The Friendship Express was full of frightened ponies as it sped down south towards Appleoosa.
"Everypony, please try to remain calm." Princess Celestia quieted the nervous chatter.
"We understand that this is a frightening situation," Luna adds. "However once we find a safe place to settle down, we shall devise a plan to at least drive back the... undead." Rainbow looked across all the ponies, when she heard something from the next carriage over.

She opened the door, and jumped to the next. She peered through the small window, where she saw the conductor.
"Phew." Rainbow heaved a sigh of relief, before realising that she shouldn't have. She screamed as she realised the conductor had somehow turned to one of the ragged zombies, and that nopony was driving the train! "It's just a dream Rainbow." She told herself. "It's just a dream." The zombie conductor opened the door, staring Rainbow in the eyes. "A very much real dream!" She exclaimed, before flying out of reach and towards the engine.

She landed and looked around. All she could see was the normal things in a train engine; whistle, a wheel, lots of buttons and levers, but nothing that could have turned the conductor into a...

Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a scream from the carriage she was just in. She ran back through the train, seeing all three princesses trying to use their magic to drive back the zombie. Rainbow looked around, and saw a painting on the wall. She grabbed it and flung it at the zombie, knocking it out.
"We must reach Appleoosa before it's too late." Cadence said, and Rainbow dashed back to the engine, just in time to see the Appleoosa train station. Rainbow found the brakes, pulling them hard.

The train came to a screeching stop. Rainbow flew out the window to see ponies cautiously exiting the train.
"Everypony stay here." Rainbow said, gaining their attention. "I'll do a quick check and try to find the sheriff, or at least Braeburn." The princesses nodded, and Rainbow flew off.

Rainbow flew around Appleoosa, looking in every building for signs of actual life, when she saw the barn. Cautiously, Rainbow landed and trotted towards it.
"H-hello?" She called in, with no response. "A-any pony in here?" The reply was non-existent. "Huh. They must have bailed." She did a quick second-check of every building, coming to a conclusion that this was a good spot to rest.

She flew back to the train, notifying the ponies that the town was safe. She lead them to the centre, right under the clock, and Celestia and Cadence enclosed the ponies in a protective bubble.
"So, princesses." A young filly named Babs Seed asked. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well," Celestia started, but was interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt, your majesty." A stallion said. "But, shouldn't the sun be up by now?" The princess gasped.
"You're right!" She exclaimed, as her horn lit up. The ponies watched the horizon as the sun quickly rose over the horizon.
"Zombies don't like sunlight, right?" A filly asked. "We should be safe now, right?"
"Why yes, yes we should be safe."

The ponies waited for a few moments, before they heard the now terrifyingly familiar moaning. The looked around, seeing the sheriff exiting the barn, all ragged and slow. The ponies watched in fear as he left the shadow of the barn, but didn't stop.
"That's impossible!" Rainbow shrieked. Slowly, zombies emerged out of every building, dragging their hooves across the rough dirt towards the group. There was a shriek, and when Rainbow turned around, she saw that most of the ponies in the bubble had somehow transformed! The bubble vanished, and the remaining ponies ran towards the train.

"Princesses?" Babs asked again. "What do we do?"
"We can't keep running forever!" Coco added, just as a herd of zombies stepped out in front of them. The skidded to a stop and ran along the train tracks. Rainbow heard someone exclaim, and when she looked around, she saw Luna lying on the ground.
"Princess Luna!" She shouted, but it was too late to save her, as a zombie had already reached her.
"Rainbow Dash, come on!" Cadence shouted, forcing Rainbow to follow.

The small group of ponies ran south, gasping every step.
"We can't keep running, Celestia." Cadence panted, as the group slowed.
"We have no other plan." Celestia replied. "This has never happened before. I am completely unsure of what to do. There are no safe places to go, there are no reasons to why everypony is turning into zombies,"
"And clearly sunlight doesn't harm them." Babs added.
"This is not real." Rainbow whispered to herself, turning away from the group. "This is just a dream. A nightmare. Any time now the real Luna is going to appear and tell me to wake up. Wake up!" She was almost on the verge of frightened tears, when she heard something terrifying. She turned her head slowly, and screamed as she saw everypony had turned. Celestia's mane no longer magnificent and flowing, now dull and still. "It's just a dream!" Rainbow screamed. "Wake up!" She tried to fly away, but she found herself stuck in that position, zombies slowly approaching.

"Stop!"