Level 4 Compromises

While I know some may be sick of it, I cannot help but stress the significance of smallpox. We've been over this point a lot, but I feel that, if not pointed out, it can deter the feeling of the story. Smallpox is a mystery, and a deadly one at that. Only two laboratories are meant to have smallpox, which is kept in freezers, one of those being the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. We've been warned before, however. "If you think smallpox exists in only two freezers in the world, then you need to understand the way the world works: don't believe everything you're told."

Twilight already knew what was coming. She already knew that the griffon's had been thrown to the lions. Lions covered in pustules and smallpox dripping from their fangs. Of course, her gut was the first to tell her something was wrong. It's one of those feelings: you can shake it off and say it's alright, but it will never go away. What was the missing link she was looking for?

Gilda actually managed to survive smallpox. Her body still covered in scars, it took a long time for her body to finally fight it off. It wasn't common. "Bastard hit me hard. But when you've everything you knew, you have nothing to do but get back up." These were some of her last quotes before she died decades later, as she recounted her experience with smallpox. She was the last griffon to die.

Twilight had started taking the precaution of bringing a bio suit everywhere she went. It was shocking to her, realizing that the need for such an object was so vital. She'd made a mental note to craft some for the princesses. What came as more of a shock, however, was her new position. Twilight was no longer a top biologist; she had become the leader for commanding safety requirements. Celestia, although she had many years of experience, did not know much about diseases or humans for that matter. When you govern an empire, you don't have much time on your hands. Twilight had begun calling the shots on quarantines, regular health checks, food contamination, and so on. At one point, she had even demanded Celestia and her sister stay at Canterlot. She also had her friends moved, for fear they would get infected. She couldn't say why, and although Rarity was delighted, Twilight struggled to keep a secret like this hidden. This was when Twilight began doing serious experimentation with smallpox.

She didn't know what it was. It traveled through the blood, and it infected the entire body. Twilight put on her bio suit. In her lab was where she felt most safe. Even her hometown felt alien to her, and that was a shame.

   It feared Twilight. It was unlike anything she'd seen before. She had taken blood samples from dead griffons, and had seen the effects of it. The blood was utterly destroyed, and there wasn't much to be seen, just a mess of what was once cells.

In the following week, Twilight refused to leave her bio-suit. It worried the people of Ponyville as she scanned for any signs of smallpox. Seeing an official such as Twilight in a protective suit was usually a bad sign. She couldn't find any signs of it, and that made her smile just a little bit. The quarantines were successful. Smallpox had not breached into Equestria. For once, she felt at peace in the world around her.

Ahahaha. Do you really think it would stay out? Of course not. Sure, it looked fine from the surface. But many things do. Smallpox had bubbled up, thanks to our lovely feathered friend, and the incubation period was almost over. Within a week, Twilight returned. She was in no way prepared for what she saw. It looked like a mirror image of the Creston. Smallpox-ridden ponies roamed the streets, crying for help and a relief to the pain. Something caught her eye. Mrs. Cake, lying against her shop, holding her two babies close to her.

She herself had broken with the disease, and her face was clustered with small pustules. Her babies, lifeless in her arms, dangled limply. Twilight listened. Was she..was she humming? Mrs. Cake had begun to hum a lullaby to her children.

"Mrs. Cake...." She looked up, looking almost happy to see Twilight.

"Oh, Twilight," she said, a false look of pleasure on her face. "Glad you've come. Could you hold my babies quickly? They're very sleepy, and I need to go get them some food." Tears sprang to Twilight's eyes.

"Mrs. Cake..." She couldn't form any more words. A knot formed in her throat. Mrs. Cake was a friend, and here she was, clearly out of her mind and getting food for her dead children. She had ran off to find something. Twilight laid the bodies down. She was at wit's end. This is it, she thought. My town, my friends. It's all going to fade away. She collapsed on the ground, the sounds of air in her suit and Mrs. Cake's lullaby the last things she heard before slipping into unconsciousness.