//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: Undead Equestria 
// by MaskedxMaestro 
//------------------------------//

	“You’re absolutely sure?” Twilight asked. 
Two hours had passed since the search party had returned from their trip to the Everfree Forest. During that time, the ponies had taken the opportunity for rest or conversation, much of which included catching up Fluttershy on all they had learned about the zomponies. While the shy pegasus would have far preferred discussing the joys of animal care compared to the hideous monsters currently infecting Equestria, she braved through it with a stiff upper lip, knowing full well that if she wanted to continue helping her friends in the future, then she needed to have as much knowledge on them as the rest of everypony. Only once did she make the mistake of inquiring as to whether or not the zomponies were just misunderstood creatures but after having been given a stink eye of the century by all the ponies in the barn, she silenced her pondering and never brought it up again.
At the moment, Twilight Sparkle was standing by the open doorway, looking back at two ponies that had decided to join her in the search for Pinkie Pie. While it had been agreed that three ponies were all that were needed in this particular venture, Twilight admittedly had her doubts on whether or not it would work. It wasn’t that she was worried over whether or not three ponies would be enough, but rather she wondered if the specific ponies that had decided to join the group would actually be of any real benefit. Well, okay, one pony in particular. She had absolutely no problem with the first pony that had volunteered. Braeburn had fought his case valiantly, refusing to take no for an answer after seeing how much damage Applejack and Big Mac had taken during the last search outing. He made an excellent candidate for the team and Twilight had no problems with him. But the second pony... 
“Yes, I’m sure.” Fluttershy said, nodding her head. The yellow pegasus’ request to join had been met with many questioning eyes but the shy pony had insisted. While her fear of the zomponies was no doubt the strongest out of anypony in the barn, she felt it was only fair that she help find Pinkie Pie since it was her fault that so many of her friends were so badly hurt from finding her. Had they not needed to come find her in the Everfree Forest, the Timberwolf fight would never have happened, and Rainbow Dash would never have undergone such serious damage. It was hard enough for the pegasus to look at Applejack with her bruised eye, but looking at Rainbow Dash and her crumpled unconscious body, it was enough to force Fluttershy into action. Like Braeburn, the pegasus refused to take no for an answer. 
“You’ll have to guide me.” Braeburn said. “I haven’t been to Ponyville enough times to know where I’m going.”
“That’s fine.” Twilight replied, pulling her eyes away from Fluttershy to look at Applejack’s cousin. She raised her gaze to the rest of the barn and spoke loud enough for most of the barn to hear her without disturbing the night air. “We’ll be back in an hour. If we’re not back by that time, send a scout.” 
“We’ll be keeping an eye out.” Blossomforth said from one of the rafters above the crowd. Thunderlane, who was seated beside her, nodded in agreement. 
“Alright, then, let’s go.” Twilight said, stepping out into the night. 
The air was cool and calm. There was hardly a breeze as they walked together towards Ponyville. Temperature-wise it was just low enough that Twilight briefly wished she had brought a light blanket for warmth but otherwise everything was strangely soothing. While before, the warm sunlight and bright colors had filled her with inspiration and strength, the serene night was relaxing her. She wasn’t darting her eyes all around like she had done before during her first trip to the barn and the bright stars made her feel like she was making the right decision to walk without worrying. It was perhaps a little strange for her to feel so calm given the circumstances, especially at nighttime, but she tried not to question it and instead took advantage of her small moment of peace.
Fluttershy, however, did not seem to share her comforted mood. Instead, the pegasus looked around with worry, never dropping her guard and sticking uncomfortably close to Braeburn and Twilight. She tip toed and gritted her teeth in fright, making a slight “Eeep!” sound anytime something moved. After ten minutes of dealing with Fluttershy’s constant shaking and having to deal with her panic anytime a leaf floated by, Twilight asked her friend if she wanted to go back to the barn. The pegasus said nothing in response aside from squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head forcefully. It was clear that she secretly wished she could go back to the barn but she was forcing herself to stay true to her word. At any other time, Twilight might have felt proud of her friend for facing her fears, but at the moment Fluttershy’s “bravery” was frustrating and if it weren’t for the fact that they were already out of sight of the barn, the purple unicorn might have forced the pegasus to return. The group continued onward despite the disturbances and soon both Twilight and Braeburn ignored Fluttershy’s small shouts of fright.
As they entered Ponyville, Twilight’s thoughts drifted to thinking about all the empty buildings that stood on either side of them. What had happened to all the ponies that lived in them? She hoped that they had all escaped to Canterlot successfully but she knew in her heart that the reality of things wasn’t so hopeful. In fact, as she passed Golden Harvest’s home, a pit formed in her stomach and she had to tear her eyes away in order to try and distract herself from thinking too hard about it. Instead she tried to focus on what remained. All the empty beds and items left behind. Homes left as if paused in time, waiting for their owners to return. Would anypony return to them at all? Or would Ponyville forever be doomed to become a ghost town? 	
Twilight shivered and shook her head from the thought. 
“Is that it?” Braeburn suddenly asked. 
Startled, Twilight looked up. Sugarcube Corner was before them. She sighed, realizing that her thoughts had consumed her to the point where she hadn’t even realized where she was. She kicked herself for not paying attention.
“Yes.” she answered. Looking up at the darkened building with a pondering eye, she wondered if Pinkie Pie was inside. But before her thoughts could drift any further, suddenly her mind snapped to attention and she immediately jumped back and braced herself, staring in alarm at the familiar-looking broken window on the first floor. Fluttershy gasped and nearly toppled over in fright. Braeburn was thankfully fast enough in his reflexes to move out of Twilight’s way as she jumped.
“Woah, there, partner, you look like you just spotted a rattlesnake!” Braeburn said. “What’s going on?”
Twilight didn’t answer at first. She was too busy focusing on the window, but after staring for a few seconds, she relaxed and released her tension. She sighed, feeling guilty that she had caused her friends to panic. 
“I’m sorry.” she said. “I was by this same building before a few days ago. It just came back to me that this was where I saw my first zompony. She was in that broken window, there, eating. I guess I thought I might see it again and so it was just my instinct to brace myself after seeing it again.”
“E-Eating..?” Fluttershy managed to stutter, her voice barely audible through her chattering teeth. 
Braeburn made a concerned face, sharing the troubled thought with the pegasus beside him. Neither wanted to look at the window now, afraid that they might see something they would never forget. 
Twilight, however, blinked and stared at her friends. It had never occurred to her to think about what specifically Ditzy Doo had been eating. But now that she thought about it, the memory of the gray earth pony didn’t involve any kind of grotesque imagery at all. In fact, Ditzy Doo had been seen digging through the regular bakery items. Didn’t zomponies eat ponies and not regular food? If that was the case, then what was Ditzy Doo doing? Come to think of it, the zompony also hadn’t followed her or Rainbow Dash back to the library after hearing Twilight scream. If zomponies were drawn to sound, like Twilight had theorized, then why didn’t Ditzy Doo follow them?  It made no sense at all.
“Actually...” Twilight trailed off, giving a puzzled look to the window before turning to her friends. “She was eating muffins... But that doesn’t make sense... Right?”
“Do we really know enough about these creatures to assume what all they eat?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight paused, staring at her friend in thought. 
“I... I guess not.” The purple unicorn said.
“Well, either way,” Braeburn interrupted. “That there zompony might still be in there. We should be careful when we go in.”
Twilight nodded and led the way to the front door. Regardless of the muffin mystery, they still had a job to do. Twilight could ponder the wonders of zompony diets later. 
Stepping into Sugarcube Corner, the three ponies stayed close together as they looked around the front room. Surprisingly, the store wasn’t a complete disaster. In fact, aside from the broken front window and the pilfered-through bakery items that lay hear it, the store looked relatively normal. The average looking room did not make Twilight lose her guard, however. She knew better than to unbrace herself just because something seemed ordinary. The world in general was no longer ordinary and couldn’t be taken for granted.
Braeburn moved to study the half-eaten muffins on the floor while Fluttershy stayed close to the front door (most likely in an attempt to keep a clear escape route available for herself). Twilight, on the other hoof, moved towards the back of the store. She knew the first thing to do was to check if anything was in the building with them. 
The front room was empty but the rest of the building was a mystery. Deciding to save the upstairs for last, Twilight stepped forward to check each space individually: Behind the counter - clear. Inside the closet - clear. Pantry - Clear. The only thing left downstairs to check was the kitchen. But as Twilight began to move past the stairs towards the kitchen door, a strange sound caught her ears. It was low, like a soft growl, but it was more of a grunt than a moan. Without a doubt the noise had come from up the stairs but Twilight felt frozen, not wanting to look in case her theory of what had caused the sound were true. 
