It Only Takes A Bite

"Sweet Celestia..."

"What? Did you find something, Applejack?"

"Foal. Ah think she was... Cannibalized by those rascals."

"Sick. Just sick."

"Ah know. Ah can't wait until this hopefully blows over."

"Me too. I just want life back to normal."

"You two act like that will happen soon."

"Yup. Pretty much."

"Well I think that this is what it's going to be like for the rest of our lives."

"Fighting against our deceased relatives and friends? That's something to look forward to."

"Come on, did something get ya in a bad mood?"

"Life itself got me into a bad mood, Applejack. I don't know if I can take it much more. I think I'm pretty much just about to lose the will to go on."

Stormc12 presents...

It Only Takes A Bite

Applejack woke up slowly with virtually no memory of the previous night, her mouth dry and her coat covered in sweat. She struggled to open her eyes and took in the details of where she was. She could see she was in the Ponyville Hospital. She donned a white hospital gown, and random pieces of equipment surrounded the white, sterile bed the cowpony rested on. She didn't know what any of the things were for, but she was smart enough to know that they were very well important. She slowly rose up from the mattress and saw that all the lights in the room were off. The only source of light was from the window, where the sun shone into the room.

  "Hello?" Applejack called out. "Anypony?"

  No response came. The silence of the building her skin start crawling with goosebumps. She knew the hospital wasn't closed during the day, yet for some reason, there was absolutely no noises outside the room. Applejack muttered something under her breath as she climbed out of the bed. The second her hooves touched the floor, she ended up losing her balance and barely managed to keep herself from hitting the floor. She looked around the room and saw her favorite brown hat on the floor next to her. She leaned down and grabbed it, and examined it before putting it on. She took off the gown she wore and decided to head out into the hallway to find some help.

  She opened the door leading out to the hallway, and to her surprise, found it completely empty. Potted plants and benches lined the walls, but no signs of life were shown. The only light came from the windows, as the hallway's own lights were also off. Applejack could clearly see the little specks of dust dancing around in the light cast from the windows as she stepped out. The darkness made her think something may have been watching her in the corners of her vision.

  "Hello? Anypony?"

  She still got no response. She huffed and looked around to get a sense of direction. A sign on the wall across the hall read EXIT, with an arrow pointing to a doorway. She shuffled towards the direction the arrow pointed, her legs still numb. She found an emergency exit, and opened it up. The door's creaking made the mare shiver as she descended the dark stairwell. Soon, she found herself on the ground floor. She opened up the set of doors and found another empty hallway. However, what caught her attention was a piece of writing scribbled on the wall. The words made her shiver in fear as she read them.

THEY RISE. THEY WANT VENGEANCE FOR LEAVING THEM. CELESTIA HELP US ALL.

  "Did somepony with a crazy head get loose around here?" Applejack thought aloud as she continued down the hallway, not wanting to stick around for any longer. The cold air that hung in the empty hallway made her wonder what may have happened while she was asleep.

  Soon, she found herself at the lobby. She sighed, happy to be out of the dark, empty hallways. She didn't want to stick around the hospital any longer. She opened the set of doors leading out, and smiled as the sunlight warmed her face. The sounds of nature sung around her as she stepped out into the open world. She felt safer in the rays of light, where she could clearly see everything. However, she saw the town empty.

  "You got to be kidding me." She moaned. "Where the hay is everypony!?"

  Her own voice echoed around the entire town. She groaned as she started to walk down the path. Questions filled her mind as fast as a water faucet left on overnight. Where was everyone? Why was the town empty? How did she end up in the hospital? She couldn't answer any of them. She could only theorize.

  Soon, she got into the street. The abandoned streets made her stop walking altogether. Houses lining the roads were broken into or boarded up, some even burnt. Carts filled with personal possessions were left unattended in the middle of the dirt roads, with some even upturned. The usual sounds of talking and chatting were gone from the empty place Applejack knew as her home.

