Zombies in Equestria: Survival is Magic

by yupyup

Chapters

The Hospital
What We Became part 1
What We Became part 2

The Hospital

Zombies: Survival is Magic

Chapter 1: The Hospital

Rainbow Dash had woken up in the hospital. She could only wonder what happened, had she broken one of her wings again? She glanced around her body; the only bandage seemed to be wrapped around her forehead. “Nurse?” She called out. Nothing. She tried again, a little louder this time, “NURSE?” Still nothing. She was feeling better, “well I bet I could just check out myself, I feel fine.”

She got up from her bed and headed to the door. It was slightly barricaded from her side. Weird. She brushed it off moved some of the various objects blocking the door. As she exited her room and entered the hallway she felt a sudden surge of uneasiness. The halls were empty and eerie. Not wanting to make a sound, she quietly crept to survey the area. Although the lack of sound was unnerving, the sights were nightmarish. She couldn’t tell what had happened, but from the looks of it, it was something bad. The walls were covered in blood, but there were no bodies to originate from.

She had to get out of the hospital and fast. She was on the top floor and rather than check out the traditional way she figured she would just fly, perhaps to go to one of her friends to clear up the situation. Something caught her attention, a trail of blood leading to another room. She looked at it briefly before opening the window in an attempt to depart. As she put her first leg out the window she could have sworn she heard something, a cry perhaps.

Get the hell out of here!

You have to help them!

What are you thinking? You have to go

You can’t just abandon them.

Her instincts told her to get the hell out of there and never look back, but when her mind came to that word… abandon. She had been abandoned many times throughout her life, with Gilda, her parents, and even some of Fluttershy’s animals; she made it a point to never leave any pony behind, this is how she became the element of loyalty.

There was no other argument to be made, it took all of her strength but she was able to slip her first leg back into the hospital. She was nearly out of energy from this simple task, but forced herself to close the window.

The noise was coming from the very room that the blood trail had led too. She quietly opened the door and stepped in. The room wasn’t empty as the hallway was, but the sights were just as gruesome.

The first thing she saw was an unrecognizable earth pony. He was dressed in a white doctor’s uniform and his natural coat seemed to match one of the doctor ponies she had seen before. His face gave no indication to who he might be, even if she had known him previously, it had been too disfigured now. She wondered what could have possibly done this or why. Proceeding further into the room, on the hospital bed lay another pony. The coat seemed to be a light purple and her eyes matched in color. She had seen this pony before, but she couldn’t place it.

“Rain… bow… is… that… you?” the bed confined pony asked taking a deep breath after each syllable. The voice had told Rainbow that she was talking to a mare. “Yeah, but who are you?” the confused mare asked. “You got to leave, I’m starting to get the symptoms.” The mare’s voice was more serious and she was starting to take fewer breaths during her speech which put a visible strain on her body. “I’m here to help,” as she got closer she could see just how bad the situation was. The injured pony had been bleeding profusely out of her side, it appeared as if a chunk of her stomach was missing. Rainbow became sick at the sight of this much blood, especially on the living pony. “I got to get a doctor-” Before she could finish her sentence the crippled pony turned to her, “there are none left, just go!” The sudden raise of voice had shocked both of them, one being physical shock. After a few short breaths, the mare spoke again, much calmer this time, “look you just got to go, I never had much luck with hospitals, I always knew they would lead to the death of me,” she let out a slight chuckle hoping to sooth, not only Rainbow, but herself. This comment made Rainbow suddenly realized who she was talking to, it was her ‘roommate’ from her first visit to the hospital when she had fractured her wing. She didn’t talk much, being in a full body cast and all, but she had been a good listener and Rainbow appreciated that.

Rainbow looked down in regret, she hadn’t known what was happening, but she didn’t want to bother her dying friend. She would be able to find out what was happening later. She opened the window of the room where her friend slept, this was possibly the best way out. She didn’t dare to check anything else. She looked back in regret and departed.

