*FWOOSH*
The large hall way leading to the rooms of Celestia and Luna lit up. Celestia released a large magical discharge, the shockwave effectively disintegrating the numerous infected guards. Luna cleared the lower floors, making sure there wasn't a single one left alive. It was an hour after Twilight left to go save her own subjects. An hour since the test subject N3-016 escaped captivity and proceeded to kill and infect fifteen Royal Guards before being terminated. The result ended off with an outbreak inside the castle. Most the guards and civilians inside were killed, with a few pockets of survivors being escorted outside by the remaining guards.
Celestia and Luna took it upon themselves to clear the castle, to try and prevent a larger outbreak inside Canterlot. Nonetheless, the survivors from the castle frantically spoke of such attack, making the guards step in to stop it. The Princesses couldn't risk a panic. They couldn't risk letting the populace know of this new found danger.
Celestia blasted through the final bits of infected, the ones that blocked her way to her sister.
“Luna! Are you alright?!” Celestia gently embraced her sister who appeared to be breathing quite heavily.
“Yes sister. I'm quite alright! We need to focus finding out how to stop this. *sigh* It's been going on for weeks now, more and more cases are being reported, it's not going to be long before ponies start to realize what's going on.”
The two started to walk down the the Castle, to the armory.
“You're right.. We haven't even figured out what's caused this yet, much less how it's so widespread.”
There was a quick silence between the two, deep in thought.
“Sister?”
“Yes Luna?”
“I know we already talked of this before, but say this starts to become uncontrollable, are we actually going to go through with it?”
“Yes.. It's our duty to protect Equestria, if it comes to it we have to. For now, send the Royal Guard to Ponyville. We can't be there for every case, at least this way some order will be maintained.” Celestia scowled, the thought of a pandemic utterly terrified her, as well as what they would have to do to contain it.
“What about the Equestrian Guard? If the cities start to become overrun we need some kind of defense, the Royal Guard is already suffering casualties.”
“We'll discuss that once we cross that bridge. I'd like to try and beat this before we start using lethal force. Anyways, we're here.“ Celestia walked off, leaving Luna alone.
Luna looked around the armory for Shining Armor. The air in it was cold, however not from the temperature. It was like a wave of depression had forced its way down everyponies throat and into their soul. There was no happiness. Bloodied soldiers sat and waited, waited for their turn to die. In the past few weeks alone, their numbers were reduced by over half. The scientists didn't fare any better. They were all frantic and stressed, trying to find a cure for the infection, much less how it started.
She continued to look around for Shining, trying to block out the screams in her head. All across Equestria ponies were dying and here she was, protected by guards as well as another powerful Alicorn, her sister. From across the darkly lit room she spotted him, simply waiting like the other guards. She put on a brave face and hoped that she wouldn't get him killed.
“Shining Armor! Come over here please!” Luna waved him over.
“Yes Princess?” Shining Armor said while bowing
“I want you to send a squad down to Ponyville.Make sure they know how to kill the infected. Also, make sure to quarantine the area where you spotted them. We don't want word getting out that the dead are coming back and killing ponies.”
“But why would we send a squad down there?” Shining’s eyes started to widen “Wait, is there an outbreak there?! Is Twilight alright?!”
“No, No, she's quite alright. But there's a lot more of them than we thought.” Luna leaned closer to Shining Armor. “We originally suspected the number of infected to be below 10,000, but we found something out when Twilight and Cadence were here. It's not just spread through bites but there's another form spread through the air. It causes a much more gruesome death, but still turns the pony who breathes it.”
“Wait, so we're fighting a parasite that not only is spread through bites, but through the air as well? So we can't get away from it then?”
“No, however the airborne parasite gives off a green, misty look. We believe the particles are eggs for them, but we're not sure yet. However, the particles are how the parasite originally spread. We believe that since it's spread through the air the numbers of infected are over 100,000, and possibly over 1,000,000-”
“1,000,000?! That's a large jump from 10,000! Equestria has a population of just over a billion, and you're telling me that we've already lost that many?” Shining Armor started to turn away. “I'll go to Ponyville myself, I'm bringing my own squad with me.”
Shining turned away towards a large group of soldiers and within a few minutes they all departed towards Ponyville.
“Princess Celestia?” A pony in a lab coat yelled from across the armory.
“Yes Grey?” Princess Celestia walked towards the scientist pony, with a rather annoyed look on her face. For the past few hours she was consoling with the citizens who came into contact with the infected in the castle, many of whom were eventually locked up to avoid telling of the virus, and one who was executed for attempted assault on her.
