Doc and Alan, along with the rest of the CDC employees, took shelter inside the building. The Shamblers restrained inside the building now moaned and neighed wildly. Doc heard a buzzing on the radio, and he answered it. "This is Doc! What is it, Spike!?" Doc asked desperately.
"Just got word from Twilight; there's no saving the Shamblers. Euthanize them, and kill the Runners," Spike called from the radio.
"Got it!" Doc said, shutting off the radio. "Listen up! I have received word from the princess! Euthanize all test subjects, except for TS #80NU5! Repeat, euthanize all test subjects except TS #80NU5!"
The workers, upon hearing this, all reached for lockers marked "Ethical Extermination Devices" and each pulled out shotguns. They loaded them, and the CDC workers approached each Shambler restrained, stuck a barrel to their heads, and blasted their brains out. Many shots rang through the facility, and Doc headed to the room Fluttershy was in, labeled TS #80NU5. He locked the door, and he stood guard by the door. "Fluttershy, you'll be safe here," Doc said.
"Doc, what's going on? Why are there a lot of noises outside?" Fluttershy asked shyly, fear in her voice.
"Nothing. Just ignore it, and it'll go away," he reassured her.
Alan was amongst the crowd of workers, and stood shocked that the once pristine walls of the CDC were now splattered with blood and brain matter. slowly dripping down the walls and ceilings. The CDC workers reloaded their weapons, and stood by the entrance to the facility, which now had many Runners banging on the doors, eyes glowing crimson. They aimed their weapons at the doors, and waited. Alan went to the room Doc was in, and he saw Doc turn to him. "How's the situation outside?" Doc asked.
"Not good! Runners are at the entrance, and they might break in soon!" Alan panicked.
"OK… I'll head out there. Alan, stay here. The door's going to be locked, so you'll be safe here. I'll be back," Doc said. Alan nodded as Doc exited the room and sealed the door shut with a lock.
Doc then ordered the CDC workers to ignore the entrance, and head into the basement. They complied, and he led them all into the basement. Inside the basement was an emergency exit outside of Canterlot, should the situation ever get so serious as to evacuate. He ordered the CDC workers to guard the basement area while he went back into the facility to gather Alan and Fluttershy.
He reentered the facility, and approached the room where the two ponies were. He unlocked the door, and entered. Alan approached him. "What's going on? What do we do?" Alan asked.
"We leave through the basement. Follow me, and stay close," Doc advised. He went to the restraints that held Fluttershy, and released her. She stood up slowly, and began to growl deeply, her eyes beginning to turn red as she did. Doc handed her an energy bar of some sort. She took it and ate it noisily, wrapper and all, curing her hunger. Doc then went to the locker inside the room, and pulled out two more shotguns. He handed one to Alan, and held the other one with his magic, dual-wielding a pair of shotguns.
He opened the door to the outer halls, and turned to the entrance. It seemed to crack a bit, and Doc knew there wasn't much time. He led the two ponies towards the basement, and just as he did he heard a loud crashing noise. He turned around, and noticed the Runners had broken through, and were now charging towards them. He quickly led the two into the basement, and locked the door behind him. The CDC workers turned towards him, and they pointed their weapons at Fluttershy. "NO! You have orders not to fire on her!" They lowered their weapons, and led the three to the exit. "Alan, start heading to the exit. Bonbon!" he called out as one of the workers headed towards him. She removed her mask, revealing a white earth pony with a dark blue and pink mane. "Protect him, and go through the exit."
"Got it!" she answered, and she started heading towards the exit with Alan. Alan turned back to Doc.
"Doc, what are you doing?" Alan asked.
"The other workers and I will try to eliminate as many Runners as we can before we fall back. Then we set the facility to self-destruct, and we flee. You need to get out of here first, so that you're guaranteed safety from the blast radius," Doc explained. Alan nodded sadly, and he followed Bonbon through the underground exit.
Doc then turned back to the sealed doors to the facility, and raised his guns with his magic, aiming to the doors. "Fluttershy, stay back!" he said. She nodded, and headed near the underground exit. The other CDC workers raised their weapons to the doors of the facility as well, and readied themselves. They all heard loud banging, and it stopped for a bit. Doc wondered what happened, and he listened closely. He then heard a loud popping noise, followed by air horns and party maker sounds. The door then burst open, and the Runners surged forward.
"Party cannon… always works!" Pinkamena said from the back of the crowd. She held back while the Runners surged forward, and the CDC workers fired into the large crowd. Many Runners fell over, but the waves continued. Some of the Runners got to the workers closest to them, and began biting them. The rest of the force of CDC scientists fired upon all of the Runners, while those who were bitten turned their shotguns on themselves and, not wanting to risk any further spread of the contagion, fired it into their heads, splattering more blood and gore in the basement.
