The Trotting Dead

Twilight had been staring at the sky for the past hour now, long before the rest of her group had awoken.

She had been watching the clouds as they drift away by themselves and the sun rise on its own; but that was impossible, right?

Princess Celestia raised the sun each morning to literally push the moon away, but then Princess Luna raised the moon each night to push the sun away.

Both princesses had to be alive, Twilight determined as Pinkamena let out a bored groan.

"Sweet Celestia, Pinkamena...You need to stop doing that!" Rainbow Dash said playfully as she awoke herself.

Rainbow Dash avoided Twilight out of spite, but Pinkie Pie seemed to avoid everyone out of something else...

What is she feeling? Twilight wondered. She must be so lonely, but it's impossible to see through that mask...

A yawn that sounded from a well rested pony announced Rarity's fight against drowsiness and Fluttershy quickly followed suit with a quieter one.

Twilight Sparkle had fretted over how to say this ever since she had been brought back to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters, and she finally had found the courage to do so.

"We need to go to Canterlot."

Rainbow Dash paused to choke on her spit while Pinkamena just laughed mockingly; Rarity stood flabbergasted behind the purple unicorn before Twilight turned to face the group.

"D-Dear, you can't honestly tell me you're serious...Right?" Rarity started.

"You know Twilight; whenever she gets an idea in her head there's no turning back, no matter how stupid it is." Rainbow Dash quipped after she had gained control over herself once more.

"I'm serious, girls. The sun and the moon are still being raised, so both Princesses must be alive still. They're our best bet for survival." Twilight said with a stomp of her hoof.

Pinkamena smirked as she idly wobbled the tip of a knife into the cold stone floor. "You're not in any position to be giving or suggesting orders, Twilight. After all, you pretty much just asked us to do the most suicidal thing besides heading over to Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sweet Apple Acres? Why would that...Nevermind, why is going to Canterlot dangerous? If the Princesses are still raising the sun and the moon then why wouldn't Canterlot be protected?"

"Think for a minute, Twilight; use that egghead brain of yours." Rainbow Dash teased. "If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were still alive and Canterlot managed to be saved, then why not us? Why not Ponyville, the home to the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, huh? Or for that matter, why not Cloudsdale, home of the Wonderbolts and the weather factory? Why not ANYWHERE ELSE, HUH?!"

Taken back by Rainbow Dash's sudden outburst, Twilight looked around at her friends for support; but no support was to be given.

Pinkamena sat in the corner with a smug look as she watched the scene unfold before her. Fluttershy curled into a ball and silently sobbed to herself. Rarity stared at Twilight with a look of sadness and Rainbow Dash stormed off to the other side of the room.

"Dear, we're not saying that the Princesses are dead...It's just..."

"You don't trust her." Twilight finished.

"We don't have a reason to anymore, Twilight. She raised the sun for us, woo hoo! But where was she when we needed her to save our friends and family?" Pinkamena challenged.

"Where was she when we needed her to save Applejack..." Rainbow Dash muttered.

"We can't just sit here on our flanks! You said I've been out for a month? Then Ponyville has to be devoid of supplies! Where have you girls been finding food?" Twilight challenged.

A cold silence overcame the room as Rarity glared furiously.

"We haven't."

They had sat in silence in the cold castle room; the sun or their body heat doing nothing to warm the ominous room.

Each pony kept to themselves; Pinkamena snored softly in her corner while Rainbow Dash glared out the window and Rarity attempted some feat of magic with her horn over and over again before frustratedly giving up.

Fluttershy and Twilight sat opposite from each other, although Fluttershy never once looked up from the floor.

"Fluttershy..." Twilight whispered.

The pegasi flicked her ears in acknowledgement but made no attempt to scoot closer or raise her head.

"Fluttershy, what's gotten into everypony here? Why are they all being so cruel and why is Sweet Apple Acres dangerous?"

Fluttershy sighed and idly dragged her hoof against the floor.

"Everypony is just on edge, Twilight. The world's a scary place now and we just don't know how to survive it. It's hard, and even harder for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash; they both lost someone very close to them and Rainbow Dash only blames you because she doesn't know who else to blame." the yellow mare replied quietly.

