Apple Bloom and the Floating Windmill

Infected Canterlot

It's certainly not a good sign but I guess this is the best place to start showing symptoms if it had to happen eventually. We're still standing on the edge of Canterlot, on the other side of the city is the old castle of Princess Celestia, once we get there, I can finally get the cure.

Everything will be fine, I'm okay... I still have time, rate of infection varies from pony to pony, Granny Smith was infected for around two weeks, I believe the average is around a week and a half but the average doesn't mean a whole lot when each example is completely different.

The longest somepony survived with The Pestilence was three months, the shortest was five seconds, although that was from an infection caused by an ashenwolf's bite, their bite is the fastest way for the disease to spread. Not much real, organised research has been carried out because of how quickly The Pestilence spread throughout all of Equestria, most of the knowledge we have is from firsthoof experience, just ponies telling others what they've seen.
Some ponies claim the first infection took only ten seconds but that's just a legend.

Why am I thinking about this random trivia again? I guess it's the best way to distract myself.
I should probably pay more attention to our destination.

Hulthemia and I haven't moved much since escaping the cave, we'd silently agreed to take a few minutes to catch our breath but it's about time we get walking again, we're so close, after all.

"Alright, let's get moving." I say as I finally get back to my hooves, standing for the first time since realising I'm infected. Hulthemia doesn't say anything although she's clearly still worried about me, we approach the streets of Canterlot, an abandoned city which nopony has entered for years.

This place is unlike anything I've ever seen before, streets and buildings made of stone, maybe they were colourful at some point but it seems The Pestilence and lack of maintenance has caused the city to become bleak over time. The streets are filled with abandoned shops with broken windows and dust covering everything in sight. We turn left into another street, there are some really fancy buildings here, or they used to be fancy, at least, nowadays everything is just... forgotten.

We've seen plenty of interesting things around Canterlot but we're finally getting close to the castle, the entrance is about as large as you'd expect of such an important place but the castle has clearly seen better days, just like the rest of the city.
There're some large gardens outside of the castle, everything here is dead of course but It's still kinda cool to look at.

We're in Canterlot, the end of our journey is so close but... it's not right. It's too depressing, I don't like seeing Hulthemia so... exhausted.
Alright, we're taking a detour, I can afford the distraction.
"Hey Hulthemia, you wanna go look around that big garden over there?" I ask my friend, smiling at her slightly to show that I'm okay.
She looks at me for a moment, confused about my question, "But... we need to get the cure, you don't have time to look around some garden..." She looks away briefly and mumbles "Besides... my mother would never allow me to go there, it's not important..."
It's not the first time she's said something unusual about her mum but now isn't the time to get all nosy about her parents.
"I'll be fine for at least another week or two, we've got plenty of time to do whatever we want in Canterlot!" I explain, pausing slightly before continuing to address her other concern, "I don't know anything about your mum, but she's not here is she? Let's do what you want to do, let's do something fun!"

She seems unsure, she's thinking about it... She's smiling!
It seems I've convinced her to go along with my sightseeing plans.

We step into the gardens and it's definitely something amazing to see, I mean, sure, the plants are all grey and diseased like everywhere else but that doesn't mean there's nothing cool to see here!
Hulthemia actually seems really interested in the gardens, looking at all the old, fancy archways and ancient-looking flags decorating the whole place.
We're both especially interested by the statues scattered around the garden, a lot of them are actually the same statue placed around in multiple areas for whatever reason, I guess statue making isn't easy?
After seeing a few of these statues I kinda lost interest, I mean, they're cool and all but I guess when you've seen one large pony holding a random object, you've basically seen everything the concept has to offer.

"Uh... Apple Bloom? You're like, really smart and know a lot of your Granny's stories right?" Hulthemia askes me, while I'm looking away.
"Huh? I mean... Yeah, Granny did tell me a lot of old stories but I don't know if I'd say I'm really that-" I begin to respond before getting interrupted by another question.
"Did Granny Smith ever tell you any stories about... whatever this thing is?" she asked, sounding kinda unsure about whatever it is she's talking about.
Now intrigued by her questions, I turn around to find her around a corner, staring at some strange statue.

