Applebloom lazily walked through Sunny Town, occasionally stumbling over her hooves, trying to find her way back to Mitta's house. After she got back from her visit to Zecora's she tried to hide from him, but someone Grey Hoof knew where she was and caught her. Despite her pleas they dragged her back to the house outside of Sunny Town, where Applebloom had found the bones, and tortured her, poking and prodding at her with metal rods. Because of her being undead, or cursed, she wasn't too sure, the scratches, and burns from when the decided to heat the rods up, had disappeared already, so unless she told Mitta she wouldn't have any clue what happened.

"Applebloom!" Mitta shouted, causing Applebloom to turn around quickly, noticing Mitta running towards her from the well, "Where have you been?!"

"I, uh..." Applebloom trailed off, not sure what to tell Mitta, "Got lost?"

"We can't get lost, blanks always know where Sunny Town is" Mitta said, eyeing Applebloom worried, noticing a small patch missing from her coat. Applebloom followed Mitta's gaze and shrunk away, trying to hide it.

"They caught you didn't they?" Mitta asked, giving Applebloom a deadpan stare.

"Uh, yeah..." Applebloom said quietly, afraid that Mitta was going to get mad at her for getting caught. As Applebloom continued to back away Mitta jumped forwards, hugging Applebloom tightly. Because of the size difference between the two they fell to the ground. Applebloom tried to get up, but stopped when she heard Mitta's sobs.

"Mitta?" Applebloom asked worriedly, rubbing Mitta's back. After a few minutes Mitta lifted her head, her face coated with tears that were still coming from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Applebloom, I didn't want that to happen to you, I'm so sorry!" Mitta cried, hugging Applebloom tightly.

"It's okay Mitta, it's not your fault" Applebloom said in attempt to calm Mitta down, seeing as the rest of the town was now looking at the two of them. As Mitta continued to cry Grey Hoof trotted over, looking down at the two of them.

"What is going on here?" Grey Hoof asked, pulling Mitta away from Applebloom.

"Nothing Mr.Hoof" Applebloom said, bowing her head to Grey Hoof.

"Then would someone like to explain to me why Mitta is crying like a baby?" Grey Hoof asked, turning to the crowd behind him.

"Mitta was saying something about being sorry for letting something happen to Applebloom" Roneo said, grinning slightly as Applebloom cringed. He had been one of the ponies who would heat up the metal rod in the fire before poking her with it.

"Is that so?" Grey Hoof said, turning back to the two of them, "Looks like two ponies need to learn their place"

"Please no, leave Mitta alone, she didn't do anything wrong!" Applebloom cried, moving to stand in front of Mitta.

"Then who told you how to leave the town?!" Grey Hoof shouted, "There's only one pony in the town that knows how, and that's Mitta!"

"She never said anything, I found it out myself!" Applebloom shouted back. What she said, wasn't actually a lie, Mitta had said there was a way to leave the town, but she didn't show her how.

"Well then, if you're going to be so adamant about it, I guess we'll just have to..." Grey Hoof said, looking up the sky to decide on her punishment, "Remove one of your hooves"

"FINE!" Applebloom shouted, her jaw dropping after she realized what she just agreed to. Before she could say anything else Grey Hoof was on her, ordering one of the other ponies to get him a knife. After the ponies dispersed Grey Hoof turned his attention back to Applebloom.

"You have been with only a short while, yet caused so much trouble" Grey Hoof said, pausing to spit on Applebloom's right foreleg, "I'm going to enjoy this". As he said that one of the ponies came back with a bread knife, handing it to Grey Hoof as two other ponies held Applebloom down. Grey Hoof quickly steadied the blade over Applebloom's leg, and began to cut...

________________________________________________________

As Sweetie Belle made her way into the clubhouse she noticed the absence of talking. She quickly pulled out her notebook and saw a note saying to meet her here today after school, but she wasn't sure if she came at the right time.

