Bloodshot

       “Rainbow Dash!  Hey, Rainbow Dash!  Don’t make this difficult on me!”  Twilight ordered, slapping her friend in the cheek a few times.  The infected pegasus just lay on the ground, cold and unmoving.  Twilight knew with utmost certainty that her athletic friend wasn’t dead; she was merely unconscious.  After all, if whatever just happened to her was fatal, then Fluttershy would’ve been dead a long time ago.

       “D…Do you think she’s…”  Spike stammered.

       “Yes, Spike.  She’s Bloodshot, just like the book said.  She isn’t dead, though, so I don’t need anyone freaking out while we try to find a cure for this thing.”  Twilight declared with a calm look on her face.

       “B…but…the disease!  Everyone’s starting to catch it already!”  Spike retorted.

       “Spike, please stop freaking out.  Rainbow Dash just happened to walk within close range of Fluttershy, so she obviously caught the disease.  I don’t know the specifics of its transmission, but I’m not very surprised that she got it too.  All we have to do is keep them here with us, and Equestria will be fine.”  Twilight explained.

       “Are you sure we’re not going to catch it?”  Spike asked, biting his lip.

…

       Without answering his question, Twilight turned around.  “Fluttershy?”

       Quivering, Fluttershy looked up from her hooves.  “Y…yes?”

       Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.  Her breathing stopped.  “Holy sweet Celestia…”

       Twilight’s suddenly-shocked behavior caused Fluttershy’s anxiety to well up again.  She quaked.  “What?  What’s wrong?”

       Twilight turned back around so she was facing away from Fluttershy.  The awed unicorn lowered her head solemnly.  “Fluttershy, it’s your eyes.  Before you go and look in the mirror, I need you to promise me something.”

       Fluttershy struggled to keep herself from crying some more.  As larger amounts of anxiety, confusion, and fear continued to build inside of her, her self-control was beginning to fade.  “What?  What’s wrong with my eyes?!”

       “Fluttershy, I need you to stay calm!  Now take a deep breath, and try to keep from panicking!  Stress will only accelerate the progression of the disease!”  Twilight demanded, turning back around quickly.  Spike glanced around Twilight, and gasped when he saw Fluttershy.

…

       Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth to keep herself contained, and nodded slowly.  Twilight gestured the infected pegasus toward the bathroom.  Upon receiving this order, Fluttershy turned around, and walked slowly toward the latrine behind her.  She stepped in front of the mirror, breathed a heavy sigh, and looked up.

       The result was immediate.  Fluttershy lurched backward into the wall behind her, and screamed loudly.  She looked at herself as if she were staring at a snarling murderer.

       “Oh…oh…oh my gosh!  Twilight, wh…what is this?!”  She shrieked.

       Fluttershy’s eyes were a pure, vivid, jet black.  No pupils, irises, or extraneous details could be seen anywhere on the surface of her corneas.  She looked like someone had shoved miniature bowling balls into her eye sockets.

       Twilight put a hoof to her chin.  “Hmm…it seems like not even an hour ago that her irises only had gray outlines.  Either this thing progresses quickly, or contagion is one of its means of progression…”

       “What am I going to do?”  Fluttershy bawled.

       “Do us both a favor, and don’t do anything.  Any slight variation in behavior beyond what we know could be enough to set it off even further.  Just stay calm, and we’ll find a way through this.”  Twilight ordered.

…

       Once Twilight made her statement, Spike coughed.  A plume of air filled up his cheeks, and he belched rather loudly.  A cloud of lime fire erupted from his mouth, materializing quickly into a bundled up scroll.  Without a word, he handed the scroll to Twilight.

       “Ah, it’s about time that Princess Celestia decided to answer my plea.”  Twilight scoffed.  She gripped the scroll in both hooves, and opened it.

