Benevolence in Black

Chapters

Opening
The situation
Another who lives
The only choice
A cure and a plan
Behind the mask
Through the Hospital
Doctor knows best
And then there were five
Words with a friend
A motivating belief
Busy day for Doc
Creepy Clean
How Generous
Apolgies

Opening

“You don’t have to go, Lucid.” The girl said as she looked to the man who stood in the portal of a device she had built, her face detailing the intense measure of fear she held within her. Her hair was tied tightly behind her head to keep it out of her way. Because of this her forehead was fully visible, revealing the streaks of grease and various other elements that had smeared over her face while she had been working on the machine.

The surroundings were those of an abandoned warehouse. Dust and grime were commonplace around the building and the night time light gave no ease to the frightening shadows that danced in the corner’s of one’s eyes. It was desolate and unorganized in the basest of terms and any who entered would detail it as long forgotten were it not for the collection of metal and wires that stood in the center of it.

Lucid turned from his position, revealing the long, white, beak-like, mask that rested on his face to obscure his features. He was dressed from head to toe in heavy winter clothes, and nowhere was any of his skin visible to even the sharpest of eyes. After a moment of silence to process the words of the girl, he reached into his large coat and withdrew an aged notebook. After flipping through several pages that were decorated with various medical notes the man came to a blank page and began to write with a pencil that was on its last legs.

In short hand barely readable the being wrote out his message and handed the notebook to the girl. Her eyes scanned the words on the page and looked back to the man. “But if I do this then I will be no better than those murders that roam our streets.”

The girl moved to hand the notebook back when the man shook his head and held up a single finger. Realizing where he was going with this action the girl stopped and turned to the most thumbed page of the notebook, the one she had been asked to read on several different occasions, a page that contained a single sentence. ‘Doctors are those who seek to relieve pain.’

After a moment of silence the girl closed the notebook and handed it back toward Lucid again. “Alright, if you insist on dying. I will make sure that they do not receive the honor of ending your misery.” The girl said, sudden determination in her eyes. With his obscuring mask, the girl couldn’t see the emotions that might have shown, but she clearly saw the nod of the man’s head before he put his notebook back into his coat.

“I’ll miss you Lucid, I just want you to know that.” She said to the man in a quiet tone before walking over towards the control panel to the device and placing a pair of goggles over her face. After the flipping of several switches the girl looked to the man and hesitantly raised a thumb, which was returned by a gloved hand. Letting the hand relax the girl took a moment to inhale her breath before grasping the handle.

“It’s off to the outer reaches of space then. Where you will die almost painlessly and they will never be able to read your studies.” The girl said, trying to talk her heart out of the path that it wanted to take. Another deep breath to calm her mind and she slowly slid the handle into place, activating the circuit and starting the machine.

“God speed, Lucid.”

Twilight breathed deeply, or tried to, but was thwarted as the wound in her side flared in pain once again. She had attempted to wrap the wound but she had done so knowing full well that it was in vain. She was infected, she was going to turn in a few moments and she wasn’t going to wake up again. But that wasn’t what had pained her the most, nor was it her scar, nor was it any phsyical wound. Rather it was the sense of disappointment that she held to herself.

She had failed to do as Celestia had bidden, she hadn’t found a cure for the plague and as her friends had started to turn she found herself trapped within her tree with a dwindling supply of food and a further dwindling supply of companions. Spike had been to last of the group to succumb to the sickness, having left Twilight to come downstairs to a note that detailed his leave of absence in desire to let her live.

She had been so alone then, and when the notes had stopped coming back from Canterlot she had found herself with no connection to the outside world. The days had swiftly become greyer and greyer to her. Whether because of the thickening cloud cover or because of the loss of hope and friendship in her life she couldn’t tell, she just knew the end was coming.

This had been her last bid to freedom, she had prepared for a long run into the forest to lose anyone who had followed her magic trail but had been infected almost immediately after her first teleport. The plague-ridden, as she had taken to calling them, had been there as soon as she arrived and had left her with the wound on her midsection.

Another teleport later and she had found herself alone enough that she could bind the wound, preventing blood loss but doing little to slow the infection that she could feel crawling through her veins.

With a pained exhale Twilight fell to the floor of the forest, her legs unable to support her weight any longer. With the last of her strength the unicorn rolled onto her back and looked up to find a clear shot towards the sky above her between the branches of the trees. As she gazed at the sky her mind turned toward her teacher, who had come to some ill fate in Canterlot and felt once more the familiar pang of sadness in her bones. Though it was duller now after so long.

In her dwindling conciousness the unicorn barely spotted the streak of white that shot across the sky and felt a small degree of hope return. “Luna always said that when things seem their darkest that a shooting star would save us. All we had to do was wish on it.” Twilight coughed, her eyes shifting to an unhealthy green as the disease started to run its course on her outward appearance.

“Here goes nothing then. I wish for somepony, or someone, to save us. Some being that can help us in this hour of hopelessness.” Twilight said, relaxing slightly as she felt her mind start to go.

Nothing happened, Twilight’s vision darkened until she blacked out. Before she completely lost herself though she thought for a second she saw the a humongous wide bird looking down at her, its head tilted to the side with worry.

The situation

Slowly, steadily, Twilight’s mind came to reality. The world around her was dark and dank, and she felt so very tired. Her mind briefly touched on the fact that she could feel something moving underneath her skin before she was plunged once more into the welcoming darkness of her sleep.

An unknown amount of time later and she woke once again, her mind much less tired than it had been before though she still felt a fair amount groggy. Aches ran through each of her legs in a constant state and her stomach was itching up a storm. Before she could examine either situation though, it hit her that by some miracle she was still alive.

Filled with sudden energy she tried to move from her laying position only to find that she was unable to do so. Looking to either side of her head the mare saw that her legs were bound to the table upon which she lay. The energy swiftly fueled her panic as the unicorn began to thrash against her bonds, only to feel them tighten around her skin. Locking her movements and hindering her freedom.

Relaxing her legs she attempted a few breaths to try and calm herself but found those to be pointless given the situation. With her mind still racing the mare tried to forget her bound limbs and turned her attention to the itch that tingled across her entire midsection only to find herself horrified by what she saw.

Stretching the entire length of her underbelly was a large cut that was being held together by mediocre stitches and a clamp that was placed at the mid point. She had been cut open during her sleep, and that idea sent pulses of insecurity through her bones like she had never felt before. Fear took control of her mind again and she began to writhe back and forth upon to the table, once again trying to loose the rope that held her in place, only to be denied once again.

The mare refused to give up this easily though, and continued to struggle against the bonds until a door creaking open caught her ears. She immediately fell still, not wanting to bring unwanted attention to herself, but her pulse still pounded in her head as she heard footfalls approaching from the next room over, causing her to doubt the existence of the steps at all as they were hardly different from her racing heartbeat.

Slowly the door to her room opened slowly and the white bird face appeared through the crack. Twilight was struck silent with the fear of the creature before her, and doubting very much the intentions of the beast that was now entering into the room.

With steady, calculated, steps the creature closed the distance between them until he stood at the tableside to Twilight’s right. As it raised an arm Twilight became aware of a claw like appendage that was separating from the collection of black that seemed to make up the area below the mask. The being reached towards her slowly, the hand traversing the air between them. The unicorn was in too much shock with the current situation to do anything, anything besides gaze into the pair of black eyes on the mask that offered no solace for her. No emotion.

Then the hand stopped its descent just to the side of her face. There, the finger tapped twice on the table, causing Twilight to turn and see what the creature was indicating. Next to her head, on the table, was a small sheet of parchment that had writing barely distinguishable to the librarian from her current vantage point. After a second the mare managed to collect her thoughts and focused on the paper, raising it into the air in front of her while the creature shuffled towards a corner of the room that was cluttered with papers as well as a singular mortar and pestle.

‘Hello.’ The note began, the short hand causing only slight difficulty for Twilight’s practiced eye. ‘I am sure that you are scared right now, you have every right to be. I must insist though that you trust what I am about to write to you as well as that my intentions are good.’ The unicorn glanced between the note and the creature who had its back turned to her before returning to reading.

‘At the time of this writing I presume that you can read. Several books indicate that this is the written word of your race but again, I can only guess as to your capabilities.’ The was a break in the letter that had been scratched out in graphite, leaving the mare to only guess at what it had said. ‘You have no doubt noticed the wound on your chest and I can only ponder as to the level of panic that is rushing through you right now.’

‘I assure you that I have not tampered with you, but the breach of your body’s privacy was needed. Through the examination of your organs I have determined that the sickness is one that targets the brain, slowly twisting it before killing and restarting the heart. The only reason that you are alive now is because I was able to remove the tumor from your brain before it fully took effect.’

‘This however bears ill for the others who have this sickness, as I am unsure if an antidote will be able to deal with the tumors enough to bring them back to their normal selves. Know that should this prove impossible I will not hesitate to free them from their torment.

Sincerely,

Lucid’

Twilight looked once more between the creature and the note before resting the paper to the side of her head. Unsure of what she could do the mare opted to remain silent and take in the fullness of her surroundings.

