Plague

Chapters

Just another day.
Is he a danger to us, or just another foal?
Madness

Just another day.

"Twilight! Nahght cycle's about ovah." Applejack's voice resounded inside of her lab, diverting the unicorn's focus from her experiment.

The purple mare stifled a yawn with irritation. She had barely had time to install her equipment… She would have to have a word with Discord on the matter. She suspected he wasn't the only one behind the idea of shortening night time. The only time Twilight could do any research efficiently.

"Twi? Don't make me come 'n there!"

"Don't! I'm finishing!" She replied irritably, knowing that her voice would be heard despite the thick stone walls in which she did her research. Rapidly, she put her equipment back in place.

Then she moved to place Rainbow Dash's cyan wings in the cold room linked to her lab in order to prevent decay. The plague had hit the pegasus two days ago and it had progressed lightning fast. Not a surprise considering her friend's restless nature.

As it was, signs of necrosis covered the entire muscle segment of the wings. They had had no choice but to amputate them, lest the decay progressed to her body. It had been an ugly and morally taxing surgery.

With a heavy sigh, Twilight closed the door to the cold room and came out of the lab, stepping through the magical barrier she had set around it. Her passing through it was accompanied by the familiar tingle of sterilization; all nefarious germs burned off of her body.

"Thought you'd nevah step outta there." The earth pony looked at her suspiciously.

"I've learned my lesson. I know I can't push myself too hard…" Twilight admitted after a short pause, that had been her first real clash of will with Applejack since the beginning of this entire… mess.

Briskly, the unicorn set off through the stone tunnel on her left. "Where d'you think yer goin'?" Applejack's voice trailed behind her shortly, it sounded irritated. As well it may be.

"I'll get some sleep later, if I can. I need to check on ponies right now. Anyone asked for me in particular?"

"Fluttershy's wanted to speak t'you 'bout… Rainbow." The earth pony's voice was ridden with barely suppressed pain.

"To the quarantine area then…" Twilight said glumly, following the sinuous tunnels of the cavern that represented home now. The few ponies they met bowed or curtsied hurriedly before setting off again.

Three years now since the great war with the gryphon empire. Two since the plague had broken out, taking her mentor and her sister in the process… Then one more year since they had found this humongous cavern and Twilight had discovered and bound herself to the Well.

Only three years, and it already felt like several life-times.

The walk to the quarantine ward was a short one, since it wasn't positioned far away from her lab. "Wait for me here, please." She said to Applejack as she stepped through yet another sterilizing ward.

Inside, the moans of the sick greeted her, although they were less numerous than they had been a year ago. The survivors had all learned that a mercy kill was sometimes preferable to pain.

"What do you think you're doing in here without a suit?" Came a muffled voice from a figure standing on its hind legs in an ominous white suit. Joshua Syringe.

"Oh, it's you, your majesty. My sincerest apologies." The armored figure came to stand beside her, keeping its bipedal walk. The helmet had a transparent opening that showed a handsome orange pony's head topped with shaggy brown hair inside of the suit.

"I've already told you, don't call me that!" She told him in a warning tone. She didn't know if the medical pony found it amusing to call her that, but she wasn't a monarch… Never would be.

"And I've already said you don't have a choice. This goes beyond simply ruling. You're a savior: Equestria's savior. You won't have a choice in the matter once you're elevated to a religious figure." The suited pony said with a grin.

"Let her be, Josh. She has enough on her mind… Please." Fluttershy came into view, wearing a similar suit to her colleague, although she stood on all four where he always had a bipedal stance.

With a grunt, he stepped aside. "So how is she, Fluttershy? Any sign of the madness?" Twilight asked her friend hopefully.

Fluttershy's guarded expression was answer enough. "No… Already? But it's only been two days!" The lavender unicorn's voice rose a degree of urgency. This was happening too fast.

"For now, she's in full denial but." The pegasus paused for a long while. "But I've seen her eyeing me with nervous longing. It's a blessing these suits don't show my wings, otherwise I think she'd already have tried stealing them." Fluttershy's voice was constricted with sorrow.

Amputating wings or horns was only a small mercy. One that prevented their bearers from dying of the slow and painful decay of the plague but… It never diverted the madness from taking them.

Before long, they would forget or ignore any prior affiliations and try to steal the appendages back from somepony in a futile attempt to replace what they now lacked.

"Can I see her?" Twilight asked resolutely. Fluttershy answered with a nod before leading the way.

The lavender unicorn's heart skipped a beat when she saw the cyan pegasus sitting up on a bunk. Her torso was heavily bandaged, covering up what remained of the amputation. Without a doubt, a heavy scar would remain.

"Hey Twilight! Say, you can't get Fluttershy off my back? She insists I stay here, but I need to stretch my wings! It's so boring in here!" Rainbow Dash said with an honest smile. Her eyes were fixed in front of her, as if not daring to look on the sides for fear of not finding her wings.

Behind her, Twilight heard soft sobs. Although she hated herself for it, she didn't have time to mourn for the sick. She had to tend to the living and give them a chance. "Sorry, Rainbow. Can't help you there. I did bring you some reading, though."

The pegasus beamed from her bunk, sitting straighter. "Wow, thanks!" She said as Twilight passed over the books. More adventurous fiction.

"This'll help for sure… But I'll be able to fly. Won't I?" Rainbow's face grew sweaty and her voice turned panicky. She kept throwing glances at Fluttershy's suited shape. "You promise, Twilight? You do, don't you?!"

"I do. You'll get better, and then you'll fly again… I swear." Twilight said slowly as she laid her hoof on her friend's shoulder, snapping her out of her delirious questions. The lie tasted of bitterness… But it was more merciful than truth.

Rainbow sank back in the bed, wiping the sweat on her brow with a confused frown. "Thanks…" The word seemed to have deeper meaning to Twilight, but perhaps she was reading too much into it.

As she turned away, the cyan pegasus dug in the books eagerly.

"Are you sure you'll be okay Fluttershy? If she snaps and decides to assault you… if she breaks the suit…" The lavender unicorn didn't dare finish her sentence. She couldn't bear to even imagine the gentle Fluttershy succumbing to the plague.

Her friend flashed her a disarming smile through the helmet. "I'll manage. Rainbow doesn't have any weapons, while I don't need a weapon." Fluttershy had come a long way since the war. She'd almost erased her shyness altogether. "I don't want you overworking yourself though! If you can't find a cure or even delay the inevitable… We'll live through it. But you're our last hope; we can't afford to lose you."

Come a long way, indeed. "Yeah, I know." Twilight gave in with a sigh before leaving the quarantined cave.

Applejack waited for her on the other side. Before the mare could say anything, Twilight set off again towards the main cavern of their underground home, a mess hall of sorts. Its proportions allowed children and adults alike to socialize or play. It didn't have much in terms of furniture, just rows of tables and chairs… But it had a homely feel to it.

As she stepped in the huge cavern, the children noticed her almost instantly and began congregating around her. Shouts of 'Princess Twilight' came from them in a chorus and the unicorn's heart cringed. She couldn't help it; these foals and fillies had never known Equestria during its time of glory. They'd either been born during the war, or the first year of the plague.

