Apocalyptia

It was dark, cold, and cramped. The dirty, dusty early morning light peeked through the cracks and warps in the boards from which the shack was built from. Fluttershy had spotted it while she was in the air looking for anywhere to settle down for the night. Unanimously, it was better than nothing... but not by much. There was only one bed, and it was occupied by Twilight. All the others rolled out their sleeping bags and crashed right then, right there. Pinkie was awake but still had her eyes close, enjoying the refuge that the shack provided from the harsh weather of the Plains. She heard the rustling of one of her friends shifting and turning, and opened one eye to take a peek. Applejack had sat up and was stretching her legs and neck.

"Sleep well?" Pinkie asked her quietly.

"Like a farm dog after a long days' work. You?"

"Not great, but not bad. The usual. You wanna go outside, I'm sick of the dead air in here..."

"And the air outside is better?"

"Better than this, yes." She insisted, quietly slipping out of her sleeping bag and walking to the door. Applejack sighed and reluctantly followed her friend outside.

The air outside was, in fact, better than the air inside the makeshift shed they had taken shelter in. Pinkie stretched her legs and yawned, looking around at the surroundings. Something caught her eye, and she poked Applejack repeatedly on her shoulder.

"What are ya pokin me for!?" She said, confused and annoyed. Pinkie silenty pointed off into the distance. Applejack had to look hard to see it, but there was some figure moving around not too far away from them. She couldnt make out what it was, though.

"Let's go check it out!" Pinkie said excitedly and began hopping to the being. Applejack thought quickly and grabbed her by her tail.

"Shouldn't we get our gear first? Just in case something goes wrong?" She asked, nodding her head back to the shack.

"Yeah, actually, that's a good idea." She said, and they both snuck back into the shack.

When they came out, they were both donning the prototype shoulder-mounted crossbows they were given years ago. They both looked off into the distance, and the figure was still there, but it was closer. Pinkie took lead and approached the being. It was skinless, every inch meticulously peeled away from the dirty, dead flesh. Flies buzzed around, but it didn't seem to notice the flies or the ponies that had approached it.

"What... IS it?" Applejack asked, a mix of horror and disgust in her voice.

"I think this is a Nekrobe, one of the beings that was caught in the Chemdrops... should we put it out of it's misery?" Pinkie asked unsure of the proper course of action. Applejack thought and, without saying a word, loaded a bolt into her weapon, took aim, and fired the projectile directly through the beast's skull. On impact, the bolt tore through the decaying flesh and penetrated the soft skull, the force sending the Nekrobe tumbling over.

"Is it dead?" Pinkie asked with a frown.

"Deader than it was before, I can assure you of that. Let's get back to the shack, the others might be up by now." She said, turning Pinkie's head away from the body in an attempt to protect what's left of her young personality.

"Alright... We need to ask Fluttershy about them, maybe we could learn some useful information." Pinkie told Applejack. She smiled and nodded in agreement.