Outbreak

Chapter VIII

Classroom Office

Twilight Sparkle stood in the office of Doctor Seymour, accompanied by Doctor Photon Surge. The three had arrived just minutes before, and now attempted to sift through the admittedly cluttered space for any of Seymour’s books containing vital information on the virus responsible for the deaths of 132 changelings in the city of Chitin.

“Well, Dr. Seymour…” Twilight nervously spoke up. “It certainly is a… lovely office you have here.”

“Yeah, sorry about the clutter- I like to call it organized chaos.” Seymour apologized waving his white flanks in the air while digging through a low-set cabinet, his smooth, black tail swishing to and fro revealing an unusual cutie mark- an open eye  surrounded by four blue lightning bolts. “It may be messy, but I can find most of my stuff in here without any trouble… most of the time.”

Twilight blushed slightly as she caught a glimpse of the professor’s oddly toned plot, causing her to turn her head away to avoid any possible awkward moments.

“Lady Twilight, I would like to once again state how much of an honor it is to be serving at your side.” Photon praised, still smitten by Twilight’s royal status.

“J-Just Twilight, thanks…” she thanked, snapping back to reality. “Is there anything I can do to help out?”

“Well, I suppose you and I could start by-”

“Found it!” Seymour exclaimed, his front half still buried under the cabinet’s surface.

“Well bring it up, then!” Photon demanded, eager to get started.

*THUD*

“OW!” grunted Seymour, bashing his head on the wood paneling above him. “Ugh… A little loud, don’t you think?”

“You coming out of there or not?” Photon panned, causing the professor to pull out of the cabinet, clutching a large, hardback textbook in his hooves.

“Alright, alright…”

Twilight could tell the two must have had some strong personal connection based on their dialogue. Curious, she asked Photon about his past with the slightly-nutty biophysics instructor.

“So… you guys know each other very long?” she inquired.

“Four years, your highness… I mean Twilight.” the Stalliongrad unicorn answered. “I was twenty-four years old when we met at a graduate symposium, we’ve been keeping in touch ever since.”

“Believe it or not, I learned quite a few things in my field from this guy.” Seymour added, placing the heavy book on his mahogany desk, a plume of dust rising from underneath the book. “Man, it’s been ages since I must have opened this book… Hope I can still find what I’m looking for quick enough.”

“Well, you had better figure it out soon.” Photon suggested. “You know that the princess is counting on us to be back there post-haste.”

“I know, I know…” Seymour panned, lifting the cover of the large book. "Anyway, I met Photon in my first year of grad school. He and I hit it off pretty well, we went out for drinks, and we found that we essentially were chasing the same thing."

"Chasing the same thing?" Twilight inquired. "What was that?"

"We really wanted to do something more than just be a couple of scientists." Seymour answered, rubbing his temple with a smile. "We wanted to be heroes- real heroes."

"Not like the ones you see in the comic books." Photon added. "We wanted to be remembered for the impact we had on the scientific community- and what better way than by leading the next generation of scientists in their studies?"

Twilight smiled a genuine smile, she knew exactly what the two meant when they said "real-heroes." She knew the type- those who led more quiet lives, spending their days serving the community, fixing small problems, or dealing with and educating the youth. Ponies whom Equestria would fall apart without, even if nopony at large ever acknowledged their existence.

"Wow... that's actually pretty noble of you two." Twilight complimented. "I mean, it really takes a lot of maturity to teach... I should know. Even though you two could be doing some fancy doctorate research or working for the government in some exciting way, you chose to be professors- I really admire that."

Seymour smiled, blushing at the purple alicorn's compliments.

"Well, gosh... thanks Twilight."

Back in the conference room, only two of the three other figures of royalty remained- Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis. The two had been locked in an argument regarding Celestia's earlier decision for several minutes.

"This is absurd!" complained Chrysalis, smacking a gnarled hoof on the marble tabletop. "My people are dying, and you think you can just take a three-hour break from our most important conference in months?!"

