The cold breeze hit her face, taking her away from her immersion. Her long, loose and scruffy hair floated slightly, the reason being that she was at a considerable distance of the ground. In fact, it was the highest altitude she could get in all of Ponyville.
Her lilac eyes closely observed the town as it was being covered by the warm light of a new dawn. A slim smile appeared in the corner of her lips, while her eyes, which were dark and filled with desolation, suddenly filled with a spark of nostalgia and sullenness.
How did she end up there, at the top of the Castle that once represented the magic of friendship?
What happened in those last few days that, without her knowledge or approval, pushed her there?
She closed her eyelids, while her mind, amid the chaos, static and madness that was slowly consuming her, went to the past, to that fateful journey.
Her chest rose and fell at the rhythm of her heartbeat and her abrupt breathing. She rested the back of her head in the bookshelf, her ears catching the growling sounds and the dry noise they made while dragging their feet on the ground. Her pupils were contracted, sharp, filled with concern and even fear. She rested her entire body carefully in the bookshelf, while she waited for the perfect opportunity to escape that library.
She only needed to wait for the right moment.
She gulped hastily and checked the watch in her wrist. She huffed, annoyed at the realization that she was late.
-"There's nothing I can do"- She took a quick peek at them- "They are still here"- Vigilant, stalking aimlessly, waiting for any indication of life they could corrupt. She checked that her backpack was in its position, not wanting to have an unfortunate accident that could cost her life.
Her left hand, the one with the watch, now also held a flashlight. Her right hand, meanwhile, had a hammer. She contemplated the tool with doubt.
-"It's not the best weapon to have… But it's a better choice than louder weapons"- She frowned. Being louder meant that more attention would come to her.
In that new, horrid reality, being in the spotlight in a closed space like that was fatal.
She took a short time to check if everything was in its place. Her forearms, thighs and legs were covered in duct tape, though her superior limbs had a far robust defense. She raised her eyes, discovering her own reflection in a broken glass.
-"What a miserable sight"- She smiled with sadness- "To think that I was once a proud unicorn"- Her eyes were filled with consternation, anguish, anxiety… hopelessness. Her skin was dirty, her hair was scruffy.
A worried, doubtful expression appeared on her face.
-"Can I even make it?"- The answer to that question was unclear. She observed more closely her reflection.
Her once vibrant purple hair with an aquamarine streak, which she used to flaunt and feel quite proud of, was now a shadow of its former self. Unkempt, tied up in a ponytail without much care, dull. Her horn, hidden in some strands of hair, had not shown off its great magic in a long, long time. Her fair complexion was stained with dirt, as were her clothes. A black mask rested on her neck. A short leather jacket covered her upper body, with a black flannel underneath. Gray jeans, torn in some areas, covered her legs. Leather boots covered her feet. Finally, on the belt of her jeans rested a military knife, a reminder from someone special who was no longer there...
Most of the clothes and objects that she currently carried were given to her by other people that she cared about. So giving up, failing there, not even trying were synonyms with not fulfilling her role, not achieving her goals, her promises to a large number of people that helped her reach the place she now occupied.
-You will be the one that saves us from this nightmare, Starlight.
She huffed, frowning. All those weak and desolating thoughts were put in the back of her mind, at least temporaly.
How could she give up that easily, when she hadn´t give her all?
She rose up her eyes once again. Her lilac iris now were fiery, filled with anger and intensity. Her sadness took a backseat to a sentiment that was much more powerful to the task at hand.
-"I have lost so many people to these beasts"- She gritted her teeth, remembering all of the faces that had gone- "It's my duty to do this!"- The determination and confidence were back in her, so she extracted from her backpack a small jar with an aqueous substance. She scowled, disgusted by what she had to do. But nevertheless, she went ahead and drank it all. She bent over, repulsed, almost throwing up. But she also felt the power and the energy circulating through her veins. She put the jar back in the bag and took a glance to both sides of the bookshelf she had taken refuge on. She only saw one of them dragging its feet through to the middle of the hallway.
She frowned. She rested her forehead in the bookshelf and closed her eyelids.
-"Celestia, keep me safe"- She took a long inhalation.
She made a run for it. She ran as fast as her legs could, being instantly noticed by the beasts. Their muted growling now turned into horrid creaks that echoed through the hallways of that formerly magnificent palace, alerting other beasts of the presence of something alive they could corrupt. She now found herself in a narrow hall, one side filled with art decorative windows and the other with doors that were best left unopened.
One of the beasts blocked her way. It could not wait any longer to eat her; it was ready to end her existence with just one bite. It used her jaws unnaturally to bite the air, horrifying her even more. Drops of saliva together with a black and greenish tainted blood escaped its mouth, falling to the ground. From its lips through its neck, slim lines of said blood made its way. Its skin was grey; its veins were bloated, repulsively greenish. Small amounts of what appeared to be vines and leafs covered its body. Its clothes were torn up in many places. Its eyes were white with random yellow veins, not traces of pupils or iris.
-"A level three infected"- She knew she could come close to it. She huffed with hassle, guarding the flashlight in the front pocket of her jacket. Her horn started to spark with magic, but on second thought she decided to not risk it. She instead prepared herself to strike it down with her hammer. She knew that she had to be quick and precise, as the other beasts were right at her tail. She could hear their rotten creak, desperate to get her and eat her alive.
She wouldn't let that happen.
With one smooth strike in the head, she took it down. She muffled a small sorry to what was once one of the happily habitants of that small town she grew to love. She didn't give her more time to ponder or think, as she needed to hasten her escape. She continued her race.
