Author's Note

thank you all so much for your support, thank you for your patience) This part came out very strong! By the way, I want to share the drawings of one artist based on this fic)

https://boosty.to/plmc/posts/d591b943-d0fb-420c-a3f3-8b3f9753a4c1

Chapter 8 (Verminophobia) [Fear of being infected]

"The portal took me to the outskirts of the forest this time. This is new, the flora here looks very familiar."

"Entry 34. The world is normal. Temperature is normal. Magic is present. No peculiarities of any kind, no crown on my head. So I'm not at home... at first glance everything may seem fine, but one noticeable feature is still immediately apparent: it smells like something rotten, rotten, nauseating... Going to investigate."

Twilight put the journal in her bag and moved towards the clearing. Looking up into the sky, it was obvious that nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The same blue sky, bright sunshine, sparse clouds. All in all, an unremarkable summer day. It would have been if it weren't for the stench of corpses.

"Where's that smell coming from?" Twilight sniffed as she continued walking in the same direction. The smell, as time went on, only grew stronger and stinkier.

Soon she saw the cause of the stench itself. Her mood had noticeably lightened.

"Poor thing..." she mumbled, looking at the decomposing corpse of the pony. "I'll put you to rest..." Suddenly the corpse moved. Twilight instinctively jumped away from it, ears and wings flapping. The voice trembled slightly. "Y-you're still alive? Healing!"

But it didn't prove effective. As some of the old scars healed, something turned to the regenerated body parts, starting to eat itself. And instead of just biting down in unbearable pain, it was digging its broken teeth into the flesh and ripping chunks off itself. It was quite frightening.

"What are you doing?!" Twilight pulled his head away from his wounds with magic, not knowing how to even react to his actions. "The creature scan!" Upon receiving the information, she bared her eyes again, already looking around at that pony. She had planned to get data on at least one living creature, but she got exactly zero. "You're dead... but you're moving? Black magic, no, worse! Necromancy! But that's mythical and forbidden knowledge... I've practised black magic, but I'm not sure it works."

Concentration in the horn. Feeling the negative effects on her head, she tried to use one of the few dark magic spells she knew on the poor pony.

"Mind Liberation! It didn't work?" Twilight was confused, for she had originally been sure it would work, and ended up coming to two conclusions. One: she was finding these spells much easier to do in this world than before. And two: that pony shouldn't exist. He's dead. "I don't know what's going on here... But I sure don't want to run into someone who has fun with the dead... I'm sorry to keep you here so long, rest in harmony... - Twilight soon cremated the corpse of the pony and tapped herself on the forehead with a hoof. - Should have researched... Twilight... Think first, then do. We need to weigh and assess the situation. Grhhhhh..."

"The smell hasn't gone anywhere, though, even though I burned everything thoroughly" Twilight turned her head at the noise in the bushes, and the questioning face again. "Squirrel? Why... didn't I find you?"

The animal ran quickly through the bushes and sniffed something, before turning its head sharply at Twilight and quickly running in her direction. Self-preservation instincts screamed to the alicorn that it was better to run or try to avoid her. Twilight took off, keeping her distance from the squirrel, but in the meantime, the squirrel was already trying to jump to her from the ground.

"Wait a minute..." Twilight soon picked up the squirrel by its tail with her telekinesis, took a closer look, and soon shoved it away in horror. "Bare ribs... It's definitely ribs... Is she dead too? What is this? I... Wait..."

Twilight tried to come to her senses, slowly inhaling and exhaling air with her full chest. Once she had recovered a bit, Twilight took the squirrel with her, still holding it at a distance from her with magic and studying it closely.

"Ugh... What a smell!" Twilight hoofed it and quickly made a medical mask out of the materials at hand to make it easier to examine the specimen without being distracted by extraneous stimuli. "All in the name of science, squirrel, all in the name of science." Twilight dissected the squirrel and examined its insides, or rather what was left of them. "Still moving, that's very strange... You have no magical powers, no physical abilities. No spells or curses. What is wrong with you, no, what is wrong with you all?" And again she drew conclusions, writing in her diary.

