The Trotting Dead

An air of unease swept over the group as Twilight tilted her head quizzically.

Rainbow Dash had teared up, in a tough way she defended, Fluttershy had collapsed and discovered that the cold floor was incredibly interesting and Rarity awkwardly rubbed her hoof.

Pinkamena just snorted and went back to sharpening her blades with a rock.

"Girls...?" Twilight prodded.

"Twilight...First things first, dear. Where have you been?" Rarity asked.

"I...I've been at the library, why? You all look like this thing has been going on for a while; what is this thing and when did it even start?"

"You've been living in the library for a month?!" Rainbow Dash barked in anger.

"Rainbow Dash, control yourself!" Rarity snapped. Clearing her throat and leaving the disgruntled pegasus to her self, Rarity continued. "Dear, you cannot possibly tell me that you have been living in that small library for an entire month since this all started. We all had assumed you were still with the Princess in Canterlot since you never told us you were back."

"Canterlot? Why would I have been in Canterlot? I mean, I remember going but I have no idea why. I just...Woke up in my bed in the library this morning." Twilight replied.

"Yesterday morning." Pinkamena corrected, pausing from her task to check on the moon.

The others ignored the remark and Rainbow Dash jumped in again. "Yea, you just happened to wake up! If I didn't know any better I'd say you stuffed yourself in that tree with Spike and lived off stored food or something!"

"Rainbow Dash, I will not tell you again to control yourself; this is Twilight for Celestia's sake! Our best friend, how can you be so cruel?"

"Because she went missing when we needed her the most and Applejack is DEAD because of her!" Rainbow Dash screamed, panting hotly after thrusting her snout angrily at the white unicorn.

Another wave of unease came over them and the silence was only broken by a yellow pegasi's soft sobs.

"A-Applejack is...? N-No, that can't be right...That's impossible, right? This is all just a big Nightmare Night joke, right?" Twilight stuttered with an awkward smile.

Rainbow Dash glared angrily before turning away and Rarity comfortingly put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"I wish it were, dear...I wish it were..."

"And that is really all we know; it just happened out of the blue one day." Rarity finished, explaining their predicament to their newest and yet oldest member.

"So what do we do now? I mean, we have to do something! We can't just sit on our hooves and wait for this to blow over, because it's not going to." Twilight asked hopefully.

"Honestly, we haven't a clue. We lost one of our own for certain and we feared we had lost you too. In all honesty, we've actually lost every single member of our little group." Rarity replied, motioning a hoof towards Pinkamena who was busy tossing knives into a makeshift training dummy.

"Darling Pinkie- er, Pinkamena, has gotten rather...Violent, to say the least. Not towards us, of course, but she's lost her joy and it's...Well, it's eaten away at her insides. Rainbow Dash has lost a bit of herself too; she's not as boastful or proud as she used to be after Applejack...Well, you know, but her bravery is still unmatched. Fluttershy, bless her darling little heart, has receded deeper into her shell if that's even possible. When you announced yourself that was the first reaction we had really gotten out of her in weeks."

Twilight felt cold upon hearing all of this; how every single one of her friends had changed because this plague thing had come along. And worst of all, she had been nowhere to be found to help them through all of this.

"What about you; what happened to you, Rarity?" Twilight asked sincerely.

The white unicorn gave a sad smile and bowed her head.

"I took your place, dear. We all needed a leader and I guess it just came naturally to me. Although, I believe I've benefited most from this change; we need to be quick and efficient, Twilight. If there's a mud puddle in the way of our path I am more than happy to trod through it now. I have given so much of my old self up to try and be like you, for them, and honestly I don't see how you can deal with the stress."

Twilight closed her eyes and let this all sink in.

I've been gone for months and can barely remember a thing since before then, and then there's this plague of undeath...And all my friends had to change to survive...

"I'm a terrible friend..." Twilight admitted, eliciting a snort from Rainbow Dash as she lay on her back in a corner.

Rarity glared and flared her horn, grasping the pegasi's wing with her magic and flipping her over in a heart beat.

The two shared a glare before Rarity turned back to Twilight with a sigh. "Well, it's late and we all should get some rest. Rainbow Dash, would you be a dear and roll up the bridge?"

"I'll roll something..." the blue pegasus muttered angrily before flying through a shattered window to bring up the rope bridge.

"You should rest, Twilight. I can see that all of this knowledge has done nothing but burden you and I'm sorry for that; but it's something you needed to hear." Rarity said, a leader's tone in her voice that Twilight admired.

As Rarity stepped away from the settling unicorn, the whole room echoed with a rumble from Twilight's belly.

Sheepish smiles were traded for sympathetic looks and Fluttershy crept over; nudging an apple with her hoof.

Scooting closer to the timid mare, Twilight nuzzled her friend in silent thanks and quickly devoured the juicy fruit.

Today had not been a good day.