> Equestria; UNDEAD
>  by runningtoastgirl77
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One: The Bloody Begining
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I am a baker. I make many things, from cakes, cupcakes, muffins, etc. I am not too great at the sweeter stuff though. Although I suppose that makes sense, considering my cutiemark is a muffin, and I got it making muffins. However, my name doesn't really have anything to do with muffins... my name is Autumn by the way. I thought It would have something to do with the season but... nope. Muffins.

Needless to say, I had never made too many friends. I mean, sure I had some "Friends", but the friend- friends, my real friends, were...rare. Being the way I am, so...bland, to trusting, it's easy to make toxic friends. Of course I don't have to worry about my friends anymore, trying to lower my self esteem or just generally tease me about my cutiemark- name coordination.

Because they are all dead now.

... perhaps I should elaborate.

It all started only a few months ago when... it happened. It was the birthday party of one of my pseudo friends, Tea Rose.



“Why, thank you for baking me my birthday cake,  Crumb Cake!” Tea Rose smiled awkwardly, levitating a fork full of sheet cake into her mouth.

“For the last time, it’s ‘Autumn’. I don’t even like cake.” 

“Oh, come on, Crumb Cake!”, Tea Rose teased, flicking back her mane, “it’s just a little nickname! Loosen up, don’t be such a high horse, hum?” She then proceeded to laugh.

I shrugged it off and picked up a pre-sliced plate of cake, then joined the other group of miscellaneous ponies. An average unicorn mare, which I think has a name Starburst or something of that nature spoke up to me. “So, Crumb Cake, did you make this cake all on your own?”

“My name is Autumn, and yes I did. It’s kinda my thing.” I faked a smile.

“Oh my!” Smiled a raspberry colored mare with a ball of yarn cutiemark. I think her name was Simple Stitches. “How… unique. Say, who styles your mane?”

I glanced in the window reflection at myself. Long dark red and olive green mane, simple cream coat. An average looking earth pony.  After realizing Simple Stitches was waiting for me to respond, I sputtered a pathetic, “N-no pony…” then they all went on to have petty conversations about their manes and stylists. I shoved my face into my cake.

After eating my slice I looked up to see the unicorns staring at me with obvious discomfort. “That’s a little messy, isn’t it?”

“Well, What do you-” I started.

“What do you expect? She’s an earth pony. At least Pegasi have some manners…” Tea Rose whispered a little too loudly.

I stared at them in silence. Without thinking, I felt my face get dry and my eyes get glossy. “O-oh…?”

Tea Rose face hoofed quietly, then finally started up. “I’m sorry! I... I didn’t mean it, I swear.”

“Is that how everypony thinks about me? Do I… disgust you?” I got up.

“Autumn, I didn’t mean it. No, I’m not…” Tea Rose actually looked legitimately sorry, and started stumbling on her words.

“I…,” I turned away from them. “I n-need to use the bathroom. Be right back.”

“Autumn!” Tea Rose stumbled as I trotted away.

I did a lot of thinking in the bathroom. Why was I even hanging out with these ponies? I spent a long time washing off my face and hooves, clearing my mind, and trying miserably not to cry.

I’m not sure how long I had spent in the bathroom. Might have been minutes. Maybe an hour. Perhaps more.

Still prepared to up and leave, I brushed myself off, wigged out my anger, and continued into the dining room where I left my friends.

And what I was greeted to was blood and piles of severed pastel limbs.

What? I stared, eyes wide open, at the scene unfolded before me. The party goers, my old friends… splayed before me in a diorama of death.

Blood streaked the doorway, the door wide open. Did somepony -some creature - DRAG out the corpses? Like some sick gore collection? The only things left behind were limbs, severed heads smashed open with brute force, and organs haphazardly lying about the kitchen, lost in the… struggle.

I’m not sure if I screamed. All I knew was I felt the vile of my stomach acids rise up my throat by the smell alone. I had to run through it to go out the door, then I continued to run in a full speed gallop, eventually making my way just outside of my village (A simple village whose name I now cannot even remember) and then I felt my legs ache as I fell to the ground finally letting my stomach spill. The feeling of exhaustion overcame my fragile, small body.

From the ground, I looked up and saw a horrid excuse for what used to be a pony run at me, It’s coat covered in blood and exposed flesh. It groaned and moaned like a bubble from an overboiled pan of water. I couldn’t move, paralyzed in a mix of pain and fear. Did this… thing… kill them? Thoughts of my own demise scattered across my mind.

Then the spear skewered through the pseudo pony’s skull, it’s body still twitching as it hit a nearby oak tree. 

Then it all faded to white.



Fuzzy static clouded my mind. A ringing sensation filled my ears, and I started to sit up, rubbing my eyes. I felt so… cozy. Almost like a freshly washed blanket was wrapped around me. It was a nostalgic feel with the air filled with a nice herbal smell. A smell like a mix of cinnamon or maybe nutmeg with a mix of seasoned vegetables, or maybe even pepers. I glanced around.

“I see that you're awake.”

I jumped at the sudden appearance of a zebra, the most exotic pony I’ve ever seen. I’d heard of legends of Zebras from far of lands, seen in pictures of them in foal’s tales. But, here one was, even more beautiful than I had envisioned.

The Zebra was strangely androgynous, tall and lean like a stallion, yet at the same time they were lovely and feminine, features as elegant as a mare, and yet… it puzzled me.

I blushed and turned my head, embarrassed for staring at them.

“Surprised someone like me saved you?” Their accent sent a shiver through me.

“No… saved me?” My memories flowed back to me as gracefully as a rock slide. The bodies. The… blood.

I then realized that I was inside an abandoned cottage in what seemed like a happy village once. The Inside was illuminated by candles, lanterns, and a wood stove.

I was lying on a couch covered in a crochet blanket. Now I could see the zebra a little clearer without the haze of sleep. They were in casual wear, which was just jewelry which looked as if they were from their homeland. Two small gold hoops hung from their ears, as well as a single gold band around their neck. I blushed, realizing I was again staring at them.

They smiled, grabbing a bowl off the counter. “Hungry?”

The smell overwhelmed me, but the thought off Simple Stitch’s decapitated head on the kitchen table ruined my appetite. “What happened? Who are you?”

“So, you're not hungry? Tsk. You ponies today and your diets,” they laughed, then frowned. “I found you after the break out. Horrible accident, really. As for who I am, my name is Zian. I am a Zebra.” Now I could defidentally hear the deep femininity in the exotic voice.

“Accident?”

“I suspect dark magic,” Zian said, drinking something. “Very dangerous curses. Raising some of the dead for unknown reasons, having them live among us, but with no self control. Only aggression and a need to feed.”

“So… Zombies?”

“Yes,” Zian rolled her eyes. “Zombies.”

I sat there in disbelief. “Zian?”

“Yes?”

“How…” I glanced away. “How long have I been… sleeping?”

“Two and a half days. Give of take.”

My head was spinning. “Two days?” This couldn’t be real. This was all just some sick nightmare, I thought. A horrible joke, or perhaps a psychotic episode. And… if this was what was real… what could have possibly happened in two days?

“It’s almost noon,” Zian said, taking a bite of a baked potato. “The others should be back soon.”

“Others?”

Zian nodded a smile forming across her muzzle. “They were gathering supplies. And scouting for the afflicted.”

“Afflicted?”

She narrowed her eyes. “The pony has many questions…”

“Sorry…” 

“Perhaps it is time to ask? Considering you're going to be traveling with us.” Traveling? What pony said anything about… “Of course, if you don’t want to travel with us, ya’ can just stay behind, yeah?”

I stood up. “Alright.”

“So, what’s your name for starters?”

I paused. “Autumn.”

Her eyes brightened with a livid curiosity. “Really?”

“Y-yes?”

“Continuing on, Autumn,” her voice danced around each word. “What talents can you offer us?”

“I… can bake?”

She glanced at my flank. “I shoulda guessed.”


A key jiggled into the door, and a shot from a gun filled the air. That was the first time I heard a gunshot. 

And it most definitely would not be the last.
> Chapter Two: The Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A small group of ponies entered through the door, along with something I suspected even less than a Zebra to see today; a griffon. All together, our little group made Seven.

“Sooooo your little roommate finally joins the land of the living!” Said an older Pegasus Stallion with a blue coat. “Praiiise Celestia!”

“Serry’ bout da gunshots, saw one o’ dem bastards stalkin’ us.” Said a very young unicorn, levitating a pony handgun. “Bit messy oud’ dere!”

“Did you find anything?” Zian said, closing and barricading the door, with the help of the griffon.

“An ol’ Libary to south,” The filly continued, putting her gun in the holster then sitting in a chair near the couch. “Alsa’ a’ general store to tha’ east.”

“We can start out in the morning, everypony.” Said a younger pegasus stallion than the other one, this one about my age or maybe a bit older. He was a light off- grey pony with a dark slate mane, an air of almost elegance about him. He grabbed a bowl of Zian’s stew and took a seat on the floor next to the filly’s chair. “And Zebra. And Griffon.”

Our last companion was a simple light teal mare, who silently joined the others near me. 

“Everyone,” Zian said finally, sitting down next to me. “This is Autumn. She bakes.”

The old pegasus laughed, “Wellll no shite!”

Zian gave him a dirty look. “She is joining us. So we might as well let her get to know us.”

“I might as wel’ go fist.” The old pegasus laughed. “M’ name’s nit impotent. They call me Mech’! Cause I fix things!” He bowed. “Weeeel’ comb to our magical family, mi’lady!”

“I’m Cherry!” Said the filly simply.

The pegasus stallion sighed. “My name is Whirl Wind. Though you don’t need to call me that.”

The other earth pony glanced away and mumbled something.

The griffon, who I only now at that time deciphered as a female, half snow leopard and half hawk, spoke up in her steed. “Mornin’ Glory here is a little shy. My name’s Grella.” She help out a fisted claw, and waited for me to hoof… claw bump or something. After I caught on I obliged. “So, what’s your story?”

“Story?”

“Where your from? Why your here?”

I blushed. “Well… I… I-I’m a baker… I make muffins.”

“That’s it?” Cherry looked disappointed. Grella scolded her.

Whirl Wind sighed and took a bite of Zian’s soup, looking at me as the others got their food. “Did you eat already?”

“N-no…” I glanced to the floor. “I’m not really hungry.” My stomach begged my differ, growling- no, roaring throughout the room.

Zian smirked. “At least try to eat some, hum?” She plopped a warm bowl on the side table.

I sighed, and tried to start eating. However, soon after I tasted Zian’s cooking I shoved my face  into the bowl, eating  the potatoes in chaotic pleasure. Once the bowl was licked clean, I looked up and I got a massive rush of deja vu.

Everypony was staring at me.

Zian smiled, and couldn’t hold back a giggle. “I didn’t think my food was that good.” She took a cloth rag in her hoof and wiped my face off.

I blushed. “I can clean myself, you know.”

“Yeah, but your too cute messy. Hee, I couldn’t resist!” Zian laughed.

“Don’t take her teasings to heart,” Grella sighed, “Zee Zee here flirts with everyone, Autumn.”

Flirts? I could only imagine the face I made, like a cross between embarrassment, infatuation, and constipation. My face probably morphed from a peachy cream to a bright cranapple fluster. “D-don’t tease me…”

Zian let out a giggle under her breath. “Alright, Autumn darling.”

What a coincidence that my full name was Autumn Darling. I had learned that Zian wasn’t scared to make me squirm.

“S-so…” I said, desperately changing the subject. “What happened when I was out?”
They all glanced to each other. “Welp…” Mech said, “Missy, the world’s gone to shit.”

“It actually started a while before I ran into you two days ago, or at least it hit us.” Zian said, “They were crawling all over Everfree. I grabbed what I could, fighting off the afflicted with my spear.” She tilted her muzzle to a rough yet lovely metal and wood collapsible spear. “I was alone at my house, so I didn’t see to many casualties. I was making my way to the next village over, but it was… empty. That was until I saw you, Autumn. I ran over to see if you knew what was going on, when you passed out and attracted a zombie. I didn’t want a death on my hooves, so, I threw my spear at it. I was carrying you on my back when I met Whirlwind and Mech, and so we walked together until we met Grella and Morning Glory in this old farm house they were refuging in. So we stayed here for the night.”

Morning Glory nodded and looked to Grella, who continued. “Glory and I met just on the outskirts of Everfree and we managed to fight the things off until we got here. When we saw you guys runnin’ up… well, a good griffon doesn’t leave ponies for dead. Well, not this one at least.”

Cherry jumped up on Grella’s back. “Den I come in, right?”

“Yeah then Zian and Morning Glory found Cherry and brought her back here,” Grella smirked, patting the unicorn on the head.

“Tomorrow, I say we get going to Canterlot,” Whirlwind said. He had been so quiet I forgot he was there. “Speaking of which we should stop with story time.” He set his bowl aside. “Grella, think you can help carry supplies?”

The griffon glared, “Think I can’t?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he presented an assortment of saddlebags. “Found them upstairs.”

“I already have all I need.” Zian said, cleaning off the pot she cooked with and packing it.

“I also think we should put on some extra protection,” he paused as Zian snickered, “I found some clothes in the closet. Grella, though…”

“I’ll be fine.” She insisted.

“Everyone else, take your pick.” He presented an assortment of shirts, jackets, ect.

I then noticed that Whirlwind was already clad in a grey plaid over shirt and a black undershirt, holes haphazardly cut out for his wings. And while I was observing his shoes I looked back to the pile to find that all that was left was an indigo hooded sweatshirt with a brown saddlebag.

I felt a little disappointed, though I accepted it. Whirlwind stretched out and yawned. “I’ll handle medical supplies. Mech, you can help with repair supplies, Glory can hold extra necessities, Zian you can carry extra food, weapons, whatever. And Grella, you can carry the heavy stuff, blankets, weapons, matches, and other survival things.”

“What about me?” I said.

He looked me over. “Whatever you want, I guess. Just nothing to heavy.”

I sighed and threw on my jacket, then took my saddlebag and explored the house away from everypony. “Two days, huh?” I whispered to myself as I walked upstairs. I eventually came upon a bedroom with a large window, it’s light green shutters ajar though probably just decorative. There was a thick layer of glass that in a cinch could be lifted up. I moved past a thin curtain letting in rays of moonlight across the floors. I looked outside.

Outside of the farmhouse was a small fence bordering a few rows of vegetables, along with a barn with vibrant red paint. Just outside of the fence was a stone and dirt trail. And in the road was…

...was…

“Autumn,” I was spooked by the sudden appearance of Zian behind me.

“Zian!” I jumped.

She joined me at the window, “Disgusting, isn’t it? Poor creatures.”

I stared at the two zombies ripping apart the headless carcass of the zombie Cherry had shot earlier. “What are they doing?”

“Harvesting,” Zian glared out the window, “the meat.”

The creatures then scattered off, carrying pieces away in their mouths or various over appendages. “Can they get in here?” I whimpered.

“Not right now. Those zombies aren’t strong enough; they're too old. To rotten,” Zian sighed, “a fresher zombie, however… that I might have an issue with. But those? No, they’re no danger.”

“Won’t they be attracted to us?”

“Not now. None of us are too injured,and we’re a safe enough distance. I’ll have Cherry or Grella snipe out any if we see anything that could be a current threat.” She smiled, “you’ve had a rough night. You could use some rest.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to rest after that.”

“We all need to move on or we’ll perish,” Zian smiled kindly, “you should at least try to get some rest. Maybe it would be better if you take the bed?”

“I don’t know…” I blushed.

She set down her magic lit lantern on the bedstand. “Would it help if I had Cherry, Morning Glory, and Grella sleep in here too?”

“I don’t know…”

“The pony doesn’t know a lot of things, does she?” She teased. “Come on, we both could use some rest.”

“Zian, I… have a question first.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Why… why are we going to Canterlot?”

She frowned. “For a solution. We’ll have to look at the spell archives in Canterlot, but...I think we might be able to find a spell in Canterlot to cure this, maybe even a combination of spells if we need to.”

“Cure? The entire world?”

“Yes.”

“That would need one powerful unicorn.”

She frowned. “Yes.” She smiled at me. “The point is though that it’s not impossible; the spell MUST exist somewhere.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, if a spell started this, a spell must be able to undo this, right?” She was quiet, then patted my back. “Let’s not worry about it now. We should get some sleep.”

> Chapter Three: Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I woke up in the next morning huddled with a group of other ponies on the bed. I was in between Zian and Morning Glory, Cherry sleeping at the foot. I sat up and noticed Grella looking out the window.

After carefully crawling up and out of bed, I joined her at the window. “Hey,” she said, putting a shot gun case over her shoulder.

“Morning.” 

“How do you sleep?”

I shrugged. “I slept okay, you?”

“Couldn’t.” 

My eyes widened. “You didn’t sleep?”

“Nope.” Grella smirked the best she could with a beak. “Personally, I sleep better in the clouds.” She shrugged. “Afterall, I had lookout.”

“Shouldn’t we wake them up?”

“Nah. Come on, let’s help the pegasus pack.”

We walked down the stairs where Whirl Wind was already busily organizing the saddlebags, as well as checking cabinets, closets, etc. to make sure we didn’t miss any essentials. “Here,” he instructed me, handing me a bag of oats.

“What’s this?”

“Breakfast,” he nodded. Now that we were in the morning light I could see his cutiemark, a vortex. “We’re going to be going to wake the others up.” He offered a baggy of oats to Grella. 

“Nah, sorry. Not really part of my diet.”

“Compromise?”

“... do you have any seeds or berries, meat?”

I made an unconscious face of disgust. “Meat?!”

“I’m an omnivore, honey…,” Grella said, “cooked meat is healthy for me. Raw though isn’t the worst to eat though I suppose…”

I couldn’t comprehend what I was hearing. Meat? Like bugs, squirrels? Cats? ...ponies? I was physically shivering at the thought. “I’ll settle on oats,” Grella said, and admittingly she looked a little crestfallen, as if she sensed my uneasiness towards her meat eating ways. 

We sat on the couch and ate while Whirl Wind flew up to wake the others. Grella glanced over to me. “Don’t judge me, Autumn.” She said softly.

“Judge you? Why?” I replied, momentarily forgetting the meat- eating accusations.

“Thankyou,” Grella smirked.

Once we were all packed I walked outside for the first time in the past few days. I felt as if the world was un-naturally green, which was strange because we were on the brink of fall and a cool breeze chilled the air. Zian lead the land walking group while the pegasi and Griffon watched above alongside our sniper prepubescent on Grella’s back.

It was a peaceful morning, by which I mean quiet. I glanced to Morning Glory in silence. She was a simple blue earth pony, her long mane strung back with a simple rubber band. She looked strangely deadpan, not dealing with anything other than walking.

I then looked to Zian and wish I hadn't, embarrassment filling my cheeks as to the unknown eye I would be staring at her… well, in favor of common decency, her ‘tail’. My embarrassment rose further as I saw Zian meet my gaze with a smirk.

I was, again, alone with my thoughts. Sure, I wasn’t completely alone. I had been nearly flawlessly integrated into their group, and I wondered how. I was lucky they let me into their group so willingly. I was lucky to be alive. With that, I pushed my hood over my ears.

Just seconds after, however, I started to hear gunshots and was startled. I looked up in time to notice a zombie pony’s cranial contents explode nearly three feet in front of Zian, it’s blood spraying the landscape and the zebra’s fur splattered with red. “Run!” We heard Whirlwind instruct us from above, and I glanced around noticing several zombies emerging from the bushes and forest. I started running, leaping over the pool of blood and dead carcass. I could hear the gunshots from Cherry’s gun, as well as the squish of the others having to trot through the aftermath. Zian yelled at me to stop running, that they were gone now, dead... but I didn’t listen.

I was scared.

Eventually I felt Zian’s forelegs tackle me down. “Autumn!”

After I eventually calmed down, and Zian helped me up as the others caught up to us.

“Are you okay?!” Whirlwind demanded.

I then realized that I was now also covered in zombie blood from being tackled by Zian. I nodded in response.

“Your fast at running away,” Grella observed.

“You scared me!” Zian glared at me.

“I’m sorry…”

Zian couldn’t help but accept my pathetic apology. “It’s okay.”

