"So what do we do now?" Sweetie Belle asked when the group of friends passed by a tree they had seen many times before. After they left Zecora's house they started to wander around the forest in hopes of finding somewhere to stay. Sadly they didn't find anywhere to stay other than a small cave, which they found out was actually infested with cockatrices. Apparently cockatrices can only turn living ponies to stone, or they believed the three of them were also monsters from the Everfree. In all honesty the three of them were more worried than anything. If the cockatrices were going to leave them alone, does that mean they are now part of the Everfree?

After leaving the cave they started to look for a more protected place to live, but they were having absolutely no luck. At one point Applebloom suggested they hide out in the old ruins the elements of harmony were found it, but when they got there they found a manticore standing guard. They walked up to him slowly, and when he left them alone and let them in they  realized that a family of manticores had turned the ruins into their home. After staying for a while the three of them left, again hoping for somewhere safe to stay as the sun began to set.

"What happens if we have to spend the night outside?" Sweetie Belle asked, hoping Applebloom would have an answer.

"I don't know, I've always been inside when night fell" Applebloom said as a shiver ran down her spine. She, nor either of the other two, could lie. They were lost, scared, and despite having each other, lonely. All they wanted now was somewhere to keep them safe until they found a way to get out this mess.

"Hey, what's that?" Scootaloo said, snapping Applebloom and Sweetie Belle out of their thoughts. When they looked up they some familiar looking thing sticking out of the bush.

"Doesn't that look like Trixie's show cart?" Applebloom said, noticing the familiar framework.

"Yeah, it does..." Sweetie Belle said as she pushed the bushes out of the way, "But what is it doing out here?"

"Didn't she leave it behind when she ran away?" Scootaloo said, thinking back to the Trixie incident, "Didn't Twilight tell Snips and Snails to take it?"

"Obvious they thought she said take care of it, because this is Trixie's" Applebloom said, moving a branch to show a small plaque that said Property of The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon, causing Scootaloo to giggle.

"Her last name was Lulamoon?" Scootaloo said, barely managing to contain her laughter, "That is so lame!". She then burst into laughter, with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle quickly joining her. As mean as it was to laugh at somepony's name, they had no choice, Lulamoon just seemed too funny to them. After a few minutes their laughter died down and Applebloom poked her head inside the broken down cart.

"You know, if we fixed it up a bit we could stay here, it's pretty big on the inside" Applebloom said, kicking around the inside to find it's weak spots.

"How are we supposed to fix it up, we don't have any tools" Scootaloo said while pulling one of the bushes in front of the cart out of the dirt.

"Maybe you can leave the forest unlike us" Sweetie Belle said lazily. During their hunt for a place to stay the three of them talked about the weird circumstances they were in. With Applebloom and Sweetie Belle the only one of them that might be able to leave to get things would be Scootaloo, and it might be really hard given her current appearance.

"I guess, didn't we have some tools left over at the clubhouse from when we rebuilt it?" Applebloom asked as she came out of the cart, "OW!"

"You okay?!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said at the same time.

"I'm fine, I just got a sliver is all" Applebloom said calmly as she pulled sliver out of her hoof, causing her to make a small squeak.

"Anyways, I think you should be able to go to into town" Applebloom said as she walked towards Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, we can hold down the fort here, you go and get our tools along with anything else you want to bring" Sweetie Belle said, throwing her foreleg around Applebloom's neck.

"Ok, I'll be back in a little bit" Scootaloo said as she turned away from her friends, "Don't get into anymore trouble"

"We won't!" Applebloom shouted, causing the three of them to start laughing. Despite being dead they were still having a fun time together.

________________________________________________________

After what seemed like hours the are around the cart was finally cleaned up. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom decided to lay down for a little while, to relax until Scootaloo got back.

What are you two doing our there?

"Did you say something Ap-" Sweetie Belle said, stopping when she say how terrified Applebloom looked.

"No..." Applebloom whispered, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

"What is it Applebloom?" Sweetie asked worriedly, starting to get scared by the way

Applebloom was acting.

Oh, I've never heard of you before, what's your name?

"Uh, it, it's, Sweetie Belle" Sweetie Belle replied quietly, her voice shaking.

Well then Sweetie Belle, welcome to the herd

"Applebloom, who, who is this?" Sweetie asked, her voice now laced with fear.

"It's..." Applebloom started, so quietly that Sweetie could barely hear her.

Yes, it's me, Grey Hoof

"Wait, you're the one who cut off Applebloom's hoof?!" Sweetie Belle shouted, her eyes opening in fear.

Yes, and if you don't want to end up the same as her you will listen to what I have to say

Sweetie Belle quickly looked over to Applebloom, only to see her nodding furiously, obviously telling her to do what ever Grey Hoof says.

