Ditzy's ears burned with the loud thunder of heavy steel, shaping under the hooves of who she knew to be a master blacksmith. Ditzy curled closer and embraced the warm blanket and the bright red glow of the iron furnace. Its heat not offering her any comfort of the days that have passed.

As she thought, her breathes drew more hoarse as they came out.

She longed for the bright summer days that she could spend appreciating the work done by all. What everypony had worked for since the last weeks of winter. She longed for he cold days of winter where she could cuddle close to a hearth and let the evening unwind and she could finally relax from a long and strenuous day of delivering mail. But such days can never be known again.

Earlier she had seen the Cutie Mark Crusaders baring weapons, small of stature, and sullen faces. She had heard what happened at the school house during the outbreak. The poor fillies had to put down close friends of theirs. Former, close friends.

Alex had explained it to her and she had mildly understood what was going on but it did not stop her heart from dropping into the pit of her stomach. And now their only line of defense was now on an expedition to save their princesses from certain doom. It all was too much.

Tears brimmed in her eyes. She wanted peace again. She wanted the old days. But she was not sure if even that is possible any more. She fixated her eyes on the floor and was complying with Alex's exact orders. He said for them to not leave the forge under any circumstances. While Ponyville might be safe for the moment, there is always a chance that the undead will be out there. Ditzy shook her head as she stared at the floor. The constant ringing of metal against metal soothed her, slightly, it at least distracted her from her thoughts that have lately been ever plagued by the Scourge. The double beats left her with constant noise in her ears. One right after another in rapid succession. Virtuoso was tasked with learning the nuances of the forge and aid Steel Flash in making proper weapons for the militia.

Ditzy smiled even at the mere mention of his name. She was glad that she was now with somepony, to aid her in the darkness that would soon envelope all of Equestria if they cannot stop Nel'Thrix. She had evesdropped on their conversations from time to time, listened in on their tactics and planning. Ditzy shook her head and listened as one of the bangs stopped, and no sooner than a few seconds she saw Virtuoso standing in the threshold wiping the coal ash from his hooves. Soot covered most of his face, other than the eyes and they looked upon her with both curiosity and sympathy. Ditzy looked back to the floor and drooped her ears, still troubled by the latest events.

Virtuoso crossed the room and rested a hoof on her shoulder, "Darling, are you alright?"

Ditzy gave a sour chuckle and responded, "Alright? Half of the town that I grew up in are walking dead and I have to watch as they are killed again. Not exactly the definition of alright."

Virtuoso chuckled, despite seeing the chargrin on her face, "Okay no need to get hysterical about it."

Ditzy blinked, seeing fresh the image of Big Mac dying, she suppressed this and shook her head. The air was heavy and humid even in the warmth of the forge nearby. She huddled on her stool and wrapped her wings around herself in a half hearted attempt to comfort herself. When she knew there was none. There was nothing in this world that could possibly comfort her. She knew that this was all a horrible nightmare that she could never wake up from, this was reality.

She breathed heavily as her ears finally could no longer handle the loud noises, she barked, "I am going to get some air."

Nopony answered her, Virtuoso had gone back to forming steel after a quick peck on her cheek in hopes to comfort her. She huffed as she went outside, a resounding jingle of the bell above the door echoed and stopped after she shut it. The streets picked bare, the windows and doors of some houses boarded up out of fear. The peaceful liveliness of Ponyville was gone, and the grim looks of those she happened to pass by were none the better.

She begrudgingly wandered the streets, no clear path to anywhere, and nearing the edge of the town that was now boarded up. Pony after pony rushing near the perimeter of the makeshift gate, either to help wounded or to prepare for another attack. Paranoia bled into reality and caused her to grunt inwardly at the display. She continued on her walk.

A few minutes had passed, in what felt like eternities. And she had found herself in the public garden, personally maintained by Roseluck and her two sisters. It was a small area, about maybe twenty or thirty feet all around, but it was enough. The only spot in all of Ponyville that did not suffer from the doom and gloom of the rest of the town. The roses in bloom, contrasted by the tulips and the various other flowers. A pleasant smell invaded her nostrils, the smell very much improving some of her mood. The effervescent green grass as well lit a smile across her face briefly. The joyous wildlife while had not largely changed outside, lightened her heart somewhat.

Her mind filled with the pleasant memories of yore, when she and Virtuoso would walk for hours through the Whitetail Woods and the gardens of Manehattan and Baltimare, confiding within each other their feelings and plans for the future. While this moment was small, it was enough to hold the reigns of her sanity for a little while longer.

Her reverie of happiness was broken when she heard the sound of a twig snapping near the edge of the garden. Her ears perking up, her crooked eyes shooting up and her heart pounding in her chest. Her head darted around to see if anypony else was around to hear it. She was alone, no pony around for at least the area around her.

She gulped as she muscled enough courage to at least inspect where the sound had come from. Her hoof falls quiet on the gravel stoned pavement. She tiptoed everso gently towards the sound of the noise, or the origins of the noise at least.

Ditzy tried so much to reassure herself that it was just an animal and nothing else. She both believed herself and also did not believe herself. It was a weird feeling but she muscled through it anyways. Her eyes were glued to the brush near the edge of the garden and to the unforgiving plains of Equestria where the dead now roam free, waiting for her to wander off and become their next meal.

Finally, she stopped at the edge and inspected, crouching down suddenly as she could faintly hear voices, deep and sinister sounding, "The Scourge fools are blind to our intentions. They will not see what is coming to them."

"I applaud you," The second one was deeper and sounded as if knives were scraping across stone, "Avandth, you have been proving a valuable edition to the Nathrezim. You are proving better than even Balnazzar himself."

Ditzy kept quiet, holding her breath in case they could hear her breathing, a far cry but very possible now that the dead can walk.

Avandth replied, "Balnazzar was not discrete. He was sloppy which was how he was caught in the first place. Now he rots within the Twisting Nether. But back to the matter at hand, do you have the serum ready for use?"

The other answered, "A few more tests must be made before we can entrust the formula to you."

A devious chuckled erupted the conversation and a shudder ran up her spine, "Excellent. Soon, both the living and the dead will conform to our will. And what better ground zero than Ponyville itself."

Ditzy's eyes grew the size of plates as she assessed the potential of such a thing. She had no aspirations to do so.

She hovered a hoof over her mouth in petrifying fear and sat back in the brush, quietly. Shaking her head in dismay at what she had heard. But while she was clumsy sometimes does not mean that she is not smart. She put the pieces together but one of them did not fit. Why would they discuss a plan so close to Ponyville unless that is exactly what they wanted. Could this have been a ruse to trick whoever was listening? It very wel might be, but she likely would keep this to herself, the risk was too great if she were inform some other pony.

Gathering herself she slinked away, fear gripping her as she dashed back to the forge, very much preferring the deafening sound of shaping metal over the sound of their dark voices. Making a mad dash towards the forge, where she could at least feel some semblance of safety. As she ran however, she could not shake this feeling of impending doom. Impending doom for all.

A fate, worthy of all ponies.

Author's Note

Took a while to bust open the outline and read back up on my plan for this. Hey, for those of you that don't know (which I highly doubt) World of Warcraft Legion is coming out soon. And I am so sick pumped for it. So, in preparation for this expansion I will take Ashes to Ashes back up and deliver you this very awesome plot that I unjustly left you all hanging. For this, I am deeply sorry. But now it rises again from the ashes (Heh. Get it because...*cough*...anyway).

Enjoy, more to come lovelies!