“Twilight it was a zombie I’m telling you!” It had been almost a whole day since Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had survived the encounter with Mr. Cuddles.
“And I’m telling you there is no such thing as zombies, even if it were a zombie from the way you said he acted I doubt it.”
The lavender mare was beginning to become tired of the same discussion from the past day. Pinkie’s rants about meeting a zombie in the Ever Free had the town in a bit of a panic.
“Yes, yes, yes I know that it didn’t act like a zombie but I never said he was a bad zombie, maybe he ate cakes instead of brains.”
Twilight face hoofed after hearing her friend’s comment.
Spike came down from the second floor of the library just in time to overhear the conversation and ask
“Then why did you runaway if it was trying to help you?”
Pinkie looked slightly embarrassed and replied
“He might have been a good zombie but he was still a zombie. I was scared so I ran away.”
“So much for laughing at the ghosties.” Murmured Spike.
Twilight frowned and said
“Pinkie what if you were wrong and you ran away from an injured pony. He could have been in trouble and you left him there.”
Pinkie cringed at the thought of leaving someone alone and injured in a dark forest with a rabid bear on the loose.
Still trying to grasp at her small amount denial left she said
“But his eyes looked dead, glazed white like a ghost.”
Twilight groaned lifting a hoof to her forehead. Setting the hoof back down, she said
“He probably had cataracts, Pinkie not only did you leave him stranded and injured but half blind too!”
Pinkie’s eyes widened in realization as she gasped.
“Oh no, I have to go find him before it is too late.”
“Don’t worry Pinkie I’ll go round up the girls and we’ll meet you at the edge of the Ever Free Forest.”
Pinkie gave her an estranged look
“What’s wrong Pinkie?” asked Twilight
“I don’t know I just felt what you said was very clichéd.”
They looked at each other in confusion, even Spike stared from the kitchen entrance until Twilight broke the silence
“Okay we’ll meet you there.” She said awkwardly.
Pinkie nodded once and raced out of the library yelling
“Don’t worry Mr. Zombie I’m on my way!”
A loud groan could be heard from inside of the library and the voice of a baby dragon
“Tea?”
……
Pinkie waited by the edge of the Everfree for her friends. She looked into the forest, watching shadows moving from between the trees.
Distant growls and cries could be heard from afar, insects and other small creatures moved away from the dark forest. There was a lot of activity in the Everfree compared to the dead silence that surrounded the place, even Pinkie found it hard to keep a smile.
“Pinkie?”
Pinkie jumped when she heard her name being called from behind. She turned around and saw Twilight and three mares.
“Oh, hi Twilight.”
Said Pinkie with more glee knowing that she wasn’t alone anymore.
“Twilight said something about hunting a zombie?”
A rainbow mane mare who ended her question with a yawn.
“No silly not hunting, looking for a pony that looks like a zombie.”
Pinkie responded, noticing her friend’s tired eyes she asked
“How is Fluttershy doing Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow’s cyan coat looked dirtier than usual since she stayed up most of the night by Fluttershy’s hospital bed.
“Doctor said she’s doing better, but she hasn’t woken up yet.”
After a moment of awkward silence a porcelain white mare spoke.
“Well we should get on with this ordeal. We wouldn’t want to be in the Everfree after dark now would we?”
She finished her question with the whip of her well styled indigo mane.
“I agree with Rarity. The Everfree is dangerous enough by day.”
Said a pony mare while adjusting her Stetson hat over her blonde mane.
“Oh hi Applejack I thought you would be too busy to come with us?”
Applejack only gave her a reassuring smile and said
“I’m never too busy to help out a friend, sugar cube.”
Twilight walked closer to the forest noticing the unusual active state of the Everfree, and couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She turned to her friends with a determined look
“Alright girls, first of all I want to thank each one of you to lend a hoof today. We are here because there is a possibly injured pony wondering around in the Everfree.”
Everyone was attentive to what their friend had to say, even Pinkie who was trying her best to not be distracted by the pretty butterfly flying about.
“And despite being injured, he helped Pinkie out of the forest. He helped our friend and we’ll repay the favor.”
“How do we know he’s not in there?”
Rainbow Dash asked pointing a hoof to the darkening tree line.
“Good question Rainbow.”
Rainbow straightened with pride by the complement.
“Well since last night no one reported an injured pony other than Fluttershy or a heavily bandaged pony walking around. My best guess is that he is still wondering the forest.”
“Twilight darling I don’t wish to be crude, but how do we know that he is still alive?”
After Rarity asked her question there was an eerie silence amongst themselves as they stared at her.
Nervously she apologized
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to make any of you uncomfortable.”
Everyone turned their attention to Twilight who began to answer Rarity’s grim question with a disheartened tone.
“We don’t know if he is….. Dead or not but there is only one way to make sure.”
She turned towards the forest with a renewed dread grasping at her heart. She knew there would be a possibility that this would be a retrieval rather than a rescue. Being optimistic when the odds are so slim is no easy task.
“Alright girls let’s get a move on. Rainbow scout up ahead, if you see or hear anything come look for us.”
Rainbow Dash saluted and flew off in front of them. Twilight turned at the rest of her friends after watching Dash fly off.
“Diamond formation, Rarity cover our six.”
They looked at each other with a knowing smile.
“Darling, have you been reading ‘Saving Private Rider’ again?”
Twilight’s cheeks crimsoned as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Yea, sorry I think I got carried away.”
They shared a small laugh before going on with their search.

…………..
The first hour was uneventful other than a few timber wolves running away from the direction the mares were going. Their hearts jumped to their throats seeing the wooden creatures dashing at them from out of the foliage.
The wolves ran past them paying the girls no mind. They turned their heads in confusion, watching the wolves disappear behind them.
“Guys! Watch out for the timber …..Wolves?”
Rainbow Dash appeared from the tree tops and landed in front them, with the same confused look as them.
“I thought I saw timber wolves running towards you guys? You ok?”
“Yes Rainbow we are fine. Did you find anything?”
Rainbow flinched at the question and nodded slowly with a sadden face.
“I think I found him.”
Pinkie rushed at her asking questions.
“Where is he? Is he far? Close by? Are there cookies? Is he ok?”
Rainbow only answered the last question with a shake of her head.
“Oh no, is he hurt?
Dash answered with nod of her head.
“Then what are we waiting for? We nee…”
“It’s no good Pinkie. He’s ….gone.”
A collection of gasps later, Twilight took a step forward.
“How bad is it?”
Rainbow looked straight at her with a grimaced look in her eyes, almost seeing through her
“Bad, real bad. It took me over five minutes to be able to fly again.”
Twilight noticed the wet fur under Rainbow’s eyes but didn’t say anything.
Pinkie began to sob, covering her eyes with her hooves
“It’s my fault I shouldn’t have run away from him.”
Her hair straightened and fell over her shoulders and her coat seemed to have darkened. Rarity walked towards her and hugged her trying to comfort her
“There, there darling you couldn’t have known this would happened, it’s not your fault.”
It did little for the pink mare who kept weeping into Rarity’s shoulder
Twilight and Applejack concentrated on Rainbow who didn’t seemed to be all there.
“You alright there Dash?”
Asked Applejack adjusting her hat to have a better look at Dash. Both of the mares looked at Rainbow with concern when she didn’t answer immediately, she only stared at the ground unable to find the words she needed.
“There was…so much blood.”
She shuddered, remembering the horrific images that she had seen earlier. Twilight leaned in and placed a hoof and wing around her friend giving her the best comforting hug she could muster. AJ only shook her head, displease with the inability to save the poor stallion.
“I know its tough sugar cube but you gotta tell us more. What did him in?”
It was a few moment before Rainbow could answer the question.
“There was a dead bear a few feet away from….the body. His belly….there was just a hole.”
After she spoke she covered her face with her hooves, shaking her head as if trying to shake off the memory. Twilight tightened the grip around her friend.

……..

It had taken Pinkie and Rainbow sometime to settle down enough for them to keep going. They knew that the stallion was dead but they still had to retrieve the body and bring it back to Pony Ville for a proper burial.
