Just an Old Ponytale...
Rarity, part 1 of 2-
'These events take place between the time of Rarity departing for some supplies in chapter 3 to the day before her first search from the hospital somewhere between chapters 4 and 5.'
The fashion mare arose from her slumber, the irritating bombardment of her dear friend Twilight a day or so ago still fresh in her mind. Rarity shifted her body to the side, lifting herself up from her bed, straightening the sheets while the rain outside continued to pour. "Huh..." she muttered. "I figured Rainbow Dash or another pegasi would have cleared the skies by now..." After fixing up her area of sleep, the white unicorn proceeded downstairs, her mind set on the weather more than that of her still present guest, who was passed out on the floor beside her sister. "Sweetie Bell!" Rarity stated with authority. The small filly rubbed her eyes lazily as she yawned, trying to wake herself up so she could pay attention to her older sister.
"Yes Rarity?" the filly said with a yawn. "What is it?"
"I'm stepping out to get supplies. Appearently this storm is going to last longer than expected." The fashion mare threw a scarf around her neck as she put on a stylish raincoat of her own design, her saddle fixed with an umbrella. "I'll return in about an hour. If Twilight wakes up within that time, do please tell her she is welcome to stay as long as she wants." Rarity turned the knob of the front door and stood at the entrance, waiting from an answer from her younger sister. The filly shook her head and looked at her with groggy eyes.
"Alright. I'll be sure she gets the message." Sweetie Bell said with a hash voice, the affects of just waking up still wearing off.
"Good. I shall return." That being said, she closed the front door of her boutique and set out for the Ponyville market, the weather granting that she would probably have to make a side stop at Sugarcube Corner if nopony was attending the market, which was more than likely considering the conditions. The wind slightly picked up as she stepped from the front of her shop, the air outside containing a musky scent within. "That's wierd..." she said to herself, now on her way towards the middle of town. Continueing against the wind grew easier as Rarity soon became used to the resistance, the air around stale with the scent still as strong if not stronger.
As she reached the inner parts of the town, she took quick notice to the barriers placed on the doors of many buildings, most of the glass from windows of the residents broken and littered in the lifeless streets. Curiosity got the best of the mare as she decided to confront the reason behind this monstrosity against home decor, knocking on the door of a random building to ask why all the houses looked as though they were deserted. No answer. Rarity knocked again, this time giving her soon to he host or hostess a little more time to answer the door, knowing that they were probably busy doing something else. No answer.
"Hello?" the unicorn called, standing out in the rain as it continued to pour down upon her. There was no reply. Rarity tilted her head to the side, leaning over to peek through a broken window and see inside. After another minute or two of waiting, she decided that they must not be home. The rain was starting to come down with great force now, the wind howling as she fought her way towards Sugarcube Corner, every house and shop she passed having the same barriers with the exception of one or two not even having a door anymore. She wasn't scared. In fact, she was completely oblivious to all the signs, more curious and confused than anything.
"Where is everypony?" the violet maned pony asked herself, the stench stronger than ever. She used her hoof to cover her nose as she coughed. "And what is that awful smell?" Suddenly, she heard faint hoofsteps coming in the distance. The rain let up and the wind calmed a bit when she turned to see Ms. Cheerilee galloping straight towards her. "Ms. Cheerilee!" Rarity called. "Where in Equestria is everypony?" The school teacher stopped in front of the Element of Generosity , panting as she gathered her breath and thoughts to speak.
"The... infected... coming... after... have... to... run..." Rarity lifted her brow towards the teacher.
"Now calm down." she told the frantic and exhausted mare. "What infected? Run where?" Ms. Cheerilee shook her head, taking in a deep breath before she explained.