Morning Glory came up to us as the others landed. “You're covered in blood.” Whirlwind stared.

“Yeah. Having a body explode in front of you kinda does that.” Zian sassed. 

“Are you two hurt? Any cuts, scrapes?”

“No, I don’t think so…” I said, looking myself over.

“We’ll have to take a short detour to the stream down the road,” he said, “in the meantime take your stuff off.”

Zian nodded and slid off her blood and dirt splattered sweater and bag. He took then with a spare hoof.

“Be careful; don’t use your mouth.” 

“You think I would?” I slipped everything off with a few meer swoops of my hoofs. He then proceeded to take them and fly into the forest, telling us to follow.

“Why do we need to clean up right now?” I asked Zian.

“Because if we didn’t, we could get the virus in our system. From the afflicted.” Zian sighed. “Although really, would you want to walk around covered in dry blood? What if any strangers see us just trotting on the road? They’d shoot us!”

“I see your point…” I blushed.

Once we reached  the river, he set out things on the ground. “This’ll only take a second.”

I stared with an interest as he began circling a small part of the river until it formed a small cloud. I was genuinely intrigued, thinking that clouds were made with machines. He flew the cloud over us, now a hue of dark grey, and then jumped on it causing a sudden downpour onto Zian and I.

Once we were successfully drenched he began to fly around us as fast as he could, leaving my vision a blue haze I nearly fell over when he stopped. “There we are!” He exclaimed. “Clean as can be.”

While he went over to quickly clean out our clothes and bags through his strange pegasus techniques, I looked to Zian who was glancing at me holding back a case of the giggles. “What?”

“N-nothing, it’s just…” Zian snickered, “...your mane is just so … poofy!”

I felt up for my mane and was greeted by an absurd pony afro of frizziness only matched by a poodle of Birthday clown. I appropriately blushed. Morning Glory troted up to me and pulling a brush from her bag, giving it to me with a silent giggle.

Whirlwind returned with our stuff and clothes. 

Once we were done by the river, we continued on the road. AS we returned to our last formation a wave of melancholy washed over me. Sadness over nothing in particular. A shot of anxiety and a pinch of indecisiveness. I wondered, how could I be so carefree in this fear inducing hell-hole? To dare to be capable of  a moment of joy in our situation?

My answer wasn’t easy for me to comprehend. It wasn’t a special answer. It wasn’t even a hard answer, really.

The answer, of course, was hope.
> Chapter Four: The Library
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The hours droned by on my nerves as we walked. You know how when you want time to pass faster, so time decides to drag itself along until you feel like every minute is a leap year? That sums up my first day on the road.

Eventually my sullen melancholy dispersed, and the group stopped. Not putting my head up, I was prepared (or more like paranoid) for another undead rendezvous with death. But, to my relief, we were merely at our destination. 

Morning had dissolved into the hot afternoon. “What’s so important about this library?” I asked.

Zian smiled, “Hope?”

We went inside of the small library building. To be honest, it already looked ransacked of anything I would assume to be essentials, but to great luck there was no trace of blood. I decided to take the opportunity and take a breather while Zian and the others searched the building.

“Tired’ al’ready?” 

I glanced over and smiled at Mech, “Yeah a little.”

He took a seat on the floor, the scruffy old pony taking a drink of ‘water’. “Me too. Daum tired.” He sighed. “Whirly’ is so tough on an old pony, makin’ me fly all day.”

Putting his newly found grammar improvement aside, I remained silent.

“Whirly’ allllways want’n to take charge. Be the bigger pony,” for once, Mech wasn’t smiling. “I just hope he doesn’t lose himself.”

“Did you… know him before?”

Mech laughed. “Weeel I oughta’!I did help raise da’ young’n!”

I started pulling things together in my mind. Honestly, I hadn’t considered my two blue pegasus companions could have had a prior history, much less expected a relation.

“Why don’t ya’ go help the others an’ leave an ol’ horse to sulk?” Mech said. I got the message.

I trotted over to Zian. “Find anything?”

She groaned. “No.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A spell book.”

“That’s it?”

She glared. “‘That’s it?’ That’s everything, just saving Equestria and the rest of the world here, no pressure or anything!”

I was surprised. “Do you… want some tea?”

She sniffed with an apologetic look. “Yes please.”

Later, we decided to camp out at the library. I found some books on what was left of the metal bookshelves and decided to take a breather and revel in sweeet solitude.

After deducing my way through a shockingly twistful Sherclop Pones novella from olden Equestria, I went to retrieve another book when I noticed Zian sitting alone in the upper level. I looked around and noticed that everypony had fallen asleep with the exception of Grella who had taken full attention as watch at the door’s window, as observant as ever.

I walked upstairs. “Zian?”

She turned around to me, and never before had I seen a more hopeless expression from her. She shaked, faking a smile, her teal eyes ringed with red and crusted tears, holding back on crying in front of me. “ O-oh… Autumn. H-hi…”

“Zian…” I frowned, “...are you okay?”

“W-who? Me not okay?” She frowned. “But if… you're a little sad… I could give you a hug I guess.”

I smiled. “Zian…”

We sat by the large upstairs window for what seemed like hours, Zian just sobbing on my shoulder hugging me. I suppose the stress of expecting to save the country would get to any pony, right?

Eventually, she just stared at the night sky. “Autumn,” Zian frowned,“Will… will the world ever be the same again?”

I looked up at the moon and felt the translucent shimmering light embrace my face. “Yes.”

“But… how do you know?”

I smiled. “I have a feeling?”

That was enough for her, if not at least for a glimmer of hope.


> Chapter Five: On The Road
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Good morning, Whirly’...” I yawned. 

Whirlwind blushed, “Oh… good morning…”

I sat down and ate my morning oat rations. “How did ya’ sleep?”

“Fine…” he obviously wasn’t used to casual talk. He munched on an apple.

“So, What’d you used to do?” 

“Well… I was a weather pony… nah, I’m still a weather pony,” he said casually as if he had expected to just be going back to work in a few days. “I helped make clouds.”

“Like what you did back at the river?”

“Oh, no… at the weather control in Cloudsdale, pegasi just manage the mechanics. The machines make clouds, really pegasi haven’t made clouds since they were invented a long, long time ago. At the Cloudsdale school we learn how to make clouds as a last resort, but it’s not common regulation.”

“Your from Cloudsdale.”

“Yeah, Mech and I… my father and I. My dad was hired as  mechanic for the weather machines. But…” he sighed. “...not anymore. Not for a long time.”

“Why not?”

For the first time, I saw him smile. “Zian is right, you ask many questions.”

We went back on the road, Whirlwind taking charge on the ground this time with a gun and a map. This Time, the sky was dense with a very thick fog and despite Whirlwind and Grella’s best efforts they couldn’t clear it. “According to my map,  we were just at the Road Reader Traveler's library here… so our next best bet on the way to Canterlot is going by this town here...”

“Wat’ town?” Cherry exclaimed, trotting over to walk by him upfront.

“This one here…”

I began to zone out and looked over at Zian. We had spent a good portion of the night just staring out the window until I fell asleep. I wasn’t sure when she did.

“I think we should check it out,” Zian said, “we might find some useful supplies. Maybe even more survivors!”

Grella paused. “I don’t know…”

Mech, who looked considerably less cheerful and tired, took a drink out of his canteen. “Surre’ let’s go into danger!”

Whirlwind sighed. “Well, what do you propose?”

He waited for Mech to respond with his trademark sarcasm, but he was staring up the road. A dark silhouette appeared in the fog. Cherry floated out a shotgun with little resistance, but Whirlwind stopped her. “Cherry, wait a minute.” He trotted towards the pony. “Hey! Excuse me!”

The shadowed pony slowly trotted towards us. Mech tensed.

“Are you lost?” Whirlwind asked, walking closer.

Suddenly, the pony pounced forward, as best as it could with one wing and three legs, and Mech pushed Whirlwind to the side and fought it back with a blunt weapon, one which I guessed was a tool. Scared,Cherry let out a shot.

It did hit the zombie… only after going through Mech’s side first.

Whirlwind stared, covered in Mech’s blood. “Dad…?”

“Ya’ll should run before… more…”

Mech convulsed on to the ground into a shaking mess, managing to shake off his saddle bag. Whirlwind grabbed it and flew off into the sky, returning later cleaned through probably some ancient Pegasus technique, then handed to bag to Grella and continued walking. “I saw a shit ton of zombies on the way. Their slow though. We should get going.”

We didn’t want to bother him any further the rest of the day, as Mech’s death finally actually started to sink in. The thoughts that Mech was actually dead.

No one said anything to one another, and Grella took over leading us into the next town. Whirlwind lagged behind.

No pony blamed him.
> Chapter Six: Stone Whooves Valley
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Zian handed me her canteen. “Thirsty?”

“A little,” I said softly, accepting the water. “Are we almost there? It’s getting dark…”

Grella looked forward, “It’s right there.”

After a few minutes of walking, we came up to a village, or more like a fortress. Torches lined a large stone gate, a pony visible from the top looking down at us. “Who’s there?” Said the stallion, “none of ya’ bitten?”

“We’re just refugees on a journey, hoping to stay at your town for a day or two.” Zian said, “we just lost somepony.”

“Alright… but we’ here at Stone Whooves got some rules. We don’t take ponies in for free, not my rules, I’m just n’ enforcer.” He said. “Gate toll for the lot of ya’  would normally be bout’ 30 bits… but since ya’ll have been so friendly n’ see’n your perdic-e-ment, I’ll only charge ya’ll 10.”

“Sounds fair.” Zian reached into her bag and pulled out a coin purse, and pulled out the coins. I wondered how she even got that money living in the woods.

The stallion sent down a basket for the money, and once he acquired the mystery coins he opened the gate for us.

Stone Whooves Valley wasn’t as small of a town I had expected from the outside alone, but instead it was a rather large settlement with stacked buildings and neon lights only visible from the inside. To be honest, it would be more compared to an inner city of Manehatten. Although, through further observation, there were  surplus of buildings when compared to the actual population.

The pony who let us in closed the gate and took a small pull elevator down. He was an ugly type of pony, probably from old age and a lack of showering. He had a ratty short Mohawk of a mane and tail with a splotchy coat, and his cutiemark was a quill, so I assumed he used to be a writer of some sort. He looked more like a cow. “Wellllcome to Stone Whooves Valley!” He said, “My name is Inkwell. I’m the Gatekeeper and tour guide of our little community!”

“Hi,” I said.

“Our city is a safe haven for those forced into exile by this Arm-e-gedon!” Ink well galloped to the town square. “Perfect, too! This here city used to be an army base for none other’ den the elo-mints of hormoni!”

“Army?” I said, surprised.

“Yeepers’! Course, we never needed one til’ now!” he pointed at a wide metal and wood building. This is our leader’s place, she helped us turn this little rat-hole into a glorious paradise! Well, a glorious paradise compared to living on the outside surrounded by cannibalistic pony zombies!” he leaned in, “Referin’ to your army question, don’t worry yourself, lil’miss, we never needed it.  Just encase. Course’ the rats of the city’s adjacent made a home prior to our predicament.”

He walked us further down to assortment of stacked buildings accessible by elevators and ramps, though it seemed like they had been there before. “These are the bunkhouses, where ya’ll will rest yer’ heads fer’ the night. It ain’t luxurious by a long shot, but hey, it’s somethin’. Safe. Somewhat clean…” he pointed his hoof to bigger buildings with magic powered neon signs. “N’ these are the’ food, drink’n and… entertainment plaza. You got the more filly- friendly place downstairs run by Blightlight, and upstairs are the… adult places.”

Once Inkwell was done, he divided us up into our rooms. Cherry and Grella took the room closest to the exit, Whirlwind (still in shock and silence) and Morning Glory took the house at the end. That left Zian and I in the middle.

Once everyone was settled into their houses, that left Zian and I to our devices. Alone. “Lucky we found this place, isn’t it?” Zian smiled, peeling her stuff off onto the floor in front of the bed. Our small boarding didn’t offer much room, but it at least had a small window, a dresser, a small kitchen table with metal chairs, a small side bathroom barely big enough for a pony on all fours, a ratty homemade mattress, and a lantern. “This should be fine. We could use a day to relax after… that…”

“Y-yeah…”

“Autumn.” She sat next to me at the table. “I have actually been waiting to talk to you… since last night…”

“What is it?”

“Do you…” she paused, thinking over what she was saying in her mind. “... do you have feelings for me? Beyond friendship?”
> Chapter Seven: Feelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It took me a minute to fully comprehend what my stripped companion just said. Of course I had ‘feelings for her’, as she put it. I had been harboring my infatuation with the beautiful zebra for nearly four days now. Getting to know her… but know that she was asking. “Yes.” I said quickly.

I waited and expected her to do… something. But surprisingly, she was quiet for a moment, then smirked. “Of course I already knew that… you weren’t hiding it very well. I just wanted to hear you say it.” Then she just laid down in the bed and threw her throw blanket over her. “I think that I’ll go into the market tomorrow and trade some stuff that I found in the library. Maybe we could go see the local flavor, too.”

I glanced around the room. “I… I think I’m going to go out actually. Relax, you know.” I paused. “Can… is it okay if I borrow a few bits?” 

“Take them all, my purse is next to the collapsible spear. The brown one. I can earn those bits back tomorrow anyway…” she yawned and seemed to fall asleep pretty quickly. 

I trotted over to the saddlebag and debated going out that night. Did I really want to go ‘drown my sorrows’ like… Mech? I frowned, trying to find out what to do. I mean… I didn’t to get drunk. Why did I even consider it? That was silly…? I was just going to go out and relax.

I opened the saddle bag and found a small purse made with a burlap material with a beaded zig-zag orange and blue pattern and a long strap. I put the strap over my shoulder and left, making sure to lock the door with my spare key before leaving Zian alone.

As I stepped onto the walkway, I noticed that the settlement of Stone Whooves was much more lively, ponies and other various species littered the streets below, probably bustling to the local pubs or something of that sort. 

I wondered if I could even have the chance to get a meal or a drink with the current crowd. I decided to screw it and just go.

After I traveled into the food district I found a small bar I had expected to be as packed as peanuts, was strangely bleak. It was a simple, stone wall bar with booths lining one wall and a counter with a green bat pony bartender manning it. In the corner booth were a few ponies playing some kind of card game while sharing some kind of bar food I couldn’t identify. 

My eyes went back to the counter where a new mare had appeared, no doubt just coming in from the bathroom, and I just stared at her. The young unicorn was tall and lean, a white coat with a red and pink mane. “Tea Rose?” I said, approaching her.

She sighed, and glanced over to me, then smiled in surprise. “Autumn?!” She hugged me all of a sudden. “It… it’s you! I thought you were dead!”

“I thought YOU were dead!” I said.

She let go of me and smiled brighter. “I… I’m so glad you're okay! What happened?!”

“I’m more interested in what happened to you, missy.” I said, sitting at the counter next to her.

“Ahem.” Said the bar mare. “You girls want anything?” She glanced to Tea Rose. “Rosie, you want the usual?”

“Um… no… I think I’ll just take a simple apple wine for now, if that’s okay. I think I wanna keep of my wits about me, after all.” She smiled.

The Bar Mare looked to me, “And you, hon?”

“Um… strawberry lemonade?”

“Just a strawberry lemonade?”

“A… hard strawberry lemonade?”

“You want the special with that?”

“I… um…”

“I think you want the special with that.”

You know what? Buck it. “Sure.”

“I’ll be right back.”

As the bar mare went to the bar to retrieve our order, Tea Rose smiled over to me. “So, you wanna know what happened to me? Well, it’s pretty boring, but okay.” she sighed, “a little after you left for the bathroom I had to go run an errand, my boss came in and said that there was a order that was running late, and one of my co-workers were running late… she was desperate. So, I made a quick flower run. But… when I came back... all I saw was the blood. I panicked and ran away to here. I knew some ponies here, old friends of my fathers. They explained what was going on, and...well, the rest is history. I’m staying here with Clover, and helped that… mayor ‘fix the place up’ for the refs.” she sighed. “That’s about it, really. See? Boring.”

The bat pony I assumed was Clover came back with the drinks and food. “Here ya’ are, sweeties. That’ll be 10 bits for Rosie, and 40 for the young mare here.” She smirked. “Surprisingly, we have a big food supply here, considering most of the farms around here have been abandoned by their… owners.” She patiently waited.

I plopped out the bits and stared hungrily at my food, this ‘bar special’. It was a simple toasted lettuce and dandelion sandwich with some kind of dressing,  but it was so delicious looking. Not that the lovely Zian’s food hasn’t been appetizing, if not better than that food, but it was familiar. It reminded me of when Tea Rose and the other girls would take me with them to lunch. I smiled, and devoured the sandwich in blind abandon. 

I then paused as a flash of deja vu wiped over me. I was about to say something when Tea rose floated out a handkerchief and wiped my muzzle of it’s crumbs and dressing. “Oh, Autumn, you never change,” she laughed then paused setting the cloth down. “Sorry again. For what happened. If I… sounded like a… well, a high horse racist. That’s not me, that’s just how I was raised.”

I never was one to hold a grudge… might as well not start now. “It’s okay.”

“No…, “she frowned, “It isn’t.” she took a drink of her apple wine. “Why don’t you tell me how you got here?”

“Well, I came out of the bathroom after the massacre… I kind of just ran into the forest. Not really that smart now that I think about it. Then I passed out and this gorgeous Zebra found me…” I paused. “... well, long story short my group is traveling to Canterlot.”

“Group?”

“Yeah, some ponies. And a Zebra… and a griffon.”

“A griffon? Wow!”

“I know, right?”

Tea rose laughed, and raised her hoof out . “Crumb Cake!” I glared at her, and she blushed. “N-no, I was just ordering us dessert!”

	

> Chapter Eight: Friction 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When I woke up the next morning I felt a fuzzy feeling creeping over me; feelings of disorientation and confusion. Then I realized I was being snuggled into somepony sleeping in front of me. 

They felt so soft against my face, their mane draped over me. They smelt nice, like faint flowers with a hint of caramel. It nearly re-intoxicated me back into a lulling sleep. Then I realized that the fur and and smell belonged to somepony, who's dainty long thin forelegs were wrapped over my shoulders. Only one pony it could be.

Tea Rose.

As I was jumping unconsciously back out of her grasp, her eyes fluttering open. "Oopsies!" she said, "I thought you were a pillow!

I blushed furiously. "W-what am I doing here?!"

"Oh yeah... you got pretty drunk last night and forgot where you were staying, so I had you stay with me for the night. I would have just had you take the bed while I slept on the couch but..." her face began to get a pink flush. "You were very persistent that you didn't want to sleep alone."

As I wondered what other propositions I had made last night in drunken desperation, Rose got up and trotted over to a mirror with a yawn, sitting down and brushing out her mane as if it was routine. "Tea Rose..." I said.

"Hmm?"

"What's your special talent?"

Tea Rose paused. "Well, my cutiemark is a Rose in the shape of a teacup..."

"Yeah, but I mean what does it mean, how did you get it?"

She looked down. "To be honest... I don't remember."

"You don't remember? Getting your cutiemark is a pretty memorable event in your foalhood..."

Her voice hallowed. "I don't remember a lot of my foalhood."

I decided not to pry any further into the matter, and instead proceed with something else I had been pondering. "How long have you been visiting here?"

"N-not long!" she jumped.

"Rose..."

"Okay... a  long while. Satisfied?"

I was confused. "How?"

"I've been working for Miss. Cinnamon."

"Who's Miss. Cinnamon?"

She glanced away. "If you really want to know... she's...", she paused, "O-on second thought, you should head home. Somepony must be worried about you... right?"

"Worried?" Then it hit me. "Shit!"

I put my jacket on and found Zian's purse. Rose sat and watched me leave. I paused in the doorway and glanced over my shoulder to her. "Hey, um... if you need me I'm staying at room 19 in block B for the next couple days... if you need me."

She smiled. "Thanks, Autumn."

I walked out of the bar and strolled down the streets of Stone Whooves and was greeted by the sun's rays. All signs pointed to it being a good day.