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Rainbow found that she couldn’t fly nearly as far as before. Her wings had gone soft from inaction. How long was I really at that hospital? The thought left her mind fairly quickly, it didn’t matter now. What she found in the streets was similar to her encounter in the hospital. It had been quiet and there had been some type of disturbing sight. The only change was whether or not there were bodies, but they all seemed to be inanimate either way. She considered going home, but the distance was too far for her now that her wings were useless. She wasn’t too far from sweet apple acres, perhaps she could find Applejack.

She arrived at sweet apple acres, but she had put on too much stress on her body. Her body wasn’t used to it, not to mention that she hadn’t had any food or water in her system since she woke up. She collapsed just outside sweet apple acres, still conscious but only able to crawl. She looked behind her, a weird looking figure in the distance stood on two legs as it stared at her. “Lyra… is that you? Stop standing like that you’re creeping me out.” The figure then shifted its weight and was now on all fours. Rainbow felt relieved that the figure responded. Except now it was charging directly at her. She tried crawling away, but the figure was catching up fast. As the figure drew closer she could examine the features. Instead of the mint green pony she was expecting she found herself staring at a horribly deformed earth pony with empty eyes.

The thing, as Rainbow now knew it, was about twenty feet away. She had given up all hope when a big red blur tackled it. Her eyes followed the blur to discover it led to Big Mac. Rainbow had never seen him wear the expression he currently had on. It was a combination of anger and regret. With a hard stomp he was able to put that abomination out of its misery.

He then approached her. “Don’ cha worry, you’re in good hooves now.” She felt relieved and her body must’ve taken the hint, because she immediately started to drift to sleep. The strong stallion threw her on his back while he walked towards the barn. Rainbow tried to thank him, but her mouth refused to move. Her body had won this battle, she felt secure in the care of Big Mac as she dosed off.

What We Became part 1

Chapter 2: What We Became Part 1

Applejack was pacing back and forth. The whole group was shaken with worry, but she clearly was unnerved the most. Twilight, being the most level headed of the group, approached her in an attempt to calm her down.

“Applejack, he’ll be fine.” The orange mare looked at her with a hint of resent. How could she be so sure, she had heard those words many times in the past weeks, and it had often led to a terrible realization. “How could we send him out by himself?” the honest earth pony broke down. While it was true that she did hold some anger, it was mostly at herself. “Applejack it’s only been a few days, I’m sure-” Applejack stopped her. In this new form of Equestria a few days was all that was needed to lose hope.

Applejack had already lost so much; her cousins had written to her when the news of the outbreak was broadcast. It all started as a few weird stories, there was no known origin, but before long most cities had fell. Small towns like Ponyville had been lucky enough to withstand a few weeks before their first encounter. After she lost communication she had assumed the worst. Now all she had was Applebloom and Big Mac; Granny Smith had lost her youthful athleticism long ago and when Applejack refused to leave her side, the old mare convinced the younger it was her time to go. Applejack had regretted her decision to leave ever since.

Twilight had gotten up, feeling there was nothing more she could do, she let her friend lay near the sturdy apple tree while she gathered the group. Twilight was the unofficial leader of the group as she was the most capable of them. Contact with the princess was lost almost immediately, but she had been fortunate enough that she had escaped with her friends. Well most of them anyways; Rainbow Dash had been ill-fated and had gotten into a crash just a week before the outbreak. She looked fine, but the accident put her into a coma. Everyone had been so preoccupied that they forgotten about her until Twilight gathered them together. They all mourned the expected loss, but even more so for Twilight; she had been the most organized, she didn’t know how she forgot, but it killed her on the inside.

Slowly each member of the group had appeared one by one. Pinkie, whose mane had lost its wild and ecstatic nature, had looked up to Twilight. The pink pony had kept a smile on for the most part, but it had clearly been a facade. Pinkie was friends with everypony in ponyville. Now they were all gone, and it had taken her happiness along with them. She was glad that some of them survived, but her usual joyful personality had faded. Still she was the most comforting pony out of the group, often helping others get out of the slump. She could cheer up anypony, with the exception of herself. She wasn’t always grim, but something had been eating away at her, bringing her to the brink of depression constantly.

