Chapters It has been nearly five years since the eradication of Celius. A plague many called the “Black Cough,” or the “Death Flu.” Many ponies died during the time of the Death Flu, leaving tons of families left to grieve.
If it weren’t for the help of Twilight Sparkle, and her semi psychotic scientist friend, Celius would not have stopped at a couple thousand. Or at all.
But now all is well, and Twilights sits read happily in her library, no more talk of Celius, and no more work needed to be put for the cure, since it was gone, never to return.
Twilight sits alone reading her favorite book on Magimatics, after which she’ll read that book of Magicology she purchased a few days ago. No more reading that book on Celius that dusted in her library. She gave it to Celestia as soon as the plague was eradicated, to ensure that the book stay in good hooves.
So Twilight sits, reading silently with a good smile on her face. Spike sleeps upstairs. It’s still pretty early, so he might as well catch some more shut eye before he has to officially wake up.
Back downstairs, Twilight finally closes her book of Magimatics, and takes it to its spot over in the “M” section of her shelves. On the way, something peculiar catches her eye.
It’s a book.
Not just any book either. This particular book is dusty. Too dusty. And if Twilight recalls, it was just yesterday that she did a library cleanup. She was sure she pulled out all the books, dusted them, and put them back where they belonged.
Why would this one book be dusty?
Twilight levitates the book out of it’s position, and tries her best to read the cover. To no avail, the dust takes up almost every single inch of the lettering on the book. Twilight takes the common approach and blows on the cover, shielding her eyes so as to not get dust on them.
Twilight gets a bad feeling about the book she just pulled from the shelf. The exact same thing happened five years ago, when Celius was rediscovered.
Five years ago, she had found a book of the same color, of the same height, and of the same level of thickness. The contents of the book were of everything one would know about Celius. From how it transmitted, to what the symptoms were, to the most important page; how to cure. Luckily, she befriended a very odd character, and together they stopped Celius once and for all.
And now, she held in her levitation aura, a book. A book on which looked exactly like the one five years ago, that warned you of a dangerous plague. The very same plague that took the lives of thousands five years ago.
Twilights sighed in relief. The book she held looks like the book on Celius, because it is the book on Celius. She must’ve left it there by mistake, when she reshelved them, mistaking for another book. Of course this one would be dusty. Nopony dares check this book out, nor would Twilight want to read it. As for why it was dusty, she may have just missed this book. She has a lot to keep track of.
Twilight turns to read her book on Magicology she left on her desk, when she finds it has been replaced with an orange book. Thinking it strange, Twilight decides to investigate, and closes in on the book. Twilight levitates the book to clear view, and reads the title silently to herself.
“Vramix?”
Twilight cracks opens the book to the very first page, and reads. “Everything you need to know about neurological worm Vramix in one book.”
Twilight gets a nervous feeling in her stomach, and flips the page. On the left, a picture of the pony brain with a worm like creature on top, sticking what appears to be its tendrils in said brain. Arrows point to certain sections of the brain, and the right page show a list of symptoms, each getting worse and worse as they go. The first symptom being “Neural Breach,” and expanding to more severe symptoms like “Suicide” and “Transcendence.”
“Neural Breach. Causes rapid eye blinking. First stages of Vramix.”
Twilight grew nervous, the same that was happening five years ago was happening yet again.
Twilight shook her head. “Stop it, Twilight!” She told herself, “You’re over reacting. Something like that can’t happen twice.”
Twilight looked at the book once more. “Can it?”
Fresh air. Twilight needs fresh air. A little walk in the park will help her forget all this nonsense. After all, she was right. Something like this can not happen twice.
Twilight sets the book back down, and prepares herself for her walk at the park by taking a deep breath and walking to the door.
Opening the door, she takes the fresh air in, and smiles. Today was going to be a good plague-free day in Ponyville.
Birds chirp freely, children laugh cutely, and ducks paddle ponds safely. It sure is a day to be appreciated, and what better way to appreciate it with a grand stroll in the park. Twilight felt the day get warmer already, and headed towards the park.
-Ponyville; Carousel Boutique-
Ever since the spread of Celius, Rarity has learned to value life to its fullest potential. That’s why she decided it would be better to spend more time with Sweetie Belle than with her wardrobe. They are having a little tea party together in Sweetie’s room. Drinking out of little white teacups and eating honeybuns, they laugh as they talk about nonsense.
