?: So…what's this supposed to be?
nightelf37: I know that there's an MLP:FiM/L4D crossover called Left 4 Friendship out here, which is effectively like what this is going to be.
?: The Left 4 Dead intro but with the survivors replaced with four ponies?
nightelf37: Well, killing off two of the mane cast didn't settle well for me.
?: So you're gonna do it with all six?
nightelf37: Yeah. Pretty much. One part, that is. Anyway, this is just a crack fic, and I own nothing. Just the setting, and you.
Chronicle: Hey.
Friendship is Survival
It wasn't known what happened, but something had gone wrong with the high-tech domed city of Larousse. For some reason no one could remember, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were sent there to investigate the problem. Contact was lost with the city and the six couldn't get in touch with the Princess as Spike didn't go with them. In any case, anypony inside the city was on their own…
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Nighttime…
The streets were strewn with pure filth and the air was filled with it, which greatly disturbed the six surviving mares that traveled down them. Aside from themselves, the only other 'living' individuals in the area were sickly, rotting green ponies of all three races. These…Infected, as the ponies' benefactor called them…stumbled, groaned, and vomited all over the place as their higher brain functions continued to rot away along with the rest of their body. It was a morbid sight for the six mares who wandered and weren't like them, but at least they weren't being attacked. One certain pony in the group would've fainted and complained of all this mess, but two weeks have since forced her to tolerate it. One other pony would've been too paralyzed to be able to do anything, but time and friends have managed to toughen her up.
One by one, the 'survivors' peeked out of a corner and into an alley. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Twilight Sparkle. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. And Fluttershy. Thanks to their benefactor, they managed to obtain weapons that the city provided for the law enforcers that used to still be alive before…this. Guns. Of all kinds. While the triggers were somehow too small for hooves to work with (seemingly more suited for a limb with digits like a baby dragon's claw or even perhaps a griffon's talon), they were powered and modified with magic so that not only unicorns can use them, but pegasi and earth ponies too. Twilight had (what their benefactor called) an assault rifle, Applejack a shotgun, Rarity a sniper rifle, Rainbow and Pinkie a submachine gun each, and Fluttershy two pistols, all of them coming with flashlights strapped to their bottom frontsides.
They also obtained flashlights that hung on their necks and pointed forward as well as saddlebags for carrying useful items like medpacks for healing, various bombs, and consumable capsules that provide temporary invunerablility. However, so as to not be burdened by weight, they each carried only one medpack, one bomb, one bottle of capsules, and ammunition for their guns, the latter of which were currently placed in special holsters on their saddlebags. Thanks to some sort of magical modification in the saddlebags, all of their items can be moved around telekinetically by their owners, even if they're not a unicorn.
Clustered together, the six ponies walked out of the corner and down the alley, staying wary as advised by their benefactor, who is keeping in touch with magic cameras invisible to them. As they walked along, weapons on the ready, one of them noticed something.
"Hold up!", Twilight called as she raised a hoof.
Everypony paused as she then approached a dead Infected. It seemed to have been an obese pony, almost as big as Pinkie in that one instant when her body went wild just after Twilight decided to give up on figuring out how the Pinkie Sense works. There was a strange green fluid seeping out of it. Twilight picked it up with her telekinesis and 'raised' it to eye level.
"What do you make of this?", she asked no one in particular.
"Boomer bile.", a male tenor voice came from the invisible cameras that followed them. "If you get any on your coat from a live one, it'll bring up a horde and any nearby common Infected to attack you girls, primarily the one who was puked on."
"Eww!", commented Rarity. "What a disgusting way to bring up reinforcements!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash just rolled their eyes. Just then, she heard something and perked up her ears. "Wait…do you hear that?"
"I don't hear anyth—", Pinkie said before Fluttershy shoved her hoof into her mouth, the only way to shut her up at a time like this.
"I hear it too.", whispered Rainbow Dash.
"So do I.", agreed Applejack.
"To the right.", Twilight instructed.
Everypony turned there to see a closed metallic door. They could hear crying on the other side.
"Looks like we got another survivor.", said the benefactor.
"All right.", said Twilight. "Fluttershy and I will go see to the pony behind this door. The rest of you keep a lookout."
"W-why do I have to… O-okay…", Fluttershy sighed and she and Twilight turned on their flashlights.
Everyone else readied their weapons, 'taking' them out of the holsters holding them, with Rainbow hovering up a few feet so that she had a better view. Rarity, her horn glowing blue, 'took out' a special eyepiece attached to her sniper rifle and 'placed' it over her right eye. This eyepiece allowed her to look through the rifle's scope without needing to physically 'line it up' with her eye. Applejack simply 'lined up' her shotgun (which glowed in a green aura) so that it was in front of her.
