Chapters Celestia slammed her hoof into the table, causing everypony to look at her.
"I'm not about to kill half of my empire's population as well as the only major defense we have against attackers," she told the group. The meeting was arranged so that way the government could talk about testing a new, potentially dangerous disease that killed the nervous system and making the host act randomly.
"Celestia, the orders have already been signed and this Equestria Games we're going to release the virus into the stadium," a black pony told her as he turned off the projector. Celestia wanted to hit something, she was being choked into agreeing killing off most of her empire's population as well as some other empire's population, as the griffon kingdom, Saddle Arabia, and a few other empires would be contending this year's games. The stallion pushed a paper in front of her and she signed it, knowing that she was signing off an uncountable amount of ponies to their deaths. She left the room with tears forming in her eyes. She went to her room, ignoring her sister's pleas. She laid on her bed and watched the clock on the wall move from the three to the four as she fell asleep.
Twilight walked through the anti-magic field and felt the magic inside her become too weak to even perform a simple levitation spell. She ran over and joined back up with her friends, Spike was complaining that he wasn't able to light the Equestria Games torch this year and that some griffon got to do his job.
"It was never your job, to begin with, Spike, it was just a one-time thing," Twilight reminded him. She rubbed his head as the other five laughed. "So Rainbow, what are you doing this year?"
"I'm only going to be doing aerial relay this year, I jacked my left wing up so I shouldn't even be doing that," she told her friends while stretching out her left wing. After a while, they finally went their separate ways with Rainbow going backstage to get ready for the race, Fluttershy and Spike going to the hotel to drop off the luggage they had brought with them to the Crystal Empire, Applejack and Rarity went to check on the CMC who were going to be Ponyville's flag twirlers, which left Twilight and Pinkie together. Pinkie started bouncing away from Twilight in her unnatural happy state. Twilight ran over to the pink pony and walked with her in silence.
"Twilly," a voice exclaimed from her left. She turned to see her brother Shining Armor standing there in his royal guard outfit. He was standing next to Cadence, who was cradling Flurry Heart. She ran over and hugged him with all her might, she hadn't seen him since the Crystalling of Flurry Heart. "How is my BSBFF doing?"
"I'm doing great Shining, and you seem to be doing a lot better since the last time we talked," she told him. He rubbed her head and hugged her again. He looked over at a few guards that were stationed nearby.
"I'm going to have to go," he told Twilight and Cadence. He walked over to the guards and they all walked away. Twilight hugged Cadence and asked her how she had been doing and how Flurry Heart had been. After a while, a voice came on over the intercoms that stated that the games were going to start soon. They parted ways after a few more awkward hugs. Twilight caught up with Pinkie and they both made their way to the stands where they would be sitting.
"Pinkie, do you know when the other's will be here," she asked. Pinkie shook her head, mouth full of cotton candy. Twilight started playing with her hooves as she waited for the games to start. She was shaken out of her daydream as Pinkie shook her and pointed at the field, where she saw a black griffin walk out with a torch, that was meant to light the giant torch in the center. He walked out there with his eyes closed, probably due to stage fright. He continued on his path to the giant torch before he started to stumble. He slowed from the walk he was going to a slight shuffle. After a minute he collapsed entirely, causing the stands to gasp in shock. Medical ponies ran out onto the field to make sure that he was okay, while a female pony over the intercom was commentating what was happening.
"It seems as though Zephyrus is having some problems," the intercom announced. The scene in the field got better as the griffon started to move a little. "Oh, but it seems that it wasn't a big problem, probably just light headed from all the ponies."
"I don't know, you don't faint from being light headed, you sit down when you get light headed," Pinkie stated. I wanted to tell her it was possible to faint from being light headed, but I had to agree with her on this. The griffon started to move a little more even trying to get his claws under him. The ground suddenly became a bright yellow. I looked up to see a giant yellow shield above the stadium, encasing the dome. Suddenly, somepony screamed drawing everyponies attention on the field as the griffon was now attacking one of the medical ponies, the other medical pony ran back to the maintenance tunnels that ran under the stadium. A couple of buff security ponies ran out and pulled the pony and the griffon apart. The pony holding the medical pony laid the emergency pony on the ground and ran over to help the security guard with the griffon. "Oh sweet Celestia, I think the griffon killed the responder."
