Bloodshot

Princess, we might be facing a national crisis here.  I’m running out of leads, and the majority of Canterlot’s population is becoming infected.  I’m hearing things about ponies in neighboring cities catching the disease too, and the assailants appear to be related to each other around seventy-five percent of the time.  I have a bit of evidence, though, and I think it might explain the mode of contagion.  It just may explain the reason that this plague is spreading so fast among families…

       Spike hopped down from Twilight’s back as soon as they landed on the front lawn of Canterlot Castle.  Rainbow Dash landed just a moment after Twilight, and brushed off her wings.  She ruffled her coat like a dog to smooth out the frizz from the wind.

       “Are you sure the guards are going to allow us to intrude from above like this?”  The pegasus asked skeptically.

       “Of course they will, Rainbow.  The Royal Guards always keep pegasi on their team so that they can catch aerial intruders red-hoofed.  If the guards had any trouble with us being here, they would’ve sent pegasi up to stop us before we could even land.  They know me as a princess, so that’s probably why they allowed us to pass.”  Twilight explained absent-mindedly.

       Rainbow Dash shrugged.  “Guess that makes sense.  You are the egghead, after all.”

       Twilight rolled her eyes, and started on her trot towards the castle.  Spike and Rainbow Dash followed close behind.  On their way to the front doors, Rainbow Dash earned concerned stares from passing visitors as they observed her blank flank.  All the embarrassed pegasus could do was smile awkwardly at them and avoid speaking.

…

       “So…we’re just going to walk in?”  Spike asked.

       “Of course, Spike.  It’s not like we’re on a secret mission or anything.  Celestia requested our presence, and now we’re just responding.”  Twilight mentioned.

       The three of them approached the front gates of the castle after passing through the garden.  Two heavily-armed guards stood on both sides of the gate, standing rigidly without any eye movement.

       “Ugh…I hate guards…”  Rainbow Dash groaned, thinking back on Celestia’s visit to Sugarcube Corner.

       Before Twilight could speak, the guards reacted to their arrival.  Without glancing or turning their heads, they reached for the handles of the massive doors, and pulled them open for the group to enter.  Twilight and Rainbow Dash blinked in fascination at the majesty of the massive marble doors as they creaked open ominously.  Spike didn’t even look up.

       They began to walk in slowly.  Roughly a hundred meters down the stained-glass hallway was Celestia’s throne, with Princess Celestia herself sitting on it.  Princess Luna sat directly by her side.  The royal duo sat regally with their heads trained straight forward, right on the door that had just opened.

       Twilight’s slow walk quickly turned into a sprint as soon as the Royal Sisters came into view through the open doors.  Surprised, Rainbow Dash and Spike picked up the pace in order to catch up to their friend.  The Princesses watched patiently as the alicorn that they had called for approached their throne at full speed.

       “Princess Celestia!  Please tell me you heard something about the disease!  We just started studying it, and we don’t think…”

       The Princess of the Sun held up her hoof calmly, cuing Twilight to relax and slow down.  Twilight promptly shut her mouth, and waited anxiously for the Princess to give her royal reply.

…

       “Yes, Twilight, I am well acquainted with this disease.”

       Twilight’s jaw dropped to the floor.  “R…Really?  When?  Is there anything you can tell us about it?”

       Celestia shook her head.  “There is not.  I met with this disease centuries ago, during Starswirl the Bearded’s time.  Not only did he help me study the illness, but he also wrote the entry for it in the Perplexing Pony Plagues book.”

       Twilight was amazed.  “We just read that entry earlier today!  It didn’t really give us that much information.”

       “Precisely.  We were able to deduce almost nothing about the disease, except for two crucial factors.”

       The room grew silent.  Twilight leaned forward a bit, eager to hear what the Princess had figured out.  Any bit, no matter how small, was enough to potentially help save Fluttershy’s life.  They all held their breath.

       “First, we discovered that the disease was not caused by a viral or bacterial pathogen.  Based on evidence, we predicted it to be a hex, brought on by a supernatural creature.”  Celestia informed.

       A look of surprise and confusion appeared on Twilight’s face.  That fact was definitely a game-changer.

…

       “Also, we believed to have figured out the disease’s mode of contagion.”

       Twilight’s ears shot up.  “Are you serious?  What is it?  We need to know this!”

