The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

by Joseph Raszagal

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Adventure, Shining Armor
Length: 10810

A war breaks out between Equestria and the neighboring Griffon Kingdom. The use of chemical and biological weapons results in a changed world full of horror's beyond even Twilight Sparkle's imagination.

A war breaks out between Equestria and the neighboring Griffon Kingdom. The use of chemical and biological weapons results in a changed world full of horror's beyond even Twilight Sparkle's imagination. In this new world, the question is no longer whether or not the ponies can win the war, but if they can survive its aftermath. Friendship get's put to the test through trial by fire as those that did live through the nightmare are forced to face long odds in the struggle to rebuild society and civilization.

~ ~ ~

Takes place prior to the events of "The Crystal Empire". Based on elements from The Walking Dead, Fallout, and Metro 2033.

Rated Mature for blood, violence, crude language, and drug / alcohol use.

Published 2013-02-20 16:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-13 01:07:46 UTC

Prologue – An Excerpt from the Personal Diary of Nurse Redheart

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Inspired by Fallout, Metro 2033, and a show that really took me by surprise
Prologue – An Excerpt from the Personal Diary of Nurse Redheart

“Fear is a part of life. It's a warning mechanism. That's all. It tells you when there's danger around. Its job is to help you survive, not cripple you into being unable to do it.”

~ ~ ~

“So it seems that our dreams will never come to be
How could such a stupid thing destroy humanity?
A few weeks till extinction and there's nothing we can do
A message sent to other worlds will say, 'It was just the flu'”

“Just the Flu” by NOFX

~ ~ ~

Despite the griffons' many bombing runs, it didn't really start with a loud bang or a roar of thunder.

No, once the dust had settled, everything was quiet. Far too quiet. We should have taken that as a warning. We knew that they had chemical and biological weapons, we just didn't know what kind.

It all truly began afterward, with a simple cough. That was what they wanted. That was the first sign.

Soon thereafter, the victim in question would experience cold chills throughout their body and a strong fever. From there the fever would continue to escalate and delirium would set it, leaving the victim rambling incoherently for hours on end. The strong would last longer, sometimes retaining their lucidity for several days, but by day five it would always end the same way.

They would die...

...and then they would get back up.

I still remember the quake in my legs as I watched it happen for the first time. Were the patient not strapped down to their bed in response to their thrashing while they were still frantic and alive, I'm certain I wouldn't be here recording this right now.

I was frozen in place, my hooves heavier than lead.

I should have reacted faster. As a nurse, I've been trained to respond to any and all medical situations.

Well, most situations.

Doctor Strain paid the price for my slow response. Before I could muster up a coherent warning, he had already approached the bed. In an instant, the patient lurched up with a frightening amount of speed, using their only free limb, their head, to take a sizable bite out of the doctor's throat. The rush of blood was instantaneous. Before I knew what had really even happened, Doctor Strain fell to the floor in a series of convulsive spasms.

He was dead within minutes.

I just stood there, aghast, as my former patient moaned and groaned, no doubt seeking freedom from her straps so she could do the same to me.

Once I finally found my strength, I rushed out of the room and down to the hospital's security station. My story must have sounded insane at first, but I suppose my frantic urgency was what had convinced the officers to investigate the situation.

Several gunshots were fired... at two targets.

Autopsies were performed on both, the results of which were at the same time confusing and horrifying.

It was clear that they were dead, but at the same time they were not.

A virus of unknown origins had infected just about every cell of their bodies. Strangely, the virus seemed to react to both living and dead cells. However, the way in which it reacted to them was vastly different. The virus appeared to be some form of symbiotic parasite, attacking living cells and then regenerating them after death, converting them into factories that produced yet more of the virus. For a viral infection, this was nothing new or groundbreaking, but the way in which the process took place was. The cell structure changed significantly after regeneration, to the point that the barely resembled the cells that they once were.

Little fillies and colts were the first to succumb to the unknown epidemic, their underdeveloped immune systems incapable of battling the virus. After them, the sick and elderly followed suit. Young adult mares and stallions seemed to stand the best chance of immunity, but only against airborne infection, now known as “primary infection”. Contact with bodily fluids from an infected victim, however, left no room for any such immunity. We've dubbed this “secondary infection”.

It should be noted that several species do seem to be completely immune. The bulk of my research has revolved around discovering why. Of the three members of our group who were exposed to secondary infection, only Spike (a dragon) and Skitter (a changeling) survived. For precautionary reasons as well as for the sake of further research, they remained confined to their beds for several weeks even after showing no signs of infection. It broke my heart to do it, but it had to be done. Luckily, both Spike and Skitter were compliant, understanding even, and neither resisted even once during their time in isolation.

Whatever this virus is, all I know now is that it can't be battled. Thus far, there is no conceivable cure. Worse yet, studying it now seems hopeless. Only once we reach Friendship City in the Manehattan metros will I even be safe enough to continue my research. To anypony reading this, that is where the last of Equestria is based. If you want to survive, go there.

I only hope I'll be able to do the same.

Good luck, everypony. May the Goddesses be with you.

Nurse Redheart

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter One – Awakening to Death Following a Near Death Experience...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Awakening to Death Following a Near Death Experience

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter One – Awakening to Death Following a Near Death Experience

“Nopony gets justice. Ponies only get good luck or bad luck.”

~ ~ ~

“You're gone, gone, gone away
I watched you disappear
All that's left is a ghost of you
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart
There's nothing we can do
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon”

“Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men

~ ~ ~

Two unicorn mares, one white and the other purple, trotted down the midnight streets of Canterlot somewhat less than soberly after having enjoyed a late night of celebration. As they leaned against each other, eight legs attempting to work in tandem so as not to stumble, they passed under a flickering streetlamp.

In a rush, a stallion burst from the darkness and bucked the white mare off to the side, knocking her out cold against a wall, then turned menacingly towards the other.

She never even knew what hit her.

A pair of hooves tore away her saddlebags and held her down against cold concrete.

A rag was stuffed into her muzzle so she couldn't scream.

A blur of colors flashed and the entire world span before her eyes.

There was a sudden noise, loud like a thunderclap, and it echoed relentlessly through her ears.

“Please,” she attempted to plea around the rag, blood running down her face.

The hooves didn't listen.

Another loud noise boomed, one from much further away, and though the grip she felt pinning her down disappeared, the entire world began to fade along with it.

“Miss!” somepony shouted, hasty hoofsteps growing in volume along with the voice. “Miss!”

Wishing she could muster up some kind of reply, she felt a wave of numbness wash over her, further muting her already muffled lips.