She was clearly in a small house, that much was painfully obvious. It appeared that she was present in a child’s room, her dilapidated surroundings telling the story of the filly or colt who had lived here. Seeing nothing large and obvious that would require her attention she took a moment to fully gaze at a collection of small pictures that were gathered near the closet to her left. The older papers that poked out of the bottom of the stack depicted two ponies, one larger pegasus and a smaller unicorn, hugging underneath a rainbow. As well as various other child-like images that might seem appropriate for a small child to have.

Near the top of the stack however the papers shifted to things that nightmares would be scared of, from a carrot munching greedily on the same pegasus from before with blood spewing from her wounds, to an apple with tentacles that were depicted strangling the unicorn whilst laughing manically.

Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and the mare turned to see the being with the bird like face moving once again. It glanced toward her and pointed to the note at her side whilst tilting its head slightly. Finding her throat unable to break the silence Twilight nodded and the appendage camouflaged back into the collection of black cloth.

Slowly, the creature moved towards the closet to her left, slowly opening the doors to the room while keeping himself between Twilight and the doors, giving her no visual to work with. A light snarl issued from within the closet and the doors were slowly closed once again, completely, before the being moved away and back to his desk, from which he withdrew a slightly withered apple and passed it to the unicorn.

Not wanting to be objectionable to her captor, and more than slightly hungry herself, Twilight bit into the rotted core and swallowed the horrible tasting fruit, which did little to cure her hunger pains, but she didn’t press for another, instead laying back down on the table. Trying to get her mind off of the current events as well as those that had brought her to this. Instead she tried to imagine her friends, back how they had been before, back when they had picnics....

Another who lives

Twilight once again woke from her dreams, though it was starting to become hard for her to tell the difference between her waking and sleeping states. The events with her friends, the picnics and parties, had started to become more real whilst her waking moments seemed separate and split. In her delusion she was still quite aware of what was happening. She was losing her mind as the dramatic experiences caught up to her, meanwhile her days bound to the table did little to convince her of what was real.

The monster hadn’t loosed her bonds, hadn’t eased her muscles in anyway since she had awoken the first time. Sometimes in between her imaginings she would witness as the creature left the room, followed shortly thereafter by the closing of the door to the building.

It was in these moments that the unicorn was struck fully by loneliness. Even though the being didn’t speak nor comfort at least it was something, something that she could hold onto with the idea of it being alive.

Twilight found herself unable to sleep one day after the monster had left, her mind instead shifted to what the sickness could be. Perhaps it was retribution, some form of punishment by beings stronger then Celestia and Luna that wished to see the world turn to ashes underneath their crushing power. Maybe it was a crazed unicorn who had created the disease unknowingly and let it loose on the world. Maybe it was both.

Her mind was starting to faulter, she could sense it. The world was distorting around her. She was probably falling to the sickness, it could have spread from her heart to her mind. She saw the end coming and she knew that she would die here, underneath the dark eyes of the bird-like biped. And all alone.

That was when a gasp interrupted her musings, a sound that the librarian hadn’t heard in a long time. She glanced toward the door and saw that the being had returned once more, this time however another unicorn accompanied him. Her mind couldn’t process the figure correctly, though it seemed familiar. Something about the tattered cape it wore. And why was Twilight so hungry now?

The unicorn looked at the creature for a moment before hobbling over toward Twilight, a missing leg hampering her movements. “Twilight, Twilight Sparkle?” Her voice sounded like someone she had known before, but more kind. The other unicorn awkwardly placed her stump of a leg on the bedside and raised her other hoof to the imprisoned mare’s forehead. Whilst a surge of thirst ran through Twilight’s system, having come from no known source.

“What happened to her? She has a soaring fever and these ropes are choking her blood flow!” The unicorn replied harshly, her magic gripping the ropes and untying them where Twilight’s had only faltered.

With the grip loosened Twilight started to move but was held down as the bird-masked creature held her to the table with a soft grip. She looked up at the being and watched with slight horror as it removed the clamp that had been holding her stomach together. The creature looked at Twilight for a moment before turning his attention to the mare who stood at the table side. Once again without a word the being slowly removed his grip from Twilight and returned to his table, coming back with a thermometer and a cask of water.

He placed the thermometer in the Twilight’s mouth and waited several minutes before retrieving it and again. Glancing at the measurements he handed the water to the unicorns and walked back over to the table. The librarian attempted to move, only to have her legs buckle helplessly, leaving the water out of reach.

The bag was lifted from the table and brought to Twilight’s mouth, allowing her to drink from the contents whilst her senses slowly returned. She began to cough slightly and the bag was removed, instead having the other unicorn drink from their supply. Before she could thank the other unicorn though, she fell into a dreamless sleep again.

It lasted almost no amount of time and she was swiftly awake again to the sounds of the other unicorn arguing with the creature. “What do you mean ‘she still might be contaminated’? I thought you said you removed the tumors!”

The sound of anger in the voice fully triggered Twilight’s memory and she slowly pushed herself up to get a better look and check her guess. “Trixie?” She asked, her voice rough. Taking a moment to look at the tattered cloak that was tied around the other unicorn.

“Twilight Sparkle. Thank heavens you’re awake.” Trixie said, steadily meandering toward the now awoken librarian as best she could with a missing leg.

“What...” A cough interrupted Twilight as her dry throat fought to keep her silent. Despite the drink of water she had taken not a moment before. “What happened to your leg?”

“One of those monsters got me. I managed to beat him away though and I got into the hospital before blacking out. I had seen you out in the forest and when I saw that,” she took a moment to indicate the creature with her head. “thing taking you back towards town I followed.”

“How did you get to the hospital and then follow me into town?”

“No, I followed you into town and then the hospital thing occured.”

“Oh...”

Despite the fact that she was with another pony again their was a thought that kept dancing at the back of her head. “But the real question is. Why are you so warm when the dark is so much more comforting?” The librarian’s smile twisted as she lowered herself off the table and approached Trixie.

“Twilight... What are you doing? Twilight!” The mare wasn’t halted, instead she jumped at her prey, knowing it would be an easy kill. But was stopped as a sudden pressure knocked her to her side. With anger in her body the mare whipped her head around to see her attacker only to spot the emotionless white mask staring at her. The soft scent of lilies reached her nose.

And then, all went black once again.

(In case you're wondering, the general idea for writing this story is 'how can I make this a little more creepy?' -N64Fan)

The only choice

Twilight stirred from her dreams, once more bound to the table. She couldn’t understand. Last she remember she had been untied, and then... she had attacked Trixie. Sudden fear for the unicorn ran through her and the librarian attempted to free herself from her bonds. Fearing what she may have done to the only living pony beside herself that she knew of. That was until she was pressed back onto the table, not by the claw of the creature but by a hoof.

Her vision cleared and Twilight looked to her side to see Trixie looking back with a worried face. “Trixie!” the mare exclaimed, happy to see she hadn’t done any damage. “I’m so happy that I didn’t hurt you. I just.. I didn’t know what was going on! I was so...” Twilight let the phrase end as Trixie looked away and towards a wall.

“Twilight, I’m sorry.” Tears had started, and it was only then that the lavender unicorn spotted the bloodshot red of the showmare's eyes.

“Sorry? Sorry for what?”

“Lucid has deemed that you should be subject to his mercy.” Trixie spat the last word from her mouth, like one would with a horrible taste. “I tried to argue him out of it but he countered all my points and... well...”

At the end of her words the creature entered through the door, a large hatchet in his hands. Twilight attempted to say something but was silenced as the blade swung downward, slitting her throat and killing her.

So it was quite the surprise for Twilight when she awoke again. This time being carried on Trixie’s back to the edge of town. Occasionally a monster would show its head and Trixie would cast an invisibility spell to make them unseen. “I don’t care what Lucid says, you deserve a proper funeral Twilight.” Trixie said.

The words went by with little attention paid however, Twilight’s attention was on the beating heart of the pony below her. So painful with its light of life that it pushed into the air with every beat. She wanted only to end that annoying sound, end it completely and let the world go back to its dark origins. But she didn’t, she couldn’t, her body wouldn’t move.

The duo swiftly arrived at the edge of the town where a small ditch had been dug into the ground. Trixie laid Twilight into hole, Twilight making sure to close her eyes loosely to avoid being noticed by the mare. Trixie levitated a shovel into the air but paused for a moment, standing at the edge of the grave. “I’m not much of one for epitaphs.” Trixie said slowly, to herself, as she gazed at the unmoving body of Twilight. “But I suppose that the very least I could say is... sorry.”

That word! Rage flooded Twilight’s body as she attempted to move from her place and end the life of the being who had spoken that word. It was a word so full of light, so full of burning waking light, that it needed to be smothered. Smothered and never spoken again. Yet, Twilight could not move.

However, her brethren could. Hisses and shouts echoed around them, the sounds of the angered dead as they encroached on the mare. Trixie looked around fearfully as she spotted the shadows that were approaching her, causing her to swiftly repurpose the spade as a weapon against the horde that was closing in on her location.

As she turned around she was just in time to swing the weapon and knock away a pink earth pony with a straight mane who had come out of nowhere. Deciding to step up on the game another pair of ponies decided to try their hooves at the game, one coming at her from each side. The first she knocked away fairly easily but the second bit into her side. Trixie landed painfully on the ground and kicked the other pony off of her, but remained on the ground as her missing leg made it nigh impossible to stand while under constant siege.

Another group of attackers were beaten away with the spade but they didn’t stay down. None of her blows killed the ponies, despite where or how deep her shovel would dig into them the wound would heal almost immediately. It was a losing battle and she knew it.