"Unknown type of magic. Possibly something foreign. Allows you to control the dead directly or give them free will... They attack when they see me, though. Need more tests."

Closing the diary, she burned the squirrel so it wouldn't try to bite her again. Leaving the place behind, Twilight moved on.

The foliage is green, partly mixed with yellow ends. Apparently autumn was coming, though the temperature was still summer-like.

The sun didn't seem to move at all and shone a little brighter than usual. It was worth at least wondering where she was going.She would have liked to take off and look around, but her last flight had been almost fatal.The stinging spot on her neck still ached unpleasantly.She rubbed it defiantly, making sure it was healed.

"I was not!" She lifted herself off the ground and flew higher.Yellow fields enveloped the ground, mixed with green trees behind. Beyond the fields, the tops of something alien could be seen. "Civilisation, perfect!" Continuing her flight, she headed that way. Nothing supernatural was happening below her, and there wasn't even any movement visible. It was as if the area had died out. "Another dead world again, eh, crown?" Grumbled the alicorn, who was tired of these adventures and adventures. In her homeworld, even the longest adventure hardly lasted a week. And here it had been over a month. "So much for civili" Twilight wanted to continue, but she realised something important. What was there to see? The dilapidated houses? Rotten planks? No sign that civilisation even existed. And the interesting thing was that this place looked a lot like Ponyville, but without its inhabitants. She noticed the very similar outlines of the local streets and even the Apple farm. She flew towards the barn, past apple trees, under which piles of fallen ripe and rotted apples lay in an even layer, fields overgrown with weeds and various crops. Twilight stood at the barn door, but didn't dare look in.Her gut told her not to.

"Twilight... It's not your world... It must not be your world... Just go in. Still trying to force herself to take those actions, she exhaled involuntarily and convulsively and soon pushed the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Twilight pushed it even harder. Still the same result. With her hind hooves on the ground, she shoved the door forward with all her might. But instead of making the usual turn, it slammed to the ground with a thud, along with the termite-eaten door frame. Clouds of dust rose into the air. Coughing, Twilight swatted the dust away with her hoof for a while. She wished she hadn't, for the dust was getting in her eyes, and there was a lot of it.

"Oh, that I should ever do such a rash thing again!"

In the middle of the barn a skeleton of some pony was hanging from a beam, and on the floor lay what might be called the remnant of a cowboy hat. In a similarly sad state was a folded up piece of paper near the skeleton. She picked it up with magic and strained to read.

"This is terrible... I, Applejack, sincerely declare that I surrender. I cannot see my friends eaten by that cunt or any of my other friends.It's beyond me.If Twilight can still pull it off, or if you're reading this right now: I'm sorry I didn't stay with you until the end.Your friend, Applejack."

The leaf fell from Twilight's shaking hoof, and she lifted her head again to the hanging skeleton. Tears poured down her eyes of their own accord.Gritting her teeth, she lowered the remains of her friend to the ground.Sitting down on the croup, she lowered her head guiltily.

"I'm sorry... Your Twilight couldn't handle it... But the other Twilight listened to you... I will definitely try to help you get rid of this horror... Rest in harmony, Applejack..." whispering the last word, the alicorn ceremoniously closed her eyes and bowed to her, soon consigning her body to the flames. "Sleep, my friend. May the fire purify your soul."

A heavy weight fell upon Twilight's soul.It squeezed her, her body felt as if it had become leaden. She sighed, realising that she had to do something now.

"So, Twilight, what's the plan...? There is a local me here, or at least lived here before. First, we need to find her house" luckily, she remembered the layout of Ponyville's houses and had a rough idea of where she should fly to. "The golden oak! It's still here!"

Her delight was genuine. Until she noticed the state of her house.No windows, all boarded up with a dense layer of boards. She couldn't get in through the balcony. More likely she could get in through the door. As she flew up to it, Twilight noticed the boards boarded up only on the outside.

"I won't break in this time.I'll just teleport in."