“We've received reports that many small towns have been completely overrun, and also the infected has reached Ponyville. Shining Armor has been able to maintain it so far, but he says that it's slowly starting to overwhelm him and his men.”
Celestia looked down, the news she had just received was far worse than she anticipated. If Ponyville was an infection zone then it was only a matter of time until it reached Canterlot. Then things would truly start to get bad.
“Grey, set me up for broadcast!” Celestia’s eyes hardened as she knew what had to be done. She couldn't let the virus spread more than it already have. The first contingency order was a go.
The news ponies ran around, all of them slightly stressed for the broadcast of Princess Celestia. None of them knew what was so important that the Princess herself had to announce, however a few had some ideas. All day they watched the reports of the killings all across Equestria. As the final preparations were set up all of them watched eagerly to hear the announcement.
The director yelled down the countdown until they went live. Princess Celestia took a deep breath, calming her nerves.
“Good evening. I'm sure many of you heard or have seen the killings that have occurred across Equestria. Do not worry, we are not under attack by outside forces, however there is a new pandemic going around. The virus reportable causes the pony to lose control, and to start infecting and killing those who aren't. Please, if you see any ponies who are infected avoid them at all costs. The Royal Guard is currently spread around Equestria, dealing with those who are infected. For your safety, we are currently suspending all forms of work by the government. The only exceptions are the Royal and Equestrian Guard. Please be careful. Thank you.”
As the light turned off Celestia’s face turned much more serious. She had just lied to her subjects. Of course, she knew it was for their own safety but she couldn't shake the guilty feeling that came. She was afraid that if ponies found out the truth that riots, and even more death would come, that the crumbling nation that she and the other princesses rule over would eventually come to an end.
All the while the news ponies became panicked, many tried to get back home, to get back to their families, but the Princesses forbade it. They had to keep on acting as though nothing was wrong, that there wasn't an increasingly growing threat to their lives.
“Sister?”
Celestia snapped out of her thoughts
“Are you alright?” Luna asked, with a worried look on her face.
“Yes Luna, I'm fine… When we get back martial law is being put into place.”
“Bu-”
“I'm not risking Equestria falling to this plague!” Celestia suddenly became angry
“But sister.. If we do that it's only going to worry others, they might realize what's really going on!” Luna flapped her wings, lifting her up into the air. “I'm taking another lap around Canterlot, I'll see you back at the Castle..”
Luna flew her primary route around Canterlot, attracting the attention of numerous ponies as she did so. She kept an eye out for any signs of the virus, whether it be airborne, or from ponies themselves. The entire dilemma unnerved her. She knew it was only a matter of time until Canterlot became a carrier. Only a matter of time until the dead made their awareness known there. In the time it took for the broadcast to be set up and done, Viva Las Pegasus and numerous other small towns and villages were overrun. Viva Las Pegasus managed to survive longer due to the appearance of the Royal Guard, but the increasing number of infected dwarfed their numbers.
She knew that multiple cities were slowly going into anarchy, there were multiple riots in Fillydelphia and Baltimare. CloudsDale and Manehatten were under complete lockdown, however she hoped that the Royal Guard was containing it. She last heard from Ponyville that the infected were slowly starting to outnumber Shining and his soldiers , there also haven't been any communication from Twilight, it was unknown whether she was infected or not.
Luna kept looking around, looking for any sign of infected, or the spore like particles that flew through the air. To her dismay the particles was already visible in a dark alley, accompanied by two infected, and one dead.
She quickly flew down towards the alley, horn charging to eliminate them. She landed and realized the decent crowd that had gathered, she could sense the fear in them. She watched as the two infected casually ripped, ate, and mutilated the dead pony. She didn't know what to do, she hadn't accounted for ponies wanting to view and even if she did, some would wonder why the infected never came back. Why they just disappeared? Even then, she would have to quarantine the area due to the particles.
While she wondered what to do, one of the infected’s attention switched over to the gathering crowd. Luna quickly reacted, sending a bolt of energy towards the pony. The bolt went through their head, and hitting the wall, leaving a dark hole where it hit, and making a snap like noise. While the infected hit by it dropped, the one left standing heard the snap and started to move towards it. Luna took note that the pony they were eating hadn't turned yet, to make sure of it she sent a discharge down the alley. Incinerating the two dead, and the one infected. Luna gnored the screams from her subjects and set up a magical barrier around the alley. She knew they were scared, but they didn't know what was happening.
