Corruption

Running across the streets of Canterlot, Sunset and Twilight scoured everywhere for any survivors. Everywhere in the city of Canterlot, the areas were slick with corpses and all that remained were the creatures that invaded Canterlot. But they kept searching everywhere until they ran into Minuette and Moon Dancer.

“Twilight?! Sunset?! What’s happening around here!?” Minuette asked, wary of the carnage surrounding them.

“We have no time to explain, Minuette. Do you know if there are any survivors around here?” Twilight asked, trying to keep herself calm and composed.

“We left Fleur in charge of keeping the survivors hidden in the Canterlot Boutique. We tried signalling for help, but nopony was there. We volunteered to search. Lemon Heart’s over there with the rest of the survivors. We’ll take you there.” Minuette explained.

“But we need to hurry and fast. We don’t have much time until the creatures break the barriers.” Moon Dancer warned.

“Then we haven’t a moment to lose. Sunset, keep searching for any more survivors. I’ll go take care of those monsters.” Twilight said before teleporting to the boutique.

With only the three unicorns remaining, Sunset turned towards the duo and said,

“It would be best if we remained together until we make it out of this mess.”

“Agreed. Celestia knows what would happen if we separated from one another.” Moon Dancer said.

Just then, they heard an evil chuckle in the background.

“Huh?! Who’s there?!” Sunset asked before glowing her horn.

“I can taste your fear.” an evil voice growled.

“What?!” Sunset shouted as she turned around in a frenzy.

“Your souls are mine…” the voice said before disappearing.

But before Sunset could get to the bottom of this mystery, they were suddenly surrounded by ponies.

“Oh no. Everypony, we need to get to the train right now! Just follow me and-”

Just then, Sunset noticed some form of ooze on the ponies. It was leaking everywhere and all the ponies had were these complete, emotionless stares. Instead of answering her however, the ponies just growled at them.

“Everypony…?” Minuette nervously asked.

Suddenly, they hissed with viciousness and lunged at Sunset before being blasted away with her horn.

"Let's get out of here!" Minuette insisted before turning the other direction.

Immediately, the trio started running away from the infected ponies before they started giving chase. They dared not turn around out of fear that they would slow down and get caught. They ran throughout the entire city.

"What's happened to all the locals here?" Sunset asked while running.

"We dunno! Everypony was dead before we started hiding!" Moon Dancer responded.

The infected ponies kept on their tails before the creatures appeared out of nowhere. After the Manticores and the Timberwolves killed the infected ponies, they turned their attention towards the trio.

"Don't worry girls! They won't get past me!" Sunset said as she glowed her horn.

But just as she was about to fight against the creatures, they heard a roar from across Ponyville. The creatures left them behind and ran towards the source of the roar.

"What's going on over there?" A confused Sunset asked.

"I dunno. I just hope everypony in Ponyville are safe." Minuette said as she looked at Ponyville burning.

"Sunset!" A voice called.

They turned around and it was Twilight with the remaining survivors of Canterlot.

"I got everypony out! Let's go!" Twilight shouted.

"But what about the others?" Sunset asked, turning towards the ruin.

"They'll make it! The top priority is the survivors! Now let's go!" Twilight said as she made a run for it.

Reluctantly, Sunset and the rest of the survivors joined after her, running towards the train in the process.

After boarding the train with everypony else, Sunset checked outside to see if there were any stowaways on board. Needless to say, there weren't any. However, those infected ponies were unlike anything she's ever seen before. It was like something out of those zombie movies that she would watch with Twilight and her friends back in the human world. She couldn't wrap her mind around it, but she knew it had something to do with the ooze on their bodies.

"Is everypony accounted on this train?" Twilight asked, looking across the cart.

After counting everypony and setting them in pairs, Sunset walked to Twilight and sat with her while waiting for their arrival to the Crystal Empire.

***

Several hours have passed since everypony boarded the train. Onboard, there was a combination of tension and wariness across the cart. While everypony felt safe from the creatures outside, they were unsure if anypony was uninfected or if there were any Changelings onboard the train. Sunset could feel the intensity in the air and she felt distressed. But what she felt even more unnerved by was Twilight’s unusually calm demeanor. Normally, she would panic at a moment’s notice when things weren’t going according to plan and she overlooked a minor detail in her notes. But this time, she was more at ease than distressed. Sunset knew she had to get to the bottom of it.

"What do you think happened around here?" Sunset asked.

“It’s hard to say for sure, but this substance that we witnessed. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. But at the same time… it feels so familiar. It feels… angry.” Twilight said as she thought about the ooze.

“What are you implying?” Sunset asked, starting to feel unnerved.

“I can’t say for sure yet. But until we get to the bottom of this, I suggest we keep this from everypony else.” Twilight said.

“What? But they need to know about this. If we keep this under wraps, we’ll be-” Sunset said before being shushed by Twilight.

“Everypony will know about this. In time. But right now, we need to keep this all quiet until we figure out what we figure the source of all this and eliminate it.” Twilight explained in a discreet tone.

“Fine. But if anypony finds out about this, I won’t-”

“Leave that to me. But at least do me the service of keeping silent for the time being. They will all know when the time is right. You have my word.”

Reluctantly conceding to her demand, Sunset remained silent for her dear friend and kept her theory a secret. But she knew that something was wrong with Twilight. She was far different from the friend she once knew. The same one who reformed her when she stole her crown enact her scheme of taking over Equestria with her teenage army. Sunset knew that Twilight was hiding something, but she had to figure out what it was.

“We’re here!” Minuette shouted as she looked outside the window.

Outside appeared the Crystal Empire where the trains have stopped. Immediately, everypony got off the train and went inside the Crystal Empire. Twilight and Sunset took their time to get off and search for their friends. When they finished searching for them, they immediately walked to the throne room where they began to hold a meeting over what to do next.