Chapters "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.
"It goes to show, people will up and go mad when they believe their life is over."
-Unnamed Police Officer from The Walking Dead Game
Applejack and Caramel walked up to the large red barn that Applejack knew as her home. The two already had a plan for how to get to Canterlot. However, it was clearly going to take a good amount of time before they would get there.
"So, that's the plan?" Applejack asked again.
"Yeah. Even if it doesn't work, we can just live in the wilderness if we have to, but I prefer trying to be in a safe city."
Caramel went up to the front door and opened it up, inside everyone was awake. The two went inside the home, lit by the light from the sun.
"Finally, you two are back!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Did you find any food?" Scootaloo asked, sitting at a table drawing on a piece of paper.
"Yep. Our saddlebags are full of food we can chow down on." Applejack happily responded.
"And we have a plan." Caramel told them. "We're going to Canterlot."
"They blocked off the entrance." Bon Bon stated, laying on the couch.
"I know. But they didn't block off the northern side of Canterlot, or at least I heard."
Caramel motioned everyone to come over to him as he went over to a coffee table that was in front of the couch. He pulled out a map from his saddlebag. Dry blood stains were splattered onto the sheet, and they looked days old.
"See those fields?" Caramel asked, pointing a hoof above the town of Ponyville at some hills. "That is where we will be headed. It's rural, which means less undead. We then head northeast, and if I'm correct, there's a small town over there where hopefully we can get some supplies for our group. Then we hike up the mountain after heading southeast, and hopefully we will reach Canterlot by that point."
Caramel put the map back in his saddlebag. Lyra, Bon Bon, and Scootaloo looked at eachother with mixed expressions of apprehension, fear, and doubt.
"It's the only way we will get to Canterlot. It's probably the last safe place within a good distance." Caramel stated. "We leave now."
"Wait..." Applejack raised up her hoof. "Can Ah go get something first?"
"Sure. We'll be outside waiting for you." Caramel smiled. "Don't take too long."
Applejack nodded and quickly headed over to the stairs. She quickly ascended the steps and reached the hallway that was on the second floor. She slowly went down the hallway, and reached her bedroom. She opened the door, and went inside. The darkness was lit by the sun shining through the window. Nothing could be heard except for the gentle wind blowing against the walls outside the barn. The cowpony slowly walked up to her dresser. On top of it was a photo of the apple family, taken during the Apple Family Reunion several months ago. She took the framed picture and put it up against her chest.
"Please be safe." She silently whispered before putting the photo in her saddlebag. She quickly left the room and descended the stairs. As she expected, the living room was now empty. She sighed, knowing she would most likely not be seeing this house again for a long time. She went up to the front door and opened it and found the group waiting outside. Caramel had a wagon with food, water, and other basic things needed to survive in the wilderness in it.
"About time." Bon Bon grunted.
"You can put your saddlebag in the wagon, AJ." Caramel told Applejack. She nodded and took off her saddlebag, and gently set it in the wood wagon. "We all ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"Alright. Let's move out."
The group started down the dirt path leading outside Sweet Apple Acres. As they exited the large, expansive orchard, Applejack looked back towards the bright red barn she grew up in ever since she was born. She didn't want to leave, yet she knew that it was the only way she would be rescued. Silence reigned except for the conversation the others were having and the sound of the wheels creaking as they rolled against the light dirt. The cowpony sighed and trotted up back to the group.
The sun hung high in the sky, which meant it was midday. In several hours, it would be nighttime, which meant being vulnerable to the dangers the dark concealed. However, the warmth of the sun that burnt into their backs made them know that at the moment, they were safe.
"Say, Scootaloo?" Applejack asked, walking next to the young foal.
"Yeah?" Scootaloo replied, looking up at Applejack.
"How'd ya meet up with them?" Applejack asked, motioning towards the rest of the group, walking alongside them.
"About a week after those monsters came, I hid in my bedroom at my house." Scootaloo started. "I saw them coming down the street from the window eating everypony. I just didn't know what to do, so I just hided under my bed. I can still remember the screams of my mom and dad."
Applejack saw tears well up in Scootaloo's eyes. She stared aimlessly at the ground as they continued to walk.
"I stayed there for two days. Lyra came in and found me hiding under the bed. She took me with their group, which was using my house as a shelter. There were five ponies with us, not including me. However, one night, somepony set the house on fire in the middle of the night. We all got out, but there was a huge group of those monsters. One of the group members, a nurse, ran off the other direction."
Applejack thought back to the undead nurse she encountered while heading to Fluttershy's house. The thought of Caramel possibly killing a previous group member with no remorse chilled her spine.
"Ah'm so sorry you had to go through all of this." Applejack put one of her hooves on Scootaloo's back as they continued to walk down the dirt trail, which was now going up a hill. Applejack looked back and saw the distant town of Ponyville getting farther and farther away as they continued to walk.
"Hey!" A voice called up from the air. Everyone shot their heads up towards the bright blue sky and saw about eight pegasus ponies flying above them. They all landed on the ground, surrounding them. "Where do you think ya'll are going?" The largest one of the group asked, lowering his head and staring at them with a grin that made everyone feel threatened.
"We're just getting away from town." Bon Bon told them. "Just let us be on our way. I don't want to waste any time."
"With that wagon full of supplies?" Another pegasus asked, a mare that had a coat that reminded Applejack of snow. "Horseapples we're going to let you keep all of that."
"Get on the ground." The lead stallion commanded. "Anyone get's up, and they're dead."
"Just what in tarnation do ya think ya'll are doing!?" Applejack loudly yelled at the grey-coated stallion. In response, he chuckled, shaking his head.
"We're taking your stuff you dumb mare." He said before shoving her to the ground. Everyone else immediately dropped to the dirt, scared. The lead stallion went up to the wagon and looked inside.
"Well, let's see what we have in here, shall we?" He laughed in an evil tone. He dug into the wagon and pulled out Applejack's saddlebag. He opened it up and pulled out the photo of her family. "Cute." He scoffed, throwing the frame over his shoulder. Applejack cringed as she heard the glass that covered the photo shatter. "Tons of food in here. You four bring this stuff back up to Cloudsdale."
Four of the pegasi trotted over, grabbing as much bags and containers as they could and took off, disappearing into the sky. The wagon was now empty, save for a few sleeping bags. The leader stallion chuckled as he walked around the group.
"Let us go..." Scootaloo nervously asked.
"What's the filly going to do about it?" The stallion laughed.