Closing her eyes, she embraced the total darkness and silence that swallowed her senses whole.

~ ~ ~

“Miss Sparkle,” spoke a voice, distorted as though coming from the other side of a long tunnel. “Miss Sparkle, are you with us?”

After a few seconds passed, a feminine voice absently replied, “Huh?”

“Miss Sparkle, it's past visiting hours, but I pulled a few strings and brought you some flowers from your friend.”

“One of the girls brought me some flowers? But... but it isn't even my birthday.”

“Yes, they're from your friend, Rarity, but Miss Sparkle, do you remember where you are? You remembered yesterday. Do you remember what happened?”

Twilight giggled incoherently and rambled, “Rarity's always been so nice to me. Haha, no occasion and still she sends me flowers. Isn't that... isn't that nice of her?”

“Oh dear,” stated the other voice before rushing off and shouting, “Doctor! Doctor Strain! She's conscious again but she still isn't completely lucid!”

A minute passed and then a masculine baritone spoke up.

“She keeps drifting in and out. We had her up and aware yesterday, didn't we, nurse?”

“Yes, but barely. All she seemed to know was that she had been attacked. Could her current level coherence be a result of the surgery compounding her concussion?”

“It was about as invasive as surgery can get. Still, there wasn't any choice, we had to remove the bullet. She would have died otherwise.”

“I'm not questioning that, doctor, I'm just asking... what can we do for her?”

After a second of silence, the masculine voice huffed, “Believe me, I'm frustrated too. There's nothing I hate more than when I'm unable to help my patients. But the fact of the matter is, outside of some form of impossible cure for the effects of violent head trauma, there's simply nothing we can do. All we can do is wait. Wait... and hope.”

~ ~ ~

Twilight Sparkle awoke in a blurry daze, sunlight filtering through her mostly-closed eyelids and effectively destroying any hope she had at returning to sleep.

“Five more minutes, Spike,” she mumbled.

A continuous nuzzle against her cheek eventually brought her to a begrudging state of semi-consciousness.

“Please, Spike?” she continued. “It's too early, I'm tired.”

“Twilight, if you can speak then you can get up,” said a familiar voice, the urgency of which registered somewhere in the back of Twilight's logical mind. “You need to get up. We don't have much time.”

Blearily, the unicorn relented and opened her eyes.

Hovering over her, with the most worried expression she'd seen in her entire life, was her older brother, Shining Armor. He stood there, still nudging her, completely armored as though he were expecting a battle to break out.

“Shining?” she squeaked, her voice strangely weak. “What are you doing here? You're... supposed to be in Canterlot, aren't you?”

“There's no time to explain,” he replied hastily, turning to look over his shoulder at the room's closed door. “We need to get out of here now. Right now.”

Forcing herself up, Twilight turned her own head and regarded a vase of dried and wilted flowers with a look of tired confusion.

"Why would Rarity bring me dead flowers?" she asked.

"Twilight, she brought you those flowers a month ago," Shining stated bluntly, tearing the sheets and covers off of his little sister unceremoniously.

At that, the lavender unicorn tilted her head, even more confused.

"You guys let me sleep for a month? That... that can't be healthy. You should have woke me up earlier."

Gritting his teeth, the white stallion placed his hooves on her shoulders and shouted at full volume, "Twilight, you weren't asleep, you were in a coma! You were shot! It's a miracle you're even alive, but if you don't get up and follow me right now I can guarantee that there won't be another miracle to save you!"

For a moment, Twilight merely blinked several times, her gears grinding into motion painfully slowly. Without really registering the situation at all, she simply obeyed her instructions and pulled herself to the edge of the bed. Immediately, however, her atrophied muscles failed her and she fell flat on her face, her limbs tangling with the hospital gown that she only just then noted was draped around her.

"Ow," she groaned as her brother helped her up, taking a moment to check over his shoulder again. "Stupid floor... Stupid hospital gown..."

"Wait, hospital gown?" the mare thought to herself. "I don't remember going to the hospital for a chec~

It's at that exact moment that Shining's words from earlier finally dawned upon her.

With a frantic expression, she looked up to her brother and stammered, "Sh-Shining...? W-what's going on?"

"Bad, bad things, Twiley," he replied, his face painted every single color of the worried spectrum. "You were shot and you fell into a coma, but now you're awake. That's all that's important, you're awake again. You're fine and you'll be fine if you just follow my lead and do exactly as I say. I can't have you freak out on me right now, I need you to compose yourself. No offense, but things have gotten so much worse since you two were attacked. Now, please, I need you to follow me. Stick close and don't leave my side for even a second, okay?"

Numbly, Twilight nodded. It was the most she thought she could manage.

"No, I have to hear you say it. You have to promise me that you won't leave my side. You can't afford to, you will die. I can't stress that enough. Tell me, tell me right now that you won't."

Opening her mouth, the purple unicorn forced out a meek, "I w-won't."

“Good, now put this on your foreleg,” he commanded, levitating a large device with a strap and a lock over to her. “I've been saving it for you. It'll help in the future, so long as we're able to get out of here at all.”

Again, she did as she was told, but this time with much more coherence, identifying the cumbersome ankle strap as a Pip-Buck 3000. That knowledge immediately startled her, however, the advanced hoof-held computer normally issued only to high-ranking military personnel such as the stallion standing directly in front of her.

“Ar-aren't these reserved only for elite members of the guard?” she questioned as she nonetheless locked the device into place, wincing as the needles mounted on its underside pierced through her skin and allowed it to link directly with her nervous system.

“Long story short,” Shining said with a grimace, turning to face the room's doorway, “I stole it. If it makes you feel any better, consider yourself drafted and promoted to Guard Captain.” Levitating a pistol in front of him that Twilight hadn't noticed up until that precise moment, he adds, “Now, like I said, stick close and no matter what you see or hear out there, do not run off.”

Adjusting to the Pip-Buck's systems, she gulped and repeated much more firmly, “I won't.”

“Don't worry, Twiley, I'll get us out of here, I promise.”

Hesitantly, the lavender unicorn met her brother's fierce stare and said, “I don't know what's going on, but... I trust you, Shining. I'm right behind you.”

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Two – Escape from Ponyville...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Escape from Ponyville

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Two – Escape from Ponyville

“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. ”

~ ~ ~

“And maybe we can fly away from here
Surf on the debris of our broken scene
Sub-suburban wasteland
Just pack up everything and get out of here
Everything I fought for is dead to me
Sub-suburban wasteland”

“Rocketrocketrocketship” by The Arrogant Sons of Bitches

~ ~ ~

With purpose in his stride, Shining Armor approached the door and magicked it open, booting up his Pip-Buck's targeting system along with his pistol.