She did so, finding herself in the middle of the dusty hall.It seemed like nothing had been touched in years. But no, many objects had been touched relatively recently, judging by the thickness of the dust. There were a lot of scribbled sheets hanging on the walls. At first glance it was unclear in what order they were glued. But if she could find the beginning, it would be easy, at least for her. She went up the stairs to the top. Strangely, there was no sign of Spike anywhere. Hmmm... He wasn't there at all. Pictures hung on the walls, showing family, friends, little brother...

"Eh... if I can help them, I'll be sure to ask her for a picture of myself later. Or... I might not be able to ask for it anymore..."

She stopped at the open door, peering inside. There were far more papers on the wall here than on the lower floor.

So many that they turned into one continuous monochrome painted quilt or wallpaper. There was a huge desk in the middle, and behind the desk lay her.

"I won't ask, then..." Twilight carefully looked round at the alternate version of herself from the side. The pony, covered in a blanket, lay on the table, her skin still stretched over her withered skeleton, and a book under her chin. "Died in her sleep... I'm sorry, I'm going to disturb myself a little." She gently lifted her head and pulled out the diary. After a little while, she sat down on the bed to run through its pages with her eyes.

"Day 1. My first entry in this diary.I'm going to write down everything here that has to do with a new kind of black magic. Her outbreak originated in the lands of the changeling and then began to gradually spread throughout Equus. Celestia informed me of it a few days ago. I promptly deployed a laboratory to combat the unknown type of necromancy at the Golden Oak, where I began researching it. There are the first casualties, and the spell has already reached the borders of Equestria. With Princess Celestia's permission, I have taken all copies of the necromancy magic books from the forbidden section. One of the patients should be arriving in an hour. I hope everything goes smoothly."

"Day 2. My main hypothesis that this disease is a spawn of magic turned out to be completely wrong. The patient was feverish for the first half of the time, complaining of high fever. I scanned him and checked his magical background for spells from the forbidden section. Then I moved on to his samples. When I studied them and finally realised what I was dealing with, he... died. Yeah, he just stopped breathing. And when I decided to bury him, the patient got up and nearly bit me on the neck!I managed to lock him in the crate in which the books from Canterlot were delivered to me. I cremated him in the same box. Took me a long time to get my nerves in order! I checked myself. I don't think I'm infected. "I've got to get the word out now! Everyone, without exception!"

"Day 3. My spells aren't working. The infection is not airborne, but it's spreading through animals like mice, squirrels, birds. It's a real disaster. It's a bloody pandemic. Today we learnt that there is a genocide going on in the lands of the griffons, and they are killing anyone who has even the slightest symptoms of this infection. The quarantine of the population only postpones the inevitable, I for my part have not put my hooves down and will certainly develop a cure. Or rather, a new virus that will destroy the virus. If only I had enough time. Before the cremation, I collected enough samples, and to get new ones is not difficult, they are enough for me to advance in the research. Rest in harmony, whoever you are..."

"Day 10. Today I went to see Fluttershy, who tried with all her might to restrain the animals in one place. But nothing worked, they rioted and soon escaped. Fluttershy rushed after them into the forest to rescue them. And returned only a few days later. But it was too late... The tiny bites on her hooves, her tired, weary look. A fever of 40 degrees, a hot body. She barely had the strength to make it to Ponyville, where she collapsed. I tried to cure her, but it didn't work. She turned into one of them... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I tried with all my might... to save you."

"Day 19. Celestia gave me whatever funds she could to develop a cure. But nothing worked. One bite or scratch from an infected and it's over....Today, the so-called mob came, a bunch of infected ponies. We had to stop them by force... I keep taking samples from their bodies and... no luck... The virus mutates too quickly. Pinkie Pie, my friend, was among them. I don't know how this could have happened to her. She always loved to laugh. In that moment, I felt empty. No! Hope is always the last to die! I may not have been able to save the lives of Fluttershy and Pinkie, but I must at least save the lives of my living friends! Before it's too late!"