"Have died, Chrysalis... have died." Celestia reasoned, rubbing her temples with both hooves. "We still don't know if this virus has spread beyond the factory, much less infected any other changelings. Besides, you know that we need to make sure the area is absolutely safe before we send any more Equestrian citizens into Chitin. The last thing we need is for this epidemic to grow into a pandemic!"

"Oh, so it's an epidemic now." Chrysalis interrupted. "An epidemic of what?!"

"Look, all we know right now is that some virus got into the factory and made a large group of changelings sick!" Celestia continued. "We have no clue what could happen next! We also don't know the level of danger it could possibly mean for our forces already in the city."

"If we do not act, there may not be a city left to save by the end of the week!"

This final proclamation left the two silent, each looking down at the marble table.

"...Chrysalis..." Celestia broke the silence. "Do you really want to know why I am so opposed to sending any more ponies into the city?"

"It's obvious- you don't want this disease to spread to them." Chrysalis panned. "I assure you, I am no fool... but the fact remains that we have never seen an illness like this in any sort of pony species- who could even know if this virus even affects you ponies?"

"Well, I know that we have seen this before in ponies." Celestia countered. "It already has jumped species... I was there to witness the effects."

Chrysalis fell silent.

"...You mean to tell me that you knew what we were dealing with all along?" asked the queen.

Celestia braced herself, she knew that ahead of her lay a long, revealing explanation. An explanation she had kept from everypony else, even the other princesses, in order to prevent panic in her citizens. She knew that telling Chrysalis would likely not help her win any trust with the changelings, but she was cornered. She knew that Chrysalis, once aware of any sort of interesting information, would travel around the planet and back until she got what she wanted- there was no escape from her prodding ear this time.

"Zebrican Hemorrhagic Fever..." Seymour announced to the two in his company. "...Ebola, as it is more commonly known. The virus seems to have been named after a nearby river in the region of its discovery."

"Ebola?" Twilight questioned. "I've never heard of such a name before... and I've read almost every modern medical textbook in print cover-to-cover..."

"Why then do you have a copy?" Photon joined in, curious as to how Seymour would have a book that not even Princess Twilight Sparkle had heard about. "Was it a requirement in your schooling?"

"Yes... It was." Seymour answered. "Though I don't know exactly how rare this book must be from what you two are telling me."

"Okay, well what does it say?" prodded Twilight.

"Okay, I'll read what it says from the beginning- but it doesn't look like much information at all." Seymour announced, adjusting his glasses before reading aloud to his companions.

Zebrican Hemorrhagic Fever- Ebola

Date of Discovery- Unknown

Region of Discovery- Ebul River Valley and Surrounding Jungle

Province/State of Discovery- East Zebrica, Zebire

Zebrican Hemorrhagic Fever (also known as Ebola or ZHF), family Filoviridae, is an illness caused by a newly discovered virus. The virus is observed in the shape of a long, coiled strand of lipid-encased RNA ranging between 10,000 and 14,000 nanometers in length. Similar viruses in this family include: Unknown.

"So, the disease is native to Zebrica... Zebras?" Twilight asked once Seymour had paused in his reading.

"That's what it says." he answered. "It also says that the age of the virus is unknown, and describes the shape and size observed. I'll keep going."

Though not a great deal is known about ZHF, the virus has been observed in both Zebra and Pony races with symptoms varying based on the time elapsed from exposure. The incubation (non-infectious) period of ZHF may take anywhere from three days to twenty-one days, based on a variety of factors (race, gender, mass [kg], etc.). Early symptoms resemble more common ailments with early-onset fever, cough, headache, and body aches.

"So, essentially this is the flu when it first starts being noticeable?" Photon assumed. "Who would have thought they had such a nasty fate awaiting them..."

"There's more... after those symptoms, it gets bad." Seymour continued.

Later symptoms occur between three and seven days from early onset. These symptoms include elevated fever, vomiting/diarrhea, confusion, delirium, and in some reports, seizures. A vast majority of patients with ZHF appear to show profound internal and external bleeding, with blood commonly see in the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, old scars, urethra, vagina, and anus. Victims of ZHF often die several days after more severe symptoms present themselves, usually of low blood pressure and dehydration.

