The Dead Trot

With the rays of the early morning sun peeking through the windows of Sugarcube Corner, the team awakened with cheerfulness, more or less. With a groan, Fletcher opened his eyes only to be blinded by the bright light shining directly in his eyes. He quickly shut them again, wanting to fall back asleep, but at this point, there wasn't really much purpose in trying anymore. He rolled over onto his side and fully opened his eyes to find a still sleeping Twilight curled up against him. A little shocked, he bolted onto his feet and cleared his throat.

"Good morning, everypony," he encouraged as everypony else was still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"What's so good about it?" Tail Spin yawned. It looked as though he was already off to a bad start today.

"What's good is that we're alive and not with those things out there," Fletcher said as he shot Tail Spin a death look.

"Well, when you put it that way..." the pegasus submitted.

Fletcher grinned back at his friend, then spoke again, this time with more of an orderly tone.

"Now that we are all mostly awake, let's get down to business. Do we have everything we have everything we need to get to Canterlot without any major hassle?"

"Well, we have just 'bout everythin' that we might need if we run into any kinda trouble," Applejack informed, still trying to fully wake herself up.

"Twi', you're more of the organization type. Can you handle this?" Fletcher asked, a sheepish grin spreading across his muzzle.

"Gladly," Twilight yawned. She gave Fletcher a quick wink as she gained her footing.

"Before we leave, does anypony need to use the little pony's room?" she asked.

Nopony had to go to the bathroom, so everypony packed up what they could carry, then, with a deep breath, Twilight opened the front doors. The sight was almost too disgusting to behold. Severed limbs and bloody carcasses lay strewn about the surrounding area. Rotting corpses bloated almost to the point of exploding seemed to be everywhere, staring at the survivors with their cold, lifeless eyes. At the sight of this, Fluttershy unloaded the contents of her stomach all over the now crimson-stained grass. The sky was no longer blue, now it was a dull hue of grey, seeming to be looming over the crew as they marched towards the edge of Ponyville in the direction of Canterlot.

"This is so gross," Pinkie Pie groaned, accidentally stepping an a rotting body, cracking it's ribs.

"Just hang in there, Pink," Rainbow Dash encouraged. She didn't sound all too sure herself about the situation.

"Fletch, we weren't able to find enough food or water to take a one-way trip to Canterlot, we're going to have to find another major city to see if we can salvage anything," Tail Spin said.

"I know, that's why Twilight took the liberty of mapping out a route to Canterlot that will also take us through Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and Trottingham," replied Fletcher.

"Do you think that those cities are infected, too?" inquired Spike, still sounding a little sleepy.

"I don't think the disease could have spread that far that fast," Fluttershy chimed in.

"Only one way ta find out," said Applejack.

The group had now reached the outskirts of Ponyville. Nopony wanted to say goodbye to the little town, not even Pinkie Pie. No tears were shed, for they had all been shed the night before. This entire ordeal was taking a toll on each of the pony's minds, some more than others.

As the group continued onward to Fillydelphia, the closest of the major cities, it occured to Pinkie Pie that they could all use some lunch. Everypony could get behind that idea, so they stopped and allowed Pinkie to whip up a delicious batch of stew.

"Eat up, everypony," Pinkie sang, happy that every member of the group was enjoying her stew.

"This is great, Pinkie Pie. What's in this stuff?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, just some of our friends I found laying around Ponyville," she chirped.

Immediately, every pony spat out the soup that they currently had in their mouths, if any at all. Horror was evident on every single face besides Pinkie's, who had put on a mask of disappointment.

"I thought you all liked it," Pinkie Pie whimpered, her hair starting to sink lower and begin to straighten.

"What the hay are you tryin' to do, Pink? Kill us?" Applejack questioned, rage seeming to brim to a boil in her tone.

"I just thought that if our friends were all dead, we might as well take a part of them with us," she pulled a severed hind leg out of her saddlebag, "this leg is from Mrs. Cake. If she wasn't coming with us, I thought that I would take a piece of her with us. Then, I got hungry during the night, and the only thing I could find was Mrs. Cake's corpse. I took a bite, and it tasted just like a birthday cake."

The pupils of every other pony in the clan had now shrunk to pinprick size while the eyes themselves were now like gigantic, white dinner plates, and their mouths hung open as Pinkie continued.

"It tasted so good that I wanted to share it with all of my friends. That's why I put Mrs. Cake's flank and kidneys into the soup you all ate. What's the big deal?"

"YOU ARE INSANE!" Tail Spin barked.

"Brother, you don't know the half of it," Rainbow Dash remarked, "you think this is bad? You don't want to know how she makes cupcakes."

"I most certainly not insane," Pinkie snapped, her hair now fully uncurled, hanging in front of her deadly gaze like a veil.

"You've really done it this time, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, "I'm afraid we cannot take any risk of your mental instability being a liability on this journey. We won't just leave you here, but you'll have to be restrained if we're going to take you with us. Don't take it personally, I'm just doing what's best for the team."