"D-do we have to do this, Twilight?", Fluttershy muttered from her place next to the braver unicorn, whose horn glowed purple with the magic of self-defense. The guns they wielded were a tad too garish for her tastes or her abilities, but their benefactor insisted they all have one. In addition to their current weapons, Twilight, Rainbow, Appleack, Pinkie, and Rarity had an extra pistol just in case.
"Of course we do.", the benefactor answered for the unicorn. "There's strength in numbers and that's necessary for survival around here." Twilight 'opened' the door and and poked her head inside, flashlight and magic glow illuminating a good part of the floor, the tiles of which were cracked and strewn with blood, bile, and dirt. The crying got louder.
"H-hello?", Twilight called as she and Fluttershy scanned the area with their flashlights. "Is anybody in here?" As they scanned, they came across a hunched form in the corner of the large room, near a cracked and empty display case. Her eyes lit up red as they took a step closer. "Hello? Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, you don't have to cry—" Just then, there was a flash of lightning, which revealed the 'survivor' wasn't a survivor at all. Twilight quickly turned her flashlight away and did the same for Fluttershy's. "Lights off!", she quickly hissed.
"Good call.", whispered the benefactor as he and the two ponies saw through the dim light what it really was. It was a pale mare with a coat would have been white as snow were it not peppered with dirt and blood. Her platinum-blonde mane and tail were wavy, limp and useless, lying in disorganized strands hiding her face, which revealed her glowing eyes. Her front hooves were hideously misshapen, elongated, and seemed to bear claws longer than a griffon's, covered in a fresh coat of blood. The spot on her flank where her cutie mark should be was replaced by a large gash that rent the tattoed flesh from her body. "By Celestia, I should've known…"
"Just what is that?", asked Fluttershy, whimpering.
"A Witch. A very strong 'special' Infected.", replied the benefactor. "Don't shine your light on, stare too long at, explode things like a bomb or a Boomer near, or hit her with anything. If you do, she'll get startled, and she'll run right for you, knocking aside anypony else in her way. If she reaches you, she can incapacitate or even kill you, after which she will run off sobbing. Still, she isn't invincible, but she should be avoided if at all possible."
"W-what if she's in our path, like in an alley or a doorway?"
"…We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?"
Meanwhile, just outside, Pinkie and the others surveyed the small alley and scanned for threats. She was about to spout out a random subject when suddenly, they heard something.
"Ya hear that?", asked Applejack.
"Sure do.", answered Rainbow Dash as everyone turned on their weapons' flashlights. Just at the corner where they left, there was a fog that partly obscured what was ahead. From it, they could see silhouettes. They were faint, but they could definitely see one—No, two—No, seven—No, eighteen, —No, about sixty pony shadows charging their way.
"…Uh…oh…" Pinkie said under her breath, to which Dash replied with a quiet "yeah". While Applejack silently aimed her shotgun, Rarity made a loud gulp, then focused. With a quiet squeak, as the other three began to open fire on the incoming horde, Pinkie turned to the door ('carrying' her gun which glowed in a cyan aura) and shone her flashlight in to do a quick scan for her two friends. "We got company!" She then found them, now turned towards her with looks of pure horror on their faces, then saw the Witch, who now glared at her with sheer malice, claw-hooves ready for the attack. "Oh, sweet Ce—"
"Run for it!", Twilight commanded as she 'grabbed' a fear-stricken Fluttershy by the tail and dragged her out of the door. Just as the Witch began to run towards her, Pinkie quickly slammed the door and held it with her shoulder. Just then, after two pounds, the Witch's claw-hoof burst through the door and reached for Pinkie. The earth pony immediately screamed, stepped back, 'aimed' her submachine gun at the Witch, and fired away.
Meanwhile, the other three continued to shoot down the Infected ponies, clipping the wings of those who could still fly. Whenever any of them got close, which wasn't very often thanks to Rainbow Dash and Rarity (especially with the latter's insane ability to land headshots and take out more than one at a time with them), Applejack either bucked them or just 'whacked' them with her shotgun.
"How do you like that?", Pinkie screamed as she managed to kill the Witch and joined the others in holding off the horde.
"Stick together!", advised Applejack as she pumped shotgun shell after shotgun shell at the Infected.
"Ohmygoodnessohmygoodness—" Fluttershy was still spooked from the sight of the Witch and still hasn't recovered yet.
"Save it and get ready!", Twilight yelled as she joined in the fight, also using her unicorn magic to push the Infected back and into each other, making them easier targets for the rest.
Just then, she felt something long wrap around her body and disrupt her concentration. She was then lifted from the ground and she hung there, the thing that was wrapped around her body constricting her. Nopony was able to notice even as she exclaimed in surprise since their backs were turned to her and they were busy shooting down the horde.
"Smoker's got Twilight Sparkle!", called out the benefactor.