  She eventually came upon Twilight's library after what seemed like an hour. She quickly went up to the door and knocked. To her worry, there was no response. She opened the door slowly and found the interior of the library completely dark.

  "Hello? Twilight? Spike? Ya'll in here?"

  She got no response. She went inside, being careful not to hit anything in the dark. She felt vulnerable yet again as she went inside. She went upstairs to her friend's bedroom, and found the room also empty. The bed sheets were laying on the floor, and a note laid beside the bed in the sunlight that shined through the window. Applejack went up to it and picked it up and began to read it.

  "My faithful student," Applejack read, "Please head to Canterlot immediately with your friends. Pack up your things and head here as soon as possible. I will inform you once you arrive. Your friends are free to bring their families and their personal belongings with them, which I highly advise. Your mentor, Princess Celestia."

  Applejack lowered the note. She was right. Something bad was happening. Unfortunately, she still didn't know what was going on. However, she now had an intended destination to get to.

  She put the note back on the end table and descended the dark stairs again, and exited the library. The sunlight made her feel safer just like it did when she first exited the hospital.

  "I might as well head to Sweet Apple Acres and round up mah family. Hopefully they went with mah friends too." Applejack told herself as she began to trot down the deserted road. The empty town brought a strange and eerie sense of peacefulness to her being as she went down the road. The birds still flew above the sky as they usually had, and the foliage was still bright green as she expected.

  As she turned a corner, she stopped and saw a stallion standing in the middle of the road in the far distance. She smiled, happy to see she wasn't alone.

  "Oh thank Celestia!" Applejack happily said, quickly trotting over to the pony. "Sir, do you know where everypony is at? It looks like a twister went through here!"

  However, the stallion suddenly turned around and revealed it's true identity. It's jaw was missing, leaving it's tounge dangling out, and it's eyes rotted out, leaving the sockets open. Maggots covered the body as it started to moan and shuffle slowly towards her. Applejack immediately smelled death as the stallion shuffled closer to her. Applejack slowly started to back away from him, grimacing at the appearance of the pony.

  "Uh, partner? Are ya'll alright?" Applejack nervously asked, continuing to back away. The stallion moaned louder in response, sending the stench of rotting flesh into the cowpony's direction. "Please, Ah don't want any trouble..."

  The stallion continued to shamble towards her. It's unnatural moan chilling Applejack to the bone.

  "Stop it!" Applejack commanded, "Ah said STOP!"

  It lunged towards her, and it's maggot infested mouth missed her by only an inch. Applejack immediately galloped off. She didn't want to see that stallion again. She ran for several long minutes, her legs aching and her heart pumping wildly as she did. She continued towards her intended route towards the orchard her family ran. Eventually, not to long after managing to get out of the town, she lost all of her energy. She didn't care about it, though, thinking she managed to lose whatever that thing was that tried to attack her.

  Applejack spent the remainder of the walk continuing slowly up the path. Ponyville was far behind now. She hoped her family was still alright, and hopefully out of town as Celestia told her friends to do. Eventually, she reached the white, round wooden arch that guarded the entrance to the wide open orchard that her family ran. The large, red barn stood on top of the hill like a landmark. She went up to the bright red barn she knew as her home and went up to the front door. She slowly opened it up and was yet again greeted by a lit living room.

  "All right. Hopefully they're still here." Applejack happily told herself as she went inside.

  She went up the stairs and checked all of the rooms. Every one yielded the same results. No signs of life. Applejack concluded that most likely her family did manage to get out. She sighed in relief, happy to know her family was most likely safe.

  "Might as well just head on out and get to Canterlot." Applejack said to herself as she descended down the stairwell. She went through her living room yet again and exited her home. Sudden;y, she heard the sound of galloping behind her. She barely got any time to see the source before feeling the metal blade of a shovel impact the side of her skull, knocking her unconscious.