Epidemic

[WARNING. WARNING. This is an alternate ending. You may choose for this to be the ending, or pick another ending that suits you. This ending will only be canon if you want it to.]

(Disclaimer: This is NOT a happy ending.)

-Canterlot; Laboratory-

Labor and Twilight quickly put on the hazmat suits supplied to them. After the suits were fully covering their bodies, Labor looks at the guard.

"How zhe hell did Celius reach Canterlot!?" Labor anxiously asked the guard.

"Celestia says she spotted ponies sneezing and scratching, and it looks like she isn't taking any chances on passing it on as the Hay Flu." The guard replies.

(Viewer discretion is advised)

"F*ck!" Labor slams his hoof down on his desk. "Celius could reach us anytime... Unless ve take drastic measures." Labor walks to the guard, and stares him down. "You tell zhe princess to keep every. Single. Pony  avay from zhe castle, I don't care if zhey are delivering messages. I don't care if zhey claim zhey aren't sick. I don't care if it's Celestia's f*cking mother. Nopony is entering zhe castle."

The guard stares back at Labor, then salutes. "Yes sir, I'll get the message delivered right away!" Then he runs off.

Twilight returns to the examination of the rats. Labor rushes to the ingredients and re-commences the cure progress.

-Ponyville; SugarCube Corner basement-

Nopony comes in. Nopony one at all. Not one single pony. No matter how much they knock... Or bang relentlessly on the door. Pinkie isn't risking anything opening that door for a single second.

Wow, that sure is some hard banging, it's like they're hitting the door with chairs. Doesn't matter. Pinkie reinforced that door very well, with wooden planks, chains, iron bars, and masterlocks. No pony is coming in.

-Canterlot; Celestia's residence-

The guard runs in, and pants of exhaustion. Princess Celestia turns from her desk, and stares at the guard.

"What's wrong?" Celestia questions.

"L... Labor requested... That... We... Put the castle... On lockdown... No pony comes in... None out..." The guard pants heavily.

Celestia nods, "Thats a good idea, if we save a few, we'll have to save anyone inside the castle. Inform the staff to do just that."

The guard takes a deep breath, reluctantly climbs to his hooves, and rushes around the castle.

-Canterlot; Laboratory-

Labor focuses on a test tube filled with liquid very carefully. This part of the cure has to be dangerously precise. If added to much, restart this step, if added to little , restart this step. Carefully now...

(Viewer discre- You know what? You've read enough to learn why this story is rated teen.)

Drip drip. "F*CK!!" Labor flings the tubes to the wall, effectively breaking them. Twilight flinches, ducks, and faces the doctor.

"What!? What's the matter!?" Twilight screams in fear.

"The stupid f*cking liquid is supposed to only drip one drop into the other! It's so slick it keeps dripping two drops!" Labor drops his head the table he's on. "Every f*cking time!"

What he doesn't realize, is that I keep pressing the blue cure bubble everytime it pops up on my screen.

Twilight glances over to the broken test tubes. Then at Labor again. She then realizes that Labor set back the cure efforts, and that little outburst is going to set back the cure a bit.

Labor picks up his head, and levitates to new test tubes to view, just about to pour in the next batch, Twilight interjects.

"H-How about I do that part? You go tell Celestia that the cure is almost finished." Twilight walks to him, and takes the tubes from his magical levitation aura. She can't have more setback like that again.

"I thought you said you couldn't do zhe cure." Labor pointed out, looking at Twilight curiously.

"I uh... I can do this part, it seems pretty easy. Just pour one drop into this other tube, right?" Twilght smiles at Labor. To which then Labor exits the room.

Twilight looks at the tubes in front of her. "One drop into the other." Twilight focuses on the test tubes, and slowly begins to tilt the tube.

Drip drip. This is going to take a while.

-Canterlot; Celestia's residence-

An unexpected visitor arrives.

"Celestia, me and Tvilight are-" Labor suddenly stops when he sees Celestia turns and hides something like a little boy who's mom just walked into him reading a playboy magazine.

"Yes, what of you and Twilight?" Celestia inquires, holding a particular something behind her back.

"Vhat uh... Vhat are you doing?" Labor asks, trying to peek around her. Celestia covers the mysterious object by levitating her pillow over it.

"Nothing you should interest yourself in." Celestia says. "Now what of you and Twilight, Labor?"

Labor keeps his eye on her pillow, and speaks. "Ve... Are close to zhe cure. Vith luck, ve should have finished it by zhe end of zhe day..." Labor says.

"Good good. Thank you. You may leave now." Celestia says while shooing him. Labor simply looks up, and starts at her.

"Vhat is zhat?" Labor points to the pillow. Celestia then looks at the pillow.

"It's nothing. You shouldn't distract yourself with silly nonsense." Celestia advises, before shooing him again. Labor becomes more concerned, and looks at the pillow again.

"Vhat's under zhe pillow, Celestia?" This time, Labor uses a more menacing tone. Celestia stares at him with surprise. "Vhat's under zhe damn pillow?"

"I will not tolerate this behavior, guards!" Celestia yells out.

Labor levitates the door shut, and locks it. "Show me vhat's under zhe pillow." Labor threatens, as he walks toward her.