“And then Scootaloo said, ‘That’s not a notebook!’” Says Sweetie Belle before laughing. Rarity simply giggles at the ridiculousness kids can come up with.
“Did she really think it was Cheerilee’s pencil?” Asks Rarity. Sweetie Belle nods, and rubs her eyes.
Rarity watches Sweetie with concern and asks, “Are you okay, darling? You’ve been rubbing your eyes for the past hour.”
“I’m fine. I just think there’s something in my eyes that I can’t get out.” Sweetie Belle gets up, “I’ll be right back.” And with that she exits.
Rarity waits patiently for a couple minutes before getting up herself to look for Sweetie Belle. After a couple room scans, she finally finds Sweetie looking into a mirror on a stool over the sink in the bathroom. Rarity watches with concern again, and Sweetie Belle finally realizes she’s in the room.
“There’s nothing in my eye.” Sweetie proclaim. She then starts to blink rapidly. Rarity begins to worry.
“Come now,” says Rarity, “I’ll take you to the ophthalmologist.”
“Do I have to?” Sweetie Belle protests slouching over the sink.
“Only to see if your eyes are okay. We can’t have you walking around, blinking all the time now can we?”
Sweetie Belle sighs, “Noooo…” She then hops off the little stool and follows Rarity out of the Boutique.
We all know where this is headed.
-Vramix Begins in Ponyville-
Cure Progress: 0%
Undetected
Infected: 26
Dead: 0
It truly is a relaxing day today, and Twilight could not ask for any more on this fine day. The birds sang their lovely songs, the smell of the freshly water grassed filled the air, and the sight of the laughing children put a smile on Twilights face.
She sits on a park bench and basks in the sunlight, as if the sun were giving a warm hug. Smiling, she watches the children play without a care in the world.
This trip was definitely worth it. She had forgotten all about Celius and Vramix. No signs of plague, no signs of worry, no signs of distress.
It was marvelous.
-Ponyville; Hospital-
“Another one?” Dr. Whooves says as he reads the clipboard in his hooves. It was another case of the mystery eye fatigue. This is the twelfth one today.
“I do apologize, doctor. Sweetie Belle couldn’t control it, and the ophthalmologist was not in today.” Rarity says, still with that worried look on her face.
“It’s alright.” Replies the doctor. “This is just another one of those things we can’t detect.” Dr. Whooves places the clipboard on a desk, and gestures at a poster on the wall. “Okay, Sweetie Belle, what letter is this?”
“Uhm… E.”
“Very good. This one?”
“Z” Sweetie smiles at her confidence.
“Good. How about this one?”
“I”
“And this one?”
“C” Sweetie says, not even having to squint despite how small the letter was.
Dr. Whooves brings up a poster with shapes instead. “What shapes is this?” Points at a shape.
“That’s easy, it’s a square with lines around it!” Sweetie Belle proudly claims. Dr. Whooves nods.
“Well there’s nothing wrong with her eyesight. Much like the other patients, I can’t find the source of the fatigue.”
“Whatever do you mean, doctor?” Rarity asks, visibly worried.
“I mean, it could not exist anywhere. Perhaps it’s a new strain of something.” Dr. Whooves explains.
Rarity’s eyes widen at the thought. “You don’t mean like... “ Rarity looks at Sweetie Belle, then back at the doctor, “... it?”
Dr. Whooves raises an eyebrow. “Like… it ?”
“You know…” Rarity’s voice lowers to a whisper. “C-E-L-I-U-S” Dr. Whooves pieces it together and chuckles.
“Of course not! That’s been eradicated years ago! It’s impossible for it to return!” Dr. Whooves laughs as such utter nonsense.
Dr. Whooves remembers Celius very well. During the wrath of the black plague, he was with his family, locked into his house. He and his wife were both sick, but his daughter was not. To keep his daughter safe, he isolated her from the world outside, by locking her in her room, refusing to let her come out. Even if it her for a glass of water.
During that time, he was sent from Canterlot to pick up blood samples from a scientist. He did not return to the laboratory for two reasons. By the time he got to Ponyville, the trains were on lockdown. It was also the precise moment his wife was sick, and he found out.
