The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Two – Escape from Ponyville

“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. ”

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“And maybe we can fly away from here
Surf on the debris of our broken scene
Sub-suburban wasteland
Just pack up everything and get out of here
Everything I fought for is dead to me
Sub-suburban wasteland”

• “Rocketrocketrocketship” by The Arrogant Sons of Bitches

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With purpose in his stride, Shining Armor approached the door and magicked it open, booting up his Pip-Buck's targeting system along with his pistol.

Immediately, a smattering of dots alighted on his map's main display.

All of them were red, indicating only hostiles.

Following their locations, he span on his rear hooves after leaping through the doorway, faced down the north end of the hall, and opened fire as soon as his line of sight was made clear. Terrified, Twilight shuddered violently and inwardly asked herself why her brother would do such a thing in a hospital of all places. Unfortunately, as the stallion ceased fire and reloaded his gun, she was given no time to pursue the question any further.

“Alright, all clear,” Shining announced, nodding. “Twilight, behind me. We'll make our way slowly and carefully. Once we're outside, that's when we'll beat a hasty retreat. I know you've been lying there for a month, but do you think you can run?”

Stepping out into the hallway and taking her position behind her brother, the purple unicorn answered, “I don't know. I feel like I can barely walk.”

“Very well,” he replied with a snort, “then I'll just have to carry you on my back. Not a big deal, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, just follow me and stay alert. And again, I can't possibly stress this enough, stick close.”

With every warning, the little unicorn's forcibly built-up courage shrank further and further.

As they made their way down the hall, Twilight took notice of the utterly destroyed state of the hospital, bullet holes and bloody carnage having torn apart the walls, ceilings, and even the tiled floors. Approaching a stairwell at the end, the purple mare spotted four dead ponies, each sporting several holes in their heads. Identifying them as the targets that her brother must have been shooting at after they first exited her room, she shuddered once more.

“Twilight, while we still have the time, try and get used to your Pip-Buck's map display. I could use your help in locating trotters. They'll be the red dots. I have to focus on the fight as much as I can, so any help on your part would be greatly appreciated.”

Rather than reply with a sign to the affirmative, she found herself unsteadily asking, “Shining, w-why did you shoot those ponies?”

“They weren't ponies anymore. They were trotters, the dead come back to life.”

Eyes going impossibly wide, Twilight then questioned, “Y-you m-mean... zombies?”

“Sort of,” he responded, pulling no punches with his description as he reached out to the door blocking the staircase with his magic. “It's hard to explain. The most that any of our research teams could find out before everything went to Tartarus is that the cause of it all was some sort of virus. Which reminds me, Twiley, whatever you do don't let one of them scratch or bite you. If they do, there's nothing I'll be able to do for you. You'll die and become one of them. End of story.”

“Where's Cadance?” she asked, biting her lip as she imagined Shining leaving his wife behind for her sake.

Holding up a hoof to momentarily silence her, Shining Armor flung the door open and fired three shots into the head of a trotter located on a landing one flight below them, the wall behind it noisily painted a mix of red with chunks of cranial pink here and there.

After reloading, he turned to face his sister again.

“She's fine. She's leading the resistance at Friendship City in Manehattan. So far, it looks to be Equestria's last stronghold. The radio built into my Pip-Buck is set to their frequency and as far as I'm aware, they're still standing strong.”

A rush of relief flooded the lavender mare momentarily, but soon faded into a feeling of total emptiness as another question came to her mind.

“W-what about my friends? What about Spike?”

Still facing her, Shining placed a soothing hoof on her shoulder and softly replied, “Last I heard from Rainbow Dash, they're all waiting for us on the edge of town, just over the big hill beyond the schoolhouse. It's their group that we'll be rendezvousing with before setting out for Friendship City. Apparently, they raided the police department for weapons, armor, and ammunition before fleeing and setting up camp, so we should be in good shape so long as we're able to reach them.”

Without another word, the white stallion returned his gaze to the stairwell and started his way down, motioning for his little sister to follow.