Good choice Applebloom. Now, there are two hikers nearby, I want you two to kill them

"WHAT?!" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shouted at the same time, causing some nearby birds to fly away.

If you don't do it we will find you, and kill you

"Okay! Okay, we'll do it!" Applebloom cried, tears coming out of her eyes again.

They are coming towards you, if you hide now you can catch them off guard

"Come on Sweetie Belle, let's hide" Applebloom said in a straight voice with no emotion. When she got up she started to move as if she really was a zombie, and hide behind the bushes they had moved out of the way. Sweetie Belle slowly followed after her, pausing to look at Applebloom in her current state. It really looked as if she was dead. After Sweetie Belle got behind the bush a conversation could be heard from nearby.

"Why didn't we do this sooner? This is so much fun!"

"Yeah, I honestly thought all the stories about this place were true, but I guess they weren't"

"Why would you even believe those stories?"

"What just because I'm a stallion doesn't mean I can't believe in ghost stories"

"It doesn't help that you write horror stories you know"

"I do it because you ask me too!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever"

After that they stopped talking, and a few minutes later they were visible to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. The stallion was a Pegasus, and the mare was a Unicorn. They were obviously a couple since the stallion had his wing around the mare. The pair continued to walk until they noticed Trixie's cart.

"Hey, doesn't that look familiar?" the mare asked, nudging her head towards the cart.

"Yeah it does..." the stallion said, taking his wing off the mare as he started to walk over to the cart, "I wonder if anything is living in this broken down old cart". As he walked towards the cart Applebloom started to move, startling Sweetie Belle. Suddenly Applebloom's features changed to a dark figure with glowing red eyes. As Sweetie Belle watched she could feel something coming from inside her, forcing it's way out. She tried to fight, but it was no use, Sweetie Belle blacked out, only stay conscious long enough to hear the couples reaction.

"Choco! What are these things?!"

RIP

"COLOR PALLET!"

SLICE

________________________________________________________

When Sweetie Belle and Appleblom came to they realized just what they had done. There was blood, everywhere. The bushes, the trees, even the cart, covered in it. It caused the two of them to vomit, but they ran towards the wrong bush. When they stepped behind the bush they found pieces of somepony's wings along with a horn that still had a piece of skull attached to it.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Sweetie Belle shouted just before vomiting everywhere, causing Appebloom to vomit as well.

You did good young ones, but you may want to clean up, your friend is almost back

"Scootaloo!" the two of them shouted. They suddenly started running around the area, cleaning up all the blood, and even throwing the remains into a nearby stream. When they were just about to finish cleaning up they found a saddlebag, and when they looked inside they found some clothing along with a map that lead back to the hiker's camp.

"As much as I hate to say it, we might have to take their stuff" Applebloom said, looking at the bush they found the remains in.

"Maybe we should have given them a proper burial..." Sweetie Belle said sadly.

"What would we have dug a hole with?" Applebloom snapped, causing Sweetie to flinch, "Sorry, I'm just a bit wound up right now"

"And why is that?"

"Scootaloo?" the two of them asked, turning around to find her standing behind them with her saddlebags filled with things from the clubhouse.

"What's with you two, you guys look like you've seen a ghost" Scootaloo said with a laugh, which caused Sweetie Belle and Applebloom to laugh as well.

"So is this all you got?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked at the contents of the saddlebags.

"It's all I got on this trip, but I can go back if I need too" Scootaloo said as she dropped the bags, allowing Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to get a closer look at what was inside. Scootaloo had managed to bring somethings that weren't in the clubhouse, like the Apple family's axe, and some small toys from their houses.

"How did you manage to get all this stuff?!" Appebloom asked excitedly.

"I told them I was trying out a halloween costume and wanted to decorate the clubhouse" Scootaloo said with a smile, "Big Mac gave me a cool nickname"

"Really, what was it?" Sweetie Belle asked as she pulled out a black marker.

"Scootaboo" Scootaloo said happily, grabbing the axe from the bag.

"That sounds so cool!" Applebloom shouted happily, grabbing the hammer and nails from the bag, "Ok, let's get to work!"

"YEAH!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shouted, throwing one of their forelegs into the air.

________________________________________________________

After a few hours of constant hard work the cart was looking better than it did before. It even had a deck attached to it and a second room was built on the the back. Over time they planned to add in more rooms as they needed them, including a bathroom, but for now, it was more than enough. They had spent the last hours decorating the inside of the cart with things Scootaloo had brought from the clubhouse, and when they finished they decided to sit outside on their deck.

"Today was fun" Scootaloo said as she laid back in one of the chairs they had built.

"I hope things stay like this" Applebloom said as she closed her eyes.

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle said the three of the drifted off to sleep. After all their hard work all they could think about was taking a well earned nap. Next Chapter: Their Dark Passenger Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 13 Minutes