Doc viewed the horrendous scene, and angrily fired both shells of one of his guns into the crowd, and as he reloaded that gun, he fired his other into the crowd. The Runners fell one by one, and Pinkamena's onslaught was beginning to fail. She then saw that she and three Runners were left, and they stood back from the wide open doors. She plotted a way to somehow get down into the basement without getting blasted. She turned to the Barrier, and announced, "Blasted… that's it! Brilliant!" she said triumphantly, rubbing her hooves together while sneering cleverly.
She headed back into the facility, grabbed some containers, balanced them on her nose, and brought them to the party cannon while the Runners looked on in fascination.
The CDC workers who remained and fired all their shots reloaded, while those who still had shells to fire aimed at the doors. Doc waited down near the exit, waiting for anything from the horde.
Pinkamena and two other Runners then dragged her party cannon forward, and she ordered them using hoof gestures and some growling to advise the Runners to pick up the corpses of their fallen. They did so, and brought them forward to Pinkamena. Without hesitation, she created some sort of tornado using herself around the cannon that collected the corpses, which blurred the view inside from the Runners. She then suddenly stopped, and the cannon was now crudely fixed with the corpses of some fallen Runners as meat shields, tied to the front of the cannon. "What can't I do?" she asked aloud happily to herself. She and the other Runners brought the cannon forward to the basement entrance, and waited to see how effective the shield would be.
The CDC workers fired their weapons at the makeshift shield, but to no avail, as the corpses where scattered with buckshot and damaged heavily rather than the Runners. Pinkamena smiled, and then loaded her cannon from the back with the chemicals she obtained from the facility. She then wrapped the chemicals with some intestines from the dead Runners, and stuffed the bloody, makeshift ammo into the cannon. "Bombs away!"she yelled as she fired the cannon, and the ammo she had inserted exploded wildly when it crashed into the basement wall, scorching much of the remaining workers down in the basement area. Pinkamena smiled widely as she heard the agonizing cries of pain from down below, knowing the workers were dying slowly and painfully.
Doc, Fluttershy, and the last remaining CDC worker left knew that they had to evacuate, and Doc led them both into the underground exit. He turned to Fluttershy, and held her closely. "Fluttershy, follow Colgate through the exit. I'm going to set the facility to self-destruct, and then I'll be back... I promise," Doc said sadly. She nodded, and followed Colgate through the exit.
Doc turned back to the basement, loaded his guns with two shells each, and went to a console near the exit. He pushed a few buttons, and a timer counting down for five minutes was set. He confirmed the order, and the timer began counting down. He saw the three Runners and Pinkamena heading down the steps into the basement, and Doc aimed his weapons. He fired the two shells from one of his guns, and took down two Runners with headshots. He raised his other gun, and fired one shell into the last Runner head's, exploding it violently. He aimed at Pinkamena, but she hopped, skipped, and jumped quickly, dodging the last shell.
She picked up the scorched corpse of one of the CDC workers, and tossed it at Doc. It landed on Doc, and he dropped his gun near the console. She laughed dementedly, and approached Doc slowly. "Have I ever told you the definition… of insanity!?" Pinkamena asked crazily. Doc struggled to get free, but when Pinkamena placed her hoof over the corpse that trapped Doc, he couldn't move. As he looked up, she took a bite out of the corpse on top of him, ripping a chunk out of the foreleg, revealing only scorched flesh and bone. "Ah… I love a good barbecue, especially when I do the cooking! Have you ever tried my secret recipe?" she asked casually.
He wondered why she was doing this. "Pinkie Pie, why? You know we can find a cure!" Doc exclaimed.
"It's Pinkamena…" she said as she pulled out a knife from her back. She then pierced it into Doc's shoulder, and he yelled out in agony. "It always has been… and don't you forget! Besides, forget a cure… this… this… food… it tastes so amazing! I've never even had cupcakes that tasted this good! Look around the room! I got a whole lot of grilled pony here!" Doc did so, and he saw the scorched corpses of the CDC workers, the intestines and blood splattered widely from the impact point of the cannon's projectile, and the many decapitated and blood soaked corpses of the Runners.
"You have a sick sense of joy, Pinkie Pie," Doc said, wincing in pain from his knife wound.
"Yeah, I do!" She pulled out the knife from Doc's shoulder, and raised it near his cranium. "Any last words before that luscious, delicious brain becomes part of a nutritious breakfast, Doc?" Pinkamena asked.
Doc closed his eyes slowly, and said, "Make it quick and clean, please."
