Four days after fleeing her home

Zecora waited impatiently while a group of Shamblers stumbled out of the main road and into a side street before poking her head out from the fake bush she'd made and glanced to either side before shuffling down the road towards a local drugstore. The store front was in bad shape. Its windows were broken and the door looked like it had been kicked by somepony at least as large as Big Macintosh. Old dried blood streaked part of the door's frame and a large patch of dried blood and half of a chewed skeleton lay around the cash counter near the door. Shuddering, Zecora carefully tip-hoofed around the scattered bits of broken glass and fallen neglected merchandise and trash. Cautiously she checked each row to make sure the building was empty other than her. Thankfully, it was. Still minding her steps Zecora began looking for pain killers as well as anything that claimed it could bring a fever down. A fever may have been a body's way of protecting itself against illness but there was such a thing as it getting too high.

At the moment Apple Bloom was waiting for her back at one of their tree top outposts with a forehead hot enough to cook an egg on. The previous evening she'd started panting for breath and complained about feeling dizzy. Had Apple Bloom been able to simply lie down and rest in her home Zecora had no doubt that she'd be well on her way to recovery. Unfortunately after the incident with the bear earlier that week that just wasn't an option. Of all the herbs that she'd quickly stuffed into her satchel before leaving she simply didn't have enough to deal with her young friend's infection, and the ones that had been left in her hut she later found they'd not dried properly and had spots of mold on them. Worst of all, those plants were could only be harvested naturally at a certain time of the year and wouldn't likely be found again until late next spring. At least not in the Everfree Forest.

Cracked Hoof balm, Spotted Tongue, Pink Eye and Stomach Flu. While sometimes useful, none of these will do. Zecora frowned and checked the next aisle to find toilet paper and liquid hoof soap (some of which she snagged), and while she did find a few different brands of painkillers the section of shelving that was supposed to have fever reducers was completely empty. While disappointing it was not surprising. One of the early symptoms of the Shambler infection was a burning-hot fever. Before the symptoms of this plague of undeath were common knowledge those that were infected that were stronger than others typically just thought they had a normal fever and headed to the nearest drugstore to pick up some medicine instead of going to a clinic or hospital. Not that going to either of those places would have saved them in the end.

Although Zecora thoroughly searched the other aisles, the small storage room in the back and even got onto the floor to see if any bottles had perhaps rolled under the standing shelves there wasn't anything of use. This was very bad. There were only two drugstores in Ponyville, and while this one didn't have everything she'd needed, the other store had been completely ransacked. Short of going to another town which would simply take too long Zecora only had one other option: Ponyville General Hospital. Zecora had really hoped that going there would not be necessary.

Back when the outbreak was in its initial stages in Ponyville many of the townsfolk that had gotten infected through one method or another inevitably made their way to the town hospital. PGH almost always had at least several patients at any given time and those days were no exception. When infected patients started turning in the hospital they'd attacked the orderlies and anyone else that was nearby, including the unfortunate helpless patients in their beds. The hospital that had once been a place of healing rapidly transformed into a hive of death and rot. Although she herself had not been in Ponyville during the initial stages her friend Twilight Sparkle (whom she had not seen a very long time) had told her what was going on and had asked if Zecora had ever seen or heard of anything like it before. Twilight Sparkle seemed desperate in her manner when she visited. Scared in such a way that she'd never seen her before. Zecora had sat down with her in her home and made them a sweet and soothing pot of tea while Zecora thought about her people's history and legends. While there were many old legends that had turned out to be true after she left her homeland and explored the world, nothing came to mind about ravenous dead-yet-not-dead that attacked the living and turned them into more not-dead beings. The closest thing she could think of was an old romantic legend about a mighty warrior-Zebra stallion that journeyed through the land of the dead and endured many trials to defeat a fictional being called "The Grim Roper" and bring his stolen beloved wife back to the world of the living.

"But a tale of the Necro Walk, is not of that which you talk. I'm afraid to me this is something new, and I know not what to do." Twilight Sparkle had sighed with disappointment but thanked her anyway before leaving. That parting, sad to say, was the last time she had seen Twilight Sparkle. Whether she had finally evacuated or had succumbed to a Shambler's bite herself Zecora did not know, and she wasn't about to go poking around in Twilight's library home to find out. At least, not today.

Zecora stuffed a few assorted vitamin bottles into her satchel and then readied her shrubbery disguise again. It was time to move on.

Forty minutes of stopping and sneaking later Zecora arrived outside of the Ponyville General Hospital. As she suspected and could plainly see from the windows there were a large number of Shamblers both inside the building itself and around the front entrance of the hospital. Just getting in would be difficult and there was no way she could think of to do it undetected. Getting out again without being mobbed and eaten alive would probably be impossible. As much as she cared for Apple Bloom, getting herself killed would do neither of them any good. So I can't go in through the front door. she thought as her gaze drifted higher. Good thing this place has a second floor!

