//------------------------------//
// Apple Bloom's Story 
// Story: Manes, Pains & Trains 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Apple Bloom was quick to launch into her variation of what was to happen next, following Scootaloo's failed interpretation. Scoots had left her corner and rejoined the other two, who although they both gave her a stern glare indicating that they were far from being amused at how they had been portrayed, were otherwise deciding to go easy on her. Apple Bloom had only just opened her mouth to begin telling her story when there was a sudden jolting screech from the lower section of the train. The shock was such that all three fillies went flying into the wall, tumbling upon each other head over hooves.
"Ow!" said Scootaloo
"What was that?!" demanded Apple Bloom.
"My leg!"
Apple Bloom was the first to rise, and quickly made her way to the window, where sparks were visible in the darkness, flying beneath the screeching wheels of the train. She was perfectly stable now, possessing superior earth pony balance, while the other two needed to hold into the legs of tables.
"Somethin's wrong, let's go check it out!" She exclaimed. "Maybe we'll get our cutie marks in train repair!"
"Yeah, that's just what I needed on my flank, a wrench," Sweetie Belle complained.
"What did you call me?!" Scootaloo demanded.
"I said WRENCH."
"Oh, yeah, totally!"
Apple Bloom moved forward to thrust open the door of the carriage they were in. The entire train was cast in darkness and shadow, but had stopped moving, still within the confines of the tunnel. "Hello?" She called. There was no answer. The adjoining car was empty.
"Where's the rest of the class? Where's Cheerilee?" She asked with worry.
"They must've gone to get help or something," Sweetie offered.
"And left us behind? Cheerilee would never do that. Come on!" Bloom pressed forward, with her two friends following close behind.
"Initiating Cutie Mark Acquisition Program. Executing file Happy Face. Execution successful. Yay!" Sweetie said playfully.
"You're so weird," Scootaloo responded.
The trio moved deeper into the train, finding each one of the cars empty. The trio was completely alone, and Apple Bloom didn't like it at all.
"This is so WEIRD." Scootaloo said. "It's like that one book at school where all the good people disappeared, and only the bad people were left while the rest of Equestria burned."	
Sweetie's lip quivered. "But I'm not bad... is this because of that one time I borrowed those really rare gemstone shards from Rarity? I was going to put them back, honest!"
"And I'm too cool to be left behind, so that CAN'T be it." Scootaloo decided.
"Hush up, both of you."  Bloom said, approaching the side of the first train car. "Ah'm gonna check outside." She lifted a lever and swung the door aside, peering into the gloom. "We're still in th' tunnel, but there's light ahead. Come on, we can see what's on the other side."
"I guess if we can get out of the train, we'll find out what happened to everypony else." Sweetie agreed, jumping down to ground level. The three fillies began to walk away from the train towards the light, squinting slightly as they tried to adjust to the variance in brightness.
Scootaloo was unamused. "The Foal Free Press's next article is totally going to be about how somepony found our strangled bodies in an old warehouse."
"Jes' stop that, ain't nopony gonna be strangled," Bloom warned.
"My mom and dad are estrangled," Scootaloo said.
"Y'mean estranged."
"Stop being such a dictionary, Bloom!"
Of course, at that moment, a hoof laid itself on the shoulder of both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who were bringing up the rear. The two fillies screamed so loudly it echoed down the tunnel for what could have been miles.
Snips and Snails were covering their ears, a very dull glowing light coming from both of their horns. "You scared us!" Snips said defensively.
Sweetie Belle twitched. "We scared YOU!?" Her voice gave off a high pitched squeak of annoyance. Apple Bloom glared menacingly at them.
"Stop sneakin' up on ponies! The only one allowed to be a ninja is me! Now go up front an' light th'way until we're outta here!"
"Whatever you say, Apple Blossom," Snails said with a snort.
"It's BLOOM."
The small group pressed forward, the colts in front, Apple Bloom in the middle, and Sweetie with Scoots in the rear. They wandered to the end of the tunnel, slowly, as if something else would jump out at them at any moment. But nothing did. They followed the tracks into the forest, eventually coming to a small sign buried in the ground. It was next to a dirt path, but the sign was so faded it was impossible to read. The rest of the group continued, but Apple Bloom just stared at the sign. 
"Guys? Ah don't think we should go in here."
"Don't be such a chicken, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said, and followed the others into a small village. A friendly stallion was nailing boards together, and looked up as they approached.
"Good evening, children." He said pleasantly."
"Hi!" Snips and Snails both chorused. "Who are you?"
"Name's Gladstone, haven't seen you kids around bef-" He paused, catching sight of the final filly bringing up the rear. "Apple Bloom?" He asked.
Poor Bloom was shaking, and her eye twitched upon hearing his voice.
"You KNOW him?" Sweetie asked.
"Yes. And we all need t'leave. Right now."
"Nonsense!" Gladstone said. "It's getting dark, and the forest is no place for a group of fillies and colts to be wandering around in overnight. You can stay at the Inn, won't cost you anything."
"But what about the others? Won't they wonder where we are?"
"I'll take care of that, and be sure to send out a search party to find your chaperone. You'll be safe here..."
Snips had approached the bucket of long nails Gladstone had been using, and put two in his mouth so they hung past his lips. "Snails, look! I'm a walrus!"
"Nailed it!" Snails remarked, and the two started laughing. Bloom was not.
"Guys, really! This is that place I told you about! We can't BE here!"
"Which place? That place you totally made up just to try and scare us?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm not afraid of anything, and your attempt was completely weak." The rest of the children entered the Inn, a building which Gladstone had pointed out, Apple Bloom following and protesting. 