Rarity was the first to react and she turned around to see a long tongue wrapped around her friend. "Hold on, dear!", she cried out. She turned to look up and saw what was apparently the Smoker, which looked like one of those Diamond Dogs that ponynapped her a long time back, although it was also rotted out and grotesque like all the Infected ponies.
She aimed her sniper rifle at the Smoker, and fired one bullet to its head, taking it out in one shot as it burst in a cloud of green smoke. As Twilight dropped to the ground, a few Infected were headed their way from the other end of the alley. As Rarity helped Twilight to her feet, Fluttershy managed to recover from her spook and took out the Infected with one shot each from her pistols (which glowed in a sea blue aura), being surprisingly accurate with them.
"It's Winter Wrap Up day, fellas!", they heard Rainbow Dash cry out as the last of them were dealt with. The three ponies turned to see her, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie still gunning down the horde.
As Twilight retrieved her gun, which she had dropped when she was grabbed by that Smoker, Rarity 'took' out a piece of metal from her saddlebag, then activated it. "Chase this, you ruffians!", she yelled as she 'hurled' it right over the heads of Applejack and the others. The Infected all frantically swarmed for the beeping, blinking piece of enchanted metal (made so that not just a unicorn can throw it), pawing at it and trying to make it stop. Everypony turned away and clapped their hooves over their ears, the subsequent explosion from the pipe bomb almost deafening. After that, there were only a few straggling, wounded Infected left, which they took care of.
As everypony 'reloaded' their guns, there was a loud horn that sounded, and then a light surrounding the survivors for a moment before sweeping away from them. Pinkie looked up at the sky excitedly and spotted the source of the noise; a pegasus-pulled chariot swooping over the city in search of what she hoped were survivors.
"HEY!", she screamed at it, hopping after its rapidly disappearing shadow and flailing her forelegs.
"Don't run off on your own!", the benefactor warned, but she paid him no heed.
"We're over here!", she continued to cry out. "We're not Infected! Stop! Down heereee!" She ran out into the open street, still pursuing the vanished chariot for a good while before deciding it was hopeless and stopping. She sighed. In the street were a couple of carts, horse-drawn carriages, and behind her was a large wire fence that crossed the street and blocked it off from access, although pegasi can still fly over it.
"Dosh garnit! I coulda' sworn I got their attentio—" She was cut off by a loud, animalistic scream and a sudden pressure on her back, 'dropping' her gun in the process. She was then flipped over and relentlessly clawed and pecked at by what seemed to be an Infected griffon. Its claws and beak were sharper, its eyes were fierce and red, its body spotty and covered in blood, its wings torn and unusable for flight, and it somehow reminded her of one old friend of Rainbow Dash's, or at least it would have if that old friend had been pushed too far too many times.
"Hunter's got Pinkie Pie!", she managed to hear the benefactor call out.
"Hold on, sugarcube!", she then heard Applejack say as she tackled the apparently-called-Hunter off of Pinkie. The pink earth pony got up, 'took out' her spare pistol, and helped shoot down the Hunter until it eventually collapsed on top of a cart.
"Thanks, Applej—" Pinkie was cut off by a loud banging, whizzing and screeching from the cart the dead Hunter was on top of; small but frequent explosions of fireworks accompanying the ear-splitting sounds.
"Stupid cart-alarms!", cussed the benefactor. "Why do they even exist here in the first place? Pinkie, this is what happens if you run off on your own! A Hunter can pounce you, a Smoker can snag you, and all other kinds of horrible stuff. Teamwork is VITAL."
As their pegasus and unicorn companions joined their earth pony friends, Twilight's eyes widened with worry. "Uh oh. This is gonna get bad.", she groaned darkly as Pinkie 'holstered' her pistol and 'retrieved' her submachine gun.
Then came a loud, collective screaming noise coming from down the asphalt street they were on. From the shadows of left-on shop lights and their own flashlights, they could see tens upon hundreds of Infected ponies streaming towards them and the source of the noise (ether galloping down the street or somehow scaling the fence), and everypony's eyes consecutively grew to the size of dinner plates. The six survivors huddled close together, weapons drawn. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet above their friends so that they could shoot down the enemy without their friends being in the way.
Suddenly, a roar unlike anything they had ever heard erupted from the very back lines of the incoming horde. A carriage flew into the air, rolled along the Infected and crushing them, and crashed at the fence behind the survivors, smashing it and other Infected, thankfully thinning their numbers.
The oncoming beast was…a manticore? It was infected, more grotesque, much scarier, and somehow significantly smaller than its ordinary counterpart. What was one doing in the city, anyway? Twilight then remembered that the benefactor suspected there was a necromancer—an actual "evil enchantress", he grimly joked—behind the infection that turned the ponies save for her and her friends. Along with that, the necromancer is able to summon 'special' Infected all over the place, although s/he's sadistic/merciful enough to not simply spawn an Infected manticore (which the benefactor called a Tank) right above them and end it right then and there.