Another sound. This time a snort.
“T-t-twilight!” squealed Fluttershy from behind. The purple unicorn turned her head slowly to look up the stairs. At the top stood a grey pegasus with lifeless eyes. It turned it’s head to look at all three of them before making a distressed groan. It was Ditzy Doo. But before any of the three ponies could react to her, the grey zompony turned around to flee into a door down the hallway. 
Twilight blinked, her momentary fear fading away and leaving her with confusion.
“Wait…” Braeburn began, trotting over to Twilight but keeping his eyes on the stairs. “Did that zompony just… run away from us?”
“I… I think it did.” Twilight answered. The three friends shared an equally perplexed expression.
“Well… I guess we… follow it?” Braeburn offered hesitantly. He shrugged as he looked between the yellow pegasus and the purple unicorn. 
“We don’t have a choice.” Twilight responded. “We have to make sure Pinkie isn’t here.”
Shaking off the confusing reaction they had just felt, Twilight led the way as the three ponies stepped up the stairs. 
Why had Ditzy Doo run away from them? Were zomponies not completely mindless after all? Or was it possible that Ditzy Doo had not completed transformed yet, leaving her in a trapped state of being half-aware? These and other questions filled Twilight’s constantly curious mind as she made her way to the second level of the shop.
It wasn’t until the ponies were looking down the upper floor hallway when Twilight suddenly realized that Ditzy Doo had not run into just any room. She had run into Pinkie Pie’s bedroom. 
A chill ran down Twilight’s spine as she made this realization. There was no proof yet that her friend was trapped inside but the very idea made her anxious. Then again, if Ditzy Doo wasn’t completely transformed then perhaps Pinkie Pie would be safe? 
“Want me to go in first?”
Twilight flinched, her thoughts broken by Braeburn’s question.
“What? Oh! Sorry.” she answered, shaking her head. “No, I’ll go.” She put one hoof tentatively forward, paused, took a breath, and pushed the door to Pinkie Pie’s bedroom open. 
The door creaked ominously. Inside, the room was eerily quiet and dark. The only light entering it was through a window at the far side of the room. At first there was nothing unusual to be seen. A long table setup in the middle, a bed to the far corner. A few random items lain about here or there. A relatively normal bedroom. But upon closer inspection, there were strange artifacts sitting in the chairs at the middle table. A bucket of turnips, a rockpile, a sack of flour, and a large dust bunny all sat like unmoving members of a dinner party.
Twilight walked over carefully to look at the items, unsure of what to make of them. She knew straight away that Pinkie had something to do with them given her friend’s unusual hobbies but even this caused her some concern. Braeburn, who was even less use to Pinkie Pie’s nature, took one look at the table and shot a queer expression to both Twilight and Fluttershy.
“Uh, is this… normal… in Ponyville?” he asked. Before either pony could respond to him, a voice shot through the darkness.
“I don’t remember sending any of you an invitation to this party!” 
Startled, all three search-party ponies jumped back in alarm with Fluttershy yelping the loudest of all of them. They scanned the darkness with wide eyes, trying to find the source of the voice. Or, at least, Braeburn and Twilight did. The yellow pegasus, meanwhile, was too busy shielding her eyes and shivering behind the others. 
After a moment, Twilight’s shocked face tightened into suspicion.
“Pinkie?” she asked. 
As if on cue, a pink mare appeared out of seemingly nowhere at the far end of the table. Her hair was long and straight, and her pupils had shrunk to mere pin points within her eyes. She grinned in a distorted manner, the corners of her lips twisting upwards almost painfully. It was indeed Pinkie Pie, but her physicality was off. 
“What are you doing here?!” The pink mare demanded, slamming her two front hooves on the table. 
“Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy and Twilight exclaimed at the same time. The two ponies forgot their fear in an instant and rushed to the other side of the room as fast as their hooves could take them. Their relief of finding their friend was overwhelming, showcased by their immediate embrace with the pink mare. Both the yellow pegasus and the purple unicorn began to cry, so happy to have found their friend safe and sound. 
“You’re. Not. Suppose. To. Be. Here!” Pinkie yelled in anger, pushing her two friends away. 