"Day 22. Today is a bad day, every day gets worse beyond bad. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were attacked by a pegasus today. Scratches on one and the other, they, soon, both came running to me. And again, experiments, experiments, and experiments....I tried to save them, but after a short time, they met the same fate. They only asked that I kill them painlessly, before they became one of them... I put them into a deep sleep and forcibly stopped their hearts. I wept. I couldn't see it... Every day... Every tartar day... I went back to developing a cure."

"Day 32. I... Failed again. Rainbow swoops in every day, bringing me food and whatever I ask for. She's a caring pegasus and enviably fast, so the infected pegasi and birds couldn't catch up to her. She shot them down whenever possible. Her hooves have hard hoof pads made of thick rubber. This greatly reduced the spread of infection. But it didn't stop it. There was a problem with rodents. They were crawling into houses and biting the ponies."

"Day 37. The crowd went through Apple's domain this time. Bigmac was able to draw it off by distracting it. Gradually, we overwhelmed it all without a trace, sparing no one. But... not without consequences. A mouse bit him on the stub of his tail. Four days he fought the infection and failed, and after another 24 hours, Apple lost Granny Smith. She could not bear the loss of her grandson and passed away from a heart attack. Applejack took the loss of her brother and Granny very hard, but her little sister Applebloom pulled her out of it. Gotta keep her little sister safe. Applejack came to me the next evening and asked to have a drink with me for her family. I couldn't refuse her, knowing the loss she was going through. Soon, Rainbow Dash joined us for the night. She was very tired, but she bragged for a long time about taking down a great many infected critters today."

"Day 44. How ironic... Twilight, your parents are gone. Your brother's probably gone too. There's no news from Canterlot. And the smartest pony in town can't develop an antidote. I'm making slow progress. I should speed up my research. But sleeping four or five hours a day puts a strain on my body as it is. My head hurts all the time..."

"Day 46. Rainbow Dash flies to me in a panic. She shows me her wing. Oh no... Not this... Rainbow... Why? The bite was placed at the base of the wing. She didn't know how it happened. She says that pegasi are tougher and faster these days, and they make a chirping sound. But she told me, ‘I'll hang on as long as I can. And I'll help you in any way I can. Just keep going, you can do it!" I cried again... I hugged her and nodded, she tore onwards. Dash would be doing her best to get rid of the pegasi and flying critters to reduce the spread. I admit that I wanted to put Dash to sleep and cut off her infected wing, just so I wouldn't have to lose another friend. But I didn't, and I couldn't suggest amputation, because for her to lose a wing would be worse than death."

"Day 50. Crowd... An unprecedented crowd. Probably three hundred infected. We held them back as best we could, we outnumbered them... Everyone who could stand on their feet came out of the battle. But we paid a heavy price for it. I don't know what we're fighting for anymore. Applejack came to visit me today. It was so hard to look at her after I asked her where Applebloom was, to which she only shook her head. I didn't know what to say, so I just hugged her. She said quietly in my ear ‘Be strong, sugar... We obviously can't survive this war... I'm sorry I couldn't help you.’ And... how hard the words were for her to say. They just fell with a heavy rumble, as did her tears."

"Day 51. We didn't part until this morning. Rainbow was supplying me with food as best she could with a supply of food, and I could only see new bites appearing on her body, yet she did not spare herself. She squeezed as much out of herself as she could. Not even eating, but slowly fading away."

"Day 53. Two more days... Applejack never came again. I think she hoofed it... My fears were justified when Rainbow Dash informed me that Applejack was no longer with us.I didn't elaborate on what had happened. But I knew very well that I would be alone... All alone... She told me one thing. "It's over, Twilight. There are only a few dozen of us left alive. I tried my best to keep them away from the others, but it didn't work. "I said, completely understanding everything. And I made one last attempt to shut myself off from the outside world. I asked her to stab me in that oak tree. If I was to die in this place... Let my grave be my home. So they did, and soon I was walled up. "Hey, Twilight. "Thank you. We've been good friends. Honestly, I can barely contain myself from fainting. I-I believe you can do this. Thank you,’ she spoke to me through the wooden wall."Goodbye forever." That was the last thing I heard from her as she walked out of my field of vision. Rainbow will probably behave heroically and just fall from the heights so she doesn't turn into that brat."

