Everypony's ears perked as they listened to what Swift had to say. the swordstallion looked around, making sure everypony was listening, be fore continuing. ''look, before I met all of you, I had hope to find a cure, for my friends and loved ones, only that drive to find it kept me going, until I met you guys.'' Swift Blade smiled warmly, and the others smiled slightly as well. ''the problem is, I don't no if there is one, or where it would be''
''so we could just be getting ourselves into a wild goose chase here?'' Big Mac grumbled. Pinkie Pie shot him a glare before turning back to Swift, ''nothings a wild goose chase, unless your chasing a wild goose'' a huge smile ran across her face, and she almost looked like herself again.
Apple Jack let out a little chuckle, ''well Pinkie, ya always have a way to make us laugh, now go on sugar cube.'' Swift smiled and continued, ''but, we have strength in numbers, plenty of weapons and food, and the determination to find a cure.'' Scootaloo nodded, ''yeah, maybe we can cure everypony who's been infected and save them!''
Vinyl grinned at Swift Blade, her red eyes filled with determination, and happiness. Swift grinned back, his little idea had done it, it had filled the rest with hope and determination to find a cure for the plague. even Big Mac was smiling now, this was a great moment for all of them. Pinkie cracked another joke, and everypony laughed, and soon enough, the house was filled with something it hadn't seen in ages.
Laughter.

Swift stood outside by a apple tree, a bucket next to him, he stood in front of an apple tree, the fresh fruits sitting up on their branches, gleaming in the half light of the eternal dawn. his gaze was focused on the apples, as he stared at them hungrily, he may have eaten just earlier, but those apples were just so juicy looking, he couldn't help it. Apple Jack watched him, with an amused smile, ''just rear back and kick the trunk of tha tree, it aint hard.''
Swift glanced back at her, ''I know, I'm just admiring the apples before I knock them down.'' he turned around, and reared up on his front legs, his back legs tensing up, then he lashed out. his hooves connecting with the trunk of the tree, causing it to shake from side to side, causing the apples to fall from their branches and into the bucket.
Apple Jack stomped her hooves in applause, as she smiled at him. ''nice job sugar cube, now lets get that back to the farmhouse and store them.'' Swift nodded, and AJ helped hoist the bucket onto his back, he then helped her hoist her own two buckets onto her back. then the two pony's turned and headed back the way they had come.
the two were harvesting apples for their long journey ahead, and were finished now, they would harvest a few more just in case later. a pink figure in the distance could be seen bouncing from through the trees, a welcome sight to the weary earth pony's.
''Howdy Pinkie'' Apple Jack grinned at the pink party pony, who was playing with Scootaloo, a game of tag, Swift believed. Scootaloo was riding her scooter to keep up with the incredibly fast party pony as she chased her around in circles. Pinkie stopped bouncing and smiled widely at her friends as they approached, ''Hi! how was apple harvesting!?''
Swift answered for Apple Jack, ''fine, we got enough to make a few apple pies I think.'' he grinned and chuckled, and Pinkie bounced up and down with glee at the statement. ''YAY! apple pie!'' Pinkie exclaimed with glee. Scootaloo stopped her scooter with a screech, and grinned.
''apple pie? that sounds great!'' the little orange Pegasus stepped away from her scooter and approached, still grinning.
''oh Pinkie...?'' she said in a sing song voice, Pinkie perked her ears and turned around, ''Yeeees?'' she asked the filly, who had a smug grin on now, ''Your It!'' before Pinkie could react, which was a first, Scootaloo had tapped her with a hoof and was running as fast as her little legs could carry her away from the party pony, Pinkie let a little giggle and bounced after the filly. Swift Blade and Apple Jack watched for a second, turned to look at each other, then smiling, headed for the front door. opening the door, the two pony's stepped inside and the door closed with a click behind them.
''so where should we put these?'' Swift Blade asked, unsure of where AJ would want to store the delicious cargo on their backs. Apple Jack pointed a front hoof towards an open door across the kitchen, leading into darkness. Swift nodded slightly, slightly unsure of himself, he knew there wasn't anything in there, but he was still slightly cautious. he slowly made his way over to the doorway and put a hoof into the room, ''hold your horses!'' Apple Jack interrupted him. pausing in mid step, Swift Blade turned his head to look back at the orange farm mare, ''what?'' Apple Jack opened a drawer with a hoof, and carefully balancing her cargo, she reaches in and withdraws a lantern, which she clenched between her teeth. she lowered it to the ground and reached back into the drawer, retrieved a match, and struck it against the counter, the head of the match lit up, the fire going upwards. Apple Jack lowered the candle and lifted the lid of the lantern. the mare lit the candle at the bottom of the lantern and lifted her hoof back out.
she blew the match with a quick puff and tossed the match into a nearby trashcan. Swift closed the lid and took the lantern in his mouth. he turned around and started back into the room, Apple Jack following close behind, the lantern lighting the room up around them as they went.
the room wasn't large, so they reached the back in about ten seconds of trotting. ''ohright, just set im down here'' Swift nodded, carefully laying his basket on the ground. he moved over to Apple Jack and grabbed hold of one of the baskets, then lifted it up and lowered it gently to the ground. lowering the other basket of apples to the ground, Apple Jack smiled at the swordstallion, ''thank ya kindly.'' ''no problem'' Swift smiled back.
a hoof step alerted Swift Blade and Apple Jack of somepony's presence and they whirled around. Big Mac stood there, his eyes devoid of emotion, ''come on, Vinyl wanted to speak with us all.'' Swift nodded, ''what about?'' the red stallion shook his head, ''she'll explain once we git there.'' Apple Jack nudged Swift's side with a hoof, ''come on, lets go then.''

