It all started several months ago, when a mare discovered her special talent. Her skill at working with dead bodies, she began her job at the local graveyard almost with cheer.

But the unicorn had grown bored, dead bodies were her destiny, but there had to be something more. She started to study the art of death, reading up on spellbooks that were arcane and forbidden. The art of necromancy was what she discovered.

She was never good with the graveyard, but manipulating death was something she could do with ease. With her new talent she changed her name, now lost to history, to the name of Rezura.

It wasn't long before the guards of Canterlot came down to Ponyville to arrest her, but by then she was too powerful to stop. She easily slew the troops and reanimated them to do her bidding.

Celestia was furious with the small unicorn, but she had a kingdom to defend. This is the story of how the Apocalypse happened in this peaceful world of Equestria.

---

My name is Jackpot, I live in the city of Manehatten, and as such, my wings never were as strong as they would be. Both of my parents were Earth Ponies, I got my wings from my grandfather who passed away recently.

My coat was a light green, my mane was a minty shade of green. Eye color? A soft lavender. My cutie mark was recently discovered, it was a four leaf clover.

I never was the social pony, I usually let my mane stay in front of my face to hide from those who would observe me. Being the shy one in my family was odd, as both of my parents were social ponies and business ponies.

So it was no surprise when there was a knock at the door, but since nopony was expecting somepony to come over. I jumped and nearly hit the ceiling of our house.

My father answered the door, his styled blue mane swishing in the air

I saw a Pegasus guard at the door, he conversed with my father for a while, until the guard walked inside and up to me

"I'm sorry to report, but all pegasi are being relocated to Cloudsdale due to a recent threat." He said, "I'm Captain ThunderHooves."

"J-Jackpot." I said quietly

"Nice to meet you." He said, then turned to my parents, "I wish you could be there for him, but neither of you have the wings."

They nodded, my mother burst into tears, my father comforting her

"Is there a royal document?" My mother asked

"Right here ma'am." ThunderHooves showed her the form

"When does it take effect?" my father asked

"Right away, I'll be waiting until he packs his things of course." ThunderHooves answered, then stood by the door

I trotted up the stairs slowly, unsure of what 'new threat' the captain had been speaking of

I went into the small closet sized room I had, it was fine for me. I went about and packed my saddlebags, gathering some small accessories and a few other things that I could use out there.

I slung my saddlebags over my back, and trotted down the stairs, ThunderHooves smiled encouragingly

I looked to my parents, they didn't seem to be very happy with the situation and kept shooting glares the captain's way

I looked to the floor and stepped forward, it was time to go.

The ride was in a air balloon, like me, there were several ponies that couldn't fly very well

The ride was quiet and peaceful enough, not much happened. Several ponies were chatting but most remained silent. I took the time to observe several of the ponies that were coming up to the floating Pegasus capital

Once we landed I remained back, waiting for the other ponies to get off

Captain ThunderHooves nudged me, "C'mon Jackpot, shake a leg."

I stepped out onto the puffy and soft clouds, being from Manehatten I didn't usually use or even see many clean white clouds like this one

I picked a piece up in my hoof, not used to touching clouds

Then I decided to take a look around, I was shocked to see exactly how many pegasi lived in Equestria. The usually quiet city was filled with pegasi, not too many but just enough to make me back up a few steps

ThunderHooves was behind me, "I wasn't sure how many pegasi lived here, but now I can see exactly what we have here."

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked

"No idea" the captain told me, "But while we're here, let's find the meeting where we'll be assigned a place to stay."

---

A studious and friendly unicorn named Locke was at work, he was assembling the army that Equestria would use in the war. His mane was khaki and his mane was a light brown, his glasses sat over a pair of light blue eyes. His cutie mark was a spellbook.

Now Locke was not finding ponies to work in the war, but he was creating combat golems. His special spell was one that is commonly called 'golemancy'

Since it was not confirmed that ponies could be infected by the zombies, Celestia and Luna had issued a pass that all pegasi would go to Cloudsdale, so no zombies could get there

Rotting wings weren't able to fly well enough to get up there, so it was logical to remove wings from the equation.