"Leave her alone!" Lyra angrily said. Without warning, the lead stallion rose up onto his back legs, and stomped on her back leg. A sickening crack could be heard and she immediately started loudly howling in pain, grabbing onto her broken leg as she screamed in agony. The sound of her cries made Applejack want to cover her ears.
"LYRA!" Bon Bon screamed, turning towards her. "NO!"
"I guess we're done with you mules for today..." The stallion said as Lyra sobbed, clutching onto her back leg that was slightly indented. The pain for her felt as bad as having a nail covered in salt being driven into her flesh. "Come on, let's head back. We're going to get a ton of money off of that stuff!"
The rest of the pegasi flew off to the sky, leaving a scared group, an injured unicorn, and a wagon that was nearly empty.
"WHY!?
"Lyra! It's okay! They're gone!" Bon Bon quickly got up and ran over to her friend.
"IT'S NOT OKAY!" She screamed. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA! MY LEG!"
Applejack stood and watched, paralyzed by what she saw. Caramel ran over to the wagon, and pulled out a first aid kit that the pegasi didn't bother taking. He threw the small case open and pulled out a splint. He put it on Lyra's leg as she screamed, her eyes bloodshot from how much she cried. Caramel then pulled out a bandage, and started to wrap the leg up with it.
"Take this, it'll help with the pain!" Caramel told the unicorn, pulling out a bottle filled with pills. He took out a single one and gave it to the unicorn, who swallowed it upon having it put in her mouth. She was barely crying now, her face stained with tears. "Applejack, help me lift her up into the wagon."
Applejack nodded and ran over, helping lift the injured unicorn up with the help of Caramel into the wooden wagon. They gently set her down inside, where she laid.
"Why the hay did they take our stuff!?" Bon Bon angrily yelled. "They never did that before!"
"I don't know!" Caramel loudly said in response. Scootaloo, still standing next to the wagon, was now crying in fear. Applejack went over to the foal, and patted her on the back.
"It's alright, Scootaloo." She quietly and gently said. "They're gone now."
The young pegasus sniffed, and looked up to the mare and nodded once before slowly getting up.
"Why would somepony do that?" She asked.
"Ah'm afraid Ah don't know." Applejack told the young filly. "Let's just get away from here so we don't see those rascals again."
The remainder of the walk was mostly silent. Only the sounds of nature, the moving wagon, and a sobbing Lyra filled the air around them.
As they walked down the dirt path, the sounds of nature filled everyone's ears. Lyra had fallen asleep at some point in the wagon, only making the sounds of snoring. They were going up the side of a hill on a more rural trail that had patches of grass on it. Everyone was silent at this point, since they eventually knew they would have to cross over some mountains soon, if not the next day since the sun was beginning to lower from the sky.
"My hooves are killing me," Bon Bon complained, "Can't we just stop here and rest?"
"No." Applejack flatly responded. Bon Bon groaned in response. "Not until we find a place that ain't in the open."
"Then why do we have sleeping bags?"
"It's for any safe place without a good place to lie down. Now quit yer complaining."
As they eventually got to the top of the hill, they realized how high up they were. In the distance, miles and miles away, they could clearly see the base of the mountain Canterlot was built upon. Not only that, but a huge horde of undead had formed beneath the city, attempting to climb up the mountain, but repeatedly failing. It seemed thousands of undead were at that spot right at that point.
"Woah..." Scootaloo said in amazement.
"I think those lights attracted all of them..." Bon Bon theorized, looking up at the city that was miles away, then back to the horde.
"We got to keep moving. We'll set up a camp soon, hopefully once we get over that mountain." Caramel stated, pointing to the mountain that was also a far distance away. It was about a third of the size of the mountain Canterlot stood on. The pathway led up to a small trail that edged on the side of the mountain, which was lined by bushes and flowers. However, a small wood cottage could be seen on the side of the trail itself, not too far from them. There was only a single door, and no windows.
"Can't we stay there?" Scootaloo asked.
"Ah'm not sure. Hopefully it's empty." Applejack replied.
The group went to the small cabin, engulfed by trees and bushes that hid most of it from view. Caramel went up to the door slowly and opened it. Nothing could be heard inside, and the interior was completely dark. Nothing could be seen inside.
"I wish we still had our things." Caramel whispered. He opened the door up some more, letting the sunlight into the living room.
"Wait," Applejack whispered back. "Since they're attracted to noise, can't we knock or something to see if any are in that there house?"
"Good thinking." Caramel replied. He raised up his front hoof and proceeded to knock on the wall and back away from the door. Nothing could be heard from the inside.
"You do realize that you guys still have the flashlight, right?" Lyra said from the wagon, raising up the said tool.
"Oh, forgot about that." Caramel chuckled with a sheepish grin. He grabbed the flashlight and looked inside, casting a ray of light. There was only a single room in the cottage and no furniture other than a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. Caramel slowly went inside and pulled a string next to the light, and the bulb lit flashed on.
"Hey! It's safe!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Maybe I can get my cutie mark in shelter finding!"
"Maybe." Applejack sighed, smiling lightly. "Maybe."
"We're going to stop here." Caramel told everyone, turning off the flashlight. "Grab your stuff. Applejack and Bon Bon, mind helping Lyra out of the wagon?"
"Alright." Applejack said, nodding.
"And kid," Caramel looked down at Scootaloo, "Just head inside."
The young foal nodded and hurried inside.
"I'll get us some food..." Caramel's voice trailed of, and he sighed. "Oh... Right."
Applejack and Bon Bon carefully lifted the light green unicorn out of the back of the wagon while Caramel pulled out the sleeping bags and pillows from the wagon. He started to lay them out of the dusty, wood floor. Lyra was laid onto one of the sleeping bags, flinching as she touched the ground. Everyone else got into a bag and laid in it, snuggling up.
Everyone said goodnight to each other as Caramel shut the front door, and went over to his sleeping bag and turned off the light, plunging the room into complete darkness except for a bit of light coming from the crack under the door. Applejack sighed silently as she shut her eyes and went to sleep.
"Danger comes the sooner when it is despised."
-Publilius Syrus
Applejack awakened from her slumber to the sound of the wind outside pushing against the barred window. She yawned as she looked over to Scootaloo, who was also in the bed with her. She slowly climbed out of bed as she put her hat back atop her head and went over to the window. She could see the wooden wall that protected the town, and she could also see the dark, cloudy sky. She could hear the sounds of distant thunder. She grew worried, thinking back to the tornado she saw yesterday. She shivered as she remembered the funnel, black and thin, snaking and twisting across the distant landscape. She threw the image out of her mind and turned back towards Scootaloo. She trotted over to her and lightly shook her awake.