The Tank's now obscenely muscled arms grabbed and threw anything in its path—carts, carriages, and Infected alike—as well as carrying it towards the survivors faster than it's now scrawny legs ever could take it. It screamed and roared at them, and fear overtook all of the ponies for a moment.
"F-flee or fire?", Pinkie Pie asked quietly, slowly backing up with the others as they began to regain control of their bodies. "FLEE OR FIRE?", she asked again when she received no answer.
"What?", Twilight shook her head vigorously, regaining her senses.
"Do we run, or do we shoot?", Applejack translated.
"Both!" And they did just that, with Twilight also 'hurling' a nearby carriage to the Tank, who merely punched through it. The six survivors fired wildly at their massive target that closed in on them quicker and quicker. They fled and fired, fled and fired, fled and fired, looking around for a way out as they retreated into another alley. As they did, Pinkie spotted a fire escape clinging to one of the buildings they were next to.
"Get to the roof!", she screamed as she 'pointed' her gun at it. They all darted to the building, Rainbow Dash and Applejack hanging behind and aiming at the corner they knew the Tank was going to round in a few moments.
"Go! Go! Go!", the orange earth pony cried out.
Meanwhile, Twilight covered the other side as Rarity was the first to scale the ladder. Pinkie Pie continued to support her for a few seconds, then shortly followed. Fluttershy was already at the top, covering them from above.
"Come on, come on!", said Rainbow Dash as she aimed her submachine gun (which glowed in a magenta aura).
As soon as the Tank rounded the corner, she and Applejack unleashed magazine after magazine and round after round on that thing, but it just wouldn't die. Just then, the Tank picked up one of the Infected ponies and slammed it right into Applejack, sending it and her to a wall. It was about to do the same to Rainbow when Twilight stepped in and forced it back with magic, pouring her submachine gun's bullets into the thing's body.
The Tank then switched its target to her and she moved away as it slammed its paws into a neighboring building, making a hole in the brick wall as Rainbow Dash picked up Applejack (the Infected hurled at her was already dead) and set her on the fire escape. She then resumed shooting at the Tank, supported by Pinkie and the others. The Tank then grabbed a chunk of the brick wall and hurled it at the fire escape. It missed the survivors and failed to do much damage. As Twilight moved to the ladder, an Infected pony went up to her face, only to have its head shot off. She looked up to see Rarity at the top with Fluttershy, both of them staving off the Infected.
"Hurry, dear!", the white unicorn yelled.
"We'll hold them off!", the yellow pegasus screamed in a rare moment of bravery as they bought time for their friends to make it to the top. Pinkie Pie and Applejack have made it to the top and were already resting, while Rainbow Dash helped hold off the Infected, the Tank in particular. Speaking of which, it then began to jump onto the fire escape after Twilight, its wings now useless from the infection. It then continued to climb as Twilight joined the rest on the roof. Fluttershy retreated to the roof as well, knowing her wings could suddenly lock up on her at any moment.
Just as Rarity proceeded to get off the fire escape as well, the Tank suddenly grabbed it and she lost balance, almost 'losing' her 'grip' on her sniper rifle. As the Tank continued to climb, the white unicorn 'hurled' her weapon and eyepiece to the roof with the others just before the fire escape broke free from the building, then jumped off too as the Tank fell. However, she wasn't able to reach the roof and she screamed for help. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash was there to grab her in time, grabbing her by the body with both hooves and pulling her to safety with the others. Then, everything was quiet, save for their heaving breaths of relief and exhaustion as they 'picked up' their weapons, 'reloaded' them, and 'put them back' into their holsters.
Pinkie was the first to speak, as always, her smile large and bright despite her obvious wounds and fatigue. "We made it! I can't believe we made it!", she announced happily, falling onto her back for a bit of relaxation.
"Pinkie…we just crossed the street." Twilight mumbled in a grim tone, her eyes glancing down at the streets below them. "And promise me one thing."
"What?"
"No partying until we're out of this place." Pinkie pouted at Twilight but didn't say anything, observing the night sky and catching her breath some more. Out of the city…how would they be able to do that?
"Don't worry, girls.", assured the benefactor. "I'll do everything I can to get you girls out of here."
"Just where are you?", Rarity wanted to know.
"Don't worry about me. You all know I'm not going down that easy. You just focus on staying alive. I know you can do this. Believe you can, and you will."
Just then, the six survivors heard a loud voice in the air. They then saw a pegasus-pulled chariot fly across the sky. It flew at a rate slower than the one Pinkie spotted, and they all saw that the chariot was technologically modified and large enough for all of them to ride on.
"To anyone who can hear this, proceed to Mercyheart Hospital for evacuation!", the voice came from someone in the chariot. "I repeat, proceed to Mercyheart Hospital for evacuation!"
