“—RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”

Apple Bloom took the hint and galloped off into the forest. She wished she could have brought Mitta with her, wished she could have found a way to end her suffering. The forest was alive with movement, wails and moans of zombie‐ponies echoed through the trees. Every bush was her enemy, every turn yielding nothing but more skeletons. The forest grew darker with every minute, the moonlight extinguished by the thick canopy once more. Apple Bloom counted her blessings that zombie‐pony’s eyes glowed or she would never have seen them coming in this darkness. In the distance Apple Bloom could see a patch of moonlight ahead of her; she was almost to the thicket! Abruptly, a slimy sensation wrapped itself around one of her hind legs. She screamed in horror, a zombie had managed to latch itself onto her! The familiar draining sensation began to pour over her again as the zombie opened its mouth.

“We’ll protect you…FOREV—”

The zombie didn’t get a chance to finish as Apple Bloom brought her free back‐hoof into the zombie’s skull. The adrenaline from her scare had nearly doubled her strength as her little hoof cracked the bones that made up the zombie’s face. Its skull teetered askew on its neck and a low growl keened from deep within it. The filly tried to pull her leg free with her remaining energy, expecting the zombie to let go after such a kick.

“...FOREVER...”

To her utter terror, the zombie had managed to hold on steadfast, and was dragging itself closer. Its eyes were gleaming with foul intent. Apple Bloom could only flail weakly as wild tunnel vision encompassed her field of view and her thoughts became cloudy and twisted by evil.

A flock of dark birds scattered from the treetops cawing angrily as a bone-chilling shriek pierced through the forest of the dead. Then there was silence.

The back gate to Sweet Apple Acres swung open momentarily, creaking with age, then banged shut under its own weight. A path was slowly burrowed through the cornstalks in the direction of the farmhouse. On the porch an orange pony sat, her cowboy hat low over her eyes as she rocked gently in the glider bench. The light was on in the window behind her, putting her in silhouette. Her ears started to twitch and shortly she roused from slumber as the groove in the grain came close enough to be heard snapping and swaying the starchy stalks.

“Apple Bloom? Is that you?” She asked the night, sliding off the bench and looking towards whatever was approaching. “Apple Bloom, it’s past midnight! Twilight was worryin’ herself sick, lookin' everywhere for ya! Where have you been?”

In the glare from the window, it was difficult to make out a red glow in between the stalks, but the glow was certainly there. The furrow came closer, to the edge of the field. The corn parted like a beaded curtain and a little filly stumbled out into the clearing before the porch.

“Hi, Applejack!”

Applejack blinked, not believing her eyes. She was at a loss for words. Standing before her, in full light, was a filly who was in near-complete shadow. Her coat was black as charcoal and missing in places, and her eyes were blood-red. This could not be her sister. She panicked.

“...Applejack? Hullo?" The thing shuffled up the porch steps towards the mare, who backed away frantically. “Applejack, Ah’m home! Ya miss me?”

“Get away! Stay back! Don’t hurt me!” Applejack’s hooves scrabbled on the wooden boards of the porch, pushing her backwards until she was pressed against the pillar holding the roof up. “Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded, “don’t eat mah brains!”

“Applejack! Ah’m not gonna hurt you! Why would Ah hurt you?”

“Cuz yer a monster from the Everfree, pretendin’ yer Apple Bloom! Yer a rotten monster!”

The thing looked shocked. It fell down on its haunches and began to tear up. Although the tears were bloody, to the mare they appeared genuine. “Applejack! How could you say such a thing?” Its voice was a rasping whimper. “Do you know what Ah’ve just been through? Ah went through so much, an’ it was really, really scary, but Ah was strong an’ came back here 'cause Ah’m a big pony! And then you go an' call me a monster!”

Applejack cautiously stepped forward, almost every instinct telling her not to. “...Apple Bloom? Is that really you?”

The thing which may have been Apple Bloom jumped up and nodded. “A-course it’s me, sis! Who else would it be? Ah escaped from this weird town in th’ Everfree!” Several ratty clumps fell out of her mane as she rushed forward to nuzzle the mare. Applejack leaned back slightly.

“Hold yer horses now, you may not be a monster, but you look the spittin’ image of a zombie! How'dya explain that?”

“What? Ah ain’t a zombie! Ah got away from all th' zombies! Why, what do Ah look like?”

“Well fer starters, you don’t even have any eyes!”

Apple Bloom gasped. “But Ah can see you just fine, clear as day!” She reached up and poked herself in the eye, her hoof going much farther inwards than it should have. “AAH! What in the hay?!” She pulled her hoof out and stared at it, legitimately frightened.

