Celestia 1: An Account

Chapter 8 : Protect Me You

~

Fluttershy was jolted awake by the furious banging on the door to her room, leaving the pegasus a shivering heap on top of her bed.

"Hello? Fluttershy, it's Twilight." Came a muffled voice from behind the door.

Fluttershy calmed down upon hearing the friendly, familiar voice. She pulled her self off of her bed and trotted towards the door to her residence, stretching her wings slightly as she did. The door opened with a quiet click of the latch, revealing a rather jittery alicorn.

"H-hello, Twilight, what brings you here at this hour? T-T-Thats not to say you're not welcome to come in, but it is rather late....um, early..."

"Sorry Fluttershy, it's just that...something...has happened, and now I can't sleep."

"Oh?" Fluttershy stepped aside and gestured for Twilight to come in, closing the door behind her.

"There's a disease, going around, Fluttershy, a bad one. Its making ponies go crazy. Yesterday morning the guard captain came to me asking for extra security, and now the admin team are putting these warning posters up everywhere." She turned and looked a Fluttershy with melancholic eyes. "I saw somepony get infected yesterday, outside. I thought the team had just left her to die on the ocean floor, but the guards came and tried to restrain her. She was kicking about wildly, I think she broke one of their leg's. But when they'd secured her, she turned and looked right at me through the window...there was so much blood..."

"Oh dear, that's terrible!" Fluttershy said softly with a hoof over her mouth, remembering her encounter with Mr Waters the other day.

"And just now I get a knock on my door saying that more ponies have been admitted to the infirmary with symptoms of the disease, and I don't know what to do!"

"I don't know what to tell you Twilight..."

"I want to help, Fluttershy. Those ponies in the hospital are sick, and no pony knows why beyond that it has something to do with those crab...things." Twilight scowled, but quickly became more downtrodden. "But I can't do any reasearch to find a way to help because I can't get a hold of any of those crab-things, admin's called them a 100% no-go zone, but they may be our best chance to fix this."

"Uhm, well, have you tried asking Princess Celestia? She might be able to change their minds." Fluttershy offered.

"Hmm, she did say to contact her or Luna if there was an emergency, which I'm sure this more than qualifies as. At any rate, I should let her know what's happening down here."

"Good idea, Twilight. There's a writing desk in my room. That is, if you want to use it..."

"Thanks, Fluttershy. Sorry about waking you up so early." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, its no trouble at all, it was important after all." Fluttershy paused, yawning. "E-excuse me. Would you like some tea, Twilight?"

"Thank you, Fluttershy, that sounds lovely." She smile, and made her way to Fluttershy's desk.

~

"There we go, all done." Twilight floated her tea cup over and took a sip of her drink, reading over her work to look for mistakes.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

"I hope this letter finds you, and the world above, well. I apologize for not keeping in contact as often as I should, but things have been rather hectic down here.

Unfortunately, it is with regards to the base that I am contacting you about now. It seems that some of the inhabitants have contracted an unknown disease, likely from the local wildlife. However, I cannot confirm this due to the lack of research subjects, the administration is unwilling to allow me access to an example of the crustacean in question, and have even gone as far as to restrict journeys outside.

I believe that with access to a specimen of these creatures I could help in determining the cause of this mystery disease, and even begin working towards a cure. The symptoms of the disease are not pretty, and I'm sure everypony concerned would like to see a solution sooner rather than later, I'd rather not see another pony go through that.

I know you don't like using your status to get your own way, neither do I, but I think that the administration would listen to you, and allow me end this whole mess.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle"

With a silent nod and another sip, she rolled the letter up and held it in her magic, making her way out of Fluttershy's room. She found the pegasus curled up on her sofa, bleary eyed and struggling to stay awake. A quick glance at the clock made the time to be 6:05 AM, and Twilight had already been there a good hour or so.

'Sorry Fluttershy.'

Fluttershy's ears perked up at the sound of Twilight entering the room, she looked over at her friend with a smile on her muzzle.

