Bad End

“And he wasn’t worried at all!”

Rarity put her hoof to her mouth in shock. “Not at all?”

“Not at all!” Twilight Sparkle took a sip from her tea, looking around the cottage at her friends, save for Applejack. “He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that Apple Bloom’s been missing for almost a full day! All he cared about were some silly books! Oh, I feel horrible losing track of her like that. I looked everywhere in the forest, but she was nowhere to be found! What if something bad happens to her? It’ll be on me! It’s all my fault!”

“It’s not your fault, Twilight. You were clearing the path of those fallen trees, and that required your concentration.” Fluttershy took a sip as well. “Apple Bloom wandered off of her own free will, and you shouldn’t put yourself down for that.”

“Let’s just focus on finding her,” Rainbow Dash offered. “Don’t sweat the could-have-beens, after all, they haven’t happened yet.”

“Thanks, girls. So after that, because I was so worried, I asked him if I could form a search party to look for her, but he said no! He told me not to worry, and that ‘she’ll turn up’,” Twilight imitated the stallion’s drawl.

“He didn’t want to start a party?! Blasphemy against the Pielotariat!” Pinkie stood up and marched in place, her hoofbeats somehow echoing as if made by many ponies. “When the revolution comes, he’ll be first against the wall! We must overthrow the Bore-geoisie!”

“Pinkie, stop inciting revolt in the working class. This is a serious matter. Also, Big Macintosh is the working class.”

“Aw, okie dokie...” She sat down on her pillow again, pouring a little more tea in her cup of sugar. “...Hey, where’s Applejack?”

“Oh, um, I assumed she was busy looking for her sister, so I didn’t invite her...” The yellow pegasus shrunk back as she said this.

“We should go help her!” Dash said, “No matter what Big Mac says, we should form a search party! The more of us are helping, the faster we’ll find Apple Bloom!”

Rarity nodded in agreement. “A splendid idea. Should we ask anypony else to help?”

“Ooh! I can go and ask for help! Pick me!” Pinkie waved both forehooves over her head. Twilight sighed.

“Okay, get as many ponies as you can and tell them to meet at the entrance to the Everfree Forest in an hour. If we have enough, we’ll split up and start the search. I’ll go get Applejack.” She put down her tea and left the others to their plans.

A knock at the door startled Apple Bloom into the air. Bottles of spices and roots tumbled everywhere as she looked for a place to hide. Inadvertently she tripped on her own loose-hanging tail and the rest of the jars fell too, clinking as if in a toast against her exposed rib. Winona woofed in excitement, pawing at the door.

“Consarnit Apple Bloom! You done knocked over all the herbs!” Applejack set the bottles and the flailing filly upright and went to answer the knock. “Go up to yer room and stay there til Ah say so.” Her dark sister nodded and shambled up the stairs, the dog nipping at her heels after her. The mare turned to Big Macintosh, who was standing over a pot on the stove, saw that he was fine, and opened the door.

“Hi Applejack! Can I come in?” Twilight asked from outside the screen.

“Oh, uh, hi Twilight. Uh, sure, come on in.” She pushed the outside door open and let her friend inside. “Can Ah getcha anything?”

“No thanks, I just had tea with the others. We’ve decided to start a search party to look for Apple Bloom in the Everfree, and I was hoping you’d have the same thing in mind.”

“Oh! Yeah! Ah was lookin’ fer her all this mornin’.”

“All this morning?” Twilight peered around the Earth pony. “Is that... soup you’re making?”

“Uh, yeah, soup. Tasty soup. Apologies, but we can’t spare any.”

The unicorn sniffed the air, recognizing the musty scent that came to her. “...Mandrake? Applejack, why are you making mandrake soup? It’s quite hallucinogenic, not to mention poisonous.”

Applejack was starting to sweat. “Uh, that ain’t mandrake! That’s potatoes! Potato soup!”

“And you’re making... ‘potato’ soup instead of looking for Apple Bloom why?”

“Well it’s lunchtime, ain’t it? Y’all just had tea yerself.”

“...Okay then. Anyways, since she’s your sister, we want to include you in the search. Maybe you can show us all the places you didn’t find her.”