"Do I have to get up now?" She yawned.
"Nope. Ah'm just going to leave ya here so you get yer beauty sleep." Applejack sarcastically replied. "Yes, it's time to get up."
Scootaloo moaned and slowly climbed out of the bed. Applejack got a saddlebag that Archer bought for her yesterday. He agreed to meet her outside the previous night.
"Ready to go?" Applejack asked, trotting over to the door.
"Yep." Scootaloo replied.
Applejack nodded as she opened the door, letting Scootaloo through. The two went down the dark hallway. The two went outside, passing the front desk as they did, and found Archer right outside, carrying a saddlebag. He had his red jacket, as Applejack expected, and his bow with him. He trotted up to the two, wearing a smile.
"So, you two ready?" Archer asked.
"Yep." Applejack replied. "We're going to head to that carnival, right?"
"Yeah. That's where we'll be heading to." Archer replied, turning towards one of the town's gates that lead to the outside. The small group started trotting towards the gate as Applejack continued to look up at the dark clouds above. She heard the sound of thunder in the far distance. As she reached the gates, she saw two stallions guarding the exit.
"We're heading out." Archer told the guards.
"Alright," The unicorn on the right replied, opening the door, "You three stay safe out there."
"We will!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
They all headed out as Applejack looked into the dark sky in the far distance. She saw a few streaks of lightning illuminate the sky far away. She almost jumped when she heard the loud thud of the gates shutting.
"Are you worried another tornado will pop up?" Archer asked, looking at the cowpony.
"Yeah," Applejack honestly replied, rubbing the back of her neck, "It's just that I never thought that stuff like this can happen without weather ponies. I was expecting bad storms, but not stuff that bad."
"Don't worry, they're rare. The worst we'll get is rain."
Applejack smiled as they started walking down the dirt path, leaving the safe haven behind.
"Are we there yet?" Scootaloo asked, bored. "There's nothing to see out here."
"No." Applejack replied, annoyed by the amount of times the foal asked. They were walking up a small hill, tired. Applejack's legs were sore since they spent an hour or two hiking in the empty fields. However, she smiled upon seeing the sight of a Ferris wheel in the distance. However, Archer grew confused at the sound of cheerful, but warbled music coming from a calliope.
"Why is one of those playing?" Archer asked himself, looking into the desolated fairgrounds. Nothing could be seen there. An undead or two were seen wandering around one of the stands, but other than that, no signs of civilization could be seen. Archer motioned Applejack and Scootaloo to stay quiet as they started walking down the hill towards the entrance of the carnival. Stands, left abandoned and exposed to the elements of nature were common, and the rides were left in serious states of disrepair. They continued until they were at the entrance, where they found an undead shambling towards them. Applejack recognized the infected as Caramel. Her leg was bent to the point where the femur was sticking out. However, Archer quickly put it down with a single arrow, which caused it to fall to the ground, dead. Scootaloo couldn't bear to look at what was once a fellow group member, and neither could Applejack.
"I wonder why there'd be flesh eaters here..." Archer muttered, cautiously looking around the empty fairgrounds.
"Hello..?" A voice from one of the stalls whispered. It smelled of rotting food as they went past it.
"Hello?" Applejack asked. "Somepony there?"
"Applejack? Is that you?" The voice asked.
"Who are you? How do you know her?" Archer asked. The interior was obscured by the darkness inside. Archer used his magic to use his horn as a lantern, and to Applejack's shock, Caramel was up against a wall, with a bite mark on his leg. He looked up glumly at the cowpony.
"Caramel..." Applejack muttered. "What happened..?"
"I got bit..." He muttered. "It happened after that tornado... It hit the cabin last night and tore it to shreds. I think Bon Bon was impaled by a piece of wood, and Lyra was killed after getting hit by a shed..."
Archer and Applejack stared at the bite. Blood seeped out of the wound.
"Can I see?" Scootaloo asked, not able to see.
"No. Don't look. Just wait for a second." Applejack commanded. The foal huffed angrily in response.
"You gotta kill me..." Caramel muttered. "I can't be one of them..."
"You're joking, right?" Applejack asked, shocked at what the stallion requested her to do.
"No." Was the only answer. Silence filled the air, filled by the howls of the wind outside.
"I'll do it." Archer told Applejack, pulling out his bow. "Just go away from here."
"But... We can get him something, right?" Applejack desperately asked, about to release a stream of tears.
"Just go. I'll meet you at the Ferris wheel."
Applejack opened her mouth to argue, only to be interrupted by Caramel.
"Please, just go."
She quickly trotted away from the stand as Archer climbed inside. She ushered Scootaloo to follow her as they made their way across the dirt path over to the abandoned Ferris wheel. She tightly shut her eyes.
Fwoop!
That single sound told Applejack that Caramel's life had ended. She looked towards the ground as a few tears started to roll down her face.
"What happened, Applejack?" Scootaloo asked, looking up at the cowpony.
"Nothing." She sobbed. Archer trotted back over, his face looking grim.
"APPLEJACK!" Archer yelled from the stand. "HELP!"
She snapped her head up to the red and white stand and quickly galloped over to it, knowing what the scream meant. She went up to the front of it, and on the inside, she saw an undead mare on top of Archer attempting to bite him. His bow laid on the counter next to several pretzels that Applejack presumed were stale. She turned around and bucked the monster off of Archer, causing it to fly back towards the wall. She then backed up closer and then raised her legs and bucked. She heard the sound of a sickening crunch and felt a bunch of warm liquid splatter all over her legs. She slowly pulled her legs out of the skull, trying to prevent herself from puking as she felt her legs get slightly scratches by small pieces of skull fragments.
"Thanks for that, Applejack..." Archer muttered tiredly, catching his breath. "He came in through the door, bursting it down."
"No problem..." Applejack smiled, still scraping off brain matter from her hooves. Her eyes turned towards the corpse of Caramel, and she grew disturbed when she saw a slight smile on his face. The wound in his eye didn't help matters either, since it made Applejack cringe at the sight. "Can we get out of here?"
"Good idea." Archer replied, looking at the spoiled food. "I thought there was still some good stuff here, but I guess not."
The two headed out to where Scootaloo was standing. The wind had gotten considerably stronger. Leaves and tumbleweed a were being blown about, and the howls of the wind could now be heard clearly.
"Okay, we should probably find a place to rest tonight." Archer suggested, looking at the dark sky.