The pink earth pony didn't take this comment well. Her nostrils flared, her eyes narrowed, and her once cute and perky voice had now become nearly demonic.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Twi'," she spoke with intensity.

"Fluttershy, git my rope," Applejack requested.

Fluttershy fetched Applejack's rope from her saddlebag and gave it over to the rancher pony. "Now Pinkie Pie, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, make yer choice."

"I always enjoyed the hard way of doing things," Pinkie chortled maniacally. With this, she galloped toward Applejack as quick as lightening and bucked her hard in the stomach. AJ fell over and began gasping for air. Fluttershy calmly trotted over to Pinkie, possibly to calm her down, but Pinkie intercepted her approach. She spun around and bit down angrily on the pegasus's neck. Fluttershy let out a cry of pain as the insane mare then proceeded to tear off the chuck of skin she had in her mouth. Pinkie swallowed the bloody mess in her maw as a beastly smile crossed her face.

"Ponies...taste...WONDERFUL!" she screamed the last word with all of her might, sending a chills down everypony's spines.

By this time, Applejack was back on her hooves, her rope firmly held in her jaws. She motioned for Rainbow Dash to subdue Pinkie Pie so she could rope her. Dash gladly flew towards the pink menace, no hesitation to do what was necessary. Pinkie Pie reared up on her hind legs, ready to pounce on the cyan pegasus approaching her at increasing velocity. Just as Rainbow Dash was about to collide with the earth pony, she instantly put on the brakes, swerved behind her friend, and held her hooves behind her back. Pinkie struggled to brake free from Dash's grasp, but Dash held strong. Applejack then tied the rope around Pinkie Pie, who was still trying to struggle. With Pinkie out of the way, focus could now be given to Fluttershy and her wound.

She was bleeding profusely with no signs of stopping. She squealed in fear and pain as she slowly started to drift away from consciousness. Everypony was by her side now, trying to reqain their composure and figure out how to save their now quickly-dying friend.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Twilight cried, "Fletch, apply pressure to the wound."

"On it," Fletcher replied as he pushed down on Fluttershy's neck.

"Hang in there, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash sobbed, looking at her long-time companion with a look of both compasion and concern.

"D-d-dash..." Fluttershy managed to utter, "make sure...that...someone takes care of the...animals for me...okay?" she cooed, her breathing growing calmer and calmer as she spoke.

"No, no your going to live," Dash argued, tears streaming down her face as she heard these words.

"It's...to late...for me...D-Dashie...I...I..." Fluttershy coughed up a spray of blood before finishing, "I love you. I...l love you all. I'll...miss you...especially you, Dash." She leaned upward and planted a kiss firmly on Rainbow Dash's mouth, then fell back to the ground. Her breathing had ceased, and her body lay limp on the crimson grass beneath her.

Rainbow Dash just stood there. A look of astonishment in her eyes. As the seconds ticked by, the look on her face changed from one of misery and fear to one of rage and blood-lust.

"You! You sick, twisted, heartless pig!" Dash shrieked as she ran towards the tied-up earth pony, who had put on a devious smile.

Dash reached the helpless Pinkie Pie and began beating her mercilessly. Her hooves were a blur as she struck the pink prisoner with all of her fury. A red stream was running from Pinkie's nose and mouth as Rainbow continued her onslaught. It had begun raining now, the gentle droplets of rain splashed against the ground and the ponies, washing away the scarlet river that had stained them all. Tail Spin dashed to Dashes side and yanked her away from the decimated pink psycho.

"Cut it out, Dash! She's had enough! Just stop!" Tail Spin ordered, only to have Dash turn on him and smack him upside his face, knocking him to the grass. Dash then proceeded to hammer away at the other pegasus, blood splattering all across her as she broke his nose with her powerful hooves.

"Quit it, RD," Applejack shouted over the sound of the rain. She grabbed a second rope and threw it around the cyan pegasus, and with a tight pull, utterly restrained the out-of-control mare.

"Let me GO! I need to give Pinkie Pie what's coming to her," Dash screamed, her words seething pure hatred as she struggled to break free, "SHE NEEDS TO PAY FOR WHAT SHE DID TO FLUTTERSHY!"

"Let it go, Dash. Fluttershy's dead, and there's no changing that, but that's no reason to kill one of your friends over it," Twilight affirmed, hoping that this would calm down Rainbow Dash.

"Pinkie Pie is NOT my friend, she is a complete PSYCHO!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"She's right, you know," Pinkie Pie chimed in, speaking in a soothing yet sinister voice, "I am a total nut-job. Although, I did have a reason for killing Fluttershy."

"And what's that?" Dash asked, her words were sharp enough to slice through stone.

"Check her saddlebag," Pinkie answered.

Fletcher walked over and opened Fluttershy's saddlebag, revealing a journal and a knife.

"Read it," Pinkie added.