"Looks like you got yourselves a ride.", remarked the benefactor as the chariot made its way to a tall building. From the neon sign, everypony could tell that it was Mercyheart Hospital. "We all better get some rest before we go." There was a moment of silence as the six survivors stood dumbfounded. "Hey. It's not smooth sailing either where I am. Now give yourselves a break. One of you should be on lookout duty, just in case. And remember to take shifts."
"You don't have to babysit us like that, you know.", retorted Rainbow Dash.
"Sorry, girls. It's just that I don't feel that any of you—not even you, Dash—are cut out for this sort of thing. Of course, time will eventually fix that up. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not with you girls."
"Now why would you say such a thing?", gasped Pinkie Pie.
"I'd probably take it up to myself to protect you all while keeping you at the sidelines. While I know we've learnt a lesson that advises against that, I might not be able to help it and end up getting myself, some of, or one of you killed before I come to my senses. Anyways, you should get some R&R until I get back or an hour or two has passed. And by R&R I mean rest and recuperation. Over and out."
"Wait!", Twilight called. But there was no response from the benefactor. After a third of a minute of silence, she sighed and turned to her friends. "Well, we better do as he says."
"Yeah.", Applejack agreed. "We all deserve some rest after what we've just been through."
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
"You didn't tell them everything, did you?", a deep ominous voice came.
"No need to make them more worried than they should.", said a tenor voice…the benefactor.
The ominous voice came from a sinister-looking white unicorn with red eyes, a short black mane and tail, and wore a fancy blue suit (which obviously concealed his cutie mark). He went by the name "The Director".
The benefactor was a blue unicorn with brown eyes, a yellow-and-orange mane and tail, black markings on his hooves, and an orange circle with an open book inside it as his cutie mark. His name was Chronicle.
He and the Director stood in opposite ends of the room. The Director sat near a lot of monitors, computers, and all other kinds of tech. Chronicle had only a screen conjured by magic which showed what Twilight and company his friends were doing through the invisible cameras that followed them. Normally. In between them were a lot of—what the Director called—stasis pods. Six of them contained his friends, all of them thinking that they were in the city in a necromancer-driven zombie apocalypse. As for how Chronicle's cameras saw what they thought they were seeing, he had modified them so that they could look into the 'simuation' their minds were in.
"You know I'm not gonna let you get away with this.", said Chronicle.
"Like you have a chance of beating me?", snickered the Director. "I know you won't leave your 'friends' behind."
"Don't you talk about them like they aren't!"
The Director just made a sinister chuckle. "Well, let's see how long this 'friendship' will keep them alive…"
It was Chronicle's turn to chuckle. "Do you really think that they're just six ordinary ponies, huh?"
The Director paused and they stared into each other's eyes. After a few seconds, he then widened his as if having a slight breakdown. "…Oh, I see. They're the keepers of the Elements of Harmony, aren't they? Whoa. Didn't think I'd catch them in this sort of trap." He then seemed to make a smile. "Hmm…"
"Just what are you thinking of?" Chronicle looked real ticked off right now.
"Well, I think I'll go easy on them, but not THAT easy."
"What are you up to, Director?"
"What I'm up to is that I'm not gonna play them just for fun, but to put them to the test."
"What test?"
"A test to see how strong their friendship is, as well as their teamwork."
"Like I'm gonna believe that? I'll only believe it if there's proof that what Discord did to my friends was all a test to ready them for a threat that even worse than he is. And I seriously doubt there is. And as for Nightmare Moon, I just think it's Princess Luna fighting from the inside."
"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter. Whether you believe me or not, I'm now going to do this for their own good, even though you're not gonna thank me for it." The Director then gave another evil smirk. "It's just for them, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you really think that your friends are the only ones I've trapped?" The Director then went to the computers and pushed some buttons. The stasis pods moved around, although the ones containing the keepers of the Elements of Harmony remained in Chronicle's sights. Eventually, they stopped, and the blue unicorn could now see four other ponies. His heart nearly skipped a beat.
"Derpy Hooves! Golden Harvest! Heartstrings! Bon Bon!", Chronicle gasped their names.
"Oh, so you seem to know these ponies.", snickered the Director. "Would you like me to show you how they are doing in the 'apocalypse'?"
"I have a feeling you're gonna show me anyway." Chronicle was right as the Director 'handed' him a portable monitor not unlike the magical screen he manifests to observe his friends. Chronicle looked at the screen and watched what was going on.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
In a totally different part of the city, early sunrise…
Four ponies walked down an empty street. They were in a different sector of Larousse; a fairly remote one and not a commercial area, not the same area Chronicle's friends were. The surrounding buidings were shorter and these survivors trotted past a motel. Like Twilight Sparkle and company, they wore (currently off) flashlights around ther necks and saddlebags for holding medpacks, capsule bottles, bombs, ammunition, and other necessary stuff. However, none of them possessed guns. Golden Harvest (henceforth Carrot Top) and Derpy Hooves had a baseball bat each (both held in their mouths), Bon Bon a fire axe (also in her mouth), and Heartstrings (henceforth Lyra) a golf club that floated to her side in a golden aura with unicorn magic.