But the worse were the cavern-born ones. They had known nothing except the dull stone walls of the huge cave they inhabited. No matter the background though, they all had hopes riding on Twilight's shoulders… Perhaps Joshua was right about her not having a choice.

"Now, now, kids! Don't bother Twilight, run along!" Applejack admonished gently. They obeyed without a single complaint. The orange earth-pony had taken on the role of a house-mistress in the cavern. To some, she was like a second mother.

For all too many, she was a real mother… A substitute for somepony dear they had lost.

Before long, Twilight spied the head of the draconequus in the middle of the cavern. The mare stalked in his direction, Applejack still on her heels. It was lucky of her to catch him here; oftentimes he'd avoid her altogether.

She slowed as she came closer though, it seemed as if he was having an argument with Big Macintosh. Fancypants was there too, trying to negotiate between a godly figure and a farmpony.

"All I'm saying is: if I'm going to be taking care of morale support, I need to be given certain liberties!" Discord said in an ominous voice.

"Nope. Today's harvest day, crops ain't gonna wait on yer foolish tricks." Big Mac replied, staring at the draconequus impassibly.

"Now, now! Gentlemen, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement." Fancypants said in his usual expansive voice. A crowd was beginning to congregate around the dispute. The cave-dwellers liked having a good show to break up the routine.

Applejack stepped in. "And what d'we have here? Somepony tryin' t'throw mah household in jeopardeh?"

Fancypants was the first to turn, a happy smile illuminating his features. "Why, hello there, darling." He came close to her and pecked her on the mouth. The on-watching children all bellowed out in disgust while the adults chuckled lightly.

Everypony had gone over the oddity of these two getting together a long time ago. Very little could shock the cave-dwellers anymore. Not after years of atrocities happening back to back. Whenever anypony asked why they had fallen in love, they'd simply say that they were both honest ponies and smile mysteriously.

It was all so romantic and utterly out of place considering the state Equestria was in… still, it worked wonders for the morale of the survivors.

"So Discord, what're you up to?" Applejack asked in a no-nonsense voice.

"Why, I had some chaotic entertainment scheduled for this wonderful crowd!" He swiped his lion arm over the on-looking ponies. "And I do run a tight schedule! What's with making the sun and moon dance around in the sky?"

Having the draconequus live around the cave had been a risk that had paid for itself. At first, trust had been sparse, but he had taken over the alicorn's duty over the moon and sun after their death. It was a task Twilight had no idea how to accomplish, despite the great power she had at her disposal through her link to the Well. Discord's crazy antiques were also wonderful for the cavern-dwellers as they broke the monotonous days and brought some eventfulness to the place.

Applejack turned to her brother. "Today's harvest day. Can't have 'im mess up the process." It was clear from the way he stated it that it was a fact. He would not budge.

The crowd surrounding the dispute held its breath while Applejack starred at the two for the longest of time. It felt as if a criminal was waiting for his judgment.

"Look, Discord. Yer a good kid, I like you n' all. But crops and harvest are important. Can't feed mah family with laughter." Silly grins of pride spread across numerous faces as she named the on-lookers her 'family'.

House mistress and god held a staring contest. None of them wavered, not the least bit. No blinking, no looking down: just the stare.

Then, despite all expectation, Discord lowered his eyes with a grumble. The house mistress stood up to a godly figure and came out on top. A powerful sheer came from the crowd, taking Applejack by surprise. She began blushing rather furiously.

"Oh, alright, mom!" Discord said in the voice of a sullen child. That earned a round of laughter. "I don't need a schedule anyway, too tidy, not enough chaos in it!" He spun around and began stalking away from the group with a grin.

"Discord, wait!" Twilight called out. She had let the scene play out, figuring it could only end in a bit of laughter.

With an evil laugh, the draconequus looked back at her and stuck his tongue out. "Can't be bothered, your royal boredom!" Following which, he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a burst of magic while the crowd booed him away.

Twilight could only grit her teeth. Not only did he remind everypony of this silliness about her now being a monarch, but he also ran on her. She had no doubt that he suspected what she had wanted to discuss.

Despite that, she was thankful. Discord played a dangerous game, taking on the role of a jester and channeling the latent anger of the survivors on himself at the same time. Hating on a plague was a difficult thing to do… He at least gave the cavern-dwellers someone to dislike.

The crowd began dispersing slowly, now that the show was over. Big Mac gave his sister a thankful nod before returning to his crops. He'd stayed true to himself and kept to agriculture. That tranquil giant of a pony was the main reason they still had enough food.

Twilight moved again, Fancypants and his wife falling in behind her. "Where are we off to, your majesty?" Again, that title. Perhaps she should accept it once and for all?

"I want to check on Spike. I'll get to sleep afterwards, I swear Applejack!" They all knew each other well enough to anticipate reactions before they even happened.

The dragon was stationed in a cavern Twilight had dug out with the power of the Well near the entrance. He was one of three that were unaffected by the plague; the other two being Discord and herself, which made him perfect to guard the entrance to their cave. Especially since he had grown tremendously in three years' time

As they approached the exit, the familiar ring of hammer on anvil could be made out along the tunnel. Rarity was at the forge again with her husband. They never seemed to stop of late. Working together or relaying each other; no matter which, the forge never cooled.

It was for the best; although Twilight worried about her friend overworking herself. If not for Rarity's forging and Pinkie Pie's tinkering, they would never have created the sterile suit that medical personnel used to treat the contaminated or the more robust model that allowed ventures outside of the cave, among other inventions.

"Well, Applejack, Fancypants. Thank you for the escort." They could not accompany her outside, not without a special suit. The two lovers bid her farewell and walked away once Applejack made Twilight promise once more that she'd sleep afterwards.

With them gone, Twilight stepped into the antechamber of the cave, a big half-sphere like compartment where Spike could fit behind her ward for the night. She quickly crossed the room and stepped through the sterilizing ward. The entire cave system was crisscrossed with similar barriers. She had cast it and held it in place at all-times thanks to the power of the Well.

The purple unicorn seldom used her horn any longer; it was a risk to her health she could not take. Not if she wanted to live long enough to bring this affair to a conclusion and restore Equestria to its former glory.

She knew somehow that the Well and the plague were linked. She could feel the taint in it. She just didn't know how the two fit together. Not yet.

"Hello Twilight, came to visit your little brother?" A rough reptile voice broke through her thoughts. She looked at Spike with a smile; he was currently picking through his terrible fangs with a claw the length of a pony leg.

"You know you'll always be, no matter how big you grow." She said fondly. It was true; no matter what he'd always remain her little spikey-wikey.

The dragon flashed her a toothy grin and she laughed, despite the gloomy situation they were in. "Anything to report?"

The dragon spat a concentrated jet of flames through his lips: a flippant gesture. "The usual, a couple lost souls wandering about, looking to steal their lost appendages and some gryphon patrols flying about, though they still haven't figured out about that invisible dome thing you cast around the perimeter."