“Yer skin is all sort of rotted an’ smelly... yer mane an’ tail’re fallin’ out... yer teeth too...”

“Get a mirror! Get a mirror!” The filly danced about anxiously while Applejack went inside and brought out a small mirror. Apple Bloom grabbed it from her and immediately yelped. “Omigosh, what happened to me?!” Her reflection was like tar, and in place of eyes, she had two bright fogs. “Applejack, what the hay happened to me?!” She dropped the mirror and spun around in a tight circle looking at herself. “What the hay?! WHAT THE HAY?!”

“Ah dunno, Apple Bloom! Yer a zombie! A-are you feelin’ okay?”

“Ah was fine, but now Ah’m all freaked out! Ah’m a zombie! What in blue blazes?! What will mah friends think? How will Ah go to school? What will Ah eat? Where will Ah live?” She started crying again. “Ah dun wanna go back to the Everfree!”

Applejack hugged the sobbing filly, the viscous blood drizzling down her leg. “Don’t fret now, you don’t hafta go back to the Everfree... everything’s gonna be alright... Ah hope...”

After a while, Apple Bloom murmured into her sister’s shoulder. “...Applejack, why did this happen to me?”

“Ah have no idea, sugarcube, but first thing in the morning Ah’ll get Big Macintosh to get some books from Twilight. They’ll help us get you back to normal.” The cowpony pulled apart from her sister and looked her in the eye sockets. “...In the mean time, you aren’t allowed to leave the farm, fer yer own safety. Some ponies might get the wrongest ideas...”

“Ah think Ah understand... can at least Sweetie Belle an’ Scootaloo come over?”

“No! Nopony else can know. ...Ah’m sorry, but Ah don’t want anything to happen to you, even in yer present state.”

“They wouldn’t do anything... Ah know they wouldn’t.”

“But they might tell somepony who might do something. We have to keep this secret from all of Equestria. As far as everyone you know is concerned,” she gulped, “y’all are dead.”

Apple Bloom nodded solemnly. “Okay... we’ll talk more about this in th’ morning... Ah’ll try to get to bed now, and maybe Ah’ll wake up normal...”

“Let's hope so... G’night, Apple Bloom. Sweet dreams, if you can still have them.”

The filly trotted ungainly into the house, a small tuft of hair getting stuck in the door. Applejack listened to her sister go up the stairs and into her room, then entered the house herself and turned the light off. The moon cast the porch in soft white tones, and the stillness of the moment pervaded the air. A pair of red orbs appeared in the upstairs window, unchanging.

Applejack awoke that morning face-down in the pillow. The sun glinted off the mirror laying on the bedside table, landing its beam on the ceiling. Yawning, she pushed up, turned around, and sat in bed, rubbing her eyes. She looked over at the clock on the table.

“8 AM, early enough fer a Saturday.” She pulled the covers aside, momentarily noticing that the light on the ceiling had a dark circle on it. The mare turned to glimpse the mirror throwing the beam, finding the corresponding spot on the glass. It was a drop of congealed blood.

The memories of the night before came surging back, frothing and grainy. Staying up until midnight, waiting for Apple Bloom to come home. Apple Bloom finally arriving, but not as her usual self. A zombie.

“Apple Bloom!” She scrambled out of her room, not bothering with her hat, rounding the corner and running down the hallway, kicking open the door and searching for her sister. “Apple Bloom! Where are you?!”

“Ah’m here.” A stiff voice grumbled. A black creature crawled out from under the bed and stood up. “Ah couldn’t sleep a wink, so I practiced bein’ the monster in the closet. Then the drawers, then the curtains, then the bed.”

Applejack stared. The thing in front of her stared back.

“Applejack, you okay? You know it’s me, right?”

The mare shook her head. “Uh, yeah, Apple Bloom. Right. Sorry, you looked different in the light.”

“What light?”

“Y’know, th’... the light all around. The sunlight. It’s 8 in the morning.”

“It is? Golly. Well Ah know Ah tried to sleep... Ah musta counted a thousand sheep before Ah realized Ah couldn’t close mah eyes. On account of Ah don’t have ‘em anymore.”

“Aheh, right... you couldn’t sleep at all?”

“Nope. Ah figured Ah didn’t need to. After Ah stared out the window for an hour, Ah read some of Big Macintosh’s old math book until Ah was bored. Then Ah went to get a glass of juice but Ah couldn’t keep it down. You might want to avoid the kitchen sink fer a while.”

“Uh, okay. Anything else?”

“No, not really. Oh, wait, there is one thing, Ah went an’ picked up the bits of mah mane that fell out, so’s you don’t have to. Ah put ‘em in that jar.” She pointed to the dresser.

“Well, uh, we better go tell Big Macintosh about all a’ this so he don’t freak out when he sees ya.”