"Day 54. Ominous silence... I've been working on the cure for a long time. Every successful step I've taken I've written down. I'm only missing a little bit. A small piece of the puzzle, and I would make a cure, be able to save those still alive... Even if necessary, let it serve as an injection for animals. If our civilisation has already fallen."

"Day 61. "No food. Water, good thing there's still water left... I was fainting from exhaustion, how hard it is without coffee... Calculations are calculations, but I seem to be moving in the right direction. A couple of days later. It's hard to move... But I've already done research on the samples, resulting in a positive effect. All that remains is to make it sustainable. Two months of chemical testing and there it is. The first serum is ready. Huh..."

"Day 73. Tried to get out of the house a couple of days ago. For the sake of a test subject... But couldn't break the boards. Dash locked me up good and tight. And today I realised I can count the number of ribs on my body.Posterity or anyone else reading this diary, know that I tried.Fought to the very end... Your Twilight Sparkle..." "There was no further text, apparently she had closed both the diary and her eyes for good."

"You did a good job, Twilight... I heard you.And I'll do my best to help."

"Apparently it's been about two or three years since she died" Twilight surmised, and began sorting through the rest of her entries. Surprisingly, everything made sense and fit into Twilight's own system of judgement. There were some moments where it was still a bit of a puzzle. Soon, when she got to the last sheet of paper, she had a plan of what she needed. "So, twenty-three chemicals, a couple of flasks. A little fire and a little magic. Mix everything in certain proportions, as written here, and spray it around. Right, that's what we'll do."

* * *

Twilight was asleep in her cot in the present, and oddly enough, both Starlight and Spike were there. She didn't mind. Besides, what was the big deal? The night passed quickly and without much incident, except for the fact that Twilight was talking in her sleep, and in a language unknown to Starlight. It was morning.

"Master, it's morning" Starlight nudged her quietly as she watched her with a smile.

"I'm awake..." said Twilight slurred, lying down with her eyes closed.

"You know, home is great. I get to lie down for as long as I want. Well, as long as I could before they woke me up. I eat as much as I want. My friends are around. I miss hanging out with them. To be honest, I have bad memories in my head when someone touches on a subject that hurts me and, unfortunately, I have a lot of those subjects. But I come to my senses in time. Luna didn't try to get into my dreams anymore after I kicked her out. Celestia made a list of demands. A pretty stupid list. Like, for example, I shouldn't take the blocker off my horn because I'm not allowed to conjure. I don't care if I need something, I'll just ask Starlight or Spike. I'm not allowed to leave the castle. I'm not planning on it yet. I'm not allowed to do any cooking, and here I had a great many questions. Then it was immediately explained to me that cooking or seeing a knife could cause me to have flashbacks. Once again, I don't understand this. Under no circumstances should I attempt to contact Discord. I've already thrown away this rules scroll at the sixteenth point, let others use it as toilet paper."

"Master! Master! Tell me, what else have you learnt?"

"Oh yes. Starlight has been completely keeping up with me since my return and calling me ‘Teacher’. I find this behaviour a little disturbing. Oh, right. I have the experience of a three hundred year old mage. I'm a walking gold mine of magic to her. But what can I teach her? She's giving me that puppy dog look.Well, I'll think of something."

"Lots of things, Starlight, but call me Twilight.I am Twilight."

"But you're my teacher!"

"Teacher. But I'm also your friend, remember?" she asked, waiting for some satisfactory answer from her.

"Of course! You're my friend! Twilight's teacher!"

Starlight's behaviour reminded her of a particular orphan left behind in another world, who had lived under the same roof with Twilight for a long time and ate out of the same pot with her. Oh, and the age difference now between Starlight and Twilight added more and more similarities. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but that would have been an insult to the impatient student, and it would have been blasphemy to stop such an endeavour.

"All right, Starlight.I know how to redirect magic. Catch magic with my horn and send it back with twice the force."