The cowpony rubbed the back of her head. “That’s a lot of places... Ah’d be glad to help, Twilight. Ah’ll meet you an’ the girls in... gimme ten minutes to get ready.”

“Ten minutes. We’ll be waiting at the Everfree.” The unicorn went out onto the porch and the door shut.

Applejack sighed monumentously. “Alright, Apple Bloom, you can come down now.”

“What was that all about?” The red-eyed filly appeared at the top of the stairs.

“A search party’s gonna be lookin’ fer you, an’ they asked me t’ help. Ah gotta help ‘em, so Ah’ll be gone fer the rest of the day. You an’ Big Mac keep trying those herbal potions, an’ one of ‘em might do the trick.”

“But the seven we already tried didn’t do a darn thing!”

“Maybe the eighth time’s the charm.”

Apple Bloom groaned, a gravelly, ancient sound that raised the hair on the back of her sister’s neck. “The last potion’s all over th’ hall floor. Frankly, Ah don’t think what’s left of mah stomach can take much more a’ this!”

“Well it’s got to. We’re turnin’ you back t’ normal whether you like it or not. Now help Big Macintosh stir in the betony.” Applejack headed out the door, slamming it shut.

Applejack galloped up to the forest entrance where dozens of ponies stood in small groups. “Alright, Ah’m here girls. What’s the plan?”

Rainbow Dash zipped over. “We rounded up almost everypony in Ponyville, and we’re going in there in fours. It’s you, me, Twilight and Rarity in Team Bodacious.”

“Rainbow! We don’t have team names!” the purple unicorn called over from across the clearing. “We’re in Team One. Fluttershy and Pinkie are with Lyra and Bonbon in Team Two, and so on.” Twilight pointed to the other four mares in order, who were admiring a necklace Bonbon was wearing. “Any questions, Applejack?”

“No, Ah’m good! Let’s get goin’!”

Twilight amplified her voice. “Alright, everypony, we’re heading in!” At this call, the six teams turned and slowly entered the forest.

Almost instantly the canopy blocked out the midday sun, wrapping them in shadow. The other teams followed Team One’s lead and headed to a place far into the gloom, round the bends and curves, through the dim light and across the thin wooden bridges that spanned the distance between the hillocks shrouded in fog. Quite a ways before Zecora’s hut, Twilight stopped walking, stood on a tree stump and announced again.

“Okay, this is where I was clearing the trees off the path when Apple Bloom wandered away. I think she was trying to tell me about something, but... I didn’t listen. So we’ll start from here and spread out. Everypony has their map, right?”

A sea of parchment papers unfurled on top of the crowd.

“Good. I’ve marked this point on every map. Decide on a direction with your team, but make sure it’s different from every other team’s. When you’re done, report back here. If you find Apple Bloom, you have your whistle to blow. Most importantly, stick together. As you know, the Everfree is very dangerous. Now let’s get searching!” The teams broke up with that, fanning into the overgrowth. Twilight joined Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack and headed in the general direction of Zecora’s hut, deeper into the Everfree Forest.

“Big Macintosh, Ah can’t find the lamb’s ear leaf!”

“Yer sitting on it,” the stallion replied.

Apple Bloom stood up and found it. “Oh, hehe. Ah guess Ah don’t have a sense of touch there anymore.” She picked up the old glass jar and gave it to her brother, who poured some of the ground leaves into the bubbling pot. “So this is number... 12, right?”

“Eeyup.”

The filly sighed. “Ah bet it’ll taste jus’ as awful as the last eleven. Maybe ‘cause mah sense of taste is bad too. But to tell ya the truth, it’s not that Ah’m not hungry. Ah’m just not hungry fer this stuff.”

“Whatcha hankerin’ for?”

“Maybe a hot dog...”

Big Macintosh stopped stirring, taking a judgmental look at his sister. “A hot dog? Kind of a strange thing to eat at a time like this.”

“But Pinkie Pie eats them all th’ time!”

“Well she’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t mind her.” The stallion continued stirring. “When we’re done here, Ah’ll make you a hot dog. Might have to go into town if’n we don’t have the ingredients.”

“What’s a hot dog made of? Ah don’t wanna lose my lunch again.”

“Soy beans, egg whites.”