It's completely different than any other statue here, it's not even a pony... actually I'm not sure what it is?
"I... have no idea what I'm looking at to be honest" I answer truthfully
It's some kind of creature with an... eagle claw, a lion paw and a snake tail? Talk about a strange thing to make a statue of...
"I've heard that ponies that made statues were called 'artists' and that when they made a statue, it would have some kind of complicated meaning behind it." Hulthemia points to another statue behind us of a pony holding a flag "Like... maybe that one means something like courage or victory? I'm just thinking... what could a weird statue like that one possibly mean?"
Her question makes me pause to think... It's an interesting one, I guess.
"I don't know... maybe something like... confusion, because all the pieces are so weirdly different?" It was the best answer I could come up with, maybe I'm not right but Hulthemia seems to like my answer at least.
I'm starting to think maybe Hulthemia is a fan of art, maybe it's related to her cutie mark? I might ask her about it at some point, I still don't have one so it'd be interesting to ask somepony else about the topic.

We took a little longer to look around the gardens, we saw some kind of really big maze but we decided not to risk getting lost in it, we had time to look around but that doesn't mean we should spend it getting stuck in the middle of some crazy royal maze thing.

We finally left the gardens, it was an interesting place to see, as I thought it'd be, but I think my favourite part of being there was seeing Hulthemia happy again, she needed a break.

We walk back towards the castle itself and find the entrance, there're a bunch of big hallways, sharing a colour palette that still looks nice, even if it has faded after all this time. I knew already that Canterlot castle would be a big place but you really don't understand how big it is until you're randomly walking around the halls, trying to figure out where the heck you're going.

There're a bunch of interesting rooms around, I'm leading the way this time, I haven't found what we're looking for but I did find the royal kitchen, cool place. After a while, Hulthemia decides she can find the throne room easier, apparently that's the most likely place the princess will be, I guess it makes sense but it's kinda weird to think of a princess siting alone in a throne room when the entire city is completely abandoned.

Eventually we find ourselves in front of a large entrance, seems pretty obvious that these are the doors leading to the throne room. Hulthemia takes a deep breath, I offered to go in first in case she was too nervous to do so but she seems pretty intent on being the one to open the doors and enter first.

The doors open, we walk in and I get a few seconds to look around the room, a lot of large windows, all smashed, on the far side of the room there's a large, damaged throne with an alicorn sitting atop it, at least twice the size of an average pony.
We're finally standing before The Princess of Pestilence, she has a light grey coat with a dark grey mane, dull purple eyes and a cutie mark of a dead rose... Wait, hold on...

"Hello mother, I'm home." Hulthemia announces the truth just before I can figure it out myself, there were so many obvious signs, I should've figured it out ages ago but I've never even heard of the princess having a daughter... what the hay is going on here‽

Hulthemia turns to me, she seems reluctant to speak but she does anyway, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Apple Bloom, a lot of ponies hate my mother so... I didn't want to risk upsetting you somehow..."
The princess finally reacts to our entrance, looking up from the ground to glare at us, she speaks with little emotion, "Greeting, I am Florentina, the 'Princess of Pestilence' as so many like to call me, I tried for the title of queen but apparently the husks below prefer names with alliteration." Her voice becomes harsh towards the end of her first sentence, showing clear hatred of other ponies, "I guess you're the... granddaughter of the green husk I met so long ago, I can't imagine any other creature approaching me so casually..."

That comment was too far, "Hey, don't talk about Granny Smith that way!" I can't believe what I'm hearing, Granny made it seem like she was at least a little kinder than this!
Princess Florentina's eyes squint slightly in anger but she doesn't immediately respond to what I said.
Hulthemia nervously looks between the two of us before speaking up, "Mother... this is Apple Bloom, my new friend who's here for the eelestial essen-"
"Silent, child. I know why this pathetic husk is here... a long time ago I met your grandmother, it was just after my time in Tartarus, she was the first pony I ran into." she pauses a moment, probably thinking of how to word what she would say next, "I didn't speak to her much then but after a while she traveled to Canterlot to speak to me, begging for my help. It was before you were born, your grandmother asked that I use my powers to protect her grandchildren from The Pestilence, in return I made the costs clear." She pauses again, and finished her explanation, "You and whatever siblings you may have would be protected from the disease, however, she would be guaranteed to fall ill before you reach adulthood and... well, I asked for a few favours as well but those aren't too important."