"With pleasure!" a calm voice said behind Doc. Pinkamena looked up, and saw Fluttershy run towards Pinkamena. She tackled Pinkamena hard, sending her back a few feet and freeing Doc. Doc reacted quickly, and retrieved the shotgun he dropped on the ground using his magic. He then ran over to Fluttershy, who was being overpowered by Pinkamena. He used a powerful kick to send Pinkamena flying, quickly loaded a shell into his gun, and took aim at her. "Pinkie… this is your last chance! I don't want to do this!" he yelled with fear.
Pinkamena stood up, and struck the ground with her hoof, readying herself to charge. "Oh… you don't wanna do this… I'd like to see you stop me!" she said boldly. She stared Doc down, and snarled deeply and evilly. She then charged quickly towards Doc, and he stood ready. He waited, and when she got about two yards away, he fired the last shell from the shotgun, sending Pinkamena flying back. He trembled a bit as he did, placed the gun on his back, and he slowly approached Pinkamena to see what the damage was.
Pinkamena's corpse was now missing its head from the mouth up. Blood and brain matter was splattered from the open cranial cavity, and it continued to leak as Pinkamena twitched constantly. He turned back to Fluttershy, who had seen the entire grotesque display. She now had tears in her eyes, knelt down sadly, and broke down crying. Doc approached her, placed her on his back, and galloped through the exit, knowing he didn't have much time before the facility self-destructed.
…
Near the end of the underground exit, Doc and Fluttershy met with Bonbon, Alan, and Colgate. They all headed towards the end of the exit, and escaped Canterlot from the mountainside. They looked behind them to the ruined city behind them, and saw a brilliant beam of light emerge from it. Then a loud booming noise erupted from the area, and fire and smoke billowed from the explosion point. Doc looked down at the ground, and then lowered Fluttershy from his back. "That's it then… we now have to eliminate every undead pony we see," Doc said sadly. He turned to Fluttershy. "I don't understand… what happened in there before we fled? Why did you break down?"
Fluttershy looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and she couldn't stop. "I… I've never seen a pony die before… and when that happened to Pinkie Pie… oh… Pinkie Pie…" she stopped, and she couldn't continue as she sobbed loudly.
Doc nodded solemnly, and he nudged Fluttershy, trying to comfort her. "It wasn't your fault... it wasn't your fault," he said soothly, trying to put her at ease. He turned to the others, who were now at the ready. "Bonbon, Alan, Colgate… we're all heading to Ponyville… specifically to Fluttershy's cottage. There's been an established safe zone there, and we're going to survive this apocalypse." Doc reloaded his two shotguns as he said this, and the other ponies did so as well. They then turned to Ponyville, which was also billowing with smoke. They began to trek down the mountainside, and surprisingly ran into no trouble. When they finally reached the bottom of the mountain, they all walked along the base towards Ponyville. They approached the entrance to the town, and rather than go through the town, they walked along the edge of town towards Fluttershy's cottage.
…
They soon reached the cottage, and Doc approached the door. He knocked on it calmly, and a few seconds later, Derpy answered the door. She saw the ponies, and welcomed them all inside. They all entered, and Fluttershy quickly bounded into her kitchen, pulled out a lone muffin from the fridge, and devoured it noisily, her eyes red all the while. She then turned to Derpy questionably, wondering why only a muffin was in the fridge. "Well, I accidently emptied your fridge…" she said sheepishly, smiling widely. Doc looked around the cottage, and noticed that only Derpy and Dinky were present.
"Where is every pony else?" Doc asked.
"Rainbow Dash is in the shed feeding the ponies right now. Scootaloo is napping in the other room. That's all there is left," Derpy said sadly.
Alan was concerned that Eric was not mentioned. "What about Eric? Where is he?"
Derpy looked at him, and gave a silence. He took it as the answer he never wanted to hear, lowered his ears in sadness, and sat down quietly on a chair in the living room. He looked at the gun in his right wing, and he placed it down onto the table in the middle of the room. He raised his hooves to the side of his head, and looked down in sadness.
Fluttershy came out of the kitchen, and proceeded to feed all of her animals. After a while, she came back inside, and sat down with Alan in the living room. "Where is Big Macintosh? And Rarity… where is she?" she asked Derpy. Derpy turned to her, and answered.
"They… they didn't make it. They were killed by Eric before you came," Derpy explained.
Alan lowered his hooves, which were shaking heavily. He looked towards Derpy in surprise and shock. "Wait… killed... by Eric? So is that why Eric isn't here!? You killed him back!?" Alan asked angrily.
Derpy didn't respond at first. "He's locked up tight right now, in one of the rooms," she said.
"So is he alive or dead!? Tell me!" Alan ordered impatiently and harshly.
"Alive… but locked up," Derpy answered. Alan seemed to calm down a bit at hearing that, but he stood up and walked off into the rooms. The rest of the ponies settled in, because this was going to be one long wait until this was over.