“Celius is no more, Rarity. It’s fine. It’s nothing like that. What Sweetie Belle has is probably harmless, seeing as it’s only making the filly blink.” Dr. Whooves assures Rarity. “Just bring her here tomorrow and we’ll have her diagnosed thoroughly. I’ll set up the appointment.
Rarity agrees, and a couple papers later, she and Sweetie Belle are out of the hospital. They’re not heading home, however. There going the wrong way.
“Uhm… Rarity? The boutique is that way.” Claims Sweetie Belle as she points in the direction they should be walking in.
“I know where the boutique is Sweetie Belle, but we’re not going to the boutique.” Rarity says flatly. Sweetie is puzzled.
“Where are we going?” Swwetie asks curiously. She looks ahead, trying to find out the answer to her question.
“To the library. I don’t trust that whatever you’re holding is ‘harmless,’” Rarity points out. “Twilight found the answer to Celius, and she can find the answer to this.
-Ponyville; SugarCube Corner-
Our favorite party thrower professional is here at SugarCube Corner doing what she does best, and that is making people smile the best she can. With cupcake comedy to milkshake magic, she truly lives up to her element when serving people there food. The ambiance in the room is quite nice, really.
The smell of bakery good deliciousness fills the air. Along with the sounds of laughter, and cheering. The food looks frosty and creamy. And they taste as well as they look.
Yes. The magnificence of the Corner’s very own Pinkie Pie never fails to amaze ponies.
Asa couple more ponies enter the establishment, Pinkie senses an eerie feeling. She looks at the newcomers, and notices that they are blinking. Not all of them, just two out of the three. Why were their eyes blinking?
Pinkie rushes up to greet them, with a great big smile on her face, and two trays of empty dishes. “Welcome to SugarCube Corner!” Pinkie exclaims. “Table’s two, four, and seven are open! I’d give you a hug, but hooves full!” The newcomers thank Pinkie, and walk to an empty table.
Pinkie then dashes to the kitchen, and throws the plates into the sink. Don’t worry, they’re plastic.
Pinkie then thinks about that feeling she had. She was sure she felt it before. An odd eerie feeling she had. Like something really bad was about to happen. But she’s only felt it once before in her life. She kind of remembers the last time. It was about… four to six years ago.
-Ponyville; Library-
“I’m sorry, but she’s not home right now. I don’t know where she is.” A little purple dragon says at the door. “You can come in and wait for her if you like.” Spike gestures politely inside.
“Why thank you, Spikey Wikey!” Rarity walks in accompanied by her little sister. Spike closes the door as soon as all of them are in the library.
They all sit around, waiting patiently for Twilight. Who we all know is at the park at the current moment. Rarity looks around at all the books stacked on the seemingly endless amount of shelves. Sweetie Belle simply sits on a stool by the door. Spike is doing what we all know Spike is doing; basking in the grace of Rarity’s beauty.
“My my… There sure are a lot of books here. I never realized how many books this place had. Now that I take a closer look, it looks to me like Twilight has a little too much free time.” Rarity points out, amazed by the number of books that could possibly fit into one small library.
She then notices that one particular book sitting out of place. Sitting on the desk by a stool. It’s orange, and not stacked up, unlike the other hundred books. Rarity becomes intrigued, and walks to the mysterious book. Examining it, she realizes the tite. “Vramix”
“Spike, be a dear, and tell me what this book is about, please?” Rarity asks without breaking her stare.
“Well it’s about… Uhm… Well… I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve seen this book before.” Spike says, now looking at the book himself. “Maybe it’s new?”
“Maybe.” Repeats Rarity. Now very curious, she decides to open the book, but before she can.
“Oh… Hello. I didn’t realize I would be having any guests.”
Rarity flinches a bit, and turns to the voice. “Oh dear… You really shouldn’t startle me like that, Twilight.”
“I’m sorry. I was a bit surprised that you were here.” Twilight walks in and closes the door behind her. “What can I help you with?”
Rarity beckons to Sweetie Belle, to which she obeys. “Well, you see darling. Sweetie Belle’s eyes are acting a little odd, and I was hoping maybe you knew what was happening.”
“What’s the matter with her eyes.” Twilights asks. As if on cue, Sweetie Belle begins to rub her eyes.