       “My dearest student, Twilight,

If what you are telling me is true, I need you to head to Canterlot immediately.  For our sake, I ask that you also bring whoever is currently infected with the plague that you speak of.  Don’t bring anyone else; we need to keep the risks of a panic low.  If possible, try to keep any of the assailants from speaking.  From what you have told me, this disease is familiar.  There is a lot to discuss.

Your long-time mentor, Princess Celestia.”  She read.

…

       No one said a word.  Twilight stared down at the scroll thoughtfully.  Spike glanced around the room nervously as if he expected a bomb to suddenly blow up.

       “Well, you two, you heard what the princess said.  We should get going.  One of us will have to carry Rainbow Dash.”  Twilight ordered.

       Fluttershy glared over at Twilight with her demonic, empty eyes.  “Wait…n…no!  We can’t go to Canterlot now!  I have a date later!”

       Twilight, almost cutting Fluttershy off, exclaimed, “Fluttershy, you need to forget about him right now!  Step back and look at yourself!  There is a bloody pentagram on your flank, and you practically have no retinae!  What do you think is going to happen as soon as you meet him?”

       Fluttershy stood silent.

       “I mean…don’t you think it’s for the greater good?  The more ponies get it, the more ponies will continue to get it.  I know you’ll agree with me when I say that the good of Equestria is more important than a single pony, right?”  Twilight continued.

       Fluttershy still stood silent.  She closed her eyes, and looked at the floor.

       “If you love him, you wouldn’t want him to die with a horrible disease.  Does that make sense?”  Twilight added.

       Fluttershy didn’t move nor speak.

       “Say something, Fluttershy!  For Celestia’s sa—”

       “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?!”  Fluttershy screamed, cutting Twilight off completely.  Rainbow Dash suddenly jolted awake from the outburst.

…

       Twilight stepped back a few paces, shocked from Fluttershy’s sudden cry.  The other two witnesses stood by in utter silence.  The only noise that could be heard in the room was Fluttershy’s heavy, exasperated breathing.

       “Fluttershy, I—”

       “You don’t know what it’s like, Twilight!  All my life, I stood by in the background, observing other ponies’ lives, being there for the ones who needed it, and wishing I had it better!  I love animals a lot, which is why I live off by the forest to care for them around the clock.  Do you ever have any idea how lonely it gets out there?”  Fluttershy ranted.

       “I understand, but—”

       “And I’ve always been so shy and so submissive, I just couldn’t…reach out for the help I needed.  I love you guys all so much, but I sometimes feel like I just need…more, in order to not feel so alone…”

       “You know it doesn’t have to be like that, Flutters.  You see, we—”

       “And then finally, this stallion that I’ve been swooning over for so many months starts to notice me, and it looks like I would finally get to share my life with a truly special somepony for once.  But then, just like that, it’s all thrown down the drain when I contract some Celestia-forbidden disease that’s supposed to do heaven-knows-what to my entire life!  Twilight, I don’t think you understand!”

       “Yes I do, Fluttershy.  It’s just important for now that we—”

       “No, I don’t want to do anything.  I’m going home now.  When my date shows up to my cottage this evening, I’m going to be sure to give him the warmest welcome he’s ever seen.  I don’t care if this disease kills me.  If I get to die in his arms, then it would be worth it.  Goodbye.”  Fluttershy asserted with a final sigh.

       “No, Fluttershy, wait!  We can’t risk further contamination!”  Twilight pleaded.

       Ignoring the alicorn completely, Fluttershy strutted out the door, and closed it firmly behind her.  Twilight let out a long, exasperated sigh.

…

       “Do you think her behavior could be part of the disease?”  Spike asked curiously.  “Fluttershy never acts like that.”

       “She sure is capable of it, nonetheless.  You know how she acted back when that minotaur guy got a hold of her.”  Rainbow Dash mentioned.

       Twilight was reminded of Rainbow Dash as soon as the pegasus spoke.  “Well, Rainbow Dash, now you’re the only specimen I have right now.  How exactly are you feeling?”

       “Me?  Well, regardless of the long nap I just took, I suppose I feel……a little bit tired.  Maybe I should eat something.”  Rainbow Dash answered with a casual shrug.