They had purposefully made sure that any news about cities being overrun, or destroyed, was to never be heard. They had to make sure that some order was maintained. The alternative was much worse.
“Clear the area, now!” The ponies in the area cleared, and Luna took off, taking one last final look around Canterlot, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but smoke, off in the distance caught hold of her eyes. She flew up to the border of Canterlot and all the while more smoke rose.
She couldn't believe where it was coming from. Ponyville. Large trails of black smoke came up from the middle of the town. As she stared she saw multiple small flashes, many emitting smoke soon after. She could only imagine the chaos and death that was happening down there, she could only imagine how it had progressed to now.
She wondered how it all went down in the course of a day, how that even with the Royal and soon to be Equestrian Guard trying to maintain order, it all fell apart.
She knew what it was going to come down to. Considering how fast it was spreading, she believed that Canterlot would become overrun in a matter of hours. It was far too late for martial law, and even if they decided to the same thing would happen to Canterlot as it did to Ponyville. Even Shining Armor wasn't able to defend against the growing numbers of infected.
Luna took off
She could feel the situation has completely slipped from their grasps. This was it, they had finally lost control. Town after town, city after city, and now Canterlot was a carrier of the disease. The place they had worked so hard to protect will soon be at the mercy of the dead.
She had to find her sister and now! She flew into the castle doors, the large force slowing her down but just for a second. As she flew through the castle the memories of the past few weeks passed through her head. How quickly the parasite reproduced and spread was incredible. It followed almost none of the disease laws, it was like the parasite was sentient enough to choose how it would spread. As the more towns and cities became carriers the more and more deaths came,hundreds dying by the day to their brothers and sisters. As more cities and towns burned, seemingly overnight, the sisters started to lose hope in their attempts of containment. Luna had protested on the idea of keeping the test subjects inside the castle but was persuaded by her sister, she said it was safe, but nothing is safe anymore.
She turned a corner and was met with a horror show, she immediately noticed that multiple test subjects had escaped. They were now killing, and eating whomever they pleased. Those that were killed were met with the same fate, to turn, they went around killing and infecting ponies. Many of the infected were members of the Royal Guard, despite their efforts to control the situation, they too were overrun.
Luna sent out multiple blasts at once. Each of them ramming into infected ponies, killing them. She turned her head to each of the dead, dropping them effortlessly. Even the infected guards, with their armor, were quickly put down, stopped in their tracks. They couldn't even get close to her, as with each second she shot a blast from her horn, each blast connecting with one of their heads. The death cries echoed through the castle.
Where is Tia? She thought, panic slowly formed in her brain as she walked at a slow pace down the death filled hallway, killing former guards and scientists. She wondered if there was a similar scene going on that her sister was dealing with. That would be the only reason why she wasn't here, there was no way she was dead.
With a loud grunt she released a discharge, however, while it killed the infected it completely went over those who weren't. Luna started to collapse, she hadn't used that much energy to control something in a long time. She struggled to get up, exhaustion slowly taking her. However it was taken over by adrenaline, she heard screams coming from outside the castle. She quickly got up, and once again flew so fast it left a trail behind her. She flew around the castle, she had to find her sister, she had to make sure she was alright.
Much to Luna’s fortune Celestia was safe, however she was about to open the front door. Where the screams were
“Tia! Are you alright?” Luna ran up to her sister, embracing her but only to be met with with a stare.
“It's all gone.. All of the major cities are overrun.. And now so are we.”
“When did-”
“When I got back to the castle, almost immediately one of the scientists told me.. It's over. The only thing we could do now is take as many as we can with with us”
Celestia opened the door, simultaneously charging her horn. As it opened she shot multiple blasts from her horn, each one hitting their target. She shot another, and another, and another. Luna was shocked by her sister's sudden coldness. If she's resorted to this, it had to been over. There was no choice, if she were to die here, tonight, she had to defend Canterlot one last time.
She stepped out with her sister, and finally took in the terror, the streets were a mix of dead and living. Everywhere she looked there was killing. All of which was done so by the dead. Very few tried to defend themselves and those who did, their efforts were useless. Most died before they could attack, others didn't know where to shoot, and shot into the crowd.
The sky darkened, revealing the flames coming from the once beautiful city, the dead, now more than ever much more dangerous. The fires were clearly visible in the night sky from miles away. Although the majority was gone, there were two left fighting. Celestia and Luna.