As her vision began to darken from her lack of hope a single white dot appeared in her vision. For a moment she doubted it’s existence, until it continued to approach and grew in size. The sound of flapping cloth gave a few of the plague-ridden pause, before they were shoved aside by the creature with a mask.

In his hand was a small lamp that burned an odd blue color, and whenever any of the creatures stepped into the light they would be forced away. Twilight was beginning to stir in her grave as the muscles and cords in her neck reconnected her mind with the rest of her body. She slowly stood from the ground, limping slightly as she came towards the duo of infuriatingly alive beings.

She had just joined the edge of the ponies around the circle when a well aimed pastry knocked the lamp to the ground, where it shattered and faded. With their victory secure the ponies all began their approach. It was time to end the light that had invaded their town.

But at the back of Twilight’s mind was a second feeling, a near silent one, that told her that this wasn't a good thing to do. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for her to truly see the terrified look on Trixie’s face before the black cape of the doctor obscured her from view. And then there was the doctor, punching one or two ponies before his arms were restricted and brought to his sides.

The beings began to gnaw on the heavy clothing of the bird-like doctor while a few removed the cape from Trixie, who still shook with fear. It was then that Twilight’s mind snapped back to reality, these were her friends, and as a good friend this was not something she should be doing. Her horn was lit with magic for a moment before her and Lucid, along with Trixie. Were teleported away, back to the house from which they came.

Normally this wouldn’t have hurt her as much as it did but it felt to Twilight like she had drawn water from an empty well and she couldn’t bear to stay awake any longer, letting the familiar darkness take her once again. It was more like a close friend now anyway.

A cure and a plan

Twilight awoke once again, jerking back to life as if she had just survived suffocation, which she had pretty much done. It was then that she felt cold steel against her throat and became aware of the sharpened knife pressed firmly to her neck. Her self-preservation instincts took hold and she backpedaled immediately, to which the response was, surprisingly, the closing of the pocket knife. She followed the claw back to its owner, the thing behind the mask. Realizing this meant he didn’t intend to kill her yet her heart slowly fell into normal rhythms.

Instead of leaving her to be as it had before though, the creature instead bent over the young mare and looked into her eyes from behind his opaque lens, as if searching for something. “You could probably leave her be, Lucid.” The creature looked over his shoulder to the mare who owned the voice before stepping away from his close examination. Taking his place was the worried face of Trixie, her missing leg hindering the show mare from hugging her. As well as the tight white cloth that had recently been used to bind the wound she had suffered at the gravesite.

“Twilight? Is it you?” The voice was a mixture of curiosity and fear, while the owner of the tone began to collect magic just in case she needed it.

“Yes Trixie it is. But... I don’t know if.. I’m me.”

“You aren’t.” Trixie said looking at the librarian, visibly relieved. “You won’t ever be either.”

“I don’t...”

“You’re one of them Twilight. A plague-ridden. But you kept your mind, mostly, for reasons that neither me nor Lucid can seem to guess at.”

Twilight’s gaze shifted to the creature that stood a fair distance away, swirling a concoction in a broken bar glass. “A-are you sure? I won’t ever be a full pony again?”

“No, I can conclusively say that you won’t.”

“Conclusively? You sound more like a magic sage then you did last time we met. A lot less bragging.”

“Yes, well,” Trixie’s gaze moved to the floor. “I never did enjoy my talent. I always wanted to be a travelling magician, to see as much of Equestria as I could, but now...” The silence hung in the air, executed before it could fully form, leaving the air empty.

“We’ll fix this Trixie, I’m sure of it.” Twilight wasn’t sure where her optimism came from, just that it sounded right.

The mare’s eyes lit up at her words and she looked once again at the librarian’s face. “Do you have a plan then? Because I must admit, I’m quite stumped. We’d need something to reset the world essentially, and that is something that I can’t quite manage to believe in.”

A sharp inhale of air came from Twilight, her mind running once more at full gear now that her body had sorted itself out. “The elements! That would set it back to normal if we found the source of the illness and hit it.” Her expression dropped once more though, Lucid turning in his chair to look at the mare. “But we need the other’s for that. We would need to at least get them to my level of consciousness.” Her depressed expression was mirrored by Trixie, but not by the biped.

He stood from his chair hurriedly, a small glass containing a bubbling liquid in his hand, and approached the closet. Not bothering to position himself in between Twilight and the door again he swung the door wide, revealing a purple and green dragonling within.

“Spike!” Her words woke the reptilian and it turned to face her, then was still for a moment before lunging at her, murder in it’s eyes. A chain snapped taut, bringing the corrupted assistant to his knees as the metal held him. Seeing her helper in such a position hit Twilight hard but she was not allowed long to grieve his passing. Almost immediately the man stepped on the claw of the dragon, causing his mouth to open in a cry of pain.

Taking his moment the creature tossed the liquid into the maw and clamped it shut with his hands, forcing the plague-ridden Spike to swallow the concoction. For a moment nothing happened, then he fell to the floor, writhing in a pain that only he could feel. Both unicorns moved forward, shoving Lucid backward and away from the dragonling.

“What did you do to him?!” Twilight shouted, her eyes darkening while her coat began to shed lightly. The being remained silent, watching the now unmoving reptilian. The librarian turned her attention toward him as well and watched the body until the eyes slowly began to flicker slightly. Remembering the previous actions of the creature that was not the Spike she knew she backed away, Trixie following her actions.

The eyelids flickered open once again, though the pupils were strangely distorted. “Spike?” Twilight hesitantly asked, not sure what the biped had done.

His ears flickered slightly at the noise, recognition clear in the actions. The familiar voice caused his eyes began to move about the room. “Twilight?" His eyes drifted over each of the beings present but continued to wander. "Twilight is that you?”

“Yes, Spike. It's me.” Tears of joy were beginning to fall down Twilight’s face as she saw the small dragon get to his feet somewhat clumsily.

“Are we in heaven?”

“No Spike, we aren’t in heaven.” A small smile began to start on Twilight's face as the joy of Spike's life came to her.

“But then... why is everything so white?” The dragon's gaze never stopped wandering, never settled on anything in the room. The joy in her heart was replaced with worry as Twilight glanced toward the man who stood at the corner of the room, his hands busily writing upon a sheet of paper. Then to Trixie whose eyes reflected a degree of sadness that answered the mystery that Twilight's mind had refused to accept.

Spike was blind.

Behind the mask

“I had just arrived in the hospital, knowing that unless the wound could be treated I was not going to last very much longer. I was using my magic to slow the progress of the infection but I was unable to cure it away. I had been running away from the plague-ridden for a week when he arrived, he found me in a supply closet.

“When I woke up my leg was gone.” Trixie glanced toward her stump of a limb for a moment before returning to telling her story. “And then I saw him by the door with a candle. So I assumed the worst. I remember,vaguely, yelling at him, asking him what he had done to me. But, of course, he didn’t answer me.”

“I got louder, more angry. He seemed to be pointing at me but he still wasn’t saying anything. So I got mad, I ripped his mask from his face.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Trixie, but are you sure that it’s okay if I hear this? I don’t think that he would wear that mask without a reason.” Twilight’s face detailed not only worry but a degree of fear as well.

“Yes, well, he doesn’t wear it for aesthetics.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at this but nodded for the showmare to continue her story. “When the mask left his face, he froze, he didn’t move. Then he dropped to the ground and began to wildly search for his mask. I only got the briefest glance of his face while he floundered for it.”

“It was curved weird but I’m willing to bet that that is his race’s original facial structure. The stitches that run across his face though, not so much.”

“Wait, I thought you said that it wasn’t for looks.”

“And it isn’t. That’s what I thought though when I saw it. Until his hand patted the mask, multiple times, but he didn’t pick it up.”

“You mean he’s blind without it?”

“And deaf. I tried to tell him he had his hand on the mask but he didn’t respond.”

“Oh...” Twilight’s gaze moved back to the door before looking toward Trixie again. “I see.” Silence fell in the room, leaving Twilight to her thoughts while Trixie turned her gaze back toward the collection of candles.

“Twilight!” The childish sound pierced through the air and the librarian jerked to her legs. The call came once again and Twilight rushed to the room, desperate to answer the call of the small dragon assistant. As she burst into the door however she was greeted with quite an odd sight.

Spike was curled into the crook of Lucid’s arm. And Lucid, for his part, was letting the sleepy dragon claw the scarf that was wrapped around his neck. Twilight looked at the duo with a confused expression until her attention was grabbed by a paper being held in front of her face.

Twilight looked over the sheet for a moment before calling to the unicorn in the other room. “Apparently we’re going to the hospital.” She read some more from the paper, then continued her announcement. “Lucid isolated the ingredients he needs for his cure. We just need to go shopping, then we can start curing the elements.”

Trixie limped into the room and raised an eyebrow as she saw the man caring for the reptilian child. “Well, it’s about time.”

Through the Hospital

The sound of a crack echoed through the hospital, a plague-ridden falling backwards as the broom broke upon it’s head. “C'mon, before he gets back up!” The unicorn jumped over the downed zombie, followed by another who hobbled as fast as she could mange. They continued to run and rounded the corner quickly before pausing to look back toward the infected creature that lay on the ground.

