Twilight dreamt of Pinkie and their first time together alone after she was given her favorite picture of them. They went to see the newest Daring Do movie that came out. She would have gone with Rainbow Dash, but she had gone opening night. Both of them were entranced by the scenery and thinking that Daring had to do. Twilight actually found some of the puzzles difficult to decipher herself. But what really made that night special is that Pinkie had put a hoof over Twilight's.

She was never a very social mare before coming to Ponyville, and she had never thought of having a colt friend or a mare friend. It was foreign and scary. Yet, for some reason, Twilight was happy that Pinkie did that. She wrapped her hoof around Pinkie's, who laid her head on her shoulder. Twilight knew she was blushing like crazy, but she didn't care. She had Pinkie Pie here with her, and that was that mattered. After the movie, they went back to SugarCube Corner and had some of Pinkie Pie's brand new cakes. She had tried a different recipe than the previous ones, and she wanted to know how they were.

Twilight took one bite and loved it. "These are amazing!" she exclaimed.

Pinkie let out one of her laughs that always made Twilight smile. "Well of course they are silly! I made them just for you!" she said happily.

Twilight blushed at the comment. "Thanks Pinkie. I like them." she said. She was hesitant to use say she loved them, in case Pinkie might have thought she meant it toward her. She remember reading in a book that sometimes harmless comments like that could actually be interpreted into meaning different things.

And then it happened. A zombie horde stormed threw the bakery and swarmed over Pinkie Pie, engulfing her in their bites and groans. Her blood curdling screams sounded almost un-pony. And all the while, Twilight just sat back and watched, helplessly. She wanted to run to her, take her hoof and pull her out of that mess. But she sat there, frozen with fear and shock at what she was seeing.

Her screams died down as they zombies finished off what was left of her. They retreated, not even noticing Twilight. She looked at the mangled and bloodied corpse of Pinkie, who's face seemed to ask, "Why? Why didn't you save me? Why didn't you help me?"

And then she began to move. She picked herself up and staggered. She looked to Twilight and let out a low groan before lunging at her.

And that's when she woke up. She gasped for air as she looked around the cave she was in. It was a dream... she thought to herself. It didn't happen. She took a deep breath to recollect herself. But it did. Pinkie's dead because I didn't try to help her.

There were a few shouts as Luna's guards spotted something in the distance. Twilight quickly ran over to see what was going on. When she reached the entrance, she saw a large group running towards them. "Who are they? Ponies?" she asked.

"We don't know. They could be the infected, but they're moving awfully quick." one of the guards said.

"But didn't Luna say they could learn to run?" she pointed out.

"Yes, but the ponies infected in Ponyville are just recent. It should take much longer before they gain those skills." the other said. "We need to get out of here. If those are the infected, you all need to get away as soon as possible."

"And if they're ponies?" Rainbow Dash asked behind them. "We can't leave them to die!"

"But you ponies are more important." Luna said. "My sister needs you to help end this pandemic. You'll be no use to her dead."

"If she was here, would she leave them to die?" Twilight asked. "Would she leave the ponies she cares so much for to die because of a small group?"

"If in order to save the whole of Equestria, yes." Luna said bluntly.

Twilight stood there, silent. "I don't believe that." she said and ran out toward the group in the distance.

"Twilight, return here at once!" Luna called out as Rainbow Dash and Rarity quickly followed Twilight.

They made quick haste to get to the group in hopes to save them. Twilight looked behind her to see that Luna had followed her out herself. She smiled. I knew you couldn't stay behind. she thought.

As she closed the gap to the group, Rainbow and Rarity had caught up with her. "So what's the plan?" Rainbow asked.

"You need to fly high above them so you can see if they are ponies or infected so we know what we're dealing with." she replied.

"I'm on it." Rainbow said and flew ahead of them.

"Maybe Applejack is in there." Rarity said.

"That's what I'm thinking. It might explain why we didn't see any smoke earlier." Twilight said. As she got closer, she could see another group behind the others. "And it looks like my assumption is correct." she said as she saw Rainbow Dash fly back to them.

"They're ponies all right. But there's another group behind them that they seem to be running from. And they were moving a lot slower than the others." she said.

"Did you see Applejack?" Twilight asked.

"No. I didn't look for any pony in particular. I just knew that I saw a bunch of ponies running, some with kids on their backs." she replied.

"Then let's go get them." Twilight said. They reached the ponies, shouting at them to keep going and to head for the cave. Some of the ponies who looked like they had been running for days tried to give their kids to Twilight and the others. "Rainbow Dash! Take some of the kids and fly them to the cave!" Twilight shouted.

She nodded and swooped down, taking two kids at a time. Twilight saw Rarity looking through the crowd frantically. "Do you see her?" Twilight shouted.

"No!" she exclaimed. Twilight ran to the back of the group and saw the horde that was chasing them. And to her amazement, she saw another pony in front of them. She seemed to be limping and having trouble getting away from them. "Rarity!" Twilight shouted, pointing to the horde.

Rarity looked and must have seen the same thing that Twilight saw, because she turned to her and nodded. They ran to the pony, ready to attack any of the infected behind her if need be.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed as they got closer. Twilight was too busy focusing on how to deal with the horde to notice that the pony was actually Applejack. Rarity picked up the pace to meet up with her and quickly took hold of her. As Twilight reached them, Applejack had fallen and was unable to pick herself up. She looked terrible. Her body was bruised and bloody. Her leg horribly twisted, but Twilight saw no obvious bite marks.

"Get her out of here." she told Rarity, who nodded. They picked her up Rarity led her back. Twilight stayed back though. She knew that they would be overtaken by the horde soon with Applejack's leg the way it was.

"Twilight! Come on!" Rarity shouted.

"Keep going! I need to stop them or you'll both be dead!" she shouted back. She summoned up all her magic and focused it on one spot. As she built up the strength to cast it, a thought shot through her mind. I could die. This spell could get me killed. She shook her head. "If it keeps my friends safe, it's worth it." she said, and shot the spell at the horde that was just a few yards from her.

The air suddenly became cold that sent a shiver through her entire body. It lasted only for a second, and in that time, a huge explosion destroyed the area where the horde had been. It sent Twilight rocketing backwards, where she rolled past Rarity and Applejack. When she was done tumbling, she opened her eyes and saw Luna flying towards her with Rainbow Dash right behind her. Then everything faded to black, and silence.