All signs except my intuition. 
> Chapter Nine: Rose
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As I trotted up the ramp to our strip of houses, a curtain blue pegasus was waiting outside of my cottage and stopped me. "Whirlwind!" I yelped.

"Yeah, that's me..." he was in front of the cottage door. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, okay, just let me-"

"Zian is at the market with the rest of them. I stayed behind to tell you when you got home," he paused, "well, that's half true. I also... wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to me? About what?"

"Come inside, " he turned away from me and opened the door, "Zian made some tea before she left."

I trotted in the doorway as Whirlwind got us some tea. "So what is it?" 

He sat down at the table and set down the cups, and patiently waited for me to sit down. "Zian was really worried about you. " He paused to take a drink. "Do you know who that mare you were talking to last night is?"

I nearly choked mid sip and felt myself heat up in embarrassment. Did Whirlwind show up to the bar without me noticing? "Yeah, we know each other from way back when... why?"

"Do you know what she does?" He looked more concerned than angry, but anger leaked out into his tone. 

"She was a florist..." I said softly, remembering Tea Rose's flower deliveries often making her suddenly need to vanish in the middle of their group gatherings. 

"Oh? Is that what they call it?" he laughed slightly, then frowned. "I'm only saying this because I don't want you to find out the hard way, Autumn... and I feel bad for that girl, really." He took a deep breath and decided to cut the bull already and get to the point. "Tea Rose is a prostitute."

My vision of my crystal- clean past life shattered into fragments on the floor. She's been doing THAT to herself? For how long? Thinking about it made me sick.

Whirlwind watched as I got up. "Autumn, where are you going?" 

"How do you know if Tea Rose is a prostitute?"

His face became flushed and flustered. "Well, you see with all this... excitement the past few days I figured I'd get a drink at the bar, and I kinda stumbled into the wrong place."

"A whore house?"

"N-no! it's more like a high-class gentlecolt's club... ugh! The point is I thought you should know..."

"Did you have sex with her?"

"No!" Whirlwind sputtered. "That Cinnamon mare was really pressing her though..."

"Cinnamon?"

"Cinnamon Champagne. Owner and provider of the local back- alley high-class entertainment club."

"How can they get away with something like this?"

"How can they not? Autumn, it's not like this is illegal. The legal system is pretty thin here anyway, but they are willing to... as far as I now. Also, the refugees are scared, stressed, and fearing death is around the corner every second! How do you relieve stress?  Well, for a lot of ponies it's gambling, drinking, and spending some 'quality time' with willing mares."

"Well, that's still disgusting!"

"Well, weren't you drinking away your problems earlier? Bit hypocritical if you ask me," he stood up. "Now, I have a plan..."

"Well, put it on hold. I have a personal plan I need to do." I grabbed my saddle. "I think we're going to have to leave sooner than later." 

"Are you crazy, Autumn? We can't leave tonight! Zombies are crawling out there!"

"Relax, Whirlwind, I meant in the morning? Now, are you going to come help me or not?"

He sighed. "Fine."


Cinnamon Champagne's Velvet Lounge was indeed 'high-class' entertainment. On the outside, it looked just as much like an old abandoned war fort as the rest of the town, but the inside was completely different, like an upscale Canterlot resort. The walls were dark wood with an intricate padded design at the bottom, near fancy couches. In the center of the room was a small fountain. The lobby even smelt nice and elegant.

Like roses.

Well, at least now I know where Tea Rose got her smell from.

Whirlwind and I were together in the lobby, when a... mare... walked up to us. "Well, well! Welllllcome, darlings!" Cinnamon Champagne was a sight to behold, poofy strawberry- cream mane with a white- wine coat. Her face, however, wasn't her brightest feature to put it lightly. "What can Miss. Cinnamon do for ya'll today?"

"Yes... um..." My track of mind was temporarily shut down by the pony's mere appearance.

"We had some questions about one of your girls?" Whirl wind said.

"Oh, wonderful! Come now, let's talk about this more privately, let's go into my office." Seeing her in motion nearly made vile swim up to my throat. We fallowed her into the pink- embroidered office. All the daum pink hurt my eyes. "Now, whatever it for?"

I sat down in a fuzzy chair in front of the desk, careful to stretch down my sweatshirt. I didn't know who'd been sitting there. "We wanted to know if there is a possibility we could... relieve one of your employees of business?" I said, trying to sound official.

"Oh?" She glared. "Who? Why?"

"Tea Rose. We were going to have her join your party."

"Lil' Rosie?" Her eyes widened. "Well... That will be an issue."

"Why?"

"Rosie is my best. She gets the most clients. Not like I can just let her go empty hooved now, can I?"

"What do you want, Miss. Cinnamon?"

"Oh, nothing now... but how about you just... owe me later. I give you tea Rose now, and one day if you are to return, you will simply have to do something for me."

"Your full of-"

"Deal." Whirlwind said.

"I'll notify Tea Rose of your decision. Now, would you care to stay a bit and enjoy a vary generous discount?" She turned to me. "Ya'll could stay to, honey. We do have some stallion workers, too. But then again, you do have the look like you might be swinging towards the fairer sex..."

"I think we're good." Whirlwind said. "Good day Miss. Cinnamon."

Cinnamon waved as we left. "Ohh, do come back!"
> Chapter Ten: Consequence 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	We walked back up to the block when I found myself in a stripped hug. "Autumn, where have you been?!"

"Oh... I got a little drunk last night and decided to stay with this mare I used to know that I... I met up with last night. " I tumbled into a tangent.

Zian looked a bit disappointed. "Oh... I should have went with you..."

"It's fine."

"No, it isn't! You could have been hurt or... something!" Zian looked concerned. Maybe even a little hurt. That stuck the deepest blow into my rib cage.

"Hey, Whirlwind! Let's leave them to talk, hm?" Grella interjected pulling him and the others away

I fallowed Zian inside of the cottage, and as I locked the door I saw her forelegs wrap me in a hug. "I'm sorry." I said.

"About what?" Zian said, optimistically. 

"For... spending the night with her?" I blushed.

She took in my words. "Well... did you 'sleep' with her?"

"I... I don't know... my memory is pretty fuzzy..."

She let go of me and turned me around to face her. "Swear to Celestia?"

"C-Cross my heart..."

She glared. "Do you... like this mare? You know the way I mean, be honest."

"No! I mean... no..." I glanced away. "I guess... she used to be a friend..."

"Used to?"

"She... also like to tease me..." My words were rolling out like linguistic vomit. "She's also a prostitute, and she's kinda racist to earth ponies and basically anyone who isn't a unicorn, and she also kinda made me cry right before the plague of undead, and..."

"Shh, Autumn, I think I get it." She paused with a smirk. "Ya' want me to beat her ass for you?"

I was about to make a snyde comment when a knock came to the door, which I opened without thinking about it.  Tea Rose stood in the door way.

"Autumn? Who's this?" Zian said.

Tea Rose barged in. "Why did you get me fired?"

I frowned. "I thought..."

"I'm good as dead! I have no money, no food, why did you do this to me?! I had a good thing going!" Tea Rose's horn lit up and before I knew it I was half way across the room on my back with a ringing in my ears. 

Zian ran forward and smashed her to the ground. "Are you serious, you frick'n... shit sponge!? Autumn saved you! Or did you WANT to be a slut!?"

"I...!" Tea Rose squirmed and kicked, practically spitting and screaming, but Zian stayed still as a statue. "Get off of me, you... back water trash!"

"No, your going to stop running your trap and listen! Autumn was, whether your puny pampered skank mind can conceive it, only thinking of your best interest, and you have the nerve to  get pissy over that? Sorry you can't have your daily dose of dick for breakfast, honey now maybe you can learn to cook! What right do you have to say anything? After what you did to her?" Zian was a container of concentrated fury with a paper cover. "I bet you even took advantage of her last night, didn't you? Oh, wait! First she would have to pay for it, wouldn't she?"

Tea Rose was at the opposite side of the spectrum of constrained anger, a kicking squirming, and screaming mess. "WHAT?! You think I slept with her? Are you insane? As if I would taint myself on a mare, let alone a mud- pony mutt!"

At the time, despite what she had done to me in the past, I had still considered Tea Rose a close friend, one I had known for several years since we were fillies... her words tore through me like a trident. Did she really all this time think this low of me?

Zian stepped off of her. "Please, I will only say this once. Get out. Don't find us again, because we don't want to see you. For the love of sweet Celestia, please use the advantage Autumn has given you and have a nice life."

Tea Rose stared at us for a second, then grumbled and left.

Zian ran over to me. "Did she hurt you?"

I stared at Zian, and then I felt the warm tears trickle down my face as I broke out into sobs and hugged her. Zian patted my back as I cried on her shoulder, memories of the night in the library rushing back only reversed. I could feel my tears and snot staining Zian's sweater, but she didn't care. " Are you bleeding?" She said, noticing the blood on her hooves from my back.

I  couldn't even feel the gash on my back that ripped through my sweatshirt, most likely from being cut on a nail sticking out of the table when I was flung across the room with magic. As Zian rushed to get a med kit, I continued sobbing, but not in pain. "Zian..." I said under heavy breathing and sobs.

"Shh..." Zian said, turning me around and taking my sweatshirt off, then started cleaning off the blood. "Now, this isn't that bad. Just a little blood, nothing I can't patch up."

I continued crying as I felt Zian's hooves wrap bandages over my back, a process I only vaguely remember. "Zian...", my eyes strained with tears, "... your the best friend I've ever had... in my life..."

Zian stopped what she was doing momentarily, then finished up. "Surely that's not true... nice mare like you, probably has had alot of friends."

"My best friend was Tea Rose, and you saw how that turned out! All of my other friends don't even bother to remember my name!"

Before I could continue crying and ranting about my fillyhood, something happened. 

Zian kissed me.

Only lasting a few mere seconds, I was silent stareing at her long after it actually happened. "It's okay now," Zian said, smiling. "After all, you got me, don't you?"

"Z-Zian?" I finnaly managed.

"I love you, Autumn," Zian hugged me.

"I smiled," I love you, too."
> Chapter Eleven: Onward 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A day had passed after the Tea Rose fiasco. On our last night in Stone Whooves at the only other restaurant in town, celebrating with some local food. 

The next day we walked up to the gates when Inkwell stopped us. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but hear about what ya'll did for Rose Tea."

"Tea Rose." I corrected.

"Yeah, yeah. Any whooo I got a surprise for ya'll that ya can thank lil' miss Zebra over there for."

"Zian, what did you do?" I smirked.

"Oh, nothing much..."

Inkwell revealed a cart under a sheet. "Just a state- of - the - art cart!"

Whirlwind squeed. "Oh... my sweet Celestia!" He jumped at the carriage cart, marbling it like a colt with a new toy. Personally, I didn't know anything about carriages,  but I assumed it was an incredible find in our situation. "H-haaa...! Is this really what it looks like? Real Cloudsdale craftsmanship real here! Oh, look at this set up! this is big enough to fit six, no seven, full grown horses! not ponies, horses!" His joy faded. "H-how am I going to FLY with this?"

"Specially made for light-weight air travel!" Inkwell said. "It was made for a mare bout' half your size, so even with eight buffalo it should hold ya'll in the sky like it weighed nothin!"

"It's enchanted, to put it short. Oh, and it runs on clouds, so it shouldn't be to hard for you to handle, Mr. Weather Pony." Grella added. "I was there when she picked it out. Morning Glory here has been talking non-stop about how much you'd like it, ain't that right?"

Morning Glory shifted and nodded yes, uttering the faintest. "M-m' yea..."

While Whirl Wind pranced about  in pure excitement, I walked over to Inkwell. "Are you sure your okay with us using this?"

"Sure thing, the mayor insisted on it after hearing about what ya'll are doing from Lil' Miss Zebra."

"What we're doing?"

"Fer' Equestria! Going to Canterlot, finding a spell, saving us all! Ya'll come back after you save the world, an' mayor says ya' can all have some drinks on the house!" he softened his excitement. "She'd join ya'll, really she would, but on account of the current... er, conditions she can't. She can't abandon the ponies of Stone Whooves." He smirked and took the elevator up the gate. "Ya' better come back in one peice, ya' here me?!"

And so we left Stone Whooves and continued our conquests for Canterlot. This lead us to go over the strangest, most taboo places to get to our next place. The Ever Free Forest.
> Chapter Twelve: Everfree Nights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The feeling of flight was both an exciting and nauseating one. I lied back on my side in the carriage seat, Squished next to Zian who was reading and Cherry who was dozing off. Grella was across from us actually sleeping for a change. Well, she did say she prefers to sleep in the sky but I didn't really picture it like this.

Morning Glory was sitting by the window, staring out at the small window, staring out at the night sky. Cherry woke up and yawned, snuggling next to me wrapped in an overcoat about three times to pig for her. "Hey Autumn?" She said.

"What is it?"

"Are ya' and Zian Lesbans?"

I blushed. "W-What?"

"Lesbans? Mares 'n mares, right?"

"Well um... Zian and I are together but... uh..."

"We're not 'lesbans', we just really like each other." Zian said.

"But ya'll are mares and love each other, doesn't that mean..."

"Just because we're both mares doesn't mean we're lesbians." Zian glanced away. "That doesn't mean we've never been interested in... stallions..." she  blushed.

"Oh... I see...." Cherry said. Then I noticed that her vocabulary was really starting to improve, and although I haven't really been talking to her enough to know if her swearing problem had cleaned up, too. Ever since... Mech's death. "So um... why are there more mares than stallions?"

Now that was a topic I had been over-encumbered with information for.  I had asked my father the same question when I was about her age, and his rebuttal was, as usual, more like a history lecture.

You see, long ago as I was told, in the kingdom of Equestria, ponies discovered a magical way to choose what gender their children would be. Since most parents in that age emulated femininity, they chose a majority of their children to be mares. However, this lead to an over whelming shortage of males. So, the great Princess Celestia issued a counsel with the ponies of Equestria encouraging them to have stallions due to the population crisis, as well as restricting the gender- choosing magic spells. 

Even now you can find pro- stallion foal posters in hospitals and some upper-class universities if you want a higher education. You can also still see the effects of the mare boom today, and the general exception of lesbian relationships. It was a common thing to see two mares together. 

I looked to Cherry, wide eyed and curious awaiting our answer, Zian also not sure what to say. Then, from out of no where,  Grella spoke up. "Because mares are magical."

"Oh, okay!" she smiled.

"That reminds me!" Zian said, then she smirked her smirk and reached into her saddle. "I got you something~!"

"Huh?"

She yanked out a black long shirt. "I figured you would want a little extra clothing when it gets colder."

'But I don't normally wear clothes...' I was going to say, disregarding the fact I had been trotting around in a sweatshirt for about five days. "Oh, thank you..." 

Zian smirked. "Don't look so down, you really think I only got you a new shirt? Heck nah'! I also got ya' this!" She yanked out a small zebra doll with oval teal button eyes. " I had it specialized for ya'!"

I blushed. "Is this a doll of you?"

"Yep! Well, it was originally just a zebra plush in the shop, but I had the keep of this craft stand fix it up for me." Zian smiled. 

I silently stared wide eyed, but I could tell I had a smile across my face.

Grella stretched out. "Is it morning yet?"

Morning Glory shook her head no.

I Glanced over at her. "Hey Glory, how ya' doing?"

She stumbled back, surprised I was even talking to her, then shrugged.

"You' okay?"

She nodded.

"How's the weather outside?"

She shrugged. 

"Your watching Whirlwind fly, aren't you? probably haven't even noticed the rain." Grella teased.

Morning Glory Blushed and shook her head furiously, when suddenly the carriage landed with a jolt.

Whirlwind opened the back door to the carriage looking drenched and exhausted. "Grella, you up? You want to take over?"

"What's wrong, Wind? Getting tired?"

"Yeah, I've been flying through unpredictable weather for five hours strait, maybe more. So, yeah,  a little."

"Oh, some on, it can't be that bad."

"If you had to Fly through sleet and freezing rain with winds coming from all directions, you would get tired, too."

"Not me. That's nothing, fraidy' feathers." She laughed. "Which way?"

"North East. just fallow the north east path and we should get to the nearest town. We might even reach a train station."

"You think TRAINS are still running?"

"Maybe... maybe not. Worth checking out though." Whirlwind rolled his eyes. "Finnne, we'll go to the next town."

"Alrighty. In fact, I think I know EXACTLY where we need to go." Grella left to take over.

Whirlwind lied down in the area still warm from our feathered friend. His wings stretched out as he yawned, waiting for himself to air-dry. "Woosh, nothing like a good flying sessions to clear your head."

The Carriage suddenly jolted back into action as Grella took off, her strength no doubt getting the best of her. I fell out out the seat taking my newly found items with me. Zian helped me up. "Your not vary sturdy, are you?"

"You okay over there Autumn?" Whirlwind said. "You look sick."

"I'm fine... I'm just not used to ... air travel." I felt a little more than a relapse of the flight nausea. 

"Oh... sorry about that. You've never taken a air carriage before?"

"No, not really. My dad did the traveling for our bakery, I mainly stayed and ran shop, unless  Tea Rose needed me for something."

"So you've never been to Canterlot?"

"Nope. My dad told me about it before though." I sat back down next to Zian. 

"Who's Tea Rose?" Cherry asked.

Zian beat me to the punch. "A mean old unicorn witch!~"

"Ohh." Cherry glanced at my partially exposed bandage covering the scrape on my back. "Autumn, why are you broken?"

"Broken?" I said with a hint of a salty flavor.

"Your back."

"Oh, that. It's nothing, just a little banged up. I'll be fine."

"Did somepony shoot you?"

"No nothing like that."

"Stab you?"

"No! I was just pushed by somepony and got my back scraped on some stray metal."

"... sure ya weren't stabbed?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes."

"Dang. I was hoping for a better story." she yawned, "Oh well..." she snuggled into my side and eventually fell asleep.

In fact, it didn't take to long for everyone to fall asleep. Everyone except Grella, of course... and me."

I eventually got up and walked over to the window, hearing  a soft rain on the ceiling. Getting up though was a grave mistake, the vertigo of staring at the endless clouds  and tree tops leaving my head spinning. 

I sat on the bench near the window in an attempt to calm the ache in my stomach, but to no avail. I had suddenly become well aware of the tilting and shaking of the wind moving the carriage. I fell onto the floor and slid in the corner near Zian, and huddled in a corner as I heard lightning outside, and closed my eyes hard waiting for the embrace of Luna's dreamscape, but the roar of thunder would discourage me. 

That night I learned the legends of this accursed place were true; the Everfree Forest was  damn strait scary.
> Chapter Thirteen : Butter Crisp
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I yawned and found myself being stored at by my group. "What?" I said.

"We've landed," Whirlwind grinned. 

I stood up and yawned. "Oh, okay... so... why were ya'll staring at me?"

"We weren't sure if we should wake you up or not. You must've had some problems sleeping last night." he sighed, offering me an apple for breakfast. "Oh... well, there was this storm..." 

"Oh, heck yeah! There was rain, hail, a little thunder, maybe even some snow! It was AWESOME!" Grella laughed. "That place's weather is UNBELIEVABLE! Yet... exhilarating. Nothing I couldn't handle, unlike marshmallow over here. Think I might fly through there again after this is all over... for fun!"

"So..." I said, "Where are we?"

"Only the most famous, historical land mark this side of Equestria!" Whirlwind tried, and failed, to contain his excitement.

I trotted out of the carriage and was greeted by a town now surrounded by an obviously makeshift yet strangely sturdy metal and wood barrier, and what seemed on top of that a light purple bubble shield. Red curvy cottages lined the streets, as well as trees, flowers, animals, and ponies casually going about their business. Our cottage was parked on the side of the road near a path leading to farms, and in the distance, a large purple crystal castle could be seen towering over the town. "Er... the crystal empire...?"

"Nooooooope!" Cherry smiled, jumping in excitement. "We're in Ponyville!"

I paused in hazy confusion, chewing my apple. "Oh... um... where?"

"Oh, nothing, just home of the CASTLE OF HARMONY?!" Whirlwind rolled his eyes whilst leaking his excitement. "The defenders of Peace, Friendship and virtue?! The elements of harmony?"