"All finished?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm just going to head down to the mail room to get this sent off, the sooner the better."

"I'll come with you, if that's okay. I have to be down in the biology department at 8 anyway." Fluttershy said, getting up off the sofa.

"Of course its okay, we'll go in a minute, if you're ready." Twilight replied.

Fluttershy nodded and put her cup down in the kitchenette before turning for the door.

~

"I've never seen this place so quiet..." Said Fluttershy, her voice echoing down the empty hallway.

"Mmm hmm, I hope there's somepony there to send this letter out."

The lights were still dimmed to indicate night time. The fact it was so early meant that there was a pretty good chance that the letter would be left sitting in the mail office for an hour or so until anypony arrived. Twilight grumbled, it was her own fault she was up it so early, but it still annoyed her.

Because it was still 'pre-daytime', the great undersea sprawl of a research base was largely void of life, Twilight and Fluttershy having yet to see another pony walking around. This also meant that it was eerily quiet, especially with the lack of any ambient sounds from outside, the only noise was the echo of their own hoofsteps.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, they found themselves at one of the many entrances to the vast plaza. Even here, the hub of the base, only one or two ponies were up and about, mostly from the engineering division carrying out routine maintenance before the daytime rush of ponies came about. They exchanged nods of acknowledgement with the workers, continuing across the base. Their hoof falls echoed loudly around the huge chamber, this time accompanied by the various clangs and whirs of tools.

Twilight and Fluttershy had just passed a newsagents and were about 15 minutes from postal when the already-dim lights shut off completely.

This wasn't something that happens. The power doesn't just 'go out'.

"T-T-Twilight, what's going on?" Asked a shaky Fluttershy.

After a few seconds, the whole chamber was bathed in a dull red glow as the emergency lighting came on.

"Looks like the power has gone out. Must be running on back up."

The generators shutting down meant one of three things: They were under maintenance, they need fresh gemstones, or they were broken. Twilight hoped that it wasn't the last one.

The sounds of tools had stopped and was replaced with the confused mumbling and speculations of the now-distant engineers. If they had no idea what was happening, then it clearly wasn't planned maintenance. That left the other two options...

She'd try not to think about it.

"Come on Fluttershy, lets just get to the mail office." She nudged the pegasus, causing her to jump involuntarily.

"O-okay."

Fluttershy stuck closer to Twilight, she didn't like these new, darker conditions. The red lights made everything seem much more imposing.

"Don't worry, we're almost their now." Twilight said, with a re-assuring smile.

~

Hoplite was stood outside Room 3 of the infirmary. The banging from the occupants within had died down, so he relaxed a little. He'd just started his shift about half an hour ago, and they'd been beating the door since, so the reprieve was welcome.

There were six rooms in the corridor, all of them guarded. It seems that more ponies than first thought had encountered those...things. In all honesty, he didn't know what was happening, just that there was a disease caused by them, and it was pretty nasty. Frankly, based on what he'd heard, he didn't want to know any more.

Another guard, Kite Shield, poked his head around the corner, offering coffee, to which he received half a dozen tired 'Yes Please's. Hoplite sighed, this job, while well paid, was incredibly tedious at times like these. Effectively, he was watching a door.

Kite Shield came around with coffees. It was okay, better than not having one, and at least he didn't have to go make it himself, and by extension, for everypony else. He sighed again in annoyance as the banging started all over again, this time from room 5. It broke up the monotony a little, but in a very unwelcome way.

'One hour down, just five more to go...'

The lights went out.

All of them, even the ones on the doors.

That meant that the power was out. Which meant the doors weren't locked anymore.

"DOORS ARE UNSECURED! DEFENSE POSITIONS!" Came the call fro down the hall.

All of the guards turned to face their respective door just as the emergency lighting came on. Hoplite clutched his spear in his magic and widened his stance, prepared for the occupants of the room to come barreling out at him. The doors opened inwards, which should buy some time. Hopefully enough for the power to come back online. It shouldn't just go off like that.

Unless something bad had happened.

'No, no, everything is fine everywhere else. I bet the engineering guys are already on it.'