“Aw, Ah wanted to surprise him.”

“Bad idea, sugarcube. Very bad idea.” The two ponies trotted out the door.

In the kitchen, Big Macintosh was eating his usual oatmeal out of his usual bowl. He was a stallion of routine. The whole family knew it and tried to live their lives to his schedule. He knew that any moment now, the two girls would come in and say good morning. The clip-clopping of hooves on wood confirmed it. His orange sister entered the kitchen with a nervous smile and sat down.

“Uh, good mornin’.”

“Mornin’,” he replied. He waited for a moment, looked up at the door, and looked to his sister. “Where’s Apple Bloom?”

“Oh, see, there’s something Ah wanted to talk to you about. About Apple Bloom.”

“She sick?”

“No, she’s not sick.”

“She get hurt?”

“No, definitely not.”

“She in trouble?”

“Um, depends what you call trouble.”

“AJ, tell me.”

“Um, maybe I’d better show you instead.” Applejack looked at the door. “Apple Bloom, you can come in now.”

Apple Bloom trotted into the kitchen and clambered up onto a chair. “Mornin’, Big Macintosh.”

The stallion’s wheat sprig poofed into little bits which fell in his oatmeal.

“Well, how do ya do t’ you too. What’s fer breakfast?”

“A-A-Apple Bloom?”

“Yeah?”

“Apple Bloom, what happened to you?!”

“Ah’m a zombie now.” She pulled the pitcher of milk closer.

Big Macintosh gaped, struggling to find the words in the sense of terror he felt.  “...Applejack, why is a zombie at the kitchen table?”

“She’s not a zo— well, not just a zombie, she’s yer sister! Mine too. She got lost in the Everfree and came back like this. It was late last night, y’all were already asleep.”

“It was really scary,” Apple Bloom went on, “Ah found this weird spooky town in the forest where nopony had a cutie mark.” She poured herself a glass, put it to her crumbly lips, but recoiled as the drink curdled. “Then Ah met this one filly who did have a cutie mark, but she was dead, an’ then all th’ others were too.”

“...A-Apple Bloom, yer a zombie...”

“Of course Ah am! Ah got snagged on one o’ the dead ponies an’ they turned me.”

“...You aren’t gonna eat mah b-brains, are ya?”

“Honestly! Applejack asked th’ same question! Why in th’ world would Ah eat yer brains?”

Big Macintosh continued to stare at the filly, shaking with fear. “Cuz yer a zombie...”

“Well if it’s such a big deal then Ah may as well do it!” She mock-snarled at the stallion, making his eyes go wide. “Aww, Ah’m just kidding. Ah wouldn’t do that to ya. Brains probably taste icky.”

“She may be undead, Big Macintosh, but she’s still Apple Bloom,” the orange pony said. “An’ on that matter, we need you to go into town an’ get some books about zombies so we can fix her. But don’t say a word to nopony. Apple Bloom is missing, presumed dead to Ponyville. Promise?”

Big Macintosh took a deep breath, summoning his calm face. “Eeyup.”

The chime jingled twice, once as the door opened and then as it closed. Twilight Sparkle looked up from her novel to the sight of the tallest pony in Ponyville.

“Oh, hi Big Macintosh! Is everything alright? Did you find Apple Bloom?”

“Nnope.”

The unicorn frowned, disappointed. “I’m so sorry. I should have kept a better eye on her. What if she’s still out there in the forest, lost and afraid?”

The stallion averted his eyes, trying not to get caught in a lie. He said nothing.

“...Well, can I help you with anything here then?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight paused, expecting him to continue. “...With what?”

“Zombies.”

“Zombies?” She looked over her shoulder at the shelves. “They should be over there in the horror section. Funny, I never expected you to be interested in that sort of thing.”

“Nnope. Real ones.”

“Uh, you mean legends and folklore?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight lit her horn and pulled several books into the air. “Hmm, real zombies... Babbling Brook’s Guide to Zombies? The Council Book of Zombiology? This one looks a little highbrow... Philosophical Zombies Eat Soul Food?"

"Ah'll take 'em."

The books floated over to the desk. "Okay, but you know these are only fiction, right?"

The stallion took out his card. “Eeyup. Ring ‘em up.” He gave the card to Twilight, who swiped it on her horn and gave it back. “Thank you kindly.” Putting the books in his saddlebags, he headed for the door.

“If there’s anything I can do to help find your sister, I’d love to help. Could we organize a search party? I’m good at organization.”

“Thank you, miss, but don’t worry about it none. She’ll turn up.” And the chime jingled twice again. Twilight was left with nothing but the silence in the library.

“...How can he not be worried?”