The half dead pony rose slowly from the ground, sniffed the air, and then walked aimlessly down the hallway away from the duo. The pair, relieved, put their backs to the wall and took a moment to catch their breath. Looking upward the lavender mare noticed the hallway's name and levitated a small, crudely drawn map from her saddlebags. As she did so the showmare by her side leaned over as well and shared a glance with her before looking at the paper.

“So, according to Lucid’s map, we should just have a few more halls and then we’re at the supply room we need to get to.” Twilight said, tracing the path they needed to take on the paper in front of her.

“I don’t know when he found the time to explore this hospital so thoroughly. He must have spent most of his time with either you or I over the past few weeks,” Trixie said, glancing at the map that had successfully led them this deep into the hospital without so much as a typo on the hall names.

“Hardly matters, it’s not very important anyway.” Twilight answered, lifting herself off of the ground. “We should get going before the nearby plague-ridden wonder why I haven’t killed you yet.” I wonder how she tastes? “I don’t understand why they think I’m one of them.” Will she bleed more if I bite out her jugular or her heart? Twilight attempted a smile to try and hide the thoughts that came unbidden to her mind.

Trixie returned with a half-hearted grin and Twilight helped her to her feet. “According to Lucid the disease is still in your mind and heart, it’s just not actively trying to kill you now for some reason. He says you're more dead than alive currently, due to the damage it's already dealt.” Twilight’s stomach dropped and she looked to the showmare once again who looked back with a straight face. “Not that it matters Twilight, you’re in control, remember that.”

“I’ll try.” Perhaps her brain will taste like pudding? “I’ll try as hard as I can.”

The duo began moving again, Trixie trailing slightly behind as her missing leg hobbled her speed. The door to the store room was locked when Twilight arrived and, after waiting for Trixie, the pair of unicorns went about breaking it.

Trixie focused on the individual pins of the lock, placing them in their appropriate places. Then, Twilight focused a mass of her magic through the opening. The result was the utter destruction of the lock and the unlocking of the door. Giving silent congratulations to each other Twilight and Trixie entered the room and began to look for the various ingredients that were supposedly within.

The duo searched in silence for a moment, picking up containers of the magical substances that would create the cure that Lucid had made for Spike the day prior. Eventually though, Trixie opted to shatter the oppressive empty air. “So, who do you plan on curing first Twilight? I’m sure you’ve thought about it, you can never keep that mind of yours off of a potential subject that may come up.”

Feet first so I can hear her scream or head first so that I can watch the body spasm like a bug? “Rainbow Dash.” Twilight answered, trying to keep her mind in reins as she bite the inside of her cheek.

“Oh, you have something for her hmm?” Trixie said with a small grin as she placed a jar of clear liquid into the librarian’s saddlebags.

“No, it’s a strategic decision. With her on our side we will be able to find the others easier.” Twilight’s voice filled with a sudden anger that hadn’t touched her lips before. “If it were based on my selfish desires Rainbow wouldn’t be the one I would bring back.”

“Oh? Who holds that honor then?” Trixie said in a voice full of sarcasm before suddenly stopping. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -, It’s just.. I’m not quite cut out to cope with an apocalypse.”

“I don’t think anyone is Trixie,” I wonder if I can get my hooves on some spices. “I don’t think anyone is.”

Silence once again filled the air and the pair quickly finished gathering their duties. After double checking to ensure they had claimed everything the pair left the room. As they did so the door that they had opened fell outwards, the hinges having given out from continuous damage from an unknown source. It fell and smashed into the ground before either unicorn could do anything, the shattering noise splitting the air and informing all the infected in the area of their location.

A shared glance and both unicorns broke into a run, or a fast hobble, whichever they could manage. As they ran down the hall, however, they were greeted by a large group of plague-ridden that meandered around the corner and turned to look at them. Quickly detouring, Twilight ran towards a nearby supply closet and opened it, motioning for Trixie to follow.

The showmare had run to the window and looked at their height off the ground first though, leaving her only moments to run toward the librarian as the not-quite ponies closed the distance towards them. It was not her lucky day though, her feet slipped out from under her as she ran across the linoleum and she landed on her stomach.

Trixie looked frightenedly toward the infected, who had picked up speed, and towards Twilight. The librarian reached toward her downed companion and grabbed her with her magic, with a yank of her head she pulled the azure unicorn into the closet and closed the door behind her.

Darkness consumed their vision as the two waited in the silence, before too long the sounds of scratching and beating filled their ears and Twilight had to resist the urge to scream. Realizing they needed something to distract the fairly fragile mare Trixie decided to bring up the topic they had dropped moments ago.

“So if not Rainbow Dash then who?”

“Pinkie Pie.” She’d probably taste like candy, yum. “I always loved how she can just go on without worry regardless of what statistics say. I was always envious of that.”

“I see, I suppose that makes sense in retrospect.” Trixie said, glad that the mare was distracted.

“And you?”

“Ah, there was this one stallion that I met in Manehattan. We never really discussed our feelings but he was the only one who came after me when I was kicked out of the town, of course, with how things are currently going...”

“Uhuh.” Twilight was beginning to salivate, surely if she just bit off a little chunk of flesh Trixie wouldn’t mind right?

“After we get out of this I don’t think I’ll ever take anything for granted ever again.” Twilight’s jaw was open, her mouth slowly approaching Trixie’s throat. “Of course, without my leg, I’ll probably need to come up with a new job, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.” The librarian licked her lips, she could feel the heat coming off of the showmare’s body, just a little closer...

“Wait, do you hear that?” Trixie suddenly moved, shaking Twilight from her trance as she did so.

“N-no. I don’t hear anything.” How could I do that? I was about to eat her!

“Exactly, where’s the noise?” Slowly the showmare grasped the door with her magic and opened it toward them, letting the blue light from the hospital hallway dance into the room.

As she opened it all the way the familiar black cowl of Lucid came into view and she let loose a relieved sigh. “Thank heavens you’re here, we were attacked in this dead end.”

As she spoke a hissing noise met her ears and Trixie turned to look to the side while Twilight shakily rose to her feet.

Hanging from the wall, a hatchet through it’s chest, was one of the infected ponies, and still alive. As it thrashed about the stained mane of the pony moved, showing off the showcase of cleaner, multi-colored hairs within. Looking at her with new eyes Trixie could spot the blue coat of the pony underneath the grim. With disbelief she looked toward Lucid, he had somehow pinned Rainbow Dash.

(This is the only story I've ever written that gives me nightmares, I hope you're happy. And by happy, I obviously mean completely and hopelessly consumed with the sick twists of my inner labyrinth. - N64Fan)

Doctor knows best

Twilight walked carefully, balancing the thrashing pegasus on her back was no easy feat. Trixie was occupied with keeping the various bindings on Rainbow Dash while Lucid kept his gaze on the hall in front of them, the blue candle illuminating the halls as the sun began to set on the outside world. As they walked the blue light kept the various plague-ridden at bay, though Twilight suspected there was more to it than that.

“Thanks for coming to save us Lucid,” Trixie paused as she tightened the bindings again. Twilight resisted the urge to attack as the word of appreciation burned through her mind and ears. “I’m not sure we would have gotten out of there without you.” The white mask glanced back toward them for a moment before quickly turning towards their surroundings again.

I wonder if he tastes like a bird. “Yea, we were probably done for.” As she said this Lucid dropped to one knee, his body shaking wildly. Though she hadn’t looked much into it, the librarian could easily see the symptoms of drug addiction that he was now displaying. After placing the candle on the ground as quickly as he could, he reached into his coat and pulled out a syringe full of a green liquid. Without a pause he shoved the needle into the flesh of his neck, underneath his scarf.

The liquid was pushed from the tube and into his bloodstream and mere moments later the creature had picked up the candle again and placed his back to the wall. As he leaned against the cool stone the sound of a deep inhale came from behind the mask.

“Ditch, Lucid? I thought you told me that was poison.” Trixie was glaring at the biped with eyes that burned with disappointment. The biped didn’t answer as he pushed himself up and off the wall that he was leaning against.

Without a word he began to walk once again, leaving little choice but for the mares to follow him. As their hoof steps echoed across the floor the librarian turned to look at the show more. “Ditch?”

“Yes, Ditch. It’s a chemical that Lucid found while he was searching for a cure. It heightens your perception and adrenaline production. I thought he had gotten rid of it, but now that I know he didn’t it’s easy to figure out how he beat Rainbow Dash.”

“Ah, yes. If he could move fast enough, even if it was just barely faster than her, he could have easily pinned her to that wall.”

“Yes, but it has one of the worst chemical crashes I’ve ever seen. He used it on one of the infected when he tried it as a cure. He was beaten up pretty badly by the time that the pony ran out of energy. And then the pony began to flail on the ground because it’s body couldn’t handle the adrenaline without the drug to catalyze it into controlled movement.”

“So when he runs out of the drug...”

“He probably won’t die, he seems too tough for that, but it still won’t be pretty.” Trixie said with a nod as she watched the doctor. Now that she knew what to look for she could see the effects of the drug even now. His head would suddenly snap to the side at sounds that only he could hear and his free hand was twitching as it tried to deal with the excess energy that was being fed it.

“Of course he continues to use the drug he won’t be able to get off it at all. His body will stop producing energy on it’s own without Ditch in his system as it won’t feel the need to. He’s killing himself.” Trixie looked toward Twilight and smiled sadly. “For us. For our home. So that he can help us all.”

“Perhaps,” Twilight responded, her voice low, “We should do something about that?” She saw the man’s head turn toward them for a moment, having caught the words, but it quickly returned to scanning the surroundings. After she was sure he was no longer watching, Trixie nodded in return.

Just before they left the building their opportunity arose as Lucid pulled another syringe of Ditch from his coat while the two unicorns stood behind him. With only a shared nod both unicorns reached for the medical syringe, only to meet empty air as the doctor moved out of the way with blinding speed. The candle lay on the ground between them now as he looked toward the two ponies from behind his expressionless mask.

Once again he attempted to inject the drug into his system but the speedy unicorn magic grasped the needle yet again and he was forced to move to avoid it being taken from him completely. This time he had moved to the side of Trixie and hit her lightly on the side of the face, knocking her over as her absent fourth leg failed to support her.

Twilight spun to face him but he was already gone, it was in the corner of her eye that she saw him next, he was approaching quickly and was set on knocking her down as well. The unicorn tried desperately to turn and face him but she just couldn’t move fast enough. Before he managed to reach her though his leg suddenly gave out. He just barely managed to stay somewhat upright as he placed one of his hands on the ground to steady himself.

He was shaking horribly as the removal of the drug from his system began to take his toll. He tried once more to inject himself but was foiled as Twilight took the drug from him and shattered it on the ground. He pulled another from his coat and that was taken as well. In short order Twilight had shattered all the syringes, watching as the green liquid dissipated across the floor.

He dove forward for one of the pools and stared down at it, obviously formulating a way to somehow get it into his system. “LOOK AT YOURSELF!” Twilight shouted, disgusted by what the doctor that had saved her had fallen to. “You’re just going to let this control you?” I should kill him, then he won’t be addicted. “I know you’re thinking Lucid, ‘what does she know?’” Twilight glared at the man, “I know the feeling of having a voice at the back of your head that you don’t think you can ignore, I know that we have to be stronger than that, because if we aren’t then this world will only end in flames.” A sniffle emanated from the librarian as tears began to come unbidden from her eyes. “I just... I just don’t want to lose anyone.”

Lucid glanced toward her, and then towards Rainbow Dash, and finally towards Trixie who was trying to get off the floor. Slowly, his body shaking so much that he could barely stand, he got to his feet. With a nod towards Twilight he helped Trixie to her feet and picked up the candle.

With his back turned towards the mares, they didn’t see as he pulled a small green liquid vial from his coat and drank it, barely lifting his mask. Placing his mask securely over his face once again he continued to fake the shivers that had wracked his body only moments before and walked on, neither of the mare’s any the wiser. He was going to save this world and succeed where he had failed before, even if it killed him.

And then there were five

Rainbow dash awoke, her vision blurry as she looked at her surroundings. Last she remembered she had been flying away from cloudsdale. But why had she been flying away? Oh yes, something about a disease. Twilight had said that it... possessed ponies or something. Hadn’t her leg been scratched by one of the pegasus when she was escaping? She must have been wrong about how it was spread then.

Why was it so dark? Rainbow sat up as she pondered that very question. Her vision slowly cleared and revealed to her her surroundings, as her gaze moved around the room her heart met with a sudden start when two monsters at the end of the table she lay on came into view. When they saw that she had woken up they began to approach, their tentacles reaching towards her as they did so. So scared was the pegasus that she didn’t recall that they hadn’t had tentacles mere moments ago. “Rainbow!” One of them said in a deformed voice. “I’m so glad you’re awake!”

“G-get away from me, you octopus things.” The pegasus extended her hoof to try and keep them at bay but they continued closing in toward her.

“Rainbow, it’s me, Twilight!” They were even closer now, they were coming to kill her, she could see it in their eyes. And so she decided that if she was going to die she wasn’t going to let her friends name be smeared by such an obvious fraud.

“Don’t pretend to be her you monster, Twilight looks nothing like you! You aren’t her! She’s smart, and organized, and always has a book. You aren’t her!” The creature that had been approaching flinched away at the words while the second one yelled something out the door of the room. Towards the end of her words it seemed like she was trying to convince herself of the fact as well.

“What’s the matter huh? Truth too much for you, you creep?!” Sudden energy hit her veins as she realized she was beating away her attackers with words alone. The first monster bent towards the ground, the sound of whimpering starting to fill the air. “Oh no, you aren’t gonna get ME with your pity trap!”

It was at this point that a third monster entered the room, though something about him screamed at the mare’s groggy brain, he didn’t look like the others. He stood taller and seemed to blend in with the shadows of the room as he moved. “Oh, so you brought your boss in here now huh? Well he looks stupid and ugly.” The creature approached, it’s tentacles at it’s sides. “Yea, now I know you aren’t Twilight, because Twilight wouldn’t need help from such an ugl-” She was silenced as a tentacle jolted forward and collided with her face.

Despite the obvious strength of the hit she didn’t feel much pain, the blow only knocking her back flat on the table. A collection of tentacles closed around her neck and she began to scream as the face of the monster approached. Just as she was sure of her own demise she felt a prick in her neck and looked to see a small syringe sticking out.

She turned back to the creature and watched in amazement as the tentacles began to fade from view, revealing a bird like mask staring down at her. The creature let go and Rainbow bolted upright yet again. Where the two monsters had been before there was now only two unicorns. One of which was most assuredly Twilight, who was weeping.

With anger in her eyes the pegasus looked at Trixie with eyes full of anger. “What did you do to her!” She asked with a tone full of rage.

Trixie’s eyes widened and a tone of rage entered her voice as well. “What did I do? What did I DO?! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO INSULTED HER ONLY A FEW SECONDS AGO!” Realization dawned on the pegasus’s face and Lucid approached the showmare, resting a hand on her shoulder for a second before walking away, leaving a paper behind.

The showmare eagerly opened the sheet while Rainbow dropped to the floor next to her friend. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Twilight. You looked like some creature from the black lagoon. I wouldn’t have said those things if I knew it was you.”

The librarian looked at her friends with bloodshot eyes, clearly she had been crying prior to Rainbow Dash’s awakening as well. Maybe I should tear out her throat, then she’ll be silent as I eat her. Then she can’t say those thing to me again. Twilight’s coat darkened as she looked at her friend, but suddenly turned back to it’s normal color before Rainbow could be sure that she had seen it. “It’s- It’s alright Rainbow, you didn’t know.”

“She’ll need another injection tomorrow morning.” Trixie said, suddenly speaking up as she finished reading over the note that Lucid had left her. “This is the side effect of the cure on her, waking nightmares.”

Rainbow dash looked at the pony with a confused expression for a moment before Twilight spoke up. “But if it’s the side effect of the cure, how did Lucid manage to make something that put it at bay, even for a moment?” Did this mean there might be a way for Spike to receive temporary sight?

“Apparently the chemical he injected her with slows the brain processes, which is what causes her hallucinations. She’ll have trouble thinking while she’s on the drug, but I think that it shouldn’t affect any of her basic automatic functions like breathing and the such.”

“Well at least there’s some good news then.”

“Twilight...” Both unicorns looked over to the confused pegasus. “What’s going on?”

Twilight seemed to stutter with her words for a moment before looking her dead in the eye. “Remember what Celestia told me to do? With the disease?”

“Yea?”

“I failed.” Twilight’s gaze moved to the ground and Trixie placed the paper on the desk a short distance away.

Slowly the voice’s of the two ponies began to distort once again, though whether that was from her side effect or her general shock she couldn’t tell. She looked slowly towards the showmare who only looked back with a dead expression and a few words. “Welcome to the end of the world, Rainbow Dash.”

(A bit less dark this chapter, sorry about that. It's sad though, does that count? -N64Fan)

Words with a friend

Rainbow stood at the doorstep of the house-turned-sanctuary and glanced towards the biped who stood next to her. The mask turned slightly toward her and nodded. Taking her cue the pegasus took to the skies. Meanwhile the man set off in the opposite direction, down nearby streets. Both of them leaving the two unicorns behind with Spike to guard the house and make the preparations for another dose of cure.

When the man was gone from sight the pegasus took a sudden turn and dropped low to avoid being spotted by the sharp-eyed doctor. She had a house she wanted to visit, someone to check on, and she doubted the doctor would let her go alone if he knew she intended to fly directly to the building and enter it.

As she arrived at the tree house near the edge of the Everfree she began to fly around it, checking for any plague-ridden that might have taken to patrolling the area. When she was sure it was all clear the pegasus dropped to ground level in front of the door. She paused for a moment to bite into a tablet that the doctor had made that would serve the same purpose as her injection, then knocked on the door.

The sound of creaking floor boards came from within and Rainbow Dash backed away from the door, spreading her wings wide should she need to take to the air suddenly. The door opened and a yellow face peaked out past the doorway. Upon seeing Rainbow she opened the door and gave a soft smile. “Oh, Rainbow. I didn’t know you were coming. Not that that’s a problem, I don’t mind, that is to say...” Her voice fell very quite and Rainbow smiled to herself, happy that her friend was similar to how she had been before, though the words seemed a bit... empty...

“Heya Fluttershy, just thought I’d swing by to see how you were doing.” Rainbow smiled widely and walked into the building, the mare moving aside to allow her entrance.