"Just come in Sweetie Belle" Scootaloo said from inside, a slight amount of annoyance in her voice. Sweetie Belle slowly made her way inside, looking around for Applebloom hiding somewhere to try and scare her. When she didn't see her anywhere Sweetie Belle made her way to the table where Scootaloo was sitting.

"Where's Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle asked as she sat down, noticing that Scootaloo was looking at a map of Equestria.

"She got lost in the Everfree" Scootaloo said lazily, still distracted by the map.

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked, not sure if she heard her right.

"Applebloom is in the Everfree, we're going to go find her" Scootaloo said, circling a small clearing on the map.

"Why is she in the Everfree?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking at the other circles on the map, noticing a small line between them.

"She went with Twilight and wandered off, everypony thinks she's dead" Scootaloo said, passing the map to Sweetie Belle.

"And we're going to go look for her?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking over the map to try and find out what Scootaloo's plan was.

"Yup, now go pack some stuff for the trip, we might be in there for a while" Scootaloo said, getting up and heading to the door, "We can't let Applebloom get her cutie mark without us"

________________________________________________________

Mitta was carrying Applebloom back to her house, her left foreleg over Mitta's shoulder. After Grey Hoof finished cutting off her hoof he bucked her in the face, knocking her out. She started to come too as Mitta picked her up, and now she was aware of where she was.

"Mitta?" Applebloom asked slowly.

"Yeah Applebloom?" Mitta asked, stopping so Applebloom could get her bearings.

"Let me go" Applebloom said, pushing off of Mitta slightly.

"Why?" Mitta asked, letting go of Applebloom, causing her to fall to the ground.

"I'm going home, no matter what it takes" Applebloom said, getting to her hooves shakily.

"But you can only leave the forest on Nightmare Night Applebloom, you can't go home" Mitta said, helping Applebloom keep her balance with her hoof.

"Then I'll just stay out in the forest, waiting for that night so I can go home" Applebloom said while pushing Mitta's hoof away. Mitta didn't say anything as Applebloom slowly limped away. After a few falls Applebloom had made it to the edge of town, and after checking for anypony that could see her, left the town for the last time.

"Goodbye Applebloom..." Mitta said quietly, turning around to go home sadly.

________________________________________________________

"You know this is crazy right?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking into the darkness of the Everfree.

"Yeah, but I also know that if Applebloom wandered away and made it out okay she might get her cutie mark without us" Scootaloo said while trying to pull Sweetie Belle into the forest.

"But what if she really is dead?" Sweetie asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Then we'll find her body and tell Applejack and Big Mac where to find it, but we can't just leave Applebloom out here alone, dead or alive!". Before Sweetie Belle could object Scootaloo pulled her into the forest, using what wing power she had to make sure they were going to go deep into the forest. After a few minutes of dragging Sweetie Belle they found a large pile of trees, as if someone had tossed them there.

"Didn't Twilight say she was tossing trees when Applebloom walked away?" Sweetie Belle asked. Before they had come to the forest they asked Twilight what happened so they could try and find out where Applebloom could be.

"Yeah, I bet if we look around here we might-" Scootaloo stopped when she read a bush move from behind her. Turning on the spot she stared at the bush, expecting Applebloom to come out of it. Instead a small rabbit poked it's head out, holding an odd colored stone in it's mouth.

"Doesn't that look like a hoof?" Sweetie Belle asked, pointing at what the rabbit was holding, causing the rabbit to run away.

"HEY GET BACK HERE!" Scootaloo shouted as she took off after the rabbit. If that thing really was a hoof it could be a clue as to where Applebloom was, so they had to get it, it was important!

"GET BACK YOU DARNED RABB-"

SMACK

"Ow my head..." Scootaloo said, at the same time as another voice which sounded very familiar...

"APPLEBLOOM!" Sweetie Belle screamed running at her friend to hug her.

"Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?!" Applebloom said loudly, surprised to see her friends here, "What are you two doing here?!"