Immediately, a smattering of dots alighted on his map's main display.

All of them were red, indicating only hostiles.

Following their locations, he span on his rear hooves after leaping through the doorway, faced down the north end of the hall, and opened fire as soon as his line of sight was made clear. Terrified, Twilight shuddered violently and inwardly asked herself why her brother would do such a thing in a hospital of all places. Unfortunately, as the stallion ceased fire and reloaded his gun, she was given no time to pursue the question any further.

“Alright, all clear,” Shining announced, nodding. “Twilight, behind me. We'll make our way slowly and carefully. Once we're outside, that's when we'll beat a hasty retreat. I know you've been lying there for a month, but do you think you can run?”

Stepping out into the hallway and taking her position behind her brother, the purple unicorn answered, “I don't know. I feel like I can barely walk.”

“Very well,” he replied with a snort, “then I'll just have to carry you on my back. Not a big deal, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, just follow me and stay alert. And again, I can't possibly stress this enough, stick close.”

With every warning, the little unicorn's forcibly built-up courage shrank further and further.

As they made their way down the hall, Twilight took notice of the utterly destroyed state of the hospital, bullet holes and bloody carnage having torn apart the walls, ceilings, and even the tiled floors. Approaching a stairwell at the end, the purple mare spotted four dead ponies, each sporting several holes in their heads. Identifying them as the targets that her brother must have been shooting at after they first exited her room, she shuddered once more.

“Twilight, while we still have the time, try and get used to your Pip-Buck's map display. I could use your help in locating trotters. They'll be the red dots. I have to focus on the fight as much as I can, so any help on your part would be greatly appreciated.”

Rather than reply with a sign to the affirmative, she found herself unsteadily asking, “Shining, w-why did you shoot those ponies?”

“They weren't ponies anymore. They were trotters, the dead come back to life.”

Eyes going impossibly wide, Twilight then questioned, “Y-you m-mean... zombies?”

“Sort of,” he responded, pulling no punches with his description as he reached out to the door blocking the staircase with his magic. “It's hard to explain. The most that any of our research teams could find out before everything went to Tartarus is that the cause of it all was some sort of virus. Which reminds me, Twiley, whatever you do don't let one of them scratch or bite you. If they do, there's nothing I'll be able to do for you. You'll die and become one of them. End of story.”

“Where's Cadance?” she asked, biting her lip as she imagined Shining leaving his wife behind for her sake.

Holding up a hoof to momentarily silence her, Shining Armor flung the door open and fired three shots into the head of a trotter located on a landing one flight below them, the wall behind it noisily painted a mix of red with chunks of cranial pink here and there.

After reloading, he turned to face his sister again.

“She's fine. She's leading the resistance at Friendship City in Manehattan. So far, it looks to be Equestria's last stronghold. The radio built into my Pip-Buck is set to their frequency and as far as I'm aware, they're still standing strong.”

A rush of relief flooded the lavender mare momentarily, but soon faded into a feeling of total emptiness as another question came to her mind.

“W-what about my friends? What about Spike?”

Still facing her, Shining placed a soothing hoof on her shoulder and softly replied, “Last I heard from Rainbow Dash, they're all waiting for us on the edge of town, just over the big hill beyond the schoolhouse. It's their group that we'll be rendezvousing with before setting out for Friendship City. Apparently, they raided the police department for weapons, armor, and ammunition before fleeing and setting up camp, so we should be in good shape so long as we're able to reach them.”

Without another word, the white stallion returned his gaze to the stairwell and started his way down, motioning for his little sister to follow.

Another two trotters stood in their path three flights down, but their mobility up the stairs was impaired enough that they barely made it a foot before Shining put them down with relative ease. Firing four shots, the stallion left two small holes between the eyes of both, as well as two much larger holes gaping out the back of their skulls. Afterward, however, they reached the bottom floor and faced yet another closed door. Both checking their maps, the siblings confirmed that they had a major fight ahead of them, the enemy signatures so numerous that they overlapped to the point of forming a single red blob.

Cursing lowly, the guard captain asked in a hushed voice, “Twilight, I can't imagine the answer to this is going to be 'yes', but do you think you've got it in you to teleport us to the schoolhouse?”

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Twilight brought her magic to a focus and immediately fell to the ground clutching her head with both forehooves.

“Damn,” he whispered as he helped her back up.

“Shining?” the struggling mare questioned softly, unable to really raise her voice in the aftermath of a splitting headache. “W-where exactly was I shot? I think I know the answer... but I'd like to hear it from you.”

With a grim expression, the stallion shook his head and answered, “He got you in the head, just below your left ear. Honestly, it's amazing that you're even alive. Like I said earlier, a bucking miracle. You suffered a concussion as a result and then fell into a coma two days later. We... w-we all...” Closing his eyes to fight back the tears, he forced himself to finish, “Please don't hate me, Twilight, please, but... I almost didn't make the trek out here. We were just so certain that you were dead, especially after the hospital was attacked. It just seemed so completely hopeless. If anything, it was a stroke of pure luck that you woke up when you did.”

A cold shiver shot down her spine as Twilight imagined waking up to this brand new Equestria all alone. Unlike her brother, the little mare allowed her tears to flow freely.

Wrapping her hooves around his neck, she hugged him as tightly as her weakened limbs could manage and quietly cried, “I don't blame you, Shining. Just look at this place. It really does look hopeless, doesn't it? I'm... I'm just glad that you did come for me. I'm not dead yet and I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to stay alive. I won't let this be in vain. Pinkie Promise.”

Holding her for a moment, Shining nuzzled into her cheek and assured her, “Not even necessary. I won't let anything happen to you. I couldn't be your Knight in Shining Armor before, but I will be now. Just watch me.”

Releasing her, the former guard lit his horn and reached beneath his armor, grabbing something Twilight surely hadn't expected to see.

A grenade.

“This is my last one, so we've got to make it count,” he stated with a snort. “Besides, it's just as loud as you would expect it to be and they seem to be attracted to loud sounds of any kind.” Considering that for a moment, the stallion then concluded, “We're going to need to be fast. Very fast. Get on my back now and hold on tight. If you can, keep your eyes on your map and tell me if you see anything, alright?”

Slowly clambering atop him, the purple pony simply nodded.

“Okay, here we go,” he uttered.