Now without the guards, Equestria needed an army, golems can't be infected so it wouldn't be a loss if they got destroyed

The castle seemed empty without the guards. Locke was in charge of making the golems, but Celestia and Luna were the ones giving them orders.

The sky was grim, without the pegasi to clean the skies it was getting rather cloudy. The residents of Cloudsdale were using these clouds to make more houses for their new arrivals.

Locke felt lousy, as he always did after making golems. He'd feel better after he got a drink of coffee. While he trotted through the corridors of the castle he felt a chill run down his spine.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but whenever Locke got a chill it meant that something bad was going to happen, not to him but to someone else.

He prayed to Celestia that whoever that chill was for, that they would be okay.

Chapter 2

I followed the captain to the stadium, there I would be assigned a house, and likely other ponies to live with

I hoped that this whole threat would be gone soon

I sat down next to the captain, there were several dozen pegasi, close to 100 or so, sitting in the bleachers

One of the Wonderbolts was addressing the crowd, "Calm down everypony. We have gathered here for the princess has ordered all pegasi to this city."

The mare wonderbolt took over, "This enemy of Equestria is a unicorn who practices the art of necromancy."

There were several gasps in the crowd, I remained silent

"She can't get to Cloudsdale, since we can't let that happen; we have moved all pegasi, including the guards, to Cloudsdale."

"If we don't have guards, who's defending the princess?" a mare asked in the crowd, she had a rainbow mane as far as I could see

"We have a unicorn that practices golemancy on our side" the wonderbolt answered, "We have them as our army."

The mayor of the city took over, "We are using the extra clouds lying about to make new houses for our arrivals."

"You will be divided by age, into several houses that we've been setting up." the mayor said, his mane sweaty, "Now if you'll take the forms under your seats."

I grabbed mine, it had a picture of each pony here and their name, then the name of the house they'd be staying in

I was going to be in house 8D

I looked over the other ponies to see who I'd be bunked with, I saw Captain ThunderHooves and the mare with the rainbow mane, she was called Rainbowdash

I wasn't sure about this whole situation, the only reason I didn't try and leave was because I wasn't a good flyer, I'd never make it home.

"Please disperse into your homes and get acquainted with the ponies you'll be living with for the time being." The mayor finished

"Hey kid, we're bunked." The captain said

I didn't say anything, I stood and got ready to fly to the small house

Before I could get anywhere I saw a flash of cyan to my left

"So you two are who I'm with?" the voice of the pony I heard earlier asked

"Yeah, I'm ThunderHooves and this" ThunderHooves slapped my back, "This one is Jackpot, don't tease him he's shy."

"Isn't the division b-by age?" I asked, "H-How are you with us?"

"I'm younger than I look." He answered, "Not many ponies expect me to be as old as I am."

"I wonder how Fluttershy is going to do" Rainbowdash thought aloud, "You kind of remind me of her."

I didn't look her in the eye, "O-okay…"

Once we arrived at the house I took a look around, there was two floors. The bottom was for cooking and downtime, as the top had the bathroom and the bedrooms

"This house could do with about 20% more rainbows." Rainbowdash said as she entered

"I could use this place, yeah." ThunderHooves commented

I mainly looked for little areas I could use to curl up and read, it was one of my hobbies because I never really got out to do much

"So Jackpot" Rainbowdash trotted up, "Where are you from?"

"I-I'm from Manehatten." I answered

"You really are shy aren't you?" Rainbowdash smiled, "I have a friend like you."

"Fluttershy you said" I said, "How is she doing?"

"She doesn't like leaving her animals behind" Rainbowdash said, "I'm surprised she left them with Spike after what happened last time."

I didn't say anything, I was unsure of anything to talk about

"We're not at curfew, want to go do something?" ThunderHooves popped in

"What do you want to do?" Rainbowdash asked him

"I haven't been here in years, maybe get some dinner at a local restaurant." ThunderHooves said, "What do you think kid?"