The emergency lights cast an eerie red glow down the corridor. The situation was incredibly tense, and there was still banging coming from room 5. All it would take is for one of their hooves to catch on the handle and they'd be let loose.

'No they wont, because we'll stop them. That's our job. That's my job.'

He could hear the other ponies in the building being escorted out for their own safety. That, and that it meant there were less ponies to infect in the building.

'I really need to stop thinking so negatively all the-'

"DOOR ONE IS BREACHED!"

Every guard turned to face room one. A unicorn and two earth ponies had stumbled out of the room somehow. They were all covered in blood and sick, it was vile. General Legate was keeping them away the best he could, trying to force them back into the room. One of the earth ponies let out a hideous screech and lunged for Legate, only to be greeted with the sharp end of his spear.

She just got back up and made another move.

'Sweet Celestia...'

"DOOR THREE HAS BEEN BREACHED!"

Hoplite spun around as fast as he could, finding himself now face to face with a bloodied, dead eyed earth pony of his own. She was close enough that I could smell her breath, it stank of vomit and iron.

He levitated his spear in front of him as she jumped. He felt the resistance as something impacted it, she'd skewered herself through her left shoulder. This only seemed to make her angrier. It also left Hoplite weapon-less until he could extract it from her body. Every time he'd get close she'd snap at him and lash out with her hooves, or try to bite him. It was risky, but he was dead without that spear.

Holding the shaft in his magic, Hoplite took a deep breath, and bucked her in the ribs with all the strength he could muster.

He now had his spear back, but this mare just got back up again.

This time though, she went for Kite Shield. Hoplite was about to make a move, when he was unexpectedly knocked to the floor. He'd completely forgotten about the second patient in room three. He rolled back upright, only to be battered again, this time to the head. His vision went red and fuzzy as he felt the hooves repeatedly crash into his side, and the teeth tear into his flesh, the warm trickle of blood down his neck. His whole world burned as the abuse continued relentlessly.

Then there was darkness.

~

"T-T-T-Twilight, what was that?"

Sounds once again filled the air, different sounds. There were distant echos of unintelligible shouts and impacts, hard and soft, and odd clatterings.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Come on now, we're practically there!"

"I-If you says so..."

The pair rounded a corner, and sure enough they had reached the mail office. Unfortunately, it was closed as Twilight had speculated. The only thing she could do was to drop the letter into the 'out' box and wait.

"Well, nothing more we can do he-"

"Attention all residents, this is an automated security announcement." The PA system blared. "Please return to your dormitories and remain indoors until further notice. Thank you for your co-operation!"

"Oh dear! Twilight, we should get going!"

Twilight opened her mouth as if to reply, but then turned her head to face further down the hallway.

"Twilight?"

"Can you hear that, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy swiveled her ears in the direction Twilight was facing. Hoof falls and panted breaths reverberated around the corridor. A group of about nine or ten ponies rounded the corner, a mix of medical workers and guards, they all seemed to be worse for wear, their clothes crumpled and creased and their eyes wide with fear.

"YOU!" One of the guards pointed at them from down the hall. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR THE ANNOUNCEMENT? GET BACK TO YOUR ROOMS, IT'S NOT SAFE OUT HERE!"

Fluttershy and Twilight exchanged worried glances.

"GO! QUICK!"

Another sound came from down the hall. Gurgling, punctuated by shouts, all accompanied by rapid, uneven hoofsteps. A small, white unicorn mare came barreling around the corner, face covered in blood. She screamed and began to gallop full pelt towards the fleeing group.

"Oh shit..." The guard brought out his spear. "GO! RUN, FIND SOME PLACE SAFE, I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"

Not needing to be told again, the pair ran off the way they came,  glancing behind them as they did so. The guard was putting up a valiant fight, but no matter what he did, the mare just kept getting back up. Without realizing it, Twilight had stopped running and was watching the whole scene unfold. The mare would lunge, the guard would push her back, there would be growls. By now the floor was covered with blood, and another diseased pony had just entered the corridor. Then a third, and a fourth.