"Good idea." Applejack replied, holding onto her hat to make sure it wouldn't fly off. The three started walking out of the carnival, passing by the same rides and stalls they passed earlier. As they left the park, they started hiking down the dirt road. Applejack had to squint her eyes because of the dust being blown about.
Suddenly, the sound of a rumbling akin to a train passing by was able to be heard. Applejack felt her stomach twist up in a knot and looked behind her. A black funnel in the far distance was able to be seen, tearing up the fields of corn and wheat. It snaked it's way across the landscape, ripping up anything in it's path. However, what made Applejack's heart skip a beat was when he realized that the force of nature was heading towards her and her group.
"RUN!" Archer yelled. Applejack quickly got Scootaloo onto her back and broke into a gallop alongside Archer. She looked behind as she saw several tents get blown away as the twister got closer to the carnival. Then, the funnel reached the carnival. To her amazement, Applejack saw the Ferris wheel torn off the ground and tossed away like a toy. Tents and rides were thrown about as the tornado hunted them down.
"House!" Scootaloo yelled, holding onto Applejack for dear life. The group looked ahead and saw a farm house next to the dirt trail. They immediately marked it as their destination and proceeded to turn towards the house with the funnel still on their tail. As they got closer, Archer saw a refuge which took the form of a door leading to the cellar. He galloped up to it and attempted to open it, only to find it locked by a padlock.
"OH MOTHER OF HORSEAPPLES!" He yelled in frustration. He started using his magic to try and forcefully rip the lock off the door. Applejack and Scootaloo turned and saw the funnel getting closer and closer to their destination. Then, out of nowhere, the large structure of the Ferris wheel crashed right next to the house, causing the ground to rumble from the impact. The wind started to pick up as chairs, mailboxes, and twigs were blown around.
"I got it!" Archer yelled as the padlock popped off, causing the door to fly open and almost smack him in the face. The three quickly scampered down the stairs as Archer slammed the door behind him. The cellar was mostly empty, save for a table and chair, along with a bunk bed. Scootaloo started visibly shaking as they quickly made their way over to the wall on the far side of the underground room. The tornado could be heard right above them. They could hear the sound of the house won't ripped off it's foundations as they huddled together in fear. The doors leading outside were being hit by debris from outside and the lights in the cellar started to flicker on and off. Applejack squinted her eyes shut as she put her ears against her head to drown out the loud roar from the twister.
"Applebloom, Ah checked already. There ain't any monsters near your tree house." Applejack told her younger sister as they sat on the couch together. "What kind of thing got that in your head?"
"Ah told ya! Ah ain't lying! Ah swear!" Applebloom desperately said.
"Applebloom, it's getting late, and you have school tomorrow." Applejack replied. "Just get some shuteye and you'll forget about all of whatever you're talking about."
Applebloom huffed as she hopped off the couch and proceeded to storm up the stairs. Applejack sighed, chuckling slightly at her sister's imagination.
"Alright, tommorow, Ah gotta finish up the new shed." Applejack reminded herself as she herself got of the couch. "Nothing can go wrong tomorrow."
Silence filled the ears of everyone in the pitch black room. However the sound of a calliope could be heard playing as Archer illuminated the concrete shelter with his horn and slowly got up from the concrete floor. Applejack and Scootaloo followed.
"Is it over?" Scootaloo weakly asked, scared.
"Ah think." Applejack replied silently.
They walked closer and closer to the door, and they were able to hear the sound of music from the calliope outside playing more clearly. However, it sounded slightly garbled. They climbed up the stairs as Archer slowly opened the cellar door. Applejack walked out, ignoring the brightness of the sunlight from outside. The wind was calm, and birds could be heard singing. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness and her mouth dropped as she saw the destruction.
The house was mostly gone. Only the hallway and part of the bathroom remained, along with piles of wood planks and other furniture. The large Ferris wheel from the amusement park was lying on the ground near the house, it's gondolas still attached except for two, which were who knows where. A wagon that housed the calliope that was playing the music was lying on it's side on the ground, lightly damaged. Applejack felt disturbed from hearing the cheerful music playing in the aftermath of the storm. She had no idea how long she, Scootaloo, and Archer were holed up in the storm shelter, but they guessed it was a long time.
"I hope we get to Canterlot soon..." Scootaloo whispered, looking at the damage. The calliope continued to play it's disturbing tune as they all stared in awe at the damage around them.
"We're getting out of here as soon as we can." Archer instructed. "I do NOT want to deal with any more bad weather."
"If we see a light at the end of the tunnel, it's the light of an oncoming train."
-Robert Lowell
"Wake up..." A voice told Applejack. She yawned as she opened her eyes and found herself in a hospital bed with the nurse that Caramel found as a walker near Fluttershy's cottage. "You're having a nightmare..."
"Oh... That was all a nightmare?" Applejack chuckled. "Thank Celestia..."
"Are you going to be fine?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "You got in a terrible accident two or three weeks ago."
"Yeah, Ah'm going to be fine." Applejack replied. "Thanks for checking."
The nurse nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind her as she fell asleep. For what seemed like a few minutes, she rested. However, she was soon awake in the bed yet again. However, the lights were off, and the sounds of screaming could be heard outside. She tried to call out, but her mouth felt like it was sealed shut. She could only stare at the door across the room as she heard what sounded like a moan emanate from outside of the room.
"Applejack?" A familiar voice asked. "Thou are alright..."
Applejack looked at the source of the noise and saw Princess Luna standing next to her bed.
"What are you doing here..?" Applejack muttered. "What the hay is happening outside?"
"You're dreaming." Luna replied gently. "I am sure thou are concerned about your friends."
Applejack nodded lightly.
"They are up in Canterlot, and they are safe from the chaos in the rest of Equestria."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid I have to leave now. I hope thou hath a safe journey."
"Applejack! Come on!" Scootaloo told the Applejack as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the concrete cellar that she and Archer decided to use as a shelter the previous night. Applejack promptly yawned and slowly got up from the floor. She saw Archer was already up, sitting on the ground across the room and drawing something on a piece of paper. He turned towards Applejack and smiled.
"Good morning." He told her, smiling.
"Morning." Applejack replied. "Ya drawing something?"
"Actually, yes." Archer replied, holding his piece of paper up. He turned it towards Applejack and showed her what he drew.
Applejack had no idea how to react to his drawing. Archer just chuckled in response, making a shy smile. If it wasn't for all the undead that Applejack had seen, she most likely would've retched at the sight. However, she was simply shocked at the sight of it.
"That's a tad bit violent, don't ya think?" Applejack nervously chuckled.