"The infected ponies that started ravaging ponyville about a day ago." Rarity's jaw dropped, a sudden realization of the severity this proposed. The school teacher continued. "I was sent out by my group to gather supplies. While I was gathering food from an underground storgage, the roof collapsed under the water pressure. I was barely able to escape, less said for the food, but when I stepped outside, there were three of those monsters waiting for me. I thought I was done for, until a soft colored pegasus swooped by and knocked herself into one of the three, giving me an opening to run." The unicorn was hanging upon every word while the mare carried on with her story.
"I tried to help the pegasus in return, but she had already been bitten..." Rarity held up a hoof to indicate her to stop.
"Who was it that saved you?" Cheerilee looked slightly perplexed by the question.
"I can't say I remember her name, but she was a soft yellow with a pink mane, her voice of that like a quiet angel. I believe her name was... Fluttershy, though I never really got to know her, she being so kept to herself and all..." The white unicorn stood before the teacher with her eyes wide open, the thought of her friend becoming what sounded like an abomination simply overwhelming to that of an already over-dramatic drama queen.
"Anyways..." she continued. "After she flew off in some direction, I myself ran from the remaining two. I galloped until I ran into you and... Well, you can guess the rest." As she finished, a sense of fear for her other friends filled Rarity.
"What about Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash! Are they alright?" Cheerilee shrugged.
"Can't say. Niether one of them were in my group when I left." The unicorn gazed upward towards the sky.
"You were telling the truth all along..." she said, thinking back to what Twilight had explained to her. A low grumble could was only just audible, the two standing in the middle of the streets both tensing up as they heard the noise.
"I think it best if we carry on towards the hospital. I hear that there's another stonghold there and they are working on a way to fix this." The unicorn looked at her in confusion.
"Why don't you head back to your group?" The growling from behind the teacher became a bit louder.
"That's why. C'mon, before they catch up to us." Cheerilee started galloping in the direction of the hospital, leaving Rarity in a state of shock.
"So, if what Twilight was telling me was true, then that means both Fluttershy AND Applejack have been infected..." She started to cry. "Applejack... Fluttershy..." Her light sobs were cut short by the increasingly loud growls and a yell from her new survival partner, Cheerilee. She snapped out of her trance and proceeded to follow the mare, giving no thought to return home and check on both her friend and her sister.
When the two reached the hospital, they were met with locked doors. Cheerilee started banging relentlessly on the glass-like doors while Rarity turned her attention back at the city below, completely lifeless and gloomed over by the dark clouds above. After a while of listening to her 'partner' slam her hooves on the doors, the two were finally able to gain entrance into the building through comfirmation that they had not been bitten. Upon entering however, they were still examined from head to hoof by Nurse Redheart, just in case.
"Sorry, but you can never be too careful..." the nurse started to explain.
"No trouble. We understand." The teacher answered for the both of them. The medical mare nudged her head to the side, the indication of which was commonly used to mean 'follow me'. As Nurse Redheart lead the two down the hall of the multi-story building, passing by many rooms containing within sick and injured.
"We've been having a major spill in of patients since the outbreak." the nurse started as she continued to show the ponies down the dim corridor. "Many of which were stallions and mares who were already bitten." When the reached the end of the hallway, the medical mare turned to face the two ponies. "You two can stay in exchange for a little help around here. Celestia knows we need it since the loss of the doctor..." The nurse glares off in a different direction, her voice trailing as she finished the sentence. Cheerilee lets out a faked cough as to regain the mares attention, which it works like a charm. "Oh... yes.. Well, do we have an understanding you two?"
Rarity stared at the nurse, the only thoughts going through her mind those of her remaining friends and their fates. Suddenly, she gasps, thinking back to Twilight and her dear sister Sweetie Bell. "I have to go!" the unicorn yells as she turns to head back for the front doors. Her advance is quickly stopped by that of the teacher right beside her.
"Whoa there, what's the rush?" Ms. Cheerilee asks, holding Rarity's shoulder with her foreleg. "We just got here."