Ponyville had many two-story homes and buildings, and several were even taller than that (albeit at times disproportionately arranged to the rest of the home). The hospital was no exception and stood at three stories tall. Unfortunately no other buildings were close to it and none of the trees that were tall enough to reach the second story window were sturdy enough to hold her weight. Had this been a hospital in a city or larger town it might have had a fire escape set of stairs or a ladder but since Ponyville was generally classified as a middle-of-nowhere town they were still able to get away with their larger buildings not having them. This would have been a problem, except it seemed that she wasn't the only pony to recently come here looking for medical supplies. As Zecora circled around to the back of the building she noticed that an extendable ladder had been left up against the building and the window above it was open. After examining the ground she noted that not only had the ladder been used enough to have sunk into the ground a little, but the grass around it was worn as if somepony or several someponies came and went frequently.

As she began to set her front hoofs on it to start climbing a white pony leg and head poked out of the window and looked down, blinking in surprise.

"Zecora???" Came a disbelieving mare's voice. The mare's coat was white, her eyes blue (and tired) and her mane was a light shade of pink.

"What is it, Redheart?" came another mare's voice. "Is something out there?" The first mare's head turned to look back into the room.

"It's Zecora the Zebra! The one that lives in the Everfree forest!"

"What?!" the sound of trotting led to another head sticking out of the window and looking down at her, this one possessing a faded blue coat and a green mane. "So it is! Oh, um" the second mare donned a professional expression, cleared her throat and then spoke again. "We of Ponyville General Hospital regret to inform you that we are closed due to lack of staffing, medical supplies, and-" the white mare elbowed her in the side, frowning at her. "Oof! What was that for?!" Rolling her eyes, the white mare waved a leg, gesturing her hoof towards the room they stood in.

"Ignore her and come on up, Zecora. I wish I could offer you a drink but we need what we have. Pull the ladder up after you when you get up here." she turned her attention back to the other mare. "Go tell the others that we'll be putting off the water run for a bit as we're having a little company for awhile. She probably won't be staying long so if anypony wants to say hello they'd better get a move on. It's not often we see a familiar face that doesn't want to chew on ours."

After a short meet-and-greet with a dozen ponies that Zecora wasn't familiar with as well as explaining how she'd survived and why she was there Zecora gave a description of Apple Bloom's symptoms. When she finished the white pony called Redheart looked grim.

"From what you've told me, it sounds like she's got what's commonly called blood poisoning, though without examining her in pony I can't be entirely certain. If it is blood poisoning then fever medication isn't going to help her much, I'm afraid. How much water did you leave with her?"

"I left her with what I could but more would have been good." Redheart put a hoof to her shin and slowly swayed her head back and forth.

"Under ideal circumstances I'd recommend drawing some blood and seeing what specifically she's sick with under a microscope then prescribing an antibiotic while advising she at least double her regular water intake." Lowering her hoof back to the floor she walked down a hall, Zecora following. "Unfortunately she'd need to be here for that and like Tenderheart was saying earlier we haven't received any medications or medical supplies in general for a long time. We've been making do with what was stored up here but we've been running low for months and as I'm sure you've already seen from outside," they stopped and Redheart pointed down a barricaded stairwell where at the bottom several Shamblers were stuck behind the piled junk blocking the stairs. "the first floor is crawling with Shamblers. Anything that we might have been able to use on the first floor we just can't get to, including the analyses lab. Without testing her blood first it's a shot in the dark whether anything I might use would have an effect or not."

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Apple Bloom slowly came awake in the hammock that Zecora had left her in. Her throat felt as dry as a desert and her head felt hot and heavy. Trying to sit up led to a feeling of dizziness washing over her, and now off balance she toppled out onto the platform perched atop some of the thicker branches of the tree with a thud.

"Zig...Zac'ra....Zecord....Zec-or-a?" Apple Bloom sleepy-speeched as her eyes lazily looked around the platform until they landed on an as-of-yet filled canteen that she assumed Zecora had left for her. Apple Bloom crawled over to it and carefully unscrewed the lid before tilting it up and drinking from it half a mouthful at a time. Before she knew it the canteen was empty. Thankfully after as she drank her head cleared a little. Setting the canteen down Apple Bloom looked around to find that Zecora wasn't here. Where is she? Apple Bloom wondered as she glanced towards the low setting sun. She recalled that Zecora had said before she left that she was going to head into town to look for medicine because something had been wrong with the stuff in her home. If she recalled correctly that had been fairly early in the morning but she couldn't be sure as she had been sleeping most of the day save for brief moments when needing to get a drink or a Call of Nature woke her up. Her own water pouch (taken from her camping supplies back home and looking a bit worn) had been drained at least half a day ago. Now she was out.