"But what about Sweet Apple Acres? Surely the trees there are still growing apples, right?"

"Oh, of course, but...Um...We can't go there..."

"Why not?"

"Because that's where Big Mac lives..."

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this, Twilight. You could be getting us all killed; you don't know him anymore- you don't know how he's changed!" Rarity whispered furiously as the group managed a single file line through the woods towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"Honestly, what could have happened to him? He's still just an earth pony."

"Twilight, you remember Hearts And Hooves Day when the Cutie Mark Crusaders used that love potion on him and Cheerilee?" Rarity asked.

"Of course, how could I forget that they nearly trashed the whole town just to get to each other?" Twilight replied with a chuckle.

"Twilight, Big MacIntosh tore an entire building from its foundation to get to Cheerliee; and he was just acting on pure emotion."

"So? He's...Well, you know now; right? The decomposition couldn't have been good for his strength."

"It's not that simple, dear. I've been studying these things ever since they came out. They have no sense of pain; they'll keep pushing their bodies forward until nothing is left but one hoof, the neck and the head trying to drag itself towards you. The only way to kill one of the things is to destroy the head or sever it from the body. But there's something else...Big MacIntosh is a special case. You see, instead of gradually wearing away into nothing like I predict the others will, Big MacIntosh seems frozen in his prime state. They only have one thought as far as I can tell, and that is to feed."

"But feeding doesn't actually do anything to them except make them fatter." Rainbow Dash added.

"You discovered all of this within a month?" Twilight mused.

"Unicorns are very inquisitive, dear."

The answer seemed to satisfy Twilight as the group broke through the forest and stood on a hill overlooking fields upon fields of apple trees.

"So what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked, towards Rarity rather than Twilight.

"I must say, you're handling this much better than I thought you would be." Rarity whispered when they were alone, eyes darting around to see through the trees.

"I'm not really...I...I woke up to what I thought was a normal day only to find Spike...Oh, Rarity, he hung himself!"

A white hoof snapped itself over Twilight's snout and two sorrow filled eyes met hers. "Twilight, I understand your loss and I grieve with you, but you need to keep your voice down; those things can hear you."

When Rarity's hoof released her snout, Twilight sighed sadly and continued walking forward. "I'm sorry...So how far in do we have to go?"

"Applejack always kept the best apple trees the closest to the farm, and we managed to clear all of the outer trees before we were forced to move in deeper. That's when we came across Big MacIntosh..."

"I see...And, uh, did Applejack...?"

"Oh, heavens no, darling. She...She was, however, and it was a mercy killing...A rather painful one on my part, as I was the only unicorn left in the group."

"Why did you have to do it? Why not Pinkie Pie?"

"Dear, you cannot honestly expect a friend to kill a friend; especially when one of those friends is Pinkie Pie. While she has sunk into the dark ends of life, I knew she would take it far harder than I would and I simply could not let that happen. Ever since Pinkie slipped completely, morale has been dreadfully low...But I guess I'm sort of avoiding your question now, aren't I? Forgive me, but to put it rather morbidly blunt: pony heads are surprisingly susceptible to magical attacks."

Twilight felt her heart twinge and her face scrunch up as Rarity explained everything.

Before she could bring up another question, the Apple Family Farmhouse came into view through the trees.

"This should be far enough; he likes to wander and it's a wonder that we haven't seen him already." Rarity said as she began plucking apples from the nearby trees.

Twilight started to do the same but nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a soft thump when Fluttershy landed behind her.

"O-Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" the yellow mare apologized quietly. "I-It's just that Rainbow Dash saw a light coming from inside the trees and went to go see what it was. She told me to come tell you where she went."

"Fluttershy, I told you to stay in the sky! How are we supposed to know if Big Mac is coming or not?" Twilight quietly snapped, causing the yellow mare to squeak in fear and cower into a ball.

Before Rarity could interrupt, a snarl came from behind the group; who turned just in time to noticed a lumbering, heavily decaying earth pony stumble awkwardly from behind the trees.

It let out another snarl as it opened its mouth and took a step towards the ponies.

Big MacIntosh had arrived.