       Celestia looked toward the ground solemnly.  “…Verbally.  No contact, whether it be physically, aerially, or sexually, is necessary to spread the disease.  From what we found, we deduced that the disease was spread by an inflicted pony speaking the name of a pony that was not infected.”

       Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all gasped.  Celestia closed her eyes, and nodded slowly.

       “But……didn’t Rainbow Dash already say Pinkie Pie’s name a little bit earlier?  Does that mean she’s infected, too?”  Spike asked worriedly.

       Princess Luna leaned to the side a little bit, and snuck a glance at Rainbow Dash’s flank.  She shook her head.  “Nay, subjects.  You have nothing to fear.  We assure you that contagion is only possible once an inflicted victim develops a pentagram on his or her flank.  Rainbow Dash here has not developed that yet.”

       A small sigh of relief ejected from the visitors’ mouths.  That was surely a close call.  They could all mutually agree that if Pinkie Pie caught the disease unknowingly, her blabbering mouth could infect all of Equestria in an hour.

…

       Princess Celestia spoke again.  “I need to know, Twilight.  Have you brought along with you today everyone you know who is infected?”

       Twilight’s eye twitched.  She leaned to Spike.  “Spike, I thought you said you told the Princess in the message that Fluttershy was infected!”

       “What?  I never said that!  You wanted me to write that?!”  Spike jeered.

       Twilight cleared her throat unapprovingly.  “No, Princess, I have not brought everyone along.  Fluttershy has the disease, and she is back at her cottage.”

       Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?  If you knew she was infected, why did you not bring her?”

       Twilight hesitated.  “Well…she was being sort of defiant, you know, and…well…she stopped listening to us.  She found a date over the last couple of days, and she’s been head-over-hooves for him.”

       Celestia and Luna both hummed in understanding simultaneously.  Luna looked at the floor.  “Indeed.  Love is certainly a thing to taint a subject’s judgement.”

       Rainbow Dash cut in abruptly.  “So what do we do?  Without knowing the mode of contagion or whatever, she could infect the whole town before we even know about it!  Starting with her kooky coltfriend!”

       Celestia’s tone did not even raise a smudge.  “For now, I need you to remain calm, and not start a scene amongst anypony.  You must stay here, in the castle, until this is all sorted out.  We’ll need you to use everything in your power to find a cure.  We will help you all that we can.”

       “What about Fluttershy?”  Twilight asked.

       “As soon as we find some living quarters for you to settle into, I will travel to Ponyville myself and confront her.  The sooner we inform her about the mode of contagion, the more lives we can save.  We’re running on a minimum of leads, so we need to hold off the spread of the illness as long as possible.”  Celestia explained.

       “Well…isn’t there anything else you can tell us?  We seem to have next to nothing to help us research.”  Spike requested.

       Celestia shrugged.  “All that we can infer from what we have is that we’re dealing with a hex.  And with a hex, the cure is not usually some sort of magic medicine that you drink.  Some kind of ritual or exorcism is required.”

       Rainbow Dash scoffed.  “I bet Zecora would know something about that.”  Upon speaking, she suddenly covered her mouth in fear.  “Oops…”

       Twilight rolled her eyes.  “Luna just said earlier that you need a pentagram on your flank in order to spread the disease, Dash.  Plus, Zecora is a zebra.  Only the three main races of pony can catch the disease.”

       “Oh, right…  Guess I forgot.”

…

       Celestia stood up from her throne.  In response, Luna stood up as well.  Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike stepped back a few paces to give their mentors’ large statures some space to stretch out.

       “Alright, with this in order, I’m going to have Luna show you to a place to stay for the time being.  I’m going to head to Ponyville to speak to Fluttershy.”  Celestia announced.

       “Are you sure we shouldn’t…”

       Celestia raised her hoof again, cutting Twilight off.  “Just listen to everything I told you.  If you ever need information, the castle library is always to your access.  I will be back once I can convince Fluttershy.  A lot lives are counting on you ponies.”

       Twilight, always feeling the urge to ask questions, forced herself to keep quiet.  She simply nodded, which signaled to Celestia that she understood.  With this, Celestia turned toward the door, and regally proceeded to march down the hall and out of the throne room.  She stopped to inform the guards of her destination, and took off toward Ponyville.

       The evening sun projected its radiance throughout the land from the west side of the Equestrian sky.  Fluttershy’s date was going to show up to her cottage very soon.