"It's hard to come up with anything. I usually end up giving up on stuff to easily." Archer replied, folding the drawing he held and putting it back in his saddlebag. "So, we leaving today?"
"Yeah. Hopefully we get out of here soon, because Ah don't want to see another storm that bad." Applejack replied.
"What? I thought that tornado looked awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Even being sucked up by it! That was so FUN!"
"Really?" Archer replied, smiling as he got up to his hooves. "You were holding onto Applejack like you were about to fall off the side of a cliff when we were running away from that tornado yesterday."
Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something back at Archer, but no words could come out. She just resorted instead to frowning at him instead.
"Well, should we get going?" Applejack asked, going over to the corner of the room she slept in, grabbing her saddlebag and strapping it on.
"Actually, you should have a quick snack to get started." Archer suggested. "Me and the kid already ate."
"My name is Scootaloo." Scootaloo told Archer, annoyed.
"Whatever."
Applejack opened her saddlebag and started to shuffle around in it. Mostly it was canned foods, bagged foods, a canteen filled with water, and a few fruits. She took out an apple and some water after a few seconds of pondering what to get. She only took about a minute to eat and take a quick drink.
"Alright, Ah'm ready." Applejack told Archer. The unicorn nodded in response and started to ascend the staircase leading outside. Archer slowly opened the door and looked out. Applejack was blinded by the sunlight coming from outside, but her eyes soon got used to it. They climbed out of the cellar and up to the surface. They were greeted by the same ruins of what was once the home that the cellar was next to, the Ferris wheel's large structure, laying on it's side, the calliope that was now silent, and tons of other debris scattered about. They slowly started to walk through the rubble, being careful not to step on anything dangerous like glass or nails. Soon, they got to the dirt road. They stopped once they got to it.
"I think we were heading right..." Archer pondered, rubbing his chin.
"How do ya know that?" Applejack asked, unsure.
Archer pointed at the distant city of Canterlot in response.
"We are going in a clockwise direction around the mountain Canterlot is standing on." Archer explained. "So this has to be the right way."
Applejack nodded in response as Archer started to walk down the road Applejack and Scootaloo followed as they went down the dirt road. Suddenly, Archer raised up his right hoof in front of Applejack, stopping her.
"What?" Applejack asked, concerned.
"I hear talking." Archer replied, going into a crouching position. "It's coming from the corn stalks."
He started to slowly sneak up to the source of the talking. Archer slowly readied his bow as he got an arrow out from his quiver. Applejack and Scootaloo slowly followed, not knowing what else to do other than stand there.
"Let me the FUCK go!" The voice of a mare yelled.
"Why should I?" Another mare asked, chuckling. "You wanna get to Canterlot? I don't think me or my two buddies will be letting you go."
"You know what? Fine! Kill me! Kill me you fucking jackass! There's nothing in this world to live for anymore!"
"Alright then." The mare replied. "When I get to one, feel free to use the pipe Wheatley."
Applejack was shocked.
"We got to help her!" Applejack silently exclaimed to Archer, worried. Archer nodded, and readied his bow.
"Five..."
"Hurry up..." Applejack urgently told Archer, who was still aiming his bow through the stalks. Applejack was unable to see what was going on as Archer blocked her view.
"Four..."
Applejack's heart pounded as she heard the mare count down.
"Three..."
"I got her locked in my sights..." Archer silently muttered.
"Two..."
Fwoop!
A scream of pain from the mare signaled her death. Archer quickly loaded another bow and fired.
"What the fu-"
Fwoop!
"Wheatley! Shit!"
Archer quickly pulled out another arrow and fired.
Fwoop!
This time, the sound of a body hitting the ground could be heard along with a sick gurgling. Archer then got up from the ground and went through the corn stalks. Applejack and Scootaloo followed. They went into a small area that had only tilled dirt, dried up as much as the ground during a drought. Three corpses could be seen, and a mare with a dark purple mane and a light blue coat was tied up and lying on the ground. Another corpse of a stallion was also seen, which had a large pipe next to it that had some dried blood on one end of it. Applejack galloped over to her and started untying the rope.
"Wow, thanks for saving me." She sighed.
"What the hay were you thinking?" Applejack angrily asked the mare, still untying the rope. "Why would you say that?"
"Because there's nothing to live for." She simply replied. "These undead freaks took everything away from me."
Applejack didn't feel like responding to the unhappy response. She finally finished untying the rope and threw it to the side as the mare got up to her hooves and brushed the dirt off of herself.
"So, do ya have a name?" Applejack asked.
"Leatherhard." Leatherhard replied. "I used to work with making ceramic sculptures. Then the undead came and made my life even better!"
Applejack was slightly annoyed by Leatherhard's sarcasm.
"Look, we're heading to Canterlot." Archer trotted over to Leatherhard. "Do you wanna come with us?"
"Why not?" She replied. "I didn't want to die alone anyway."
"Well alright then, let's get going then. I'm sure the scream may have attracted some flesh eaters." Archer told them as he walked back through the corn stalks. Applejack, Leatherhard, and Scootaloo followed. As they walked through the corn stalks, Leatherhard glanced at Scootaloo.
"You two have a foal with you?" She asked.
"Yeah. Why'd you ask?" Applejack asked.
"Because I saw a foal get beaten with the pipe Wheatley was about to kill me with, then hang him upside down and start sawing him from the top just because he sneaked into their camp and took some of their food."
"Eww..." Scootaloo whispered, her face showing disgust.
They soon got back onto the dirt road and started heading down the path again. Applejack was wondering if she should have just left Leatherhard behind instead of bringing her with them, seeing how she was acting so far.
"Death, so called, is a thing which makes men weep,
And yet a third of life is pass'd in sleep."
-Lord Byron
"Hey miss? Ma'am? Are you alright?" Applejack heard a voice in the dark, empty void she was in. She had a pounding headache that wouldn't stop. She slowly opened up her eyes and was blinded by the sunlight. She found herself lying on the ground with an amber coat and a brown mane.
"Finally!" Applejack happily said. "Somepony that ain't trying to attack me!"
"You're Applejack, aren't you?" The stallion asked, ignoring what she said. "You run this orchard, right?"
"Yep. That's me." Applejack replied as she got up, with help from the stallion.
"Oh sweet Celestia..." Caramel smiled lightly. "I thought you got killed off in that farm accident three weeks ago!"
Applejack immediately frowned, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"You have NO idea what happened while you were out." Caramel said to the mare. "I just heard an accident occured here and you had to be sent to the hospital. I saw your body, and I thought you were a goner!"
"What happened while Ah was out?" Applejack nervously asked.