"I blame our schools," Grella sighed.

"Oh well.... cool."

Before Whirlwind could lecture further, Zian- who I only now realized was absent prior- ran. "Autumn! Your awake!" She gave me a hug with joy.

"Good morning... afternoon... whatever time it is."

She smiled and pranced with exuberance. "Ohhh how luck we were to come to Ponyville! I heard the element's own protege build the wall themselves, ain't that neat?! Not that I doubted her power, that is. It even goes into the farms!"

"So... judging by your excitement, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you found her?" Zian smiled.

"Yeah! Come on, slow stacks, let's go!" Before I knew it, Zian hooked herself up to the cottage and was trotting away before I could say anything.

We all fallowed her to a small farmhouse literally just out of the living quarters district, it had a two story farm house and a small barn, a potato field out back. Outside of the farmhouse waiting for us was a short yet slightly more chubby mare with a  strait yet curvy white and burnt orange mane. Zian took no time to get out of the group and run up to her, pulling me along by the sleeve. The mare smiled. "This must me the lil' miss muffins who stole my lil sister's heart, hmm?"

I stood in shock, awkwardly making sounds that could be in some foreign language consisting of shy grunts. Zian took action. "Yep, this is my girlfriend, Autumn! She bakes."

"Well, mightly fine to meet you Autumn. My name is Buttercrisp Hashbrowns, though ponies around here call me Hash, Hashie, Buttercrisp, Buttercup, and the mare of your dreams... " she winked. Guess now I knew where Zian got her flirtatiousness.

"Wahhh... I... Autumn..."

I squirmed and then froze as she hugged me tighter than I ever had been hugged before. Grella walked forward. "Hey there, Hash. My name is Grella. The purple mare over there is Morning Glory, and the pegasus is named Whirlwind, Oh, and the filly is Cherry. " She held out her claw and exchanged a claw and hoof-shake (of which if taken in literal terms would be beyond disgusting, but moving on).

"I'm Zian's older sister. This is my family's farm, but this house is just mine. Everypony else lives further down working on their own farms."

"But... your not a Zebra..." Cherry interjected.

"Nope, genuine earthpony, though I have a lil' unicorn blood on my mama's side." She smirked. "Naw, Zian and I may not be real bloodlines, but she's still my little sister, through and through.

Cherry tilted her head. "... what?"

"I'm adopted." Zian smiled

"Ohhh... oki doki! she paused. "Hey, hey! Did you know Zian and Autumn are not leba- er, sorry lesbians- but they still like mares?"

I blushed and stumbled into further embarrassment. Buttercrisp glanced to me and smirked. "Yep' I sure do!"
> Chapter Fourteen: New Plans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Pass the potatoes?" Buttercrisp asked me. I reluctantly relinquished my possession of the golden mash. 

I glanced around the dinner table, Buttercrisp inviting us to stay with her was a real treat, and we decided to meet at dinnertime to discuss our new plans, as Zian put it.

Zian cleared her throat. "So... we might not actually have to go to Canterlot anymore."

Whirlwind choked on his food. "W-what?"

"Well, think about it," she smiled, "we're in Ponyville... which has the Castle of magic and friendship, with the biggest library in Equestria? The Twilight library?"

"Who?" I blushed at my lack of knowledge of  of my own history.

Zian rolled her eyes. "I say we go down to the library first thing in the morning."

"Does that mean our journey is over?" Cherry frowned.

We all sat in silence, glancing to each other. Was this the end? We've barely even gotten to know each other. That and... what did we have to go back to?"

"Nah," Grella shrugged. "Probably not the end. Even if we found a solution to reverse this curse or disease or whatever, it's not like this is the end... we still kinda gotta start rebuilding society, you know? That and where are we supposed to go, the moon? Not like any of us have anything to go back too, right?"

"Are you sure about this?" Buttercrisp said. "That this will work?"

"Of course I'm not positive," Zian smirked. "But it's worth a try, right?"

We all silently nodded, and continued eating.


Zian's old room was quaint. The walls were wooded, and the teal curtains were really homey. Old windows with old shutters closed by little brass locks. I had came up with Zian, who sparked about her room with pure nostalgia. 

She then turned around to me and lifted off my sweatshirt. "Z-Zian?! I-I don't know if I... I mean we..."

"Relax, I'm just changing your bandages and checking on your cut. It should be healed by now." She smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Better..." I glanced away. Zian put her hoof on my face. 

"Tell the truth."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine... but really, my back feels fine." I sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about Tea Rose."

Zian moved me to my side and slipped off the bandages. "Frankly, screw that whore with a ten foot flag pole. She hurt my Autumn."

"Zian... she... she can be a bit careless. " I blushed. "She doesn't really think before she acts."

"Now that I can believe," Zian frowned. "Well, your cut healed up... still a little red though. You should take a shower tomorrow in some actually clean water. Might as well put on some clean bandages." She sighed and glared as she got out new bandages from her medkit. "I will NEVER forgive that mare. Let's stop talking about her. I don't want to get you mad."

I decided to stop making excuses for her and sighed as she rapped my bandages around me. It felt strange how open I was to letting someone touch me, when when I was younger I wouldn't even let anypony move a hair out of my face. Then again, Zian was special to me. And at that thought, I had another question raise in my mind that had been sizzling quietly on the back burner. "Have you ever... dated a stallion?"

She paused. "Jealous?"

"No, just curious."

"No. I never... dated a stallion."

"So have you ever liked one?"

She paused. "Yes, a long time ago."

"C-" I stumbled. "Can I have my jacket back? Please?" 

Zian smirked and hugged me. "But you look so much cuter without it..."
> Chapter Fifteen: Castle of Friendship
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	We waited until afternoon to go to the Castle of Friendship. Zian seemed reluctant. I wondered why.

It was a cloudy day, and I could tell despite the current situation, the pegasi still had a job to do. The trees, only dark green days before,  were crisped to a bright array of hues. The air even smelt different.

"Is it autumn already?" I said in bewilderment. 

"Yeah, " Buttercrisp smirked. "Last week of summer, n' one think Ponyvillians even in the face of the apocalypse never miss is a harvesting season."  she was getting out a few pairs of wheelbarrows. "Hopefully we can get rid of all of them by Nightmare Night. Tha' school ponies always look forward to it, you know? Foals..."

Whirlwind looked in surprise. "You have foals?!"

"Yeah, about 20 of them."

He sighed in relief. "Ohhh, your a teacher."

"Yep! Er, well, teacher's assistant. I fill in for ol' Pumpkin when she's busy, help her about her business. Ol' mare is almost a hundred, but she's still as spunky as ever. I swear she never gives up. "

I couldn't imagine a pony that old. Throughout my sheltered life, I never really thought about how old ponies get. "Does that mean that..."

"Yep'! Ol' Pumpkin's been around since before the element of magic was even an alicorn! She's bout' the same age as that one princess, you know the one purple one!" Buttercrisp giggled. "In fact, I think she's older!"

Zian Came out of the house. "We'll be back!"

I frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Neh, besides I have things to do and these two insisted on joining." Grella said, pointing to Morning Glory and Cherry behind her. 

"And Buttercrisp wanted my help to carry out this harvest, on account most of the family is on patrol." Whirlwind said.

Zian and I sighed, and decided it was better late than never to go to the castle. 

For a place called 'Ponyville', it was near comparable to a thriving city. There were plenty of flowers, trees, and other kinds of  vegetation, but the streets were lined with large three story cottage apartment buildings and a span from the Everfree Forest, to the train station leading strait to Canterlot, and of course the giant towering purple castle in the center. A building, despite my historical amnesia, I knew well.

My father had often lectured me about his travels to the capital cities all over Equestria and beyond, always saving me posters, postcards, pictures of the magnificent marvels. He told me how much he wished I could see it with him some day, if I would be willing to leave the confines of the family bakery, of course. He had...

In front of the Castle of Friendship, I felt myself break on the realization of something I had nearly completely forgotten.

"Autumn?" Zian said when I stopped. "What's wrong?"

"What... what's wrong with me?!" I cried. "I left them behind!"

"Them?"

"My PARENTS! I ran away, I abandoned them!" I felt tears run down my face as I felt short of breath. "I...I could have..."

"Autumn, honey, relax, I'm sure that they made it out..."

"What if they didn't?! I'm such a horrible daughter! How could I forget my family, Zian?!" I crumbled onto the ground in a crying, shallow breathing mess.

I crumbled like a cake.
	
	
> Chapter Sixteen: Strife
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Happy Birthday, Autumn!"

I heard my parent's hooves clap as I blew out the candles on the slice of cake slid before me. My mother on my right, my father in front of my floating a camera out taking mass pictures from all angles, as always. "Hard to believe it's only been five years..." said my mother, a lovely pink unicorn, while dancing out a fork. "You look so much like your father."

I looked over at my old stallion, a picky baker's son and delivery pony for our family's bakery. He had traveled all over Equestria, and more than anything loved his history. He was more of a beige pony than me, a darker red-orange mane without a lick of my green, though I had been told I got that from my grandparents.

I could barely even remember the house we were at at the time, though it seemed as memorable as a safe distant lullaby. 

"Eat your cake, darling!" My mother cheered, patting my head. "Next you can open your..."

A loud knock came to the door, and they both turned and scowled. "Should I get it?" My father grimaced.

"No. Just wait for him to leave. We can summon the local guard if he doesn't go." My mom calmly took the cake from the table and floated it to the kitchen. "We can eat later."

Knock. Knock. KNOCK.

I glanced up to my dad. "Who's at the door?"

"Nopony. Ignore it Autumn." said my mom from the kitchen, putting away the food. 

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

My father sighed, sitting on the couch. "Honestly, this would be a lot easier if we talked to him."

"Who?"

"An old friend of mine. Your mother doesn't like him to well."

I frowned. "It's not nice to ignore ponies."

"That's right..." he sighed, frowning. "When did you get so smart?"



I woke up in a daze. "Huh?"

"Your awake." Zian smiled.

I sat up and looked around. I was lying on a couch covered in a blanket. The high walls amazed me. "Where are we? What happened?"

"You passed out. You're running a fever." Zian gave a soft smile. "We're in the library."

My vision blurred, and I stared at the huge bookshelves. "Oh wow!"

"Nice to see she's finally come too. Now we can get to business, right?" I glanced over and saw a fairly tall bat pony in dark purple and silver armor. They weren't as tall as Tea Rose, but still a decent height. "I've been patient. She's been insisting on waiting for you to get back up."

"Autumn, this is Star Strife, Captain of the lunar royal guard. She was sent here from the Princess, and we started talking, of course I was waiting for you to get deep into things, but, well... yeah."

"Umm... yes, well, I prefer to be called Strife, if that's okay. Sure strife means hardship and all that, but I've come to accept it as a secondary meaning." Strife blinked confusingly. "Uhm... anyway moving on. As you know, I was sent by Canterlot to check with the Friendship Castle adviser and check on the situation here. Well, we have seen things a little different in Canterlot, I can tell you that much. On the day that this all started, from the Canterlot Castle, in the early morning, I could see something to the north from my station. It was small, blip of light. It looked like a magic blast. It leads me to believe that it's possible that this whole mess was started by a massive magical blast, it's shock waves wide spread across Equestria. It could be hard to notice if you weren't Magically inclined, everyday ponies wouldn't be able to comprehend what they saw or felt. It's an assumption, sure, but be can guess that somepony or some large group of ponies decided that the world would be better off gone. What better way then invoke the apocalypse?"

"I was right... a spell." Zian frowned.

"Yes. A spell we have been trying to counteract, but of course there are risks. We need to figure out the EXACT spell used, which we are on the verge of finding out. the blood of those undead ponies left specks of a kind of "magic bacteria", we have some of our best scientists trying to deconstruct the remnants and possibly compare it to a long list of candidate spells for all we know, it could be a mix of spells. Once we figure out that much, we can develop a counter spell that would kill the bacteria, and then these 'zombies' will just go back to being corpses." Strife sighed. "That's all I know though, the science stuff isn't particularly my jurisdiction after all."

"A bacteria, huh?"

"That's what they're calling it. It's just magic, really." They looked down. "If your interested, Zian, you could always go with me back to Canterlot. You've been studying magic, right? Perhaps you could help?"

"You think so?" Zian blushed a little. "I... I guess if you think I could be helpful, though I don't really know what I could do..."

"Good choice. I'll be happy to vouch for you to the Princess herself." They smirked and seemed to look like she gained a massive amount of confidence,truly a guard material. "I'm leaving first thing in the morning. See you then."

"W-wait!" Zian said. "Why don't you come over to my house and... have dinner?"

They looked skeptical. "I'm sure you'll be to busy. That, and you have this mare to worry about."

I glared. 'I can handle myself, you know...' Although I didn't really have any evidence to back that up, I still didn't like the idea of being baby'd. Zian smiled. "Nonsense! My sister and I can handle everything, come on, it'll be fun!"

Strife thought it over. "Well... I guess I could use some relaxation before I head out. What the hell, why not?"
> Chapter Seventeen: Dinner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I lied down on the family room couch while everypony else chatted. I wasn't sure how I got this sick all of a sudden, but one thing I did know was that it sucked. I felt horrible, expecting to need to run to the bathroom any second now.

"And then, the runway was on fire, the rainbows were spilled everywhere, the trainees were freaking out, and that was when I realized flight camp might not have been the best idea with a blowtorch," Strife laughed. "Needless to say my little butt was kicked out of Rainbowfalls."

Whirlwind laughed. "You think that is bad? Oh, you haven't heard the story of when I was just starting at the weather factory! To get to the point, let's just say Canterlot had an unexpected thunderstorm in the middle of winter."

"That was you?!" Strife laughed, snorting occasionally. "Your a riot, you know that Windy?"

"Oh come on, I'm not that interesting..."

"Are you kidding? This was fun, it's been a while since I've been able to sit down and actually talk to somepony."

"Well, maybe we should talk some more sometime?"

"Who knows... maybe."

Morning Glory glanced over, sitting next to me on the couch reading a book. "You okay?" I asked her.

She glanced to me with a blank stare. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then stopped and went back to reading. I wasn't sure why she was so silent all the time, but I figured she probably just had a rough life, or something like that. I never really talked to her that much, or at least as much as Grella. Truthfully, I didn't know who she was at all, most of the time she just silently read or stared out the window, fading into the background.

"Ok, dinner is all done, hope ya'll like it!" Zian smiled, poking her head out from the doorway. She trotted over to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." 

"Think you could eat some dinner?"

"I don't know." I sighed, Strife, whirlwind, and Glory going into the kitchen. 

Zian trotted over to me on the couch. "It's probably just because the season's changing. Don't worry."

I sat up. "Sure."

"Autumn... is everything okay? You haven't said anything all the way back here. Is there something on your mind?"

There was. My parents, Tea Rose, everything. The fucking apocalypse. The world I once knew was changing, and I didn't know if my boring old life would ever comeback, even for a bleak moment. I didn't know what was going to happen, not even if my family was still alive or not. I wasn't even sure if I would die tomorrow, or in a hundred years. I sighed, looking at Zian waiting for me to say something... anything. I smiled. "I'll be fine. I just have a bad headache. Come on, let's get some food."

I trotted out to the kitchen with Zian, and sat between her and Whirlwind, who was still deep in conversation with Strife. "Don't get food like this in Cloudsdale, I'm guessing?" Strife smirked to Windy, who had his mouth full of potatoes.

"Hey, I dare you to try to grow rood vegetables in the sky!" Whirlwind insisted. I smiled, glancing at the two while I got some food. I had never seen Whirlwind so happy since Mech died. He was finally enjoying himself. 

I looked to the other side of the table, and saw Grella getting together a very impatient Cherry's plate. Next to them was Buttercrisp and... Morning Glory. Morning Glory, however, seemed invested on glaring at Whirlwind and Strife while simultaneously gnawing on a roll. Zian smiled, "Enjoying your food, Autumn?"

"Y...yeah."

She frowned. "Something wrong, sweetie?"

"No... nothing."

"Okay. Remind me to get you some medicine for your headache after your done eating."

"Alright." I picked up a forkful of cooked cabbage, staring at Morning Glory who's expression was a little... unnerving. "Although I think that I should do something first."
> Chapter Eighteen: On the Porch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Morning Glory, I need to talk to you." I stood in front of her, The others helping to take care of the dishes and chat. "Let's talk outside, okay?"

She gave me a skeptical look, but fallowed me anyway. 

We stood out on the night- cornered porch, only the small outdoor lantern lighting it up. I sighed. "Please, let him be happy."

She glared at me.

"Wait! I mean... he's just been so depressed since Mech died. I know you hate seeing him miserable too. I also know that you might be... feeling things for him...? Ugh, how am I supposed to put this!" I grunted, then switched to a different approach. "Strife might be perfect for Whirlwind, as a friend, someone he can talk to."

She rolled her eyes, and looked as if she was contemplating just going inside.

"Ugh, I'm bad at this, and I probably shouldn't even be getting involved in this, but I do know that just moping around and being angry won't solve anything," I sighed. "So... maybe you should just be strait forward to him, tell you how you feel, you know? Before you might... miss your chance?" I was rambling now, wondering what I was hoping to accomplish with this. 

Morning Glory glared at the ground, mulling it over, when the door opened.

"Oh, here you guy's are!" Strife smiled. "We were wondering where you ran off to. Everything okay?" Morning Glory glared at them, and Strife was surprised. "What?"

I glanced away, deciding to just mot intervene. 

Morning Glory trotted over and attempted to push past, but Strife put their wings out and stopped her. "Hey, what's your problem?!" Morning Glory stepped back, staring at them with disgust. "What is it? Huh? Don't like bat ponies or something?"

She shook her head, her eyes getting misty. 

"Then what is it, huh? Why do you not like me?"

Morning Glory held her glare. She opened her mouth and said in a very... unique voice. "Because. Your in. My way."

A dark green aura quickly grew around Strife, and she suddenly smacked into a wall inside the house. I ran over. "Morning Glory? What was that? What did you do?"

Morning Glory frowned in surprise. "No... no no no, I'm so sorry, are... are you okay... I?"

"Strife, are you okay?"Whirlwind trotted over to them.

"I'm fine." She got up slowly. "How did you just use magic?"

Morning Glory's eyes widened. "I..." A snap of magic flashed around Morning Glory, and what remained was a creature I had never seen before. "Oh... Oh no..."

Strife quickly got up in an offensive position. "Changeling!"

"Changeling?" I said softly. "What's happening?"

"She's been a changeling this whole time, she's tricked everyone! she's probably been feeding off of someone, too!"

"No, I... not on purpose! I didn't want to hurt anypony, I was just literally starving!"

"Save it! I have half a mind to strike you down where you stand, changeling! So this is why... you must be one of THOSE changelings, sucking off of the love of others, hum? I've dealt with your kind before!" Strife was nearly growling.

Morning Glory Glanced over to me. "I'm sorry."

"Harvesting off of defenseless ponies, especially in these times. You're low!"

"I... I..." Morning Glory spread out her thin, dragonfly like wings and shot backwards, flying off into the night. 

"Glory!" Grella, who had ran out mid commotion, glared at Strife. "You don't know what she's been through. I'm going after her." Before we could stop her, Grella, too, flew out the door at top speed. 

I stood there on the porch in silence, staring out as Grella, also, disappeared in the night. I didn't know how to react.  I didn't know what to do, or if I should do anything. A ball of guilt filled my stomach.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
> Chapter Nineteen: Reality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What happened?" Zian ran into the entrance, hearing the commotion.

I glanced down. "I..."

"I might have over reacted... but I have a good reason!" Strife spoke up.

"Where's Grella?" Cherry said, trotting in.

Strife ignored her. "I... I can't help it! She was a changeling, what did you expect?"

"What's a... changeling?" Cherry said softly. "And... where did Grella and Glory go? It's almost my bedtime."

"Changelings are... ugh, how do I say this without sounding like a bigot?"

"I get it." Whirlwind said. "Your a bat pony, it's only natural that you'd hate the changelings, right?"

"But... what I did was wrong... I was just mad..."

"What happened?,"  the little unicorn glared, getting impatient.

