ponies. "I guess we go forwards." Applebloom answered. "What should we do with these bodies?" Tornado Bolt asked, pointing towards the mass of dead ponies. Applebloom pondered the options, but none of them seemed any good. "I guess we just leave 'em here." She said. "They're dead now, and I think that they ain't coming back to life again." Nopony voiced complaints, and in single file, the young ponies crept around the corpses, trying with all their power to not touch the undead. Once outside, the seven of them grouped up again. "Where should we go?" Tornado Bolt asked. The question floated through the air and expanded into the desolate town. Applebloom looked down and sighed. "Look y'all, I don't like it, but I think we best leave Ponyville." Nervous chatter aroused from her friends. "I know it sounds bad," She agreed, cutting off the murmurs. "but it's the only thing left to do. We've seen what's left of Ponyville. There's nopony here anymore. What we need to do is get out, now." "Do you have a destination in mind?" Scootaloo asked. Applebloom nodded, a smile returning. "We should get to Canterlot. I'm sure everypony fled there. After all, the royal place is there, and the whole town can be guarded by a force field." "Which could work against zombies." Shady Daze speculated. Applebloom beamed. "Exactly! And maybe the train is still waiting here for us!" "But none of us know how to drive a train!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. Her pale yellow friend just shrugged. "How hard can it be?" Astounded looks were drawn from he friends. The western filly sighed. "Look, I know it's far fetched. But we have to try. I miss my family too. It hurts when they're not here. And everypony is most likely to be in Canterlot, so I think we should go." Sweetie Belle whimpered. "I miss my sister, too." Everypony felt gripped by self-pity and the longing of not having their families. They knew they were only kids, and no kid should have to fight zombies, to go through what they had to go through. Applebloom looked upwards, her eyes taking up a new steely determination to her already present one. She had been raised in a family that had lived in the countryside, growing up in traditional ways. In their past, times had been tough, and there hadn't always been enough to sustain the whole family. But there was one part of the Apple Family that was hard-wired and tamper-proof, something that had been etched into Apple Family genes since Granny Smith was a young one. That was the one bit of willpower that kept them going, the inability to give up. Some ponies think of it as pride or close-mindedness, but in reality, it was a blessing that kept the family going through thick and thin, and held the family ways together. "I'm gonna keep going." She said. "If anypony wants to stay behind, you're welcome, but I'm movin' on. I'm gonna get on that train and make my way to Canterlot." She started walking away, but it wasn't long before the others followed, their faces also plastered with new energy to keep going. "Where do you think you're going?" Scootaloo asked. "You're not going anywhere without us." Sweetie Belle said. "We're in this together." Dinky confirmed. Before the western filly could express her thanks, moans emerged from a side street, and a group of zombies, about five mares and stallions sauntered towards them, homing in on them like guided missiles, their stench, sounds and desire for devouring all too prominent. Unarmed, the fillies knew better than to try and fight. But what left a sour taste in Applebloom's mouth was that the zombies had cut off their route to the train station. But, powered by only a vague plan and an even more obscure prediction over where everypony had disappeared to, as well as keeping all her friends together and alive, Applebloom was still more determined than ever. "If the zombies wanna do it the hard way, I'll do it the hard way. It's all worth it for getting back to family." Author's Note This may/may have look rushed and not that good. But I poured everything I could into it, I swear. It's just that school makes it hard to come up with new ideas. Plus, Zack caught an infection and it left me on my own for a week, and I SUCK on my own. But I'm still going forward, and I won't stop. Pinkie Pie Promise!
