The day started as any other, the friends woke up and met with each other like normal. But today Twilight was going to meet with Zecora for a new magical spell she wanted to try out with Zecora's help. They all were sad that they couldn't hang out like usual, but all decided to head into the Everfree forest with her; to protect her from any dangers lurking inside. Twilight smiled, and the six gathered their things and started upon their journey into the forest; though Fluttershy was hesitant to head into the dark forest. But eventually was pressured inside by all of her friends promising to protect her if any danger emerged from the forest; she nodded and head in with them, reluctantly.
Pinkie was bouncing around humming her 'Giggle at the ghosties,' song they'd sung when they made their first journey into the forest to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. "I remember this tree! It had a scary face on it, I laughed it away! I could've sworn i even saw one of the trees cry a little!" Pinkie said giggling giddily. Everypony else just chuckling lightly to themselves at the pink earth mare and her unusual randomness. "And this is where the fearless Fluttershy calmed a Manticore all by herself!" Pinkie said, making comments at all the places they'd seen. The pink mare stopped bouncing and realized something, "Wait, why are we going this deep into the forest? Isn't Zecora's place somewhere back there?" she said as confusion wrought itself upon her.
Applejack looked slightly scared, "Yeah sugar cube, why are we going into this part of tha forest? Don'tcha 'member the things we'd seen here?" Applejack looked around, trying to see if anything had been following them and sighed with relief when she saw nothing. "Ah don't know why we're goin' this far into this darned place. But ah'm sure Twi' has her reasons to do so..." Applejack said now nervously scanning the trees, and anyplace that they couldn't see very well due to the very dim beams of light that penetrated this far down.
Twilight strained a laugh, "I used a locating spell that Zecora taught me. It's odd, but it appears she's near the exit of the forest! I'm not sure what's going on girls, but I think something is seriously wrong here. We'd best tread carefully from here on in. Applejack watch out for anything looking suspicious in the tree line; Rainbow Dash, Fly above us and see if there's anything blocking our path. Those trees a while ago really tired me out." Twilight finished looking at the map wondering why the magically rendered addition to the map, that was supposed to be showing them where Zecora was, wasn't moving; and in fact hadn't moved the full twenty minutes they'd been in the forest. It struck Twilight as odd, but maybe she was just waiting for them near the exit; a place with open space, and plenty of light.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded, Applejack anxiously checking the sides of the path once more; and Rainbow Dash fly slowly above them, checking to see if there were any stops, blocks, or forks in the path to come. Though Rainbow Dash was dreadfully bored with her slow flying, she knew that this part of the forest was even more dangerous, considering they'd never gone out this far before. The six girls continued along the path until the light slowly started to receed, baffling them as to why it was now so dark. Twilight used her magic to shine a light, revealing that in this part of the forest, the canopy completely blocked out the sun.
The girls were now in utter darkness, the damp air filling their lungs, and the cold breeze chilling their very thoughts. It was starting to take its toll on poor little Fluttershy, already being afraid of everything, her fear now increased knowing that there was almost no sunlight in this part of the forest. The shy little pegasus hid behind Twilight, seeking protection from the eerie forest. Though even Twilight was scared of what would happen this deep in the Everfree forest. Everypony's thought raced, thinking that anything that wanted to, could attack them, and not have much of a fight to look forward to. Fighting in the darkness was not something anypony knew how to do.
"The map says Zecora is close, but not being able to see very well won't help any. Girls look around a bit, I'm sure if Zecora really is out this far, she would've brought something to light her way. Not being able to cast a light spell like us unicorns can." Twilight said, the girls scattering looking for any light source, but upon returning there were no sources of light any where. This puzzled Twilight, she sat dumbfounded asking her self, 'Why would Zecora be out this far and not bring a source of light.' Something didn't make sense and Twilight felt it was her job to figure out why Zecora was out this far and why she had nothing to light her way.
Suddenly a rustling eminated from the trees, and sudden swift movement, that shocked all of the ponies back to reality. All of the ponies huddled together in defense mode, ready to try and tackle whatever stood against them no matter what it may be. Big or small, the girls would try with all of their might to put a stop to it before it just may kill them all. The movements kept happening, the sounds of crushing leaves echoing in the forest floor. The sound was now getting closer as the creature was now in full sprint, whatever this thing was, it was fast! A dark figure emrged from the blackness, a pony-like structure. about the size of a full grown mare.
It stopped before coming into view, it's breathing was labored slightly, it looked as if it had something dripping from its lips. They girls were horrified at the figure, wondering just what it was. The figure started stepping closer into view, but the girls couldn't make out the figure before it charged at them. The girls dove directly to the side, leaving Rainbow Dash to take the full extent of the blow, knocking her stright to the ground. She struggled to get it off of her, but the thing was strong; stronger than even Rainbow Dash herself. Rainbow Dash fubled slightly, losing her defensive edge, the biting figure bit into her arm as Rainbow Dash let out a bellowing, blood-curdling scream.