“It’s up ahead, just over that boulder. Do you mind if I stay behind the boulder while you and Twilight do your thing?”
Rainbow asked still a bit shaken up. Rainbow’s actions concerned Twilight, just how bad is it? When the group reached the boulder, both Applejack and Twilight exchanged looks.
“Okay, Applejack and I will go take a look. Once we see that everything is clear I’ll send a flare to signal the pick-up team.” Explained Twilight still worried about what she was going to see just over the boulder. Applejack nodded at her and they proceeded to go around the boulder. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity waited anxiously for the flare. A minute passed by and the trio was starting to worry when they heard a voice call out to Rainbow
“Rainbow get over here and explain this!” Twilight called out her friend.
“Oh no! I don’t want to see that again!” she yelled back, a light shudder ran through her back.
“There’s nothing here sugar cube!” said Applejack with concern in her tone. Rainbow looked at her other two friends in confusion. They both frowned and made their way around the massive rock. Rainbow groaned
“Wait hold on!” she called after them and rushed behind them. Rainbow’s heart began to pound heavily when the other side started coming into view. Once they entered the clearing they saw a dead Mr. Cuddles under a tree in the far right, but no pony, unlike what Rainbow had said earlier.
“What? But he was here, I swear!” exclaimed in an outrage. She walked next to Twilight and pointed with her hoof next to Applejack
“He was right there, with no guts or anything. You got to believe me!” her raspy voice raised to a shrill.
“We believe you Rainbow but there’s no blood.” Twilight said with a serious tone as she looked around to find clues.
“Maybe it was another animal but there is no drag marks on the ground, still doesn’t explain why there is no blood.” She tapped her hoof on her chin thinking of all the possible explanations. All the other girls stayed quiet letting Twilight think, meanwhile Applejack looked around.
“Maybe he really was a zombie and he walked away.” Said Pinkie with a hopeful voice. Twilight groaned internally.
“Pinkie there is no such thing as a zombie, we’ve discussed this before.” Applejack was looking at a disruption in the dirt when her eyes widen in realization.
“Actually Twi, Pinkie might be on to something.” Twilight groaned out loud this time
“Not you too Applejack!” before she could say anymore Applejack waved a hoof
“Not the zombie part but maybe he did walk off by himself.” This brought Twilight’s attention and she made her way to Applejack, the rest followed. When they were next to her Applejack began to explain herself.
“See here, this looks like somepony was lying on their side and got up in a hurry,” she said pointing at some dirt that was recently disturbed. She then followed more tracks with her hoof
“Then they stumbled that way…” she stood still fear gripping her into a cold embrace. The others followed her gaze and gasped. There behind some bushes stood a figure wheezing heavily. They all stared at the shadow as it limped into the light.
“Hello? Who are you?” called Rarity nervously. The figure walked slowly still wheezing. With no response the girls assumed it was hostile so they prepared themselves to fight. The figure’s head was finally struck by light revealing a very long and messy misty white mane coming from a face that was mostly covered by bandages and a black metal muzzle covered the bottom half. Two heavily misted eyes stared at them unblinking. Their breaths were caught in their throats as they saw the stallion. He walked into the clearing completely revealing himself. They all huddled together and screamed when they saw the rest of him. Loosened bandages covered his body but where his belly should be a massive gaping hole was instead.
Bandages hung at the cavity’s side, colored black with blood, half eaten intestines hanged from the hole swaying ever slightly as he limped. Rainbow threw her face to the left and emptied her stomach’s content. Their fear struck faces turned to the right when they heard something move heavily. They saw Mr. Cuddles’ body move onto his back, his belly bulged in odd places violently. It expanded greatly until it burst open spraying what seemed like metallic black goo onto the air. The mares screamed again and Rainbow’s face was a dark green tone.
The black spray floated gently over to the stallion who just kept staring through them. The spray flew right into the cavity accumulating and filling the hole. Even the black stains in the bandages drained into the mist. Once the cavity was filled with the black goo, it turned from pink flesh to white fur. They all flinched when he began to cough uncontrollably dropping on his now full belly.