Chapter 7Chapter 7 The seven ponies slammed the door shut behind them, bolting the locks in place and trying to once again slow down their rapid breaths. "I'm really starting to hate these zombies." Scootaloo murmured. "Tell me about it." Applebloom agreed, panting heavily. She craned her neck and took in her surroundings. Her and her friends had taken refuge inside Ponyville's most renowned bakery. "Remember when Pinkie Pie used to work here?" Applebloom asked, then wished she hadn't. Pinkie was among the ponies who had just vanished without a trace. "Yeah." Sweetie Belle answered, but her voice showed what they all felt; loss. "Sugarcube Corner." Everywhere they looked. Counters and glass displays were empty of confectionery and the shelves were piled high with raw materials, perhaps for further uses. The seven ponies looked at each other for comfort, realizing that everyone they looked at was scared for their lives, but tried to hide it for the sake of their friends. "Do any of you know how a zombie is made?" Dinky asked suddenly. Completely off-guard, no one answered, and started looking at each other for answers. "I don't think their made, per say." Tornado Bolt piped up. "I mean, they still look like ponies, just like you and me, no matter what state their in." Several of the others nodded, accepting the idea. "Say, wasn't their that old mare's tale that said zombies rose from the dead?" Scootaloo said. Dinky gasped. "Of course! That explains -" The filly were cut short by a deafening boom and a flash of white light that shone from behind the windows, only to be replaced by a faint red flicker once it had died down. The ponies ran to the window, jaws dropping in horror. Converging on their locations were more zombies, about twenty in all, their bodies engulfed in flames. Streaks of fire ran across the street, flowing in random, angular lines of pure flame. "Celestia's beard, this ain't good." Applebloom muttered. Having been to Market with Applejack more than once - provided she didn't try any methods to get customers - as well as a day trip to Ghastly Gorge, Applebloom had a basic understanding of the fuel lines that pumped in from the San Palomino desert. Fuels were hardly used in most parts of Equestria, apart from use in cooking or lighting, but a fair amount was still circulated into Ponyville, provided the pipelines were ultra-secure and flame resistant. If the zombies had managed to, Faust Forbid, sever a pipeline, then without constant supervision, gas would continue to flood into Ponyville, where building material still consisted of wood and straw. Applebloom couldn't bear to imagine the when the two were put together. "We gotta get outta here!" She shouted. "Understood." Scootaloo said. "But how?" Applebloom brain went into panic mode. She quickly took in every detail in the room and started formulating an escape route. "Grab some knives, flashlights and food and get upstairs!" She shouted. "What?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, taken completely by surprise. "Trust me!" The other ponies exchanged glances, followed the orders then hurriedly scrambled up the staircase. Applebloom grabbed her own supplies and followed, assured by some memory she once deemed insignificant. "What now?" Shady daze demanded once they were all upstairs. They were now in the upstairs bedroom, the one that the Cake family leased to Pinkie Pie. Colorful wall paint and various party supplies were masked by the dim light of the outside moon and the flames that were rapidly zipping through the streets. Applebloom, like her friends, was armed with a hastily packed knapsack, with a nasty-looking butcher knife tucked in the fold of the strap, dashed towards the closet and swung open the doors, pulling out several lengths of rope. "Tornado. Alula. How are your wings?" She asked, handing them each lengths of rope and a stake. Tornado test-flapped her appendages. "They can manage. Why?" Applebloom pointed towards the nearest rooftop. "That's side on the opposite side of the bakery. The front door's barricaded, so the zombies are gonna have to break in the hard way. Goin' down is out, 'cause there's a gas pipe directly underneath the surface. We need to get onto that rooftop, because there's still a ladder left on it. We can climb down and get a clear run to the train station. We'll use the rope to shimmy across." Tornado Bolt nodded in understanding. "Got it." She said firmly. "Uh, Appplebloom. I..." Alula stammered. Applebloom could see just how scared the pegasus looked. She clasped her friend's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Alula, please, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too." She said with utmost sincerity. "But I need you to be brave. Not just for you, or for us. We'll find everypony. Pinkie promise." The pegasus nodded, trying to mask her fear. "Hurry," She urged. 'cause if this town takes up anymore gas, we're all gonna end up barbecued." Alula and Tornado Bolt pried open the window, forcing it to open. Smoke filled the room, the clogging the lungs of the young ponies. The pegasi shot over to the rooftop, driving the stakes easily into the straw rooftop. "Quickly!" Tornado bolt yelled, her voice turning raspy. "It's getting hard to breathe!" Scootaloo took to the rope first, shimmying across the gap, and ignoring the ground fifteen feet below. In no time flat, she had made it across the gap. Shady Daze gulped and went next. He was slower, but managed to get across. Dinky Hooves took off the moment Shady Daze was across. "Faster! The fire's coming this way!" Tornado Bolt yelled. Applebloom looked down and cringed. Fire was starting to consume nearby houses - easy victims to the rampant flames - and had started edging even closer to their current location. "Sweetie Belle, go!" Applebloom ordered. Sweetie Belle, perhaps caught by surprise, jumped and caught the rope before Dinky had made it across. The rope strained, and both fillies yelped as the rope started to dip under the weight. Miraculously, it help, and Dinky jumped over to the next rooftop. But just when it looked like the group was going to get across safely, Applebloom's ears picked up a sound she'd been dreading. A low hiss. One that signified a small break in a pipe. And it was in the street right below them. Time seemed to slow down. The earth pony was vaguely aware of a lightning-fast streak of flame moving impossibly fast in the corner of her eye, surging it's way effortlessly towards the sound of the broken pipe. The flames touched the leaking area, causing the pipe to catch fire, with explosive results. A column of white hot flames erupted, bursting straight up, and the filly watched in abject horror as it claimed it's first victim. Sweetie Belle. End of Chapter 7.