They eventually make it to a boarded up wooden backdoor to a convenience store. Carrot Top peered through the cracks and saw a red, heavily armored metal door ahead leading to—what the Director called—a Safe room. She then turned her back to the door, then bucked it with all her might, breaking it down. She and the other survivors walked in, and went to the Safe room. Lyra opened the door with her magic, the four of them stepped in, then Bon Bon closed the door.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
As the others located weapons (not unlike the ones Twilight and co. possess) and did other stuff, Carrot Top was slowly reading off a "CEDA Safety Checklist" poster she tore off from the wall and placed on a table.
"Report unusual behavior…" Nearby, Lyra was checking a cash register. She pushed one if its buttons with her hoof. As it opened, she made a small smirk upon seeing the bits left behind, then looked to her left and right with suspicion.
"Barricade your homes…" In another part of the room, Derpy opened a cabinet that held the magic-modified guns they needed. Her expression of bewilderment changed into a devilish smile as her usually derp-eyes temporarily assumed normal positions.
"Avoid all contact with infected individuals…" Bon Bon lay a map of Larousse on another table and was studying it. Derpy, 'holding' what Chronicle would call a combat shotgun, placed a pistol on the map. Bon Bon gave a faint smile of gratitude to the pegasus, then pushed the gun aside as she continued to read the map.
Carrot Top now had a bottle of sarsaparilla next to the poster she was reading on the table. "Wait for official instructions." She tossed the paper away. "Heh, like that's gonna happen!" She then slurped her sarsaparilla with a straw.
Meanwhile, Derpy was fully loaded. She packed a pipe bomb (the beeping piece of metal Rarity used), a medpack, a "grenade launcher", and a sniper rifle, the latter two of which she then 'passed' to her friends. "I say we kill all sons o' b****es.", she declared as she racked her shotgun. "I may not be an official, but—"
"Say no more.", said Carrot Top as she found a "chrome shotgun" and 'took' it for herself.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Shortly after, not only everypony obtained guns, they also found a couple of special doohickeys that looked useful. Thanks to a slight incident in the Safe room Derpy caused, they discovered that these doohickeys can attach themselves to any object and allow earth ponies and pegasi to levitate them just like unicorns do.
Once they were ready, Lyra unlocked the Safe Room door on the other side of the store, which then opened to a morning street sparsely filled with regular Infected ponies. They began to open fire on them, Derpy and Carrot Top with their shotguns, and Lyra with a pistol. Bon Bon, on the other hoof, 'swung' a fire axe.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Later in another part of the city, Carrot Top bucked an Infected pony to the face, taking it down. As Bon Bon 'brought' her axe down into the face of another one, Carrot Top walked up to the one she downed and beat its face with the stock of her shotgun, which glowed in a green aura.
"I could swear this used to be a nice neighborhood!", she cried out as she did that.
A short distance away on a road with abandoned carriages, Derpy and Lyra were running from a different kind of special Infected that the Director called a Jockey. Were Rarity here, she would've noted that they looked like one of the smaller Diamond Dogs, although of course it would be more grotesque thanks to the infection. The Jockey was hopping across the carriages and pounced on Derpy, slamming her into the side of a carriage, then pulling at her neck and forcing her to rear up.
"Damn!", Lyra cussed as she turned around, 'aimed' her pistol at the Jockey, and shot.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Later…
In yet another part of the city, the four survivors were in a forest, where they could see a few crashed pegasus-driven chariots. They could also see a trio of mud-covered ponies, who happened to be Infected as well.
"What the hay was that?", Bon Bon asked. Just then, the "Mud Ponies" noticed them and charged.
"Hey watch out!", gasped Derpy.
They managed to take down the Mud Ponies and were now hiding behind a fallen tree. Bon Bon hushed Derpy as another kind of special Infected emerged fom the other side. It was a dark gold unicorn mare with a chestnut brown mane tied in pigtails, eyes a sickly green, and her flank gashed so that her cutie mark was no longer visible. Her mouth was open, her lower jaw seemingly eroded as it dripped with some kind of green corrosive fluid, and her neck was longer than normal. The Director called it a Spitter.
"Looks like we got ourselves in some deep horses***…", the earth pony muttered.
Just then, the Spitter ejected a ball of corrosive acid through its mouth at the other side of the tree. The four survivors quickly skedaddled as the acid burnt at their coats. Fourtunately, it quickly faded and wasn't that corrosive.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
In yet another part of the city, in a district called Ducatel, the four survivors were falling back down an asphalt street.