“Eww, no thanks...” She sat down at the table and tapped her hooves on the chair legs. The bones clicked together like castanets, which she thought was sort of funny. Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, click-

“Apple Bloom, would ya stop that? It’s unsettlin’.” Big Macintosh shuddered. “So if you don’t want a hot dog, what then?”

The undead pony put her head in her hooves. “Ah dunno. A hot dog sounded good in mah head. But it ain’t important, Ah can go without eatin’ anyways. Never mind.”

“The potion’s ready.” He poured a thin steaming liquid from the pot and handed it to her.

“Bottoms up!” She drained the cup. Several drops leaked through the blackened skin of her throat. She waited for something to happen. She waited some more. Just when she thought she had waited enough, the potion came back up in a putrid whirl all over the table, along with a scabbed tooth. “...Eeuugh... Sorry, Big Mac.”

This time, the stallion sighed. “Don’t matter. That was the last recipe, so we’ll have t’ wait for Applejack to come back ‘fore we move onto the next book. You can go play, but don’t leave the house.”

“Sure thing! See ya!” She hopped down from the chair and hobbled up to her room, her bones clicking and her pink bow bouncing. Big Macintosh was left to clean up the foul mess.

“Dear Celestia, please fix mah little sister.”

It was late into the afternoon when the search teams regrouped at the stump. To the disappointment of all, they had been unsuccessful. Twilight stood high and addressed the crowd again.

“Well, uh, we didn’t find Apple Bloom, but we tried our best... How about we meet here again tomorrow at 9? Sound good? Okay, 9 tomorrow.” The herd dispersed and wearily trotted back to Ponyville. Applejack approached the stump.

“Thank ya kindly for yer effort, Twilight. Ah know how much you wanted to help.”

“Why are you thanking me? We didn’t find her! We have less chance of finding her the longer it takes!”

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Um, Twilight? Maybe... maybe we’re not going to... to, um, find her...”

“What?! Don’t say that! We have to find her! We’re going to find her!”

“We’ve been looking for six hours straight! If she’s still in the forest, she’s trying to avoid us for all the places we haven’t found her!” Dash threw her hooves wide.

“Well, uh, why would she do that?! Doesn’t she want to be found?”

“Twi, thank you fer doing all this, but you’ve done yer part. Go home, get some rest, and we’ll look fer Apple Bloom in the morning.”

“...Okay then, Applejack... I hope we find her...” The unicorn trod off, followed by the orange mare and the other four, all sulking.

“Ah’m home! Big Macintosh, get in here!”

The stallion peered around the doorframe to the kitchen. “Ah’m right here, AJ. No need to holler.”

“Where’s, uh, Apple Bloom?”

“Upstairs playing. Ah cleaned up the messes.”

Applejack sat down and laid her head on the kitchen table sideways, the brim of her hat folding up against the yellow-checkered tablecloth. “Thanks, Ah guess.”

“...Yer worried about her too, ain’t ya?”

“You said it. Everypony in town was looking fer her, and it took every ounce of willpower to play like Ah thought she’s missing. There musta been three or four times Ah nearly spilled the beans. And Twilight’s a dern smart pony, she’d be outta line to not suspect something’s up.”

Big Macintosh sat down as well. “...Apple Bloom ever eaten a hot dog?”

The mare rubbed her chin. “Nah, can’t say she has. Why?”

“Jus’, she said she was craving one while we made the potions. Sounded like she had somethin’ else in mind, though.”

“Well she’s a zombie, she’s bound t’ get weird ideas about what t’ eat. Ah remember that time Rarity thought she was a vampire and drank nothin’ but tomater juice an’ red wine fer a week.”

“Was that why she got that stomach bug?”

“Point is, she had a bad idea based on a notion she fully believed in. Maybe Apple Bloom’s makin’ it worse fer herself by believing things about zombies that ain’t true. She can’t keep any normal food down, so she tries to find somethin’ she can. Do zombies even eat brains?”

A frightened yipping from the second floor answered Applejack promptly. The two ponies stood up at the same time as they realized what the sound was.

“WINONA!”

They galloped up the stairs like the cars of a wooden roller coaster.

“Hfldl fhtil, dggmnint!”

