Left 4 Equestria
Chapter One
DAY 1
A seemingly normal morning would become one of the most catastrophic in history. Causalities would rise higher than any pony could count. And that was the visual trauma. The slim number that survived the massacre were scarred for life, and when it all was over, never spoke and had a blank face, as if their memory was a clean slate. The thing was, it wasn't. Every single resident of Equestria who lived to dwell on the past remembered every last horrifying sight, putrid odor, and gruesome shriek. They just wished they didn't.
Twilight Sparkle arose from glorious slumber with an earsplitting headache. "Unusual", she thought. Headaches were rare among the pony population. Only after Pinkie's insane parties or after an extremely arduous studying session would a bout of pain be inflicted upon her brain. Maybe all she needed was simple medicine. "Later, I will visit a nurse", Twi thought. An unknown force hung around, a simple feeling that something was off. Celestia's faithful student recognized the vibe, but ignored it simply because her headache was not getting any better. It would be easily considered as the least of her problems later.
Fluttershy awoke with the unprecedented grace of the animals she cares for, more than likely overshadowing their cuteness. She yawned, obviously tired from the night before. Several ponies were admitted to the hospital after reports of 'mumbling words that no pony could understand'. The were being transported when one orange and gold Pegasus pony escaped and started flying away erratically, almost as if inebriated. The Pegasus pony was able to catch up with the flyaway, and when dragging her back, she was able to hear a brief glimpse of what the reports were about. The lone victim who Fluttershy recovered muttered four terrible words. "You will die tomorrow", the mysterious captive exclaimed, with a tone that was quiet, but at the same time, deafening, because of the sheer disturbing content packed on to the short statement. Of course, the Stare Master wasn't phased by this, but she still was shaken. Comfort came from the fact that the 'prophet' was mentally unstable. "Still freaky, though", Fluttershy murmured to herself.
Rainbow Dash woke up on her comfortable cloud bed, ready to tackle a new day. What many did not realize is that a cloud for sleeping was glorious, both in comfort and mobility. Ease of moving was also a factor, as it could be shifted across from one part of Cloudsdale to another in ten seconds flat. Rainbow heard a cry in the distance. Unaware to the full extent of what she was doing, she flew as fast as she could to the scene of the crime. In her rush to help an anonymous scream for help, she dismissed the fact that no pony was out and about. Odd, but it had gone unnoticed. Every morning, hundreds of ponies travel the streets, setting up stands and browsing at shops. Not today, apparently.
Pinkie was awaken by a rush of air outside. "Oh, it's Dashie practicing, Gummy!", the party pony exclaimed with delight. Now she was up, it was time for her to plan her next party! She needed supplies, so she would have to venture outside and purchase whatever she desired. Fortunately, right now, the baking business was going well for her after the Grand Galloping Gala. Her reputation might've been defaced by the failure, but she turned it into a positive. By giving every pony affected by the escapades a free cupcake as a gift, her popularity shot up, even amongst the jeers she would get. As she started hopping around town square, she noticed the surprising lack of commotion around the destination's most visited spot. Despite this, Pinkie hopped on. A glimpse to the right in an alley shed some unsettling shadow, and outline of an Earth pony. The weirdest part is that even at the different angle, there were still two red shining dots for eyes. She was skeptical of the image in the first place, and placed it in the back burner of her priorities as she skipped around, looking for streamers.
Applejack was up far earlier than the rest of her friends. Life on the farm was tough, but rewarding. Although she coveted having a special talent as easy as partying or being fast, AJ was still content with what her cutie mark revealed. Apples was her life. Her name. It was her routine. Every day, apples. Many other ponies would grow increasingly exhausted of the daunting task, but not Applejack. It was her calling. But she also loved helping her friends and remained loyal to them. So when she hear a shout of despair come from where the hospital was located, she didn't hesitate to pursue the sound. After everything goes down, maybe she should have.
Rarity was working an all-nighter on her dresses, rendering her extremely tired and susceptible to falling asleep any instant. But she knew she had to give her clients those dresses, and there was no mail today, so she would have to go out there and deliver them herself. "Just what I needed today", Rarity moaned. And she set out to her customers. There was only one pony out. Skipping along the center of town was the ever-enthusiastic Pinkie Pie, hyper as ever. Not wanting to be bothered this early, Rarity remained a parasprite on the wall, fully ignored by her gleeful friend. But something was really making her uncomfortable, a feeling that everything was about to go wrong.
Equestria's fastest was the first to arrive at Ponyville Medical Center. She had chuckled at the notion of landing and walking through the door when she flew into the building via glass window. "Alright, who needs help?" Rainbow declared. A shriek came from a room on the right. Dash rushed towards the cry of help and bolted through the door. An Earth pony, a nurse, lay massacred on the floor. She was missing one leg, brutally tore off and currently not in the room; her eyes spoke of unimaginable pain and showed she had no control over what happened. Also equally disturbing were her scrubs, which were ripped to the point where it appeared she was mauled by a bear. But the most chilling was her nurse's cap, which was so heavily soaked in blood in would be hard to convince somepony it was white at one time. Ponyville's bravest flyer backed out of the horror scene slowly, and with care that she didn't make any noise. "This is going to be one hell of a day", she thought.