“I’m doing fine, how about you?” Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, she was shocked silent by the interior of the building. Loose bird feathers lay scattered around the room, the table was knocked over, and shed animal hair decorated everything. This wasn’t the house that she had remembered.

“Oh, I guess I forgot to clean up after I dealt with Angel, sorry.” The cyan pegasus turned around slowly to see her friend looking towards the ground, shamefully. “I just wanted him to join me, but he was so scary about it.” Her eyes roamed to the corner of the room, Rainbow’s not far behind.

There lay a small white bunny, his chest having been torn open and a small pool of blood around him. Looking back to Fluttershy, Rainbow saw the faint markings of dried blood on her face. “I just wanted him to embrace the dark, it’s so much more comfortable than that horrendous beating light he had before.”

Rainbow backed slowly away from the pony she knew was no longer Fluttershy. “Oh dear, it seems I’ve set your heart racing.” The pony’s face tilted to the side in order to examine the flyer from a different angle. “Which is strange, because you shouldn’t have a heart beat...”

Not waiting for the yellow pegasus to make the first move Rainbow ran. Fluttershy - or what was left of her - blocked the entry way still, meaning that the cyan mare had to find a hiding place, somewhere to plan her escape. As she rounded a corner she spotted her target, a closet door a few feet away.

Throwing open the door as quickly as she could Rainbow ducked into the alcove and slammed it shut behind her. After a serious of tense moments, a pair of hoofsteps approached and stopped in front of the door. “Oh Rainbow, won’t you please join me? I’m so,” A sad sniff. “I feel so alone without you.”

The racer resisted the urge to throw open the door and hug her friend, reminding herself that this was not the same Fluttershy she had come to know. In the dark of the closet, though, an idea came to mind. Looking around she spotted exactly what she was looking for, a collection of scarves that Fluttershy had saved from every Hearth’s Warming. They had been gifts from Rarity.

Working in the dark slowed her down but eventually the cyan pegasus had what she wanted. Or she assumed she did, from the little input she received as she ran her hoof over the material. After checking for the upteenth time the mare took a deep breath, preparing for what she was about to do.

With her quick reflexes she flung the door open, revealing Fluttershy standing a short distance away, her eyes widening in surprise. Putting on extra speed she flew past her, throwing her impromptu creation over her target as she did so. As she hit the center of the room she turned around sharply and slowed down, flapping idly to see her handiwork.

As luck would have it the net had work exactly as she had planned and had caught her target in a tangle of color and fluffy fabric. Not wasting anytime that Fluttershy might use to break out she swooped from her position and grabbed the lead rope in her mouth, lifting the small mare into the air and letting the net tighten around her.

With her friend securely restrained Rainbow began to drag the mare to the door, flinching every time her brash actions caused the pegasus behind her to thump into an object. Eventually though they left the house, neither physically worse for being in there. With a beat of her strong wings the blue pegasus took to the air and set her course for the house that Lucid had set up as their HQ, easily managing the weight of the cream pegasus.

As the steady beat of her own wings began to calm her mind Rainbow Dash looked down at her surprisingly silent prey and blinked as she realized that her drug had worn off. She now appeared to be carrying a giant octopus-like creature. Removing her attention from the pony beneath her Rainbow looked back towards the building and decided on something immediately. She wasn’t going to tell her friend what she had done at her house, even if it meant that her own life would be on the line. The idea of how Fluttershy would react to being told she had killed angel and then ate parts of him... to be the one who caused that... it was horrible to even think about.

A motivating belief

Twilight glanced hesitantly over towards Trixie, her mind jittery and unsure about being left alone with her while Lucid and Rainbow Dash went to search for the remainder of her friends. Maybe I could bring in some of the other plague-ridden and we could have a grand old time, maybe get one of them to do it. Then I wouldn’t feel responsible. Twilight let her eyes glaze over as she looked out into the distance.

Why am I even trying anyway? Even if we somehow get the elements together we would still have to somehow find the source of this plague, and that probably isn’t going to happen. It would just be so much easier to embrace the dark. Trixie glanced over toward Twilight, whose mouth was beginning to turn into a sneer. The librarian’s head snapped toward the showmare, her eyes narrow and her pupils dilated.

Without warning the mare jumped at her prey, quickly pinning the handicap to the ground. “Twilight!? What are you doing?!” The mare tried to struggle, but her efforts were in vain as the cannibalistic pony stared back at her, licking her lips. “Twilight, you don’t want to do this!”

“Why not? It’s not like we’re going to get out of this situation. We’re fighting a losing battle, I can see it already. The dark will succeed in the end. Every candle dies, the only question is whether the elements or time does it in.”

“What are you talking about? Lucid has a cure, we’re going to get out of this.” Trixie said as she stared pleadingly into the demented eyes of the pony above her.

“That monster? He’s probably killing us with this ‘cure of his’. I’m perfectly fine and I never got injected with that crap.”

“You call this perfectly fine? This is what your expectations have deteriorated to? This disease is changing your mind Twilight and you’re losing the fight.”

Twilight reared up slightly and dropped her legs back on Trixie’s appendages, causing her to flinch. “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO THEN?” The shout that exited Twilight’s mouth was full of rage, but underneath it Trixie thought she heard a tone of sadness.

“Simple.” A box collided with Twilight’s side, knocking her off the mare. As the librarian hit the ground the box pressed tightly down on one of her limbs while Trixie held down the others. “We are the doctor’s assistants. Do you know what that means Twilight?”

“It means we do his petty fetch quests.” Twilight said, her words full of disgust.

“Then why is he out there finding your friends Twilight?” The librarian opted not to answer and Trixie glared down at her. “The answer to your question is simple, so very simple and right in front of your nose but you keep missing it.”

“Stop dragging me along and building suspense you mule, what is this answer you claim to have.”

Trixie looked into Twilight’s eyes, her own full of pity and empathy. “We have faith in Lucid.”

“Faith... in Lucid.”

“Yes, because if anyone can cure this place... it must be him. I know it.”

The irises of the librarian slowly reverted back to normal, her wide mouth shrinking to it’s normal sizes. Her eyes glazed over once again, the mare seeming to look past Trixie and into the ceiling. Her eyes closed slowly, then opened once again, reminiscent of a slow motion blink. As if she had just woken up her eyes snapped to Trixie, fear on her face.

“Trixie? Why are you pinning me to the ground? Oh, did I... Oh no. I did, didn’t I? Oh I’m so sorry Trixie, so very sorry. I just, I started daydreaming and then next thing I know I’m on the ground.” Sweat began to pour down the librarian’s coat, causing it to sparkle in the unsteady light of an orange flame in the corner of the room.

The box fell lazily off to the side of the librarian’s leg and Trixie stepped down, smiling comfortingly at Twilight. “It’s okay Twilight, you have to be much faster than that to catch a showmare off guard. Just try and keep it under control more okay?”

“O-of course, I won’t let it happen again.”

“On a side note, do you remember anything you said while you were out of it?”

“N-no. Can’t say I do.”

“Ah, okay.” Trixie smiled half-heartedly and walked away, heading towards her position by the door that she had been at before being attacked.

Under her breath, lower enough that Trixie couldn’t hear, Twilight continued her answer. “I remember what you said though...” As she said this she let her gaze move to the sleeping Spike, having snoozed through the entire interaction. A slight smile crossed her face but was quickly replaced with fear as the door to the house was thrown open.

Both mares grabbed a nearby object in their magic and prepared to fight, but stopped when the familiar outline of Lucid entered the building. New tears decorated his clothing and his mask seemed slightly askew but that wasn’t was the most eye catching.

A pair of hooves were tightly wrapped around his neck, a stallion clinging on with all his might to the point that tears had began to fall down his face from the strain. As they entered he began to slip and Lucid was forced to catch him with his arms and lower him slowly to the ground of the room. Without wasting time the being wrote a small note on a piece of paper and handed it to the unicorn duo.

‘Another survivor. Fever, dehydration, and various other diseases. Bring my tools in while I prep.’

Busy day for Doc

The man took rubbed the sanitizer over his gloves for several minutes until he was confident of their cleanliness, then turned back to the stallion who lay on a length of cloth, his eyes looking up at the man. The surgery had been performed while he was fully awake, due to his wishes, and now he look up at Lucid with a sympathetic gaze. “Thank you. I was worried that the disease was going to take me.” Looking down, the bird mask bobbed once in a ‘you’re welcome’ before the one behind it disappeared into the back room, his equipment in hand.

As he stepped away from his patient the two mares approached him, Twilight’s steps slower and more hesitant than Trixie’s. “Hello, and welcome to our little shack. A minor sanctuary in the hell hole that is now Equestria.” The smile that graced the showmare’s face proved to be contagious, as before long the stallion had adopted wide smile of his own.

“Yes, well, I can assure you that that is exactly what it is out there, despite how much I wished otherwise." With a cringe of pain he forced himself off of the cloth and into a semi-sitting pose. “I’ve been travelling around since the curse really took hold. Trying to find some haven or another.”

“So you must have seen Canterlot then.” Twilight said, her attention suddenly grabbed. “What’s it like? Did it make it through alright?”

The stallion glanced at her, catching her eye for a moment before he shook his head. “All of Canterlot is in ruins, the disease may have gotten them but they sure didn’t go down without a heck of a fight.”

“And the princesses?”