Another two trotters stood in their path three flights down, but their mobility up the stairs was impaired enough that they barely made it a foot before Shining put them down with relative ease. Firing four shots, the stallion left two small holes between the eyes of both, as well as two much larger holes gaping out the back of their skulls. Afterward, however, they reached the bottom floor and faced yet another closed door. Both checking their maps, the siblings confirmed that they had a major fight ahead of them, the enemy signatures so numerous that they overlapped to the point of forming a single red blob.

Cursing lowly, the guard captain asked in a hushed voice, “Twilight, I can't imagine the answer to this is going to be 'yes', but do you think you've got it in you to teleport us to the schoolhouse?”

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Twilight brought her magic to a focus and immediately fell to the ground clutching her head with both forehooves.

“Damn,” he whispered as he helped her back up.

“Shining?” the struggling mare questioned softly, unable to really raise her voice in the aftermath of a splitting headache. “W-where exactly was I shot? I think I know the answer... but I'd like to hear it from you.”

With a grim expression, the stallion shook his head and answered, “He got you in the head, just below your left ear. Honestly, it's amazing that you're even alive. Like I said earlier, a bucking miracle. You suffered a concussion as a result and then fell into a coma two days later. We... w-we all...” Closing his eyes to fight back the tears, he forced himself to finish, “Please don't hate me, Twilight, please, but... I almost didn't make the trek out here. We were just so certain that you were dead, especially after the hospital was attacked. It just seemed so completely hopeless. If anything, it was a stroke of pure luck that you woke up when you did.”

A cold shiver shot down her spine as Twilight imagined waking up to this brand new Equestria all alone. Unlike her brother, the little mare allowed her tears to flow freely.

Wrapping her hooves around his neck, she hugged him as tightly as her weakened limbs could manage and quietly cried, “I don't blame you, Shining. Just look at this place. It really does look hopeless, doesn't it? I'm... I'm just glad that you did come for me. I'm not dead yet and I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to stay alive. I won't let this be in vain. Pinkie Promise.”

Holding her for a moment, Shining nuzzled into her cheek and assured her, “Not even necessary. I won't let anything happen to you. I couldn't be your Knight in Shining Armor before, but I will be now. Just watch me.”

Releasing her, the former guard lit his horn and reached beneath his armor, grabbing something Twilight surely hadn't expected to see.

A grenade.

“This is my last one, so we've got to make it count,” he stated with a snort. “Besides, it's just as loud as you would expect it to be and they seem to be attracted to loud sounds of any kind.” Considering that for a moment, the stallion then concluded, “We're going to need to be fast. Very fast. Get on my back now and hold on tight. If you can, keep your eyes on your map and tell me if you see anything, alright?”

Slowly clambering atop him, the purple pony simply nodded.

“Okay, here we go,” he uttered.

A second later, Shining Armor pulled the charge's pin and threw open the door, lobbing the explosive down the hall and into a huge cluster of the undead. Immediately thereafter, his horn sparked bright blue as he formed a dome around the crowd, effectively trapping them in. With a grin, he watched as his plan went off without a hitch, a bloody detonation of trotter giblets and shrapnel splattering the walls of his magical barrier.

As soon as the fireworks ended, the white stallion took off at a breakneck pace down the corridor, shouting behind him, “You alright back there, Twiley?”

Holding on for dear life, she replied as loudly as she could, “I'm fine!”

Hooves pounding against linoleum hard enough to imprint it, Shining stampeded out of the hospital and into the broad daylight of a town utterly destroyed. Twilight squinted her eyes to protect them from the bright rays of the sun, but quickly found them wide with fear once again.

Her map displayed hundreds of angry red dots.

All of them were converging on their location.

“Sh-Shining!” she yelled, gripping him even harder.

“I see them!” he shouted back. “They're behind us, Twilight! Nothing we can do but try to outrun them!”

Biting his lip, the former guard captain put the pedal to the metal and attempted to do just that.

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To be continued in Chapter Three – Reunited...

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Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!