Plague in the Land of Equestria

Chapter 2: Surviving

“What in Celestia is going on here?”

That day, Rainbow Dash set up a personal funeral for Applejack’s family, then they were all cremated. Rainbow Dash trotted to Applejack’s side.

“Pinkie Pie told me you were sick. Yesterday, I threw up, a lot, and I felt drained. What happened to you?” inquired Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I’ll be darned. The same exact thing,” replied Applejack.

“Strange... maybe it’s some new sickness? I think we should hole up and wait for this to calm down. I noticed when this area was clear of... the sick, the sun started shining, but just in Sweet Apple Acres. That would mean this is everywhere, at least in the Ponyville area. We need to formulate a plan; where do we go, and who and what do we bring?”

“Well, Ah think we should take a trip down ta Ponyville and find our friends,”Applejack suggested. Rainbow Dash agreed. Applejack took one quick look back at her home, and her family, before leaving.

First, the duo went to Pinkie Pie’s house on Sugarcube Corner. The old storm clouds were back. Rainbow Dash had put two and two together during the walk, that wherever these...things were, the skies are gloomy and dark. That would mean Ponyville was dangerous, and if the majority of the population turned out to be like the ponies in Applejack’s barn, then the chances of survival was slim.

When they were nearing Pinkie’s house, Applejack stopped.

“Did you hear that?” she asked Rainbow Dash. Dash listened closely.

“Nooo... wait. Fuck, hide!” Rainbow Dash sounded urgent. Applejack ran into a nearby alley, and Dash followed. She peeked out and noticed Carrot Top walking slowly, stumbling occasionally. At first she didn’t look as bad as the others, until she stumbled once and turned to the side, revealing her intestines hanging loosely, green with rot. Her left back hoof was matted with orange body fluid. Rainbow Dash felt sick at the sight. The dead Carrot Top wandered aimlessly, and was getting uncomfortably close to the alley where Applejack and Dash were hiding.

“Dash... what do we do?” asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply when she saw that Carrot Top was looking straight at her. Her chapped, black lips came up into a demented smile. Black fluid dripped from her mouth as she started trot-limping towards the two survivors.

What do we do, what do we do? Those words were bouncing around in Rainbow Dash’s mind as she searched frantically for a weapon, or really anything, she could use against the zombified pony that was going to try to make Applejack and Rainbow Dash it’s lunch. Her eyes stopped on a shovel. She smiled in relief, grabbed it’s wooden handle, and swung. The metal blade produced a dull metallic THUNK as it collided with Carrot Top’s skull. The impact sent the orange pony flying into a wall, head first. Her skull split in two and she fell, blood and brain fluid leaking onto the ground. Rainbow Dash enjoyed her victory for a second, until it was interrupted by a hungry screech. Dash turned and saw Lyra crawling onto the ground about 20 tail-lengths away, with her legs full of more holes than Queen Chrysalis’s. Blood trailed behind her in a dark stream. With another swing and THUNK, this new threat was taken care of. Applejack was pressing up against a pink dumpster, shivering uncontrollably and crying anew. Rainbow Dash herself felt sick and depressed from killing other ponies, the ones she called her friends. What had happened to turn everypony into these creatures?

After a quick glance to make sure there weren’t any more of the sick ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack knocked on Pinkie Pie’s door. No answer. What were they expecting? The two ponies exchanged quick glances, then Applejack bucked the door. It shattered to a bunch of little wooden splinters. Applejack ran in, with Rainbow Dash and the shovel close behind. At first they didn’t see anything, but as their eyes adjusted to the dark, they noticed several dark shapes lurking about in the house.

“Shhhhh,” warned Rainbow Dash. The two stepped in, quiet as a mouse, and slid along the wall to a corner.

“What are we doing in here?” asked Applejack softly, her voice shaking with fear.

“We need to get Pinkie out,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“W-what if she g-got...”

“No. No,” denied Rainbow Dash. “Your barn had these... things in it, and you’re alive.”

“How did all these things get in here, anyways?”

“You know how social Pinkie Pie is. One probably tried to pound the door and she answered. Look around, if she’s hiding, we might find her, and if they did get her, at least we’ll know.” Applejack nodded slowly in sad agreement to Rainbow Dash’s plan. Keeping low to the ground, the two ponies searched the areas that wasn’t limited by the shambling corpses. Applejack looked up and waved Rainbow Dash over. Stealthily, Rainbow Dash slowly made her way to her orange friend. She pointed to a table across the room. At first Dash couldn’t see what Applejack was pointing at, but after a second she noticed a bright pink object. Upon closer observation, she made out that it was Pinkamena (her mane and tail was straight and she was no longer a crazy party pony), hiding under a table, right where all the sick ponies were lurking.

“Hey, Rainbow...” began Applejack. “I just thought a’ somethin’. When I kicked the door, it shattered, but not very quietly. How did these things not notice?”

“Well, they obviously aren’t very smart. Or observant. Carrot Top had to get within 10 tail-lengths and stare directly at us just to notice us. Lyra only found us because, after I killed them, I noticed a bit of Carrot Top’s skull at the end of the alleyway. It must have landed on her. We can use these ponies’ stupidity against them! I’m a genius!” replied Rainbow Dash, louder than she meant.