"Autumn, can you take Cherry upstairs? It's almost time for bed, isn't it?" Whirlwind insisted. "We can sort things out. You can... explain what happened. Right?"

"Why me?"

Zian looked at me. "Autumn... please."

Of course I couldn't refuse Zian. "Come on, Cherry. I'll explain everything."

Cherry pouted. "You BETTER."


I walked Cherry to the room her and Grella were staying in. I was still trying to comprehend what was happening, all along the way Cherry asking me about what was happening. I  closed the door. "Well, what is it? Where are they?" she said. 

"They... left."

"What? ... they left... well where did they go?"

"... I don't know. Morning Glory got... upset and flew away, then Grella left after her."

She glared. "Well ,why did she leave? what made her upset? It was that bat pony, wasn't it?!"

"Cherry! No, no... it was just a big mess." I smiled. "Someday they'll be back. Morning Glory is just really upset, okay honey?"

She put her hoof down. "Someday? No! I want them to come back now!"

I frowned. "That's up to her, honey. Now, you getting tired?"

"No..." her body disagreed, enabling a large yawn.

"Ok, that's settled. Let's get you ready for bed."

"N-no! I want to wait for Grella to come back."

"And would Grella let you stay up all night worrying?"

"... no..." She grumbled, accepting the fact she needed her rest. 

After helping Cherry get to sleep, I went downstairs and stopped in the doorway near the living room.

"So what is it she did?" I heard Zian say.

"Well, she's a high class changeling, so she was able to basically feed off of affection for others,  even if it's not direct, or at least her species of changeling." Strife sighed.

"There are different species?" 

"Yeah, but that's a huge spectrum of changelings I'd rather not go over right now." I could hear them lean back on the squeaky couch. "Moving back on topic now, so it's agreed that you two are going with me to Canterlot, correct?"

"What about Autumn?" Whirlwind said.

"Well... she might not be up to traveling in her current state, she's been having her energy drained out of her by a ... possibly misunderstood changeling. And we don't even know how long she's been having her energy drained," Strife sighed. "She'd probably want to go anyway, but no offense what exactly would she do in Canterlot? She doesn't seem like she's studied magic, or even combat. It might be beneficial for everypony if she stays here and gets her energy back."

"But... she could still go! She could..." Zian trailed off.

"No offense, Zian, but sure Autumn would probably be excited to go with you, but once she would get there, what would she do? Just sit around, watching you work on saving the world? She would feel horrible. Like just an accessory. If she stayed here, she could have things to do, help around the farm. She could feel useful." I could hear the sincere reality in Strife's voice.

I went back upstairs.
> Chapter Twenty: Alone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Autumn... I'm leaving for Canterlot..." Zian called up the stairs. I had been up for a few hours, but didn't want to face the fact she was leaving. I trotted down stairs, and she smiled. "Oh, come now. You know I'm not going to be gone forever, I'll be back."

"I know..." I gave her a reluctant hug. 

"... your not going to try to come with us?" She frowned.

"No. I think I'll stay here. You know... in case Morning Glory or Grella come back. That, and Butter Crisp could always use the help around here." I sniffled. "That and... not like I could do that much, right?"

She placed her hoof on my cheek. "Oh, come now. Have a little faith in yourself, Autumn."

I glanced away. "I guess so."

She smiled, and gave me a hug. "I'll miss you. I'll try not to be gone to long."

"It's okay, Zian. Your going to help save the world, remember? I think I can wait." I smiled. 

"Hey, Autumn! How are you feeling this morning?" Strife trotted up to us. 

"A little better, I can walk around without feeling like passing out so... that's a thing."

"Sorry about your friend. That was just... that wasn't like me."

"It's fine Strife. I just hope that they com back." I walked off into the kitchen, where Cherry and Whirlwind were finishing breakfast.

"Are you sure you want me to have this?" Cherry said. an old saddle bag was on the table.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I took what I wanted out. Besides, a filly like you could make some use of these tools." I then realized that it was Mech's saddlebag, though it had taken a beating, it seemed as though it could still be on that pony. It was hard not to think of Mech, though out loud we scarcely talked about that horrific day, I knew it had to be beating on their subconscious, the image of the stallion's corpse on the ground when only moments prior they were happy- if not artificially happy via alcoholic assistance- and alive. If it didn't haunt their dreams, one thing I know is it haunted mine. Among other things. "Oh, Autumn. Your finally awake..."

"Yeah. You guys going to go soon?" 

He frowned. "You know, there is no reason why you can't go, too... if you want to."

"No. It's fine, I understand. besides, there are things I could help out with here, right?"

"Oh..." he sighed. "So... you overheard our conversation last night."

"Maybe. But I guess I understand. Not much help a baker can be against an undead army, right?" I felt a little unintentionally angry, or at least a bit salty. I sat at the table and grabbed an apple. 

"Autumn, don't be like that. Nopony was ready for this. All we can do for now is... adapt, and try to fix it." Whirlwind sighed. "Do you understand?"

"I guess. I just don't think I'd be that useful. Unless you want a cake." I laughed nervously. 

"Alright, if you want to limit yourself I guess." He shrugged. "Hard to believe it's only been almost a month now. Seems like just yesterday Zian was dragging you to that old farmhouse..."

"I'll try to keep up with the times." I said softly. 

Cherry's eyes darted between us. "It'll be okay!" she smiled. Cherry sure had grown up a little, though I couldn't imagine what the long term effects of the events of the past few weeks would have overall on a filly's psyche. Then again, I had no idea what even happened to Cherry before this apocalyptic nightmare. I didn't know a lot of things about my group I had been fallowing, especially after the prior night's events.
Cherry got up and went to the kitchen to wash off her hoofs. 

Whirlwind sighed. "Time to go then."

I followed them outside to the carriage they were going to take to the train station, the carriage we got from Stone Whooves. They were going to take it with them. "I said the trains would still be running." Whirlwind boasted, though to nopony in particular. After all, it was Grella who denied the matter in the first place."

"Sorry again." Strife said, getting inside of the carriage. 

I saw Butter Crisp rush past me, giving her sister a quick hug good bye, and exchange silent words. After waiting for the sister's goodbye I waled up and gave Zian a hug. "Be back soon." I smiled. 

"You know I will." 

"I love you..." And shortly after that, they were gone.

Shortly after Zian left, I felt a cold darkness in my life, with the realization that there was no assurance I would see her ever again,  if we couldn't find a way to fix this. Even though Cherry and Butter Crisp were standing nearby as I sat on the trail to town, I truly, again, felt completely alone.

I eventually stopped my crying and went back up to the house, and trotted up to Zian's room. I glanced around, the room seemingly exactly the same scrap the things Zian took with her. I gazed at her bookshelves of magic and potion making, and of course cooking,  to her old no doubt precious childhood memories. My feelings gnawed at me, as I realized how much I truly would miss her, despite the fact she could be back in s month or maybe even a few days if we were lucky. I frowned. "Autumn, way to go. Way to go..." I said to myself, sighing and lying down in the bed. "That sure was a great idea, wasn't it?"

The next day I managed to actually get up in the morning, greeted by Butter Crisp downstairs. "You want to help me with breakfast?" She said, cutting several apples. 

"I'm not really in the mood to cook."

"You know, everypony has a little magic in them, as I see it. After all, if a nice meal with friends isn't magic, why would it make everypony so happy?" She smiled. "And you know, not eveypony has to be strong to be strong, you know? There are plenty of ways to be strong, have a strong personality, a strong build, or even just a stong spirit. " She got a pile of three plates out of the cabinet. "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Not sick?"

I shrugged. "Well... no."

"Well then, I suppose that means you can help me with the harvesting today. I could use an extra hoof around, and Cherry is going to be busy."

"Busy?" Cherry said, trotting in. "Busy with what?"

"Well, I talked with Pumpkin yesterday, and they do have room at the schoolhouse."

"School?" she rolled her eyes. "You want me to go to school during the apocalypse?"

"I don't see why not, after all your about that age now. Come on, it won't be that bad."

"I don't need to go to school. My daddy always told me school is just where little ponies go to waste their time."

"Well, I say that you should at least go. You'll like it, you'll see. It'll be fine." Butter Crisp smirked. "If you don't like anything that happens today, you don't have to go back, okay?" 

"That sounds fair." Cherry grimaced. "Still don't like it."

"Come on now, let's eat up and get you to school."

After Butter Crisp left with Cherry into town, I sat on the porch and smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, I thought. 

Then a dark shadow filled my peripheral along with a sudden swooping sound. I felt something hard smack the back of my head, knocking me to the ground. As I slowly lost consciousness.

Maybe It would have been better If I waited inside.
> Chapter Twenty One: Confusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		"She doesn't need to be involved..."

"Nonsense. She'll get us some good money."

"... but she's my friend..."

"You don't need her as a friend. You have all the attention and love you'll ever need, not to mention more money than you can handle..."

"What if I don't WANT any money?"

"Nonsense. Now, go to sleep. We'll deal with it in the morning."

"... I think she's waking up..."

"... I can fix that..."


I had no idea where I was. Heat scorched my face, my whole body feeling weakened by unknown reasons. My eyes shot open to see fire clip across my vision, roaring across the sky. Fire? Why was the world on fire? I felt a consistent tug on my body, as if it were being dragged by something that wasn't there, then a sudden fling out  to darkness, temporarily blinded by the extreme difference. My confusion gave way to fear. 'What was happening?' I thought, staring wide eyed and unblinking into the night sky, my vision burned with flicks of white and black. 

I felt the spray of water as a door opened and I was pulled inside. "Go!" said a familiar voice.

I lied on a wooden floor of a carriage, eyes wide open in a blank stare as it jolted up into the night. 

"Hey, is she alright?" Said a gruff voice.

"She'll be fine once whatever Cinnimon gave her wears off."

I stared at the ceiling, wanting to ask so many questions...

"Made you some mess of that place, you know."

"Yeah," sighed the closer, feminine voice. "I know. Now like I could just let Cinni give Autumn away to that stallion ass, and besides, been meaning to leave that shithole." I saw the corner of her face and mane as she looked down.... 'Oh no....' I thought. '... shit.'

I stared up at Tea Rose in silence, feeling paralyzed.

What the hell was happening?



Eventually the feeling came back into my body, and I blinked, my eyes dry and sore. I coughed. "Oh, she's awa-"

"What am I doing here?!" I yelled, glaring at the unicorn. 

"It's..." Tea Rose blushed.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" I got up slowly, trembling feeling like the floor was moving under me.

"Autumn... well..." she glanced away. "Cinnamon wasn't going to bother with you... until this stallion came into the Club, asking for you."

"For me? Excuse me, does it look like I'm a prostitute?"

She glared. "Well, he wanted to know if Cinnamon could pull some strings and find you. She's a more powerful pony than she seems..."

"Wait... what were you doing there? Are you telling me that you went BACK?" Anger fumed about me. 

"For my things, yes..." she sighed. "When I heard she was interested in finding you... daum, I've really been an ass lately. I wasn't going to let her just go through with whatever she was scheming. So, I when I saw the griffon she hired to get you come in the back way with you, what was I supposed to do? Let her sell you off to that strange drifter-looking bastard? Nope. So, naturally, I planned our escape here. To the carriage?"

"Well, I guess if I was more of a fool, I'd believe that. But seeing as I don't have that much of a choice, I'll humor you." I rolled my eyes. "So, what about that fire?"

"... I'll just say Stone Whooves kinda fell apart. The watcher was called to Canterlot with that splotchy fella', and Cinnamon basically took her place back in control. It was terrible. Basically, it turned my home into anarchy." Tea Rose sighed. "The fire was just a coincidence. Someone probably did it on accident, then again sometimes you do get a handful of pyromaniacs..."

"I think I've heard enough about that." I managed to finally catch my balance and sit down. "So, what is this then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean where is this carriage heading and how can I get back to Ponyville as soon as possible?"

"Well, we do have some things we need to do. Mainly, our main focus is to get everypony to the nearest village ALIVE."

"Ahem..." Said the rough voice.

"Sorry, everybody." Tea Rose cleared her throat. "Autumn, did you notice our group we have going here?"

"Huh?"

I glanced around me, noticing a handful of ponies, but my eyes darted directly next to me where I noticed the giant grey creature having to slouch to not hit the carriage ceiling... or, at least I thought it was either slouching or had a hump on it's back. Naturally, I freaked out slightly, knocking myself back.

Then the carriage dipped into the ground to a screeching halt.
> Chapter Twenty Two: Little School Book
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I fell out of my seat to the carriage floor, as well as a few others, as the feeling of dread loomed over me. "Why are we stopping?"

We flooded out of the cramped, little space. "Dear lord, Bats, you trying to kill us?" said a little older than mature unicorn mare.

"I couldn't help it..." Said a short, slightly chubby pink bat pony, taking off of the reins. "It was too heavy, I'm not exactly the strongest flyer, yet alone the strongest mare in the world."

"But your our only flyer," Sighed Tea Rose. "Now we're stranded in the middle of no where in the middle of the night, with dead ponies lurking who knows how close."

"I... I'm sorry..."

"Does anypony know where we are?" 

I looked around the path clearing. a simple stone path, but somewhat a bit... messier. Then I saw it, something that worried me would bring back memories I didn't want to see. "There's a library, just south of here... or a general store to the east down this next road..."

Tea Rose looked at me. "How do you know?"

"I have a feeling." I sighed, glaceing down at the ripped open bottom half of a pony, as much as it sickened me. Though it had rotten away, I would recognize that cutiemark anywhere. After all, it had been the main focus of my never ending nightmares for the past few weeks.

Tea Rose rolled her eyes. "Come on, then. Let's check out the general store, it might have a map or... something." 

"I got the cart," said the grey mass of unspeakable description at the time, which still baffled me. "It'll be fast, yes."

"Let's just get somewhere before we get eaten alive by the undead," Tea Rose frowned, shuffling us into the carriage again, shortly after which we were off.

I didn't want to be with Rose. I didn't even want to see her. But, then again, what was I supposed to do? aimlessly walk through the forest, probably get eaten alive because I had literally nothing but a blue hoodie? I hated the recent turn of events, but figured I might as well stick with the group since we were going to be heading toward Ponyville anyway. In the short trip, I looked at my new "carriage mates" or at least temporary party members. Excluding Rose, the bat pony, the grey creature, and I, there were two others, an average height yet willowy stallion unicorn and a short yet thick unicorn mare who had some years on her, though not to much older than me, more like the age of my mother. At that thought, the mere thought of remembering my mother, that would be opening a can of worms I wasn't ready to face. 

Before I could desperately search another, brighter thoughts to think about,  I gasped, the air nearly being kicked out of me, as we suddenly stopped at what I assumed was our destination. I also began to assume that perhaps the strange, grey creature had never pulled a cart before, or at least one filled with LIVING creatures. I laughed in my head at how used I was getting to being tossed around like an intense hoofball in the middle of a big game. I grimaced and left last, Tea Rose peaking in and glaring at me, noticing my absence because I was zoning out yet again, going off in an internal tangent. 

"Oh dear..." said the bat pony, looking at the old general store. The outside were bound with blood splats, the windows broken and the door nearly off the hinges. "That doesn't look that safe..."

"Doesn't matter," Said the older mare, with a thick colorful accent I associated with something like Manehatten. She opened her large sheaved container attached to her back with a light turquoise shimmer, pulling out a heavy metal baseball bat. "If anything is live'n in there, it won't be much longer."

I noticed that the others were prepping themselves in the muted darkness, just barely a glow from the translucent glimmers of magic. I felt a little flustered, being the only one unarmed, and most likely the one with the least fighting experience. I backed up.

"No need to feel sorry for yourself. You can hate your insecurities later," Rose whispered. "Here, if worst comes to worst, use this." She floated over a thick tree branch. "It's not perfect, but it's something. If we find anything better, you could try that." She picked her gun back up, similar to a gun I saw in Cherry's armory but with a different... thing on it. Rose noticed my confusion, but shook it off. "If there are zomb's in there, hit them in the head. And hit them hard."

"What if I miss?" I said, though muffled by having a branch in my mouth she seemed to get the jest of it. 

"Don't."

We slowly moved towards the general store, obviously no ponies in the general area or they would have been well aware of our appearance.  The grey creature glanced into a broken window, and relaxed. "If someone's here," he said in a grumble. "They're dead."

"Like... 'dead' or 'undead'?" I said through the wood.

"Dead."

I relaxed, or at least as much as I could being surrounded by rotting guts, as did most of our group, besides Rose. She took the lead inside after quickly holstering her gun, and glared around the insides, glowing up with  her magic like a small flashlight. I came in after her, fallowed by the others. The inside was at least somewhat less gory, but still unnerving, carefully trotting around broken glass. I took in the shape of the room as Rose stopped at a counter and lit a small lantern, capturing a flame of magic. I grimaced.

On the floor in front of the counter was a small colt, killed what seemed like only a day ago, starting to rot, but not quite rotten enough. His head had half of it gone, bashed in with some kind of blunt weapon over and over. He had a dark bite mark on his forearm, and the stallion sighed. "Poor kid," he said, "They must have killed him back when they though zombie bites were contagious..."

I went wide eyed. "Z-zombie bites DON'T turn you into them?"

He giggled lightly to himself, but not out of joy, more in a 'can you believe this mare?' kind of way. "No, they don't. We thought they did at first, but they don't."

"Then what does?" I set my branch down.

"Death, of course." He sighed. "Bites aren't good, but it's not impossible to survive."

I pondered this as I tried to keep my mind off of the dead colt rotting in front of us.

"Someone must've been here recently." I said. "He's barely even rotted here."

"Well, then I guess his party didn't know." His horn lit up, and I noticed that the magic was in the small coat on the colt.

"What do you think your doing?!" I glared.

"I'm seeing if he had anything on him." He grimaced. "Ugh, just an old book."

I was intrigued. "A book?" 

"Want it? You can have it." He levitated out a pocket sized hard cover book in a shoulder bag. "There's paper and pens in there, too, but don't know how you'd..."

"I'll take it all." I said softly. "The bag, too."

"So much for 'lil' miss morality', eh?" He sighed, giving me the bag.

I sat behind the counter as the older pony and stallion decided to take the body out the door. Out of sight, right? But not quite out of mind. I settled on opening the bag as the others tried to at least make it a little less uninviting, the bat pony taking a left over broom from the cleaning department and sweeping up the stray broken glass. I guessed when this placed was raided over by wanderers the past few days, cleaning supplies would be the least of their worries. 

I opened the bag, and fount a couple small cheap note books and a worn pencil with a blue pen, as well as a book like a mini pocket text book. This was a school bag, I realized. I looked at the text book, "Using Magic: A Starter's Guide to Tricks and Techniques For the Young Unicorn ". "Long title." Said Tea Rose, looming over my shoulder.

I jumped slightly. "I guess."

"I remember reading that when I was a little filly at the magic class."

"Hmm." I muttered.

"I guess you could use it for fuel if we need a fire."

"It's a book!" I said in shock. 

"So what are you gonna do, read it?" she looked skeptical.

"It's a book. You normally read them, right?"

"If that's what you want to do, be my guest."

I sat in silence for a minute, opening the book and flipping  through it, realizing that Rose was staring at me, probably wondering what to say. I also wondered what I was going to say. I closed the book and set it aside. "I'm sorry."

"One thing we have in common, but I guess we both are a bit stubborn."

"I'm sorry about Stone Whooves."

"Me too." She smirked. "But my home is still destroyed."

"Sorry about that, too."

"Not your fault Luna called Ink-butt and the watcher to Canterlot. Besides, I was planning on leaving the whole time anyway, I just needed the opportunity." She glanced away. "Sorry for getting you into this mess."

"No problem, hey, if you can't forgive somepony for filly-napping them and drugging them, planning on selling them to a stranger, what can be forgiven?" I said with a bit of spite. 

"That was more Champagne, not me." She glared away. "I didn't want to bother you again.

"How did you figure out where I was?"

"Ponyville was the closest place, it was a lucky guess."

"But... who was looking for... me?"

She frowned. "He didn't say his name. Flashed Champagne some serious bits though. Those little coins don't really matter anymore, though..." She shook her head. "He was some big fella, olive green coat, graying carrot mane, sound familiar?"