“No idea. I didn’t see them among the dead, or the plague-ridden. I assume they have locked themselves away while they work on a cure. But that could just be wishful thinking on my part.” Twilight nodded slowly, opting not to speak as her gaze moved to the floor. “But while we’re asking questions, may I ask exactly what is going on here? Who or what is that creature who saved me.”

“His name is Lucid.” Trixie said, her gaze dancing over the form of the cursed unicorn at her side. “He managed to save Twilight and I from the disease, and so we’re mounting an attack against the curse, via use of the elements. We have already recovered two of the six required ponies, after we get it together we’ll be able to free Equestria.” A rising tone of pride carried through the unicorn’s voice.

“I see, that is quite a lofty goal. I would call you three mad, but that... ‘Lucid’ just saved me from infection and if he’s saved a pony from being completely plagued, well, I think that you have a good shot of achieving it, just so long as you don’t make a hasty decision that messes you all up.” The earth pony said as he fully clambered onto all fours again.

“Why don’t you stay with us?” Twilight asked. Her gaze hopeful as she looked to the pony, part of her wanted him to stay to drive off the encroaching loneliness she felt all around her, the other part wanted to eat him slowly and deliberately while relishing the cries of fear that would exit from his mouth.

“I would if I could. And indeed, if it weren’t for Lucid I probably would be among the ranks of the dead right now, but I simply can’t. I’m looking for someone, someone exceedingly important to me. I have utmost faith in you though, if you manage to achieve this goal, know I’ll be right there to thank you and congratulate you with the rest of Equestria.”

Twilight nodded in understanding while a curious look came over Trixie’s face. “You say he saved you. Are you simply referring to the operation or is there something else?”

“Well, if he hadn’t beat those other ponies aside like he did I don’t think I would have been getting anywhere fast.”

“How exactly did he beat them aside?”

“Well, he just moves so fast, as I’m sure you know. It was blink and you miss it, and I blinked.”

“I see...” Trixie seemed ready to continue on the line of questioning but was cut off as the door shot open. Both her and Twilight readied their impromptu weapons and pointed them at the entranceway, but dropped them when they saw Rainbow Dash dragging a net behind her. Dropping the weapons the unicorns moved forward and began to help her with the load.

Upon seeing Fluttershy within the strings, blood smeared over her face in a frightening visage, their efforts doubled and before too long they had pulled her completely into the room. “Lucid!” Trixie called. “Rainbow got another of the Elements!” Not seconds later the door that separated the building swung open, just as the stallion closed the main entranceway.

Glancing over the tainted pegasus for but a moment Lucid signalled them to bring her into the other room, the trio gladly obliging. The stallion made to follow them but was shoved aside as the three ponies exited, sweat rolling down Rainbow face in droves. She glanced up at the stallion for a moment, let loose a squeal of shock, then took a deep breath and began to chew on one of her medicinal tablets.

“You leave him alone while he works with them?” The stallion asked inquisitively.

“Yea.” Twilight responded. “Is that an issue? I mean, he IS the only one here who knows how to cure a pony who has been fully corrupted. If any of us were in there we would probably get in his way.” Despite the factual phrasing of the librarians words there was an obvious undercurrent of worry that carried through and the stallion merely let a small smile cover his face for a moment before shaking his head.

“Nothing at all. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” The stallion made his way toward the door, swinging it open and exiting. Just before he closed it completely he leaned in briefly. “Thank you, and give whatever is behind this a good solid kick in the face for me would you?” The mare’s nodded in return, except for Rainbow Dash who was looking between the unicorns and the stallion with an odd look on her face. With that the door closed and Rainbow Dash turned to her friends, an eyebrow raised.

“Who was that?”

“That was...” Twilight paused for a moment, wracking her brain when a name didn’t come willingly to her mind. “I’m not quite sure. I don’t think I got a name. Did you Trixie?” Trixie shook her head and Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. “Huh, I wonder who he was.”

Outside the door, the stallion smiled to himself contentedly. “I’m glad you got some friends Trixie, regardless of the situation. I know your mom would be proud.” With a glance to either side to check for plague-ridden the stallion broke into a run away from the town in the direction of whitetail woods, where he would be able to take up shelter in his camp once again.

((Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this story. -N64Fan))

Creepy Clean

It was a few moments later when Lucid emerged from the room. The three ponies turned to face him, wanting to know the fate of their timid friend. From across the room he waved to Rainbow, who approached him hesitantly. He handed her a small slip of paper and folded his arms, his eyes looking at her patiently from behind the mask.

Uncertainty coursed through her as she opened the note and read it quickly. “You want me to stay here while you, Twilight and Trixie go somewhere? Alright, I guess.” It wasn’t actually alright with her. Quite the opposite, actually. But she figured that the man had earned her trust, not to mention he could be quite threatening when he wanted to be. She moved to go into the room behind him but was stopped. When she looked to him he pointed to Spike with one of his appendages. Nodding, Rainbow lifted him from his bed and brought him into the room as well, Lucid closed it behind her.

“Alright.” Trixie’s voice sounded strained. “So where are we going?” The man reached into his coat and pulled out a roll of paper, which he unrolled in front of the unicorns. Though it was crudely drawn it was clear that the building upon the paper was a large structure. After staring at the lines for a short period of time, Twilight recognized it as Carousel Boutique. Not waiting for her to speak up, the man exited the building, standing outside as the ponies followed him out.

Carefully, the trio began to make their way through the streets and Twilight took the time to wonder how he had known it was the home of one of her friends. Perhaps he had heard Rarity talking about her? But why would she have done that? The zombies didn’t seem to have anything to say unless they were planning on making it haunt you for eternity. Everyone’s light is unique, the dark that consumes them has to be unique as well. Wait. had the voice in her head just provided helpful advice? Now Twilight was wondering if she was going truly insane.

Of course, her question was answered when they got within sight of the Boutique. And they noticed that it had gone some major renovation since the disease had started spreading. Gems were shooting out of the base, some struggling zombies still hanging from them but unable to remove it from their bodies. It looked like a veritable fort. Well, bar the dislodged door that hung askew on it’s hinges.

Lucid continued approaching, the zombies turning to look at him as his feet trampled the grass. They began to hiss at him and the trio hurried into the building before their calls could be heard. Once inside Lucid barracaded what was left of the door with furniture and proceeded upstairs. Judging from his actions it became apparent to both unicorns that he wished to turn this into a new headquarters.

And it made sense, strategically. Not only was the entrance easier to defend, but the roof would provide an excellent lookout location. Of course, first they had to clear it out. Lucid’s steps were hauntingly silent now, a stark contrast from the steps outside. The hoofs of his companions however, clicked across the floor loudly.

On the second floor they came to a hallway with a series of doors splitting off into separate rooms. Lucid signalled to the unicorns to split up and, reluctantly, they did. Lucid moved down to the end of the hall and started searching while the two ponies started searching starting from where they were.

It was odd, to Twilight, how the building was so well maintained. Rarity was always obsessive about cleanliness in her house but to think that the order carried over to post apocalyptia was a shocking thought. Despite the care that had been put into the rooms, a layer of dust lay over everything. It was haunting really. Twilight had seen bloody, loud, and scary rooms before. But clean and silent rooms, they put the unicorn’s mind on edge like no gore could.

So, when a scream pierced the air, you can’t blame her for freaking out to the extent she did. Fearing for Trixie, she quickly recovered and ran into the hall. Only to meet Trixie there.

Together they glanced toward the room that Lucid had entered and ran to it. When they entered it they saw a petrified filly with a pink and purple mane looking in abject horror at Lucid, who held a heavy blanket in his hand. When the motion at the door caught her attention she looked there and her eyes widened even more.

“T-T-Twilight? They got you to?” Tears would have started pouring out if it wasn’t for the fact that she was freshly out of them.

“No Sweetie. I’m not one of them. Lucid,” She clearly indicated the being in front of her. “Saved me. And Trixie to.” Ignoring the man, Sweetie Belle ran towards the unicorn and hugged her tightly about the legs.

“I’m so happy.” She cried. “I was so alone. Rarity gave me that blanket and told me while I was under it the monsters couldn’t get me. So whenever I hear someone come in I get under it and hide. I haven’t seen Rarity in a while though, and I was running out of food.”

“It’s all right Sweetie, you’re okay now.”

“A-and then,” She continued. “Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came yesterday and said they were gonna eat me. Why did they say that? Why did they become monsters too? It's -” She sniffed loudly. "It's not fair!"

Before Twilight could answer, the thick blanket went over her head, having been thrown by Lucid. Everything went quiet. Absolutely Everything, creaky floorboards, all of it. Lifting it with her magic she looked toward Lucid and was about to ask him about it when a familiar voice shattered the air, causing Twilight’s fur to stand on end.

“Sweetie? Oh Sweetie Darling? I know I said you should stay under the blanket but I was wrong. This is no sickness at all. It’s a cure dear. A wonderful, beautiful cure.”

Lucid slammed the door shut with the ponies inside and ushered them into the corner, where he placed the blanket over all of them, the sheet expanding to hide all of them.

And then... they waited.

How Generous

Twilight lay under the blanket, the air becoming nearly unbearable, and through the floor she could feel the vibrations of her old friend pacing around as she seemed to search for her young sister. Something about the cloth kept the plague-ridden from finding them, and Twilight could feel the effects on herself as they lay there, her mind utterly lost as to where she was. It wasn't completely disorienting, but it was certainly confusing, and Twilight found herself constantly blinking to try and get rid of the odd vertigo-like feeling in her chest.

