Twilight's Library. Ponyville, Equestria. May 5th, 2341. 12:55 AM...

"What is it Fluttershy?" Twilight said, staring grumpily at the projection of the yellow mare in front of her.

Fluttershy had called her in the middle of the night, saying it was urgent. Twilight didn't want to hear it, but Fluttershy had insisted that it was too important to brush off now.

"I'm sorry about the wake up call, but you need to know what's been going on." Fluttershy said.

"Well, hurry up and spit it out. I don't have all night." Twilight said.

"Right, sorry." Fluttershy said, clearing her throat. "There has been a severe spike in violent incidents over the last two weeks." That caught Twi's attention, and she listened a little more closely. "Most of the miners who were present at the artifact's discovery have either gone insane from hallucinations of dead loved ones, or ended up killing several people. A prime example would be an earth stallion named Mac. Before he uncovered the first piece of the artifact, he was healthy and completely mentally stable. But two days after his discovery, he killed two members of his dig crew, before taking his own life by slitting his throat with a lazer pick."

"Dear Celestia. What about the other miners?" Twilight asked.

"Similar cases have been reported amongst most of the other miners. In fact, some of the other dig crews who have never even seen the artifact have had many similar things happening to them." Fluttershy said.

"What the fuck's going on around here?" Twilight said absentmindedly.

"I don't know. But some of our researchers who have been studying the artifact believe that it may be responsible." Fluttershy said.

Twilight sighed, not sure what to do, and placed a hoof on her forehead. "Are there any miners who haven't gone completely insane?" She said.

"Yes. I have a list. Night Rain, Sharp Shooter, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Basil Crowcross, Wither, Scrapper... and several others." Fluttershy responded.

"Good. Have any of them seen the artifact?" Twilight asked.

"Sharp is guarding it, and most of the others have seen it." Fluttershy said.

"Such as...?"

Sugarcube Corner. Ponyville, Equestria. May 5th, 2341. 8:00 AM...

Pinkie Pie walked around the sweet shop, bored out of her wits. Normally she'd have found something to occupy herself with, but today was especially boring. Sunday, never a big day for customers. Then again, it was still only eight o'clock...

Ring!

The suddenness of the door opening and the front bell ringing startled Pinkie out of her bored stupor, and she put on a smile. She turned around, and her smile faded slightly. Standing just inside the door, was Twilight. Her old boss.

Pinkie used to work in the mines near Ponyville, but once that artifact was discovered and the suicides and homicides broke out, she quit. She had seen that... thing and wanted no part in the madness that it caused.

"Hi Twilight. What are you doing here?" Pinkie said in a friendly manner.

"Hello Pinkie Pie. I'm here to talk about the artifact that the mining team discovered two weeks ago." Twilight said.

"No. I don't want anything to do with that thing! I quit my job and started working here again just to get away from all the crazy shit it caused!" Pinkie said, starting to panic at the memory of seeing those horribly mutilated corpses.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm not asking you to come back. I'm asking you to tell me what you know." Twilight said.

Before Pinkie could answer, something outside smashed into the door, the wood splintering a bit. The two looked at the door in surprise, and backed away instinctively. Whatever was outside hit the door again, causing the wood to bend inward further. The third time the door was hit, it flew inward, broken in two. Small pieces of the wood landed all over the floor, and the thing that was smashing the door became very visible.

It looked like someone took a regular pony, and played with its anatomy. Two big appendages with large, scythe like blades made of bone sprouted from it's back, and the skin around its stomach was gone, revealing a hollow abdomen. It's lower jaw was missing, a large bloodstain took it's place, and it's lifeless eyes were full of anger and hatred.

Twilight and Pinkie stared in horror at the monstrosity at their doorstep, and it charged at them, swinging it's bladed arms wildly.

Somewhere in Ponyville, Equestria. May 5th 2341. 7:30 AM...

Applejack watched as Rainbow Dash put on her RIG, the health meter on the back coming to life and glowing a bright blue. Her right wing slid through the hole nicely, and her left primary, which was the only remaining bone from that wing, slid through the other. AJ got up and grabbed Rainbow's synthetic left wing, and waited for Dash to stay still before sliding it onto the primary. It connected with the RIG and several small clamps connected to it, locking it in place. Dash flexed the robotic appendage, and stood up. She slowly walked to the door, but stopped when she reached it. She turned around and faced Applejack.

"Come here." She said, waving her hoof to indicate for Applejack to do so.

AJ did as told and stood up. Walking slowly over to Rainbow Dash, she saw that the top few buttons of Dash's suit weren't done up. As she reached her marefriend, she did up the buttons, then wrapped her forelegs around Dash, and pulled her in for a long kiss. Rainbow broke the kiss after several seconds, and looked AJ in the eyes.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." Applejack replied.

The two kissed again, and Rainbow left. Applejack stood there for several seconds, and then decided to get her own suit and RIG on.

Author's Note

I love AppleDash too much... I just have to throw it into this story, to spice it up a bit more. Night Rain and Sharp should appear within the next few chapters. But now, I have to write the outbreak... LET THE SLAUGHTER BEGIN!!!!!!