Apple Bloom tried to stand up and found her legs to be wobbly at best. There was no way she'd be able to safely climb down the tree to get more water and even if she could it would be dark soon. The Everfree Forest was a risky enough place during the day. After the sun went down the real predators came out. I guess I'll just have to wait here. There's not much else that I can do. she thought with a soft sigh and a wipe of the sweat from the soaked fur of her forehead and carefully climbed back into her hammock.

The cry of a nearby night bird startled Apple Bloom awake again. She snorted and looked around to find that as with before she was in no danger, and to her worry that the sun had gone down completely yet Zecora still hadn't come back. Where is she?! Did something happen? Please not again! I don't think I- Apple Bloom's eyes itched but shed no tears. She took a few deep breaths and crushed the negative thoughts trying to invade her mind. No! She's fine! Zecora is wise, cunning, and strong! She'll be back. She probably just took longer looking for supplies than she meant to and is holing up somewhere to wait for the sun to come up. Yeah, that's gotta be it! Several seconds went by and the brave face she was trying to put on wilted with the continued night ambience and the recollection that these same thoughts had come when she and Applejack had split up so long ago. She'd not seen Applejack since then, either. Please be okay, Zecora! I can't do this on my own! I can't be alone again! Apple Bloom sniffled as possible explanation scenarios marched through her mind one after another, some good and most awful. As the sniffles finally turned into full on soft crying a pale light shone near her and she looked up to see the light take the form of Princess Luna.

Apple Bloom gasped. She hadn't seen Luna since two Nightmare Night parties ago. So did this mean that she was still asleep?

"Hello, little filly. Be not afraid, I am-"

"Princess Luna!!" Apple Bloom interrupted with an excited yell, startling Luna. "We met during a Nightmare Night party a few years ago! You're okay! Is Celestia okay, too?! What about Twilight and-" Luna raised a hoof with a pained smile, though the pained side of it was quickly suppressed.

"Yes, mine sister and I are well. But this visit isn't about me, young one. Tonight it's about suffering little ponies like you. Despair is a horrible thing, and all in Equestria have suffered much loss. If you need someone to speak with for awhile tonight, I am here." Princess Luna changed out the dark forested setting for a more pleasant rolling grassy hill in mid-afternoon.

"Um, actually if it's not too much trouble..." Apple Bloom hesitated. She hoped what she assumed about Luna's dream-powers was correct. "Princess, you can see everypony's dreams when they sleep, right?" Luna nodded. "Then, could you maybe tell me if some other ponies are okay? I got separated from my family and friends when the Shamblers took over Ponyville and I haven't seen them since." Luna's eyes widened a little in surprise.

Luna had diligently continued to perform her duties in calming bad dreams to the best of her ability to the point where it was nearly as taxing on her as it was the ponies she tried to help. Some ponies had very vivid nightmarish recreations of events they'd witnessed. Vivid enough that sometimes even Luna walked away in the end with a little trauma. She had witnessed ponies quite literally being eaten alive or ripped apart by the horrid apparitions of their minds. Sometimes she'd arrive to see a mother or father screaming for their child as the foal vanished beneath a tide of ravenous vaguely pony-shaped horrors which Luna assumed represented the Shamblers. Other times it was a similar setting but the parent or family member in question had been forced to put down their infected friends and family themselves. It was never easy to watch, and even after witnessing it she could only imagine how awful it was for her subjects to relive it in their dreams. During all of that and with the mountain of bad dreams that popped up every single night and even during the day it had not occurred to her to use her skills with the dream world in such a way.

"Um, Princess Luna?" Apple Bloom spoke up from Luna's hoofs. Apple Bloom had been watching Luna while these memories and thoughts ran through her mind, and she looked a bit haunted. When Luna didn't respond Apple Bloom rose up on her hind legs and gave Luna a hug. Now brought out of her mind once more, Luna looked down and smiled. "I'm sorry if I'm being selfish, Princess. I can only imagine how much more busy you've gotten with everything that's happened. If you can't or if you're feeling tired, I understand." Luna smiled down at her and patted her back.

"Not at all, little one. I would be happy to take a peek around the dreamscape to see if someone you know is dreaming. Who am I looking for?" Apple Bloom perked up and began describing several ponies to her. Some, she was familiar with as they had been Twilight Sparkle's friends while others she had heard of but had not met. Luna nodded at the end of each description and when done she promised to return soon.

Meanwhile in the waking world Apple Bloom lay unconscious with a swollen lump on her head atop the platform after tumbling out of the hammock earlier that day. The canteen that Zecora left for her was still sitting unopened nearby.

Author's Note

Rhyming is so much fun! I don't get why people don't like writing for Zecora.