"Let. Me. Out." Spike growled out from behind the wooden door that he had been scratching on, Twilight was standing beyond the door and using her magic to hold the door handle in place in order to prevent Spike from escaping and running around the castle. "Stop! Spike! Please! Stop this!" Twilight cried out as she felt her already injured body pushing itself beyond her natural capacity, Twilight felt the exhaustion of her continued magical usage was finally beginning to weigh against her body. "Can't. Stop. Won't. Stop. Mama. Will. Join. HERD." Spike said with his voice sounding almost like his old self however Twilight was startled by the sudden yell that echoed from behind the door, Twilight could feel her magic growing weaker since Spike's attempts to move the handle were growing more successful by the second. "S-Spike!...Please...I don't want to hurt you!..." Twilight cried out yet again in hopes that her plea would be heard and understood by her former assistant, Spike was however unphased and continued his onslaught against the door until Twilight's magic had finally met its final spark. "S-Spike..." Twilight whispered as she collapsed to the ground allowing Spike to finally clasp the door handle, however Spike was barely able to push the door open before a large crystal dresser was slammed against it forcing Spike back into imprisonment.

"Sorry Spike, but I can't let ya' hurt Twi. You'll understand after we fix this mess." Applejack pants out as she leans down toward the exhausted alicorn resting against the crystal floor, Applejack bit down on Twilight's tail and began pulling her away until Applejack could safely spit out the hair and raised her head. "Alrighty. So if that is the dining room, and that door leads to the map. That means the library is that way." Applejack mumbled to herself as she attempted to remind herself of the layout of the castle around her, Applejack leans down and pulls the now unconscious alicorn onto her back with a sigh echoing from her mouth. "Sorry I took so long sugarcube, I shoulda' been here earlier. I coulda' helped with...With him." Applejack apologized with her eyes resonating with sadness and regret at her believed failure to prevent Twilight from being attacked, Applejack turns towards the hall she had suspected lead to her destination.

"Not a problem, we're gonna fix this sugarcube. I'm gonna help ya' get back to health, then we're gonna figure out how to stop this mess before Equestria is put in danger again." Applejack said with a newfound resolve to save her country along with helping her friend back to full health, Applejack slid her hooves against the floor then she started galloping away to try and escape from the constant sound of Spike ramming himself against the door to the basement. "We're gonna get ya' help Spike, but right now. We've got bigger fish in this barrel." Applejack mumbled as she rushed towards the door to the library which she spotted during her approach, Applejack attempted to skid herself into a stop only to start sliding across the smooth ground and immediately crash into the door. "Bucking...Gravity..." Applejack mumbled as she and Twilight crumbled to the ground from the painful collision with the wooden door, Applejack groaned softly and rubs her muzzle with her front hooves to ease the pain that was radiating from her face. "Well. That hurt. But, we've arrived." Applejack mumbled in some useless hope to try and restore the spirit of hope and confidence that was halted by her untimely collision with the door, Applejack pushed herself up into a sitting position which let her see Twilight's eyes slowly fluttering open.

"Uh?...W-what...Where-huh?" Twilight groaned out as she pushed herself up using her front hooves, Twilight's dizzy eyes began to focus onto her surroundings until she blinks away the exhausted that was bleeding out from her obviously still tired eyes until she noticed Applejack sitting beside her. "A-Applejack?! You...When the hay did you get here?!" Twilight roared out with her horn momentarily releasing a burst of magical sparks that left both ponies in silent confusion, Applejack cleared her throat and pushed herself up onto her legs so she could rub the back of her neck then she reaches up and pulls her hat off her head. "I arrived about three minutes before ya' collapsed, I noticed you as I approached, I tried calling for ya but it seemed you were a little distracted. I needed to block the door so I just grabbed the nearby dresser from the nearest guest room so the damn thing would remain closed." Applejack responded with her glistening green eyes momentarily shimmering with an honest orange hue to indicate her honest response, Twilight was left momentarily stunned at the discovery that she had been unaware of Applejack's arrival.

"I...Didn't even hear you when I collapsed. I can't believe I was so drained that I didn't even hear your hoofsteps." Twilight uttered with her eyes looking down towards the ground for a few moments, Applejack smiled warmly and held out her right forehoof for Twilight who placed her own hoof onto Applejacks. "It's alright, I wouldn't expect that, now. We've got a major problem. Fluttershy is missin', I can't find Pinkie, and nopony is actin' right." Applejack explained leaving Twilight speechless at the discovery that two of her friends had disappeared, Twilight returned to her hooves and looks to the side in concern at the revelation. "No creature has been acting right, Spike just tried to maul me, he managed to nick me with his claws. Nothing serious, just a little cut. So anypony else acting bizarre is a symptom I've discovered of the infected." Twilight retorts with her eyes narrowed that indicated to Applejack something was now passing through Twilight's mind, Applejack let out a grunt of concern as she trots into the library followed by Twilight following closely behind.