“They won’t stop blinking!” Sweetie Belle says, irritated. Twilight said nothing, and everything about that book came to her mind. The first symptom kept popping into her head.
“No… It can’t be…” Twilight says fearfully.
“What’s the matter, Twilight?” Asks a now more worried than before Rarity.
“Spike, take a letter immediately!” Twilight says in sheer panic.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Spike asks.
‘I’ll explain in the letter, just write down what I say!” Twilight yells. spike runs to collect a quill and paper. Sweetie Belle begins to panic, and Rarity’s worry becomes anxiety.
Spike returns with a quill and paper at hand, and Twilight explains everything to them.
-Canterlot; Throne room; five minutes later-
Princess Celestia drops the letter she had just received, and begins to breath in order to calm herself.
“Guard!” Celestia calls out.
A royal guard in his golden armor approaches the princess and bows. “Yes your majesty?”
“I need you to go to the main laboratory immediately. I need you to bring me somepony.” Celestia demands.
“Who would you like to see, princess?” The guard asks. Celestia knows very well who can handle this type of situation.
“Bring me Dr. Labor Kittel.”
-Vramix has been spotted-
Cure Progress: 0%
Spotted
Infected: 43
Dead: 0
-Canterlot; Laboratory-
The blood pours from a single pony. Oh, it’s been too long since the doctor has done something like this. It felt good to him. Seeing that much blood pour puts a smile on his face. The experimentation was almost over. So far, only two liters of blood managed to pour out. Soon, everypony will know how much blood can one survive without, but nopony will ever have to find out how this experiment was conducted.
Or else they’d be apart of the next experiment.
“Dr. Labor”
For now, he knows that they faint at the loss of 1.5 liters, but their heart rate continues.
“Dr. Labor”
At two liters, their heart rate starts to speed up in order to keep up.
“Dr. Labor!”
Just a few more minutes, and-
“DR. LABOR!”
Labor Kittel jolts awake from the nap he wasn’t supposed to be having. “Huh!? Vhat? Vhat happened!?”
The guard clears his throat before responding. “Princess Celestia demands to see you at once.”
Dr. Labor proceeds to stretch, and rub his eyes. “Now? But I’m in zhe middle of somezhing very important.” Labor continues his pesticide research. “I have to see how zhis affects zhe plant.”
“Drop it. Celestia needs to see you.” The guard demands. “Royal orders.”
“Yeah yeah.” Labor waves the guard away, and yawns. “You go and tell her zhat I’m busy, ozhervise, you can be promoted to messenger colt and deliver vhatever she vants to tell me.”
“But she wants to see you personally.”
“Did she say zhat?”
“Well… Not exactly, but I told you that-”
“And I told you zhat I’m busy.” Labor looks the guard straight in the eyes. “Now eizher you go and do vhat I politely asked you do to, or so help me I’ll drill your eyes out and feed zhem to your family.”
The guard gulps, as he knows that when Labor gets angry, he tends to be a little violent. He also knows the history Labor has in the castle.
Labor used to be one of the most trusted and smartest scientist out there. While his intellect stayed with him, his trust faded. After rumor of Labor’s diabolical experiments with live ponies started to spread, ponies steered clear from him. It didn’t help when the rumors became fact, after a mutilated pony corpse was found stuffed into the closet of Labor’s Laboratory.
His license became suspended and he was to undergo rehabilitation in prison. Soon after, he became a scientist again, under oath that he would never harm ponies again. When Celius struck, he was visited by an old friend. Dr. Whooves, who brought along a purple unicorn by the name of ‘Twilight Sparkle.’ Together with Twilight, they managed to stop Celius, and restore the pony race. He hasn’t heard from her since.
Too bad. Out of all the ponies he liked to see the fear come out of, she was his favorite.
-Ponyville; Library-
Twilight reads the book on the worm she had discovered, flipping the pages to try and find the cure section in order to start on it immediately.
“Oh, please tell me you know where it is?” A very anxious Rarity impatiently says.
Twilight shakes her head, having already given the book her complete and undivided focus. The look of worry on her face is too much to handle. One would become nervous just looking at her.
Alas, all Twilight finds are the pages she had already read; the symptoms section, the transmission section, the image section, the resistance section, ect ect. It wasn’t after skimming the book for the seventh time that she noticed the harsh reality.