Apple Bloom held the dog’s tail tightly in her mouth, struggling to flip her onto her back. Her efforts were met with scratches to her unfeeling face and kicks in the jaw. Winona was losing traction on the hardwood floors with her trimmed nails, running out of energy faster than expected. The filly finally succeeded in pinning the dog down, a hoof pressing on her furry chest, and leaned in to take a bite. The bedroom door was thrown flush against the wall and the zombie’s siblings bucked their way in.

“APPLE BLOOM! Let go of Winona!” Applejack bolted forward and pushed her sister into the air. The terrified pet was no slower in escaping the room. “What in tarnation are you doing?!”

The filly sat up from her lie against the bedpost and shook her head with a crackling sound. “Er, what now?” She tapped her temple and a chip of bone fell out the other ear into her waiting hoof.

“Y’all just tried t’ eat Winona!” Big Macintosh drawled, visibly shaken.

“No way! Ah was playin’ with Smarty Pants an’ Winona wanted to play too!” She pointed to the doll on the rug, half of its arm ripped open. The stallion gasped.

Applejack stood her ground. “Li’l miss, you are a pony. Ponies do not eat dogs.”

“Ah didn’t even do anything, sis, uh, ma’am!” Apple Bloom rasped, standing up quickly.

“You serious? We saw ya holdin’ her against the floor like a darned wolf!”

“That’s a lie! Ah did nothin’ of th’ sort!”

Big Macintosh stepped between the two arguing ponies, pushing them apart from their nose-to-nose stance. “Girls, calm down,” he said with a flutter in his voice.

The older sister backed off first. “...Ah’ma go check on Winona, see if she’s hurt.” She left the battlefield. Apple Bloom turned to her brother.

“Big Maaaac, Ah didn’t do nothin’! Honest!”

His gaze shifted from the filly to the torn doll. “...Stay in here, don’t come down til supper. An’ don’t wake Granny, if she ain’t already woke. We’ll talk.” He picked up Smarty Pants in his mouth and left the room.

Apple Bloom licked her dry lips. “Stupid dog...” she muttered hoarsely.

Big Macintosh entered the living room to find Applejack bandaging Winona’s tail. The poor dog was trying to whimper and pant at the same time for all the fright she had.

“She okay?”

Applejack stood and wiped her brow. “‘Sides a broken tail and some Pee-Tee-Ess-Dee, she’s in good health. Apple Bloom, on the other hoof...”

“She says she ain’t done nothin’. She doesn’t sound like she’s lyin’.”

The mare patted her dog on the head. “Yeah, well, zombies have weird voices. They can coax you inta doing stuff you weren’t gonna do, tell lies and sound like truths.”

“Ah think that’s vampires.”

“No matter! That filly’s a lyin’ zombie, an’ you shouldn’t trust her. She tried to eat Winona! Nopony in her right mind would even think about eatin’ a dog! It’s horrible!”

Her brother looked over his shoulder at the stack of books by the door. “Ah’ma take those books back t’ Twilight. Nothin’ helpful in ‘em. Oh, an’ Ah heard Granny say she was in the mood fer beans tonight.”

“Beans it is then. But Ah’m not having Apple Bloom sit at th’ table with us. She can eat at the counter.”

Big Macintosh slung the books over his back in a pair of saddlebags. “We can’t keep this secret fer long, AJ.”

Applejack hung her head. “Ah know, Big Mac. Ah know that.”

“Should we tell anypony ‘fore it’s too late?”

“No! They’d hurt her, cuz they don’t understand that she’s... still okay...”

The stallion watched his sister silently struggle through the confusion of zombie ethics. After some time he spoke up. “Either they put her down or we do.”

“Big Mac! How could you say that?!” She sniffled. “She’s our sister! We jus’ gotta keep tryin’ to find a way to turn her normal again! We’ll find somethin’!”

“Want me to tell Twilight?”

“Twi?” She blinked, then shook her head frantically. “No no no! It’s bad enough Ah lied to her so much, but asking fer her help afterwards, an’ on such a sensitive matter? That’d wreck everything!”

“Shoe yerself. Ah’m returning the books. Git to beanin’.” He stepped out into the warm summer evening and headed for town.