Post-Mortem

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle peered into the cave the Cutie Mark Crusaders approached.

Applebloom smiled at her friend, "Of course it is! I'm sure we'll have our cutie marks in no time!"

Scootaloo stood behind the other two atop his signature scooter, "Yeah, we should at least try spelunking."

The trio stood at the mouth of a particularly well-hidden cave, which opened underneath one of the foremost trees in the Everfree Forest. A small clearing was opened around it, surrounded by thick fauna.

Sweetie Belle glanced between her friends, "Ok, we might have done this before, but I'm in."

Her and Applebloom leapt into the air and screamed in unison, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SPELUNKERS!"

Scootaloo put a hoof to her face, "Do we have to keep doing that? We've been crusading for over a year now, and it's starting to get old."

The other two exchanged glances and shook their heads at Scootaloo, who rolled her eyes in response. The three then turned back to the cave's mouth and walked inside, with Applebloom in the lead. They passed through the cave for a moment in the dimly lit cavern before the narrow path turned pitch black.

"Sweetie, it's pretty dark in here. Can you do that light spell Twilight's been teaching you?"

"Uh, I think so. Give me a moment."

A dim light green hue quickly covered the room, glistening on the glossy stones. The three crusaders looked around, analyzing the shiny surface around them before continuing forward.

Applebloom turned back to her friend, "Thanks for the light."

The white unicorn smiled gleefully back, her horn glowed softly in pale green light, "I'm just glad I got it to work! Remind me to thank Twilight when we get back."

Scootaloo smiled bravely, "This cave is pretty spooky, isn't it?"

Applebloom shrugged, "I don't know, it's not too bad."

Scoots' smile faltered, "Are you sure? It is a little creepy, right?"

"-AAAAH" Applebloom receded from the front of the line, screaming.

The end of the cave was dimly lit, revealing a massive, rotting corpse in front of them. It's shape was unquestionably equine, yet it was as large as the solar diarch, and a  suit vest was draped around it without much holding it together. There was no blood surrounding the area, save the few splotches of blood-red coat that had not yet decomposed.

Scootaloo was in hysterics, and Applebloom was trying to compose herself. Sweetie Belle quickly receded from the corpse, flickering her light off and whimpering slightly before tripping over Scootaloo, who suddenly stopped screaming as she hit the cold stone.

Sweetie Belle tried to stand, cutting herself on a jagged rock jutting out from the floor of the cave. "Ow!" She breathed in through gritted teeth, "Is everyone alright?"

Applebloom was breathing heavily, shortly replying, "I'm fine, but I can't see again."

Sweetie nudged Scootaloo with a bleeding hoof, "Scoots, how about you?"

The orange pegasus lied crumpled on the ground before slowly shifting, "Ugh, my head..."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. My head hurts like Tartarus, though."

"We should get out of here."

"Yeah, let's go."

Applebloom stared at the skeleton in the distance. A thin trail of blood stretched across the ground. Her eyes followed the trail to its source: a thin cut on Sweetie Belle's leg.

"Sweetie, you're bleeding..."

"It's just a scratch. I'll be alright. We really need to get out of here."

"Agreed, can you walk, Scoots?"

"Yeah, I think so..." She slowly stood, glancing between her friends, "Uh, Sweetie, you stopped your light spell."

"Yeah, I kind-of lost it during our freak-out."

Scootaloo glanced at Applebloom, who struck an expression of realization upon her face, "If you lost your light spell, how is it that we can still see?"

The crusaders turned, eyes darting around the room. Scootaloo stared at the rotting corpse that had given them the fright earlier. The thin trail of blood reached the disfigured face of the dead body. She glanced at its horn, and had to stifle a second scream. Surrounding the body's horn was a light green ball of light.

Scootaloo stepped back, gesturing to her friends, "Uh, girls..."

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle watched as the rotting corpse's eyes shot open, revealing lime-green irises. The corners of its mouth twisted upward, forming an unmistakable smile. Its eyes darted to the trio of fillies standing with their back to a wall, and it stood up.

Most of its body was rotted, and some parts were completely missing. A large chunk was taken out of its cheek and jaw, a foreleg was completely gone, and there were only a few splotches of red fur that hadn't begun to decompose.

The creature turned its head, and a shadow appeared around the missing flesh, which receded, revealing a pristine read coat underneath. Similar black splotches danced around its body, patching up the holes. It looked down at the missing leg, and a new one shot into place. It stood as tall, if not taller, than Celestia herself, with a black mane, messily cut below its shoulders. The only thing that hadn't regenerated was his vest, which was covered with dirt and blood.

The three fillies sat terrified against the wall, staring at the blood-red figure. They huddled together, shaking in fear.

The newly-made stallion spoke in a deep voice that seemed to flow from his lips like silk, "My name is Post-Mortem. It is a pleasure to meet you." The crusaders blinked as Post-Mortem bowed to them, "I am at your service."

Applebloom shook her head, "What are you?"

Mortem smiled with teeth like razor blades before responding, "I am at your service."

Applebloom looked back at her friends, who were still terrified, "Get us out of the cave."

Mortem bowed his head before the cave disappeared in a bright green flash, and the Ponyville town hall appeared in its place. A few ponies paused, glancing at the dark figure that had appeared in the center of town. It didn't last long, however, as they quickly returned to their usual routines.

The crusaders looked around the town before relaxing.

Sweetie Belle stood back up, "Uh, I'm going back home."

Scootaloo slowly got to her feet as well, "Yeah, I think that's enough crusading for today."

The two each walked away from the scene, staring at the ground, wide-eyed and open-mouthed from their encounter with the massive stallion.

Applebloom looked back to her friends, before turning to the figure, "I'm gonna get going, too."

The stallion stood in place, watching as the crusaders left. He turned and began walking, eyeing how the town had changed during his absence.