"I don't mean strange in the sense that they're infectious or tryna hurt ponies. I mean strange in how they talk. I saw one of them, she was still pretty early in her infection cuz she still had fur. Mostly. But she kept tryna convince me to wear the bucking make up. That stuff is weird." Applejack answered however something about her tone exhibited sadness and a hint of regret that Twilight caught when she heard it, Twilight turns to look at Applejack who was climbing onto the nearby couch until she lays down onto her side. "Applejack, are you sure nothing else caught your attention? I mean, there is a lot of ponies in Ponyville. It'd be kinda hard to know exactly how everypony acts." Twilight questioned with her eyes narrowed from the sudden suspicion that was swirling around her eyes, Twilight's question caused Applejack to pause in shock until she glanced to the side in sudden worry. "It's...It's not important, besides, what matters more is finding a way to fix this mess before anypony else gets hurt" Applejack replied with her own eyes narrowed leaving both mares in a staring contest of suspicion and desperation, Twilight stepped towards the couch with her gaze softening when she noticed the twinkle of grief within Applejack's eyes.

"Applejack...Did you find your brother out there?..." Twilight questioned with a sense of concern in her voice leaving Applejack looking away in shame, Applejack felt the words dying on her throat until she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and expelled a breath she had been unknowingly holding. "No. It wasn't Mac. Honestly? I kinda wish it was. Mighta' been easier to handle when I found out. It was Bloom. Granny found her yesterday, laying on the floor of the bathroom with her eyes getting darker. Granny couldn't understand what was happenin' so she took Apple Bloom to bed and...And Apple Bloom bit her. She just bit Granny on the hoof and tried tacklin' her down, I arrived just in time to stop Apple Bloom from causing any real damage but Granny...She was pretty shook up after the whole affair..." Applejack explained with her eyes beginning to fill with tears that left a sudden lump forming in Twilight's throat after recalling the revelation that Applejack is meant to cry on the inside, Twilight swallowed the lump and moves up to the couch so she could sit down beside her friend.

"And then?" Twilight quietly asked with her voice sounding no louder than the whispers of a ghost in the night air, Applejack inhaled through her nose then exhaled through her mouth to try and regain her composure, she then raised her hooves to wipe her teary eyes of the warm liquid that threatened to expel themselves, "About...Four hours ago, Granny started gettin' dizzy spells. I thought it was just age finally catchin' up to the mare, but then I saw her eyes. Twi, her eyes were turning black. Like the night when the stars ain't visible. And she started staring at me like I was some kind of steak infront of a rabid Diamond Dog. I think, the bite somehow transferred some of Apple Bloom's infection to Granny Smith, and both of them are still locked up in the house." Applejack answered with her eyes once again filling with tears as her memory began replaying the horrible even again within her mind, Twilight couldn't truly understand the pain that Applejack was feeling so she unfurled her wings and wrapped her right wing around Applejack's back left leg.

"I can't really understand what you're feeling. But I know what it's like to lose people you love, I had to watch Spike fall apart, before he entered this stage of his infection, he was still my assistant, he was more aggressive and agitated than usual but I just through that was his dragon hormones spiking as he was growing up. I never expected something like this..." Twilight replied with her eyes slowly moving to look down at the carpet, she could feel the familial ache of regret and self hatred for her lack of foresight or hindsight when letting Spike try using such a bizarre brand of make up despite feeling so concerned by its sudden appearance in Equestria. "I never trusted that stuff, I can't explain why, but somethin' in my bones told me that stuff was bad news. I just wish I realized Apple Bloom had used it. I don't even know when she put it on!" Applejack responded in anger at her supposed failure to protect her younger sister from the unseen threat posed by the unnatural make up, however both were dragged out of their regrets by the sudden appearance of a golden wisp of magic that flew down towards Twilight.

"What the. Huh? A scroll?" Twilight pondered as the wisp burst out into shimmering golden sparks leaving behind a scroll that dropped to the ground, Twilight noticed the royal seal of Celestia that was holding the scroll rolled up so she lifts the scroll off the ground using her still weakened telekinesis. "Celestia? Maybe she and Princess Luna have figured out some kind of solution or cure?" Applejack replied with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes that sparked her enough to sit up beside Twilight, both watched as the seal was removed and tossed aside allowing the magical aura to unroll the scroll revealing it to them both. "Dear Twilight Sparkle...Blah, blah bl-" Twilight mumbled as she read the scroll but paused when the context of the words began to click within her mind, followed by the cogs of emotional overload from the level of anger that was forming in her nerves. "That. Stiff. Son of a bitch! SHE'S JUST GONNA LEAVE US TO HANDLE THIS OURSELVES?! DOES SHE HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF STRUGGLE WE'RE HANDLING?!" Twilight yelled out with her eyes glimmering from a sudden surge of magical power that began to resonate from deep in her head, Applejack couldn't help but slid herself away from the enraged alicorn that was expelling her wrathful anger about Celestia's blatant disregard for the safety of Ponyville.

Author's Note

I'm gonna be perfectly honest, I tried my absolute best when writing for Applejack but I am honestly GARBAGE when it comes to writing voice lines for characters like AJ because their accents make it really hard to write them correctly!
I hope I did it well enough and didn't offend anybody