Vinyl Scratch watched the three pony's step outside with her red eyes, she smiled slightly when she saw them. Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie were already there, standing a few hoof steps away from Vinyl. ''alright everypony, listen up!'' Vinyl raised her voice, just make sure that her friends were all listening, ''I know we're all really busy, getting ready for our big journey and stuff, but, I had an idea.'' ''ooh! what what what!?'' Pinkie bounced in anticipation, her eyes gleaming. ''don't leave us in suspense sugar cube, spill.'' Apple Jack said. ''alright, so, we're going to need a lot of stuff to keep us going, and maybe some more weapons, we cant survive on apple forever, no offense, so some of us should head back into ponyville and gather some more supplies. not everypony should go, just a few''
her ears flattened, afraid everypony would reject the idea, and for a minute, it looked like they would, when Swift Blade suddenly spoke up, ''I agree with Vinyl, we need more stuff if we want to travel, stuff that's light and non perishable, and I have an idea of where to get weapons, so I volunteer to go'' Vinyl grinned, ''thanks Swift, your the best.''
Swift grinned back, and turned to the others, ''I'll go!'' Scootaloo raised her front right hoof in the air, her wings flared and ready for action, Apple Jack and Big Mac shook their heads, ''nope.'' Big Mac said flatly, ''sorry sugar cube, this isn't a job for little filly's.'' the little orange Pegasus sat on her rump and crossed her front hooves, pouting. ''not fair...'' she grumbled. ''sorry Scoots, maybe next time'' Swift smiled gently at the filly.
Pinkie patted Scootaloo on the back before turning back to Vinyl, her face still cheery, but something was...off, about her, Swift noted. ''I'll stay here and watch over Scootaloo and the farm, nothing will get by me and my party cannon, she reached out to the side of Everypony's vision with both front hooves and retrieved her blue cannon, just to prove her point.
''ohright then, ah'll go, you'll be okay right?'' Big Macintosh turned his head to look at his sister, ''sure thang Big Mac, somepony's got to watch Pinkie, so ah might as well.'' she gave him a warm smile, then stood next to Pinkie and Scootaloo.
''well then, that's settled, we have our team.'' Swift announced, grinning, but slightly uneasy, something was definitely wrong with Pinkie, he just couldn't get his hoof on it though, for now, he would just have to trust that Pinkie was just acting strange due to stress or something and nothing would happen.
Vinyl held out a front hoof to Swift Blade, ''hoof bump!'' Swift grinned and bumped her hoof with one of his, his cheeks reddening at the contact with her, but she didn't seem to notice thankfully. Big Mac rolled his eyes slightly, then turned for the farmhouse, ''come on ya'll, lets grab our gear and head out.'' the red stallion, turned and headed for his objective, and Vinyl and Swift glanced at each other, then turned and followed.

the swordstallion, DJ, and strong farmer stood in front of the wooden gate, separating them from the outside world, which, in an instant, could change, due to a zombie attack, or even the chance of a bandit raid. Swift's longsword was strapped to his back, along with a saddlebag containing a few rations, a few apples, and a can of something Swift Blade could not be sure of, as the cans label had been worn away due to age possibly, a small lantern from AJ's house, and a few bandages, just in case.
Vinyl had no visible weapons on her, as a unicorn she had magic, so she had little need for one, but just in case, her pack had a kitchen knife stored inside, along with rations of her own.
Big Mac carried his woodcutters axe in his mouth, the wooden handle gripped tightly in his teeth, at the ready in case of an ambush. his saddlebag's carried the same things as Vinyl, his gaze was pointed at ponyville, his eyes filled with determination, which Swift was happy to see.
Pinkie suddenly stood next to the trio, catching them by slight surprise, ''oh, sorry, I couldn't resist seeing you off, I'll just open the gate here for you.'' the bubbly mare giggled and bounced over to the latch of the gate, pulling it out with a hoof, letting the gate swing open. ''thanks Pinkie'' Swift nodded at Pinkie, before shifting his gaze back to the open gate.
before anypony could react, Pinkie jumped in front of them, her party cannon by her side, she grabbed hold of the fuse and pulled, the cannon blasting the undead earth pony mare, a yellow pony with a green mane and tail, away completely with a loud-
BOOM!
Vinyl grinned at the party pony, before turning back to the two stallions next to her, ''well, come on, we don't have all day.'' she started trotting out through the gate, pausing to let them catch up, Swift and Big Macintosh were slightly stunned, but followed none the less. ''Buck, that was fast.'' Swift thought to himself, it was amazing how fast Pinkie could move, to fast. it made him wonder, ''what would happen if that mare snapped and came after us, after Vinyl...'' he shook that train of thought out of his head, and continued on, hearing the gate close behind them as they walked.

behind the departing pony's, Pinkie smiled wide, her smile running so far across her face it looked like it would break physics and grow past her face, her ears flattened, and she giggled, and a few locks of her poofy pink mane fell across her face. her left eye twitched, and Pinkie, began to laugh.

Author's Note

and now, what do you think will happen?

is Pinkie crazy enough to do something?

find out next chapter. comment on my story and tell me how I'm doing, and if there's anything I can improve. thanks so much, and enjoy.