"I wonder sometimes… Could the gryphons have somehow cast this plague on us?" She asked, almost to herself.

"Don't see why not. We won the war, which shamed them greatly. Besides, it's not like any race aside from ponies has been dying from this." The dragon answered calmly, his anger was hard to rouse nowadays. Although it was a frightening sight once it was unleashed.

"But I keep wondering: how? How'd they do it, take down two goddesses and cripple an entire country like that…"

"I think the question you should be asking is how anybody in this world can be so cruel as to inflict all this." Now signs of anger were showing through.

"I can't accuse them yet. It may be totally unrelated, although it certainly came at an opportune time for them." She concluded, not willing to push Spike beyond his self-imposed restrains.

"If they had anything to do with this… I swear to Celestia-" His tense voice stopped mid-sentence and a wing came protectively around Twilight. It was an unnecessary motion, but old habits die hard.

"What's happening, Spike?" She asked in confusion, he had blocked her vision of the scenery.

The wing slowly unfolded. "It's… I…" The dragon sounded speechless.

A foal no older than two years stood in front of them. A slanted horn sat atop his forehead and mismatched wings protruded from his back. Yet those weren't the most surprising features about him.

He was crying.

Ponies outside the cave never cried.

Is he a danger to us, or just another foal?

“So what do y’all reckon this little fellah is?” Applejack asked while looking down at the foal sleeping in her lap.

“Let’s wait for a medical expert before we start discussing anything…” Twilight responded distractedly. She was too absorbed with studying the strange features of this infant who’d just walked up to them, tears filling his eyes.

“Hey, sorry for being late.”

“Shouldn’t Fluttershy be here, instead?” The lavender unicorn asked, more roughly than she had intended.

“What? Is ol’ Josh not good enough for your majesty Twilight of the Sparkles?” Responded the medical pony as he came to a seat in his strange bipedal gait and dropped to a sit. Instead of the previous medical suit, he was wearing a long lab coat. Twilight gritted her teeth at the flippant comment. Joshua Syringe had enough ego and arrogance for a couple stallions or more. She never knew if his inventing random titles for her was a game or a serious endeavor… perhaps both.

Josh flipped his hoof dismissively through the air. “Fluttershy wanted to stay with Rainbow, still as soft as before the war.” That earned a few raised eyebrows that he pointedly ignored. “Besides, I heard you might need some sedatives for the little monstrosity but…” He pointed his hoof at the sleeping foal.

“Who d’you think you are to call him a monstrositeh?” Applejack barked irritably.

“More importantly, where did you hear that? We haven’t even revealed the foal’s existence to the others.” Twilight added worriedly.

Joshua rolled his eyes skywards. “Please, Twilight. The little bugger was wailing like it’s the end of the world…” The pony chuckled grimly at his own words. The others glared at him for his morbid humor. “Anyway! I heard he was inconsolable, but that was blatant rumor since he’s fast asleep now.”

“As for the monstrosity part, he does come from outside the cave… I think we’ve all learned our lessons on that matter the hard way. You got him shielded tight, Twilight?” The lavender unicorn gave him a flat look. Of course he was shielded in the same sterilizing ward that separated each part of the cave.

“Ah don’t care what happened in the past. He’s just a foal!” Applejack pressed on sullenly. Twilight caught Discord, the other participant to the meeting, mumble something about ‘empathy’. He was uncharacteristically quiet for once.

“That’s the problem though! It is a foal. And I can tell without even examining it that it’s no older than two years… I’d bet it’s younger, in fact.” He gave Applejack a meaningful glance, yet the mare’s protective expression didn’t wither away. Joshua sighed. “Do I have to spell it out? He was born on the outside! We’ve learned the hard way that no other pocket of survivors can be trusted.” That hit a sensitive cord. The last time they had let newcomers inside of the cave… A lot had perished.

“But-”

“No buts!” The doctor slammed his hoof on the meeting table, making the wood creak under the force of the blow. “I will NOT lose more ponies because of foolish mistakes!” Applejack sank back as if she had been slapped before lowering her head.

“Settle down, Josh… We will take the necessary precautions. You’ll have to admit though, there are inconsistencies here.” Twilight took over. They all knew how Joshua took failing to cure a sick pony as a personal failure; no need to let the situation worsen.

He grunted gruffly. “I’m sorry, my liege.” Josh said before taking in a calming breath. “As for the inconsistencies… I wouldn’t put too much stock in them. So it has horns and wings, what then?”

Twilight chortled. “Other than these combined features are signs of an alicorn? Well no, that’s absolutely fine!”

“Heh, yeah, only thing is: they’re entirely askew. If anything, my money’d be on a slight alteration of the plague. After all, a virus adapts just the same as us. Who’s to say that a foal that’s been in contact with the sickness since infancy wouldn’t mutate somehow?” Joshua bit off after a derisory snort. “Besides, look at the color of his coat. Just look at that sickly green and tell me that’s natural?” He launched finally. Indeed, the foal’s coat was a muted green overall, with certain patches darker than others.

Twilight sneered. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand the implication; you weren’t there when the plague first broke out and took Celestia and Luna. They were the first to go and almost instantly at that!”

They had worked out, after countless nights of study, that the plague attacked the primary attribute of any type of pony. If that pony used the attribute after being contaminated, the rot only happened faster. If the infected had an affinity with the three pony properties, or trinity as they had taken to calling it, they decayed in a matter of minutes…

Twilight closed her eyes as the painful memory of their leaders’ death played across her mind. “You don’t understand Joshua…” She said bitterly.

“Then explain it! What is it I don’t understand? I’ve been working on this virus for two years now, and there are still secrets you keep from me; how can we expect to overcome this situation if you keep information away from me?!”

Sorrow filled Twilight and an oppressive silence crawled over the room. Some things, she could not reveal, not if she wanted to keep a semblance of order in the cave. How could she expect anypony to react positively to the news that their only hope to restore Equestria was also the cause of the plague?

“Have you tried delving him, Twilight?” Discord suddenly decided to break the awkward silence.

“No, I haven’t…” She said dubiously. She was grateful that the draconequus had stepped in but what was he driving at?

“What are you waiting for, then?” The embodiment of disharmony said with a snort.

Suppressing a sigh, Twilight pulled on the power of the Well, letting it fill her body. It was very much like unicorn magic, only purer and much more intense. Nausea hit her as the taint of the Well washed over her along the magic. She ignored it with the practices ease of a year of usage. Quickly, she formed fine tendrils of magic and sent them towards the body of the foal. Their magical composition allowed them to penetrate the skin without harm.

She gasped.

The plague appeared as tiny pinpricks stuck in a pony’s flesh to magical probing. The foal’s was covered entirely, not a single parcel of healthy flesh.. It was almost as if the foal was entirely composed of the virus, as if it had replaced his blood…

“How… Is that possible? How is he still alive?” She asked incredulously.

“What? What do you see?” Joshua asked. She explained briefly and his expression darkened. “We have to get rid of this thing… What you’re describing is a disaster waiting to happen!”