I shrugged

"Dinner it is then." ThunderHooves laughed

MEANWHILE IN ANOTHER PLACE

Rezura was in her little base, a cave not too far into the Everfree forest. She was working on a way to get into Cloudsdale, to get pegasi wings on her side.

Meanwhile in that same base, her zombies were thinking; Thinking of their own way up to the floating city.

One had a bright idea, the pegasi zombies couldn't fly, but this is where the brilliance came in…

Rezura burst into the room, "We are going to take the town of Ponyville, come."

---

I chewed the hayburger, enjoying the taste as I tried to avoid staring at anypony. I was unsure of this mare that I had been assigned to live with, there was something that put me off.

I wasn't sure what the problem was, I usually was quiet around new ponies. But there was something here that made me not want to speak with the rainbow maned mare.

"So what's with the mane?" ThunderHooves asked, "How is it rainbow?"

"It's something I've had my whole life" Rainbowdash said, "Never really thought about it."

"And then there's you kid" ThunderHooves looked at me, "You're quiet, but didn't seem to mind being bunked with us."

"I try not to offend anypony" I said, "It prevents any problems."

"You should try and believe in yourself more" Rainbow offered, "My friend Fluttershy's been doing that lately."

I didn't respond, nor did I look in her direction

My mouth was dry, something wasn't right. I didn't know why but I felt as if I should get out of this city as soon as I could.

'Get used to the place, you're going to be here for a while.' I thought to myself

"Hey kid, something wrong?" ThunderHooves asked

"I'm not sure" I said, "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Rainbow asked

I shrugged

We finished up and exited the restaurant, I looked around and saw that there was a large group of creatures moving to a town in the distance

"Celestia help them." I muttered

Rainbowdash nearly fell over, "That's Ponyville!"

"How very unlucky of them" ThunderHooves commented

"We need to go down there!" Rainbowdash said, "I have friends down there!"

"We can't leave the city" ThunderHooves asserted, "You know that."

"Watch me!" Rainbowdash sped off

"Are you going to follow her?" ThunderHooves asked me

"No other choice is there?" I asked, "We can't just let her go."

"Then get your wings ready" ThunderHooves looked grim, "It's not going to be easy down there."

And that was that, my first and last thought before we left:

'Dear Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?'

ThunderHooves lead the way and I trailed behind, wondering why exactly I thought it would be a good idea to go and follow that clearly insane mare.

I wasn't sure what I was planning on doing, I wasn't strong, wasn't fast and wasn't at all a help in this sort of situation, the only thing I could think of was that if that mare wanted to survive she wouldn't go on her own.

Naturally my wings got tired after a while, being unused to flying it was a miracle that I made it as far as I did

"You two are so slow." The familiar voice said from above me

ThunderHooves grabbed Rainbow's tail in his mouth and descended to the road

He spat out the tail, "What in Celestia's name were you thinking?"

"I'm going to go and find my friends" Rainbowdash asserted, "Either you can go and cower in Cloudsdale or you can help."

"We're going to Cloudsdale right now miss" ThunderHooves ordered

"I can go on my own" Rainbowdash scoffed

"I'll go"

ThunderHooves and Rainbowdash looked at me in shock

It took my about five seconds to register what came out of my mouth

"Are you sure kid?" ThunderHooves looked me over

"Was I sure when we came out here?" I asked, "I just think she won't do too well on her own."

"I can handle myself" Rainbowdash snorted

"A zombie apocalypse is not where you want to handle yourself" I said, "We're closer to Ponyville at this point."

"It'd be the best place to go" ThunderHooves said, "Let's get moving."

Rainbowdash looked at the both of us; she didn't seem to be very cynical

The three of us got walking, my wings were too tired for me to fly. ThunderHooves kept his ears perked up, just in case there was a jump party waiting

Ponyville came into view, they had large gates and walls set up to keep the zombies out. Only one or two of the three gates were under siege

"Hope your wings can handle a takeoff kid" ThunderHooves said, "We'll have to fly over the walls."