"A lot. A few days after you got into the hospital, Celestia started to evacuate the town. However, only a day after that was ordered, a bunch of creatures, which I personally call undead, started coming out of Everfree and eating anypony they could find."
Applejack remembered that stallion she saw. She knew why Caramel called them undead now.
"If you got bit, then that was it. You only had Celestia knows how long before you died off and turned into one of them."
Applejack now considered herself extremely lucky that the undead from earlier hadn't managed to take a chunk out of her.
"How long have ya'll been here?" Applejack asked.
"Only two days. I have three others with me. One of them is a foal." Caramel answered. "Come inside and I'll introduce you to them."
Caramel motioned the cowpony to follow him and Applejack obliged. The two went inside the bright red barn and into the living room. Three ponies were inside. A foal sat on the couch, resting there and staring up at the ceiling. Another, a unicorn, was hammering wooden planks to the window. The last was helping out the unicorn. However, Applejack instantly recognized the foal.
"Scootaloo?" Applejack gasped.
"Applejack!?" The filly said in shock. She hopped off from the couch she sat on and ran up to her. "Oh my gosh! You're still alright!"
"I see you already know Scootaloo. We found her while we were sneaking out of town." Caramel explained, looking at the foal. "The green one's Lyra."
"Hey." She casually said, focusing on boarding up the windows.
"And the one with the curly hair is Bon Bon."
The mare in question casually turned and waved, then continued to set boards up on the windows.
"Ah actually encountered one of those... Undead, as you call them, earlier. Do you think you may know him."
"What did he look like?" Scootaloo asked.
Applejack thought back to what the stallion looked like. She could only remember the colors he had and the cutie mark it bore.
"It had three clovers as a cutie mark, dark grey mane, and grey coat." Applejack answered. "Does that help any?"
Everyone in the room turned towards her, shocked. Caramel's face immediately went to one of depression.
"Lucky Clover..." He sighed. "I was guessing he got caught yesterday."
Applejack didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to upset anyone in the room, yet she wanted to know what he may have been doing before ending up as Applejack saw.
"I knew he wouldn't return from that supply run, Lyra." Bon Bon pointed a hoof at the green unicorn.
"I was just trying to be positive when I said he would." The unicorn turned towards her.
"So," Applejack started, wanting to change the conversation. "How do ya stop these things?"
"You have to destroy the brain." Caramel simply replied.
Applejack's eyes widened in shock. She started laughing to Caramel's confusion.
"That's really funny, ya really got me there." Applejack laughed. "But seriously, how do you stop them?"
"You have to destroy the brain." Caramel repeated himself, louder this time. "They won't stop until they are rotten to the core, or have their brain damaged."
Applejack knew he wasn't kidding from the serious look on his face.
"Isn't that killing them, though?" Applejack nervously replied.
"Pretty much. It's easier to do it when you know they aren't actually your friends or family anymore. Think of them as..." Lyra rubbed her chin trying to find the right word. "I don't know... Changelings."
"Changelings don't make you eat the living." Scootaloo told the mare.
"I didn't say they did, kid." Lyra replied in an annoyed tone. She hammered the last piece of wood to a window and smiled, standing back and admiring her handiwork on the makeshift barricade that protected them from the dangers of the outside world. "Barricade's done!"
"Good. Now we can probably rest here in peace." Caramel happily said. "In fact, looking outside right now, I think we should be heading to bed."
"What about dinner?" Applejack asked.
"How long have you been out?" Bon Bon asked, as if she was the stupidest mare in Ponyville. "We have to ration our food."
"Can't we just go buck some apples?"
"Out in the darkness where those undead can sneak up onto you? Be my guest." Bon Bon replied before heading upstairs with Lyra and Scootaloo. "Don't expect me to come get you if you start being eaten alive."
Applejack grunted in frustration at the pony.
"There's an extra bed upstairs." Caramel said. "You can rest there. I just hope you like getting up early."
"That's what Ah usually do every day." Applejack replied.
"Then you should get used to the sleeping schedules in no time. We'll be doing night shifts. Somepony keeps watch for any of those undead for part of the night, then switches with another. It's currently me, Lyra, Bon Bon, and finally you, since you arrived here."
"Well alright then." Applejack simply replied, hesitant about doing the seemingly dangerous task. Everyone with her would be depending on her when it was her shift.
"Well, you head on up to bed." Caramel said, heading up to a barricaded window and peeking through the slits in between the planks. "One of us will wake you up when it's your shift. Just keep watch and call us if you see anything when it's your time."
"Alright then. G'night." Applejack told the stallion before heading up to bed. Her instincts told her to immediately head to her room as she always did. She maneuvered through the dark hallway, and stepped up to the door that was the gateway to her own little space in the entire orchard. She slowly opened it and to her happiness, she found it empty. She slowly walked over to her bed. She could already feel the warmth of the sheets and the softness of the pillow. She climbed up into the bed, and put her hat onto the small table next to her, then shut her eyes.
"Celestia, if you can hear me," Applejack whispered. "Please let my family be alright."
"Wake up." Applejack heard Bon Bon tiredly tell the cowpony. She groggily got up and looked up at her.
"Mah turn to keep watch?" Applejack asked, grabbing her hat and putting it on.
"Yep. Head downstairs and keep watch. Get up here and wake us up if there's trouble."
Applejack simply nodded in response and climbed out of bed. She yawned and stretched out and turned on the light.
"What are you doing!?" Bon Bon angrily said, immediately turning off the light. "You'll get us attention if you do that!"
"Sorry." Applejack tiredly replied. She left the room and slowly went down the dark stairway. With the dangers Applejack now knew about, she felt very vulnerable in the darkness. Anything could be waiting in the corners to jump out and take a bite out of her. As Caramel told Applejack, it only takes a bite to turn. She continued down the dark stairwell, hearing the boards below her creak as she took each step. Soon, she found one of the windows. She carefully trotted over to it, and started her first shift.
She could see Canterlot in the far distance. The lights there were all on. Applejack hoped that it meant that it was a safe haven, or that they haven't been affected yet.
The time she spent looking outside was mainly uneventful. Nothing ever happened. However, she did see a crowd of ponies in the town a few minutes before the sun rose over the horizon. She didn't want to find out if the ponies were more undead or not. Soon, the sun was over the horizon. It lit the landscape like a flame lit a dark room. She felt more safer now that she could see into the darkness better.
Suddenly, she heard trotting coming from the stairs. She turned around and saw Caramel slowly going down the stairway.
"Morning." Applejack said, waving at him.
"Morning. Any problems happen while you were up?" Caramel asked, coming over to the mare.