They could only stare unable to say or do anything. Once his coughing ceased he stood on shaky legs and opened his eyes. Once he saw them staring at him, his eyes widen in surprise and gave a step back, looking from left to right.
He seemed to be just as terrified of them as they were of him. Pinkie started to move forward, struggling against her friends trying to hold her back. When she was free she looked right at him, he began to shake mildly. She gave a few steps forward causing him to backpedal and get his back hooves to step on his extensively long and unkempt tail. With a yelp he fell backwards on his back.
The pink mare was now close enough to see him in detail. Some of the loosened bandages showed heavy scarring between them. Oddly around one inch of his hair tips were colored midnight blue, which was strange even for pony color schemes. His mane and tail looked like tangled spider webs. His hooves were cracked and scratched, the hair above them was the same color tone as the tip of his hair. His figure was boney and sickly. He turned from his back onto his belly, shaking his head he looked up at Pinkie and flinched covering his head with his fore-hooves. He acted as though Pinkie would strike him.
“Are you ok?” Pinkie asked truly concerned. The others held their breath waiting for the stallion’s reaction. He hesitated when he slowly brought his fore-hooves down. He stood up and nodded looking to the floor. Everyone relaxed if not much though.
“What in the hay was that?” yelled Rainbow. The strange stallion recoiled and tried to make himself seem smaller. He began to back off slowly. Pinkie saw this and intervened
“Hey don’t go, I’m Pinkie Pie, that’s Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle.” She pointed to each respectively. They nodded awkwardly except for Rainbow Dash who only crossed her fore-legs while hovering over the rest of them waiting for an explanation still glaring at the stallion. Pinkie was having a bit of trouble staying peppy after what she had seen.
“What’s your name?” she asked with a forced smile. There was silence for a few moments before he glanced at them and realized Pinkie was talking to him. He cleared his raspy throat causing his mask to resonate the sound. It had the same effect over the next words he said
“Foggy Bays.” He said still looking at the ground.
“Alright now that we know each others name how about you tell us how you did that?” said a very frustrated Rainbow. He flinched again giving a few steps back.
“Rainbow calm down. Foggy is it? Can you please explain what we saw?” said Rarity giving him the friendliest smile she could muster at the moment.
“What did you see?” he asked. This caused Rainbow groan loudly and give him an incredulous look.
“We saw you come back to life and part of yourself exploded out of that bear and attached itself to you again!” she half screamed at him. He gave a few more steps back.
“I don’t know.” Rainbow was about to yell at him when she was stopped by Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash stop!” Rainbow landed and began grumbling to herself. Twilight brought her attention back to Foggy who was still not making eye contact with anyone of them.
“Well I’m sure he can answer our questions once we go into town.” Once she said that Foggy looked right at her with terrified eyes. His wings spread open ripping some of the bandages. They all gasped when they saw the size of his wings. Though he was slightly smaller than a fully grown Pegasus his wings were twice the size of a normal Pegasus. With a flap of his wings, a gust of wind shot towards them lifting him into the sky and through the thick branches.
“No wait comeback!” yelled Pinkie. Rainbow went after him leaving a rainbow streak behind her. Once she broke free of the branches she started looking for Foggy. He had already gained distance but that was nothing for the fastest flier in Equestria. Within seconds she was already on his tail.
When Rainbow reached for his tail, he clenched his chest and his body and wings went stiff. Foggy lost air and fell through the tree line. Rainbow stopped and hovered over where he had fallen through.
“Rainbow? Where did he go?” Rainbow, surprised, lost a bit of altitude but caught herself quickly, she turned around and saw Twilight making her way towards her.
“I don’t know, he just fell here.” She said pointing towards where Foggy had fallen.
“Oh no, we should go see if he’s ok.” Twilight said concern a present in her voice. She began to descend through the trees.
“Right, let’s go see if the guy who put himself together after being gutted by a bear is okay.” Rainbow followed her friend back into the forest. Once she was through the trees she saw Twilight’s horn shining purple light over an unmoving Foggy from a distance.