A second later, Shining Armor pulled the charge's pin and threw open the door, lobbing the explosive down the hall and into a huge cluster of the undead. Immediately thereafter, his horn sparked bright blue as he formed a dome around the crowd, effectively trapping them in. With a grin, he watched as his plan went off without a hitch, a bloody detonation of trotter giblets and shrapnel splattering the walls of his magical barrier.

As soon as the fireworks ended, the white stallion took off at a breakneck pace down the corridor, shouting behind him, “You alright back there, Twiley?”

Holding on for dear life, she replied as loudly as she could, “I'm fine!”

Hooves pounding against linoleum hard enough to imprint it, Shining stampeded out of the hospital and into the broad daylight of a town utterly destroyed. Twilight squinted her eyes to protect them from the bright rays of the sun, but quickly found them wide with fear once again.

Her map displayed hundreds of angry red dots.

All of them were converging on their location.

“Sh-Shining!” she yelled, gripping him even harder.

“I see them!” he shouted back. “They're behind us, Twilight! Nothing we can do but try to outrun them!”

Biting his lip, the former guard captain put the pedal to the metal and attempted to do just that.

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Three – Reunited...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Reunited

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Three – Reunited

“There's no tour plan, no reunion, no new album... Nothing.”

~ ~ ~

“Will you guide me now, for I can't see
A reason for this suffering and this long misery
What if every living soul could be upright and strong?
Well then I do imagine...
There will be! - Sorrow!
Yeah, there will be! - Sorrow!
And there will be! - Sorrow no more!”

“Sorrow” by Bad Religion

~ ~ ~

“Do y'all hear that?” questioned Applejack as she trotted along the outskirts of camp to peer over the edge of the hill.

Levitating a large hunting rifle to her side, Rarity took position next to the apple farmer and replied, “Hear what, darling?”

Taking a moment to steady the gun with her magic, the white unicorn narrowed her eyes and looked down the scope, quickly finding both questions answered in the worst possible ways.

“Oh dear,” she muttered quietly, her pale face bleaching even further.

“Ah don't much like the sound of that, Rare,” Applejack commented, unholstering a pistol with her mouth and tracking her aim down the hill as a precaution.

Far in the distance, magnified by the powerful series of lenses, Rarity carefully tracked a stallion carrying another pony as they fled in full galloping sprint from the largest hoard of trotters she had ever laid eyes on.

Stumbling back a few feet out of shock, the fashionista shook her head to regain herself and promptly shouted, “Everypony to your posts! We have two refugees incoming! And they've brought company!”

~ ~ ~

Thundering his hooves along the ground with all of his might, Shining Armor reached the hill and lost none of his steam in climbing up it, adrenaline coursing through him like a bolt of lightning as he dug into the loose soil and propelled himself ever onward. The mass of undead ponies following him fared far worse, the 45 degree angle and unstable terrain slowing their advance to a crawl.

Risking a look back behind them, Twilight saw the stroke of luck and shouted, “Shining, the incline is slowing them down! We can make it!”

“You're damn right we can!” he hollered back, gritting his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed.

~ ~ ~

Far above the two fleeing ponies, at the top of the hill, a line of defense had been formed. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and several others all stood with their weapons at the ready.

“Everypony, take aim!” commanded the fashionista, hefting her rifle. “Kill as many as you can, but be sure to keep clear from~

Trailing off as her scope zeroed-in again on the stallion and the mare on his back, Rarity's eyes widened in recognition and disbelief.

“Twilight!” she yelled, eliciting a series of shocked gasps from those around her. “Twilight and her brother!”

“That changes everything,” Rainbow Dash muttered around the revolver in her mouth.

Immediately, the defensive line opened fire, picking off the ten trotters nearest to the escaping pair. Spurts of blood and brain matter erupted from each skull as the charging monsters slumped forward onto their faces and fell.

“Shining, they're shooting at us!” Twilight screamed, closing her eyes and tightening her grip as the sound of bullets whizzing past them echoed in her ears.

Snorting, the sprinting stallion replied, “I don't think so, Twiley! There has to be a dozen of them up there! If they were trying to hit us, we'd be dead by now!”

True enough, the purple unicorn glanced to the side in time to see an undead pony's head burst as thee shots passed violently through it.

“Twilight!” shouted a pink speck from somewhere far above them. “Can your brother perform his shield spell?!”

Squinting as she fought to identify the owner of the voice, Twilight nonetheless questioned, “Shining, do you think you can bring up your shield?”

“They need to stop shooting!” he rasped, his chest burning under the stress of his charge. “The shots will bounce back on them!”

Turning her attention towards the steadily growing pink blob in the distance, the lavender unicorn yelled at the top of her lungs, “Did you hear that?! You have to stop shooting! The shots will ricochet back on you!”

A clamber from the top of the hill responded, followed seconds later by a sudden ceasefire. A dome of blue energy slowly began forming behind them.

“I don't know how long I'll be able to maintain this!” he shouted as he neared the defensive line. “I spent three days awake while trying to get into Ponyville, so I may not be able to hold out for much longer! Make sure they're as ready as they can be in the event that it falls!”

With that said, Shining stayed his course, thundering up the crest of the slope and leaping through a steadily closing gap in the shield he'd formed. Landing in a tired heap on the other side, the stallion grinned as he let loose one last pulse of magic, solidifying the dome permanently for the next eight hours. His task completed, he then closed his eyes and allowed unconsciousness to consume him.

“Shining, you did it!” cheered Twilight as she picked herself up off of her brother, wincing as her head throbbed in protest.

Lifting a hoof to rub a spot next to her left ear, the little unicorn looked down at Shining Armor, finally noticing his unconscious state.

“Shining?” she questioned, a tinge of worry edging her voice for a brief moment before the larger unicorn's breathing caught her attention. Sure enough, his chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm, reinforced further by the heartbeat that she could hear as she placed and ear to his white coat.

Smiling, Twilight let out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, quietly whispering, “Thank you, big brother. You brought me back from the gates of Tartarus today. Rest easy now, it's time for your little sis to protect you.”

Sniffing back several tears, the lilac unicorn giggled and shook her head as she watched the big stallion sleep, a goofy grin stretched across his muzzle.

“Twilight!” shouted four voices simultaneously, dragging her from her reverie.

Pivoting on her rear hooves, Twilight Sparkle stood with wide eyes facing a wall of color as it descended on her, cheeks stained a darker shade of purple as yet more tears flowed freely. Being crushed under a mountain of hugs was an inevitable fate that she joyously accepted.

She'd made it back to them. Her friends, comrades, fellow Elements of harmony, and for all intents and purposes, the rest of her family.

The weight of this realization overtook her and the hugs quickly became soothing words as the ponies surrounding her collectively cradled the sobbing mare.