"Er... what was his cutiemark?"

"Don't remember exactly, but I think it was, as strange as it sounds, wheat."

"Wheat?"

"Could have been corn."

I groaned. "Doesn't ring a bell."

She frowned. "Well, he KNEW who you were. He seemed to think that Champagne was a mare who could get things done. Unlucky for you, he was right."

"I see."

There was a long silence. "So..." She started eventually. "Why are you wanting to read about magic?"

"Hey now," I smiled. "Just because I can't use magic, doesn't mean I can't learn it."
> Chapter Twenty Three: At Each Other's Necks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Hours ranged on as everypony finished searching the main room for anything useful, as well as the bat pony trying her best to clean up, even though it was bound to reach the same dangerous, bloody heap in no time. I was reading, Tea Rose on a chair next to me rambling, though I was half listening to her. Not to be rude, but because I was invested in my text book. I never had been interested in magic before, honestly, but I'd never turn down some good reading material, even if the pages sometimes had little doodles of mustaches on the ponies. That and the current events sparked the idea to me, and I could use anything right now to distract me.

After finishing reading on some of the beginners history on the uses of unicorn magic, Tea Rose got up and gathered everypony around the counter. "So... how much food do we have?"

"I found these oat pies..." Said the bat pony.

"And I have these rations." Rose sighed, emptying a bag of dry food on the counter. "This should be enough for a few days."

"It's not that far to Ponyville." I said. "We got there in a night."

"You were flying." Tea Rose said. "We don't have that luxury."

"I tried..." Said the pink bat pony.

"No, I didn't mean it like... ugh." Tea Rose sighed. "The point is, we're going to have to try our best to travel at night." She opened a oat pie. "who hasn't eaten in three days?" She nervously smirked at me.

"Huh, I don't even feel hungry at all... wait, did you say three days?!"

"Kiddin'! Just... joking." she split it in thirds. "Pepper?"

"Huh?!" the bat pony blushed. 

"Hungry?"

"Oh... um... I guess so..."

She smirked. "Sorry, I was mad.

"Tea Rose, um..." 

"Just take the cookie before I change my mind." 

"Y-Yes mam!" Mam?

"Any pony else?"

The remaining three looked to one another, then shrugged.

"Okay, whatever you say. then the last two I guess go to me and... Autumn, you hungry?"

"Not really..."

"Suck it up, your eating this cookie."

"Fine, alright."

As I quickly ate my share of food, I looked around. "So.... who are you ponies... er... you guys?"

"Pepper Belle" Said the Pink Bat pony. I now noticed the sliced bell pepper shape on her flank. It was no surprise. "Nice to meet you."

"Do we really need to do a meet- and- greet?" Said the older mare with a snare. There was something uneasy about this, and I instinctively shuddered down. I wondered why.

"She's going with us with the next town, isn't that..."

"... isn't that worth a little introduction? Oh, bite me, Rose, she wasn't even supposed to some with us!" She glared at me, and I felt like backing out of my chair and hiding behind the counter, though that would be ludicrous and unnecessary.

"... y-you don't have to... if you don't want to..." I said, just above a whisper.

"Nonsense!" Rose put her hoof down, then pointed out the ponies with her hoof. "Chalk Diamond, Jacks, and Rex."

"O-Oh..." I could feel my face reddening, feeling horrible. I hated to make ponies do what they didn't wanna, let along being the center of an argument. "H-hello..."

The mare I assumed to be called Chalk Diamond scoffed and went back to her business, building a barricade, or at least reinforcing the one they had. Fallowing her with my eyes, my eyes unintentionally landed on the grey- creature, one which I had tried my best not to stare at to be rude. He was huge, twice the size of me, with large over- sized arms, paws attached. He was wearing a large vest with over-sized pockets, and I assumed the large rifle in the corner belonged to him, being the only one able to carry such a thing without magic. Around his neck was a loose, yet not to loose, collar, covered in white gems. the biggest gem, a red one, was broken. 

" He's a Diamond Dog, honey." Rose spooked me out of my gaze, and I shrank. 

"I... I'm so sorry, I..."

"It's alright." He said in a grumble. "Can't assume most ponies choose to go see the Diamond Dog lands in the dessert, yes?"

"She's probably never even heard of one." Said the pony I assumed was Jacks, because of the star shaped toys on his flank, which left the... 'Diamond Dog' before me with the name Rex.

I blushed. "I'm sorry."

"You ponies and your apologies, ya' and Tea Rose have been spouting that word all night." He jested, giving a low laugh.

I had a lot of questions; What the hell is a Diamond Dog? Was one of them that crossed my mind, but I decided not to make myself seem like a raciest. Instead, Jacks broke my silence. "Find anything useful in that dusty old book?"

"Oh... um, it's nice... It's a magic textbook..."

"Ugh... I still sat it's garbage." he rolled his eyes.

"Well, maybe to you, but I find it pretty interesting."

"What use would you even have for it?" He laughed.

I gave him a skeptical look. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." He laughed as if he found it seriously funny. "Not sure if ya' aware of this, sweetie, but your, um, an earth pony? Earth pony learning magic, ha, ow THAT'S hilarious."

"What, just because I'm an earthpony means I can't learn magic?"

"Well, it's not like you can USE it." He said, laughing softly still.

"Well, that doesn't mean I can't understand how it works!" I glared, fuming with frustration. "You should stick to what those earth ponies can ACTUALLY  do? You know, farming your little flowers... oh my god, your cutiemark is even a muffin!" He laughed harder. "Well, then you should stick to bake'n, right? It IS your destiny, ha ha!" I glared at Jacks, never before wanting to kick somepony in the head so much. 

"Stop it, Jacks!" Rose glared at him.

"Ooooh, so scary," He said, backing down a little. "Stand'n up for her now, huh?"

"Well, if your gonna' be an ass about it?" She narrowed her eyes. "We won't get anything done if we're at each other's necks, Jacks."

He sighed. "What do you know? We actually agree on something for once."
> Chapter Twenty Four: It Was Alive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"SHIT!" 

The sound of the Chalk Diamond yelling greeted me the fallowing morning. "What happened?" I said, getting up off of the bedroll left behind by the previous residence.

"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?! The cart is gone!" She ran outside, revealing the great autumn-stricken outdoors... and no cart. "They must've grabbed it last night?"

"Who?" Jacks said with a yawn. "What's it?"

"Here, take a look yourself!" Chalk Diamond stepped aside, letting him take a better look.

"Dang!" he yelled, glaring.

We all eventually went outside, lamenting our stolen cart. It enraged me, but not because this now meant we HAD to walk, though that most certainly didn't help, but because that meant we had to wait all the longer to get to Ponyville. "So, I'm guessing none of us have a map?"

"We won't need a map, we have a road." Tea Rose said. "Roads are for fallowing. WE'll get somewhere if we fallow it."

"You crazy?" I said, going wide eyed. "The fastest way to the nearest city is..."

"Through the Everfree, right? What's the problem?" Tea Rose tilted her head.

I waved my hooves wildly. "Do you know how crazy that place is?!"

"Eh, I'm willing to risk it. Who knows, there might be some village in there we could stay in for a while." She smirked. "Come on, let's get our stuff and be on our... huh? Pepper? What was with that face."

Pepper jumped back. "Er... there should be a place not to far from here..." she glanced away.

"Oh, you know the way?"

"Yes... but!"

"Well, that's our best bet then, you lead the way..."

Pepper Belle sunk. "If you say so."

Half curious about Pepper, I decided to set it aside and go back inside to get my bag and stick.



"Are you sure there is a town this way?" Morning had skittered into near midday, and the 'town'. Leaves of colorful, crisp hues crunched beneath my hooves, and I glared at the trees upon trees circling above. and beyond the path. Pepper lead our group this time through the wilderness, who glared behind her to Tea Rose's consistent complaining. She stopped, and told us to stay where we were while she flew up to check the treetops. 

I was near the vary back of the group, and cautiously glanced among the trees. Suddenly, I heard a very quiet crunch in the bush in front of me. I jumped back, yet no one else seemed to notice, bickering just ahead of me. I got my branch ready in my mouth. 'hit them in the head...' I thought, repeating the mantra in my mind. A rotting hoof reached out of the bushes.

Once the pony's head stuck out, I felt like vomiting, it's soft rotting flesh struggling to cling to the long- dead pony. It looked like a unicorn, but with a chipped, broken horn, bits of mane thinning out. to just a few long hairs. Behind them was half of what was a body, dragging the pony's intestines and other organs out behind it. I guess it was true: they were alive through magic. Surprisingly, though, it still had a jaw and tongue, though barely hanging on and dried, it groaned, as if to say something.

I found myself hesitate as I prepared to swing the stick at it. It was alive, right? Could it... feel pain? I backed up more. "He..." said the zombie, in a barely audible gargle. "Hel...p... m..." I jumped in surprise and instinctively smashed the heave branch down into the zombie's soft skull, needless to say despite my poor skills, it never moved again.

I dropped my stick, mouth open, staring at the creature before me.

"Oh my goodness, Autumn!" Tea Rose Trotted over to me, somepony finally noticing my absence. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"Wow, nice hit, girl!" Chalk Diamond actually smiled at me, giving a coy look. "Nice!"

I stared at it in silence. "I..."

"I didn't think you had it in you!" Jacks smiled. "Sure, not the best work I'd say, but in time..."

"I... I just killed this pony..." I frowned in horror as realization truly soaked in.

Rose frowned, and put her hoof on my shoulder. "Hey, you needed to, it could have..."

"It could barely move, I didn't need to kill them!" I yelled, backing out of her reach.

"You did that zombie a favor, looked like it crawled strait outa' tartarus!" Jacks said, trying to offer some sympathy. "Sides', not like they can think, they're just monsters now!"

"It spoke to me! It was in pain!" I yelled back.

"Autumn..." Rose frowned. 

"Must've just sounded like it, their just grumbles. Nothing more." Diamond assured, trying to make me feel a little better. She wasn't helping.

"It..." I felt tears roll down my face, and I slid onto the ground. "It was... alive..."

Tea Rose sat next to me. "Even if they are... even if they are in pain, that's even more reason to put them out of it." I caught her look at the dead zombie in front of us. "I know how hard it is, we all do. But... this is just the way it is now."

I fallowed her gaze at the corpse. 'Just the way it is now,' I thought.

Pepper flew down, smiling, obviously not observing the current scene. "Hey, Guess what I fou-" She stopped when she saw me crying and the corpse in front of us. "Well... let's go..."

> Chapter Twenty Five: Desmodus Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	We paused at the small gate. It was almost unbelievable. 

The small village, only a handful of houses thick, was thriving. In fact, it was as if it were untouched by not only the current events, but time itself. It was very... district, large rounded- roofed white and dark blue cottages with tall glass windows, a bright cobblestone path, the tree tops almost acting as a ceiling of the town. The stone streets of the town were busy, to say the least. They were surprisingly filled with mostly hovering bat ponies, some in casual wear similar to just old- fashioned frocks, mostly in assortments of gray scale, others at least  wearing a hood. I watched in curiosity.

"Welcome!" I jumped back as a thin mare flew over to us. "What bring's ya'll here to Desmodus?"

"Desmodus, that's a fancy name for a tiny town..." Jacks observed.

"Shut it!" Chalk Diamond glared at him.

"Oh, it's alright!" Said the bat pony mare, who I noticed was in a special kind of outfit seeming to be a little different from the others, a bit more colorful at a pretty shade of light blue. "This town sure sounds fancy-shmancy, but no need to threat, it's just a name we got from the locals." she giggled. "Cus' of the bats? Well, it just sounded right so we named our little settlement that!"

Rose's eyes widened. "Your just going to let us in?"

"Of course! It'd be rude not to, yeah? We got plenty of room for travelers, and you caught us in tha' middle of our festival, so your in luck!" Her expression was a little too happy, as if she had rehearsed doing this over and over, so I assumed she was the welcoming committee, or something like that, anyway. She opened the gate, which was protected by a metal wire. It seemed strangely... simple. "Come on in!"

After I stepped inside with everyone, I couldn't help but stare at the fence.

"Curious?" The bat pony mare flew close to my face. "About the fence?"

"Uh! Oh, um... yeah... like... you guys do know what's happening out there... right?"

"Well of course we do! That's what the fence it for!"

"Okay, I see, but... there isn't just those... things out there, there could be bad ponies out there, what about the ones that could fly over the fence?" I was ranting.

"That's. What. The. Fence. Is. For." Her obvious facade of cheerfulness was breaking. "Y-You see, we have a unicorn, which helped us with that problem! You see, there is an invisible dome over the city, encase any bad ponies tried to fly in and attack us, they'd get a nasty zap!" she smiled at that. "So... I'm pretty sure we're safe here."

"I see..." I smiled to stay on good bases.

"I'd hate to ask, but is there anywhere we could stay for the night, or maybe get instructions to the next town?"

"Sure! Say, why don't you all come into the festival, we have vendors, games, and food! and I'm sure that the in would love to let you guys in for a night, they turned into more of a shelter than an inn, consider'n most of the townsfolk don't exactly plan on staying in an inn when most of em' have their own place!" She smiled wider, if that was even possible. "My name is Poppy, I'm the local event planner, and they always send ME to greet the ponies at the gate, I mean, sure, it's my special talent and all, but really... you would think I would be able to not be the permanent lookout, or maybe they could get... literally anypony else!" Okay, now that anger was starting to seep out. Yep, I was definitely witnessing a mare definitely in the middle of a crisis. 

Another mare noticed, this one in a near white hood, a graceful pegasus. "Poppy." she put her hoof on the bat pony's shoulder.

"What?!" She said with a sting.

"Sorry." she said to us. "Poppy here has just had a hard day because of the festival, don't hold it against us. My name is Willow, nice to meet ya."

"Oh, um... hi..." I looked at them cautiously as Poppy fluttered away.  

"Out of curiosity, do you... do you guys have running water?" Tea Rose asked.

"Hum? Oh, yeah, we have out own water purifier plant that takes water from a stream near here! We're pretty self- sustaining here, we never really relied on the Canterlot or Ponyville plants for water or electric, lucky us, right?" Willow gave a sincere smile. "Why don't we go to the inn, you guys said that you needed a place to stay, right?"

"Oh, sure!" Tea Rose smiled, no doubt happy about the water. It wasn't like any of us had time to bathe off the dirt, sweat, and dry blood off of our fur, nor the commodities if we wanted to.

"Also, if you guys wanted to go to the festival, they got free games, food, and all sorts of other stuff. you'll just have to wear one of these silly hoods or a dress, it's more of just a tradition we grew to do over the years." Willow said as we trotted through the oddly barren portion of road leading to the wide building near the gate. "You see, we get a lot of bats around here, and since most of the residents are decedents of the war, we have a lot of bat ponies, too. Oh, and you might not want to scare any of the locals with your weapons, we had a pony pass through here the other day, and well... it wasn't exactly the best experience for anypony. She left not to long ago. So... you might want to keep those weapons of yours in your rooms." Willow opened the door to the inn.

The inside of the inn was a rustic style, much like the rest of the town, mainly made of wood but with occasional stone decorum. The front desk was governed by a tall bat pony stallion in a fancy shirt with a darker hooded cloak. He was a bit scruffy with a touch of facial hair, and he smiled as we walked in. "W-what can I do for you?"

"Spades, can you help our new visitors find a room?"

"Oh, new visitors? We don't see those often. H-hello!" He was a skittish pony, not really shy, just bad with words. Which made me wonder why he would be the inn keeper, a job where you would have to talk to ponies. Spades got several keys off a shelf. "It doesn't really matter which rooms you take, they're all pretty much the s-same."

"One bed, one desk, a dresser and a bathroom." Willow stated, as if she knew the town like the back of her hoof. "There's a bookshelf, too, but most ponies don't use them."

I received my random key from Spades, floor 2, room 6 was written on a paper tag. I put them in my shoulder bag while the others chatted, trotting to their rooms and discussing what they were going to do tonight. Willow raised her hoof, "Is there a problem, deary?"

"Do you... do you guys have a library?"
> Chapter Twenty Six: Reflecting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The last gargled words of the rotting pony blocked my mind as I scoured the library. I got a lot of strange looks from the locals, mainly the librarian, and heard whispers of things like, 'why isn't she wearing her frock?'

After finding a good amount of magic books and one fiction novella for my own pleasure, I trotted to the front desk. "So, am I going to need a library card or something like that?"

"No need." Said the librarian. "Your from that group of visitors, right? You won't need a card. just take the books."

I scrunched my face. "Just... take them? Isn't that stealing?"

"You should go home and put your frock on, lil' pony." Said the librarian. "People don't find it very...  nice if you don't."

"Oh... okay..."

"Come again."

I trotted out of the library, carrying my books on my back and over flowing bag. "Oh my! You poor dear, do you need any help?" said an old mare on the way back to the inn.

"Oh, um... no, I'm fine."

"Nonsense! Here, take this saddle bag, those books will break your back!"

"Oh, thank you, but I think I'll be okay." I started to walk past her, but she blocked the way.

"Please, I insist." She said, levitating the bag over to me. 

I decided to just take it. I didn't want to be rude to the towns... strange ways. Or, at least, I didn't want to piss anypony off before I find out what's happening. Once I trotted back inside the building, I saw the group talking in the lobby, dressed to join in the festivals... well, festivities. Tea Rose trotted over to me. "Oh, your back! Willow brought this for you if you wanted to come with us..." She levitated out a sort grey hooded cloak, and a simple while frock with red embellishments. "Isn't it cute?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I think I'm gonna just stay in and read my new books."

"Well... take it anyway." Tea rose smiled as I took the dress. "If you change your mind, we'll be at the town square."

"I think I'll be fine," I repeated, starting up the stairs to my room, then I paused and turned back. "Actually, Pepper Belle, mind if I talk to you for a second before you go?"

She bounced back slightly. "Oh, um... okay..."



"I'm curious..." I sat at my rooms desk, stacking the books and glancing to Pepper Belle. "I wanted to ask you about... the war?"

"The war? Don't you know about it already?"

"No, not really."

Pepper Belle sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed.  "Geesh, your town's school system must have been terrible!" She laughed, as if to lighten the mood. "Well, where do I start?"

"Um... what did Willow mean by bat pony war refuges, or something like that?"

"It was a tragedy." She frowned. "Mainly because of those changelings. Ya see... bat ponies used to be more contained in the settlement protected by Luna, the Hallow Shades. Changelings saw it as an opportunity for quick meals, because we were even more excepting back then to most others. They easily harvested our love and annihilated like half of the bat ponies in Hallow Shades. I wasn't there, my family was living in trotting ham at the time."

"Whoa, wait... when did this happen?

"Geesh, you ARE ignorant." Pepper giggled. "Only, like, 20 years ago. You slow or somethin'?"

I chose to ignore that statement. "Okay, so what happened next?"

"Well, Luna and the royal guard stepped in and drove the changelings back to the hives! Of course, Hallow Shades was pretty much abandoned, so the bat ponies had to find new places all over Equestria to live, and Desmodus was just a small section of that."

"About that..." I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know about this place?"

"Oh, um..." She glanced away. "I heard about it. I heard there was a town in the Everfree for bat ponies."

"So you were going on a whim when you had us trot through the forest?"

"I know..." she sighed. "Now... I have some questions myself, in fact, if you don't mind."

I was intrigued by the change of pace. "Yeah, what is it?"

"How do you know Tea Rose?" She almost glared at me.

"Huh? Well, she and I are fillyhood friends."

"Oh... I see," She made a more relaxed face as if she had heard that before, no doubt from Rose herself, "did something happen when you visited Stone Whooves, then?"

"Well, I got her out of her job at Champagne's and she got in an argument with my marefriend."

"Marefriend? Mean girlfriend?"

"Yeah I just wanted to lighten the mood with a witty pony pun." I shrugged.

"Well it was a bad one." She smiled. "So, who is this special somepony, hmm?"

"Oh, she's this really nice exotic zebra, her name is Zian."

"Ooo, a zebra, huh? Don't see do many of then in Equestria." Pepper smiled, getting up. "I think I'm gonna Catch up to Rose and the others."