"But Twilight, how is that pony standing if he's dead," I looked back and saw the medical pony stand up, crimson red blood spewing from his neck onto the grass and his coat. Another security pony came out and asked the medical pony to lay back down and wait for treatment. The medical pony looked at him and charged him, knocking him to the ground and began attacking the security pony. A pegasus from backstage, one with a green mane and a blinding white coat flew up to the yellow barrier. When the pony hit the shield, there was a crack and the pony fell from the sky. His white coat singed black from the electrical shock. The pegasus hit the ground with a sickening splat, as its body exploded on contact with the ground. "Twilight, how did that shield shock that pony?"
"It's not a normal shield spell meant to keep ponies and other things out, but it's meant to keep ponies in," she answered Pinkie's question. Pinkie had stopped bouncing and her mane was starting to deflate.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we are under quarantine, the government believes that there is something in here that is dangerous to the outside world so they contained it," Twilight told her. Pinkie's mane entirely deflated at this point. "And from that scene down there I would believe they assumed correctly."
The security ponies were now running from the three infected ponies and griffon, but they were quickly caught up to and pulled to the ground. The ponies in the stands were now screaming and trying to get away from the other ponies.
"Pinkie, we need to find the rest of the Mane Six, the CMC, and Spike," Twilight told her, Pinkie nodded, tears streaming down her face. They ran off into the crowd, trying to find the others. Twilight wasn't sure what was happening, but she knew that she needed to find her friends. Safety in numbers, right?
Author's Note
:P I love the Quarantine series, they need to continue it.
Applejack stared at the scene happening only 30 feet away from her. She asked Rarity to keep the CMC back so that way they didn't see what was happening to the ponies. Suddenly a pegasus flew out above her, flying straight up to the yellow barrier in the sky. When he hit the shield, a bright flash lit up the stadium as the pegasus erupted in sparks. His white coat singed black from the shock. The pegasus started falling towards the ground, a part of her wanted to pray he wasn't dead, but she would guess that much electricity would kill a pony. She turned her head right before the pegasus hit the ground. Ponies that were unlucky enough to keep watching screamed in horror as he hit.
"Applejack, what happened," Rarity asked. I walked towards her and the CMC, getting away from the entrance to the field. Applejack looked at her friend's eyes, tears gathering in her own.
"We need to go find Twilight and the others," Applejack told the four, they looked at her like she had gone mad, and right now she wished she was. She started leading the group away from the entrance to the field, so they wouldn't have to see what had happened outside.
"Applejack, what happened," Rarity asked again.
"I'll tell you later, right now we need to get to Twilight and the others," she told her. Rarity wasn't pleased with the answer but trusted her friends gut. They all heard a loud bang from backstage and looked back to see ponies start barricading the doors to the field. "I don't think that will help."
"What," Rarity asked. "Why don't you think that will help them?"
"'Cause those things took down three security ponies three times their sizes," there was a gasp from her right. She looked down at the three fillies, that were all scared out of their minds. She realized what she had said and tried to think of a way for her to calm them down. "The security ponies are fine, though, they just got pushed down."
She hated lying to ponies, especially ponies she knew. She continued on until she found some stairs labeled "Backstage Ground Floor". She entered into the stairwell and started walking up, being followed by Rarity, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. She read the plaque that was labeled "Backstage Pegasus Floor" and thought about Rainbow Dash. She went to open the door but found it was barricaded from the other side. She quit trying and continued on towards the stands, where Twilight and Pinkie should have been. When they reached the last stairwell, she pushed and it flew open. She saw ponies, griffons, and other species running around in a frenzy. The voice on the intercom was still relaying what was being told. She looked into the stands looking for Twilight or her road flare of a friend Pinkie Pie. She felt a tap at her hooves and looked down to see Applebloom pointing into the stands, where she saw Twilight and Pinkie. She picked up the CMC and ran through the crowd towards her friends.
"Applejack, we need to get out of here," Twilight told her once she finally reached her. Pinkie was hunched over in the fetal position, rocking back in forth slowly next to Twilight. "Pinkie snapped when the first one died."
Luckily for Applejack, the CMC were too busy talking to Rarity about what was going on to care about what Applejack and Twilight talked about. The group heard a scream coming from the stairwell and looked over to see a pony get attacked and brought to the ground by three ponies, and get passed by 15 more.
"Told you those barricades wouldn't last, luckily for the pegasi their's seemed to have lasted," Applejack hit herself for being so calm about the entire situation. "Twilight, we need to get to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike then leave."