ZHF appears to be highly pathogenic to the body, with death rates observed between twenty-five and ninety percent. The virus is highly contagious through means of direct contact with infected fluids (blood, saliva, vomit, diarrhea, etc.). The virus is known to be unable to survive outside of the body for long periods of time, rendering airborne transmission nearly impossible.

Seymour motioned the two to look at several pictures below the last line of text he had read. Photon wore an expression of severe concern, while Twilight winced, beginning to feel sick to her stomach.

"Mother of Celestia...!" Twilight gagged. "That's horrifying!"

"Bloody hell..." mumbled Photon, peering down at several photographs of afflicted zebras and ponies. "These pictures look just like what we saw in those changelings earlier today."

"Yeah, let me assure you Twilight... it's worse in person." Seymour added in. "We saw some changelings today who had died of something almost exactly like this."

"So, do you think we have enough information to present to the queen?" Photon questioned his snow-white friend.

"I might have a little more to do, but we shouldn't keep them waiting for long." Seymour answered. "Photon, will you go back to the conference room? If we're late, they'll want information anyway. You can fill in for us if we are, just take this book and keep the page marked. I'm unsure, but this may be all I have on the subject. Bring my bag with you if you want."

"...With bells on my hooves." affirmed the greyer of the two unicorns. Once he had place Seymour's saddle bags on his back with textbook in tow, Photon strained his body until his horn lit a golden-yellow. Finally, Photon vanished in a bright flash of light leaving Seymour and Twilight alone in the office.

"Well, there he goes again..." Twilight sighed. "He's a bit impetuous, isn't he?"

"He's always been excitable like that." Seymour chuckled. "I'm surprised he actually made it to parenthood myself."

"He has foals?" Twilight inquired. "He doesn't... look the type."

"Yes, he does actually." answered Seymour as he rummaged around a nearby desktop. "He has two daughters, one is three and the other is two- Blinky and Starshine."

"Have you met them before?" continued Twilight, very curious about the new information. "They sound nice..."

"HA!"

"Uh-oh, they're not nice?" Twilight corrected.

"Just wait until you see them at home... a pair of furry wrecking balls doesn't even nearly describe the damage those two cause on a regular basis." Seymour explained. "Well, I guess it's different when they're your offspring. I'm not exactly very... well rounded when it comes to children, especially the smaller ones."

"Oh... I see." Twilight concluded.

A sudden question popped into the professor's head. Seymour remembered something which peaked his curiosity from their earlier conference. He recalled Twilight becoming quite upset at the notion of one of her close associates being in the danger zone without any knowledge of the hazards present.

"Hey, can I ask you something, Twilight?" he questioned.

"Uh... sure..." Twilight responded. "What is it?"

"...I remembered you were getting a bit worked up over some guy that was sent into the city at the conference earlier." Seymour spoke. "I think he was a Flash... something."

"Oh, you mean Flash Sentry?" Twilight filled in. "Well, yeah... he's just helped me out with so many important things, and I didn't know that...well..."

"Go on..."

"...He had some romantic feelings for me, and I... kind of shot him down." Twilight explained. "I didn't mean to hurt him at all, especially not after everything he's done for me and my friends. But I did anyway, despite my best efforts. I haven't seen him since I told him, and I wanted to try to find him before we went off to Chitin to solve this problem."

"You two must have been close." guessed Seymour.

"I just never thought that making him so depressed might be the last thing I ever did for him." Twilight sighed. "Now, I'm afraid I might not ever see him again... that's why I need to find him when we're sent into Chitin."

"Twilight..." Seymour comforted. "...It isn't your fault. If you don't want to return his romantic advances, you don't have to."

"I know..." Twilight again sighed. "...But that doesn't change the fact that I feel so horrible inside. I just never want to see him suffer, you know?"

"Listen... the guy's a sergeant in the royal guard- I'm sure he'll be okay." Seymour continued. "But if you still are so worried about him, I'll make sure we set some time aside to try and find him. Would that make you feel any better?"