I'm completely silent, I just don't know what to say to this new information... Hulthemia speaks for me, "Mother, why would you do such a thing‽ Please explain, there must be a reason... you've never been unkind to me..."
I can hear it in her voice, disbelief, even she didn't know what her mum was truly like?
Princess Florentina's stare softens slightly, I can feel it, there's genuine emotion behind it, it doesn't last long before she returns to her emotionless glare.
"If you must know my reasoning, I was bored and I can always use a few useful favours here and there... Honestly, I did it because I found her desire to save somepony other than herself to be entertaining, I wanted to see what would happen when her descendants learn the truth, I have to say, the outcome has been pretty interesting to see."

"Mother, she needs the celestial essence, she's infected-"
"I know she's infected, I made sure of it, she won't be getting her hooves on my celestial essence, I still need her blood for my own powers, besides, she's not a friend of yours. I have told you this in the past, daughter, you will rely on me, only I will treat you well as I am the one who created you."
"...You're wrong..." Hulthemia nervously mumbles
Princess Florentina becomes visibly angered, "What... did you say, daughter?"
Hulthemia inhales deeply before confidently answering in a much louder voice, "You're wrong! Apple Bloom is my b-best friend! She's helped me so many times, even when she didn't have to... You're... You're wrong about ponies, they're not all bad!"

Princess Florentina stands from her throne, stepping towards us, "It has become clear that this pony has infected you with false narratives! I should have known from the moment you got that cutie mark you'd eventually turn against me!"
It was my time to stand up for my best friend, "That's not true, the whole way here Hulthemia was talking about how you were better than most ponies think, I don't know everything about you but its obvious that she cares about you, if you can't accept her as she is, you're turning against her, not the other way around!"
I'm not thinking too hard about what I'm saying, I know it comes from the bottom of my heart, it's the truth, it's how I feel!

Hulthemia smiles towards me before looking back at the princess. "Mother please, I know you love me, I've never turned against you!"
"I may... but I cannot ignore the obvious signs in front of me, your destiny has always been to betray me, why else would your cutie mark be the opposite of mine‽" She's not going to back down, she's convinced herself of her delusions.
Hulthemia looks towards her cutie mark and I feel the need to say something, "Hulthemia, your mark may be different to hers but that doesn't mean anything, a cutie mark's real meaning is the one you give to it! It might mean what your mother thinks it does but it could just as easily mean you have a talent for decoration, art, botany or any other number of things! I believe you can do whatever makes you happy!"
I'm not sure where this is suddenly coming from but it's a statement I fully believe in, her true talent is clear to me now, it's growth and beauty, not just an opposite to somepony else.

A strange thing happens as I'm suddenly covered by a bright light, when the light fades I'm confused but upon looking back I realise, I have my cutie mark!
Before I can get excited about this new development, I notice something in the corner of my vision, racing towards me, I close my eyes instinctively.

...

I cautiously open my eyes to see something I wasn't expecting, Hulthemia is standing in front of me, aiming a spell directly at Princess Florentina, the princess fired a spell at me first before Hulthemia leaped in front of me to counter her mother's attack.
Two magical beams, one green and one dark purple are colliding in the middle of the throne room, neither spell is capable of overpowering the other and eventually both beams fade from existence, leaving the two ponies glaring at each other.

"This is not something I take pleasure in, daughter, but I will turn you to ashes if I must!" Princess Florentina declares in a truly aggravated voice.
"I won't let you hurt my friend, even if I have to hurt you to stop it!" Neither of them is willing to back down, there's no chance this ends well.

Princess Florentina quickly fires a second beam towards her daughter and Hulthemia quickly responds with another beam of her own, the two beams collide once again, the brightness and intensity of the magic causes me to wince.
This time is different though, Hulthemia has a plan.
As the two beams collapse and fade once again, Hulthemia begins charging towards her mother with an incredibly determined look on her face.
Princess Florentina panics, quickly firing less powerful spells left and right, hoping to stop her daughter's advance as Hulthemia strafes from side to side in order to avoid injury.

She's closing in, but what's her plan? I can't figure it out and by the time I've only just begun to consider the possibilities, Hulthemia is directly in front of Princess Florentina, "I'm sorry, mother!" she screams as she jumps towards the princess, wrapping her hooves around the alicorn.

I'm confused for a moment but instantly the expression on Princess Florentina's face changes to one of utter shock and disbelief...
A crack forms in the side of her right foreleg, spreading to the rest of the body, creating a spiderweb of fracturing lines.
By the time I realise what's happening, her entire body crumbles into dust and blood.

I can't believe it, I just watched a perfectly healthy mare become infected and die in an instant.
Hulthemia steps away from the deteriorated corpse, looking towards me with tears in her eyes.