“Not now Joshua…” She began probing deeper; surely there was more than this ocean of plague to this foal. There had to be. Before long, she felt something else: a feint undertone of harmony running through the body. It was as if the forces within it were balanced… In fact, it felt exactly like her mentor’s dying body had felt.

She gasped for a second time.

“This is ridiculous, it doesn’t make any sense!” Confusion was washing over her mind in powerful waves. This foal was an oddity with no names, how could a being like this exist, a living contradiction? He should be rotting before their very eyes, and yet he slept peacefully. “What do you make of this, Discord?” Twilight asked in a troubled voice. Perhaps the draconequus would have some insight over the matter.

“You’re not done yet, there is more to see.” The quiet whisper of Discord’s voice was so very much at odds with his usual demeanor that the lavender unicorn couldn’t help but shiver before she probed even deeper.

She went passed the ocean of the virus, passed the powerful trinity of harmony running through his body and came into a deep void, pitch black. What was she meant to see there? She couldn’t find anything at all. Weird. Twilight stilled her thoughts, stilled her body and waited quietly. As ironic as it was, she trusted Discord, if she was meant to see something, she would, eventually.

Little by little, the tendrils accustomed to the dark void that lay beyond the trinity, like eyes accustoming themselves to darkness. Yet even though she could vaguely discern some basic bodily functions there was not-

There! Just for an instant, she had felt a… link to something external. She began the process of waiting calmly for the reaction to happen again. This time, she didn’t react when it appeared and studied it from the edge of the probing tendrils of magic.

For a third time, she gasped as she recognized the link. It was so familiar that she hadn’t thought of it at first, but now that the lavender had had time to study it, there was no doubt.

“He’s linked to the Well…” A dumbstruck silence greeted the revelation.

Joshua’s chair scrapped back as he bolted to his legs. “What?! You can’t be serious! This little shit is linked to our only hope for salvation?!” He shouted, planting his front hooves forcefully on the table. “We have to kill it, immediately!”

Applejack stood as well, taking the foal in one leg protectively. Twilight adjusted the protective bubble around the foal to keep Applejack safe from the virus without a second thought. “Oveh mah dead bodeh…”

For a moment, Joshua looked taken aback. Then his traits mirrored determination. “If that’s what it takes… I won’t risk any more deaths over you inability to make a hard decision!” Applejack didn’t back down. She didn’t release the foal either. In fact, she took a step forward. “You can’t be serious! Without your shields, I’m more than a match for you. At least give yourself a fair chance!” Joshua snarled at her. Being underestimated tugged at old insecurities of his.

The house-mistress did not relent. The doctor spat scornfully on the side and jumped up the table before going for Applejack at a sprint.

Simultaneously, two thunderclaps resounded in the room, stopping the coated doctor in his track. The plagued foal woke up and his cries began anew. Applejack cupped him over her shoulder, smoothing his mane out in a motherly fashion while she shot Twilight and Discord a murderous glance.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Joshua spoke through gritted teeth, still standing on the table.

“My dear doctor, what guarantee do you have that killing the foal would help in any remote way?” Discord asked with a slight grin. He had enjoyed the way the scene had been going.

“I don’t see how it’d hurt either! If we let him live, he might well contaminate the rest of us. If he’s linked to the Well he could contaminate that too! Then what do we do? Where do we find hope? I can’t let this transpire!” Conviction burned fiercely in the doctor’s eyes.

Discord shot Twilight a querying glance. With a sigh, the lavender unicorn took a decision. “Sit down Josh. And stop acting so quickly, we can’t jump to conclusions. Not yet.” She said in a commanding tone, slipping in the role of the leader with the same surprising ease she had always felt. That, more than anything, seemed to surprise the willowy pony. “You wanted me to reveal secrets to you? I didn’t want to. A secret can only be kept if a minimum of ponies are aware… but you don’t leave me a choice, do you?” Her voice turned soft. There was an edge to it. “Before I go ahead and make one more pony aware. I’ll give you a warning. If the secret is revealed, if any of the other survivors get wind of this, if even the merest of rumors appear…”

“I will see your head roll.” She concluded in the most neutral of tones after a pause.

Against all expectation, Joshua laughed. “Your majesty Twilight Sparkle indeed… We’ve all changed in the last three years, for better or for worse.”

“Some more than others, I fear.” Twilight replied graciously. Somehow, the doctor seemed less tense now that the warning had been handed down.

Tucking his front hooves in his lab-coat pockets, he jumped down the table and kicked one chair lightly, making it spin on one leg. Once it stopped with its back facing Twilight, he sank down on it. “I’m all ears, your majesty: the secret.”

“The Well is already tainted.” Joshua closed his eyes slowly. A vein appeared on his forehead. “In fact, it’s the very cause of the plague. That’s why Celestia and Luna were the first to go. They were linked to it when the plague broke out.”

“Tell me this is some sick joke… Please.” There was pleading in his voice. Slowly he opened his eyes, a sorrowful smile found its way on his lips. “Don’t tell me we’ve been going on all this time for a lie. Don’t tell me our only hope is an illusion…”

Twilight shook her head. “Not quite. The Well is the cause, but it still remains the solution … It is a matter cleansing it of the taint.” Joshua breathed out slowly.

“Let me guess… You have no idea how to do that as of now?” The lavender unicorn responded with a nod. “Brilliant.” Joshua grunted and his expression went pensive.

“So Discord… You clearly delved him as soon as you saw him, give me your thoughts.” Twilight continued in her stride without stopping. If she couldn’t escape her role as savior then she might as well use it to its full potential.

“I can see the future branching off in several directions.” Discord’s mind was useful for that, considering every possibility. Chaos and empathy, he’d always say, made him good at it.

“The doctor’s first reaction wasn’t as silly as you may think. Indeed, killing the foal may cleanse the Well.” Strangely, he was looking at Applejack when he said that.

“Ah won’t stand bah idly while you slaughteh an innocent foal.” She said stubbornly, still comforting the crying infant. Discord chuckled.

“You could learn something from her, Joshua Syringe. Empathy is a powerful force.” He said wisely.

“Keep your wisdom to yourself, draconequus.” The doctor sneered back. Before the conversation could branch off into a tangent, Twilight cleared her throat forcefully. Discord gave her a vexed look before clearing his own.

“You see, dear Applejack, I’m not proposing to kill him. The key word was ‘may’. We have no guarantee, currently, that his death will bring closure to the plague. On the other hoof, what if he could somehow manipulate it? What if he could purge the taint inside of the Well and we steered him to do so?” A thoughtful silence veiled the room.

“Twilight said that he’s made of the vahrus… If he fought it, he’d be fightin’ himself. If he won, it’d be lahke suicahde.” Twilight and Discord exchanged a pained look.

“I swear to the Well, sometimes you’re just painfully clever Applejack.” Discord said, spreading his hands expansively. The mare’s expression turned dark.