She opened the door in front of her with brute force, entering what was the main room of the Castle, the lounge of friendship. She couldn't help but to give herself a second to contemplate that site, many new reminiscences flooding her mind, many beautiful memories made there, with her friends… with her family…
She forced herself to snap back to reality. Once again, she found that the sites that were magnificent, clean, taken care off, now were abandoned, filled with vines and leafs, and filled with those rotten beasts. That creepy creak once again echoed the room and like the ones before, these beasts also threw themselves to capture her.
She ran to the left and saw the main door of that site. However, three of them blocked her escape. She had to take a new route. She went to the center of the room. A stone table, covered in webs of spider, vines and dust, with six chairs that didn't look like chairs anymore. The floor was filled with broken glass, rubble and debris from a roof that was in decay. She jumped on the stone table and made a run to the main door. She used her magic to open it wide open. The spell made its way and opened the door, but it also made her body tremble with pain. Her head hurt badly, like someone were drilling right on it. She forced herself to keep going.
She made her way outside. It was a cloudy day. The clouds were dark grey, prelude of a heavy rain that the Pegasus could no longer control. The sun could barely pass those dense clouds, so it looked like it was just dawning with a numb light. She checked her watch again as her legs continued to run automatically, escaping her newfound followers.
-It's not even three o' clock yet…
She snorted with exasperation while also checking the rabid mob a few meters away.
-It's a good thing you all are slower as the infection advances- Said with a snarky smile. She realized, however, that the mob was getting bigger and bigger, now having at least two dozens of infected persons behind her. She frowned- This won´t do…
She checked her surroundings, noticing one of the buildings of that dead village that could serve as her temporal refuge. She made her way to there. But she didn´t expect something coming out of that building.
Or rather, she didn´t expect her to come out of the building.
-Sweetie Drops- Her expression softened, afflicted. The old owner of the sweet shop, an individual of utmost importance on the first days of the end, someone who stepped up and that held her chin up right till her end. Now, what remained of her was that empty husk, controlled by an insatiable beast. A shadow of her former self, moving not by her own will, but by something more corrupt, more primitive, dragging its broken left foot to find and kill the one thing that was now scarce in the world. The once vigorous Sweetie Drops now looked at her. However, her eyes, unlike most of the many infected behind her, were pitch black. The veins in her body were far more noticeable and her skin was a mix of grey, brown and green. Her jaw, deformed, opened from the chin to the nose, groaning like she was drowning- Damn!- Vociferated Starlight. She had to think, fast. Her horn sparkled and soon her feet were covered in her magic, a faint glint appearing on them. She jumped high enough to evade the bite, the "hands" and the vines of Sweetie Drops. She was now floating, but she knew that it was a matter of seconds before her body completely collapsed, so she decided to launch herself to the rooftop of the candy shop. Her landing was harsh on her legs. Her knees hurt a reminder of both the danger of using magic and her age. Her breathing was paused, controlled. She checked her surroundings before sitting on the roof. However, her body shuddered uncontrollably and a hefty migraine kidnaped her head. The whole world started to spin around her. Voices of madness started to flow her mind.
She rested her back on the rooftop, using all her strength to quell those symptoms. She grabbed her backpack and took a small recorder.
-October eight, 1016. Test of the S-48 Sample: Unsuccessful. I used a simple spell of levitation and the symptoms still went through. My breathing is more pronounced, heavy. My legs are shivering like crazy. My muscles are exhausted, my head is spinning- She felt like something was dropping from her eyes, and when she checked she was not surprised to see blood coming from them, instead just sighing- And I'm bleeding from my eyes, great- She said nothing for a few seconds, pondering her situation- I find myself in Ponyville, on the rooftop of a candy shop. I was chased by a mob of infected, but I managed to evade them… This sucks. Like, really sucks. I can't use magic, I can't make much noise and I have to be faster than them… So much so for being an unicorn, huh?- She giggled at her own comment, sighing with tiredness- We will have to hope that the next antidote works.
She turned the recorder and returned it to the backpack. Her own balance was unstable. Her stomach was churning, trying to make her throw up. She frowned.
-Damn it… Even I, a great magician, cannot control the symptoms…
Now that she was in the clear, she could hear the groaning of them on the floor. They were no longer screeching, making her sigh with some relief. She got up with difficulty, taking slow steeps to the edge of the rooftop. There, she saw all of them, dragging their feet through the streets, looking for her. They all shared those vines in their body, but varied in size and quantity. Some had white, yellowish eyes, while other had their pupils without spark, dead.
Her lilac eyes locked on Sweetie Drops.
-By Celestia- Her enervating voice was clear- You can't be a level 4 infected, Drops- She frowned, her heart shrinking as she imagined the person that was once a great friend suffering inside that empty husk- I can't leave you like this.
She turned in her steeps, searching in her backpack for a very important object. She took it and contemplated it, a simple-action revolver. She checked the cylinder, six available shoots. Her expression turned more solemn, while she went back to the edge of the rooftop, now completely standing up.
-I know I shouldn't be doing this. It's completely in my own detriment and will make things more difficult for me- She raised the gun and aimed at the head of her old friend- But what the heck, Drops. This is for you- She cocked the revolver and pulled the trigger.
A powerful blast made its way throughout the streets of Ponyville, as a body fell to the floor. Starlight Glimmer huffed with tiredness, dropping her arm down.
-Rest in peace, old friend.
Hey guys, Silicio here! Dropping the first chapter in this story. One could say that its the "Beginning" hehe...
Yeah comedy is not my strong suit. So there has been a trend going around of an AU in MLP of zombies called Infection. I had this story taking some dust, so I said why the hell no. And yeah, we're now here. English is not my first language, but I'll try my best hehe. That's it, guys!
¡Hasta la vista!