Applejack was able to arrive at the hospital twenty minutes after Rainbow Dash. She entered through the front door and saw a horrific sight: Red stains filled the hallway as if somepony took a can of the same-colored canvas and spilled it everywhere. Except Applejack knew better: it wasn't' paint. An odor of death filled the air, reminiscent of how she felt after almost seeing Twilight fall to her death when Nightmare Moon needed to be stopped. A shadow appeared, and the apple bucker was ready to kick some flank. As she got in her bucking stance a glimpse of the intruder calmed her. It was just Rainbow Dash! "Oh, don't scare me like that, Dash!", Applejack exclaimed in her trademark tone. "Don't. Go. In. There.", whispered Dash. "Why not, Rainbow?", Applejack said, wondering what exactly was wrong. "Somepony just killed Nurse Redheart." Rainbow murmured while sighing. "And it wasn't a normal pony".
The next to enter the ghastly fray was Fluttershy. She had promised Nurse Redheart she was going to volunteer to help those deranged ponies. "Those poor things!", Fluttershy said to Angel, getting ready to travel to the clinic. A serene day, as nature's caretaker noticed. Flying overhead, she waved to Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were the only ponies outside at all. Up ahead was the Intense Care Section of the Ponyville Medical Center. the interesting part was the Redheart was the only pony with a medical profession that Fluttershy has ever seen in the land. Upon entering the complex, she instantly recognized her two friends. Unfamiliar to her was the crimson paint job on the walls and on the floor. "Who was painting here?", Fluttershy inquired. Rainbow Dash replied, "It's not paint".
And that's how Rarity was forced to endure the sheer randomness of Pinkie Pie for the next twenty grueling minutes, it was because Fluttershy drew attention to herself, leaving Rarity in plain sight of Equestria's most eccentric Earth pony. Rarity and the rest loved Pinkie Pie, but with all good things, too much is... to put it nicely, unwanted. Rarity checked her list of clients to deliver the dresses to carefully, realizing there was only one name left on the piece of paper. Oddly enough, the address was the Ponyville Medical Center. The tow set out for the destination, unaware of the pairs of eyes following their progress.
Pinkie hopped along the path to the hospital, throwing glitter everywhere, not really caring about the fact that they were for the party. Before she knew it, the entrance to the medical center was upon them. Pinkie Pie entered first, quickly recognizing three of her friends. The looked distressed but that was nothing a pony's humor couldn't fix. No calamity was protected from the laughter of a true comedian. Right behind Rarity was Twilight Sparkle, who was holding her head with a look of pain and disapproval. the mane six were all here. Now the fun began.
Ominous eyes intently followed the group as they slowly paced through the hallways, assessing damages and cringing at the horrors. Torn legs, dismembered heads, horns ripped from pony's skulls, and blood sprayed everywhere as if it were a B movie like Resident Mare. It was too much too handle for the animal lover, as she would curl up in fetal position at disturbing sight. They needed to know what monster did this to these poor ponies. They got to the point of dragging Fluttershy, just hopeful at the thought that a small clue would lead to the murderer. That doesn't mean they were immune to the sights, many threw up at the most gruesome of the sights: A slowly spinning ceiling fan, now coated in a dark crimson, with a mare split in half, with the head grimly laying on the newly colored floor. A scalpel used to commit suicide caught Twilight's eye, proving something interesting... What could possibly be so evil that it kills so many and scares some enough to take their own precious lives? They would soon find out.
That's when the six decided to get out of the horror shop, realizing that they were only invoking more fear into their already-tarnished mindsets. That's when the real hell of the day started. From all sides, gray scaled ponies with bright red eyes swarmed the pony squad. A few faces were recognizable, the scariest being a pony they once knew: Trixie. And then everything after that was a blur, reminiscent of when they defeated Nightmare Moon. Once the horde of ponies with evil intent started closing in, Dash begun to mess them up. Applejack joined in, and so did Rarity, using her magic to lodge sharp medical tools into the necks of the possessed mares. Fluttershy was too scared to do anything major, and Pinkie was hopping around, having the ponies Twi wanted to start referring to as zombies attack themselves. They needed to get out of there, though, they couldn't last much longer. "Run!", Twilight screamed at the loudest she could.
Plowing through packs of the zombies, they eventually spotted the exit. Twilight was about to barge through, but something stopped her. It was locked! "NO! Not now! PLEASE!", Twilight begged. And then a doozie came. A familiar shriek echoed through the horde. "Fluttershy?", Twi asked. "Not her, not now. I don't need this. What did Fluttershy ever do?", she thought. That's when she broke through the crazed group of zombies, flying through. "There's another exit!", Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight glanced in the direction, looking at door that swung open in one direction and needed to be activated. "Where's the remote, then, sugarcube?", Applejack asked while bucking an undead pegasus pony. "Here!", Rarity said as she picked it up and flipped the switch. It opened, letting light in, initially shocking their eyes. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity dashed through. And then the battery died, an inconvenience that only made the already-grim situation worse. The six was now three. As Twilight watched in horror as the door swung to a close, it didn't quite fully close. A small glimpse of blue shined through. And then it flew open, letting Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy out. And then it closed shut again. Except this time, it really did shut, proven by the thump at the end. "DASH!", the five screamed, knowing it was too late for their friend.
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