"Nothing." Applejack replied. "Say, are the lights over at Canterlot usually on?"
"Yeah. I heard they used that as an evacuation zone." Caramel answered. "The mountain protects it pretty well. Those undead can't climb for anything. Not only that, but they're more stupider than any living thing should be. They will walk off the side of a cliff if they see you at the bottom of it."
"Huh. Also, there was a large crowd of ponies in the town awhile ago."
"That was a group of undead. In the earlier days, the undead were more spread about, but now I guess they got attracted to the sound of each others moaning and they started to form large groups."
"You seem to know a lot about this stuff, Caramel." Applejack chuckled.
"I guess I do. I guess you learn more from watching." Caramel simply replied. "Say, we should go get some breakfast."
"Can't we just go buck apples? Ah suggested that yesterday!"
"That makes noise. Undead are attracted to noise. Do you want that huge group of undead over here?"
Applejack immediately thought of what they would go through if they were to have a horde of a hundred of undead come over to the orchard.
"Well... Shoot. No."
"We usually just pick them off, but most of the scavengers from Cloudsdale already took most of them." Lyra said from the stairs, startling the two.
"Wait, Cloudsdale is still fine?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah. I forgot to say, undead can't fly and can't use magic. The reason for flying is probably because of their decomposition, and the reason for the lack of magic is probably because dead things can't cast spells." Caramel answered. "Cloudsdale has a group of scavengers that come down here every once in awhile. They just look around the homes and check for any stuff that the city can use. When we got here, most of the apples were gone."
The cowpony felt a hint of anger towards the pegasi, but it subsided as fast as it came when she realized that they did it just to survive.
"We can't stay here forever." Lyra said. "We eventually have to leave soon. Far away from town."
"Well we're going to do one last supply run before we do." Caramel said. "Applejack, do you think you're up to this?"
"Ah guess..." She sighed. She may as well figure out how the survivors killed off the undead in case she got into a similar situation.
"Alright. We're not going through town, we're going around it. We haven't checked the other side of town yet, but hopefully there may be some stuff there." Caramel explained the plan. "Get two saddlebags and I'll meet outside. Lyra, tell Bon Bon and Scootaloo we'll be back soon."
"Alright." Lyra replied as Applejack went over to a coffee table and put on a pair of green saddlebags. Caramel got another pair from the table, except they were orange. "You two be careful."
"We will." Caramel said as he trotted over to the door leading outside. He opened it up and cautiously looked out before stepping out into the bright sunlight. "Come on Applejack."
"Ah'm coming." The mare quickly replied, trotting outside. Caramel shut the door and the two started walking off down the path. Applejack continued to stare at the large, elegant castle that was on the distant mountain. She could only hope that was where her family and friends were.
The two were now almost three-fourths of the way around town. It was mostly tall grass and wilderness. It was peaceful as any other day. However, there was a lack of wildlife. No animals that stayed on the ground could be found, and only birds could be seen in the sky. As the two walked, Caramel heard the sound of a moan and raised a hoof up, telling Applejack to stop.
"There's one right there." He whispered, pointing to an undead mare that wore a nurse's cap and had a white but bloody coat. It's hind legs seemed badly damaged, and it was eating something hidden by the bushes. It had yet to notice the two over the sound of it's chewing. Caramel sneaked up slowly to the undead pony, and turned around. He immediately bucked it, causing it to fall to the ground. It started to loudly moan and started writhing on the ground. Applejack could already smell the stench of rotting flesh from where she stood. Caramel rose up to his two back hooves, put his two forelegs together, and stomped onto the head of the mare. The sound of a sickening crunch resounded, and the moaning suddenly stopped.
"What was it eating?" Applejack asked, walking up to the stallion, wiping the blood off his hooves.
"A rabbit." He casually replied, motioning over to the dead creature. Applejack kept her distance away from the animal. "Don't worry, they don't turn into undead for some reason. They just die."
"Oh, good." Applejack chuckled. The two continued into the direction they were headed. Eventually, they came upon a path that lead up to a cottage.
"Hey, that's where Fluttershy lives..." Applejack said.
The cottage was abandoned, yet it showed no signs of damage. No animals were nearby as there usually was, and it was eerily silent.
"I hadn't checked this place yet..." Caramel walked up to the door of the home. "We should check the place out."
Applejack felt a bit bad for taking things that wasn't theirs, but she guessed Fluttershy wouldn't mind if they took some supplies. Caramel slowly opened up the door, and was greeted by a dark room. He pulled a small flashlight out from his saddlebag and turned it on. The ray of light lit up a wall. He looked around, being cautious. He found a lamp, and he turned it on, lighting up the room. A piece of writing on the wall read something that reminded Applejack of the writing back at the hospital, except more darker.
I*t's fun to cut into the animals. Like cutting butter apples with a knife. Too bad they all ran away when I started cutting the first. *
"Disgusting..." Applejack whispered, grimacing at the simple words scribbled into the wall.
"No kidding." Caramel replied.
The two started searching the home. Applejack looked around the living room. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that everything was covered in a layer of fine dust. She didn't figure they'd find any food in there, so she headed into the kitchen. It wasn't much different than the living room was. The two started checking the drawers, the fridge, and eventually, Applejack found a pantry after a few minutes. She opened it up and found a load of food inside.
"Caramel, found some things we can take." Applejack happily said.
"Great." He replied, lowering the flashlight he had. "Just grab as much as you can and let's get out of here. I don't really want to stay here much longer."
"Me neither." Applejack replied, thinking back to the writing she saw earlier.
The two spent five minutes stuffing their saddlebags with food. Soon, when the bags were full, they quickly left the cottage. They left at a quicker pace. They saw the sun was now higher in the sky. Applejack looked back towards the small cottage. She felt sorry for Fluttershy, knowing she'd be upset that her animals were all gone. She'd probably be even more upset when she saw the writing on the wall.
"Actually," Applejack started, "Can't we get rid of the writing on the wall?"
"We can't. It will be a waste of time." Caramel replied. Applejack sighed as they stepped off the path and entered the foliage that lined the dirt trail.
"Say, where are we going to try to get to?" Applejack asked Caramel as they walked through the tall grass.
"We were actually going to head up to Canterlot." Caramel replied. "However, I don't know why, but they blocked off this side, so we probably going to have to go up the other way."
"We'll have to go around the mountain though!"
"Pretty much. We don't really have any other choice." Caramel told the cowpony. "I was thinking of heading northwest, since there's some farmland over there, and we could find some food for us. Then we will head northeast, and go up the mountain from there. Hopefully, there will be a track or a makeshift path we can take to make the trip faster."