“Well, genius, ya’ just gave us away,”growled Applejack. Dash looked around and saw all the zombie ponies staring right at them.

“PINKIE! RUN!” shouted Applejack. Pinkamena jumped up and raced out the door, before any of the zombies noticed her, except for one. That one dead pony managed to nip Pinkamena’s forearm as she galloped past, though she didn’t hardly notice it. The wound didn’t even draw blood.

Applejack bucked one of their assailants into a wall, leaving a large splatter of dark red blood all over it. Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and dove at one of the zombie ponies, a unicorn, now unrecognizable. Grabbing it’s shoulders, she went up, carrying it with her. The revolting stench of rotting flesh nearly overwhelmed Dash. She took the unicorn up to the roof, held it upside down by it’s hind legs, and dropped it on it’s head. The unicorn’s cranium split into five different strands of soft skull. With nothing containing it, the brain slipped out and slid across the floor in a pool of blood. Looking over at Applejack, she noticed that the zombie ponies were about to trap Applejack into a corner. Rainbow Dash hurriedly counted 5 of the creatures. Shuddering, she flew over to the remains of the zombie Applejack had bucked into a wall. The kick by itself fractured the skull and killed the brain, but the collision into the wall had turned it into a limp, loose bag of rotting organs and bones.

After taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash picked up the dead pony, flew it over to where Applejack was desperately fighting off the snapping jaws of the zombies, and swung the limp body. Blood showered the room when the body-bat exploded upon collision with two of Applejack’s attackers. The other three were distracted, giving Applejack time to slip away. The two living ponies fled the building as fast as they could. After a bit of running, they eventually lost the remaining three undead. The two stopped. Rainbow Dash picked up Applejack and the two flew up to a rooftop.

Rainbow Dash flopped to the ground. “That. Was close,” she breathed in relief and exasperation. Applejack nodded and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash was worried for her friend. She wasn’t who she used to be. Applejack had barely been talking, and hadn’t really seemed to care what happened. Losing her family was tough on her, but...

“Hey Rainbow Dash, where’d Pinkie go?” Applejack’s voice cut through Rainbow Dash’s thoughts. With that, Dash realized she had forgotten about her pink friend.

“Hang on, I’ll fly up and see if I can spot her,” replied Rainbow Dash, faking a lack of concern. She flew straight up in the air and hovered there, scanning Ponyville for her friend. The first two searches were fruitless, but on her third look around, Pinkamena was spotted, just a block away from the building Dash and Applejack were hiding out on. After making sure Pinkamena’s area was clear, she sped in at an amazing speed, grabbed her friend, and returned to the rooftop.

“R-R-Rainbow D-Dash? Applejack?” sobbed Pinkamena.

“Yeah, we’re here, we’re all safe for now. Are you ok?” responded Rainbow Dash. Pinkamena didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep. Dash decided to do the same.

When the trio awoke, it was night. The day and night cycle continues, so the Princesses must be fine, thought Rainbow Dash. That provided a lot of relief, though the fact that she hadn’t eaten in two days had started playing it’s effects on her.

“We need some food,” Rainbow Dash thought out loud. The others silently agreed, though nopony really knew where to look. Rainbow Dash found a rock, and scratched a list onto the roof of places to search, and other necessities that’d be useful.

Food: Nearby houses, the Cake’s shop

Weapons: Houses and stores

Winter clothing: Houses

Satisfied with the list, Rainbow Dash hovered in above the two earth ponies. “Alright, Applejack, you search the nearby buildings for weapons, starting with this one. Pinkie, you go to the Cake’s place and grab what food you can find. I’ll search for weather attire, in case we’re ever out in the rain or cold. Sound like a plan?” Applejack nodded, but Pinkamena just sat there, not talking, not moving. Rainbow Dash feared for her friends’ sanity. Not just Applejack had changed, but Pinkie too. “Alright everypony, let’s get a move on, before it starts raining.” Rainbow Dash took off into the air and flew to a house just a few blocks away. She looked through the window and saw two ponies, a stallion and a mare, stumbling around. That’s why there aren’t very many of these things outside. They’re all locked inside their homes because of the weather before they turned, thought Rainbow Dash. She flew around back and carefully opened the back door. She slipped quietly inside and crawled on her belly to the kitchen, where she located a large knife on the counter. She grabbed it and slipped stealthily into the living room where the two dead ponies were walking around. Rainbow Dash picked up a discarded horse shoe and through it against a wall, on the opposite side of the room.

There was a loud metallic THUNK. The dead couple quickly turned their heads to the source of the noise. Rainbow Dash took her chance and flew silently behind the mare. She was behind the other zombie, so he wouldn’t notice her dying. At least not before he himself was killed.