The girls all ran to her, shocked at the firgure that appeared; the ponies gazed into the eyes of the figure. It was Zecora! Her eyes were bloodshot, her mouth was foaming, and her stance was in attack mode. She charged them without warning letting out a grunt, before getting a swift kick by Applejack's muscular back legs. This disoriented her for a while, but she soon chraged them again, each time getting faster ans faster. Applejack couldn't keep this up, everypony knew that to stop the zebra from charging again, was to kill her.
Applejack gulped as she set up for a kick powerful enough to shatter bones, and released it right into the skull of the zebra, knocking her backwards; only to get up weakly for one last charge at them. And with one last kick to the temple by Applejack's hind legs, the zebra moved, no more. The girls ran over to Rainbow Dash who was crouched over in pain, holding a certain part on her arm that had a large bite mark in it. And another couple of bites in her chest; she was holding her screams of pain in, but they knew she was in immense amounts of pain. "We need to get her back ta' Ponyville stat!" Applejack cried out picking up the cyan-blue pegasus and lounging her on her back.
Twilight nodded as they made their way out of the forest on the very path, their pace fast, and their hearts racing. All their faces overtaken with tears for the event that just unfolded before them. Each one was running on the artificial energy of adrenaline, fear, and panic for their friend. What awaited them later on, would not be pretty...
Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm well aware i've already sent a letter to you this week, but we had an encounter in the Everfree forest, a rather strange encounter. It wasn't with an animal, no animals came within reach of us that day; but it was a suspicious encounter. We were going to see Zecora, but we'd noticed that she was deeper in the forest than we'd initially thought we'd have to go; going out that far made everypony edgy, and rather uncomfortable. We finally made our way out there when we were suddenly ambushed by something; we think it was Zecora, but she was filled with rage. Her eyes were purely bloodshot, and she had a foam eminating from her lips; she bit Rainbow Dash, but we're having her checked out as this letter is being written, I'm sorry but even I myself am at a loss of words. The encounter left us dumbfounded as we quickly turned flank and, excuse my language, rant the hell out of there. What ever it was that was in there, it was not looking to spread anything but anger and hate to anypony who came in contact with it. Whatever you do, do not go into the Everfree forest; no matter how many troops you would send in; keep them in the castle. Something's very wrong, and until we can figure this out, it's best even you keep your distance.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight rolled up the parchment and handed it to Spike who did the usual and used his fire to send the message to Celestia as they'd always done. "I really hope she gets this letter soon, there was something extremely unnerving about how Zecora charged at us. It was like she didn't have control of herself; like her brain didn't listen to itself. Her body becoming a massive puppet to itself; her brain not responding to any type of stimulation anypony could give. Girls, something is not right, get Rainbow to the nurse's station; she needs immediate attention and tending to to close up and cleanse that wound of hers." Twilight seemed to not be able to stop talking, taking full charge of the situation, when suddenly a letter snapped back right in front of her eyes. Materializing randomly cutting her off from her train of thought; she was awe-struck that the letter was returned so fast, a full thirty-nine seconds until the letter from Celestia came.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
That is strange indeed, but I assure you; you do not want to leave your library. But you do really want to kill Rainbow Dash right now whilst you all can. I'm going to send some troops to occupy Ponyville, you mustn't leave that tree Twilight Sparkle! For the sake of all that us in the castle hold dear to us; you will also kill Rainbow Dash right now, it will spare her the pain of the events to come. Soon enough her brain will pray for death, but her mind will not control her body any longer/ Her only set action would soon be, bite as many ponies as she can. I may sound crazy in this letter, but you don't know what I know about what you've stumbled upon! Heed my warning my faithful student; you must keep to yourselves, and if any of you get bitten, you'll need to kill them immediately. I'm sorry for how i'm reacting to your letter, but if you do not heed my warnings, you will cause an outbreak that nearly killed everypony in all of Equestria many centuries ago.
Your Kind Ruler,
Princess Celestia.
Twilight was taken back by the letter, she looked over at Rainbow Dash, the pony still wracked with pain wondering why in Equestria would their leader suggest they kill their best friend. She may have had her reasons to say that, but if you are a true friend you will never leave your friends behind; no matter the costs of sticking with them may be. Twilight decided to disregard the princesses warning and take Rainbow Dash to the nurse tent; she wasn't going to let her friend die, not today, and not ever! They made up their minds, they were going to take her to get better; it broke Twilight's heart to defy a direct order from Celestia herself, but she onviously underestimated the unbreakable bond between the the six that made them nearly inseperable. They decided it best to sneak around instead; for the guards would see them and most likely try to stop them.
