Arcane Explosion Syndrome

by rxttencxrpse

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Tragedy, Horror, Profanity, Violence, Death, Alternate Universe, Main 6
Length: 2876

A infection AU (Alternate Universe)

A long time ago when the ponies were still separated in their tribes, unicorns probably thought of themselves as so highly. For they are the ones gifted with casting magic. Being able to control things at their whim made them feel so superior...

Though now, even though unicorns live amongst their non-magic casting peers there is a sudden illness befalling the magic casters in Equestria...

First it was just a few sparks of magic that come out. Then one day, it seemed like a freak accident. A random stallion, his magic causing an explosion of great force causing a collapse in a building. Multiple casualties and some survivors shaken. Now some other unicorns are showing symptoms, but not as note-worthy. These ponies want answers.

Join a duo of journalists in the hopes to uncover what the royals are hiding.

Published 2024-02-28 18:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-17 01:59:24 UTC

Chapter 1: Inquiry of Ground Zero

"Cypress! We need to go!" a firey maned mare calls out from the doorway of the break room. This snaps out the pale green mare from her dissociated stare into her clipboard. Cypress or Cypress Wind is a young pegasus mare, her deep turquoise eyes flicker up to her eager to leave counterpart. Quill, short for Phoenix Quill, who is the younger mare's journalist mentor. Gesturing the mare to get up, "Come on, we are gonna be late for our interview with the royal guard!"

Cypress rises to her hooves and swings a bag over her rump, latching it into place. The mares run out of the news office as they makes their departure from Cloudsdale into Canterlot. As they fly into Canterlot, Cypress can't help to feel an uneasy feeling about this whole situation. As detailed in the page in her clipboard, Quill and her are interviewing the royal guard who responded to the previous week's incident. An explosion caused by magic at an annual fair hosted by Princess Twilight. Luckily she wasn't among the causalities, unfortunately there was still so many due the crumbling of the building. The royal guard are finishing their last looks through the rubble.

The pair touch down at the checkpoint just outside of the scene. Quill rushes up to one of the guards with Cypress in tow, "Good afternoon sir, we are here with Cloudsdale Daily to do our interview with Sergeant Iron Will?." He looks to his partner at this gate who pulls out his scroll. The stallion looking through gives a nod to the stallion in front of them.

"Fair enough, you two will be following me," he says as he opens up the pedestrian gate behind him. He gestures to another guard to cover for him as he takes the two reporters to the tent set across from the rubble. As they reach the commanding tent he motions them to wait as he parts the tent opening to poke his head in. While the conversation is somewhat inaudible he pulls his head back out, "He is ready for you ladies." He parts the opening wider for the two of them to enter. The guard escorting them there leaves them there, assuming to return to his post.

"Sergeant Iron Will? My name is Phoenix Quill, this is my mentee Cypress Wind, it is a pleasure that we can take some time out of your day to speak with you on this developing story," the mare speaks to the dove grey pegasus stallion before them.

He puts down his papers on the table between him and the mares. He isn't wearing a helmet at this time, which leaves his salt and pepper mane to flow freely in the light draft coming inside the tent. "Well welcome to the site, gentlemen please leave me with these two," he spoke as his supposed subordinates left the tent. "Come and sit," he gestures to a smaller table at sitting height as the three sat at the table. "How was the flight down here?"

Cypress gets out her notebook as Quill gets out hers to place on the table. "It was not too bad, then again I've flow in just anything, not sure about Cypress here," she chuckled at the latter. Cypress reciprocated a nervous laughter as Iron also chuckled.

"I've flown down here but the weather has always been favorable," Cypress retorted. "I will be here to conduct notes for today's interview," she continued as she flipped to a blank page.

"Shall we begin?" Quill questioned to them as both of them nodded. "Good, let's see here," she dragged the tip of her hoof across her clipboard. "So, since this will be the last day you will be conducting searches, what is the casualty and survivor rate gone up to as of today?"

"35 dead, 4 in critical condition, 10 still missing and 8 injured." He responded. "Princess Twilight to my knowledge has been discharged by the hospital the other day."

"Good to hear," she gleamed, "next question. Will the missing will be declared dead and since this was a royal sponsored event will they be held liable for compensation for the lives lost in this incident?"

"I am unable to answer the latter, for that is ultimately up to Princess Twilight, any pony we haven't found at the end of the day will still be considered missing," he says.

"According to some sources they believed the stallion responsible committed an act of terrorism. While some witness accounts believe the contrary. Are the guard concluding this as an act of terrorism?" Quill questions. This time it takes a bit longer for the sergeant to respond. Cypress quickly makes a jot to note his apprehension.