“Buck Celestia sideways,” she thought to herself as she let it all go, “I'm not dead.”

~ ~ ~

Two hours and three cups of tea later found Twilight Sparkle a far more composed pony. A dull headache persisted in the background of her thoughts, punctuated every so often by an unshod hoof rubbing the spot that most wearied her.

“Shining said it was right there,” she mused as she enjoyed another sip of her tea, scooting a few inches closer to the campfire roaring before her. “I guess a headache's to be expected though. If anything, I'd say that's trotting away lucky.”

Performing a quick double-take, Twilight looked back at her hoof and grimaced.

“I suppose trimming a coma patient's fetlocks isn't very high on the priority list,” she muttered absently, rolling her eyes. “I've probably looked a lot better.”

Heaving a sigh, the purple mare turned her head and scanned the camp for what must have been the hundredth time. Applejack stood conversing with an older stallion that she recognized as Ponyville's optometrist, the latter shaking his head as he began to trot back to his scouting post above a large, fully enclosed carriage. The gray stallion rolled his shoulders as he mounted the big vehicle, brushing a stray strand of alabaster mane from his face and raising a pair of binoculars to his eyes. Below him, inside the carriage, Pinkie Pie could be seen through the windows dashing back and forth, her attention split between four bubbling pots of vegetable soup. Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet above the optometrist, a second pair of binoculars hanging from a leather strap around her neck and an expression of rapt attention dominating her face. The brim of a Wonderbolts-themed hoofball cap kept the last rays of piercing sunlight out of her eyes as she scanned the horizon for any signs of danger.

Shifting her focus onto a smaller carriage, Twilight's thoughts turned to the white stallion currently dozing in it. Nurse Redheart had reacted swiftly, rallying her friends and several other members of the camp to help get him inside and into a real bed. The Pip-Buck tied around his ankle had helped in confirming that he would indeed be okay, his vitals all displayed positively in digital green. The nurse had reacted to the unicorn siblings with a look of astonishment, later confiding in private to Twilight that she had been among the hospital staff to treat her after the attack. Blushing, the lavender unicorn thanked the mare, recalling brief and blurry scenes of a questioning pair of ponies that hadn't quite made sense to her at the time.

“Such are the joys of delirium,” she chuckled, wincing as her aching head announced that such activities were forbidden.

Scooting another two inches closer to the comforting flames, Twilight closed her eyes and basked in the radiant heat.

A niggling fear had started crawling up her spine ever since she sat down for her well-deserved rest and it was beginning to best her.

Scanning the campsite again, the purple mare gulped back a knot that had formed in her throat.

She was safe for the moment, alive and well, but still her coat stood on end as though sent through with a high voltage electric current. She'd successfully returned to her friends... all but one of them.

Butter yellow and soft pink passed before her eyes as she felt them misting over once more. The subject had been avoided every time she inquired, hastily changed and even outright ignored. However, it couldn't be averted for much longer. Twilight had to know.

Where was Fluttershy?

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Four – Acclimation to a New Situation...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Acclimation to a New Situation

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Four – Acclimation to a New Situation

“I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing somepony, you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence.”

~ ~ ~

“And we rock, because it's us against them
We found our own reasons to sing
And it's so much less confusing
When lines are drawn like that
When people are either
Consumers or revolutionaries
Enemies or friends hanging on the fringes
Of the cogs in the system
It's just about knowing where everyone stands
All of a sudden, people start talking 'bout guns
Talking like they're going to war
Because they found something to die for”

“Those Anarcho Punks are Mysterious” by Against Me!

~ ~ ~

Watching as the last rays of day receded over the edge of the distant horizon, two ponies traded quiet conversation in between glances through their twin pairs of binoculars.

“Well, at least we can take some solace from the fact that they're quite stupid,” whispered a gray stallion with a pair of glasses emblazoning his flanks, his words somewhat muffled as he spoke around a lit cigarette.

Hovering a scant few feet above him, Rainbow Dash nodded tiredly in agreement and said, “I gotta give it to ya, Lenny, you were right on the money. They only stood out there for a few hours before losing interest. It's just hard to believe, especially given how crazy they can get when they're worked up and hungry. I was sure they were gonna wait until Shining's shield gave out.”

Glass Lens let out a soft snort and remarked, “A stroke of luck, maybe? I can't say I've felt lucky for a good while now, but I'll take what I can get. I'm more than happy with them being predictable, thank you very much.”

“Heh, I heard that,” concurred the blue pegasus, tipping her cap with a smirk. “Then again, it'd be a lie if I said I wouldn't feel better with that shield still in place.”

“Same here,” the optometrist said with a huff, his brow knitted in concentration. “Watching that mess climb the hill almost gave me a heart attack. Only once I noticed the barrier forming around us did I get my pulse back under control.”

“Don't go dying on us early, old timer,” Rainbow smirked humorlessly, grinning despite her weariness.

“Trying not to, kid,” he joked back, shaking his head and flicking a growing column of ashes from his cigarette. “Trying not to.”

~ ~ ~

“How are you feeling, Mister Armor?” questioned Nurse Redheart as she shined a small flashlight into one of his eyes, watching as his pupil shrank and nodding in satisfaction.

“Well, Equestria's been overrun with the undead,” he remarked, blinking as his sight readjusted from the sudden excess of light, “so would you like the truth or a pleasant lie?”

Jabbing her brother in the shoulder with a hoof, Twilight sighed, “How about a little less sarcasm?”

“You scold with far too much haste, my young friend,” spoke a zebra as she entered the small carriage that had since been transformed into the camp's makeshift medical center. “His good humor tells me that he is far from his end.”

With a soft thud, Zecora slipped out of the bulging pair of saddlebags that had adorned her back, all sorts of different herbs and flowers peeking out through the open flaps.

“Indeed,” agreed the white mare still looking him over, “aside from some simple fatigue of both the magical and physical variety, I expect that he'll make a full recovery in less than two days. You however, Miss Sparkle, I'm more worried about.”

“I told you, I'm fine,” the purple unicorn groaned, having said as much upwards of a dozen times in the past hour.

“And I told you,” Nurse Redheart sternly replied, “you woke up from a coma brought about by a gunshot to the head less than two days ago. If anything, you should be in that bed instead of him.”

“Twilight, I am afraid I must concur,” Zecora added, giving her lilac friend a pained smile. “Seeing you resting off of your hooves I would much prefer.”

“I'm going to have to side with them, Twiley,” Shining said as he stood to his full height, a slight slouch in his posture the only clear indication that he was still on the mend.