"I'm not kidding, we can't be here..." but her protests were ignored, just as her account of her first time here had been. Even though it had been only a couple years, the images still haunted her. Still refused to go away. But worse of all was that nopony would believe it.
The sun went down fairly quickly, casting the quiet town in darkness, illuminated only by the occasional candle. Snips and Snails were wrestling on the floor, while Sweetie and Scoots were trying to come up with their own secret motto.
Cutie mark, cutie mark, special skill awake!
Shake your flank and... drink a milkshake?
Scootaloo frowned. "No, not good enough. We need something really cool."
There was a creak outside the door, and Sweetie looked up. "What was that?"
"I don't know, go look."
Sweetie approached the door, but the door swung open on its own before she could reach it, illuminating a skinny pony in the dim light. "Is it time to leave already?" She asked in confusion.
"No." The newcomer said. "I'm afraid nopony ever leaves here. Except for HER." She said accusingly, glowing red eyes focusing on Apple Bloom. "But we won't make the same mistake twice."
"Wait, what are you going on about?" Snips asked, while Snails was sitting on him.
"You heard me." The pony said, and stepped forward. Strips of flesh hung awkwardly from exposed bones, large decaying teeth chattering together as she talked. Her mane and tail were only barely hanging on. "Nopony ever leaves."
Sweetie Belle shrieked, Scootaloo stared at it. Snips and Snails just sort of blinked in confusion. Apple Bloom, however, was on her hooves in an instant. "RUN!" She demanded, and dove to the left. The skeletal pony followed her, and the other four dashed out through the open doorway. Bloom dove under a table, the zombie snapping at her, and slammed the door behind her as she ran out, earning a precious few seconds.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Sweetie was demanding.
"Zombie pony! Ah told you, but y'all wouldn't listen!"	
"We're listening now!" Snails pleaded.
"Don't touch them, do whatever it takes, but don't touch them. Just run for the train!" Bloom said. The five stuck close together, rushing towards the entrance to the town, but it was blocked off by two more zombies.
"Not this time, Apple Bloom." One of them said.
"This way!" Bloom said, skidding in a diagonal direction. Again, the way was blocked by zombies. Zombies closing in on all directions, pressing the five back to back in a circle.
"There's no way out!" Snips exclaimed. "They're everywhere!"
"I hate field trips. I knew I should've stayed home today..." Snails complained.
"Use your horns, they hate light!"	
"I'm too scared!"
"Me too!"
"You're both babies!" Sweetie Belle said, and closed her eyes, making a scrunched up face and grunting noises. She was clearly trying very very hard, but her horn wasn't responding.
"Do something!" Scootaloo insisted.
"I'm trying!"
"Then do the sequel! Try 2: Try Harder!" Snips said.
"	Snails snorted again. "Good one, Snips."
"We're gonna die..." Bloom said, defeated.
Sweetie dug her hooves into the ground, and let out a shriek of rage. "No we're NOT!" Her horn exploded with powerful light, causing several zombies to shield their eyes.
"Now!" Bloom yelled, and the rest dragged Sweetie Belle away from the town, pressing forward as the light drove the zombies back. Once the five were clear of the signpost, they ran, dodging zombies on the way.
"We're real sorry we didn't believe you, Bloom!" Snips said.
"Yeah, we're real sorry!" Scootaloo agreed. The five raced down the tunnel, piling into the train and locking the door. Sweetie's horn had turned off, and the filly looked exhausted.
"You did it, Sweetie Belle. Y'saved us." Snips said, and kissed the unicorn. Sweetie made a face and pushed him away. "Ew! Don't ship us, that's awful!"

***

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa." Sweetie Belle interrupted. "I'm totally stopping you there. There is NO way Snips and I would EVER kiss." She looked disgusted. Scootaloo was laughing.
"Okay, now we KNOW you're making this entire thing up, there's no way Sweetie Belle would get her first kiss before ME," Diamond Tiara announced, entering the train car with Silver Spoon.
"What are you two doing in here? This is for Cutie Mark Crusaders only."
"Cheerilee is telling some lame friendship story, it's boring," Diamond said. "What are you three doing, telling stories?"
"Yes, and these namby pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to our cutie marks! Especially the ones Bloom is telling. You already tried that story, Bloom. There's no such thing as zombie ponies, you really have to try harder than that."
"And you didn't believe me! It really happened, honest! Just... nopony saw it... except me..." her ears flattened. 
Sweetie Belle looked confused. "But why did you have me save everypony with magic? I can't do magic, I can't do anything." She looked at the ground.
"Y'all can't do magic because y'don't believe in yerself. But ah do, and ah know yer gonna do big things someday. That's why y'were the one t'do magic."
Sweetie looked ready to cry. "Aww..." She tackled Bloom in a hug.
"Ewww!" Scootaloo made a face.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If we're all telling stories, then I'm going next. It all started when I was a young filly, and-"
"No!" Silver Spoon demanded. Diamond Tiara's eye twitched.
"What did you say?"
"I said no!" Silver Spoon said, turning on her. "I'm always following you around, and you're always the center of attention, always going first, and always talking about yourself. I'm sick of it. I'm going next. And you're going to sit there and WAIT for once."
Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo actually cheered.
Diamond Tiara was absolutely livid. "Fine. You can tell your story. But I will NOT forget this." She hissed.
Silver Spoon looked as if she'd just set down a weight that weighed a thousand pounds. Her heart was racing, and the Cutie Mark Cruasders actually had quite a bit of respect for her at that moment.
"Right. So. Where was I?"