"My sister! My friend! I have to know if they're alright!" The unicorn says as she brushes the hoof away, a small tear forming in her eye. Just before she gallops off however, the nurse says something that catches her attention.
"We send search parties out everyday to find loved ones of the ponies inside. It's part of the things you can do to help out, if that's what you would prefer..." The fahion pony only stood there, frozen in place as she considered her options.
"Alright..." she finally stated, turning back around with a single tear stream falling from her eye. The other two took a sense of pity upon the mare, Rarity and Cheerilee now being lead to their area of stay by the nurse. The three continue up the stairs of the medical facility, the power growing dimmer with each floor they climb.
"You two will be staying at the far end of this floor." Redheart states as they reach the third floor. "Food is on the first floor and there are maps on the walls if you get lost..." Bidding the kind mare goodnight along with a thanks, the two exhausted ponies head towards the end of the hall to find a few old sleeping bags laid out across the floor, one of which that was occupied already.
Rarity chose the most elegant looking bag, which so happened to just be a purple one, and began settleing herself in, her survival partner taking the fluffiest one she could find and wrapping herself as cozy as she could before she turned to a deep slumber. The unicorn gazed up at the ceiling, a few memories of her dear sister returning to her mind as she tried thinking of happier days. "Twilight won't let anyhting happen to little Sweetie Bell... I just know she won't..." she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, the dreams of better days taking her over.
When she awoke later on that day, the other sleeping bags were filled with other ponies, Nurse Redheart being in one right beside her. She looked towards where Cheerilee would be, but she was gone. With a bit of confusion, Rarity stood up and carefully eased herself by the group around her, trying her very best not to wake anypony. When she was clear of the small jumble, she started making her way towards the staircase. As she approached, she heard a soft whimper in the distance, echoing from below as it was just heard by her ears, the still pattering rain from outside making it slightly tougher to do so. The mare continued downward, moving from the third floor to the second, and then down to the first where the soft crying was strongest.
Rarity started walking down the long stretch, the sobbing growing louder with each step. As she came to the front of the hospital, the mare noticed the direction of the whimpers coming from behind the front desk. She looked over, seeing before her a broken Cheerilee huddled up in a ball, crying into her forehooves. She didn'y want to speak, to disrupt her, but for some reason, the words slipped out.
"Ms. Cheerilee...?" Rarity muttered. The instant the 'Ms' left her lips, the tearful mare nearly jumped out of her coat.
"Oh dear Celestia..." The teacher said with a frantic tone, clenching where her heart would be. "Rarity, I didn't notice you there... Please don't sneak up on me like that..." Cheerilee calmed herself as she regained her composure. "How can I help you?" The velvet maned mare looked at her survival friend with a sense of composure.
"I think the better question, my dear, would be how can I help you?" She gazed into the tear stained eyes of the broken teacher, a feeling of pitty enveloping her. Cheerilee seemed reluctant, but she took a deep breath before began to explain herself.
"I probably look a mess." she said before she got to the point. "It's just... well, it's about my friends... I don't know how they are either, just like you, but I also worry about the children..." She took one more breath. "I... I wasn't able to save Silver Spoon..." Cheerilee sort of choked a bit as she said it, her throat somewhat dry. "I had to watch those monster infect that poor filly... and I couldn't do anything..." The mare started weeping again. "I just couldn't..." Rarity felt the very pit of her heart sink as she listened, the feeling of watching a filly become one of those monsters surely a horrible experience.
"It's alright Cheerilee... it's not your fault..." The unicorn was taken by surprise as the teacher wrapped her hooves around her.
"Thank you Rarity... for listening... I needed that..." the mare shakily whispered, a few more tears rolling from her cheeks before she stood up. "Shall we return to our beds?" Rarity gazed deeply into the sorrowful eyes of a once cheerful teacher of children, and almost found herself crying as result. After taking a dry swallow, she faked a smile and nodded, following the mare before her back up to their sleeping quarters to rest up for their first search tomorrow...