“Me too,” came a fifth voice from the doorway.

Turning to address the intruder, Twilight's gaze fell upon her Number One Assistant.

Judging by the dark rings beneath his eyes, the baby dragon had been crying again.

Visibly deflating, the lavender unicorn released her aggravation in one long huff, motioning with her head for her brother to move aside and allow her to climb into the bed. As quick as a bullet, Spike was at her side, dutifully fluffing a pillow for her as she laid down.

“Confound these friends of mine and their kindness,” she chuckled sardonically, shaking her head and wincing as the motion brought a jolt of pain through her skull.

“Kindness.”

Steeling herself as the word brought a fresh wave of fear surging through her, Twilight closed her eyes and addressed the room, “I'll do this for you and get some bed rest... but on one condition.”

The racially diverse group all nodded in unison, patiently waiting for her to continue.

“You've all been withholding something from me, something that I have every right to know. I have a feeling that I already know what the answer will be, but that doesn't make hearing it for myself any less important. Now tell me, where is Fluttershy?”

~ ~ ~

Standing outside, Nurse Redheart and Zecora bowed their heads respectfully as four mares approached the medical carriage, each wearing a somber expression. Spike had since been sent off to bed himself, the topic of the coming conversation though already known to him nonetheless unnecessarily painful for one so young. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and an exhausted-looking Rainbow Dash all trotted quietly inside to find Twilight still in the bed, her unfocused stare tracing the lines of the ceiling.

“How did it happen?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion but forcibly steady.

Stepping forward, Applejack removed her trademark stetson and held it to her chest, answering, “She was helpin' Cheerilee evacuate the schoolhouse. Bloom an' Scootaloo were still inside. The unicorn trotters still have some of their magic, enough to try an' grab somepony with telekinesis, an' one of 'em... one of 'em just plucked her out of the air as she was tryin' to get the fillies to safety.”

The farmer fought back the moisture continuing to build beneath her eyes as the events played through her mind, the yellow pegasus facing down the rotting jaws of certain death to help rescue her little sister.

After several tense moments, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “She's still in there.”

Turning her head to face the blue mare, Twilight continued to force her mask of stoicism and inquired, “What?”

“She's still in there,” Rainbow repeated, her wings ruffling as a shiver shot down her spine and threatened to turn her blood to ice. “In the schoolhouse. I've seen her through the windows a couple of times... w-what was left of her anyway.”

The prismatic pegasus pressed a hoof to her heart as the image of one of her oldest friends presented itself to her, a pair of empty eyes searching the vacant schoolhouse for the tantalizing treat of warm flesh and fresh blood. Gashes and gaping holes smattered the kindhearted mare's once yellow coat, wounds inflicted from gnashing teeth and raking hooves. Rainbow swallowed hard, suddenly finding her mouth dryer than the desert Badlands.

“I-I'm sorry, I n-need to go s-sit down,” the pegasus stammered, biting her lower lip as she trotted unsteadily out of the carriage without another word.

Closing her eyes, Rarity pivoted on her hooves and went to follow her blue friend, offering a quiet, “I should go and keep an eye on her. She's been running herself ragged on guard duty. Twilight, I... I don't know what to say. The proper words simply don't exist, do they?” The fashionista let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding in, silently chiding herself for showing weakness when the others needed her to be strong. Quietly, she concluded, “Just get some rest, darling, alright? We may have lost a friend, an amazing friend without even a single mean streak in her mane, but please, don't burn yourself down to the wick and make us lose another.”

“An' Ah should return to mah post,” Applejack cut in, returning her hat to its place atop her head. Trotting over to the lilac mare, the apple farmer put on her most comforting smile and added, “But don't let that mean nothin', okay? If'n y'all need anythin', even just to talk, ya send for me an' Ah'll be here in a flash.”

As the occupancy of the small carriage dwindled down to two, Pinkie Pie approached the purple unicorn and sat down beside her. Resting her head on the side of the bed, she closed her eyes and stated, “I don't have guard duty for another three hours and I should probably get some sleep, but if you'd like me to~

“Please stay, Pinkie.”

Turning over beneath the sheets, Twilight curled herself into a tight ball and struggled to contain the raging torrent of emotions gradually coming to a boiling point within her.

“I don't know how much longer I can keep it together. I... I'm going to break down very soon now and I don't want to be alone.”

Wordlessly, the baker placed a hoof upon her friend's quaking shoulder, making her presence and support known as the purple mare rapidly fell to pieces, her tired and battered body no longer capable of maintaining her tempered facade.

“A world without kindness,” she thought through the tears.

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Five – What Needs to be Done...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Recuperation

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Five – Recuperation

“Rest is for the weary, sleep is for the dead.”

~ ~ ~

“Drop dead, it doesn't matter
She said
It only hurts when I laugh
She said
Sometimes it's never a crime
To spend the day in bed”

“Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever” by Bad Religion

~ ~ ~

Twilight tossed and turned in the dark as a gentle pink hoof glided across her mane in an attempt to ease her rising frustration and fear.

As it turned out, simply falling asleep proved to be far more daunting a task than she had at first anticipated. Thoughts swirled around in her aching head like the snow in a vigorously shaken snowglobe, the confusing blizzard eliciting from the lavender unicorn numerous irritated groans throughout the night. It all seemed so impossible, so unbelievable. How was she supposed to just nod and accept it?

Wincing as she felt another migraine settling in, Twilight muttered, “This can't be real.”

Still at the unicorn's side, Pinkie Pie's curly mane bobbed as she replied, “I wish it weren't, Twi.”

“It's not fair.”

Passing another hoof soothingly through the other mare's hair, the baker gave an empty chuckle, “Heh, that's the understatement of the century.”

“How do you deal with it?” Twilight questioned, her face entombed beneath her pillow.

At that, Pinkie Pie sighed and shook her head.

After another hollow laugh, one noticeably devoid of all of the pink pony's usual mirth, she shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Heck if I know, to tell you the truth. How does anypony really deal with this? Figure that out and I'll throw the party we've all been needing.”

Groaning, Twilight nudged the sheets from her purple frame and forced herself up into a wobbly sitting position. Rubbing at her heavy eyelids, she turned to face her pink friend. The party planner's eyes glimmered in the dark of the carriage with the same good humor and kindness that they always did, but there was something else there too. A deep pain painted in the colors of Pinkie's bright blues reflected back at her, a pain that the unicorn felt she was already growing all too familiar with. More alarming to Twilight, however, was how well Pinkie was masking it.

It was less of a revelation to the librarian and more a reminder. Her friends were being strong for her. Just as they always did, they were being her rock.