"Get back! Get back!", Bon Bon cried out at the Infected as she gunned them down with a submachine gun, which glowed in a cyan aura. Carrot Top was with her, firing at the oncoming horde with her shotgun as Derpy helped Lyra to her feet and carried her. After a while, she and Bon Bon fled with the other two.
Eventually, they found a evacuation station. Unfortunately, it was at the top of a building, and the four began to scale the stairwell, with Derpy flying ahead to notify the evacuators.
"Who the hay…puts an evac station…up twenty-five flights of stairs?", Bon Bon complained as she stopped to rest, Carrot Top passing her by.
"Come on, Bon Bon…", said Lyra, who was a few steps ahead, a hoof on the railing for support as she climbed the stairs on her hind hooves. "Maybe the chariot…maybe it has some muffins there."
She let out a chuckle as Bon Bon scowled at her and said, "You should be telling Derpy that."
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
However…
Once Derpy's friends made it to the top, it was deserted, save for Derpy herself, who was calling out to no one in particular. The only worthwile objects on the rooftop were a flare, a few chairs, some cushions, and a table with more weapons.
"Hey, where is everypony?", she was yelling. "Helloooo!"
In the sky, they could see four chariots flying away in the distance. Bon Bon had a slight breakdown and muttered, "Okay, this is not happening…"
"Anyone here?" Derpy continued to call as Carrot Top and Lyra looked out into the distance.
"…This is not happening. This is not happening."
"Aren't they supposed to be saving our flanks?", Carrot Top complained.
"Apparently…there's been a change of plans.", answered Lyra.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
As the four survivors continued to find someone to take them to safety, they saw a few fast-flying pegasi clad in black-and-green uniforms zip by. Then, there were explosions on the ground they passed by. Immediately, Lyra looked back at one time she went to the Books and Branches Library back in Ponyville to borrow a book. While searching, she found an interesting book covering something about scroll-sealed spell in bottles that activated when the bottles broke, a bit like the bombs they're using right now. Before she was able to look in further, Twilight Sparkle took the book away, telling her that it wasn't meant for ordinary citizens like her to read. And now she knew why.
They were currently on a suspension bridge, which was also being 'bombed'. Lyra quickly used her magic to manifest a beacon of light that shot upwards to the sky. Bon Bon used a radio they found and realized gave them contact to the ones in charge of the 'bombers'.
"Stop the bombing run!", she screamed as parts of the bridge began to collapse.
"Hold on a sec!", the voice on the other end gasped. "That's coming from the bridge!"
As Carrot Top caught up, having fallen behind, she was suddenly thrown into the side of a carriage from an explosion from one of the bombs. As Derpy came over to help her up, they then heard Lyra cry out, "Dammit!"
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Sometime after, not knowing how they got there…
In a burning shack, Derpy is pushed through one of the wooden pillars and into the ground. She was being attacked by a speical Infected called a Charger. It was a burly Diamond Dog with its right foreleg swollen into a lump with stubby fingers while its left foreleg was now useless, small, and flapped in the wind as it charged. Among its hindlegs, only the left one was slightly swollen while the right remained more-or-less normal.
The Charger roared, bursting through the wood after Derpy, and picked her up with its giant foreleg.
"It's got me!", she yelled and grunted as the Charger began to pound her on the ground to death.
Close by, as Carrot Top attacked the Charger that was attacking Derpy, Lyra was climbing scaffolding of some kind that led to the general area where the burning shack was. Just as she slipped and fell, she managed to grab a baseball bat Bon Bon 'reached out' for her to hold.
"Hang on!", the earth pony said as she struggled to 'pull' her friend up with her doohickey-attached weapon, and managed to get her to solid ground as the area below was engulfed with fire. Below, they could see two Infected ponies in hazmat suits walk through the flames, the rest being burnt by the fire.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
Later…
The Survivors ran down a hallway of a large building called a mall. As they ran to an elevator, Derpy tackled an Infected pony in metallic armor (but not like the ones worn by the royal guards of Canterlot) with her butt, then kicked off of it, spin-dodging an Infected that almost snagged her by her saddlebag's holster holding the sniper rifle. Just as she made it to the elevator, a Smoker jumped in a distance away and lashed out its tongue to grab the pegasus.
"Aaahhh!", Derpy gasped. "What the hay—Ooowww!" Two common Infected then came to keep the doors open and attempt to grab Derpy, who was being grabbed onto by Carrot Top while Lyra 'picked up' a Ponyson V16B chainsaw.
"Damn you!", she yelled as she revved it up and brought it down on the Infected. "Eat this!" The chainsaw mutilated them and severed the Smoker's tongue as the elevator door then closed.
As everypony got a breather, Derpy collapsed on the floor and removed the part of the Smoker's tongue still wrapped around her. As she looked though the window of the elevator, her expression of disgust turned to shock as she saw a swarm of Infected anticipating them at the ground floor, supplemented by a few Boomers.
