The Grass Ain't Always Greener

by WorldWalker128

Everfree Forest - Zecora and Apple Bloom

Everfree Forest - Zecora and Apple Bloom

Zecora's eyes carefully scanned the wilderness beneath the tree she'd hidden herself in for the evening, her ears strained to take heed of any sound, be it a twig snapping, a pile of leafs ruffled by the wind, or the rasping breath or growl of one of the dead ones that the ponies of Equestria often called Shamblers. It was close to night time now, and in her experience these once-pony monsters hunted using primarily their sense of smell and their hearing depending on how decayed or damaged they were. There had been a few she'd encountered that had seemed to have lost all of their senses including sight, as she'd witnessed them crashing into trees and rocks or even walking off small cliffs that their brethren paused at before turning aside.

At the snap of a dry branch her head on reflex twisted behind her and her muscles tensed, ready to spring into action and flee even though she was safely above any ground-walking creature. Zecora waited, then smiled and relaxed as young Apple Bloom walked under the tree that they'd marked a few days ago as a Rest Zone. She set down the small bag she had been carrying on her back and then with a little effort began to climb the pegs to grab the reel hook that she herself had installed. After climbing up several pegs that had been hammered into the tree's trunk and onto the two-pony platform that she and Zecora had built she reeled it up and placed it on a branch above her head.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she smiled at Zecora.

"Heya, Zecora! See anything intrestin'?" She asked in a soft voice. The Forest's wildlife might not tolerate the presence of the undead this deep in the woods, but that didn't mean they were any more friendly with the living. Both Apple Bloom and Zecora had learned shortly after making the forest their home that making more noise than necessary was only asking for trouble.

"Nopony or Shambler have I have seen, but two of the Timber Wolves, very mean. They sniffed at this tree, then passed on by, they scampered on off at another's cry."

"Another pony? Or something else?" Apple Bloom asked as she pulled a large edible mushroom from the bag and bit into it. They did not taste very good, but Zecora assured her that they were not poisonous, and were in fact very nourishing.

Shifting from her previous position of being on her stomach, Zecora turned on her side.

"It sounded as a bull's bellow. Very angry he sounded, this fellow." Apple Bloom gave Zecora another mushroom and a few berries from the bag and tried to look out of the branches through the leaves. A pointless effort, this high in the tree. If she wanted to see anything she would need to stick her face down through the hole in the floor that Zecora had been looking through earlier. "You were gone near half the day. Where is it to, you ran away?"

Apple Bloom swallowed her mouthful of shroom and looked away from Zecora again. Zecora said nothing and waited.

"Ah went back to the family farm to see if mah family had gone back to it." Zecora raised an eyebrow, but still said nothing. Both of them knew how dangerous it was out in the open (which was just about how dangerous it was another half mile deeper into the forest at night). They both also knew that danger or no Apple Bloom had not forgotten that her older sister had led the monsters away so she could escape. If there was a chance that she and her brother and grandmother were still alive even after all this time, she wanted to check the place they'd most likely be if they were still in the area. "Ah saw a few Shamblers, and that someone had been taking some of our apples from the trees closest to town, but no sign anypony livin' save for a kilt Shambler."

This had not been the first time that Apple Bloom (or Zecora) had journeyed to the Apple Farm. Over the course of the first few months after everypony still living and sane abandoned Ponyville they'd taken tools, food, the few medical supplies that hadn't already been looted by other ponies, a crossbow that Granny Smith said her father used to use to chase off bandits when she was young, and some blankets and a cart to carry it all back to Zecora's home. There were quite a few more Shamblers wandering around back then and Zecora had nearly been bitten several times trying to protect her young friend as well as herself, but they made it there and back with their health intact.

"I am sure that they are alright." Zecora said, sitting up and placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Your family would not go down without a fight."

"Ah know that." Apple Bloom said. Her voice took on a tone of concern as she continued "but almost everypony who did fight was either eaten, or got bit and turned into one of 'em!" Her eyes widened and she began to tremble a little. "What- what if that's what happened to 'em?" Apple Bloom sniffed and her eyes began to moisten. "What if all mah friends and ma- mah whole f-family-" She started to cry and Zecora reached out her forelegs and pulled Apple Bloom into a tight hug as tears began to pour down her face, soaking them both.

The sun had been lowered and the moon raised. Stars twinkled above in the sky with a blissful ignorance of what those down on the little world below them were going through. Or perhaps they did know and most of them simply did not care.

One of the twinkling lights shot across the sky, leaving a trail of light behind in its wake for any who were awake and looking at the sky to see.

"Ah wish...Ah wish..." Apple Bloom squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated all her will on that one desire. "Ah wish that mah big brother, mah sister, and mah friends made it out of town to somewhere safe!" The first star streak shone brighter than it had before, and then suddenly vanished. Not ten seconds later a second streak shot across the sky and Apple Bloom's face lit up with a smile and hope filled her heart. Surely this was a sign? "And that one day we'll all be together again!"

<><><>

Big Macintosh awoke in his group's shelter with a snort, startling Rarity, who'd taken this night's watch. Beside her slept her little sister Sweetie Bell, and her latest (and possibly last living) friend, Button Mash.

"Bad dreams, dahling? I know I've been having them almost nonstop." Rarity asked, sympathy on her face and tangles and dirt in her mane. All four of the ponies were a bit dirty, actually. There had not been much of an opportunity to stop and take a proper bath lately, and even Rarity had to admit that their continued good health was more important than keeping her main styled and clean.

"Nope. Just a strange feelin'." Rarity tensed and quickly jerked her head around fearfully. The last time he'd had a strange feeling, they'd gotten mobbed by the Shamblers near the train station and Button Mash lost his mother. But Big Mac gave her a reassuring smile. "Not that kinda feelin' Miss Rarity." She sighed with relief. "Just a feelin' that somepny out there is thinkin' about us, and wishing us luck."

Comments

[RainbowBob]

Oh boy, it's finally here!

[TheFullCrumb]

I have to say, I've enjoyed this. Not much action, but then again, the way you present it, it's not like they'd want much action, as it could bring down an apocalypse worth of death on their heads.

[Jersey Lightning]

you know, maybe you shouldn't use an actual dead horse as the cover art.

[Silver Starlight]

4086541 I agree. There are lots of people who don't want to see that, myself included.

[WorldWalker128]

4086541
4086960
What would you recommend, then? Suggestions along with criticisms would be appreciated.
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Zombie+Ponies+.+A+little+thing+me+and+my+friend+blacklite_9d1fcf_4079868.png
I thought about using that one, but given the seriousness of this it did not seem appropriate. Same thing with this one:
static.fjcdn.com/comments/4079868+_25357588b5a0886ea5013a97fec379b1.jpg
I also considered using a horse skull, but none of them that came up on Google had the angle I wanted