The Trotting Dead

Twilight and Rarity took a few steps back as Big MacIntosh took another step towards them.

Like they had rehearsed, both unicorn's horns lit up and their magical aura wrapped around Big Mac's head.

He seemed unfazed by it, however, as he suddenly leapt at Twilight.

"I thought you said magic would hold him off!" Twilight shouted as she darted off into the trees with Rarity and Fluttershy following after.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"

"I said it should! A unicorn's magic is directly affected by their health, and neither of us have been eating properly!" Rarity shot back as she tried flinging a few bolts towards Big Mac's hide.

The few that did manage to strike him left small gashes that did nothing to stop the lumbering giant as he surged after the purple unicorn before him.

Food!

Feed!

Feed! his mind shouted as he neared his prey.

As he pushed his head out and opened his jaws, he realized with a start that something heavy had landed on his back.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Zombie Killers!" the trio of fillies sung in unison as they gripped onto Big Mac's yoke for dear life.

"Scootaloo, hoof me the beatin' stick!" Apple Bloom called out.

"I didn't grab the stick! I thought Sweetie Belle grabbed it!"

"I didn't grab the stick! It's your job to look after the stuff, Scootaloo!"

"Will you two quit yer blabberin' an jus' help bring Big Mac down?!" Apple Bloom cried out in frustration, effectively ending the conversation as the group set to their tasks.

"Sweetie Belle, what in Celestia's name are you doing?!" Rarity screamed as she forced her hooves faster and harder against the ground in an attempt to catch up to the trio.

Big MacIntosh, in the meantime, had switched his attention from the terrified Twilight to the over zealous Cutie Mark Crusaders; bucking his legs back in an attempt to throw them off of his being as he could not turn his head to bite at them.

Rainbow Dash had returned from the sky and Pinkie Pie simply appeared next to the group.

It took all of Rarity's remaining magical strength to keep the group from diving into the fray and possibly becoming hurt themselves from Big Mac, who seemed to be entering an unstoppable frenzy.

As the Cutie Mark Crusaders held on fast to their attacker and slowly but surely enacted their plan, Rarity backed the group off to look for Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle, personal protégé of Princess Celestia herself.

Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic.

Twilight Sparkle, defeater of Nightmare Moon and Discord.

Twilight Sparkle, coward shivering in a tree.

The cold winds of the day blew silently once more as Twilight clung to the branch for dear life.

She had run from the demonic looking earth pony that was Big MacIntosh and had finally lost him; and herself.

Now, she sat in the branches of an apple tree that was one out of thousands and had nothing unlike the rest as she heard the wailing moans and growls of creatures around her.

How many could there be?

I can outrun them, right?

I can just teleport to safety, right?

Twilight's mind churned with thought as she struggled to calm her beating heart but to no avail.

She would simply sit here, waiting for her friends.

They would find her eventually, right?

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, zombie killers, yay!" the trio shouted out again, inspecting each others flanks as Big MacIntosh's once again lifeless body lay slumped against a tree.

"It...Looks like a green pony head with holes in it and a red 'x' over the face." Sweetie Belle stated.

"Hey, so does mine!" Scootaloo chimed in.

"Oh mah gosh! We all got the same cutie marks!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders--" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom began again, but halted once they realized Sweetie Belle wasn't joining.

"Girls? Where are the others?" she asked simply.

"Hey, I left Fluttershy up there to keep watch!" Rainbow Dash yelled in her defense.

"And she came down to tell us where you had gone! If you would have stayed up there we would have had a warning and Twilight wouldn't have ran off!" Rarity shot back.

"Better her than us." Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Rainbow Dash, Twilight is our friend!"

"Applejack was my friend, or have you forgotten that too? Why did you even pull us back when the CMC were handling Big Mac? They could be in trouble for all we know and YOU have us searching for a purple unicorn that nopony even cares about!"

"ENOUGH!" Pinkamena screamed.

Everypony blinked in surprise and Pinkamena took a threatening step towards them all.

"Ever since this outbreak started, all we've been doing is fighting each other over things that are nopony's fault! Rainbow Dash, YOU didn't even know Applejack had been bitten, how the hay was Twilight supposed to know?! And Rarity! You've been 'struggling' to hold this group together but you don't address any of the problems we're all facing! You just bicker with Rainbow Dash all day long! And Fluttershy!" Pinkamena shouted, pausing to inspect the cowering pegasi at her hooves.

"Hmph. Stuck inside your shell like always when we need every able body." she muttered. "We have a pony to find, so all of you shut up and keep moving."

I never would have expected Pinkie Pie of all ponies to take the initiative like she did...I mean, I understand the pressing need to find Twilight and make sure she's okay, but still...The way she acted... Rarity thought before letting out a sigh.

This disease has done nothing but change us all for the worse...

"Um...A-Are you alright, Rarity..?" Fluttershy asked quietly, falling into step beside the white unicorn.

Pinkamena took the lead slowly, taking time to let her eyes scan every tree top, bush, and shadow in the distance as the searched among the apple trees for Twilight.

Rainbow Dash brought up the rear, her ears flicked back to detect any signs of approach from behind.

"I'm fine, dear. But what about you? I can't imagine how you've managed to stay sane during all of this." Rarity replied calmly.

Fluttershy suddenly became interested in the cold dirt beneath her hooves like she did whenever she wanted to avoid something, and so Rarity left the conversation as that.

It wasn't long after that that Rarity collided with Pinkamena, who had halted suddenly and was staring up into the tree on her left.

Rarity followed the gaze and struggled to contain her excitement as she spotted a certain unicorn's dark purple tail sticking out from the tree.

"Twilight, it's us! Come down from there and let's get out of here!" Rarity whispered as she tried to get onto her hind hooves to see into the tree.

Fluttershy stretched her wings out before gently fluttering them and flying up close to the tree to retrieve the shell shocked Twilight.

As she neared the branch Twilight was resting on, her gaze widened in horror and a purple blur shot out from the tree, tackling Fluttershy to the ground below.

Twilight let out a sickly roar before sinking her teeth into the yellow pegasi's throat and forcefully relieving her of that necessity in a bloody mess.

Fluttershy gurgled a pained cry as Rarity stood frozen, simply shocked at what she had just witnessed.

And then, everything just went black.