Vramix had no cure. Whatever they are facing here, they’ll have to find the cure for it without help.
This sudden epiphany causes Twilight to freeze and the flipping to stop. For an entire minute, all that you can hear was the ticking of a clock.
“Wh- What’s wrong, dear?” Rarity leans in to try and see if Twilight isn’t having a nervous breakdown. For a moment, Twilight moves her lips to try and say something, but nothing emerges. Until finally, Twilight let’s reality sink back in.
“Rarity.” Twilight finally spouts out. Seemingly calm and collective, she adds, “Can I go talk to you in the kitchen privately?”
“Uh… Why o-of course.” Rarity then proceeds to follow Twilight to the kitchen, leaving the living room they were just in complete silence, accompanied only by the sound of a ticking clock.
Both Spike and Sweetie Belle look at each other, and shrug it off. They don’t know much of what’s going on. Sweetie starts blinking, and Rarity has a fit over. This is probably just another case of too much sisterly love. Maybe there was a lot of dust in the air today. Maybe something got in her eye when they were having their tea party. Maybe today was just too bright.
Whatever the case, Sweetie Belle is sure there is nothing to worry so much about.
-Canterlot; Throne Room-
“I told you to bring me the doctor.” Celestia scolds the guard just entering the room, and informing her that the doctor would not show.
“I sincerely apologize your majesty, but he refused to come. Even if it was direct orders from you yourself, he still refused to move.” The guard appears terrified, and quite frankly, with a look on Celestia’s face, anypony would be frightened.
Celestia arises from her seat, “I’ll get him.” Then she moves towards the laboratory, determined to fetch the doctor herself.
Where to begin with Celestia?
Celestia was there both times Celius arose. The first was nearly 1000 years ago, a couple years before the banishment of Luna. At that time, when Celius struck there was no cure, and because of this setback, a blooming city was lost. The city of SunnDale. It was a city high up in the clouds, and it was thriving with life. That is of course, until the black cough struck. SunnDale was completely demolished, loads of houses destroyed from pure anarchy. Dead pegasi rained down from the heavens, and the last bit of sanity completely lost, as more ponies torched the city that was once peaceful.
The cure was found before Celius could do any more damage. Although there was quite a lot of death and destruction, SunnDale was rebuilt, polished, and renamed ‘CloudsDale.’
When Celius struck the second time five years ago, it was not so bad. They had the cure at hoof, and had their best scientist work on the cure. Celestia did go into a bit of panic, and was not sure whether or not they would find it on time. Luckiliy, the odds were in their favor, and they vanquished Celius once and for all.
But they are not dealing with Celius anymore.
Celestia finally reaches the main laboratory and helps herself in to find to find the doctor she looked for sleeping on the job yet again. Celestia nudges the doctor.
“Dr. Kittel, wake up.” Celestia says softly. Labor merely shrugs.
“Doctor. Please wake up” Celestia says with another nudge.
“Leave. Me. Alone.” Labor responds with the voice of evil.
“Doctor, I need to speak with you urgently.” Celestia says calming yet again.
“Can it vait?” Labor finally gets up and yawns. “I have plants to look at, and do zhe uhm… studying.”
Celestia leans in to the doctor, “It’s about a disease.”
Labor sits up and stretches, then looks at Celestia.
“I’m afraid we’ve encountered another unidentified disease.” Celestia says, “Twilight has informed me earlier today.”
Labor looks at Celestia with a glimmer of suspicion. “Are you telling me, zhat ve are on zhe verge of anozher outbreak?”
“Not quite. I don’t know for sure if this new disease is dangerous, or even severe. For all we know, it could be completely harmless.” Celestia explains. “We just need you to look into it.”
“Vill I be vorking vith Twilight again?” Labor asks. Celestia nods to confirm.
“Okay. Vhen do ve start vorking here?” Labor asks.
“Oh, not here.” Celestia mentions. Labor looks at her confused.
“As I’ve mentioned, we don’t know if this is really something bad. We don’t want to stir panic, and bringing in patients from Ponyville will seem suspicious.”
“You’re not saying vhat I zhink you’re saying, are you?”
“I’m sending you to Ponyville, to study the disease there.”
“Oh scheisse.”
-Huge Earthquake in Manehatten-
Cure Progress: 0%
Spotted
Infected: 97
Dead: 277