"We can't, that yellow shield is a quarantine shield meant to keep things in," Twilight told her. They finally decided to break up the conversation as more ponies were getting attacked. One group of ponies fell over the railing and straight to the grassy floor below. Ponies were being attacked by the crazed ponies from all over, a few falling back down the stairwell, some bringing down a pegasus that was flying a little over the ground. They finally left the scene and started running for the hotels.
Lightning ran through the maintenance tunnels that ran behind the fast food district of the stadium. He was running from three crazy ponies that burst into his shop and tried attacking him. He knocked over a locker in an attempt to slow the crazed ponies, but the climbed under or over the locker. A door at the end of the hall burst open, with three more crazed ponies barreling out of attacking one of the sushi chefs. They tore and ripped into his coat and pulled out tendons and flesh and ate it down. Lightning quickly threw open one of the doors and slipped inside the burger joint. His three pursuers pounded on the door, but quickly gave up and presumably went to attack the sushi chef. He sat against the door and caught his breath, he wasn't the type to run a lot for a long time.
"Who are you," a voice announced themselves. He looked up and saw a fatter, orange unicorn holding a bat in his magical aura. Next to him was a pegasus that was presumably his wife. She had a light blue coat. "Are you going to answer me?"
"Wait, Winter, he's probably just as scared as us," his wife told him. "What's your name honey?"
"My name is Lightning Snow," I told them.
"I'm Honey Delicate and this is my husband Winter Treats," Honey told me. "Aren't you the pegasus that owns the soda shop?"
"Yes, I am," I answered. Winter put down the bat and sighed. "I have a question, how do I get to the hotel district from here?"
"Oh, are you going to the hotel district," Honey asked me.
"Yeah, I am," I told her. "Why?"
"Oh well, we were going to head over to the hotel district and get back to our hotel and hold up in there and not in some crummy fast food joint," she told me. "But, yeah we know where the hotel district is."
We all jumped as the door that I had come in through bust down and two crazed ponies flew in, followed by two more.
"Come on this way," Winter told us. We ran out the front entrance right into the main walkway of the stadium. Ponies were attacking, whether it be the crazed ponies or ponies just running from the crazed ponies, knocking everything out of the way. I watched as a unicorn filly was trampled by hoards of running ponies. "Come on, it's this way to the hotels."
We ran after Winter as he ran through the mobs of ponies. I looked around to see if I could see anypony that I knew, whether it was a family member or a friend. I looked around some more but didn't see anything so I continued to look forward. We continued to run until Winter was tackled from the side by a crazed pony that started ripping into his throat and face. Honey stopped to help him, but I continued running not looking forward to getting my eaten. I continued running towards where Winter was leading us to before his untimely demise.
When I got to the area where the halls lead to your rooms the mobs of ponies became thinner and thinner. Every so often I would see a pony that had its face bucked in and had broken legs. After the ponies that had their heads bucked in there were a set of bloody hoofsteps that went on for about three steps. I continued walking until I passed an open door that read '247'. It had a set of hoof marks on the door and was busted in, the hinges broke off from the door frame and were stuck to the door. I continued walking on towards my room, which was number '258'. I stopped when I heard a crash from room '247'. I turned around and started walking back towards the room. I looked into the run and was met with a buck to the face from an orange blur. The buck sent me backward and I landed on the ground before another buck knocked me into unconsciousness.
I awoke on a cold tiled floor in the pitch black. My head was ringing louder than a church bell and my eyes were seeing fireworks in the darknesses. I stood up and rubbed my head and stumbled over to the wall and walked along it until I found the door. I grabbed the handle and pulled it open and stumbled out into the darkened room. I looked around to see six female ponies, three fillies, and one dragon. The door to the room had been put back and barricaded with the bed closest to it, on which a female earth pony slept on it with a small orange filly, with a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane at the foot of the bed with an orange filly. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane slept with the dragon in her clutches, she was crying in her sleep. The dragon had a bandage around it's left arm, which was stained an almost blackish red. A pink earth pony slept in a chair with a white unicorn in front of the chair with a white filly in her grasp next to the door to the balcony. Finally, a purple alicorn slept next to the door to the bathroom. I walked silently past her and walked over to the balcony door.
I steped out onto the balcony and closed the door behind me. I looked out at the dark city of the Crystal Empire.
"I knew I shouldn't have come here," I told myself. I looked down at my coat in the dim moon light and stared at the caked blood from other ponies who had died today. "My sister was right, I should have taken the Manehattan job instead."