Starlight's eyes lit up with fire. The third occupant of her home came into the room.

"Oh, Twi! Good morning."

Spike, quick on his paws, soon snuggled into her leg and hugged her tightly. Twilight's smile spread across her face. She cared for him as if he were her child, stroking his head gently.

"‘All right, Spike.Can you help with breakfast? As you already know, I'm not allowed in the kitchen."

The dragon cub nodded immediately.

"Sure! I'll go make something right away, Twi!" he pulled away from her hoof and ran into the kitchen.

"You're not allowed to use kitchen utensils?"

"Neither is magic. And many, many more things you're not allowed to do. I think that's completely ridiculous." Master...’ she nuzzled her nose into her fur, as if trying to inhale her scent.

"Starlight..." Twilight called out embarrassed, but Twilight didn't hear her. "Starlight!" The unicorn pulled away this time. "I love you all very much, but please don't go hitting on me every five minutes, okay? My brother and Cadence should be arriving soon, and I really want to see them. I need to get ready. You hear that, Starlight?"

"Excuse me! I'll help you get ready!"

"You better help Spike while I take a shower."

"Can I leave you alone?"

"Starlight asked apprehensively."

"I can," Twilight exhaled heavily. Did she not trust her? Or maybe she thought she was helpless?

"I'm sorry, Twilight... I trust you, it's just that you have a kind of stupor sometimes, and I'm for your own good..." she said as if she'd read her mind and was already trying to justify herself.

"Starlight!" she said more firmly and looked at her calmly. "Look, I can handle it."

"Good. I'll help Spike, and we'll get ready for the guests. Hehehe..." Starlight lowered her ears in annoyance, looking at her guiltily. It was impossible to take her eyes away from her gaze, as if he was forcibly forcing her to look her in the face. But soon Twilight nodded silently and headed for the shower. "I hurt Twilight... Great... Good start for a protégé... Eh..." Starlight said aloud when she was alone.

* * *

Alicorn had been studying the list of things she needed for the case for hours now.

"So, vials are scarce, chemicals... Well, so much for that. I'd have to get out and go looking for the missing ingredients... I wouldn't touch the food... I wouldn't touch the raw water either. What if I catch a virus?In the meantime..." Twilight neatly stacked all the instructions and cleaned the room on the ground floor especially for experiments. It was getting dark outside. "Strange, who controls the sun and moon? Oh well, I guess it's just the laws of the universe here. No big deal.Soon Twilight was lying on her bed on the first floor.She didn't bother to remove the remains of her doppelganger. Anyway, they were a kind of incentive for her, a reminder of what she had sacrificed to save the world."

* * *

Morning came suddenly, with a thud on the balcony fence.A startled Twilight opened her eyes at once.

"Who's there?!"

The banging intensified. There were sounds of dragonflies being heard behind the wall. Peering through the gap, she spotted a pegasus. Her fear increased manifold. She realised why he was making those noises. The wings. They were partially weathered and decayed, and they made a similar clattering sound when they flapped.

"That's what the Rainbow here was fighting... They look really nasty, and now they're coming at me..." Twilight took a deep breath, fighting the fear of danger and terror, and then emptied her bags, taking only her machete and teleporting outside. "Okay, so we're going to make chemicals out of medicine, so we're going to start by flying around the pharmacies."

As soon as she got out, she was immediately attacked by flyers.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time for you," she immediately flew, breaking away from them, towards the pharmacy, as far as Twilight knew, remembering the layout of the buildings. "The pharmacy isn't here..."

Sparkle realised that this was the place she was missing. It took a fair bit of sweating until she was able to find the first apothecary, the inside of which she had to break into, for everything was boarded up. She also cast a protection spell on herself, lest Faust be bitten by a rodent or infected. There wasn't much useful on the shelves, but there was something useful in the warehouse. There were a few skeletons of ponies in dressing gowns lying on the floor among the dust. They had to be raked to the side to find the medications they needed. Soon Twilight's bags were filled with everything she needed.

"I haven't done pharmaceuticals yet... Well, home now.A teleport and she was in her library."