Iron reacts by quickly answering, "Well, we can confirm with the amount of high influence individuals present at this event, also the nature of that event that it would positively a target of a terrorist attack."

Quill nods, "Final question, there have been multiple reports of unicorns who have survived this attack experiencing random involuntary expulsions of their magic. Has there been a connection made to this happening to the subj-"

"No connections have been made, to this phenomenon, most likely being caused due to stress," the sergeant cuts her off. Cypress kind of taken aback from this sudden interruption. She jots his answer down.

"Okay thank you, that is all of the questioning we have for today," Quill says as they stand. The mares pack their things. Then, Cypress and her both give a bow to Iron Will.

"Fair enough, one of the guards will escort you two back to the checkpoint, have a good day," he gives his farewell as the journalists leave the tent. A guard leads them to the checkpoint they arrived to, as they passed the rubble of the building some of the soliders whispered to each other. Cypress was starting to feel uneasy about this. As they arrived they thank the guards for their time and the pair flew back to Cloudsdale.

Chapter 2: Need of a Remedy

"This stupid headache," Twilight ached putting a hoof to her forehead. The pain in her head has been throbbing since she returned from the hospital. Since the explosion at the Unity fair the days in between were a blur. "Spike can I get some water please?" she winced.

"Got it," he responded walking to the pitcher to pour some water. "Is there anything you want me to get you while the stores are still open Twi?"

"Can you get some ingredients for some soup, I've must have come down with a flu of some kind," she huffed as Spike passed over a cup of water.

"Alright will do, just don't hurt yourself while I'm away," he joked grabbing a basket by the door to head into town.

Twilight grabbed her notebook and quill with her magic, it slightly surged which caused the items to move a bit faster. As she placed the items down with a wincing gasp as the headache surged again. "Dammit," she cursed to herself. Despite how much it hurt sometimes to hold things with her magic she needed to write down her symptoms. Nothing about this was right.

Spike made his way into town to the market to grab some ingredients. "Spike!" called from a familiar white coated pony.

"Oh Rarity! Good to see you!" he responded to the mare.

"Is Twilight okay? Me and Sweetie Belle have been so worried about her since the accident!" she says.

He grabbed a few vegetables to put into his basket, "She is! We just got back from the hospital the other day, unfortunately she is saying she's feeling under the weather today. I figured I'd cook up something for her."

"Thank Celestia! Well she probably needs you right away and I need to do a few more things before dinner, I can come by tomorrow," she says as she waves goodbye to Spike as she rushes off to her errand.

Spike returns home as Twilight is back napping again. He goes to prepare the soup for Twilight. A letter appears from thin air and clunks to the floor. Twilight isn't awoken to that sound but Spike spins around. He picks up the letter from the floor, curious he opens the parchment himself:

Twilight,

I hope this finds you well. I hope you are still doing well and recovering. Though the issue regarding the stallion is becoming a touchier topic as the royal guard closes their investigation of this event. Some ponies are becoming aware of a phenomenon affecting unicorns that were victims of this event. This needs to be suppressed in some sort of manner as immediate as possible. I wish not to spread paranoia through our subjects so please find a way to address this.

From,

Celestia

Spike gulps, what phenomenon? He is unsure if it is related to what Twilight is going through. He rolls up the scroll again and places it on the counter and returns to cooking.

Chapter 3: Development

Cypress opened the door to the more desolate news office of the Cloudsdale post. As at this point it was getting close to sunset, but for her and her mentor Quill it was no time for them to be finished with their work for the day. The pair of mares gathered their cushions to sit at their shared work station as they emptied out their belongings, Cypress flipping to her interview notes from that afternoon.

"Y'know the sergeant's answers seemed a bit fishy," Cypress began to speak, referencing at her notes.

Quill gave a slight scoff, "Then again we have to report on the facts of the matter, not pure speculation. Now let's get this document together so we can send the copy to the editor's desk tonight."

"Fine," Cypress sighed. Quill begun typing in the opening context to the article. As the mares went through the process of drafting the article Cypress is growing more familiar with but can't help but shake the odd feeling she got. Though at this point she shouldn't ask more questions to Quill, she was right as of now it is purely speculation on why he is acting such a way about this magic surge phenomenon, the subject, and the missing ponies.

"Let's read this out one more time, just to make sure everything sounds correct," Quill instructed Cypress as she read the draft they just made out loud. Mentions about his hesitation and sudden interruption are completely scrubbed from this draft. She softly sighed finishing the reading. "Okay that sounds good, let's go set it to editing and we can go ahead for dinner alright?" she says as the pair grab their belongings and deposit their draft on one of the editors tables. They leave the office, at this point it was getting pretty late at night. They fly their way over to the late night diner.