“Stop, Applejack. We’re considering possibilities here. Nopony can say for sure if it’ll come to that.” Twilight stepped in before her friend could begin acting stubborn again. To her surprise, AJ nodded seriously and turned to calming the foal again. That reaction felt strangely like a betrayal to the lavender unicorn. Applejack was her friend, she shouldn’t respond to her commands that way… foolish emotional reactions.

“Then again, we can’t predict if his nature won’t overpower whatever nurture we work into his mind. Perhaps he’ll still be the end of you all.” Discord stated neutrally, he seldom bothered to add in frill to shocking declaration. “We should also consider his very nature; which is, let’s be honest, a total and rather lovely paradox. Not only does he have the attributes and harmony of an alicorn but he is also linked to the Well, which is currently tainted and should therefore kill him. Add in the fact his body is contaminated beyond redemption…”

“One question remains, how does it balance out?” He let that hang there for a moment, giving his thinking circle time to catch up.

“Are you saying we could… synthesis a remedy from his body?” Joshua, ever the medical mind, was first to understand.

The draconequus shrugged. “It is a very real possibility, although it would be far from a final solution. We invent a vaccine, but the plague would remain. How long would it take for it to adapt and evolve to bypass the vaccine?” Joshua grunted. He knew from experience that this specific illness evolved very fast indeed.

“Despite the uncertainties, one thing remains certain. This new arrival,” Discord pointed at the crying foal with a talon. “Is a much needed break in the awful stalemate we’ve had going for the last year.”

“Question is: will it save us or damn us to a slow and agonizing death?” Twilight mused to herself.

Strangely, Discord laughed. “Only time will tell, dear Twilight Sparkle, but exciting times are ahead! It’s been all too long since I’ve been witness to such an important and interesting gamble.” There was a strange glint in the draconequus eyes.
Twilight recognized it for the gleam Discord had when he saw the prospect of playing with living beings. She smiled fondly. Despite the apparent ruthlessness of the thought, it wasn’t that simple. The lavender unicorn had come to understand Discord better over the last year. He wasn’t evil. He just had a twisted sense of humor. The world was his playground and its inhabitants his toys: his own words.

But there was one key element that prevented it all from turning to an evil mastermind’s sadistic toying: empathy. Discord had such a deep understanding of this concept that he couldn’t be evil. He was a compassionate god, in a strange and twisted way. The reason he was helping them, and Twilight quoted: “I won’t let anything kill off my precious toys. You ponies are my ward and I’ll fight to the death to save you from anything besides myself.”

“We need to set ourselves to work immediately in order to reduce the ocean of possibilities and ascertain the future before we can decide on any specific course of action. In that regard, Joshua shall examine the foal extensively.” Funny, that Twilight’d feel a little pique of irritation at Discord giving out orders.

“Not so fast!” Applejack interjected. “Ah’ll sit in on the fanceh-schmanceh examination; wouldn’t want the good doc to make any regrettable mistakes.” The house mistress’s voice was dripping with acid.

“Alas, my good Applejack! How regrettable that you won’t be able to do so! We can’t very well have you favor this little foal over the rest of your family. You have a household to run.” Discord said expansively, a little of his usual mischief coming back to him. “No worries, though. I’ll keep a watchful eye over Joshua while he goes at his work. I’ll also be keeping a very tight watch over all things related to the foal.” The draconequus concluded smugly.

“You?” Applejack chortled incredulously.

The embodiment of disharmony shrugged ruefully. “What can I say? I’m good with kids.” With that, he snapped his fingers and the foal disappeared from Applejack’s hooves in a tiny burst of magic before reappearing in front of Discord. As the infant looked at the mismatched Discord, his cries ceased, and he actually let out a childish fit of laughter. “See?” The draconequus asked smugly.

“It is okay, Applejack. We can trust him.” It still felt strange for Twilight to say that about the embodiment of chaos.

“If you say so…” The orange mare sighed heavily.

“Discord, Joshua, be on with it then.” Both bowed earnestly, to her surprise, before filling outside the meeting room. As they left, Twilight checked on the shield surrounding the foal. Although he might be an asset, it was too early to say, she wouldn’t take any risks. Before she could add another layer to the ward, she felt the draconequus’s power do what she had intended. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle lightly; Discord apparently took his new task very seriously.

“So what d’you intend to do now?” Applejack asked while looking at the door worriedly.

“Don’t worry yourself too much; everything will work out in the end.” Twilight replied in a gentle voice. Her friend nodded and relaxed visibly. “I think I’m going to announce the prospect of a cure to Rainbow Dash, she deserves to know.” An honest smile found its way on her lips as she left the meeting room. It had been ages since she’d experienced that smile. For better or for worse, the stalemate was broken. They could finally focus their efforts on something concrete and move forward.

It felt liberating, like life itself returning.

Madness

As far back as Fluttershy could remember, she had always enjoyed helping other ponies. It wasn’t really the instant gratification of knowing she had been useful: a feeling some used in order to deny the existence of true altruism by arguing it was all a matter of furthering the ego. Her love of helping others ran deeper than that insignificant upper crust of kindness. It was her defining factor, the value that stood at the heart of who or what she was, and the only thing that permitted her to keep an ounce of sanity in the desolate state the world found itself in.

Ironic, that such an innocent and pure concept would allow her to cope with fighting, and killing, for the survival of ponykind. Perhaps this was some form of mild denial? The Well knew that her friends had had their moments in the past three years. The truth of it was, she didn’t rightly know. Nor did she care to find out. Fluttershy could have Joshua try the psycho-analysis thing on her again, of course. It had helped her find the cold void of survival, the other half of the dichotomy that was her character, the reverse medal to the kindness… She just didn’t feel quite ready to have her cocoon of certainties shattered again. So instead, she kept the core of kindness that defined her as a pony and one of the Elements of Harmony under careful scrutiny and defended it as fiercely as any dragon would its hoard.

Obviously, that wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot. Some of the things she had done and, more importantly, permitted through her research weighed heavily upon her soul. She had long since abandoned any pretense at researching in the medical department to the great sorrow of her mentor, Joshua Syringe. It was but the first step on a long road to recovery.

Twilight had explained the concept of Karma to her: that belief in which the cause and consequence of every action was weighed by some universal balance. While Fluttershy didn’t believe in the bit over reincarnation, she did find solace in the basic idea of Karma. Besides, the end result no longer mattered to her, unlike during the war. Only the present was important. Funny, how life can be unexpected like that.

As a result, she was working relentlessly, almost day and night, in order to alleviate the pain of those afflicted by the Plague. The quarantined area was her domain, so to speak, as she seldom left it; even her room was located in a side-cave connected to it. She didn’t know if her feeble attempts at easing the suffering of the infected in their last moments before madness or terminal decay could be considered as good, but she liked thinking it was so. It helped her sleep during night cycle, a thing she wasn’t afraid of admitting.

Fluttershy paused in the process of adjusting the dosage of morphine analogue to a cream-furred pony. As with all earth ponies there had been no hope of salvation for him since their attribute coursed through their entire body, unlike unicorns and pegasi. Only his head was visible from under the blanket and already the left side of his face was gnawed away by necrosis. His cheek had almost completely finished decay, leaving the teeth exposed, and was making steady progress higher, towards the eye-lids. From there on, it’d just escalate from messy to messier.