* * *

It's been a fruitless day.The drugs she brought with her were just cheap generics. She had to spend a couple more days searching the capital city, which was in as bad a state of disrepair as Ponyville. By the way, there was no statue of Discord. Either he doesn't exist or he's dead, although that's ridiculous. He's going to die, oh well... Most likely the first option is closer to the truth.....

"Is it even possible to physically kill Discord? I hope I won't have to think about that anytime soon." The kingdom has fallen. Canterlot's doctors were of little use.Nor were the princesses themselves... It was probably too late by the time the townspeople realised it... Twilight, you're talking to yourself again. There was nothing suitable in the castle, as it turned out. There were broken windows and bits of stone, rubble and sand on the floor. In another hundred years, the castle would probably be gone without proper reconstruction and the support of magic... The latter is abundant in this place, but only I can use it... Yeah. After getting out of the palace ruins, she headed towards the warehouses. There Twilight found everything she needed. Once again, she teleported home. "The chemicals are in place, we can get started."

* * *

The chemistry lab took about another day or so to put together. A day to set it up, and it was up and running in a few hours. The first batches of the drug were appearing. Twilight began testing on infected mice.

"Streakers again... was her nickname for the infected pegasi. She led them away from the library and back to her research and experiments. Something was throwing her off her game, as the cure wasn't working."

"Oh, come on, Twilight! Are you serious? You sacrificed everything for a piece of crap that doesn't work?
I expected more from myself!" A dishevelled mane and almost a week of lost time in a dimension where they're trying to eat her. "So... One more time. Components.It's all there. That's it.Step four. Heat to one hundred and seventeen degrees. Condense. Done. If it smells like burnt rubber, you got it right. There were no experiments. How did I miss that part, you couldn't test it?"

"I'm starting to take it out on an innocent corpse. I'm sorry I'm so hard on myself, but I just want to get out of here. I'm selfish. I don't feel comfortable in this place. But know this... It's not your fault" Twilight paced back and forth in the bedroom. "Why is it that I can't understand your instructions and a week of looting all over Equestria hasn't turned into anything useful? Am I not trying hard enough?"

She lay on the bed, covering her face with her hooves.

* * *

Twilight didn't know how long she'd been lying like that. But it was the sound of thunder outside that jolted her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to the side of the window and peered through the gap in the boards, watching the occasional peal of thunder and the bright flashes.

She was also distracted by a sudden scraping sound from the side of the table in the room. She turned her head slowly, and again she was startled, for the fallen Twilight, who had been lying in the same position for years, was now staring at her silently. What did she look at? Two black holes instead of eyes, but they were scrutinising her guest.

"Hello?" Twilight tried to speak to her.

But it didn't work. The melted dead man's skin on her lips had long ago taken away her ability to speak. She simply turned her head in the direction of the stairs, where the other's gaze followed. And when it turned back to her, stared at her again and pointed with a hoof in the direction of the stairs.

"Do I have to go downstairs?" Uncertainly, the alicorn climbed off the bed and looked at her, and something nodded its head quietly in response. "Do you want to help me?" Again it gestured for her to go downstairs. "Let's say you said yes."

She quietly walked towards the stairs, keeping her eyes on Twilight from the side, but she didn't follow her. The hoof stayed there, frozen in the air.

"I'm down! What's next?"

There was no answer, and consequently, she went up to the first floor to ask her copy again, but... she wasn't there anymore. A chill down her spine and a slight shaking in her hind legs made itself felt.

"Where did she go?" The alicorn only turned around to find her sitting on the ground floor near the chemistry lab. "Look, Twilight.Please don't do this.You do realise you're dead, don't you?"

She didn't say anything, just pointed at the medicine and stared at the empty eye sockets again. Apparently she wanted to say or explain something important, but just poked her hoof again.

"The medicine? What's wrong with it? Is it incomplete?"

She nodded silently. "What else do I need to add to make it work? She looked at her in silence, but soon raised her hoof up and pointed to her horn." Magic? She shook her head, so no, she wasn't guessing. The dead woman poked at her horn once more and now pointed her hoof at the mortar and pestle.