“How is he?” she asked the unicorn not really caring for the stallion, at least not anymore. Once she landed beside her, Twilight’s magic ceased and she shook her head.
“He’s dead.” Rainbow didn’t know how to react to that statement.
“Are you sure cause he looked pretty dead before, more than now.” Twilight began to pace back and forth.
“Yes, according to my scan he died from a cardiac arrest I also picked up strange anomalies.” Rainbow deadpanned at Twilight comment.
“I don’t need a horn to know that.” The unicorn didn’t pay attention and raised her horn letting a magical impulse shoot out of her horn.
“I sent a location spell to Rarity they are a klick northwest, hopefully they’ll be here in a few minutes.” Rainbow raised a brow in confusion.
“Why didn’t you send the flare? You said it yourself, he’s dead.” Twilight shook her head looked at the recent “deceased” with a thoughtful expression.
“Not yet, I need to see if what you originally saw was a corpse or an illusion.” Rainbow took slight offense to what she had said.
“I know what I saw.” She said under her breath.
“We’ll see, for the mean time we should keep our distance in case he is contagious.” Rainbow grimaced and took a few steps away from the corpse.
Twilight cast a quarantine bubble over the body for an extra safety measure.
They waited for the rest of their friends to arrive, Rainbow looked around trying to keep herself busy while Twilight lay staring at Foggy’s body from a distance. A rustle in the bushes caught both their attention.
“I’m telling you Pinkie I’m sure this Foggy fellow is just fine.” From a group of shrubs Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie appeared.
“I hope so darling, it is becoming awfully late.” Said Rarity as she jumped over a puddle of mud. Both Applejack and Pinkie walked through the mud. Applejack worked in the mud and didn’t mind it and Pinkie seemed to be too sad to care.
“Hey gals did you find him? Pinkie is still upset about him running away like that.” Both Rainbow and Twilight looked at each other and then at Foggy. The rest followed their gaze and gasped at what they saw.
“Oh my, gosh! Rainbow killed him!” screamed Pinkie surprising everyone.
“Hey! He died all by himself!” she screamed back crossing her fore-legs in indignation.
“It’s true Pinkie. He died from a heart attack.” The three newcomers looked confused.
“Then why didn’t y’all send the flare yet?” asked Applejack as she walked past Rainbow and stopped next to Twilight.
“I want to make sure that he will …… stay, and not walk off.” They all shuddered at the gruesome memory, Rainbow more than the others.
“Any theories about what we witnessed Twilight dear.” Said Rarity keeping her distance.
“Initially I thought that it was a very powerful illusion spell, but after I scanned his body I could not sense any residue of such a spell.” Twilight stared at the body with a serious look on her face.
“I also read different types of magic but I couldn’t get a clear read.” Pinkie was too sad to pay any attention to what the rest were saying. It was her fault that Foggy was dead…. Again, she cried to herself as they continued.
“How so?” asked a now closer Rarity.
“The scanning spell I used has three specific variations: Earth pony, Pegasus, and unicorn. Each one is designed for each race to have the utmost reading. When I scanned for a Pegasus, the reading was blurred.” Pinkie kept crying until she felt a hoof on her shoulder, when she looked up she met with Rainbow’s magenta eyes. Rainbow gave her a comforting smile. Pinkie dug her face into Rainbow’s cyan chest and cried. Rainbow only patted her back doing the best she could to make her pink friend feel a little better.
“I found it strange, so out of curiosity I scanned him with an earth pony scanner spell and it was also blurred.” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“What for sugar-cube he is obviously a Pegasus” Twilight shook her head
“You’re missing the point AJ, I used an Earth pony scanner spell on a Pegasus, it should have read as an error but he still appeared as an Earth pony. The same thing happened when I used a unicorn scanner spell.” She groaned in frustration as she held her head.
“I’m going to run more tests when we take him into Ponyville.” As if on cue a coughing fit resonated from the black mask and the once dead body began to move. All of the mares jumped up in surprise. Only Pinkie had a grin on her face.
“Impossible, it wasn’t an illusion he really came back to life.” Twilight said to herself. They all stood next to each other, only Pinkie bounced in place. The stallion stood weakly and turned around to see them staring at him. Once again he shied away.
“You shouldn’t have followed me.” He said looking away from them.
“Was that a threat?” asked an overly aggressive Rainbow. He dropped on his belly, he shook his head slowly.
“Rainbow would you relax already. Does the poor feller look in any way menacing?” Rainbow looked at the shaking Pegasus in front of them and only tsked. Pinkie once again took the initiative and step forward.
“We won’t hurt you. I Pinkie promise; cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He looked up at her just in time to see her place her right hoof over her right eye. He seemed to relax a bit and stood up, but still refused to look at any of them.
“Why did you fly off before?” Twilight took a step forward.
“I was afraid.” He said simply. The mares looked at each other in concern.
“Afraid of what dear?” asked Rarity still weary of the strange stallion.
“Going into town.” He replied. Pinkie stopped her bouncing and tilted her head in confusion and said
“There’s nothing scary about Ponyville silly.” She gave a cheery smile at the stallion. Rainbow moaned impatiently,
“Look there is something definitely wrong with you and you’re coming with us, like it or not!” she took a few steps forward, which made Foggy turn around and try to run. He’s legs were too weak and he fell on his belly.
“Rainbow no!” yelled Twilight as Rainbow glided towards the stallion. He looked up at her when she landed and put up his front hooves as if to protect his head from an incoming blow. Everyone galloped after Rainbow who only stood there staring at the viciously trembling stallion. When they were close enough they could see him in detail and they all gasped except for Rainbow Dash who still observed in silence.
Now that the bandages were torn they could see that he was missing patches of fur. Over the exposed skin, scars, sores, and burn marks gruesomely decorated him. Some scars looked surgical while others looked as if chunks of flesh had been ripped off his bones and had somehow healed. Some even circled around his limbs and neck. It was disturbing to say the least.
“By Celestia what happened to him?” asked Twilight to no one in particular. They had thought that he was simply shy, but this proved to be more than crippling social anxiety. He was truly terrified. They were all sickened by the state he was in, Rarity had to look away with the threat of tears. Applejack took her hat of her head and held it over her chest with a grimace over her face. Rainbow and Twilight stared in concern. Pinkie took a step forward causing Foggy to flinch.
“Hey, everything is going to be ok, we won’t hurt you. I Pinkie promised remember.” Pinkie tried her best to give him the best comforting smile she could muster. The stallion lowered his hooves from his face and for the first time looked straight at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie felt slightly uncomfortable looking into nearly entirely milky white eyes but she kept her smile. He hesitantly stood back up and went back to refusing to look at anyone.
“What happened to you?” asked Twilight as Foggy gave two steps back trying to put more distance between him and the girls.
He stayed silent for a few moments.
“I get hurt a lot.” the answer was vague and it irritated Rainbow, but she didn't show it. He has obviously gone through many things and he didn't trust them.
“Could you please come with us into town?” at this he raised his head and looked straight at Twilight. She could see the intense fear in them. As fast as he looked up he looked away and shook his head.
“Why not? I'm sure we could help you.” he shook his head again. Twilight looked back at her friends and they all shrugged in confusion. Pinkie stepped closer to him and for once he didn't back away.
“Don't be silly, there is nothing to be scared of in Pony Ville.” before she could say anymore he spoke.
“I always get hurt in town. They always hurt me.” they felt cold run down their backs hearing that.
“Who hurts you sugar-cube?” Applejack's question made him look back and fro over the ground, almost lost in thought.
“Sugar-cube?” they could hear indistinct mumbling coming from his mask. They were only able to make out a few words; 'again' and 'no'.
His estranged demeanor began to worry and scare them more than before. He was obviously not right in the head. Pinkie walked closer and placed her hoof over his shoulder trying to gain his attention.
It worked as he trembled and lifted his face up to hers. The look in his eyes made everyone step back except for Pinkie.
“The demons.”

Author's Note

Two chapters in THREE YEARS, seems legit.