“Pinkie Pie, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, confused at her friend’s detachment.
“We’re your friends!” Fluttershy assured, setting a hoof against Pinkie’s shoulder in an attempt to console her. But Pinkie Pie was not having any of it. She swatted the pegasus’ hoof away and yet again raised her voice.
“My friends wouldn’t have left me behind!”
Twilight looked back and forth between Pinkie’s two eyes with concern. She wasn’t sure what Pinkie was talking about. But she wasn’t sure if she could deny what her friend was accusing given that she herself had only been brought to the barn a few days prior. Who knows what had occurred beforehand.
Turning to look at Fluttershy, Twilight searched the pegasus’ face for answers but she knew right away that the pegasus would know even less than she. It was Braeburn who interrupted the silence.
“Now, wait just a minute.” The stallion said in annoyance, trotting closer to the group. “They didn’t leave you behind. They were only found within the last three days and Ponyville has been overrun. It would have been too dangerous to send a search party here until now.”
Twilight eyed Braeburn with a curious look. “Well, wait a minute. Rarity and Rainbow Dash brought me to the barn. If they could came to find me at the library, why couldn’t they have stopped by Sugarcane Corner to see if Pinkie Pie was here?”
Braeburn reacted as though caught in a lie. He flinched, looking at the purple unicorn uneasily.
“Well, I…” he began. “Listen, I know how it looks but it was too dangerous. It’s best to send a search party to one location and then back again. If we start searching too many areas at once we risk running into trouble.”
The answer was questionable but Twilight couldn’t argue it. It was possible that she would have made the same decision had she been in charge at the time. And she wasn’t aware of the situation then so who was she to wonder if the right actions had been made?
Regardless, Twilight felt stuck in the middle. She understood why Pinkie Pie was upset. Even she was slightly peeved at the idea that they (Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and herself) could have made a small detour to check on SugarCube Corner before heading to the barn. But one thought of how Ditzy Doo had been in the shop window at the time and had clearly frightened her made Twilight realize that Braeburn’s assessment of limiting search areas was probably right. 
A sudden thought sparked in Twilight’s mind.	
“Wait a minute.” she said aloud with authority. “Where did the zompony that came in here go?” 
For a moment every pony looked at each other in silence. How foolish they had been to be so distracted by Pinkie Pie to not check whether or not they were safe! Immediately the search-party ponies backed up to circle the pink mare, each of them facing a different direction to look at different parts of the room. Pinkie, meanwhile, stared at them in annoyance. She opened her mouth to complain about how close they were to her but she was cut off by a noise that came from underneath the bed in the corner of the room. 
A soft moan curled out from the darkness. Fluttershy, who was closest to the bed, let out a sharp “Eep!” as her teeth began to chatter in fright. 
A grey hoof poked out from under the bed. It gripped the floor tensely before pulling itself backward, thrusting the body it was attached to forward. A grey head with a dirt-covered blond mane appeared in the moonlight, its eyes contorted into sadness.
“Ditzy Doo!” Twilight squeaked. “Everybody get back!”
Braeburn, Fluttershy, and Twilight all scooted backward in the opposite direction of the bed. Pinkie Pie, who was caught in the middle of the movement, made her disagreement clear. 
“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” she spat, clearly not happy with the current situation. 
“Pinkie Pie, that’s a zompony!” Twilight answered, her eyes glued to the gray mare now squeezing itself into the open air. “Somepony needs to buck its head!” 
“Buck its head?” Pinkie Pie questioned as though it were the strangest idea she’d ever heard of.
“I’ve got it!” Braeburn announced, separating from the group and charging forward. The stallion skidded to a halt before turning on his front hooves and tucking in his back legs. Fluttershy gasped and covered her eyes, not wanting to see the violence that was about to happen. But before Braeburn could make a successful hit, Pinkie Pie unexpectedly appeared on the scene, having broken away from Twilight and Fluttershy in order to fling herself at Braeburn’s hooves.
“WAIT! STOP!” she cried, clinging to the stallion’s front legs.
Braeburn, caught off balance, toppled sideways with a big “Ooof!”. This time it was Twilight’s turn to gasp as Ditzy Doo leaned her head down toward Braeburn and sniffed his legs. The stallion braced himself for the inevitable bite, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.
But…
No bite occurred. 