"We came to find you, and uh..." Scootaloo said, slowing down as she noticed Applebloom's new look, "What happened to you?"

"Well, you see, I'm, uh, dead" Applebloom said quietly, not sure how her friends were going to take the news.

"You're dead" Sweetie Belle said while staring at Applebloom.

"Yes" Applebloom replied, raising a brow at her two friends.

"Then how are you talking to us?" Scootaloo asked.

"Cursed, so I can't die" Applebloom said, turning to face Scootaloo, showing her missing hoof to prove it.

"Wow..." Sweetie Belle said quietly.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Scootaloo shouted, causing both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to look at her in surprise, "What?"

"How is this awesome? She's a zombie now!" Sweetie Belle shouted back.

"DUH! Zombies are awesome, so now she's awesome!" Scootaloo replied, waving a hoof at Applebloom, who had suddenly slumped over.

"Uh, Applebloom, you oka-" Sweetie Belle started to say, before Applebloom's head jerked up and she bit her.

"SWEETIE BELLE!" Scootaloo shouted, whacking Applebloom away, causing her to come to her senses.

"What happened?" Applebloom asked, shaking her head from side to side.

"YOU BIT SWEETIE BELLE!" Scootaloo shouted, jumping on Applebloom, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"I, I don't know, something came over me and..." Applebloom started, getting quieter as she realized what she did. "Oh my Celestis..."

"YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO OUR FRIEND!" Scootaloo shouted, raising a hoof to hit Applebloom.

"Scootaloo? What are you doing?"

"What?!" Scootaloo shouted, her head jerking around to see Sweetie Belle standing up, looking at her.

"Why are you threatening to hit Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle asked, walking toward them.

"She bit you remember?!" Scootaloo asked worriedly, not sure what was going on. First Applebloom bit Sweetie Belle, making her faint, and now she was walking around again? She had even stopped bleeding...

"Guys I don't feel too good..." Sweetie Belles said before collapsing to the ground. Applebloom quickly jumped up to help her, but was pushed away by Scootaloo.

"Sweetie Belle are you okay?!" Scootaloo asked, shaking her friend in an attempt to wake her up. When she didn't wake up Scootaloo could feel her eyes filling with tears, but Sweetie Belle suddenly moved. As she continued to move she lost her natural color. Her coat was a dark shade of grey, her mane had dulled, and even her eyes had lost color. She slowly got up, opening her eyes fully, revealing two green orbs where her irises should be.

"What's wrong Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking to see Applebloom crying softly, "Applebloom?"

"No, no, no..." Scootaloo whispered, lightly hitting the ground with one of her hooves. Sweetie Belle quickly walked over to Applebloom, hoping to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry Sweetie Belle" Applebloom said while sobbing.

"For what?" Sweetie asked, still not sure what happened.

"I made you like me" Applebloom said, looking up at Sweetie Belle sadly, tears flowing down her face freely. Sweetie Belle quickly looked around for anything that would allow her to look at herself, and upon seeing a small pond she ran over. When she looked inside she saw herself, but she looked like Applebloom does now, the only distinguishing features being her two tone mane and green glowing eyes.

"Scootaloo, run away" Applebloom said, causing Sweetie Belle to turn around quickly.

"Why?!" Scootaloo cried.

"If you stay you'll end up like us, and I don't want that to happen" Applebloom said, pulling Scootaloo to her feet.

"But..." Scootaloo said, trying to object.

"No, buts, just go home!" Applebloom ordered, pushing Scootaloo along. After a few minutes of poking and prodding Scootaloo started to run home, leaving Sweetie Belle and Applebloom alone.

"So what are we called now?" Sweetie asked.

"Blanks" Applebloom said flatly, "It kinda fits doesn't it?"

"Yeah" Sweetie Belle said as she looked at the ground, "We'll be blank flanks forever..." Next Chapter: Search Party Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes