The Trotting Dead

"JUST GET OUT!  JUST GET THE BUCK OUT!  YOU'RE A MONSTER!"

Applejack stepped over a rotting log and looked up to the canopy of the woods.  The green leaves were shifting over each other in a sort of odd, calming way, as if the forest was trying to comfort the mare.  Normally, Applejack would never be in these woods, as she never really enjoyed them.  However, with all the ruckus from the morning, she needed it.  Applejack wouldn't go back to that camp.  She knew no would would accept her back in after what she had done.  It was an awful thing.

She kept walking.

Tears were welling up in the orange pony's eyes as Applejack remembered the incident.  She just didn't know what got into her that moment, that fateful moment when she turned around and...

"Why do Ah have to buck everything up so bad?!"  she shouted, not caring if she drew any Trotters to her location.  Let them come, she thought bitterly, maybe then I'll get what I deserve.

The sun dipped low in the sky as the moon started to bathe the forest in its light.  Applejack found it getting harder and harder to see.  If she didn't find a source of light soon, she wouldn't be able to see anything.  However, the earth pony kept trotting further into the woods, sometimes tripping over stones and logs as a result of the low-light conditions.

Within a few hours, Applejack found herself getting very tired.  She needed a place to rest, but she knew the woods weren't safe.  Once again, she looked up to the forest top.  At least, not on the ground it's not safe, thought Applejack as a small grin of realization formed on her face.

The yellow-maned pony started to try to get up one of the many trees that occupied the Everfree Forest, but to no avail; none of its branches were low enough for Applejack to climb onto.  She eventually gave up on the impossible tree and moved on to an oak that had appendages low enough for Applejack to clamor on to.  Once she had her balance on the lowest part of the tree, she moved on.  It was a slow process, but she did eventually reach a height which she deemed safe- around 20 feet off the ground.  Untying her saddlebags, Applejack took them off and tied them around both her and the limb of the tree she was currently residing in to keep from falling in her sleep.  It wouldn't just be embarrassing or painful if she fell, it'd be deadly.  The tired mare then put her cowboy hat in the saddle bags that were hanging off the of the sides of the branch.  Applejack then lay her head on the tree and fell into a deep sleep.

"Where am I?"

Applejack looked around the blank room.  It was blindingly white, and had a bright light hanging from the ceiling.  She could see a window on one of the walls, and rushed over to it.

Looking out the glass pane, the earth pony spotted her friends, huddled around something.  They were all whispering.

"Do you think she's dead?"

"Well, what do you think?  She's not breathing."

"Where should we bury her?"

"I don't know, maybe somewhere in the clouds.  She always loved the clouds."

"Can you even bury somepony in the clouds?"

"I don't think you can."

"We can try."

Applejack strained to see whoever her friends were huddled around.

"I-is she...  Is she d-dead?"

All of Applejack's friends turned their attention to one corner of the room to see an orange filly curled up, crying.  Twilight walked over to comfort her, which gave Applejack a clear view of...

Rainbow Dash?!

Applejack recoiled back.  How had Rainbow died?  She didn't have any bite marks, and she looked perfectly normal other than her face, which was still bludgeoned from when she bucked it.

Suddenly, Applejack realized what had killed the cyan pegasus.

Applejack opened her eyes to see that she was still laying in the tree she had fell asleep in last night.   Oh, she thought to herself, thinking of her experience in her sleep., it was just a dream.  Still, Applejack couldn't help but think of exactly what the dream had been about.  She, Applejack, had been the one to kill Rainbow Dash!  She could only pray that her dream was not the reality; the mare could not bear to know she had killed one of her best friends.

Applejack looked at the tree she was residing in more closely, and noticed that it was colored various shades of orange.  She turned around to see what was causing the discoloration.

The sunset turned out to be stunningly beautiful, with multiple hues painted across the sky.  Applejack's jaw dropped from sheer astonishment that something so beautiful could be in such an ugly world, and with that came her bags.  They hit the ground several feet below.

"Shit!" Applejack cursed.  The orange-coated mare started hurrying down the tree, knowing that every moment without her rifle was a moment risked.  She made it down the first to the first limb, then the second.  She reached for the third with her hoof, found it, and then proceeded to put her wait down onto it.

SNAP!

The branch was much less sturdy than Applejack had anticipated.  It cracked under the pressure exerted by her large body, and she started to fall.  While falling, the mare hit one branch, then a rather large limb, and landed on one of her forelegs.  Again, Applejack heard a snap.  This time it was not from the tree, but rather from her own body.  Applejack howled in pain and looked down to her front right leg to see that a blood-coated bone protruding from her leg.  The skin around it was ripped and torn, and it felt as though somepony had taken a hacksaw and crudely attempted to amputate her leg from the wrong angle.  The raw sight made Applejack gag from sheer disgust.

Then she heard a low moan.

Looking from the gruesome sight to the strange noise, she noticed a Trotter around 50 feet away.  It slowly making its way to her.

Trying her best not to pass out from the extreme pain caused by her fall, or at least not panic, Applejack started to get up.  She let her severely injured leg droop out from under her, but it was still excruciatingly painful.  With each step, each wobble, she could feel the bone sliding in its unnatural place.  What's more, the yellow-maned earth pony wasn't making any progress; if anything, she was losing ground to her deadly opponent.  The Trotter had advanced some 20 feet on her, and was still going strong.  Applejack knew she wouldn't make it out escaping (as the Trotter was faster than her), so she turned her attention to her saddlebags.

Applejack's saddlebags, if she remembered correctly, had her rifle in them, and were only about ten feet away.  She knew if she got there she just may be able to survive,so the country pony turned and started limping her way towards the bags.

As she made it closer and closer to her storage bags, she  could hear the moans getting louder.  The Trotter was in pursuit.  Applejack made the foalish mistake to turn and look at the fast-advancing pony.  It was only about ten feet away, and her saddlebags were a good five feet away.  The mare started to rush, fearing that the Trotter would be on her soon.

She fell flat on her face.

Lifting her head off of the ground, Applejack looked behind her flank to the Trotter once more and realized she didn't have time to get back up on to her hooves.  Instead, she continued by crawling.  Closer and closer she came, until she was just close enough to reach out to the rifle, which was poking out of her bags.

Applejack brought the rifle to her mouth and whipped around to face the monster.

She fired.

The Trotter kept coming.

Applejack was in shock; she had aimed for its head, so why wasn't it dead?  Then she remembered her fatal mistake; the rifle had not been loaded.  It was all over for Applejack.

She looked to the sky, praying to Celestia that she wouldn't become one of those...  Those things.  Her eyes shifted back to the evil advancing towards her when she realized that even if she wasn't bit, she would probably still bleed out from her massive wound.  Applejack closed her eyes and hoped it would be over soon.

She felt something crash onto her injured leg as she screamed.

"I have just killed a monster, plain as can be.  But I have one question; is that Applejack I see?"

Applejack opened her eyes to find the Trotter that had been chasing her was now on her leg.  She panicked and slid back, causing massive amounts of pain.

"That is a serious injury; it may be fatal.  Did you get get it while chasing your saddle?"

Applejack looked up to face someone she had deemed dead long ago.

"Zecora?"