With an exacerbated grunt, she pressed a hoof to the sore spot below her left ear and said, “Ugh, I'm complaining, aren't I?”

“Twilight, trust me, you can gripe all you want,” Pinkie assured her with a tender nuzzle, the baker's smile faltering for a brief moment. “You think we haven't been moaning on and on and on for the past two months? If you haven't noticed, it's kind of the end of the world. If anything, I think taking it all in stride like nothing actually happened and not complaining would be unhealthy.”

Rolling her eyes, the unicorn replied with a small and silent grin.

“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight reasoned. “It'd take the loss of more than a few marbles to smile at all of this.”

Another dull throb from somewhere inside of her skull quickly dredged the unicorn from her thoughts, accompanied by an unshorn hoof returning to pressure the offending location yet again. Muttering a series of foal-unfriendly expletives, Twilight shifted her weight in the bed until her gaze rested upon a small counter situated just above her. After a quick mental prep to focus against the unavoidable headache that she was about to inflict upon herself, the librarian summoned up the faintest amount of magic and, with a spark, lit her horn. Just as she had predicted, a wave of pain swiftly washed through her brain, though the riptide of nausea that followed fast on its heels did manage to catch her off-guard. Reeling, the purple mare lurched forward and began to dry heave, her magic fizzling out with an audible pop.

Concerned, Pinkie Pie outstretched a hoof, but found it refused as Twilight lifted her head and forced a grin.

“I'm the Element of Magic, Pinkie,” the unicorn smirked, her moxie betrayed somewhat by the sweat trickling down her brow. “Head trauma or no, if I can't cast something as simple as a mere illumination spell then I might as well have my horn surgically removed to get rid of the dead weight.”

“Don't say that, Twi,” Pinkie replied, her ears folding back at such a thought.

Returning a hoof to the pounding drum that had at some point replaced her skull, Twilight snapped back, “Pinkie, no, I didn't really mean tha~ Ugh, look, I'm just being snarky, alright? I'm tired and angry and sad and scared and confused and it feels like there's a team of tiny diamond dogs trying to mine their way out from the inside of my head with pickaxes and I'm trying really, really, really bucking hard not to take it out on you.”

Taking several deep, heaving breaths to steady herself in the aftermath of her taxing rant, the librarian let out an exacerbated groan and crumpled down into the sheets.

“You don't deserve that,” she concluded, her voice barely above a whisper.

By way of reply, Pinkie Pie quietly took to her hooves and climbed into the bed. Settling herself down next to her frustrated friend, the baker placed a hoof beneath Twilight's chin and raised it until their eyes met.

“You don't deserve that either, Twi,” Pinkie stated, her voice hushed but nonetheless firm, “so vent. Vent all you want. Turn the fans all the way up to their max and vent until I'm blown out of the room, I don't care. I just don't want to see you taking all of this out on yourself. It's too much, Twilight, way too much. That's why it's called 'a shoulder to lean on', right? Well, I have two shoulders ready for you if you loose your balance. I always will.”

Her eyes watering up, the unicorn quickly blinked to clear them and smirked, “Heh, feels more like I'm losing my sanity, but I guess that's another way to word it.”

A moment of silence fell over the small carriage as Twilight leaned forward and nuzzled the party planner. With a heavy sigh, she then pulled away and smiled.

Feeling as though she'd come frighteningly close to reaching a new echelon of frustration, the unicorn rolled her shoulders and turned her gaze back to the counter above the bed.

“Alright, let's meet somewhere in the middle,” she said, setting her jaw in determination.

Warily, Pinkie Pie quirked an eyebrow and questioned, “What?”

“Let me try one more time, just once,” the lilac mare retorted. “If I can't do it, I'll stop.”

“Can't you just tell me what it is you're trying to do?” Pinkie asked in return.

Shaking her head, slowly so as not to agitate it any further, Twilight answered, “Only if I can't.”

Scrunching her face up in thought, the pink mare contemplated just why her friend was being so stubborn. Briefly, she considered fetching Applejack to swap notes and compare both mares' inflexibility, remembering all too clearly how unbending the farmer's stance often was once she'd set her mind on something.

Eventually, Pinkie found that pondering the subject any further would prove to be a pursuit in futility. Relenting, she simply nodded and inquired, “Do you promise to tell me what's going on and ask me for help if you can't do it?”

Grinning, Twilight recited, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Satisfied, Pinkie shrugged in apprehensive compliance.

Turning, the adamant purple mare dug her hooves into the bedding for support and narrowed her eyes menacingly up at her target. Steadying her breathes into a deep rhythm, she let out and snort and brought her magic back to a focus. The pain and nausea returned in force, but Twilight remained resolute, her horn radiating a soft aura and illuminating the makeshift medical station.

“I just... I need to do this,” she grunted as small rivers of sweat began streaming down her face, eyes scanning the now-visible rows of bottles alphabetically organized just above her. “I need to be able to do something, dammit.”

With the new source of light assisting her, Twilight swiftly found her prize and lifted a hoof to snatch a bottle of high-strength pain killers. Her objective completed, the unicorn promptly released her magic and collapsed into a panting heap of purple fur, perspiration, and tangled legs.

Triumphantly, she stuck a hoof up into the air and declared in between ragged gasps, “H-ha! Element of M-magic... one, excavation crew... inside my h-head... zero!”

Rolling her eyes, Pinkie Pie reached out and swept up the bottle in her hooves, popping the top of and admonishing, “Really, Twilight? You couldn't have just asked?”

“H-had to be... done,” Twilight wheezed back, grinning in spite of her hoof-to-horn weariness. “H-had to try.”

Shaking her head, the party planner counted out 60 milligrams in the form of three little pills and passed them to her exhausted friend. Eventually mustering up the strength to sit up, Twilight inhaled all three at once without so much as a drop of water to help them go down.

Perhaps it was the placebo effect from the simple sensation of swallowing the medication, the knowledge that the clatter in her brain would soon quiet down, but seconds later Twilight felt a sleepy weight already beginning to settle throughout her body. Putting up no resistance as gravity pulled her down, Twilight swayed where she sat and slid along the side of the bed's headboard, the end result leaving her leaning heavily into her poofy pink friend. Content to sleep wherever it was that she'd fallen, the strange pillow of springy curls beneath her surprisingly comfortable, the lavender unicorn let out a sigh and allowed her droopy lids fall fully closed.

“I wish it were all just a dream,” Twilight muttered tiredly, still grinning, “even though I'd have to go and give Princess Luna a piece of my mind afterward.”