After Pepper left I locked the door and went back to the books, as well as my thoughts. 'So that's why,' I thought, opening my book. My mind hurt from today's events. I started to read on the 'scientific properties of magic', which I found to be a bit of a contradiction of itself, after all, it's magic. Kinda complicated to explain, let alone with science. My contemplations were cut short by the loud grumble in my stomach and the stench meeting my muzzle. I glanced at the door to the bathroom. 'Oats and a bath it is.'

I decided on a long bath first. I had to admit, it was nice. The water actually felt nice and smelt nice- as in there wasn't a horrible after smell eventually sinking in like river water. That, and I even had free soap to use! I sighed and rinsed off my mane. It had been so long since I had the opportunity to have a nice bath. And it was at that time, I realized how long my mane and tail had been getting. It sure had been through so much, and it even felt nice to think of all the adventures it had been on, all it had seen... at that thought, my smile lessened. "You know you just need to let it go," I said to myself.

My stomach tightened. Could I ever let go of what I've seen? That pony... had feelings. It was alive... Those thoughts haunted my psyche the the past few hours. I needed to just go on with my life, but should I just let it go? I soaked in the bath for a while.

'Nah', I thought, mentally doing a Grella impression. "Just how it is now." I sighed, getting out of the bath and draining the water. "Yeah... just another part of life in this apocalypse of ours, huh?" I smirked at my reflection, drying off my coat. "Wait, no, Zian's probably off saving the world now, huh?" I finished towel drying my mane and shook out the rest. My mane fell heavily down over my face and muzzle. I sighed, brushing it out and grunting with frustration of the tangles. "Maybe I should fix this."
> Chapter Twenty Seven: Trying New Things
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I heard a knock on the bedroom door, so I trotted over optimistically to open it. "Hey!" I smiled, opening the door to see Rose.

"Oh, I saved you some din...er..." She stared at me wide eyed. "Autumn, what did you do?"

"I cut my mane? It was in the way."

"But... but it's completely uneven! Ugh, give me the scissors- where did you even get scissors? Oh, never mind. I'll fix it, one second." she scooted me to the desk chair and floated away the scissors I got from the shoulder bag- simple safety scissors but they did the job. Mere moments later she was 'working her magic', so to speak. "And you always did have a pretty mane, even after running through zombie guts... oops, oh, sorry, didn't mean to bring that up! Ugh, what a shame. Your watermelon mane was to lovely."

"I'll take it you don't like it?" I voted for humor.

"Somehow I knew you'd still be up, but I didn't imagine you'd butcher your mane." She gave a few snips here and there, evening it out. 

"I'd still be up? What do you..."

"It's night already. I've been home for hours. I know you loose track of time when you go into your- how should I say- internal monologue?" Rose smiled, then with a brush she sighed. "There we are, all done!" She put her tools down on the desk, and floated over a delicately covered plate of corn freshly cut off of the cob, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and a roasted stick of browned, sticky goodness. I wondered what it was internally, lifting up the stick inspecting it. "Oh, um..."

"What?" I said, setting the platter on the table, moving my books back.

"Just so you know, that stick is grilled meat. I wasn't sure if you've tried it," She looked a little guilty. "I know, I know, but we can eat meat... if we want to. Just not to good for us, and pretty frowned upon."

I stared at Rose, then glanced at the grilled, sticky meat on a stick. Emotions mixed through me. I had seen more than my fair share of 'meat' as of late, though granted it was rotting and attached to ponies, but none the less. And even so, I was a vegetarian, for crying out loud! I had spent my whole life seeing creatures in stories that would eat meat as horrible, deprived monsters. I looked back at the stick, and the whitish flesh poked through. Was it chicken, or maybe even turkey? At the thoughts of birds, Grella edged into my mind. She wasn't a monster, and she sure as hell admitted to eating meat time and again. I quickly bit onto the stick and scrapped the meat off the beginning of the stick. My eyes widened. 

She exhaled. "Oh, thank god. I thought I was going to have to deal with a Autumn panic attack."

"Doesn't matter. Food's food, and this tastes pretty good. What is it, chicken?"

"How do you know what chicken meat looks like?"

I glanced away, remembering seeing Grella casually eat a chicken sandwich she bought off of a griffon sales pony who got stuck in Ponyville. I found it eerily cannibalistic, but she explained it wasn't and left it at that. "Don't ask." She sat down patiently, and I glanced at her. "Um... something wrong?"

"Oh, um, nothing I just..." She frowned. "...there is a spider in my room..."

"Rose, you could literally kill a zombie with a fork if you wanted to."

"Yeah but... Spiders are..." She cringed. "... ew..."

"Okay, fine. Your to scared to go to your room. So... what? Did you want me to kill it for you?"

"N-no! It's a defenseless creature."

"So are zombies..."

She blushed. "Okay. I get it. but a spider won't make you want to devour your fellow ponies."

"I know what I heard." I frowned.

"I believe you, Autumn, okay?" she frowned. "We just don't have a choice anymore... whether they are still intelligent or not. They were once ponies. And now their suffering." She stared blankly at the floor. 

"I know that, too. I decided."

"You have?" She looked up at me in shock. 

"If this is the way it is, it's the way it is." 

She frowned. "So... do you mind if I sleep in here?"

"Actually, no, I don't mind. This place is creeping me out. Would you mind sleeping on the chair over there?"

"Nah, I don't mind."

"Just remember, I have a girlfriend." I smirked. 

She sat on the couch. "What is she upto anyway?"

"Oh, um... she's going to Canterlot, to help find a way to reverse, well, all the trotting corpses." I sighed. "Hopefully soon she'll save us all."

"Why didn't you go with her?" Rose fluffed a pillow. 

I sighed. "Well, I'm no warrior, and I know nothing about magic, so she had me stay at her sisters. You know, so I wouldn't feel... useless."

She smirked. "Oh, so that's why." She floated over one of the blankets. "Did you buy that saddlebag today?"

"Saddlebag?" I nearly forgot about it. "N-no... actually... I got it from... just some old mare off the street. she gave it to me... for some reason."

"Well, is there something in it?"

It hadn't really crossed my mind actually. I took the saddlebag and opened the pockets. It was mostly, except for a book. 

"What is it?" Rose said.

"It's a book..." I looked it over, just a simple yet thick brown journal. "I think it's a diary."

"Well... what does it say?" Rose yawned, yet still stayed awake to pay attention.

I thought the same thing, and opened up the book.
> Chapter Twenty Eight: A Short Story
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday


Today I saw a changeling group at the Hallow's gates, a few drones who ran away from their hive, in search of a life in Equestria. I ate lunch with one in my mama's cafe today, we even had a deep conversation about marshmallows. His name is Mantis, and he even was traveling with a cute rejected queen - Foal? What is the term for a little changeling? Her name's Damselfly, and I had to admit she was the cutest shade of blue. I gave her some gems I found in the caves, and she was ecstatic. She was so cute when she's happy. I hope they both stay for a while. 


Tuesday


Damsel came back to the cafe today with Mantis! She brought some of her cute things she collected from the hives, they were pretty like little dark blue crystals, and she explained that they were pieces of the castle for her part of the hives. This got me thinking, 'What do changeling castles look like?' I thought they might be something like a beehive, but the was damsel described her hive was beyond my imagination, like a magical kingdom with a full spectrum of colors! It amazed me, I thought there was just the Chrysalis hive, but apparently there are a whole bunch of hives!

She tried her best to explain it too me, but I couldn't get it. Mantis said he'll have to show me more sometime.


Saturday


It's been two days since I saw my family was murdered. I can barely believe what happened, it all happened to fast. I heard the screams of my parents, and only the blood staining our bedroom's floor as the ceiling caved in, crushing them and my older sister. Only I and my little sister survived of our family. We had been hiding under a turned over couch for hours, the severed eyes of my sister staring at me as they rolled under the couch. We almost screamed, had we not been so cared of reaching a similar fate. 

I didn't want to write anymore, but my sister saved this stupid book, and insisted. So, I might as well use it. I guess she just wanted to see me stop crying, so... I guess I'll humor her for now. I figure I might as well keep writing, at least in front of her, to keep my mind off of things. I had practically just gotten this at the beginning of the week. Strange how witnessing a massacre can change your opinion on ponydom. That was supposed to be a joke, by the way. I guess it wasn't the best one.

I guess based on a writing prompt from Dawn,  she wanted me to talk about our 'savior', where we are now. I might as well talk about the big thing that happened, the happiest moment of my despair. Out of the blood, fire, and fear, a search party found us. The hallows had been destroyed, but I didn't care. I had been in a state of near paralysis from shock for hours. The shining hope I was was greeted by was a pony I had only seen in books, news, and legends, a tall purple alicorn. She looked at us with a smile, her voice was haunting. "It's okay now." 

Her words hit me. I was in shock, as several others joined her, including non other than several other legends. It was like a fairy tale come true, right after a nightmare. I couldn't hold back the tears, hugging Dawn as hard as I could without hurting her. She didn't care though, she was in fact thrilled, talking to the one and only Princess Twilight. It was a sight we were both glad to see. She's so young though that she probably can't even conceive what happened.

I wanted to go home, but I knew that was impossible. We went with the rest of the survivors, surprisingly a train car full, though it was sickening considering just how big our capital used to be. I could overhear some ponies on the way to Canterlot's med clinic that there was a small town near ponyville that we could go to, that were nice to bat ponies. I just hope that there are none of those changelings there.

I stared at the pages with tired eyes. I realized I started reading it in my head after the second entry, and Rose had fallen fast asleep. I closed the book, still exhausted, and got up and trotted to the door, making for positive that it was locked. I still wasn't comfortable in this place, and they sure as hell were not going to be sneaking in and smothering me in my sleep... that and I might have been just at little bit paranoid.

I wondered about the book, and the writer. I didn't even know remotely how old they were, or even if they were still alive. But in actuality, that was the least of my worries. What I was really worried about was why did they give this to me? I took the desk chair and blocked the door of, just encase, then went back to my bed, lying on my side , my newly cut short mane falling around my neck, giving off a slight tickling sensation. It was strange, I never had my mane this short since I was a foal. I liked it.

Before the temptation of slumber heaved itself upon me, I took the journal one more time, and flipped through it. At the back, I found two rough signatures; Moon Pie and Dawn Delight.
> Chapter Twenty Nine: Gotta Be Fair
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Hey, you two decent in ther-" 

Jacks opened the door early the next morning. I had unlocked the door to go downstairs to cook a bowl of oatmeal, which I had snagged on my journey out the day before. He looked at surprise as a stood there, readied with a newly improved 'stick', now with a couple nails hammered into it. Rose was up, too, casually sitting down with an apple. I sighed and set the stick down, rolling my eyes as Jacks carefully snuck in. "Morning, Jacks." Rose said, waving casually.

"Knock next time, will ya'?" I glared with a deep sigh, returning to my reading, casually jotting notes in the blank notebook.

"Um... what ya' doing?"

"I'm studying, what does it look like?" I glared at the unicorn, not forgetting his comments two nights before. 

Jacks gave a curious glance to Rose, who chomped on her apple and shrugged. "The girl wants to learn magic, what can I say?"

"Well, what are you doing here anyway?" Jacks smirked.

"It there a reason your here?" I felt like an ass after how much salt I was giving it, but I was on edge, feeling like eyes were always staring at me. 

He frowned. "I was looking for Rose, Willow said that the bar was half off, and Chalk Diamond and I were wondering if you wanted to come with us, relax a bit after... what happened. The dog and the bat are gonna stay here, so we got plenty of opportunity to check out the 'local color', or whatever ya' say about that."

She frowned. "O-oh... um... maybe later. I'm helping Autumn right now."

"Jeesh, ever since we left Stone Whooves, it's just been 'Autumn, Autumn, Autumn', you know, you have other friends, too!" He grumbled and left the room with a smack of the door, and a feeling like a rusty needle entered my mind. 

"I'm sorry." I said softly.

Rose glared at the door, then she snapped to a more natural saddened look. "Oh, no no no!" She said, getting up and trotting over to me. "Jacks is... he's just..."

"He's right you know. It's not fair. Go have fun with your friends, not just me." I sighed, knowing it was true. "You deserve it, after Celestia know's what happened to ya'."

She frowned. "No, he's just being rude. He's been an ass lately. But... look, just don't hold it against the kid, alright?" Kid? 

"I feel awful, you know. You've been spending to much time with me. I forgive you, you know." My words dripped out with little thought.

"I know that, Autumn Darling. You think you's still want to see me if you didn't?" She sighed. "The others are just... so overwhelming. It's nice to spend sometime with you, for a change."  She glanced away. "Okay. Alright. Your right, I have been unfair."

I frowned. "I'm sorry."

"You know, you haven't let your muzzle out of those books since you got them." she said, desperate to try to change the subject, a smile across her face. "I know you want to help Zian in Canterlot, or at least feel like you can do something. But that's fine, but just know... your not useless. You've never been." She offered a very short hug. "Also, you should wear this hood. At least for appearance sake. "

I took the grey hooded cape she levitated over to me. "I'll consider it." I sighed, putting it on with hesitation, but still keeping on my blue sweatshirt. I had to admit, it was soft, and felt nice. 

"I'm going to go to the Night Bite, the bar in the shop district. It's were I went yesterday with the others..." She trailed off with mumbles.

"Are you really going to ask me if I want to go with you?"

"Er, um... well, maybe. Just a little." She gave a little smile.

"Fine, but I'm going to be doing my own thing." I grabbed my shoulder bag. "But... by Celestia, stop me if I look like I'm about to pass out, will ya?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah... sorry about that, too."

"Jeese, they're right, we apologize to much."


The Night bite was as vintage looking as the rest of the town, a small sign at the door with the establishment's name on it. I felt the uneasiness double, as most of the passer-buyers slowed their pace, looking at me, then went on. Seriously, what was so special about me?

Rose floated over a baggy of coins before we entered. "Here, considering ya' probably don't have any money... sorry again. For, you know, not stopping Champagne sooner before you got kidnapped..." her voice trailed off. 

She opened the door, and before we could even walk in we were greeted with an angry "Dammit!"

I peaked from behind Rose, and once I saw who the angry yell came from, I smiled and ran in joyfully, leaving the voice's owner and Rose speechless at my sudden forwardness. "Grella!" I hugged my feathered friend with little restraint, a smile stretched  across my muzzle. 

"Hey, what are ya-" Grella paused after looking like she was about ready to throw me across the room off of her. "Autumn? What the hell happened? Why are you here?" I let her go, and blew my nose with a napkin. She looked me over. "And what in the name of Tartarus are you wearing?"

"Grella! I thought I... I thought I'd never see you again."

"You didn't answer my question, but yeah, not as much as a relief to see you here. Why are you not in ponyville?" She softened her demeanor.

I sat down next to her in the booth, then realized that everypony in the bar had kept their distance, with the exception of me. Even Rose was resistant to go over to me. "You could say I didn't really have a choice."

"Well, are the others at least with you? Whirlwind, Zian, even Cherry would work."

"None of them, but I do have a group. I was kinda forced into this situation. We're just heading to..." I paused. "The... next town..."

"Oh, well, that explains everything, doesn't it?" She sighed, rolling her eyes, then smirked. "Say, you... didn't run into Glory on your way here by any chance... have ya?"

I frowned. "No."

"Dammit." she took a drink. "I lost her, you see. I need to find out where she went."

"I know." I looked down, not wanting to think of the things I said to our changeling.

"Who's this?" Rose said, trotting over to us finally.

"Grella." she put up her claw for her coveted "claw-hoof" bump. 

"Tea Rose." She said softly, hoof bumping reluctantly.

"Oh... so your Tea Rose."

"Y...yeah..."

"I see." she lifted her fisted claw and punched Tea rose in the face, flinging her back onto the ground, then returned to drinking her beverage.

"Grella!" I scolded the griffon, helping up Rose. "You don't just go around punching ponies!"

"She was a bitch to a friend of mine. That seems justified to me, right?"

"Excuse me, miss Griffon, mam..." Said the bartender. "Your just gonna need to calm down..."

She frowned. "Ugh, I've got places to go, and I have a fucking name, jerks." She swayed a bit as she got up. I assumed she had been sitting here drinking for a while this morning. "Nice seeing you, Autumn."

She quickly left out the door, and I fallowed her. I didn't want her to leave again, I just got her back. I ran outside in time to see her fly away. She didn't fly to long until she hit the "invisible fence" in the sky and got shocked, then fell to the ground. 

> Chapter Thirty: Recovery 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"She should be fine." Willow said. What luck, the one who made me the most uneasy just so happened to be the town Doctor. I was in the room they had Grella in for examining, which thankfully the griffon was sleeping in. "The wall's pulse just knocked her out, but the fall could have been a little smoother. Lucky for her, she landed in that crate and only hurt her left wing. Good thing she didn't go flying at night when we have the defenses up, or she would've been Kuncolty- fried Griffon!" She gave a small laugh at her morbid humor. "Also, I must say, I am so glad you decided to participate in the festival! These sure are hard times, aren't they? Nice to find some time to relax!"

I was puzzled by her comment, then remembered I was still wearing the daum cloak. "Yeah, I did have some questions, though."

She paused for a moment, gathering her medical bag. "Oh?"

I had several questions; 'What the hell is going on here? Why is everypony staring at me when I trot by? Who was Moon Pie, and why did somepony want ME to have their journal?' Those where tempting, but I decided to go for the one with the least likeliness of pissing off the wrong ponies. "What exactly is the festival for anyway?"

She looked a bit relieved. "Oh, it's the festival honoring our little bat friends around the Everfree! We also joined the festival with the remembrance day, so it goes on for the week." She smiled. "It's a big deal to the residents, considering most of them are bat ponies." I felt a nagging in my mind. I shouldn't be talking to anypony here, I thought. What needed to happen was I needed to go. Soon. She gave me a curious look. "Anything else?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine."

"Okay. Once the griffon wakes up, let her know she can go as soon as she wants, just ask someone to open the gate first." With that, Willow left. I figured I'd wait for Grella to get up, and in the meantime I might as well get some reading done. I pulled out Moon Pie's journal and sat back in the chair.


Monday

Today we finally arrived at the stupid bat colony. We missed the bus yesterday, and had to stay at the boarding Canterlot provided. It was a bad night, Dawn kept me up all night with her night terrors, and I being the big brother I am had to comfort her. I don't even know how she could fall asleep at a time like this. Sure does show how much of an adapter she is. 

Anyway, I'm writing this from my new "luxurious" apartment. I'm a colt, and I'm living by myself with my little sister. It hasn't been exactly home for either of us. And well, when I say 'alone', that's not really true. We have a 'caretaker', technically, who was appointed to help 'take care of us'. Apparently she's going to be moving in tomorrow, but for tonight it's just Dawn and me.  I already made her some snacks with the food that they gave us, I figured it might help her a little. I improved some of the chocolate they put in out food basket, and made some chocolate covered strawberries. it would have been better if we had some shortbread cookies and warm tea, but beggars can't be choosers. Well, I guess that makes us beggars now.

Birch, this weird Deer, said that this place is called 'Desmodus', because there are a lot of vampire bats around here. Why the heck we'd build a town around a bunch of blood- sucking monsters, I don't know. Apparently the bats around here are relatively tame, but still makes me a bit uneasy. After tomorrow, I start school on Wednesday, apparently. I'm not exactly thrilled about the fact they think we could just go back to a normal life, considering what happened. Dawn seems excited though, to bad she isn't even old enough to start school. I almost want to take her with me anyway. I don't exactly trust these strangers here with my little sister.

Tuesday

Today out new care giver moved into our apartment. Her name is Zeana, and I had to say I was shocked. I was expecting one of those bat ponies from town, not an old zebra. Well, old to me. She seemed to be a bit older than my mother. That's ANCIENT to me. She's really pretty, but I wonder what she's doing here, it seems like besides all the bat ponies, there are only two non-bat ponies; Birch the deer and Zeana. It baffled me why a Zebra would be out here at first, until I asked her. She said she moved here  to 'get in touch with nature. whatever is natural about the Everfree Forest, I don't know. I hadn't exactly heard the best things about this place, but Zeana insisted that this was the most natural place in Equestria. I didn't question the silly Zebra's logic.