"What? The last ingredient is the horn?! The one nodded calmly, confirming the answer." I have to grind the unicorn horn and mix it with this medicine, then will it produce a medicine? Will it become airborne and everyone will finally be saved?

She nodded a little more intensely now. She looks creepy, of course....

* * *

Lightning boomed again, and Twilight woke up. She'd fallen asleep while she was thinking, and she'd had such a strange dream.

"Oh-oh... Twilight..." she was still lying at the table with her eyes closed. "If it's true, and we need the unicorn horn, I'm sorry I have to take it from you" Twilight did indeed soon strip the corpse of its horn, which, with the rest of its skin and skull, ended up in her hooves. "Forgive me, and thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I will put your body to rest, as I did Applejack's. But for now, I'll get to the drug."

"I promise, when I get home, I'll get to work on the chemo."

* * *

Soon the drug was ready. It took some work to crush the unicorn horn into dust.It was like crushing a rock. But finally she tested it on the mice and, oh, my!They started biting each other and soon began to return to their normal state.

"Yes! It worked! Whoo-hoo!It worked! All that was left was to spray it with magic all over Equestria."

"Day 49. I was wrong... The cure wasn't perfect... St Faust, what have I done... I mean I killed them all... The virus infected cells were all cured. I waited a couple of days, but when I came back, they were all lying, they were just lying... Dead!
They'd been transformed. But the flesh was missing in places, the bones were still sticking out. I can't raise the dead.Those who were more or less still alive, or had been infected recently, had suffered massive heart attacks and ruptured most of their blood vessels.They... Died... All of them died.Forgive me..."

Twilight spent another long time searching for anyone alive. Constantly using the scan for living creatures, but if she found any, it was only some critters that were a little luckier than the ponies... Gryphons... Minotaurs and even the inhabitants of the sea cities, all dead... Later, she came home with her head down guiltily and walked over to Twilight, resting her hoof on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I failed..."

"You have nothing to blame yourself for, Twilight from another world," a familiar voice came from behind her, and as she turned around, she saw... a hologram? No, more like a spirit that distorted smoothly through space.

Twilight wiped the tears from her face, turning to her. "It's not like I saved you..."

"On the contrary. I knew we couldn't survive. But please accept our gratitude."

The silhouettes of Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie began to appear behind them. Everyone who had once lived in Ponyville. They all bowed to the alicorn.

"Twilight. You helped us find peace. For years we've been trapped in these bodies.I can see you've been through a lot. If you need it, take what you need from this world."

"It's been a long time since I've seen my family and friends."

"Open the locker under the desk. Don't worry, pull my corpse aside and look inside. Twilight gently moved the body with magic and opened the locker. It creaked open in her direction. Inside lay a dusty, shared photograph of almost everyone she knew."

"Take it, please.And one more thing. Take the locket in the same drawer, it contains magical power. Remember, if you find yourself in a dire desperate situation, it will help you. Our time has come. But don't forget, your time is still ahead of you. Don't give up."

The spirits began to slowly disappear one by one, walking away. Twilight took a little longer.

" I'm different from you, but I know what you can do in an emergency. I give you my will, Twilight Sparkle of another world," she quietly brought her hoof down on her horn, a faint glow accompanied her touch, and soon she vanished.

"I won't give up... I promise... And thank you..." Twilight whispered quietly, holding the photograph and locket with her hooves. After she pulled away from the daze and came to her senses, the tears started flowing again. She felt sorry for them. There was nothing she could have done. She had come here too late. Something sparkled on the table, and raising her head, she noticed the crown.

"Wait... Not now, I'll deal with what I promised first.And then we'll move on. Twilight soon laid the nearly decomposed remains of her doppelganger on the ground, before cremating them."

"Rest in harmony... Farewell..." Again a large lump formed in her throat, but this time she didn't cry, instead smiling as she watched the sky grow lighter and the sun grow encouragingly warmer. After putting away her belongings and her two new gifts, she entered the next portal leading to a world unknown to her.