"That's going to take days! Possibly weeks! Are you sure about this?"
"It's the safest route I can think of. Unless you have a better idea, we're going by my plan."
Applejack didn't want to take his intended route, but she knew that it would be the only way to get to Canterlot. She knew it was going to be a long time before they were going to see the city.
"...Then the air was filled with 10,000 things. Boards, poles, cans, garments, stoves, whole sides of the little frame houses, in some cases the houses themselves, were picked up and smashed to earth..."
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch (March 20, 1925)
The sound of a low breeze filled Applejack's ears as she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself lying in a large empty field. The sky above blanketed by dark, menacing clouds. In the far distance, Applejack saw a dark funnel twisting across the landscape. Confused, she stared at the twister for several long seconds, watching it as it ripped up the fields it passed through without any mercy, still lying on the ground with a bunch of twigs, branches, and other random debris strewn around her.
Suddenly, she realized what had happened.
She quickly got up and looked around, finding no signs of the cottage she was previously in the last night. She started galloping through the field and leaped over a fence and onto a dirt road. She ran down it, not knowing whether to scream for her fellow survivors and risk unnecessary attention, or just look for her group herself. As she ran, the distant tornado started to slowly dissipate until it was no more. Small rays of sunlight shone through the shield of clouds that blanketed the sky and lit the land below. Applejack ignored the beauty and continued to gallop along the long dirt road.
Applejack spent several relentless minutes searching along the sides of the empty roads, but to no avail, she couldn't find any of her fellow survivors. She eventually gave up, and came upon a small barn house, damaged severely by the storm. At that point, the sky was now clear and the wind had now died. Only a gentle breeze blew through the air. In defeat, Applejack slumped up against the wall of the barn. Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"HEY!" A voice yelled, startling her. She looked up and found a stallion wearing a dark red jacket and quiver filled with bloody arrows that were used for the bow that was pointed directly at Applejack's head with an arrow, sharp as a knife, pointed directly at her eye. Applejack saw a horn protruding from the short, wavy brown mane of the stallion as the bow hovered in front of the cowpony. "You friendly!?"
"Um- Yes!" Applejack stammered. "I just got lost!"
The bow was lowered.
"Good. You don't have much on you anyways." The stallion replied. "Name's Archer. Not my real name, but I don't really like telling my real name with the way things are."
Applejack nodded. "Ah'm Applejack. Pleasure to meet ya."
"There's a town nearby we can head to. It's called safe haven by some, but we call it Hayseed." Archer explained. "I've been trying to get to Canterlot for awhile now."
"Yer heading there too?" Applejack asked. "Ah was with a group yesterday heading there."
"Say, by the way..." Archer looked at Applejack as she got up to her hooves, "There was a small orange pegasus with a purple mane and she said that she was with somepony. I think her name was Scootaloo..."
"Yes! I know her!" Applejack happily exclaimed, smiling. "Is she in that town?"
"Yep. She's in the hotel there. I can take you there. Just follow me and stay close, this storm threw a bunch of flesh eaters around the place."
Applejack presumed that flesh eaters was Archer's name for undead. Archer started to trot down the dirt road, and Applejack followed. They spent several minutes walking along the road.
"So, you from around here?" Archer asked, still looking forwards.
"Nope." Applejack replied. "Ah came from Ponyville."
"I think I've been there before. It's a good town."
"Ya know about Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Yep. You work there?"
"Sure do. Or at least Ah used to before this all went down."
Suddenly, from the corn stalks, something crawled out. Applejack saw Lyra, partially rotten and eaten crawl out. Archer immediately raised his bow and shot an arrow, piercing the mint green unicorn's skull and killing it. Applejack looked down towards the ground in sadness.
"Are you sad about something?" Archer asked, pulling the bow out from the corpse.
"Yeah. She was with mah group." Applejack sadly sighed.
"Sorry for your loss." Was the only thing Archer told the cowpony. They continued to walk down the dirt road and eventually came up to a town. The entire village was surrounded by a makeshift fence made of wood. A gate at the entrance served as it's only point of entrance. The two went up to the gate and stopped in front of it.
"Hey! Open up!" Archer called.
"What's the password?" A mare behind the gate asked.
"Password!" Archer replied.
The gate opened much to Applejack's amusement, and a mare stood next to the gates.
"Come on in and let me check you both for bites."
Archer proceeded to casually unzip his jacket and take off his quiver, exposing the rest of his grey body. He was clean and free of bites. Then, the mare eyed Applejack, looking at her from every side. After that, she smiled.
"You're clear." She nodded.
"Thanks." Archer told the mare as he zipped his jacket back on and slung the quiver back onto him. He trotted down the street, which was the only one in the town, and proceeded to go up to a two-story wooden building not unlike the ones from Apploosa. A sign on the front told Applejack that the building served, or at least used to serve, as a hotel. Archer and Applejack went up to the entrance and went inside. There was an old-looking stallion at the front desk. A pair of reading glasses were on his face as he read a book, not paying attention to the two.
"She's in room 106. That's on the second floor." Archer told Applejack as he trotted up the staircase. Applejack nodded and closely followed. As they went up the stairs, Applejack noticed how quiet the hotel was. Her own hoofsteps echoed throughout the hallway they went down through. Eventually, Archer reached a door and stepped up to it and opened it.
"Hello?" A familiar voice asked.
"Hey, kid." Archer replied. "I think I found one of your group members."
Applejack saw Archer move aside, letting Applejack through. She saw Scootaloo on a single bed, now staring at her in amazement.
"You're okay!" She happily exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her. However, after a second, she realized what she was doing and immediately unwrapped her arms from around Applejack's neck embarassingly. "Don't tell Rainbow Dash I did that, okay?"
"Ah won't." Applejack chuckled. "Glad to see yer alright."
"We should probably be talking about our plans for getting to Canterlot now." Archer interrupted, walking in. "I think I know a good route for us."
"You do?" Applejack asked. "There's barely anything out here for miles and we lost our stuff to that twister!"
"Actually, there's a shop across the street." Archer smiled. "And there's an abandoned carnival not too far from town. It was opened just before the flesh eaters came. I been through there once, which was last week, and there was still some good stuff there we can use."
Applejack got the feeling that they were going to be alright. She didn't know what to think of it as, but she couldn't help but smile at the thought of getting to Canterlot. However, she immediately felt saddened when she remembered the rest of her group, knowing they were most likely undead, or probably trying to find her and Scootaloo.