I stared at the moon and silently prayed to Luna to get me out of this nightmare. I layed down on the balcony floor and let my thoughts lul me back to sleep.
I woke up on the cold concrete floor of the balcony and a throb in my head and back. I stood up and my legs popped simultaneously as I groaned from the pleasure. The sun was pretty early in the sky and some of the mares had woken up. I walked to the balcony door and walked in. The purple alicorn and the orange earth pony had started waking the others up, until the orange one noticed me.
"Hey, Twilight, that one's awake," the orange mare told her friend, who looked at me and walked over to me.
"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I am or was the Princess of Friendship," she looked me in the eyes as she said this I was noticing how blood stained her coat was and how diluted her pupils were. "Screw it, we're probably going to die in this stadium and for once I want to act like a normal pony for once, not all high and mighty like everypony wants me to be."
"Okay, I'm Lightning Snow," I told her, she nodded and went back to waking everyone else up. I stood around watching the two get everyone else up and awake, and after awhile I decied to make myself usefull. I waited for the pink earth pony, to get out of the chair she was sleeping and flipped it over.
"What are you doing," Twilight asked me. I pulled out a spring from the couchand threw it aside.
"I'm making a weapon," I told her as I kept rummaging around in the couch.
"How?"
"By taking some basic engineering and shoving it together with some inginuity and survival," I answered as I pulled out a flat piece of metal about eight inches long. "Do you know any magic that can sharpen this?"
"Yeah, I know something," she took the piece of metal and in her magic aura she bent and melted parts of the melted until it was a five inch long blade. "Here, it's the best I could do."
"Thank you," I grabbed the piece of metal grabbed a wooden stick from inside the chair. I went to grab my saddlebag and felt my coat. "Where is my saddlebag?"
"It's in the bathroom, I'll get it for you," she ran into the bathroom and came back with my saddlebag. She put my saddlebag next to me and I quickly opened it. "Here you go."
I grabbed a roll of duct tape and broke the wooden stick and taped it to the makeshift blade. I grabbed the knife in my teeth and swung it around a bit, and threw it into the wall. I heard a few shrieks from behind me, I turned around and apologized to the fillies and yellow pegasus and quickly grabbed my knife.
"So, you're a pegasus were you in the Games," I told around to see a cyan face hovering in front of me. "Cause if you were I would have beat you if this didn't happen."
"No, I wasn't in the Games, I have a fear of heights," I told her.
"Seriously, your a pegasus with a fear of heights," she started laughing hysterically.
"No, I don't have a fear of heights, I just hate sports, besides like tennis," I told her, to which she stopped laughing at me and started asking why I didn't like sports "I don't like sports because, I see them as a waste of time and quite boring, I'm into engineering and science."
"If you aren't in the games why are you here," she asked me.
"I'm here taking a job as a soda vender from the food court," I told her. I went to turn away to put my stuff back into my saddlebags, bust got stopped by her.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Lightning Snow," I answered. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rainbow Dash, how do you not know who I am, I'm the fastest flyer in all off Equestria, the first pony to do a sonic rainboom," she told me with disbelief in her voice.
"Are you also the most egotistical pony in all of Equestria, too," I asked her with a smirk. She huffed and floated away as I heard a laugh from my right. I looked over at the pink earth pony. "Hello?"
"That was hilarious, no pony ever makes fun of Rainbow, I'm Pinkie Pie," she told me as she bounced away from.
"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry bucking you in the face, twice," the orange earth pony said as she walked up to me. "I thought you were one of them."
"No hard feelings, honestly, I'm glad you decided to bring me into your room," I told her with a smile on my face.
"I'm Applejack," she reached her hoof out and I accepted the offer with my own hoof and we shook.
"It's nice to meet you Applejack, I'm Lightning Snow," I told her. "Also, can you tell me everyone else's name, because I'm going to lay and try to kill this migraine."
"Sure, that there, the small orange one, is my sister Apple Bloom, that mess over there is Rarity, the one crowded around the dragon is Fluttershy, and the dragon is Spike, the small white one is Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister, and finally that one is Scootaloo, who acts like Rainbow Dash is her sister."
"Thank you, Applejack, that sped up my next hour, I'm going to sleep now," I told her as I walked over to the bed. I lied down and put my saddlebags next to me and a pillow on my head as I fell back asleep.