She lay there, holding as still as she possibly could, and trying desperately to comfort the shaking Sweetie Belle by her side. Rarity had gone through so much to protect her sister, it had driven her to the discovery of this enchantment on the blanket, it had driven her to the great rising pillars of diamond stone outside, and in the end she had managed to achieve what she had tried the hardest to do, she had protected Sweetie Belle.

Twilight's mind came to an odd halt as she felt the hoofsteps get closer, what if she accidentally tripped over the blanket? Would that give them away? Panic began to build in her heart, and she was too busy trying to sense the approaching Rarity to notice Lucid take a small needle from his coat and slip it into his exposed arm. Trixie wasn't.

The blanket suddenly lifted off of them all, the dark twisted eyes of Rarity glaring down at them in triumph as she pulled the sheet free. Lucid moved in a blur, giving Rarity barely a moment to process the biped as it grabbed her head in both it's hands. With a sickening crack, it broke her neck, her head now facing directly behind her. Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide and Twilight rushed to block her view, Trixie managed to lift herself up on her three legs and stand next to Lucid, giving him a distrustful glare for a moment before turning her attention back to the plague-ridden designer.

Another sickening crack echoed through the room and Rarity's head turned back around to face them. "Well that was a horrible greeting," she said with a small degree of anger. Trixie's horn lit up with magic and a barrage of basic arcane blasts began to fly at her opponent. They each collided perfectly, but Rarity didn't budge, didn't even flinch as they struck her. Trixie realized too late that she was not going to accomplish anything with this and soon found herself flying against a nearby wall. She hit it and a loud thump filled the air, then she slid to the ground.

Lucid looked to her, his expression unreadable behind his mask, but was soon caught in a pair of magical manacles. He was lifted from the ground and placed firmly against a nearby wall. He struggled against his bonds but to no avail, he was inescapably pinned. Rarity smiled incredibly wide as she watched her prey struggle in her grasp. With another flash of her horn Lucid's body fell limp, and then began to spasm. "I'm sure dear nurse red heart won't mind if I borrow that spell for a moment." She stated, watching as he began to writhe in pain.

"What are you doing?!" Trixie shouted from the floor as she watched him smack his head against the wall uncontrollably.

"Oh I'm doing him a favor dear. He had this horrible poison in his veins, so I've borrowed a memory from a friend and now I'm detoxing him." Rarity's tone held a dark undercurrent. Like a doctor who was going to amputate a limb, even though there were better options.

"You're going to kill him!"

"I'm going to free him!"

Trixie tried to cast a spell, but her horn only sparked pitifully. She looked to Twilight with hopeful eyes, but Twilight seemed to be having issues of her own.

Twilight couldn't bring herself to function. She knew what she should be doing but she just couldn't do it. Nothing was stopping her, or preventing her, she just... couldn't...

Sweetie Belle soon ran around Twilight, who was still immobile, and made a break for Rarity. "Sis!" She exclaimed as she approached, wailing heavily as she made her way to her demented sibling. Something happened to Rarity then, and for a moment her eyes lost all signs of madness, her magic ended, and she was fully envolped in the moment with Sweetie Belle.

By the time the plague part of her brain was able to regain control the moment had already passed. Lucid had fallen to the floor, barely able to move, and Trixie had managed to lift an odd blue needle from the man's hand. It pierced deep into Rarity's flesh and the plunger was quickly squeezed, sending the liquid into her blood stream. She had just enough strength to pull the needle out and toss it away, but she was quickly overcome. She fell to the ground almost immediately and her eyes closed.

Lucid lay still for a moment before managing to pull himself from the ground with some unknown pool of strength. He moved to examine Trixie, and after ensuring that nothing was broken he pulled her onto his back. Twilight managed to gain control of herself and lifted Rarity onto her back, much like she had done with Rainbow Dash before, minus the never ending struggle to balance. Sweetie Belle slunk along next to them, always glancing at her sister with a worried look.

The walk home was silent, both to avoid the attention of the plague-ridden, but on a higher level they were all just too ashamed to talk of anything. They had all failed, and if Sweetie Belle hadn't been there... All hope would have died.

Apolgies

“Twilight?” The mare stirred slightly to the call of her assistant. The two had fallen asleep curled next to each other after having a long discussion the night before. Twilight’s body was not giving up this first chance at real sleep easily though and she had to fight to get her body to wake up slightly.

“Yes Spike?” She asked, her mind beginning to deal with the fact that she was going to awake.

“There’s somepony just a little bit away. Can you tell them to go away so I can sleep?”

Twilight’s eyes opened and after a few blinks she could clearly see the creature with the bird mask standing over them, a roll of cloth and a note in one of it’s claws. “Lucid? What is it?”

The creature lowered himself to the ground level where the duo rested and handed the note to Twilight, keeping the roll of cloth in his hand as he waited for her to read it. Looking towards the being for a moment she turned her attention back toward the paper and began to read.

‘Hello Twilight. I have written this note to ask that you say the following to Spike, as I am unable to.’ Once more she looked to the man who was beginning to unwind the cloth. After glancing over the note she smiled and prodded her assitant to get his attention.

“Lucid has something he wants to say to you Spike, can you stay awake for a bit?”

“Sure Twi.” Spike yawned and then blushed slightly. “I’m awake, I promise.”

“Alright, here it goes.”

“Dear Spike,” Twilight began, a look of confusion crossing the blind dragons face until he remembered that Lucid didn’t speak. “I feel the need to apologize for my actions yesterday. I caused you great pain though you may not recall it. And it is because of this that I feel a form of retribution be made. As Twilight is saying this I am binding your injured paw, so that it may heal. While I do so I will have her describe to you why I commited my actions, so that you may judge me with all knowledge due you.”

The mare cleared her throat and looked to Spike who was hanging on every word of the speech, intrigued by what the good doctor had to say. “The potion that I forced upon you was a phenomenon at the time of it’s creation and I swiftly realized that should I wait long to use it that it would lose it’s curative properties. It was the last of those particular liquids I had on hand, causing it to be an even more dire situation for myself and I acted in haste.”

“I didn’t treat you as a being, I treated you as a thing. And for that I eternally apologize. Doctors are to remove pain, not cause it. I feel I have failed in this regard and now, because of that, I feel the need to ask for your forgiveness.”

As she finished speaking Twilight looked back to Spike who now had a bemused look on his face as well as a bound claw. He remained silent and the mare took the opportunity to look at Lucid. Her mind reevaluated the creature, she had originally believed it to be a souless being, but now she was able to look at it in a different light. He seemed to honestly care about them, dragon and pony alike.

“You may have caused me a little pain.” Spike finally spoke up, his blind gaze staring toward the ground. “And you may have blinded me.” Lucid turned away in shame. “But.” The creature paused and looked back toward the small reptilian. “You also brought me back to Twilight. And I think I can suffer a little pain for that.”

Behind his unreadable mask the creature paused, before turning away and moving back towards his desk. “Is he okay Twilight?” Spike asked, unable to see what was going on.

The mare looked between her sleepy assistant and the being in the corner and nodded her head. “He’s fine Spike. I’m proud of you.” The dragon blushed for a minute before another yawn exited his mouth. “Now go ahead and go back to sleep, I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Thanks,” Spike yawned once more. “Thanks Twilight.”

The mare patted the dragonling on the head, letting him wander off into dreamland before she stood and walked up to the creature that was reading over several notes upon his desk. She slowly approached and looked as well, spotting that the vast majority of the papers were sketches of the Ponyville Hosptial’s layout. A different sheet of paper for each floor.

“That was nice of you.” Twilight said with an upbeat tone. “You didn’t have to apologize. I’m sure he had already forgave you.” Though the papers continued to flip normally she felt the eyes of the creature on her and she gave a slight smile. Her smile was answered with a rotten apple as Lucid slid it across his desk toward her.

Twilight happily accepted the gift and looked toward the constant mask that hid his face. She breifly considered asking about it before deciding that it would be too much of a pry. With that settled the librarian glanced toward the singular door to the room, and she realized she hadn’t seen the rest of the building at all since she had arrived. Glancing back towards the creature she set off toward the door.

Grasping it lightly in her magic she opened it and went on into the second room, the room that had a door leading to the outside. Within the room she spotted Trixie, who was laying on the ground and looking towards a collection of candles that were next to the door. Upon hearing the door open the showmare turned her head and waved to Twilight with her good hoof while a small grin appeared on her face.

“Hello Twilight, I see you are awake again.”

“Hey Trixie.” As she said it she looked backwards through the doorway and towards the man before closing it. “Say, I don’t suppose you’ve seen Lucid with his mask off have you?”

“I have...” The mare let the words hand in the air, a frown crossing her face. “Not that he wanted me to. I tore his mask off.”

“You what? When?!” Twilight asked as the idea made her curiosity take over.

“Back at the hospital, he was taking care of me and helping me get out of my infection. My mind wasn’t in the right place though and I demanded to see his face, he refused and I... well...” The mare looked towards the door once again before patting the ground next to her. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me telling you, come lay down and I will tell you the story.” Twilight obliged and Trixie took a deep breath before starting into her tale.