Fletcher picked up the journal and began to read:

"Day 2: I can't take it anymore. I need to survive, but with everypony else, Dash's chance, as well as mine, are slim at best. I know about the lock-down of Canterlot, and I know that they only let two ponies into the city each day. I figure that with only Dash and I alive, we would be able to enter Canterlot, be safe from this plague, and she can finally be mine and mine alone forever. Once everypony is asleep, I'll slit their precious little throats and tell Dash that they all just committed suicide. She, of course, will believe me, and we can go straight to Canterlot and live out the rest of our days as a happy couple. I will strike the night we leave town. Talk to you later. -Fluttershy.

The book fell from Fletcher's hooves like a feather in the breeze. Nopony spoke. The only sound that could be heard was the pitter-patter of the rain as the water seemed to envelop the team in their own little world.

"That can't be right." Twilight picked up the now soggy journal and read exactly what was printed, with the same result.

"This can't be happening," said Dash, still slightly flustered, "this is Fluttershy we're talking about, she could never do anything like that."

"This ain't the first time she's lost her marbles," Applejack reminded, "remember at the Gala, she went completely nuts when those critters wouldn't be her friends."

"How does that count?" Dash asked.

"Look, the point is, Fluttershy was plotting to kill us," Tail Spin ended the debate between the two athletic mares, "but she's dead now, so the problem has been-" he was interrupted by a soft, low moan from behind him. He slowly turned around and to find Fluttershy standing directly behind him.

"'Shy, you're alive!" Dash rejoiced, nearly squealed with joy.

"No she's not," Fletcher retaliated, retrieving a sword from his saddlebag.

"Fletch, what are you doing with that thing?" Dash interrogated even though she already knew the answer.

"She's one of them, now. Either she officially dies, or we join her."

Rainbow Dash began to struggle for freedom again, the ropes hugging her like a constrictor. As the now undead Fluttershy looked around, Fletcher stepped toward her, his face expressionless. Fluttershy let out an ear-shattering moan just before Fletcher decapitated the poor filly. Fletcher then cleaned the blade and placed the sword back in his satchel.

"There was no other way, Dash. I apologize," Fletcher said with a solemn look. Dash finally calmed down enough for Applejack to untie her.

"Thank ya kindly, Pink. Without you, we wouldn't have know 'bout Fluttershy," said Applejack. When she was about to untie Pinkie, the pink earth pony shook her head.

"Don't untie me. I'll need to be in a bit," she told her companions.

"Why not?" Tail Spin asked, raising an eyebrow, but instantly wincing at the pain that his broken nose gave him for doing so.

"By eating the raw zombie flesh, I've become infected. The disease won't take effect until it passes through my digestive system, which should be any time now. You all ate the cooked flesh, though. Since it was cooked, it had very little of the virus within it, just enough so that you didn't become infected, but also enough that all of your bodies have built up an immunity to it."

"Where did you learn all of this?" Twilight inquired.

"Your library. I sneak in sometimes when I can't get to sleep," she grinned sheepishly.

"That aside, Fletcher, you know what needs to be done," said Pinkie Pie, her tone soft yet serious.

"Are you sure that your body won't build an immunity to the disease, too?" asked Twilight, obviously trying to avoid the inevitable.

"Unfortunately, no. This is the only way," the pink earth pony replied. "I'll miss you all, both in life and death."

Everypony was breaking down, now. Even Fletcher, who's emotional strength was greater than the almighty Rainbow Dash, was a complete wreck. Through sobs and hiccups, he raised the sword and brought it down on Pinkie's neck, slicing her head off in one clean sweep. At least she had a quick death, Fletcher thought to himself.

The group thought that maybe just standing in the rain for a while would wash away all of their sins and shame, but to no avail. They found a nearby cave that would make a good shelter for the night. They hauled all of their equipment into the small cavern, including the gear from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and tried to get some sleep.

Twilight awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Great, another nightmare, she thought. She sat up as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and found Fletcher sitting next to her.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"No," Twilight replied. She was going to give him a lecture on how nightmares are simply a figment of their imaginations and nothing more, but instead, she began to cry.

Fletcher noticed this and scooted closer to her. He held her there for a few minutes, letting the lavender unicorn sob on his should while he whispered comforting words in her ear.

"I just want to die, Fletch," she whimpered. At this, Fletcher grabbed her face and brought it close to his, their eyes level with each other.

"Twilight Sparkle! You are NOT going to die! I will personally make sure of that," he said, determined yet quiet enough not to wake the others.

"How do I know you're serious?" she inquired.

He then took Twilight's head in his hooves and planted his lips harshly against hers. This kiss only lasted for a couple seconds before the colt broke it.

"That's the only answer I could think of," he smiled, an embarrassed blush spread across his snout.

"I like your way with words," Twilight remarked, grinning slyly. She leaned forward and let her mouth connect with the blacksmith's once more, but this was not in desperation or anxiety, this was out of love. They both didn't know, in the wake of two of their best friend's death, how they could could be kissing each other passionately. That didn't bother them, though. All that mattered was the here and now, nothing more.

TO BE CONTINUED...