My Little Diseases

The rain pattered against the ground, as many ponies gathered around an open grave, inside was a coffin, containing Rarity’s body… Her noble sacrifice did not go unnoticed, and many ponies gathered around for the funeral.

Everyone was dressed in black, their heads hung toward the ground, in a collective silence as the priest at the front of the crowd said a few prayers, as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Many sobs could be heard, others tried to hold themselves together,it was a very solemn scene…

SweetieBelle stood beside Applejack, along with Apple Bloom, wearing a fully black gown, her ears fully folded back, tears streaming continuously down her face as she openly sobbed as she watched her big sister be lowered into the ground. She was the first of the crowd to walk up, carrying a bouquet of roses with ehr lime green magic, which she slowly lowered on top of the coffin as it was lowered.

Soon the remaining elements of harmony followed, each of them throwing a flower of their own into the grave, along with the cutie mark crusaders and Spike.

The crowd stayed around the grave in a moment of silence as the priest, as well as other staff began filling the hole with dirt, finally burying rarity and leaving her in peace.
Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, each pony slowly going home, all except for Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, who stayed behind after everyone left.

Twilight was dressed in a simple black robe, with a test and black gloves. She had made a full recovery, but the Unseen Blight had definitely taken its toll, and left a few marks behind. Twilight’s magic had remained pitch black, and her horn was completely white, from being replaced by Rarity’s horn.
She tried to keep herself well kept, but her mane was still slightly shaggy and her fur colour has darkened significantly in colour.

Pinkie’s mane was laying flat against her head, it hadnt poofed up since the transplant took place. Her ears folded flat against her head and she couldn't take her eyes off of the gravestone that had rarity’s name and cutie mark chiselled into it.
Pinkie only snapped back to reality, when Twilight opened her wing, using it to shield Pinkie from the rain.
Pinkie was wearing a black dress that flowed slightly behind her, her eyes had large bags under them, as she hadn't been able to sleep since the incident.

The 2 ponies looked at eachother, locking eyes for a moment and looking away after a moment. Ever since Twilight’s confession, they had been on rather awkward terms.
Unsure on where to take things. The silence couldn't have been louder, as the 2 of them tried to find something to say. After what felt like an eternity, Pinkie Pie spoke up.

“We should uh.. Get out of the rain.”
Pinkie said slowly, looking up at Twilight, who nodded in agreement. The two of them finally leave the gravesite, and walk toward Sugarcube Corner. Noone else was on the streets, all of them staying home and paying their respects to Rarity.
Because not only had Ponyville lost a friend, they had lost a neighbour, a sister, an acquaintance… And a hero…

When Twilight and Pinkie entered Sugarcube Corner, the 2 of them sat at one of the tables in the cafe section with a hot drink. They sat there together in silence, before finally, Twilight spoke up, and addressed the elephant in the room.

“Pinkie… About what i said… Before I was cured.”
Twilight started, causing Pinkie to look up from her drink as it swirled in her cup.

“I meant it… All of it. Not only am I proud of you, and the other elements of Harmony for all the adventures and battles we’ve accomplished together.. But I also mean what I said about my feelings for you…”
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, having a bit of trouble finding the words to say next.

Pinkie then reached over the table, putting her hoof on the purple alicorn’s other hoof that remained on the table.

“Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same about you..”
Pinkie said, her ears folding back and a small smile playing on her face. Though her mane never poofed back up, remaining flat, hanging to one side of her face.

Twilight couldn't help but smile back in response, both of their cheeks turning slightly red as they stared at each other. Their hooves resting on top of eachother, their eyes never leaving each other's gaze as they didnt say anything, just enjoying eachothers company.

A few hours passed, before Pinkie and Twilight left Sugarcube Corner, and began making their way towardTwilight’s castle, The 2 of them smiling lovingly at each other as they walked.
But, as they walked, Twilight soon broke their gaze to each other, and she looked ahead, her face changing to looking rather deep in thought, causing the 2 of them to stop in their tracks.

“What’s on your mind?”
Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head at the purple alicorn, gently nudging her side to get her attention.

“I'm just thinking… I've caught this illness.. ‘The Unseen Blight’ Celestia called it… And Cadence caught it too, a long time ago… It's unclear if the Alicorn immune system can tackle this illness if we catch it again, seeing as both of us have now been cured with a horn transplant… I have a lot of science equipment in my castle from previous research. Maybe we can use it, and run some tests, and maybe make a vaccine for the other alicorns out there. Not only would it save other unicorns from passing away from such a procedure. But it could keep us Alicorns safe, especially since Flurry Heart is still young.”

Twilight rambled out loud, mostly to herself, but Pinkie listened intently. Twilight's wings ruffled as she searched her mind for ways to make this vaccination a reality.

“It's not actually a bad idea.”
Pinkie finally said, snapping Twilight out of her train of thought.
“I'm sure we can turn a room in your castle into some kind of research facility for this. It would be a huge achievement if you made this kind of breakthrough.”