Peeking his eyes open, Braeburn saw that the zompony was standing still, doing nothing to insinuate an attack. Confused, he turned to look at Twilight, who looked equally puzzled. Moving to Fluttershy, she was just lowering her hooves from her eyes to see the damage. Or lack there of. Finally, he shifted to Pinkie Pie, his eyes begging for answers.
“What’s your problem, buddy?” Pinkie Pie accused angrily. “Were you honestly trying to knock her brains out?” 
The search-party ponies glanced at each other in shock. None of them could speak. 
The pink mare stood up properly, crossing the floor to stand next to Ditzy Doo. The grey pegasus appeared to smile and flapped its wings slightly. 
“See? She’s fine.” Pinkie Pie said, slapping a playful hoof against Ditzy Doo’s back. Upon slapping the zompony’s fur, one of her wings promptly snapped off and fell to the floor. 
The entire room gasped from shock, Fluttershy fainting immediately. Ditzy Doo reacted with a startled moan but otherwise remained still. Pinkie Pie was the only one who didn’t react with fright. Instead, she looked down at the fallen appendage with wide eyes, stuttering to come up with a response.
“Pinkie Pie, that’s not Ditzy Doo anymore!” Twilight said, shaking her head to clear her mind and stepping forward.
“N-no!” Pinkie Pie said, now backing up and looking around the room to look for an escape. “She’s my friend! The only one who didn’t leave me!”
“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight cooed softly, approaching the pink mare as calmly as she could. She glanced at Ditzy Doo as she passed, still unsure if the zompony was completely safe to be around. “I know you’re hurt over nopony coming to your aid until now but I promise we never would have left you alone forever. We’re here now which proves that.”
Pinkie looked away from her friend, biting her lip. She mulled the thought over in her mind, her hair slowly beginning to fade from straight to curled. 
“We want you safe.” Twilight continued. “And staying here with this…” she paused, looking at the grey creature to her left with hesitation. “Well, with Ditzy Doo isn’t a safe place to be.”
Pinkie Pie glanced over at the grey pegasus, who was now sniffing her detached wing, snorting at it. Then Pinkie looked down at the floor, debating her friend’s words. A few seconds passed in silence while her hair began to puff back to its normal crazy appearance. Eventually she sniffed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. 
“I’m sorry.” she said quietly, finally meeting the purple unicorn’s eyes. Twilight smiled, relieved to see her friend coming back to her senses. She leaned forward to hug the pink mare before turning around to face the other two.
“Okay. Mission accomplished. We found Pinkie Pie.”
Braeburn refused to move, still lying sideways on the floor and looking up at Ditzy Doo.
“Uh…” he said, his eyes shifting between the zompony and Twilight. 
The purple unicorn understood what the stallion was trying to convey.
“Pinkie Pie,” she stated, turning to look at her pink friend. “The entire time you’ve been here, Ditzy Doo hasn’t tried to hurt you?”
“Of course not!” she responded in a suddenly cheerful tone, seemingly forgetting that she had been upset just seconds before. She bounced across the floor to stand next to the zompony, raising her arm in an attempt to hug the grey mare but at the last second deciding perhaps it wasn’t the smartest decision. She lowered her hooves. “Why would she?”
“Uh, well…” Twilight began awkwardly, turning to look at the others for help.
“All the other zomponies have tried to attack us.” Fluttershy piped up.
“Yeah.” Braeburn confirmed, taking the time to finally stand up. “And not everyone has gotten lucky with facing them.”
Pinkie Pie blinked at him. “What do you mean?” she asked in a semi-serious tone.
Suddenly the room became quiet and the search-party ponies looked at each other silently, trying to figure out who would be the one to fill her in. 
“We have a lot to talk about.” Twilight said finally. “But let’s all talk on the way back to Sweet Apple Acres. That’s where everyone else is waiting for us.”
“Oh. Okay.” she said with a nod. The grave tones caused Pinkie Pie to drop her smile. It was clear from the other ponies’ expressions that this was no time for fun and games. She waited for the others to walk ahead of her before following suit. Just before they left the room, Pinkie Pie turned around to look at Ditzy Doo.
“Are you coming?” Pinkie Pie she whispered, trying not to attract attention from the others. Ditzy Doo raised her head, moaned in delight, and trotted forward with a mangled grin.