After a brief pause, Pinkie's eyes watered up and she snickered, “Can you imagine, you just stomping into the palace past the guards and shouting at her at the top of your lungs?”

“I think I can now,” the lavender unicorn murmured, unconsciousness rapidly approaching.

“We'll have to do something with your mane before Rarity sees it. It got all frazzled like it usually does when you... well... get all frazzled.”

“I'm good at that.”

Nuzzling the librarian, Pinkie Pie snickered, “Still doesn't beat mine though. The bane of every brush's existence.”

Smiling, the baker nodded silently to herself in satisfaction, Twilight's nerves successfully calmed for the time being. Heaving a sizable sigh of her own, Pinkie held the purple mare for several more minutes, wriggling out of the Element of Magic's grip only once she had finally fallen asleep. Carefully, she climbed out of the bed, pulled the sheets back up, and tucked them in, leaving her friend snoring lightly inside of a cozy linen cocoon.

With her task completed, Pinkie Pie stealthily exited the carriage, closing the door as quietly as possibly. Once outside, she stretched herself out in a manner most feline, arching her back and releasing an almost comically large yawn. Smacking her lips noisily as she turned her head and scanned the nearby fire pit and the chairs surrounding it, the baker spotted Rarity sipping on a mug of cider.

“Care for a drink?” inquired the fashionista as she spotted her pink friend.

“You have no idea,” Pinkie replied, the night's anxiety having supplied her with a desert-dry mouth.

Her trot slowed and absent of its usual bounce, the party planner approached the campfire and plopped herself down unceremoniously in the dirt beside Rarity's chair.

“Darling, no offense intended, but you look like you could use a shot or two of whiskey in your cider.”

“We have whiskey? Why didn't anypony tell me?”

Shaking her head, the white unicorn took to her hooves and paced over to a small ice chest, chuckling, “Would we have, I'm quite sure we would have suddenly found the barrels empty the next day.”

“Hey, it's not my fault I can drink the rest of your girls under the table, you all just fall asleep too soon!”

With a wry grin, Rarity replied, “The inventive ways with which you apply that boundless energy of yours never fails to impress, darling.”

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Six – Doing What Needs to be Done...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!

Doing What Needs to be Done

The Trotting Dead: Unquiet Equestria

As written by Joseph Raszagal
Book One – Finding Friendship
Chapter Six – Doing What Needs to be Done

"Sometimes you cannot believe what you see. You have to believe what you feel."

~ ~ ~

“What will I become,
With the things I would create?
I never said that men should bow
I never said that men should break
I only want what's best
The one I love, she works so hard
Works her fingers till they bleed
All the pain that she endures
Would bring a strong man to his knees
I only want to help...”

“The Good Doctor” by The Protomen

~ ~ ~

Levitating a mug over to her friend, Rarity brushed a stray lock of mane back behind her ear and asked, “How is our dear Twilight doing?”

Staring into the crackling fire, Pinkie Pie took a hearty swig and shrugged her shoulders, unabashedly basking in the heat of the spiked cider as it settled in her stomach.

“Better, I think,” she sighed as she watched the flames flicker and dance. “Maybe even better than I thought she'd be.”

Settling her chin on the crook of her two crossed hooves, Rarity took in the sight before her. Quietly, she questioned, “Then what seems to have you so distraught, darling?”

Closing her eyes, the baker repressed an anxious shiver before replying, “I don't know. I just... I think I'm still so super surprised that she's even here with us now, you know? We almost lost her, Rarity, and that's just really hard for me to grasp. Really, really hard. Every time I look at her I think back to when we left her all alone in that hospital, sure that she was already gone.”

Extricating herself from her chair, Rarity sat down beside her troubled friend and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“But we didn't lose her, darling,” she soothed. “I am certain we will have our work cut out for us ensuring that she rests up, but she will. Twilight will be okay. She has us now, remember? We'll have her ship-shape and back on her hooves in no time.”

Sniveling, Pinkie leaned into her alabaster friend and whimpered, "I don't want to lose any more of my friends. I... I don't think I could take it. When we lost Fluttershy I... I..."

The pink mare trailed off into a quiet stream of sobs as Rarity held her, gently running a hoof through her cotton candy mane. The campfire before them continued to crackle, its flickering light keeping the shadows momentarily at bay.

After a brief pause, Pinkie collected herself enough to continue.

“How do you do it, Rarity?” she asked, shaking her head.

“Do what, darling?”

“Stay so strong. Twilight asked me pretty much the same thing, but I don’t think I’m being that tough at all. I’m just trying to smile. The muscles move and the frown flips upside-down, but my heart just isn’t in it.”

Letting out a dead chuckle, the fashionista insisted, “I'm not entirely certain I follow, but I suppose it is because I need to be. I may have lost more than a few near and dear to my heart, Pinkie, but I haven't lost all of them and I am prepared to fight for those that I have left, just as I am certain that you are. Besides, you may not see it yourself, but you have been quite strong already.”

“I have?”

Shrugging, Rarity pointed an idle hoof to the medical carriage, “Why don't you ask Twilight the same question in return? She needed a friend’s strength and that is precisely what you gave her. ”

“I just want her to be able to smile again,” the pink pony reflected aloud, taking a moment to hide her bright blush at the compliment. “I want everypony to be able to smile again, smile and really mean it. It... it keeps me going.”

“And it shows, darling. It's a strength that you should take great pride in.”

Sighing, the party planner returned her stare to the campfire and said, “I just wish it wasn't so difficult to do these days. So impossible.”

“Smile?” Rarity asked absently, her eyes now transfixed by the flames as well.

“Yeah.”

~ ~ ~

Groggily rubbing at her tired eyes, Applejack groaned at the unwelcome disturbance of muffled speech and muted whispers filtering in though the thin walls of her tent. Opening the flap, the farmer found Thunderlane, Zecora, and Nurse Redheart all staring up at something going on in the distance.

“Now what are y'all yammerin' on about at this hour for?” she huffed as she trudged out to join the three, grimacing over the four hours of sleep she'd likely miss before standing guard at the hill. “It ain’t even dawn and here Ah am, awake.”

With an exacerbated look of his own, Thunderlane pointed towards a clearing on yet another slope some thirty meters above them.

Twilight had woken up. A fine sheen a sweat matted her disheveled mane and tail as she hacked at the ground inexpertly with a shovel. She was digging graves.

She was five graves in when she collapsed.

~ ~ ~

To be continued in Chapter Seven – Here Comes the Neighborhood...

~ ~ ~

Author's Game:

Guess the opening quote before the song lyrics!