A jolt of pain passed across the earth pony’s features, his eyes squinting hard and what was left of his lips contorting in an ungodly snarl. Fluttershy bent back to her task quickly, admonishing herself for taking her sweet time when somepony was in pain. She cranked the dosage of morphine up a notch and a peaceful if somehow disturbing expression returned to the patient’s face.

For the hundredth time, she marveled at how well this substitute worked as she turned to another bed containing yet another earth pony approaching terminal decay. Their stocks of true morphine had depleted months ago, which had created a real problem in the quarantined area, to a point where work had become impossible due to the lamentations of the agonizing. Joshua had consequently worked out a byproduct they could easily manufacture with what they had at their disposal. The catch was, despite alleviating pain even better than the original, it carried a plethora of nasty side-effects… But then, they only administered it to patients who were going to die anyway.

Fluttershy began checking the progress of the plague on another subject distractedly. Side-effects… They were the reason she had ultimately given up on medical research. During the war, she and Joshua had made great breakthroughs that had given Equestrian troops a much needed edge. Back then, she had been ecstatic with the help she had provided. It only became apparent later that the products Shy had created had side-effects: some minor, others crippling and others still lethal.

She had worked hard in an attempt at suppressing them, but new ones would always appear and, before long, the guilt trip Fluttershy carried around became too heavy a burden. That had been when she cast it aside, vowing never to research into medicine again. It still bothered her sometimes how Joshua didn’t appear to mind the defects of the products he created. He’d always go about how the good would always be balanced out by a portion of bad and say that the next medicine he pushed out would have to be that extra little bit more perfect…

“Hey, Shy,” the shaky voice cut through her thoughts neatly, bringing Fluttershy back to the present and the morphine injection console of her patient. With an intake of calming breath she upped the dosage generously; this was another desperate subject that wouldn’t last long, before facing the owner of the voice.

“What are you doing out of your bed Dash, you know you shouldn’t be walking around right now.” Fluttershy admonished gently.

The spectrum-maned pegasus pulled one leg up, reaching behind her shoulder as if to touch the wings that were no longer there but reined herself in rigidly, forcing it back down and starting to lick her lips nervously, eyes dashing about. “I know, I know… It’s just I can’t sit down or even sleep, I need to stretch my wings. They’re getting sore from being unused for so long.” She replied in denial, completely oblivious to the bandages wrapped tightly around her chest and back.

The defining core of kindness cringed inside. “Twilight brought you some books, not long ago. They ought to keep you busy for a bit, no?” Fluttershy prodded softly, trying to push Rainbow back into distracting herself from the lost limbs.

Her cyan-coated friend looked at her with wide eyes for a while, seeming unable to understand. After a solid minute her voice kicked back in. “No, I can’t focus. I can’t with that Celestia-forsaken itch in my wings!” her hoof began reaching for her wings again but she stamped it on the ground with a snarled grunt and glared it into submission. “I need to fly, Shy! You can understand, right? You’re a pegasus too!” her breathing accelerated and a frantic light entered her eyes.

Fluttershy cringed even further. “Yeah, I know,” she said, “but we need to keep you in observation for a few more days before…” she swallowed painfully, “Before we can release you.” A blatant lie. A terrible and dirty lie that couldn’t possibly fool anypony…

Rainbow’s nostrils flared in a heavy sigh. “You’re the medical expert, I guess,” she said, a defeated timber to her voice. The afflicted pegasus fiddled with her hooves over the floor for a second, drawing a few circles in the rocky ground before her head whipped back up. “Oh, Yeah! I wanted to grab myself a glass of water too! That’s why I got up in the first place.” She said, a strained smile coming to her lips.

The suited pegasus looked over the two beds left in the row before flashing an encouraging smile at her friend through the helmet. “I’ll get it for you, but you do me a favor and go back to bed. Try digging in the reading and get your mind off the itch, it’ll get better then.” Fluttershy’s throat constricted painfully as more lies came forth. The fleeting distraction of literature would be nothing but a short-lived solace…

Dash nodded slowly, her smile growing more natural for a second, before turning on her heels and going back to her bed. Had Fluttershy not been looking for it, she might have missed it: the furtive glance directed at her hidden wings that betrayed the smile and demeanor. With a heavy sigh, she turned in the opposite direction and set off.

Madness was the other face of this affliction, and it was no pretty thing: far more harrowing in many regards. While terminal decay left a dead body behind, madness was vicious and hard to gauge at best.

Fluttershy came across the asylum part of the quarantined cave. The first problem with madness was that it manifested differently in each subject. As she passed next to it, the suited pegasus threw a glance in the first partition of the asylum, where rows of bed were stationed and on each sat pony figures with glazed eyes and drool dripping down their chins. This was the first and mildest manifestation, the easiest to cope with. The subject’s mind simply went into a vegetative state, choosing oblivion over facing the loss of their horn or wings.

The second partition was of a different kind, it appeared very much as a mess-hall. Many ponies sat there, going about the motions of jumping in the air or staring at objects as if expecting them to respond to their wills, sometimes even socializing. The second manifestation was by far the most common and slightly more difficult to deal with than the first. In this case, the patient would firmly settle himself in denial and go on living as if the amputation had never occurred. A few of the ponies present in that ward lifted their heads and greeted Fluttershy enthusiastically. She responded with a matronly smile, as if nothing was wrong, before hurrying on.

There was a third occurrence, but that one had no special partition allocated to it simply because unicorns or pegasi that devolved that far never lived long, one way or the other.

With another sigh, Fluttershy stepped through a small door that led into a kitchen area. The worst part was, Rainbow was somewhere in the limbo between second and third grade madness. She was clearly delusional over the loss of her wings, but the nervous glances and the small moves like reaching for them were dead giveaways of the fact that the spectrum-maned pegasus would not remain in the second level. Dead giveaways of the fact there would be no pretty ending in this case.

It was all so unfair… Of all the Elements that could have been afflicted, it had to be Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, who had lived as much through her wings and athletics as through their friendship. The injustice of it galled Fluttershy. It enraged her, made her want to lash out in fury and scream away at the world for permitting something so atrocious to occur. Why couldn’t it have been her? That was the question that haunted her ever since it had become apparent her friend was infected. Unlike Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t as keenly attuned to her wings. Her decay would have occurred slowly and she would have settled nicely in denial: living on obliviously, but still living.

With some difficulty, she forced the burning rage back in its restraints. Although she longed to let it go, she couldn’t realistically do so. Not only was it not her way, but what would she direct it at? The plague? Not really. How could you curse a disembodied and mindless process? The Griffin Kingdoms? There was no definite proof that it was their doing and she wanted to be certain beyond a doubt before committing the rage to a cause… What did that leave her? Nothing, really. So she kept it locked away until the day she knew who the one to blame was. That day, she would lose herself in the glorious dance of retribution. Justice would be met.