Pinkie put her hoof to her chin in thought, before Twilight gasped and smiled wide.
“Pinkie! You’re a genius!! The castle’s jail! It's empty! Any creature that has caused any carnage around here, has been sent straight to tartarus! I don't plan on using it! We can use that as a research facility!”

The 2 ponies smiled wide at each other, before they broke into a full sprint, galloping toward the castle to begin planning the renovations needed, to turn the castle's underground jail into a research facility.

Many blueprints, planning and bought tools were used. Many days were spent transforming half of the jail into a partial lab. They figured they wouldn't need to use the entire room for their testing and so split the room in 2, saving 4 cells, just in case the jail did end up needing to be used for any reason.

Days turned to weeks, as the renovations began, half of the cell doors were destroyed, the cells filled in to make a flat wall, and the wall then plastered, boarded and painted white, making the section look more sanitary and official. They then filled the lab with all the science equipment Twilight had stored in the castle. Ranging from spare test tubes, to microscopes and chemical mixing stations.

After a month of hard work, the lab was finally ready to begin testing. Twilight looked rather proud of her and Pinkie’s work, smiling with and looking over at Pinkie, who was sliding a final set of drawers into place.
“Well. I’d say this is as good as we’re going to get. Pinkie, do you mind grabbing some extra supplies from upstairs? I’ll make sure everything is ok down here before we begin.”
Twilight asked, nuzzling Pinkie’s forehead as she walked past, watching her walk up the stairs.

Her white horn then lit up, the black magic surrounding it. It was still something to get used to. Twilight’s smile slowly faded from her face as she saw the black magic pick up a nearby clipboard that she was using to keep track of everything.

Giving a soft sigh, she also picked up a quill and began walking around the half lab, checking off everything they had. As Twilight was checking everything off, she heard a chuckle echo from the far corner of the jail. Dropping her clipboard in shock, she looked around, the same chuckle echoing throughout the room.

Twilight’s head whipped around as she tried to pinpoint where the laughter was coming from, before she heard a voice chime fron right behind her ear.“You really think you’ll succeed?”
The voice emanated around Twilight’s head… It sounded just like… Rarity?

Twilight turned around fully, going to respond, only for the voice to speak up again.
“I may have given my life to help you… But you’re really wasting your time on such a lost cause.”
Rarity’s voice hissed, sounding angry, and cruel.

“T-that's not true!”
Twilight shouted out into the room, her ears folding back, her wings spread.

“It's completely true darling.”
Rarity’s voice snapped back.
“You’re wasting your time on a vaccination that may never be needed. And you really think this kind of thing is possible to fight off? You nearly died to it, So did cadence… It's only a matter of time before precious little Flurry Heart gets it too!”

“THAT'S NOT TRUE! I CAN STOP THIS!”
Twilight yelled out, only to snap back into reality to see Pinkie standing there, holding a tray of chemical storage jars. Looking rather surprised at the sudden outburst.

“Uh…”
Twilight started, her ears folding back again. Before taking the jars from the pink pony and setting them down on the nearby shelf.

“WHY ME!?”
Luna shouted, standing in front of Celestia in the Canterlot Castle throne room. She was angry at her sister for sending her instead of going by herself to save Twilight.

“Twilight needed you!! And you sent me to save her instead?!”
The moon princess continued to shout at Celestia, her ears folded back and her nose scrunched up. She felt nothing but anger toward her sister. In Luna’s eyes, Twilight needed Celestia in her deepest time of need, and Luna was sent in her place.

“That’s enough Luna….!”
Celestia tried to calmly say, her ears folding back as she tried to calm down her younger sister. But Luna remained persistent, demanding answers.

“Why did you send me to do something you could have easily done!? Why did you send me, to save YOUR student?!”
Luna continued to shout, opening her mouth to ask another question, before Celestia raised her hoof, asking for a turn to speak.

“Listen… dear sister…”
Celestia started.
“I couldn't go… I didn't want to risk catching the Unseen Blight… I need to preserve myself for the future of Equestria.”

Luna’s eyes widened, her ears folding flat against her head, her wings spreading. She raised her voice even more, unintentionally switching to her bellowing princess voice
“So you sent me, to save your student, because you were scared of catching the illness, AND SENT ME KNOWING THE RISKS?! AM I JUST SOME DUD CARD TO YOU?!”

“That's not why I sent you Luna…!”
Celestia tried to reason, but Luna wasn't accepting excuses as an answer

“No!! I know why you sent me! You managed to rule for 1000 years while I was on the moon! You don't need me! And so you send me into the face of danger! TO SAVE YOUR PERFECT WHITE HIDE!”
Luna snapped, the 2 alicorns beginning to butt heads. The 2 of them began to get more angry at each other.

The shouting had prompted 2 guards to come sprinting into the room.
One of Celestia’s guards and one of Luna’s guards.
The 2 guards got between Celestia and Luna, creating a barrier between the 2 alicorns to prevent them from getting any more physical and end up hurting each other.

The guards didn't say anything, instead looking at each other as they guided Celestia and Luna away from one another.
Celestia walked away, staring at the floor as she walked away.
Luna slowly trotted away, tears in her eyes, her blood boiling with anger and hatred.