The mares sit at a booth and a waitress comes to take their drink orders. After the waitress leaves them Cypress catches Quills attention again, "I still don't feel like something is right about this situation Quill." She rests her face into one of her hooves, "Sure, I understand national safety concerns but also so many ponies died, and now this weird stuff is happening to unicorns. Also Sergeant Iron Will completely brush that question off I-"

"Cypress. Remember what I said, we stop talking about work when we aren't working," Quill interjected with a following sigh. "I understand you feel very uneasy about this whole thing, I know its weird even for me despite my years of experience, but this is just pure speculation right now. There is nothing we can prove at this time so therefore we shouldn't be creating rumors," she says as the waitress returns with their drinks. They proceed to order their food and then the waitress leaves them alone again. "Besides all this death talk and conspiracy is depressing, let's talk about something a little be more light hearted?" she huffs as she takes a sip of her chamomile tea.

Cypress think about it for a moment. "I heard from one of my other friends on the royal tabloid team that Princess Flurryheart has just gotten her cutie mark. I'm pretty sure her family are doing some sort of royal tour through out the empire and visiting Canterlot as well to be blessed by Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight," Cypress says looking up from her cup of hot chocolate.

Quill leans back into her seat with a grin, "See? That is great news! Especially being such a miracle of a kid! Her parents must be ecstatic about her new found talent! Did the tabloid ever figure out what her talent is though?"

"No, for the royal family wants it to be a secret until the tour begins," she sips, "though they suspect she is taking after her father in terms of talent."

"A knightly princess? I thought she would be more like her mother, though we really don't know do we?" Quill gives an inquisitive sip to her tea. "Though I'm quite happy she has finally gotten her cutie mark, as it took a bit for her to get hers," the mare begins to fiddle a bit with the condiments on the table.

"Well I guess it goes to show that just like the rest of us it could take time to find your talent, even if you are an alicorn for that matter," Cypress dabs a napkin to her lips. The waitress returns with their food and they continue to theorize the young alicorn's cutie mark talent between their bites of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cypress makes it home to her apartment as the night draws to a close Cypress is itching to know what is truly happening behind closed doors, uncertain of what is to come.

Chapter 4: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"Good evening Princess Luna," Sergeant Iron Will greets the alicorn who just arrived to the site. He bowed down to her and his higher ups who were accompanying her.

"At ease," she says as he meets her gaze. "Were all the subjects moved to the facility, sergeant?" she cocked her brow inquisitively.

"Yes your majesty," he answers, "Alpha squad is still investigating the victims at the hospital, we are awaiting your go ahead to also take them in for experimentation."

"Good," Luna responds. "The media has not found out about who we are declaring missing?"

"No your majesty," he says, "Though, the talk of the victims symptoms definitely is got their muzzles where they shouldn't be."

"My sister informed me of this issue, fair enough, Alpha can move forward with their extraction of those unicorns," she commands. "Good that all of us are on the same page now, my sister an I expect them before next sunrise." Iron Will gives a nod and then a short bow as Luna and her entourage leave the site.

Luna returns to the palace, this time alone as the hour is getting close for Celestia to rise the sun. She walks up to her sister's bedroom, "Celestia, it is time for you to awake." The older mare slowly opens her eyes.

She sits up from her bed, "So I would suppose that they are finished with their clean up?" She gave a small yawn as she stretched her wings.

"Yes, they are," Luna answers, "though the media has caught wind of the symptoms the unicorns at that event are showing." She watches her sister gets out of bed and dawns on her tiara. "I'm hoping that Twilight is not affected by this, or else we are going to be in more shit we have bargained for."

"Well I gave yesterday as a day for her to recoup herself from getting home from the hospital. Twilight needs to be here for her niece's arrival today, us royals need to be together to discuss this matter," Celestia briskly writes a letter and it disappears with a dust of magic.

"Understood, I will leave you to your morning duties sister," Luna concludes. The mare leaves her sister's room walking towards her own.

Her maid trots up to her as they meet at the door to her bedroom, "Good Morning Princess Luna, may you rest well. I will be here to get you up for the arrival of Crystal Empire's royals." She gave a brief bow to her.

"Thank you, I will see you then," Luna smiles as the doors open. The door shuts behind her as she enters, the room is heavily dimmed to block out the rising sun. Luna takes off her tiara, setting it on her night stand, also removing her other adornments hanging them up.

Luna still feels a tinge of worry for Twilight, knowing the blast was within range of her. She has some confidence that she was most likely affected by magic within that blast, though, she won't know the extent of it until she sees Twilight herself. With that she climbs into her bed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before their arrival.

Chapter 5: Arrivals

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