I stretched out my wings, hopefully I'd be able to get over the walls

I heard a growl from behind me, there was a painful strike on the back of my head and I fell forward, rolling onto my back from instinct

There was a group of zombies and they didn't seem to care whether all three of us made it out alive

I used my wings to push myself up, and threw out my hind legs blindly. Luckily for me a zombie lunged and I hit it square in the snout

The rest of the hoard that snuck up on us attacked, with Rainbow and ThunderHooves fighting the most. I was getting my licks in when I could, my heart beating at around 50 miles per hour. ThunderHooves picked me up and threw me through the air and over the walls, Rainbow and the captain flew up and over.

I hit the ground on the other side pretty hard, almost causing a blackout from pain, the hit on the back of my head didn't help.

ThunderHooves landed next to me, "You alright?"

"I-I'm not sure…" I answered, my stutter back from sheer fright

Some unicorn guards ran up to us, "What are you not doing in Cloudsdale?"

"I'm Captain ThunderHooves, and this is the element of Loyalty." ThunderHooves said, "She's here to assist the other elements."

"We aren't items you know." Rainbowdash snorted

"And this one?" the unicorn guard looked at me critically

"This here's Jackpot, he came on his own will." ThunderHooves answered, "Now where's the other element?"

"The gates have been breached!" a call from the other side of the town sounded

"Captain, we'll need your help." The three guards rushed off

Rainbowdash looked at me, "Twilight should be in the library."

"Right" I almost ran off, "Where's the library?"

"Follow me!" Rainbowdash ran off

I barely kept up, my lungs burning from all the physical activity I undertook today. When we reached a giant tree Rainbowdash stopped.

A loud crack and bright light emanated from the tree, I snuck in the front doors

A baby dragon was unconscious nearby, a purple unicorn was knocked to the ground

Then I saw her, it was Rezura, the mare that had caused all this trouble.

"It's been nice having this chat but I think that you've been stalling long enough." Rezura said

She was firing some beam into the unicorn's head, Rainbowdash seemed ready to pounce

I'm still not sure what happened, apparently I did something rather out of character

I rushed forward, knocking Rezura over and Twilight-as I later learned her name was- was able to crawl away

Rezura bucked me off and I hit the bookshelf on the other side of the library, she stood indignantly

"A pest, nothing more." She looked me over, "Not even strong enough to fly."

"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind her, a pot of boiling water smacked Rezura to the side

The baby dragon stood behind the mare, who threw herself out the window in pain

"Twilight!" the baby dragon called, running up to the unicorn, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Spike" Twilight answered, "What about you?"

"I'm alright, who's he?" Spike jabbed a thumb at me

At this point you should know: I wasn't at my sharpest after ramming into the necromantress, my head was pounding and my speech was garbled, as I soon found.

"Hemebhenm." Is what came out

It was intended to be 'hello'

"Hemebhenm?" Spike looked at me weird, "Were you hit on your head?"

Rainbowdash flew in from the window, "Jackpot, the captain is on his way here."

So she was getting backup, that's why Spike was my assistance. Well thank Celestia for baby dragons.

ThunderHooves arrived a few minutes later, checking the wounds of each of us

Rainbowdash was in the best condition being the one who got backup, Spike was next with moderate cuts, then Twilight with magical deficiency, then there was me with a moderate concussion and more than one moderate scrape, bruising was common on all of us

"I judged you too soon" the unicorn guard apologized, "I thought you were just a foolish foal, but what you did here was pretty brave."

"I'm still not sure that was even me." I answered, feeling a bit better

The rest of the town was patching up the gates, being all unicorn it was easy

"Where are the earth ponies?" Rainbowdash asked

"They're at Apploosa" the unicorn guard said

"Well" Twilight looked ready to get moving, "Let's go to Apploosa."