Fluttershy stepped out of the kitchen with a glass of water held in her hoof, suppressing a third sigh. She quickly began legging it back towards her friend’s bed.

Her only warning was the inexpert noise of somepony running on their hinds behind her. Battle-hardened instincts took precedence over reason and sent her body into a barrel-roll to the side, barely avoiding the stab of a sharpened piece of steel. Fluttershy rolled over her shoulder and used the momentum to jump back up into a fighting stance on her hind-legs. She faced her aggressor and her features sagged in disbelief, hurt and defeat to the sound of glass shattering and water splashing.

“Why? Why did you take them away?!” Rainbow Dash asked through gritted teeth. On her hooves were strapped two jagged spikes of metal with what appeared to be ripped pieces of bed-sheets. It was a silly weapon, nothing like the katars typically employed by the Wonderbolts. Most certainly, the rags keeping them in place would give way on the first impact… But that first impact would occur. Considering Fluttershy’s unarmored anti-bacteriological suit, even if the hit wasn’t lethal, it would be as good as death.

Licking her lips nervously, Fluttershy answered, “It was to save you… If we didn’t cut them off, the decay would have spread to your body.” Her voice sounded weak even to herself: pathetic excuses. They should have found a cure…

“Lies! I’m gonna take back what’s mine!” Rainbow roared as she threw herself at her friend. Fluttershy cursed silently under her breath and brought forth the other part of the dichotomy composing her psyche. The steely and emotionless void slid protectively around the core of kindness, and as easily as that, she was ready to defend herself.

Dash was an ace of aerial combat, or had been before the amputation. Had this battle been air-born, she would have crushed the feeble Fluttershy in a matter of instants. But this was a grounded battle and here, Rainbow was clumsy and inexperienced unlike her pink-maned opponent. Even then, Dash was stronger, perhaps only outmatched by the robust Applejack. She was leagues above her target in that domain. But then, strength had never been Fluttershy’s way.

Rainbow came onto her friend and unleashed a succession of three deceptively fast jabs. All missed as the suited pegasus flowed seamlessly between them and on the last one, Shy stepped close to her enemy, entering the proverbial eye of the storm. She caught her extended leg before Dash could retract it and twisted it sharply and suddenly, Rainbow’s momentum was hers to do with as she pleased. Fluttershy could twist further and steal her makeshift katar before ramming it into her friend’s throat to end this, but perhaps she could still reason with her? A vain hope, but hope was the mother of progress, or was that persistence? She expanded Rainbow’s momentum differently, sending her flying over her shoulder.

As soon as her opponent cleared the floor, Shy jerked into a run. The cyan pegasus hit the ground painfully a few meters ahead and Fluttershy jumped, aiming to stamp her hooves down on Rainbow’s chest. Her friend realized that and hurriedly rolled from under her trajectory, jumping up on her hinds and throwing another assault up, aiming a slash at the suited pegasus’s chest this time.

Shy hit the floor and fell to a crouch, accompanying the shock of landing rather than foolishly attempting to absorb it and, in so doing, narrowly avoiding the slash. She firmly planted her front hooves on the ground and scythed her right-hind leg across Rainbow’s, trying to throw her off-balance.

With a snarl, her friend lunged forward in a low jump, barely clearing her opponent’s attack. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise as she found herself facing the tips of the metal spikes aimed directly at her face. Desperately, she relaxed her body and let it slump down on the floor with no grace whatsoever. A small part of her mind informed her that Joshua would certainly have a stroke if he ever caught wind of that ridiculous dodge, but it was enough to avoid death, blessedly.

Fluttershy heard her friend’s screamed curse while she got back up and turned around. Rainbow was already up, eyes still gleaming with hatred and avarice. Cautiously, they began circling each other. “Rainbow, listen to reason! I’m only trying to help!” her kindness pleaded from beyond the steely void of survival.

“Help? Help?! By taking my wings away? Don’t you dare say you’re helping! You stole my identity!” Rainbow screeched in fury, rushing into another assault.

Although the words cut deep, Fluttershy didn’t let them affect her. This was all she needed. The feeble hope of talking Rainbow out of her madness died and the suited pegasus prepared herself to kill. She slowed her breathing to a steady rhythm and listened to the hoof-beats of her opponent’s run.

Rainbow descended upon her in a flurry of hooves and spikes, unleashing a combination that was as deadly as it was complex. It would have wreaked unmentionable damage on anything, had it connected. Once more, Fluttershy weaved and bobbed and dodged, stepping out of the assault’s trajectory almost before it began. With the same grace, she flowed intimately close to her friend and almost lovingly locked one leg into her own, beginning to spin and taking control of Dash’s movement anew.

Half-way through the spin, though, Rainbow stamped her hoof down with far more force than necessary, effectively breaking down her own momentum and leaving Fluttershy nothing to work with. With a feral roar, she pushed her shoulder into Shy’s belly, sending her backwards and off her hooves.

The suited pegasus landed painfully on her back, air rushing from her lungs. From beyond the light-headed dizziness the pain and lack of air created, her instincts sent her front hooves up rigidly. She felt something land on them painfully and force them down an inch before she could prompt more strength into them.

Her head cleared slowly and she saw Rainbow sitting atop of her, her snarling face close to the helmet but not as close as the two sharp spikes tied to her hooves. Sweat dripped from her friend’s brow on her transparent visor. Desperately, Fluttershy tried forcing the weapons away. It was a useless endeavor. She was weaker than Rainbow under normal circumstances, and the madness seemed to lend even more power to her cyan-coated friend. All she could do was keep the spikes away from her suit.

Even then, through all of Fluttershy’s efforts, the makeshift weapons inched down slowly, almost ponderously. This was a losing battle. “Rainbow… Please!” she grunted through her gritted teeth.

Rainbow’s sneer turned to a victorious smirk upon hearing the pleading in her prey’s voice and the strength behind the push increased even further. “Give me back my wings! Give them back, you monster!”

Fluttershy barred her teeth in concentration. Her eyes closed as she focused every little bit she had at her disposal into surviving. Into pushing her friend’s – and she could never consider Rainbow differently despite it all – assault away.

For a moment, Fluttershy thought she heard a desperate wail as the terrible force pressing down on her vanished, yet that couldn’t be it; surely she was growing delusional with the harrowing strain. But then she opened her eyes and realized Rainbow was no longer towering above her.

Gingerly, Shy tried getting up on all fours before reconsidering and standing on her hinds. Her front legs felt painful after that little exchange, she wasn’t used to such head-on struggles. The suited pegasus rubbed them carefully as she scanned the cave, searching for Rainbow. The first thing she found were the two spikes, discarded next to the kitchen entrance.

Gathering her courage, she stepped inside, still cradling her front legs gently. Immediately, she became aware of miserable sobbing coming from one corner. “Rainbow! Rainbow, did you manage to fight it down?” Fluttershy asked in a concerned voice as she slowly edged closer.

The sobs cascaded into a soul-wrenching wail. “Get away from me!” Rainbow screeched through her tears, her voice constricted with misery and effort.