"Now in all mah apple buckin' days, Ah've nevah heard a message from Celestia tellin' us to kill somepony! Ah nevah thought I would neither! Just what the hay is going on here anyways?" Applejack said picking up Rainbow Dash and slouching her over her back again; Twilight getting glimpses of the bite marks. Whatever was going on; it could not end prettily.
Twilight sighed, "I don't know Applejack; whatever it is, we need to be weary. Something must be very wrong for Celestia to send a message like that; I'd suggest everypony stay close and use major amounts of caution." just then the door opened, two guards came in wielding large spears. All of the girls sat there in awe of the guards; nopony'd ever seen guards like this, an they felt they wouldn't like where this was going.
"By decree of Princess Celestia of Equestria; we've come to formally execute Rainbow Dash. Do not resist or you will be considered traitors to the interests of the princess. We are prepared to kill her, and anypony else that may stand directly in our way." they said stepping ever so much closer to them, "Now step aside girls, you'll be relieved once this menace is dead."
Fluttershy lunged out and hit one of the guards in the side of the head; knocking the unsuspecting stallion unconscious. Applejack followed suit and took her back legs to the side of the other guard's head; and with a sickening crack the deed was done. Not only did they resist the princess' official decree; they'd now also killed one of her loyal guards, and the other was going to be next.
Rarity sighed, "We can't leave the other alive; if we do, when he comes to, he'll get a whole shitstorm of guards after our flanks. If we kill him, we'll at least have more time for helping Rainbow Dash; everypony, what happens this day, may our friendship never changed." Everypony yelled agreed and Applejack again used her back legs to created a sickening and reveberating crack that echoed inside of the library; a reminder of what deed they'd just done.
Without further hesitation, the girls ran out of the library, forgetting about caution and running around blindly trying to find the hospital in all of the chaos that surrounded them. Everypony was getting gathered into the town square; though the girls didn't know what was going on, they had a feeling they didn't really want to in the first place. They'd kept running, avoiding the various guards that were stationed in hazmat suits; the large suits hanging loosely on their bodies, partially touching the ground below them.
Finally reaching the hospital, they hurried inside; nopony was there except the nurses who'd locked the doors and put up the emergency metal doors that were for any dilemma, or outbreak, that may one day happen. They beat on the hospital doors for a while, to absolutely no prevail; or so it seemed for the moment. Eventually the nurses opened the metal doors, and rushed them inside as if they were doing something any but legal; but with the given chaos, law didn't really matter right now.
Nurse Redheart stood in front of them, gesturing the doctors to take Rainbow Dash away and then turned back to the five girls that still stood there. "Girls, I'm sorry, the chaos is by those damned guards. They're corralling everypony into the town square, and we can't be a part of that; we think they're going to starte killing everypony soon. We aren't for sure, but this is the only safe place in all of Ponyville now." she said, her voice slightly grim and raspy; as if she'd seen something, something that would mess anypony up forever.
"What in Equestria is going on here? I sent a letter to the princess, and next thing we know everypony is getting thrown into the town square!" Twilight said, starting to pace around slowly. "Ooooh, if only Rainbow Dash were okay; she'd be the bravest out of all of us. We can't afford this right now though; please tell me she'll be okay!" Twilight cried out, her voice echoed in the mostly empty hospital, her eyes tearing up at the events that are unfolding in front of them.
Redheart looked at Twilight, "Unfortunately, without knowing what's wrong with her; there's no way we can cure her. The only thing we can do is supress serious infections that may have come from the wounds. But we make no promises that your friend will live; I know it's not the best news to you girls, but there is a more serious underlying reason for the madness here. Maybe Rainbow Dash is the key; if we can find out what's wrong with her, maybe we can find a cure to this chaos."
Just then the doctors started yelling, "15ccs of epinephrine!" the doctr pony in the room with Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Is that safe?!" one of the nurses yelled at him
"You got a better idea? Get me the AED, she's going into cardiac arrest." the doctor replied
"She's slipping into septic shock, we need to purge her system... Wait, WHAT THE..." a pained scream came from both the doctor and the two nurses from the room; and from the chaos emerged a Rainbow Dash with blooshot eyes, and foam dripping from her mouth. Rainbow Dash was unresponsive and just charged the girls; sinking her teeth into Rarity's flank getting a bloodcurdling scream that sent them all running faster than they'd ever run before.
The cyan pegasus was on their tail, following closely, and absent mindedly; as if she was being controlled by some other force. This was no longer Rainbow Dash as the girls new her, this was a mindless pony with a thirst for blood and an appetite for a little bit of pony meat. The girls managed to get away, but so did Rainbow Dash; thought she ran in a completely different direction, they knew that she was going to go and bite somepony else.
"Oh Celestia, what have we done...." Twilight said as she ducked into the ground into tears; what else could possibly go wrong...