"I will not take this from you." Celestia stands, and prepares a defensive stance. "Cease, or else." Celestia's horn glows.

Knocks on the door. "Open the door! Open, or fear wrath!"

Labor stops in his tracks. And looks dead at Celestia. "Fine." Celestia's horn stops glowing, and she looks at him menacingly. "Leave."

Labor stands there for a while, and looks at the pillow.

Before levitating it to himself, and brings the mystery object to view.

"Wait! No!" Celestia tries to reach for her object, but it was too late. Labor had already locked it under his own spell, Celestia could not wrap her levitation aura around it.

Labor was shocked to see this thing.

A square, black, thin box, the size of a notebook. On it, multiple cells, a DNA strand, and the anatomy of a pony body. To the right side, a list of symptoms, some symptoms in green text, while others in red, with the word 'activate' next to it.

Labor dropped the object, and stared shocked at Celestia. "You... You're controlling it..."

Celestia stared back, not with a worried look, or a horrified worry anymore. This time, pure serious anger. As if she just hated him for finding out about her little scheme.

"You've been controlling it zhis whole time!?" Labor yells. "You've deceived me! You're killing your subjects! And you're doing it yourself!"

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Celestia nonchalantly says, then levitates her object, back on her desk.

"Vhy are you doing zhis!?" Labor's eye twitches in rage.

"Well... Over the years, ponykind has just been overpopulating. So, I've decided to find a way to lessen the crowd, so to speak. 100 years ago, they found a cure for it, so I wrote down everything anypony needed to know in a book, and places it in the Ponyville library, just in case I needed to... 'Lessen the crowd' again."

"You vill pay for vhat you-"

The crowd of guards bursts down the door and rush in, two tackling Labor to the ground. "Princess! Are you alright!?" One guard rushes to her aid.

"Oh! Yes! This madpony was trying to murder me!" Celestia secretly levitates her object under her bed. "It was awful! I thought I was going to be killed!" Celestia starts to cry.

"No! Don't listen to her! She's lying! She started zhe plague! She’s killing everypony!" Labor yells, as the guards cuff his hooves together.

"Clearly he's mad! He may be infected! He's spewing insanity!" Celestia cries out.

"Stop! Stop it! She is zhe real culprit! She should-" A good hit to the skull with a baton stops Labor, as he is knocked unconscious.

"Take him away," Celestia says, wiping tears off her face. The guards salute, and do as told.

-Canterlot; Laboratory-

Carefully... Caaaaaaarefully...

"Yes!" Twilight squees in delight, as she finally gets the perfect amount in.

Just then, a royal guard wearing a medical mask walks in. "Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight turns her attention. "Yes, that's me."

"You will be working on your own. The doctor you have been working with will no longer assist in the cure development." The guard bluntly says.

Twilight's eyes widen. "Wait, what!? I can't work without Dr. Labor! He knows how to mix these in, I can't!" She cries out.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but what is done, is done. Labor has been taken to the detention center of the castle."

Twilight is now confused. "Why is Labor at the detention center?"

"Attempted murder to the throne." The guard replies. Twilight's jaw drops, and her eyes widen again.

"He did WHAT!?" Twilight screamed. "I need to go speak with him! Could you take me to him?"

"He will be under restraints, if anypony were to visit." The guard says. "If you wish to speak with him, follow me."

Twilight sets down everything she's holding, and follows the guard.

-Canterlot; Castle detention center-

Twilight is lead to a room where there are guards at every corners, and a glass wall down the middle. Two guards proceed to drag a cuffed Labor to Twilight from the other side of the glass.

Niether of them have their hazmat suits on, by the way. They took Labor's off while he was outcold, and Twilight took hers off before arriving.

"Labor!" Twilight yells to him. "What in Equestria did you do!?"

"You've got to believe me, Tvilight. No von else is, but you must!" Labor looks at Twilight with desperation, while Twilight looks back with confusion.

"It's Celestia. She's controlling zhe virus, she's zhe von making it all happen! She's zhe von, who is trying to kill off ponies!" Labor yells through the glass. "Stop her! She has zhis zhing in her room! On it, she activates zhe symptoms!"

Twilight backs away from the glass a bit. "No, Celestia wouldn't-"

"She is, Tvilight! Zhe zhing vill not stop until zhe cure is done! But you need to buy us more time! Convince zhem to let me out, and zhat I'm not mad!" Labor desperately commands.

"I can't!" Twilight yells. "I've never gone against the princess!"

"Zhen sit back and vatch zhe vorld burn!" Labor yells back in anger.

Twilight flinches, and stares at the ground. "I... I..."

"Do it, Tvilight! Stop her! Stop all of zhis!" Labor commands.

Twilight begins to tear up. There are two options on the table. One: She believes Labor and finds this object he speaks of. Or two: Don't believe Labor.

But if she doesn't trust Labor, the cure can't finish, and Celius will win.

But if she does trust Labor, then very thing she's known about the princess will have been a lie.

Twilight shuts her eyes tight, this decision will be her final one.

"I... I..." Twilight bursts into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "I just want to go home and see my friends!" Twilight runs off, crying and covering her face.

The cure has stopped completely.