Fluttershy threw caution away, against her better judgment. She stepped closer to her friend and fell to her knees, hugging Dash. “Praise the Well, you managed to cast the madness aside! You did it!” her own voice was shaky with emotion.

The wingless pegasus pushed her away, though. “I didn’t! It’s still there, that bucking itch, it’s driving me crazy!”

Shy found herself voiceless, unable to respond in the face of what Rainbow said. It still seemed surreal and the despair – for there was nothing else such knowledge could bring – cruelly took its time to settle in. She dropped heavily on the ground, her legs suddenly assaulted by a wave of weakness and a sob raked her entire body. The steely void used to survive gave way to the core of kindness as the dichotomy inversed polarities again while she stamped her hoof on the ground in frustration, hard. Pain blossomed in it, but she barely even noticed. This was so unfair!

“Ah, Fluttershy! I’ve been looking all ov-” Twilight’s voice reached her from outside the kitchen. The enthusiasm in it died away as she stepped inside. “What is going on here?” she asked in dread.

Fluttershy met Twilight’s eyes in a meaningful and teary glance before jerking her head in Rainbow’s direction. The lavender unicorn raised a hoof to her mouth, covering a desperate gasp. “Oh no… No, no, no! This can’t be happening!” she said, her voice cracking with sorrow.

Dash looked at Twilight and a cheeky, albeit strained, smirk found its way to her lips while the tears in her eyes died away. “Hey, don’t give me that pitying look, Twi. You know how it hurts my pride.” She said in a shadow of her former self, the one that was forever lost. "Now, be a dear and bind me. This instant.” She continued, her voice a frightening tone of command befitting the captain and last member of the Wonderbolts.

Swallowing with some difficulty, Twilight complied and taped into the Well, conjuring spectral bindings that she wrapped around Rainbow’s legs. Her spectrum-maned friend allowed herself a sigh of relief, although the expression of concentration never left or eased.

“Thanks a bunch.” She said, “Now, I’ve got a favor to ask while I’m still in control. Can you do that for me, for old time’s sake?”

“Anything you want.” Twilight nodded fervently.

“End me.” Dash whispered in the dead silence of the kitchen.

For a time, the lavender unicorn’s mouth worked soundlessly, her eyes an image of confusion and hurt. Then her vocal cords kicked back in. “No! I can’t… I won’t do it!”

“Twilight!” Rainbow screamed, “You said anything!”

The steel in her voice didn’t work this time, though. “Anything but this! How can you ask this and expect me to do it? After all we’ve been through together?!”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking you!” She roared, making Twilight jump back in surprise. “I want to be remembered for what I’ve accomplished; I wanna be remembered as the friend, the Wonderbolt and the warrior! Not some crazed maniac in a pathetic quest to recover what’s been taken away!” That made Twilight pause. The hurt in her eyes grew as she considered Rainbow's words. Judging by the thinning of her lips in distaste, she didn’t like it one bit.

“But… There’s the prospect of a cure. I wanted to tell you the good news, the way forward… And then this?” Twilight tried half-heartedly.

“Oh, oh! Great! Why don’t you tell me that about a week ago…? When I still had my bloody wings on!” Rainbow hissed in reply, her voice dripping with acid.

Twilight recoiled from the answer as if physically hit, her mouth hanging open. Still, she shook her head hesitantly and Rainbow grunted in frustration. “What am I gonna have to do to convince you?! For crying out loud, I tried killing Fluttershy! I’m a danger to all the pegasi living here!” Dash pressed on, refusing to relent.

“Do it, Twilight.” Both Rainbow and Twilight’s head whipped in Fluttershy’s direction, looking at her disbelievingly.

“W… How can you say that? You’re the Element of-”

“The Element of kindness, I know.” Fluttershy cut through the lavender unicorn’s answer confidently, so very much unlike how she would have three years ago, “Look at Rainbow Dash. Give her one good and scrutinous look.”

Twilight complied dubiously. Rainbow’s cyan coat was soaked with sweat, dripping on the floor in an almost unbroken stream. Her teeth were barred in a snarl of concentration while she fought the madness back with everything she had, hopefully long enough to convince Twilight to do what had to be done. The most shocking thing was her eyes, though. They held the glimmer of madness: that slightly glazy and voracious light which meant that soon, Rainbow would stop at nothing to recover her wings. However, that glimmer was overwhelmed by the true Rainbow Dash. The one they had formed a team with, the one that had been their friend and companion… And that part of her longed for nothing more than to be remembered for who she had been.

Although it was the core of kindness speaking, Fluttershy let an inkling of the steeliness of survival slip in to prevent her voice from shaking. “Ending her is a kindness, Twilight.” She said with finality.

The lavender unicorn closed her eyes for a time and muttered something inaudible before swallowing painfully. A frown of concentration crawled on her face and, although nothing else changed, the stall air within the kitchen didn't appear as stall any longer. It felt like the tumultuous breeze on the eve of a storm.

Rainbow’s body began dispersing into specks of cyan light. The wingless pegasus looked at her hooves in surprise and wonder as she progressively grew more and more transparent. “Twi, whatever you’re doing, don’t stop!” She screamed in a muted voice, as if heard through a wall. An ecstatic smile was lighting her features. “It’s great, the itch! It’s going…” Her lips finished the message inaudibly as her voice grew too low to be heard.

The specks of cyan light congregated around the disappearing body for a time, growing proportionally. After what seemed like an eternity, their friend vanished completely and the light jerked into motion, rushing towards a wall, passing through it and relieving the kitchen of its cyan glow.

A gasp for air broke through Fluttershy’s amazement at the bizarre phenomenon and she rushed in Twilight’s direction, making it just in time to prevent her from falling over. “What did you do, Twi? It was amazing!” She said with a hint of excitement, despite the glum outcome.

“D’nno… Hope ‘twas good, Rainbow d’serves good…” Her lavender friend drawled sluggishly as her eyelids drooped.

“Whatever it was, it seemed to make her happy. You did great.” She said encouragingly. That earned her a sleepy nod. “I’m going to take you back to your room; the Well knows how long it’s been since you’ve had a proper night sleep… Mount up on my back.”

“’Sgotta be three days now.” Twilight answered from the fringes of exhaustion while she made it onto Fluttershy’s back after a couple botched attempts. As soon as her hooves cleared the ground, she was snoring in the deep sleep of the just. With a sigh, the suited pegasus got going.

“Hey, Shy?”

It must have been the fatigue, shock and emotional trauma from everything that had just happened mixing into a potent little delusional tonic, but she heard the disembodied voice of her recently deceased friend. “What is it?” she indulged her tired brain.

“Sorry for trying to kill you. No hard feelings, right? It was an honest mistake!”

Fluttershy gave a fond snort before answering snidely, “You know you wouldn’t have managed, even if you really tried.”

All the way through the asylum and quarantined area, the uproarious and more importantly, heart-felt laughter of Rainbow Dash followed Fluttershy. Somehow, despite it being an illusion conjured by her brain to cope with the loss, it felt right. The mirth in it seemed to chip away at the bleakness of the future.