The next pony to arrive was the white unicorn. She had lost most of her shine; her passion for appearances was gone. Her tidiness had been her undoing, she had put her obsession with cleanliness above the life of another; that was the way she saw it. She never really talked about what happened, but when one of the many admirers and coltfriends she had went to save her, she had forced him to go the extra mile to avoid things she dubbed “filthy”. It was her nature to “avoid acting like the monsters we are running from”. Upon the poor colt’s death, the realization of her stubbornness hit her. She would have lost all sanity had she not ran into Twilight.

Lastly was Fluttershy, she had been the most grim of the group. She thought she had betrayed her animal friends when she was forced to leave them. The shy pegasus felt useless; her element, the element of kindness, did nothing to help the small woodland creatures she had abandoned. She felt so weak and helpless, and out of everybody in the group, she was the only full grown pony to not take down one of the undead. She had relied on the others to save her. The yellow pony looked up, now that she arrived they could discuss their next move. These were the four that would make the decision, missing one now that Applejack was mentally lost; the others in the group had been okay with this form of decision making as they could not do it themselves.

“Okay girls,” Twilight gained her composure, “Big Mac hasn’t returned, and we are running low on food, which is why we sent him in the first place. It is only safe to assume that the farm is overrun and therefore our best course of action is to leave soon.”

They all nodded their heads, since the outbreak they had idly agreed with Twilight on everything. “I’ll go break the news to Applejack,” Pinkie bleakly said. As Pinkie left Twilight sighed; these small meetings were only a testament to how hopeless they had all been. In the distance she could hear Applejack sob even louder upon the news.

Twilight could see a figure in the distance. She wondered if Applejack’s cry had given away their position. The purple mare used her magic to pick up a nearby pot. She readied it as the figure peaked over the hill. Now she saw two shadows, it would be easy for her to get in over her head, so she figured she should get help. The unicorn then noticed the figures were going straight to the two earth ponies. “Applejack! Pinkie! Run!” Twilight yelled, but they were frozen in place, eyes locked on the approaching shadows. When she got close enough to recognize the features she realized that they were not frozen in fear, but rather in shock. The shadows transformed into the silent red stallion, now carrying a buckload of apples, and an old face, the blue pegasus.

In that moment, Rainbow saw the faces she all knew, and Big Mac saw them too, but this time it was different; they were all filled with hope, one of the emotions they hadn’t displayed in the weeks before. With the new food and new member, they group celebrated. They threw a small party, oblivious to the outside world, and for the first time in a long time, they returned to their normal selves.

(AN: Sorry for the relatively short chapter and the gap between releasing. I returned to school from break and now much busier. I should be getting another chapter or two out by the next few days. Hope you guys like it.)

What We Became part 2

What we became Part 2

Rainbow Dash woke up in good spirits. The sun was shining brightly; she didn’t have a care in the world. Then she came back to reality. It hardly seemed fair to her; everything she once knew was now gone. It was true that she did have her friends, but all the dreams she once had disappeared. It seemed kinda selfish for her to think about her dreams in this new world, but the calm, easy days as a weather-pony fantasizing about being a Wonderbolt were long gone.

As she got up from her surprisingly comfy bed she surveyed her surroundings. Nothing was recognizable as she had gotten drunk fast last night, they all did, the exception being Big Mac. The group was in a small stone fortress. It had been an ancient shrine of the royal pony sisters. Similar to the castle where they had first became the elements. It was fairly big and secure. There had been vines that gave the building an oddly pleasant nature-like vibe.

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Breakfast was good due to the new haul of apples Big Mac brought. Now that they had all been comfortable, Rainbow was able to identify the group, there were about 25 ponies or so. She recognized most of them.

Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Big Mac, Applebloom, Sweetie, Scoots, Lyra, Bon Bon, Derpy, Zecora...

She was interrupted by Twilight. “Okay girls, we have a very important matter to discuss,” again the small group of friends, joined by Applejack and Rainbow Dash this time, gathered to make a decision. “We don’t know how long we’ll be here, but we must find another place soon, this place may be safe from a few of those things, but this is not the sanctuary we have been searching for.”

Twilight then focused her attention to Rainbow, “we don’t know exactly where to go, Canterlot seems like a good option, but I haven’t been in contact with either of the princesses since the incident.”

“But the sun and moon still move, so that must mean they are out there somewhere, right?” Rainbow suggested confidently.

“Actually, it’s not that simple. Ever since Luna’s transformation into Nightmare Moon and banishment, Celestia had employed a spell that keeps the sun and moon moving constantly. The princesses only raise the sun and moon for special events or to adjust and correct their position.”

“Oh,” Rainbow sighed. Twilight tried to recover Rainbow’s mood, “well that is why we want to go to Canterlot, to find them.” A slight grin came across Rainbow’s face, it worked.

“Well I understand wanting to see the princesses, but why not go to Cloudsdale? I haven’t seen one of those things fly yet, it would seem most secure. We could use your cloud walking spell and we should be fine,” Rainbow proposed certain with herself. On this, all the mares had expressed some sort of displeasure as if she had said something wrong.

“Well,” Twilight’s voice had a hint of sorrow, “Cloud… Cloudsdale….,” she took a minute to get rid of the lump in her throat. “Cloudsdale is gone,” Twilight finally managed to say. All Rainbow could do was gasp in shock, “wha… what do you mean gone? It can’t just go away!” Twilight took a deep breath preparing to explain. “Cloudsdale was the most secure place. Some can fly, but not nearly as much as the ones that are earthbound. Still, the incident had horrendous timing; within the first few weeks, Cloudsdale needed to gather resources to make clouds, but envious and angry unicorns and earth ponies refused to allow them to gather the resources. The biggest threat to Cloudsdale had been the living, they were the real monsters. Without the capability to make clouds, Cloudsdale was a time bomb, and fell within another week.”

Now that Rainbow thought about it, she hadn’t seen a cloud in the few days it had been since she got out of the hospital, though most days she was inside the barn with Big Mac while she recovered. Rainbow was distraught. She knew that clouds weren’t the best building materials, and a constant supply was needed, but how did Cloudsdale fall within a week? Rainbow considered many things, the size of Cloudsdale, the scarcity of resources; her mind never did cross the real answer, the answer Twilight and the others knew, Cloudsdale had been sabotaged. Twilight felt that it was best to leave this detail out; even she didn’t want to believe it, she didn’t want to consider that the world had turned the peaceful Equestria to a lawless wasteland where the living were just as much of a problem as the dead.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It seemed as if the general decision was to go to Canterlot. Twilight decided to announce this at dinner.

“Attention everypony, we will be heading to Canterlot next. We will find the royal sisters and find the safe haven we are all looking for.”

“WHY? We are safe here. We are safe now. Going out there will just get us killed, by those… those things.” Rainbow looked for the source, it was Caramel; he had always been a trouble maker that didn’t know his place, she was angry at his outburst. “And who are you to talk? You wouldn’t know what to do without Twilight,” she replied, much angrier than she intended.

“Now, now, calm down everypony. Although it seems pretty safe here, the structure is falling apart, and would not hold against an attack. With Ponyville overrun and rather close it is very possible that we are in immediate danger.” Twilight spoke the truth, they had been there for nearly a week and were already attracting some attention from the undead. Plus Twilight needed to know what happened to the princesses.

The dispute wasn’t over though and by the end of it the group was divided into two. The elements of harmony, the cutie mark crusaders, Spike, and Big Mac all sided with Twilight. The rest were reluctant, not only to leave, but also to break up the group. Each side tried to convince the other but it was to no avail. The group, much smaller now, packed their things as they were about to leave the coming morning.

That night Twilight dreamed, it was more of a nightmare really. In her dream she saw the world falling apart. Trees set ablaze, towns destroyed, and the cause of it all, was ponies. Living ponies whose morals were now long gone, ponies that had been her friends. Each of the races turned against each other. When she had awoken the next morning she found that even the harsh reality was still a better than the one she had dreamed up.