The guard started to panic and was looking for an escape route. Putting all his energy into his magic, he threw the spear as hard as he could, hitting the mare square in the chest, where she finally slumped and fell, not getting back up. He turned to run, but was jumped by one of the others. The guard attempted to buck the pony off of him, but he was pinned. His struggles ended when his attacker bellowed out a primal growl, and closed his jaw on the guard's throat.

Twilight was left wide eyed, feeling sick, still staring at the scene.

'That's...no. Ponies don't KILL other ponies...'

"Twilight, we're meant to...be..."

She tore herself away from the aftermath to find Fluttershy next to her, her pupils as small as pinpricks, and her mouth slightly open, her eyes lingering on the grisly scene in front of her.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight tried to snap her out of her stupor, fruitlessly. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by two of the three diseased ponies, however, who quickly began to make their way towards the pair, snarling as they approached.

"Come on Fluttershy, we have to move!" Twilight did her best to re-engage her friend, but to no avail.

"T-T-Twi-l-l-l.." Fluttershy was still an unresponsive, jittery wreck.

The two were drawing ever closer, and even the third pony, no longer occupied by the fallen guard, began to pace towards them.

With no option left, Twilight threw Fluttershy across her back, and began galloping for dear life back towards the plaza. She was already getting out of breath having to carry her friend as well, and the trio were only getting closer. One trip or mis-step and it'd be over for the both of them. She couldn't let that happen.

She cast a weak, small shield spell behind her, tripping her pursuers up and buying her a little more time. She heard them fall, but didn't dare risk looking back.

The plaza was still empty, there was no sign of the medical workers or the guards from earlier. Twilight assumed that meant they'd reached safety.

Her legs were burning now, she'd over-exerted herself for too long, she was slowing down and was still a good five minutes gallop away from the residential building. She'd need to find somewhere safe to stop soon, very soon, what would happen if she couldn't didn't bear thinking about.

By now she could hear that the other ponies had caught up with her again. Twilight frantically scanned around for something, anything she could use to her advantage.

'Come on, air vent, door, anyth-'

Twilight noticed that the little newsagent shop from early had it's metal security shutters lifted a bit, the owner must have left after hearing the security announcement. If she could get inside and close the shutters they should both be safe, at least for a little while.

'Okay, concentrate, Twilight, Fluttershy is counting on you.'

She took a deep breath.

'3...2...1'

Twilight suddenly darted to the right, her pursuers overshooting her. She felt her tail brush up against one of them, pulling out a few loose stands.

She focused her magic on the door, causing it to shoot up with more force than was needed. The infected ponies had returned, and were coming at her at full speed now. Twilight cleared the door frame and slammed the shutters back down behind her, holding them down with her magic.

She slid Fluttershy off of her back, and collapsed to the floor panting. The ponies were furiously attacking the metal shutters, causing them to rattle loudly, but they weren't getting through them. They were safe.

For now.

It suddenly dawned on her how close she had come to not making it. At the end they were right on her tail. If she had been any slower-

'NO! NOT THINKING ABOUT IT! NOT NOW!'

She cast her attention towards Fluttershy. She was sat on her haunches, shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

"T-T-T-Twili-i-i-i-ght-t-t"

Twilight rose to her hooves, despite her body's protest, and trotted over to her friend. She was such a delicate thing, and nopony should have to have seen what she just did. Twilight wrapped a wing around Fluttershy, and she broke down. It was just too much for the poor pegasus.

"W-w-why is this happening, T-Twilight?"

Twilight didn't answer, she didn't know. She wanted to know, she was going to know, she was determined to find out. But right now, all she could do at this point was comfort her friend.

~

Eventually Fluttershy had cried herself to sleep. Twilight didn't know how long it had been, there wasn't a clock in the tiny shop, and the power was still out anyway. The pounding on the shutters had stopped some time ago, another relief.

This gave Twilight time to think, thankfully something she was good at. If she was going to fix all this, she was going to need a plan...

~