“I’m just not sure. I mean, is that even rational?”
Princess Celestia and the members of the parliament held worried expressions as Twilight Sparkle fed them her findings. A new terror had brought its reign over Ponyville and now Twilight was in charge of regaining the city's sanity.
“Are you sure,” somepony asked. “I mean, isn’t there any other way? It’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Twilight let out with a sigh, “But it’s the only way to avoid further contamination until I can figure out what’s causing this. Ponyville must be quarantined.”
~~~~~
Let's jump back a month to the beginning of all this. Let's jump back to patient zero, Applejack.
The sun sat high in the sky above Sweet Apple Acres. Applebloom sat in fascination as she stared at the little blob her sister held. The blob was a bluish color, blue like the sky. And it sparkled. It was as if a million tiny stars filled the object. In fact, it was as if its entire being was made up of stars, or rather, magic.
“What is it,” she beamed.
“Well, sugarcube, I… I’m not quite sure. Found it over yonder pickin’ apples this mornin’,” Applejack replied.
“It’s so... pretty,” said Applebloom as she stared intently at the blob.
“Sure is, ain’t it.” Applejack stared too. “I ain’t ever seen anything like it ‘fore now.”
As she stared at the blob she began to tingle. Her pupils dilated.
“May I hold…,” Applebloom was cut off.
“No!” Applejack snapped back. “It’s mine! I found it!”
Applebloom began to cry. Her sister never snapped at her like that, at least not without good reason. And most certainly never about stuff she’d found in the orchard.
Applejack tucked the little blob into her hat as she walked away. She didn't have a care in the world as to how much she'd hurt her sister. The rest of the family whispered amongst themselves about what they'd just witnessed as they consoled little Applebloom.
Big Mac grunted in disgust, “What’s gotten into her?”
~~~~~
About a week had passed and by now Applejack had gone completely insane. Nopony could have a sensible conversation with her. She was absolutely terrified. Of what, nopony knew. Every doctor in Ponyville had seen her, but the best they could do was sedate her. When she was awake she was an absolute mess. She’d run off screaming through the orchard until Big Mac could manage to get a lasso around her, at which point she’d collapse into a shivering ball.
One morning while Applejack lay in a coma of sedatives, Applebloom sneaked into her room.
“This’ll be perfect for show and tell.” She picked off a decent sized piece of the now ten times larger blob of sparkle her sister had found just before she went mad.
Applebloom fashioned the blob to her big pink bow as she galloped to school. By now she had developed a slight twitch as the blob took effect on her.
“I call it a sprite drop,” she announced. “It’s grown real big since this mornin’.” Her words ran together as she spoke.
“It’s so pretty,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Well it’s mine now,” Applebloom shrieked.
Just then, the bell rang and a wide eyed Applebloom cantered off with a very strange smile on her face.
“Well that was weird,” said Scootaloo to the equally confused Sweetie Belle.
~~~~~
Applebloom didn’t return home that day and everypony in Ponyville was on the case. Occasionally one would find a piece of her sprite drop on the ground but went mad before any other pony found out. Members of the search party were rapidly disappearing and they were soon forced to call off the search after only a few days.
Every day ten and twenty ponies went mad. Shops closed as the owners could not maintain their sanity. Ponies ran shrieking at nothing through the streets. Ponyville quickly fell into a state of utter madness.
Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. Big Mac. Even Fluttershy, sweet, innocent Fluttershy… Everypony was going insane as pieces of sprite drop continued to appear all over town. Yet nopony, not a single pony in all of Ponyvile, had made the connection. In actuality, it would be near impossible for anypony to make the connection. It seemed as if the magic inside the little shining sprite drops wasn't magic at all. It was, in fact, evil. Evil disguised as magic. And it's greatest evil, deception.
~~~~~
Twilight, the Princess, and the parliament gathered for an emergency meeting in Canterlot. Today's topic, madness in Ponyville. In fact, not madness, terror. Terror now reigned over the city. And now Twilight was the only pony left who had remained uneffected. Or rather, uninfected, by the terror. The truth was, she had been greatly effected. Her own city was now in a state of catastrophe and all her friends infected by the mysterious source she was yet to discover.
“I’ve spent countless hours in my lab,” said Twilight to the Princess and the members of parliament. “But at this point, I regret to admit,” she hung her head, “I have no answers.”
“And you’re absolutely positive this is how you wish to handle the situation?” Celestia inquired.
“Yes. It must be done.”
The members of parliament discussed Twilight’s request.
“Alright,” they said. “We’ll have a dome placed over Ponyville. But you must remain inside as well.”
“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “I understand. I promise I’ll figure this out.
~~~~~
Twilight looked on as the dome was placed over Ponyville. By now the city was in ruins as every last pony ran manically through the streets. Twilight nodded to Celestia one last time and the dome was sealed.
“You can do this, Twilight,” she said to herself. “You’re the only one left.”
Twilight lowered her head as she closed the door to her lab. It was then that she saw it. There, looking as innocent as ever, sat a tiny sparkling something.
“Ooh. This is interesting. I’ll have to study this.”
As the last sane pony in Ponyville picked up the thing, she began to twitch.
“So… pretty…”
Her eyes dilated. A strange smile crept onto her face.
With her last sane breath she whispered, “Mine…”