"Oh, sweet Celestia…", Derpy complained as she then closed her eyes in despair. She then felt Carrot Top nudge her head to her right. Derpy turned to her friend, then turned to the left as Bon Bon 'gave' her a a grenade launcher.
"Hey. 'Kill all sons o' b****es', right?", she reminded the pegasus, who sheepishly nodded, grinning at her given weapon. As Derpy then 'gave' her sniper rifle to Carrot Top, Lyra began to think back as the elevator's floor count changed from "5" to "4".
Back at a carnival, the four of them had found a stage where a rock band was supposed to play. They had turned on the prepared items to make some noise and attract the rescue chariots. As they fought off the Infected that arrived as well, while Lyra 'beaned' one in the head with a guitar, Carrot Top tossed a casing of flammable liquid at the infected.
"Yeah!", she whooped as Derpy then shot it with a "combat rifle", blowing it up.
"I have not…", Lyra stated in the present as the floor count changed from "4" to "3", thinking back once more.
At the porch of a mansion, Bon Bon prepped and fired a heavy machine gun from the porch of a mansion as they held out for an oncoming rescue vehicle.
"…come this far…" The floor count changed from "3" to "2".
The survivors fought a Tank on the suspension bridge. As Lyra reloaded a submachine gun, the Tank threw a slab of concrete in the air and, as Carrot Top dodged it, charged at Derpy, who fired from a grenade launcher, knocking it back. Bon Bon then came in from the side and shot the Tank with two pistols.
"…to die now." The floor count changed from "2" to "G" as the elevator stopped. As its doors opened up, Carrot Top 'revved up' the chainsaw Lyra used, who now 'held' a fire axe, Bon Bon had the combat rifle, and Derpy got ready to use her newly-given grenade launcher, which began to glow in a yellow aura. The Infected then charged at the four, who charged as well with their weapons.
FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS—FiS
As the monitor Chronicle was given turned itself off just after showing a title, he then set it on the floor and turned back to the Director. There was a minute of silence before he finally spoke up.
"You…are…a sicker bastard than I thought you'd be!", he managed to say. "You showed me a video of four other ponies I know, and you make it look like a trailer for a motion picture?"
"Why? Too sappy? Too confusing?"
"No. The fact you even made this at all has got me more riled up to see you brought down!" And I can't believe their mouths are dirtier than those of my friends…
"Well, perhaps this will alleviate yor thoughts of me a bit." The Director then 'passed' Chronicle another screen.
"What's this?", the blue unicorn asked.
"Now you can 'play' mission control with these four." Chronicle just glared at the white unicorn, in which he then, for some reason, felt that there must be something wrong with the Director's past. "Again, whether you trust me or not is your choice, though."
"Hmm… Gee, thanks." Just then, he had an idea, then shook it off. No, why am I even thinking that? He has done a very atrocious act that— Oh, wait. I shouldn't be thinking like this. No one's beyond redemption, only Discord. Maybe I can 'turn' him. If I can do that, getting my friends out of his trap can be easier. Not to mention… "Perhaps I should teach you something that cannot be perfectly analyzed… Something that cannot be read from texts and pictures… Something that needs to be expreienced firsthoof to completely understand… Although you'll have to settle with me telling you my personal experiences of it."
"What is this something you wish to teach me?", the Director asked, not at all curious.
"The very quality that binds together the ponies you have trapped and I am 'playing' mission control with. One of many factors that built society as we know it. The very power that purified Princess Luna of Nightmare Moon and resealed Discord."
"The magic of friendship?", guessed the white unicorn boredly.
"Yes! And I'm gonna free my friends while teaching you!" Don't expect me to start with anything you can exploit though.
"I would love to see you try." The two unicorns made smug grins and narrowed their eyes to each other.
And so the battles begin… One where The Mane Six try and 'survive' a 'necromacer-driven zombie apocalypse' (Left 4 Dead). One where four popular background ponies try and survive the same thing (Left 4 Dead 2). And one between the ponyfication of a technically-not-a-character who is the mastermind behind all this and an original character who serves as a SI, non-Mary Sue friend (The Director v.s. an OC). Will friendship prevail over borderline 'godlike' evil? We'll see…not.
Chronicle: Seriously? "Mercyheart Hospital"?
nightelf37: Well, I thought I'd make a small reference to Ponyville's resident nurses.
Chronicle: Nurses Redheart and Tenderheart?
nightelf37: …Yeah.
Chronicle: And you put a bad-flank like me into mission control?
nightelf37: I think I already gave an explanation. See ya on Third!
Chronicle: But this is a one-shot.
nightelf37 (in an unusually deep voice): Oopsie.
Chronicle: Please don't do that. As much as I liked the "Flutterguy" voice, I don't want it coming from you.
nightelf37: Okay. Sorry.