"...Yeah, yeah we could." agreed Twilight. "We're going there tomorrow, that means I could try to save our friendship if we can find him."

"Well, we'll try to find the guy, then-"

Seymour's train of thought was cut off by a pair of warm, purple hooves wrapping around his midsection. Did the princess of friendship just hug him, a lowly college professor, in such a way that stirred up butterflies in his stomach?"

"T-Twilight?"

"Thank you, Seymour." she whispered, letting him go. "You're really sweet, you know?"

Seymour began to feel just slightly uncomfortable at the odd situation, and needed to change the subject.

"...S-Sorry, that might have been uncalled for." Twilight apologized, blushing furiously. "I'm just so relieved that I might get to make things right with Flash, I guess I lost control for a moment.

"O-Oh, uh...no problem... hehe." Seymour chuckled oddly. "...Anyway, I told you that those symptoms are even more scary firsthoof, and I meant it."

"I'm afraid to ask... how so?" Twilight questioned against her better judgment.

"The first thing you notice is the smell." Seymour explained. "It's the most rancid thing you'd ever get a whiff of- just be glad you weren't there. Photon and I nearly lost our lunches after a single waft."

"Sounds bad..."

"Then, the queen took a scalpel and opened up one of the bodies. We wore our safety masks and aprons, but that didn't make it any easier on the eyes." continued Seymour. "We got past the ribcage and into the organ cavity... Celestia, it looked like a bomb went off inside of that changeling. His liver, stomach, kidneys, everything was just liquefied."

"That's probably one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard." Twilight grimaced. "...How do you think it got to all of those changelings?"

"I don't know." Seymour responded. "What gets me is how it ended up in the Chitin in the first place. I mean, it's not exactly a Zebrican jungle, it's a highly populated coastal city... and the virus was only ever observed in zebras and a couple of ponies staying in the area at the time. Also, changelings possess roughly the same immune system as we do, their body structure being so similar has advantages."

"So... we're essentially back to square one?" Twilight groaned. "After all of that effort?!"

"I'm afraid so..." Seymour sighed. "I just can't see a feasible way for the virus to jump continents like that. I mean, this outbreak doesn't even seem like it goes the way normal..."

Twilight Sparkle had noticed that her new partner had paused mid sentence, a concerned, slightly horrified expression plastered upon his face.

"Seymour? Are you-"

"...Oh no." the white stallion stammered.

"...Is there something I can do?"

After a period of silence from the biophysics professor, finally...

"Twilight, I need you to pull together as many possible relations with the Changeling Kingdom and any other country or continent you can find, specifically Zebrica." Seymour commanded, thoroughly shocking the young alicorn. "We need to figure out exactly who they've had any political affiliations with over their recent history- look through the archives, they'll have more information on politics than I could ever accumulate. Look for any possible tense or hostile relations, rebellious groups, angry worker factions in and out of the kingdom for the past... twenty years... yeah, twenty years aught to do it."

"E-Excuse, me, Dr. Seymour... but that's a massive search!" Twilight protested her partner's sudden demands for her. "I don't think we have enough time to-"

"Forgive me, your highness." Seymour apologized in advance for his next statement. "But the smartest pony in Equestria isn't up for a little research project?"

"Wow, you're a subtle one..." Twilight panned. "Alright, I'll see what I can dig up. What else is there-"

"Once you find the information you need, I need you to go back to the conference room." Seymour instructed, ripping a small book from a teetering stack on his desk. He smacked the book down on a coffee table as the others in the stack fell from the desk onto the floor. "If I'm late to the meeting, I need somepony to give as much information as possible while I finish up here. I'll meet you at the meeting as soon as possible, but I need a little more time to make sure my hypothesis is on the mark."

"O-Okay, I'll get to the archives then." Twilight obeyed, quickly trotting from the room. "Be there as soon as possible!"

Now alone in his office, Seymour yanked open a drawer on his coffee table and removed a spiral-bound notebook. Opening both his pulled book and notes, the unicorn mumbled to himself while staring intently at the pages of both.

"Come on, be wrong..." he whispered. "...For once in my life, be wrong..."