Rainbow Dash took the knife and stuck it into the mare’s neck, right into the brainstem. She dropped, and Dash pulled the blade out of the body, then finished the second zombie with a stab to the top of the head. After an extensive search through the house to make sure there wasn’t any more sick ponies hiding, Rainbow Dash sorted through a pile of clothing and discovered three fur saddles and pairs of boots. Afterwards, Dash sorted through the kitchen in a search of food. She discovered some vegetables, in surprisingly good condition, several bundles of hay, and a loaf of bread. Excited with this small bundle of life, Rainbow Dash returned to the rooftop, dropped it off, and flew to the next house. There wasn’t any visible zombies, so she snuck in the front this time. After a quick search of the house, she decided it was abandoned and continued her search for supplies.

After deciding to find food first, Rainbow Dash went into the kitchen and began searching for even a morsel. Nothing in the fridge, nothing in any drawers. The pantry was the last place to search. Rainbow Dash walked up to the pantry door and opened it. She didn’t know what it was she saw until the stench hit her, and she heard the growl. There was a zombie pony that had been stuffed into the food pantry. It fell out and landed on her, it’s hot breath in her face, it’s snapping jaws threatening to rip her apart. Dash had been taken by surprise, and could just barely hold the thing’s mouth away from her nose. She looked for the knife she had dropped, and to her dismay, saw it was just out of reach. Fighting hard to keep it away, Dash couldn’t free a hoof long enough to get to the knife, even if it was in reach. Limited on options, Rainbow Dash tried kicking it off. Her powerful hind legs managed to lift the zombie’s rear end up, but nothing much else. She heard a ripping noise and felt a hot, sticky fluid cover her lower body.

“Fuck me,” she muttered under her breath. Then an idea struck her. She grabbed the zombie’s left fore hoof and shoved it into it’s gaping mouth. The zombie instinctively bit down, which gave her time to get it off safely. She pushed hard, and it went flying up. Dash rolled out of the way just barely in time before it hit the ground again. The dead pony exploded into a red and black mess, with the occasional organ drifting around in the current of blood and body fluids. Rainbow Dash threw up, which surprised her, since she didn’t think she had anything to throw up.

Rainbow Dash looked into the pantry. Blood and flies covered everything edible. She sighed, picked up the knife, and left the house. When she turned around to look at the next house, she noticed something on the roof of the home she was just inside. Maybe I’ll find something after all. She flew onto the rooftop of the house and got a closer look at the object she had spotted. A tear went to her eye as she saw it was her friends Rarity and Spike, hand on hoof, holes in their heads. Spike had a handgun in his other hand, with a box full of bullets next to it, missing two. Rainbow Dash sat down and cried for the deaths of her friends, then grabbed the handgun and bullets and flew to her rooftop.

The sun was already rising when she got back. Applejack and Pinkamena had returned already, and there was a small pile of knives and one bullet box, right next to another pile, this one of food. Dash dropped off her findings and sat on the far corner of the roof. Applejack trotted to her side.

“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” she inquired.

“When I was scavenging, I found Rarity and Spike,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Are they ok?”

“Let’s just say it’s how I got the gun.”

“Oh,” said Applejack sadly. She walked over to Pinkamena, who was sleeping again, and started chewing on some hay. Rainbow Dash followed after a second. She felt tired from scavenging and fighting, and sick because her sky blue fur was now maroon with dry blood. Tomorrow, I’ll take a bath in the river by Sweet Apple Acres, she thought. After eating enough to fill, Applejack and Rainbow Dash curled up beside each other and slept. When the three ponies awoke, it was sunset. Dash sat up with a groan and stretched. She grabbed the loaf of bread, ripped off a chunk, ate it, and looked out into the city below. She saw with shock that overnight, a crowd of the zombie ponies had formed onto the street below.

“Applejack! Pinkie! I think we have a problem!” she shouted in anxiety. The other two looked down into the horde and gasped.

“We’re dead. We’re all dead,” sobbed Pinkamena.

“That’s not true,” said a smirking Rainbow Dash. She pulled out a lighter she found while searching houses the previous day.

“What do ‘ya plan to do with that?” asked Applejack.

“Watch and learn,” replied Rainbow Dash. She grabbed the box of bullets that had the least amount of ammunition, lit the lighter, shoved it into the box, and threw it into the crowd as hard as she could. It exploded into a ball of fire, sending the copper tips of the bullets flying in all directions.

“Get back and get down!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Once the PING PING PING of the flying bullets stopped, the trio looked over the edge. Out of the huge horde of zombies there used to be, only two remained, and they could hardly crawl, due to how many holes had just been opened up in them. Dash took the pistol, loaded it, flew down to the ground, and shot the survivors in the head.

“It’s clear!” Dash yelled at the roof. This was greeted by cheers as the other two leaned over the edge and saw that Rainbow Dash had single-handedly destroyed a large group of the infected. Blood and burnt, decimated bodies covered the ground.

“Damn,” remarked Dash. She flew up to the roof. “Let’s go find the rest of our friends. I’ll go to Twilight’s, you two go to Fluttershy’s.” With that, she took off to Twilight’s house.

Dash had to shoot two infected on the way. She had 6 bullets with her. Once Dash got to Twilight’s door, she knocked. No answer, of course. She tried opening the door. Locked. Dash shot the knob, and the door swung right open. She stepped inside, and felt something really heavy land on her back. Dash fell to the floor, and knocked her head on something. Rainbow Dash blacked out.