Ponid-19

Twilight and the other ponies quickly administered to Starlight and Luna. The antidote coursed through their veins, knocking the virus completely out and saving their lives. Starlight felt feeling return to her numbed hooves and legs, and she leapt for joy. She couldn’t wait to throw herself into Twilight’s embrace. The long hours of waiting for something to happen had paid off. She had kept the faith in her friendships, and as always, they had not failed her. She was so thrilled when she saw Twilight burst through and engage Celestia in battle, and now she had the opportunity to thank her.

But when she went to joyously embrace the Princess, she saw nothing but sadness and darkness hovering over her face. Twilight’s normally cheerful purple orbs looked tired, as if they’d aged thousands of years in the course of a few moments. Her ears drooped even more severely than they ever had before, and her entire body spoke nothing but pain. There was a hollowness to this victory that was unavoidable, and the cumbersome nature of the burden seemed to weigh Twilight down to the very dirt the castle was erected upon.

“Twilight?” Starlight asked, “what’s wrong? I mean, you beat Celestia!”

“Yes, I beat my mentor,” Twilight said with absolutely no happiness, “and now she’s unleashed a cloud of sickness specifically designed to target my friends. They were already dealing with the illness, and now…well…now there’s just no stopping it.”

“But, Your Majesty!” Smooth Boulder exclaimed, “what about the antidote?”

“I can’t do anything with that!” Twilight snapped, “there was only enough for Celestia and Trixie, and we’ve used it all in returning Starlight and Luna back to health. We have nothing to clone, and I don’t know the recipe! My friends are doomed, along with everypony else. We might as well have kept Celestia alive!”

The tone of her voice was harsh and decidedly unfriendly. Her eyebrows furrowed in a deep rage, although it was at nopony in particular. She was angry with Celestia, and her helplessness unleashed itself in something primal. Her eyes seemed to rebound between this horrifying emotional paroxysm and reality. Her need for friendship was suddenly interred very deep within her own psyche, and she did not know if she could retrieve it. She threw herself upon the carpeted floor and began weeping bitterly into her hooves. All she could do was watch as Celestia’s dark cloud of destruction began preparing itself to fire lightning bolts of sickness upon the ponies she loved.

“It’s hopeless…” she said, “…completely…hopeless.”

“Maybe not,” a small voice spoke up.

The ponies all turned to see Kite String standing there. Twilight smiled at the young one’s dedication to the cause, but she knew that there was absolutely nothing she could do. For one thing, she was an Earth Pony who carried no magic properties whatsoever. For another, even if she did, it would take the strength of an Alicorn Princess to carry the antidote all throughout Equestria on the back of one single spell. Add to that the fact that they seemed to be completely devoid of the cure, and it became a recipe for complete disaster.

“You must be Kite,” Twilight said, “your mother told me a lot about you on the train ride back here. While I am very grateful for your perseverance in the face of this evil, I don’t think there’s anything that can be done.”

“Please, Princess,” Kite said as she trotted over to where Twilight lay, “let me try.”

Twilight didn’t want to crush the filly’s feelings, but she needed to know the truth either way. So the princess decided to be as gentle as possible. “Kite, my dear, it’s very noble and brave of you to want to try and help everypony. It’s also a testament to the friendship inherent in your very soul. But…all the same, you aren’t a Unicorn. You’re an Earth Pony. While that’s not a bad thing, it just doesn’t help in this situation.”

“I don’t care,” Kite said firmly, “I wanna try.”

“Well…I mean, if you really want to, then you’re welcome to. We just have no antidote left for you to use.”

“There’s always one drop left,” Kite said.

The little filly trotted over to the empty bottle and picked it up. She shook it a few times until a small droplet came out, and she caught it on her tongue. Once the cure was inside her, she headed over to the window and looked out over Equestria. She grunted, shut her eyes, and squeezed herself for all she was worth. But nothing happened. No magic beam of bright hope and safety came shooting out of her. There was nothing but the wind, the rapidly setting sun, and the startling quiet of the normally bustling city streets.

Still, she was not deterred. Something inside her was calling her to do this. So, she tried harder. She thought of everypony and every place she could think of. She pushed her little body to the limit, and she began to sweat very hard. She grunted and squealed with effort, trying desperately to enforce her will over the sickness. She thought of her home, and of little Flurry Heart. She prayed to whatever would listen. She just wanted the sickness to vanish, and for all the ponies to be happy and healthy again. Her attempts seemed futile, as the day continued as normal.

“Sweetie,” Twilight said kindly, “I’m appreciative of your effort, but-“

Suddenly, a HUGE blast of magic exploded from out of the filly’s body. It was bright white, and it seemed to cover the land with its warmth. Like new fallen snow, it blanketed town after town, ridding Equestria of Celestia’s concoction forever. Kite String floated above the shocked ponies in the castle, eyes glowing and mouth open in a silent call for health and wellness to be the order of the day in their land. Mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, cottages, and everywhere in between. For five minutes, the country beheld the power of one little filly’s unwillingness to give up on her friends and loved ones.

“EQUESTRIA,” Kite String bellowed in a voice that seemed to be gifted to her from a deity, “THOU SHALT NO LONGER BE BOUND TO THIS WRETCHED ILLNESS. THOU SHALT KNOW A NEW ERA OF PEACE, FRIENDSHIP, AND HARMONY. THOU SHALT BE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS ONCE MORE.”

With those words, a rainbow shot forth from the filly’s mouth, engulfing all of Canterlot and inviting the quarantined ponies to come out and behold its beauty. So, they did, and those who had been sick before returned to normal. They came out and told their friends and neighbors of the cure, and everypony began shouting and dancing with delight. The sickness was completely obliterated, and everything was back to the way it was.