       Twilight took a conspicuous glance down at her colorful friend’s flank, and shook her head thoughtfully.  Rainbow Dash quickly followed the alicorn’s gaze, and quickly saw what she was looking at.

…

       Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark was gone.  It, of course, didn’t pose as any sort of surprise to anyone, since the plague’s early stages were already familiar to the group.  Rainbow Dash, however, was a little bit startled.

       “Wait a minute…my cutie mark……Does this mean I’m Bloodshot too?”  She gasped.

       Twilight nodded.  “You need to be able to keep your cool, though.  Fluttershy is already much further into the disease than you are, and she still seems to be functioning just fine.”

       “But Fluttershy’s disease developed just over the course of this morning!  When she arrived at your cottage at dawn, her eyes still had their color, and her flank still didn’t have a pentagram on it!  This thing moves fast, Twilight, so I think you need to think a little faster.”  Rainbow Dash argued.

       Twilight shot her friend a suspicious glare.  “How exactly did you know about Fluttershy’s symptoms earlier this morning?  You didn’t show up until she already had her pentagram.”

       Rainbow Dash scoffed.  “Please, Twilight, I know everything that happens in this town.  That’s one of the perks of getting to fly around everywhere; you get to see everything.  Pinkie Pie is pretty much the only one up in the morning as the sun is rising.  When I saw Fluttershy trotting to your place at a rather high speed, it immediately seemed off to me.”

       “Well…fine.  I’ll give you that.  My point stands, though; you need to pipe down about the disease.  We’ll figure it out.”  Twilight finished.

…

       “Speaking of which, Twilight, don’t you think we should be following Celestia’s orders right about now?  We might be wasting time.”  Spike mentioned.

       “Orders?  What orders?”  Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

       “Princess Celestia sent us a letter while you were unconscious.  She wants us to report to Canterlot ASAP.  I think she knows something about H.S.D.”  Twilight replied.

       “H.S.D.?  What the hay is that?”  Rainbow Dash asked.

       “It’s the plague.  The one that you and Fluttershy have.  It stands for Hematic Spiritual Dystrophy.  It’s what you get when you become Bloodshot.”  Spike informed.

       “Wait…there’s an actual name for this thing?  Isn’t there a cure, then?”  Rainbow Dash asked anxiously.

       “No.  If there were, don’t you think we would’ve used it on you two by now?  Anyways, it was a name given to the disease by Starswirl the Bearded back when this disease used to be a pandemic.  Just like Cutie Pox, it disappeared mysteriously.”  Twilight explained.

       “Well I guess that makes sense.”  Rainbow Dash shrugged, rolling her eyes.

…

       “Alright, so I suppose Spike can ride on my back, and the two of us could simply fly to Canterlot.  We’d certainly get there a lot faster than if we took a train.  Plus, if we took any mode of public transportation, we might risk further contagion.”  Twilight planned.

       “Okay, seems easy.  But…what about Fluttershy?”  Rainbow Dash countered.

       Twilight sighed.  “Forget about her for now.  She seems pretty troubled.  As long as she stays at home, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about contagion.  Plus, if you want me to be honest, I don’t think Silver Spirit is going to stick around at Fluttershy’s cottage once he sees what she looks like.  Unfortunately, this disease might ruin her chances with him before she can even spread it to him.”

       Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue.  “What a bummer.  She’s been desperately needing it, too.  With how much time she spends alone, I’m surprised she doesn’t go around spreading it to everyone she meets.”

       “What the heck are you talking about?  I’m talking about the disease, Rainbow Dash!  She’s going to lose Silver Spirit to her condition before she even has the chance to spread the disease to him!”  Twilight exclaimed in disgust.

       Rainbow Dash’s face started to heat up.  “Oh…I thought you were talking about her, uh…”

       “Yeah, I know.  Just…try to keep from talking, okay?  Celestia’s orders.”  Twilight grumbled.