The screams have long died out. The hours passed, and most those who were alive have turned. The singular dead eventually became a herd, roaming through Canterlot, picking off those who lived, and eventually made their way to Celestia and Luna. Both of them tired from the day, tired of all the killing.
From every direction came the infected. Their groans soon to be silenced. The pair of princesses fired off bolt after bolt, some hitting their mark, but most missing. They were both physically exhausted. They fired hundreds of bolts in the hours they were fighting but that didn't stop them from trying to push back the hordes of infected.
“Tia to your left!” Luna screamed at her sister before shooting down the two infected ponies sprinting at her.
Celestia turned and rapidly shot at them, all the while more rushed her. One tried to pounce on Luna, only for her horn to go through their eye. Luna, caught by surprise, shot another bolt, horn still inside of the dead pony. Their head exploded, blood and brain matter splattering over her. Luna stood still, blood soaked, she was frozen in fear. She finally snapped out of it once another one of the infected tried to pounce, only to receive a bolt through the temple by Celestia.
“Luna snap out of it! You can't freeze up now!” Celestia yelled before returning her attention to the dead.
Luna stayed still for a few seconds. The emotions building up inside her. For the past three weeks she watched her subjects die, and then kill each other. She was forced to kill her infected subjects, putting an end to their terror. The faces of the ponies she put down. They may have been dead but they still were ponies, and even if they weren't, they use to be. The emotions bottled up inside of her filled up before finally bursting.
With a scream, a magical shield enveloped her, lifting her into the air. Her eyes turned white and then bolts of lightning shot out of her horn, each of them splattering the heads of the infected ponies attacking them. “
“NO” Luna screamed shooting out bolts at the last of the dead around them like a machine gun.
Luna breathed heavily, finally calming down. Her eyes returned and she gently floated down, the magic barrier popping once it touched the ground. Celestia was shocked, she didn't know all of that could come out of her sister. As Luna finally touched the ground electricity aura’d around her for a few seconds before finally dissipating.
“We did it-” Luna got out, interrupted by the need to breath. She was exhausted, that last stand took most of her strength.
“Yes, we did, didn't we…” Celestia trailed off as she heard the moans. Off in the distance there was a large horde, each and everyone of them sprinting right for the sisters.
“Luna make a barrier!” Celestia yelled as she started to fire bolts.
A large wave of light came out of Luna’s horn. Covering them and the area around them just in time. As it finished, the dead came crashing into it.
“*sigh* Are you alright sister?” Luna asked. Even though she just created the barrier she was struggling to keep it.
“Yes.” Celestia stopped to look at the infected ponies, pushing into the barrier, making a barely visible crack. “I'm fine. We can't hold them back any longer and we can't run. I'm sure the castle is taken by now.”
“It is. I saw some of the test subjects that escaped. I killed some, but I don't know if there are more.” Luna watched as the crack expanded.
“Is it time?” Celestia asked.
“Yes… I think so.” Multiple cracks appeared, expanding by the second. “When it breaks we fire.” They put their horns together, lightning sparked in between as they did, light from their own personal aura issuing from it. “No matter what happens, I'm proud to have been your sister.. I love you” Luna said, passion and regret in her eyes as two large energy balls emerged from each other's horns, merging into one.
“No matter what happened between us *sobs* I don't regret any of it. I love you Luna.” Celestia said, voice breaking and tears streaming down her face.
The energy balls finally merged to one, creating a blue one, shared by the sisters. They could only watch as the barrier started to chip away. Bit by bit, until finally it broke. The dead rushed them, time seemed to go in slow motion as they did. The two sisters gave one last final look to each other before finally shooting the ball up.
It flew up, leaving behind a long trail, growing as it did. Until it split. Hundreds of separate smaller, yet still large, blasts split into all directions at breakneck speeds. Some headed towards major cities like Manehatten, others small like Ponyville. The last attempt to contain the infection. Yet some stayed still for less than a second, hovering over Canterlot before finally falling.
As the blasts connected with the ground they created an explosion, completely destroying the dead. The blasts landed around the two sisters, dead just barely in arms reach many taken in the explosions. One last blast, the biggest of them all, continued to fall and eventually landed as the dead finally reached the sisters landing next to Luna. They couldn't even give each other a final look as the explosion finally overtook them.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading the story!
Constructive criticism is appreciated!
Also, I'm sure someone has wondered what "N3" stand for. It's what I'm donning the virus name. Short for Necrosis 3. Necrosis literally meaning death, and 3 standing for how long it takes for a bite to kill you :) (minutes)