Dawn seems to really like her, all afternoon Zeana was showing her all the fancy decorations she brought with her, and teaching her what they all meant, too. I listened too, though I couldn't understand it that well, but I figured she could explain it better to me later. she even taught us a recipe for some interesting new desert of her own creation, some spicy brownies! What luck, she's a baker, too! now I never thought spicy and sweet could work together, but my goodness they were so good! I just can't stop talking about it!

I grabbed my blank note book and a pen and jotted down the recipe Moon Pie put down in excited exuberance. "Well, someone is to excited to notice her friend is up." I looked up and saw Grella had gotten up off the cot and grimaced at her wing. The look on her face said she wasn't mad I wasn't paying attention. "Ugh, I forgot about that stupid fence."

"Are you okay?" I said softly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I should just wait for... whatever happened to my wing to stop. I should be good as new." she smirked sarcastically. "Not that I want to stay here another night..."

"I don't think this town wants you here, either. To be honest, I don't think they want me here, either." I sighed. "They seem to have no problem with Rose and crew, though." 

"Well, at least we're on the same page me and this place. I only stopped here because I needed a drink." She shrugged. "But, hey, at least I got to see you one last time."

"One last time? Where are you going?"

"Don't you know? I'm going...", She sighed, "... to get Morning Glory and convince her to come back."

"Do you know where she went?"

She shrugged. "North?"

The door to the doctor's office opened, revealing the huge diamond dog. "I couldn't help but over hear."

"Rex? What are you doing here?"

"I saw the griffon get zapped, and I figured she was your friend, based on that little scene in the bar." He sighed. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Huh? Why?" Rose's group, with the surprising exception of Rose, hadn't been the most inviting. 

"I just felt like it." I had a feeling he was nominated as the ambassador of the group, or lost a bet. I wasn't sure which. "So... about this friend of yours."

"She's a changeling," Grella said.

"What color is she?"

Grella thought about it. "Grey?"

"All changelings are grey. I meant what color were her wings and tail. Did she have a mane?"

"Blue." I said. "And yes, she did have a mane. Her wings were shaped like dragonfly wings, and had a luster."

"Greaat, a queen changeling. Did she say anything before she left?"

"No... nothing that could help us find her." Grella said with a hopeless look.

"She wasn't a queen!" I said in a soft yet urgent voice. "She... she didn't have the crown thing."

"Ah. A princess then." Rex pondered. I had been grateful I picked up a book about changelings, out of curiosity, at the local library. "Well, chances are if she was out here, she didn't go back to the hives."

"Well, then were is she?"

"She might be hiding somewhere out there, or for all you know she went back to where you left to go after her. If she was as close of a friend as you think." Rex said. "Maybe you should go back."

"So you want me to leave to?" she glared.

"Not like that." he sat. "I mean you should just make sure your not gonna search all of Equestria, just to find out she want back to were she left."

Grella paused. "I'll... think about it." She turned to me. "My wings should be good as new by morning. Mind if I stay with you Autumn?"

" She might be okay with it, but Rose..." Rex whispered.

"Well, she'll just have to deal with it!" Grella smiled, putting her claw on my shoulder as I put my book away into my bag. 

"Oh, I see. So your..."

She blushed, and glared. "Of course not! Autumn is with a Zebra, who's in Canterlot. I don't think about her that way." 

"I see. My apologies." He got up. "Nice meeting you. My name is Rex."

"I inferred. My name is Grella." A coveted claw to... paw bump as usual.

"Let's get going, and Grella... please don't assault Rose again. She's been nice."

"She's been nice, sure." Grella said. "Not sure if she's been sincere. then again, I don't know the pony, so I'll take your word for it."

	
> Chapter Thirty One: Festering Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Your leaving?!" Rose looked hurt, waiting for me at my room.

"Yeah, tomorrow. Grella and I already talked it out on the way over. We're both going back to Ponyville tomorrow, if her wings are feeling better."

"They will!" Grella said from the bathroom, taking a long bath.

Rose frowned. "Well, then I'll go with you!"

"Rose, no. You can't."

"Well, why not?"

"You could stay here. ponies here seem to like you enough. That, and your friends seem to like it here. I wouldn't want them thinking I took you from them anymore." I felt a tinge of guilt. 

She glared. "I don't care, I want to see you. I..." She looked down. "...I-I..."

"Rose, please." I frowned. "I need to..." With no warning, Rose quickly hugged me, her eyes getting glossy.   I stared at her in shock. 

"Just don't get yourself killed out there. Come back to see me sometime, okay?"

I was still in shock as she let me go, sniffling, but I did manage to say. "I... I'll be at Ponyville, if you ever get going that way..."

She smiled. "Duly noted." Then just like that, she turned out of the door and left.

I sat on the bed and sighed. Grella had grown quiet, probably deep in thought. I leaned back in bed, and picked up the journal with exuberance, an an attempt to forget what just happened.

Wendsday

School here was not what I was expecting. Truly, though, I'm not exactly sure what I expected. The foals my age don't even know how to write yet! It was annoying. And they keep going off about how to get your cutiemark, and how cutiemarks work, but I already have my cutiemark so that's pretty pointless. Zeana said school is important though so I guess I'm going to have to go. 

The kids here are so annoying, too! I told my teacher I didn't need to learn about cutiemarks, and that I already was taught how to write, and that I did write often. She wasn't happy about my constructive criticism when I suggested she put me in an advanced class because I wasn't learning anything. She told me 'if your in the older classes, you won't make any friends your age!' and told me to sit down. Needless to say, I hate school. 

But, when I got home, Zeana already had some carrot pie cooked for me. Dawn was still sulking because she wanted to go to school with me, and I was guessing that Zeana's story lesson wasn't really helping. She was really happy when I got home, though. 

Thrusday

Making friends isn't easy. After yesterday, I had realized at recess that most of the other fillies and colts around here aren't really interested in letting some stranger join their groups, even other foals from hallow shades have their own group. Zeana said I'll make friends here eventually. I hope she's right.

Other than that, today Zeana showed me how to make grilled leek with spicy sauce. I wish she had her own cook book. 

"What cha' reading?"

I looked up and noticed Grella was done, drying off her feathers. "Oh, just a journal I got."

"You have a journal?"

"Well... no. Some weird lady gave me a saddlebag with the book in it... I think someone gave it to me on purpose, but all that was in it was this book."

"Well, why would they do that?"

"I don't know..." I sighed. "I haven't really wanted to think about this, honestly.  Either way, it's still a good book." I sighed. Of course those thoughts would fill my mind, paranoid theories of why somepony would hire somepony to FILLYNAP me, why ponies seemed to instantly dislike me, all of that stuff. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"Alright, alright. Well, let's go through our supplies then. What do you have?"

"Well... I have some books, some pencils, and... my tree branch?" I blushed. "I think I have some leftovers in the fridge, Rose put some in there last night."

"A tree branch? Seriously?" She laughed slightly. "Alright, what about that food? About a day's flight from here to ponyville, might as well have some lunch to go." She moved over to the fridge and pulled it open. "Surprised we even have electricity in this place, I swear, it's..." She paused, and pulled out a container. "What's this?"

I got up and trotted over. "Oh, um... that's just some grilled meat from the festival."

"Well hot daum, this place has meat? Looks good, too. Shame it's home to a bunch'a assholes." She smiled. "I'm gonna assume that you don't want this?"

I glanced away. "Maybe... maybe not..."

She then realized. "Oh my, so you tried meat? Really, lil' miss muffin?" She smiled.

"Y-yeah..." I felt uneasy admitting that. Just nearly a month ago I'd been criticizing the mere concept of consuming the flesh of a living creature, and now I was going to split leftovers with my griffon companion. "Rose convinced me to try some..."

"Well, you sure have come a long way, haven't ya?"

"I guess so..."

"We can warm this up in the morning so It'll be all set for a mid-morning snack." She put the container back and closed the door, then turned to me. "So, how many bits do we have?"

I blushed, remembering the only money I had was what Rose gave me, minus what I had to use to pay for Grella's drinks. "I have ten bits."

"Hmm..." she frowned. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to say... what the hell ARE you doing out here with her anyway? And what did you mean by 'forced'?"

I shrugged. "Well... um... remember when I was telling you guys about rose and her boss?"

She glared. "No..."

"Well..."

"No, I remember. What happened?"

"Her old boss, Champagne... well... someone hired her to have someone fillynap me, for some reason. Rose broke out and took me with her, with her little group. the details are still a little fuzzy for me." I smiled.

"Your not serious, are you?" She glared. "Did she... did anything happen to you?"

"No... well, she did give me some serious tranquilizers or something like that. I was out for most off it."

"I see." I could tell it was making her a bit more angry the more I talked about it. 

"Let's just drop it. We have a big trip tomorrow after all." I yawned and climbed back in bed. "I don't wanna think about that anyway. Whatever happened, happened." 

"Okay, we won't." She seemed a little disappointed, yet understanding. "Besides, you should get to sleep."

"What about you? I don't have any extra blankets or anything..."

"It's fine, and besides your probably paranoid just sitting here, right? No worries, no one gets past this griffon."

"Don't you need some sleep?"

"Neh, I got plenty of rest yesterday. I'll be fine." She sighed. "As well as resting in a fuckin' shack can be. Still, I've had enough rest." She took a seat on the couch, and put out one of the lights. I wasn't sure how I was able to get to sleep, but eventually I did.



I woke up in a strange, small room. It seemed at first like a Doctor's office, lying on a a cot. But no, it felt wrong, everything felt wrong. The dark was overwhelming, creeping over the corners of the  walls. It was unnerving, and on top of that, my limbs felt sticky and restrained, crushed against the coarse prodding fabric of the chair. There was a smell I couldn't quite pinpoint that reached my muzzle. It was horrible. Eventually, I was able to recognize the substance. Blood. Blood was everywhere.

The blood festered and caked the walls, a small amount of light creeping in from the window. Window? I tried to move my head and failed. How did I know there was a window? In the distance, I could hear a low quiet click of whooves on a tile floor. Click... Click... Click. Slowly getting louder and louder and closer to the door. Then, slowly, the door creaked open. In the doorway, nearly blurred put by the light, was... I quickly shut my eyes. Don't look... I thought to myself. Don't look... don't look, don't look, DON'T LOOK!

I felt a hoof reach forward and hold my head still, then placed a device around my face keeping it in place. I could feel a cold, metal device hovering over my eye lid of my right eye, prying it open. I was met with a bright light being flashed directly into my cornea, a light similar to what dentists use. "Let's see what the problem is, Ms. Darling."

"NO!" I screamed. "Where am I? Let... Let me go! Stop!"

The Pony was a unicorn, simple, in a doctor's garb complete with what seemed like goggles and a surgical mask. He floated out a syringe, and I felt a sting in my body. I felt like squirming, but yet I was horrified to. Any sudden movements could cause my eyelids to tear on the cold, metal contraption. A numbness overwhelmed me, even more than before.

"Now now," the unicorn said, "you wouldn't want to struggle now, will you? Or maybe we could see how long you would last if I saw off your last leg and give you no treatment? I wonder how long it will take a mare your size to bleed out..." I couldn't do anything, both paralyzed from the drug and the fear. Last leg? Was I missing limbs? The uncertainty was the scariest thing of them all. But what... what was he going to do with my eyes?

"I await your input. I want to know every agonizing detail. Of course, because of your little outburst, this paralysis potion might hinder the experiment's results. Well, no matter. I'll make sure to keep you conscious during the surgery." I could hear the clank of metal instruments on a tray. "My, you do have such pretty eyes, Ms. Darling. I'll be sure to try my best to preserve this one as good as I can. Maybe I'll even let you see it, I wonder what your reaction will be..."

My eyes shot open. Needless to say, I was in no rush to go back to sleep that night.
> Chapter Thirty Two: Thing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Are you okay back there?" Grella called to me from her back. I had to admit, given that I had changed drastically the past few days, flying still horrified me. I was trying my best not to let my stomach have it's way. 

"Actually..." I could barely keep it down. "C-can we... can we s-stop?"

"Oh, um, sure. Hang on." She swooped down to the road. I wasn't sure exactly where we were, but I could tell we were at least almost out of the Everfree. The wind had tossed us, or at least more me, through thick and thin since morning, which had dissolved into a foggy afternoon. Needless do say, the moment my hoofs touched the ground I vomited with abandon. Grella stretched out and took out her water bottle. "Come on, it wasn't THAT bumpy."

"That was madness!" I said through dry heaves, washing my mouth out. "Well, there goes my lunch, eh?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah just... ugh I hate flying."

She frowned. "Sorry, but this was the only way we could make it back to Ponyville in a day." She did have a point, though, much to my dismay. "I guess we could walk the rest of the way." 

I frowned. "Actually..."

Grella rolled her eyes. "Just go in the woods."

I blushed. "F-Fine, just don't be too far."

"Okay..." Grella rolled her eyes. 

After trotting out into the woods and relieving my nervous bladder, I carefully scanned the woods when a glint of something reflective caught my eyes. At first, I thought it might have been some pony ready to shoot me if I looked at them funny, but then I recognized them as re-enforced roof shingles. "Hey Grella, you see that?"

"Do I even want to know?" Grella Called out.

"Looks like a house."

Grella flew over carefully. "A house? Out here?"

I stared at the house in silence, feeling a strange almost magnetic pull to it. "We should check it out."

"What? Why?"

"Well... what if there are ponies in there, lost? We could help put them in the right direction to Ponyville!" I smiled softly. "Or... what if somepony is in there hurt? We could help them!"

"Or it could be full of Murderers or Zomb-ponies who will try to shoot or bite out faces off."	

"There might be useful supplies, looks like it's pretty fortified."

"Fortified? A fortified abandoned Shack in the middle of the most dangerous forest in Equestria?" Grella looked like she was considering it for whatever reason. I wasn't even sure while I was so persistent. She sighed and got her gun ready. "I'll give you ten minutes."

I smiled. To be honest, I was hoping to maybe get some more books, or maybe even something I could use as a weapon, better than my nailed branch. I did know why Grella would be interested in the small, seemingly random shelter in the forest, or at least I had a feeling she did know. 

We walked to the shack with hesitation. It was small, but surprisingly not surrounded by dead bodies, not that I would prefer the alternative. The shack, despite it's size, seemed well built, almost as if it were reinforced with cement, only one window next to a metal door, but it seemed to be one way. There was also what seemed to be a generator outside. And it was running.

"Do you think somepony is inside?" I said softly.

"Only one way to find out." Grella walked up to the door with more bravery, or maybe just more curiosity, than I could muster. She knocked confidently on the door. "Hey, anyone in the-" As she knocked on the door, the door slipped open. Grella opened it and looked around quickly. "- no one's there." 

"The door was just open?" I looked surprised, walking by her to peak inside. "They must have left recently."

"But... why?"

"How would I know?" I responded. I trotted inside and looked around. "Hey Grella could you... could you keep guard outside? I wanna see if I can find anything I can use."

"Alright." She gave me a stern look. "Ten. Minutes."

I walked inside and closed the door. I had to admit, it was bigger than it looked, for a one room shelter. There was a small bed against the wall, along with a dresser packed with clothes. there was a small kitchen, and on the far corner... an alchemy lab. I could tell it was for potion brewing, recognizing some of the herbs from my magic 101 book. Well, the corner was more like a mini office, complete with a bookshelf and stocked shelves of office supplies and other things. As I was taking in the amazingly stocked shelter, a thought crossed my mind, why would anypony leave this place, completely stocked, and leave the door open?

While looking around, I noticed a key high in a cabinet that I couldn't quite reach. I mean, I could always come back here, might as well make sure it's locked so no one would take this treasure trove while we were gone. I looked around and found a step ladder folded against a closet, and I took it, turning back to the cabinet. As I opened the step ladder and grabbed the key on the top shelf, sneaking it into my pocket, I heard a loud bang. I turned around quickly, and fell off of the step ladder. Something broke the closet door, and it was fast.

Before I could know it, what seemed like a bag of flesh crawled over me before I could get up. I was horrified, and I was disgusted. but above all, I felt... filthy. I tried to squirm out of the thing's grasp, and at that moment I was wondering WHY it wasn't trying to bite me, assuming it was just a deformed zombie. Somehow, I managed to crawl out of it's grasp and kicked it into the shelf of potions, breaking a bottle of some kind of acid, spilling it onto the monster's body, melting through it's skin. With in moments, I realized it was dead, the acid eating through the rotting creature's brain... brains? I screamed in horror, my body itching from the slime from the monster's under belly. I fell onto the floor, feeling like the slime was burning through me. 

And just then the door opened. "Autumn, times up-"


I awoke lying on a bed. I didn't recognize where I was. I rolled over and saw Grella cleaning the floor, no doubt just the broken glass from the vial. So I was still in that bunker, huh? "What are you doing?!" I said, nervous that Grella might have gotten the chemicals on her claws.

"Hey, hey... relax. What fell on that thing was just a bottle of vinegar." She said, noticing my concern.

"What are we still doing here?!" 

"You had an allergic reaction to the thing's slime. I'll assume your allergic to frogs? It's rare, but you might just be lucky." She glanced around. "Either that or that thing's slime just causes irritation for ponies. I wasn't effected when I dragged it out. "

"Why did you bother to clean this place?"

Grella blushed. "Well... I was maybe thinking of coming back here."

"Coming back? Why?"

"Oh... no reason." She smiled. "So, how are you feeling?"

I sighed. "Better, I suppose." I felt a pain in my chest. "What WAS that thing?"

"Your wildest assumption would probably be right. according to the notes I found, whoever was staying in this shelter was experimenting on those undead, or at least they directed their research that far."

"But... but how the hell did it end up like that?"

She sighed and sat in the desk chair. "They were trying to cure them. They tested a mix of magic and alchemy multiple times, keeping the undead captured yet secure in the back room. If her experiment failed, she would clean out the bodies and try again. not exactly like there is a shortage of them right now. Apparently the magic that brought them back to life reacted badly with a few of the tests she was running, and their bodies fell apart. Before she could clean up the bodies however, the loose body parts were sticking to different corpses. Creatures with three arms, two heads, half a torso. apparently a couple broke loose but she managed to trap the last one in the backroom." She handed me the notebook, almost as if to solidify the proof. "She ran away, and left this note here in a hurry as a warning about the creature, and possible ways to kill them. But it seems like you found a way she didn't list, using an everyday bottle of vinegar. The slime, I'm assuming was just produced from the creatures skin to keep the body from drying out, that and it apparently is constantly fusing together and unfusing, and it might just be a byproduct."

That was further feeding the questions as to why Grella wanted to stay here. "Okay... so then why do you want to stay here again? Seriously. This place doesn't exactly scream secure, considering there were several experiments and mutated fricking zombie experiments probably crawling all over the place?" 

"Don't worry, I cleaned it up. That, and I'll be safe as long as I have a water gun of vinigar, and my rifle packed with bullets."

"That doesn't really answer my question, Grella."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll explain later, okay? In the meantime, I think That Cherry and Buttercrisp might be worried as hell about you."

I didn't break my gaze. "You better have a good explanation."

	

> END?- author's note and explaination
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry to inform you that this version of Equestria Undead is currently cancelled beyond this point.
Don't worry, you can read my improved and modified edition, Equestria Revived, as soon as it is approved for Fimfiction and will be available through my profile as soon as it's up.

There are a few reasons I'm Discontinuing this story and revising it into the new one. 
for one; this version is very flawed and the chapters are much shorter than I like. I intend on making Equestria Undead better and re exploring dropped plot points and even characters that in I actually think will be better for it in the long run.

I would like it if you would go to that story try it, and don't worry although some plot points in this version will still be there, there are plenty of new things that I hope you will like!

thankyou for fallowing and supporting Equestria Undead (now Equestria Revived) 

-Running

*UPDATE*
Hey guys! Please note this story is being completely reworked. Once I start putting up the new story in the Equestria Undead/Revived Universe, the other version will be deleted HOWEVER I will merge the two of them together in the original Equestria Undead. For updates, you can follow my da where I will post updates, previews of character concepts, and even more! (Same username) Thankyou for your support.